METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN COOLING OF NUTRIENTS

Abstract: In a method and a plant for cooling a nutrient, especially jam containing whole berries in heat treated (e.g. 85 DEG C) jam (strawberry jam), and in which the nutrient, prior to the cooling, in hot condition is packed into packages (16) which, thereafter, are sealed air-tightly, forming the heat treated and cooled, wholly or in part prepared nutrient's storage containers during storage, one has aimed at obtaining an increased efficiency and, thus, a shortening of the cooling, which is tantamount to an improved product quality, as well as a uniform distribution of the berries within the jam. The filled packages (16) are placed in hollow drums (4) which are mutually articulated and displaced as an endless chain along an oval path in a vertical plane. The lower drum-chain part is immersed in the cooling fluid (3) while the drums (4) are rotated, the jam in the packages being overturned during the cooling process.

Description: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR USE IN COOLING OF NUTRIENTS. This invention relates to a method for use when cooling a nutrient which immediately before has been subjected to a heat treatment and where the heat treatment constitutes an i por- tant step in the preparation of the nutrient. The invention relates particularly, but not exclusively, to cooling treatment of hot jam and hot juice bottled in a hot condition within liquid- or gas-tight containers/packages and, more specifically, the invention concerns a special method step to be used in addition to an e.g. liquid or gas based cooling process which, in other respect, may be of an ordinary kind. Likewise, the invention relates to a plant for the same purpose. The method and the plant according to the invention may be used in connection with a wide variety of heat treated nutrients, e.g. comprising jams, juices, berries, fruits and vegetables, etc. The method involves general cooling technical advantages when treating nutrients, resulting in an improved cooling process which, on the one hand, due to its efficiency and relatively brief duration will give a superior, quality- improved, very long-term keeping product without taste deterioration, etc., and which, on the other hand, due to the re- duction of cooling time, releases working time, the latter being of very important especially when fresh berries made ripe in the sun are to be preserved with sugar (jam making) or juicing (juice extraction) within the short time of berry riping, within which one now reach to preserve/juice a comparatively larger amount of berries within a given period because of the time reduction of the cooling step. Also, the invention may advantageously be utilised in connection with cooling of entirely different, heat treated nutri- ents, e.g. animally based nutrients which, in a treatment step following the cooling, which is shortened and made more efficient according to the invention, is subjekted to hermetically preserving or deep-freezing, or which, subsequently to the last treatment step, takes a semi-preserved condition, where the manufacturing/preparation includes a heat treatment, e.g. a boiling process or a heating which, after a given boiling or heat treatment time at at least one elevated temperature, is followed by a cooling step. Today, long term keeping juice, e.g. with a durability of 10- 12 months, is produced without the addition of preservation agent, when storage conditions are fairly favourable. Jams of e.g. strawberries, black currants and raspberries as well as jellies made from red currants or apples are, usually, admixed a preservation agent in order to secure a corresponding storage time. However, new methods for making jam are under development, and it is now certain that within short time jams will be manufactureable without preservation agents through rational methods on an industrial scale. In jams made from e.g. strawberries, red whortleberries and blueberries, it is desired to have the berries distributed as uniformly as possible. The problem has been that the berries after the heat treatment, "the jam making", float to the surface and gather there, while the rest of the jam substantially consists of jelly. Extra sugar and special additions can make the jam more rich, but it is desired to reduce the sugar content and also other admixtures. Previously, jam in hot condition was filled into preserving jars, hot juice being filled into glass bottles. Today, glass containers are still used for hot jam/juice, but these are about being replaced for the benefit of cardboard containers made from laminated film material. To the invention, the material of which the storage containers are made is insofar of less importance, but one is working with liquid-/gas-tight packages which prior to closure are filled with the heat treated nutrients in hot condition for immediately following cooling. The state of the art is i.a. represented