Patent Document

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a division of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/533,717 filed on Mar. 23, 2000, pending which claimed benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/184,795 filed Feb. 24, 2000 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to equipment for producing cheese, such as mozzarella; and more particularly to equipment for cooling and salting newly formed blocks of cheese. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Mozzarella cheese is commonly produced in five to twenty pound blocks or cylinders which are molded at a typical temperature of 135 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature the cheese block is very soft and can be mis-shapened if not handled with care. Thus, before the cheese can be packaged, the blocks have to be cooled to approximately fifty degrees Fahrenheit. In addition, salt has to be added to the cheese if it was not already added prior to the molding step. The finished product has from one to two percent salt by weight. 
     There are two processes presently being employed to cool the cheese and add salt after molding. In the first method, cheese emerging from the molding equipment drops into a serpentine open channel, or flume, through which a brine flows. Cheese floats in a saturated brine, but sinks in fresh water. The brine flowing through the flume is cooled by refrigeration system to between 30 and 35 degrees Fahrenheit. The flume is sufficiently long so that cheese will be cooled to the desired temperature prior to packaging. 
     A drawback of the open flume system is that the cheese is not fully submerged and the upper surface, which is exposed to air, is not adequately cooled or salted. The exposed portion also dries out and becomes discolored if the block is not turned over periodically alone the flume. In addition hydraulic pressure tends to produce cupping of the top and bottom surfaces of the cheese blocks and bulging of the sides. Thus, workers must be positioned along the flume with tools to rotate the cheese blocks periodically to ensure uniform cooling and salting and to prevent deformation. This becomes very labor intensive. 
     A second cheese cooling system involves submerging the cheese in a large tank or pool of cooled brine. Typically the cheese blocks emerging from the molding machine are placed into baskets which are then mechanically lowered into the brine pool by an operator. This method ensures that all surfaces of the cheese are exposed to the brine and thus are cooled and salted uniformly. However, the submerging system still requires human operators to assist in filling and emptying the baskets of cheese and manual monitoring of the time that each basket has been in the brine to know when cooling is complete. In addition, the last cheese block to be placed into the basket usually is the first one taken out, thereby resulting is some blocks being in the brine longer than others, which produces blocks with different salt content and temperature. 
     Regardless of which conventional cooling method is used, a high level of manual labor and supervision is required. Therefore, it is desirable to provide a more automated and efficient process for uniformly cooling and salting cheese products. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is directed toward an apparatus which automatically ensures that freshly molded blocks of cheese are uniformly cooled and salted. Such cheese cooling apparatus includes a tank having a cheese inlet and a cheese outlet. An inlet flume system preferably is coupled to the cheese inlet and an outlet flume system is connected to the cheese outlet of the tank. A fluid circulation system produces a flow of liquid, such as water or brine, through the inlet flume, the tank and the outlet flume, whereby blocks of cheese are carried by that liquid flow. 
     The blocks of cheese are held in a carousel within the tank. That carousel includes a plurality of receptacles for the cheese blocks and a drive mechanism which moves each receptacle vertically through the tank to submerge the cheese. The drive mechanism sequentially aligns each receptacle with the cheese inlet to receive blocks of cheese and selectively aligns each receptacle with the cheese outlet to enable cooled blocks of cheese to exit the carrousel. 
     In the preferred embodiment of the cheese cooling apparatus, the tank is subdivided into a plurality of cooling cells that are fed with cheese blocks from a common inlet flume. A series of control gates, operated by an electronic controller, selectively direct cheese blocks from the inlet flume through the cheese inlet of a selected cooling cell. As the blocks of cheese enter the cooling cell, its carousel is indexed by the electronic controller so that the receptacles are filled with newly made cheese blocks. The fluid flow through the cooling cell also sequentially carries previously stored cheese blocks from the receptacles into the outlet flume and on to other processing equipment. 
