WO1993022926A1

WO1993022926A1 - Apparatus for automatically washing and treating panification grids

Info

Publication number: WO1993022926A1
Application number: PCT/FR1993/000482
Authority: WO
Inventors: Erick Canicas
Original assignee: Erick Canicas
Priority date: 1992-05-19
Filing date: 1993-05-18
Publication date: 1993-11-25
Also published as: FR2691327B1; EP0622991A1; FR2691327A1

Abstract

The invention relates to an automatic chain for cleaning panification grids, comprising the totality of stations for treatment, dipping in a caustic bath, neutralisation by acid spraying, drying, silicone coating, etc., the chain being installed in a road trailer owing to the reduced size of the dipping container (5) wherein each grid (20) is fed vertically, the portion (21) of the conveyor rail (13), independent therefrom, being detached when the carriage carrying the grid (20) is at the vertical of the container (5), said portion (21) of the rail (13) being integral with the arm (29) of the vertical elevator (22), the horizontal displacement of the conveyor being stopped till said portion (21) of the rail (13) is back to its place, after dipping the grid (20), in order to reconstitute the continuity of the rail (13).

Description

MOBILE APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATIC WASHING AND TREATMENT OF PANIFICATION GRIDS.

The present invention relates to an automatic washing apparatus for baking racks.

Before the oven the dough rests during the finishing either in bannetons or on layer, that is to say on canvases raised between each dough to keep them separate, or on plates comprising, stamped, the locations of several dough pieces, or again on metal grids also comprising, in the form of transverse corrugations, the housings of several dough pieces.

The maintenance of these various working methods of the bakery requires different cleaning methods, the humidity of the dough causing the deposit of a certain quantity of the flour which, having remained attached to the dough after turning, adheres to the support and ends up fouling it.

This is how the bannetons must be brushed, the canvases washed as well as the plates and grids.

For different reasons of working practice, these are the racks that are exclusively used in industrial bakeries, which produce several tens of thousands of breads daily.

Washing the grids is therefore an expensive operation which consumes a considerable amount of labor and time. Especially since the crust that forms on the grids requires immersion in caustic baths, which then requires passivation followed by the spraying of a silicone solution intended to avoid as much as possible the adherence of the flour.

To date, these various operations have required significant installation in specialized companies which collect the grids for processing. Installation made important by the fact that the automaticity of the operations described above is generally carried out by causing the objects to be treated to ripple on a slide which leads them into the bath and keeps them there by circulating for the necessary time before reassembling them. out of the bath on a slope substantially symmetrical to that which allowed immersion.

We understand the length of the soaking tank that such a process requires, which requires sedentary installations.

So the baking grids must be brought by the users or collected by the cleaning company, which in any case immobilizes this material for several days, requiring for them bakeries a stock of racks to ensure rotation, which is a heavy investment when you know the number of bread racks used by the same bakery.

The invention therefore aims to avoid these drawbacks. To this end, provision has been made to organize a mobile unit for cleaning and processing metal baking grids. This makes it possible to process this material at the place of their employment, at the bakery itself or nearby, and under conditions of speed such that the complete cleaning and treatment operation only causes a very short immobilization of the material , which also no longer suffers from a loss of time for transport.

The invention therefore allows considerable savings by reducing the cost of the operation as much as by the uselessness of a large rolling stock. According to the invention, the mobility of the cleaning and treatment installation, all of the equipment of which is carried inside a road trailer, has been made possible by the production of a particular device ensuring the automatic soaking in a minimum of space by substituting a vertical soaking mode by means of an elevating system for the soaking mode by horizontal path by means of a slide.

For this, according to the invention, the baking grids to be cleaned are hung from a carriage driven on a continuous rail, constituting the treatment chain, but of which a segment, situated vertically from the soaking tank, is detached from the instant when the transport carriage reaches its level, and descends vertically with its load until the grids plunge into the bath where they remain stationary for the time necessary for the cleaning operation.

Then the rail segment is raised with its load until it resumes its place at the level of the rail of which it is an element in order to ensure the continuity of said rail on which the carriage is taken up by the conveyor system to be brought to the stations following processing times. - Figure 1 is a plan view of said chain.

Figure 2 is an elevational view of part of the cleaning chain. Figure 3 is a vertical profile view of the elevator ensuring the soaking of the grids.

Figure 4 is a vertical profile view showing the operating detail of the elevator.

Figure 5 is a vertical profile view of the carriage on the removable rail segment. According to fi gure 1 the general configuration is constituted by the continuous cable 1 which runs horizontally led by the wheels 2 and 3, said cable driving in its movement the suspension elements which support the baking grids to be cleaned to bring them successively to the level different treatment stations.

