JPS5916743B2 - Method for producing soft ice cream and apparatus for producing soft ice cream - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for producing soft ice cream, particularly a method for producing soft ice cream using a home-use soft ice production device, and an apparatus for producing soft ice cream, particularly a home-use soft ice production device. Regarding.

A domestic soft ice cream production device is known, for example, from Swiss Patent No. 624,278.

The main component of such home soft ice production equipment is a component provided for cooling the soft ice mixture (mix), that is, a component that removes heat from the mixture and solidifies the mixture by freezing. .

In large soft ice cream production machines, cooling devices are almost always used for this purpose, for example cooling devices such as those used in freezers.

On the other hand, in domestic soft ice production equipment, for the above purpose, a cold base (for example, a mixture of water and salt) is first frozen in the freezer, and then produced as a cooling medium when using the production equipment. A cooling cylinder is used that is placed into the device.

However, in practice, it is not possible to always obtain good quality soft ice cream using such home-use soft ice cream manufacturing equipment.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and a device by which soft ice cream of the same quality can be obtained using the same raw materials.

The features of the inventive method for solving this problem are: freezing the liquid mixture, placing the frozen mixture in a production device, closing the production device in a gas-tight manner, loading the mixture with high-pressure gas or compressed air, and freezing the mixture. When cutting the frozen mixture with a cutting member that rotates relative to the frozen mixture, the feed of the cutting member is constantly controlled to locally and temporarily liquefy a uniform thin layer from the frozen mixture. The mixture is stirred to incorporate gas or air, the mixture containing the gas or air is frozen again, and the resulting soft ice is removed from the production equipment.

A soft ice production apparatus for carrying out the method is shown in claim 6.

The invention will now be explained with reference to the drawings: FIGS. 1 and 1a show a substantially identical domestic soft ice cream production device 1 with a stand 3 and an insulated container 4. FIG.

A mixture container 5 is arranged within the heat insulating container 4 .

This mixture container 5 can be constructed as belonging to a production device or can be constructed as a can filled with a mixture for soft ice cream.

A seal member 12 is provided between the heat insulating container 4 and the mixture container 5.

A frozen mixture 7 is present in the mixture container 5 .

The drive device 8 is fixed on the heat insulating container 4 via a closure 17 as shown.

The drive device 8 includes a motor 9 with a transmission and feed unit 10
and a piston 11 having a sealing member that hermetically closes the inside of the manufacturing apparatus.

The parallel drive unit 10 is equipped with a spindle nut 15 having a threaded spindle 14 .

The spindle nut 15 is constructed as a shaft at its lower end, at the end of which a beam or disk-shaped cutting element 16 is provided.

When cutting the frozen mixture 7, the cutting member 16 is given a rotational movement as well as a feed movement.

This feed motion is provided by varying the rotational speed of the threaded spindle 14 and spindle nut 15.

The limits of the average cutting speed, measured in % of the radius of the circle of rotation of the cutting member 16, are from 1.7 to 5.3 m/sec.

Below this speed, the quality of the soft ice quickly deteriorates and the soft ice becomes too soft.

The feed rate per revolution of the cutting member 16 is important to the quality of the soft ice.

In practice, it has been confirmed that the appropriate feed rate is 0.02 to 0.037A7M per revolution.

The lower limit of feed rate is about 0.005 mm per revolution.

If the feed rate is lower than this, the soft ice will be heated too strongly.

The upper limit of the feed rate is approximately Q, l mm per revolution; if the feed rate is higher than this, a pure cutting process will begin instead of a cutting process with melting, resulting in shaved ice rather than soft ice.

2 and 2a show a portion of the domestic soft ice cream production apparatus shown in FIG. 1. FIG.

Components shown in FIG. 1 are given the same reference numerals as in FIG.

A cutting member 16, the detailed structure of which will be explained later, is connected to the spindle nut 15 with a pin 20.

The thread of the spindle nut 15 meshes with the external thread of the threaded spindle 14.

The threaded spindle 14 is axially stationary but rotatably arranged in the casing.

On the other hand, the spindle nut 15 is arranged so that it can not only rotate but also move in the axial direction.

Both the threaded spindle 14 and the spindle nut 15 are driven.

The difference in rotational speed between the threaded spindle 14 and the spindle nut 15 causes the spindle nut 15 to be lowered or raised together with the cutting member 16.