through the following publications: NO patent No. 140,205 deals with a cooling or freezing plant for a material to be treated through cooling or freezing within the plant, the object having been to facilitate the supply of said (unspecified) material and the removal of the material after its treatment within the plant which, to this end, has transport means comprising two conveyors and an intermediate transfer mechanism. NO patent No. 100,943 deals with a device for cooling nutrients which can easily be spoilt. This patent specification relates especially to cooling of such nutrients down to te - peratures substantially below 0°C. Thus, it is about freezing, while the present method primarily relates to a cooling process from elevated temperature, e.g. 85°, from the heat treatment, down to e.g. 40° or to ambient temperature or storage temperature. DK patent No. 171,260 deals with a so-called tunnel-freezer for the freezing of loose, non-packed material particles through heat exchange with a cold medium, e.g. liquid nitrogen. Thus, the tunnel acts substantially as the gas chamber in Norwegian patent specification No. 100,943. Moreover, the tunnel, which can be rotated around the longitudinal axis thereof, has a helically extending band or tape and/or lifting rails in order to facilitate the passage of the loose, non-packed material particles through the tunnel. Thus, this patent specification does not relate to the cooling of a packed product which, immediately therebefore, has been sub- jected to a heat treatment constituting an essential step in the preparation thereof, but is exclusively occupied with freezing technique associated with particulate materials. EP patent application No. 0 159,435 comprises a freezing apparatus for continuous freezing of a liver in the form of a transplant organ. Apart from this, the present invention has no association to freezing or freezing plants, but only to cooling of nutrients which, immediately before, have been subjected to a heat treatment constituting a substantial part of the production of the ready-prepared nutrient. DE patent application No. 44 10 503 deals with a rotating freezing tunnel comprising a drum the axis thereof forming a couple of degrees with the horizontal plane, said drum being rotated about the longitudinal axis thereof. The products to be frozen are subjected to a heat exchange operation where, advantageously, liquid nitrogen or cold gaseous nitrogen is used. NO patent 165,974 deals with a cooling equipment for cooling fresh foodstuffs, particularly freshly slaughtered fish which, of course, has not been subjected to a preceding heat treatment. Such a cooling of fresh foodstuff lacks the important premise that the nutrient during the preparation is brought to undergo a heat treatment constituting a substantial step in the making of the nutrient. Previously known methods for treating nutrients of the kind concerned, and where the nutrients prior to the cooling have been subjected to a heat treatment constituting a substantial preparation step, comprise for the making of long term keep- ing jam the following methods: (i) Admixture of a substantial amount of sugar making the jam self-preserving and with long term keeping properties. There exists, however, only a small demand for jam with a high sugar content; (ii) mashing the berries homogenises the jam and gives the mass a homogeneous viscous character. This mashed berry mass is heated to about 85°C and filled in hot condition into air-tight packages. The product has a kind of puree-like consistence, and represents a jam variant of very little popularity. If the berries with this preserving method are not mashed, they will float up as a result of the fact that the starch does not set to form jelly at such a high temperature. Again, this is due to the fact that the berries have a lower specific gravity than the sauce made of sugar and berry juice; (iii) the jam can be made in a closed process, in which it is pumped forwardly in an even flow between scrape heat exchangers. Then, the product is heated to 85°C and is, thereafter, cooled down to the gelatination temperature of the starch corresponding to about 40° and is, thereafter, filled into packages within a sterile environment. However, the problem of this process is that it will be difficult and expensive to carry out the filling within a sterile environment; (iv) the product is filled into tight packages at the gelatination temperature of the starch, about 40°C, whereafter it is placed into a rotary autoclave, in order to make it sterile and long term keeping. A substan- tial problem of this method is that it is time-consuming, and it is not suitable for continuous mass production on a rational industrial scale. A general and considerable disadvantage associated with the prior art technique briefly described above, consists in that the coolant, e.g. cold water or other liquid or gas surrounding the liquid-/gas-tightly filled, hot packages, first