Improvements in Meat Tenderers.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 26th July, 1898-Accepted, 10th Sept., 1898
Improvements in Meat Tenderers.
I, JESSE ELMER SNELLING, of No. 45, North Fourth Street, in Newark, County
of Licking, State of Ohio, U.S.A., Meat Merchant, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of my invention is to provide an improved machine for cutting or
hacking meat in such manner as to make it more tender without reducing it to
fragments.
According to my invention I provide two gangs of circular cutters or disks
mounted on horizontal shafts and arranged in vertical planes, between which the
meat is fed. Below the disk cutters I arrange two cylindrical gangs of cutters,
horizontal shafts, just below
consisting of longitudinal blades mounted on
the shafts of the disk cutters, and below the longitudinal cutters I arrange
two gangs of rotary cleaning and guiding blades, mounted on horizontal axes,
and geared to turn in directions opposite to the directions in which the
longitudinal blades rotate, and adapted to prevent the meat from being carried
around by the blades, and to clear these blades of any meat that may be
adhering thereto.
There is a hopper at the top of the machine into which the meat is fed, and a
drawer or receptacle at the bottom of the apparatus into which the meat drops
after it has been acted on by the hacking devices.
In the accompanying drawings-
Figure 1 is an end elevation (with the casing broken away to show part of
the gearing) of the upper part of a meat tendering machine embodying my
improvements;
Figure 2 is a vertical longitudinal central section thereof, some of the gearing
being shown in section ;
Figure 3 shows an end view of the machine opposite to that shown in Fig. 1,
with part of the casing removed to show the mechanism within;
Figure 4 is an enlarged detail view showing the manner of mounting the disk
cutters on their shafts;
Figure 5 is a detail view, showing the manner of mounting the longitudinal
blades or cutters on their shafts.
The main casing, 1, may be of any suitable construction to enclose the operative
parts of the machine. A hopper is formed at the top of the machine, which
is provided with an opening, 4, through which the meat is fed. The hopper has
a hinged lid, 5, that may be readily opened and closed. The casing is closed at
front and rear. At opposite ends it is provided with removable or adjustable
plates, 2 and 3, which carry the bearings of the shafts, 6, 8 and 10, in which the
disk cutters, longitudinal cutters and cleaning and guiding blades are, respectively,
mounted.
These plates are provided with slotted lugs, a, through which extend set-
screws, b, that enter sockets in the main casing. The plates may be adjusted
towards and from each other horizontally to adjust the distance between the shafts
of the gangs of cutters and cleaning blades.

page_text: The gear wheels hereinafter referred to have long teeth which permit of the
desired adjustment. The circular knives or disks, 7, are mounted on the shafts, 6,
in any suitable way to hold them at proper distances apart, as shown in Fig. 2, and
to prevent them from turning relatively to the shafts.
The shafts are preferably square to receive square openings in the disk,
and the blades are separated by collars, 20. Collars provided with
set-screws are provided at the ends of the shafts to prevent end wise movement.
Any other suitable way may be adopted for mounting the blades on their shafts
for holding them proper distances apart, and for preventing endwise or longitudinal
movement.
The longitudinal blades, 9, are secured to their shaft 8 in any suitable way.
They are arranged radially relatively to the axis of the shaft; preferably the blades
are secured in position as indicated in Fig. 5, one of the blades being shown in
dotted lines.
At each end of the shaft I secure a disk or collar, 22, by means of a set-screw, 28,
or other suitable device. This collar has a flange, 25, which is slotted to receive
the blades, and the blades are shouldered at 21 to prevent them from moving
outwards radially. The inner ends of the blades may also rest in sockets formed
in the hubs of the collars.
24 indicates a radially slotted hub, preferably placed midway between the collars
at the opposite ends of the knives. The inner ends of the blades extend through
the slots in the collar, 24. By this arrangement the blades are held at proper
distances apart, and are prevented from endwise movement or radial movement
outwards.
The shafts, 10, carry radially arranged longitudinal blades, 11, equal in
length to the blades, 9, and the edges of which move in close proximity to the
blades, 9.
The circular cutters, 7, are arranged to move in opposite directions, those
portions above the shaft moving towards the center of the machine. Likewise the
blades, 9, move in opposite directions, those above the shafts, 8, moving towards
the center of the machine, the effect being to draw the material fed between the
blades, 7, inwardly, and feed it downwardly.
The guiding and cleaning blades, 11, are operated in such manner as to revolve
in a direction opposite to the direction of revolution of the blades, 9; that is to say,
the blades, 9, below the shafts, 8, on both sides of the machine, move away from
the center of the machine, while the blades, 11, when above the shafts, 10, move
inwardly towards the center of the machine, the effect being to force back the meat
that tends to move outwardly, and to thoroughly clear the blades, 9, from any pieces
of meat that may be adhering thereto.
The blades, 11, perform the double function of guiding or directing the meat as
it is delivered from the blades, 9, and also clearing the blades, 9, of pieces of meat
that may adhere thereto. Without the use of the blades, 11, the blades, 9, might
be so firmly attached to the meat that the meat would be wrapped around one of
the rollers; that is to say, the meat might adhere to the blades on the right-hand
side of the machine, as viewed in Fig. 3, and instead of falling down into the drawer
below might be carried out under the shaft, 8, at the right and off to one side, and
perhaps might be carried up again and thus wrapped around the shaft, 8.
The blades, 11, however, prevent the meat from doing this. If the blades, 11,
move in the same direction as the blades, 9, they would assist the blades, 9, in
carrying the meat off laterally, and causing it to be wrapped around the shaft, 8,
but by turning in an opposite direction they prevent this tendency.
The shafts may be geared and operated in any suitable way. As shown, a crank
handle, 12, rigidly secured to a horizontally arranged main driving shaft, 11,
mounted in bearings in the frame. On the shaft, 11ª, close to the crank, but inside
the frame, are secured pinions, 13 and 14, which mesh respectively with
pinions 15 and 16 on the adjacent shafts, 6 and 8. The pinions, 15 and 16, mesh
with corresponding pinions on the shafts 6 and 8, on the opposite side of the

