Method and machine for making food patties
First Claim
1. A meat patty molding machine comprising:
- a fill plate having a substantially flat surface thereon and having openings therethrough, said fill plate being rotatably mounted to a base plate and substantially circular with a gear surface therearound;
means for defining a disk shaped mold cavity on said fill plate;
means for feeding meat through said fill plate openings into the defined mold cavity; and
a gear drive engaging said fill plate gear surface for rotating one of said fill plate or said mold cavity defining means relative to the other during feeding of said meat.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A meat patty molding machine having a base plate with an opening therethrough and a fill plate rotatably mounted in the base plate opening. A meat feeder forces meat up through openings in the fill plate. A mold plate defines a disk-shaped mold cavity and is mounted to move laterally between a fill position with its disk-shaped mold cavity in communication with the fill plate and a patty discharge position with the disk-shaped mold cavity away from the fill plate. A drive means rotates the fill plate relative to the mold plate, and the fill plate rotated relative to a stationary cutting blade positioned to cut meat fibers at the upstream surface of the fill plate during filling. By forming the patty while rotating the fill plate relative to the remainder of the mold, a meat patty is formed having longitudinal strands of meat disposed in a substantially circular pattern around the patty axis.
78 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A meat patty molding machine comprising:
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a fill plate having a substantially flat surface thereon and having openings therethrough, said fill plate being rotatably mounted to a base plate and substantially circular with a gear surface therearound; means for defining a disk shaped mold cavity on said fill plate; means for feeding meat through said fill plate openings into the defined mold cavity; and a gear drive engaging said fill plate gear surface for rotating one of said fill plate or said mold cavity defining means relative to the other during feeding of said meat. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A meat patty molding machine comprising:
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a fill plate having a substantially flat surface thereon and having openings therethrough; means for defining a disk shaped mold cavity on said fill plate; means for feeding meat through said fill plate openings into the defined mold cavity; means for rotating one of said fill plate or said mold cavity defining means relative to the other during feeding of said meat; and a cutting blade mounted to cut meat on the side opposite the fill plate flat surface during feeding of said meat. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A meat patty molding machine, comprising:
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means for feeding meat; a base plate disposed over said mat feeding means and having an opening therethrough; a fill plate having openings between its top and bottom surfaces allowing meat to pass therethrough, said fill plate being rotatably mounted in said base plate opening; a mold plate defining a disk shaped mold cavity, said mold plate being mounted to move laterally between a fill position with its disk shaped mold cavity over said fill plate and a patty discharge position with its disk shaped mold cavity away from said fill plate, and said disk shaped mold cavity being substantially cylindrical about an axis perpendicular to said fill plate when said mold plate is in its fill position; and means for rotating said fill plate and said mold plate relative to one another when said mold plate is in its fill position; whereby the relative rotation of said fill plate and said mold plate occurs substantially about said axis. - View Dependent Claims (12)
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13. A meat patty molding machine, comprising:
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means for feeding meat; a base plate disposed over said meat feeding means and having an opening therethrough; a fill plate having openings between its top and bottom surfaces allowing meat to pass therethrough, said fill plate being rotatably mounted in said base plate opening and being substantially circular with a gear surface therearound; a mold plate defining a disk shaped mold cavity, said mold plate being mounted to move laterally between a fill position with its disk shaped mold cavity over said fill plate and a patty discharge position with its disk shaped mold cavity away from said fill plate; and a gear drive engaging said fill plate gear surface for rotating said fill plate and said mold plate relative to one another when said mold plate is in its fill position. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A meat patty molding machine, comprising:
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means for feeding meat; a base plate disposed over said meat feeding means and having an opening therethrough; a fill plate having openings between its top and bottom surfaces allowing meat to pass therethrough, said fill plate being rotatably mounted in said base plate opening; a mold plate defining a disk shaped mold cavity, said mold plate being mounted to move laterally between a fill position with its disk shaped mold cavity over said fill plate and a patty discharge position with its disk shaped mold cavity away from said fill plate; means for rotating said fill plate and said mold plate relative to one another when said mold plate is in its fill position; and a cutting blade mounted to cut at the bottom surface of the fill plate during feeding of said meat. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A meat patty molding machine, comprising:
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a base plate having an opening therethrough; means for feeding meat from the bottom of the base plate; a fill plate disposed in the base plate opening, said fill plate being substantially cylindrically shaped with top and bottom flat surfaces on opposite ends of a circular outer surface, said fill plate further having substantially vertical openings between the top and bottom flat surfaces allowing passage therethrough of meat from the feeding means; a mold plate reciprocable between fill and discharge positions, said mold plate defining a disk-shaped mold cavity over the top flat surface of the fill plate when said mold plate is in its fill position, said mold cavity further having a central axis substantially perpendicular to said fill plate; a substantially longitudinal cutting blade fixedly positioned relative to the base plate to intersect said axis at substantially right angles when said mold plate is in its fill position; and drive means for rotating the fill plate about the axis relative to the base plate when the mold plate is in the fill position.
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24. A method of molding a meat patty, comprising the steps of;
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feeding meat into a disk shaped mold cavity through holes in a fill plate defining one surface of the mold cavity, said disk shaped mold cavity being substantially cylindrical about an axis; and rotating said fill plate relative to the remainder of the mold cavity about said axis while feeding the meat through the fill plate holes. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26, 27)
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Specification