will attack and cool the peripheral layer positioned in immediately neighbourhood of the inner wall faces of the package. In connection with hot, freshly made jam and many other heat treated, hot nutrients of more or less liquid consistence, in connection with this local, stratified cooling, a more or less marked setting takes place which, e.g., may be due to the content of starch. This set layer of nutrient immediately inside the package wall has been found to act as an extremely undesired thermal insulation. The set layer counteracts the cooling of the internal, more or less liquid mass, extending the cooling time for the achievement of a predetermined final temperature in the whole cold treated mass/liquid, or deteriorates the cooling if this is based on a predetermined cooling time, not on final temperature. In both cases, the result becomes inefficient cooling, which is tantamount to a quality deterioration as compared to an efficient, brief cooling. The way through which the cooling step is carried out in prior art methods/plants relevant in relation to the present invention is not in any other manner distinguished through such an efficiency that could make the conditions right for a reduction of the cooling time. A plurality of the mentioned methods/plants are unsuitable for the cooling of heat treated nutrients of the kind con- cerned. Therefore, the object of the invention has primarily been to point out a method in which, through an efficient cooling treatment of liquid-tight packages/storage containers containing hot, for preparation purposes heat treated nutrient filled into said packages/storage containers at a first elevated temperature, deficiencies, disadvantages and restriction in use associated with the prior art technique are eliminated or reduced to a substantial degree. According to the invention, this increase in cooling efficiency shall take place, using simple and cheap means which are laid on during at least a part of the cooling process, and which favour a cooling treatment known per se in respect of the product being cooled, so that the desired final temperature is achieved throughout and across the entire mass in a shorter time than the time used in previously known technique. Heat treatment at e.g. 85°C is fairly usual when preparing nutrients in question. This elevated temperature is in the following denoted as first elevated temperature. The final temperature for jam in which a distribution of whole berries as evenly as possible is desired throughout the whole jam mass, may be e.g. 40°C, representing the gelatination temperature of the starch, i.e. a second elevated temperature substantially lower than said first elevated temperature. For some heat treated and, thereafter, air-tight packed nutrients, the final temperature will be at a considerable lower level, e.g. at the ambient temperature, e.g. 20°C. Said objects are achieved by proceeding in accordance with the specific method step defined in the characterizing clause of claim 1 in connection with the cooling step following the steps as defined in the preamble of claim 1. More specifically, the method of the invention distinguishes itself mainly in that the tight packages/storage containers into which the heat treated nutrient to be cooled has been filled in hot condition, during at least a part of the cooling treatment which, preferably, is carried out by means of a cold fluid, e.g. cold water, is subjected to one or more overturning movements such as rotations, so that the content is kept in motion in a similar way as with stirring during the cooling process or part thereof. Such an overturning movement of the filled, hot containers, cartons, jam jars or bottles causes a continuous displacement of the content. In connection with jam, e.g. made from strawberries, berries not boiled to pieces, will, thus, be kept floating within the sauce phase and, thereby, be kept fairly evenly distributed throughout the sauce, also in the condition phase during the cooling in which the gelatination of the starch takes place, so that berries in such jams will be mainly evenly distributed throughout the rest of the jam mass. The most essential advantage achieved by means of this overturning of the filled, hot packages/storage containers, is the increased cooling efficiency the content is allotted. With the conventional feeding of such storage containers, etc. , filled with hot jam or the like within the cooling zone in which a cold cooling fluid, in the first round, cools down the carton and, immediately thereafter the peripheral layer of the content locally, a peripheral, more or less rigid jacket is formed, surrounding the rest of the mass within the tight, sealed package/storage container, said jacket acting as an insulation counteracting cooling of the internal mass and, thus, reduces the efficiency of the cooling. Of course, the cooling time is dependent on the efficiency of the cool- ing; and brief, efficient cooling is for