EP0517993A1

EP0517993A1 - Batching and compacting machine for spinach or other leafed vegetables, and product obtained by said machine

Info

Publication number: EP0517993A1
Application number: EP91830263A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Franco Setti; Elvio Bindani
Original assignee: MECPARMAPLANTS SpA
Current assignee: MECPARMAPLANTS SpA
Priority date: 1991-06-14
Filing date: 1991-06-14
Publication date: 1992-12-16

Abstract

The invention relates to a batching and compacting machine for spinach or other leafed vegetables, which permits of obtaining perfectly measured portions, which portions are compacted in cubic shapes, without maltreating the leaves and so protecting the quality of the product. The machine comprises two motorised conveyor belts (1) which accompany the product to be compacted along a vertical channel (2), towards a batching device (4) equipped with batching chambers (5).

Description

The present invention relates to a batching and compacting machine for spinach or other leafed vegetables, and to the product obtained by said machine.
Traditional working of leafed vegetables destined for industrial production, and in particular the working of spinach, is performed by batching machines which function together with a mechanical compacting system.
Such a system, while guaranteeing a good compacting efficiency, uses mechanisms such as pistons, Archimedes' screws and blades, which maltreat by tearing or shredding the spinach or other vegetable leaves, producing waste strands which end up in the finished product or in the gearings or mechanism of the machine; in the first case the quality of the finished product is damaged, in the second case the production is slowed down.
Compacting devices in the prior art have therefore the drawback of not guaranteeing a high quality of finished product while at the same time producing production waste which is greater the smaller the final batched product is.
Aim of the present invention is to eliminate said drawbacks and to provide a batching and compacting machine which permits of obtaining a batched product of excellent quality, comparable to a manually batched product, even when the amount batched is small, which machine is able to keep the leaves whole and therefore greatly limit waste.
Said aims are attained by the batching and compacting machine for spinach or other leafed vegetables, object of the present invention, comprising:

two motorised conveyor belts, arranged one facing the other across a substantially vertical channel into which the product to be batched and compacted is introduced by means of a hopper;
a batching device, equipped with a plurality of batching chambers, towards which the product is transported by means of the said conveyor belts;
means for the movement of the batching device and for producing the expulsion of the batched and compacted product.

This and other characteristics will better emerge from the description which follows, of a preferred but non-exclusive embodiment in the form of a non-limiting example, illustrated in the accompanying figures, in which;

Figure 1 shows the machine in a frontal, partially-sectioned view;
Figure 2 shows the the machine in lateral section;
Figure 3 shows the machine in horizontal projection.

With reference to the figures, number 1 indicates a pair of conveyor belts which run in the same direction, one facing the other across a substantially vertical channel 2, into which the product to be batched and compacted is introduced by means of a hopper 3.
The conveyor belts 1 are made in a material which is suitable for contact with foodstuffs, and are preferably non-extendably plastic-toothed in the part destined to mesh with the drawing wheels 17, while they should be of knurled rubber material in the part facing the channel 2, where the product descends.
The particular working of the conveyor belts 1 on the side facing the product has the aim of providing a surface having a high degree of friction in order to prevent the slipping-down of the product with respect to the conveyor belts 1, while said surface is not rough so that it cannot damage the same product. Motorisation means 18 of known type moves the lower drawing wheels, while the upper drawing wheels are idle.
The product descends by force of gravity and is accompanied by the conveyor belts 1 towards a batching device 4 which is located at the lower end of the channel 2.
The conveyor belts 1 are of a width which is substantially equal to the bottom of the channel 2 and define a substantially convergent channeling of the product towards the bottom, that is towards the batching device 4.
This happens substantially uniformly, as illustrated in Figure 1, but can be made to happen in, a non-uniform way, with differentially convergent or even parallel tracts.
The descent velocity of the product between the conveyor belts 1 is about equal to the speed of the conveyor belts 1 themselves, so that the vegetable leaves are progressively and delicately compacted without being damaged during the descent towards the batching device 4, that is without there being relative movements or slipping between product and belts.
The batching device 4 comprises a mobile drawer 6 equipped with two batching chambers 5 which chambers 5 slide horizontally and are solid with a pneumatic cylinder 9 which is mounted between two support bars 10.
The sliding of the mobile drawer 6 is done in such a way that when one of the batching chambers 5 is coaxially underneath the channel 2, the other batching chamber 5 is arranged coaxially underneath one of two pneumatic cylinders 7 whose stem causes the exit of the product from the machine through a bottom opening in the batching chamber 5.
The pneumatic cylinder 9, with the support bars 10 and the pneumatic cylinders 7 constitute means for the movement of the batching device 4 and for the expulsion of the batched and compacted product.
The batching chambers 5 are equipped with a mobile wall 11, placed in movement by pneumatic and elastic means comprising a pneumatic cylinder 12 and springs 15, which means' intervention is regulated with variable pressure between a lower limit (which can be zero in the case of non-intervention of the mobile walls 11) and a prefixed upper limit.
The pneumatic cylinder 12, which is mounted on the fixed frame of the machine, acts with its stem on pivoted angle arms 13 which press upon a pivot 14, which pivot 14 is solid to the mobile wall 11 and kept elastically pressed towards the maximum volume position of the batching chamber 5 by means of a spring 15.
The mobile walls 11 serve to compact the product further, in addition to the compacting undergone during the descent along the channel 2.
The batching device 4 also comprises a blade 8 activated by a pneumatic cylinder 19, which blade 8 is used to cut off the correct amount of product when a batching chamber 5 is full, and also to isolate the mobile drawer 6 from the channel 2 when the sliding process of said mobile drawer 6 is under way.
The batching device 4 has the aim of providing a product which is measured in pre-established portions and dimensions, for example in cubic shapes.
Preferably such pre-decided portions are between 5 and about 100 cubic centimetres.
The operator at the final stage of the procedure is therefore able to place the cubes in a domestic freezer, defrosting the portions as and when needed, without waste.
The shape of the portions depends on the shape of the batching chambers 5, which can be for example cubic, parallelepiped or cylindrical.
Whatever the shape of the portions, they contain a vegetable product having almost all of its leaves intact (apart from the leaves cut off by the blade 8), since the compacting system does not cause damage to the product.
According to a variant of the embodiment, not illustrated in the figures, the batching device 4 can be realised with a disc which can rotate about a vertical axis and be equipped with a plurality of batching chambers, equi-spaced and sharing the same circumference.
With the rotation of the disc, which is performed in steps, the batching chambers reach a coaxial position beneath the channel 2 and, successively, beneath a pneumatic cylinder whose stem pushes out the compacted portion: while one chamber is being filled, another is being emptied.
Also in this variant a knife or blade is envisaged, which cuts the product present in the batching chamber beneath the channel 2, separating it from the channel 2 itself.
Another characteristic of the present machine is that of permitting the washing of the parts in contact with the foodstuff, even during the machine's operation.
It is possible to effect the washing operation on the rising part of the conveyor belts 1, to avoid the formation of bacteria on the parts in contact with the product.
The invention has been used with good results for the compacting and batching of leafed vegetable product, but it can also be used for other food products, in particular meat.

