GB2159385A - Cheese press - Google Patents

Abstract

A cheese press comprises cheese moulds (9) having movable covers and spaced presses (7) for pressing vertically on the cover of each cheese mould. The press also includes a reciprocatingly movable beam (10) installed at the bottom of the press to extend in the longitudinal direction thereof and provided with cams (11) which, on the forward stroke of the beam, move the cheese moulds a predetermined distance corresponding to the spacing of the presses. A piston-and- cylinder unit (15) causes the reciprocating movement and is provided with a switch actuator (18) which is arranged to move with the movable part of the piston-and- cylinder unit and to cooperate with three proximity switches (21, 22, 23) arranged in the longitudinal direction which control the piston-and-cylinder unit, the distance between two of the switches (21, 23) corresponding to the said predetermined distance between the adjacent presses and a third proximity switch (22) being adjustable longitudinally in dependence on the dimension of the cheese mould. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Cheese press The invention refers to a cheese pressforthe pressing of cheese in cheese mouldswhich have movable covers by which pressure is applied to the cheese.

G B-A-2,139,069 in the name ofthe present applicants described a cheese press, which is designed as a tunnel chamber and has a conveyorforthe horizontal spaced and intermittent movement of the cheese moulds over a base and, for each cheese mould, with a separate press cylinder acting vertically on the cover ofthe cheese mould via a press plate or stamp. The conveyor is a reciprocatingly movable beam, which is arranged in the bottom ofthe press to extend in the longitudinal direction thereof and is provided with cams, which on the forward stroke of the beam move the cheese moulds a fixed distance overthe bottom corresponding to the spacing of the press cylinders.

Underthe base a cylinder is arranged to cause the reciprocating movementofthe beam in the press, while a whey collecting tank is installed underthe press.

In this cheese press the conveyor beam is used to fill thetunnel chamberwith cheese mouldsorto empty it by means of the cylinder underthe base of the press. A total oftwotimes 36 cheese mouldscan be brought into he chamber.

The stroke ofthe transport element corresponds to the spacing between the successive vertically acting presses.

Now, the variation in sizes of current cheese moulds is fairly large, which means that, when it is desired to fill and emptythe press with cheese moulds of another size, this in itself is possible with the existing conveyor but inthatcase it is not a simple matterto get the moulds directly underthe presses. It is desirableto avoid, orat least to minimize, eccentric loading ofthe presses, as otherwise a bending momentum is exerted on their piston rods.

The invention seeks to provide a cheese press that simply meets the requirement of placing the cheese moulds directly underthe presses.

According to the invention, there is provided cheese pressforthe pressing of cheese in cheese moulds having movable covers by which pressure is applied to the cheese, the cheese press having conveyor means for the spaced and intermittent horizontal movement ofthecheese moulds overa supportsurface and having,foreach cheese mould, a press for pressing vertically on the cover ofthe cheese mould via a pressing member, the conveyor means including a reciprocatingly movable member which is installed at the bottom of the press to extend in the longitudinal direction thereof and is provided with cam elements which, on the forward stroke ofthe movable member, move the cheese moulds a predetermined distance overthe said support surface corresponding to the spacing of the presses, and underthe said support surface a piston-and-cylinder unit arranged to cause the reciprocating movement of the movable member in the press, there being a whey collecting tank installed underthe support surface, wherein the piston-and-cylinder unit is provided with a switch actuator r a rra n g ed to move with the movable part of the piston and cylinder unit and which during the reciprocating movement cooperates with three pro ximityswitches arranged in the longitudinal direction which control the piston and cylinder unit, the distance between two of the switches corresponding to the said predetermined distance between the adjacent presses and a third proximity switch being adjustable longitudinally in dependence on the dimension ofthecheese mould inserted into the cheese press.For example the distance between two adjacent presses and the middle proximity switch is adjustable according to the particular cheese mould size.

While in the cheese press of GB-A-2,1 39,069 the cylinder is connected somewhat flexibly beneath the bottom of the press and the reciprocatingly movable rod, which is coupled to the conveyor beam, is conducted through the wall of the whey collection tank, a well-laid out and compact arrangement without sealing problems is obtained if, according to a preferred optional feature of the present invention, the cylinder is connected directly to the whey collection tank and the switch actuator extends at the other end ofthe cylinder.

An embodiment ofthe invention will be described hereunder, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawing, which shows a side view of a cheese press embodying the invention.