In addition to the function of sealing the working chamber 13 from the outside, the seal member 12 also functions as a valve.

That is, the sealing member 12 has the spindle nut 1 in the center.
It has five through holes 22.

One end of this through hole 22 can be opened and closed by a ring lip 23.

A piston 11 is arranged above the seal member 12.

The end of the piston 11 facing the sealing member 12 is connected to the second
It can be configured as a ring-shaped elevation 26, as shown in the left-hand half of the figure, or as a closure lid, as shown in the right-hand half.

By pushing the piston 11 harder, the protrusion 26 is more firmly pressed into the sealing member 12 and the ring lip 23
The pressure against the spindle nut 15 is increased.

In order to pump compressed air into the working chamber 13 from an external source of compressed air or from a source of compressed air belonging to the device, a nipple 28 with a hole 27 and a sealing element 29 is provided.
and a compressed air supply hose 30 are provided.

The air volume of the working chamber 13 above the frozen mixture has important implications for the air content of the soft ice.

Usually the ratio of air volume to mixture is chosen to be 0.5:1, so as to obtain 1.5 volumes of soft ice for every 1 volume of mixture.

The air content of the soft ice can therefore be varied in a simple manner by the air volume and air pressure in the working chamber 13.

The main function of the sealing member 12 is to seal the working chamber 13 from the outside so that an excessive pressure is created in the working chamber 13 compared to the surroundings.

Seal member 1 normally in contact with spindle nut 15
The second ring lip 23 has two purposes in addition to sealing.

This ring lip 23 prevents the mixture or soft ice from reaching other chambers of the production apparatus along the spindle nut 15 when the pressure drops on the compressed air side.

Under normal operating conditions, the ring lip 23 acts as a check valve for the supplied compressed air.

Compressed air is fed into the working chamber 13 through the hole 27 in the spindle nut 15 via the open ring lip 23.

Due to the preload applied to the ring lip 23, the ring lip 23 acts as a throttle.

Therefore, on the transmission side of the ring lip 23 there is an air pressure that is 0.3 bar higher than in the working chamber 13.

Therefore, an overpressure is always guaranteed above the ring lip 23, so that air can only flow towards the working chamber 13.

This air flow constantly cleans up any mixture that may have been splashed onto the spindle nut, so that a very advantageous double effect is achieved.

Moreover, since the contact pressure of the ring lip 23 against the rotating spindle nut 15 is significantly reduced, generation of frictional heat at this sealing location is avoided.

The generation of heat in the working chamber 13 of the soft ice production apparatus is of course disadvantageous.

As its construction indicates, the ring lip 23 also acts as a check valve in the event of a drop in air pressure, for example due to a compressor failure.

This check valve action prevents the mixture from flowing out of the working chamber 13 again.

A home-use soft ice cream production device is used to produce soft ice cream as follows.

The mixture, or soft ice material, is frozen from a liquid state.

This is done in a freezer or a refrigerator with a freezer compartment.

When making soft ice, the frozen mixture is placed in the soft ice production device 1 in a container 5, which may be, for example, a commercially available storage can.

The work chamber in which the soft ice is produced is hermetically closed so that the gas or air for producing the soft effect is supplied under pressure at the appropriate moment.

The frozen mixture is then comminuted by crushing, shaving, cutting and/or hitting with tools, such as cutting members 16, which also serve for intensive mixing of the soft ice formed.

For this purpose, the cutting tool and the mixing blade are arranged with opposite conveying directions.

This achieves a strong vortex and thus good mixing.

Comminution of a mixture is carried out using any tool that is moved in some way over the surface of and/or within the frozen mixture and breaks up, i.e. cuts or crushes, the mixture into small chips. I can do it.

In this process, the frozen mixture is liquefied by the pressure and frictional heat generated due to the high speed of the tool.

However, due to the ambient temperature, the air or gas mixture quickly freezes again in the meantime.

The relative motion required for this process can be provided either by the frozen mixture or by the tool.

It is also possible to move the mixture and the tool simultaneously, for example to intensify the mixing process at the same time as the cutting process.

1 The feed unit or transmission of the drive 8 serves to ensure a uniform cutting process.

Feeding can take place via a tool or the frozen mixture.

