GB2215712A - Dispensing fluent materials. - Google Patents

Abstract

Fluent materials, e.g. food materials, are dispersed via one or more fixed chambers (20) through orifices (21) in a rotating member (18) into pipes 16 and thence via a weight metering valve (30) and a cam-driven closure valve (31) into containers (12, 13) supported on member (18). The chamber dimensions, and the orifice size and spacing, are chosen to maintain a constant cross-sectional area of passages through which the material passes. To supply liquids through which the device, a pump is used to force the liquid into the chambers (20), and when supplying bulk granular material, augers can be located in pipes (16). <IMAGE>

Description

Improved Food Manufacturlng System This invention relates to a food manufacturing system, but, more particularly, to a food manufacturing system which is automated or seml-automated.

In one known continuous process foodmanufacturing, a conveyor belt or a set of conveyor belts convey a set of food tins through a raw food loading station, a food cooking station, a food removing statlon, a food tin cleaning station and a food tin greasing station, and then on to the raw food loading station.

Such a system is not completely automated, and, consequently, It Is not as efficient as a food manufacturer would hope.

More specifically, one such system Is used In the manufacture of cakes. The known cake manufacturing system incorporates a raw food loading station In which a food discharge arm travels in the same direction as a conveyor belt carrying a cake tin, whilst discharging raw food Into the cake tin until it Is full; whereupon a discharge valve of the arm is closed; the direction of motion of the discharge arm Is then reversed until the discharge valve Is located over another empty cake tin; and the direction of motlon of the discharge arm Is again reversed and a further cake tin filled as before.

Such a prlor art food loading station Is known, In the trade, as an "Indexed system" and to achleve Increases In throughput of raw food Into the cake tins, it Is necessary to increase the pressure with which the raw food Is forced through the discharge valve (which usually has a damaging effect on the quallty of the finished product) and/or to Increase the Indexation speed of the discharge arm (which calls for the provision of more complicated, more expensive and often less reliable engineerlng solutions.

In some prior art cake manufacturing systems there are a plurality of discharge arms, but It Is still necessary to operate the food loading station by an Indexing method which, even though It Is not necessary to change direction of travel of the discharge arm, It is still necessary to stop and start the arm as each tin Is filled. In addition, It Is necessary to control the pressure accurately so that the desired flow rate (and the desired weight of product discharged) is achieved.

It is an obJect of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a food product, which method Is suitable to be used in a fully automatic or semi-automatic system.

It Is another obJect of the present invention to provide a food manufacturing system having a greater efficlency than some prlor art systems.

It is a further object of the present Invent Ion to provide a food manufacturing system and /or method which does not suffer from the absolute necessity to provide complex engineering solutlons In a particular system.

According to the present Invention a valve for discharging tiqulds or liquid-I Ike substances comprises an Inlet member having at least one inlet orifice, an outlet member having two or more outlet orifices, the outlet member being movable relatively to the Inlet member so that each of the outlet orifices traverses at least one inlet orifice to create passages formed through the Inlet and outlet orifices by the registration of each outlet orifice with at least one Inlet orifice, the dimensions of the or each Inlet orifices and the opening between adJacent outlet orifices belng such that the net area of the passages remalns substantlally constant.

The discharge valve can be adapted to discharge food which is raw or cooked or has a relatively low or a relatively high viscosity.

In the preferred embodiment, the valve Includes a generally cylindrical or frusto concical stationary inlet member and a generally cylindrical outlet member which surrounds the Inlet member and, in use, rotates continuously around It. There Is preferably one Inlet orifice (although In certain circumstances the Inlet member could be provided with two or more inlet orifices) and six outlet orifices. The outlet orifices are preferably spaced substantlally radially equally.

A valve for discharging liquid or liquld-lIke substances may be provided with many significant alterations and/or additions.

For example, if it Is desired to produce a "twotone" Ice cream such as raspberry cripple, the two-tone effect may be achieved by feeding one tone of ice cream through a first inlet orifice and a second tone of Ice cream through a second Inlet orifice so that there is a very limited degree of mixing Inside the discharge valve Itself.

The valve may be Incorporated Into a liquld or liquid-like dispensing system wherein a storage tank and a pressure means are associated with the Inlet member and one outlet arm associated with each outlet orifice.

Each outlet orifice of the discharge valve may be provided with a (preferably predominantly radial) discharge arm. Each radial discharge arm Is preferably associated with a weight measurlng valve to determine the weight of food discharged from that arm In a particular cycle. Each radial discharge arm may be associated with a closure valve at or near Its extreme outlet end. Such a closure valve may be opened in response to a signal from the weight measuring valve or a signal from the discharging valve. In a preferred embodiment, the closure valve Is opened and closed by means of a cam and a cam follower. In such a case, the valve is opened when the radial position of the particular discharge arm passes a first pre-set datum point and is closed when the radial position of the said discharge arm passes a second preset datum point.

