Patent Application
20150366158
The present invention relates to the preparation of spun cheese, better known by its Italian term as “pasta filata”, more particularly it relates to a system, method and device for producing strips of spun cheese by driving pulleys.
The spun cheeses or made as pasta filata are cheeses in which the curd is elaborated to develop a fiber or texture in strand form, such feature can be explained by the structural arrangement that casein molecules undergo by subjecting the paste to high temperatures and mechanical work, which is developed during kneading, and the rise of temperature of the hot water supply.
The continuous action of the kneading, either mechanical or manual, to which the paste is submitted, orients and aligns proteins, which favors the establishing of chemical bonds of various kinds between adjacent molecules of the aligned proteins, one such example are the hydrogen bonds that hold proteins together.
Subsequently, the cheese paste once stabilized is drawn to form strips of cheese, which usually are rolled into balls or hanks to obtain the characteristic cheese form, e.g., Oaxaca cheese type.
Traditionally, said strips were achieved by manual labor, which consists in handling the hot paste by hand and drawing it to achieve the desired size of the strips. Obviously this is a job with certain risks to the health of people engaged in said activity. In addition, there is a significant reduction in product yield.
The spun of the cheese paste is important because the presentation of the finished cheese is a ball or hank that takes its form precisely by rolling the strip. This is the characteristic with which the cheese is identified by the end customer.
A large number of machines, devices and systems have been made to industrialize the production process of strips of spun cheese, mostly using extruders.
Examples of existing systems and methods for producing strips of spun cheese are described in the following patent documents:
Meyer Matthew, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,465 describes a process for producing a cheese product that has properties of longitudinal fibrous texture formed with a cheese capable of forming a fibrous texture when it is drawn out. The process involves extruding a hot continuous cheese strip through a extruder, to which a longitudinal extraction force is continually applied when pulled out of the extruder by the use of a pulley mechanism so as to induce fibrous texture properties to the strip and reduce its cross section. Afterwards the strip of cheese is cooled off. The technique described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,465 has the disadvantage of causing a constant tensile force to the strip of cheese, as the set of pulleys have the same diameter and thus, the same tangential velocity as they are connected to the same belt driven mechanism. At a given moment, this constant pulling force causes the strip of cheese not necessarily to present a fibrous texture because at a certain moment said strip of cheese does not present any longer aligned fibers as it is necessary to increase the traction force while the strip of cheese is drawn to achieve alignment.
In the US patent document U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,497 of Abler, a machine for forming strips of cheese is described, by using worm gears, which carry the cheese paste to an extrusion head to transform the paste of strips of cheese. The result obtained is a strip of fibrous cheese.
Furthermore, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,026 of Nelles, a machine for producing cheeses from spun cheese is described. Said machine comprises at least four chambers with hot water to cook the paste as it passes through them, and therefore they also require hoppers and worm gears, and engines to elaborate and transport the mixture, therefore resulting very complex because of the many components.
The disadvantage of the techniques described above employing extruders, pushing paste of hot cheese through extrusion heads, either by pressure from worm gears or another pushing mechanism, is that they originate strips of cheese with a denser paste consistency and less fibrous or spun texture compared with strips of cheese produced using traditional methods. This effect of less fibrous texture is due to the pressure at which the cheese paste is submitted as it is being extruded, which prevents the formation of fibers or texture in the form of spun. Likewise, subjecting the cheese paste to a constant pulling force causes the fibers do not reach complete alignment.
Therefore it is necessary to provide a system, method and device for producing strips of spun cheese to prevent extrusion by thrust and thus emulate an articraft pulling process, that is, cause a tensile force that as the strip of cheese is being drawn. Said tensile force increases and thereby produces a strip of cheese with a consistent fibrous obtaining an efficient alignment of its fibers.
