US3053297A - Meat comminuting machine - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 11, 1962 H. BRUNDLER 3,053,297

MEAT COMMINUTING MACHINE Filed Oct. 28, 195? ooo tats

Filed Oct. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 692,859 6 Claims. (Cl. 146--192) trite For comminuting meat, bacon, rinds, sinews, head and bone skins, etc., from large pieces into whatever consistency is desired, down to the finest paste, special machines are needed at present, whose acquisition is frequently out of the question for small or intermediate size plants which are forced to limit their operations to the ordinary meat grinder and flesh cutter. Therefore, they are not able to make use of valuable lay-products, such as rinds, sinews, head and bone skins, etc., because they cannot process them conveniently.

It is an object of the invention to overcome this shortcoming by providing a new comminuting machine for pieces of meat, bacon, rinds, sinews, head and bone skins, etc.

The comminuting machine of the invention includes a base, a housing mounted on the base, and a filling funnel mounted above the housing. The housing forms upper and lower comminuting chambers, the upper chamber opening upwardly into the funnel and the lower chamber having a discharge opening. A drive shaft extends upwardly from a motor in the base through the lower chamber and terminates in the upper chamber. According to the invention a colloid mill is mounted in the lower chamber, the mill having a rotary member mounted on the drive shaft and a cooperating stationary member. A centrifugal cutting unit is mounted in the upper chamber, the unit having as a rotary member a knife assembly mounted on the shaft and, as a cooperating stationary member, a perforated plate beneath the knife assembly. Supporting rings are mounted on the housing within each of the chambers, the ring of the lower chamber supporting the stationary member of the colloid mill and the ring of the upper chamber supporting the stationary member, perforated plate, of the cutting unit. Each is vertically adjustable to vary the clearance between the respective rotating and stationary members. The ring of the lower chamber also is adapted alternatively to support and hold a perforated plate of a cutting unit and the portion of the shaft extending within the lower chamber is adapted alternatively to mount the knife assembly of a centrifugal cutting unit. The rotary member of the colloid mill is removable from the drive shaft and the stationary member of the mill likewise is removable from its supporting ring. Thus either the centrifugal cutting unit of the upper chamber or an additional similar unit may without more be substituted for the colloid mill in the lower chamber.

The drive shaft is composed of two parts, the lower part terminating in the lower chamber and the upper part being a removable extension of the lower part extending into the upper chamber. The upper end of the lower part is provided with mounting means for mounting in the lower chamber either the rotary member of the colloid mill or the knife assembly of the cutting unit, and the extension is provided with mounting means for mounting the knife assembly of the cutting unit in the upper chamber, including, if desired, a pre-cutting unit of rotating knives for coarser cutting.

The housing comprises three superposed separable sections, the upper two sections together providing the upper chamber and the lowest section providing the lower chamber, the uppermost section also comprising the lower portion of the inlet funnel and the lower section providing the discharge opening. The intermediate section is bodily removable, and the base of the uppermost section exactly 3,953,297 Patented Sept. 11, 1962 fits and is attachable to the top of the lowest section, thereby to form with the lowest section a single comminuting chamber for a centrifugal cutting unit or for a colloid mill.

Each of the supporting rings for the stationary members of the colloid mill and centrifugal cutting unit is screw threaded to a portion of the housing and there is mechanism for manually rotating each ring independently of the other from the exterior of the machine for adjusting the clearance between the stationary and rotatable members of the colloid mill and cutting unit, respectively.

In one form of the invention the means for rotating the rings comprises external spur gears on each ring and cooperating worm gears, one of which intermeshes with each of the spur gears for effecting the independent adjustment.