In the rotary valve discharge apparatus, there may be provided means for receiving and maintaining In positlon, underneath the discharge arm or closure valve (as the case may be), a contalner for receiving any liquid or liquld-like substances which are dispensed. In such a case, these contalner receiving means are preferably formed In two parts; namely, a radial traversing arm and an Insert for fitting to the end of the arm. The Inserts are preferably manufactured to be readlly attachable to the traversing arm so that any stoppage time of the food manufacturing system Is minimised when one set of containers have to be replaced by another set, the other set possibly having a different dimenslon or dimensions.

The dimensions of a valve for discharging liqulds or liquld-like substances are preferably selected so that a substantially constant pressure appi led by a pump or pumps produces a substantlally constant flow rate.

In another embodiment, In which liquld-like substances are dispensed, the valve (at least) may Incorporate an auger (or other propelling means) located within at least part of at least some of the passages.

Such an auger propelled system may prove effective In dispensing grains or powders such as, for example, wheat.

in any event, the net area of the outlet passages Is preferably substantlally the same as the area of the inlet orifice so that the pumping pressure can remain constant for many operations and/or different substances.

According to another aspect of the present invention, apparatus for producing food comprises a storage tank or tanks for containing food; a valve (as specified above) for discharging liquids or liquld-like substances; a pump or pumps for pumping the food from the tank or tanks through the valve; and, a plurality of food containers for receiving predetermined weights of food from the valve.

In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus may Incorporate a mixer to blend Ingredients Into a desired food mix.

The apparatus preferably incorporates, In the case where the food has to be cooked or heated, an oven adapted so that food containers can be conveyed therethrough In a virtually continuous atream. Such apparatus may also Incorporate means for removing the cooked food from the containers and means for cleaning the containers from which the food has been removed.

In a further preferred embodiment, apparatus for producing food incorporates a closed circuit loop wherein food containers are filled by the valve, heated by the oven, emptied by a contalner emptying means, cleaned by a contalner cleaning means, greased (for example with cooking oll) by a contalner greasing means and filled (once more) by the valve. In such apparatus the containers may be conveyed convenlently from one station to another by means of a serles of rollers, chutes, channels, lifts or conveyor belts (as required).

According to another aspect of the present invention, a method of manufacturing a food product comprises the steps of: - mixing two or more food ingredlents together to form a liquid or liquld-like food mixture; - storlng the food mixture In a storage tank; - pumping the food mixture from the storage tank to a discharge valve (as defined herein); - dispensing predetermined amount of the food mixture by means of the sald discharge valve (as herein defined) onto a conveyor means; - conveying the food product to a removal station; - removing the food product from the apparatus.

The food mixture Is preferably discharged from the valve Into a food container.

If the method Is to be used to produce portlons of food to be contained in disposable containers (for example yoghurt, rice pudding or mousse), the steps of removing the food from the containers and conveying the empty containers from the food removing station may be added.

In the event that the food product to be manufactured needs to be cooked, the additional steps of conveying the food contalner (containing a food mixture) to an oven and conveying the food containers (contalning a cooked food product) from the oven may be added.

It should be understood that the term "llquld- llke" is intended to Include mixtures and compounds which are capable of flowing as liqulds (for example, cake mixes) and to include solid particles or grains (for example wheat) which can "flow" In a manner somewhat similar to liquids.

Two embodiments of the present invent Ion will now be descrlbed, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, In which: Flgure 1 Is a somewhat dlagrammatic plan vlew of a food manufacturing system In accordance with the present Invent ion; Flgure 2 Is a partially cross-sectioned plan view of a discharge valve of Flgure 1; Figure 3 is a cross-sectional view through the discharge valve of Flgure 2; Figure 4 is a simplified cross-section through the valve head of Figure 3; Flgure 5 Is a cut-away view of the valve of Figure 4; Figure 6 Is a cross-sectionai view of the outlet end of the discharge arm of Flgure 2;; Figure 7 Is a simplified cross-section plan vlew of the cam mechanism of Flgure 6; and, Flgure 8 is a simplified cross-section through the valve head of a second embodiment of a discharge valve.

In Flgure 1 Is shown a food manufacturing system 1 which comprises generally a food loading station 2, a food cooking station 3, a combined food removing and tin cleaning station 4 and tin greasing station 5. In addition, the food manufacturing system is provided with a food product tank 8, a food product mixer 6 and a food pump 7 for pumping the food from the tank 8, through the mixer 6; and Into the food loading station 2.

