MXPA00002064A - Method and means for controlling the variations in weight of extruded sausages - Google Patents

Abstract

A conveyor assembly for moving an extruded strand of sausage (26) from an extruding machine (10) and for coagulating the outer surface (28) of the strand (26) has first (48) and second (49) conveyor elements mounted on a frame (36). The conveyor assembly on the frame (36) moves from a point of beginning (38) to a discharge station (40) and thence back to the point of beginning (38). A brine fluid circuit is disposed on the frame above the conveyor with a plurality of discharge nozzles thereon to spray brine on a strand of sausage moving with the conveyor assembly. A pair of laser lights (88) project beams (90) on the unlinked strand (26) to determine the diameter thereof. A signal is sent from the lasers to a controller (92) who compares the diameter of the strand to a predetermined diameter. The controller controls a meat emulsion pump (14) and causes it to increase or decrease its meat discharge rate to compensate for variations in diameter, and hence weight, between the measured strand and the predetermined strand on file in the controller.

Description

METHOD AND MEANS FOR CONTROLLING VARIATIONS IN WEIGHT OF EXTRUDED SAUSAGES DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION This application is based on Provisional Application Serial Number 60 / 029,879 filed July 15, 1998. In recent times, it has become known to extrude a string of embedded material, which has an inner core of meat emulsion having a surface material which can be coagulated to provide a sheath for the string. Coagulation usually includes subjecting the extruded string to a brine solution. The brine is applied immediately after the string is extruded. The brine is sometimes sprayed onto the extruded string as the string is moved along an elongated conveyor which is comprised of a plurality of pivotally interconnected links. Weight control in these processes depends to a large extent on the accuracy of the meat supply. Such coextrusion systems are often equipped with metering pumps to ensure such precision. However, frequent intermittent checks of sausage weights are still required. Such checks are made by simply weighing the sausages one by one as they are folded / cut or linked from the joining device. When the weight is outside the specification, the operator can adjust the meat flow accordingly. This is the most frequent case with unstable masses of meat; such formulations of meat that in turn differ in consistency. For example, the English sausage meat formulations contain sweet cookie. The sweet cookie is an important ingredient comparable with bread crumbs. When freshly mixed a meatloaf for English sausage is almost fluid. Gradually the sweet cookie begins to join with the free water in the pasta causing the viscosity to increase. Most of the meat supply systems in use today are vulnerable to such viscosity changes, in the sense that they provide several outlets of meat. Therefore, it is a common practice to verify and balance the consistency of the meat from such sausage processes. This is true for the filling of the common sausage casing, as well as for the coextrusion processes. Recent developments in coextrusion technology have led to co-extrusion processes where the brine treatment is of long duration. The above processes had brine residence times of between 1 and 5 seconds. The most recent processes have brine residence times of 30 to 90 seconds or more depending on the requirements of the final sausage product. Advantages over other methods are obtained through longer residence times in brine, although the practice of verification and balance of the consistency of the weight is more difficult. The weight of the individual sausages in these processes can only be determined after the coextruded sausage string is folded / cut or linked in the linking device. When the residence times in brine are for example 60 seconds, at a common co-extrusion rate of 100 cm per second, there are 60 meters of already co-extruded sausage. If the verification after the linking device determines a change in the meat flow, 60 meters of sausage are already out of the weight. Compared with the previous methods, these new methods have therefore a worse weight control. Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a method for the manufacture of coextruded sausage strings with an edible sheath in which the problems and disadvantages of known coextrusion methods do not arise. It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel method for reducing the weight variation of coextruded sausages. A further object of the present invention is to create by coextrusion a substantially uniform layer of a gel containing collagen around an elongated food string., coagulating the food by contacting it with a brine containing salt, and determining the precision of the weight variation after coextrusion but before linking the coextruded sausage string. These and other objects will become clearer from the following description of the present invention. The sausage string is extruded on a belt or conveyor and moved through a brine bath system for approximately 40 seconds. The brine is sprayed through nozzles on the sausage while moving in the band. The conveyor is constituted by a plurality of links having a flat support surface interrupted by a plurality of spaced lugs whose channels therebetween allow the brine to fill the channels and join the lower surface of the sausage string held on the outgoing ones The band is a Multi-Flex chain made of Acetal plastic. The links are secured with stainless steel pins. Twenty-four meters of band that travel on four rows provide the residence time in the brine bath that is required. The improvement of this invention is the production method of a coextruded sausage string, characterized by the determination of the consistency of the weight of the string before linking the coextruded sausage. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a plan view of the sausage extruder unit and the associated conveyor; Figure 2 is a side elevation view thereof as viewed from the bottom of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a schematic view of the conveyor unit; Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the conveyor belt; Figure 5 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of a conveyor belt; ~~ Figure 7 is a sectional view on line 7-7 of Figure 6; Figure 8 is a partial plan view on an elongated scale taken on line 8-8 of Figure 9; Figure 9 is a side elevation view on a partial elongated scale taken on line 9-9 of the Figure Figure 10 is an elongated scale sectional view taken on line 10-10 of Figure 1; and Figure 11 is a schematic view of the detector system.