Experiments have shown that, under certain preconditions, the feed can be generated by weight or by means of one or more springs.

The tool can be moved back and forth several times, for example in so-called rapid traverse, before the cutting and mixing process is finished, in order to increase the mixing condition.

It is also advantageous to rapidly return the tool to its starting position after the cutting process has ended, so that unnecessary frictional heat is not generated.

This is because the ideal temperature for freshly made soft ice is -6°C.

According to experiments, the quality of soft ice is determined by the tool or cutting member16.
It was found that it is related to

3 to 11 show how they may advantageously be constructed.

The cutting member 16 consists of a cutting and friction twin blade 45 and a mixing twin blade 46 arranged transversely thereto, ie in the direction of the cross axis 54 .

The wing body can be stamped and molded from stainless steel sheet.

The cutting and friction twin blades 45 have an upwardly sloped surface toward the exit edge, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7.

This inclined surface conveys the cut mixed material upwardly during rotation.

In this case, the negative inflow angle α of the cutting edge is approximately constant along the cutting and friction double body, whereas the outflow angle β is constant or increases from the inside to the outside.

The mixing double wing 46 (FIG. 10) has a positive inlet angle α in contrast to the cutting and friction wing 45.

This inlet angle α conveys the mixed material downwards, ie towards the cutting surface.

As a result, the material is mixed very well and mixed with the supplied air, thereby achieving a so-called soft effect.

Due to the high rotational speed, this mixing takes place partially while the mixture is still in liquid form.

This is because the mixture is temporarily changed from a frozen state to a liquid state by the pressure and friction of the cutting blades 49, 50 of the cutting member 16.

The cutting and friction twins 45 are offset in the axial direction by about 2 nm relative to the mixing twins 46, so that only the cutting and melting processes take place.

The cutting and friction wings 45 therefore act directly on the frozen mixture.

In order to uniformly load both blades of the cutting and friction twin blades 45, the cutting edges 49,50 are interrupted by recesses 51.52.

In this case, the recesses 51, 52 are offset relative to each other in radial direction.

The cutting edge length is at most the same as the cutting edge length of one wing when viewed in all cutting edge directions.

This avoids loading only one wing.

As a result, no bending loads are applied to the boss 47 and thus to the spindle nut 15.

In order to be able to clean the cutting member 16 well, it is fixed to the spindle nut 15 with a bayonet joint so that it can be removed very easily.

Furthermore, an important factor when producing soft ice is that the injected air or gas and the cut and frozen mixture are thoroughly mixed.

When the air or gas pressure is increased, the mixture absorbs a correspondingly large amount of gas in the liquid state.

The application of air or gas pressure can be carried out, for example, by leaving a hollow chamber above the mixture 7 in the production apparatus 1 and contracting this hollow chamber with the piston 11 with the lid placed on it.

This compresses the air within the hollow chamber.

This compressed air is then mixed with the cutting mixture 7 during the cutting process.

Advantageously, the gas pressure in the hollow chamber is between 0.5 and 5 bar, in particular 2 bar.

Another arrangement for providing air or gas is to pump the air or gas in compressed form into the mixing chamber or to use so-called gas cylinders to increase the pressure in the mixing chamber to the desired value. .

Removal of the finished soft ice cream from the mixing container 5 or can can take place in various ways.

The soft ice can be consumed directly from the can, for example, but it can also be kept in the mixing container 5.

In this case, instead of the drive 8, a lid with an outlet valve and a compressed air valve is placed on the mixing vessel 5.

In this case, after the lid has been hermetically fixed in the lower part of the production device 1, a new pressure is applied via the compressed air valve to the mixing vessel 5 by means of a pump or a compressed cylinder, and thus to the finished soft ice cream. given above.

Soft ice is then forced out of the mixing vessel on demand by actuating the outlet valve.

In another embodiment, a lid is placed on top of the container which, via a hand or motor operated mechanism, pushes a piston into the interior of the mixing container, thereby removing the soft ice from the opening.

The illustrated household soft ice production device 1 has a moving cutting member 16 or tool and, for example, a continuously adjustable mechanically applied feed.

The mixing process is carried out by completely automatically stirring the mixture once or several times after the cutting process has completely ended.

In this case, the manufacturing apparatus 1 is automatically stopped.

