US1891425A

US1891425A - Freezing apparatus

Info

Publication number: US1891425A
Application number: US554861A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alfred L Kronquest
Original assignee: Continental Can Co Inc
Current assignee: Continental Can Co Inc
Priority date: 1931-08-03
Filing date: 1931-08-03
Publication date: 1932-12-20
Anticipated expiration: 1949-12-20

Description

Dec. 20, l932.` A. L. KRoNQuEsT FREEZING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 3. 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet l mmmm Ewmmbmwwm w @MPH mu :mwN l N mwN www SNN NN (Kftornegs Dec. 20, 1932. A. L. KRoNQuEsT FREEZING APPARATUS Filed Aug. `s, 19:51' 4 sheets-sheet 2 De@ 20, 1932 A. L. KRoNQuEsT FREEZING APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 QN MVN. NN. mN

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A. L. KRONQUEST FREEZING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 3. 1931 y'4 Sheets-Sheet 4 :inventor Gttorncg 5 Patented Dec. 20, 1932 ,UNITED STATES PATENT ALFRED L. KRONQUEST, OF SYRACUSE, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 CONTINENTAL CAN COMPANY, INC., 0F NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK FREEZIING APPARATUS Application led August 3, 1931. Serial No. 554,861.

The invention relates to new and useful improvements in a freezing apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for freezing products hermetically sealed in metal containers.

AAn object of the invention is to provide a freezing apparatus wherein the containers are conveyed into a chamber containing a liquid refrigerant and are positively carried into the liquid and through the same and finally discharged from the chamber.

A further object of the invention is to provide a freezing apparatus of the above character wherein the containers are supported on guide rails during their travel into and through the apparatus, which contact solel'y7 with the end and double seam of the container.

A further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above character wherein there is means associated with the supporting guide rails for preventing the containers from moving endwise or upwardly away from the supporting guide rails so that said containers may be moved along the guide rails solely by pusher bars.

A stillfurther object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the above character wherein endless conveyor chains carrying pusher bars operate to roll Athe containers along supporting guide rails, first in one direction and then another, through the chamber, and gravity means is provided for transferring the containers from one unit conveying mechanism to another.

These and other objects will in part be 0bvious and Will in part be hereinafter more fully disclosed.

' In the drawings which show by way of illustration one embodiment of the invention- Figure l is a vertical sectional View through one end portion of an apparatus embodying the invention;

Fig. la is a vertical sectional view through the other end portion of the apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the apparatus;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged View, partly in plan and partly in section at the upper side of the apparatus;

Fig. 4 is a view partly in end elevation and partly in vertical sect-ion, and

Fig. 5 is an enlarged detail sectional view showing one container in section and the means for supporting and guiding the same.

The invention is directed to an apparatus for freezing products contained in sealed metal containers. The apparatus includes an enclosed casing, the Walls of which are formed of suitable heat insulating construction. There are manholes provided in the top wall of the casing, giving access to 'the interior thereof, and also an opening through which the containers are led into the chamber of the enclosed casing, and another opening through which they are led out of the cham ber. Extending substantially from one end to the other of the chamber are a series of conveying units. Each unit includes supporting guide rails for receiving the containers and along which the containers are rolled. Each conveying unit also includes a conveyor chain running ,over sprocket wheels at each end of the unit. Each unit has two pairs of guide rails for simultaneously guiding and directing two lines of containers, and associated with the guide rails are three conveyor chains, one of which is located between the lines and the other two at the outside of the lines. Pusher bars are mounted on the chains and spaced so that a container may be placed between adjacent pusher bars and contact with only one of the pusher bars. There are guide rails also associated with each unit for maintaining the containers on the supporting guide rails and preventing endwise movement thereof. The containers are rolled along the guide rails. The chamber is substantially filled with a liquid refrigerant, and thev containers are held to a fixed line of travel through the liquid refrigerant. The containers are fed into the upper unit by can guiding rails and they are delivered from the upper unit to a unit below the same by a gravity feed. At the end of the chamber is an elevator for conveying the containers out of the liquid refrigerant and out of the chamber. The containers are delivered to this elevator by a gravity feed.