In the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the novel comminuting machine, showing the built-in colloid mill, centrifugal cutting unit, and above the latter, the precutting knife unit;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary horizontal cross-sectional view, taken on line 2-2 of FIG. 1, showing the adjusting mechanism for the carrier ring for the perforated plate of the centrifugal cutter unit. The adjusting mechanism for the colloid mill is identical and therefore has not been shown in horizontal section;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal reduced sectional view of the optional pre-cutting knife head, taken on line 33 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view, also on areduced scale, of the colloid mill unit, taken on line 44 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of a modified machine wherein the colloid mill has been removed and replaced by a pre-cutting unit and a centrifugal cutting unit directly beneath the funnel inlet and above the rotary discharge plate and also illustrating adjusting mechanism which may be substituted for that shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view similar to FIG. 5 but showing the lower portion of the housing of the em bodiment of FIG. 1 wherein a second centrifugal cutting unit has been substituted for the colloid mill directly above the centrifugal discharge or slinging plate;

FIG. 7 is a horizontal sectional view on a reduced scale, taken on line 7--7 of FIG. 6, of the knife head of the centrifugal cutting unit; and

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6 of a portion of the machine shown in FIG. 1 from which the intermediate housing section has been removed and the pre-cutting and centrifugal cutting units and perforated plate mounted directly above the discharge slinging plate replacing the colloid mill.

The comminuting machine of the invention, as shown, has a base 1 within the lower portion 2 of which there is mounted an electric motor (not shown) which has an upwardly extending vertical drive shaft 3 guided in bearings 4-. The base 1 supports the lower section 5 of the three-section housing, such lower section being provided with a lateral discharge opening 6 in the form of a spout. The intermediate section 7 of the housing is supported by the lower section 5 and in turn supports the upper section 8 which includes the inlet funnel 9. It will be seen that the upper two sections 7 and 8 together provide the upper comminuting chamber and that the lower sec tion 5 forms the lower comminuting chamber. As hereinafter disclosed the center section 7 is removable and the upper section 8 may be mounted directly on the lower section 5 thereby providing but a single comminuting chamber for purposes hereinafter described.

An internally threaded ring 10'is firmly bolted to the lower section of the housing. Threadedly mounted on the ring is a ring carrier 11 having an inwardly directed annular supporting flange 12, the ring carrier 11 being adjustable vertically within the housing by rotation with respect to the stationary threaded ring 10. The ring carrier 11 is provided with an external spur gear 13 (identical with element 24, FIG. 2) meshing with the worm gear 14 mounted on the lower section 5 of the housing. The worm 14 is aflixed to the shaft 16 (identical with shaft 16', FIG. 2) which can be rotated by a hand wheel (identical with element 15, FIG. 2) for purposes of adjustment. The latter optionally can be provided with a scale (not shown) in order to indicate the amount of adjustment. The above-mentioned ring carrier 11 serves as the supporting means for the milling ring 17 comprising the stationary grinding element of a colloid mill to hold the same in proper relation to the rotating part or colloid head 18 mounted on the driving shaft 3. Alternatively the carrier ring .11 serves as a support for a perforated plate 19 of a centrifugal cutting unit, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Thus, the perforated plate 19 of FIG. 6 and the colloid milling ring or stator 17 of FIG. 1 are mutually interchangeable within the ring carrier 11. A key 20 prevents unintentional rotation of the perforated plate of FIG. 6 or of the milling ring of FIG. 1 with respect to the ring carrier 11.

The colloid mill shown in FIG. 1, as such, is known in the art. The rotor or colloid head 18 is composed usually of three superposed grinding bodies provided with external teeth as shown in FIG. 1. The rotor 18 is removable from the drive shaft 3. By operation of the worm 14, the ring carrier 11 can be rotated with respect to the ring 10 with which it is threadedly engaged so as to be raised or lowered to narrow or widen the annular passage between the rotor 18 and the stator 17 of the colloid mill according to the degree of fineness of emulsified material desired.

Similarly, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, by means of the same ring carrier 11, a perforated plate 19 can be mounted and moved toward and away from the knives 28' of a centrifugal cutting unit substituted for the colloid mill.