     Another aspect of the present invention is a liquid circulation system that comprises flume and cooling circuits. The flume circuit produces a liquid flow that carries the blocks of cheese through the cooling apparatus. The cooling circuit has a liquid reservoir and a distribution conduit with a first pump and a heat exchanger connected in series between the liquid reservoir and the distribution conduit. A plurality of valves are operated by a controller to selectively apply liquid from the distribution conduit to a selected cooling cell. The cooling circuit also has a mechanism for transferring the liquid among the cooling cells in a daisy chain manner, whereby the chilled liquid preferably flows from the cell with the coldest cheese to the cell with the warmest cheese blocks. The liquid then flows from the cell with the warmest cheese back to the reservoir. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a cheese cooling and salting apparatus according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a sensor that detects the presence of a cheese block at different locations within the cooling and salting apparatus; 
     FIG. 3 illustrates a gate that controls the flow of cheese blocks at different locations within the cooling and salting apparatus; 
     FIG. 4 is an enlarged section of FIG. 1 showing devices for directing the flow of cheese through the apparatus; 
     FIG. 5 is an isometric, partial cut-away view of one cooling cell of the present apparatus; and 
     FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional end view along line  6 — 6  in FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     References herein to directional relationships and movement, such as left and right, refer to the relationship and operation of the apparatus in the orientation illustrated in the drawings, which may not be the operational orientation in every application of the present invention. 
     With initial reference to FIG. 1, an apparatus  10  for cooling and salting cheese is connected to the outlet  12  of a conventional cheese molding machine, such as one that produces blocks of mozzarella. Each cheese block emerging from outlet  12  enters an inlet flume system  15  formed by an inlet flume  16  and four side channels  21 ,  22 ,  23 , and  24 . The inlet flume  16  is a U-shaped, open channel having a width that is less than twice the width of a cheese block thus ensuring that the block travel in single file and will not wedge side-by-side blocking the flume. As will be described in greater detail, a variable speed pump creates a flow of brine through the inlet flume at a rate up to 300 gallons per minute in a direction indicated by arrow  20 . The flow of brine propels floating blocks of cheese through the inlet flume  16  and the flow rate determines the speed of the cheese blocks. 
     A plurality of first sensors  26  are spaced along the inlet flume  16  to detect the presence of a cheese block at the respective locations. The first sensors  26  provide input signals to a microcomputer based controller  25  which governs the operation of the cheese cooling apparatus  10 . FIG. 2 illustrates the details of one of the first sensors  26 . The sensor  26  has a pivotally mounted rod  27  that extends downward into the inlet flume  16 . A cross member  28  is mounted to pivot with the rod  27  and has an end that is adjacent a proximity sensor  29 . The proximity sensor  29  is of a conventional design and emits a signal the indicates the presence or absence of the end of the cross member  28 . A block of cheese floating past the sensor  29  moves the rod  27  upward as indicated by the rod drawn in phantom lines. When the rod pivots upward, the cross member  28  moves away from the proximity sensor  29  changing the signal from that device thereby indicating the presence of the cheese block. It should be understood that other types of devices for sensing the passage of cheese may be employed in the present system. 
     With reference again to FIG. 1, a movable stop  42  is located in the inlet flume  16  to control the flow of cheese from the outlet  12  of the molding machine. The details of the stop  42  are shown in FIG.  3 . The stop  42  has a rod  44  that extends downward into the inlet flume  16  to prevent a cheese block from floating past the stop. The rod  44  is pivotally mounted above the inlet flume  16  and is connected to a lever  45  that is driven by a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder  46 . When the cylinder  46  rotates the lever  45  by 90 degrees, the rod  44  pivots out of the inlet flume  16  to allow cheese blocks to pass. When power is reversed to the cylinder  46  the stop rod  44  returns to the illustrated downward position. 
     Returning to FIG. 1, the warm cheese blocks travel down the inlet flume  16  toward a series of open U-shaped side channels  21 ,  22 ,  23  and  24 . Each side channel  21 - 24  leads at an angle from the inlet flume  16  to the top of a separate cell of a cooling tank  19  and has separate inlet control gate  36  at the junction with the inlet flume  16 . As shown in FIG. 4 for the third side channel  23 , each inlet control gate  36  is connected to a first actuator  38 , such as a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder and piston, located above the inlet flume, which operates a linkage  40  connected to that control gate. The inlet control gate  36  is pivotally attached to a side wall of inlet flume  16  and moves in response to activation of the first actuator  38  by the microcomputer  25 . As will be described, cheese blocks flow with the brine along the inlet flume  16  until reaching a side channel  21 - 24  with an control open gate  36 , as is illustrated for third side channel  23 . That open gate  36  directs the flow of brine and the cheese block into the side channel. 
