RU2731066C2 - Unit for filling portion reservoirs with food product - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: food industry.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a device for filling portioned containers with a food product. Proposed plant comprises cassettes accommodating batch tanks arranged one after the other. By means of transportation system these cassettes are moved under facility of tanks filling with food product. Means for filling containers with product is made in the form of two devices arranged in series and filling each container with part of food product portion. Behind each of these devices, in the direction of cassettes movement, there is a press for product sealing in each container.

EFFECT: unit for filling portion reservoirs with food product is proposed.

11 cl, 12 dwg

Description

The technical field to which the invention relates

The invention relates to the field of satisfying human needs and can be used in the production of food products based on expanded cereal products.

State of the art

Known automatic installations for the production of food products based on expanded cereal products (see patent WO2016107652 IPC: A23L1 / 18, publ. 07.07.2016, patents WO2014053561, US 4652456, US6200611).

All these installations contain a tank (hopper) for preparing a food product in the form of a mixture of popcorn and caramel (or other binder), made with means for heating, stirring and dispensing portions of the product into molds (matrices), which are sequentially moved from the tank to the press that compresses product in the mold, and then to the mechanism of ejection of the formed products from the molds. The finished products obtained at the output of all the above devices are briquettes of pressed caramelized popcorn, rectangular or spherical. In some cases, the briquettes are additionally glazed.

Known installation for packaging pasty frozen food products, for example, soft ice cream or chilled confectionery mixtures in special portioned containers, in particular wafer cups (patent RU 39045, IPC: A23G9 / 28, publ. 20.07.2004). The installation contains a consumable container with an outlet, a portion container holder associated with a mechanism for moving it, and a device for dispensing a portion of a food product into a portion container.

Known device for the manufacture of frozen confectionery (see patent RU 2229239, A23G9 / 04, publ. 05/27/2004), containing a dispensing hopper connected to a volumetric dispenser, which delivers a predetermined volume of food product into movable wafer molds (cups). Before filling, the nozzle of the dispensing device is lowered into the mold and rises during its filling with food, ensuring uniform distribution of the latter.

Both of the aforementioned analogs are intended for filling forms with a soft pasty and relatively fluid food product, which gradually fills the entire volume of the form. This does not require the application of any pressure to compact the product, which could lead to the destruction of the fragile edible shell used as a mold.

Unlike ice cream, chocolate spread and similar fillers, caramelized popcorn, puffed rice in sugar syrup, and other similar foods are thick, non-uniform, highly viscous and highly adherent to the mold walls. To evenly fill a volume of any shape with such a food product, a product densification operation is required. However, in this case, there is a high probability of destruction of the wafer or other brittle shape under the influence of the applied pressure.

On sale there are sugar cones filled with caramelized popcorn. However, such products are made by hand, which is unhygienic on the one hand.

On the other hand, the filler practically does not undergo compaction, which means that the volume of the cone (edible container) is not fully used, and voids inevitably remain inside the container that are not filled with food. In addition, when filling manually, it is difficult to achieve portions of the product, i.e. there is no possibility of repeatability of the product, which is a necessary condition for its industrial production.

A comparative analysis of the prior art showed that at present there are no automatic industrial installations for the production of food containing an edible fragile shell such as a waffle cup or cone filled with a product based on a mixture of expanded cereal products and a binder, for example, caramel, sugar syrup, etc. ...

As the closest analogue for the claimed device, an installation for the production of ice cream in waffle cones, disclosed in the patent SU218198, IPC: A23G 9/08 (2000.01), publ. 05/17/68.

The said installation is characterized by the following features similar to the essential features of the claimed installation, namely: it contains cassettes with slots for placing portioned containers, a system for transporting cassettes, means for loading cassettes with containers, means for filling containers with food, a cooling device and a device for unloading cassettes.

The disadvantages of the known installation include the impossibility of using it for thick and high-viscosity fillers.

The claimed invention is aimed at creating an automatic installation that makes it possible to fill fragile edible portion containers, such as wafer cups, with a thick viscous mass based on expanded grain products.