The cheese press depicted is designed as a tunnel 1 partly shown, which is supported on legs 2 and is closed at the end shown by means of a door 3. The bottom 4 of the tunnel 1 is slightly sloping towards the door 3 and a whey collection tank 5 is installed under the lowest part.

On the roof of the tunnel 1, press cylinders are installed at fixed distances apart, e.g. 0.5 m. Only the center lines of these cylinders are shown, indicated by numeral 7 in the figure. Inside the tunnel pressing plates orstamps8 are mounted on the piston rods of the press cylinders 7.

Resting on a support base at the bottom 4 of the tunnel 1 are cheese moulds 9. It is the intention that, for each pressing operation, the centers ofthe cheese moulds coincides with the center lines 7 of the press cylinders.

In the bottom of the tunnel, there is a deepened part in which a conveyor element in the forum of a beam 10 provided with cams 11, can move back and forth.

These cams 11 are also located at spacings of 0.5 m.

They can rotate around a horizontal axis and can tilt upon movementofthe beam 10towardsthedoor3,so that on the return stroke of the beam 10, each cam 11 slides under a cheese mould 9 and thereafter resumes the upright position.

An arm 13 connected to the beam 10 extends through a slot 12 in thefloor4 ofthe tunnel 1 into the whey collection tank. The cylinder 15 is connected at one end to the vertical wall 14Ofthewhey collection tank. The arm 13 is connected to tlie cylinder rod 16 by d flexible connection. Atthe other end, the cylinder 15 is connected to the bottom 4 ofthe tunnel by means of a ciamp 17. At that location, the piston rod is extended as a switch actuator 18 and this '-tenring piston rod portion 18carriesa ring 19neartheendthereof.

Between the piston rod 18 and the bottom 4, there is a rail 20 on which are mounted three proximity switches 21,22 and 23, which are activated by the passing of the ring 19.

The two outer switches 21 and 23 are spaced apart by a distance of again 0.5 m, and this spacing determines the stroke ofthe cylinder 15 since the proximity switches 21 and 23 control an air valve, which controls the air supplyforthe cylinder 15. Thus the beam-shaped transport element 10 with the cams 11 is moved intermittently towards and away from the door3, during filling and emptying ofthe cheese press with cheese moulds 9.

When a smaller cheese mould size is going to be used than those referred to in the Figure by 9 the entire tunnel chamber is first filled using a stroke ofthe cylinder 15 of 0.5 m. The result is, however,thatall the cheese moulds come to be located eccentrically under the center lines 7 ofthe press cylinders. In order to compensate forthis difference, the middle proximity switch 22 is installed on the rail 20 at such a distance from the proximity switch 21, which distance is adjustable and corresponds to the difference in the dimensions ofthe cheese moulds. In order to compensate forthis difference, the cylinder 15, under control of this proximity switch 22, makes once, as the last stroke, a stroke equal to the distance of the switches 21 and 22. Needless to say,thistakes place before the press plates or stamp 8 are activated by the press cylinders.

Claims (3)

1. Cheese press forthe pressing of cheese in cheese moulds having movable covers by which pressure is applied to the cheese, the cheese press having conveyor means forthe spaced and intermittent horizontal movement ofthe cheese moulds over a support surface and having, for each cheese mould, a press for pressing vertically on the cover of the cheese mould via a pressing member, the conveyor means including a reciprocatingly movable memberwhich is installed atthe bottom ofthe press to extend in the longitudinal direction thereof and is provided with cam elements which, on the forward stroke ofthe movable member, move the cheese moulds a predetermined distance over the said support surface corresponding to the spacing of the presses, and underthe said support surface a piston-and-cylinder unit arranged to cause the reciprocating movement of the movable member in the press, there being a whey collectingtanu installed underthe support surface, wherein the piston-and-cylinderunit is provided with a switch actuator arranged to move with the movable part of the piston and cylinder unit and which during the reciprocating movement cooperates with three proximity switches arranged in the longitudinal direction which control the piston and cylinder unit, the distance between two of the switches corresponding to the said predetermined distance between the adjacent presses and a third proximity switch being adjustable longitudinal in dependence on the dimension ofthe cheese mould inserted into the cheese press.

2. Cheese press according to claim 1 wherein the cylinderofthe piston-and-cylinder unit is connected at one end directly to the whey collection tank and the said switch actuator projects at the other end of the cylinder.

3. Cheese press substantially as herein described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.