The cable 1, carried and set in motion by the wheels 2 or 3 in the direction of the arrow, thus successively takes the carrier trolley from the station 4 for loading the baking grids to the soaking tank 5 where they are cleaned and sanitized by immersion in a caustic bath, to then cross station 6 where what remains of caustic product is neutralized by a spray of acid solution followed by a rinsing spray, then takes it to station 7 where the grids are dried by propulsion of hot air, and then cooled by traversing zone 8, to enter station 9 where they are treated by coating with a sprayed silicone solution, the polymerization of which is obtained in station 10, before reaching the zone 11 where the washed and treated grids are collected.

A wall 36 made of juxtaposed flexible plastic blades separates and isolates each of the stations 6, 7, 9 and 10 from the neighboring stations. Some of these stations, and particularly the stations 5, 6, 7, 7 and 8 are visible in elevation in FIG. 2 where we see the cable 1 which drives the running fingers 14, carried by the roller 34, on the horizontal rail continuous upper 12 (fig. 1 and 5).

These fingers 14, equidistant from each other and spaced apart by the length which separates two successive treatment stations, freely drive a carriage formed by the stops 16 and 17 provided with rollers 19 and located on either side of the finger 14 and which , integral with the bar 15 to which the grids to be cleaned are suspended, circulate on the lower rail 13 parallel to the rail 12 and driven freely by the finger 14. The treatment chain thus being constituted as a whole, the grid loaded at 4 is brought to the vertical of tank 5 which contains the caustic product for washing and sanitizing.

In this poi-nt the stops 16 and 17 which support it are located on a portion 21 of the rail 13 which ensures the continuity of this rail while being independent thereof. Said rail portion 21 is indeed integral with the arm 29 moved vertically by the vertical elevator 31, seen in detail in FIGS. 3 and 4.

At this instant, the cable 1 having stopped, this lifting device 31, which is set in motion, vertically lowers this portion of rail 21 which supports the grid by means of the stops 16 and 17, which, in this movement, leave the finger 14 which has driven them freely so far.

The descent takes place until the grates are completely soaked in the caustic bath contained in the tank 5, where stirring of the liquid can be carried out to activate the cleaning action.

Note that during this downward movement the tabs 23 and 24 provided with a spring are raised at each of the ends of the rail portion 21, so as to maintain the stops 16 and 17 on said rail portion 21 between said tabs . These when the grids rise from the tray 5, are erased in contact with the stationary fingers 25 and 26 which are provided with the two free ends of the broken rail 13 in the upper extension thereof, and which fold said tabs 23 and 24 come into contact with them, which authorizes the normal movement on the rail 13 of the roller stops 16 and 17 which have returned to be placed on either side of the finger 14 which, being again set in motion by the cable 1, leads them to the next station.

Thus the grid cleared of dirt and sanitized reaches, by crossing a first wall 36, the station 6 where the caustic product is neutralized by a spray of acid solution, then rinsed by spraying water. It then reaches through the walls 36 in the zone 7 where a • propulsion of hot air ia dries, before, after cooling at 8, it is subjected at 9 (fig 1) to a coating of silicone by spraying.

The polymerization of this product is carried out hot at station 10 which follows in the chain running direction, to finally reach station 11 where the grids thus treated are delivered, completely cleaned, sanitized, neutralized, dried, then coated with silicone to avoid as much as possible the adhesion of the dough pieces that said grids will receive.

The cable 1, which drives as many fingers 14 as there are processing stations, circulates by successive displacements of the always equal distance separating two stations and remains immobile each finger 14 being at each of them the time necessary for a total washing of the grids with the caustic product in which they are soaked. This residence time in the soaking station 5 is therefore equal to the cable immobilization time at - each station constituting the processing chain

Each of the fingers 14 equidistant from the cable 1 thus drives a grid carrier assembly so that a new grid to be treated immediately replaces, at each station, the grid which has just undergone the previous treatment as and when cable movement 1. This is essential owing to the particularities of the lifting system 22 which ensures a vertical soaking mode, which in itself requires only a minimum of bulk, that the assembly for continuous washing and treatment of the baking grids can be fully contained inside a road trailer.

In FIG. 3, we see, seen in cross section, the horizontal rails 12 and 13 secured to the general frame 27 which carries the axis of the wheel 3 which conducts the cable 1.

As indicated above, the portion 21 of the rail 13, independent of the latter, situated vertically from the tank 5 is secured to the arm 29 carried by the carriage 30 of the elevator 22, the vertical movement of which is controlled by any known means, such as the continuous chain 31 driven back and forth vertically by the motor 32 via the reducer 33.

FIG. 4 shows the carriage 30 carrying a grid 20 on its rail portion 21 by means of the bar 15 integral with the roller stop 16, the assembly being shown in its high position outside the container 5 and, in dotted, in its low position, plunging into the tank 5, the downward movement of the elevator 22 being triggered as soon as a grid carrier assembly is vertical to the tank 5 on said rail portion 21, and the progression of the cable 1 resuming as soon as the elevator has reconstituted the rail 13 having reassembled the rail portion 21.