As will be appreciated from the drawing, food Is discharged from the food loading station 2 into containers (not shown In Figure 1) which are then conveyed from the food loading station, through the food cooking station (I . e. a travel Ii ng oven) 3, to the combined food removing and tin cleaning station 4, to the tin greasing station 5 and onwards to the food loading station 2 by means of a set of conveyor belts 9.

Thus, It will be seen that the food manufacturing system 1 is essentially a closed loop since food containers (for example, cake tins) are always constralned to move In a closed loop around the system.

In Flgure 2, the food loading station 2 Is seen In more detail. A conveyor belt 9, moving at substantially constant speed In the directlon of the arrow shown in the drawing, conveys empty food tins 11 from the tin greasing station 5 (as seen in Figure 1), to the food loading station Itself 2. When the food tins have been filled with foods, the conveyor belt 9 conveys the full tins 13 from the food loading station 2 to the travelling oven 3 (as seen in Flgure 1).

The food discharge valve 10 of Flgure 2 comprlses generally a stationary Inlet member and a rotatable outlet member surrounding the sald Inlet member, and, In this case, six discharge arms radiating from the outlet member.

More specifically, the inlet member comprises a frusto conical stationary valve member 17 having a food receiving pipe 15 located coaxial ly at Its upper end, there being an outlet orifice 20 formed from the outer face of the valve member 17 to the Internal bore of the food receiving pipe 15. As will be appreciated from Figure 2, the food outlet orifice 20 Is essentially a slot-llke arc having an angle of A. The angle A of the arc of the food outlet orifice 20 is selected with reference to the number of discharge arms 14 and the relative sizes of the outlet orifices of the outlet member. Such relationships will be described, In more detail, In due course.

The outlet member of the food loading station 2, comprises generally a cylindrical outer valve member 18 which surrounds the frusto conical stationary valve member 17 and Is rotatable coaxial liy around it. The food discharge valve 10 is constructed so that the radially outer face of the valve member 17 Is In close assoclation with the radially Inner face of the rotatable valve member 18. In this case, six radlally equally spaced discharge arms 14 radlate from the outer face of the outer valve member 18. Each such discharge arm 14 comprises essentially a food discharge pipe 16 which Is fixed to the outer valve member 18 and has an outlet portion at Its extreme radially outward end.

As will be appreciated from Figure 2, the relative positions of the food discharge pipe 16 (and, more specifically, the food receiving orifice 21 at the extreme Inlet end thereof) and the food outlet orifice of the statlonary valve Inlet member 17 are arranged so that as the outer valve member 18 rotates around the Inlet valve member 17, each of the orifices 21 traverses the orifice 20 to create passages formed through the orifices by the registratlon of the said orifice 21 with the orifice 20.

Referrlng again to Figure 2, It will be seen that the net area of the passages is equivalent to the total area of the orifice 21. Clearly, as the discharge arms 14 and the outer valve member 18 rotate, In the direction of the arrow, In a clockwise direction the leading edge of the outlet orifice 20 will traverse a further orifice 21a of a second discharge arm 16. Consequently, the trailing edge of the outlet orifice 20 will traverse part of the orifice 21b of a further discharge arm 14 at any particular point In time, there will thus be two passages for the food to be discharged. However, the area X of the outlet orifice 20 which is in communication with the first discharge arm 14a plus the area Y of the outlet orifice 20 which Is In communication with the discharge arm 14b (referred to as the net outlet area Z) Is constant.This relationship can be achieved relatively easily, since the total area of each orifice 21 of each discharge arm 14 is the same and Is circular, the shape of the outlet orifice 20 may be substantially rectangular. Also, the relative dimensions of the respective orifices are selected so that the length of the rectangular outlet orifice 20 Is substantlally the same as the distance between the leading point of a first circular orifice 21 and the leading point of a successive orifice 21. In this manner, the net outlet area will always remaln substantially constant.

Referrlng agaln to Figure 2 of the accompanying drawings, it will be seen that empty cake tins 11 move along the conveyor belt 9 until they come Into contact with a generally circular rotatlon plate 26 of the food loading station 2. As the circular plate 26 rotates, a part circular tin receiving cut-out 27 recelves an empty tin 11, and grips the tin so that it Is contained within the cut-out 27 for a cycle of the loading station 2. The empty tin 11 Is rotated in a clockwise direction with the circular plate 26 until the discharge arm 14 forms a passage with the outlet orifice 20 of the statlonary inlet valve member 17, whereupon food is discharged through the arm 14 and out of the outlet end thereof.The partially full tin 12 is rotated with the circular plate 26 unt i I the food passage between the Inner and outer valve members Is closed, whereupon the tin is full. The full tin 13 then proceeds around the food loading station 2 until it Is recelved by the conveyor belt 9. At this point, the food loading station 2 releases the full tin 13 which Is then conveyed, in the direction of the arrow, along the conveyor belt 9 towards the food cooking station 3 (not shown in Flgure 2).