most nutrients subjected to a previous heat treatment, tantamount to an increase of product quality. Advantageous structural features of a plant for carrying out this method rationally on an industrial scale appear from the following claims. Even if the invention, in the form of both method and plant, due to the efficient cooling of heat treated nutrients in sealed packages, said nutrients basically descending from both the plant life and the animal life and, additionally, may be constituted by combined animal-vegetable nutrients, the invention will, for the sake of simplification, in the following be described in association to industrial making of jam, e.g. strawberry jam, where the distribution of whole berries within the jam mass is considered to be particularly important. An example of a method for industrial jam making, e.g. using strawberries, takes substantially place as follows: (i) The jam is made in the usual way in open casseroles in which berries, sugar and, possibly, other ingredients, are warmed up within the casseroles to about 60°C in order to obtain a satisfactory mixture of the ingredients; (ϋ) from the casseroles, the jam is pumped into scrape heat exchangers in which it is warmed up to about 85°C while it is being pumped forwardly in an uniform flow; (iii) from the heat exchangers, the jam is pumped further to a holding cell, where it is pumped forward through insulated pipes within a time period of about 4 - 6 minutes, in order to secure sterilisation throughout; (iv) whereafter the jam is pumped into a filling container placed on top of the filling machine, which is equipped with rotary wings pressing the mass-liquid- mixture down, so that floating of whole berries to the surface is avoided; (v) the jam is filled into packages at 85°C, resulting in sterile packages upon the sealing; (vi) whereafter the air-tight packages containing the hot jam mass are brought to pass into a cooling zone, e.g. defined by a cooling tank, where the jam-filled, hot packages disposed in transport drums are subjected to a overturning/turning movement, e.g. by bringing the drums in the cooling tank to rotate individually in cold water within the tank, until the air-tight packed nutrient reaches the final temperature of the cooling process; i.e. for jam of e.g. strawberries about 40°C, corresponding to the gelatination temperature of starch. In such a jam, the berries will be evenly distributed in the rest of the jelly mass, and the jam will be sterile until the package is opened, as well as exhibiting long term keeping properties. Because of the efficient cooling provided by means of the present invention, a considerable product quality improvement has additionally been achieved. The plant according to the present invention adapted to enable a rational cooling treatment on an industrial scale, may comprise a cooler in the form of a cooling tank adapted to receive and cool storage containers containing nutrients filled therein in a hot condition just after a preceding heat treatment. The main purpose of the cooler is to be suitable for carrying out a favoured cooling, resulting in a jam having a high quality and a long duration. The nutrient shall to the least possible extent contain artificial admixtures. Pre- serving agents should be avoided, if possible, and small amounts of sugar should be added. The substantial novelty of the plant according to the invention consists in the cooling tank and especially its internal feeding devices for the displacement of the air-tight pack- ages previously filled with hot jam. The cooling tank may internally be assigned a plurality of rotary, movable drums, each of which being guided to follow an endless, e.g. oval path, the course thereof being positioned in a vertical plane. The drums are hinged together and are suitable driven by means of a drive chain or a chain-like drive means. Twelve such drums each rotatable about its own axis and having mutually parallel rotational axes can be interconnected and articulated to each other, and they have each space for about 100 packages, each containing about % litre jam, e.g. of the milk carton type, air-tightly sealed, and wherein the wall is made from a liminated film material of a known kind. In a preferred embodiment, the drums may run on guiding rails along the sides and bottom of the cooling tank, and they are rotated while they incidentally are immersed within the cool- ing water in the tank by means of two intermediate rails guiding the chain. Such an oval-shaped, endless path of movements for the drum-shaped feeding and overturning/turning means for the packages, orientated in the vertical plane, shortens the structural length of the cooling zone, resulting in a plant being more compact and less area-demanding than known plants exhibiting a corresponding production capacity. An appropriate cooling tank included in a rational industrial plant for making and sterile, long term keeping packing of jam in liquid-/gas-tight