U.S. patent application number 11/817467 was filed with the patent office on 2009-05-14 for liquid or pasty product ice cube maker.
Invention is credited to Alain Cloarec, Cemal Oztas.
Application Number | 20090120107 11/817467 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35355984 |
Filed Date | 2009-05-14 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090120107 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Oztas; Cemal ; et
al. |
May 14, 2009 |
LIQUID OR PASTY PRODUCT ICE CUBE MAKER
Abstract
The invention concerns a method and an equipment for making ice
cubes of liquid or pasty products comprising a honeycomb conveyor
belt transporting the product to be processed along a path passing
through at least the following three zones: a zone for metering and
depositing the product to be processed in the cells; a cold input
zone where preferably a cryogenic liquid solution completes the
freezing of the ice cubes; and a stripping zone. Further, the
honeycomb belt is bottomless, and located in an upstream zone
opposite a cooled surface acting as a base of the partial mold
formed by the cells, so as to harden the part of the product in
contact with the cooled surface, thereby producing the base of the
ice cube.
Inventors: |
Oztas; Cemal; (Voisins Le
Bretonneux, FR) ; Cloarec; Alain; (Bois D'Arcy,
FR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
AIR LIQUIDE;Intellectual Property
2700 POST OAK BOULEVARD, SUITE 1800
HOUSTON
TX
77056
US
|
Family ID: |
35355984 |
Appl. No.: |
11/817467 |
Filed: |
March 1, 2006 |
PCT Filed: |
March 1, 2006 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/FR06/50183 |
371 Date: |
June 11, 2008 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
62/63 ; 62/340;
62/380; 62/66 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A23L 3/36 20130101; F25D
3/11 20130101; A23P 30/10 20160801; F25C 1/10 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
62/63 ; 62/380;
62/340; 62/66 |
International
Class: |
F25D 13/06 20060101
F25D013/06; F25D 25/04 20060101 F25D025/04; F25C 1/00 20060101
F25C001/00 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Mar 2, 2005 |
FR |
0502105 |
Claims
1-7. (canceled)
8. An item of equipment for producing ice cubes from liquid or
pasty products, comprising a honeycomb conveyor belt capable of
conveying the product to be treated in the equipment along a
treatment path passing through various zones of the equipment, and
employing the following arrangements: a) the equipment comprises
successively at least the following three zones: 1) an upstream
zone comprising a device for metering and depositing the product to
be treated in the cells of the belt; 2) a zone for providing
cooling; and 3) a stripping zone; b) said conveyor belt is a
bottomless honeycomb belt; and c) the belt is located in said
upstream zone opposite a cooled surface that acts as a bottom for
the partial mold made up of the cells.
9. The item of equipment for producing ice cubes of claim 8,
wherein said cooled surface is a metal plate of a cryogenic liquid
exchanger.
10. The item of equipment for producing ice cubes of claim 8,
wherein said zone for providing cooling is a bath of cryogenic
liquid into which the belt passes on leaving said upstream zone,
the height of the bath being preferably at least equal to the
height of the bed of product in the cells.
11. The item of equipment for producing ice cubes of claim 8,
wherein said zone for providing cooling comprises one or more
processes for providing cooling among the following processes:
mechanical cooling, sprays of cryogenic liquid, a porous belt that
can be impregnated with cryogenic liquid.
12. The item of equipment for producing ice cubes of claim 8,
wherein the stripping zone comprises a shaft fitted with positive
impressions around which the belt is rolled up, that can in this
way not only drive the belt but can also be forced into the cells
of the belt in order to push the ice cubes out of these cells.
13. A method for producing ice cubes from liquid or pasty products,
in an item of equipment comprising a honeycomb conveyor belt
capable of conveying the product to be treated in the equipment
along a treatment path passing through various zones of the
equipment, the equipment comprising at least the following three
zones: a) an upstream zone comprising a device for metering and
depositing the product to be treated in the cells of the belt; b) a
zone for providing cooling; and c) a stripping zone, and employing
the following measures: d) said conveyor belt is a bottomless
honeycomb belt; e) the belt is located in the zone upstream from
where the product to be treated is deposited, opposite a cooled
surface that serves as a bottom for the partial mold made up of the
cells, so as to produce crusting of the part of the product in
contact with the cooled surface and to create in this way the
bottom of the ice cube; and f) complete or partial freezing of the
ice cubes is carried out in the zone for providing cooling.