In the intermediate section 7 of the housing of the machine, there is similarly mounted a second adjustable ring carrier 22 threadedly engaged with a stationary mounting ring 23 and having a spur gear 24 cooperating with a worm 25 to vary the vertical position of the ring 22. The mounting ring 23 is bolted firmly to the section 7 of the housing. The rotation of the worm 25 and consequently that of the ring carrier 22 can be limited by a stop 21, or two of them, which are threaded on an extension 25 of the worm 25 and moved backward and forward longitudinally of such extension within a casing 60. The motion of the worm 25 is limited by engagement of the stops 21 with abutments 21' and 21 at opposite ends of the casing 60. The ring carrier 22 supports, by means of its annular internal flange 26, a perforatcd steel plate 27 constituting the stationary member of the centrifugal cutting unit. This plate can be raised or lowered by the worm 25 toward or away from the knives 28 held on the cutter disc 29 of the centrifugal cutting unit. The knives 28 are mounted on the disc 29 by means of screws. The disc 29 is held on an extension 30' of the axle 30. The latter constitutes a separable prolongation of the drive shaft 3 to which it is affixed by means of the double-ended bolt 31. The extension has a polygonal cross-section, adapted to drive the disc 29 and knives with the shaft. Similarly, the intermediate portion 31 of the double bolt 31 has a polygonal cross-section as shown in FIG. 7. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, this portion furnishes the driving connection to the shaft 3 for the rotary colloid head 18 and in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 8 for the knife assembly 28, 29 of the centrifugal cutter unit.

In FIG. 1 above the centrifugal cutting knives 28 and their mounting disc 29 there is mounted on a further threaded bolt extension 50 of axle 30, the removable pre-cutting knife head 32 having superposed horizontally arranged pre-cutting knives 33 of different lengths forming a pre-cutting unit located in the uppermost part 8 of the housing below the funnel. These pre-cutting knives are preferably inclined so as to exert a feeding action downward. The pre-cutting knives 33 are spaced with respect to each other in a vertical direction by spacing rings 34. As seen in FIGS. 1, 3 and 5, the pre-cutting knives 33 rotate in slots formed in vertical ribs or fingers 35 or the like which extend inwardly or protrude from the housing section 8 into which the funnel 19 opens. The ribs 35, it will be seen, prevent rotation of the material being out within the housing section 8 during rotation of the knives 33. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, for example, the knife head 32 is provided with two pairs of cutting knives clamped cross-wise and tightened by means of the screw head 36, which is threaded to the bolt 50, which in turn constitutes a prolongation of the shaft 30, 30. By removing the screw head 36, it is possible to slip the entire pre-cutting unit 32 with the cutter disc 29 off the upward extension of the shaft 30. The screws 37 secure the knives 33 with the spacing rings 34 on the pre-cutting head 32 even when the entire assembly is removed from the shaft 30 or from its mounting bolt 50 or in the embodiments of FIGS. 5 and 8 the double-ended bolt 31, 31' depending on whether the pre-cutting unit 32 and centrifugal cutting knives 28 are mounted in the upper portions 7 and 8 of the housing as shown in FIG. 1 or whether they are mounted in the lower portion in the manner shown in FIG. 8 as well as in the modification illustrated in FIG. 5.

Depending upon the choice of the size of the holes of the perforated steel plate 27, it is possible, by the cooperation of the pre-cutting head 32 and the centrifugal cutting knives 28, to transform large pieces of meat directly into pieces of greater or lesser fineness, down to the size required for the fabrication of sausages without the need for the usual special cutter in addition. This conversion is done in one single continuous operation. For the finest emulsifying the colloid mill performs the necessary refining in accordance with the adjustment of the annular passage between the toothed-grinding bodies of the rotary grinding head 18 and the stator 17, as seen in FIG. 1. After emulsification, the material is expelled into any suitable container or trough (not shown) from the discharge opening 6 by means of the revolving centrifugal or slinging plate 38 on the drive shaft 3. The discharge opening 6 can be closed by appropriate means 39, such as a slide, door or the like.

When only the centrifugal cutting and coarse pre-cutting units are needed for emulsifying of meat, the intermediate section 7 may be removed and the upper section or funnel box 8 set directly on the lower section 5 of the housing. As indicated in FIG. 8, the perforated plate 27 is mounted on the annular flange 12 of the ring 11, and the cutter disc 2911 with the centrifugal cutting knives 23a and the pre-cutting knife head 32 are installed on the drive shaft 3 or on its driving extension 31 by the doubleended bolt 31, 31. In this case the extension axle 30 is not needed.

