Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
1055~5
MOLDING APPARATUS
Background of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved two stage
molding apparatus in which in the first stage the
material is transferred from a supply means such as
a hopper to a pressure chamber and then pressurized
therein and forced into a receiver chamber and in
the second stage the material is forced from the
receiver chamber into a mold opening.
The most pertinent prior art of which applicant
is aware is R.G. Hall, U.S. Patent 3,347,176 which
also discloses a supply means, a cylinder and piston,
a passage ieading from the supply means to the
cylinder and means for forcing the material from the
cylinder into a mold plate opening by moving the
piston toward the opening. However, the present
invention has structure and advantages that are
different from anything disclosed in this l~all patent
as defined in the claims hereof.
In its broader aspects the invention pertains
to an apparatus for pressure molding a shaped
article from a tissue containing food material
subject to shrinkage during cooking. The apparatus `
includes supply means for the material and a
pressure chamber communicates with the supply
means to receive material therefrom. The apparatus
includes a cylinder having an open end and a piston
in the cylinder is movable toward and away from the
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cylinder open end. A mold having a mold opening
registers with the cylinder open end to receive
material therefrom and means are provided for moving
the mold and thereby the mold opening to a
position where the mold opening is out of
communication with the cylinder whereat the article is
ejected from the mold opening. Means transfer material
from the pressure chamber into the cylinder in one
position of the mold and means move the piston toward
the mold in a second position of the mold to project
material from the cylinder into the mold opening.
Cam means are provided for both moving the piston
toward the mold opening and then maintaining the
piston substantially flush with the mold at the
opening during the moving of the mold opening
thereby maintaining molding pressure on the
material in the mold opening.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a
food material patty molding apparatus embodying
the invention.
Figure 2 ls a sectional view taken substantially
along line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figure 3 is a view similax to Figure 1 but
showing the movable portions of the apparatus
in positions opposite to those of Figure 1.
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Figure 4 is a longitudinal fragmentary
vertical sectional view through the top portion
of the apparatus of Figure 1. :
Figur~ 5 is a horizontal sectional view
taken substantially along line 5-5 of Figure ~ and
illustrating primarily the mold plate and
surrounding structure.
Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4 but
showing the parts of the upper portion of the
apparatus in rearwardly retracted position from
the forward position of Figure 4.
Figure 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional
view taken substantially along line 7-7 of
Figure 6.
Description of a Preferred Embodiment
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The molding apparatus 10 of the illustrated embodiment .-
comprises a hopper 11 that comprises a supply means for
the moldable
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material 12 such as finely divided food material. At the
bottom of the hopper there is positioned a horizontal bottom
plate 13 in which is located a transverse openin~ or slot 14
for projecting a preselected amount 15 of material 12 into a
pressure chamber 16 that is defined by the space between th~
bottom plate 13 and a parallel plate 17 spaced therebeneath.
Mounted for reciprocating forward and rearward move-
ment between the plates 13 and 17 and thus in the pressure
chamber 16 is a horizontal ram 20 of vertically rectangular
cross section. The horizontal extremes of the pressure chamber
16 are defined by a front wall 21 and a rear wall 22 and for-
ward of the front wall 21 is a receiver chamber vertical
cylinder 23 that communicates with the pressure chamber 16 in
the space 25 thereof forwardly of the forwardmost position of
the ram 20 as illustrated in Figure 4.
As illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 this communication
is by way of a bottom transverse slot 25 in the plate 17 for-
wardly of the forwardmost position of the ram 20 which is the -
position illustrated in Figure 4 with this slot 25 then commu-
nicating with an elongated passage 26 in an elongated mold
plate 27 that is reciprocated between a forwardmost position
of Figure 4 and a rearwardmost position of Figure 6.
This fill passage 26 when the mold plate is in the
retracted position communicates with the bottom of the cylinder
23 in the space beneath a vertically movable piston 30 therein.
Thus the ram pressurized material 31 which extends from the
pressure chamber space 24 through the slot 25 and the fill
passage 26 is under sufficient pressure to raise the substan-
tially freely movable piston 30 to the elevated position shown
30 in Figure 4. The amount of pressurized material 31 beneath the ~-
piston 30 is preferably just sufficient to fill a mold opening
32 in the mold plate when the piston 30 is forced to its
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lowermost position as shown in Figure 6 by means described
hereinafter.