     The cooling apparatus  10  can be utilized with large blocks of cheese which have a width approximately equal to the width of an entrance  59  into the cooling tank  19 . Alternatively smaller blocks that are slightly less than one-half the entrance width can be processed. For this latter version, each side channel  21 - 24  has a secondary control gate  55  that is operated by a second actuator, such as pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder  57  mounted above the side channel. Beyond the secondary gate  57 , the side channel  23  is divided in half longitudinally by a vertical wall  54 . The secondary gate  57  directs the smaller cheese blocks into one side of the wall  54  and then into the other side, as will be described. A plurality of second sensors  58  are located between the secondary gates  57  and the entrance  59  of the cooling tank  31 - 34  and provide sensor signals to the controller  25 . The second sensors  58  are of the same design as shown in FIG. 2 for the first sensors  26 . 
     The cooling tank  19  in FIG. 1 is subdivided into four identical cooling cells  31 ,  32 ,  33 , and  34  defined by walls  43  extending the full height and width of the cooling tank. Four cooling cells are shown for ease of illustration, with the understanding that additional cooling cells can be provided to increase the capacity of the cooling apparatus  10 . The cooling tank  19  further includes a brine reservoir  30  which does not receive blocks of cheese. Each of the brine reservoir  30  and cooling cells  31 - 34  are separate water tight compartments of the cooling tank  19  and can be independently drained and filled with brine. 
     Referring to FIGS. 1,  5  and  6 , each cooling cell  31 - 34  is divided lengthwise into two sections  61  and  62  by an internal wall  63  which extends across the length of the cooling cell. The cheese blocks flow into and out of the top of the first section  61 . Within each cooling cell  31 - 24  is a carousel  65  having chains  66  on which are mounted elongated tubes  64  fabricated of perforated sheet metal or welded rods, thereby forming receptacles for the cheese blocks. For example, the carousel  65  can have twenty tubes  64  with ten tubes residing in each cooling cell section  61  and  62  at any given time. The tubes  64  rotate in a vertical loop through the cooling cell around the internal wall  63  when the chain  66  is driven by a motor  53  connected to the lower sprocket  67 . Thus the chain  66 , lower sprocket  67  and motor  53  form a drive mechanism for the carousel  65 . As the chain rotates  65  in a clockwise direction indicated by arrow  68  in FIG. 6, the tubes  64  in the first section  61  move downward while the tubes move upward in the second section  62 . The tubes  64  travel above and below the internal wall  63  between the two sections  61  and  62  of the cooling cell. 
     The cooling cells  31 - 34  are filled with brine to a level  69  that is slightly below the top of the upper most tubes  64 . As will be described, this level allows the cheese blocks to float into and out of the tube at the top of the first section  61  in each cooling cell. 
     Referring specifically to FIG. 1, each cooling cell  31 - 34  has an exit opening  75  in a wall that is opposite to the wall having the entrance  59 . A pair of exit stops  77  are located side by side in different halves of each exit opening  75  to control the movement of cheese blocks through that opening, as will be described. Each exit stop  77  has the same design as stop shown in FIG.  3 . 
     Each exit opening  75  of the cooling tank  19  is connected to an outlet flume system  70  comprising a plurality of outlet channels  71 ,  72 ,  73  and  74  and an outlet flume  76 . A trough shaped outlet channel  71 ,  72 ,  73  or  74  connects one of the cell exit openings  75  to the similarly shaped outlet flume  76 . A separate outlet control gate  80  is located at the junction of each outlet channel  71 - 74  with the outlet flume  76  and has an actuator operated by controller  25 . A plurality of third sensors  78  are located in each outlet channel  71 - 74  and a fourth sensor  79  is positioned in the outlet end of the outlet flume  76  to provide sensor signals to the controller  25 . The outlet flume  76  leads to equipment (not shown) for packaging the cheese blocks. A fluid level sensor  81  provides a signal indicating the brine level in the outlet flume  76 , which level corresponds to the height of brine in the cooling cell associated with an open exit gate  80  (e.g. third cooling cell  33 ). Alternatively, separate level sensors can be provided in each cooling cell  31 - 34  and in the reservoir  30 . 