In view of the above described and in order to provide a solution to the limitations encountered, it is object of the invention to provide a system for producing strips of spun cheese from a paste of hot cheese that can form a fibrous texture when drawn. The system has a hopper to contain the hot cheese paste; one or more nozzles connected to the hopper through which the hot cheese paste passes; and an arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys next to each nozzle to apply a tensile force to the cheese paste exiting from said nozzles to form strips of spun cheese, each driving pulley has a tangential velocity that is greater than that of the immediately preceding pulley so as to generate a greater tensile force on the strip of cheese as it passes through the consecutive driving pulleys.
Another object of the invention, it is to provide a device for producing strips of spun cheese from a paste of hot cheese that can form a fibrous texture when drawn. The device has an arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys to apply a tensile force to the cheese paste to form strips of spun cheese, each driving pulley has a tangential velocity that is greater than that of the immediately preceding pulley so as to generate a greater tensile force on the strip of cheese as it passes through the consecutive driving pulleys.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a method for producing strips of spun cheese from a paste of hot cheese that can form a fibrous texture when drawn. The method has the steps of flowing a hot cheese paste through a nozzle; drawing the hot cheese paste that comes out of the nozzle, making it pass through an arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys to form a strip of spun cheese, each driving pulley has a tangential velocity that is greater than that of the immediately preceding pulley so as to generate a greater tensile force on the strip of cheese as it passes through the consecutive driving pulleys; and cooling said strip of spun cheese as it exits said arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys.
The characteristic details of the invention are described in the following paragraphs in conjunction with the accompanying figures, which are for the purpose of defining the invention but without limiting its scope.
The present invention is a system, method and device for producing a strip of cheese having a longitudinal fiber texture obtained from hot cheese paste capable of forming a fibrous texture when it is drawn.
Referring to
The hopper 20 serves to contain the hot cheese paste and is formed by a right sidewall, a left sidewall, a front sidewall and a rear sidewall. The hopper 20 is preferably made of aluminum or stainless steel.
To maintain the hot cheese paste at the right temperature, the hopper 20 has a first heater (not shown), which can be a hot water heater, a hot air heater, a steam heater, electric resistance heater, ultrasonic heater, or combinations thereof.
At the base or bottom of the hopper 20 one or more nozzles 30 are connected, arranged in an inclined manner and which are made of aluminum or stainless steel. The nozzles 30 may be interchangeable, that is, can be arranged, removed or replaced by others using a clamping mechanism (not shown).
In one embodiment of the invention, the nozzles 30 are connected to a second heater which can be a hot water heater, a hot air heater, a steam heater, electric resistance heater, ultrasonic heater, or combinations thereof. The first heater of the hopper 20 and the second heater of the nozzles 30 may be interconnected, thus taking advantage of the same circulating hot fluid.
Although the hot cheese paste contained in the hopper 20 can flow freely through the nozzles 30, it is recommended to exert a pressure from 0 to 0.2 kg/cm2 on the hot cheese paste inside the hopper 20 to achieve a proper tension of the strips of spun cheese, as these are prepared according to the invention. Therefore, in a first embodiment, the hopper 20 can have on the inside a helical worm 25 to apply said pressure to the hot cheese paste. In a second embodiment, the hopper 20 may have inside a movable plate to push the hot cheese paste with said pressure to move up through the nozzles 30. In a third embodiment the hopper 20 may be enclosed in a chamber to which pressurized air is applied to achieve said pressure on the hot cheese paste.
Close to each nozzle 30, it is an arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40 to apply a tensile force to the cheese paste coming out of said nozzles 30 to form strips of spun cheese 60. In this embodiment, the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40 is comprised of a first driving pulley 41, a second driving pulley 42, a third driving pulley 43, a fourth driving pulley 44, and a fifth driving pulley 45, so that the first driving pulley 41 has a first tangential velocity, the second driving pulley 42 has a tangential velocity greater than the tangential velocity of the first driving pulley 41, the third driving pulley 43 has a tangential velocity greater than the tangential velocity of the second driving pulley 42, the fourth driving pulley 44 has a tangential velocity greater than the tangential velocity of the third driving pulley 43, and the fifth driving pulley 45 has a tangential velocity greater than the tangential velocity of the fourth pulley 44, that is, in the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40 each driving pulley has a tangential velocity that is greater than that of the immediately preceding pulley.