The piston 30 is basica:Lly a movable wall member
that is movable in the cylinder that functions as a receiver
chamber. Then, when the movable mold 27 has been moved to the
filling position of Figure 6 the piston is forcibly moved
toward the mold opening to apply pressure to -the material in
the receiver chamber thereby forcing the material into the
mold opening.
In order to predetermine the amount of material re-
ceived in the cylinder 23 beneath the piston 30 the piston is
provided with an upwardly extending stem 33 that extends
through the ~op 34 of the cylinder and the stem 33 carries on
its upper end a flat collar 35. This collar 35 in combination
with an adjustable stop 36 preselects and determines the extent
of upward movement of the piston 30 and thus the amount of
material 31 received in the cylinder 23. This stop, in this
embodiment, comprises an adjustable vertical screw having an -
adjusting knob 37 on its upper end and held in a vertical
bracket 40 that is mounted on the top 34 of the cylinder.
This adjustable stop 36 provides for variable amounts of pres-
surized material 31 in the cylinder 23 depending upon the
size of the shaped article desired. Thus in the illustrated
embodiment where the article is a flat patty 41 of food mate-
rial such as ground meat, fish and the like the adjustment
will be of course to position the piston 30 closer to the mold
plate 27 for a 2 ounce patty, for example, and further away -
for patties of larger siz~.
The fill passage 26 therefore comprises a supply
30 passage for flow of material between the pressure chamber space -
24 and the receiver chamber space which is the portion of the
cylinder 23 beneath the vertically movable piston 30. The
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open bottom end 43 of this cylinder 23 ad~acent to the mold
plate 27 likewise comprises a flow passage for flow of material
from the receiver cham~er or cylinder 23 to the mold opening 32.
The mold 27 also includes a barrier portion 44 that
is located between the fill passage 26 and the mold opening 32
for blocking the flow passage 26 in the bottom plate 17 when
the mold has moved the mold opening 32 into filling position as
shown in Figure 6.
In the illustrated embodiment the flow passage 43
from the receiver chamber cylinder 23 to the mold opening 32
has a transverse area that is less than that of the mold open-
ing 32. This is paxticularly advantageous when molding food
material such as raw ground beef that contains tissue and sim-
ilar fibers and that requires later cooking. This is an ad-
vantage because unless this tissue is arranged in other than
parallel patterns the cooking and similar processing tends to
shrink nonuniformly so that a distorted shaped product is pro-
duced. By having the mold opening with a transverse area largar
than that of the flow passage 43, however, the tissue is ar-
ranged generally radially so that during cooking and resultantshrinking the circular patty maintains its circular though
smaller shape.
In connection with Figure 6, it should also be noted
that the flow passage 43 from the cylinder 23 is of substantially
the same transverse area as the interior of the cylinder 23 so
that the material 31 flows smoothly from beneath the piston 30
into the mold opening. This is a particular advantage in the
molding of a foocl material such as ground raw beef as it avoids
excessive working of the material which tends to squeeze out -
30 the juices and toughen the cooked food material so that there - -
is not only deterioration in texture causing the meat to be
tougher but also a great reduction in flavor because of the
expelling of the juices.
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In fact, this invention is particularly adaptable
to molding such food material as ground raw beef because it
does avoid excessive working of the material which tends to
expel the juices and toughen the product and reduce its flavor
and it also avoids aligning any tissues in parallel patterns
which, as noted above, causes unev~en shrinkage during cooking.
When the piston 30 has been moved downwardly to the
lowered position shown in Figure 6 to fill the mold opening
32 and produce the resulting patty 41 the bottom surface 45 of
the piston 30 is substantially flush with the top surface 46
of the mold plate 27.
The bottom part 47 o~ the apparatus 10 is provided
with the motor drive for the apparatus. This comprises an
electric motor 50 that drives a gear reducer 51 through a shaft
coupler 52. Extending from the opposite sides of the reducer
51 are aligned power shafts 53 of which only one is shown in
the drawings but with the shaft on the opposite side being
exactly the same. Each of these oppositely located shafts 53
drives a lever system that includes a short link 5~ rotatable
in a clockwise direction 55 as viewed in Figure 6, with this
link being rotatably connected to one end of a second link 56
whose opposite end is rotatably connected to about the midpoint
of a third link 57. The lower end of this third link 57 is
fulcrumed on a mounting bracket 60 while the upper end of this
third link 57 is hingedly connected to a fourth link 61 whose
other end is hingedly connected to a slide block 62.
