Food freezing method and apparatus

Abstract

To improve the efficiency of frozen production, a food freezing method is disclosed, comprising the following steps: dosing a food in the form of a mass, a patch or a sheet of a paste onto a conveying plane by spreading or pouring the mass, the patch or the sheet of the paste onto the conveying plane; and advancing the paste on the conveying plane while sending a jet of a freezing gas, such as air, from the conveying plane to freeze the food, the conveying plane being a plane arranged in a freezing environment. The disclosure also relates to a freezer for the food freezing method.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a food freezing method and apparatus, and more particularly to an individual quick-freezing (IQF) method and apparatus. Background Technology

[0002] IQF is an abbreviation for Individually Quick Frozen, which refers to the process of freezing food individually. This process separates the various components of food during freezing: for example, when a consumer opens a bag of peas or vegetable soup mix, they will not find a whole frozen block, but rather a large number of separate vegetables.

[0003] WO2017209683 discloses an IQF refrigeration device.

[0004] Solid food particles are conveyed along a freezing channel on a conveyor plane, while being disturbed by jets of cold air exiting from orifices in the conveyor plane. This method is only feasible when the conveying speed is slow enough to ensure that the food particles are frozen uniformly as they bounce along the conveyor plane. Furthermore, the food must be able to float on the conveyor plane to be conveyed forward; otherwise, subsequent food will fall on top and accumulate, causing blockages. Therefore, there is a virtually insurmountable upper limit to the maximum hourly throughput of the equipment.

[0005] Therefore, there is a need to develop a method and equipment that can improve hourly productivity. Summary of the Invention

[0006] The main objective of this invention is to eliminate or mitigate the aforementioned defects by providing a method and apparatus that differs from the methods and apparatus described above.

[0007] Another objective of this invention is to develop a method and apparatus that can improve the machine-hour productivity of IQF.

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, a food freezing method includes: moving food in a freezing environment on a conveying plane, wherein freezing gas, such as an air jet, is ejected from the conveying plane to uniformly freeze the food. The food is in the form of a paste, and is metered onto the conveying plane by spreading or pouring clumps, patches / clusters, or droplets / layers of food onto the conveying plane.

[0009] The term "paste" as used herein refers to an aggregate made of a single or multiple ingredients, such as viscous materials, semi-liquid mixtures, pastes, or porridges. The paste specifically includes solid food particles / fragments.

[0010] This method allows food to be loaded onto the conveyor plane in piece / portion form, offering advantages such as: enabling rapid freezing (due to smaller individual clumps, cooling is faster) and increasing the conveying speed of food on the conveyor plane, thereby achieving higher hourly output. Experimental tests show that applying this method to existing IQF freezers can at least double their production efficiency.

[0011] In one embodiment, the gas is circulating air and / or refrigeration gas present in a refrigerated environment.

[0012] In one embodiment, the conveyor plane is disposed within the IQF refrigerator. In one embodiment, the IQF refrigerator considered herein is an IQF refrigerator equipped with the following structure:

[0013] - A frozen environment, wherein the frozen environment contains:

[0014] A conveying plane adapted to receive and advance food in the form of a porridge, and the conveying plane is provided with surface holes; and

[0015] - An air supply device for delivering frozen air from the freezing environment through the holes to blow / impact food passing on the conveying plane.

[0016] In one embodiment, the size of the clumps, patches, or thin layers is approximately 1-10 cm, preferably 2-7 cm, and more preferably 2-5 cm. These values ​​achieve a good balance between processing speed and final product quality.

[0017] In one embodiment, food is metered onto the conveyor plane by allowing it to fall onto the plane from a height above it by gravity. This makes it easy to form food clumps on the conveyor plane.

[0018] In one embodiment, food is metered and fed onto a conveyor plane by allowing it to fall by gravity from an opening in the external housing of the IQF freezer (e.g., the side or top of the housing). This makes it easy to retrofit or build an IQF freezer to implement this method.

[0019] In one embodiment, food is metered onto a conveying plane by dripping it onto the plane, specifically by dropping or dripping the food from one or more nozzles positioned at a height above the conveying plane.

[0020] In one embodiment, the one or more nozzles are outlets of a corresponding food delivery inlet pipe. Preferably, the inlet pipe delivers food from outside the freezing environment to inside the freezing environment; more specifically, the inlet pipe delivers food from outside the IQF freezer to inside the machine's own freezing environment.

[0021] In one embodiment, food is metered onto a conveyor plane to form and / or distribute multiple individual clumps across a region of the conveyor plane. The larger the area of ​​the conveyor plane on which clumps are formed, the more efficient the system. For example, food is metered onto the conveyor plane to form and / or distribute multiple clumps across at least half, preferably at least three-quarters, of the total area of ​​the conveyor plane.