Also, in an alternative embodiment as illustrated in
In another embodiment, in relation to the same
The driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 of the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40 may be made of stainless steel 304 or 304L, polyethylene or ultra high molecular weight.
When the cheese paste exiting from the nozzle 30, it is placed first on the groove 41′ of the first driving pulley 41 with the lower tangential velocity and major depth and groove width of the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40. Upon contact of the cheese paste with the surface of the groove 41′ of the first driving pulley 41, a first tensile force is exerted on the cheese paste giving rise to the drawing of a strip of spun cheese 60, the intensity of the tensile force exerted on the cheese paste is related to the tangential velocity of the first driving pulley 41 and the friction caused between the surfaces of the groove 41′ and the cheese paste.
Upon exiting the strip of spun cheese 60 of the first driving pulley 41, the strip of spun cheese is placed on the groove 42′ of the second driving pulley 42 that has a greater tangential velocity and depth and width smaller with respect to the first driving pulley 41. Upon contact of the strip of spun cheese 60 with the surface of the groove 42′ of the second driving pulley 42, a second tensile force is produced, greater than the first tensile force of the first driving pulley 41 on strip of spun cheese 60, causing a second drawing and major alignment of cheese fibers respect the first drawing.
Upon exiting the strip of spun cheese 60 of the second driving pulley 42, the strip of spun cheese is placed on the groove 43′ of the third driving pulley 43 that has a greater tangential velocity and depth and width smaller with respect to the second driving pulley 42. Upon contact of the strip of spun cheese 60 with the surface of the groove 43′ of the third driving pulley 43, a third tensile force is produced, greater than the second tensile force of the second driving pulley 42 on strip of spun cheese 60, causing a third drawing and major alignment of cheese fibers respect the second drawing.
Upon exiting the strip of spun cheese 60 of the third driving pulley 43, the strip of spun cheese is placed on the groove 44′ of the fourth driving pulley 44 that has a greater tangential velocity and depth and width smaller with respect to the third driving pulley 43. Upon contact of the strip of spun cheese 60 with the surface of the groove 44′ of the fourth driving pulley 44, a fourth tensile force is produced, greater than the third tensile force of the third driving pulley 43 on strip of spun cheese 60, causing a fourth drawing and major alignment of cheese fibers respect the third drawing.
Upon exiting the strip of spun cheese 60 of the fourth driving pulley 44, the strip of spun cheese is placed on the groove 45′ of the fifth driving pulley 45 that has a greater tangential velocity and depth and width smaller with respect to the fourth driving pulley 44. Upon contact of the strip of spun cheese 60 with the surface of the groove 45′ of the fifth driving pulley 45, a fifth tensile force is produced, greater than the fourth tensile force of the fourth driving pulley 44 on strip of spun cheese 60, causing a fifth drawing and major alignment of cheese fibers respect the fourth drawing.
Finally, the strip of spun cheese 60 is continuously being elaborated as further cheese paste is fed to the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40.
In view of the above, the arrangement of driving pulleys 40 allows drawing the hot cheese paste in steps whereas the tensile force is increased each time, allowing to form a strip of spun cheese 60 with aligned fibers, as drawing with an increasing tensile force, the fibers of the cheese paste tend to align more according to each step, producing a strip of spun cheese 60 which decreases in its cross section by the staggered alignment caused by its fibers. Therefore, in the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40 each driving pulley that immediately follows the preceding one, has a groove with a smaller depth and/or smaller width as shown in
The grooves 41′, 42′, 43′, 44′, and 45′ of the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45, have inclined and rounded edges which allow the strip of spun cheese 60 not to overflow from said groove.
