Shrimp processing arrangement

The present invention comprises an elongated bar which is trough-shaped having side walls, at least one of which has a foodstuff securement arrangement such as slots placed therethrough, or a foldable panel attached thereto, so as to hold a foodstuff such as the tail of a shrimp securely therein. The elongated bar may also have a cover and end walls which all act to help enclose the secured portion of the foodstuff (shrimp) from any food processing operation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The invention relates to an arrangement for treating shrimp prior to their 
being packaged and distributed to the retailer/consumer. 
2. Prior Art 
In the shrimp processing industry, shrimp come in a large master carton 
weighing about fifty pounds, the carton containing ten five pound blocks 
of ice containing shrimp frozen therein. These frozen blocks of shrimp are 
loaded into a circulating tank to thaw. Those shrimp are then put on a 
screen table to permit them to drip dry. 
The shrimp may then be soaked in a pre-batter for about an hour as a batch 
process, and then they are manually laid out individually, on a 
"pre-duster" conveyer belt. Once they have been predusted, they generally 
are individually manually realigned to a separate conveyer belt, so that 
butterfly shrimp may be spread out for breading and battering. As these 
shrimp are individually set out on the conveyer belt, a number of people 
are required to keep the shrimp in longitudinal alignment with the 
conveyer belt. 
Once each of the individual shrimp have gone through the conveyer assembly 
for the batter, the dusting and breading, their tails may each be manually 
individually cleaned so as to remove the breading and batter and dusting 
therefrom. 
The shrimp are then again, manually, individually placed in individual 
spaces on trays where they are frozen in a further package for shipment to 
the retailer/consumer. 
The processing of food stuffs such as this, has yet to be fully mechanized. 
One such invention for processing food is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,494, 
277 to Tolley et al., showing a device for holding a single crab during a 
processing thereof. 
One other patent to Betts, U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,893 shows a conveyer system 
which transmits shrimp's bodies to a vertically arranged wheel having 
cammed gripping devices which enable the shrimp to be deviened. The 
shrimp, it is noted, in this patent, are placed on the conveyer line 
manually, into their trough-like supports for such processing. 
It is an object of the present invention to provide an arrangement for 
improving the processing and shipping of foodstuffs such as shrimp, so as 
to minimize the manual labor involved. 
It is an object of the present invention, to provide an arrangement which 
will keep multiple foodstuffs such as shrimp, properly aligned during a 
multi-stage process applied to the foodstuffs, and during subsequent 
handling/shipping thereof. 
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an arrangement 
for handling foodstuffs such as shrimp, which will minimize wastage of any 
of the material which is applied onto those foodstuffs, such as shrimp or 
the like. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention involves a method of treating a plurality of 
foodstuffs such as shrimp, so as to arrange it in a support device, to 
minimize the manual handling of these foodstuffs and reducing the number 
of operations otherwise performed on these foodstuffs, such as shrimp. 
The device for supporting these foodstuffs, such as shrimp, may comprise an 
elongated bar, made from a foldable material, such as metal but preferably 
of plastic. The elongated bar has enclosure portions disposed off of at 
least one side of the elongated bar. Each enclosure portion may be a 
generally flat rectangularly shaped piece of plastic panel material 
attached to the bar. Each planar piece of plastic material may be arranged 
to be rolled or formed or folded about the tail portion of a shrimp placed 
thereon. The enclosure portion acts to grip and support the tail of the 
shrimp therewithin, and also to grip and support the tail of the shrimp 
therewithin, and also to shield that same shrimp tail portion from any of 
the subsequent treating such as predusting, batter or breading that is 
normally applied to the body of the shrimp. 
In one embodiment of the enclosure portion, the panels have a plurality of 
parallel riblike serration's thereon, so as to permit the panel to be 
folded in a cylindrical shape, which encloses the tail of the shrimp. The 
cylindrical enclosure is attached at one longitudinal end to the bar, 
which bar has a plurality of such cylindrical enclosures thereon. The 
elongated bar with its plurality of cylindrical enclosures, and tails of 
shrimp enclosed therewithin, would be put as a unit, onto a conveyer belt 
which would then take the plurality of shrimp and the elongated bar and 
their enclosures through the predusting process as well as the batter and 
breading while keeping such processing away from the tail of the shrimp 
being processed. 
The same elongated bar enclosing the now processed shrimp bodies and tails, 
may be thereupon moved to a package which would contain the elongated bar, 
the enclosure portions and the shrimp themselves for packaging, freezing 
and shipment to the ultimate retailer/consumer. Thus, one elongated bar 
with its enclosure portions thereon, permits the shrimp to be handled only 
one, by the placement of the tails of the shrimp within the enclosure 
portions on the bar. Such enclosure portions thereby keep the shrimp 
parallel and in proper alignment during their processing. Such enclosures 
also permit the shrimp tails to avoid subsequent cleaning which is typical 
of the prior art. 
