GB1568080A

GB1568080A - Cheese mixer for cheese vessels or curdling tanks

Info

Publication number: GB1568080A
Application number: GB45984/76A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: DANSKE MEJERIERS MASKINFABRIK
Current assignee: DANSKE MEJERIERS MASKINFABRIK
Priority date: 1975-11-06
Filing date: 1976-11-04
Publication date: 1980-05-21
Also published as: DK143961B; NL7612304A; NO142020C; SE422646B; DK499375A; DK143961C; FR2330312B1; AT366879B; IE43865B1; DE2647226A1; FR2330312A1; IE43865L; NO142020B; ATA802376A; NO763699L; SE7612116L; CH595747A5; DD127247A5

Description

(54) CHEESE MIXER FOR CHEESE VESSELS OR CURDLING TANKS (71) We, DE DANSKE MEJERIERS MASKINFABRIK KOLDING, A/S a Danish Body Corporate, formerly, De Danske Mejeriers Maskinfabrik A.m.b.A., a Danish Company of Postbox 66, 6000 Kolding, Denmark, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: The present invention relates to a cheese mixer for cheese vessels or curdling tanks, comprising agitator means connected to an oscillatable drive shaft and extending into the vessel or the tank.

It can prove difficult in use of a cheese mixer to initiate agitation after draining off part of the whey which takes place with the cheese grains sunk to the bdttom of the vessel or the tank, and it can likewise prove difficult to disperse the remaining conglomerated cheese grains without causing disintegration of some other cheese grains which are otherwise in a satisfactory shape.

An object of the invention is to provide a cheese mixer which reduces or eliminates these difficulties.

According to the invention there is provided a cheese mixer comprising a curdling tank or vessel, a horizontal drive shaft mounted for oscillating movement about its longitudinal axis at a location above the normal liquid level in the tank or vessel, and a single row of agitating means, each extending transversely from the shaft, whereby in use of the mixer the agitating means are swung to and fro through a cheese mass within the tank or vessel consequent to oscillating movement of the drive shaft, said agitating means comprising a plurality of mutually parallel plates or blades which are inclined at an acute angle with a plane containing the axis of the shaft and intersecting the plates or blades.

When the mixer is started in use thereof, which causes the agitating means to perform a pendulum movement, the mixture of whey and cheese grains will, owing to the inclined position of the blades, be caused alternately to flow towards one end wall and the other end wall of the vessel or tank to thereby stir up the contents of the tank.

Starting the agitation of the deposited cheese grains after draining off part of the whey presents no problem as the agitator means are able to "plough" their way through the deposited cheese grains without lifting any great amount of cheese grains collectively. The curd is processed with suitable vigour to disperse conglomerated cheese grains without damaging the individual cheese grain.

In addition to the above described processing of the cheese grains during separation of whey, the mixer must be able to mix effectively added cream, chemicals and rennet at the beginning of the curdling process. It was open to doubt whether the one-sided forwards and backwards movements in a long tank would result in adequate mixture of the small amounts of chemicals and rennet involved, but the mixing effect has been found to be fully satisfactory.

The angular position of the plates or blades may be adjustable, which makes it possible to adjust the agitator effect in a simple manner.

The angle formed by the plates or the blades with the said plane may be substantially 26 . This angle has been found to produce satisfactory results.

The total lengths of all the plates or the blades preferably is substantially equal to the length measured in the direction of the shaft axis of that part of the vessel or the tank into which the agitator means extend.

This will achieve effective processing of the contents of the vessel or the tank.

According to the type of cheese to be made, the processing to which it is desirable to subject the cheese grains may differ.

Particularly vigorous processing of the cheese grains agitation may be accomplished in a simple manner by providing at least at the end of some plates or blades transversely of the longitudinal direction of the drive shaft additional processing means extending therefrom. The curd lifted by the plates or the blades may then be subjected to further processing as the curd slides from the plate or blade. The additional processing means may form a grating, and they may also be detachable to enable one and the same mixer to be used for the production of different types of cheese.

The additional processing means may extend between opposing ends of two adjacent plates or blades to interconnect same, thereby at the same time providing a rigid structure.

In an alternative embodiment the additional processing means are formed as a loop or loops secured to respective plates or blades. Unlike the former embodiment, it will be possible in the latter embodiment to retain the adjustability of the plates or the loops the additional processing means being also in this case sufficiently rigid.

The agitator means may be formed as flat, curved or bent plates, according to the desired effect. The additional processing means may be in the form of bars or knives.

Preferably, the drive shaft is connected to an intermittent power source so that the oscillatory movement is briefly stopped before the shaft changes direction of movement. It has been found that even a standstill of merely 0.5 to 1 second will achieve substantially improved processing results compared to a momentary change of direction.

The invention will be further explained below by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a schematic view of an embodiment of a cheese mixer according to the invention, mounted in a curdling tank, Figure 2 is an enlarged schematic view of another embodiment of the agitator means of the cheese mixer, Figure 3 is a schematic cross section of the tank according to Figure 1, Figure 4 is a section taken along the line IV-IV of Figure 3, Figure 5 is a schematic view of yet another embodiment of the agitator means, and Figure 6 is a further embodiment of the agitator means.

