Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
  • B26F—PERFORATING; PUNCHING; CUTTING-OUT; STAMPING-OUT; SEVERING BY MEANS OTHER THAN CUTTING
  • B26F3/00—Severing by means other than cutting; Apparatus therefor
  • B26F3/004—Severing by means other than cutting; Apparatus therefor by means of a fluid jet
  • B26F3/008—Energy dissipating devices therefor, e.g. catchers; Supporting beds therefor
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
  • B26F—PERFORATING; PUNCHING; CUTTING-OUT; STAMPING-OUT; SEVERING BY MEANS OTHER THAN CUTTING
  • B26F3/00—Severing by means other than cutting; Apparatus therefor
  • B26F3/004—Severing by means other than cutting; Apparatus therefor by means of a fluid jet
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B26—HAND CUTTING TOOLS; CUTTING; SEVERING
  • B26F—PERFORATING; PUNCHING; CUTTING-OUT; STAMPING-OUT; SEVERING BY MEANS OTHER THAN CUTTING
  • B26F2210/00—Perforating, punching, cutting-out, stamping-out, severing by means other than cutting of specific products

Definitions

• the invention relates to a device for dividing food according to the preamble of claim 1.
• the device can with at least one liquid jet cut food, which are transported by a feed device in at least one feed direction through the device having a processing area.
• the food to be divided lies on the processing area, the liquid jet being directed towards the food.
• the cuts are then introduced via an outlet nozzle, from which, in the region of the processing area, high-pressure, bundled liquid jet emerges.
• the processing area with the food can also be stationary and the outlet nozzle can be moved over the device.
• EP 1 990 144 A2 Devices for dividing foods of this type are known from EP 1 990 144 A2.
• food especially food from dough, cut by means of water jet cutting.
• EP 1 990 144 A2 describes a device in which the food, which is formed, for example, as a cake, is placed on a conveyor belt whose position is then optically detected and subsequently a desired sectional image is produced.
• the famous cake pieces are cut out.
• the outlet nozzle is moved with the water jet transversely to the feed direction of the conveyor belt, so that can be cut together with the movement of the conveyor belt in the forward and backward direction of the desired angle.
• a device known from US 5 365 816 A also cuts into round foods, such as cakes.
• This device has the advantage that the jet can be collected, so that the water or the other cutting medium can be removed and reused. In addition, this can be used to reduce splashing of the cutting medium below the processing area.
• this known device still has the disadvantage that particles which are torn away laterally next to the beam intake, do not get into the beam recording. This is particularly disadvantageous in connection with the processing of non-homogeneous foods, since here scattering effects can occur, which can solve larger amounts of the food on the underside. Furthermore, as a result, food particles may adhere to the adjacent areas of the device, which is particularly important in terms of hygiene and e.g. Salmonella can be detrimental.
• the object of the invention is therefore to provide a device for dividing food, which ensures a reliable and wear-free as possible function at the same time the least possible contamination and pollution of the environment.
• the suction device can also suck liquid quantities, which are present either at the bottom of the cut or in the form of finely atomized liquid below the food, thereby avoiding contamination of the environment, for example Salmonella, and secondly softening of the food can be.
• the food is usually cut in frozen, preferably in the frozen state.
• frozen does not necessarily mean a temperature of less than minus 18 ° C, and temperatures of minus 10 ° C or warmer are to be understood here.
• an optimization is carried out at which temperatures and pressures of the liquid jet, the best cutting result can be achieved.
• the processing region of the device has a support which has a jet passage opening for the jet below the liquid jet.
• the processing area can in principle be part of the feed device, that is, guided together with the conveyor belt through the device. However, preferably, the processing area will be fixed, so that the food is transferred from the feed device to the processing area and is transported away again after processing by the feed device. For this purpose, corresponding provided means that push the food on the standing processing area and later push it onto the transport belt leading away.