     The cheese cooling apparatus  10  includes a fluid circulation system  100  that comprises a flume circuit  102  and a cooling circuit  108  shown in FIG.  1 . The flume circuit  102  creates a flow of brine that moves the blocks of cheese through the cooling apparatus  10 . A first variable speed pump  82  draws brine from the reservoir  30  at a rate between zero and 300 gallons per minute. The speed of the first variable speed pump  82  and an electrically operated flow valve  83  in the flume circuit  102  are operated by the controller  25 . The flow of brine from the first variable speed pump  82  is applied to the input flume adjacent the outlet  12  of the cheese molding machine, as indicated by arrow  20 . This creates flow of brine at a high rate that carries the cheese blocks into the cooling tank  19 . 
     The brine flows along inlet flume  16  until encountering an open inlet control gate  36 , such as shown for the third side channel  23 . At that location the brine is directed into the side channel and the associated cell (e.g. third cooling cell  33 ) of the cooling tank  19 . This flow of brine exits this cooling cell  33  through exit opening  75  and an open outlet control gate  80  for the third outlet channel  73 . 
     Additional electrically operated, proportional valves  84  and  85  control the flow of brine from the outlet flume  76  back to the reservoir  30  through return conduit  86  and provide the primary means of controlling the fluid levels in the system. The difference in the flow rate from the first variable speed pump  82  and that through these outlet valves  84  and  85  determines the rate of level change in the flume systems  15  and  70  and in the cooling cell  33  in which cheese is being exchanged. The pump rate is set for a desired flow velocity in the inlet flume  16 . The outlet valves  84  and  85  are constantly being adjusted by a feedback control loop based on the fluid level measured by sensor  81 . Accurate level control is required for proper movement of the cheese. 
     In addition to the flume circuit  102  that creates a fluid flow which moves the blocks of cheese, the fluid circulation system  100  includes a cooling circuit  108  which circulates refrigerated brine through the cooling tank  19 . With continuing reference to FIG. 1, the cooling circuit  108  has a second variable speed pump  112  with an inlet connected to an outlet of the brine reservoir  30 . The second variable speed pump  112  supplies brine at a flow rate of 50-100 gallons per minute to a conventional heat exchanger  114  of a refrigeration system, which reduces the temperature of the brine to 25-40 degrees Fahrenheit. The chilled brine from the heat exchanger  114  flows to a diverter valve  116  which directs the brine flow into either a first or a second distribution conduit  118  or  119 , respectively. Half of the cooling cells  31 - 34  are connected to each distribution conduit  118  or  119 . Specifically, the third and fourth cooling cells  33  and  34  are connected to the first distribution conduit  118  by separate control valves  120 , which are electrically operated by the controller  25 . The first and second cooling cells  31  and  32  are connected by similar electrically operated valves  120  to the second distribution conduit  119 . As will be described, chilled brine is introduced to the bottom of one of the cooling cells  31 - 34  at any given time by selectively directing the flow of chilled brine from the heat exchanger  114  to one of the distribution conduits  118  or  119  and then opening the associated distribution valve  120  connected to the selected cell. 
     The two distribution conduits  118  and  119  also are connected to a drain control valve  122  which is electrically operated by the controller  25 . The drain control valve  122  directs the brine from one of the distribution conduits  118  or  119  through a return line  124  to the input of a drain pump  126 , that feeds into the brine reservoir  30 . By selectively coupling one of the distribution conduits  118  or  119  to the drain pump  126  and opening the appropriate valve  120 , the drain pump  126  can be used to empty brine from a cooling cell  31 - 34  that needs maintenance. In addition, as cheese is loaded into a previously empty cooling cell, the cheese blocks will displace brine which is removed from that cell and sent to the reservoir by the drain pump  126 . 
