Foods and beverages: apparatus – Subjecting food to an enclosed modified atmosphere – Including means to influence movement of gas within enclosure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-20
2001-12-11
Alexander, Reginald L. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Subjecting food to an enclosed modified atmosphere
Including means to influence movement of gas within enclosure
C099S478000, C099S483000, C099S470000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06327969
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to an apparatus for cooling and/or warming articles, in particular edible products in the confectionery sector.
In many industrial sectors, articles are produced which, following manufacture, have to be cooled or heated. For temperature-control processes of this type there are a large number of apparatuses and methods. In the present case, it is primarily edible products from the confectionery sector whose temperature is to be controlled, that is to say, for example, pralines produced by the one-shot process, which consist of a filling surrounded by a chocolate coating. In this case, what is primarily concerned is that the cooling should be carried out as quickly as possible following manufacture and uniformly from all sides, in order that the edible products maintain their shape. Hitherto, only a few suitable apparatuses have been used for this purpose and are also generally of very complicated construction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus of the abovementioned type with which the quickest possible temperature control of the articles can be carried out in a simple way, the intention being for the temperature control also to be carried out as far as possible from all sides.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The foregoing object is achieved by providing an apparatus for cooling and/or heating articles comprising a housing having a conveyor inlet and a conveyor outlet; at least one cylinder disposed in the housing, the at least one cylinder defining an interior chamber and having at one end thereby provided with one of a air heating means and air cooling means at the other end thereof closure means for closing the cylinder; and a conveyor for passing the articles through the housing and around the at least one cylinder from the conveyor inlet to the conveyor outlet, the conveyor being disposed along a helical path around the at least one cylinder wherein the at least one cylinder is provided with air flow springs feeding air from the interior chamber to the articles.
The helical conveyor has the great advantage that it is able to move the products whose temperature is to be controlled continuously past the air openings, so that the articles whose temperature is to be controlled are acted on continuously with cooling or warming air. For this purpose, the obvious thing is for the air openings likewise to be arranged helically in the cylinder, to be specific with a pitch which corresponds approximately to the pitch of the helical conveyor. Added to this is the fact that the air openings are preferably arranged to be offset in relation to one another, so that the products whose temperature is to be controlled are acted on continuously by air, although no continuous slot is formed in the cylinder.
In order to produce the cooling or the heating, a cooling or heating element and an appropriate fan should preferably be arranged directly in the cylinder. Of course, both elements could also be located outside the cylinder but the integration of the two elements into the cylinder permits a significantly more compact construction.
Although quite good temperature control of the edible products is already carried out with the arrangement of one cylinder and the helical conveyor, in a preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention a first cylinder is to be assigned a second cylinder having corresponding air openings described above. In this case, the helical conveyor is arranged in such a way that it wraps around the second cylinder in the opposite direction to the first cylinder. This means that the helical conveyor rises in the first cylinder and falls in the second cylinder.
The significant advantage of the invention resides in the fact that, as a result of reversing the direction of rotation of the helical conveyor, the edible products are acted on by the temperature-control medium from one side in the one cylinder and are acted on from the other side in the other cylinder. The edible products are therefore acted on from all sides with cooling or warming air, so that the temperature control is carried out very uniformly.
An essential part of the helical conveyor is a guide track, on which a chain which is connected to a drive runs. The chain is configured in such a way that the edible products whose temperature is to be controlled rest on it and can be transported by it. Should it prove to be expedient, the chain or individual chain links can be covered with appropriate non-slip material.
In a preferred exemplary embodiment, the chain comprises a large number of wing-like chain links, which are connected to one another by joints. The joints are configured in such a way that it is made possible for the chain to run around a curve. This means, in a simple exemplary embodiment, that the individual chain links are connected to one another via connecting pins which pass through a double tapered hole in a chain link. This double tapered hole allows the chain links mobility on all sides in relation to one another.
In order to save as much height as possible in the individual levels of the helical conveyor, and therefore to be able to construct the entire apparatus with a lower height, it proves to be expedient to arrange the chain with two mutually oppositely rotating horizontal drive gear wheels in each case. These drive gear wheels are arranged, for example, in the guide track itself or pass through the latter and mesh with corresponding bearing points on the chain links, these bearing points preferably having rounded tooth flanks. These bearing points are also assigned guide tabs, which ensure that the drive gear wheels remain meshed with the tooth flanks of the chain links even when running around a curve.
A plurality of drive gear wheel pairs of this type are preferably provided over the height of the helical conveyor, in each case arranged level by level. The drive gear wheels of each level are preferably driven by a common drive belt, a drive chain or the like, which is in turn connected to a drive wheel. The drive wheels on one side of a helical conveyor are connected to one another via a drive rod, which is driven by a single motor drive.
In addition, the chain runs with its chain links in rail sections of a guide track, which in each case comprises a supporting layer and a sliding layer. Since both the chain links and the guide track are preferably composed of plastic, the sliding layer should be matched to the plastic of the chain links in such a way that as few wear phenomena as possible occur and, on the other hand, it is possible for the chain links to slide without difficulty.
For the purpose of guiding the chain links, the guide track has a groove, which is preferably undercut, the joint of the chain link sliding in the undercut. Overall, the groove has a cross section shaped similarly to an inverted T.
In order to be able to compensate for production tolerances, thermal expansion and different pitches, the rail sections are preferably not fixed continuously to a machine frame, but only at one end. At the other end, they engage with a tongue in a recess in a following rail section, so that, for example, as a result allowance can be made for thermal expansion in a simple way.
Overall, the apparatus is extremely suitable for controlling the temperature of articles and satisfies the abovementioned object without difficulty. In particular, it requires very little maintenance and manages with only a few drives.
REFERENCES:
patent: 2062535 (1936-12-01), Thompson
patent: 4023376 (1977-05-01), Onodera
patent: 4078394 (1978-03-01), Chamberlain et al.
patent: 4480535 (1984-11-01), Jaxmar et al.
patent: 4750416 (1988-06-01), Graham
patent: 4953365 (1990-09-01), Lang et al.
patent: 5398521 (1995-03-01), Baron et al.
patent: 528593 (1993-02-01), None
patent: 578523 (1994-01-01), None
patent: 1516498 (1968-01-01), None
WO 91/17400, Nov. 1991, Gyger et al.
Alexander Reginald L.
Bachman & LaPointe P.C.
KMB Productions AG
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