US1412590A

US1412590A - Power-operated ham boiler

Info

Publication number: US1412590A
Application number: US442176A
Authority: US
Inventors: Adelmann Hans
Original assignee: HAM BOILER CORP
Current assignee: HAM BOILER CORP
Priority date: 1921-02-03
Filing date: 1921-02-03
Publication date: 1922-04-11
Anticipated expiration: 1939-04-11

Description

H. ADELMANN. POWER OPERATED HAM BOILERl APPLICATION FILED FEB. 3, 1921. v

Pand Apn 11, 1922.

uNl'TEo'srATEs PATENT oFFlcE..

HANS ADELMANN, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIG-NOR TO HAM BOILER CORP., OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK POWER-OPERATED HAM BOILER.

Spccication of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 11, 1922.

To aiZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, HANS ADELMANN, a citizen of Germany, residing at New York city, borough of the Bronx, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Power-Operated Ham Boilers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the industry known as ham making and has particular reference to the construction and operation of a receptacle in which a ham after being made is placed for the purpose of cooking and simultaneously shaping it.

Among the objects of this present improvement is to provide a ham boiler with a cover adapted especially for power operation in the compressing of the ham, to which end the cover. is peculiarly constructed, adapting it so as to withstand a considerable degree of pressure imposed thereon by a power press or its equivalent, and having as a component part of the cover a specially designed bolt mechanism for locking the cover in depressed position during the boiling operation.

A further object of the invention is to provide a locking means for the cover of a ham boiler, so designed as to have positive engagement with the body of the boiler and yet provide a suicient degree of flexibility between the locking bolts and the cover to accommodate the swelling of the contents of the boiler incident to the cooking action, so as to retain within the ham practically all of its good avor and substance.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists in the arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while the invention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein,

prising a body 10 of any suitable design or construction with reference to the shape desired for the finished ham, the form indicated being substantially oval in plan view to be best adapted for the knuckle end of the ham, and so designed as to be substantially rectangular in all vertical planes, especially transversely, so that a cooked ham when sliced crosswise as usual Will produce slices that are practically rectangular. The ends 11 and 12 of the'body are extended preferably upward above the level of the rim or edge 13 for co-operation with the cover 14 and the locking devices carried; thereby. lEach of these ends is provided with a vertical series of horizontal, holes 15, the tops of which are inclined outward and downward, or at an acute angle to the horizontal. It will be4 noted that the sides and ends of the body are essentially vertical.

T e cover 14; is preferably flat in its main portion so as to operate parallel to the bottom 16 of the body. It is, however, provided with a downwardly projecting flange or rim 17 serving not only as a strengthening means for the edge of the cover but also as a means to better confine the ham in place during compression and cooking. At about the center of the top of the cover is formed a housing or pedestallS, preferably formed as an integral part of the cover and of a suitable shape to afford sufficient strength to withstand a considerable degree of pressure that is designed to be applied to the cover by any suitable power press for rapid and effective forcing of the cover downward for the purpose of shaping the ham within the body.

This pedestal is thus provided with a flatl top against which the pressure may be applied, and from the corner portions of the pedestal extend stiifening ribs 19 toward the corner portions of the body. These ribs are formed preferably as integral parts of the pedestal and cover and so afford the maximum degree of strength to prevent the bending or warping of the cover under pressure.'

In the vertical longitudinal center of the pedestal is formed an open ended slot 2O bounded at its top by the crown portion of the pedestal and at its bottom by the top surface of the cover and a guide or keeper projection 21 formed at one side of the center of the bottom of the pedestal.

Between the pedestal and the ends of the cover and preferably in the same vertical l longitudinal plane as the slot are provided loops or keepers 22, preferably formed of sheet metal and attached to the upper sur-- face of the cover by any suitable means such as rivets`23 or equivalent fasteners. These loops or keepers are open ended and serve as retainers for a pair of reciprocating bolts s 24 and 25 co-operating with the right and left ends respectively of the body. The main portions of these bolts are in longitudinal alignment, and each is provided with an engaging end 26 beveled ofi' at its upper side "atp27lfor co-operation with the inclined "if upper' surface of a hole 15. While the bolt ,'15 other, the other bolt is offset vertically at is shown as straight from one end to' the its inner end so as to project over the inner end of thebolt 25, above which 1t is spaced .far enough to accommodate a pinion 28 fixed upon la shaft29 journaled in the side walls ofthe lvpedestal and having on one end a handle 30 or its equivalent for rocking the vrections and to the same extent.

shaft. T he overlapping inner ends of the l mit the bolt to tilt vertically as much as necessary in practice. The rack end of .the

bolt 25 is held inv engagement with the pinion by means of ythe guide 21, but by placing this guidel mainly on the opposite side of the axis ofthe shaft 29 from the bolt 25, the bolt is free to tilt downward in practice. 4The bolts are held positively from lateral -xnovement with respect to the cover, by reason of the pedestal and keepers 22, but the keepers are materially higher inside than the vertical thickness of the bolts. At any .suitable points, preferably within the keepers 22, are provided cushioning devices shown in the form of leaf springs 32, each fastened at one end at 33 to the cover and loose at its other end and being normally bowed upward in the middle to normally hold or tend to .hold the bolt u ward against the top of the keeper, and a so to prevent 1 any undesired degree of looseness of reciprocating movements of the bolt.