• An embodiment of the feed in a fixed processing area has in front of and behind the processing area in each case a conveyor belt, wherein the front conveyor belt pushes the food on the processing area, while the rear conveyor belt then takes over the cut food and supplies the further processing or packaging.
• the food can preferably be either positioned on a workpiece carrier or an offset device can be provided, which transfers the food from the front conveyor belt into the fixed processing area and subsequently onto the rear conveyor belt.
• an offset device may for example be a gripper arm or a sliding element.
• a gripper arm can be arranged to be operated hydraulically, pneumatically or by a motor, for example, on the device.
• conveyor belts are provided in the region of the processing area at the outer edges, which can take over the food from the conveyor belt arranged in front of it and transport it into the processing area. Similarly, after the food has been cut, the food can be transferred via these conveyor belts to the downstream conveyor for further processing or packaging.
• the present invention can be used in conjunction with water jets as a cutting tool. But it can also find other liquid, possibly even gaseous media use. In particular, it may be helpful to modify the freezing point of the liquid cutting medium by adding salts or other additives.
• a support is now preferably used below the point of the liquid jet has a beam passage opening through which the liquid jet during the entire cutting path after exiting the food without contact can escape the surrounding support in the editing area. It has been shown that, especially in the processing of food, contact of the liquid jet with a part of the processing area arranged underneath brings about an unfavorable side effect. On the one hand, a part of the liquid jet is reflected back through the abutment formed thereby in the direction of the food, which can lead to an unclean cutting edge at the bottom and contamination of the food by absorbing water in soft foods.
• a jet aperture is used which is sufficiently large to allow the jet to pass without material removal.
• the jet can now enter below the food, possibly together with escaped particles, in the beam receiving arranged there.
• This beam recording is designed in such a way that it is able to catch the beam without the negative effects described above occurring.
• the jet recording thus acts as a brake and suction for the liquid jet.
• the beam receptacle in the form of a tube or shaft is formed and geometrically designed and arranged so that even if it were removed from its wall material, this can no longer reach the food with sufficient certainty.
• the jet velocity and the beam focusing become smaller as the distance from the outlet nozzle increases, material removal in the jet receptacle can also be avoided.
• the lower suction device By means of the lower suction device according to the invention, not only the liquid particles but also particles and quantities of liquid accumulating around the outgoing jet can now be sucked off.
• This not only has the advantage already mentioned above that softening of the food by drops adhering to the cutting edge can be avoided, which can also reduce or avoid discoloration of the soil when the cutting fluid is discolored by, for example, fruit pulp in the cake.
• contamination of the food by particles released as a result of cutting can be avoided in connection with an upper suction. For example, when cutting cakes powdered sugar can be whirled up, which can settle in places where this is optically not desired. This avoids the upper suction device.
• the suction devices can ensure that the environment of the processing area remains free from any precipitating food residues, which contributes to the improvement of hygiene.
• a beam recording has a slightly bent wall area at a certain distance from the processing area.
• the liquid jet can then cling to this wall region, so that it is deflected with the radius of the bend of the wall region and can be converted into a channel flow.
• the associated flow resistances brake the jet of liquid so that the liquid can subsequently be collected and either disposed of or reprocessed.
• Reprocessing of the liquid used to form the jet of liquid preferably includes filtering to filter out any non-food sourced material that may have entered the liquid. Of course, this also cutting residues of the food itself can be filtered out.
• the liquid can be heated in the meantime for disinfection or exposed to UV light.
• the beam absorption can also have further measures to additionally decelerate the liquid jet.
• a countercurrent nozzle into consideration, which directs an air flow or a liquid flow against the liquid jet.
• the liquid jet is effectively slowed down and widened, so that it can be removed without material removal.
• Strömungsleitprofile can be used here, these guide profiles can be protected by a small-held change in direction from wear.