storage containers, may have a width of 2,6 metres, a length of 6,0 metres and a height of 1,5 metres. Such a cooling tank may have a considerable cooling capacity. As cooling fluid, cold water may be used, and the tank is filled with water up to a certain level and, upon the rotation of the drums, the water is put in circulation move- ments and/or is allotted additional circulation through propellers, stirrers, agitators or the like. When the plant is operative and the first filled, sealed packages containing hot jam are ready for cooling during the overturning of the jam mass within each package in the cool- ing zone of the plant constituted by said cooling vessel partly filled with water and containing the displaceable, articulated drums each exhibiting rotational properties, a drum is positioned above the water surface in the vessel for feeding packages therein. An appropriate number of packages, e.g. 100 jam cartons, each of % litre, are passed into the drum laterally by means of a feed-in device and fixed within the cavity of the drum by means of a groove accommodating the bottom portions of the packages , as well as secured in the engagement in the groove by means of guidance rails extending along the sides and the top of the packages, the latter e.g. being distributed in longitudinal rows which, in their turn, are distributed along the circumferential direction of each drum. Within the general scope of the invention, a plurality of other and different positions for the packages within the drum may be considered, e.g. suspended along the internal drum face from carrier means surrounding the opening portion; through occasional filling of packages within the drums or in any other suitable way. When a respective drum containing filled, sealed packages has passed through the portion of the transport path immersed in water - the cooling zone -the respective drum again moves up above the water surface and is emptied for the cooled products at a feed-out station. Thereafter, the drum is once more filled at a selected feed-in station above water, e.g. at a non-immersed drum's position adjacent the immersion place. Objects, advantages and features of the invention appear from the following description of a non-restricting example of a preferred embodiment of a cooler included in a plant for making a long term keeping jam packed in air-tightly sealed packages. Reference is made to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 shows a side elevational view, partly in a longitudinal vertical section along the line I-I in figure 2, of a cooler for jam; Figure 2 shows the cooler of figure 1, seen in top plan view; Figure 3 shows in perspective and on a larger scale a detail view of a rotary drum for the accommodation of a number of jam cartons and which, together with a plurality of other identical drums, are included in the cooler according to fig- ures 1 and 2; Figure 4 shows, in a detailed view, a portion of the drum in figure 3, on an even larger scale, seen in an end view, partly in vertical section, illustrating a carrier chain for rotating the drum; Figure 5 shows a rail with a carrier chain for the drum, seen from the end thereof; Figure 6 shows a jam carton and a portion of a feeding device, seen from the end of the drum; Figure 7 shows in side elevational view two jam cartons and a portion of the feeding device; and Figure 8 shows in side elevational view a drive device for the feeding device. In figure 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a cooler for jam. The cooler 1 comprises a cooling vessel 2 which is partly filled with a cooling fluid in the form of water 3. Within the cooling vessel 2, a number (twelve in the embodiment) of mutually articulated drums 4 have been disposed, the parallel longitudinal axes thereof extending laterally of elongate cooling vessel's 2 longitudinal direction, the twelve drums, at the ends thereof, being interconnected by means of links 5, forming in the vertical plane a substantially elongatedly oval, endless articulation chain for hinging the drums together, figure 1. Each drum 4 has substantially lattice structure and longitudinal laths 4' attached at the end pieces thereof, forming the circumferential structure of the drum 4, figure 3. The drums 4 have through-going shafts 4" extended beyond the outer vertical limitation plane of the articulated rod 5, and the shaft extensions engage into a guidance groove 6 in the opposing faces of the side walls of the cooling vessel 2. The guidance groove 6 according to figure 1 has an elongated oval course in a vertical plane corresponding to the articulated drum aggregate's intentional path of motion, partly immersed in the cooling vessel 2. It appears from figure 1 that each drum 4 is guided to follow this endless, elongated oval path within the cooling vessel. Thus, each drum 4 can, from a starting point at a first end of the vessel 2, be passed along the bottom of the vessel to the other end thereof and, from