Abstract:
A machine for producing and dispensing liquid and semi-liquid consumer food products such as ice cream, whipped cream, yogurt and the like, comprises a container ( 3 ) for a basic product of the consumer food product, a feed and treatment circuit ( 4 ) for the basic product comprising a feed pump ( 8 ), dispensing means ( 11 ) positioned at an outfeed end of the feed and treatment circuit ( 4 ), and a washing device ( 18 ) used to introduce, in alternate steps, into the circuit ( 4 ) a flow of fluid in the liquid state or in the steam state to allow feed and treatment circuit ( 4 ) washing and sanitizing. There is a central processing unit ( 32 ) which controls and regulates the various washing and sanitizing steps.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     The present invention relates to a machine for producing and dispensing liquid and semi-liquid consumer food products.  
         [0002]     The present invention relates in particular, although without limiting the scope of the inventive concept, to machines for producing and dispensing crushed-ice drinks, sorbets, ice creams, soft ice creams, cream, yogurt and the like and to machines for producing and preserving mixtures for ice cream, creams, sauces, soups and mixtures in general and the like.  
         [0003]     As is known, machines of the above-mentioned type comprise a container for the basic product, consisting for example of liquid cream, mixtures of products for ice cream, syrups and the like, and a feed circuit along which there are devices, including refrigerating means, for the treatment and processing of the basic product and at the outfeed end of which there are dispensing devices, consisting of nozzles or taps designed to allow collection of the finished product (whipped cream, ice cream, crushed-ice drink, etc.).  
         [0004]     Partly because the products they treat are highly perishable, such machines are subject to frequent checks and maintenance work to guarantee that perfect hygienic conditions are maintained along the entire feed circuit.  
         [0005]     The parts of the feed circuit close to or in contact with the outside environment are particularly critical, for example the dispensing devices, the taps, the nozzles.  
         [0006]     Such work, which may necessitate the disassembly of component parts of the circuit, involves washing and sanitizing operations, that is to say, sterilizing with liquids consisting of special bactericidal substances.  
         [0007]     Said operations are particularly laborious when the parts treated are not easily accessible and have a complex structure, for example the emulsifying homogenizer core in cream whipping machines.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0008]     The aim of the present invention is therefore to provide a machine for producing and dispensing liquid and semi-liquid consumer food products which is able to overcome the above-mentioned disadvantages. In accordance with the invention this aim is achieved by a machine and a method for producing and dispensing liquid and semi-liquid consumer food products with the characteristics described in one or more of the claims herein. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]     The technical characteristics of the invention, with reference to the above aims, are clearly described in the claims below and its advantages are more apparent from the detailed description which follows, with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment of the invention provided merely by way of example without restricting the scope of the inventive concept, and in which:  
         [0010]      FIGS. 1 and 2  are schematic block diagrams of two embodiments, in accordance with the present invention, of a machine for producing and dispensing liquid and semi-liquid consumer food products;  
         [0011]      FIGS. 3 and 4  are perspective schematic views, with some parts cut away and others exploded, of two machines made in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0012]      FIG. 5  is an enlarged schematic section of a detail from  FIG. 3 ;  
         [0013]      FIG. 6  is a perspective schematic view with some parts cut away and others drawn in dashed line style, of another machine made in accordance with the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 7  is a schematic side view with some parts cut away and others shown with hatching, of another type of machine made in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0015]     With reference to  FIG. 1 , the numeral  1  denotes as a whole a machine for producing and dispensing liquid or semi-liquid consumer food products and in particular a cream whipping machine. The machine  1 , as also shown in  FIG. 3 , has a base  2  which substantially has the shape of a parallelepiped which houses a tank  3 , for holding a basic product of the consumer food product, which in the case considered is liquid cream.  
         [0016]     The numeral  4  denotes as a whole a cream feed and treatment circuit. The circuit  4  comprises a first pipe  5  connecting the tank  3  to a quick coupling and release joint  6 , a second pipe  7  connecting the joint  6  and a pump  8 , having a motor  9 , for feeding the basic product to treatment means, labeled  10  as a whole and fitted at their outfeed end with dispensing means  11 .  