Referrlng now to Flgure 3, which shows a cross sectlonal view through the discharge valve of Figure 2, the food discharge valve 10 Is supported by a rigid support structure 37, which also supports a conveyor belt mechanism 35 which is driven through a drive mechanism 36 by means of a drive power unit 34. The support structure 37 Is also associated with a drive shaft (the power for which is provided by electric or hydraulic motors not shown on Flgure 3) which rotates the rotatable parts of the discharge valve 10 through a gearbox 39.

Towards the top of Flgure 3, there Is shown a food receiving pipe 15 which received food from the food product mixer 6 of Figure 1. Food is pumped through the pipe 15 Into a cylindrical chamber 19 located within the frusto conical stationary valve.member 17. The food then passes from the cylindrical chamber 19 through the food outlet orifice 20 of the inlet member 17, and passes into the food receiving orifice 21 of the discharge arm 14. As may be appreciated with reference to Figure 3, each discharge arm 14 Is fixed to the rotatable outer valve member 18 by means of an easily removable flange or nut 29.It Is desirable that any such flange or nut 29 is easily removable so that, If the food manufacturing system 1 has to be closed down for maintenance, repair or merely to alter one or more of the components thereof, any such stoppage tlme Is minimized. More particularly, If a manufacturer is producing a particular range of products, then one particular product may be more suited to being manufactured by means of a food discharge valve 10 having say six arms, whereas another particular food product may be more sulted to a food discharge valve having more or less arms. Consequently, It Is desirable that the food discharge arms 14 can be removed relatively easily.In certaln cases, it may prove desirable to alter the Internal dimensions of the discharge arms 14, In which case an easily removable flange or nut 29 Is a distinct advantage. In other cases, it may be desirable to manufacture the outer valve member 18 Integrally with all of the discharge arms 14; so that, when the number of discharge arms needs to be altered, It is simply a matter of changing a single module, rather than having to change a large range of components.

As will be appreciated with reference to Flgure 3, each discharge arm 14 comprises, essentially, a radlally proJecting pipe 16 which Is then turned downwardly towards a food container position. At some point between the Inlet end of the discharge arm 14 and the extreme free outlet end thereof, Is located a weight measurlng valve 30. Since weight meterlng valves 30 are already known they will not be described in any great detail.However, It is pointed out that although such valves are a desirable aspect of any food manufacturing system, they are not strictly essentlal. Indeed, a food manufacturing system 1 according to the present invent ion, is designed so that when the pump supplies food at a predetermined pressure, such food will pass through the outlet passage of the discharge valve 10 and that the size and shape of the various outlet orifices, Is such that at least a predetermined weight of food product will be discharged from each of the arms 14.

However, such a practice does lead to a certaln amount of wasteage, since a manufacturer will be tempted to discharge more than is strictly necessary In order that al I food products are above a certaln preset weight limit. This problem may be solved by utillsatlon of a weight measurlng valve 30, wherein a manufacturer will be able to produce Individual food products which are only very slightly above the predetermined produce weight, In the present case, the function of the weight metering valve 30, is to provide the manufacturer with Informatlon as to the weight of the food discharged from any particular arm 14.However, If a particular arm 14 discharges an amount of food less than the present product weight, there may be no provislon for "feed back" to increase the weight of the particular product made thereln. However, the existence of such a weight metering valve 30 does provide an advance indlcatlon of the weight of the finished product. For example, If the food discharge valve 10 were consistently discharging too little food, then, without the weight measuring valve 30, this fact would not be real Ised until the finished products were weighed. In the meantime, the efficient food manufacturing system 1 of the present Invention would have produced at least several minutes worth of underweight products, which would then have to be either destroyed or sold by the manufacturer as seconds".In the present embodiment however, the weight measurlng valve 30 provides an early indicatlon of underwelght food portions and these can be corrected, wlthin a short perlod of time, by increasing the pressure with which the food is forced through the discharge valve 10.

inevitably, there would be a small amount of wasteage, but small amounts of wasteage are virtually unavoidable with all sorts of food manufacturing systems. It will however be appreciated that the presence of a weight measuring valve 30 does give advantages over and above certaln prlor art systems.

