Retort with progressive latch, roller support arrangement and method and system for reciprocation of loads

1. A retort, comprising:

a retort vessel; and

a retort basket support assembly for supporting a retort basket during both transfer and reciprocating processing of the retort basket within the vessel, the assembly comprising:

a roller arrangement;

wherein the roller arrangement comprises:

a plurality of transfer rollers having external surfaces that define a first horizontal plane;

a plurality of support rollers having external surfaces that define a second horizontal plane that is offset from the first horizontal plane.

2. The retort of claim 1 wherein each transport roller is located between two support rollers to help support a product basket during loading and unloading.

3. The retort of claim 1 wherein the plurality of support rollers and the plurality of transfer rollers are arranged in first and second spaced apart rail assemblies to define a first line of rollers and a second line of rollers that is spaced apart from and runs parallel to the first line of rollers, the first line of rollers including both support rollers and transfer rollers and the second line of rollers including both support rollers and transfer rollers.

4. The retort of claim 3 wherein support rollers of the first line of rollers and the second line of rollers are laterally paired with each other and transfer rollers of the first line of rollers and the second line of rollers are laterally paired with each other.

5. The retort of claim 3 wherein the first rail assembly and second rail assembly are both mounted to a bottom of a retort basket structure such that the support rollers and transport rollers face downwardly from the retort basket structure and the second horizontal plane is lower than the first horizontal plane.

6. The retort of claim 3 wherein the first rail assembly and second rail assembly are both mounted within a retort vessel having an access door and a frame situated within the vessel for moving product baskets back and forth within the vessel, the frame defining a basket load zone, the first rail assembly and second rail assembly oriented such that the support rollers and transport rollers face upwardly and the second horizontal plane is higher than the first horizontal plane.

7. The retort of claim 1 , wherein:

the support rollers have a diameter that is the same as a diameter of the thetransfer rollers, the support rollers mounted on respective rotation axes that lie in a third plane and the transfer rollers mounted on respective rotation axes that lie in a fourth plane that is offset from and parallel to the third plane.

8. The retort of claim 1 , wherein:

the support rollers have a diameter that is different than a diameter of the transfer rollers, the support rollers and the transfer rollers having respective rotation axes that lie in a common plane.

9. A retort, comprising:

a vessel having an access door;

a frame situated within the vessel for moving a set of product baskets within the vessel, the frame defining a basket load zone for a plurality of product baskets;

a support arrangement for supporting the product baskets within the vessel during movement of the frame, the support arrangement extending in a lengthwise direction of the vessel from a location toward a first end of the vessel to a location toward a second end of the vessel;

a drive mechanism for reciprocating the frame back and forth in a reciprocating path that extends from the first end toward the second end of the vessel, the drive mechanism operates to reciprocate the frame at between 60 and 95 strokes per minute, where the stroke length is between about four inches and about eight inches.

10. The retort of claim 9 wherein the stroke length is between about five inches and about seven inches.

11. The retort of claim 10 wherein the stroke length is about six inches.

12. The retort of claim 11 wherein the drive mechanism operates to reciprocate the frame at between 80 and 95 strokes per minute.

13. A retort, comprising:

a vessel having an access door;

a frame situated within the vessel for moving a set of product baskets within the vessel, the frame defining a basket load zone for a plurality of product baskets;

a support arrangement for supporting the product baskets within the vessel during movement of the frame, the support arrangement extending in a lengthwise direction of the vessel from a location toward a first end of the vessel to a location toward a second end of the vessel;

a spray system for delivering heated fluid onto product baskets with the vessel;

a drive mechanism for reciprocating the frame back and forth in a reciprocating path that extends from the first end toward the second end of the vessel, the drive mechanism configured to reciprocate the frame at between 80 and 95 strokes per minute as heated fluid is delivered, wherein the stroke length is between about five inches and about seven inches.

14. The retort of claim 13 wherein the frame includes a stop toward a first end of the vessel for abutting against one end of the set of product baskets within the vessel, the frame further including a latch mechanism toward a second end of the vessel for securing product baskets on the frame.

15. The retort of claim 14 wherein the latch mechanism includes:

a latching part that is movable between a non-latching orientation and a latching orientation; and

an actuator that operates to (i) move the latching part from the non-latching orientation to the latching orientation and (ii) maintain a bias of the latching part toward the latching orientation such that when a product basket engaged by the latching part moves toward the first end of the vessel as a result of a reciprocating operation, the latching part moves under the bias of the actuator to remain in engagement with the product basket and progressively reduce a spacing between the latching part and the stop as the set of product baskets shifts into a more compact arrangement during the reciprocating operation.

16. The retort of claim 15 wherein:

the latching part is pivotally mounted to the frame and includes a basket engaging surface portion for contacting an edge of the product basket when the latching part is in the latching orientation, the surface portion offset angularly from both first and second planes that define the edge of the product basket, where the first and second planes are perpendicular to each other and the surface portion is not parallel to either of the first and second planes.

17. The retort of claim 16 wherein:

the latch mechanism includes a first plate connected for movement with the latching part and a second plate connected for movement with the latching part, the second plate spaced apart from the first plate,

the actuator comprises a first bladder, a second bladder, and an intermediate plate between the first and second bladder, the intermediate plate connected to the frame and extending between the first plate and the second plate, the first bladder located between the first plate and the intermediate plate, the second bladder located between the intermediate plate and the second plate,

when the first bladder is expanded and the second bladder is collapsed, the first bladder causes a spacing between the intermediate plate and the first plate to enlarge and a spacing between the intermediate plate and the second plate to reduce such that the latching part moves to the latching orientation,

when the first bladder is collapsed and the second bladder is expanded, the second bladder causes the spacing between the intermediate plate and the second plate to enlarge and the spacing between the intermediate plate and the first plate to reduce such that the latching mechanism moves to the non-latching orientation.