Claims
- 1. An apparatus for injecting a fluid additive into a viscous fluid food flow stream, comprising:
a passageway having an interior and an exterior and including an interior wall, to accommodate a fluid food flow through the interior of said passageway; means disposed in said passageway for injecting a fluid additive into fluid food flow in said passageway.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for injecting comprises:
a fluid additive manifold mounted within said passageway; a plurality of elongated ribs extending from said manifold and transversely across at least a portion of said passageway, each of said ribs having a downstream surface and a streamlined upstream surface; said manifold having an internal fluid additive supply channel, each of said ribs having an internal fluid additive bore extending along an axial length of said rib in fluid communication with said channel and with the interior of said passageway through an aperture located along a central portion of the downstream portion of the rib and spaced transversely from the interior wall of the passageway.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for injecting includes in the downstream surface of each rib an elongated slot aperture disposed therein extending longitudinally of said rib and further comprises on each rib an elongated fin disposed between the interior wall and the end of the slot aperture, said fin extending downstream of its respective rib for preventing fluid injected through said slot from said manifold and into said passageway from contacting the interior wall of said passageway.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for injecting comprises a manifold having a fluid additive supply passage therein, said passage being straight and having an exterior line of sight access.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein each rib includes a straight fluid additive supply passage in fluid connection with said manifold supply passage, said rib additive supply passage having an external line of sight access.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the rib additive supply passage is circular in cross section.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the passageway has an interior diameter and said fin has a width, and the ratio of the interior diameter of the passageway to fin width is in the range of from about 6 to about 10.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein said fin has a length and the ratio of the interior diameter of the passageway to fin length is in the range of from about 3 to about 15.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the fin profile is rectangular
- 10. The apparatus of claim 3 wherein the fins and passageway are concentric to each other.
- 11. An apparatus for injecting a fluid additive into a viscous fluid food extrudate flow stream, comprising:
a passageway having an interior and an exterior and including an interior wall, to accommodate a fluid food flow through the interior of said passageway; a fluid additive injection device associated in operative relation with said passageway for injecting a fluid additive into a fluid food flow in said passageway, said injection device comprising:
a fluid additive manifold; a plurality of elongated ribs extending from said manifold and extending transversely across at least a portion of said passageway; said manifold having an internal fluid additive supply channel, each of said ribs having an internal fluid additive bore extending along an axial length of said rib in fluid communication with said channel and with the interior of said passageway through a rib aperture located along a central portion of the downstream facing portion of the rib and spaced transversely from the interior wall of the passageway.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein the rib aperture comprises an elongated slot aperture disposed therein extending longitudinally of said rib.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 11 further comprising on each rib an elongated fin disposed between the interior wall and the end of the slot aperture, said fin extending downstream of its respective rib for preventing fluid injected through said slot from said manifold and into said passageway from contacting the interior wall of said passageway.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein said manifold includes a fluid additive supply passage therein, said passage being straight and having an exterior line of sight access.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein each rib includes a straight fluid additive supply passage in fluid connection with said manifold supply passage, said rib additive supply passage having an exterior line of sight access.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 15 wherein the rib additive supply passage is circular in cross section.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the passageway has an interior diameter and said fin has a width, and the ratio of the interior diameter of the passageway to fin width is in the range of from about 6 to about 10.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 17 wherein said fin has a length and the ratio of the interior diameter of the passageway is in the range of from about 3 to about 15.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the fin profile is rectangular.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the fins and passageway are concentric to each other.
- 21. A system for dispersing a fluid additive into a relatively viscous fluid food flow stream, comprising:
a passageway having an interior and an exterior and including an interior wall, to accommodate a fluid food flow through the interior of said passageway; a fluid additive injection device associated in operative relation with said passageway for injecting a fluid additive into a fluid food flow in said passageway, said injection device comprising: a fluid additive manifold; a plurality of elongated ribs extending from said manifold and extending transversely across at least a portion of said passageway; said manifold having a fluid additive supply channel, each of said ribs having an internal fluid additive bore extending along an axial length of said rib in fluid communication with said channel and with the interior of said passageway through a rib aperture located along a central portion of the downstream portion of the rib and spaced transversely from the interior wall of the passageway; an fluid additive supply source in fluid communication with the fluid additive manifold; a pump for supplying a constant amount of fluid additive from the supply source to the manifold without a flow control valve; a fluid food mixer disposed in said passageway downstream of said fluid additive injection device for mixing said additive to a desired degree.