Other embodiments of the elongated bar and enclosures may be made from a 
flat sheet of foldable flexible plastic, having a central extended portion 
with spaced apart transversely disposed formed elements on each side 
thereof. On one side of the extended central portion there is a formed 
trough like support housing. Opposite that support housing, on the other 
side of the elongated member, there is a flexibly articulable flap which 
may be folded over the trough shaped support portion once a shrimp has its 
tail placed therewithin. 
The invention thus comprises a support arrangement for holding a plurality 
of foodstuffs in parallel alignment and partial enclosure during a food 
processing operation, comprising an elongated bar; a plurality of 
enclosure members attached to the elongated bar, each of the enclosure 
members arranged to securely hold and enclose at least part of one of said 
foodstuffs during the foodstuff processing operation. The enclosure 
members are formed from a generally planar element which may be folded 
around a foodstuff placed on said planar element. The planar element is 
arranged to be rolled up in a cylindrical shape to enclose at least a part 
of the foodstuffs. The generally planar element has a plurality of 
serrations thereon to facilitate gripping of the foodstuffs within the 
enclosure. The elongated bar has at least two opposite side edges, and 
each side edge has a panel extending therefrom, which opposed panels are 
foldable with respect to one another to form an enclosure member. 
The invention also includes an arrangement for holding a plurality of 
foodstuffs in parallel alignment and partial enclosure during a processing 
operation, comprising: an elongated bar; a securement arrangement 
comprising the elongated bar for securing the foodstuffs with respect to 
the elongated bar and for covering, at least partially, the foodstuffs 
during the processing operation. The elongated bar comprises a trough-like 
enclosure which is arranged to receive a portion of the foodstuffs. The 
trough-like enclosure has a plurality of slots therein, the slots in the 
enclosure arranged to securely hold the foodstuffs therethrough. The 
trough-like enclosure has an arrangement of side walls, a lower portion 
bridging the side walls, and a cover, to provide the trough-like enclosure 
with protection on its upper side during any food processing operation 
steps of the bar and foodstuffs therewith. The cover has an elongated edge 
by which it is attached to one of the side walls. The cover is removably 
attached with respect to the elongated bar. A box-like housing is seated 
within the enclosure having an open end which is in alignment with the 
slot in the walls, to individually hold a foodstuff therein. 
The invention also includes a method of processing a plurality of 
individual foodstuffs in a manner so as to keep said foodstuffs in proper 
alignment with one another, an at least partially covered from the 
processing operation, comprising: providing an elongated bar for holding 
said foodstuffs in alignment; placing foodstuffs in securement 
arrangements in the elongated bar; and placing the elongated bar with the 
foodstuffs therewith onto a conveyor line for processing; arranging a slot 
in the elongated bar so as to receive one of the foodstuffs; processing 
said foodstuffs in a series of food treating operations, while the 
foodstuffs extend outwardly away from the elongated bar, a portion of each 
of the foodstuffs also being enclosed within the elongated bar; shipping 
the processed treated foodstuffs while they are still secured with respect 
to the elongated bar; covering the elongated bar with an elongated cover 
to enclose the portions of the foodstuffs within the elongated bar from 
food processing operations and to secure the foodstuffs therein for 
subsequent handling and shipping pivoting the elongated cover about an 
elongated edge by which it is formed with the elongated bar, into a 
snap-on engagement over the enclosure bar to hold the cover thereon. 
Thus what has been shown is a novel and unique arrangement for processing 
of foodstuffs such as shrimp, portions of which have to be maintained free 
of the process being applied to the rest of the foodstuff. The present 
arrangement also keeps them in alignment and permits a minimum of manual 
handling of the foodstuffs while also permitting the support device to 
define the packaging arrangement for that foodstuff as well.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments 
The present invention involves a method and apparatus for treating a 
plurality of foodstuffs 12, such as shrimp, so as to arrange it in a 
support device 10, as shown in FIG. 1, to minimize the manual handling of 
these foodstuffs 12 and reducing the number of operations otherwise 
performed on these foodstuffs 12, shown in phantom in FIG. 1. 
The device 10 for supporting these foodstuffs 12, such as shrimp, may 
comprise an elongated bar 14, made from a thin, foldable material, such as 
metal or cardboard, but preferably of plastic. The elongated bar 14 has 
enclosure portions 16 disposed off of at least one side 17 of the 
elongated bar 14. Each enclosure portion 16 may be a generally flat, thin, 
panel-like, rectangularly shaped piece of plastic material attached to the 
bar 14, by a connector such as a connecting tab 18. Each planar piece of 
plastic material may be arranged to be rolled or formed or folded about 
the tail portion of a shrimp 12 (or one end portion of the foodstuff) 
placed thereon. The enclosure portion 16 acts to grip and support the tail 
of the shrimp therewithin, and also to shield that same shrimp tail 
portion from any of the subsequent treating operations such as predusting, 
battering or breading that is normally applied to the body of the shrimp. 
