MXPA98008080A - Device to manufacture a consumer food type mou - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to an apparatus, preferably a culinary domestic article, which is suitable for producing mousse or creamy type food. The apparatus comprises a container for holding food which is substantially in the form of a block. A shredding structure (3, 4, 5) with variable feed of a shredding member (19) in the container direction comprises a rotating blade at its end which is directed to the container. Means (6) are also provided to vary the ratio between blade rotation speed and forward speed

Description

DEVICE FOR MANUFACTURING A CONSUMER FOOD TYPE MOUSSE The present invention relates to a device for manufacturing a foam or cream type food, according to the preamble described in claim 1, a method and a kitchen or domestic article. Devices and methods for making ice cream or mild butter are known. Thus, for example EP 0 062 805 or the Swiss patent CH 685 321 describe a device for manufacturing a soft ice cream, comprising a frozen starting mass in the form of a block, scraped off by means of a shredding device, which is whipped and mixed with air, a quality with soft ice cream substance is obtained by a uniform crumbling process of subjecting the mass to scrape under excessive pressure. However, in practice it has been notable that excessive pressure presents structural problems. For example, the protection of the impulse arrow against the penetration of soft ice cream that occurs, is a problem that is due to excessive pressure and can be avoided only by complex design technology. It has also been noted that excessive gas pressure has virtually no influence on the consistency of the soft ice cream mass.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to propose a device and / or a method for producing soft ice cream or more generally food products of the ousse type (ice cream whipped cream and gelatin), in which case the cream-like mass or type The foam to be produced can be obtained with a consistency and / or controllable or uniform quality, without having to operate with excessive pressure. According to the invention, the objective is achieved by means of a device, in particular as described in claim 1, or by a method according to that described in claim ll. A device for manufacturing a foam-type or cream-type food and / or a mousse-type food product is proposed, comprising a container for holding a food essentially in the form of a block and a shredding device with an adjustable feed path of the shredding element. in the direction of the container. The shredding device has in its end direction towards the container and / or the food, a shredding element having rotational blades and in addition, means are provided for varying the rotation speed ratio of the blades in the advance speed. It has been remarkable that the ratio of the speed of rotation of the blades to the speed of advance of the blade is the decisive decisive factor for the consistency of the shredded mass, whereby, as required according to the invention, both can be achieved a uniform and / or constant quality and the consistency of the mousse type food product can be adjusted as required. In this way the need for excessive gas pressure in the device for manufacturing the mousse food product as known, for example and a necessary aspect of the prior art, is eliminated. According to a preferred embodiment, it is proposed that the shredding device has a feed unit comprising a rotating hollow shaft and an internal threaded spindle, which are operatively connected to the hollow shaft in a rotating manner by means of at least one profile or thread , either the hollow arrow or the internal threaded spindle are displaced and the relative change in rotational speed that is necessary for the advance travel that is achieved between the arrow and the spindle through an additional displacement structure that is fixedly connected to the arrow or to the spindle and displaces and / or retards the other respective element, ie the spindle or the arrow. According to a preferred embodiment, the impulse structure is a stepped motor that is mounted on the hollow shaft, rotates it and whose impulse shaft is connected to the threaded spindle. According to a further preferred embodiment, the device proposed according to the invention comprises a mechanical means for effecting the filling level, whereby the level of filling in the container to maintain the block shape, preferably frozen food, can be determined and / or detected. Instead of the mechanical means for detecting the filling level, in a further preferred embodiment, an electronic means is proposed for detecting the filling level by counting the missing signal elements. Still in another embodiment of the device proposed according to the invention, an automatic means for locking the rotating blades is proposed, possibly being a helical gear clutch with magnetic blade assembly or a helical gear clutch with mechanical blade assembly. All the abovementioned and additional preferred mode variants are characterized in dependent claims 2 to 10. A method for manufacturing a mousse type food product is also proposed according to the description of claim 11. Preferred embodiments of methods according to the invention are characterized in dependent claims 12 to 15. The invention will now be explained in more detail by way of example and with reference to the accompanying figures of which: Figure 1 shows a schematic perspective view and partially exploded of a device according to the invention for manufacturing a mousse type food product; Figure 2 shows a detail, illustrated on an amplified scale, of a structure for mechanically detecting the level of filling in a device according to Figure 1; Figure 3 schematically illustrates and visualizes the procedure employed to detect the fill level electronically by counting missing signal elements for a device according to Figure 1; Y Figure 4 shows in section the cover of the container lid for receiving the block-shaped food product according to Figure 1, comprising a helical gear clutch with a magnetic blade assembly on the cover.

