For Elongate Or Sausage Shaped Article Patents (Class 99/441)
  • Patent number: 5499575
    Abstract: A food loaf shaping and texturizing rack is provided which transforms a generally cylindrical large food loaf, stick or chub into a shape which approximates that of a natural food product, such as whole muscle meat when sliced. The rack also includes a lattice network which forms irregularities in the surface of the finished product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 26, 1994
    Date of Patent: March 19, 1996
    Assignee: Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation
    Inventors: Gary A. Handel, John A. Jonovic, Otto L. Krueger
  • Patent number: 5499578
    Abstract: A sausage cutter comprised of a cutting block having two portions. Each of the two portions has an upper surface, a lower surface, an inner surface, and an outer surface. The two portions are hingedly secured together at the lower surface thereof. Each inner surface has a longitudinally oriented concave recess formed therein. When the two portions are closed together each concave recess forms a containment chamber. Each of the two portions has a plurality of transversely oriented slots extending downwardly through the upper surface thereof to a position below the longitudinally oriented concave recess. The two portions serve to contain a sausage within the containment chamber formed by the longitudinally oriented concave recesses as the two portions are closed together.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 23, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 19, 1996
    Inventor: Patricia K. Payne
  • Patent number: 5497697
    Abstract: An improved tumble basket for use with a rotisserie is provided comprising a generally cylindrical basket having first and second ends. Attached to said first end, co-axial with said basket is means for supporting said first end on the barbecue and for in co-operation with a drive motor rotating the basket. This means consists of a square rod centrally attached to the said first end of the basket. Attached to said second end, co-axial with said basket, is handle means which support the basket on the barbecue and provide a handle for removing the basket from the barbecue after cooking. The handle means consists of a rod centrally attached to said second end of the basket with a insulated handle attached to the distal end of the rod. A hinged cover is provided with latch means that can be operated while the basket is hot without burning the operator's fingers.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 17, 1995
    Date of Patent: March 12, 1996
    Inventor: Lech Promny
  • Patent number: 5487330
    Abstract: A pan is provided for baking taco shells in an oven for holding the baked shells while filling and serving. The pan has a plurality of elongate parallel tapered ridges with troughs between the ridges. The inverted shell is placed astride a ridge. As the shell is pushed onto the tapered ridge it is gradually opened up. It is held in this open position during baking and retains this open configuration when turned upright and seated in a trough where it is fully supported during filling and serving. At each end of the trough, a stop element slopes upward from the bottom of the trough. It is high enough to retain any spilled contents in the trough as well as preventing the tacos from sliding off the pan when tilted. The stop element also serves to facilitate grasping of the filled taco from below by gradually lifting up the taco as it is slid along the trough and over the stop element.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1995
    Date of Patent: January 30, 1996
    Inventor: Audrey J. Mooney
  • Patent number: 5359924
    Abstract: An appliance for cooking a sausage on a stick embedded in a batter. One or a plurality of cylinders are provided for receiving a cooked sausage skewered on a stick which is then filled with a pancake batter. The cylinders are then submerged in a hot oil for a few minutes to cook the batter to produce a breakfast on a stick. The appliance can be in the form of a plurality of cylinders on a plate or can be individual cylinders. The appliance is provided with hooks or a clip to mount it in a deep fat frying basket for submersion in hot oil, In another embodiment the appliance can be free-standing by surrounding each cylinder with a heating coil.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 21, 1992
    Date of Patent: November 1, 1994
    Inventors: Gordon G. Roberts, Gordon E. Roberts
  • Patent number: 5355778
    Abstract: A handheld, rotatable food roasting apparatus for use in supporting food over a campfire or the like includes a cylindrical receptacle including opposed axial ends, an open interior space, and an opening formed in one of the axial ends through which food may be placed into and removed from the interior space. An elongated handle is attached to the receptacle for allowing the apparatus to be supported and rotated over the source of heat. In order to facilitate transportation of the device, the handle may be sectioned.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 9, 1992
    Date of Patent: October 18, 1994
    Inventors: Alfred B. Mayfield, Sanford Nikkel
  • Patent number: 5278376