there, up to a higher level in the vessel 2 above the water surface, to an end station. In figure 2 , a feed-in station is indicated in the form of a socket I for feeding jam cartons into an empty drum 4a, while a similar socket U indicates a feed-out or discharge station, through which cold treated jam cartons are to be removed from another drum 4b. At the bottom of the cooling vessel 2 , a carrier chain 7 has been disposed, forming an endless loop which extends around a drive wheel 8 at one end of the vessel 2 and around a freely running chain wheel 9 at the other end of the vessel 2. The carriers 11 of the carrier chain 7 are adapted to influence the rotary, mutually articulated drums 4 through the laths 4' and turn each of them around their own axis, figure 4. The carrier chain 7 has been passed through a rail 10 provided with a longitudinal slot, through which the carriers 11 of the carrier chain 7 project, figure 5. In the exemplary embodiment, two parallel carrier chains 7 have been used, one at each short side of the drums 4. The drive wheels 8 may be attached on a common shaft 12 driven by a motor 13 through a drive belt 14 , figures 1 and 2. When the motor 13 runs, the carrier chains 7 turn the individually rotatable drums 4 by means of the carriers 11 thereof. Drums 4 positioned above the water surface between the drive wheels 8 of the carrier chains 7 and freely running chain wheels 9, do not rotate due to the lack of contact with the carrier chains 7. A drive device, not shown, is adapted to displace those drums which at any time are positioned in the upper row, towards the right hand side in figure 1, a distance corresponding to the horizontal spacing between adjacent drums 4. This can be accomplished without the drums 4 in the upper row rotate around the axis of their own. During the displacement of this upper drum row towards the right, the drum at any time positioned outermost to the right, by means of the other drums in this upper row, is brought into engagement with the carrier chains 7 and, from the carriers 11 thereof, put into rotation about the individual axis thereof. At one drum end wall, each drum 4 has an opening 15, figure 3, for feed-in or feed-out, respectively, of jam cartons 16. Within each drum 4, longitudinal rails 17 with intermediate carton grooves 18 are mounted, so that a plurality of parallel rows of jam cartons 16 can be placed in each drum 4. In figure 3 , a simplified embodiment comprising only two longitudinal carton grooves 18 has been shown. For each jam carton groove 18, there is disposed a feeding device comprising a chain 19 having lugs 20 projecting out through a slot 21 in the bottom of the carton accommodating groove 18. The chain 19 runs across a chain wheel 22 at each end of the drum 4; one such wheel appearing from figures 6 and 7. The chain wheel 22 driving the chain 19 is attached to a shaft 23 which is assigned a gear 24. Upon rotation of the gear 24, the chain 19 can be brought to push jam cartons 16 forwardly along respective groove 18 by means of its lug- shaped carriers 20. A simple device for feeding cartons 16 in or out, respectively, in relation to the cavity of a drum 4, may consist of a toothed rack 25 which can be displaced by means of a pressurised fluid cylinder 26. The toothed rack 25 is displaced such that the lugs 20 of the chain 19 is moved a distance corresponding to one carton's 16 horizontal dimension. Then, the toothed rack is lifted clear of the gear 24 by means of a piston cylinder, not shown, so that the pressurised fluid cylinder 26 pivots around the cylinder fastener 27, such as indicated with arrow A in figure 8. Thus, the toothed rack 25 can move the chain 19 and, thereby, the lugs 20 thereof for one and one carton 16. The cylinder 26 is attached on the cooling vessel 2 and takes a position with the toothed rack 25 withdrawn. Whenever a drum 4 arrives in position in front of the cylinder 26, the toothed rack 25 is moved forwardly above the gear 24 and in engagement therewith. One toothed rack 25 serves to feed jam cartons 16 into an empty, available drum 4a, figure 2, while a corresponding toothed rack serves to feed finished, cooled cartons 16 out from a drum 4b, figure 2. The feeding direction is determined based on the selection whether the rack shall be in engagement with the gear 24 when the piston cylinder 26 is extended or shortened. In order to retain the cartons 16 in position within the grooves 18 between the longitudinal rails 17 within a drum 4 when the latter rotates within the influence area of the carrier chains 7,11, i.e. to prevent the cartons 16 from being loosely accommodated within the cavity of the drum 4, a holding rail 28 has been disposed in an upper position, figures 6 and 7. This holding rail 28 which in the embodiment shown has a U-shaped cross-section, grips around the opening portion 16' of a connected row of cartons 16. For the sake of clarity, this holding rail 28 has been omitted in figure 