[0022] In one embodiment, food is quantitatively fed onto a conveying plane via a plurality of feed pipes, wherein the outlets of the feed pipes are distributed in the space above the conveying plane, so that a plurality of clumps fall onto the conveying plane at a plurality of different locations.

[0023] In one embodiment, food is metered and fed onto a conveying plane by a gas jet to prevent the food from freezing inside the pipe and causing blockage.

[0024] In one embodiment, injecting gas into each of the feed pipes has the advantages of: promoting the transport of the porridge, improving the dispersion of the porridge on the transport plane, and keeping the porridge in a continuous flow state.

[0025] In one embodiment, one or each feed pipe is horizontally positioned.

[0026] In one embodiment, one or each feed duct is angled toward the conveying plane. This approach is particularly advantageous when combined with air jets, as it prevents food from splashing onto the walls of the frozen environment and concentrates the food onto the conveying plane.

[0027] In one embodiment, the pipe is a vacuum-sealed pipe and / or an insulated pipe to prevent the transported food from freezing. In another embodiment, ethylene glycol or liquid nitrogen circulates within the pipe.

[0028] In one embodiment, the porridge-like material flow is diverted into multiple smaller streams outside the freezing environment, which are then fed into the freezing environment and eventually fall onto the conveying plane.

[0029] In one embodiment, the porridge-like material stream is mixed before being split, preferably in a kneader.

[0030] In one embodiment, the slurry is pumped into the freezing environment toward the conveying plane. Any type of pump can generally be used, especially when it is necessary to break down the components within the slurry. However, when it is necessary to preserve the particle size of the components within the slurry, a positive displacement pump, and more preferably a vane pump, is preferred for pumping the food.

[0031] In one embodiment, the food is risotto, chickpeas, peas, grains, diced vegetables such as zucchini, sautéed mushrooms (which are mushy), soup, or cream.

[0032] In one embodiment, the conveying plane cools the agglomerate but does not cause it to undergo a freeze-thaw transition.

[0033] In one embodiment, the agglomerate is conveyed to a second cooling conveyor plane, and the state transition occurs on the second cooling conveyor plane.

[0034] For example, for stir-fried mushrooms, existing known IQF freezers (such as the freezer disclosed in WO2017209683) can achieve freezing, but can only process a very small amount of product per hour because the product is viscous and cold air cannot lift the product from the conveyor plane or flow around the product to complete freezing.

[0035] The advantage of this method is that it allows for the retrofitting and upgrading of existing IQF refrigeration units.

[0036] In one embodiment, a method for retrofitting and upgrading an existing IQF freezer includes the following steps: installing a syringe on the machine for injecting food in the form of a paste onto a conveyor plane, thereby forming clumps, patches, or thin layers of food on the conveyor plane.

[0037] This modification and upgrade method can adopt all variations of the above-mentioned food freezing methods.

[0038] Another aspect of the present invention is an improved IQF refrigeration unit, comprising:

[0039] - A freezer enclosure, wherein the freezer enclosure contains:

[0040] A conveying plane adapted to receive and convey food, and the conveying plane being provided with surface holes; and

[0041] An air supply device for delivering frozen air from a freezing environment through the orifice to impact the food as it passes over the conveying plane; and

[0042] - One or more syringes (injection devices) for injecting food in the form of a paste onto the conveying plane to form clumps, patches or thin layers of food on the conveying plane.

[0043] In one embodiment, the freezer includes a metering feeder for metering food onto the conveying plane by causing the food to fall onto the conveying plane from a certain height above the conveying plane by gravity.

[0044] In one embodiment, the freezer includes:

[0045] Openings in the enclosure, such as openings in the side or top of the enclosure; and

[0046] The quantitative feeding device installed at the opening is used to feed the food quantitatively onto the conveying plane by allowing the food to fall under gravity.

[0047] In one embodiment, the freezer includes one or more nozzles positioned at a height above the conveying plane for metering food onto the conveying plane by causing the food to drip or fall onto the conveying plane.

[0048] In one embodiment of the freezer, the metering device is configured to meter food onto a conveying plane so as to form and / or distribute multiple independent clumps within a region of the conveying plane.

[0049] In one embodiment, the freezer includes a feed pipe for metering food onto a conveying plane, wherein the outlet of the feed pipe is distributed in the space above the conveying plane to allow multiple clumps to fall onto the conveying plane at multiple different locations.

[0050] In one embodiment, the chiller includes a gas injection device for injecting gas into each of the feed pipes.

[0051] In one embodiment, the piping is a vacuum-sealed pipe and / or an insulated pipe to prevent the transported food from freezing. In one embodiment, the freezer includes a circulation device for circulating ethylene glycol or liquid nitrogen within the piping.

[0052] In one embodiment, the freezer includes a second cooling conveyor plane on which food transported from a first conveyor plane is transferred.

[0053] The second conveying plane includes a cooling device for cooling the food until it is converted into a solid state.

[0054] All of the above aspects include the following common embodiments:

[0055] - The gas is circulating air and / or refrigeration gas in a refrigerated environment;

[0056] - The one or more nozzles are outlets of corresponding food delivery inlet pipes. Preferably, the inlet pipes transport food from outside the freezing environment to inside the freezing environment. More specifically, the inlet pipes transport food from outside the IQF freezer to inside the freezer's own freezing environment.

[0057] - The larger the area of ​​the conveying plane on which clumps are formed, the higher the efficiency of the system. For example, food is metered onto the conveying plane so that multiple clumps are formed and / or distributed across at least half, preferably at least three-quarters, of the total area of ​​the conveying plane;

[0058] - One or each feed pipe is set horizontally;

[0059] - One or each feed duct is angled towards the conveying plane. This approach is particularly advantageous when combined with gas jets, as it prevents food from splashing onto the walls of the frozen environment and concentrates the food onto the conveying plane.

[0060] - The food mentioned is risotto, chickpeas, peas, grains, diced vegetables such as zucchini, sautéed mushrooms (which are mushy), soup or cream;

[0061] - The distances between these outlets or nozzles of the feed pipe and the starting end of the conveying plane are all different.

[0062] Each of the above-defined variants can be implemented individually or in combination with one or more other variants. Attached Figure Description

[0063] The advantages of the invention will be further illustrated by the following description of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0064] Figure 1 A schematic side view of the refrigeration equipment is shown;

[0065] Figure 2 It shows Figure 1 A schematic plan view of the refrigeration equipment shown.

[0066] In the accompanying drawings, the same reference numerals indicate the same or substantially the same parts. To avoid making the drawings too cluttered, identical elements are sometimes not labeled with reference numerals. Detailed Implementation

[0067] In the food freezing equipment MC, the food is disturbed by air jets as it passes through the freezing environment 10, so that it is frozen evenly and independently.

[0068] In one embodiment, the freezing environment 10 is the internal passage of the IQF freezer housing 20 (e.g., as disclosed in WO2017209683).

[0069] The freezer includes a conveying plane 12 for receiving food to be frozen and conveying the food to a second conveying plane 14. Specifically, the conveying plane 12 is reciprocating and / or vibrating to improve food mixing and to allow the food to move towards the second conveying plane 14.

[0070] To ensure that the entire outer surface of the food participates in the freezing process, holes 22 are provided on the conveying plane 12, through which a jet of frozen air 18 generated by the blower 16 is delivered. Thus, the food is conveyed forward along the conveying plane 12 in a skipping manner, the conveying plane 12 being, for example, located within a freezing environment 10 at a temperature of -30°C to -40°C.

[0071] According to the present invention, the food is in a mushy form, and quantitative feeding of the food on the conveying plane 12 is completed by spreading or pouring the dispersed food clumps 90 onto the conveying plane 12. The clump form reduces the weight of the food on the conveying plane 12 and ensures that the air jet 18 can lift and / or flip the food on the conveying plane 12 for rapid freezing and IQF processing.

[0072] In one embodiment, food is metered onto the conveyor plane 12 by dropping it from a certain height using gravity. For this purpose, in one embodiment, food is metered onto the conveyor plane 12 by dropping it from one or more outlets 42 (e.g., nozzles) at a set height relative to the conveyor plane 12. Specifically, the one or more outlets 42 correspond to the outlets of a feed pipe 40 that transports food from outside the freezing environment 10 to inside the freezing environment 10.

[0073] In this way, the food stream leaves the pipe 40 in a viscous, thick, or semi-liquid form and falls continuously, covering the conveying plane 12, or even completely covering it. The food falls onto the conveying plane 12 in the form of clumps, droplets / layers, or small portions / volumes, preferably evenly distributed on the conveying plane 12. Based on this form, each small portion of food falling onto the conveying plane 12 is light enough to be blown up and agitated by the air jet 18.

[0074] In one embodiment, the pipes 40 are installed on the housing 20, with the inlet of each pipe receiving food material flow from outside the housing 20 and the outlet 42 serving as the outlet.

[0075] In one embodiment, the pipe 40 is horizontally arranged, more preferably inclined toward the conveying plane 12, to avoid the formation of frozen product accumulation at the outlet and to improve the dispersion of food on the conveying plane 12.

[0076] In one embodiment, the pipe 40 is a vacuum-insulated pipe and / or a heat-insulating pipe, and / or is in a temperature-controlled state to prevent food inside the pipe 40 from freezing, especially to prevent food from freezing during equipment shutdown.

[0077] In one embodiment, gas is injected into pipe 40 to propel the food paste within pipe 40. This approach also has the advantage of preventing food from freezing within pipe 40, especially during equipment downtime, and / or creating a fluffy or splattered effect at outlet 42, contributing to a random and uniform distribution of food on conveying plane 12.

[0078] In one embodiment, to achieve the above objective, the device MC includes a compressor 80 that injects gas, such as air, into each pipe 40 via a line 82.

[0079] Generally speaking, the number, cross-sectional area, arrangement and length of pipes 40 can vary.

[0080] For a freezing device MC comprising N pipes 40 (N≥2), in one embodiment, each pipe 40 receives a branch flow after the main food stream has been divided into N branches. Specifically, each pipe 40 is supplied by a corresponding line 44 that transports food from a branching device 60, which is supplied by the main flow line 72.

[0081] Preferably, the outlets 42 of the N pipes 40 are arranged such that the clumps 90 are distributed over a large area of ​​the conveying plane 12. For example, the distances of these outlets 42 from the starting end of the conveying plane 12 are all different.

[0082] The diversion device 60 operates to divert the granular material flow for future autonomous material flow pipeline 72 into N smaller material flows, each of which is then delivered to pipeline 44.

[0083] In one embodiment, the porridge is pumped into line 72 by pump 70, which extracts the porridge food from one or more feed hoppers 74 or other conveying devices. One pump may be provided for each line 44.

[0084] Preferably, the pump 70 is a positive displacement pump to avoid damaging the components in the porridge.

[0085] In one embodiment, the food may also be mixed before entering the freezing environment 10. For this purpose, preferably, the diversion device 60 further includes a mixing device for mixing the food.

[0086] operate

[0087] Pipe 40 feeds food quantitatively onto conveying plane 12 by gravity. The food stream flows out from nozzle 42, forming a curtain / waterfall-like stream that falls onto conveying plane 12 (see arrow F). The food splashes on the conveying plane, forming individual clumps, each of which is individually impacted / blown by air jet 18.

[0088] The reciprocating oscillation and / or vibration of the conveyor plane 12 causes the food to move toward the second conveyor plane 14 (see arrow F1). When the food reaches the second conveyor plane 14, it is fully cooled, so that the final freezing occurs on the second conveyor plane 14.

[0089] Subsequently, the frozen clumps were packaged in a frozen environment for 10 minutes.

Claims

1. A method for freezing food, comprising the following steps: - The food is metered and fed onto the conveying surface by spreading or pouring clumps, patches, or thin layers of the food in the form of a paste onto the conveying surface; and - The porridge-like material is advanced on the conveying plane while a jet of freezing gas, such as air, is delivered from the conveying plane to freeze the food. The conveying plane is a plane disposed in a freezing environment.

2. The food freezing method according to claim 1, wherein, The porridge-like substance contains solid food particles.

3. The food freezing method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, The conveying plane is contained inside the IQF refrigeration unit.

4. The food freezing method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, Food is quantitatively fed onto the conveying plane by allowing it to fall from a certain height relative to the conveying plane onto the plane by gravity.

5. The food freezing method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, Food is metered and fed onto the conveying plane by dropping it from one or more nozzles positioned at a certain height relative to the conveying plane. The one or more nozzles are outlets of corresponding feed pipes that transport food from the outside of the frozen environment to the inside of the frozen environment.

6. A food freezing method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, Food is quantitatively fed onto the conveying plane in such a way that multiple independent clumps are formed and / or distributed in a region of the conveying plane.

7. A food freezing method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, Food is dispensed quantitatively onto the conveying plane by propelling it with a gas jet.

8. The food freezing method according to claims 7 and 5, wherein, Gas is injected into each of the feed pipes.

9. A food freezing method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, The conveying plane cools the agglomerate without causing the agglomerate to change toward a state of freeze-thaw solidification. The agglomerate is conveyed to a second cooling conveyor plane, where the state transition occurs.

10. A freezer for carrying out a food freezing method according to any one of the preceding claims, the freezer comprising: - A freezer enclosure, the freezer enclosure comprising: A conveying plane adapted to receive and advance food, the conveying plane having surface holes; and An air supply device for delivering frozen air from the freezing environment through the surface holes to blow air onto food traveling on the conveying plane; and - One or more syringes for injecting food in the form of a paste onto the delivery plane to form clumps, patches or thin layers of food on the delivery plane.

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