    Abstract: This invention covers a shallow bottom part adapted to receive an individual lobster from the Homaridae family on its back, shaped generally of lobster shape, with claw-shaped portions for receiving the lobster's claws and an elongated portion extending therefrom receiving the lobster's tail. Extending across the claw-shaped portions are retaining strips to retain the respective claws of the lobster and breakaway parts hinged from the respective opposite sides of the elongated tail portion which when joined retain the lobster's tail and with the claws retained, release of the live lobster by itself is prevented when the bottom part containing the lobster and the cover extending thereover is placed in the microwave oven for the cooking operation. For cooking a Rock lobster from the Palinuridae family or crayfish without claws, a liner is provided that is without clawshaped portions to better confine the clawless lobster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 23, 1992
    Date of Patent: January 11, 1994
    Inventor: Samuel A. Cyr
  • Patent number: 5232609
    Abstract: General purpose equipment is provided for supporting bread making products or similar during the process of fermentation and baking of the dough, including as basic unit elements: a tray with side flanges (1), one or more replaceable and interchangeable non stick membranes or molds, perforated, or not, each preformed to the dimensions and shapes of a bread, Viennese bread or pastry piece or pieces to be baked, each of these interchangeable membranes or molds resting, on the tray without being fixed or at least while remaining removable.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 1992
    Date of Patent: August 3, 1993
    Assignee: ETS Guy DeMarle
    Inventors: Raymond Badinier, Didier Prevost, Gonzague Prouvost, Albert Stubbe
  • Patent number: 5211106
    Abstract: An apparatus and a method for cooking a casingless food product such as a casingless sausage or the like is provided. The apparatus includes a tray to support a plurality of casingless sausages and the like which nest within laterally extending recessed areas and the tray is provided with a plurality of pores or slots extending therethrough. The tray is positioned within an oven housing and separates the interior thereof into a first space above the tray and a second space below the tray. The air within the housing is heated and the second space is pressurized to a positive pressure over that within the first space to provide for the forced escape of heated air from the second space into the first space through the pores in the tray to thereby lift the casingless food product above the surface of the tray and to cook the food product while suspended above the tray.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 22, 1991
    Date of Patent: May 18, 1993
    Assignee: Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation
    Inventor: Donald E. Lucke
  • Patent number: 5117748
    Abstract: Apparatus having spaced rollers in a frame, and a handle on the frame for drawing the frame laterally across a grid covering a bed of hot coals. Lateral movement along the grid causes the rollers to rotate and thereby counter rotate hot dogs on the rollers while the heat from the coals passes between the rollers to grill the hot dogs.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 1990
    Date of Patent: June 2, 1992
    Inventor: Robert N. Costa
  • Patent number: 5073141
    Abstract: An accessory device for a sausage stuffer serving for the production of skinless sausages, or the like, comprises pipes which are connected to a filling pipe of the sausage stuffer and which are subdivided into different sections maintained at different temperatures so that skinless sausages can be produced.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 26, 1990
    Date of Patent: December 17, 1991
    Assignee: H. Maurer & Sohne Rauch-Und Warmetechnik
    Inventor: Josef Lemmer
  • Patent number: 5058493
    Abstract: A cooking device for rotating foods on a barbeque has a frame, a plurality of front bearings in a front wall and an equal number of rear bearings in a rear wall arranged in pairs on common axes, a plurality of cylindrical rollers received in respective pairs of bearings, and having drive portions extending outwardly from the front or rear wall means, and a chain drive rotating the rollers, and in which the tubular rollers are disengagable from the bearings and the chain drive for cleaning.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 22, 1991
    Inventors: Charles Basek, Phil Mathews, Terry L. Newcombe
  • Patent number: 5054467
    Abstract: The present invention relates to solar hot dog cookers. A dark M-W cross sectioned cylindrical hot dog holder holds at least two hot dogs. The hot dogs are placed on the holder and covered by a dark, solar energy absorbing flat plate. The combination is placed on a plastic base having raised edges to prevent spilling of grease. The base is covered with a top generally transparent to solar energy waves and placed in the sun. Depending on solar intensity, about twenty minutes are usually sufficient to cook the hot dogs. The cooker may then be reused. The cooker also works when solar energy is not at a maximum, such as certain cloudy days, evenings, cold days, etc.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 10, 1990
    Date of Patent: October 8, 1991
    Inventor: Donald W. Videtto, Jr.
