Patent Grant
6938801
The invention relates to a dispensing device and method for dispensing flowable materials from packages, such as a pouch. More particularly, the invention relates to a compartmentalized dispensing device and method for more accurately, uniformly and rapidly heating or cooling a food product and maintaining the desired temperature thereof and for dispensing the food product at a desired controlled temperature from the package.
Heated or refrigerated dispensers for delivering liquid or semi-liquid food products are commonly used in foodservice restaurants, catering, convenience stores and other commercial or public food establishments. The known dispensers are usually adapted for receiving food bags in a housing and for delivering the food by using pumps and/or gravity forces to a dispensing area.
Food products, such as cheese sauces, usually requires to be served at warm temperature to adapt to culinary habits and/or to improve the digestion of fat. Other food products are adapted to be stored and dispensed cold such as salsa, ketchup or condiment sauces. Other foods are adapted to be dispensed at refrigerated temperatures such as UHT cream, yogurt, acidified milk based food or pudding. These food products may be easily subjected to bacterial spoilage when opened, whereby heating or cooling permits to keep the food in safer bacteriological conditions. The products usually need to be stored in aseptically hermetic flexible packages such as pouches, which are opened at the time the product is dispensed and therefore become sensitive to airborne pathogens. The pouches are usually of relatively large size, in general of several kilograms, thus requiring a relatively long time before obtaining a controlled hot/cool temperature acceptable for serving.
A fully warm/cool food package may not be rapidly available when the demand for food exceeds the warming/cooling operation time for the new package. There is also a risk of bacterial contamination or spoilage when the package is opened before the product reaches a sufficiently safe temperature level, i.e., about 60° C. in the case of hot product or below 4–6° C. for refrigerated products.
For instance, the American NSF standards require that potential hazardous food products having a pH level of 4.6 or less to be rethermalized, i.e., heated from refrigerated or ambient state to an elevated temperature of not less than 140° F., within four hours. For example, by using existing commercial equipment, the average heat-up time for large size pouches is of more than 3 hours, most often more than 5 hours and sometimes more than 10 hours, before the temperature in the center part of the pouch can be raised from ambient to an acceptably warm temperature of 60° C. In order to meet with these regulations, prior solutions consisted in pre-warming the bag in a hot water bath or in microwave oven, then transferring the preheated bag to the dispensing unit where the bag remains temperature controlled.
Similarly, there are food products that are preferably served slightly below ambient, such as cold sauce, salsa, ketchup, condiments and the like, so that the shelf life of the product in the dispensing unit can be prolonged significantly. Especially in hot seasons and non air-conditioned rooms, it is advisable to keep these type products at a temperature below 18° C., and preferably below 15° C. or lower.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,317 relates to a heated dispensing apparatus for dispensing products at elevated temperature which allows packaging of the product in a container, such as a flexible bag, with a discharge tube extending therefrom. The dispenser includes a receptacle with an outlet opening in the lower portion thereof and a pump adjacent to the outlet opening. A heater is provided for heating the food bag in a large heat-conductive receptacle and the discharge tube passing through the pump and maintaining both the bag and the tube at a desired elevated temperature. The receptacle is permanently mounted on the dispenser frame and accommodates the reception of a bulky flexible package with a fitment protruding on one side of the package.
Several known dispensers include U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,733, which relates to an apparatus for the dispensing of heated viscous food product using convection means, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,935, which relates to a viscous food dispensing and heating/cooling assembly which is adapted to receive large food reservoirs of the “bag-in-box” type. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,056,157 and 6,223,944 relate to a dispensing device for a flowable substance comprising a housing comprising walls to define a compartment, a heating unit for maintaining the compartment at a predetermined temperature, a valve for selectively controlling flow of the material from the package.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,488,179 relates to a disposable aseptic cassette dispenser with a control center for controlled dispensing and heating of flowable and semi-flowable materials. A comprising a plurality of non-flexible aseptic cassettes are mounted on a base of the dispenser. A dispensing means is also provided for dispensing flowable or semi-flowable material. Each of the cassette contains one or more heating elements.
