TWM633225U - Two-stage expansion mold - Google Patents

Abstract

This creation system provides a two-stage expansion mold, which includes: a feed port for adding raw materials; an extrusion sleeve, one end connected to the feed port; an extrusion part, which is used to extrude the raw material to move in the extrusion sleeve ; The raw material channel includes a first flow channel, one end of which is connected to the extrusion sleeve; and a second flow channel, one end of which is connected to the first flow channel, and the diameter of the first flow channel is larger than that of the first flow channel, the first flow channel and the second flow channel are cylindrical, And it is arranged in concentric circles; and the discharge port is connected to the other end of the second flow channel; wherein the side wall of the second flow channel contains a plurality of air inlet pipes.

Description

Two-stage expansion mold

This creation is about a two-stage expansion mold. Specifically, it relates to a mold for expanding high-moisture foods through a two-stage mold.

Now the whole world is looking for environmental sustainability, animal welfare and healthy diet, so the potential of alternative food utensils doubles. Among the alternative foods, plant-based products that can replace animal raw materials are the most popular, and the explosive power of the market and the power of industrial ecological evolution are also the most bright spots. At present, the annual output value of the global plant-based food market is about 465 billion U.S. dollars, and the market size of plant-based meat is estimated to grow from 12.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 to 27.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2025, with a compound growth rate of 15% (MarketsandMarkets, 2019); Coherent Market Insights estimates that alternative meat will account for 60% of the global meat market by 2040. At present, Europe and North America are the most important alternative meat markets in the world, accounting for 41% and 31% respectively. Asia-Pacific regions such as Southeast Asia and Australia are growth markets worthy of attention.

Among the products that replace meat with plant-based products, hamburger is the current star product, such as Beyond Meat, which emerged in the United States in 2013 under the slogan "The Future of Protein", and is committed to the research and development of innovative taste and flavor of plant-based meat products. Products such as high-simulation plant meat hamburger steaks, sausages, and ground meat have been successively launched; while Impossible Foods uses innovative soy hemoglobin to create a color and flavor similar to the "blood" of meat, and has launched vegan hamburger steaks. However, the taste of pure plant meat is relatively monotonous, and other means are needed to increase its taste, such as improving its taste through food extrusion technology.

Food extrusion expansion technology has the advantages of high degree of automation, low commercial production cost, product diversification and stable quality, so it has become the mainstream technology for dry plant meat embryo production. The plant-based raw material is subjected to high temperature and pressure in the extruder to complete the thermal reaction and presents a molten state. When leaving the extruder and exiting the mold, the water loses pressure instantly and evaporates into gas, so that the molten raw material is rapidly cooled and solidified and expanded into a dry fiber structure. Plant meat embryo. Today's dry-type vegetable meat embryos are formed by low-moisture swelling with a twin-screw extruder to form a homogeneous fiber structure, and the moisture content of the final product is less than 10%. However, this kind of dry meat embryo must be rehydrated and processed twice. At the same time, after rehydration, the dry meat embryo absorbs a large amount of water between the fiber structures, making the taste softer, without the elasticity and firmness of animal meat.

When the low-moisture raw materials are expanded using the commonly used export molds, the expanded structure tends to be hard, so the cutter can easily cut into cubes or flakes. However, the following problems will arise when using the current same-diameter outlet runner mold to expand high-moisture raw materials: A. When the raw material enters the atmospheric environment, the area that is completely expanded into bubbles and the area that is not expanded coexist irregularly to form a heterogeneous shape. At the same time, because there is moisture in the raw material, during the cutting process with the cutter, the structure of the unexpanded raw material is soft and sticky, so the raw material is not easy to cut directly, and some parts will stick to the cutter. In the case of long-term use, some of the raw materials adhered to the cutter continue to pile up, causing the cutting force of the cutter to decrease continuously. At the same time, there will be uncut raw materials between the cutter and the exit mold, which are subject to the shear force of the cutter. However, the raw material film is formed on the vertical surface of the exit mold, which seriously affects the cutting quality. B. The target product is about 1 to 5 mm in the form of a heterogeneous shape with expanded areas and unexpanded areas. When the raw material is continuously discharged from the mold outlet, it should be cut to the part that should have been completely expanded. , but it is usually cut by a cutter before it is fully expanded during operation, so it cannot form a fully expanded structure to form air bubbles, and the taste of the product tends to be single-layered. C. Due to the small size of the required dicing, it is impossible to increase the production capacity or reduce the speed of the cutter to ensure that the length of the raw material remains at a length that can be expanded.