As indicated in FIG. 6 for certain types of meat processing it is also possible to operate with two superposed centrifugal cutter units whose perforated plates 19, 27 are mounted in the two ring carriers 11 and 22, with or without the employment of the pre-cutting head in the uppermost housing part.

In FIG. 5 an alternative embodiment of the invention is shown as applied to smaller or weaker machines having less power. In this embodiment a somewhat differently shaped funnel box or upper housing section 44 is substituted for the section 8 of the embodiment of FIG. 1. It is carried by a rotatable ring carrier 42 having one or more handles 43, the carrier being in turn threaded to an upwardly extending flange 40 of a modified housing 41 G9 which takes the place of the lower section of the housing of the embodiment of FIG. 1. The carrier ring 42 is adapted to support a perforated plate 27 of the previous embodiment and alternatively the colloid milling ring in such a manner that the height of either can be adjusted with respect to the rotating cutting elements. The ring carrier 42 can be turned jointly with the funnel box 44 and thus be raised or lowered 'by the handles 43. In this embodiment a centrifugal discharge plate 45 is provided, and, above the perforated plate 27 are shown centrifugal cutting knives 46 and a pre-cutting knife head 47 mounted by the double-ended bolt 51, 51 to the shaft 3. In this embodiment, of course, a colloid mill can be substituted for the centrifugal cutting knives 46. This construction is particularly convenient for machines for smaller enterprises or hotels.

If desired, a device can be inserted in the funnel 9 to provide a restricted passage for the entrance of the meat to be comminuted. As shown, this device is in the form of a removable sheet-metal ring 48 having tongues 49 protruding toward each other but displaced in height as to each other.

Depending upon the combination of cutting units chosen, it is possible, according to the invention, to reduce in a single operation large pieces of meat to the desired consistency for the fabrication of sausages. Moreover, the valuable by-products, such as rinds, sinews, head and bone skins, etc., may be reduced to the finest paste. In addition to meat, other materials, such as green vegetables, chemicals, etc., may be minced or emulsified by means of the novel comminuting machine of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. A meat machine comprising, in combination a generally cylindrical, vertically arranged housing having a vertically arranged filling funnel for meat in pieces at the upper end thereof and an outlet at the lower end, a vertical rotatable shaft coaxially mounted in said housing, extending from and driven by an electric motor mounted at the bottom of said housing, a meat removal means adjacent said outlet for promoting flow of said meat out of said housing, two vertically spaced-apart ring members each coaxially arranged with said shaft, each ring member being threaded to the inside of said housing for relative vertical adjustment therewith independently of each other and of the entire housing, each ring member being provided with external moving means for rotating its ring member relative to said housing, and each of said ring members having a depending, inwardly extending, rigidly mounted circular ledge, a perforated plate having a central opening being mounted on the upper surface of the ledge of said uppermost ring and being supported thereby for vertical movement therewith, said plate extending across the inside of said housing, said shaft being aligned with said opening, at least one meat cutting knife mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith, extending across said chamber, terminating near the outer circumference of said perforated plate, the vertical movement of said perforated plate adjusts the clearance between said knife and said perforated plate, the edge of said knife closely overlying said perforated plate, said knife being adapted to urge meat downwardly through said perforated plate and to cut it against said perforated plate, said housing immediately above said vertical plate defining a generally unobstructed meat moving zone whereby outer parts of said perforated plate are in direct communication, a lower stationary cutter means axially arranged with said shaft, mounted on the upper surface of the ledge of said lower ring member and being supported thereby for vertical adjustment therewith, and positioned in spaced relation beneath said perforated plate to provide a meat receiving chamber between said perforated plate and said stationary cutter means, rotatable cutter means mounted on said shaft for rotation therewith and cooperating with said stationary cutter means to comminute meat passing therebe tween, the vertical movement of said stationary cutter means adjusts the clearance between said rotatable cutter means and said stationary cutter means.