- 22. The system of claim 21 further comprising a plurality of said passageways each having one of said fluid additive injection devices;
means for supplying an equal amount of the fluid additive to each of said additive injection devices without a flow control valve.
- 23. The system of claim 22 wherein said means for supplying comprises a piping system in fluid communication between said pump and said manifolds, including a separate delivery pipe to each manifold, the piping system being configured so that the flow rate of fluid additive at a given pump output is the same to each manifold.
- 24. The system of claim 23 wherein the pressure drop between the pump discharge and the manifold is substantially identical.
- 25. The system of claim 21 wherein the mixer is a static mixer that only partially mixes the fluid additive and fluid food.
- 26. The system of claim 25 wherein the partial mixing produces a swirled area of relatively high concentration of said fluid additive.
- 27. The system of claim 22 wherein the plurality of passageways is an even number and a separate pump and piping system supplies a single pair of fluid additive injection devices.
- 28. The system of claim 21 wherein the rib aperture comprises an elongated slot aperture disposed therein extending longitudinally of said rib.
- 29. The system of claim 21 further comprising on each rib an elongated fin disposed between the interior wall and the end of the slot aperture, said fin extending downstream of its respective rib for preventing fluid injected through said slot from said manifold and into said passageway from contacting the interior wall of said passageway.
- 30. The system of claim 21 wherein said manifold includes a fluid additive supply passage therein, said passage being straight and having an exterior line of sight access.
- 31. The system of claim 21 wherein each rib includes a straight fluid additive supply passage in fluid connection with said manifold supply passage, said rib additive supply passage having an external line of sight access.
- 32. The system of claim 31 wherein the rib additive supply passage is circular in cross section.
- 33. The system of claim 21 wherein the passageway has an interior diameter and said fin has a width, and the ratio of the interior diameter of the passageway to fin width is in the range of from about 6 to about 10.
- 34. The system of claim 33 wherein said fin has a length and the ratio of the interior diameter of the passageway is in the range of from about 3 to about 15.
- 35. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the fin profile is rectangular.
- 36. The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the fins and passageway are concentric to each other.
- 37. A method of injecting a fluid additive into a relatively viscous fluid food stream moving through in a passageway having an interior wall while avoiding contact of the fluid additive on the interior wall of the passageway comprising:
providing a fluid additive injection device associated in operative relation with said passageway for injecting a fluid additive into a fluid food flow in said passageway, said injection device comprising:
a fluid additive manifold; a plurality of elongated ribs extending from said manifold and extending transversely across at least a portion of said passageway; said manifold having a fluid additive supply channel, each of said ribs having an internal fluid additive bore extending along an axial length of said rib in fluid communication with said channel and with the interior of said passageway through a rib aperture located along a central portion of the downstream portion of the rib and spaced transversely from the interior wall of the passageway; a pair of elongated fins associated with each rib and disposed between the interior wall and the end of the rib aperture, each said fin extending downstream of its respective rib for preventing fluid injected through said slot from said manifold and into said passageway from contacting the interior wall of said passageway; passing a relatively viscous fluid food through the passageway; injecting a fluid additive into said fluid additive injection device and through the rib apertures of the injection device and into said viscous fluid food, said fins preventing said fluid additive from contacting the wall of said passageway.
- 38. The method of claim 37 further comprising simultaneously injecting with a single pump a fluid additive into a plurality of said fluid additive injection devices each located in a separate passageway as a constant flow rate into each passageway without utilizing a flow control valve.
Parent Case Info
[0001] CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0002] This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/595,067, filed Jun. 16, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. ______.
Continuations (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09595067 |
Jun 2000 |
US |
Child |
10226953 |
Aug 2002 |
US |