14. The method for producing ice cubes of claim 13, wherein the ice
cubes are frozen in the zone for providing cooling by causing the
belt to pass through a bath of cryogenic liquid, of which the
height is preferably at least equal to the height of the bed of
product in the cells.
Description
[0001] The present invention relates to the field of methods and
installations for the cryogenic treatment of products, in
particular food products, and more particularly methods and
installations for producing "ice cubes" or "pellets" or "tablets"
from liquid or pasty products. Mention may be made in this category
of examples of ice cubes from sauce, puree, juice or other
liquids.
[0002] In recent years, methods have been seen to appear that
employ, in order to produce such ice cubes, tunnels with honeycomb
belts, thus consisting of an articulated chain of small molds that
are filled with the mixture to be frozen, the stripping of which
molds makes it possible to obtain ice cubes with the desired shape
and characteristics.
[0003] This category of methods is found in document EP-1 115
637.
[0004] One of the well-known problems for these production methods
is the adhesion of the tablets to the belt or support used, and
therefore stripping difficulties, giving rise to material loss,
surface marking of the tablets etc.
[0005] Document EP-1 115 637 provides, for its part, a special
honeycomb belt structure facilitating stripping and limiting
material losses. It provides precooling of the belt by dipping in a
bath of cryogenic liquid before the liquid to be treated is poured
into the honeycomb cells, which makes it possible for them to
obtain crusting of the outer surfaces of the tablets, and the
products are then stripped and transferred to a more conventional
deep freezer in order to complete deep freezing the tablets to the
core.
[0006] It is therefore one of the objectives of the present
invention to provide a novel method for producing frozen tablets or
ice cubes making it possible not only to solve problems of adhesion
and material loss, but also to provide a more simple solution that
can be incorporated within a single item of equipment.
[0007] As will be seen in greater detail below, the method for
producing ice cubes from liquid or pasty products according to the
invention is characterized by the employment of the following
arrangements: [0008] employing a bottomless honeycomb belt,
conveyed in the equipment along a path passing through various
zones of the equipment; [0009] metering and depositing the fluid to
be treated (sauce, juice etc.) in the cells of the belt in an
upstream zone of the equipment; [0010] the belt is located in this
deposition zone opposite a cooled surface (for example a metal
plate of a cryogenic fluid exchanger) that serves as a bottom for
the partial mold made up of the cells. In this first zone, the part
of the liquid in contact with the cooled surface is cooled or
crusted so as to a certain degree to create the bottom of the ice
cube; [0011] thereafter, the belt continues its path in the
equipment to bring the "pre-crusted" ice cubes into a zone where
cooling is provided, making it possible to achieve freezing of the
ice cubes, completely or partly, but preferably freezing to the
core (it will be understood that according to the intended
applications downstream, it is not always necessary to have
core-freezing available), provision of cooling by any means even
though it is preferred according to the invention to achieve this
provision of cooling by causing the belt to pass through (be
immersed in) a bath of cryogenic liquid, to a height preferably at
least equal to the height of the bed of product in the molds.
[0012] For reasons that will be given in greater detail below,
other methods for providing cooling can be envisaged according to
the applications (mechanical cooling, sprays, porous belt of the
type of that of document EP-A-505 222 etc.) but they are not
preferred according to the present invention for reasons of
productivity (it is necessary to run fast) but also in order to
limit the risk of blowing away the fluid, for example the sauce.
[0013] The belt then leaves the zone where cooling is provided, for
example the zone where there is immersion in a bath, in order to
reach a zone where stripping occurs, for example due to the fact
that, on leaving the equipment, the belt is rolled up around a
shaft fitted with positive impressions that not only drive the belt
but that can also be forced into the orifices of the belt (since it
is bottomless) in order to push the ice cubes out of the molds.
[0014] The present invention therefore relates to an item of
equipment for producing ice cubes from liquid or pasty products,
comprising a honeycomb conveyor belt capable of conveying the
product to be treated in the equipment along a treatment path
passing through various zones of the equipment, and employing the
following measures: [0015] the equipment comprises successively at
least the following three zones: [0016] i) an upstream zone
comprising a device for metering and depositing the product to be
treated in the cells of the belt; [0017] j) a zone for providing
cooling; [0018] k) a stripping zone. [0019] said conveyor belt is a
bottomless honeycomb belt; [0020] the belt is located in said
upstream zone opposite a cooled surface that acts as a bottom for
the partial mold made up of the cells.
