Abstract:
A water tank is divided into a heated compartment and a cooled compartment by an insulated baffle. A perforated cylinder is mounted within the tank and has a first segment which extends within the heated tank compartment and a second segment which extends within the cooled tank compartment. Portions of a helical auger extend within each cylinder segment. Heated water is supplied to the heated compartment by a heated water manifold, and cooled water is supplied to the cooled compartment by a cooled water manifold. Mixing of the heated and cooled water is prevented by the insulating baffle. Food product is caused to traverse the length of the heated compartment by the auger, and is transferred over the baffle into the cooled compartment by a lifting flight which elevates food product from the water into a chute which discharges into the cooled compartment. A single, self-contained apparatus thus blanches and cools food product in a continuous process.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to apparatus for processing food in general, and to apparatus for heating and cooling food products within a water bath in particular. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In response to competitive pressures and the demands of continual product improvement philosophies such as Total Quality Management, food product manufacturers in the food processing industry are striving to increase production quality and production rates without significantly increasing costs. Food products which are manufactured in a continuous line often require treatment at various temperatures for prescribed periods of time. To increase a manufacturer&#39;s output it is necessary to increase the speed of treatment or to increase the capacity of treatment equipment. Increased treatment speed requires increasingly efficient heat transfer processes, and may effect the taste and texture attributes of the final product. One way to increase capacity is to add additional treating units to an existing line. Installation of new machines, however, may require the relocation of numerous apparatus, and in some cases may require costly expansion of plant facilities. Ideally, increased capacity treatment equipment should take up no greater floor space than the equipment it replaces. 
     Typically products which are cooked or blanched must be cooled prior to final packaging and storage or transport. Bagged soup in pouches and pie fillings are examples. It is known to first blanch or cook the product in a rotary drum blancher which advances the food product through a heated water tank with a helical auger, and then discharge the food product onto a belt or other type of conveyor and advance the food product to a rotary drum cooler to reduce the treated product to an acceptable lowered temperature. 
     What is needed is a single compact apparatus which both heats and subsequently cools food product in a continuous flow. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The combination blancher and cooler of this invention has a water tank with an inlet end and a discharge end. A baffle divides the tank into a heated compartment and a cooled compartment. A perforated cylinder is mounted to rotate within the tank so that water contained in the tank will enter the cylinder. The cylinder has an inlet opening near the inlet end of the tank for receiving introduced food product and a discharge opening near the discharge end of the tank where food product which has moved through the cylinder can be discharged. The cylinder is divided into a first segment which extends within the heated compartment of the tank and a second segment which extends within the cooled compartment of the tank. A helical auger is positioned substantially within the perforated cylinder to rotate with the cylinder. Portions of the auger extend axially within the first segment of the cylinder and portions of the auger extend axially within the second segment of the cylinder. A chute extends between the heated compartment and the cooled compartment of the tank. At least one lifting flight is located within the cylinder in the heated side of the tank, and is rotatable with the cylinder first segment to elevate food product from within the heated compartment of the tank to deposit the food product in the chute to be discharged into the cooled compartment of the tank. A food product introduced at the tank inlet end will thus traverse the tank and be subjected to both heating and cooling. The discharge between the heated tank compartment and the cooled tank compartment may be a single bucket type discharge, in which the chute extends between the cylinder first segment and the cylinder second segment and is fixed to the cylinder to rotate with the cylinder, and wherein the lifting flight extends between the perforated side wall of the cylinder and the discharge chute. This type of discharge is thus co-rotating with the cylinder and presents no pinch points for possible rupture of pouched product. Alternatively, the chute may be fixed with respect to the tank and a plurality of lifting flights extend radially outwardly from the chute which rotate with the cylinder around the chute. 
     The cylinder first segment may be rotatably mounted independently of the cylinder second segment, such that the cylinder first segment is rotatable at a rate different than that of the cylinder second segment. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a food treatment apparatus which heats and subsequently cools the food product in a continuous process. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a food treatment apparatus which heats and cools food product in a compact space. 
     It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a food treatment apparatus which advances food products from a zone of heating to a zone of cooling with minimal disturbance or damage. 