As noted above, although only one set of linkages and
slide block are shown on the one side of the apparatus illus-
trated, there is a corresponding set on the opposite side of
the apparatus.
The mold plate 27 slides between the previously de-
scribed plate 17 and a bottom plate 63 which is supported by a
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plate 64. Mounted on this plate 64 at each end of the apparatus
is a slide bracket 65 and 66 with another pair of exactly sim-
ilar brackets provided on the opposite side of the apparatus.
Each pair of brackets 65 and 66 slidably supports a drive rod
67. There are thus provided two of these drive rods 67 in
parallel arrangement on opposite sides of the apparatus. The
rear end portions 70 of the rods have extending between them a
transverse drive bracket 71 and mounted on the forward end 72
of each slide rod 67 is a mold plate drive block 73 that is
connected to the for~ard end of the mold plate by an upwardly
projecting pin 74 on each side of the mold p~te.
Each slide block 62 s].ides on its drive rod 67 in a
path that is defined by a pair of spaced arive collars 75.
These collars provide a lost motion connection between the slide
blocks 62 and the drive rods 67. Thus when each block 62 is
against the forwardmost collar 75 as shown in Figure 6 and the
shafts 53 are rotating as indicated at 55 the rods 67 are moved -~ .
forwardly as shown by the arrow 76 in Figure 6. However, when :
the rotation of the gear reducer shafts 63 and the linkage
20 systems connected thereto moves the slide blocks 62 rearwardly .. .
as indicated by the arrow 77 in Figure 4 the slide blocks 67
and the portions of the structure attached thereto do not begin ~;. - -
their rearward movement until the slide blocks 62 reach the
rear drive collars 75.
The drive bracket 71 in its reciprocating movement
between the extreme positions of Figures 6 and 4 drives a sleeve
80 that extends through the rear wall 22 of the pressure chamber
16 to engage a threaded nut 81 that is spaced a short distance
rearwardly of the ram 20. This nut 81 engages the threaded
forward end 82 of a shaft 83 that is located within the sleeve
80. This shaft 83 is rotatable by turning a head 84 attached
thereto rearwardly of the drive bracket 71.
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Concentrically around and spaced from the sleeve 80
is a horizontal cylinder 85 that is slidable in the rear wall
22 and this cylinder at its forward end surrounds the threaded
nut 81. Fastened to the interior of the cylinder 85 and spaced
from the nut 81 is an annular collar 86. Positioned between
this collar 86 and the nut 81 is a helical spring 87 that is
located in a space between the sleeve 80 and the cylinder 85.
The nut 81 is slidable within the forward end of the cylinder 85
and because it is fastened to the sleeve 80 which is itself
fastened to the head 84, turning the shaft 83 adjusts the posi-
tion of the nut 81 longitudinally and thus adjusts the precom :~
pression of the helical spring 87. The forward end of the shaft
83 is attached to the ram 20 by a cross pin 90.
The head or handle 84 may thus be used to adjust thecompression on the spring 87. If the handle 84 is turned in a
clockwise direction as viewed from the rear it draws the nut 81
toward it on the threaded forward end 82 of the shaft 83 which
nut 81 is slidable on the interior surface of the cylinder 85.
Conversely, rotating the head 84 in a counterclockwise direction
moves the nut 81 further away and reduces the compressive force
on the spring 87. In making these adjustments the handle or head
84 rotates freely on the shaft 83. The precompression thusly
applied to the spring 87 presses the end collar 86 firmly against
the drive bracket yoke 71 as the collar 86 is pinned securely
to the cylinder 85 by three screw pins as illustrated.
In order to feed material from the hopper 11 into the
pressure chamber 16 there are provided a pair of cylindrical
feeders 91 and 92 each provided with spaced pins 93 slopea in
the directions of rotation as shown by the arrows 94. These
30 feeders 91 and 92 are mounted on cross parallel shafts 95 above ~ :
and on opposite sides of the opening 14 into the pressure ~:
chamber 16 and when the feeders are rotated the pins which move ~:
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from the top toward each other project a vertical column of
material through the opening 14 to provide th~ depending amount
15 of material. In order to prevent the material being carried
around by the rotating pins 93 there are provided combs 98 on
opposite sides of the slot exit opening 14 with each comb com-
prising teeth spaced apart slightly greater than the width of a
pin 93 so that the passage of the pins through the combs 98 will
tend to strip material carried by the pins.