D. The meat embryos with high moisture content cut by the current mold with the cutter cannot show a bulging structure and become a curly sheet.

Therefore, there is a need for a new type of food extrusion expansion die, which can allow raw materials to have a higher moisture content and obtain a better expansion effect, so that the vegetable meat can obtain a taste closer to real meat.

In order to achieve the above purpose, this creation provides a two-stage expansion mold, which includes: a feed inlet for adding a raw material; an extrusion sleeve, one end connected to the feed inlet; The raw material is extruded in the extrusion sleeve to move; a raw material channel includes a first flow channel, one end of which is connected to the extrusion sleeve; and a second flow channel, one end of which is connected to the first flow channel, and the pipe diameter is larger than The first flow channel, the first flow channel and the second flow channel are cylindrical and concentrically arranged; and a discharge port is connected to the other end of the second flow channel; wherein the second flow channel The side wall contains a plurality of intake pipes.

Preferably, a cutting knife is further included in the outlet.

Preferably, the diameter of the second flow channel is 3 to 6 times that of the first flow channel.

Preferably, the length of the second channel is 10 to 50 times the pipe diameter.

Preferably, it contains 2 to 6 feedstock channels.

Preferably, the side wall of the second channel contains 4 to 12 intake pipes.

Preferably, the intake pipeline is arranged perpendicular to the side wall of the second channel.

Preferably, the diameter of the air intake pipeline is 2 to 4mm.

Preferably, the gas flow rate of the intake pipeline is 20 to 60 cm ³ /s.

According to the embodiments described later, the two-stage expansion mold system of this invention has at least the following advantages:

(1) According to the two-stage expansion mold of this creative embodiment, the diameter reduction of the first flow channel and the second flow channel and the injection of cooling gas can quickly depressurize the inside of the heated raw material and discharge the steam, so Make the raw material expand in the second channel.

(2) According to the two-stage expansion mold of this creative embodiment, by expanding high-moisture raw materials such as more than 30%, the product presents the area that is completely expanded into bubbles and the area that is not expanded to form a heterogeneous shape irregularly , and cut into small cubes with a knife. The area that is fully expanded into air bubbles will form an elastic hollow structure after being cut by a cutter, and the unexpanded area will present a firmer structure, which can provide different layers. Feel the different hardness and elasticity of the mouthfeel.

(3) According to the two-stage expansion mold of this creative embodiment, the cooling gas is passed through the inner wall of the second flow channel to speed up the removal of moisture on the surface of the raw material, and to accelerate the hardening speed of the raw material, so that the raw material in the second flow channel Even if the inside is in contact with the inner wall, there will be no adhesion, so when the raw material leaves the outlet of the mold, it can be smoothly cut into the desired small shape by the cutter.

Embodiments are described in detail below with reference to related figures. However, these embodiments can be realized in different forms, but this is not the only form for implementing or using the specific embodiments claimed in this application, so it should not be construed as a limitation to the above-mentioned embodiments. The description covers features of various embodiments as well as method steps and their sequences for constructing and operating those embodiments. However, other embodiments can also be used to achieve the same or equivalent functions and step sequences. On the contrary, these embodiments are provided so that this specification can be disclosed thoroughly and completely, so as to fully express the spirit of the invention to those who have ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the invention belongs. Like element numbers in the drawings refer to like elements. In the following description, well-known functions or structures will not be described in detail, so as not to repeat unnecessary details in the embodiments.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical terms and terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this creation belongs. In case of conflict, the present specification, including definitions, will control.

Where there is no conflict with the context, the singular nouns used in this specification include the plural forms of the nouns; and the plural nouns used also include the singular forms of the nouns. In addition, in this specification and the scope of the patent application, expressions such as "at least one" and "one or more" have the same meaning, and both of them mean that one, two, three or more are included.