German company Herman Roelofsen GmbH manufactures food dispensing units comprising a relatively wide box-shaped aluminum container adapted to receive a flexible food bag. The bag is loosely housed within the container and a bar inserted in two slots of the container hangs up the bag to avoid collapsing of the bag within the container. The container fits within a heating metal compartment of the unit which is heated by flexible heating devices. Due to heat loss in the transitions and air gaps from the heaters to the food, the dispensing unit has poor heating performance on large size bags with an heat-up time of more than 10 hours from ambient state for cheese sauce bags. Microwave preheating of the bag is required before the bag can be installed in the dispensing unit.
Thus, there is a need in the art for improved dispensing systems, which are easy to load and use, and which preferably occupy minimal lateral footprint space.
The present invention relates to a flowable food dispenser that dispenses a flowable food product. A preferred embodiment of the dispenser has a housing with first and second bays. A plurality of cassettes is removably receivable within the bays, and each cassette is configured to receive a pouch containing the food product. First and second thermal exchange units are associated with the first and second bays respectively, and heat exchanging association with the cassettes received therein. A temperature-controlled system is connected with the thermal exchange units for controlling them independently to independently heat or cool the cassettes in the bays and the food product therein. At least one dispensing mechanism is associated with the first and second bays for selectively dispensing the food from the pouches.
Preferably, the bays have a plurality of sides. The first and second thermal exchange devices extend on the two largest of the sides, which are disposed opposite each other, thus heating or cooling the corresponding opposite sides of the cassettes and pouches therein. Another bay side is a connecting side that connects the opposite sides. Preferably, the opposite sides have two perpendicular dimensions, each of which is at least twice as long as the space in between the opposite sides. Also, preferably the opposite sides are disposed substantially upright.
The preferred thermal exchange device, in addition to extending on the opposite sides of the bay, extends on a connecting side of the bay to connect the portions of the thermal exchange device of the opposite sides. As a result, in the preferred embodiment, each of the thermal exchange devices has a U-shaped cross section about the respective bay. Additionally, the preferred thermal exchange devices have electric heating elements extending along the opposite sides, and each thermal exchange device also has a connecting portion extending on the connecting side of the bay for electrically connecting the heating elements. This connecting portion may or may not have heating elements itself, and is preferably provided such that the electric current can be supplied to a single portion of the thermal exchange device and heats both heating elements on the opposite sides of the bay.
The preferred bays of internal walls that are associable with the cassettes received therein to substantially extensively contact the walls of the respective cassette for conductively transferring heat between the thermal exchange device and the cassette. A third thermal exchange unit is preferably configured to circulate a fluid for heating or cooling the dispensing system, as well as at least one of the bays. The third thermal exchange unit preferably heats the bays on one or more sides other than the opposite sides that are heated by the electric heating elements. The fluid can be air, and third thermal exchange device can include a blower. The blower and the housing of the dispenser are preferably configured for directing the air to the dispensing system, and also about the bays, and potentially through the inside of the cassette as well. The air can be circulated around the bays by an access that extends through and preferably normal to the opposite sides. Also, the cassettes can comprise one or more openings that are configured for allowing the air to be circulated through the interior of the cassettes. Preferably input and output openings are provided.
The temperature sensing member, such as a thermistor, can be associated with at least one of the bays and configured for sensing the temperature of the pouch that is within the cassette received in that bay. Preferably, the cassette has a temperature sensing opening to receive the temperature sensing member therethrough to place the temperature sensing member in contact with the pouch. The temperature control system of the dispenser can be associated with the temperature sensing member to upgrade the thermal exchange devices depending on the sensed temperature.
The bays of the preferred embodiment are disposed side-by-side, preferably with the opposing sides of adjacent bays adjacent to each other. Temperature limit units can be disposed between the bays and associated with the thermal exchange devices that are imbedded between the bays to sense the temperature of the thermal exchange devices. When a temperature beyond a predetermined limit is sensed, the thermal exchange device can be caused to remain within this limit, such as by independently deactivating the thermal exchange devices that exceed the limit. The temperature limit device units can comprise plates that are removably receivable between the bays in association with the thermal exchange units, preferably a thermistor as well as another temperature sensitive element can be mounted to the plate.