The feeders 91 and 92 are provided with intermeshing
circular gears 96 concentric with the shafts 95 with these gears
being concealed behind a front wall 97. These gears rotate the
feeders in the directions 94 intermittently with each recipro-
cation of the drive rods 67. This intermittent rotation is
accomplished in the following manner.
One of the pair of parallel shafts 85 has mounted
thereon a one-way clutch 101 having a projecting arm 102. This
clutch permits rotation of the shaft 95 to which it is attached
only in a clockwise direction as viewed in Figure 3. Because
of the meshing of the gears 96 this of course causes rotation of
the opposite shaft 95 only in a counterclockwise direction.
Attached to the outer end of the clutch arm 102 is a
depending vertical drive member 103 whose lower end carries a
stub shaft 104 which projects inwardly to engage an elongated
slot 105 in a cam plate 106.
This ca:m plate is of generally bifurcated construction
with one end 107 of a branch 110 hingedly connected to the
bottom portion 47 of the apparatus and the other branch 111
providing an i.nclined cam surface 112. As can be seen from Fig-
ures 1 and 3 the slot 105 in which is located the stub shaft ~
30 104 is positioned adjacent to the area of joining of the angular ~ -
branches 110 and 111.
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A helical spring 113 is provided having an upper end
attached to the frame of the apparatus and a lower end attached
to an end portion 114 of the vertical drive member 103 in order
to constantly urge the drive member and thus the clutch arm 102
and cam 103 in an upward direction.
In order to apply pressure to the cam surface 112
and urge it and thus the drive member 103 and clutch arm 102
downwardly a slide block 62 carries a depending cam follower
roller 114. When the mold plate and the mold plate drive are
in the forwardly projected position as shown in Figure 1 the
slide blocks 62 and the roller 114 are likewise in their for-
wardmost positions. Then movement of the slide blocks 62 toward
their rearwardmost position of Figure 3 carries the cam follower
roller 114 rearwardly to engage the inclined cam surface 112
and depress the cam plate 106 downwardly about its hinge 116
connection to the bottom part 47 of the frame of the apparatus
as shown in Figure 3.
This engagement of the cam roller 114 causes the
counterclockwise arcuate movement of the cam plate 106 to pull
the drive member 103 downwardly as indicated at 116 thereby
turning the clutch 101 clockwise and because of the intermesh-
ing gears 96 turning the feeders toward each other as shown by
the arrows 117 in Figure 3. This indexes the feeder pins toward
the opening 14 between the hopper 11 and the pressure chamber
16 to project the material 15 into the pressure chamber. Then,
when the forward movement of the drive mechanism and the mold
plate begins the forward movement of the slide blocks 62 carries -
the cam follower roller 114 forwardly to release the cam 106
thereby permitting the spring 113 to raise the cam 106 to its
30 elevated position of Figure 1 and o return the clutch arm 102 '~
to its elevated position against an adjustable stop 120. The
adjustable stop 120 which as shown in this embodiment is an
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elongated screw threadably engaging a bracket 121 adjusts the
upward position of the clutch arm 102. This upper or retracted
position o~ the clutch arm 102 and thereby the clutch 101 pre-
determines the amount 15 of material projected into the pressure
chamber 16. Obviously, the higher the position of the clutch
arm 102 the greater the arcs of mo~ement of the feeders 91 and
92 and the greater the volume of material 15 that is moved into
the pressure chamber.
In reciprocating the ram 20 rearwardly from the for-
ward position of Figure 4 toward the retracted position of
Figure 6 it sometimes occurs that the suction of the retracting
ram pulls the portion 122 of material at the front surface 123
of the ram rearwardly with the ram. In order to prevent this
a vacuum release venting means is provided. This release
means comprises a plurality, here shown as four, of holes 124
through the front wall 21 of the pressure chamber 16 and a
normally open flat valve plate 125 encompassing these holes.
