Meat product casing having a maximum extensible diameter
First Claim
1. A tubular structure casing for use with food products, comprising:
- circumferential threads extending around a periphery of a tubular casing and spaced at intervals along said tubular casing, said circumferential threads comprising an elastic thread in combination with a yarn wrapped around and along a length of said elastic thread, wherein a number of turns of said yarn are provided around said elastic thread for a given length of said circumferential threads are determined as a function of an elastic limit of said elastic thread so that said circumferential threads become taut after a predetermined amount of stretch due to said yarn being straightened to an extent where said yarn resists tensile force whereupon said circumferential threads become inextensible before the elastic limit of said elastic thread is reached.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A tubular casing for use with food products which includes knitted stockinette, longitudinal threads and circumferential spiral threads that are held to stockinette by stitches located along the length of the casing. Each thread comprises an elastic thread formed from an inextensible yarn spirally wrapped around the outside of a rubber thread. As thread is stretched, the rubber thread extends and the helix angle of the spirally wrapped yarn reduces to the point where the yarn approximates a straight line. The inextensible yarn resists further stretching beyond this point. This point is the elastic limit for thread and it can be adjusted by varying the helix angle during manufacture of the elastic thread. Threads therefore allow the casing to be filed to a predetermined maximum diameter and result in the filled casing having a constant diameter throughout its length.
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Citations
22 Claims
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1. A tubular structure casing for use with food products, comprising:
circumferential threads extending around a periphery of a tubular casing and spaced at intervals along said tubular casing, said circumferential threads comprising an elastic thread in combination with a yarn wrapped around and along a length of said elastic thread, wherein a number of turns of said yarn are provided around said elastic thread for a given length of said circumferential threads are determined as a function of an elastic limit of said elastic thread so that said circumferential threads become taut after a predetermined amount of stretch due to said yarn being straightened to an extent where said yarn resists tensile force whereupon said circumferential threads become inextensible before the elastic limit of said elastic thread is reached. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
Specification