Refrigeration – Article moving means – Continuous longitudinal-type conveyor
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-02
2001-11-20
Capossela, Ronald (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Article moving means
Continuous longitudinal-type conveyor
C062S256000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06318111
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a belt conveyor device for transporting cold foods, which is used in handling food transportation of food material in a food products plant, such as a meat and marine products processing plant.
PRIOR ART
In a foods processing site requiring processing in a low-temperature state, when considering the working environment, it was inevitable for a room to have a relatively high temperature of around 15-C.~20-C., and while transporting cold foods by using a belt conveyor etc. arranged in a room, workers at processing tables placed on both left and right sides of the belt conveyor, took out food from the belt conveyor, and returned it back to the said belt conveyor after performing the designated processing.
In a cold foods processing site of this type, although it is required to keep processed food below 10-C., there have been following problems: In a conventional food products processing plant, since it is necessary to form cooling spaces which maintain a refrigerating temperature of 10-C. or below to preserve freshness of foods in working spaces, a large scale air conditioning installment was required, which made a problem of energy conservation. Also, an excessively cooled environment was an unnatural working environment for workers, and not only was it an impediment to work efficiency, but it was also a problem concerning the worker health.
Furthermore, thermal management of working spaces was inadequate, and if the temperature rose beyond the designated temperature, there was a problem of quality and sanitation.
The object of the present invention is made to resolve such ever existing problems, by enabling control of the quality and sanitation of foods without being affected by an environmental temperature, by cooling the belt conveyor surface which processes and transports foods, while a food transporting space of the belt conveyor surface in a working space is formed to be a cooling space of 10-C. or below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
To accomplish the above mentioned technological subject, the present invention is comprised as the following:
The first embodiment of the present invention comprises a belt conveyor which endlessly revolves over a driving drum and a follower drum; a cooling part which forms cold air; cold air outlets which connects to the said cooling part by its inlet side, provided on the side face of the food transporting spaces on said belt conveyor; cold air suction ports which connects to said cooling part by its outlet side, provided opposedly to the said cold air outlets, sandwiching the food transporting spaces of said belt conveyor, and is characterized in that food transporting spaces on the surfaces of the belt conveyor in a working space are formed to be approx. 10-C. or below, which is lower in temperature than the working space, by a cool air flow from said cold air outlets to the cold air suction ports, more specifically, a cooling space having temperatures set to be equivalent to a food refrigerating temperature of around 0~10-C. is formed.
There may be a construction in which a cold air injector, with an inlet side connecting through with said cooling part, is provided at a position confronting rear surfaces of said conveyor, and by blowing cold air against the rear surfaces of said belt conveyor with said injector, the rear surface spaces of said conveyor is formed as cooling spaces.
There may be a construction in which air outlets and air suction ports are provided on an upstream and downstream side of the running direction of a conveyor, opposedly to each other across the conveyor, and by an air flow, from said outlets to the suction ports as an air-curtain, cooling spaces of the food transporting spaces of said conveyor is substantially blocked in temperature from the working spaces.
Particularly, if this is not provided, cold air of the cooling spaces upon a conveyor will flow outside from both ends, and a thickness of the cooling spaces of a conveyor will not be maintained.
There may be a construction in which a cold air circulation path is provided, in which cold air from said cooling part blows out into cooling surfaces, formed on both the top and rear surfaces of said conveyor, and cold air blown out into cooling surfaces returns to the cooling part through designated suction ports, and an air-quantity controlling system, which adjusts cold air-quantity, are set at optional points of said circulation path.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4078398 (1978-03-01), Cloudy
patent: 4337626 (1982-07-01), Ibrahim
patent: 4481782 (1984-11-01), Murkerjee
patent: 5448898 (1995-09-01), Rothstein
patent: 5452588 (1995-09-01), Onodera
patent: 5606861 (1997-03-01), Renz
Aizawa Saburo
Murakami Masaru
Capossela Ronald
Crowell & Moring LLP
Low Temp. Food Process Technology Co., Ltd.
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