Abstract:
The invention refers to a method and an equipment for producing, exposing and extemporaneously retailing foodstuffs subjected to thermal treatment and mixing or stirring, particularly of Italian ice cream or similar, having several flavors, wherein:—several flavors of such foodstuffs are produced, particularly of ice cream or similar in at least as many treatment units, each one having a stirring or batch cylinder and thermal treatment means; the obtained product is preserved in the corresponding stirring or batch cylinders; and—product measures are taken out whenever requested by consumers directly from said stirring or batch cylinders.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The invention refers to a novel methodology for producing and extemporaneously retailing foodstuffs requiring, for their production, a thermal treatment and a contemporaneous mixing or stirring action. 
         [0002]    A typical and preferred example of such foodstuffs is the so-called Italian ice cream or similar products, such as for example crushed ice drinks, but substances obtainable from heating too, as various edible cream kinds. 
         [0003]    The invention concerns also an equipment for producing and extemporaneously retailing the afore said foodstuffs. 
         [0004]    Throughout the present specification reference to the Italian ice cream will be made, but it is to be understood that such a definition or better the term “Italian ice cream or similar”, will designate also other foodstuffs to which the invention could be applied and, as mentioned, that are obtained from thermal treatment and contemporaneous mixing or stirring operations. 
       DESCRIPTION OF THE KNOWN ART 
       [0005]    Ice cream is actually produced and sold with two different technologies and procedures, and comprises the so-called soft ice cream and the so-called Italian ice cream. 
         [0006]    The soft ice cream is produced in appropriate machines providing its continuous production and driven dispensing, often automatically, of a mixture of ice cream and air. 
         [0007]    The Italian ice cream, having organoleptic characteristics completely different from the former one, is homemade, usually in laboratories adjoining an extemporaneously retail shop, wherein a refrigerated display counter exhibits to consumers a plurality of tubs, each comprising some amount of ice cream with a determined flavor. 
         [0008]    The production happens, as afore said, in a laboratory adjoined to the retail shop, where one or more production machines are located, particularly one or more batch freezers and eventually one or more pasteurizers or cooking machines. 
         [0009]    The pasteurized mixture to be batch frozen is introduced into a batch cylinder provided with cooling means for its walls, and eventually the bottom, and with stirring blades treating the cooled liquid mixture until the desired pasty consistency is reached. At this point the ice cream is drained from the batch freezer and maintained in a cool environment, more often transferred in one or more exposing tubs intended to be placed over the selling counter or preserved in a cooled environment awaiting to be exposed for selling. The batch freezer is then washed to be ready for treating a following mixture, generally having a different flavour from the former one. 
         [0010]    This procedure involves several drawbacks already present today. First of all the ice cream handling from the batch freezer to the tubs and, with these, into the cooler or the refrigerated display counter, causes a hard engagement for the operator carrying it out, and further presents hygiene problems and deteriorations of the organoleptic characteristics, because the ice cream is exposed to the environment for a more or less long period, with a consequent alteration of its characteristics, obviously starting from the surface. 
         [0011]    Secondly, the necessary equipments are numerous and bulky, whereby in any case the complex laboratory-retail shop must occupy a predetermined minimum surface. 
       OBJECT OF THE INVENTION 
       [0012]    Object of the present invention is now to remedy these and other drawbacks and disadvantages of the known procedure and art, realizing among other things a number of means allowing to produce and directly sell the Italian ice cream or the afore said foodstuffs, without the substance being carried and handled before its withdrawal for selling, and further without it would be exposed in tubs for selling. 
         [0013]    Other objects of the invention are to provide a procedure and an equipment for producing and selling the Italian ice cream or similar substances allowing to reduce the totally occupied space for such a functions and allowing the consumer not only to verify the appearance of the substance for sale, but also to watch the producing operations of the substance itself and eventually to visually control the various production steps. 
