Patent ID: 7296531

Claim:
A food product breading machine comprising: a breading reservoir having side walls, a lower wall that spans between the side walls and slopes upwardly at one end, an end wall adjacent an upper end of said sloping wall, and an upper wall spaced from said end wall to provide an opening through which breading material is dispensed from the reservoir; a breading conveyor comprising a conveyor belt disposed in said reservoir with a first conveyor run extending generally horizontally along said upper reservoir wall, and a second conveyor run extending along said sloping lower wall, said conveyor moving breading material in said reservoir along said sloping lower wall toward said end wall for delivery to a breading station above said upper wall; a drive roller mounted by support bearings to the reservoir for moving the conveyor belt; and a drive transmission for applying a torque to said drive roller, said transmission including a shaft mounting by shaft bearings for providing motive power to the drive roller; and a latch for securing the drive roller and transmission shaft in side to side relation to each other and for bearing a weight of said reservoir to reduce wear on the transmission shaft and shaft bearings.