         [0017]     As illustrated in detail in  FIG. 5 , the treatment means  10  comprise an emulsifying homogenizer core  12  consisting of a tubular element  13  with a substantially horizontal axis, in which a cylindrical body  14  is inserted coaxially to it, the cylindrical body having a plurality of projections  15  on its outer surface, known to experts in the trade as a “Labyrinth”.  
         [0018]     Thus, between the inner surface of the tubular element  13  and the cylindrical body  14  a passage is formed for the liquid cream fed by the pump  8 . The projections  15  are preferably positioned in such a way that along the passage they form winding paths which have the effect of increasing the collisions of the fat particles in the liquid cream, resulting in the absorption of air which whips the cream.  
         [0019]     An end section of the tubular element  13  is positioned inside a box-shaped body  16  fixed to the outside of the base  2 . Said box-shaped body supports below it and at its free end the dispensing means  11  consisting of a nozzle  17  connected to the free end of the tubular element  13 .  
         [0020]     A device for washing the feed and treatment circuit  4  is part of the machine  1 . Said device, labeled  18  as a whole, comprises means for introducing a washing fluid into the circuit  4 . The fluid introduction means comprise means  19  for connection to a washing fluid source and consist of pump means  20  connected at infeed, by valve means  21 , to a feed pipe  22  for the washing fluid contained in a tank  23  and consisting of water and/or a sanitizing liquid. Alternatively, there may be a pipe  24  connecting the valve means  21  and the water mains schematically indicated with the arrow  25 . The fluid introduction means also comprise heating or boiler means  26  for the water and/or sanitizing liquid, and a first and a second pipe  27 ,  28  connecting the heating means  26  respectively with a first outlet point  29  at the joint  6  and a second outlet point  30  at a tubular element  13  infeed.  
         [0021]     The washing device  18  has control means  31  comprising a central processing unit  32  including timing means  33  and temperature regulating means  34  for the heating means  26 .  
         [0022]     The central processing unit  32  is controlled from a keyboard  35  which the operator uses to enter data, and is connected at output to the valve means  21 , the pump means  20 , the heating means  26  a valve  36  located along the first pipe  27 , a valve  37  located along the second pipe  28 , and another valve  38  located along the pipe  5 , and finally to the motor  9 .  
         [0023]     In practice, during a normal machine  1  production cycle, the washing device  18  is switched off whilst the pump  8  by means of the pipes  5  and  7 , through the open valve  38  and the joint  9  sucks the liquid cream from the tank  3  and pushes it along the treatment means  10 . As it travels through the passage formed between the inner surface of the tubular element  13  and the cylindrical body  14  the liquid cream is transformed into whipped cream and reaches the dispensing nozzle  17 .  
         [0024]     When the washing device  18  is off, the valve  36  and  37  are closed, the pump means  20  are switched off and the heating means  26  controlled by the temperature regulating means  34  keep the washing fluid at a particular and predetermined temperature set in advance from the keyboard  35 .  
         [0025]     Whenever a machine  1  washing operation is necessary, in conditions in which the production cycle has stopped and therefore with the valve  38  closed by a command issued by the unit  32 , the washing device  18  operates as follows.  
         [0026]     The central processing unit  32  issues a command to open the solenoid valve  21  and the two solenoid valves  36  and  37 , the pump  20  is activated and the washing fluid is heated to a particular washing temperature and fed in the liquid state, through the two pipes  27  and  28 , to the outlet points  29  and  30  so as to perform a first wash of the joint  6 , the pipe  7 , the pump  8  and the treatment means  10  and the dispensing nozzle  11 .  
         [0027]     At the end of this first washing step, the timing means  33  issue a command to the temperature regulating means  34  which increase the temperature of the heating means  26  to a level which turns the washing fluid into steam, so that a second washing step can be performed. Said steps can be repeated one after another and alternately any number of times.  
         [0028]     It should be noticed that there may be a pipe branching off from the pipe  28  and labeled  28   a  which leads directly into the dispensing nozzle  17  so that the nozzle  17  can be washed more thoroughly. If only the nozzle  17  is to be washed, there must be another valve (not illustrated) upstream of the outlet  30 .  
         [0029]     Finally, the pump  8  can be washed while it is running or stopped.  