Although the numerical ranges and parameters setting forth the broad scope of the invention are approximations, the relevant numerical values in the specific examples are presented here as precisely as possible. Any numerical value, however, inherently inherently contain standard deviations resulting from their individual testing methodology. Here, "about" generally means that the actual value is within plus or minus 10%, 5%, 1% or 0.5% of a specified value or range. Alternatively, the term "about" means that the actual value falls within acceptable standard errors of the mean, as would be considered by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this creation pertains. Except for the examples, or unless otherwise expressly stated, it is understood that all ranges, quantities, numerical values and percentages used herein (such as to describe the amount of material used, the length of time, temperature, operating conditions, quantitative ratio and other similar Those) are modified by "covenant". Therefore, unless otherwise stated to the contrary, the numerical parameters disclosed in this specification and the patent claims are approximate values and may be changed according to requirements. At least these numerical parameters should be understood as the value obtained by applying the normal rounding method to the indicated effective digits. Herein, numerical ranges are expressed as being from one endpoint to another point or between two endpoints; unless otherwise stated, the numerical ranges stated herein are inclusive of the endpoints.

The two-stage expansion mold 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Please refer to FIG. 1 . FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a two-stage expansion mold 1 according to an embodiment of the invention.

The two-stage expansion mold 1 of the present creation includes a feed port 100, an extrusion sleeve 101, one end of which is connected to the feed port 100; an extrusion part 111, which is used to extrude the raw material in the extrusion sleeve 101; the raw material channel 200, comprising a first flow channel 201, one end connected to the extrusion sleeve 101; and a second flow channel 202, one end connected to the first flow channel 201, and the pipe diameter is larger than the first flow channel 201, the first flow channel 201 and the second flow channel 202 is cylindrical and concentrically arranged; and the discharge port 300 is connected to the other end of the second flow channel 202; wherein the side wall of the second flow channel 202 includes a plurality of air inlet pipelines 210, the air inlet pipeline 210 is connected to a gas flow controller 211 to control the gas flowing in. In the example of FIG. 1 , for convenience, the number of material passages is shown as 2, but the present invention is not limited thereto, and may also be 1, 3, 4, 5, or 6.

When the raw material is put into the two-stage expansion mold 1 from the feed port 100, it will be pushed by the extrusion piece 111 in the extrusion sleeve 101 and move toward the raw material channel 200. When there are multiple raw material channels, it will The raw materials are evenly squeezed into it through the branched pipeline. The extruding member 111 can be a screw, or any form that can extrude the raw material to push it forward. Here, the raw material suitable for this creation is plant meat embryo with a moisture content of 30 to 50%.

When the raw material is pushed by the extruder 111 and enters the first channel 201 of the raw material channel 200 , the pressure it receives will increase, and at the same time, the raw material will be heated at the first channel 201 . In one embodiment, the first flow channel 201 includes a heating element (not shown), which can increase the temperature of the first flow channel 201 to 100°C to 180°C, preferably 110°C to 150°C . In another embodiment, a heating element (not shown) may also be provided at the extrusion part 111 to heat the raw material.

The heated and pressurized raw material reaches the second flow channel 202 through the first flow channel 201. Since the diameter of the second flow channel 202 is larger than that of the first flow channel 201, when entering the second flow channel 202, the internal pressure of the raw material is quickly lost and the steam is discharged. Therefore, the raw material expands in the second flow channel 202 . In one embodiment, the diameter of the second channel 202 is 2 to 10 times that of the first channel 201 , preferably 3 to 8 times, and most preferably 5 times. With this difference in pipe diameter, the raw material can have enough space to expand without being subjected to additional pressure. In addition, the ratio of pipe diameters between the first flow channel 201 and the second flow channel 202 can also be adjusted according to the state of the raw plant meat embryo.

Here, the so-called first flow channel 201 and second flow channel 202 are concentrically arranged, which means that both the first flow channel 201 and the second flow channel 202 are cylindrical pipes, and have a center of circle on a cross section perpendicular to the direction in which the raw material advances. The line connecting these circle centers is the axis of the first channel 201 or the second channel 202 . The axis centers of the first flow channel 201 and the second flow channel 202 are on the same straight line, but the pipe diameters are different, so they are called concentric circles.