     Further objects, features, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an exploded isometric view, partly broken away, of the combination blancher and cooler of this invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary isometric view, partly broken away and exploded of the combination blancher and cooler of FIG. 1. 
     FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 3 shown discharging a pouched food product from the blancher tank section to the cooler tank section. 
     FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 7, taken along section line 8--8. 
     FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with the discharge engaged with a pouched food product within the blancher tank section prior to elevating it. 
     FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 3 taken along section line 4--4. 
     FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 3 shown with the pouched food product supported on the discharge. 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 5 taken along section line 6--6. 
     FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment combined blancher and cooler of the present invention which employs a discharge between the heated and cooled portions of the apparatus which has a plurality of lifting flights. 
     FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of an alternative embodiment combined blancher and cooler which has separately supported blanching and cooling drums. 
     FIG. 11 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 10 taken along section line 11--11. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring more particularly to FIGS. 1-9 wherein like numbers refer to similar parts, a combination blancher and cooler 20 is shown in FIG. 1. The apparatus has a tank 22 which is divided into a heated compartment 23 and a cooled compartment 25 by an insulated baffle 31. An intermediate discharge assembly 21 transfers treated food product from the heated compartment 23 to the cooled compartment 25. 
     The apparatus 20 tank 22 has an open top and is supported by a frame 24. A helical auger 26 is longitudinally mounted within the tank 22 and an elongated vaulted cover 28 fits over and covers the tank 22. The tank has a semi-cylindrical wall 29 with drains located at its lowest portion. Cleanouts are located in each end of the tank. 
     The auger 26 is rotatably mounted within the tank 22 and has stainless steel flights 30. A perforated cylinder 34 encloses the auger 26 and is formed of a plurality of perforated screens. The auger 26 is fixed to the cylinder 34 and rotates with it. The perforated cylinder 34 contains the food product 36 being conveyed by the auger 26. The cylinder 34 and auger 26 are driven by a motor (not shown) at a rate selected to achieve the desired residence of the food product within the apparatus 20. The motor may drive the drum directly by engaging a sprocket coaxial with a drum tube journal 50, or it may drive the rotatable trunnions 52 which are mounted to the frame and which support the cylinder 34 for rotatable motion. 
     The cylinder 34 is divided into two segments 32, 33. The first cylinder segment 32 rotates within the heated compartment 23 of the apparatus 20, and the second cylinder segment 33 rotates within the cooled segment 25 ofthe tank. 
     As the auger 26 rotates, its flights 30 move the food product 36 being treated from the inlet end 40 to the discharge end 38 of the tank 22. The end walls 41, 42 of the tank and the end walls 43, 44 of the cover 28 formholes through which the tube journals 50 extend. The tube journals 50 also define the inlet opening 51 and the outlet opening of the cylinder 34. Thetube journals 50 and the cylinder 34 and connected auger 26 are supported at both ends of the tank 22 by trunions 52 which are mounted to the frame 24 to support the journals 50 in a conventional manner such that the journals 50 do not make contact with the walls 41, 42, 43, 44 of the tank 22 or cover 28. The vaulted cover 28 may be hingedly attached to the tank 22 so that it may be opened from either side of the apparatus as in the manner disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,476 to Zittel, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference, or the cover 28 may be attached to the tank 22 in any conventional manner. 
     The stainless steel flights 30 of the auger 26 extend helically toward the discharge end 38 of the apparatus 20 such that when the auger 26 is rotated in a clockwise direction, the food product contained within the cylinder 34 is propelled by the auger flights 30 toward the discharge end 38. 
     The auger 26 is divided into a first portion 45 which is located within thefirst segment 32 of the cylinder 34 and a second portion 46 which is located within the second segment 33 of the cylinder. 
     Heated water is supplied to the heated compartment 23 of the tank from a heated water supply (not shown) by a heated water manifold 47. The heated water manifold 47 is a tube having a plurality of apertures which is connected to the wall 29 of the tank beneath the rotating cylinder 34. Themanifold will typically be under thermostatic control to retain the water within the heated compartment 23 at a desired preset temperature. 