Disclosure of the essence of the invention

The aforementioned technical problem is solved due to the fact that in an installation for filling portioned containers with food, containing cassettes with slots for placing containers, a system for transporting cassettes, means for loading cassettes with containers, means for filling containers with food, a cooling device and a device for unloading cassettes, according to the claimed invention the means for filling containers with a food product is made in the form of two devices arranged in series and placing a portion of a portion of a food product in each container, behind each of these devices, in the direction of movement of the cassettes, a press is installed to compact the product in each container, while the cassette slots are shaped, corresponding to the shape of the containers placed in them, and a depth exceeding their vertical size.

The technical result achieved thanks to the aforementioned set of distinctive features consists in the possibility of automatic filling into fragile edible portioned containers of a thick high-viscosity product while maintaining the integrity of the fragile container with full use of its internal volume.

Unlike the closest analogue and other known installations for filling soft pasty food products such as ice cream, the inventive installation includes two devices installed in series in the direction of movement of the cassettes, filling the portion containers with the food product (i.e. ensuring the filling of the containers with the product in two stages) and compacting the product in the container at each stage, which makes it possible to pack in portioned containers a thick high-viscosity product, such as expanded grains in caramel or sugar syrup. This achieves full use of the volume of the filled container and the repeatability of the mass of the packed product from product to product.

Another difference is the design of the cassette nests in exact accordance with the shape of the portioned containers placed in them, due to which the walls of the nest tightly adjoin the side and bottom surfaces of the container, wrap it around it and take on the pressure applied during the product sealing process. This makes it possible to exclude damage (destruction) of the walls of the container during its filling with the product, and, therefore, allows the use of fragile wafer cups as such a portioned container.

At the same time, the proposed installation can work with any portioned containers, for example, paper and plastic, however, its primary use, due to the technical result provided by the design, is to fill edible fragile packages such as waffle cups and cones.

The depth of the slot of the cassette exceeds the vertical dimension of the portioned container placed in the slot, preferably by 0.5 - 2 cm, which makes it possible to place the required volume of the product in the container with the formation of a dome-shaped top from the product protruding over the edges of the container.

The domed top of the product is formed in a second compaction step. The shape of the dome is determined by the shape of the lower surface of the pressing punch, which can be any: spherical, conical, etc.

Wafer cups of any configuration, waffle and sugar cones, as well as cups formed from expanded grain products can be used as portion containers, which provides a wide range of products.

At the same time, the transition from one type of portioned containers to another does not take much time, which is ensured by the use of replaceable cassettes with slots made in accordance with the shape and size of the containers used.

The cassettes are made of food grade plastic. In a preferred embodiment of the installation, the cassettes are made in the form of a rectangular bar, in which the slots are arranged in a row.

In a preferred embodiment of the installation, the system for transporting cassettes is made in the form of a closed loop for moving cassettes. The closed contour is formed by two parallel lines of guides, on which the cassettes are installed closely one after the other. The parallel lines of the guides are interconnected by means of alternately transferring cassettes from one line to another and vice versa, i.e. the line for loading containers into cassettes and unloading containers from cassettes is connected to the line for filling the containers with food. The step-by-step movement of the cassettes along the guides and their transfer between the lines is carried out by means of pushers.

The system for transporting cassettes ensures the movement of cassettes between the working positions of the installation, spaced along the length of the closed loop.

Additionally, the installation may contain a mixer for preparing a food product, which is preferably located above the system for filling containers with a product and is capable of overturning (not shown in the drawings).

The cooling device is made in the form of at least one fan installed on the route of the cassettes with the filled containers to the cassette unloading device.

The means for loading cassettes with containers contains a store located above the line of transporting cassettes, in which the portion containers are placed in stacks, and a mechanism for separating the lower containers from the stack. Moreover, the number of stops corresponds to the number of slots in the cassette.

The device for unloading the cassettes includes a mechanism for ejecting the filled containers from the cassette and a group gripper made with the possibility of rotation for transferring the filled containers to the discharge conveyor.

The essence of the proposed technical solution and the possibility of obtaining the aforementioned technical results are confirmed by the following example of a specific implementation of the invention and the drawings, which depict:

in fig. 1 is a schematic isometric view of the proposed installation, showing the area of movement of cassettes with containers filled with product (for simplicity, the product is not shown);

in fig. 2 is a schematic plan view of the installation;

in fig. 3 - cassette, general view, isometric;

in fig. 4 - section A-A from Fig. 3;

in fig. 5 is a schematic view of the proposed installation, showing the loading area of cassettes with empty portioned containers;

in fig. 6 - 12 illustrate the process of operation of the installation, while in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7 shows the installation of an empty container into a cassette slot; FIG. 8, figs. 9 - the first stage of filling the container with the product and its compaction (pressing), FIG. 10 and FIG. 11 - the second stage of filling the container with the product and its final pressing, FIG. 12 - removal of a container filled with a product from the slot of the cassette.