It is thought the invention will be better understood by a more detail description of the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

The apparatus includes a casing which is provided with a bottom wall 1, end walls 2 and 3,

side walls

4 and 5, and a top wall 6. The entire casing is mounted on supporting

cross beams

7, 8 and 9. The bottom wall 1 inclines from the right-hand end of the chamber, as viewed in Figures 1 and 1a, to the left-hand end thereof. There is a pipe 10 leading from the chamber at the lower lefthand end thereof. Each of these walls is made of a suitable heat insulating construction. In the upper wall of the casing are manholes closed by suitable doors indicated at 11, 11.

Extending across the chamber from one side wall to the other are

angle bars

12, 12.

. These angle bars are riveted to upright supports 12a. Mounted on the lowermost angle bar are supporting and guiding rails for the containers. As shown in Figures 4 and 5, there isa pair of supporting and guiding

rails

13, 13 for each line of containers. Each guiding rail has a substantially horizontal supporting face 14 and an inclined guiding face 15. These inclined faces are so disposed as to grip the can and cause it to roll. There are also a pair of upper guiding rails for each line indicated at 16, 16 in the drawings. These guiding rails are located directly above the container, which is indicated at C in the drawings, and is out of contact with the container when it rests on and rolls along the

guide rails

13, 13. There are also

guide bars

17, 17 associated with the

guide rails

16, 16. The containers C are cylindrical and consist of a body portion c and end portions which are secured thereto indicated by double seaming c', c. This is the usual form of container for storing or packing food products. The ends are hermetically secured to the body by a double seam. This double seam is formed by a rolling of the metal parts together, and projects laterally so that when a container is positioned on the support with its axis horizontal, the containers will rest solely on these double seams.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the supporting faces 14 of the rails on which the cans run arehorizontal or slightly inclined downwardly, and the vertical walls are inclined away from each other. This is to -insure that the inner portions of these supporting and guide rails will not, at any time, contact with the outer face of the body of the container. The containers are usually decorated by lithographing, and it is essential that the lithographed decorated surfaces shall be free from rubbing contact with an part, particularly when traveling throug the liquid refrigerant. -By my form of supporting and guiding rails, the container is supported solely by the double seams, and any tendency of the container to float in the -conveyor chain 20".

liquid refrigerant, or move upwardly, brings the double seam into contact with the

rails

16, 16, and any tendency of the container to move endwise, brings the end of the container at the double seam into contact with the vertical faces 15, 15 of the lower guide rails.

There may be said to be shown in the drawings three separate conveyor units built up from these guide rails as described above, with each of which is associated conveyor chains. The supporting and guiding

rails

13, 13 in all of the units, are mounted on cross angle bars/12, 12. The supporting andguiding rails of the lower run of the lower unit are indicated at 13. The supporting and guiding rails of the upper run of the lower unit are indicated at 13. The upper guiding rails 16 of the lower run of the lower unit are attached to the supporting and guiding rails 13. Each guide rail 16 has brackets 18 provided with a slot and a bolt 19 passing through the slot attaches the guide rail 16 to the supporting and guiding rail 13. This provides a means whereby the guide rails 16, 16 may be raised and lowered relative to the supporting and guiding rails 13, 1'3 in each" run of the unit. The supporting and guiding

rails

13, 13 just described provide the upper and lower runways of the lower unit. The containers are caused to travel along these runways by a conveyor which consists of a sprocket chain 20 running over a sprocket wheel 22a on the shaft 22 at `one end of the casing, and over a sprocket wheel 23 on a shaft 24 Aat the other end of the casing.

As shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, there are two pairs of supporting and guiding railslocated side by side in each unit, so that there are two lines of containers. There are three conveyor chains for each unit. The conveyor chain 20 is located adjacent the wall 5; the conveyor chain 20 is located adjacent the wall 4, and between the runways is a Attached to the links of the chain are pusher bars 21. This pusher bar is attached to a link in each of the

chains

20, 20 and 20, and operates upon the containers in both runways. The pusher bar extends above the line of travel of the chain and also below the line of travel of the chain, and is, therefore, positioned so that the longitudinal center of the pusher bar is substantially on the line of travel of the chain, and therefore, the pusher bar will engage the container at a point midway between the side edges of the pusher ba'r and also substantially at the maximum horizontal diameter of the container. There are gu'de rails 21a, 215 and 210 associated with each run of the conveyor chain, which operate to support the bars in their line of travel between the sprocket wheels carrying the chains. The containers are moved by the conveyor chains from left to right along the upper runway, as indicated by the arrowV in Fig. la, and from right to left along the lower runway, and likewise indicated by the arrow in .his figure. Directly above this lower unit is a second conveyor unit of similar construction which includes supporting and