To keep the strip of spun cheese 60 aligned and in contact with the grooves 41′, 42′, 43′, 44′, and 45′ of the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45, respectively, idler pulleys are included 81, 82, 83, 84, and 85 distributed between the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45. The idler pulleys 81, 82, 83, 84, and 85 may be made of 304 or 304L stainless steel, or polyethylene of ultra high molecular weight and may have the same or a different diameter.
In one embodiment, these idler pulleys 81, 82, 83, 84, and 85 have a groove 81′, 82′, 83′, 84′, and 85′, respectively, in a plane form or convex form, with a perpendicular view of the groove, forming a male-female interconnection groove between the driving pulley groove and the idler pulley groove in order to keep the strip of spun cheese 60 into the groove of the driving pulley.
In a first embodiment, the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 of the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40 may be connected by its rotation axis to a mechanism of chain-gear (not shown) which in turn is connected to a motor (not shown) so that the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 move at the same angular velocity. However, it is necessary that the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 have different diameters so as to have different tangential velocities, that is, in the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40, each driving pulley has a diameter that is larger than that of the immediately preceding pulley, and the same angular velocity that of the immediately preceding pulley.
In another embodiment, the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 of the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40 may have the same diameter, but should rotate at different angular velocities, for which each driving pulley 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 may be connected at its rotation axis to a separate motor, so as to have different tangential velocities in each driving pulley 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45, that is, in the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40, each driving pulley has a angular velocity that is major than that of the immediately preceding pulley, and the same diameter that of the immediately preceding pulley.
Preferably, the rotation axes of each of the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 of the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40 are located in the same horizontal line, separated by sufficient distance to allow retaining adequate tension of the strip of spun cheese 60 in the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys 40 for proper drawing.
The arrangement of the strip of spun cheese 60 through the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45 and idler pulleys 81, 82, 83, 84, and 85 along a line, successively, allowing the strip of spun cheese 60 to pass through said arrangement of pulleys, forming a wave trajectory where the wave size is variable, depending on the diameter of each of the driving pulleys 41, 42, 43, 44, and 45.
In the terminal arrangement of the driving pulleys 40 the container 50 is located to receive the strip of spun cheese 50 that is being prepared and to contain a liquid 70, which serves to cool it. The liquid 70 in the container 50 is preferably cold and may be water or brine. The container 50 is preferably made of aluminum or stainless steel.
As shown in
Now in the
The following describes a method producing strips of spun cheese from a paste of hot cheese that can form a fibrous texture when drawn, the method comprising the steps of flowing a hot cheese paste through a nozzle at a temperature from 45° C. to 70° C. and applying a pressure from 0 to 0.2 kg/cm2 to it. Then, the hot cheese paste is drawn when passing through the nozzle, passing it through an arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys to form a strip of spun cheese, where each driving pulley has a tangential velocity that is greater than that of the immediately preceding pulley so as to generate a greater tensile force on the strip of cheese as it passes through the consecutive driving pulleys; and finally, cooling the strip of spun cheese in water or brine as it exits the arrangement of consecutive of driving pulleys.
The tangential velocity of the driving pulleys is determined in function of the fluidity of the hot cheese paste, the temperature of the hot cheese paste, the number of nozzles, the hot cheese paste volume per unit of time that passes through the nozzles, and moreover by the initial and final diameter required of the strip of spun cheese to be elaborated.
Table 1 shows an embodiment to determine the tangential velocity of the driving pulleys required to produce the strip of spun cheese in accordance with the present invention.
Table 2 shows the reduction of the cross section of the strip of spun cheese as it passes through the arrangement of consecutive driving pulleys in function of the data of Table 1 in accordance with the present invention.
Although the invention has been described with reference to specific descriptions, these descriptions are not intended to be interpreted in a limiting sense. Various modifications to the described elements and alternative elements of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art with reference to the description of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art must take into account that such equivalent arrangements do not separate from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
Therefore, it is contemplated that the claims cover any such modifications or arrangements that fall within the true scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| MX/A/2013/001524 | Feb 2013 | MX | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/MX2014/000042 | 2/6/2014 | WO | 00 |
