Refrigeration – Processes – Congealing flowable material – e.g. – ice making
Reexamination Certificate
1999-11-30
2001-05-01
Doerrler, William (Department: 3744)
Refrigeration
Processes
Congealing flowable material, e.g., ice making
C062S064000, C062S373000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06223542
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to a frozen product preparation apparatus and, more particularly, to a cryogenic processor for liquid feed preparation of a free-flowing frozen product and a method for its use in freezing a liquid composition.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART
Sales of ice cream and frozen yogurt products have risen dramatically in recent years. The applicant herein has captured a portion of this product market through the development of a unique novelty ice cream, frozen yogurt and ice product in the form of beads. This product, marketed under the trademarks “Dippin' Dots®” and “Ice Cream of the Future®”, has become very popular in specialty stores and at fairs and theme parks.
The applicant has proprietary rights in the method of preparing and storing the product pursuant to U.S. Pat. No. 5,126,156, issued Jun. 30, 1992, herein incorporated by reference, as well as rights associated with improvements pursuant to U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,422, issued Sep. 9, 1997, herein incorporated by reference. As is generally described therein, the patented method involves delivering flavored liquid dairy and other alimentary compositions to a feed tray and then dripping the composition into a freezing chamber. The feed tray comprises a plurality of orifices through which liquid composition passes so that droplets form and fall into the freezing chamber. Each orifice may also have a corresponding feed dropper which is downwardly disposed in relation to the tray such that the liquid composition passes from the tray through an orifice and then through an associated feed dropper where a droplet is formed. The orifices or combination of orifices and feed droppers will hereinafter be referred to collectively as feed assemblies.
The falling droplets of liquid composition freeze rapidly in the freezing chamber due to the presence of both gaseous and liquid refrigerant in the area between the orifices and the bottom of the freezing chamber, thereby forming solid beads of flavored ice cream, yogurt or other alimentary products, such as flavored ice. The frozen beads are removed from the freezing chamber and packed for distribution and later consumption.
For economic efficiency, it is important to utilize as many BTU's as possible from the liquid refrigerant during the droplet freezing process. This is typically done by utilizing the gaseous portion of the refrigerant generated from the heat of the liquid composition as it is being frozen to pre-cool the falling droplets prior to entering the liquid refrigerant. However, if the gaseous refrigerant is allowed to completely surround the feed assembly, a freeze-up of liquid composition in the assembly can potentially occur resulting in a reduced product output. Therefore, excess cold gaseous refrigerant around the assembly is undesirable. In order to improve the production process, a method which reduces the possibility of feed assembly freeze-up and thereby allows the feed assemblies to remain unobstructed of frozen composition during operation is desired. A temperature balance between the feed assembly and the the upper portion of the freezing chamber is required so that free flow of the liquid composition through the feed assemblies is achieved resulting in the continuous formation of uniform frozen beads.
Accordingly, a need is identified to sufficiently pre-cool the falling droplets prior to contacting the liquid refrigerant in the freezing chamber while ensuring that the flow channels of the feed assemblies remain unobstructed of frozen feed composition which could otherwise inhibit the free flow of droplets. Therefore, improving the pre-cooling characteristics of the freezing chamber while preventing liquid composition from freezing in the feed assembly flow channels will result in improving the efficiency of frozen beaded product manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is generally directed to an improved cryogenic processor for liquid feed preparation of a free-flowing frozen product and a method for its use. It has been determined through experimentation that structural modifications can be made to the prior art apparatus to bring about the desired result. A primary object of the present invention is to provide an improved cryogenic processor incorporating a gas diffusion chamber that will substantially eliminate the formation of frozen product in the feed assembly during the production of the free-flowing frozen product.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an increased falling distance for the formed droplets measured from the feed assembly to the freezing chamber, so that the droplets will be provided with additional cooling time, so that a reduced amount of refrigerant is required to cool each droplet.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a means for adjusting the level of gaseous refrigerant contained in the gas diffusion chamber, so that the operation of the system can be adjusted for different ambient conditions.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a means for adjusting the level of liquid refrigerant contained in the freezing chamber.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide an improved structure to the interior of the freezing chamber to prevent incoming liquid refrigerant from forming a cyclone effect which prevents the frozen beads from exiting the chamber uniformly for packaging.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a means for automatically controlling the production of the free-flowing frozen product.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalities and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects, and in accordance with the purposes of the present invention as described herein, an improved cryogenic processor for liquid feed preparation of a free-flowing frozen product and a method for its use, that achieves the stated goals are presented.
The cryogenic processor comprises a tray that receives liquid feed composition from a delivery source. The liquid composition may be nixed with other substances in predetermined amounts in a premixing device. A plurality of orifices or combination of orifices and feed droppers, hereinafter feed assembly, associated with the tray are specifically arranged and adapted for discharging uniformly sized droplets of the liquid composition from the tray. In a key aspect of the improvement, a regulated flow of ambient air is provided to the feed assembly by a venturi assembly or other source of partial vacuum. The vacuum assembly allows ambient air to be pulled into the cryogenic processor and across the feed assembly which prevents liquid composition from freezing and accumulating in the flow channels of the feed assembly, thus allowing continuous formation of uniformly sized beads. Adjustable door inlets are also adapted and arranged as a means to control the flow of incoming ambient air, as well as the flow of outgoing gaseous refrigerant. The ambient air also can be filtered for specific applications.
The vacuum assembly described above is incorporated in the exit port of a gas diffusion chamber which is arranged between the feed assembly and the freezing chamber. The gas diffusion chamber not only facilitates ambient air flow, it also provides the additional separation between the feed assembly and the freezing chamber to allow for pre-cooling of the falling droplets prior to contacting the liquid refrigerant in the freezing chamber therebelow. The height of the gas diffusion chamber also can be adjusted during manufacture depending on the liquid to be frozen. The height of the chamber can be critical for proper bead formation beca
Jones Curt D.
Jones Milford D.
Jones Stanley O.
Dippin' Dots, Inc.
Doerrler William
Thomas Kayden Horstemeyer & Risley
LandOfFree
Cryogenic processor for liquid feed preparation of a... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Cryogenic processor for liquid feed preparation of a..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cryogenic processor for liquid feed preparation of a... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2512870