The end of soft ice production can be signaled, for example, by an acoustic signal.

A soft ice mixture can be obtained by mixing the granular material with water and optionally milk.

Further, it is also possible to perform cutting without applying overpressure gas and to perform mixing by applying overpressure gas.

Observations have shown that during cutting, a significant melting phenomenon is observed at the cutting edge of the cutting member 16 or at the leading edge of the tool, followed by freezing of the leg halves containing gas or air.

In order to obtain good quality soft ice with this method, it is advantageous to rotate the cutting member or tool at 2000 r/groove 7j and to feed it with a very small feed rate of 0.02 mm per rotation.

If you imagine a cut being scraped off the surface of a frozen mixture by a cutting member or tool, you will understand that it is almost impossible to scrape off the ice in such a thin layer due to the brittle nature of the ice.

Furthermore, experiments have confirmed that it is important whether the cutting member or tool has a sharp cutting edge.

It can be inferred from the aforementioned reasons that the cutting member or tool liquefies a very thin layer of the frozen mixture due to pressure and/or frictional heat.

Due to the high processing speed, the temporarily liquefied mixture is mixed with air under increased pressure and instantly frozen by the low ambient temperature, thereby creating soft ice.

The above-mentioned construction of the domestic soft ice production device must be provided with safety measures so that the compressed air trapped within the production device does not pose a hazard.

For this purpose, a safety pin 35 is used which is arranged in the closure body 17 shown in FIG. 2 so that it can be pulled out against the force of a spring.

The head 36 of this safety pin 35 is connected to the blind hole 37 of the heat insulating container 4.
, thereby preventing the closure body 17 from being lifted.

Furthermore, the heat-insulating container 4 is provided with a helically extending groove 39 in which a projection 40 arranged on the closure 17 engages.

The groove 39 opens at the upper end of the heat insulating container 4.

In this position the projection 40 is released and the closure 17 can now be removed.

Of course, the number of protrusions 40 may be plural.

The purpose of the helical groove 39 is to prevent the mixing container 5 from being struck downwards by the pressure present in the working chamber 13 when unlocked after the working process.

By rotating the mixing container 5 by hand after unlocking the mixing container 5, the mixing container 5 moves downward along the groove 39 and enters the working chamber 1.
Connect 3 to the surrounding area.

This eliminates the pressure before the mixing vessel reaches the actual separation point.

Furthermore, in order to reduce the risk of accidents, the cutting member 16
must be such that it cannot rotate unless the closure 17 is locked.

This is done by means of a pin which releases the plate 61 and thus the limit switch (not shown) for the purpose of connecting the drive device 8 only after the closure body 17 has been locked.

In the operating state, ie, the limit switch is in the on position, the extension 66 of the switch shaft 63 projects beyond the cover 64.

When this extension 66 is pushed downwards, switching to a rapid return stroke takes place in a logical switch cycle structure detailed in Swiss Patent Application No. 7445/81-8 of November 1981. It will be done.

When a pulse other than a short pulse is applied to the extension portion 66,
That is, if this extension 66 is pressed for a long time, the drive device 8 will be stopped after a few seconds.

This is because the return stroke moves the limit switch to the off position.