• the beam absorption itself is adapted in its shape to the specific design of the cutting process. This particularly concerns the way in which the food is moved relative to the liquid jet in order to introduce the cut into the food. There are several alternative options for this.
• the food can be moved through a fixed jet of liquid.
• the processing area is designed so that it can move the food back and forth in at least one direction and possibly additionally can also rotate.
• either the processing area can be moved together with the food relative to the liquid jet or the food is rotated by an offset device relative to the processing area and / or moved back and forth.
• the beam passage opening can then be formed as an oval, rectangular or round opening, since the beam passage opening in this case is stationary to the liquid jet.
• the processing area is moved relative to the liquid jet, so that the beam passage opening is then formed in the form of a slot or a long hole.
• a further embodiment of the cutting process may comprise a moving liquid jet relative to the fixed processing area and the stationary food.
• the beam passage opening is preferably formed in the form of a slot.
• the liquid jet in turn can be directed at right angles to the feed direction downwards, but it is also angular positions possible. Furthermore, especially in the case of frozen foods, the liquid jet will not cut completely straight through the food, but will easily migrate counter to the feed direction.
• the spatial position of the beam passage opening therefore preferably takes this offset into account. For this purpose, it is arranged in the feed direction to the respective distance behind the upper point of impact of the liquid jet on the upper side of the food.
• either the position of the jet receptacle can be adjustably formed together with the beam passage opening or the outlet nozzle of the liquid jet can be provided so movably on the device that it is adjustably mounted relative to the beam passage opening and the beam receptacle in order to take account of a beam emigration due to the resistance of the material to be cut.
• this can be positioned on a workpiece carrier or even transported without such a workpiece carrier from the feed device through the device.
• the food can be fixed in the case of using a workpiece carrier on the workpiece carrier. Such a fixation can be done via clamping means or marginal boundaries, between which the food is inserted.
• the fixing can also be arranged as an external clamping means in the region of the processing area, which, for example, shortly before the use of Cutting process the food from the side, along a circumference and / or fixed from above.
• the workpiece carrier must also have a beam passage.
• a typical application of the invention is, for example, the cutting of pies.
• the peculiarity is that pies often have different layers, which in turn have a different consistency.
• a cream layer, fruit or fruit pulp may be included in the cake.
• the temperature of the cake, feed rate and the jet pressure must be optimized so that the example, red Fruchtmark Mrs not smeared along the cutting edge and so an ugly result.
• a frozen cake i. colder than -10 ° C, especially colder than minus 15 ° C or frozen in the food law sense, i. between -18 ° C and preferably -25 ° C, cut.
• This has, besides the advantage that the Fruchtmark für smeared the further advantage that the shape of the cake is stable and can be easily fixed.
• the subsequently cut cake pieces can be more easily separated from other pieces of cake and e.g. to a mixed sorting.
• a common application is namely to assemble sorts of different pie pieces in a package. For this, the produced pies are used, which are otherwise sold as a whole. They are then cut and sorted.
• Cutting in the frozen state additionally prevents the cake from having to be thawed again for cutting, which is usually the case today when cutting with knives. Ready-made cakes are usually delivered deep-frozen. For the production of the mixed variety compilation, this cake, which was first frozen after production, is then thawed again for cutting in conventional cutting processes by means of ultrasonically excited knives and then frozen again for sorting and delivery. However, this intermediate thawing can lead to quality losses in addition to the time required for this. These are additionally avoided by the invention.
• the frozen cake is cut, for example, at feed speeds of 2 m / min.
• a typical jet pressure of the liquid jet is 3500 bar, if solids are in the cake, such as, for example, cores of raspberries or strawberries, can also be a pressure of more than 5,000 bar, preferably between 5,500 bar and 6,000 bar use.
• a possible application of the invention is the already described processing of cakes.
• the invention can also be applied to all other foods, in particular to meat, fish, ready meals such as baguettes, tarte or pizza or pastry.