gu'ding rails

13, 13 for the lower run and supporting and guiding rails 13', 13 for the upper run. There are also the

upper guide rails

16 and 16 associated therewith and supported in a similar manner by brackets 18. There are

conveyor chains

20, 20 and 20 in this intermediate conveyor unit running over sprocket wheels and provided with pusher bars 21. There is likewise an upper conveying unit similarly .constructed to the lower unit and including the supporting and

guding rails

13 and 13, also

upper guide rails

16 and 16. Associated with these guide rails are

conveyor chains

20, 20 and 20 carrying pusher bars 21.

The containers are fed into the chamber of the refrigerating apparatus by a container runway 25 consist'ng of supporting and guiding rails along which the containers are moved. There is an opening 26 in the upper wall of the casing and this container runway extends through this opening and substantially closes the same. There isa pair of these conta'ner runways located side by side so that two containers are delivered at a time between adjacent pusher bars in the upper unit. The upper runway of the conveyor chains carries the containers along the uppermost runway of the unit from left to right from substantially one end of the casing to the other end thereof. This casing is substantially filled with a refr'gerating liquid to a height above the upper runway so that the containers are submerged in the liquid refrigerant. The lower supporting and guiding rails of the upper runway at the right-hand end thereof is curved about the center of the upper shaft 22, The lower supporting and guiding rals 13 of the upper unit are curved upwardly as indicated at 27, about the axis of the upper shaft 22 as a center.A This forms a continuation of the upper runway for the cans which leads the cans into the lower runway, and the cans are positively conveyed from the upper runway to the lower runway of each unit by the pusher bars. The containers are delivered from the upper unt to the unit just below at the left-hand end of the unit by gravity. The lower supporting and guiding rails 13 are curved downwardly as indicated at 28, and there are guide rails 29 and 30 associated therewith so as to form a discharge runway so that the containers will drop from between the pusher bars down into the next lower conveyor unit and between the pusher bars therein. The transfer from the intermediate unit to the lower conveyor unitis of a similar character.

The containers are delivered from the lower conveyor unit to an elevator. The lower supporting. and guiding rails are extended as indicated at 31. These supporting rails incline downwardly. There are vertical guide rails 32 carried by angle bars 34, 34, and also vertical guide rails 35 carried by cross bars 36, 36. These guide rails 32 and 35`guide the containers which are supported and lifted by bars 37 carried by a conveyor chain 38. These bars 37 are of the ysame construction as the pusher bars, but instead of pushing and rolling the containers, they support and carry the containers upwardly and out through an opening 39 in the upper 'wall of the casing, and finally deliver the containers on toa runway 40. The conveyor chain passes back through an opening 4l into the chamber of the casing. This conveyor chain 38 runs over a sprocket wheel 42 at the lower side of the casing, and over a sprocket wheel 43 at the upper end thereof. There are three conveyor chains and likewise three sprocket wheels 42, one for each chain.,

These are mounted on a shaft 44. There are likewise three sprocket wheels 43, one for each chain, and the sprocket wheels are mounted on a shaft 45 carried by suitable brackets mounted on the upper wall of the casing, and associated with the sprocket chains are suitable housing members indicated at 46.

The upper guide rails of the upper conveyor unit are carried by brackets 47 similar to the brackets 18, but attached to angle bars 48.

The conveyors are driven by a belt wheel 49 which carries a worm gear meshing with a worm gear 50. The worm gear 50 is attached to a shaft 51, journaledi in suitable bearings in the side walls of the casing. This shaft carries a gear wheel 52 which meshes with a gear wheel on the u per shaft 22 and also meshes with a gear wiieel on the intermediate shaft 22. This will drive the conveyors of the upper and intermediate units. There is a gear wheel 53 which meshes with a gear wheel on the intermediate shaft 22, and this meshes with a gear wheel on the lower shaft 22 which drives the lower conveyor unit. These driving gears for the three conveyor units are all disposed within the chamber containing the refrigerant. The elevator is driven by a suitable geared connection with the shaft 24 0f the lower conveyor unit. The ap aratus for freezing is particularly adapted or use in connection with a volatile refrigerant, and therefore, it includes this substantially enclosed chamber. The containers are preferably provided with a protecting coating which becomes a permanent part of the container, and which is transparent and impregnable by the refrigerant. The process of freezing carried out b the present apparatus is described in ful in my col-pending application Serial N 0.