The preferred dispensing mechanisms include a volumetric dispense, such as peristaltic pumps, that are disposed adjacent, and preferably below, pairs of bays. Each pump can be associated with one of the bays, preferably not the other bays, for receiving discharge tubes from the pouches that are received in the cassettes in said bays. Each of the peristaltic pumps preferably has a rotor and a stator. The stator has a pumping position relative to the rotor for compressing the discharge tubes therebetween and peristaltically pumping the food product from the discharge tube upon rotation of the rotor. The stators of the pumps are each movable to a loading position, in which the stators are spaced from their respective rotors sufficiently to load and remove the discharge tubes therefrom. The loading positions can overlap with each other, such that only one of the stators can occupy its loading positions at any one time, which can help minimize the footprint of the dispenser and economize on the space required for the pumps.
The loading positions can be displaced diagonally from the pumping position of the stators with respect to the horizontal. One of the loading positions, for example, can be displaced from the pumping position at a displacement angle of between 10 and 80 degrees in respect to the horizontal, or with respect to the access extending through the opposed heated sides of the adjacent bays. The preferred stator is each defined a curved compression race that is configured for receiving and compressing the discharge tube against the rotating rotor. The race has an input end and an output end, with the rotor being operated for pumping the food product from the input end to the output end. In the loading end or pumping positions, a line extending to the input and output ends of the stators disposed diagonally with respect to the vertical, or with respect to a longitudinal access of a side extending between the opposed heated sides, at an angle that is preferably less than the displacement angle. The positioning of the stators in one or both positions can also be selected to minimize the width of the pump and also the dispenser as a whole.
In the preferred embodiment, the cassettes are interchangeable between the bays, and the pump is disposed for pumping food from a dispensing bay, and not from a preheating or precooling bay. For that, the bays can be identically sized and shaped to be able to receive any one of the cassettes. The cassettes within the preheating or precooling bays can be transferred to the pumping bays to dispense the product through the pumps.
A dispensing guide is preferably used to aim the exit openings of the discharge tubes to direct the food product to locations at an adjustable distance from each other. For example, the dispensing guide can aim the discharge tubes to dispense the food products to a single location or to different locations. A plurality of dispensing controls activatable by the users can be provided to selectively activate the dispensing mechanism to dispense the food from the discharge tubes. In one mode, the food can be dispensed independently from each of the dispensing systems, and in another mode the food can be dispensed jointly from both dispensing mechanisms to increase the flow and amount of an individual product stored. A dispensing guide can be configured for automatically switching the controls and dispensing mechanism between two modes. In one mode, the controls activate the dispensing mechanisms independently, and in another mode the controls activate the dispensing mechanisms jointly, such as by the depression of a single button or activation of a single control. The mode can be automatically selected depending on the present configuration of the dispensing guide.
Referring to
The housing 22 also preferably has a front dispensing area 32 for positioning a food container or other recipient to receive the food product from the device 20. At the bottom of the housing is a base 34 dimensioned for stably supporting the dispenser 20 and the food product therein.
A plurality of bays 36–39 that, as shown in
As shown in
The cassette 42 may have a substantially rectangular external shape with a narrow lateral profile to reduce the amount of lateral space that it occupies in the housing and to support the pouch therein upright and in extensive contact with the cassette wall. The preferred cassette 40 has a front side 44, lateral sides 46 that are preferably configured substantially extensive with the pouch, a bottom side 48, a rear side 50, and an upper side 52. Cassette walls defining these sides are preferably made of 0.001 in. stainless steel to achieve the preferred structural rigidity and heat conduction, although other constructions can be used that achieve one or both of these functions. Also, the cassette 40 is preferably free of heating or cooling elements that are built as an integral part thereof. The front side 44 of the cassette 40 preferably has a handle 54 made of heat insulated material such as of thick plastic to facilitate handling of the cassette 40, prehension and access to the cassette 40 when the cassette 40 is inserted in the dispensing unit 20, as well as to facilitate insertion of the cassette 40 in the dispensing unit 20. The cassette 40 is preferably configured for sliding in and out of the bays 36–39. Sliding portions 56 assist in sliding against the bottom of the bays.
A cassette hinge 64 allows a side, preferably one of the large area lateral sides, to open and close, and latch elements 68 on opposite sides of the pivoting portions releasably latch the cassette 40 in the closed position. The latch elements 68 are preferably engageable to support a full pouch therein with the cassette 40 closed. In another embodiment, the hinge is replaced by additional latches that allows the releasable connection of two separate halves of the cassette.