• the food when processing foods with different thickness along the cutting line, can either be preformed before deep freezing or it can be adapted to the feed rate to the thickness, so that at lower thickness of the feed faster and with a larger thickness of the feed rate is slower.
• the pre-forming prior to deep freezing has the further advantage that in foods that have a cavity, this is compressed before deep freezing, so that can be avoided unwanted effects when passing through the liquid jet through this cavity.
• Such a problem occurs, for example, when cutting squid tubes. If these tubes are flattened and then deep-frozen, a homogeneous, double layer of squid is obtained, which can be cut easily despite the rather rubber-elastic, for food comparatively hard meat.
• the liquid used for cutting can be additionally cooled, for example to a temperature of a few ° C, in order to reduce the thawing of the cutting edges.
• the temperature of the liquid may also be below 0 ° C.
• abrasive particles can be added, which must of course be food grade. These may be, for example, sugar or salt crystals or even edible pieces of food, for example ground nuts or the like.
• the preferred liquid is water, oil or a dispersion of water and oil.
• FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of a processing area in a view from above
• Fig. 6 shows a third embodiment of the processing area
• FIG. 7 shows a third possible embodiment of a jet intake and a lower suction device
• FIG. 8 shows the jet receptacle or lower suction device shown in FIG. 7 in a view from above, FIG.
• FIG. 9 shows a fourth embodiment of a jet intake and a lower suction device
• FIG. 10 shows a fifth embodiment of a jet receptacle and a lower suction device
• FIG. 1 1 shows a sixth embodiment of a jet intake and a lower suction device in a side view in section
• FIG. 13 shows the embodiment according to FIG. 12 in a view from above
• FIG. 14 shows the embodiment according to FIG. 12 in a side view
• FIG. 16 shows an outlet nozzle with an upper suction device and a jet intake with a lower suction device of a last embodiment of the invention
• FIG. 17 shows the embodiment according to FIG. 16 in a view from above
• FIG. 1 shows the essential area of a device for dividing foodstuffs 1.
• Stylized here is a feed device 2 shown, which has a fixed processing area 5 in the central region.
• the food is transported 1 in the feed direction V first to the processing area 5 and then away from it again for further processing.
• Via an outlet nozzle 3, a liquid jet 4 is directed to the food 1 in the processing area 5.
• an upper suction device 8 is provided, can be sucked through the back-spraying particles of the food 1 and also liquid residues.
• a jet receptacle 6 and a lower suction device 7 are provided, whereby also particles residues and liquid portions can be sucked off via the lower suction device 7.
• the jet receptacle 6 receives the downwardly exiting liquid jet 4 so that the liquid can be collected and either disposed of or reprocessed.
• the upper suction device 8 and the lower suction device 7 have in addition to the greater cleanliness and the avoidance of contamination on the food 1 the advantage that a higher food hygiene can be created.
• a feature of the device shown here is the transport of the food 1 to the processing area 5, which is formed separately from the transport device. Since foodstuffs 1 are usually quite soft, unlike rigid materials, they can usually only be cut with liquid jets 4 when they rest on a support. On the other hand, this condition has the disadvantage that, when it projects into the liquid jet 4 with partial regions, it brings with it reflections of the cutting fluid and material removal. The latter would not only lead to wear of the edition, but also bring problems in food processing, since of course the deposition of particles that have been removed from the support by the liquid jet 4, on the food 1 is undesirable. For the reason mentioned above, the support within the processing area 5 has at least one beam passage opening 10.
• this beam passage opening 10 is formed essentially depends on the sequence of movements with which the cut is made in the food 1.
• the food 1 is moved relative to the outlet nozzle 3. This relative movement can take place either by a movement of the food 1 or by a moving outlet nozzle 3. A combination of both movements is of course possible.
• Typical movements of the food 1 and the liquid jet 4 are shown in Figures 4, 5 and 6.
• a first way of workpiece handling is shown schematically using the example of cutting a cake.