     Cooled water is supplied to the cooled compartment 25 from a cooled water supply (not shown) by a cooled water manifold 48. The cooled water manifold 48 is similar to the heated water manifold and is connected to the wall 29 of the tank beneath the rotating cylinder 34 within the cooledcompartment 25 and is also typically under thermostatic control. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the cylinder 34 is divided into the first and second segments by two intermediate circular plates 57, 58. The intermediate plates are joined to the cylinder inlet end plate 59 and the outlet end plate 60 respectively by a plurality of axially extending C-channel structural members 49. The two intermediate plates are rigidly connected to one another by a connecting tube 61 which passes through a semi-circular cut-away 62 in the baffle 31. The auger 26 is preferably connected to and supported by the structural members 49. Alternatively a central tube, not shown, may extend axially from the inlet end 40 to the discharge end 38, with appropriate openings for introducing product into the intermediate discharge assembly 21. 
     In certain applications, particularly where it is desired to treat liquid or semiliquid food product, for example soup, or catsup, the food product is packaged within plastic bags or pouches 54. Each pouch is typically formed of a plastic membrane which is sealed with a clip at each end. A pouch may be as small as one inch long, or over a foot in length, depending on the volume to be contained therein. Food product within a pouch 54 is particularly susceptible to being discharged from the pouch through a rupture in the plastic membrane. All sharp edges of the apparatus 20 must be kept from contact with the pouches 54. Furthermore, possible pinch points between fixed and rotating portions of the apparatus20 must be avoided. Ruptured pouches of food product are undesirable not only because of the destruction and waste of food product, but because thespilled food product will require additional or more frequent downing of the apparatus for cleaning. 
     The intermediate discharge 21, best shown in FIG. 2, avoids possible pinch points by eliminating contact between fixed and rotating parts of the apparatus. The discharge 21 provides a means for conveying food product which has been heated into the cooled portion 46 of the cylinder 34. The discharge 21 has a chute 74 which is preferably semi-cylindrical and whichis fixed to the first segment 32 of the cylinder 34 to rotate with the cylinder. The chute 74 extends from the first portion 45 of the auger 26 toward the second portion 46 of the auger. The chute 74 is preferably fixed by welding to both the auger 26 first portions 45. 
     The chute 74 has a discharge opening 78 which communicates with the second segment of the cylinder 34 within the cooled compartment of the tank. The chute 74 has an inlet opening 80 which is within the cylinder 34 first segment 32 and which is defined by axially extending lips 82 of the chute which are located at approximately the same radial distance from the axis of the cylinder 34. 
     The chute 74 preferably has an inclined surface 84 which is spaced oppositethe chute inlet opening 80 and which is inclined radially outwardly towardsthe cooled tank compartment 25 to facilitate discharge of material deposited within the chute 74. The inclined surface extends from the rear wall 86 of the chute to the chute discharge opening 78. In a semi-cylindrical chute 74, the inclined surface may be formed by a generally elliptical plate with a straight rear edge welded within the chute. 
     The discharge 21 has a single lifting flight 88 which extends between the side wall 90 of the first segment 32 of the cylinder 34 and the chute 74. The lifting flight 88 has a perforated base plate 92 which is welded to one lip 82 of the chute along the chute inlet opening 80. 
     The operation of the combined blancher and cooler 20 is shown in FIGS. 3-8.For illustrative purposes the food product has been shown contained within pouches 54. It should be understood that unpackaged food product may also be processed within the apparatus 20. Food product pouches 54 are infed into the cylinder 34 at the inlet opening 51 and continuously advanced through the water 94 within the tank 22 by the auger 26. The food product is moved through the first segment 32 of the cylinder 34 until it reaches the intermediate end plate 57 where it is in position to be engaged by thelifting flight 88 of the discharge 21. 
