Patent Application
20230049142
The invention relates to an apparatus for shaping a strand-shaped foodstuff, in particular a piece of meat, having a pressing chamber which is delimited by walls, at least one of which is movable by means of a pressing device and is designed as a ram, whereby the pressing chamber can be transitioned from an initial state with a first enclosed volume into a final state with a second enclosed volume.
Moreover, the invention relates to a method for shaping a strand-shaped foodstuff, in particular a piece of meat.
For industrial portioning and packaging of strand-shaped foodstuffs, in particular pieces of meat, the foodstuffs are generally divided into slices by means of a cutting machine and are subsequently transferred to a packaging device, which packs a specific number of separated slices together in one package. The number of slices contained in a package here conforms to a quantity indicated on the package, wherein a quantity of the foodstuff actually contained in the package may deviate from the indicated quantity only within a legally prescribed range.
In the case of strand-shaped foodstuffs, in particular of pieces of meat, the typically non-uniformly shaped surface has been found to be problematic as it makes a cutting off of slices of the same weight at constant slice thickness particularly difficult. However, an adaptation of the slice thickness is only accepted within relatively narrow limits so that the quantity actually contained in the package frequently exceeds the indicated weight in order to maintain compliance with the statutory requirements.
In order enable a cutting off of slices of the same weight, or precisely weighted portions of such slices, even in the case of non-uniformly shaped foodstuffs, apparatuses for shaping foodstuffs are therefore known by means of which the foodstuff can be pressed into a predetermined shape, for example into the shape of a cuboid or at least of a cuboid-like volume. This can ensure that the separated slices substantially coincide in a cross-sectional area, whereby a cutting off of the shaped foodstuff with approximately consistent slice thickness is enabled.
An apparatus described above is disclosed in EP 1 595 456 A2. The apparatus comprises a pressing chamber comprising six walls, three of which are designed as movable rams. A wall forming a base plate of the pressing chamber is firmly anchored. A rear side of the pressing chamber is likewise designed as an immovable wall. The foodstuffs to be shaped are fed to the pressing chamber by means of a conveyor belt, wherein the foodstuffs are conveyed by means of the conveyor belt from a first plane to an edge region of the conveyor belt and subsequently fall onto the base plate, which is arranged vertically below the conveyor belt. It is here provided that two foodstuffs separated from one another by means of a separating part are shaped simultaneously by means of the apparatus in that the walls designed as rams are moved. After the shaping process, a wall forming a side is moved in such a way that an opening cross-section of the pressing chamber is uncovered. The two shaped foodstuffs are then conveyed out of the pressing chamber by means of a movement of the opposite ram.
DE 10 2016 122 126 A1 likewise discloses an apparatus for shaping a foodstuff. The apparatus comprises a pressing chamber with two walls which are designed as rams and by means of which the foodstuff can be shaped. The foodstuff is here fed to the pressing chamber by means of a transport belt which is oriented at an angle to a horizontal and has a first movement direction. Subsequently, the shaping process takes place. In order to remove the foodstuff from the pressing chamber, a wall forming a side is moved in order to uncover an opening cross-section, while a ram arranged on an opposite side is moved in order to convey the foodstuff out of the pressing chamber and to transfer it to the transport belt, which runs in an opposite movement direction, as compared to the first movement direction, and is likewise oriented at an angle to the horizontal. A feed opening of the pressing chamber thus corresponds to a discharge opening of the pressing chamber.
DE 20 2005 018 374 U1 describes an apparatus for shaping a foodstuff, which apparatus has a pressing chamber and a transport belt for feeding the foodstuff into and out of the pressing chamber. For this purpose, the apparatus has a means for receiving the foodstuff, which means is coupled to the transport belt so that the means is also moved during a movement of the transport belt. By means of the transport belt, the foodstuff lying on the means is conveyed to a pressing chamber which shapes the foodstuff by means of its rams. After the shaping process, the means conveys the foodstuff out of the pressing chamber.