At or near the end of each discharge arm 14, is associated a food closure valve, such as a mechanically operated product supply cut-off valve 31. Although such a closure valve may be opened or closed In response to a signal from the weight measuring valve, or a signal from the discharging valve Itself, in the present embodiment the closure valve Is opened and closed by means of a cam and a cam follower. Further details of such a valve and the cam and the cam follower will be described with reference to Flgures 6 and 7. Referrlng again to Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings, raw food 32 is discharged from the open product supply valve 31 located at or near the end of the discharge arm 14. In the drawing, raw food 32 can be seen being discharged Into a partially full food contalner 12.Each food contalner is malntalned in position beneath the product supply cut-off valve 31 by means of the generally circular rotation plate 26 which forms part of the valve outlet member. Each food container is located within a recess or cut-out 27 formed in the radlally outer edge of the circular rotatlon plate 26. As mentioned hereinabove, the circular rotatlon plate 26 Is associated with a set of easily adjustable food contalner fittings 33. The reason for this, Is so that when the food manufacturing system 1 has to be stopped to replace existing food containers with containers of a different size or dimension, it is a simple matter to change the parts of the rotation plate 26 which retain the containers.In this manner, any stoppage tlme of the manufacturing system is minimised during any changeover period. Once again, as such easily adjustable container fittings do not form an essential part of the Invention, and, In any case, as they are already known In the food manufacturing Industry, they will not be described In detall herein.

Referring to Figure 4, it will be seen that In contradistinction to Figure 2, the relative positlons of the stationary inlet valve member 17 and the rotatable outer valve member 18 are so arranged that there are two food passages from the orifice 20 of the Inlet member 17 one Into the depositing arm 16a and the other into the depositing arm 16b.

Turning now to Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings, the concept of the net area of the food passages may become slightly clearer. As detalled above, the net area of the passages Z is equal to area X of Figure 5 plus area Y of Flgure 5. In this manner, the net area of the passages always remalns constant and this fact will be appreciated with reference to Flgure 5. In additlon, the area of the passage formed through the food receiving pipe 15 (referred to as area W) Is substantially equal to the net area of the passages (referred to as Z) so that the pumping pressure can remain constant for many cycles of the food manufacturing system.In additlon, since the area of the food receiving pipe 15 Is substantially constant along Its length, then It would be a very simple matter to determine the outlet flow rate by straightforward reference to the flow rate of food through the sald food receiving pipe 15. If, of course, the area W was not substantially the same as the area Z then more complex calculatlons would be required by a manufacturer.

In Flgure 6, the outlet end of the discharge arm 14 is shown in a somewhat diagrammatic form. Food Is forced along the discharge arm 14 (in the form of a food discharge pipe 16), through the weight meterlng valve 30 and toward the closure valve 31.

The closure valve 31 comprlses generally a fixed radlally orlented discharge plate 42, and a fixed short supplementary discharge plate 44, separated by means of a movable closure plate 46. The upper discharge plate 42, is, in this embodiment, fluxed to the rotatable outer valve member 18 of the food discharge valve. In other embodiments, it could be fluxed to the discharge arm 14b and/or any weight measuring valve 30. The short supplementary discharge plate 44, Is located beneath the discharge plate 42, so that a hole 43 formed vertically through the upper plate 42, and being coaxial liy orlented with respect to the bore of the discharge pipe 16, Is substantlally coaxial with a second hole 45 formed vertically through the short supplementary plate 44.As will be appreciated from Flgure 6, the dlameter of the holes 43 and 45, are substantlally the same as the Internal bore of the discharge pipe 16.

The movable closure plate 46, is similarly provided with a vertically oriented hole 47 formed therethrough, the dlameter of the hole being substantlally the same as the diameter of both the holes 43 and 45 of the fixed closure plates. Referring agaln to Flgure 6 of the accompanying drawings, It will be seen that the radially Inner end of the movable closure plate 46, Is driven In response to a cam and a cam follower. Such a cam arrangement is illustrated only diagrammatically in Flgure 6 but further details are shown In Figure 7.

Dlrectly beneath the lowermost portion of the closure valve 31, Is located an empty food contalner 11.

in the arrangement as shown In the drawings, the closure valve 31 Is In a position so that food may not pass from the upper hole 43 of the valve through the central hole 47 and out of the lower hole 45. Durlng the operatlon of the discharge valve 10, the movable closure plate will be traversed radially outwards so that the hole 47 gradually aligns itself with the adJacent holes 43 and 45. In other words, when all three holes are substantlally coaxial, food will flow from the discharge arm 14 and into the food contaIner directly below. As the movable closure plate 46 returns to Its closed position, the passage formed by the registration of the hole 47 with the holes 43 and 45 will be reduced In area, so that, eventually, the passage Is closed altogether.

In Flgure 7, which is a simplified crosssectional plan vlew of the cam mechanism, the rotation plate 26 is shown together with a plurality of food containers 11, a pair of cam surfaces and an indlcatlon of the depositing arc A of the food discharge valve 10.