2. The comminuting machine of claim 1 wherein said lower stationary cutter means axially arranged with said shaft comprises a second perforated plate, substantially identical with said aforementioned perforated plate, having a central opening, and having a peripheral margin portion engaging for support its corresponding ring ledge, and said rotatable cutter means comprising at least one meat cutting knife mounted on said shaft, extending across said chamber terminating near the outer circumference of said perforated plate, said cutting knife closely overlying said perforated plate being adapted to urge the meat downwards through said second perforated plate and to comminute it in cooperation with said plate.

3. In a comminuting machine for meat and the like having a base, a housing mounted on the base, including a filling funnel at the top of the housing, the housing having upper and lower comminuting chambers, the upper chamber having an opening upwardly into said funnel and the lower chamber having a discharge opening, and said machine having a drive shaft extending from said base upwardly through said lower chamber and into said upper chamber, the combination which comprises a colloid mill in said lower chamber, said mill having a rotary member mounted on said shaft and a cooperating stationary member, a cutting unit in said upper chamber having as a rotary member a knife assembly mounted on said shaft in said upper chamber and as a cooperating stationary member a perforated plate beneath said knife assembly in said upper chamber, supporting rings threaded to the inside of said housing within each of said chambers, the ring of said lower chamber having a portion supporting the stationary member of said colloid mill and the ring of said upper chamber having a portion supporting the stationary member of said cutting unit, means operatively associated with said housing and said rings for vertically adjusting each of said supporting rings independently of each other and of the entire housing for adjusting the clearance between the stationary members and their respective rotary members, said portion of the ring of said lower chamber also being constructed and arranged to support and hold a perforated plate similar to said first mentioned plate, and the portion of said shaft extending within said lower chamber also having means for mounting a knife assembly, the rotary member of the colloid mill being removably attached to said shaft and the stationary member thereof being removable from its supporting ring so that either the cutting unit of said upper chamber or an additional cutting unit may be substituted for the colloid mill in the lower chamber.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 3 wherein said housing is comprised of three superposed separable sections, the upper two sections together providing said upper chamber and the lowest section providing said lower chamber, the uppermost section also comprising the lower portion of the inlet funnel and the lowest section providing the discharge opening, the intermediate section being bodily removable and the base of the uppermost section fitting and being attachable to the top of the lowest section thereby to form with said lowest section a single comminuting chamber for a perforated platerotary knife cutting unit or a colloid mill when said intermediate section is removed.

5. Apparatus is accordance with claim 3 wherein each of said supporting rings is provided with an external spur gear and wherein said housing carries a pair of worm gears, one of which intermeshes with each of said spur gears for effecting said independent adjustment.

6. In a comminuting machine for meat and the like having a base, a housing mounted on the base, including a filling funnel at the top of the housing, the housing having at least one comminuting chamber, said chamber having an opening upwardly into said funnel and a lower discharge opening, and said machine having a rotary drive shaft extending from said base upwardly into said chamber, the combination which comprises a cutting unit in said chamber having as a rotary member a knife assembly mounted on said shaft in said chamber and as a cooperating stationary member a perforated plate beneath said knife assembly in said chamber, a spur gear supporting ring threadably mounted to the inside of said housing within said chamber, said ring having a depending ledge portion supporting and holding the stationary member of said cutting unit, said supporting ring being vertically adjustable with respect to and independently of the entire housing for vertically adjusting said stationary member, and means including a worm gear meshed with said spur gear for vertically adjusting said ring, the knife assembly being removably attached to said shaft and the stationary perforated plate being removable from its supporting ring.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 303,795 Bell Aug. 19, 1884 430,806 Mesa June 24, 1890 1,066,722 Ganzhorn July 8, 1913 2,063,996 Gervais Dec. 15, 1936 2,639,747 Burn et al May 26, 1953 2,749,053 Rieth June 5, 1956 2,977,056 Gustke Mar. 28, 1961 FOREIGN PATENTS 981,435 France Ian. 17, 1951 179,473 Austria Aug. 25, 1954

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