Patent ID: 8394335

Claim:
A retort system, comprising: a vessel defining a heating chamber and including a product receiving area therein; a product agitating arm mounted for reciprocating movement through a wall of the vessel and having a first end within the vessel and a second end outside the vessel; a drive arrangement exterior of the vessel and operatively coupled to the arm for moving the arm in a reciprocating manner, the drive arrangement including: a crankshaft assembly including a crank throw operatively coupled to the arm, the crankshaft assembly having a rotational axis offset from the crank throw; a first flywheel mounted to the crankshaft assembly to a first side of the crank throw for rotation with the crankshaft assembly about the rotational axis; and a second flywheel mounted to the crankshaft assembly to a second side of the crank throw for rotation with the crankshaft assembly about the rotational axis; the drive arrangement further includes: a drive motor for effecting rotation of the first flywheel and the second flywheel, the drive motor operatively coupled to the first flywheel via a first drive link located to the first side of the crank throw and the drive motor operatively coupled to the second flywheel via a second drive link located to the second side of the crank throw; wherein: the drive motor effects rotation of an input drive shaft that extends substantially parallel to the rotational axis of the crankshaft; the first drive link is a first belt linkage between a first pulley on the input drive shaft and the first flywheel; and the second drive link is a second belt linkage between a second pulley on the input drive shaft and the second flywheel.