Essentially, the device illustrated in Figure 1 for manufacturing a food of a mousse-like consistency, is directed to a device for making soft ice cream, as claimed in the Swiss patent CH 685 321, for example. Accordingly, a detailed evaluation of the method of operation of the device will not be given and the aforementioned Swiss patent should be referred to. In contrast to the device described in the prior art, the device according to the invention in Figure 1 does not necessarily have a feeding line to generate excessive pressure, since the invention does not require the generation of excessive pressure. A rotating hollow arrow 3, with an internal profile, displaces a spindle nut or feed screw 4. The feed screw nut has an internal thread in which a screw or threaded rod 5 runs. If a threaded rod 5 experiences a Relative change in the rotational velocities compared to the hollow arrow 3, uniformly displaced by a motor 1 and a toothed belt 2, the advance travel occurs in accordance with the direction of change in the rotational speed. If the change of the rotational speed is positive or negative, the threaded rod or the threaded spindle is retracted or retracted accordingly. In the case of folding, the threaded spindle 5 is pushed through the opening 10 in the lid 18 of a container 8 so as to be forced against a food product in the form of a block (not shown), which is mounted on the inside. of the container 8. The frozen food product is possibly scraped by rotating blades or scraping elements (not shown) arranged in front of the threaded spindle 5, in order to produce the mousse type food. In the newly developed advancing unit, the relative change in rotational speed of the threaded rod is not carried out by a rigidly coupled gear mechanism and mechanical and / or electric clutches, as described in CH 685 321, but rather by a stepper motor 6, which is mounted on the hollow arrow 3 and rotates with it and whose pulse arrow is fixedly attached to the threaded rod or threaded spindle 5. The power supply and pulse supply means for controlling the motor , are provided for example by slip rings 7 or carbon brushes. If an appropriate electronic control system is used, the forward speed, the direction and the path length, ie the plus / minus number of the stages / revolutions of the stepper motor, can thus be selected or set for the first time. time independently of the rotational speed of the hollow arrow 3. This technology makes it possible to adapt the consistency of the shredded mass to the requirements in an infinitely adjustable way in the range from crystalline to liquid. The adjustment of the consistency, the number of portions and their size, in this way can be carried out both manually by means of switches / keys or regulators and automatically by: exploring the content information of the container used, - connecting in a data carrier with program instructions, start appropriate software programs (recipes), etc. By means of the container proposed according to the invention, it is possible to generate mousse-like food products both from the block-shaped frozen foods arranged inside the container 9, as of non-frozen foods that are present in relatively block or solid form. Here, it is possible to produce both soft ice cream and mousse type food products such as for example salmon mousse, vegetable mousse, meat mousse, etc. In order to process the block-shaped dough, preferably frozen in a portion base, it is necessary to precisely detect the block size and / or the respective filling level of the container 8. According to the invention, two techniques are proposed for processing in a portion base, the block-like mass present inside the container 9. A first variant embodiment refers to a means for detecting the filling level mechanically by relative rotation of a torsional element in the impeller. The method of operation and the mechanical structure of this technique will now be described with reference to Figure 2 as follows: The arrow of the pulse motor 10 is fixedly connected to a disk 11. An additional disk 12 with the continuous pulse arrow, can move freely by means of a sliding bearings on the motor shaft. The frictional interlock connection of the two impulse arrows is effected by the spring structures 13 disposed transversely to the direction of rotation with the end stop. The spring parameters (pre-tension and spring constant) are set to each other in such a way that there is no rotation of the two disks together at the start and during rest. The discs do not rotate with each other (illustrated