Patent ID: 11918023
Assignee: BELLWETHER COFFEE CO.
Field: Food chemistry (Chemistry)
Classification: CPC A | IPC A

Claim 17:
18. A bean roasting system, comprising:
a roasting drum being elongate along a horizontal axis, roasting drum having a back end and a front end, the roasting drum having a lower inside surface defining an opening;
a hatch having an upper position to seal the opening in the lower inside surface of the roasting drum;
an actuator coupled to the hatch;
an agitator having agitator blades mounted to an axial shaft that is elongate along the horizontal axis, the axial shaft having a posterior end, the agitator blades including a first blade and a second blade, the second blade being a spiral blade having at least a portion disposed between the rotational axis and the first blade, the first blade positioned adjacent an inner surface of the roasting drum, the first blade being non-parallel to the horizontal axis of the roasting drum;
an agitator motor coupled to the posterior end of the axial shaft proximate to the back end of the roasting, the agitator motor configured to rotate the axial shaft relative to the roasting drum in a first direction and a second direction opposite the first direction causing the agitator blades to rotate around the horizontal axis;
a door mounted rotationally relative to the roasting drum, the door having a glass plate for viewing contents of the roasting drum when the door is closed relative to the roasting drum; and
a controller including a processor, the controller configured to:
operate the actuator to lower the hatch from the upper position to a lower position, thereby unsealing the opening in the lower inside surface of the roasting drum; and
operate the agitator motor to rotate the agitator blades in the first direction and the second direction to empty contents of the roasting drum through the opening in the lower inside surface of the roasting drum.