Pump for dispensing liquid or semi-liquid or semi-solid food products and machine comprising said pump

A pump for dispensing semi-liquid food products includes an inlet opening, an outlet opening, a dispensing path between the inlet opening and the outlet opening, a rotor for pushing the product along the dispensing path, and an airtight chamber, interposed between the inlet and outlet openings and coaxially containing the rotor. The dispensing path is defined by a cyclically choked gap formed between an outer periphery of the rotor, including three projecting and angularly equidistant lobes, and an inner periphery of the airtight chamber, which is elastically deformable.

This application claims priority to Italian Patent Application 102017000031729 filed Mar. 22, 2017, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

This invention relates to a pump for dispensing liquid, semi-liquid or semi-solid food products and a dispensing machine comprising said pump.

More specifically, this invention relates to the patisserie, ice cream and delicatessen sectors and relates to a pump to be used in machines intended for making and/or dispensing liquid, semi-liquid, semi-solid food products, such as, for example, ice creams, whipped cream, creams, chocolate, yogurt, sorbets and the like.

Generally speaking, such machines comprise a containment chamber for the product to be processed, at least one dispensing tap positioned on the lower front of the chamber.

According to known methods, the product to be dispensed undergoes a thermal treatment which is generally performed by means of electrical resistors and/or a refrigerating system.

The product is thus processed both mechanically, by means of the stirrer, and thermally, by means of heating and/or cooling units.

The processing chamber is usually fed by the operator through a feeding container above.

In some machines of the type described above, product dispensing through the tap is guaranteed by a peristaltic pump, which is controlled by the operator by means of a control located on the front of the machine.

The pumps used in these machines require frequent cleaning operations to prevent the proliferation of bacteria, especially inside the pumping pipe, where product residues easily get trapped.

Normally, cleaning operations involve complete disassembly of the pump and its thorough washing. However, such cleaning operations are quite laborious and time-consuming.

A requirement particularly felt in the sector in question is that of providing a pump which is able to operate particularly effectively with creamy or semi-solid products (such as, for example, creams, chocolates, etc.) having a very high density, and which at the same time is able to reduce the need for cleaning/maintenance.

One aim of this invention is, therefore, to meet the above requirement, that is to say, of providing a pump able to operate particularly effectively with creamy products (such as, for example, creams, chocolates, etc.) having a very high density.

Another aim of this invention is to provide a pump for dispensing liquid, semi-liquid or semi-solid food products that is more easily and rapidly sanitizable than what is provided in the prior art.

Another aim of this invention is to provide a pump for dispensing liquid, semi-liquid or semi-solid food products that is particularly simple and an alternative to those in the prior art.

These aims are fully achieved by the pump according to this invention as characterized in the appended claims.

InFIG. 1, the numeral1denotes in its entirety a pump for dispensing liquid, semi-liquid or semi-solid food products.

In the example illustrated, the pump1is mounted in a machine2that dispenses liquid or semi-liquid or semi-solid food products.

The pump1may be similarly applied in other machines in the patisserie, ice cream and delicatessen sectors, for example for dispensing whipped cream, creams, chocolate, yogurt, sorbets, chocolate and the like.

The following is a description of a machine2, provided by way of example only and without limiting the scope of the invention.

The machine2comprises a container3for containing the product to be dispensed (located inside a refrigerated chamber), a dispensing pipe4(preferably located on the lower front of the container3).

Preferably, the container3is of the deformable type.

According to known methods, the product to be dispensed undergoes a thermal treatment which is generally performed by means of a refrigerating system, in order to preserve the product in food safety conditions.

Product dispensing through the pipe4is guaranteed by the pump1, which is controlled by the operator, for example by means of a button5located on the front of the machine.

The pump1comprises an inlet opening6, which must be engaged in the tap4, an outlet opening7, which constitutes the opening from which the product required by the operator comes out, and a dispensing path P between the inlet opening6and the outlet opening7(FIG. 5).

The pump1also comprises a rotor8, for pushing the product along the dispensing path P, and an airtight chamber9, which is interposed between the inlet opening6and the outlet opening7and contains (coaxially) inside it the rotor8.

The rotor8is electrically driven by a motor (not illustrated), which is operated using a control5(said control may be a physical pushbutton or a touch screen or a command issued in any other way).

The chamber9is externally enclosed by two rigid half-shells10and11which are sealedly coupled to each other (FIGS. 3 and 4).

The half-shells10and11, in their coupled position, house two facing, C-shaped elastomeric elements12, which delimit a substantially cylindrical central cavity and which define the (elastically deformable) inner periphery13of the chamber9, which is sealedly engaged by the outer periphery14of the rotor8(FIGS. 5 and 6).

The two elastomeric elements12are identical to one another and are housed symmetrically inside the half-shell10which, as shown more clearly inFIG. 2, is cup-shaped.

The above-mentioned openings6and7are made in the half-shell10.

The dispensing path P is defined by the gap formed between the outer periphery14of the rotor8and the inner periphery13of the chamber9.

The outer periphery14of the rotor8has three lobes15, formed by three protruding portions15which are angularly spaced at 120° from each other, and which define a prismatic element with a triangular cross section (preferably equilateral and rounded).

The three lobes15are sized to sealedly and rotatably engage each elastomeric element12.

Differently to a common peristaltic pump, in which the dispensing path P extends inside a pipe that is cyclically choked in order to push the product from the inlet opening towards the outlet opening, in this case the path P extends inside the chamber9, between the outer periphery14of the rotor8and the inner surface of the element12which is reached in sequence by the lobes15of the rotor8during the rotation of the latter.

For example, for an observer looking atFIG. 5and considering a clockwise rotation of the rotor8, the path P is defined by the cyclically choked gap formed between the rotor8and the elastomeric element12illustrated on the right.

Therefore, it is the lobes15that sealedly engage the inner periphery13of the chamber9in order to cyclically choke the gap through which the product is dispensed.

In other words, the pump1operating concept is similar to that of a peristaltic pump, but it has the advantage of being easy to disassemble into easily washable parts.

Moreover, advantageously, the pump1is particularly adapted to moving food products characterised by a higher density.

Finally, it should be noticed that when the rotor8is stationary, in any position, there are always two lobes15which sealedly press on the corresponding elastomeric elements12, thereby preventing unwanted product discharge and protecting the chamber3from possible product oxidation phenomena.

The invention described above is susceptible of industrial application; It can be modified and adapted in several ways without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept; moreover, all the details of the invention may be substituted for technically equivalent elements.