An outlet 58 is defined preferably on the bottom side 48 of the cassette 40 receiving a discharge tube 70 of the pouch 72. The cassette 40 can have additional openings. Openings 60 are provided, preferably near the top end of the front and back cassette sides 44, 50 to allow heating or cooling air to flow into and out of the cassette 40 to help adjust and control the temperature of the food in the pouch. Opening 62 is preferably disposed near the bottom of the cassette 40, and preferably on the back wall, and is configured and dimensioned for permitting association of the pouch in the cassette 40 with a temperature sensing device to monitor the temperature of the food in the pouch. The positioning near the bottom side allows the temperature sensing device to sense the temperature of the portion of the pouch where the food is located, even after the pouch is mostly emptied.
Referring to
A bay thermal-exchange unit 81 is associated with each of the bays 36–39 in heat-exchanging association therewith, such that the thermal exchange unit 80 are also in heat exchanging association with the cassettes 40 received therein for heating or cooling the pouches 72 in the cassettes 40. The thermal exchange unit preferably has portions that extend on the opposite lateral sides 46 of each bay 36–39 for heating or cooling the corresponding opposite lateral sides 46 of the cassettes therein. Preferably, the sides of the bay and cassette 40 that are heated or cooled are disposed substantially upright, and are preferably configured to maintain the contact between the portion of the pouch containing the food product with the heated or cooled walls of the cassette 40 as the amount of food product therein decreases.
In the preferred heated-food dispenser embodiment 20 shown, the thermal exchange unit 80 has a heater associated with, and preferably in intimate heat transferring contact with, the inner walls 74 of the bay. The preferred heater is a thin film heater, although alternative preferred embodiments can have another type of conduction based heater of sufficient and variable power density, electrically safe, easily cleanable and that can easily be formed in three dimensions to provide heat from different planes toward the interior of the cassette for quick but uniform heating of the food. Still other embodiment can have other types of heaters, such as convection heaters.
The preferred thin film heater element 81 is constructed with a relatively large durable heating panel that has preferably about the same area as the side of the cassette 40 that is adjacent the interior 42 where the heater's heat can be transferred to the pouch 72 therein to be heated in the bay. The area of the heater element in direct conductive contact with the wall 74 is preferably at least about 60% of the area of the side walls of the cassette in contact with that wall 74, and more preferably at least about 80%, and most preferably at least about 90%. The thin film heater element preferably provides a relatively low power density but efficient heating. The thin film element is employed here to heat the package confined in the interior of the cassette 40 while reaching a contact temperature that preferably not in excess of about 180° F., and preferably in a range about from 140° F. to 175° F. Due to the relative narrow profile of the cassette 40, the requirement for effective heating power to achieve the desired temperature is relatively low as compared to traditional electrical appliances, such as traditional ovens. For example, a Cal rod-type resistance heater usually operates with rod heating element at a temperature about ten times higher than what is required (i.e., about 1000–1500° F.) and a power density that usually exceeds 10 W/in.2. The use of Cad rod heaters would likely cause non-uniform heating patterns and overburning potential, although in some embodiments, these may be employed. In the preferred heating embodiment, the heater provides an average watt density below about 2 W/in.2, more preferably below about 1 W/in.2, while conferring an even heating of the food product. The preferred heating elements provide uniform heating throughout the food product in the pouch 72 in the cassette 74, and can be designed with varying power density depending on the specific heating areas as desired.