page_text: machine. At the opposite end of the shaft, 11ª, outside the casing, is secured a
large spur gear, 17, which meshes with a gear wheel, 18, ou one of the shafts, 10.
This gear wheel, 18, meshes directly with a corresponding gear wheel on the other
shaft, 10.
By this arrangement of gearing the several shafts are operated to revolve in the
directions indicated by the arrows in Fig. 3.
The shafts, 6, 6, 8, 8, and 10, 10, may be adjusted in horizontal planes towards
and from each other; that is to say, one of the shafts, 6, one of the shafts, 8, and
one of the shafts, 10, may be adjusted towards the corresponding shafts on the
opposite side of the machine to vary the space through which the moat passes
vertically. This is accomplished, as heretofore explained, by means of the
plates, 2 and 3, which are provided with slotted lugs, a, through which extend the
adjusting screws, b. A very wide adjustment is not required, but the slots
and the teeth of the gear wheels may be so formed as to give any desired
adjustment.
Preferably the blades, 7, are arranged a little closer together than shown in
Fig. 3, but they should never be arranged so close together, or should not overlap
to such an extent, as to cut entirely through the meat fed into the machine.
Care is taken that both the blades, 7, and the blades, 9, shall only cut part way
through the meat, forming, as it were, merely grooves therein and leaving a thin
web to hold all the parts of the meat together. The meat when it leaves the
machine is formed with grooves arranged at right-angles with each other, dividing
the meat on both sides into small squares or checks, and yet these squares or checks
are held firmly together so as not to drop apart, but the meat can be readily severed
when desired.
The meat in this way is made much tenderer, cooks better and is more
eatable.
The machine may be reversed; that is to say, the meat may be fed upwardly
instead of downwardly. Sometimes it may be desirable to feed only a portion of
the steak through the cutters. It will be observed that the feed opening, 4, is
directly over the blades so that the steak may be held in the hand of the operator
and he may feed the lower portion of the steak between and through the cutters,
then reverse the cutters, and pull the steak upwardly out of the opening, 4.
Below the blades is a drawer, 19, into which the tendered meat falls from the
cutters.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. A meat tendering machine, comprising two gangs of circular cutters
arranged to cut part way through the meat, but not to sever it into strips, two
cylindrical gangs of longitudinal blades below the circular cutters, and also
arranged to cut part way through the meat without severing it into strips, gearing
for driving the circular blades, and longitudinal blades towards the center of the
machine to feed the meat inwardly and downwardly between them, two shafts
below the longitudinal blades and carrying guiding and cleaning blades geared to
rotate in a direction opposite to the corresponding longitudinal blades above them,
and to direct the meat inwardly and clear the longitudinal blades from meat
adhering thereto, and mechanism for driving the cutters and blades in the proper
direction.
2. A meat tendering machine, comprising two gangs of circular cutters arranged
to cut part way through the meat, but not to sever it into strips, two cylindrical
gangs of longitudinal blades below the circular cutters, and also arranged to cut
part way through the meat without severing it into strips, gearing for driving the
circular blades, and longitudinal blades towards the center of the machine to feed
the meat inwardly and downwardly between them, two shafts below the longitudinal
blades and carrying guiding and cleaning blades geared to rotate in a direction

page_text: opposite to the corresponding longitudinal blades above them, and to direct the
meat inwardly and clear the longitudinal blades from meat adhering thereto,
mechanism for driving the cutters and blades in the proper direction, and
adjustable plates at opposite ends of the machine, carrying bearings for the shafts
of the cutters and guiding and cleaning blades.
3. A meat tendering machine in which the meat is first fed between two gangs
of circular cutters arranged to cut vertically part way through the meat, and then
between two cylindrical gangs of horizontal or longitudinal blades which cut
horizontally part way through the meat, said horizontal or longitudinal blades
being provided with means for cleaning them, substantially as described.
Dated this 18th day of June 1898.
JESSE ELMER SNELLING.