schematically with the arrow 14) and the spring (s) 13 (are not compressed and there is no frictional interlock connection through the end stop until the rotating rotational blade hits the frozen mass and there is the Resulting friction In order to evaluate this phase, there is an opening 15 in each of the discs 11 and 12, this opening is congruent in the case of relative rotation and allows a photoelectric barrier 16 to pass in this way making switching possible. In conjunction with a corresponding electronic control system, this Yes / No information can be evaluated and used for the control device This technique can be easily implemented in the device illustrated in Figure 1, it being basically possible to use the technique illustrated in the Figure 2 for any devices where a material is crumbled on a portion basis by a scraping device. this technique is excellently suited for shredding frozen foods in block form on a portion basis. The filling level detection can however also be carried out electronically by counting missing signal elements, the mechanical structure of the advance unit necessary for this is remarkable from Figure 1. The method of operation of this technique can be described as follows :When the device is started, the advancing path occurs as a result of the incremental rotation of the built-in stepper motor 6, until the advancing and / or threaded spindle 5 reaches the frozen block of food in the container 8. After that the rotational blades hit against the frozen material, increases the discharge of energy of the gradual speed motor, in the first instance, and consequently the motor desynchronizes; the term "gradual speed losses" is used. These values are estimated by an electronic control system and the setting of the feed rate adjustment is calculated by means of an increment counter (for example a microprocessor). The sequence of this technique is explained in more detail with reference to the schematic illustration of Figure 3, wherein the front end of the advancing arrow and / or the threaded spindle 5 are illustrated together with the rotational blades 19 arranged on the front from the last batch. The container 8 is also illustrated in section with a protective liner 8 'wherein the frozen food 9' in the form of a block is arranged. The sequence is as follows: 1. Part of position 0 2. Stores stages x until the upper edge of the ice cream is detected, 3. Calculates portions: Maximum stages (x + y) - previous stages of portion stages 4. Process of the maximum portions or stages that have been established. 5. Return to position 0. This technique allows very accurate detection of the filling level and supplies portions of the frozen food in the form of blocks. One of the core problems in the development of the device according to the invention was the assembly and disassembly of the rotational blade. For security reasons, only an automatic retention means was possible. Two techniques that are not described in the aforementioned Swiss patent CH 685 321 are possible in this regard. This is already a helical gear clutch with magnetic blade mounting on the container lid or a helical gear clutch with mechanical blade assemblies on the container lid. Figure 4 illustrates the method for operating and mechanical structure of the aforementioned worm gear clutch with high magnetic mounting on the container lid, in a schematic view with reference to a stage in the region of the container lid 18.

The structure and design of the blade locking units (blade and blade retention means) are basically new compared to the device described in CH 685 321. At the lower end of the lead shaft and / or threaded spindle 5 ( not illustrated in the Figure 4) there is a helical gear with an approximate rotation of 75 ° in the direction of rotation of the arrow and / or spindle. At the center point of the arrow there is a permanent magnet. The blade 19 forms the counterpart to the tightening gear. The blade is screwed tightly as a result of the permanent magnet force and the rotational speed of the arrow and / or spindle. The container lid 18 illustrated in section in Figure 4, has been developed using this effect, the lid 18 maintains the blade by a ring magnet 24, until the advancing arrow sinks in the blade, engages it and go to the processing position. The assembly and disassembly sequence is as follows: - The blade 19 is plugged into the opening 10 of the container lid 18 and held by its magnet 24. The container lid 18 is plugged onto the container 8 (not shown) and inserted with him to the device.