The curdling tank illustrated in Figure 1 consists of an elongate, upwardly open, horizontal, semi-cylindrical container section 1, the ends of which are closed by end walls 2, a drive shaft 3 extending above in the lengthwise direction of the container and supporting radially extending arms 4, the extreme ends of which carry agitator means formed as flat agitator plates 5. The plates, however, may also be curved or bent, for instance as indicated in Figure 5, and the agitator means may in that case be formed as proper blades 5a. The plates or blades form an angle a with a plane A containing the axis of the drive shaft 3 and the axes of the arms 4. In the embodiment shown a equals substantially 26".

The angular position of the plates or blades relative to the plane A is adjustable.

The plates or blades have an overall length substantially equal to the length measured in the direction of the drive shaft 3 of that part of the tank into which they extend.

Figure 2 illustrates a modified embodiment, additional processing means being provided between opposing ends of two adjacent plates 5 in the form of bars or knives 6 forming a grating. This embodiment results in particularly vigorous processing of the cheese grains during agitation. The bars or knives 6 are detachable to enable the basic structure of the mixer formed by the plates 5 or blades 5a to be used in connection with the making of different types of cheese.

In operation the shaft 3 is pivoted forwards and backwards to cause the agitator means 5 or 5a to perform pendulum-like movements through the tank as indicated in Figure 3. In this figure the line B shows the liquid level at full tank, and the line C the liquid level after draining off whey. The drive shaft 3 is so high up as to be above the line B. During curdling the agitator means 5 or 5a are held in position I.

During draining of whey the agitator means 5 or 5a are held in position II. After draining off whey the agitator means 5 or 5a perform pendulum-like movements between positions III--III through the curd formed.

by the cheese grains.

Owing to the inclined position of the agitator means 5 or 5a, the mixture of whey and cheese grains is caused alternately to flow towards one end wall and the other end wall 2 of the tank, thereby stirring up the contents of the tank.

It has been found advantageous to halt the agitator means 5 or 5a in the extreme positions III for a moment before they change direction of movement.

It also appears from Figure 3 that an increase of the angle a while maintaining the same length of the agitator means 5 or 5a will reduce the total amount of milk which can be processed in the tank if the agitator means 5 or 5a and a cutting frame 7 have to be clear of the milk during curdling.

Figure 6 illustrates an embodiment in which the ends of the plates 5 or the blades 5a extending transversely of the longitudinal direction of the drive shaft 3 are provided with projecting processing means in the form of U-shaped loops 8, both ends of which are secured to the same plate or blade. The plates 5 or the blades 5a are still freely adjustable. In the embodiment shown both of said ends of all plates or blades are provided with such loops. However, it is also possible to provide only some of the plates or blades with loops, and the loops may likewise be provided only at the one said end of the plates or blades.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. A cheese mixer comprising a curdling tank or vessel, a horizontal drive shaft mounted for oscillating movement about its longitudinal axis at a location above the normal liquid level in the tank or vessel, and a single row of agitating means, each extending transversely from the shaft, whereby in use of the mixer the agitating means are swung to and fro through a cheese mass within the tank or vessel consequent to oscillating movement of the drive shaft, said agitating means comprising a plurality of mutually parallel plates or blades which are inclined at an acute angle with a plane containing the axis of the shaft and intersecting the plates or blades.

2. A cheese mixer according to Claim 1, wherein the angular position of the plates or the blades relative to said plane is adjustable.

3. A cheese mixer according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the angle formed by the plates or blades with the said plane is substantially 26".

4. A cheese mixer according to any preceding claim, wherein the total of the lengths of all the plates or blades is substantially equal to the length measured in the direction of the axis of the shaft of that part of the vessel or the tank into which the agitator means extend.

5. A cheese mixer according to any preceding claim, wherein additional processing means are provided extending from at least at the end of some plates or blades transversely of the longitudinal direction of the axis of the shaft.

6. A cheese mixer according to Claim 5, wherein the additional processing means form a grating.

7. A cheese mixer according to Claim 5 or 6, wherein the processing means are detachable.

8. A cheese mixer according to any one of Claims 5 to 7, wherein the additional processing means extend between opposing ends of two adjacent plates or blades to interconnect same.

9. A cheese mixer according to any one of Claims 5 to 7, wherein the additional processing means are formed as a loop or loops secured to respective plates or blades.

10. A cheese mixer according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the drive shaft is connected to an intermittent power source so that the oscillating movement is briefly stopped before the shaft changes direction of movement in use of the mixer.

11. Cheese mixer substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. which are secured to the same plate or blade. The plates 5 or the blades 5a are still freely adjustable. In the embodiment shown both of said ends of all plates or blades are provided with such loops. However, it is also possible to provide only some of the plates or blades with loops, and the loops may likewise be provided only at the one said end of the plates or blades. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. A cheese mixer comprising a curdling tank or vessel, a horizontal drive shaft mounted for oscillating movement about its longitudinal axis at a location above the normal liquid level in the tank or vessel, and a single row of agitating means, each extending transversely from the shaft, whereby in use of the mixer the agitating means are swung to and fro through a cheese mass within the tank or vessel consequent to oscillating movement of the drive shaft, said agitating means comprising a plurality of mutually parallel plates or blades which are inclined at an acute angle with a plane containing the axis of the shaft and intersecting the plates or blades.