Patent GB-807881-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to manufacture of cheese slabs or the like
Inventor: MEULEMANS BENEDICT E
IPC: A01J27/04
Filed: 1955-08-29
Abstract: 807,881. Machines for moulding and stacking cheese slabs &c. SWIFT & CO. Aug. 29, 1955, No. 24755/55. Class 87(2). [Also in Groups XVII and XXX] A machine for moulding cheese slabs and delivering them, interleaved with dividing sheets, in stacks comprises a frame 15 supporting a mould-carrying conveyer 17, means 25 for feeding dividing sheets and means 27 for depositing plastic cheese material in the moulds,- tamping means 29 to flatten and mould the material on the dividing sheets and transfer means 33 for removing the products and forming stacks thereof. The moulds 23 are carried by conveyer chains 18 driven by sprockets 19 on a shaft 20, and supported during part of their travel by a horizontal frame member 24 and by tension-retaining sprockets 41. On the return run the moulds 23 travel over a mould support 40. The conveyer chains 18 have guide rollers 145, Fig. 8, which run on tracks 144. The moulds are attached to the conveyer by fingers 148 which project therefrom and enter recesses in the moulds in which they are retained by spring clips 149. The moulds are conveniently rectangular but may be circular or polygonal or otherwise shaped. The motive power for the machine is supplied by  a  motor 186, Fig. 1, which drives a shaft 191 through a chain 189 and a shaft 209 is in turn chaindriven from the shaft 191. The shaft 20 is driven from the shaft 209 through geneva gearing 254, 257 and the conveyer therefore moves in steps, bringing the moulds to rest under paper sheet feeders 25, one for each line of moulds, then under the material depositing means 27, the tamping device 29 and the transfer mechanism 33. The rotors 243 of the paper sheet feeders are driven from the shaft 209 and the continuous rotation of the rotors 243 deposite paper dividers or sheets in the moulds at definite time intervals when the moulds are at rest. The sheets may have tabs. Feeding material. Hot cheese in a hopper is kept flowable by an agitator 67. Below the hopper are three-way valves, one valve for each line of moulds. Each valve core 71, Fig. 4, is rotatable in a valve housing 70 from a rocker arm 100. Valves 86 are also operated from the rocker arm 100. The shaft 209, Fig. 1, rotates an eccentric to cause a rocker arm 218 to reciprocate a rod 223. The rod 223 is connected through a lost motion adjusting screw 226 to an arm 83 pivoted at its lower end by a pin 229 and rotation of the shaft 209 therefore causes oscillation of the arm 83, the upper end of which carries a pin 82, Fig. 4, which fits under a yoke 80, fitted with an adjusting screw 81, on the end of a piston rod 79. By these means a piston 77 is operated to fill and discharge cheese through the valves 70. The rocker arm 100 is operated from the shaft 209 to alter the positions of the valve cores 71 and in one position hot cheese is drawn through the passages in the cylinder of the piston 77 which is then retracted to cause suction. Each valve core 71 is moved by the rocker arm 100 to present a channel and the pivoted arm 83 is operated to advance the piston 77 and force the definite quantity of cheese, drawn from the hopper just previously, through the valves 86 into the moulds temporarily at rest below. The valves 86 then close to prevent cheese from dripping on the conveyer when it advances the moulds in its next motion step. The adjusting screw 226 gives coarse regulation and the adjusting screw 81 fine regulation to the quantities of cheese dispensed. Cooling. After being filled with material the moulds run over plates 143, Fig. 8, which are hollow for the circulation of coolant entering at 151 and leaving at 157, preferably so arranged that the flow of the coolant is in the opposite direction to the movement of the moulds. These cooling plates may be in sections, each with its own inlet and outlet, Fig. 1, which shows that they may be disposed to cool the moulds before they come underneath the hopper 27. After the material has been tamped in the moulds they pass through a chill tunnel 32. This comprises, Fig. 7, three chambers 133, 141 and 139, the moulds being conveyed through the middle chamber 141. Air is circulated by a blower 137 