More particularly, considering the radially oriented discharge plate 42 when it is located In positlon B, it will be seen that the location of the movable closure hole 47 is not directly above the food container 11, and Is not In registration with elther of the two fluxed closure holes 43 and 45. In other words, the closure valve 31, In position B, is closed.

Considering the location of the cam follower when the closure valve 31 Is at position B, it will be seen from the drawing that the cam follower Is following a circular path as illustrated by the dotted line. It will also be appreciated, that in position B, the cam follower Is at Its minimum radial distance from the axis of rotatlon of the outer valve member 18.

In Figure 7, In contrast to preceding figures, the substantlally circular rotatlon plate 26 moves in an antl-clockwlse direction, so that the cam follower Impinges upon the opening cam surface 40, and moves radially outwards. As the cam follower traverses the surface of the cam 40, the closure hole 47 moves, similarly, radlally outwards. Once the closure hole 47 is a particular distance from the axis of rotation of the outer valve member 18, the closure valve 31 Is provided with a small passage for food therethrough. The first point at which there is a passage formed through the closure valve 31 Is marked with the letter D on Flgure 7.

It will be seen therefore that, following the directions of the arrow of the path of the cam follower, the closure valve 31 opens to its maximum extent (at point E) and then gradually closes until the passage Is completely blocked (at point F). Thereafter, the hole 47 moves with the plate 46, nearer to the axis of rotation of the rotatable outer valve member 18. In other words, with reference to Flgure 7 of the drawings, the closure valve 31 Is open for that part of the path of the cam follower from D to E to F, and Is closed for the remaining part of the path of the cam follower namely, from F to D.

It will be appreciated from the drawings, that the cam follower is moved radially outwards, by the opening cam surface 40. The functlon of the closing cam surface 41, is to move the cam follower from Its radlally outward position towards its radial ly Inward position.

Accordingly, the path of the cam follower, as seen in Flgure 7, approxlmates to an eclIpse.

It will also be seen from Flgure 7, that the depositing arc A of the food discharge valve 10 is the angle between point D (when the closure valve first opens) and point F (when the closure valve fInally closes).

More specifically, referring to the technical specification of the Invention, the following figures have been calculated for apparatus made in accordance with the present Invention.

A food discharge valve manufactured In accordance with the present invent Ion, having six discharge arms, and a circular rotatlon plate or table 26 rotating at one revolution every four seconds, can be used to produce ninety products per minute. Alternatively, a similar food discharge valve 10, rotating at one revolution In two seconds, can be used to manufacture approximately one hundred and elghty products per minute. If it is required to produce a product having a diameter of approximately ten Inches, then it Is possible to produce a food discharge valve 10 having six discharge arms wherein the circular rotation plate or table 26, has a diameter of approximately 30 Inches.Alternatively, it is possible to produce a food discharge valve 10 having approximately fourteen discharge arms to produce a similar 10 Inch product, with a table having a diameter of approximately 46 inches.

It will also be appreciated, that It is not strictly necessary to limit the Invention to a valve having only one inlet orifice. In particular, if it is required to produce a two-tone Ice cream such as raspberry ripple, the two-tone effect may be achieved by feeding one tone of ice cream through a first Inlet orifice and a second tone of ice cream through a second Inlet orifice, so that there is a very limited degree of mixing Inside the discharge valve Itself. In such a manner, the raspberry cripple Ice cream so produced, would have a slightly streaky effect as required.

It will also be appreciated, that the invention Is not limited to the dispensing of purely liquid substances. More particularly, it - is possible to produce and despatch foods which have a relatively high viscosity (but which essentially are still liquid), or, Indeed, such substances which, In thelr bulk form, flow In a manner somewhat similar to Liquids. In such a case, an auger (or any other propelling means) may be located with the valve Inlet pipe, and/or the discharge arm or arms. Such an auger propelled system, may prove very effective in dispensing gralns or granulated substances such as, for example, wheat and/or granulated sugar.In any event, it is clearly within the scope of the present invent Ion, to discharge substances, which consist of a mixture of liquids and powders, (or a mixture of liquids and grains), such as, for example, rice pudding or yoghurt.

In a perfectly manufactured system all outlet orifices of the valve will be Identical and will have an identical flow rate therethrough. In practice, each orifice will not be absolutely Identical and/or the dimenslon of each discharge arm will not be Identical. If it Is a requirement that each product has a weight accurate to a few grammes or less, then each weight measuring valve can be adjusted Individually so that each arm dispenses an indentical weight of product. In other words, if arm A discharges 0.5% less than each other arm (because It Is a Little shorter or the net outlet area of the arm is a little less than other arms) the associated weight measurlng valve can be set to dispense 0.5% too much food, thus resulting in arm A discharging accurately the correct amount.