  • Patent number: 4996912
    Abstract: Application of substantial pressure to ends of a frankfurter, concurrent with passing of electrical current, through the application of a cooking tray whose structure accepts multiple frankfurters and allows the pressure to be applied by the use of a carriage system with multiple plungers whose points of contacts serve as electrodes; use of aluminum foil patches between the extremities of the frankfurter and electrode plunger cups is made to maintain conductivity with said aluminum patches being applied by use of a paper tape sprocket system which is microprocessor controlled or in the alternative by manual operator insertion in a modified cooking tray which eliminates the need of the paper tape sprocket system. Application of pressure to extremities of the frankfurter is well in excess of that required for mere electrical contact, but is part of the cooking process for producing a processed frankfurter in less than 40 seconds with high reliability by passing an electric current without burning or arcing.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 8, 1989
    Date of Patent: March 5, 1991
    Assignee: Lectrofood Corporation
    Inventors: Ernst T. Theimer, Joseph S. Zavagli, Robert S. Bissett
  • Patent number: 4972767
    Abstract: An elevator for a toaster is disclosed which has a first portion for supporting one or more frankfurters generally side by side between an opposed pair of heating elements in the toaster. The elevator includes a second portion for supporting one or more buns one in each bun heating chamber each bun being adjacent to a single heating element. The frankfurters are heated on two sides where the buns are heated on only one side. The side by side orientation of the first portion is at right angles to an axis formed between two of the buns when the buns are supported in the bun heating chamber by the second portion. In another aspect of the invention a toaster is provided which includes a frankfurter heating chamber, at least one bun heating chamber, and at least one heating element interposed between the frankfurter heating chamber and the bun heating chamber. The heating element simultaneously heating both the frankfurter and the bun.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1989
    Date of Patent: November 27, 1990
    Assignee: Gordon K. Russell
    Inventors: Gordon K. Russell, Donald Taylor, Clement Ching, Kam-Chuen Chan
  • Patent number: 4960211
    Abstract: A variable rack for rising bread dough can be quickly and easily configured to cradle one or more bread doughs of the same or different sizes during rising and the risen bread doughs can be simultaneously removed from the variable rack to a baking sheet, in the preferred position of soft dough side up, for direct transfer into the oven. The variable rack supports a series of adjustable canvas loops that cradle rising yeast bread doughs to produce European style loaves of bread that stand free on a baking sheet in the oven, as opposed to being confined in a baking pan.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 24, 1989
    Date of Patent: October 2, 1990
    Inventor: Almonte F. Bailey
  • Patent number: 4920872
    Abstract: A method of cooking corn on the cob wherein the corn is partially cooked in a parboiling assembly, removed, and then roasted, grilled or broiled on a roasting assembly. The roasting assembly comprises a heat source disposed adjacent a gridiron composed of substantially parallel elongate cylindrical elements. These elements are spaced apart to support a corn cob between the or each pair of neighbouring elements, and are mounted for rotation to rotate the corn cob or cobs thereon. The parboiling assembly and the roasting assembly are parts of the same apparatus which, in one preferred form, is mounted on wheels to render it easily movable, under human power, between locations where freshly roasted corn is to be made or served, e.g. to be offered for sale.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 21, 1987
    Date of Patent: May 1, 1990
    Inventor: Peter M. J. Henry
  • Patent number: 4913047
    Abstract: An electric sausage cooker defines troughs in which sausages or the like can be placed to restrain them against the lateral deflection when axially compressed. The standard wall voltage is then applied across the sausage through two contact plates. One of the plates is movable and the other is fixed. A safety feature is incorporated, by the provision of a lid which closes over the sausages and prevents the user from touching the contact plates. As the lid swings shut, it mechanically closes a safety switch, which in turn activates the contact plates. When the lid opens the contact plates are de-activated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 12, 1988
    Date of Patent: April 3, 1990
    Assignee: ADP Technology Inc.