FIG. 5 gives more precise details of the system for driving the grids ensuring their vertical soaking, a characteristic which allows the compact production of the complete treatment chain to the point of authorizing its installation on a road trailer, an advantage from which the economic interest of the system.

In said FIG. 5, the upper rail 12 is indeed seen, inside of which the finger 14 carried by the rollers 34 circulates. The finger 14 freely drives the stop 16 which carries the grid to be cleaned by means of the suspension member 15 and which, thanks to the roller 19 rolls on the lower rail 13 made integral with the upper rail 12 by the bracket 35, except its section 21 which is integral with the carriage 29 of the elevator 22.

It is therefore understood that, thanks to the vertical displacement soaking device, the tank 5 used for this operation occupies in length the space just sufficient to contain the objects introduced into the bath, thus reducing the size of this station to the point of allowing organize the entire installation inside a road trailer. The cleaning and processing of the baking grids can therefore be done within the bakeries to which the installation is brought. And the full automaticity thus obtained makes it possible to reduce the time of operations in such a proportion that the bread-making equipment is no longer immobilized beyond the dead time existing between two bread making sequences. A very great saving is therefore made by the user who no longer immobilizes the investment necessary to have several sets of grids to ensure the rolling for the time usually necessary for their transport to the place of treatment and the time of treatment itself. even usually necessary.

The road trailer which contains said chain also contains all the other elements necessary for its operation, such as the reserves of products in 37, the injection pumps for the various sprays in 38, the compressor for the hot or cold air ventilations. in 39, the drip tanks in 40 of the products coming from stations 6,7 and 9, and all other equipment such as a generator.

Claims

CLAIMS 1 ^* ) Mobile device for automatic washing and processing of baking grids comprising a continuous rail (13) which constitutes the processing chain, on which a carriage (16-17) circulates on which one of said baking grids is hung ( 20), an independent portion (21) of said rail secured to a vertical lifting device (29-22) which can descend, driven by said lifting device, when said carriage is brought to its level, to bring the grid (20) suspended to the within the liquid contained in the tank, said lifting device then raising said portion of rail until the continuous rail (13) on which the carriage (16-17) and its load are brought to the next treatment station, characterized in that the carriage carrying the grids (20) to be cleaned and treated consists of the bar (15) to which the grid (20) is suspended, said bar (15) being carried by the vertical stops (16) and (17 ) each provided with a roller (19) circulating on the lower continuous horizontal rail (13) on which they are freely driven by the vertical finger (14) located between said stops and rolling itself, being provided with rollers (34) , on the upper rail (12) parallel to the rail (13), and being driven by the continuous cable (1) moved and carried by the horizontal wheels (2) and (3). 2 °) mobile device for automatic washing and processing of the baking grids according to claim 1, characterized in that the independent portion (21) of the rail (13) carries at each of its ends a cleat (23-24) provided with 'a spring allowing it to rise above said rail portion (21) as soon as it leaves the rail (13) under the effect of the downward movement of the elevator (22), each of said tabs (23 -24) resuming its place inside each end of the portion (21) under the effect of its contact with each of the fingers (25-26) located at the free ends of the broken rail (13), as soon as said portion rail (21) resumes its place between said ends. ^"* 3 ^* ) Mobile device for automatically washing and processing the baking grids according to claim 2, characterized in that the independent portion (21) of the rail (13) is integral with the arm (29) carried by the carriage (30 ) circulating on the vertical frame of the elevator (22) whose downward movement until the grids (20) are dipped in the tank (5) is caused as soon as the carriage constituted by the bar (15) and the stops (16 ) and (17) is located vertically above the cleaning tank (5), the movement of the cable (1) of the conveyor resuming as soon as the portion (21) of the rail (13) has returned to its place reconstituting it and the stops (16) and (17) having resumed their position on either side of the drive finger (14) remained immobile until then. 4 ") Mobile device for automatic washing and processing of the baking grids according to claim 3, characterized in that, after having emerged from the washing tub (5) and having returned to its place on the rail (13), the carriage carrying the grid is led by the finger (14) integral with the continuous cable (1) to the station (6) for neutralizing the caustic product by spraying with an acid solution followed by a rinsing spray, then to the station (7) drying by hot air pulse, followed by the cooling station (8) before reaching the silicone spraying station (9), the polymerization of which takes place at the station (10) before reaching the station (11) where the washed and treated grids are delivered, the assembly forming a continuous washing and treatment chain whose residence times at each of the stations, equidistant from each other, are identical.

5 ^* ) mobile device for automatic washing and processing of the baking grids according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each of the stations (6), (7), (9) and (10) is separated and isolated from neighboring posts by walls made of flexible plastic strips juxtaposed (36).

6 ") Mobile device for automatic washing and processing of the baking grids according to all of the preceding claims, characterized in that said processing chain is contained in a road trailer which also receives the bins for storing treatment products (37) , the pumps (38) for spraying the different products, the air compressor (39), the tanks (-40) for recovering the different sprayed products, and the generator, among others.