     The cooling circuit  108  further includes a series of inter-cell pumps  131 - 134  which route brine between the cooling cells. The first inter-cell pump  131  transfers brine from the second section  62  of the first cooling cell  31  to an inlet of the fourth cooling cell  34  which is adjacent the cheese entrance  59 . Similarly, the second inter-cell pump  132  feeds brine from the second cooling cell  32  to the cheese entrance area of the first cooling cell  31 . The third inter-cell pump  133  transfers brine between the third and second cooling cells, and the fourth inter-cell pump  134  transfers brine between fourth and third cooling cells. Each inter-cell pump  131 - 134  introduces brine near the top of the first section  61  of a cooling cell  31 - 34  from which point the brine flows downward, under the internal cell wall  63  (FIG. 6) and upward in the second section  62  of the cooling cell from which the brine is drawn by another inter-cell pump. This path circulates the chilled through the entire cooling cell and produces uniform cooling of the cheese blocks. 
     The cheese to be cooled enters from the outlet  12  of the molding machine and the flow of brine in the flume circuit  102  carries the floating cheese through the cooling apparatus  10 . This enables the cheese blocks to be loaded into and removed from the cooling tank  19  entirely without human intervention. Newly molded cheese blocks replace ones that have been stored in the cooling tank for the greatest amount of time. The controller  25  tracks the time that cheese has been stored in each tube  64  of the tank cooling cells  31 - 34 . 
     A particular cooling cell (e.g. cell  33 ) is selected to receive the newly molded cheese blocks by the controller opening the inlet control gate  36  and the outlet control gate  80  associated with that cell. This action allows blocks of cheese to float with the brine flowing through the inlet flume system  15  into the selected cooling cell. When the cheese cooling apparatus  10  is started, the cooling cells are loaded with cheese beginning with the fourth cooling cell  34  and then going sequentially to the left in FIG.  1 . At that time each cooling cell does not contain any cheese blocks that were previously being cooled. Therefore, the entering blocks of cheese displace a significant amount of brine in the cell. When fully loaded, the cheese blocks may occupy 28% of the cooling cell volume, for example. This means that the selected cell must be filled initially with a significantly greater amount of brine than required once fully loaded. 
     The present system enables this extra brine to be temporally borrowed from another cooling cell. For example, brine can be borrowed from the first cooling cell  31  to fill the third cooling cell  33 . When the third cooling cell is being loaded for the first time, chilled brine from the heat exchanger  114  is being fed into the fourth cooling cell  34  from the first distribution conduit  118 . At this time, the drain control valve  122  is operated to connect the second distribution conduit  119  to the drain pump  126 . The valve  120  for the first cooling cell  31  is open to supply brine to the second distribution conduit  119  from which the brine is drawn by the drain pump  126  and sent to the reservoir  30 . This replenishes brine that previously was drawn from the reservoir  30 . 
     The brine drained from the first cooling cell  31  is supplied from the reservoir  30  to the selected third cooling cell  33  via the flume circuit  102  and the cooling circuit  108 . The brine, that is displaced by blocks of cheese entering the third cooling cell  33 , flows out through the outlet flume system  70  from which the brine is returned to the reservoir  30  via return conduit  86 . By drawing brine from an cooling cell that does not contain cheese during start-up of the system  10 , the size of the reservoir  30  can be reduced as it does not have to provide the entire volume of brine needed to charge the flume systems and initially overfill the cooling cells. 
     After all of the cooling cells have been filled with cheese, newly molded cheese replaces the cheese block that have been in the cooling system the longest. At that time, the cheese being replaced has been cooled to a temperature at which it can be handled by processing equipment downstream of the cooling system  10 . Because the old cheese now is being exchanged with newly molded cheese, a significantly smaller volume of brine is being displaced as occurred during system start-up and the capacity of the reservoir  30  is sufficient to compensate for the minor fluctuations in the brine level. 
     To load freshly molded cheese blocks into the selected cooling cell, such as the third cell  33  as illustrated in FIG. 1, the carousel  65  sequentially aligns each of its tubes  64  with the entrance  59  and exit opening  75  of the cooling cell. Each time that another carousel tube  64  is indexed into this alignment, the top most position in the first section  61  of the selected cell, the stop  42  near the connection of the cheese molding machine to the cooling system prevents cheese blocks from entering the inlet flume  16 . 