    Inventor: Allan L. Burley
  • Patent number: 4901631
    Abstract: A toaster for heating both a frankfurter and a frankfurter bun is disclosed. The toaster has a frankfurter heating chamber having associated first heating elements for heating at least two opposed surfaces of a frankfurter placed in said frankfurter heating chamber and at least one bun heating chamber having an associated second heating element for heating at least one surface of a bun placed in said bun heating chamber. The toaster includes an elevator having a first portion for supporting the frankfurter in the frankfurter heating chamber and a second portion for supporting the bun in the bun heating chamber. A connecting means connects the first portion to said second portion and permits a limited amount of play between said first and second portion. In one embodiment the connecting means includes a generally upside down U-shaped link bar.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 26, 1989
    Date of Patent: February 20, 1990
    Assignee: Gordon K. Russell
    Inventors: Gordon K. Russell, Donald Taylor, Clement Ching, Kam-Chuen Chan
  • Patent number: 4891237
    Abstract: Mechanisms and methods are provided in conjunction with the molding of stuffable food products into a shaped loaf that is suitable for automatic slicing into substantially uniform slices. Included is an expansion and contraction compensation mechanism that includes a ratcheting assembly and a biasing assembly that cooperate to permit adequate expansion of the food product during cooking thereof while still retaining enough biasing force to continually compress the product being molded during contraction which occurs upon chilling the food product.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1988
    Date of Patent: January 2, 1990
    Assignee: Oscar Mayer Foods Corporation
    Inventor: John Rabotski
  • Patent number: 4842181
    Abstract: An apparatus for loading food for alignment with food sticks is provided. A food bin stores the food to be processed. The bin is filled with food which is gravity fed into J-shaped sections of a food conveyor belt. Concurrently, a stick conveyor system carries and aligns food sticks with the food. When the correct number of food items is aligned with the food sticks, the sticks are automatically inserted into the food items.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 16, 1987
    Date of Patent: June 27, 1989
    Assignee: Automated Food Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Glenn E. Walser
  • Patent number: 4740379
    Abstract: A process for producing a meat analogue from a starting material having a high protein content comprises injecting the starting material into a mold against a substantially constant back pressure which is provided by a pressurized piston. The starting material is supplied to the mold under continuous high temperature and high pressure, for example, by an extruder, such as a single screw extruder or a twin screw extruder.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 1987
    Date of Patent: April 26, 1988
    Assignees: Director of National Food Research Institute, Ministry of Agriculture Forestry & Fisheries
    Inventors: Akinori Noguchi, Nobuaki Ishida, Seiichiro Isobe
  • Patent number: 4723482
    Abstract: A sausage heating machine. A plurality of baskets mounted on a framework of the machine turn with the framework. Each basket has guide members for supporting a sausage. Each guide member includes a main portion on which the sausage can roll as the framework turns. The sausage can fall crosswise of the guide member at leading end portions of the guide members. Hook shaped trailing edge portions of the guide members catch and hold the sausage when the sausage has fallen. Radiant heat is projected crosswise of the framework to heat and cook the sausage as the framework turns.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 20, 1987
    Date of Patent: February 9, 1988
    Assignee: Gold Metal Products Co.
    Inventors: Ronald R. Weiss, Jerry K. Phillips
  • Patent number: 4656929
    Abstract: An improved cooking utensil for the deep fat frying of food items including at least one food holding container having a movable portion which is responsive to a movable portion control means and moves from a closed position in alignment with adjacent portions of said food holding container to an open position away from said food holding container so that food items can be more easily removed from said food holding container after deep fat frying. Piston members responsive to piston control means can optionally be included within the food holding container to push the food items out of the food holding container after deep fat frying. A plurality of food holding containers can be utilized to deep fat fry a plurality of food items and the shape of the food holding containers can be varied to produce various shaped food items.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 22, 1985
    Date of Patent: April 14, 1987
    Inventor: Tri T. Dinh
  • Patent number: 4633772
    Abstract: An apparatus for automatically turning hot dogs upon a conventional griddle which has an easily attachable and detachable motor drive unit and continuously turns the hot dogs and cooks them properly on the griddle. The turner has a grid which slidably rests upon the griddle and has a plurality of laterally elongated openings for receipt of the hot dogs. A portable, detachable drive unit rests upon a surface which is adjacent to the griddle. A releasable coupling means drivingly, but detachable connects the drive unit to the grid for driving the grid in longitudinal reciprocation so that the hot dogs are rotated in alternate directions for even cooking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 24, 1985
    Date of Patent: January 6, 1987
    Assignee: Wendy's International, Inc.
