Patent ID: 7143686

Claim:
A coffee roasting apparatus comprising: a combustion chamber, a burner for generating heating gases within said combustion chamber, spaced apart baffles disposed within said combustion chamber to define a sinuous recirculation gas path, a gas inlet and a gas outlet connected to said combustion chamber, a roasting oven, means for directing unroasted coffee beans to said roasting oven wherein the beans are roasted, a duct connecting said combustion chamber in communication with said roasting oven for directing heating gases from said combustion chamber to said roasting oven, said roasting oven including a perforated rotating drum, a separator, conduit means for directing the heating gases in said roasting oven and entrained coffee chaff exiting said roasting oven during the roasting cycle to said separator wherein said chaff is separated from the heating gases, means for directing said heating gases free of any chaff from said separator back to said combustion chamber for exhausting through said gas outlet to atmosphere free of any coffee chaff, a cooling chamber for receiving the coffee beans when roasting of the coffee beans has ended, a first phase cooling means connected to said conduit means and said cooling chamber for drawing a first phase cooling gas through said cooling chamber for recirculating said first phase cooling gas to said sinuous gas path in said combustion chamber for reheating said first phase cooling gas to roasting temperature, and a second phase cooling means connected to said cooling chamber for drawing a second phase cooling gas through said cooling chamber and means for venting said second phase cooling gas directly to atmosphere free of any coffee chaff.