Patent ID: 7018201

Claim:
Apparatus for dehydrating a product retained in vessels, said apparatus comprising: a tunnel comprising an interior sized to receive a plurality of said vessels in a linear array, a vessel inlet at a first end of said tunnel and a vessel outlet at a second end of said tunnel, said vessel inlet and vessel outlet defining a direction of movement of said vessels through said tunnel, said tunnel interior comprising a first section adjacent to said vessel inlet and sized to receive at least one but less than all of said plurality of vessels and a second section adjacent to said vessel outlet and sized to receive all remaining vessels of said plurality, and said tunnel further comprising air flow means for passing a first stream of air through said first section toward and out of said vessel inlet and a second stream of air through said second section toward said vessel outlet simultaneously with, and in a direction opposite to, said first stream; and vessel conveying means for unidirectionally advancing vessels within said tunnel along said direction of movement and through said first and second sections in succession.