The plate 125 is within the space 24 at the forward end of the
pressure chamber and the plate is held in the normally open
position of Figure 6 by a leaf spring 126. With this arrange-
ment the leaf spring 126 normally holds the valve plate 125
spaced from the opening 124. However, the advancing material
pressed forwardIy by the ram 20 engages and closes this valve
plate so that the pressurized charge of material cannot escape
through the opening. Then when the ram moves to the rear or
from the position of Figure 4 to the position of Figure 6
suction developed at the front face of the ram opens the valve
to permit air to enter and relieve this suction. -
The pair of short or first links 54 which are rotatable
with the oppositely projecting drive shafts 53 carries on their
outer ends at the hinge connection to the two links 56 a crescent
cam 127. Each cam 127 has an arcuate cam surface 130 that at - ;
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its forward end with relation to the direction of rotation 55
and for most of the extent of the surface 130 is concentric with
the axis of rotation of the shaft 53. This forward portion 131
of the cam surface arcuately curves toward the axis of rotation
at its rear portion 132 as shown most clearly in Fi~ures 3 and
6. -~
These cam surfaces 130 each engage a roller 133 that
acts as a cam follower with each roller being mounted on a gener-
ally horizontal drive bar 134. Each drive bar has a rear end
10 fulcrumed to a mounting bracket 134 and its forward end hingedly
connected to the bottom of a vertical drive bar 136. The two
drive bars are vertical and substantially parallel to each other
and carry at their upper ends above the cylinder 23 a cross bar
137. The cross bar 137 has a central opening 140 into which
extends the upper end of the piston 30 stem 33. Located above
this opening 140 is an enclosing bracket 141 in which is located
a vertically movable stub shaft 142 that is urged downwardly to
press a collar 143 against the top of the cross bar 137 by a ::
helical compression spring 144. This spring 144 and associated : :
20 structure limits the amount o~ downward force that can be exerted :
on the material 31 within the cylinder 23 by the descending
piston 30.
When the apparatus is properly adjusted the ram 20 is
moved forwardly to project the amount of pressurized material 31
beneath the piston 30 to exactly fill the mold opening 32O If,
however, through maladjustment too much material is transferred
to the pressure chamber 16, as indicated for example at 15, the
upward movement of the piston 30 being stopped by the st~p 36 at
that amount necessary to fill the mold opening means that the
30 excess will gradually accumulate in front of the front surface
123 of the pressure ram. This accumulation 122 gradually builds
up because the amount of material that can enter beneath the
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piston 30 is limited by the collar 34 and stop 36. When the
accumulation reaches a certain amount, the pressure ram 20 is
held rearwardly from its position in Figure 4 to expose an up-
wardly extending vent slot 145 leading from this portion of the
pressure chamber up to the interior of the hopper 11 rearwardly
of the adjacent comb 98. Because this passage 145 is so short
even when the apparatus is thus malad~usted the forcing of the
excess material back into the hopper in this manner does not ex-
cessively work and does not toughen the meat. On the opposite
10 end of the pressure chamber 16 there is provided a second vent
slot 1~6 that provides a return passage for material that leaks
to the rear of the ram. This material is compressed by the
rear face 147 of the ram 20 and forced up the slot 146 again to
a portion of the hopper that is rearwardly of the adjacent comb
98. This slot 146 like the first slot 145 returns the material
without excess working which in the case of meat is important in
order to prevent toughening of the meat and reducing its flavor
for the reasons previously described.
When the mold plate 27 is in its forwardmost position
20 in the embodiment illustrated the formed patty 41 is removed from
the opening by a knockout mechanism that includes a vertically ;~
movable cup 150 that is reciprocated in a vertical direction as
shown by the arrow 151 into and out of the mold opening 52 during
the pause in the movement of the mold plate due to the lost -
motion connection provided by the spacing of the drive collars
75 on opposite sides of each slide block 62. The knockout
mechanism including the cup 150 and apparatus for moving it in
a vertical direction 151 may be any of those customarily used
and widely known. Examples of such knockout or patty removing
30 apparatus are shown and described in U. S. patents 3,293,688 and
3,417,425, both assigned to the assignee hereof.
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The operation of the apparatus in the disclosed embodi-
ment is believed obvious from the above description. However, a
brief summary of the operation is as follows.
