Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G9/00—Frozen sweets, e.g. ice confectionery, ice-cream; Mixtures therefor
  • A23G9/04—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream
  • A23G9/22—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups
  • A23G9/28—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups for portioning or dispensing
  • A23G9/281—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups for portioning or dispensing at the discharge end of freezing chambers
  • A23G9/283—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups for portioning or dispensing at the discharge end of freezing chambers for filling containers with material
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G9/00—Frozen sweets, e.g. ice confectionery, ice-cream; Mixtures therefor
  • A23G9/04—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream
  • A23G9/14—Continuous production
  • A23G9/16—Continuous production the products being within a cooled chamber, e.g. drum
  • A23G9/163—Continuous production the products being within a cooled chamber, e.g. drum with intermittent operation
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
  • A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
  • A23G9/00—Frozen sweets, e.g. ice confectionery, ice-cream; Mixtures therefor
  • A23G9/04—Production of frozen sweets, e.g. ice-cream
  • A23G9/22—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups
  • A23G9/28—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups for portioning or dispensing
  • A23G9/281—Details, component parts or accessories of apparatus insofar as not peculiar to a single one of the preceding groups for portioning or dispensing at the discharge end of freezing chambers

Definitions

• This invention relates to a machine for dispensing a soft-serve product.
• soft-serve product is dispensed from a machine which comprises a mix hopper for receiving the soft-serve mix in a liquid form and a draw spout from which soft-serve emerges.
• the machine further includes a freezer barrel with refrigeration means surrounding it.
• the mix hopper is connected to the freezer barrel via an air tube assembly.
• a beater assembly in the barrel displaces the soft-serve mix along the barrel, into a vertical passage and out through the draw spout which is at the lower end of the passage.
• the beater assembly and refrigeration means run until a sensor in the circuit of the motor which drives the beater assembly senses a predetermined resistance. This indicates that the soft -serve is solidifying.
• the beater motor and refrigeration means then switch off.
• a timer switches the motor and refrigeration means on again after a predetermined delay and the cycle recommences .
• a plunger which constitutes a valve slides up and down in the vertical passage down which soft-serve flows from the freezer barrel to the draw spout, when the plunger is in the position in which it closes off the exit from the freezer barrel, the beater assembly simply recycles the soft-serve in the barrel.
• the opening in the air tube assembly which places the mix hopper in communication with the barrel is small and easily blocked by solid particles in the sof -serve mix.
• additives such as chocolate chips or nuts which it is desirable to incorporate into the soft-serve cannot be added to the mix hopper. They are thus added, after the soft-serve has been dispensed, as a topping.
• a machine for dispensing a soft-serve product comprising a freezer barrel, a mix hopper for containing soft-serve mix and being in flow communication with the freezer barrel so that soft-serve mix can flow from the mix hopper into the freezer barrel, a flow passage leading from the freezer barrel to a draw spout, means for expelling frozen product from the freezer barrel via the flow passage to the draw spout, a solids hopper for containing a flowable solid food product, and feed means for feeding said solid food product from the solids hopper into the flow stream of soft-serve product as it passes through said flow passage.
• a machine for dispensing a soft-serve product comprising a freezer barrel, a mix hopper for containing soft-serve mix and being in flow communication with the freezer barrel so that soft- serve mix can flow from the mix hopper into the freezer barrel, a flow passage leading from the freezer barrel to a draw spout, means for expelling frozen product from the freezer barrel via the flow passage to the draw spout, and flow metering means for metering the flow of soft-serve product through the flow passage.
• Figure 1 is a side view of a freezer door assembly of a soft-serve dispensing machine in accordance with the invention
• Figure 2 is a view in the direction of arrow II in Figure 1, with the topping unit forming part of the assembly having been removed
• Figure 3 is a section on III-III in Figure 2 , of a door plate forming part of the assembly;
• Figure 4 is a section on IV-IV in Figure 2, of a carrier forming part of the assembly, with the topping unit in place;
• Figure 5 is a front view of the door plate, in the direction of arrow V in Figure 3 ,-
• Figure 6 is a rear view of the assembly, in the direction of arrow VI in Figure 2 ;
• Figure 7 is schematic drawing illustrating the various controls of the machine;
• Figure 8 is a block diagram illustrating the operation of the machine.
• reference numeral 10 generally indicates a soft-serve dispensing machine which comprises a freezer cylinder or barrel 12, a mix hopper 14 for soft-serve mix 16, and an air tube assembly 18 through which mix and air can flow into the freezer barrel .
• the machine further comprises a beater assembly 20 which is rotatable in the freezer barrel 12, the beater assembly having helical elements which carry scraper blades.
• the beater assembly serves to blend air and mix, to scrape frozen mix from the inside of the freezer barrel, and to eject frozen mix through an outlet port 22 at the front of the freezer barrel, from where the product eventually reaches a draw spout .
• a beater motor 24 is provided to rotate the beater assembly 20 in the freezer barrel 12.
• the outlet port 22 is formed in a removable freezer door assembly which closes the front end of the freezer barrel 12 and is held in position by means of nuts which are tightened onto threaded studs of the barrel .