The term "sausage" as used herein refers to any type of emulsified meat product that is formed as sausage links or Frankfurt sausage or the like. A description of the machine in which this invention is practiced will first be provided. Most machines do not themselves understand the invention. The number 10 designates an existing coextrusion machine suitable for the conveyor of this invention. The number 12 is a meat emulsion hopper which uses a meat pumping machine 14 for pumping emulsified meat. A collagen gel pump 16 has a hopper 18 to receive the collagen gel. It is connected via line 19 to in-line mixer 20. Tube 22 connects line mixer 20 to co-extruder 24 which is capable of extruding a cylindrical meat emulsion string with a collagen gel material on the outer surface thereof. . The co-extruder 24 with the detachable nozzle 24A is connected via the tube 25 to the meat pump 14. The conventional coextruded sausage string 26 (Figures 5, 8 and 9) has a core of meat material emulsified with the collagen gel that it comprises the external surface 28 thereof. Liquid smoke is used from the liquid smoke nozzle 30 as a coagulation material to coagulate the outer surface 28 of the sausage string 26. The liquid smoke nozzle 30 can be connected to the in-line mixer 20 (Figure 1) in any way conventional such as by line 32. A conveyor system 34 is mounted on the structure 36 and has a starting point 38 adjacent to the exit end of the co-extruder 24, and a discharge station 40 that is located outwardly and downward from the starting point 38. Three chain wheels 42 are rotatably mounted on the structure 36 and are adapted to rotate about a horizontal axis. As best seen in Figure 2, two of the chain wheels 42 are positioned vertically one with respect to the other below the starting point 38, and the third chain wheel 42 is located at the outer end of a conveyor system 34. adjacent to the intermediate discharge station 35. Two vertical arrows 44 are mounted on opposite ends of the structure 36. Each arrow 44 has five rotationally arranged chain wheels 46 therein which are adapted to rotate about the arrows 44 about an axis vertical of the arrows. Each set of five chain wheels 26 is located in the same parallel plane as each of the chain wheels in the opposite vertical arrow 44.