    Inventors: John E. Bowden, Roy E. Hook, E. Craig Miller
  • Patent number: 4622228
    Abstract: A process and apparatus are disclosed for making an elongated food product. An elongated length of solidified food product is placed on and conveyed by an endless flat belt and fed into a tube after the belt is shaped into a cyclinder and encloses the food product. The elongated food product is then heated by a microwave oven while it is in the tube.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 26, 1985
    Date of Patent: November 11, 1986
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Ikeuchi Tekkosho
    Inventors: Hiroji Ikeuchi, Kiyoaki Ikeuchi
  • Patent number: 4612851
    Abstract: A cooking utensil for the preparation of food items such as frankfurters or marshmallows over a heat source. The cooking utensil comprises an elongated body, a first base attached to one end of the body capable of supporting the body in a vertical position and supporting food items on the surface of the first base not attached to the body, a second base attached to the other end of the body capable of supporting the body in a vertical position and supporting food items on the surface of the second base not attached to the body, a plurality of food impaling pins attached to either the first or second base which are positioned substantially in the direction of the long axis of the body, and a handle means associated with the cooking utensil to enable the maneuvering and inversion of the cooking utensil. A means for suspending the cooking utensil over a heat source not having a grill may also be associated with the invention.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 7, 1985
    Date of Patent: September 23, 1986
    Inventor: Bernard T. McManus
  • Patent number: 4549476
    Abstract: A meat support for supporting sausage in a smokehouse has a rotor mounted for rotation upon a support vehicle. The rotor has a plurality of horizontally extending pockets formed therein, each of which is proportioned to receive and support a sausage with its longitudinal axis horizontally oriented. The rotor is driven about its longitudinal axis such that the sausages which are located in the pockets of the rotor are caused to rotate about their own longitudinal axis. This rotation of the sausages when horizontally oriented serves to reduce moisture losses and to maintain a uniform moisture distribution throughout the sausage while it is cooked.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 10, 1984
    Date of Patent: October 29, 1985
    Inventor: Jacobus J. Langen
  • Patent number: 4517885
    Abstract: A wiener roaster having a shank including a first section threadably attached to a second section. A plurality of tines is integrally bound to the first section. A bearing collar rotatably slidably attaches to the first section. A first handle is bound to an end of the second section for gripping the wiener roaster. A second handle is slidably rotatably positioned about the second section in an area between the threadably securing point of the first section to the second section and the first handle. A stand is provided to be implanted in a ground. The stand has a structure defining a bifurcated bearing face wherein the bearing collar removably rotatably lodges as the tines impale wieners and is rotatably situated over a fire, or the like. A method for roasting wieners includes impaling at least one wiener on a tine pivotably secured at the end of a first shaft of a fold-up wiener roaster having a second shaft pivotably secured to the first shaft.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1984
    Date of Patent: May 21, 1985
    Inventor: Elmer E. Thompson
  • Patent number: 4516485
    Abstract: A food cooking device includes a housing with an inclined platen or top surface mounted thereon. A heating assembly for heating the platen is included in the housing along with a drawer into which food items may be placed for warming. A grid including a plurality of rods extending transversely across the inclined platen is slideably mounted on the platen and connected by a linkage assembly to a rotary motor. The linkage assembly translates the rotary motion of the motor to linear reciprocating motion that is imparted to the grid. Food items may be positioned on the platen between adjacent rods to be moved a predetermined distance over the platen by the reciprocating rods to ensure cooking on all sides of the food item.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 1981
    Date of Patent: May 14, 1985
    Assignee: A. J. Antunes & Co.
    Inventor: Dye O. Miller
  • Patent number: 4494356
    Abstract: Apparatus for continuously producing fish meat processed food which is produced by preparing fine filaments from paste-like fish meat and bundling a number of said filaments. The continuously producing apparatus comprises a solidification device for solidifying paste-like fish meat into thin web-like fish meat, a first cutting device for cutting the solidified fish meat lengthwise to form fine filament-like fish meat, a collection device for collecting the filament-like fish meat while transporting the same, a bundling device for successively urging and fixing filaments of the collected fish meat while transporting the same into the desired diameter, a packaging device for packaging the bundled fish meat with a packaging film, and a second cutting device for cutting the packaged fish meat into the desired axial length.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 2, 1982
    Date of Patent: January 22, 1985
    Assignee: Kabushiki Kaisha Yanagiya Tekkosho
    Inventor: Tetsuo Takiguchi
  • Patent number: 4483240
    Abstract: A cooking utensil for the deep fat frying of certain food items such as spring rolls and the like by immersion into hot liquid such as cooking oils which includes a food container with an opening for insertion and removal of the food. A piston-like member is slidably moveable within the food container, having one end abutting any food that is inserted into the container and a second end extending externally of the container. A control means, which is selectively activated by the user, causes the piston member to be positioned along a range of positions from a first position farthest away from the opening of the food container to a second position closest to the opening so that upon completion of deep fat frying, the control means can cause the piston member to slidably push the food contained in the food container at least partially out of the opening for easy removal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 17, 1983
    Date of Patent: November 20, 1984
    Inventor: Tri-Trong Dinh
  • Patent number: 4448793
    Abstract: A process for the continuous production of an elongate rod-shaped comminuted meat product which comprises feeding a flowable protein-containing food mixture into a hollow mould which travels through a microwave oven and which is formed by the co-operation of the adjacent runs of a pair of endless flexible belts which have a sealing system and afterwards releasing the meat product from the hollow mould characterized in that the sealing system comprises, on each side of the hollow mould, at least one longitudinal projection on one belt engaging with at least one corresponding recess on the other belt.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 23, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 15, 1984
    Assignee: Societe d'Assistance Technique pour Produits Nestle S.A.