The enclosures 16 act to keep the shrimp 12 (or one end portion of the 
foodstuff) in an orderly, non-conflicting parallel alignment with one 
another during the processing, packaging and shipping. 
In one embodiment of the enclosure portion 16, as shown in FIG. 2, the 
panels have a plurality of parallel rib-like serrations 20 thereon, so as 
to permit the panel to be easily folded into a securement such as a 
cylindrical enclosure 22, which encases and holds the tail of the shrimp 
12. The cylindrical enclosure 12 is attached at one longitudinal end, at 
the aforementioned tab 18, to the bar 14, which bar 14 may have a 
plurality of such cylindrical enclosures 22 thereon. The elongated bar 14 
with its plurality of cylindrical enclosures 22, and tails of shrimp 
enclosed therewithin, would be put as a unit, onto a conveyer belt 30 
which would then take the plurality of shrimp and the elongated bar and 
their enclosures through the steps, (not shown), of the predusting process 
as well as the battering and breading operations while keeping such 
processing away from the tail of the shrimp being processed. 
The same elongated bar 14 enclosing the now processed shrimp bodies and 
their tails, may be thereupon collectively moved to a shipping package 
(also not shown), which would contain the elongated bar 14, the enclosure 
portions and the shrimp themselves for packaging, freezing and shipment to 
the ultimate retailer and/or consumer. Thus, one elongated bar 14 with its 
enclosure portions 22 thereon, permits the individual shrimps to be 
handled only once, by the placement of the tails of the shrimp within the 
enclosure securement portions on the elongated bar 14. Such enclosure 
portions thereby keep the shrimp parallel and in proper alignment during 
their processing and their subsequent handling and shipping as well. Such 
enclosures also permit the shrimp tails to avoid the need for subsequent 
cleaning/treatment which typical of the prior art. 
Other embodiments of the elongated bar 14 and enclosures, are shown in 
FIGS. 3 and 4, which elongated bar 14 may be made from a thin flat sheet 
of foldable flexible plastic 40 or the like, having a central extended bar 
portion 42 with spaced apart transversely disposed formed V-shaped trough 
elements 44 and correspondingly aligned cover portions 46 on the opposite 
side of the bar 14. The elongated bar 14 and/or the cover portions 46 may 
be folded onto the trough shaped support portion 44 once a shrimp has its 
tail placed therewithin. A tab 50 on the distal most end of the cover 46 
may be wedged into the trough 44 to help secure a foodstuff therein. 
In a further preferred embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the elongated 
bar 14 comprises a trough or lower housing 60 preferrably of extruded 
material such as plastic or the like. The housing 60 is of generally "U" 
shape in cross-section. The housing 60 may have end wall inserts 62 
secured to each end of the housing 60, as shown in FIG. 5. A housing cover 
64, of elongated configuration, has curved side edges 66 which are sized 
and configured to permit it to be snapped onto the upper peripheral edge 
67 of the housing 60, in a manner as shown in FIG. 6. The housing 60 has a 
plurality of spaced apart slots 68, on at least one side thereof, as shown 
in FIG. 5. The slots 68 are just wide enough and high enough (about 0.25 
cm by about 0.5 cm) to snugly and securely fit the tail portion of a 
shrimp 12 therein. The housing 16 with the cover 64 therefore keep the 
foodstuff (shrimps) 12 in spaced apart alignment, a portion of them (the 
tails) being covered and kept free of coating of subsequent food 
processing and food handling concerns. 
A further preferred embodiment of the elongated bar 14 is shown in FIG. 7, 
wherein the trough-shaped housing 70 has a cover 72, similar to the 
embodiment shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, except that the cover 72 is hingedly 
attached along one elongated edge 74 to permit the cover 72 to be snapped 
onto the housing 70. The housing 70 may also have narrow box-like 
compartments 76 which mate within the housing 70. Each compartment 76 has 
an open end which is in alignment with its own slot 78 in the sidewall 80 
of the housing 70. It is to be noted that the slots 78 also could be 
arranged in both sides 80 and 82 of the housing 70. 
Thus what has been shown is a novel and unique arrangement for processing 
of foodstuffs such as shrimp, portions of which have to be maintained free 
of the process being applied to the rest of the foodstuff. The present 
arrangement permits a minimum of manual handling of the foodstuffs while 
also permitting the support device to define the packaging arrangement for 
that foodstuffs and their subsequent shipping.