Patent Grant
11013255
The first aspect of the present invention relates to a system for moulding three-dimensional products from a mass of one or more food starting materials which are suitable for consumption, in particular human consumption.
The invention is deemed suitable in particular for the moulding of products from a meat mass, such as for hamburgers and the like, but other edible masses, for example of fish, potato, dough, etc. are also conceivable.
WO 00/30458 and WO 2004/002229 have disclosed systems having a production device provided with a frame, a mould member designed as a mould drum and provided with at least one mould cavity, the frame supporting the mould member, and furthermore provided with mass feed means for feeding the mass to the one or more mould cavities of the mould member. U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,039, for example, has disclosed a system having a mould member designed as a mould plate which can move to and fro.
It is an object of the first aspect of the invention to propose measures which enhance the expedient use of systems of this type.
Moreover, it is an object of the first aspect of the invention to propose improvements in the area of the cleaning of systems of this type.
A first aspect of the invention relates to a system for moulding three-dimensional products from a mass of one or more food starting materials which are suitable for consumption in accordance with claim 1, as well as a mould drum designed and intended for a system for moulding three-dimensional products from a mass of one or more food starting materials suitable for consumption in accordance with claim 5. Further advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims 2-4 and 6-11.
The second aspect of the invention provides a system according to claim 12. Further advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims 13-58.
A third aspect of the invention relates to a system according to claim 59, the system furthermore comprising a storage device for storing a plurality of mould members. The storage device and if appropriate the further system is preferably designed as will be explained on the basis of the first aspect of the invention.
A fourth aspect of the invention relates to a system according to claim 60, in which each removable mould member is provided with an identification, and in which the system comprises recognition means for recognizing the identification of a mould member. Furthermore, the system is preferably designed as will be explained on the basis of the first aspect of the invention.
A fifth aspect of the invention relates to a system according to claim 61, in which the mould member can is removable from the frame and in which the system furthermore comprises a memory for storing at least one history of a mould member. Furthermore the system is preferably designed as will be explained on the basis of the first aspect of the invention.
The various aspects of the invention also relate to a method for moulding three-dimensional products from a mass of one or more food starting materials which are suitable for consumption, in particular human consumption, in which use is made of a system of this type.
It will be clear that the various aspects of the invention can be realized separately and/or in all possible combinations.
The various aspects of the invention will be explained in more detail below with reference to the drawing, in which:
In the figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a production device which is designed to mould three-dimensional products from a mass of one or more food starting materials which are suitable for consumption, in particular human consumption, in particular a meat-containing mass.
The production device 1 is described in detail in WO 2004/002229, the contents of which are hereby deemed to be incorporated in the present application.
The production device 1 has a mould drum 20, as will be explained in more detail below. The production device 1 is only an example aimed at explaining the invention. The invention can also be realized using production devices of different designs, for example as shown in WO 00/30458.
By way of example, the invention can be used on production devices in which the mould member comprises a mould plate which is movable, for example can slide to and fro, which mould plate is provided with one or more mould cavities, which mould cavities each have an opening in at least one plate surface, the mass feed means comprising one or more mass feed members arranged along a plate surface. A production device of this type is often also used for the moulding of meat products, such as for example hamburgers. A device of this type is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,975,039.
The production device 1 has a mould drum part 10 with a frame, in this case a frame which can be moved over the floor and supports a mould member designed as a mould drum 20. The mould drum 20 has a drum surface at the outer circumference which is provided with a plurality of mould cavities 21.
The frame 10 is provided with a horizontal mould drum fitting spindle 11, so that the mould drum 20 is rotatable with respect to the frame 10 about the spindle 11.
In an embodiment which is not shown, the frame may have a plurality of mould drum fitting spindles, or the frame comprises other support means for supporting the mould drum rotatably with respect to the frame.
At one end, the fitting spindle 11 is fixed to the frame 10, so that the mould drum 20 can be pushed onto the fitting spindle 11 and removed from the free end.
Furthermore, the frame 10 is provided with mould drum drive means 14 for rotating the mould drum 20. In the embodiment shown, a statically disposed distributor 14a, suitable for supplying or sucking out a liquid or gaseous forcing agent, such as air, compressed air, water or steam or the like, is arranged in the vicinity of the mould drum drive means 14. A distributor which is known per se is provided with a pump and slots through which the forcing agent can flow. On account of the distributor 14a being disposed in a static position, the rotating mould drum alternately moves past forcing agent feed slots and forcing agent discharge slots.
Furthermore, the production device 1 has a mass feed part 15, which is likewise designed such that it can be moved over the floor and is provided with a storage container 16 for mass, in this example a (kneaded) meat mass, pump means 17 (illustrated highly diagrammatically) for pumping the mass, and a mass feed member 18 connected to the pump means 17. At a mass feed position, the mass feed member 18 bears against the outer circumference of the mould drum 20, so that (meat) mass can be fed to the passing mould cavities 21 of the rotating mould drum 20 under a filling pressure.