Implementation of the invention

Installation for filling portioned containers with food contains (see Fig. 1, 2) cassettes 1 with slots 2 for placing portioned containers, a system for transporting cassettes, a device 3 for unloading cassettes, i.e. a device for removing containers filled with product from the cassette slots, means 4 for loading cassettes with containers (i.e., installing containers in the slots of the cassettes) and means for filling containers with food, made in the form of two sequentially located devices (loading stations) 5 and 6, each of which includes a loading device, for example, made in the form of a hopper 7 (8) with an auger for pumping the product (not shown in the drawings), and a press 9 (10) for compacting the loaded product, located behind the corresponding loading device, in the direction of movement of the cassettes 1. For to maintain the product in a plastic state, each hopper (7,8) can be equipped with heating means (not shown in the drawings).

Fans 11 for cooling the product are installed on the path of moving cassettes with filled containers to the unloading device.

Cassettes 1, made of food grade plastic, have the shape of a rectangular bar with nests 2 arranged in a row.

The nests 2 are made with a shape corresponding to the shape of the portioned containers placed in them, which ensures a tight fit of the outer surface of the container to the walls of the nest (see Fig. 4).

The depth (h _gn ) of nest 2 exceeds the vertical size (h _st ) of the container by 0.5-2 cm.

The system for transporting cassettes includes a closed loop along which the working positions of the installation are located (devices 3-10).

The closed loop is formed by two parallel lines of guides 12 and 12 '(see Fig. 1), the ends of which are connected by means of alternate transfer of cassettes 1 from one line to another (see Fig. 2).

The guides (12 and 12´) are formed from corner profiles oriented by horizontal shelves towards each other. Horizontally oriented profile shelves serve as a support for cassettes, and vertical ones limit their lateral displacement.

In each line of guides, cassettes 1 are installed closely one after the other.

For the step-by-step movement of the cassettes along the guides and their transfer between the lines, pushers 13 are used (see Fig. 2), made, for example, on the basis of pneumatic cylinders.

On the first line of guides 12 are placed a device 3 for unloading cassettes and means 4 for loading cassettes in portioned containers. Loading stations 5 and 6 are located on the second line of guides 12 '.

Devices 3-10 and guides 12 (12´) with pushers 13 can be mounted on one supporting frame 14 (see Fig. 1, Fig. 5)

The layout of the plant is characterized by compactness, simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the transport system.

The installation can be equipped with a mixer for preparing a food product (not shown in the drawings), which is placed directly above the bins 7, 8 and is capable of overturning.

The means 4 for loading cassettes with containers (see Fig. 5) includes a store 15 located above the transport line of cassettes 1 for portion containers 16 placed in the store 15 in stacks, the number of which corresponds to the number of slots 2 in cassettes 1, and a mechanism 17 for separating the lower containers from feet.

Wafer cups of various shapes, wafer cone-shaped cones, sugar cones, and cups formed from expanded grain materials can be used as portion containers.

All operations on the installation are carried out automatically by means of a control system performed by known technical solutions.

Before starting the installation, the operator loads the magazine with 15 empty portioned containers (hereinafter referred to as wafer cups 16), stacked.

A prepared food product, such as popcorn or puffed rice, mixed with a binder (sugar syrup, honey, etc.) is loaded into bins 7 and 8 as required.

The movement of the cassettes 1 in a closed loop is carried out by means of pushers 13 with interval delays, during which technological operations are performed for loading the cassettes, filling the cups with food, compacting the product in the cups, forming a dome, cooling and unloading the filled cups onto the outlet conveyor for cooling and packaging.

The sequence of operations performed by the installation is illustrated by drawings, FIG. 6 -12.

The empty cassette 1 (see Fig. 2), freed from the filled wafer cups in the device 3, is pushed by the pusher 13 along the guides 12 under the magazine 15.