' ldll/'ith the handle 30 swung over to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2 the points of the bolts will -be brought within the length of the cover and sothe cover will be free to be lifted into or out of the top of the body. Assumin that the ham (and by this term ham mean to cover any commodity that may be treated within the boiler) is introduced intothe boiler in any well known manner, the cover will be placed thereon and subjected to that degree of pressure necessary to press or shape the ham. The operator then swings the handle toward the full line position causing the ends of the bolts to be projected into any selected holes 15, the beveled ends 27 thereof liding easily along and beneath the incliner? upper sides of the holes until the fiat surfaces of the bolts come into contact with the upper edges of the holes. The springs 32 are made with considerable strength so that in the preliminary' manipulation of the locking devices the bolts are held thereby substantially against or close to the tops of the keepers, and so the locking devices have positive engagement with the rigid structure of the body. It being well understood, however, that during the cooking action the tendency of the ham is to swell, provision is made to take care of this increase in volume of the ham by the flexibility of the springs, the strength of which, however, must not be so great as to prevent the swelling of the ham and the causing of the valuable and nutritious juicesto be expressed therefrom. During the swelling of the ham the cover is forced relatively upward carrying with it the inner or rack ends of the bolts and so causing them to .tilt slightly toward their outer ends, since said ends are held down positively in place. The inclined upper surfaces of the holes 15 consequently serve also to give clearance for this tilting of the bolts without demanding that the holes be made any larger than the cross section of the bolts. During this upward movement of the cover the relative change of position between the keeper and the bolts may be as indicated in Fig.I 3, the springs 32 being fiat-tened according to the degree of pressure exerted upward against the cover.

I claim:

1. The combination with a ham boiler body formed with vertically arranged series of openings in opposite port-ions, of a cover movable into and out of said body, and reciprocating locking members projectable be-l yond opposite portions of the cover into selected openings of the body.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which said openings of the body are holes formed therethrough horizontally.

3. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the openings are formed as holes the walls of which have outwardly and downwardly inclined upper surfaces. 4. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which the locking members consist of a pair of reciprocating bolts, the main portions of which are in alignment while the inner portions thereof overlap, one above the other.

5. In a ham boiler the combination with a body having its end portions extended above the main portion of the body and provided with vertical series of horizontal pui holes, of a cover movable into and ont of the body, said cover being provided at its center with an upwardly projecting rigid pedestal having a horizontal slottherein, and 1ocking means for the cover including a pair of reciprocating bolts co-operating at their outer ends with selected holes of the bod)7 ends and being disposed one above the other at their inner ends in the pedestal slot.

6. A device as set forth in claim 5 in which the locking means includes, in addition to the bolts, an actuating member therefor located between the overlapping ends thereof and serving to cause simultaneous movement of the bolts in opposite directions.

7. A vdevice asset forth in claim 5 in whichlthe locking means includes, in addition to the bolts, longitudinal keepers embracing the aligned Vportions of the bolts and within which there is provided relative vertical movement between the keepers and the bolts. v i

8. A device as set forth in claim 5 in which the locking means includes, in addition to the bolts, a pair of keepers for the bolts holding them from lateral movement but providing for Krelative vertical move-f ment between them and the cover, and

ture.

cushioning means acting betweeii thebolts and the cover tending to hold the bolts projected upward therefrom resilientl Y 9. In a ham boiler, the combination' with a body having vertically arranged series of end holes, of a cover co-operating with the body and having at its center a vertically extending pedestal having therein a vertical longitudinal slot in the same plane as the body holes, a pair of locking bolts havinr their inner ends arranged in the pedesta slot, one over the other said ends being provided wit-h rack teet a pinion journaled in the pedestal between the overlapping ends of the bolts and meshing constantly with said teeth, guide means serving to hold the rack endsof the bolts in engagement with the pinion permitting the bolts to tilt downward relatively toward the ends of the cover, and keepers embracing the bolts and serving to hold them from lateral movement.

,10. A device as set-forth in claim 9 including leaf spring cushion means within the keepers and acting upward against the bolts, substantially set forth. In testimony whereof I aix my signa- HANS DELMANN.