One of the arrows 44 can be driven by the motor 44A (Figures 1 and 2). An endless conveyor belt 48 is mounted in the form of a circuit on the chain wheels 42 and A second conveyor belt 49 (Figures 8, 9) is rotatably mounted on the chain wheels 49A and 49B (Figure 2) the chain wheel 49A is adjacent to and below the chain wheel 42 in the intermediate discharge station 35. The conveyor belt 49 (Figure 8) is comprised of a plurality of corrugated parallel wires 49C interconnected by pivot rods 49D. It is noted that the conveyor system 34 includes the conveyors 48 and 49. In the intermediate discharge station 35, a ramp plate 35A (Figure 9) is secured to the machine 10 and extends over the conveyor belt 48 and the chain wheel. 42, and from there it extends slightly downwards towards the upper part of the conveyor belt 49. A water nozzle 35B is mounted on the ramp plate 35A and is connected to a source of drinking water (not shown) by the tube 35C to sprinkle drinking water on the string 26. An inverted v-shaped structure 50 is mounted on the structure 3-6 adjacent to the discharge station 40. A driving arrow 51 for the conveyor belt 49 is located adjacent to the discharge station 40 as best shown in Figures 1 and 2. The conveyor belt 48 (Figure 5) it is positioned between the plurality of elongated L-shaped guides 54 which are secured to the structure 36. The elongated rails 56 mounted on bearings 58 extend longitudinally through the guides. With reference to Figure 4, the conveyor belt 48 is comprised of a plurality of conveyor belt segments or links 60 each having a circular male member 62 at one end thereof with a laterally extending connecting groove 64. A semicircular female groove 66 appears at the end of the segment 60 opposite the male circular member 62. The laterally extending openings 68 extend through the semicircular female groove 66. The laterally extending pins 70 extend through the opening 68 and thence through the slot 64 to interconnect the band segments 60. The openings 28 allow the segment 60 to pivot about the longitudinal axes 68, and the slot 64 allows the segments 60 to have limited pivoted movement about a vertical axis that passes through the slot 64 so that the conveyor belt 48 can reverse its direction of travel around the chain wheels 46. The portion central of each segment 60-is comprised of a flat support surface 72 that is in the same plane as the upper surfaces of the circular male member 62 and the body of the segment surrounding the female groove 66. The support surface 72 has a plurality of projections 72A that are preferably aligned in rows to create channels 72B therebetween. The projections 72 are approximately 0.063 square inches, and 0.045 inches high, thereby making the 72B channels 0.063 inches wide and 0.045 inches deep. A string 26 of an inch in diameter will usually have its lower surface 26A which touches the 4-6 members 72A and will extend 4-6 channels 72B. When the channels 72B are filled with brine, the brine 72C in the channels will be coupled to the lower surface 26A of the sausage string 26. With reference to Figure 2, a brine circuit system 74 includes a brine pump 76. A plurality of various control valves 78 are imposed on the brine circuit 74 to selectively control the flow of the brine through the system. A fluid line 80 extends from the pump 76 and includes a plurality of separate nozzles 82, which as will be discussed below, are located in a plurality of locations in the structure 36 directly above the conveyor 48 (see Figure 5) to supply a brine flow spray on the sausage string 26. The brine circuit 74 includes a brine tank 84 which is connected to a brine collection tray 86 located under the different rows of the conveyor belt 48 and below of the conveyor belt 45. In operation, the meat emulsion hopper 12 is loaded with a supply of meat emulsion, and the collagen hopper 18 is loaded with an amount of collagen gel. Similarly, the liquid smoke jet 30 is charged with liquid smoke so that the liquid smoke is combined with the collagen gel within the line mixer 20. The liquid smoke and collagen mixture is transmitted through the line 22 to the co-extruder 24 which conventionally discharges the sausage string 26 with the central core of the meat emulsion and an external surface 28 comprised of the collagen gel and the liquid smoke. The liquid smoke is adapted to coagulate the collagen gel in the presence of air and a brine solution. The sausage string 26 is discharged from the extruder 24 at the starting point of the conveyor belt 34. The sausage string advances along the moving conveyor belt 48 of the conveyor belt 34 and moves under a plurality of nozzles 82 that spray an amount of brine on the moving sausage string. The brine-filled channels 72B help the brine to couple the lower surface 26A of the string. The following structure deals mainly with the present invention. A pair of laser light emitters 88 (Figure 10) are secured to the structure 50 adjacent to the discharge end of the adjacent conveyor belt 40 and emits sheet-like bundles 90 downwardly and inwardly of the string 26 having a surface coagulated external 28. The bundles 90 extend together at least 120 ° of the circumference of the string and communicate electronic signals to the controller 92 (Figure 11) which converts the signals into a transverse diameter of the string 26. The controller 92 is programmed to know the size (diameter) of the nozzle 24A that is used in the extruder 24 through manual coupling of a conventional contact screen 94 in the controller. Since the string density is essentially constant, any variations in the diameter of the string 26 are directly proportional to the weight or density of the string per unit length. Thus, if the nozzle 24A is 10 mm in diameter, the controller 92 from the signal provided by the lasers 88 will notify the controller 92 of any variations in the diameter of the string 26 at the discharge end 40 of the band. Conveyor 49. If the detected diameter of the string 26 has decreased (by stretching the string for example), this decrease will be detected by the controller 92 as described above. An electronic signal will be sent from the controller 92 to the energy input motor 96 of the pump 14 to increase the emulsion output of meat to the extruder 24. This will cause the diameter, and therefore the weight, of the string finished 26 at the bearing end 40 are increased in proportion to a predetermined diameter of a known weight compatible with the 10 mm nozzle used in that program. The above procedure is reversed if the detected diameter of the string at the end 40 is oversized. The controller 92 may be comprised of one or more computers where a first computer executes the mathematical calculations from the signals received from the sensors 88 to calculate the diameter of the detected string. The first computer can transmit the detected diameter to the second computer for comparison of the predetermined diameter data, wherein the second computer can exercise control over the pump speed, as required, to compensate for variations in diameter. If desired, the second computer can respond to average measured diameter readings, instead of individual readings, where the second computer will respond to average measured readings instead of individual readings. Lasers 88, for example, can receive diameter data measured from a string of up to 50 traces per second for a period of 40 seconds, if the average diameters were used.