Since the product produced by the two-stage expansion mold of this creation is a plant meat embryo with a water content higher than 30% that is expanded and unexpanded, the product is not fully expanded and the surface contains moisture, and the structure is soft. . Therefore, the product will adhere to the inner wall of the second flow channel, causing the raw materials to accumulate in the second flow channel, which will block the second flow channel and make it impossible to discharge the material stably. Therefore, the inner wall of the second flow channel 202 of the present invention passes cooling gas through the gas flow controller 211 from the intake pipe 210 to speed up the removal of moisture on the surface of the raw material, and accelerate the hardening speed of the raw material, so that the raw material is in the second flow channel Even if the inside of the 202 is in contact with the inner wall, there will be no adhesion, so when the raw material leaves the discharge port 300, it can be smoothly formed into a desired small shape by the cutter 400 arranged at the discharge port 300. In order to allow enough time for the plant meat embryo as raw material to cool down and harden, the length of the second flow channel 202 is 10 to 50 times, preferably 30 times, the pipe diameter.

Next, please refer to FIG. 2 . FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating the arrangement of multiple raw material passages 200 and cutters 400 of the two-stage expansion mold 1 according to the present invention.

In this embodiment, the two-stage expansion mold 1 includes four raw material passages 200. After the raw materials are fed from the feed port 100, they are also pushed toward the raw material passages 200 through the extrusion parts 111 in the extrusion sleeve 101. move. Where the extruding sleeve 101 is connected to the raw material channel 200 is divided into four branches, and the raw material can be evenly distributed to the first flow channel 201 of the four raw material channels 200 as the extruded part 111 is extruded. The continuous extrusion of the extruding member 111 will cause the raw material to advance from the first flow channel 201 to the second flow channel 202 . Same as the foregoing embodiments, the heating element can be separately provided on the first flow channel 201 or the extruding sleeve 101 , or both can be provided with the heating element. In this embodiment, the cutter 400 is arranged in such a way that the axis is set at the center of the outlet 300 , and the expanded raw materials extruded from the four raw material passages 200 can be cut off simultaneously through the rotating cutter 400 . But the present invention is not limited thereto, and the cutter 400 can be arranged in any way of cutting the extruded expanded raw material at a fixed frequency.

Please refer to Figure 3 next. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the air intake pipeline 210 of the two-stage expansion mold 1 according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 3 , in the cross-sectional view of the second flow channel 202, it can be seen that there are four intake pipes arranged symmetrically perpendicular to the axis of the second flow channel 202 evenly distributed on the circumference of the second flow channel 202. 210. By means of the air intake pipes 210 evenly distributed on the inner wall of the second flow channel 202, the cooling air can be introduced quickly, so that the temperature of the raw material can be rapidly cooled when entering the second flow channel 202 from the first flow channel 201, and the moisture on the surface of the raw material can be accelerated. Eliminate, and accelerate the hardening speed of the raw material, so that even if the raw material is in contact with the inner wall in the second flow channel 202, there will be no adhesion.

Next, please refer to FIG. 4 . FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the air intake pipeline 210 of the two-stage expansion mold 1 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 4 , in the cross-sectional view of the second flow channel 202, it can be seen that there are 6 air inlets whose extending directions are at a fixed angle to the axis of the second flow channel 202 and are evenly distributed on the circumference of the second flow channel 202. For the pipeline 210, the fixed angle may be 30 to 60 degrees, preferably 30 to 45 degrees, more preferably 30 degrees. By making the axis of the intake pipe 210 and the second flow channel 202 form a fixed angle, it can help the raw material to peel off from the inner wall of the second flow channel 202 while cooling the raw material, so as to reduce the adhesion or sticking of the raw material to the inner wall. sticky situation.

Although the embodiment in which the intake pipes 210 are evenly distributed in the cross section perpendicular to the second flow channel 202 is exemplified above, the present invention is not limited thereto. The position of the intake pipeline 210 in the second channel 202 is not limited, and can be changed arbitrarily according to requirements. For example, the advancing direction of the raw material of the intake pipeline 210 in the second flow channel 202 can be arranged in a spiral shape, and the axes of the intake pipeline 210 and the second flow channel 202 can be vertical or at a fixed angle; in another implementation For example, the intake pipeline 210 may have a decreasing number of intake pipelines 210 according to the distance from the outlet 300 .

On the other hand, the diameter of the intake pipe 210 may be 1 to 8 mm, preferably 2 to 5 mm, and most preferably 3 mm. The flow rate of the cooling air delivered in the intake pipe 210 may be 10 to 100 cm ³ /s, preferably 20 to 80 cm ³ /s, and most preferably 20 to 60 cm ³ /s. The diameter of the air intake pipeline 210 and the flow rate of the cooling air can be adjusted according to the state of the raw plant meat embryo. Furthermore, the temperature of the cooling air can also be adjusted to achieve a better cooling effect. In addition, the diameter of the air inlet pipeline 210 is also controlled below 8mm, so as to avoid the blockage caused by the falling of plant meat embryos as raw materials. In addition, the cooling gas provided by the intake pipeline 210 is not limited. The cooling gas may be provided through an external pump, or cooling air or lower-temperature gas may be provided in any suitable manner to achieve the cooling effect.