Furthermore, from DE 2 140 585 A, an apparatus is known for pressing meat products, in particular pork bellies, with a plurality of rollers which are oriented in parallel to one another and form between themselves a press nip through which the meat product to be pressed is guided. A transport belt on which the meat product rests is here used as the conveying device. In the case of the previously known apparatus, opposite roller pairs are arranged such that a press nip formed between them is increasingly reduced in the feed direction. A pressing chamber within the meaning of an apparatus of the type forming the basis of this application, in which the foodstuff is stationary during the pressing process, is not present. The previously known apparatus also does not function when the transport belt is stationary, since otherwise no further movement of the meat product through the roller pairs would be enabled, but such a further movement is indispensable to achieving the pressing effect. Namely, in the case of a stationary transport belt, a relative sliding movement between the surface of the transport belt and the upper pressing rollers would need to occur, which cannot be performed. In addition, in the apparatus known from DE 2 140 585 A, both the entirety of the lower rollers and the entirety of the upper rollers are each combined and mounted in a common frame, wherein this frame is displaceable in parallel and perpendicularly to the roller axes or is arranged so as to be pivotable about a roller axis or an axis parallel to the roller axes. In addition, the gap width as well as the entry and exit cross-section for the pressing material are adjusted by means of a hand wheel, which, due to the desired high feed rate of the apparatus, is operated only before the start of the pressing process and not during the same. Walls, which would delimit a “pressing chamber” to be defined howsoever in DE 2 140 585 A, are neither present nor compatible with the roller principle of said prior art and the adjustability of the rollers.
It is an object of the present invention to develop an apparatus for shaping a strand-shaped foodstuff, which is suitable for integration into a transport system. This object is to be fulfilled analogously for a method for shaping a foodstuff.
Based on the apparatus mentioned at the outset, the above object is achieved by a feed device, by means of which the foodstuff of the pressing chamber can be fed through a first opening cross-section, and a discharge device, by means of which the foodstuff can be discharged from the pressing chamber through a second opening cross-section, wherein the first opening cross-section is opposite the second opening cross-section so that the foodstuff can preferably be fed and discharged in the same direction.
Within the meaning of this application, an “enclosed volume” is understood to mean a volume that is enclosed by an arbitrarily shaped surface, wherein at least parts of the enclosing surface do not necessarily need to be physically present. Rather, the surface can be formed partially by planes which are formed by an imaginary extension of existing components, wherein intersections of such planes with other imaginary planes on the one hand, or the physical components on the other hand, define the volume.
Within the meaning of this application, the “initial state” of the pressing chamber is understood to mean a state of the pressing chamber in which the pressing chamber is dimensioned at least in such a way that a foodstuff to be shaped can be placed into the pressing chamber without a deformation of the foodstuff already occurring. It is here preferably provided that the walls of the pressing chamber in the initial state are arranged at a distance from a surface of the foodstuff. However, it is also likewise conceivable that the walls are at least partially in contact with the surface of the foodstuff. In particular, in its initial state, the pressing chamber is not necessarily in that state in which it encloses the largest volume. The initial state can consequently be dependent on a volume of the foodstuff to be shaped.
Within the meaning of this application, the “final state” of the pressing chamber is understood to mean that state of the pressing chamber in which the latter is in contact with the foodstuff to be shaped, in particular transmits pressing forces to said foodstuff, whereby said foodstuff has been transitioned into its shaped state.
A shaping process in which the foodstuff is transitioned from an unshaped state into a shaped state consequently takes place in the course of a transition of the pressing chamber from its initial state into its final state.
The apparatus according to the invention has many advantages. A particular advantage of the apparatus is that the apparatus can easily be integrated into an existing transport system. The latter typically comprises at least one apparatus for shaping a foodstuff and a downstream cutting apparatus by means of which the shaped foodstuff is cut into slices. Frequently, this is followed by a packaging device, which packs the slices for an end user. The individual apparatuses generally have at least one transport belt, which is arranged in each case in an associated interior and moves the foodstuff within the apparatus. In order to enable the foodstuff to be transferred from one apparatus to the next, the transport system is frequently provided with a plurality of transport belts running between the apparatuses.
Since the feeding of the unshaped foodstuff into the pressing chamber and the discharge of the foodstuff, shaped by means of the apparatus, from the pressing chamber take place on opposite sides of the pressing chamber, and thus preferably opposite sides of the apparatus, it is particularly easy to integrate the apparatus into a transport system described above, in which the two sides can be coupled to a further transport belt.
In addition, such guidance of the foodstuff makes it possible to increase the throughput since a plurality of foodstuffs to be shaped can be fed in succession to the apparatus without the need to first remove an already shaped foodstuff from the apparatus in order to be able to feed a further foodstuff to the apparatus.
The object mentioned at the outset is achieved starting from a method for shaping a strand-shaped foodstuff in that the feeding of the unshaped foodstuff into the pressing chamber and the discharge of the shaped foodstuff from the pressing chamber take place on opposite sides of the pressing chamber, preferably by moving the foodstuff in the same direction.