The controller 92 is also operatively connected to the motor 98 of the linker 100 which receives the string 26 as it exits the end of the conveyor belt 40. The controller 92 operates the linker 100 at a constant speed for a given nozzle 24A, and automatically increases the speed of rotation of the motor of the linker 98 and the motor of the pump whenever the contact screen 94 is manually notified that the nozzle of different diameter is being used with the extruder 24. The controller 92 coordinates the speed of the range of discharge of the sausage string 26 with the longitudinal movement of the conveyor belts 48 and 49 as determined by the motor 44A and the conveyor belt impeller 51 so that the elongate string will not normally be extended during its movement. The excess brine from the nozzles 82 flows down into the brine collection tray 86 and thence to the brine tank 84 where the excess brine is recycled through the system. The controller 92 is also adapted to cause the sausage string 26 to move from the starting point 38 to the intermediate discharge station 35 in about 40 seconds to allow sufficient brine time to coagulate the outer surface 28 of the sausage string 26. When the string 26 reaches the intermediate discharge station 35, it is very moistened by the brine solution. It moves over the ramp 35A (Figure 9) and below the drinking water nozzle 35B, and from there on the open wire conveyor 49. The residual brine in the string is rinsed by the drinking water, and all the water over it flows by gravity from the string down through the openings between the corrugations in the corrugated wire 49C on the conveyor belt 49 for deposit in the tray 86. When the sausage string 26 reaches the discharge station 40, the The outer surface 28 is sufficiently coagulated to provide resistance to the sausage string when it is received by the linker 100 where it is formed in a plurality of lengths at that location. The present invention provides a process for coagulating the coextruded collagen-containing gel surrounding an edible food, i.e. sausages. The co-extrusion methods are mainly used for the co-extrusion of the sausage or sausage-like materials. While the current process is particularly related to the manufacture of sausages, it can also be used in the production of other foods coated with collagen, such as fish or meat products containing vegetables or cheese or both. The term "sausage" as used herein refers to any type of emulsified food product that is formed as sausage or frankfurter links or the like. The invention is not limited to foods coated with collagen, but can also be applied to co-extrude foods with a different type of coating material such as casein, soy, wheat, cellulose, alginate, chitosan or starch-based gels. The present invention maintains the concept of determining the consistency in weight of the coextruded sausage string, just after the extrusion point, before the connection point of the sausage string. In this way the corrections in the meat supply can be made before weighing the individual sausages after the link stage. This concept is particularly useful if the principle of weight verification is automatically translated into changes in meat supply, with the weight determination device in direct communication with the meat supply system. A preferred method of determining the weight accuracy of the extruded sausage string is to have the weight detecting means after the co-extruder which can immediately determine the weight of a fixed length of sausage. For example, one meter of the continuous sausage string can be weighed every 2 seconds, just after the coextrusion machine, as it moves along its trajectory through the brine system. An electronic program can transform the variation of weight, into commands to the meat supply system to ensure a sausage outlet of consistent weight. Such an electronic program can also be used by a second preferred method, by which the determination of the consistency of the weight is achieved by determining the consistency of the diameter of the sausage string. In this method, the electronic detector means are used (an electronic eye or laser beams 90) to measure the diameter of the sausage string as it leaves the co-extruder. The external volume of the sausage string or its diameter is in direct correlation with its weight, so that the diameter changes for the coextruded sausage string can be measured and transformed into commands for the meat supply system (for example, the pump 14). It is therefore noted that the conveyor system of this invention will achieve at least its main objectives.

Claims (30)

