FI89856C - BEHANDLINGSANLAEGGNING FOER BAER- E.D. MASS - Google Patents

Description

Berry and similar pulp processing equipment r, n n r s 89056

The invention relates to a berry or similar pulp handling apparatus comprising a pulp crushing device, a microwave heating device and a pressing device for separating juice. The invention relates in particular to the treatment of blackcurrant berries, but is also applicable to the treatment of other berries. In addition to berries, there may be crushed fruits and roots.

10 According to the traditional method, the production of blackcurrant juice involves the following steps: collection, purification, sorting, crushing of the berry mixture, heating, enzyme treatment, separation of the juice and preservation. The crushing of the berry mixture typically takes place in roller crushers, which are well suited for pitted berries 15 and fruit. The crushed mixture is heated in a pot-like vessel. Em. currants contain pectin, which binds the juice and has to be broken down by adding enzymes to the mixture. The heated berry mixture is delivered to a press unit, where several batches packaged inside the gauze fabric are pressed on top of each other, whereby the juice 20 bursts from between the gauze fabric into the container below. The resulting juice is heated and preservatives are added, after which the juice is ready to be bottled.

Em. the traditional method has been manual. However, utilization of large quantities of 25 currants would require machining, but no suitable equipment has been available. The object of the present invention is to provide a new type of apparatus which makes it possible to process large masses of berries and the like quickly and with a small amount of work. The characteristic features of the apparatus according to the invention are set out in the appended claims. The invention accelerates the heating as a bottleneck of the traditional method, because the heating power can be increased considerably by means of the invention. Preferably, the same heating device can be used to pasteurize the finished juice. Other advantages and embodiments of the invention will become apparent from the following embodiment.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying figure, which shows an apparatus for processing berry pulp-40 according to the invention. The main components of the apparatus are a crushing device (1), a 2 89856 heating device (3), a press device (4) and an inlet container (5) placed under it. The berry mass is poured into the feed hopper (2) of the crushing device, from where it enters through a roller crushers into a heating channel (6) with a water jacket (7). Above the channel 5 are six microwave transmitters, type Philips 2M 172 (600 W each).

The heating device also includes a stirrer (9), the blade of which rotates in the duct (6), stirring the mass during heating. The water jacket 10 (7) surrounds the channel (6) from below and from the sides. The microwave transmitters (8) are housed in a housing space which is frozen by fans (10).

From the heating channel (6), the berry mixture is led along the supply pipes (11) to presses (4), which comprises the so-called a cheese wire (12) and a piston (13) fitted thereto, and a cylinder apparatus driving the piston. The use of the cheese wire here as a press wire allows the post-press wire to be quickly replaced with a new one, while the old 20 wire can be washed during the next press. The operation may require several cheese cloths or the like to provide continuous operation.

The juice separates in a press and flows through the bottom of the cheese wire (12) into a container (5) which also has a water jacket (14). This water jacket is connected by pipelines (17) and (18) to the water jacket (7) of the heating duct (6). By means of a pump belonging to the pipelines, water can be circulated between the water jacks, whereby the excess heat of the heating device (3) absorbed in the water jacket (7) can be transferred to heat the water jacket (14) in the vessel (5). In this case, the device further comprises a pumped pipeline (15) connected by a vessel (5) and a duct (6), by means of which the juice can be transferred to a heating duct (6) for pasteurization, after which the juice is ready to be bottled via a discharge line (16).

Here, the pipelines are shown very schematically and their location and equipment (valves and pumps) may vary depending on the more specific application.

3 89856 In the heater, the water jacket (7) enables the use of several magnetrons and thus high power, which is a prerequisite for the rapid processing of large quantities of pulp. The channel is naturally microwave permeable, at least on the sides and bottom. 5 The water jacket collects the microwave power lost. Unlike a conventional microwave oven, here the microwave power is not reflected from the metal wall surfaces but is absorbed into the water jacket surrounding the channel. However, this heat can be utilized in other parts of the equipment.

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The berry and similar pulp handling apparatus according to the invention has been described above only by means of an exemplary application, to which even substantial changes can be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

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Claims (7)

A berry or similar pulp handling apparatus comprising a pulp crushing device (1), a microwave heating device (3) and a pressing device 5 (4) for separating juice, characterized in that the heating device (3) comprises a water-jacketed duct (7) mounted on a plurality of microwave transmitters (8). Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that there are 3 to 16 microwave transmitters (8) and their combined heating power is 3 to 10 kW. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the channel (6) has a square base, a side of 60 to 150 cm 15 and a height of 10 to 20 cm. Apparatus according to Claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the channel (6) has a circular base, a radius of 30 to 75 cm and a height of 10 to 20 cm. 20 4,0856 Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the pressing device comprises a vessel (5) with a water jacket (14) for the squeezed juice, the water jacket (14) of which is connected to the same water circuit as the jacket (7) of said heating duct 25 (6). Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that said juice container (5) and the heating channel (6) are connected to each other by a pipeline (15) for transferring the juice to the heating channel (6) for pasteurization. Apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the pressing device (4) comprises a box (12) of cheese cheese-type compressible mass and a suitable press piston (13) for pressing the juice through the wire bottom into the juice container below. 5,09056