     The exit stop  77 , for the half of the cell tube  64  that is selected by the secondary control gate  55 , is opened to allow the flow of brine to carry previously stored cheese blocks from the topmost carousel tube  64  before newly molded blocks enter the other end of that tube. The exiting cheese blocks travel through the third outlet channel  73 , past closed outlet control gates  80  in the outlet flume  76  for the other outlet channels  71 - 72  and on toward the packaging machine (not shown). While this movement of cheese blocks is occurring, the controller  25  is receiving signals from the third sensor  78  at the exit of the selected cooling cell  33 . Thus the controller  25  is able to count the number of cheese blocks that float out of the cooling cell to determine when all of the blocks have exited. At that time, the controller  25  closes the exit stop  77  so that new cheese blocks will not travel through the tube and out the exit opening. 
     After a predefined interval of time, the controller  25  opens the stop  42  in the inlet flume  16  allowing the newly molded cheese blocks to flow into the cooling tank  19 . The brine flow and the blocks of cheese are directed past the closed inlet control gates  36 , which provide a water-tight closure of the opening of their respective side channels. The open inlet control gate  36  directs the brine flow and the blocks of cheese carried by that flow into and along the third side channel  23  until encountering its secondary gate  55 . That secondary gate  55  directs the cheese blocks to one side or the other of vertical channel wall  54  (FIG.  4 ). The blocks continue to move through the entrance  59  of the associated cooling cell  33  and into one side of the topmost carousel tube  64  in the first cell section  61 . The cheese blocks float on the surface of the brine in the cooling cell and move through the top most tube until reaching remote end where the first cheese block strikes the exit stop  77 . 
     When one side of the topmost carousel tube  64  is full, the controller  25  activates the secondary gate  55  to fill the other side of the tube. When both sides of the topmost tube  64  have been filled with fresh blocks of cheese, the carousel  65  indexes to the next location so that the tube which previously was at the top of the second cell section  62  moves into the top position in the first section  61 . The process of replacing the cooled cheese blocks with fresh blocks to be cooled then repeats for that tube and each of the other tubes until the third cooling cell  33  has been filled with new blocks of cheese. While the cheese blocks are cooling in each cell  31 - 34 , the carousel  65  moves tubes  64  in a closed path through the brine in the tank to ensure that the cheese cools uniformly. The cheese in the top tubes should be submerged when cheese in its cooling cell is not being exchanges (i.e. its inlet and outlet control gates  36  and  80  are closed). When the outlet control gate  80  opens, the level of fluid in the associated cell should drop enabling the cheese blocks in the upper most tubes to float. A 300 gallon per minute flow from the inlet flume system  15  should drop the level one inch. 
     At that time, the inlet control gate  36  and the outlet control gate  80  for the third cooling cell  33  are closed by the controller  25 . This causes the level of brine in the third cooling cell  33  to rise above the top of the upper most carousel tubes  64 . The second cooling cell  32  then is selected by opening its inlet and outlet control gates. In this manner, the cheese blocks are loaded into each cooling cell  31 - 34  sequentially from left to right in FIG.  1 . When the first cooling cell  31  has been loaded with new cheese blocks, the sequence selects the fourth cooling cell  34 . As will be described, this loading sequence has an important relationship to the direction that refrigerated brine flows through the cooling tank  19 . 
     Although the exemplary cheese cooling apparatus  10  has only four cooling cells for ease of illustration, it should be understood that additional cooling cells can be provided so that a given cheese block will remain in the cooling tank for a long enough period of time to cool sufficiently before having to be replaced with freshly molded cheese. For example, ten cooling cells as described may be required to allow continuous operation of a typical molding machine and provide sufficient cooling time. 
     Regardless of the number of cooling cells, the cooling circuit  108  produces a flow of chilled brine through the cooling tank  19  to cool the cheese blocks uniformly. The chilled brine from the heat exchanger  114  is introduced into the bottom of the cooling cell  31 - 34  which is closed-off from the flume systems  15  and  70  and which contains the cheese blocks that have been in the cooling tank  19  the greatest amount of time, i.e. the coldest cheese. That cooling cell usually is the one to the immediate left of the cell that is being loaded with warm, freshly molded cheese, except chilled brine is introduced into the fourth cooling cell  34  when the first cooling cell  31  is being loaded with cheese blocks. Thus, the coldest brine flows around the coldest cheese first and then is transferred to the cooling cell with the next coldest cheese, and so on until finally reaching the cooling cell having the warmest cheese, that has recently entered the cooling tank. 