    Inventor: Yngve R. Akesson
  • Patent number: 4446777
    Abstract: A hand-held spit for barbecuing or roasting weiners, sausages, chicken pieces and the like over an open fire includes an elongated metal, strap-like frame which supports a handle at one end thereof and which is formed at its opposite end with an annular loop on which is carried a plurality of quickly detachable, U-shaped, radially extending tines or skewers. The skewers are normally snap-fitted on the loop of the frame, but are easily removed therefrom for cleaning, packaging and/or storage.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 28, 1982
    Date of Patent: May 8, 1984
    Inventor: Donald C. Grigorenko
  • Patent number: 4430930
    Abstract: A machine for preparing and cooking corn dogs which are batter coated weiners upon a stick has a fry tank and coating bin mounted on a frame. Food articles are impaled by sticks driven through clasps in holes in a stick clamp. The food articles are dipped into a coating substance by elevation of the coating bin. The articles are elevated by rotating or flipping them above the lip of the fry tank and immersed in hot grease within the fry tank, cooked, and then elevated by rotating or flipping them out of the fry tank. The sticks are unclasped from the stick clamps and placed on a receiving tray. Thermostatically controlled heating elements suspended above the floor of the tank heat the grease.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 7, 1983
    Date of Patent: February 14, 1984
    Assignee: Automated Food Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Glenn E. Walser
  • Patent number: 4380192
    Abstract: A device for broiling elongate food articles, such as hot dogs, sausages, etc., comprises a rod having a handle at one end, and food retaining baskets connected with the other end of the rod. The baskets are detachably connected with the rod by support wires which extend laterally from both the open and closed ends of the baskets, and have bent over free ends which form eyelets through which the rod is closely received. The rod end opposite the handle is threaded. The support wires at the open ends of the baskets are threaded over the threaded area of the rod, onto a lower portion thereof, to non-fixedly mount the upper ends of the baskets. The support wires at the closed ends of the baskets are disposed on the threaded area of the rod, and a pair of threaded nuts are positioned on opposite sides of the support ends, and are tightened against each other to fixedly, yet detachably, mount the lower ends of the baskets on the rod in a predetermined configuration.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 14, 1981
    Date of Patent: April 19, 1983
    Assignee: Markson Manufacturing Company
    Inventor: Mark N. Doren
  • Patent number: 4370920
    Abstract: A rotating barbecue grill for uniformly and automatically cooking frankfurters, sausages, hamburgers, steaks, and other food items through the use of rotating rods or rollers defining a grilling surface. One of the rods is directly driven by a motor with the remaining rods rotating in unison by a crank-type drive mechanism. A hot plate is positioned adjacent one of the end rollers so that flat items of food, such as hamburgers, which cannot be turned between the rollers, are moved by the rollers to the hot plate and deposited thereon so as to keep them warm without overcooking.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 17, 1977
    Date of Patent: February 1, 1983
    Inventors: Joseph Henriques, Robert A. Bennett
  • Patent number: 4364309
    Abstract: The present invention relates to the meat-packing industry. The production line of the present invention comprises, mounted in a closed loop in the direction of production flow, a sausage meat feeder, filling and batching means, block molds, heat and cold treatment chambers, means for discharging the finished product and means for washing the block molds. In accordance with the present invention, the closed loop is formed by step-type conveyors arranged in two parallel rows located in a single plane, the pitch of each one of said conveyors being limited by the dimensions of one block mold, said conveyers serving to move the block molds from the sausage meat filling and batching means via the heat and cold treatment chambers, means for discharging the finished product and means for washing the emptied block molds to the filling and batching means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: July 30, 1979
    Date of Patent: December 21, 1982
    Inventors: Vasily M. Gorbatov, Evgeny T. Spirin, Vladimir V. Shakhov, Viktor V. Vagin, Vyacheslav I. Khromov, Zimel A. Bogushev, Viktor I. Eremin, Kaletta M. Vainzof, Evgeny R. Podkhvatilin
  • Patent number: 4355569