After the start, the advance of the arrow and / or spindle in the direction of the blade structure 19 is carried out and it slides past the arrow seal 23 on the blade 19. - From this moment, the blade 19 is maintained by the permanent magnet of the forward arrow. The advancing arrow exceeds in the force field of the ring magnet 24 and sinks further into the container 8. After a defined number of stages of the stepper motor, the main motor starts and the blade finally locks in the arrow. Dismantling is carried out in the reverse order. The method of operation in the mechanical structure of the helical gear clutch with the mechanical blade assembly in the container lid, can be described as follows: Basically the structure and design of the blade interlock means (reel and blade retention means) ) is identical to the description referring to the illustration of Figure 4, except for the permanent magnet 24 in the lid of the container 18. Instead of the ring magnet, mechanical fastener projections are provided in the lid. The functional principle corresponds to that employee when joining together garden hoses, using a generally usual and known fastener system. The design of the bra projections thus named (angles) allows the forces required to detach or retain to be adjusted. The embodiments (illustrated by way of example with reference to Figures 1 to 4) of a device for manufacturing mousse type food products, of course are only examples to help understand the present invention. Specific refinements of the device according to the invention will be represented with reference to Figures 2 to 4. Of course, it is possible to use the specific refinements, with reference to the device illustrated in Figure 1, or otherwise generally for analogous devices, for example to produce masses of different consistency such as in particular soft ice cream and mousse type food products. The materials for the individual components of the device according to the invention can also be chosen as desired and it is irrelevant whether metals or plastics suitable specifically for the individual components are employed. In this way, it is possible to use stainless steel such as chrome steel, other suitable alloys, aluminum or other plastics such as for example plastics that are specifically compatible with foods such as thermoplastics, duroplasts, reinforced plastics, etc. In this way, it has proven to be advantageous, for example, to produce the composite container for containing the food in block form from plastic, such as polypropylene, for example. For mechanical parts, such as the hollow arrow and the spindle shaft, for example it is also possible to use reinforced plastics instead of metal and these examples can be expanded or added in countless ways. The essence of the invention is a device for producing a mousse food article, wherein a shredding device with a variable advancement path of the shredding element is provided, the shredding device comprising a shredding element, has a rotational blade and means are provided to vary the rotational speed ratio of the blades to the forward speed.

Claims (10)

1. CLAIMS 1. A device for manufacturing a foam-type or cream-type food, having a container for holding a food that is present essentially in the form of a block, and a shredding device with adjustable advancement path of a shredding element in the direction of the container, and wherein the shredding device has at its end directed to the container, a shredding element having rotational vanes and wherein means are provided for varying the rotational speed ratio of the vanes at the advancing speed. The device according to claim 1, characterized in that the shredding device has a feed unit comprising a rotating hollow arrow and a bolt-threaded spindle which is operatively connected to the hollow arrow in a rotatable shape between at least a profile or thread, either the hollow arrow or the internal threaded spindle are displaced and the relative change in rotational speed that is necessary for the forward travel, is achieved between the arrow and the spindle by an additional displacement structure that connects fixed to the arrow or spindle and displaces and / or retards the other respective element, ie the spindle or the arrow. 3. - The device according to claim 2, characterized in that the hollow arrow moves and a stepper motor is mounted on the hollow arrow and rotates with it and its pulse arrow is connected to the threaded spindle. 4. The device according to claim 2 or 3, characterized in that the rotating hollow arrow with internal profile, displaces a nut of the advancing screw that has an internal thread in which the screw travels is threaded. 5. The device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the power supply and the pulse feed means to the stepper motor are provided by one or more slip rings and / or carbon brushes. 6. - The device according to any of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that the electronic control system is provided for independent control and adjustment of the forward speed, the direction and length of travel, ie the number plus / less than the steps / revolutions of the stepper motor, may be chosen and / or adjusted independently of the rotational speed of the hollow arrow. 7. - Means for detecting the filling level for a feed unit that processes a product with which a container is filled, in particular suitable for a device according to claims 1 to 6, wherein the arrow of a motor of The impulse provided to displace the advancing unit is fixedly connected to a disc that is connected to an additional disc arranged coaxially with respect to the latter by means of a sliding bearing, this additional disc has a continuous impulse arrow to transmit the impulse to the advancing unit, and wherein the two discs connected by the sliding bearing are connected to each other in a frictionally cooling manner by a spring structure which is arranged transversely with respect to the direction of rotation and has an end stop; the adjustment of the spring parameters (pretension and spring constant), are configured in such a way that during the start and at rest, the discs do not rotate with each other and in this way a rotation of the discs with each other and pressed of the structure spring until the processing of the filled product begins and the resulting friction occurs, and where an opening is provided in each of the two discs in order to evaluate this phase, the opening is rotatable in a congruent position where there is relative rotation and where a light barrier is also provided, this barrier triggers a pulse when it is possible or impossible to see through the two openings. 