Patent ID: 6786322
Filing Date: 2004-09-07
Classification: F25D,Y10S

Abstract:
Cooling tunnel for packages filled with hot liquid products, applicable to automatic packaging installations comprising:a main conveyor belt for conveying the filled packages through a cooling device which extends throughout the tunnel; a loading means for loading the filled packages onto the main conveyor belt; and an unloading means for unloading filled packages from the main conveyor belt; wherein the loading means of the packages are adapted for loading the packages onto the main conveyor belt at its starting end portion, forming sets that succeed one another, the packages of each set forming an arrangement in orthogonal rows and columns, in which the rows are arranged transversally with regard to the main conveyor belt; wherein the unloading means are adapted for simultaneously unloading the packages of each row that reaches the end point of the main conveyor belt; and, wherein the loading means comprise: a first conveyor belt for conveying packages, adapted for receiving at its starting end, groups of packages arranged parallel to the starting end and with their bottom positioned in the advancing direction of the first conveyor belt, equal in number to the rows in each set of packages to be loaded onto the main conveyor belt; a package alignment device, arranged at the end point of the first conveyor belt, adapted for aligning the packages of each set of packages by their bottoms; a second conveyor belt of packages arranged coplanar, adjoining and in longitudinal alignment with respect to the first conveyor belt, and also arranged coplanar, adjoining and transversal with regard to the main conveyor belt, adapted for receiving at its starting end the groups of packages aligned by the alignment device and for forming the sets of packages to be loaded onto the main conveyor belt; and a transfer device, adapted for transferring the sets of packages from the second conveyor belt to the main conveyor belt.