1. CLAIMS 1. An extruded sausage production method, characterized in that it comprises, extruding an unbonded sausage string by means of a pump, detecting the weight per unit length of the saucer by detecting the outer diameter thereof before the string is linked, compare the detected diameter with that of a string having a predetermined diameter and predetermined weight per unit length, determining how much more or less variation between the diameter measured and increasing or decreasing, respectively, the discharge speed of the sausage by the pump to adjust the diameter of a string extruded subsequently to that of a string having the predetermined diameter.
2. 2. The method of compliance with the claim 1, characterized in that the detection step is achieved by means of at least one detector laser.
3. 3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the detection step is achieved by means of at least one pair of laser detectors.
4. 4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the sensors emit a beam of light plane towards the string.
5. 5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that the plane light beam intersects at least 120 ° of the circumference of the string.
6. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that the string is formed in a plurality of elongated links after the detection has been made.
7. A method for producing a coextruded sausage, characterized in that it comprises, coextruding an unbonded sausage string by means of a pump, coextrusion including coextrusion of a wrapping material around a food string, coagulating the material of wrapping formation, determining the weight per unit length of the coextruded string after the coagulation step, and from there, linking the string in a plurality of links, detecting the weight per unit length of the string by detecting the external diameter of the same, compare the detected diameter with that of a string having a predetermined diameter and a predetermined weight per unit length, determine any variation of more or less between the measured diameter and increase or decrease, respectively, the speed of the sausage discharge by the pump to adjust the diameter of a string extruded subsequently with that of a sa rta that has a predetermined diameter.
8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the string moves through a coagulation station after extrusion, and then its diameter is detected.
9. 9. A method for producing the coextruded string including the steps of co-extruding a layer of wrapping material around a string of food to form a sausage string, coagulating the wrapping material and bonding the string sausage characterized by determining the consistency of the weight of the sausage string before the link. 1Q.
10. The method in accordance with the claim 1, characterized in that the determination of the consistency of the weight is executed with the use of measuring means to determine the diameter of the sausage string.
11. The method according to claim 2, characterized by the use of electronic vision technology to determine the diameter of the sausage string.
12. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the determination of the weight consistency is executed with the use of detector means for determining the weight of a predefined sausage length.
13. 13. The method according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that such means of measurement or detection are in communication with the means of pumping the food supply, to automatically vary the fixation of the equipment to obtain low variation of weight of the string of sausage.
14. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the coextruded sausage string is fixed in contact with a solution containing salt for a period of more than 3 seconds before the link.
15. 15. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the coextruded sausage is a British sausage.
16. 16. The method of compliance with the claim 1, characterized in that the food contains sweet cookie.
17. 17. An apparatus for producing a co-extruded sausage characterized in that a co-extruder has an inlet and an outlet end, a supply of casing material and a feed supply connected to the feed end to form a coextruded sausage string from from the outlet end, and having means to determine the consistency of the weight of the coextruded sausage string near the exit end before the string is linked.
18. 18. The apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said means for determining the weight consistency, incorporates equipment to determine the diameter of the coextruded sausage string.
19. The apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that said means for determining the consistency of the weight, incorporate equipment to determine the weight of a predefined length of the coextruded sausage string.
20. 20. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 9, characterized in that such means for determining the consistency of the weight are in communication with the pumping equipment of the food supply, to automatically vary the attachment of the equipment to obtain low weight variation of the coextruded sausage string.
21. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the detection step is achieved by means of at least one pair of laser detectors.
22. 22. The method according to claim 21, characterized in that the detectors emit a plane light beam towards the string.
23. 23. The method according to claim 22, characterized in that the flat light beam intersects at least 120 ° of the circumference of the string.
24. 24. The method of compliance with the claim 7, characterized in that the string is formed in a plurality of elongated links after detection has occurred.
25. 25. An apparatus for producing the co-extruded string, characterized in that it comprises, a co-extruder for extruding a sausage string having an inner core and a wrapping material on the outer surface thereof, meat pump means connected to the co-extruder and a source of sausage material and casing material, a conveyor belt downstream from the coextruder to receive the coextruded sausage string, and having a discharge end, means on the conveyor belt to provide a coagulation solution to the extruded string, sensing means adjacent to the discharge end of the conveyor belt to determine the weight per unit length of the sausage string before the string is connected, the control means connected to the sensing means to compare the measured weight from the string to a predetermined desired weight, the controller that is operatively connected to the media e pump to adjust the flow of meat from the pump to compensate for any variation of the string and the predetermined desired weights during continuous operation of the apparatus.
26. 26. The apparatus in accordance with the claim 25, characterized in that the coextruder has a removable discharge nozzle to allow the use of a plurality of nozzles of different diameters.
27. 27. The apparatus according to claim 25, characterized in that the linking means are placed downstream of the detector means in the string after it has been detected by the detector means.
28. 28. The apparatus according to claim 25, characterized in that the detector means is a pair of opposed laser detectors projecting laser beams on the string adjacent to the discharge end of the conveyor belt.
29. 29. The apparatus according to claim 28, characterized in that the laser detectors emit flat beams of light towards the string.
30. 30. The apparatus according to claim 28, characterized in that the laser detectors emit flat beams of light towards the string to determine the diameter of the same.