• the frozen cake is moved lying on the processing area 5 via an offset device 11 formed by a clamp with round jaws. Since the processing area 5 is designed to be stationary, a simple hole in the processing area 5 is sufficient as the beam passage opening 10. This will of course be greater than the diameter of the liquid jet 4 to avoid scattering effects.
• the dimension of the beam passage opening is many times, usually at least 10 times larger than the beam diameter.
• the cake is rotated and moved within the plane of the processing area 5.
• the jaws of the offset device 1 1 can engage under the cake so as not to let the radial pressure to be too large, which is particularly practical when external decorations are on the edge of the cake.
• the processing area 5 may be formed so large that the cake without laterally beyond him can be moved in the transverse direction.
• FIG. 5 shows a processing region 5 for this embodiment.
• the jet passage opening 10 is slit-shaped, so that the exit nozzle 3 can be moved back and forth with the liquid jet 4 in the feed direction V.
• a cut is first introduced through the cake parallel to the feed direction V.
• the cake then rotated, so that with the same movement another, offset by the desired angle cut can be introduced. This rotation can be done either by a rotatable embodiment of the processing area 5 or, as shown in Figure 4, via an offset device 11.
• FIG. 6 shows an embodiment of the processing area 5, in which all cuts for dividing the cake can be made without movement of the processing area 5 by an exclusive movement of the outlet nozzle 3.
• FIGS. 2 and 3 show two possible embodiments of the lower jet receptacle 6.
• the jet receiving 6 is tube-like with an upper, slightly funnel-like inlet region formed. It has the lower suction device 7 in the upper area. This has upward directed a suction nozzle surrounding the jet intake, can be sucked through the liquid jet 4 with the downwardly cracked particles and liquid quantities.
• the lower suction device 7 can also prevent droplet formation on the underside of the jet passage opening 10.
• the funnel of the jet receptacle 6 is angled backwards in the lower area and merges into a drain line.
• the liquid jet 4 nestles against the outer wall of the angled region and is deflected gently.
• the funnel of the jet receptacle 6 can be made correspondingly long, so that the liquid jet 4 widens and the flow slows down.
• the diameter of the lower area of the funnel and the drain line must of course be adapted to the desired expansion.
• a countercurrent nozzle 9 is disposed within the inlet funnel of the jet receiver 6, can be counter-blown through the gaseous medium, in particular air, the liquid jet 4. This results in a flow effect of the liquid jet 4, which still causes the jet in the extended area of the inlet funnel Beam shot 6 widens.
• a negative pressure can be applied to the discharge line, which sucks the liquid contained in the jet receiver 6 around the countercurrent nozzle 9. It goes without saying that the danger of erosion should also be reduced by suitable choice of material in all designs.
• easily exchangeable flow guidance profiles can also be provided in the jet receptacle 6. These may be, for example, lattice-shaped or bar-shaped, so as to form a vortex-inducing radiation resistance.
• the use of the lower suction device 7 and / or the upper suction device 8 has the advantage, in particular in connection with the jet receptacle 6, that the noise emissions of the liquid cutting can be reduced, so that costly soundproofing measures or closed booths can be dispensed with and that the staff operating the device at most in the immediate vicinity of the device must wear ear protection.
• the upper suction device 8 and the lower suction device 7, as well as the outlet nozzle 3, be mounted on the food 1 adjustable, so that the distance to the food 1 can be minimized.
• FIG. 7 shows an exemplary solution for the lower suction device 7 and the jet receptacle 6.
• the beam receptacle 6 is here formed by a machined (for example by milling or honing), tubular body, which consists of a metal.
• the beam receptacle 6 preferably has a smooth surface to avoid unfavorable flow effects, which may, for example, cause erosion to occur.