         [0014]    For realizing these and other objects, the present invention concerns a new method for producing and selling the Italian ice cream or similar substances, as generally defined in claim  1 , as well as a new equipment, especially designed for actuating the mentioned method, as more generically defined in claim  4 . 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         [0015]    These and other peculiarities and characteristics of the invention will be evident from the subsequent description of a preferred embodiment of an equipment for producing and selling Italian ice cream, herein illustrated in the drawings in attachment, wherein: 
           [0016]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an equipment for producing and selling Italian ice cream according to the invention, in the shape of a display counter. 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a module with four batch freezers belonging to the display counter of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0018]      FIG. 3  is an elevation view of the module of  FIG. 2 . 
           [0019]      FIGS. 4 and 5  are perspective views illustrating the stirring drive means of one of the batch freezers, in a disassembled and assembled condition respectively. 
           [0020]      FIG. 6  is a scheme of a particular and preferred circuit for controlled cooling or heating of a batch cylinder. 
           [0021]      FIG. 7  is an elevation view of a batch cylinder realized for carrying out the controlled cooling or healing procedures according to the  FIG. 6  scheme. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0022]    According to what hereinbefore exposed and claimed, the invention concerns a method for producing and extemporaneously retailing Italian ice cream and other foodstuffs, with several flavors, allowing to eliminate the drawbacks and the disadvantages afore mentioned, essentially producing single ice cream flavors, or similar, in at least as much treatment units or batch freezing units, preserving then the ice cream or similar in the same producing cylinders and taking it out directly from the same cylinders as a consequence of the consumer requests. 
         [0023]    To realize such a method, the invention provides an equipment for producing, exposing and extemporaneously retailing the ice cream, or similar, of the type shown in the attached figures and more generally in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0024]    In such a figure an equipment is illustrated having a shape of a selling counter  10  composed of a plurality of similar modules  10   a,    10   b,    10   e,    10   d,    10   e,    10   f,  and in reciprocal abutment so that to present to the buyer a predetermined amount of flavours, for example visible to the buyer through transparent lids  11  opposed to each vertical cylinder  12  for producing and preserving the ice cream or similar. 
         [0025]    In this way the foregoing objects of the present invention are realized, particularly obtaining and preserving better organoleptic product characteristics, reducing the work engagement of the operator/operators and further reducing the spaces required by the necessary equipments for a homemade shop for producing and selling ice cream or similar, practically to the spaces occupied by the counter  10 . 
         [0026]    Referring to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , every module, for example  10   a,  presents a supporting frame  13  adapted to sustain and exhibit for example four vertical producing cylinders  12 , particularly for batch freezing and preserving the ice cream, each one having a batch freezing stirrer driven by a motor  14  supported by a crossbeam  15 . 
         [0027]    Every motor  14  drives, by pulleys  16 , a corresponding drive shaft (not visible, in  FIGS. 2 and 3 ), supported by the bearings housed in the casing  17 . The drive shaft is rotating in a cylindrical receptacle  12  having a preferably transparent lid  11  and driving the rotation of the batch stirring or mixing known blades. 
         [0028]    The outer wall of each cylinder  12  is wound by a coil  18  directly or indirectly generating and/or maintaining the requested temperature for producing and/or conserving ice cream. The coil  18  is in turn connected to an appropriately dimensioned freezing unit provided with air or water compressor and condenser. The unit may be assigned to serve a specific module  10   a,  or preferably the whole counter  10 . The temperatures in the cylinder  12  may be adjusted particularly to have different values when the cylinder is intended for producing ice cream, or when the same operates a preservation of the produced ice cream only, otherwise still when different temperatures are requested, eventually higher than the environment one. 
         [0029]    In  FIGS. 4 and 5  is illustrated an embodiment of batch freezing means, essentially composed of a shaft  19  rotated by a corresponding motor  14  and rotating in abutment over the bearings  20  inserted in seats  21  of a flange  22  integral with the shaft  19 . Further on its upper face the flange  22  presents seats  23  for housing cylindrical endings  24  of the batch freezing blades  25 . 