The motor or gear reducer rotate the opposite drive
shafts 53 in the direction indicated to reciprocate the slide
blocks 62 on their drive rods 67. This reciprocates the mold
plate 27 between the rearwardmost position of Figures 3 and 6
and the forwardmost position of Figures 1 and 4. When the mold
plate and the drive mechanism which drives it are in their for-
10 wardmost positions as shown in Figures 1 and 4 the knockoutstructure 150 is reciprocated vertically 151 into and out of the
mold plate opening 32 to remove the patty 41 therefrom.
Because the drive rods 70 and drive bracket 71 inter- . .
connect the mold plate 27 and the ram 20 these move simultaneously
in the same direction. Because of the location of the fill passage
26 in the mold plate when the mold opening 32 is in position for
removal of the patty 41 as described the fill passage 26 inter- .
connects the bottom of the pressure chamber fill slot 25 and the :
bottom end 43 of the cylinder 23. This causes the ram 20 to force
20 the pressurized material 31 through the slot 25 and up into the
cylinder to raise the piston 30 to the point where the collar 35
engages the stop 36. This predetermines the amount of pressurized ~ .
material 31 beneath the piston and when the apparatus is properly
adjusted this amount will be exactly that required to fill the
mold opening 32 to produce the shaped patty 41. .
Then rearward movement 77 of the drive portions of the
apparatus cause the slide blocks 62 to engage the rear drive ~ .
collar 75 when the knockout cup 150 has been raised from the mold :
opening 32. Continued rearward movement of the slide blocks 62
30 retracts the ram 20 to the position shown in Figure 6 and in
this completely retracted posi~ion the mold opening 32 is directly
and concentrially beneath the cylinder 23. The rotation 55 of
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the links 54 causes the cam surface forward portion 131 to engage
the cam follower roller 133 on each side of the apparatus and
pull the piston 30 down sharply to the position where the bottom
surface 45 is flush with the top su:rface 46 of the mold plate.
Because of the coaxial relationship of the leading cam surface
131 of the cam 127 the piston is held in this position until the
forward movement 76 of the linkage system causes the slide blocks
62 engaging the forward drive collar 75 to again move the ram
and mold plate to the position shown in Figure 4.
During the time that the piston 30 is being depressed
to the position shown in Figure 6 to fill the mold opening 32 the :.
barrier portion 44 of the mold plate is beneath the slot 25 lead-
ing from the forward end of the pressure chamber so that no more
material can flow therethrough while the mold opening is being
filled.
The continued rotation of the cam 127 permits release -
of the downward pressure on the piston 30 but this is only after ~:~
the mold opening 32 has been moved out of position beneath the .
cylinder 23. -
As previously stated, the incoming pressurized charge
31 of material raises the piston 30 to its uppermost position as :
shown in Figure 4. At the same time the tension of the sp~ng 113
pulls the drive member 103 and the cam plate 106 to their elevated
positions shown in Figure 1 with the clutch bar 102 against the
stop 120. This upward movement of these parts of the apparatus
does not cause any movement of the feeders 91 and 92 because of
the provision of the one-way clutch 101.
Then rearward movement 77 of the slide block 62 and
corresponding rearward movement of the cam follower roller 114
30 causes the engagement of the follower with the cam edge 112 to
depress the cam plate 106 and index the feeders downwardly arcu-
ately as indicated-by the arrows 117 to provide a fresh charge
of moldable material in the pressure chamber 16.
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In the operation of the machine the amount of moldable
material 12 such as ground beef to form the molded article such
as the beef patty 41 is easily predetermined by adjusting the
position o~ the stop 120 which determines the upward position of
the clutch arm 102. This in turn determines the amount of mate-
rial that will be captured by the ~eeder pins 83 so that the cam
1~6 operated feeder drive member 103 will project the exact amount
of material into the compression chamber 16 for forming one molded
article or patty 41 when the piston 30 has been pulled down as
10 described to its lowermost position of Figure 6 where its bottom
45 is flush with the top of the mold plate 27. This relationship
is illustrated in both Figures 6 and 7.