which draws air from the chamber 133, where it has been chilled by contact with the hollow cooling plates 143, through a conduit 134 in which is a filter 135 accessible by a door 136, and sends air through a conduit 138 into the upper, or pressure, chamber 139. The walls between the chambers are perforated at 140, 142 for air circulation. Tamping. Associated with each mould in a transverse row is a tamper head 119 each of which, Fig. 6, comprises a housing 122 in which fits a tamper 123 at the bottom of a rod 115. The outer wall of the housing 122 is tapered at 124 and fits a taper 127 in the wall of the corresponding mould 23, which has breather openings 125, 130. The rods 115 are attached at their upper ends to a beam 114 and they are fitted with adjustment collars 117 above which are springs bearing on the bottom of the beam 114 and below which are springs 120 bearing on the tops of the tamper housings 122. Cams 200, mounted on the shaft 191, Fig. 1, act on vertical guide rods 113 which are attached to the beam 114. The cams 200 bring the tampers down on the material on the moulds and they are raised again by springs 204. The tapering of the walls of the tamper housing 122 and mould 23 centres the tamper and at the end of its movement the bottom edges of the tamper housing walls abut a shelf 128 and close the mould space. The beam 114 continues to descend, as allowed by the springs 118 Fig. 5, (not shown) 120, and the tamper 123 forces air downwards, against the cheese, which escapes through the breather openings 125, until it reaches the position in Fig. 6 where the bottom of the plunger flattens the cheese. The springs 118 are stonger than the springs 120 and function to prevent damage if the beam 114 descends too far. The inside wall edge of the housing 122 overlaps the edge of the cheese slab and holds it down while the tamper is subsequently raised. Delivery of products. Also associated with each mould in a transverse row, Fig. 10, is a transfer unit, comprising a vacuum plate housing 170 connected by a hollow rod 169 to a housing 168 from which a hose 173 extends to a vacuum line 174. The transfer units are supported on a plate 167 which extends between two sleeves 159, one on each side of the machine, which are slidable on rods 158: Elevating rods 153 support the rods 158 through adjusting tees 156. The sleeves 159 are linked by connecting rods 160 with rocker arms 164 fixed to a shaft 165. The face of the housing 170 has a central recess 178,,Fig. 12, round which are openings 179 communicating, through screens 183, with a chamber 182 which communicates with the hollow rod 169. A shaft 279 is driven through a combination of chain and shaft drive, with bevel gearing, from a shaft 191 and carries a cam 283 which causes the rocker arms 164 to oscillate, thereby reciprocating the transfer mechanism horizontally. The elevating rods 153 are connected at the bottom to a bar 296, and the transfer mechanism is recriprocated vertically by a cam 287 on the shaft 279, through linkage 289, 293. A third cam 301 on the shaft 279 actuates a rocker arm 303 to operate an air valve 175 in the vacuum line 174. As the shaft 279 rotates the vacuum plate housings 170 are lowered into the moulds, a vacuum is applied to the chambers 182, the moulded cheese slabs in a row are sucked on the faces 171 (the screens 183 preventing cheese from being drawn into the conduits), the transfer mechanism withdraws the vacuum plate housings carrying the cheese slabs and associated paper dividing sheets, moves them horizontally over a delivery belt 49, releases the vacuum to drop the products on the belt, and returns to its original position. The recess 178 forms a trap for air which aids the release of the cheese slab, this being further expedited by breather openings 130 in the bottom of the mould. A retainer bar 180, Fig. 2, retains the moulds so that they do not also leave the conveyer. The motor 58 which drives the belt 49 is controlled by a switch 315, Fig. 2, which is only closed to operate the motor when a cam 314 registers with it. This cam 314 is driven from the shaft 279 and the arrangement is such that the switch 315 is closed after eight cheese slabs have been stacked and remains closed long enough for the motor 58 to drive the delivery belt far enough to leave space for a new stack.