The thin film heater is preferably initially formed as a flat flexible element. It has an electrically non-conductive surface, a thin film electrical conductor deposited on the non-conductive surface, and a pair of electrical terminals that are electrically coupled to the thin film electrical conductor. The non-conductive surface may form the upper surface of a substrate comprising an electrically insulating polymeric layer. The electrically conductive film is electrically isolated by the polymeric layer. The polymeric layer may be a 4-mil polyester layer or any similar durable, heat and shock resistant plastic material. The electrically conductive material most preferably is provided by a very thin film of conductive carbon-based ink or, alternatively, metal-oxide, for example, stannic oxide (SnO2), nitrides, borides or carbides. The carbon-based ink may be deposited as a very thin film by printing on the plastic base. Then a clear adhesive plastic layer is layered on the printed surface to further protect the conductive track. The metal oxide film is most desirably deposited using a spray gun which atomizes and blows the metal oxide producing chemicals onto the polymer-based layer. Hence, the thin film becomes a molecularly bonded resistance film that is durable and can withstand repeatedly heating cycles without experiencing failures. Durability of such heaters is usually better than any other types of resistance heaters such those formed by adhering resistance heater wires to a substrate or when encircling a tubular substrate with a silicone blanket. Other solutions include chemical vapor deposition, which is a more expensive technology, silk screening, painting or other known techniques. The electrical terminals are spaced apart and connect the carbon based or metal oxide conductive track. A bus bar strip is provided along the periphery of the element and a second bus bar strip is provided along the center line of the element so as to distribute current substantially evenly all along the conductive layered surface. The bus bar terminals can be typically formed by silk screening techniques using, for example, silver or nickel-silver alloy, to form the bus bar. The thin film using a carbon ink conductive track printed on a polyester layer can be manufactured by Calorique, West Wareham, Mass. A useful thin film heater construction is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/032,170, filed Dec. 21, 2001, the contents of which are hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference thereto.
The thin film heating element 80 is formed from a preferably flat resistance evolute surface 82 that preferably extend on the opposite sides of largest area, preferably corresponding to the lateral sides of the bay and cassette 40, which are spaced by the smallest dimension of the interior 42 of the cassette. The flat heating element is configured to bend between the lateral and bottom portions 76, 78 of the bay. Although the thin film heater 80 may have heating regions 86 configured to heat on the lateral and bottom bay sides 76, 78, the portion of the heater 80 on the bottom side 78 is preferably a substantially non-heating region 84 and preferably is substantially free of heating resistance regions. The non-heating region 84 extending along the bottom bay side 78, however, preferably includes an electrically conductive portion to electrically connect the heating regions 86 such that the heating regions may be engaged or disengaged as a single heating unit.
The opposite lateral sides 76 of the interior of the bay and preferably also of the heating regions 86 are preferably at least twice as tall, or at least twice the smaller of the horizontal width and vertical height, as the bottom side 78, more preferably at least three times, and most preferably at least four or even five times. The thermal exchange unit preferably extends in a U-shaped vertical cross-section about the respective bay, as explained above, with the heating regions 86 on the vertical lateral sides 86. The preferred opposed sides that are heated are also spaced across the loading opening 41 to slidably receive the cassette 40 therebetween.
The heating pattern of the heating unit 80 can be modified depending upon the heating requirements by producing various conductive tracks in the different resistance regions to heat the bay and cassette, depending on the dispenser, in a very uniform manner. In particular, following Ohm's Law, areas of higher power density can be obtained by proportionally increasing the width of the conductive track. Conversely, when a lesser density is needed, the track can be made thinner.
The preferred pouch 72 used in the embodiment described is disposable, substantially rectangular or polygonal, and thin-walled and is adapted to contain a flowable food product to be dispensed. The flexible pouch 72 is made of plastic or another suitable film material that can withstand heat, i.e., temperature in excess of 140° F. The film may be of a material such as polyethylene, polyamide or PA/EVOH/PA laminate. The pouch 72 preferably comprises two extensive lateral sides sealed together along a peripheral sealed edge 87. Secured to the bottom corner region of the pouch side is a fitment that defines an outlet for dispensing the food product. In a preferred embodiment, the bottom corner region has a truncated corner to reduce the dead zone that is submitted to folding when the pouch is put into place in the cassette 40. Preferably, the fitment is located in region at a distance from the sealed edge 87 of the pouch that is sufficient to provide a proper folding of the corner region along a line that is inclined with respect to the median longitudinal plane of the pouch. If this distance is too long, the portion submitted to folding may be too large which would cause problems to evacuate product from dead zones of the folded portion. If the distance is too short, the portion may have difficulties to fold properly and it may be difficult to engage the fitment through the passage. Furthermore, if the distance between the two plies of the pouch 72 is too short due to the proximity of the corner, it could cause a problem to engage the spacer with risks of accidentally puncturing the pouch. The cassette 40 is configured such that the outlet of the fitment is put in a position that is the lowest of the pouch thereby improving the evacuation of the food in the cassette. At the same time, the body of the pouch has its two main sides intimately contacting the larger heating surfaces of the cassette thereby rendering the heat transfer particularly effective. A preferred pouch in disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 10/032,170. Alternatively, the pouch can also have a fitment attached to the bottom edge as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,419,121. The fitment assembly is preferably constructed as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,730.