The amount of material 15 necessary to ~orm the molded
article 41 is not immediately pressed into the cylinder 23 to
provide the portion 31 shown in Figure 4 which is the exact amount
of the portion 15 and the exact amount in the patty 41 but, first,
the projected amount 15 is forced forwardly in the compression
chamber by the advancing ram 20 as it reaches the position shown
in Figure 4 and this amount is then moved into the rear end fill
20 passage 26 where it displaces an equal amount of material upwardly
to form the portion 31 beneath the piston 30 which in this emkodi-
ment is raised to this elevated position by the pressure of the : .
incoming material 31. Thus with each reciprocation of the ram 20
forwardly to feeding position the amount of material required to . :
produce the article 41 is forced into the fill slot and eventually
up into the area beneath the ram 30 in successive portions.
If the apparatus is maladjusted any excess amount overthat required to produce a patty 41 is automatically compensated
for because this excess amount on successive strokes o the ram
30 20 builds up to the point where the ram is held retracted by the
excess material to where the bypass slot 145 is exposed and the ~ -
excess begins to be returned to the hopper 11 in the manner
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previously described. If the maladjustment provides too small
an amount of material to produce the patty 41, it is immediately
evident in the fact that unfilled patties will begin to be pro-
duced by the apparatus. This will immediately alert the operator
to this condition and he can make the proper adjustments as by
adjusting the position of the stop 120 until the condition is
corrected. If he overadjusts so that too much material is fed
into the compression chamber 16 for making a patty 41, this excess
will be returned to the hopper through the passage 145 in the
10 manner previously described.
The opposite vent slot 146 merely takes care of leakage
around the ram so that close tolerances of the ram and self-
adjusting seals are not required.
As is evident from the disclosure the molding apparatus
; of this invention can be used to mold any type of pressure mold-
able material that is self-sustaining once it has been molded.
However it is particularly adapted for making molded articles such
as patties of food material such as raw meat. The apparatus is
particularly adapted for food material molding because it avoids
20 shearing which tends to align any tissue in parallel so that during
cooking the article such as the hamburger patties shrink out of
round. Shearing is avoided by having the bottom 45 of the feed
piston 30 substantially flush with the top 46 of the mold plate 27
as shown in Figures 6 and 7 so that there is no movement of one `
portion of meat relative to an adjacent portion as when the mold
plate is moved to the patty ejecting position of Figure 1. Sim-
ilarly because the fill opening 14 is long and narrow the forward
moving ram 20 which cuts off the depending portion 15 of material
necessary to form a patty 41 is sheared but the area involved is
30 so small that it has no material effect on the alignment of the
tissue. Similarly, any aligned tissue that might prevail is imme-
dately corrected by the forcing of the tissue containing meat
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first do-~nwardly in the slot 25 as shown in Figuxe 4 and then
forwardly in the passage 26 and then upwardly beneath the ram 30.
The forcing of the tissue containing food material for-
wardly in the fill passage 26 also tends to cause an alignment of
the tissue in parallel as it flows forwardly in the passage 26
and up into the space beneath the elevated ram 30. However, when
the food material contains such tissue it is preferred that the
diameter of the mold opening 32 be greater than the diameter of
the open bottom flow passage 43 so that the descending piston 30
10 when forced from the raised position of Figure 4 to the lowered
position of Figure 6 causes the tissue containing food material to
first pass longitudinally downwardly and then radially outwardly
to the periphery of the mold opening 32 and this combined longi-
tudinal and radial movement destroys any parallel aligmnent of
the tissues so that the resulting patty or similar article w-ill
shrink uniformly.
When used on food material such as meat which contains
a mixture of fluids and solid particles the high quality of the ~
material is maintained because the pressures employed by the ~-
20 apparatus of this invention are gentle so that the juices are not
squeezed from the tissues and the resulting shaped articles such
as patties are similar in texture and flavor to those shaped by
the gentle pressure of hand molding.
Another feature that contributes to the high quality
of the shaped article that is particularly important when the
material is food is the fact that no air is trapped in the space
beneath the piston 30 in the cylinder 23. This is true because
the entire space between the forwardly pressed ram 20 as illus- ~ -
trated in Figure 4 and the surface 45 of the piston 30 is com-
30 pletely filled with material at all times.
--19-- : ..
~LCJ S:i7~75i
Having described my invention as related to the
embodiment shown in the accompany-ing drawings, it is my
intention that the inventïon be not limited by any of the details
of description, unless other~ise specified, but rather be
construed broadly within its spirït and scope as set out in
the appended claims.
-20- -