The mechanism 17 for separating the lower row of cups from the stack is triggered, and the lower row of cups 16 is lowered into the slots 2 of the cassette 1 (see Fig. 6, 7).

The cassettes 1 filled with wafer cups 16 are moved step by step towards the first filling device.

In the first stage of filling, a portion of the portion of food 18 is loaded into the cups 16 (see FIG. 8). Due to the fact that the product is thick and viscous, and has increased adhesion to the walls of the container, most of the product gets stuck in the upper part of the glass 16, being held by the walls of the latter.

At the exit of the cassette 1 from under the hopper 7, the excess product is removed, and the cassette 1 moves step by step under the press 9. At this position, the punch 19 moving from top to bottom pushes the stuck food product deep into the glass 16, while the product 18 is compacted and evenly occupies the lower volume of the glass, which excludes the formation of voids in it (see Fig. 9).

Due to the fact that the walls of the nest 2 of the cassette 1 are made in exact accordance with the shape and dimensions of the cup 16 and the outer surface of the cup 16 adheres tightly to the walls of the nest 2, damage to the fragile wafer shell under the action of the loads applied from the press is excluded, and its integrity is ensured.

Next, the cassette 1 goes under the hopper 8, where the cups 16 are filled with the second part of the portion of the food product 18 (see Fig. 10).

Due to the fact that the depth of the nest 2 is greater than the vertical dimension of the cup 16, it is possible to form a protruding dome-shaped top of the product. The shape of the domed top is determined by the shape of the pressing surface 20 of the punch 21. It can be spherical (hemispherical), tapered, or any other shape (see Fig. 11).

In the process of moving to the device 3 for unloading cassettes, the formed products are cooled by the air flow generated by the fans 11 (see Fig. 1, Fig. 2).

At the cassette unloading station (see Fig. 12), the wafer cup 16 filled with product 18 is pushed by the mechanism 22 through the opening 23 made in the bottom of the socket 2 and is captured by a group gripper 24 configured to rotate and transfer the finished products to the discharge conveyor (not shown ).

The installation provides the possibility of packaging thick, highly viscous products, such as puffed rice and caramelized popcorn, into fragile portion containers.

The plant productivity is determined by the type of loaded product and is up to 1500-2000 kg per day.

To transfer production from one type of portioned containers to others, it is enough to simply replace one cassette with another cassette with a different shape of the nests.

The resulting products from expanded cereal products packed in edible fragile casings make it possible to expand the range of composite dessert products that combine several different tastes.

Claims (11)

1. An installation for filling portioned containers with food, containing cassettes with slots for accommodating containers, a system for transporting cassettes, means for loading containers with containers, means for filling containers with food, a cooling device and a device for unloading containers, characterized in that the means for filling containers with food is made in the form of two devices, sequentially located and placing in each container a part of the portion of the food product, behind each of these devices, in the direction of movement of the cassettes, a press is placed to compact the product in each container, while the cassette slots have a shape corresponding to the shape of the containers placed in them but with a depth exceeding their vertical dimension. 2. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the portion containers are made in the form of wafer cups. 3. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the portion containers are made in the form of sugar cones. 4. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the depth of the cassette socket exceeds the vertical size of the container by 0.5-2 cm. 5. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the press for compacting the product located behind the second device of the container filling means is configured to form a product with a domed top. 6. The installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the system for transporting cassettes includes a closed loop for moving cassettes, formed by two parallel lines of guides, in which the cassettes are installed closely one after the other and are interconnected at the ends with the possibility of alternate transfer of cassettes, and pushers to move cassettes step by step. 7. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the cassette is made of food-grade plastic in the form of a rectangular bar with the sockets arranged in a row. 8. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the cooling device is made in the form of at least one fan installed along the route of cassettes with filled portion containers to the cassette unloading device. 9. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the means for loading cassettes with containers includes a store located above the line of transporting cassettes, in which containers are placed in stacks, the number of which corresponds to the number of slots in the cassette, and a mechanism for separating the lower containers from the stack. 10. Installation according to claim 1, characterized in that the device for unloading the cassettes includes a mechanism for ejecting the filled containers from the cassette and a group gripper configured to rotate to transfer the filled containers to the discharge conveyor. 11. An installation according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a mixer for preparing a food product, located above the means for filling containers, and made with the possibility of overturning.

Images