8. Means for detecting the filling level for a feed unit for processing a product with which a container is filled, in particular, in conjunction with a device according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein a system is provided of electronic control in the stepper motor, the system has an increment counter such as a microprocessor, for example, whereby the filling level, one or more portions of the forward speed can be detected and / or adjusted. . - A blade interlock means for a feed unit for processing a product with which a container is filled, particularly suitable for a device according to any of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a magnet structure is provided in the container lid in order to maintain the blade structure that can be plugged into the central opening of the container lid, and where a permanent magnet is provided at the advancing end of the lead screw, in order to maintain the blade structure In the advance spindle, the blade structure engages at the front end of the threaded spindle by means of the force field of the magnet structure in the container cover. 10. - The blade interlock means for a advancing unit, for processing a product with which a container is filled, in particular suitable for a device according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the projections so-called fastener they are provided in a central opening in the container lid in order to connect the blade structure, such that it engages the lid from the interior of the container, and wherein a permanent magnet is provided at the front end of the threads and / or advance spindles in order to maintain the blade structure. 11.- Method for manufacturing a foam-type or cream-type food from a preferably frozen element, essentially present in block form, by means of a shredding device with variable advancement path of the shredding element in the direction of the food present in block shape, and wherein the rotational speed of the rotational blade that is disposed in the shredding device at its end facing the food, is varied in relation to the speed of advancement of the shredding device, such that a predetermined consistency of the cream type or foam type food. 12. - The method according to claim 11, characterized in that the advance travel is achieved by a hollow rotary arrow with internal profile displaces a spindle nut or lead screw, the nut itself has an internal thread in which runs a threaded spindle and wherein the threaded spindle undergoes a relative change in rotational speed, as compared to the uniformly displaced hollow arrow, such that the advance travel is appropriately made forward / backward according to the direction of the change in the rotational speed plus / minus. 13. - The method according to claim 12, characterized in that a stepper motor that is mounted on the hollow arrow and rotates fixed in relation to the latter, displaces the threaded spindle and where the forward speed, the direction and travel length are independently adjusted to each other by an electronic control system in the stepper motor, and wherein as a consequence, the plus / minus number of stages / revolutions of the stepper motor are chosen and / or adjusted independently of the rotational speed of the threaded spindle. 14. - Method for detecting the level of filling by a medium, according to claim 8, characterized in that when the device and / or the advance unit start as a result of incremental rotation of the stepper motor, the advance travel is carried out until the threaded spindle and / or the blade structure reaches the block type feed, then advances until the upper edge of the feed block is detected, stored, the filling level is detected and / or the portion is calculated according to the correlation: maximum possible stages minus previous stages, divided by the portion stages (stages from detection of the upper edge of the food), and because after a maximum allowable number of processing steps , the spindles are returned to zero position. 15. - Method for automatically locking blades by a blade interlock means, according to claim 9, characterized in that initially the blade structure is introduced into a central opening in the container lid and is maintained in said opening by a structure of magneto in the container lid, subsequently the container lid is plugged into the container and where the block-shaped food is arranged, subsequently after the advancing stroke has started the threaded spindle moves in the direction of the structure of the container. and is displaced, by helical toothing, disposed at the lower end of the spindle, with rotation preferably about 75 °, in the direction of rotation of the spindle, in a corresponding coupling element in order to interconnect the spindle in the blade structure , subsequently the blade structure is maintained by a permanent magnet that is arranged in the spindle e_avance, and the blade is screwed tight by the force of the permanent magnet and the rotational speed, the blade structure is held tight in the container lid by the magnet structure until the lead screw has been submerged in the structure of the rotor. reel, it has been locked and moved to the processing position. 16. A kitchen or domestic article, with a device according to claims 1 to 10. R SUJMEN OF THE INVENTION The invention relates to an apparatus, preferably a domestic or culinary article, which is suitable for producing mousse or creamy type food. The apparatus comprises a container for holding food that is substantially in block form. A shredding structure (3, 4, 5) with variable feed of a shredding member (19) in the container direction, comprises a rotating blade at its end which is directed to the container. Means (6) are also provided to vary the ratio between the rotation speed of the blade and the speed of advance. RS / frp / 31 / PCT-119