         [0030]      FIG. 2  differs from  FIG. 1  only in the fact that it illustrates only the washing fluid feed pipe  27  at the outlet  29  at the joint  6 .  
         [0031]      FIG. 4  shows a machine  1  for producing ice cream, which differs from the machine  1  illustrated in  FIG. 3  in that the product treatment means, labeled  39 , consist of a “freezing” (or liquid-to-solid stirring, cooling, air addition) unit consisting of a freezing cylinder connected to a refrigerating unit and having a stirrer inside, of the known type and not illustrated. In the front part of the cylinder there is a tap  40  for dispensing the ice cream.  
         [0032]     The two pipes  27  and  28  have the respective outlet points  29  and  30  at the joint  6  and immediately upstream of the dispensing means  11  consisting of the tap  40 . The washing steps are carried out using the same methods described for the machine illustrated in  FIG. 3 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 6  shows a machine  1  for producing, pasteurizing and preserving creams for fillings and coatings, color mixture for chocolate, fruit jams, mixtures in general, mixtures for ice creams, sauces and similar products.  
         [0034]     In this case, the feed and treatment circuit  4  consists of a tank  3 , having a vertical axis  3   a , closed by a lid  41  and housing a stirrer  42 , designed to stir the product. On the front of the machine  1  there is a tap  43  for dispensing the product from the tank  3 . The tank  3  is equipped with an indirect heating device, of the known type and not illustrated, able to generate high cooking temperatures, as well as a refrigerating system, also not illustrated, which allows the product processed to be preserved in the machine at the end of the production cycle.  
         [0035]     In an identical way to that described for the machines illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the washing device  18  has the outlet point  29  of the first washing fluid feed pipe  27  in the tank  3 , whilst the outlet point  30  of the second washing fluid connecting pipe  28  is at the product dispensing tap  43 .  
         [0036]     For this type of machine  1  too, the washing steps are performed with the same methods described for the machines illustrated in  FIGS. 3 and 4 .  
         [0037]     It should also be noticed that the washing device  18  may consist of a kit  44  which can be connected to the machine  1  using quick coupling-release means, which in the case in  FIG. 6 , by way of example only, are labeled  45 .  
         [0038]     The kit  44  may be produced and sold separately to the machine  1  and may even be retrofitted on existing machines.  
         [0039]     Finally,  FIG. 7  illustrates another machine  1  for producing and pasteurizing mixtures for ice cream and similar products.  
         [0040]     In this case, the feed and treatment circuit  4  consists of a tank  46 , having a vertical axis  47  and closed at the top by a transparent lid  48 .  
         [0041]     At its base  49  the tank  46  has a cup pump, labeled  50  as a whole, housed inside a substantially cylindrical compartment  51  around which there is a hot-cold heat exchange circuit  52 , of the known type and schematically illustrated with hatching. The pump  50  has a stirrer with vanes  53 , designed to stir the product. On the front of the machine  1  there is a tap  54  for dispensing the product from the tank  46 .  
         [0042]     In an identical way to that described for the machines illustrated in  FIGS. 3, 4  and  6 , the washing device  18  has the outlet point  29  of the first washing fluid feed pipe  27  in the tank  46 , whilst the outlet point  30  of the second washing fluid connecting pipe  28  is at the product dispensing tap  54 .  
         [0043]     There is also another outlet  29  in the cup pump  50  compartment  51  and another outlet  30  in a siphon  55  which draws the product from the tank  46  and conveys it to the tap  54 .  
         [0044]     For this type of machine  1  too, the washing steps are performed with the same methods described for the machine illustrated in  FIG. 3  and for those illustrated in  FIGS. 4 and 6 .  
         [0045]     The invention described is suitable for obvious industrial applications and can be modified and adapted without thereby departing from the scope of the inventive concept. Moreover, all technical details of the invention may be substituted by technically equivalent elements.  
         [0046]     In particular it should be noticed that, for example, the washing device  18  can use as a washing and sanitizing fluid not just liquids at a high temperature or in the steam state, but also gases, in particular sterilizing gases such as carbon dioxide and oxygen. In this case, the gases of this type are accumulated in respective cylinders connected to the washing and sanitizing device  18 .