As shown in
Preferably, if the temperature sensed by the thermistor 88 is found below a threshold value, e.g., 120° F., control system 90 cause the appropriate bay heater to enter a boost cycle and boost the heater under proportional power control and, the based on the sensed temperature from a heater thermistor 98 measuring the temperature of the heater (as described below), will control the respective heater temperature to a boost elevated set point, e.g., 175° F. plus or minus a tolerance value. As a result, if proportional control is chosen, the power sent to the particular heater 80 will proportionally increase according to the differential between the product temperature to the new set point. Such a proportional power control has the benefit to favor a rapid heat-up of the food in the package while ensuring security with no risk of overshooting as the set point is progressively reached with a decreasing electrical power sent. The boost cycle will be maintained until the thermistor 88 reaches a product temperature set point corresponding to the desired product temperature at the bottom of the cassette, e.g., 150° F. plus or minus a tolerance value. Once the product in the bottom of the cassette 40 has reached the set point, the product thermistor 88 takes over the control, and the control system 90 will set a new heater set point, i.e., a monitoring set point, for the heater thermistor 98 lower than the boost elevated set point. The temperature control is thus changed into a monitoring mode and the control system 90 will control the heater not to exceed the heater monitoring set point, e.g., 165° F. In the event, the pouch 72 has been previously heated to a temperature higher than the threshold temperature initially sensed by the product thermistor, for example, if the product in the bottom of the cassette is between 121° F. and 140° F., the control system 90 will not activate the boost mode and will instead go to the maintenance mode, controlling the heater through the product thermistor 88.
The control system 90 also preferably controls the on/off activation, such as via relays, of the pump heater 152. Thermistors or other temperature sensors are configured to sense the pump temperatures for controlling the pump heater 152. These thermistors associated with the pump 108 can be disposed inside the stators 104 to provide feedback signals to the control system 90 to control the pump heater 152 activation.
Referring to
The temperature limit units 92 are configured for sensing a temperature beyond a predetermined limit to protect the dispensing device and/or the food product therein. In a heating embodiment, the limit is a maximum temperature, and in a cooling embodiment, the limit is a minimum temperature. The temperature limit units 92 are associated with the control system 90 and/or the individual thermal exchange devices 80 to keep the thermal exchange device 80 substantially within said limit and to prevent over heating or over cooling, preferably by shutting off the thermal exchange devices 80 associated therewith.
The temperature limit unit 92 shown in
A dispensing mechanism 106 is associated with at least one of the bays 36–39 for dispensing the food from the pouches that are in the cassettes 40 received in the bays. Although in certain embodiments other types of mechanisms can be employed, the preferred dispensing mechanism is a volumetric displacement mechanism, such as peristaltic pumps 108, as shown in
Each pump 108 receives the discharge tube 70 extending from the pouch in the cassette 40 and bay associated therewith. The pumps 108 have rotor 110 that is rotatably driven by a motor 112, shown in
The stator 114 is mounted to the support structure 115 of the dispenser 20 to move relative to the rotor 110 to a loading position to increase the space 130 from the rotor 110 sufficiently to load and remove the discharge tube 70 from therebetween. In
As shown in
Also to reduce the lateral width required by the dispensers, the loading position 133 for each stator assembly 130 is displaced diagonally with respect to the horizontal, along directions 118, from the pumping position. The loading positions can be displaced from the pumping position at an angle 142 of about between 10° and 80° with respect to the horizontal, more preferably about between 300 and 60°, and most preferably about between 40° and 50° from the horizontal.
The curved compression race 132 of the each stator 114, which is configured for receiving and compressing the discharge tube 70 against the rotating rotor 110, has an input and output ends 134, 136. The rotor 110 is operated for pumping the food product from the input end 134 to the output end 136. To help reduce the lateral footprint of the dispenser 20, in one or both of the loading and pumping positions, a line 138 extending between the input and output ends 134, 136 is disposed diagonally with respect to the vertical, preferably at a stator angle 140 of about between 10° and 80°, more preferably about between 20° and 50°, and most preferably about between 25° and 40°. As a result of this angle, the input and output ends 134, 136 are displaced horizontally with respect to each other in the preferred embodiment.