The method according to the invention initially comprises four steps: in a first step, a pressing chamber delimited by the walls is opened in that at least one of the walls is moved relative to at least one other of the walls, whereby an opening cross-section is uncovered. In an initial state and also in a final state, the pressing chamber surrounds the foodstuff. In a second step, the foodstuff is introduced through the opening cross-section into the pressing chamber, preferably by means of the feed device. In a third step, the opening cross-section of the pressing chamber is closed again, and the foodstuff is transitioned from an unshaped state into a shaped state by movement of walls, designed as rams, of the pressing chamber. The pressing chamber is therefore in its final state. In a fourth step, an opening cross-section of the pressing chamber is uncovered, and the shaped foodstuff is discharged from the pressing chamber through this opening cross-section. The discharge of the foodstuff preferably takes place by means of the discharge device.
The advantages mentioned in relation to the apparatus according to the invention are here achieved analogously by means of the method described above.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the unshaped foodstuff is fed to the pressing chamber by means of a transport belt, which preferably extends into the pressing chamber and more preferably at least partially covers a wall of the pressing chamber and, even more preferably, runs around a wall of the pressing chamber.
Advantageously, the foodstuff of the apparatus can be fed particularly easily and quickly. Insofar as the transport belt runs around the wall of the pressing chamber, the foodstuff can be introduced directly into the pressing chamber, wherein a wall of the pressing chamber is also covered by the transport belt during a pressing process. In this case, it is provided that the wall serves to brace the foodstuff against pressing forces exerted by a ram of the pressing chamber. Preferably, the wall is immovable in this case so that the foodstuff is deformed by means of the ram.
Analogously, it is provided according to a preferred embodiment of the invention that the shaped foodstuff is discharged from the pressing chamber by means of a transport belt, which preferably extends into the pressing chamber and more preferably at least partially covers a wall of the pressing chamber and, even more preferably, runs around a wall of the pressing chamber.
According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, it is provided that the unshaped foodstuff is fed into the pressing chamber and the shaped foodstuff is discharged from the pressing chamber by means of the same transport belt.
When a single transport belt is used, the foodstuff can be fed to and discharged from the pressing chamber particularly quickly and easily. This is due in particular to the fact that no further means are required for transferring the foodstuff to the pressing chamber. It is therefore also not necessary to ensure that a transfer of the foodstuff from one transport belt to the subsequent transport belt runs smoothly. Instead, the foodstuff only needs to be deposited on the transport belt.
A further preferred embodiment of the invention provides that a temperature of the foodstuff is lower at least in edge regions than a temperature of the foodstuff in a core region.
It has been found that a shape of the foodstuff obtained by means of the shaping process is thereby advantageously maintained for longer so that the foodstuff continues to be in a shaped state upon reaching a downstream cutting machine, and can nevertheless be cut with conventional cutting machines. It is here preferably provided that the temperature of the foodstuff in the edge regions is below 0° C. In particular, a restoring force of the foodstuff, which ensures that the foodstuff returns to its unshaped state, is thereby reduced.
A preferred embodiment of the invention provides that, during the insertion of the foodstuff into the pressing chamber, at least one wall designed as a ram is moved perpendicularly and/or in parallel to a movement direction of the foodstuff in which the foodstuff is fed to the pressing chamber, preferably in the movement direction or perpendicularly thereto, so that a distance between the wall and an opposite wall of the pressing chamber is reduced.
In this way, the size of the pressing chamber can already be adapted to the foodstuff before a final positioning of the foodstuff in the pressing chamber. The time expenditure for shaping a foodstuff can thereby be advantageously reduced since travel paths of the rams in a subsequent shaping process are reduced. A light barrier that determines a length of the foodstuff is preferably provided here. By means of the determined length, the distance between the opposite walls can be adapted in such a way that said distance substantially corresponds to, preferably slightly exceeds, the length of the foodstuff so that the foodstuff can be arranged between the walls and can finally be shaped.
The pressing chamber is preferably delimited, namely furthermore preferably in all three spatial directions perpendicular to one another, by (respective) walls oriented in parallel to one another in pairs.
The invention described above is explained in more detail below using an exemplary embodiment which is illustrated in the figures.