In this example, the mass feed member 18 is supported pivotably by means of a support spindle 18a on the frame 10.
Here, the frame 10 is also provided with a discharge member 25 for discharging the moulded products, in this case in the form of a (mesh) belt conveyor 25 which extends as far as beneath the mould drum 2, so that products which have been ejected from the mould cavities 21 in the region of the underside of the belt pass onto the said belt conveyor 25.
The system comprises further product conveyor means, in this case two sets of belt conveyors 30, 31 and 32, 33, for discharging moulded products, if appropriate to further product treatment devices.
As has been stated, the mould drum 20 is removable. For this purpose, in
It can be seen from
The design of the cleaning device 50 and the cleaning of the mould drum 20 will now be explained in more detail with reference to
As is diagrammatically depicted in
It can be seen from
In the preferred embodiment of the mould drum 20 shown, there is an outer drum 22, which is made at least in part (and in this example completely) from material with a porous structure, in such a manner that a mould cavity 21 has a mould cavity wall which is at least partially porous.
Inside the outer drum 22 there is positioned an inner member 23 which fits into the outer drum 22, the inner member 23, together with the adjoining surface of the outer drum 22, forming a number of passages 24 which extend from one head end 20a of the mould drum 20, so that a medium can be forced through the porous walls of the mould cavities 21 and/or suction can take place via a passage 24 of this type. The said medium, for example compressed air, can be used, for example, to release the moulded product from a mould cavity 21. The suction can be used to extract air during the filling operation and/or, for example, to suck a film or the like into the mould cavity.
In a variant which is not shown, the passages 24, if appropriate branching into passages of smaller diameter, continue as far as the mould cavity, in which case the porous wall, for example made from sintered metal, is then absent.
It can be seen from
The outer drum 22 could, for example, be assembled from one or more rings of porous material, for example porous metal, in which case the one or more mould cavities 21 are formed by a material-removing machining operation, for example an electro-erosive machining operation.
If appropriate, the mould drum may comprise rings, optionally provided with mould cavities, which are releasably coupled to one another, so that a set of rings is obtained as seen in the axial direction of the mould drum. This can serve to influence the capacity of the moulding device, for example by combining rings with and without mould cavities and/or rings with different numbers and/or shapes of the mould cavities. It should be noted that when the mould member is designed as a mould plate, it is also possible to make use of an assembly of parts which forms the final mould plate.
If the outer drum 22 is made from metal, the porous structure can be sealed in the outermost part 22c of the surface of the outer drum by a lubricating action during the machining of the metal porous drum 20 in a lathe. Obviously, the sealing of the said outermost part 22c could also be realized in other ways, for example by the application of a coating layer (which if appropriate partially penetrates into the porous material).
In an embodiment which is not shown, the mould drum only comprises an “outer” wall, for example such as the component 22 shown in
It would also be possible to provide for the mould drum to be supported by supporting features at both head-ends of the mould drum.
The cleaning device 50 is designed to force at least one cleaning liquid through the wall parts with the porous structure into the mould cavities 21. As can be seen in
The cleaning device 50 has a distributor 51 which comes to bear against the head-end face 20a, for the purpose of feeding cleaning liquid to one or more of the passages 24. In this way, any possible contamination which has stuck to or in the porous wall part of a mould cavity 21 is forced out and discharged.
The cleaning device 50 is provided with supporting means 52 for rotatably supporting the mould drum 20 that is to be cleaned, in this case rollers 52 which bear against the outer circumference of the drum and, via a motor (not shown), serve as drive means for driving the mould drum 20 to be cleaned in rotation. In an embodiment which is not shown, the mould drum to be cleaned can be driven by a central shaft.
The cleaning device 50 has a collection trough 53 for cleaning liquid and a cover 54, so that the cleaning of the mould drum 20 can take place in a closed chamber.
The cleaning device 50 is designed to collect and at least partially recirculate cleaning liquid, for which purpose a pump 57 is provided. The cleaning device 50 is provided with a filter for filtering the cleaning liquid, for example a coarse filter 55 and a fine filter 56.
It is preferable to provide heating means for heating the cleaning liquid. Furthermore, there are means for mixing one or more chemicals with a cleaning liquid, for example a disinfectant, stored, for example, in containers 58.
Spraying means 59 are provided here for an initial coarse cleaning.
In one possible cleaning process, first of all the outer side of the drum is rinsed by the sprayers 59, followed by rinsing with cold water (together with a suitable cleaning agent) via the passages 24, followed by disinfection with water provided with suitable chemicals and a final rinse via the passages and on the outside with cold water. As an alternative, one or more steps could also be carried out using hot water (40-90 degrees Celsius).
The cleaning could also comprise descaling of the mould member, for example using a suitable acid, which may be of relevance in particular to mould cavities with a porous wall structure.