• the freezer door assembly conventionally has a rearwardly protruding bearing hub for rotatably supporting the front end of the beater assembly, and also a pair of baffle rods which pass from front to rear of the freezer barrel, through the interior of the beater assembly. The rear ends of the baffle rods are joined to form an elongated U. in the soft-serve machine of the present invention the conventional freezer door assembly is replaced by a freezer door assembly 30 whose construction will now be described.
• the freezer door assembly 30 comprises a door plate 32, a carrier 34 mounted on the door plate so as to be slidable with respect to the door plate in the direction of arrows A in Figure 2, and a topping unit 36 mounted on the carrier 34. Although only one topping unit 36 is shown in the drawings, provision is made for three topping units, each of which may contain a different topping.
• the door plate 32 is designed for a soft- serve dispensing machine having two mix hoppers. It therefore has two bearing hubs 38 and two pairs of baffle rods 40, these being of conventional construction. It also has two outlet ports 22.
• Each outlet port 22 leads via a passage 42 from the rear to the front face of the door plate.
• a turbine wheel 44 having vanes 46.
• the turbine wheel 44 is journalled in a pair of cross bars 48 extending across the passage 42.
• Passages 50 lead transversely from each of the passages 42, upstream of the respective turbine wheel 44, to a third passage 42.1 between the passages 42.
• the passage 42.1 is blanked off at the rear. Like the passages 42, the passage 42.1 opens to the front of the door plate 32 and has a turbine wheel 44 mounted therein.
• the topping unit 36 comprises a topping hopper 52 and a hollow cylindrical plunger 54 which extends down from the lower end of the topping hopper. Inside the plunger 54 there is an archimedes screw 56 which has a shaft 58. The shaft 58 is connected to the low speed output of a topping motor 60 for metering a solid topping such as chocolate chips, nuts, or the like, into a serving of frozen mix.
• the plunger 54 can move up and down in a vertical bore 62 in the carrier 34, the plunger making sealing contact with the walls of the bore.
• a fitting 64 which forms a draw spout.
• the top face of the fitting 64 has an annular groove therein in which an O-ring 66 is accommodated.
• the plunger 54 is provided with a rack 68, and on the carrier 34 there is a sector gear 70 which meshes with the rack.
• the sector gear 70 has a draw handle 72 fixed thereto, the assembly of sector gear and draw handle being pivotally displaceable with respect to the carrier on a pin 74.
• the entire topping unit 36, including the plunger 54 can be moved up or down with respect to the carrier 34.
• a port 78 leads sideways into the bore 62. By shifting the carrier transversely with respect to the door plate 32, the port 78 can be brought into alignment with any one of the passages 42 and 42.1.
• 0-rings 79 are provided on the front face of the door plate 32, to form a seal at the interface between the door plate and the carrier 34.
• the door plate 32 is provided with a first, rotation sensor 80 which is located in close proximity to the turbine wheel 44, the rotation sensor being capable of sensing rotation of the turbine wheel.
• the rotation sensor 80 may be such as to provide one pulse for each passage of a vane 46 as the turbine wheel rotates.
• the door plate 32 is further provided with a second sensor or temperature probe 82 which is able to sense the temperature of the product as it leaves the freezer barrel 12 via the outlet port 22.
• an operating switch 84 which changes state when the draw handle 72 is operated to dispense a serving of product .
• the rotation sensor 80, the temperature probe 82, and operating switch 84 are connected to a control unit 86, the operation of which will now be described with reference to the block diagram of Figure 8.
• the function of the control unit 86 is largely software implemented. Pulses arriving from the rotation sensor 80 are integrated at 88 to provide an indication of accumulated volume of flow . The pulses are further differentiated at 90, to provide an indication of the flow rate.
• the conventional beater motor control of the soft-serve machine is set into operation as indicated at 92. Furthermore, the following steps executed. First, there is an (optional) waiting period for allowing a clearance volume to be dispensed, as indicated at 94. Thereafter, the topping motor 60 is set into operation via a topping motor control as indicated at 96, the topping motor being controlled to rotate at a speed which is proportional to the rate at which product flows through the relevant turbine wheel 44, as sensed by the rotation sensor 80. The process is terminated then the operating switch 84 detects that the plunger 54 has been returned to its closed position, as indicated at 98. The output of the temperature probe 82 is monitored and compared with various adjustable set points as indicated at 100.
• the control unit 86 further provides for a register to keep a cleaning volume log as indicated at 102, a register for keeping a serving volume log as indicated at 104, and a beater motor disable function as indicated at 108.
• Numerical displays may be provided for displaying the volumes, quantities such as price corresponding to these values, rates of flow, and so on.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Polymers & Plastics (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Confectionery (AREA)

Priority Applications (4)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=25585771

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (5)

Cited By (2)

Families Citing this family (1)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (9)

• 1997
  • 1997-07-02 JP JP10504342A patent/JP2000515736A/ja active Pending
  • 1997-07-02 AU AU35092/97A patent/AU724349B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1997-07-02 WO PCT/US1997/011274 patent/WO1998000360A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1997-07-02 CA CA002258846A patent/CA2258846A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1997-07-02 EP EP97931474A patent/EP0932578A4/en not_active Withdrawn

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

Also Published As

Similar Documents

Legal Events