Abstract: Disclosed is a food product blanching and processing apparatus and method. The apparatus includes a weigh hopper and infeed conveyor having a pivoting infeed chute which can be retracted to prevent contamination of blanched product with incoming raw product. The infeed chute supplies incoming food products to a pressure vessel which is rotatably mounted within an enclosure. The pressure vessel has a lid assembly which allows the food product to be fed thereinto, yet can be tightly closed for pressurization of the interior of the vessel during the blanching and processing operation. The pressure vessel assembly is rotated into a discharge position and the food product is dumped against a discharge chute 18 which is extendable and retractable so that residual product can drain downwardly outside of the outfeed conveyor. The outfeed conveyor includes a hopper and conveyor which moves the blanched and processed food product onto associated food processing equipment.

Abstract: An article alignment and conveying apparatus 10 is described for aligning elongated articles 12 in single file in a plurality of transversely spaced lanes and moving the articles while in the lanes past a work station 13. The apparatus 10 includes an article feed bed in the form of a series of stepped conveyor beds 20 for receiving the articles and subdividing the articles into a number of channels 32 corresponding with the lanes. The articles fall from the channels 32 onto a belt conveyor 40 having a plurality of parallel narrow belts extending from the channels 32 past the work station. The belt conveyor 40 has a grooved bed section for corrugating the surface formed by the belts to transversely space and longitudinally align the articles. The belt conveyor 40 has a second bed section that is flat to flatten the supporting surface of the belt as the aligned articles moved past the work station 13.