Patent ID: 6123969
Filing Date: 2000-09-26
Classification: A23L,B65B

Abstract:
A method for deoxygenating and packing dough pieces which comprises:providing fresh or uncooked dough is capable of being packed individually or in groups,supplying the dough pieces batchwise to an evacuation chamber as batches of dough pieces,applying vacuum to the chamber for deoxygenating the chamber and dough pieces therein,injecting an inert, protective gas into the chamber such that at least part of the oxygen that has been evacuated from the chamber and dough pieces is replaced by the inert protective gas,transferring the deoxygenated and inert gassed batches of dough pieces from the evacuation chamber across a zone that is at ambient atmosphere to a form-fill-seal packing unit such that the dough pieces pass from the evacuation chamber to the packing unit while exposed to the ambient atmosphere, and thensealing the dough pieces individually or in groups in a package In the form-fill-seal packing unit under an inert gas protective atmosphere;wherein said infecting of said inert gas is sufficient to replace evacuated oxygen with the inert protective gas in the dough pieces such that the dough pieces in the transferring step are allowed to pause in the ambient atmosphere, and such that the introduction of the dough pieces individually or in groups matches the packaging cycles of the packing unit.