513,434, filed February 4, 1931. It will be understood, however, that this apparatus may be used for carrying out other processes.

The liquid refrigerant is passed into thev chamber of the apparatus through the pipe 10 and may be quickly drawn from this chamber through this pipe, and this is the reason why the lower wall of the casing is inclined so as to drain all of the liquid from the casing through this pipe 10. It is quite essential when using a volatile refrigerant which is of an inammable character, such as alcohol, that the refrigerant be drawn from the refrigerating apparatus for storage when the apparatus is idle. This can be quickly accomplished by opening the pipe 10 which leads to these storage tanks. As noted above, the chamber of the freezing apparatus is substantially iilled with the liquid refrigerant. The containers are fed into the chamber and submerged in the liquid refrigerant and positively rolled along supporting and guiding rails therefor in two lines.

hwise of the container, rolling along their supporting rails and transferred by gravit from one conveyor` unit to another, until nally they are delivered to the elevator which carries the containers out of the freezing apparatus.

As noted above, a liquid refrigerant of a volatile character is preferably used. The refrigerant is reduced to the desired temperature for freezing by refrigerating coils. These coils are indicated at 54 and 55 in Fig. 4 of the drawings. The coils are supported on brackets 54a and 55, respectively, which brackets are attached to the vertical supports 12a. There is an intake pipe 54b for coils 54, and a similar intake pipe for the coils 55. There is an outlet pipe 54* for the coils 54, and an outlet pipe 55c for the coils 55. The inlet and outlet, of course, may be reversed, if desired.

It is obvious that minor changes in the details of construction and the arrangement of the parts may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what I' claim as new and desire to secure by Let-` l. A freezing apparatus comprising a substantially closed chamber adapted to contain a liquid refrigerant, supporting and guiding rails for cylindrical containers located in sald chamber, means for rolling the containers along said supporting and guiding rails while submerged in the liquid refrigerant, means for delivering the containers into the chamber and on to the supporting rails, and means for elevating and removing the containers from the chamber, the supporting and guiding rails for the containers having substantially horizontal supporting They are conveyed back and forth faces and guiding faces inclining away from each other for insuring that the containers will rest and roll on the end seams thereof.

2. A freezing apparatus comprising a substantially closed chamber adapted to contain a liquid refrigerant, supporting and guiding rails for cylindrical containers located in the chamber, guide rails disposed above the containers and normally out of contact therewith, means for rolling the containers along said supporting and guiding rails while submerged in the liquid refrigerant, means for delivering the containers into the chamber and on to the supporting rails, and means for elevating and removing the containers from the chamber, the supporting and guiding rails for the containers having substantially horizontal supporting faces and guiding faces inclining away from each other for insuring that the containers will rest and roll on the end seams thereof.

3. A freezing apparatus comprising a substantially closed chamber adapted to contain a liquid refrigerant, a series of conveying units located in said chamber one above the other and each includino' upper and lower supporting rails for cylindrical containers, guiding rails associated with the supporting rails for maintaining the containers in contact with the supporting rails, an endless conveyor in each unit for conveying the containers along the supporting rails and for discharging the containers by gravity from one conveying unit to another, means for delivering the containers into the chamber and on to the supporting rails, and means for re`- ceiving the containers from the lowermost unit for elevating and removing the containers from the chambers.

4. A freezing apparatus comprising a substantially closed chamber adapted to contain a liquid refrigerant, a series of conveying units located in said chamber one above the other and each including upper and lower supporting rails 'for cylindrical containers, guiding rails associated with the supporting rails for maintaining the containers in contact with the supporting rails, an endless conveyor in'each unit for conveying the containers along the supporting rails and for discharging the containers by gravity from one conveying unit to another, means for delivering the containers into the chamber and on to the supporting rails, means for receiving the containers from the lowermost unit for elevating and removing the containers from the chambers, said endless conveyors including traveling chains, and cross bars, which cross bars extend between the containers and move in a path between the supporting rails and the guide rails.

In testimony whereof. I affix my signature.