     To accomplish this flow pattern in the exemplary apparatus in FIG. 1 where newly molded cheese is entering the third cooling cell  33 , the controller  25  opens the distribution valve  120  associated with the second cooling cell  32  and closes all the other distribution valves. At this time, the third inter-cell pump  133 , having an inlet connected to the third cooling cell  33 , is turned off. Thus brine from the cell receiving hot, freshly molded cheese will not be fed to the adjacent cell with relatively cold cheese. The other inter-cell pumps  131 - 133  transfer the brine between cooling cells in a direction going toward cells with increasingly warmer cheese. This inter-cell brine flow ultimately reaches the cooling cell with the warmest cheese, i.e. the one presently be loaded with freshly molded cheese blocks (cooling cell  33  in the example). The brine then exits the cooling tank  19  through the cheese exit  75  of the third cell  33  and is returned to the reservoir  30  through the outlet flume  76 , valves  84 ,  85  and conduit  86 . 
     When the third cooling cell  33  becomes filled with newly molded cheese, the cheese blocks from the molding machine will be sent through the inlet flume system  15  into the second cooling cell  32 . At that time, the distribution valve  120  associated with the second cooling cell  32  is closed and the distribution valve for the first cooling cell  31  is opened to introduce chilled brine from the heat exchanger  114  into that latter cell. The inter-cell pump  132  for the second cooling cell  32  now is turned off by the controller  25  and the inter-cell pump  133  for the third cooling cell  33  is activated. This switching of the brine flow path continues as loading and unloading cheese blocks sequences through the cooling cells  31 - 34  so that brine always flows in a direction from the coldest to the warmest cheese in the tank  19 . 
     As stated previously, each carousel  65  periodically moves in a closed path around the internal cell wall  64  which results in more uniform cooling and minimization of cupping and bulging of the cheese blocks. As evident from FIG. 6, the carousel tubes  64  act as a paddle wheel forcing water over the outer wall  43  into the adjacent cooling cell to the left in FIG.  1 . This movement of the carousels  65  also stirs the brine in each cooling cell  31 - 34  to minimize temperature gradients within the brine, and also flips the cheese blocks over in the cooling cells thereby producing uniformly shaped blocks. 
     The present cheese cooling apparatus  10  offers automated operation so that human intervention, required in previous cooling systems to guide and submerge the cheese blocks, is not needed. The counter flow of the cheese to the direction of the chilled brine flow increases cooling efficiency, that is the incoming refrigerated brine first contacts the coldest cheese, i.e. that which has been in the cooling system the greatest amount of time. This counter flow leads to a larger temperature difference being maintained throughout the system resulting in greater and more efficient heat transfer. 
     The dual distribution conduits  118  and  119  of the cooling circuit  108  enable brine to be drained from a given cooling cell  31 - 34  without affecting operation of the remaining cooling cells. When the chilled brine from the heat exchanger  114  is being supplied to a cooling cell connected to one distribution conduit  118  or  119 , a cooling cell connected to the other conduit can be drained. That other distribution conduit is connected by outlet control valve  122  to the drain pump  126  and the distribution valve  120  for the cooling cell to be drained is opened. When the drain pump  126  is turned-on brine is drawn from the selected cooling cell and fed to the reservoir  30 . The water-tight inlet and outlet control gates  36  and  80  prevent brine from the various flumes  16  and  76  from entering the cooling cell being drained. Note that additional connections than those illustrated have to be provided between the inter-cell pumps  131 - 134  to bypass the cooling cell being drained. 
     The foregoing description was primarily directed to a preferred embodiment of the invention. Although some attention was given to various alternatives within the scope of the invention, it is anticipated that one skilled in the art will likely realize additional alternatives that are now apparent from disclosure of embodiments of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should be determined from the following claims and not limited by the above disclosure.

Technology Category: 1