     As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, once the lifting flight 88 has rotated such thatthe lifting flight base plate 92 is in a generally vertical orientation andbeneath the chute 74, the lifting flight 88 will engage the pouch 54 and begin to raise it from the water 94. It is important to note that the lifting flight 88 in coming into engagement with the pouch 54 does not rotate with respect to the cylinder 34 or the cylinder side wall 90. Because the lifting flight 88 is fixed to the chute 74 which is itself fixed to the cylinder 34 the discharge 21 rotates with the cylinder. It isthe force of gravity which retains the pouch within the water, a force which is too great to be overcome by any frictional engagement between thepouch and the cylinder side wall. The lifting flight 88 provides an elevating platform which engages and elevates the pouch 54. 
     As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the lifting flight 88 elevates the pouch 54 out of the water 94. The perforated base plate 92 of the flight 88 allows heated water to drain back into the heated compartment 23 of the tank 22 while retaining the pouch 54 in supportive relation. Should the pouch 54 be disposed against the cylinder side wall 90 while it is being elevated there is no danger of catching or rupturing the pouch as the flight 88 is welded to the side wall 90 in a fixed relation, providing no possibility of a pinch point. 
     As the lifting flight 88 continues to elevate the pouch 54, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the flight base plate 92 takes on a downward inclination. The pouch 54 rests on the base plate 92 until gravity causes the pouch to slide down the base plate 92, across the lip 82 and into the inlet opening80 of the chute 74. 
     A pouch 54 which is received within the chute 74 will fall onto the inclined surface 84 of the chute and will thus be discharged into the second cylinder segment 33 within the cooled compartment 25 of the tank 22. 
     Thus food product will be advanced from the inlet of the apparatus to the outlet in a continuous flow. At the discharge end 40 of the apparatus, a discharge, not shown, similar to the discharge 21 may be provided to elevate the food product from the tank and to a final discharge from the apparatus 20. 
     As shown in FIG. 9, an alternative embodiment apparatus 158 is substantially similar to the apparatus 20 described above, with the exception that it is provided with a discharge assembly 156 between the heated tank compartment and the cooled tank compartment which has eight lifting buckets or flights 160 which are fixed to the perforated cylinder 166 and a semi-cylindrical discharge chute 162 which is fixed with respectto the tank 164 and remains in place as the perforated cylinder 166 and connected auger 168 rotate. 
     Each lifting flight 160 of the alternative embodiment discharge 156 has a perforated base plate 170 which rotates with the cylinder 166 and engages against a food product 36 within the water in the tank, lifts the pouch from the water, and drops the pouch into the fixed chute 162. 
     In certain applications it is desirable to heat and cool the food product for unequal periods of time. An alternative embodiment 174 of the combinedblancher and cooler of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 which has two drums 176, 178 which are independently mounted for rotation within the heated compartment 180 and the cooled compartment 182, respectively, of a water tank 184. 
     The blancher drum 176 is mounted on trunnions located at the inlet of the tank and a second set of rotatable trunnions 185 mounted to the insulatingbaffle 187 which separates the heated compartment 180 from the cooled compartment 182. The blancher drum 176 has a discharge 186, preferably of the single scoop type described above, which protrudes from the outlet endplate 188 and crosses the baffle 184 to extend into the inlet journal 190 of the cooler drum 178. The discharge 186 also serves as the cylindrical journal 192 of the blancher drum 176. 
     The cooler drum is supported by its journal 190 on two rotatable trunnions 194 also mounted to the insulating baffle 184. The two drums 176, 178 may be rotated at separate rates by drive motors (not shown) which engage sprockets which are connected to portions of the cylindrical drums which extend outside the tank. As the blancher journal 192 is smaller in diameter than the cooler drum journal 190, the blancher drum trunnions 185are mounted about axes which are slightly above the axes of the cooler drumtrunnions 194. 
     It should be noted that the apparatus 174 may utilize a multiple lifting flight discharge such as that shown in FIG. 9. 
     It should further be noted that, although the heated compartment of the tank has been referred to as a blancher, by appropriate adjustment of water temperature and product retention time, the heated compartment may function as a cooker. 
     It is understood that the invention is not confined to the particular construction and arrangement of parts herein illustrated and described, but embraces all such modified forms thereof as come within the scope of the following claims.