[0021] In preferred embodiments of the invention, it is
additionally possible to make use of one and/or another of the
following arrangements: [0022] said cooled surface is a metal plate
of a cryogenic liquid exchanger; [0023] said zone for providing
cooling is a bath of cryogenic liquid into which the belt passes on
leaving said upstream zone, the height of the bath being preferably
at least equal to the height of the bed of product in the cells;
[0024] said zone for providing cooling comprises one or more
processes for providing cooling among the following processes:
mechanical cooling, sprays of cryogenic liquid, a porous belt that
can be impregnated with cryogenic liquid; [0025] the stripping zone
comprises a shaft fitted with positive impressions around which the
belt is rolled up, that not only drive the belt but can also be
forced into the cells of the belt in order to push the ice cubes
out of these cells.
[0026] The invention also relates to a method for producing ice
cubes from liquid or pasty products, in an item of equipment
comprising a honeycomb conveyor belt capable of conveying the
product to be treated in the equipment along a treatment path
passing through various zones of the equipment, the equipment
comprising at least the following three zones: [0027] i) an
upstream zone comprising a device for metering and depositing the
product to be treated in the cells of the belt; [0028] j) a zone
for providing cooling; [0029] k) a stripping zone, the method
employing the following measures: [0030] said conveyor belt is a
bottomless honeycomb belt; [0031] the belt is located in the zone
upstream from where the product to be treated is deposited,
opposite a cooled surface that serves as a bottom for the partial
mold made up of the cells, so as to produce crusting of the part of
the product in contact with the cooled surface and to create in
this way the bottom of the ice cube; [0032] complete or partial
freezing of the ice cubes is carried out in the zone for providing
cooling.
[0033] Preferably, the ice cubes are frozen to the core in the zone
for providing cooling.
[0034] According to one of the embodiments of the method according
to the invention, the ice cubes are frozen in the zone for
providing cooling by causing the belt to pass through a bath of
cryogenic liquid, of which the height is preferably at least equal
to the height of the bed of product in the cells.
[0035] Other features and advantages will become apparent from the
following description, given solely by way of example and made with
reference to the appended figures in which:
[0036] FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic representation in section of an
installation for generating ice cubes according to the
invention;
[0037] FIG. 2 makes it possible to visualize better an embodiment
of the "bottomless" honeycomb belt.
[0038] The present invention has the advantage of being used in a
single and complete item of equipment, that ranges from the
formation of ice cubes to their freezing and stripping.
[0039] It is traversed from one end to the other by a honeycomb
conveyor belt, but with the important point that the belt, and
therefore the cells, is bottomless (as can be seen perfectly in
FIG. 2 that shows an example for the production of such a belt
suitable for implementing the invention).
[0040] In an upstream zone, the belt encounters a device for
metering and depositing the product (for example a sauce) to be
treated in the cells of the belt. According to the invention, the
belt is situated in this upstream zone opposite a cooled surface
(here a liquid nitrogen contact exchanger) that serves as a bottom
for the partial mold made up of the cells.
[0041] It has been understood in the light of the preceding
description that this first zone makes it possible to cool/crust
the portion of product in contact with the cooled zone and
therefore to a certain degree to create the bottom of the ice cube,
which will facilitate subsequent stripping.
[0042] Indeed, on leaving this upstream zone, the belt leaves the
contact with the cooled surface and reaches a zone for providing
cooling, here a zone for immersion in a bath of liquid nitrogen, a
bath of which the height is preferably at least equal to the
thickness of the bed of sauce in the cells, in order to obtain
freezing of the pre-crusted ice cubes to the core.
[0043] As has been already mentioned above, other methods for
providing cooling can be used, complementary to, or as a
replacement for, the cryogenic bath in the zone for providing
cooling, according in particular to the subsequent application for
which such ice cubes are intended (FIG. 1 illustrates for example
the additional presence of fans and cryogenic fluid sprays) but it
has already been noted that these methods are not preferred
according to the present invention for reasons of productivity (it
is necessary to run fast) but also in order to limit the risk of
blowing away the sauce by the action of such fans or sprays.
[0044] The belt then leaves the zone for providing cooling in order
to reach a stripping zone, which for the embodiment shown here is
constituted by the fact that on leaving the equipment the belt is
rolled up around a shaft fitted with positive impressions that not
only drive the belt but can also be forced into the orifices of the
belt (since it is bottomless) in order to push the ice cubes out of
the honeycomb molds.
[0045] Although the production of square ice cubes has been
described as an example in the preceding description, it will be
understood that the cells of the belt could adopt any other form,
and in particular a cylindrical, rectangular or even fantasy form,
for example in the form of small figures.
* * * * *