To me it looks like an african cymal? a musical insturment without the base, different lengh tangs different tones.
Are you thinking of a kalimba or mbira? They have separate tines as far as I know. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mbira
Probably used in food processing, maybe cheese or some dairy item. Wood floats and Pan's flute thing hangs down in the liquid in a small round vat where fluid is spun in a circle by a bottom-mounted agitator. The flute helps keep the hydrosomonic molecules from binding to the monoflectic gel, resulting in an intermediate effluent with improved viscosity.