Patent ID: 7231885

Claim:
Food-product coating apparatus for a food process line in which an upline process supplies a stream of food product articles to said apparatus for being coated with a coating material; said apparatus comprising: a transit conveyor system having a carrying run for transiting the stream of food product articles thereon in a downline direction, said carrying run including a compression stretch; a top-coating system disposed relative the carrying run not only upline from the compression stretch but also for applying a top coat of coating material on the food product articles while transiting thereby; an endless compressor belt having a food-product compressing run as well as a return run for the compressing run wherein the compressor belt is driven such that the direction of advance for the compressing run is generally in the in-line direction from upline to downline; wherein said transit conveyor system and compressor belt are cooperatively arranged such that the respective compression stretch and compressing run therefor define a low clearance gap through which coated food product articles transit whereby the gap is chosen such that the compressor belt contacts and applies compression to the transiting food product articles in order to partly press in the coating material; said food-product coating apparatus further comprising an excess coating material recirculation system comprising: an excess coating material drop zone downline from the endless compressor belt; and an excess coating material conveying system for transiting excess coating material from the drop zone upline to re-supply the top-coating system.