Coating apparatus – Edible base or coating type
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-13
2001-10-02
Edwards, Laura (Department: 1734)
Coating apparatus
Edible base or coating type
C118S023000, C118S024000, C118S308000, C118S312000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06295947
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
The invention relates to a device for coating food products with granular material, for example breadcrumb material, comprising a rotating conveyor belt which is permeable to the granular material and on which the food products can be held, guide plates which extend beneath a section of the top part and the bottom part of the conveyor belt, a feed, which opens out above the top part of the conveyor belt, for the granular material, diverter means for guiding the granular material from the top part to the bottom part of the conveyor belt and back, as well as conveyor means for conveying granular material from the top part of the conveyor belt to the feed.
An invention of this nature is known from EP-B-397,267 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,759,218. In the first known device, the bottom part is guided along an S-shaped path in which there is incorporated a buffer with an overflow, via which some of the granular material is conveyed upwards and back to a storage hopper which opens out above the top part of the conveyor belt.
The granular material comprises a mixture of relatively fine and relatively coarse constituents. The relatively fine constituents sink downwards more quickly than the relatively coarse constituents, with the result that during the conveyance of the said material segregation can occur, so that separate layers containing relatively fine and relatively coarse material are formed.
As a result, it is not always readily possible to coat the products in the correct way. For example, it may be desirable to coat the products with relatively coarse material on the top side or the visible side. However, if the relatively fine constituents reach the products first, the adhesion of the relatively coarse constituents is then impaired. The known device has the drawback that the coating process cannot be controlled in the desired way.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a device of the type mentioned above in which the distribution of relatively fine and relatively coarse constituents of the coating material can be controlled better. This object is achieved by the fact that a selection means for dividing the granular material into a relatively fine fraction and a relatively coarse fraction is situated between the top part and the bottom part of the conveyor belt, to which selection means the granular material is fed from the top part of the conveyor belt, via which selection means the relatively fine fraction of the granular material is fed to the bottom part of the conveyor belt and the relatively coarse fraction of the granular material is fed to the conveyor means.
The granular material originating from the top part of the conveyor belt is selected in such a manner that, for example, the relatively fine constituents pass onto the bottom part of the conveyor belt and the relatively coarse parts pass into the conveyor means (screens). Via the diverter means, the relatively fine constituents are moved onto the top part of the conveyor belt. The consequence is that the products come to lie on a layer of screened, relatively fine material. The relatively coarse constituents which have been conveyed upwards by the conveyor means are used for coating the products on the top side.
Another advantage is that not all the material, but rather only the relatively coarse material, is conveyed to the top part of the conveyor belt by the conveyor means. The total volume of material to be conveyed consequently remains limited, so that the capacity of the conveyor means can remain relatively low and the material itself does not crumble to such an extent.
Reference is made to the device which is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,333,415. This known device also has a conveyor means which, however, conveys the total volume of material to the top part. The material is only screened above the said top part.
The selection means according to the invention may comprise a screen plate which is provided with screen openings, which screen plate is connected to the guide plate which extends beneath the top part of the conveyor belt. This screen plate extends downwards at an angle from the guide plate which extends beneath the top part of the conveyor belt.
The division between relatively fine and relatively coarse parts which is obtained during screening by means of the screen plate depends on the nature, size and orientation of the screen openings. A different division will generally also be desirable for different products. In the device according to the invention, this division can be adapted in a simple manner if the screen plate is of exchangeable design. Therefore, a set of exchangeable plates, each with their own pattern of openings, belongs to the device, in order to effect a specific desired division.
The screen plate may, for example, have slots which run transversely to the direction of transport of the conveyor belt for allowing through fine granular material. The relatively fine material falls through the transversely positioned slots, while the relatively coarse material slides over the slots. A screen plate of this nature is then also eminently suitable for separating relatively coarse and relatively fine constituents to a substantial extent.
According to a further option, the selection plate may have longitudinal slots for essentially allowing the granular material to pass through in the unscreened state. A selection plate of this nature is suitable for controlling the distribution of the total quantity, of material over the top side and bottom side of the products to be coated.
It is also possible to design a selection plate with both sorts of openings, in such a manner that a moderate level of division is obtained.
The results relating to coating the food products by meads of the device according to the invention can be improved still further if the selection means is connected to a buffer for collecting the selected material, which buffer has a discharge which opens out above the bottom part of the conveyor belt. The discharge of the buffer may be of adjustable size.
Depending on the type of screen plate, the relatively fine material may be collected in the buffer. Depending on the size of discharge opening which is set, a more or less thick layer of coating material is obtained as the bottom layer on which the food products to be coated are to be placed.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2855893 (1958-10-01), Greet et al.
patent: 3759218 (1973-09-01), Korstvedt
patent: 4333415 (1982-06-01), Miller et al.
patent: 5647905 (1997-07-01), Bertrand et al.
patent: 5951760 (1999-09-01), Kuenen
patent: 113 927 (1984-07-01), None
patent: 397 (1990-11-01), None
patent: 7810080 (1980-04-01), None
Edwards Laura
Koppens B.V.
Sughrue Mion Zinn Macpeak & Seas, PLLC
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