Shown are:
An exemplary embodiment that is shown in
The apparatus 1 according to the invention comprises a housing 4 which encloses an interior 5 and which is provided with a respective closable opening 7 on two opposite side walls 6. The openings 7 form a feed opening 8 and a discharge opening, wherein only the feed opening 8 is shown in the figures. A respective transport belt 9 is arranged at the openings 7, wherein only the transport belt 9 associated with the feed opening 8 is shown in the figures. The transport belt 9 is here provided for the initial placement of the foodstuff 2. In order to here ensure a positioning, suitable for a subsequent shaping and cutting process, of the foodstuff 2 on the transport belt 9, the apparatus 1 is provided with a stationary positioning device 10 in the form of a guide rail, which transfers the placed foodstuff 2 into an initial position in which it rests centrally on the transport belt 9. A movement direction 11 of the transport belt 9 is here oriented in parallel to a front side 12 of the apparatus 1, wherein the movement direction 11 of the transport belt 9 defines an X-direction 13. Upon placement of the foodstuff 2 onto the transport belt 9, the foodstuff 2 is conveyed in the X-direction 13 to the feed opening 8. In the event that, the foodstuff 2 does not already rest centrally, relative to a width 14 of the transport belt 9, on the transport belt 9 here, a correction of the position takes place by means of the positioning device 10 in that the foodstuff 2 slides along the positioning direction 10 during the movement and is thereby displaced transversely to the movement direction 11 and oriented. A bearing of the positioning device 10 relative to the transport belt 9 is adjustable so that the position of the foodstuff 2 can be corrected depending on a width of said foodstuff 2.
Moreover, the apparatus 1 according to the invention has a feed device 15 as well as a discharge device 16 in the form of a single transport belt 17 running through the interior 5 of the apparatus 1, wherein, by means of the transport belt 17, the strand-shaped foodstuff 2 can be fed to a pressing chamber 18 arranged in the interior 5 of the apparatus 1 and can be discharged from the pressing chamber 18. A movement direction 19 of the transport belt 17 likewise runs in the X-direction 13 here.
By means of the third transport belt, which is arranged at the discharge opening, the foodstuff 2 can be conveyed to a cutting device (likewise not shown in the figures) which divides the shaped foodstuff 2 into slices.
The foodstuff 2 is transferred from the first transport belt 9 to the second transport belt 17, from which the foodstuff 2 is transferred to the last transport belt, wherein a respective width 14 of the transport belts 9, 17 coincides. The first transport belt 9 here extends partially into the interior 5 of the apparatus 1 so that a transfer of the foodstuff 2 takes place in the interior 5 of the apparatus 1. A feed of the foodstuff 2 into the pressing chamber 18 and a discharge of said foodstuff 2 thus take place on two opposite sides of the pressing chamber 18. Here, the foodstuff 2 is moved continuously in the X-direction 13 so that the initial position of the foodstuff 2, relative to the width of the transport belts 9, 17, coincides with an end position of the same after passing through the apparatus 1, so that the initial position can also already be substantially prespecified for the subsequent cutting device upon placement onto the first transport belt 9. All three transport belts run in the horizontal direction, and surfaces of the carrying runs are located at the same level in the Z-direction.
The pressing chamber 18 is arranged in the interior 5 of the apparatus 1, said pressing chamber 18 consisting of six walls 20, four of which are designed as rams 28, 29, 30, 31 and are respectively movable in different directions by means of an associated pressing device 21, 22, 23, 24.
A wall 20 forming a front side 25 of the pressing chamber 18 and a wall 20 forming a bottom 26 of the pressing chamber 18 are here fixedly connected to the apparatus 1 and the machine frame thereof, whereas the remaining walls 20 form movable rams 28, 29, 30, 31 which are respectively displaceable in one direction relative to the machine frame and to the foodstuff 2. For this purpose, the rams 28, 29, 30, 31 are respectively coupled to a pressing device 21, 22, 23, 24 respectively in the form of an electromechanical cylinder which is driven by a servomotor. By means of the pressing devices 21, 22, 23, 24, a pressure-controlled movement of the associated rams 28, 29, 30, 31 takes place, wherein the movement is automatically ended upon reaching a prespecified final pressure. A thickness of the wall 20 forming the front side 25 of the pressing chamber 18 is here designed to be adjustable to adapt to a cutting cross-section of the apparatus 1 so that the pressing chamber 18 can be adapted to a width of the foodstuff 2 to be shaped.