3. The cooler's mode of operation is relatively briefly de- scribed in the following: Air-tightly sealed packages in the form of cartons 16 containing hot jam are supplied to an empty drum 4a positioned at a feed-in station I, figure 2. The hot jam cartons 16 are fed by means of a feeding device, not shown, into the cavity of the drum 4a, so that a new carton 16 is fed into each of the internal carton grooves 18 of the drum 4a. The cylinder 26 is activated, carrying out one stroke forwardly and one rearwardly, the toothed rack 25 being adapted to be in engagement with the gear 24 in one of said opposite directions. The lugs 20 push the cartons one division forward. New cartons 16 arrive and the rack 25 performs a new movement to and fro. Cartons 16 already passed into the drum 4a, are then fed further into the drum 4a, new cartons being supplied until the drum 4a has been filled therewith. When the drum 4a has been filled, the entire drum chain including the drums 4 is displaced towards the right hand side, so that a new, empty drum arrives at the feed-in station I, where the new drum 4 is filled until the carton grooves 18 have no further space for more cartons, the holding rails 28 gripping around the opening portion 16' of the cartons 16. As soon as a filled drum 4 at the right end area of the cooling vessel 2 comes within the influence area of the carrier chain 7,11, in which said filled drum is immersed into the water 3 in the vessel 2 or is in the course of being immersed, the drum 4 is rotated slowly around its own axis through the laths 4 ' , a typical rotational speed would be a couple of revolutions per minute. Each of the other filled drums positioned within the cooling zone below the water surface are, of course, also rotated around individual axis thereof. As new drums 4 are filled and fed forwardly, the drums 4 containing the cartons 16 and being immersed in water 3 are displaced step by step along the lower portion of the cooling vessel 2, each drum rotating around the rotational axis of its own. When a drum 4 containing ready-cooled jam cartons 16 arrives at the feed-out station U, figure 2, the toothed rack 25 is activated in order to start the feeding of these cartons 16 out from the cavity of the drum, through the gear 24, the shaft 23, the chain wheel 22, the chain 19 and the lug-shaped carriers 20 thereof. The figures of the drawings do not show all components necessary for the operation of the cooler 1. Thus, a propulsion device, not shown, for the interconnected, mutually articu- lated drums 4, "the drum-chain", and an activatable stop associated therewith which together see that said drum-chain is fed just one division forwardly, is provided. A cam steering gear in the vessel wall, also not shown or described previously, as well as a lug, not shown, on the end of each drum secures that a drum, as it ascend above the water surface in the cooling vessel 2 , will take the correct rotational angle. Such an arrangement is important for the toothed rack's 25 co-operation with the gear 24. Likewise, there may be disposed an activatable lock, e.g. a pneumatic cylinder, securing that a drum 4 is unable to ro- tate around its own axis when it is situated at the feed-in station I or the feed-out station U.

Claims: C l a i m s 1. A method for use during cooling of a nutrient coming from a heat treatment, the nutrient in a hot condition, prior to cooling, being packed in packages (16) which, thereafter, are sealed/closed liquid-/gas-tightly, forming the storage containers of the heat treated and cooled nutrient during storage, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the filled packages (16) during at least a considerable part of the cooling process which, as known per se, takes place in a cold liquid or gaseous atmosphere, e.g. in a water bath (3) , are subjected to rotational movements, so that the content of the packages is kept in motion and is overturned/turned during the cooling. 2. A method as defined in claim 1, in which the nutrient treated is jam being subjected to a heat treatment at a first elevated temperature, e.g. 85°C, followed by packing the jam in a hot condition into air-tightly sealable packages (16) for immediately following cooling down to the gelatination temperature of the starch, which may constitute a second ele- vated temperature, e.g. about 40°C, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that a plurality of filled, air-tight packages (16) are inserted into at least one rotary hollow piece (4) adapted to be displaced through a cooling zone (2,3) during rotation, so that orientation of the content of the packages is constantly being changed during the passage through the cooling zone or said part of that zone (2,3) respectively. 