Refrigeration – Article moving means – Continuous longitudinal-type conveyor
Patent
1994-04-01
1995-09-12
Capossela, Ronald C.
Refrigeration
Article moving means
Continuous longitudinal-type conveyor
62 57, 62 63, F25D 2504
Patent
active
054488982
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention generally relates to an air treatment plant for foodstuffs, comprising a housing, an elongate trough provided therein for receiving the foodstuff to be treated, a heat exchanger and a fan assembly for producing an air flow circulating through the heat exchanger, up through the trough and back to the heat exchanger.
The invention relates especially to a freezing plant, but is also applicable to other air treatment plants, e.g. for cooling, drying and heating. In the freezing plant, the heat exchanger is a cooling-coil battery.
Previously known freezing plants of this type use a trough with a foraminated bottom, and in some cases also a foraminated conveyor belt running over the foraminated bottom or, alternatively, replacing it. The perforations in the trough bottom may be so dimensioned that at least some foodstuffs are caused to fluidise in the trough, this increasing the freezing speed and preventing the individual food products, e.g. peas, from freezing on to each other. Alternatively, the perforations may be so dimensioned that no fluidisation is brought about, but instead an agitation, which may sometimes be sufficient for preventing the food products from freezing on to each other and which, for certain difficultly-fluidisable foodstuffs, is the only feasible option.
Thus, the known freezing plants often suffer from considerable limitations in respect of freezing mode, i.e. fluidising or non-fluidising, and also in respect of the types of foodstuffs that can be treated. Further, they are limited as to the amount of foodstuff treated per unit of time, and are unable to cope with large variations in foodstuff quantity. To meet the demands of food producers several freezing plants may thus be required which operate in different ways and which have different capacities, both in respect of the type of foodstuff to be treated and in respect of the treated amount per unit of time.
The above description of prior-art freezing plants generally applies to known air treatment plants of the type stated by way of introduction.
The object of the present invention therefore is to improve an air treatment plant of the type stated in the introduction to this specification, with a view to making it adaptable to different modes of operation, different foodstuffs and different capacity requirements.
According to the invention, this object is achieved in that one side wall of the trough is adjustable sideways to change the width of the trough.
In this manner, the volume of the trough can be easily changed, which allows adjusting the treated amount of foodstuff per unit of time to a desired amount without changing the mode of operation, i.e. fluidising or non-fluidising. For larger trough widths, a non-fluidising mode of operation, which normally requires a smaller depth of the bed of treated foodstuff present in the trough, can also be used without the total amount of foodstuff treated per unit of time becoming less than in a fluidising mode of operation, which requires a larger bed depth and usually a smaller trough width in view of the maximum capacity of the fan assembly.
By making the air flow capacity of the fan assembly adjustable, preferably depending on the width of the trough, the adaptability of the air treatment plant can of course be further improved.
Thus, with a single air treatment plant according to the invention it becomes possible to replace several air treatment plants of conventional type.
In a preferred embodiment of the air treatment plant according to the invention, the adjustable side wall connects upwards to a boundary wall in a duct for the air flow. The side wall may then be movable together with or relative to the boundary wall. In the latter case, the side wall may be movable in the transverse direction of the trough by being connected to the boundary wall through one or more intermediate walls. The relative mobility between the side wall and the boundary wall may be achieved in that the intermediate wall or walls are articulated and/or movably connected to each other and
REFERENCES:
patent: 3115756 (1963-12-01), Overbye
patent: 3393532 (1968-07-01), Khoylan
patent: 3691644 (1972-09-01), Schnitzer
patent: 4164129 (1979-08-01), Stuber
patent: 4283923 (1981-08-01), Gruda et al.
patent: 4301659 (1981-11-01), Martin et al.
Capossela Ronald C.
Frigoscandia Equipment Aktiebolag
LandOfFree
Air treatment plant for foodstuff comprising a trough with an ad does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Air treatment plant for foodstuff comprising a trough with an ad, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Air treatment plant for foodstuff comprising a trough with an ad will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-400326