Such a mechanism makes it possible, for example, to interrupt the working process of the production device without additional measures if the presence of foreign matter in the mixture is signaled by an abnormal sound.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show several embodiments of the invention, the first
The figure is a cross-sectional view of a home-use soft ice cream manufacturing device, and FIG. 1a is a partial cross-sectional view of another home-use soft ice cream manufacturing device.
Figure 2 is a diagram showing a part of the home-use soft ice cream manufacturing apparatus shown in Figure 1, Figure 2a is a diagram showing the upper part of the manufacturing apparatus shown in Figure 2, and Figure 3 is a diagram showing the cutting member and the holding part. 4 is a view showing the cutting member shown in FIG. 3 rotated by 90 degrees, FIG. 5 is a plan view of the cutting member shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and FIG. Figures 7, 8, 9, and 10 are
A cross-sectional view along the Vl-Vl line, ■-■ line, ■-■ line, IX-IX line, and X-X line in the figure. FIG. 1... Soft ice cream production equipment, 3...
Stand, 4... Insulated container, 5... Mixing container, 7... Mixture, 8... Drive device, 9... Motor, 10... Transmission parallel feed unit, 11... Piston, 12...
... Seal member, 13... Work chamber, 14...
... Threaded spindle, 15 ... Spindle nut, 16 ... Cutting member, 17 ... Closing body, 20 ... Pin, 22 ... ... Penetrator L 23 ... Ring lip, 26 ...
- Raised portion, 27... Hole, 28... Nipple, 29... Seal member, 30...
Compressed air supply hose, 35...Safety pin, 36
...Head, 37...Blind hole, 45...
... Cutting/friction twin wing body, 46... Mixed twin wing body, 47... Boss, 49,50... Cutting blade, 51,52...・Notch, 61...
Plate, 63...Switch shaft, 66...Extension part.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Freezing a liquid mixture, placing the frozen mixture in a manufacturing device, closing the manufacturing device in a gas-tight manner, loading the mixture with high pressure gas or compressed air, and applying the frozen mixture to the manufacturing device. When cutting with a relatively rotating cutting member, the feed of the cutting member is constantly controlled to locally and temporarily liquefy a uniform thin layer from the frozen mixture, and the liquefied mixture is stirred. A method for producing soft ice, comprising mixing gas or air, freezing the mixture containing gas or air again, and taking out the finished soft ice from a production apparatus. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the mixture is characterized by moving the cutting member at a cutting speed of about 1.5 to 6 m/sec. 3 Constant feed of the cutting member is 0.0 per revolution
05-0.1 mm, advantageously 0.02-0.03+++
The method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein i is selected. 4. Process according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the frozen mixture is liquefied with a knife- or beam-shaped cutting element rotating at a rotational speed of preferably 2000/-. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the manufactured soft ice is taken out by extrusion from the manufacturing device. 6. A gas-tight closable container for receiving a frozen mixture of liquid mixtures and cutting for locally and temporarily liquefying a uniform thin layer from the frozen mixture with constant control of the feed rate. a device for feeding or generating overpressure gas or air into the container, a device for mixing overpressure gas or air into the liquefied mixture, and a device for taking out the finished soft ice from the manufacturing device. A device for producing soft ice cream, which is characterized by: 7. Apparatus according to claim 6, in which the cutting member is automatically moved with constant feed relative to the frozen mixture or container. 8. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the lid of the production device is designed as a piston 11, by means of which an overpressure can be applied to the mixture. 9 The cutting member has means for imparting a feed change of 0.005 to 0.5 mm per revolution, advantageously 0.005 to 0.1 mm, for example an exchangeable threaded spindle. The device according to scope item 6. 10 The cutting member is a double-winged knife, the knife is provided with a cutting edge with notches 52, the notches 52 have different distances from the axis of rotation, and the sum of the widths of the notches 52 is 10. The device according to claim 9, wherein the cutting edge length is at most the same as the cutting edge length. 11. The device of claim 6, wherein the container and the lid have grooves and projections for a secure pivoting closure. 12. Device according to any one of claims 6 to 10, characterized in that there are twelve safety switches 63,66. 13. Device according to any one of claims 6 to 11, characterized in that a safety mechanism is provided to prevent the drive from being connected when the container is not closed. 14 Working chamber 13 for supplying gas into the working chamber 13
7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the sealing device (12) has a check valve configured as a sealing device (12). 15 The valve body of the check valve is a rubber elastic ring lip 23, the shaft 15 of the cutting member 16 forms a valve seat, and a means 26 for changing the closing stress of the ring lip 23 is provided. , the apparatus according to claim 14. 16. The device of claim 10, wherein the cutting member 16 has a shaped cutting tool 45. 17. The device of claim 10, wherein the cutting member 16 has a shaped mixing blade 46. 18. The device of claim 16, wherein the cutting edge 49 of the cutting member 16 and the outlet edge of the mixing vane 46 are not located in the same orthogonal plane to the knife rotation axis. 19. Device according to claim 16 or 17, characterized in that the general feed movements of the cutting tool 45 and the mixing vane 46 are unequal in order to form a vortex. 20. The device of claim 10, wherein the cutting edge of the cutting member 16 is arranged outside the radius of the circumscribed circle of the cutting member 16 as a secant of the circumscribed circle. 21. The device of claim 10, wherein the cutting edge of the cutting member 16 is deflected.