Claims

A batching and compacting machine for spinach or other leafed vegetables, comprising:
- two motorised conveyor belts 1, arranged one facing the other across a substantially vertical channel 2 into which the product to be batched and compacted is introduced by means of a hopper 3;

- a batching device 4, equipped with a plurality of batching chambers 5, towards which the product is transported by means of the said conveyor belts 1;

- means for the movement of said batching device 4 and for producing the expulsion of the batched and compacted product.
Machine as in claim 1, wherein the said conveyor belts 1, being of a width which is substantially equal to the depth of the channel 2, define a substantially convergent channeling of the product towards the batching device 4; wherein the product descends by force of gravity and is accompanied by the conveyor belts 1, so that the relative movements of the product with respect to the conveyor belts 1 is about equal in velocity.
Machine as in claim 1, wherein the said batching device 4 comprises:
- a mobile drawer 6 equipped with two batching chambers 5, said chambers 5 sliding horizontally in such a way that when one of said batching chambers 5 is coaxially underneath the channel 2, the other batching chamber 5 is arranged coaxially underneath one of two pneumatic cylinders 7 whose stem causes the exit of the product from the machine through a bottom opening in said batching chamber 5;

- a blade 8 activated by a pneumatic cylinder 19, which blade 8 constitutes a section which isolates the mobile drawer 6 from the channel 2 when the sliding process of said mobile drawer 6 is under way.
Machine as in claim 1, wherein the said batching device 4 comprises:
- a disc which can rotate about a vertical axis and be equipped with a plurality of batching chambers, equi-spaced and sharing the same circumference, said chambers being brought successively into a coaxial position beneath the said channel 2 and beneath a pneumatic cylinder which pneumatic cylinder's stem is activated to expel the compacted and correctly portioned product;

- a knife or blade, which cuts the product present in the batching chamber beneath the channel 2, and separates said product from the channel 2.
Machine as in claim 3, wherein the means for the movement of the said batching device 4 and for the expulsion of the portioned and compacted product comprise: a pneumatic cylinder 9, able to slide solid with said mobile drawer 6 between two support bars 10; a plurality of pneumatic cylinders 7 which pneumatic cylinders' 7 stems cause the expulsion of the product from the batching chambers 5.
Machine as in claim 3, wherein said batching chambers 5 are equipped with a mobile wall 11, which mobile wall 11 is placed in movement by pneumatic and elastic means and is able to be regulated.
Machine as in claim 6, wherein said pneumatic and elastic means able to place in movement said mobile wall 11 comprise a pneumatic cylinder 12 which pneumatic cylinder 12 stem, through the action of pivoted angle arms 13, acts upon a pivot 14, solid to the mobile wall 11, and is kept elastically pressed towards the maximum volume position of the batching chamber 5 by means of a spring 15.
Product obtained with a machine as in claim 1, consisting in a portion 16 of whole-leaf compacted product, of a shape and dimensions which are substantially equal to those of the said batching chambers 5 of the batching device 4, and substantially inferior to the dimensions of a single leaf of said product.
Product as in claim 8, wherein the portions 16 have a volume which is comprised between 3 cubic centimetres and about 100 cubic centimetres.
Product as in claim 8, wherein said portions 16 have parallelepiped shape.
Product as in claim 8, wherein said portions 16 have cubic shape.