In an embodiment which is not shown, the cleaning device comprises inspection means. These inspection means, for example having a digital (infrared) camera with associated image-processing means, can monitor the cleaning and also the state of the mould drum. By way of example, it is possible to detect damage and/or wear to the drum. These inspection results can be stored in a memory and if appropriate interpreted in combination with the use/cleaning history, for example in order to determine the expected service life.
Furthermore, the system comprises a second cleaning device 60, which is designed to clean that part of the production device 1 which bears the mould drum 20, in particular after the said mould drum 20 has been removed. That part of the device 10, after all, also becomes soiled during production.
As can be seen from
The cleaning device 60 comprises a housing 61, which can form a closed chamber around that part of the production device that is to be cleaned, in order for a cleaning process to be carried out in the said closed chamber.
In this example, the said housing 61—when it is bearing against a corresponding part of component 10 (cf.
In this example, the storage device 80 is combined with a mould drum cleaning device 100.
The storage device 80 is located at a distance from the production device 1, and there are conveyor means 110 for conveying the mould drums 20 between the storage device 80 and the production device 1.
These conveyor means 110 in this case comprise an overhead conveyor 111, along which the gripper 42 for a mould drum 20 can be displaced. A drive motor 112 is provided for this purpose. The gripper 42 can remove a mould drum 20 from the device 1 and move it towards the storage device 80, where the mould drum 20 is transferred by internal conveyor means associated with the storage device. In this example, the storage device 80 is provided with an endless suspended track 81 with carriers 82 which can be displaced along the said track 81 and can each carry a drum 20. The cleaning device 100 is located along the track 81, for example at the location where the mould drums 20 first reach the storage device 80 after use.
It can be seen from
The cleaning device 60″ has two housing parts 61a″ and 61b″, which can move with respect to one another between an open position (
In this example, the housing parts 61a″ and 61b″ can be displaced along a guide 114 which is located at the top side of the housing parts. The guide 114 can in turn be displaced along the conveyor 111.
For expedient production of three-dimensional food products by means of a system which uses exchangeable mould members, such as the mould drums which have been explained with reference to the drawing, it is preferable to provide for each removable mould member, in the examples mould drum 20, to be provided with an identification.
By way of example, each mould drum 20 is provided with an optically readable code (such as a barcode), an electronic transponder (which can be read and if appropriate written remotely), or other identification characteristic. The said characteristic is preferably unique to each mould member.
The system is in this case provided with suitable recognition or reading means for recognizing the identification of a mould member. If appropriate, it is also possible to provide writing means for adapting the identification characteristic, for example when using a writable transponder.
This reader 120 is connected to a control device 130 of the system, which in this case has an associated computer 131. A history of the use of the mould drum 20 is stored for each mould drum 20 in the memory of the computer 131. Partially on this basis, it is possible to determine the instant at which a mould drum 20 has to be cleaned, and if appropriate by what cleaning process. For example, the cleaning process can be matched to the type of mould drum, and the way in which each mould drum is cleaned can be determined separately.
The history can define the use of the mould drum 20, for example in conjunction with the identification provided to the products ultimately produced, which is useful, for example, in the context of product safety (for example if products need to be recalled).
In one variant, the mould member cleaning device is (also) provided with recognition means for recognizing the identification of a mould member, such as reader 121 in
In
It is preferable, therefore, to provide storage for the history of a mould member, in which context the cleaning of the mould member is also stored. It is preferable for at least the times and the associated designation of the cleaning processes carried out to be stored.
The identification of mould members 20 allows optimum efficiency of the system to be achieved, in which context the correct cleaning of the mould members 20 can be ensured and documented. Furthermore, the cleaning of component 10 using cleaning device 60 can also be stored, so that a complete picture of the cleaning of the parts of the system which may become contaminated is obtained.
The use of, preferably automated, storage and conveyor means for the mould members allows their quality to be ensured and a high production rate to be achieved. Moreover, a change of mould members, for example when switching to a different shape of product, can be carried out quickly and with little operator intervention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1026171 | May 2004 | NL | national |
This Application is Divisional of application Ser. No. 14/745,062, filed Jun. 19, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,986,755, issued Jun. 5, 2018 which is a Divisional of application Ser. No. 14/272,178, filed on May 7, 2014, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,060,544, issued Jun. 23, 2015, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/886,933, filed on Sep. 21, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,747,934, issued Jun. 10, 2014, which is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 11/579,882, filed on Nov. 8, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,650, issued Oct. 26, 2010, which was filed as PCT Application No. PCT/NL2005/000311 on Apr. 26, 2005. PCT/NL2005/000311 claims priority to NL 1026171. All of the above-identified applications are hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20180255824 A1 | Sep 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
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| Parent | 14745062 | Jun 2015 | US |
| Child | 15978677 | US | |
| Parent | 14272178 | May 2014 | US |
| Child | 14745062 | US |
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| Parent | 12886933 | Sep 2010 | US |
| Child | 14272178 | US | |
| Parent | 11579882 | US | |
| Child | 12886933 | US |