    Abstract: There is disclosed an electric hot dog cooker also suitable for cooking individual portions of sausages, shishkabob or the like, including a stand supporting an electric heating coil in the form of a helix extending horizontally; inside the helical heating coil is a hollow bushing member arranged so that a rotisserie spit rod will extend through the bushing and engage a rotisserie motor element, all essentially co-axial with the helical electric heating element. Secured only to the outer end of the rotisserie spit is a circular arrangement of nine cylindrical open-wire cages about two inches in diameter and about nine inches long, capable of accepting a hot dog, sausage or similar shaped food portion and large enough so that the hot dog will roll in the cage while the circular arrangement of cages is rotated around the heating coil by the rotisserie motor. The motor is shielded from the heating element by a metal shield having a horizontal turned-down portion at the top thereof serving as a warming shelf.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 24, 1980
    Date of Patent: October 26, 1982
    Inventor: Thomas L. Sage
  • Patent number: 4332189
    Abstract: An apparatus and method for preparing foodstuffs, and particularly sausages and buns such as hot dogs. A reservoir containing heated water is provided and sausages are immersed in and moved through the heated water by a conveyor while buns are moved through heated vapor from the heated water to heat the sausages and buns to a desired serving temperature.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 16, 1980
    Date of Patent: June 1, 1982
    Assignee: Marshall Air Systems, Inc.
    Inventor: Robert M. Stuck
  • Patent number: 4212234
    Abstract: A baking mold assembly employing a plurality of spaced vertical batter containers removably positioned on a horizontal base plate. Each batter container consists of two removable tubes, one concentrically about the other end, with sufficient space between them for the inclusion of a batter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 11, 1978
    Date of Patent: July 15, 1980
    Inventor: Charles N. DeCourcy
  • Patent number: 4212235
    Abstract: A holder for food as it is barbecued over an open charcoal bed, the holder consisting of a clamp comprising a pair of open grids linked pivotally together at their forward edges and having elongated handles projecting from their rearward edges whereby they may be opened for the insertion of food therebetween, and closed to clamp the food therebetween, and a sliding connector joining the handles and movable to close the grids forcibly together to clamp the food securely, and to secure them in the closed position.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 9, 1979
    Date of Patent: July 15, 1980
    Inventor: Vernon W. Snyder
  • Patent number: 4207281
    Abstract: The specification discloses a heated extruder nozzle for extruding semi-fluid material such as ground meats and other food products. The nozzle includes a chamber having a baffle wall dividing the chamber into a first and second baffle area with these baffle areas in fluid communication by an opening through the baffle wall. A plurality of extruder tubes extend through the first and second baffle areas and receive the semi-fluid product therethrough. An inlet extends from the first baffle area and permits the introduction of heated fluid, such as water or steam, into the first baffle area. A return outlet is attached from the second baffle area for discharging heated fluid therefrom. The inlet and outlet communicate with the first and second baffle areas, respectively, on opposite sides of the extruder tubes from the opening in the baffle wall through which fluid is communicated from the first baffle area to the second baffle area.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 12, 1978
    Date of Patent: June 10, 1980
    Assignee: The Jimmy Dean Meat Company, Inc.
    Inventor: Vincent E. Bernard
  • Patent number: 4197791
    Abstract: An electric steamer for simultaneously steaming a frankfurter and warming an accompanying frankfurter bun is disclosed herein. The steamer includes a base portion having an electric heater and a reservoir adapted to receive a small amount of water for steaming the frankfurter and steam-warming the frankfurter bun. A perforated support rack is positioned over the reservoir for supporting the frankfurter, a sausage, or the like above the water. A bun-supporting cover is removably mountable over the reservoir to define a steaming chamber. The cover has a top wall provided with a plurality of steam vents whereby the steam which cooks the frankfurter escapes through the steam vents and warms and softens the frankfurter bun supported on the upper surface of the cover.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 14, 1978
    Date of Patent: April 15, 1980
    Assignee: Sunbeam Corporation
    Inventors: Joseph L. Vieceli, James C. Mysicka
  • Patent number: 4161908
    Abstract: A salt-containing unprocessed foodstuff is charged in a wrapping tube unit comprising a cylindrical body, end plate means comprising members bonded to open opposite ends of the cylindrical body, and a pair of electrical contact members previously impregnated with a salt solution and fitted in the end plate means to provide a wrapped material foodstuff. The end plate means may be of any shape and is formed with a multitude of apertures, at least one of the members having cuts made therein to permit charging of the unprocessed foodstuff in the cylindrical body which may be deformed to conform to the shape of the end plate means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 22, 1977
    Date of Patent: July 24, 1979
    Assignee: Dowa Co. Ltd.
