Patents
US 8679560 B2: Apparatus, systems and methods for manufacturing food products
- Granted
- 2014-03-25
- Filed
- 2011-02-28 application 13036795
- Type
- Utility · 17 claims
- Elsewhere
- Google Patents ↗ · USPTO patent document ↗ · USPTO Patent Center record ↗
Abstract
Apparatus, systems and methods are disclosed to manufacture a plurality of edible pieces in a continuous process where each piece is generally different in thickness, shape, size and/or texture from another piece, so as to create, in the aggregate product distribution, pieces of randomly varying thickness, size, shape and/or texture. More specifically, the present invention, in its various embodiments, provides a process for manufacturing pet jerky treats comprising: grinding proteinaceous material, mixing said proteinaceous material with preservatives and flavor enhancers to form a blend of foodstuff, extruding said foodstuff through at least one die opening that is at least partially irregular to form at least one strip of extrudate that is at least partly irregular in shape, transporting said strip in a first longitudinal direction to a first cutting operation, cutting said strip at a first cutting angle to form a first set of pieces, transporting said first set of pieces in a second longitudinal direction to a second cutting operation, cutting said first set of pieces in said second cutting operation at a second angle to form a second set of pieces, such that the said second set of pieces cumulatively produced during a process run generally appear to be of random sizes and shapes.
Source: PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 (ipg140325.xml).
Assignees
| Assignee | Type | Place | Also on furp.org | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Del Monte Corporation 16 patents | US company or organization | San Francisco, CA | DEL MONTE CORPORATION State business registration EXACT high confidence: identical full name and state DEL MONTE CORP SEC filer FUZZY low confidence: same name (legal endings aside), one of each nationally | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Inventors
| Inventor | Place | Patents | Person page | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Davor Juravic | Rancho Palos Verdes, CA | 11 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Yomayra Alvarez | Long Beach, CA | 5 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Oscar Ortiz | Hawthorne, CA | 11 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Dwayne P. McDowell, II | Rancho Palos Verdes, CA | 5 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 | |
| Geoffrey Chase Thornhill | San Francisco, CA | 5 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
CPC categories
| Subclass | Category | First group | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| A23K | Fodder | A23K40/25 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| A23N | Machines or apparatus for treating harvested fruit, vegetables or flower bulbs in bulk, not otherwise provided for; peeling vegetables or fruit in bulk; apparatus for preparing animal feeding- stuffs | A23N17/002 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| B26D | Cutting; details common to machines for perforating, punching, cutting-out, stamping-out or severing | B26D1/147 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
| Y10T | Technical subjects covered by former us classification | Y10T83/0505 | PVGPATDIS, file of 2026-04-10 |
Cooperative Patent Classification, as currently assigned (one row per subclass).
Assignments and security interests
| Recorded | What | From | To | Reel/frame | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016-05-25 | Assignment Assignment of assignor's interest | BIG HEART PET BRANDS, LLC signed 2016-04-30 | BIG HEART PET, INC. ORRVILLE, OH | 38810/86 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2016-05-13 | Name change Change of name | BIG HEART PET BRANDS signed 2016-04-30 | BIG HEART PET BRANDS, LLC ORRVILLE, OH | 38687/149 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2015-03-23 | Release of security interest Release of security interest | JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. signed 2015-03-23 | BIG HEART PET BRANDS (F/K/A DEL MONTE CORPORATION) SAN FRANCISCO, CA | 35231/696 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2015-03-23 | Release of security interest Release of security interest | JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A. signed 2015-03-23 | BIG HEART PET BRANDS SAN FRANCISCO, CA | 35231/235 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2014-03-31 | Security interest Security interest Security interest | BIG HEART PET BRANDS signed 2014-03-06 | JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT NEW YORK, NY | 32565/323 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2014-03-19 | Release of security interest Termination and release of security interest in patent rights | BANK OF AMERICA, N.A. signed 2014-03-06 | BIG HEART PET BRANDS F/K/A DEL MONTE CORPORATION SAN FRANCISCO, CA | 32479/915 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2014-03-07 | Name change Change of name | DEL MONTE CORPORATION signed 2014-02-18 | BIG HEART PET BRANDS SAN FRANCISCO, CA | 32412/133 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
| 2012-07-27 | Assignment New assignment | MCDOWELL, DWAYNE P., II signed 2011-04-19 ALVAREZ, YOMAYRA signed 2011-04-25 ORTIZ, OSCAR signed 2011-04-25 JURAVIC, DAVOR signed 2011-05-02 THORNHILL, GEOFFREY CHASE signed 2011-06-16 | DEL MONTE CORPORATION SAN FRANCISCO, CA | 28654/557 | ECORSEXC, file of 2026-09-25 |
| 2011-04-08 | Security interest Security interest Security agreement | DEL MONTE CORPORATION signed 2011-03-08 | JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, NA, AS COLLATERAL AGENT NEW YORK, NY | 26100/771 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
| 2011-03-28 | Security interest Security interest Security agreement | DEL MONTE CORPORATION signed 2011-03-08 | BANK OF AMERICA, N.A. SAN FRANCISCO, CA | 26029/157 | PASDL, file of 2026-10-15 |
Documents recorded with the USPTO Assignment Recordation Branch that list this patent. A security interest is a lender’s claim on the patent as collateral; a release ends it.
USPTO bulk data: PatentsView granted patents, disambiguated (PVGPATDIS) for patents, assignees, inventors, places and CPC categories; the USPTO Patent Assignment Dataset (ECORSEXC) for assignments and security interests. Patents filed in the last 20 years. No claims or full text. Links to other records are by name (and state): EXACT means the identical full name and state; FUZZY means a looser name match, with the confidence shown.