Patent Application
20120047915
The present invention relates to conveyor belts which transport products such as food products through a freezer.
The disadvantage of known conveyor belts is that they cannot impart motion to products, such as food products, carried thereon with respect to surrounding or adjacent products and therefore, a higher percentage of clumped product occurs during transit upon the belt. In addition, a surface of the products that rests upon the conveyor belt does not get uniformly chilled or frozen as does the remaining exposed surfaces of the products.
For a more complete understanding of the present embodiments, reference may be had to the following drawing figures taken in conjunction with the description of the embodiments, of which:
Referring to
The side links 16, 18, the pins 20, 22, and the rod 24 are manufactured from stainless steel. The support member 14 may be manufactured from plastic or stainless steel and includes at least one hole 26 and if necessary a plurality of the holes 26 extending through each one of the support members 14. Each support member may be up to 12 mm thick (0.5 inches) in depth, and have a length of up to 1.2 m (4 feet).
The pins 20, 22 interconnect opposed side links 16, 18 as shown in
Each one of the pair of arms 30, 32 has formed therein an oblong-shape aperture 34, 36 which are in registration with each other for receiving a corresponding one of the pins 24. Such construction permits the pin 24 to be displaced vertically in the apertures 34, 36. The support member 14 is mounted to a corresponding one of the pins 24, and therefore, displaced vertical movement of the pin 24 also causes the support member 14 to move as well. In effect, the support members 14 can move independently of each other as they transit through a conveying operation, such as through a nitrogen immersion bath.
Still referring to
When the conveyor belt 10 is used to transport the product through a cryogen fluid, such as in a nitrogen immersion bath, the ambient temperature of the belt 10 when exposed to the cryogen provides for a rapid and aggressive heat transfer which produces bubbling or “boiling” at the bath. Such boiling provides a force capable of causing the cryogen fluid through the apertures 26 and due to the constricted space of such apertures 26 a geysering effect is provided at the upper surface 38 of the support members 14 to contact the product thereon. The term “geyser” or variations thereof used herein mean the turbulent, forceful eruption of fluid or fluid and gas, regardless of temperature.
Referring now to
As shown in
Eventually, the conveyor belt 10, moving in the direction of arrows 52, transits out of the nitrogen bath 48, whereupon the geysering effect lessens and then eventually ceases as the belt becomes less under the effect of heat transfer with respect to the nitrogen bath 48. As the belt 10 continues in its continuous loop it will eventually return to a “starting position” designated generally at 54 for retrieving new product at an inlet 56 of the freezer housing 42. The return loop or section of the belt 10 is external to the nitrogen bath 48 so it immediately begins to warm, i.e. seek ambient temperature of the chamber 44, as it moves to the starting position 54. The temperature of the belt 10 is warmed sufficiently such that upon re-entry of the belt into the nitrogen bath 48 the geysering will again occur.
An outlet 58 enables the frozen product to be discharged from an “end position” designated generally at 60 of the freezer housing 42 after the product is conveyed through the bath 48.
Although the embodiment in
A top section of the belt 10 in the bath 48 of
By way of example only, the size of the holes 26 in the support member 14 may have a diameter of approximately 3 mm, and a depth of up to 12 mm. The depth of the holes 26 will extend through the support member 14. The arrangement of the holes 26 in the support members 14 can be in a uniform or staggered pattern.
It will be understood that the embodiments described herein are merely exemplary, and that one skilled in the art may make variations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as described and claimed herein. Further, all embodiments disclosed are not necessarily in the alternative, as various embodiments of the invention may be combined to provide the desired result.