         [0030]    In the upper portion the blades  25  exhibit a further cylindrical ending  26  adapted for housing into seats  27  of a covering element  28 , that is preferably transparent. The covering element  28  exhibits a further central opening  29  to introduce the components for the mixture to be prepared. The whole is then covered by a preferably transparent lid  11  with safety sensors (not illustrated), adapted to interrupt stirring when the lid  11  is raised. 
         [0031]    To serve the produced ice cream, the blades  25  may be eventually drawn out, with the covering element  28  too, for a better access to the containing cylinder. 
         [0032]    It has to be noticed that in case of ice creams requesting a preventive pasteurization or cooking operation, such an operation may be conducted separately or in the same batch cylinders  12 , conveniently by adjusting the operating procedures, particularly the temperature, for example in the way herein after explained. The same operations can be carried out in case of heating and stirring edible creams. 
         [0033]    It has been noticed that a batch cylinder capacity comprised from 4 to 10 liters allows to better carry out the objects of the invention. However, it has to specified that the invention is not to be considered limited to these values, because it is possible to have cylinders with a lower or greater capacity than the suggested ones. 
         [0034]    Further, it is possible to throttle the refrigeration of every cylinder or of some cylinders, because of cost savings, when the product is in the preserving step in a reduced amount. 
         [0035]      FIGS. 6 and 7  respectively show a particularly preferred thermic controlling circuit for a batch cylinder  12  and the treating coil structure at the outer wall of such a cylinder  12 . 
         [0036]    Referring first to  FIG. 6 , a refrigerant unit  30 , with a water or air condensation, of an itself known type, preferably operates for every batch cylinder  12  of the counter  10 . Every batch cylinder  12  has its own outer side wall wound by a coil  18  that, in this particular case, as illustrated in  FIG. 7 , is actually formed by two overlying coils, of which the inner one  31  operates for the glycol circulation, whereas the outer one  32  circulate the cooling gas coining directly from the unit  30 . 
         [0037]    Referring again to  FIG. 6 , the refrigerant unit  30  feeds with a cooled gas a cooling circuit of the coil  32 , provided with an intake trunk  33 , with a shut-off valve  34  and an expansion valve  34 ′, as well as a returning trunk  35 . The coil  32  is able then to cool, crossing the coil  31 , the inner of the cylinder  12  to the requested temperature to carry out the batch freezing. 
         [0038]    Once the batch freezing is finished, the ice cream obtained must be conserved at a temperature lower than the environment temperature, but strongly higher than the batch freezing temperature. To obtain this, the cooled gas outgoing from the refrigerant unit  30  is sent, through a separated circuit  36 , to an heat exchanger  37  where glycol is cooled and then sent to the coil  31  through a circuit  38 , provided with a shut-off valve  39  and fed by a pump  40 . 
         [0039]    The described circuit operation is as follows. During the batch freezing step in the concerned cylinder  12 , the valve  39  is closed and the glycol pump  40  is stopped, whereas the valve  34  is opened to allow the cooling gas to circulate in the coil  32  and obtain the freezing desired temperature for the mixture in the cylinder  12 . At the end, the valve  34  is closed, whereas the valve  39  is opened and the pump  40  is operated, to circulate the glycol in the coil  31  and thereby to maintain the ice cream at the preserving desired temperature. 
         [0040]    In case wherein pasteurization or cooking in the cylinder  12  are desired, or further a thermic cream treatment at a higher temperature than the environment one, a third circuit (not illustrated), provided with an opening or closing valve too and with temperature regulating means, may connect the hot gas exiting from the refrigerant unit with the coil  32  or with the heat exchanger  37  and then with the coil  31 , thereby realizing an high temperature appropriate thermic treatment. 
         [0041]    As an alternative to low temperature cooling during the batch freezing, it is possible, by removing the circuit  33 - 35 , to enter into the cylinder  12  an appropriate and controlled amount of liquid nitrogen, both manually (as exemplified in  41 ), and preferably by a duct  42 , directly into the stirring mixture.