• the inside of the jet receptacle 6 may be polished or hardened. This is advantageous in particular in the upper region of the jet receptacle 6, while experience has shown that the lower regions can be formed by a normal metal tube, whereby the region which is located approximately 50 mm below the upper opening of the jet receptacle 6 can be regarded as the lower region.
• the lower suction device 7 is formed here in the upper region oval, which is particularly apparent from the top view, which is shown in Figure 8, can be seen.
• the beam receptacle 6 is provided in the front region of the oval region, as seen in the feed direction behind the point of occurrence of the liquid jet 4 from the food 1 more particles will be located, as before this exit point. This is reinforced by the fact that due to the cutting resistance of the liquid jet, especially in frozen food 1 is slightly inclined.
• FIG. 9 shows a further embodiment of the jet receptacle 6, which is designed substantially narrower here transversely to the feed direction. This has the advantage that a back-spraying of the liquid from the jet receptacle 6 can be reduced because of the narrower drainage channel.
• FIG. 10 shows a similar embodiment, but here with a lower suction device 7 adapted to the shape of the jet receptacle 6.
• FIG. 11 shows a further embodiment of the invention, in which the jet receptacle 6 is likewise designed as a tube. However, it has a constriction here to form a flow-accelerating nozzle. In the region of this constriction, the pressure is reduced due to the flow in comparison to the lower suction device, whereby a suction effect is created by suction openings 12 in the constricted area which short-circuit the two pressure areas by the negative pressure in the jet receptacle 6, without the need for a pump.
• FIG. 12 to 15 an exemplary embodiment of the essential functional parts of the device is shown.
• the beam receptacle 6, surrounded by a lower suction device 7 can be seen.
• the upper part of the device has the outlet nozzle 3, via which the liquid jet 4 is directed onto the processing area 5, not shown here.
• FIG. 13 shows this device from above
• FIG. 14 shows a side view.
• FIGS. 16 to 19 A very similar device is shown in FIGS. 16 to 19, which does not differ in the lower region from the embodiment shown in FIGS. 12 to 15.
• an upper suction device 8 is provided in the upper region, which is able to suck off particles and liquid mist above the food 1.
• This has the advantage, for example, that swirled-up powder sugar, back-reflected cutting fluid or similar particles can be sucked and the food 1 so not contaminate, or smear the surface or can cause other adverse effects.
• the upper part of the device with the outlet nozzle 3 and, if present, the upper suction device 8 may be adjustable in height, wherein the device may have a height sensor, which can automatically adjust the distance of the outlet nozzle 3 from the food 1. In this way it can be avoided that the distance between the outlet nozzle 3 and the food 1 becomes too large

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• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Forests & Forestry (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Perforating, Stamping-Out Or Severing By Means Other Than Cutting (AREA)
• Confectionery (AREA)
• General Preparation And Processing Of Foods (AREA)

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• 2015
  • 2015-10-30 DE DE102015118610.1A patent/DE102015118610A1/de not_active Withdrawn
• 2016
  • 2016-10-31 CN CN201680063908.4A patent/CN108602197B/zh active Active
  • 2016-10-31 WO PCT/DE2016/100512 patent/WO2017071697A1/de not_active Ceased
  • 2016-10-31 EP EP16809282.3A patent/EP3368253B1/de active Active
  • 2016-10-31 CA CA3003307A patent/CA3003307A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2016-10-31 ES ES16809282T patent/ES2752186T3/es active Active
  • 2016-10-31 DK DK16809282T patent/DK3368253T3/da active
  • 2016-10-31 AU AU2016345212A patent/AU2016345212A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 2016-10-31 BR BR112018008637-1A patent/BR112018008637A2/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2016-10-31 PL PL16809282T patent/PL3368253T3/pl unknown
  • 2016-10-31 DE DE112016004999.4T patent/DE112016004999A5/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 2016-10-31 JP JP2018522607A patent/JP6866366B2/ja active Active
  • 2016-10-31 US US15/770,821 patent/US10919174B2/en active Active

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