Varlous components of the system, have not been described in detall since they are well known In the art.

One such example, Is that of the food cooking station 3 which may be selected from a whole range of such components as desired. Clearly, It Is advantageous to select a food cooking station wherein the food can be cooked in a continuous stream, as opposed to batch cooking as In a conventional oven.

In Flgure 8 a food discharge valve comprlses generally a stationary Inlet member and a rotatable outlet member surrounding the Inlet member and, in this case, six discharge arms radiating from the outlet member.

The in let member comprlses a frusto-conical statlonary valve member 17 having a food receiving pipe (not shown) located coaxially at its upper end, there being two opposing outlet orifices 20 formed from the outer face of the valve member 17 to the Internal bore of the food receiving pipe.

The outlet member of the food loading station (not shown in Flgure 8) comprlses generally a cylindrical outer valve member 18 which surrounds the frusto-conical valve member 17 and is rotatable coaxially around It.

The food discharge valve is constructed so that the radially outer face of the valve member 17 Is in close association with the radially inner face of the valve member 18.

It will be appreciated from the drawing that, In use, the net outlet area of the first outlet orifice 20a remains substantial ly constant, that the net outlet area of the second outlet area 20b remains substantially constant, and, the total net outlet area remalns substantlally constant.

The advantage of the above arrangement is that it virtually doubles the throughput of the food discharge valve.

Clearly other modifications along the lines of Flgure 8 would be made wlthout departing from the spirit or the scope of the present Invention. For example, there could be more than two outlet areas and/or more or less than six discharge arms.

The invention is not restricted to the detalls of the foregoing embodiments. The invent ion extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed In this specification and/or drawings and/or claims, or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process disclosed herein.

Claims (50)

1. A valve for discharging liquids and liquid-llke substances comprising an Inlet member having at least one Inlet orifice, an outlet member having two or more outlet orifices, the outlet member belng movable relatively to the Inlet member so that each of the outlet orifices traverses at least one inlet orifice to create passages formed through the Inlet and outlet orifices by the registration of each outlet orifice with at least one Inlet orifice, the dimensions of the or each Inlet orifices and the opening between adjacent outlet orifices being such that the net area of the passages remains substantlally constant.

2. A valve according to Claim 1 wherein it is adapted to discharge food which Is raw or cooked or has a relatively low or a relatively high viscosity.

3. A valve according to Claims 1 or 2 wherein there is a generally cylindrical or frusto conical statlonary inlet member and a generally cylindrical outlet member which surrounds the Inlet member and, In use, rotates continuously around it.

4. A valve according to Claim 3 wherein there Is one Inlet orifice and six outlet orifices.

5. A valve according to Claim 4 wherein the outlet orifices are preferably spaced substantlally radlally equal ly.

6. A valve according to any of Claims 1 to 5 wherein each outlet orifice of the discharge valve Is provided with a discharge arm.

7. A valve according to Claim 6 wherein the arm extends radically.

8. A valve according to Claims 6 or 7 wherein each radial arm Is associated with a weight measurlng valve to determine the weight of food discharged from that arm in a particular cycle.

9. A valve according to Claims 6, 7 or 8 wherein each discharge arm Is associated with a closure valve at or near Its extreme outlet end.

10. A valve according to Claim 9 wherein such closure valve is openable In response to a signal from the weight measuring valve or a signal from the discharging valve.

11. A valve according to Claim 9 or 10 wherein the closure valve is opened and closed by means of at least one cam and a cam follower.

12. A valve according to Claim 11 wherein the valve is opened when the radial position of the particular discharge arm passes a first pre-set datum point and is closed when the radial positlon of the said discharge arm passes a second pre-set datum point.

13. A valve according to any of Claims 1 to 12 wherein there is a means for receiving and maintaining in position, underneath the discharge arm or closure valve (as the case may be), a contalner for receiving any liquid or liquid-iike substances which are dispensed.

14. A valve according to Clalm 13 wherein these container receiving means are preferably formed in two parts.

15. A valve according to Clalm 14 wherein the parts comprise a radial traversing arm and an Insert for fitting to the end of the arm.

16. A valve according to Clalm 15 wherein the Inserts are manufactured to be readlly attachable to the traversing arm so that any stoppage time of the food manufacturing system Is min Imised when one set of containers have to be replaced by another set.

17. A valve according to any of Claims 1 to 5 wherein the dimensions of a valve for discharging liquids or liquld-like substances are selected so that a substantlally constant pressure applied by a pump or pumps produces a substantially constant flow rate.