3. A method as defined in claim 2 , in which a plurality of filled, air-tight packages (16) , for cooling purposes, are brought to follow a movement path partly immersed in a cool- ing fluid (3) within a cooling vessel (2) and partly pass through at least one distance above the surface of the cooling fluid (3), c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the hot and filled, air-tightly sealed packages (16) , prior to the cooling operation, are placed and positionally fixed within a rotary hollow piece in the form of a drum (4) situated at a feed-in station (I) on a distance above the cooling fluid surface, said drum (4) constituting one of a plurality of u- tually articulated drums (4) disposed as an endless conveyor belt, and that a drum (4) containing packages (16) which has passed through the cooling zone during the rotation of the drum and the packages, arrives to a feed-out station (U) on a distance above the cooling fluid surface, to be emptied. 4. A method as defined in claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the mutually articulated, individually rotatable, package accommodating drums (4) which together form a drum- chain displacing itself along an elongated oval path within a vertical plane, are brought to move step by step forwardly, so that each feeding distance of the drum-chain corresponds to one division. 5. A plant for carrying out the method as defined in claim 1, comprising a cooling zone containing a cooling fluid atmosphere, in the form of a cooling vessel (2) , wholly or in part filled with a cooling fluid in the form of e.g. water (3) , and displaceable conveying means adapted to cause liquid- /gas-tightly sealed packages (16) filled with hot nutrient to pass through at least a part of the cooling zone (2,3) below the surface of the cooling fluid, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that said conveying means comprise a number of parallel, individually rotatable hollow drums (4) mutually articulated to form an endless drum-chain, and that outer extensions of the centric shafts of the drums engage slidably displaceable into grooves (6) in one or both side walls of the cooling vessel (2), each of said drums (4) comprising means (18, 28) to accommodate a number of packages (16) . 6. A plant as defined in claim 5, c h a r a r a c - t e r i z e d i n that said means of each drum (4) for accommodating a number of packages (16) constitute longitudinal guidance grooves (18) internally within the drum (4) and an upper, substantially inverted U-shaped holding rail (28) catching over and preventing substantial movement of the opening portion (16') of the packages (16) during the rota- tion of the drum (4) in the cooling zone (2,3). 7. A plant as defined in claim 5 or 6, the plant comprising a carrier chain (7) which i.a. extends along the bottom of the cooling vessel (2) and up above the water surface at the opposing inner walls of the cooling vessel (2) at the axial ends thereof, the carriers (11) of the carrier chain (7) in said bottom area being upright, having upper, free outer ends, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the drums (4) of the articulated, endless drum-chain are positioned such in relation to the positioning of said carriers that the latter in the bottom area of the cooling vessel (2) project upwardly in the intermediate spaces between interconnected drums (4) , so that the carriers (11) influence and turn each of the immersed drums (4) through laths (4') when the chain (7) displaces itself. 8. A plant as defined in claim 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that each of the guidance grooves (18) which are chute- shaped, at the bottom is formed with a longitudinal, through- going slot (21) , through which engage lug-shaped carriers (20) on a feeding chain (19) for the packages (16) in rela- tion to each drum (4) and included in a device for feeding the packages (16) into and out of, respectively, each drum (4) to be filled therewith or emptied thereoff, respectively. 9. A plant as defined in claim 8, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that said feed-in/ feed-out device for packages (16) in relation to the drums (4) further comprises a toothed rack (25) displaceably operated by means of a pressurised fluid cylinder (26) , and adapted to co-operate periodically with a gear (24) which, trough transmission means (23, 22), is operatively and driveably connected to said feeding chain (19) carrying the lug-shaped carriers (20) . 10. A plant as defined in claim 9, c h a r a c t e r i z e d b y two toothed racks (25) each driveably connected to the feeding chain (19,20), one toothed rack serving to feed the packages (16) into the drum (4) and one similar toothed rack serving to feed the packages (16) out from the drum (4) , the feeding direction being determined by selecting whether the respective toothed rack (25) shall be in engagement with the gear (24) when said pressurised fluid cylinder (26) is extended or contracted.

Inventors: ROMSELAND TORVALD, ROMSELAND, TORVALD
Applicants: ROGALAND KONSERVEFABRIKK AS, ROMSELAND TORVALD, ROMSELAND, TORVALD
Application year: 1998
Main classification: F25D13
IPC codes: F25D25