The wall 20 forming the bottom 26 of the pressing chamber 18 is here fixedly mounted in the machine frame and covered with the second transport belt 17, wherein the bottom 26 is enclosed between a carrying run 32 and a return run 33 of the second transport belt 17. A width 14 of the second transport belt 17 is here larger than a width 34, measured transversely to the movement device 11 of the transport belt 17, of the pressing chamber 18 in a final state, which is described in detail in conjunction with
The fourth ram 31 forming a rear side 35 of the pressing chamber 18 is movable in a Y-direction 36 running perpendicularly to the X-direction 13, wherein the first ram 28 forming an upper side 37 of the pressing chamber 18 is movable in a Z-direction 38 which is oriented perpendicularly to the X-direction 13 and to the Y-direction 36. The upper side 37 of the pressing chamber 18 is here designed in the shape of a circular arc as viewed in a vertical cross-section. The second and third rams 29, 30 forming the two remaining sides 27 of the pressing chamber 18 are movable in the X-direction 13 or counter to the X-direction 13, wherein the same with their pressing devices 22, 23 are coupled to the first ram 28 and its associated pressing device 21 in such a way that they also move in the Z-direction 36 given a movement of the upper side 37. Furthermore, the respective ram 29, 30 has a contact element 42 which is arranged on an end facing the foodstuff 2. In the final state of the pressing chamber 18, the contact element 42 forms a contact surface which is in contact with the foodstuff 2. The respective contact surface 41 of the second and third rams 29, 30 is here designed to be variable in size. The contact element 42 is designed as a folded metal sheet, which is fastened movably by means of a spring on the respective ram 29, 30 on the one hand and fixedly on the first ram 28 on the other hand so that a relative movement between the respective ram 29, 30 and the first ram 28 is enabled. Here, the first ram 28 is, with its pressing device 21, respectively coupled by means of a linear guide to the second and third rams 29, 30 and the associated pressing device 22, 23. In the initial state of the pressing chamber 18, the spring is deflected by the respective ram 29, 30 due to gravity in such a way that a segment of the contact element 42 projects beyond a surface of the respective ram 29, 30. In an initial state of the pressing chamber 18 which is shown in
As a result of a translational displacement of the four rams 28, 29, 30, 31, the pressing chamber 18 can be transitioned from its initial state into a final state in which it has a second enclosed volume. The walls 20 of the pressing chamber 18, which walls are designed as rams 28, 29, 30, 31 and overall form a “half chamber,” are moved relative to the foodstuff 2. The final state of the pressing chamber is shown in
In order to shape the foodstuff 2, the pressing chamber 18 is first transitioned into its initial state in that the pressing chamber 18 is opened. For this purpose, the first ram 28 of the pressing chamber 18 is moved with the second and third rams 29, 30 counter to the Y-direction 36 so that an opening cross-section 40 is uncovered, which can be clearly seen in
The foodstuff 2, which has been tempered for better shaping capability in such a way that a temperature, at least in edge regions of the foodstuff 2, is reduced in comparison to a temperature of the foodstuff 2 in a core region, is subsequently introduced by means of the first transport belt 9 into the pressing chamber 18. The foodstuff 2 has here been placed by means of the positioning device 10 onto the first transport belt 9 in such a way that, upon being introduced into the pressing chamber 18, it rests close to the wall 20 forming the rear side 35, as shown in
As soon as the foodstuff 2 is arranged centrally in the apparatus 1, the feed opening 8 is closed again by means of a closure element, and the foodstuff is transferred to the second transport belt and is oriented relative to the pressing chamber centrally of the latter. The second and third rams 29, 30 are here already moved in the X-direction 13 and counter to the X-direction 13 so that a distance between the two rams 29, 30 is reduced in such a way that said distance substantially corresponds to, preferably slightly exceeds, a length of the foodstuff 2. The second conveyor belt 17 is stopped. Subsequently, as is readily apparent in
Subsequently, the walls 20 designed as rams 28, 29, 30, 31 are removed in reverse order from the foodstuff 2, wherein the latter remains substantially in its shaped state.
Lastly, the foodstuff 2 is conveyed by means of the second transport belt 17 in the X-direction 13, out of the pressing chamber 18 and the interior 5 of the apparatus 1. The first ram 28 of the pressing chamber 18 is moved again with the second and third rams 29, 30 counter to the Y-direction 36 so that a second opening cross-section opposite the first opening cross-section 40 is uncovered, which second cross-section exceeds a cross-section of the foodstuff 2 so that the latter can be discharged from the pressing chamber 18. Finally, the foodstuff 2 is transferred to the third transport belt, by means of which the foodstuff 2 can be transported to the cutting machine.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 2020 103 311.7 | Feb 2020 | DE | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2021/052965 | 2/8/2021 | WO |