18. A valve according to Clalm 1, in which liquld or liquid-like substances are dispensed, the valve Incorporates a substance propelling means located within at least part of at least some of the passages.

19. A valve according to Claim 18 wherein the substance propelling means comprises an auger.

20. Apparatus for producing food comprising at least one storage tank for storing liquid or liquld-lIke food; a valve (as specified above) for discharging liquids or I Iquid-i Ike food substances; at least one pump for forcing the food from a storage tank through the valve; and, a plural ity of food containers for receiving predetermined welghts of food from the valve.

21. Apparatus according to Clalm 20 wherein the apparatus Incorporates a mixer to blend food Ingredients Into a desired food mix.

22. Apparatus according to Claims 20 or 21 wherein the apparatus Incorporates, In the case where the food has to be cooked or heated, an oven adapted so that food containers can be conveyed therethrough In a virtually continuous stream.

23. Apparatus according to Clalm 22 wherein such apparatus Incorporates means for removing the cooked food from the containers and means for cleaning the containers from which the food has been removed.

24. Apparatus according to Claim 23 wherein such apparatus Incorporates means for cleaning the containers from which food has been removed.

25. Apparatus according to any of Claims 20 to 24 wherein the food producing apparatus incorporates a closed circuit loop wherein food containers are filled by the valve, heated by the oven, emptied by a container emptying means, cleaned by a container cleaning means, greased by a contalner greasing means and filled (agaln by the valve.

26. Apparatus according to Claim 25 wherein the containers are conveyed conveniently from one station to another by means of a serles of rollers, chutes, channels, lifts or conveyor belts (as required).

27. A method of manufacturing a food product comprising the steps of: - mixing two or more food Ingredlents together to form a liquld or liquid-i Ike food mixture; - storing the food mixture In a storage tank; - pumping the food mixture from the storage tank to a discharge valve (as defined herein); - dispensing predetermined amounts of the food mixture by means of the said discharge valve (as herein defIned) onto a conveyor means; - conveying the food product to a removal station; - removing the food product from the apparatus.

28. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Clalm 27 wherein, when the food product needs to be cooked, the uncooked food product Is conveyed to an oven and cooked.

29. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 28 wherein, when the food product needs to be cooked before it Is dispensed by the valve, the oven Is located upstream of the valve.

30. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Clalm 28 wherein, when the food product needs to be cooked after it has been dispensed by the valve, the oven is located downstream of the valve.

31. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 27 wherein, when the food product needs to be cooled (or frozen), the uncooked (or unfrozen) food product Is conveyed to a coollng means (or freezing means, as the case may be) and cooled or frozen as required.

32. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 31 wherein, when the food product needs to be cooled (or frozen) before it Is dispensed by the valve, the coollng means (or freezing means, as the case may be) Is located upstream of the valve.

33. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 31 wherein, when the food product needs to be cooled (or frozen) after It Is dispensed by the valve, the cooling means (or freezing means, as the case may be) Is located downstream of the valve.

34. A method of manufacturing a food product according to any of Claims 28 to 30 wherein the food product Is cooked In a travelling oven.

35. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 34 wherein the food product Is cooked in an oven utilising radiant heat.

36. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 34 wherein the food product is cooked In an oven utilising convected heat.

37. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Clalm 34 wherein the food product is cooked In an oven utilising conducted heat.

38. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 34 wherein the food product Is cooked In an oven utilising microwave energy.

39. A method of manufacturing a food product according to any of Claims 27 to 38 wherein predetermined amounts of the food mixture are dispensed through a weight measuring valve to determine the weight of the food product in that particular batch.

40. A method of manufacturing a food product according to any of Claims 27 to 39 wherein the food products are discharged from the said valve Into a container.

41. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 40 wherein the containers (containing food) are removed from the apparatus when the food product Is in the desired state.

42. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 40 wherein the food containers (containing food in the desired state) are conveyed to a product removal station.

43. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 42 wherein the food products are removed- from their respective containers at the product removal station.

44. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 43 wherein the empty containers are conveyed to a container cleansing station.

45. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Clalm 44 wherein the empty containers are cleaned at the cleansing station.

46. A method of manufacturing a food product according to Claim 45 wherein the empty containers are conveyed towards the discharge valve.

47. A method of manufacturing a food product according to any of the Claims 27 to 30 or 34 to 46 wherein the containers are greased (to prevent food adherlng to their surfaces) prlor to receiving the food product from the valve.

48. A valve substantlally as herelnbefore descrlbed with reference to Flgures 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.

49. Apparatus for producing food substantlally as hereinbefore descrlbed with reference to Flgures 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.

50. A method of manufacturing a food product substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Flgures 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings.