GB2212704A

GB2212704A - Apparatus for blanching or cooling vegetables or fruit

Info

Publication number: GB2212704A
Application number: GB8827639A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Lars Roland Haraldsson; Jan Bengtsson; Claes Friberg
Original assignee: PROCESSING PRODUCTS AND MANAGE
Current assignee: PROCESSING PRODUCTS AND MANAGE
Priority date: 1987-11-25
Filing date: 1988-11-25
Publication date: 1989-08-02
Anticipated expiration: 2008-11-25
Also published as: NL8802894A; SE500528C2; NL194065B; GB2212704B; GB8827639D0; SE8704662L; SE8704662D0; NL194065C

Abstract

Vegetables or fruit are blanched or cooled, and especially potato products are blanched, in a water-containing trough (11) which adjacent its bottom has a lower conveyor (16) the upper run (17) of which receives the goods at one end (12) of the trough. Above the lower conveyor (16), there is provided an upper conveyor (26) provided with drivers (29) in the form of sheet-like elements extending substantially at right angles to the upper run (17) of the lower conveyor (16) and forming partitions dividing into compartments (46) the trough space between the two conveyors (16, 26) which travel from the feed end (12) of the trough to the discharge end (13) thereof, the speed of movement of the upper conveyor (26) exceeding the speed of movement of the lower conveyor (16). In the long side walls of the trough (11), water ejectors (33) (Fig 3, not shown) are provided below the surface of the water and each serve to inject a water jet into the compartments (46) passing by in order to produce therein a turbulent current of water (45) maintaining in motion the goods present in the respective compartments (46). <IMAGE>

Description

APPARATUS FOR BLANCHING OR COOLING FRUIT, VEGETABLES ETC., ESPECIALLY BLANCHING OF POTATO PRODUCTS The present invention relates to an apparatus.

for blanching or cooling fruit, vegetables etc., especially blanching of potato products, comprising a trough for taking up water to a predetermined level, and a conveyor which extends between a feed and a discharge end of the trough and the upper goods-conveying run of which is located below the water level.

In the blanching of potato chips, use is made of large-size rotary drums having a helical formation around the inner periphery for feeding the potato chips along the drum from one end thereof to the other end, while heated water is being conducted in the opposite direction. Such drums are expensive to manufacture and have a very low filling capacity. Further, since the temperature of the heated water flowing through the drum will drop, it is not possible to maintain a constant blanching temperature. A major drawback is the difficulty of cleaning the interior of such drums.

In case blanching is not desired, the potato chips cannot be conducted through the drum since, in the absence of water, they will be subjected to mechanical action and thus may be damaged. A by-pass arrangement must then be provided, which is both complicated and time-consuming.

The object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which overcomes the above-mentioned drawbacks and is particularly useful for potato blanching, but which by its specific design should also be usable for blanching or cooling other vegetables, fruit etc.

According to the invention, this object is achieved in that an endless means is mounted above the conveyor in said trough and has projecting drivers which terminate close to the goods-conveying run of the conveyor and form partitions for dividing the space in the trough between said conveyor run and said endless means into a number of compartments which are movable from said feed end to said discharge end, and that water ejectors are provided in the side walls of the trough below the water level for directing turbulence-producing water jets into the compartments passing by.

The invention will now be described in more detail hereinbelow with reference to the accompanying drawings showing one embodiment thereof. Fig. 1 is side view of an apparatus according to the invention, and Fig. 2 shows the apparatus from above. Fig. 3 shows an ejector mounted in the apparatus according to Figs. 1 and 2, and Fig. 4 schematically shows the current of water provided by means of the ejectors.

The apparatus according to the invention for blanching or cooling fruit, vegetables etc. and especially blanching potato, in Fig. 1 consists of a stand 10 supporting a trough 11. The trough 11 has a main part of rectangular cross-section with a bottom 49 and end portions 12, 13 where the bottom 49 is inclined upwards and outwards. The end portion 12 forms the feed end of the trough and the end portion 13 the discharge end thereof. A roller 14 is mounted in the outer end of the end portion 12 and extends transversely of the trough 11. Similarly, a roller 15 is mounted in the outer end of the end portion 13, as appears from Figs. 1 and 2. The rollers 14, 15 support a conveyor 16 in the form of a fine-meshed metal belt the upper run 17 of which is disposed within the trough 11 and guided by suitable guide means of Teflon or the like close to the bottom of the trough, as shown in Fig. 1.

The conveyor belt is guided by the roller 15 to the underside of the trough 11 where the return run 18 is also guided by suitable guide means, and back into the interior of the trough over the roller 14. An electric motor 19 with suitable gear means is mounted on the top side of the trough 11 and drives the conveyor 16 by means of a V-belt or chain transmission. Preferably, the driving speed of the motor 19 is adjustable, such that the speed of travel of the conveyor can be changed, if required. At 50, the trough 11 has an outlet to which two outlet pipes 20 are connected.

The trough also has an overflow 21 in which an outlet pipe 22 is pivotally mounted in conventional manner by means of a manual adjusting device 23 for setting the correct water level in the trough 11. Adjacent its bottom, the trough 11 has cleaning doors 24 with locking means.

The trough 11 has a cover 25 covering the major part of the length of the trough and supporting an upper conveyor 26 the conveyor belt of which passes over rollers 27 and 28 and is guided by guide means (not shown). The conveyor belt 26 has drivers 29 which project substantially at right angles therefrom and consist of sheet-like means extending transversely of the trough 11 and terminating at a slight distance from the opposite side walls thereof. The conveyor 26 is driven by an electric motor 30 with gear means and a suitable transmission. Preferably, the speed of rotation of the motor 30 is also adjustable.As illustrated, the lower run of the conveyor 26 extends parallel to the upper run 17 of the conveyor 16, and these two runs travel in the same direction, but the speed of movement of the upper conveyor 26, at least when blanching potato chips, exceeds that of the lower conveyor 16. The conveyor 26 is enclosed in a casing 31 mounted on the cover 25 and having doors 32 to permit cleaning.

In the side walls of the trough, a number of water ejectors 33 are provided after each other and each consist of a nozzle 35 which is centrally fixed in a semi-spherical recess 34 facing the interior of the trough, and connected to a T-member 36 whose leg opposite to the nozzle is closed by a plug 37 and whose third leg is connected by a pipe 38 to a distributing pipe 39. Such a distributing pipe 39 is arranged on each side of the trough, and these pipes are connected to a pipe 40, in turn connected to the pressure side of a pump 41 whose suction side is connected to a heating pipe 42 in which a vapour nozzle 43 is provided. The vapour nozzle 43 is connected by a pipe 44 to a suitable vapour source. The pipe 42 communicates with the two pipes 20 connected to the outlet of the trough 11.It will be understood that water which via the trough outlet and the pipes 20 reaches the heating pipe 42 and there is subjected to vapour supplied through the vapour nozzle 43, is sucked into the pump 40 pressing the water through the pipe 40 and the distributing pipes 39 to the nozzles 35 for injection into the trough 11, as will be described in more detail hereinbelow.

The water injected into the trough 11 by means of the nozzles 35 will thereafter flow to the outlet to be heated again and pumped back to the nozzles.

Thus, there is achieved a circulation of the water which has substantially the same temperature wherever it is injected in the trough. When starting the apparatus and subsequently according to need, fresh water is supplied, which can be performed at any desired point of the trough 11. However, the fresh water feed conduit is preferably connected by means of a valve 48 at the upper part of the casing 31.

The apparatus described above and shown in the drawings is used in the following manner for blanching potato chips. The potato chips are supplied to the apparatus at the feed end portion 12 thereof in a suitable manner, for instance by means of a conveyor which spread the potato chips on the upper run of the conveyor 16. The conveyor 16 travels at a predetermined speed, and the potato chips supplied are descended into the fresh water previously fed to the trough 11. The water in the trough 11 has a predetermined temperature which is maintained by means of the vapour nozzle 43 in the heating pipe 20.After travelling a predetermined distance on the conveyor 16, the potato chips reach the space underneath the conveyor 26 where they are taken up in the compartments 46 which are formed when the drivers 29 of the conveyor 26 are swung down towards the conveyor 16 in the left-hand part of the apparatus.

The incoming potato chips are thus placed in compartments 46 which follow one after the other and which, since the conveyor 26 travels at a higher speed than the conveyor 16, will advance the potato chips located therein relative to the conveyor 16. During their movement from the left to the right, the compartments pass the row of ejectors 33 in the wall of the trough 11. By means of the nozzles 35, the ejectors 33 inject a thin jet with suitable pressure into the compartments 46 transversely of the direction of travel, whereby a turbulent current of water is produced in the compartments, as illustrated by the arrows 45 in Fig. 4. By this current of water, the potato chips will not adhere to each other.To the right in the central part of the trough 11, the drivers 29 are swung upwards around the roller 28, and the potato chips in the compartments are discharged onto the conveyor 16 whose upper run now begins to move upwards in the discharge end portion 13 of the trough. The potato chips are discharged into a suitable collecting device when the belt of the conveyor 16 passes over the roller 15.

Thanks to the possibility'of running the conveyor 26 at a higher speed than the conveyor 16 and the possibility of adjusting the relative speed of movement as well as the feed of water of the same temperature in the entire trough 11, blanching can be effected in every desired manner for achieving an excellent product. A predetermined amount of the water in the trough is discharged at certain time intervals, and fresh water is supplied through the valve 48. As previously pointed out, the conveyor 16 has a fine-meshed conveyor belt (mesh width for instance 1 mm), whereby impurities can be caught thereon and removed at a suitable point outside of the trough 11. If, nevertheless, impurities or deposits should prevail in the trough 11, they can easily be removed through the cleaning doors. 24. Similarly, the upper conveyor 26 is easily accessible through the doors 32.

In potato blanching, it happens that a batch of potatoes need not be blanched, in which case it is not necessary, as in prior art blanching apparatuses, to provide a by-pass arrangement, but merely to lower the water level in the trough 11 by means of the overflow 21, 22, such that the potato chips placed on the conveyor 16 will move above the water in the trough 11.

As will have been appreicated from the above, the apparatus according to the invention is particularly advantageous for blanching potatoes, but it is also useful for cooling other vegetables and fruit, which are subjected to adequate turbulence in the compartments 46 by means of the water currents provided by the ejectors 33. In the processing of vegetables or fruit of different kinds, it may prove necessary to change the speed of the drive motors 19, 30. In the case of cooling, the heating pipe 42 with the vapour nozzle is of course replaced by a suitable cooling device.

Claims

1. An apparatus for blanching or cooling fruit, vegetables etc., especially blanching of potato products, comprising a trough (11) for taking up water to a predetermined level, and a conveyor (16) which extends between a feed and a discharge end of the trough (11) and the upper goods-conveying run (17) of which is located below the water level, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that an endless means (26) is mounted above said conveyor (16) and has projecting drivers (29) which terminate close to the goodsconveying run (17) of the conveyor (16) and form partitions for dividing the space in the trough between said conveyor run (17) and said endless means (26) into a number of compartments (46) which are movable from said feed end to said discharge end, and that water ejectors (33) are provided in the side walls of the trough (11) below the water level for directing turbulence-producing water jets into the compartments (46) passing by.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the goods-conveying run (17) of the conveyor (16) is guided close to the bottom of the trough (11) and travels over said feed and discharge ends, while the return run (18) of said conveyor is guided underneath the trough (11), and that said endless means (26) consists of an upper conveyor extending parallel to the upper run (17) of the lower conveyor (16) with sheet-like drivers (29) projecting therefrom at right angles to said upper run throughout the width of the trough (11).

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the bottom of the trough (11) is inclined upwards and outwards adjacent said feed and discharge ends (12, 13) the upper edges of which are provided with a roller (14, 15) supporting the lower conveyor (16).

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 3, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the endless means (26) is accommodated in a casing (31) disposed above the trough (11) and provided with doors (32).

5. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the lower conveyor (16) is made of a fine-meshed net forming a strainer for the trough outlet located under it.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any one or the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the speed of travel of the endless means (26) is higher than the preferably adjustable speed of travel of the lower conveyor (16).

7. Apparatus as claimed in any one o the preced- ing claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the water ejectors (33) are connected to the pressure side of a pump (41) the suction side of which is connected to the trough outlet, and that a water heating device (43), preferably a vapour supply device, or alternatively a water cooling device I connected before or after the pump (1).

#. Apparatus as claimed in any one of the preced- ins claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d in that the water ejectors (33) consist of nozzles (35) which are centrally located each in a part-spherical depression (34) facia the interior of the trough, and provided in the side walls thereof, said nozzles being connected to distributing pipes (39) disposed on each side of the trough (11) and connected to the pump (41).

9. Apparatus for blanching or cooling fruit, vegetables etc, especially blanching of potato products substantially as hereinbefore described witl reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.