The stator angle 140 with respect to the vertical is preferably less than the angle of directions 118 with respect to the horizontal. This allows minimization the lateral footprint while avoiding excessive inclination of the stator angle 140, although alternative embodiment has a stator angle 140 greater than angle 142. To achieve preferred difference in the angles, the preferred embodiment of the stator 114 has a greater width 144 measured along direction 118 at the outlet end 136 than width 146 at the inlet end 134. Width 146 is preferably less than about 90% of the width 144, and more preferably less than about 80%.
Referring to
The preferred circulation path of the heated air in the preferred embodiment is shown by arrows 154. The blower 150 and housing 22 of this embodiment are preferably configured for circulating the heated through heating openings 156, which are disposed to direct the air for heating the stator 114 and rotor 110, as well as the discharge tube 70. The heated air is also circulated to heat some of all or the sides of the bays 36–39, cassettes 40 and pouches 72 therein that are not heated by the bay thermal exchange units 80, which in the preferred embodiment are the bottom, top, front, and back sides.
After passing through the pumps 108, the air circulation path 154 passes along the front of the bays 36–39 through recess 158 in the front panel 24, as shown in
The bays 36–39 with the embedded heaters 80 and convection heater 152 and blower 150 described preferably has the ability to heat an amount of flowable food at or above 2 Kg, from ambient to a temperature above 140° F. in less than about 2.5 hours, more preferably in less than about 2 hours, and most preferably in less than about 1.5 hours. The internal dimensions of the cassettes 40 are chosen to improve the heating time and heating uniformity, as explained above. Thus, the interior of the cassettes 40 have an interior lateral width 155, as shown in
When the preferred narrow cassettes 40 and bays 36–39 are used, the total capacity of the package in each cassette has little or no effect on heating time or heating uniformity. The heat-up time for the package can be achieved in less than an hour almost irrespective of the amount of product in the package. The reduced spacing also contributes to a more uniform heating of the package with absence of hot and cold spots in the product. In conjunction with the cassettes' proportions, it has also been determined that the average power density delivered from the lateral sides 46 of the cassette are preferably at least about 0.3 W/in.2, and more preferably about from 0.3 W/in.2 to 0.8 W/in.2, and most preferably about from 0.45 W/in.2 to 0.65 W/in.2. It has also been determined that the power density should preferably have zones of higher power density and zones of lower power density to adjust the heating pattern as a function of the location in the cassette. To compensate the natural tendency of hot air to move upward, the wattage density should preferably be varied along the height of the bay to provide more power in low areas and less in the upper areas of the bay, although employing the convection heater with circulating air helps to reduce the effects of the rising hot air. In one embodiment, the heater pattern of the bay thermal exchange heaters 80 are vary about from 0.45 to 0.65 W/in.2 from the lower areas to the upper areas of the bays 36–39.
The pump 108 can deliver portion control of food upon a push of a corresponding button 160 of a use control, such as located on the front exterior of the front panel 24. The presence of a cassette 40 in the dispensing location is preferably detected by the controller 90. If the cassette 40 is in one of the dispensing bays 36, 39, the controller 90 will run the corresponding pump 108 according to a portion duration stored in a preferably non-volatile memory of the controller 90, or alternatively for the duration of the control activation.
Referring to
The dispensing guide 164 can be replaced with dispensing guide 168, shown in
In one embodiment, the operation of the pumps depends on the configuration of the dispensing guide. If the guide is configured for dispensing the food product to two separate and spaced locations, the controller will allow independent operation of the pumps 108. If the dispensing guide is configured for dispensing at very close locations, substantially at the same location for filling a single receptacle, the pumps can me operated jointly by a single user control input.
Referring to
While illustrative embodiments of the invention are disclosed herein, it will be appreciated that numerous modifications and other embodiments may be devised by those skilled in the art. Therefore, it will be understood that the appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications and embodiments that come within the spirit and scope of the present invention.
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