    Inventor: Kingo Miyahara
  • Patent number: 4119020
    Abstract: A device for providing a cavity in a bun for receiving a filling such as a sausage comprises a heating probe adapted to be inserted into a bun to compress the material of the bun to form the cavity and to toast the surface of the cavity so that the cavity remains after removal of the probe therefrom and locating means in the form of a cradle for locating a bun in alignment with the heating probe. Relative reciprocable movement between the probe and the locating means causes the probe to be inserted into and removed from a bun located in the locating means.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 2, 1977
    Date of Patent: October 10, 1978
    Inventors: Douglas Cecil William Thomas Sharp, Frank Ellis
  • Patent number: 4112833
    Abstract: A utensil primarily for use in cooking fat containing products such as bacon, frankfurters, sausage, hamburgers and the like, includes an outer shell supported on a base and an inner shell disposed within the outer shell and also supported on the base. The base includes a grease reservoir while the lower end of the inner shell includes apertures to permit flow of grease into the grease reservoir. Strip-like products such as bacon and the like are draped over the inner shell such that a portion thereof contacts the outer surface of the inner shell and another portion contacts the inner surface of the inner shell and another portion contacts the inner surface of the inner shell. Preferably, the inner shell extends vertically above the outer shell, the shells being made of a material which is transparent to microwave energy. The inner shell may support a platform on which other utensils may be placed or on which products to be cooked may be placed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: October 25, 1977
    Date of Patent: September 12, 1978
    Inventors: Roy N. Oda, Lorraine K. Oda
  • Patent number: 4090438
    Abstract: A frying utensil especially adapted for frying rolled tacos comprises a rack composed of wire members shaped to form a plurality of open top receptacles for the accommodation of tacos, the rack being provided with a clamp which may be swung to and from a position in which it overlies the open tops of the receptacles. A wire retainer is secured to one side of the rack and projects transversely from the latter so as to avoid inadvertent escape of the tacos from the rack when the latter is moved to a position to drain the tacos.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 19, 1976
    Date of Patent: May 23, 1978
    Inventor: Miguel L. Luna
  • Patent number: 4051772
    Abstract: A coin-operated machine for dispensing heated sausage from a cold storage compartment where the sausages are kept in a frozen condition. Two superposed rollers being rotated step by step in synchronism about a horizontal axes in a vertical portion of a chute and each roller being provided with a peripheral recess to receive one sausage with the top roller sealing the chute and segregating one sausage which it drops into the recess of the bottom roller. The sausage in the bottom roller recess is then exposed to a source of radiation of micro-waves for heating. While so exposed, a secondary rotor element rotates the sausage. The heated sausage is then dropped from the bottom roller into a dispensing chute.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 9, 1975
    Date of Patent: October 4, 1977
    Inventors: Reinhold A. Johansson, Arne B. Svensson
  • Patent number: 4034661
    Abstract: Apparatus for heating and dispensing skewer-supported food articles such as hotdogs and the like, preferably along with buns therefor including a housing means having feed and discharge openings for the skewer-supported food articles and the buns, magazine means for feeding each of the food articles, conveyor means defining an elongated path of travel and adapted to pick up skewer-supported food articles and buns from the feed openings, carrying them over the path of travel during which time they are heated, and dispensing them through the discharge openings. The skewer-supported food articles are rotated during their travel so that one end of the skewers are gripped for rotation as they are picked up. Stop means are provided on each magazine to enable feeding of the food articles either one at a time or continuously.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 8, 1976
    Date of Patent: July 12, 1977
    Assignee: Michael Boosalis
    Inventors: Michael G. Boosalis, Thomas D. Wason