According to the above-mentioned embodiment, the two-stage expansion mold 1 according to the embodiment of the invention can make the heated The internal pressure of the raw material is quickly lost and the steam is discharged, thus causing the raw material to expand in the second flow channel 202 .

In addition, according to the two-stage expansion mold 1 of the present invention, by expanding high-moisture raw materials such as exceeding 30%, the plant meat embryos used as raw materials can have the same area as the fully expanded air bubble area and the unexpanded area. Irregularity forms a heterogeneous shape, and is cut into small cubes of expected size by the cutter 400 rotating at a predetermined speed. After being cut off by the cutter 400, the area that is completely expanded into air bubbles will form an elastic hollow structure and the unexpanded area will have a tighter structure, which can provide different layers. You will feel different soft, hard and elastic textures.

Furthermore, according to the two-stage expansion mold 1 of the embodiment of the invention, the cooling gas is passed through the inlet pipeline 210 arranged in different ways at the inner wall of the second flow channel 202 to speed up the removal of moisture on the surface of the raw material , and accelerate the hardening speed of the raw material, so that even if the raw material is in contact with the inner wall in the second flow channel 202, there will be no adhesion. Therefore, when the raw material leaves the outlet 300 of the mold, it can be successfully formed by the cutter 400 The desired diced shape.

To sum up, the two-stage expansion mold provided by this creation can solve the problem that the existing mold cannot handle high-moisture raw materials, and can also solve the problem that the raw material of plant meat embryos lacks a change in taste.

The foregoing descriptions are illustrative only, not restrictive. Any equivalent modification or change that does not deviate from the spirit and scope of this creation shall be included in the scope defined by the scope of the patent application.

1: Two-stage expansion mold 100: feed port 101: extrusion sleeve 111: extrusion 200: raw material channel 201: The first runner 202: Second runner 210: Intake pipeline 211: Gas flow controller 300: Outlet 400: cutter

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a two-stage expansion mold according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a plurality of raw material passages and cutter configurations of a two-stage expansion mold according to an embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the air intake pipeline of the two-stage expansion mold according to the embodiment of the invention FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of an air intake pipeline of a two-stage expansion mold according to another embodiment of the present invention.

1: Two-stage expansion mold

100: feed port

101: extrusion sleeve

111: extrusion

200: raw material channel

201: The first runner

202: Second runner

210: Intake pipeline

211: Gas flow controller

300: Outlet

400: cutter

Claims (9)

A two-stage expansion mold comprising: a feed port for adding a raw material; an extrusion sleeve, one end of which is connected to the feed port; an extruding part, extruding the raw material to move in the extruding sleeve; A raw material channel, including a first flow channel, one end connected to the extrusion sleeve; and a second flow channel, one end connected to the first flow channel, and the pipe diameter is larger than the first flow channel, the first flow channel and the second flow channel The second runner is cylindrical and arranged concentrically; and a material outlet connected to the other end of the second flow channel; Wherein the side wall of the second channel contains a plurality of intake pipes. The two-stage expansion mold as described in claim 1, wherein the discharge port further includes a cutting knife. The two-stage expansion mold according to claim 1, wherein the diameter of the second flow channel is 2 to 10 times that of the first flow channel. The two-stage expansion mold according to claim 1, wherein the length of the second flow channel is 10 to 50 times the pipe diameter. The two-stage expansion mold according to claim 1, which comprises 2 to 6 raw material passages. The two-stage expansion mold according to claim 1, wherein the side wall of the second flow channel contains 4 to 12 air inlet pipes. The two-stage expansion mold as claimed in claim 6, wherein the air inlet pipeline is arranged perpendicular to the side wall of the second flow channel. The two-stage expansion mold as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the diameter of the air inlet pipeline is 1 to 8 mm. The two-stage expansion mold as claimed in claim 1, wherein the gas flow rate of the air inlet pipeline is 10 to 100 cm ³ /s.

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