Patent ID: 7210923

Claim:
In a food patty molding apparatus having a food product hopper configured for containing a supply of food product and in flow-communication with a food delivery apparatus for discharging food product from said hopper, the improvement comprising: a housing; said a hopper having a surrounding sidewall and an open bottom, said hopper carried by said housing, said hopper having a longitudinal dimension along a longitudinal direction and a lateral dimension, said housing and said hopper elongated along said longitudinal direction; wherein said food delivery apparatus comprises a conveyor having a top conveying surface closing a substantial portion of said open bottom, said top conveying surface configured to transport product within said hopper in the longitudinal direction; and a hinge arrangement having a hopper pivot axis parallel to said longitudinal direction, said hinge arrangement carried between said hopper and said housing, said hinge arrangement configured to allow said hopper to pivot with respect to said housing from an operative position to an upwardly tilted position, wherein said converyor is pivotally carried on said housing about a conveyor pivot axis that is parallel to or collinear with said hopper pivot axis to allow an upward tilting of said conveyor when said hopper is tilted upward, exposing said conveyor for cleaning.