Foodstuff production line and method therefor

Abstract

A foodstuff production line (100) for processing foodstuffs (160) comprises a controller (180) and at least three infeed processes including a fat conditioning process (105) configured to pump fat int

Description

Description Field of the invention The field of the invention relates to a foodstuff production line and method therefor. Background Food production is a complex and highly automated business that encompasses a large range of foodstuffs and requirements. In general, in the manufacture and packaging of food products, food manufacturers ensure that there is a clear division between the production line processing of foodstuffs and the packaging of end products, due to the nature of the products. Non-meat products encompass a wide range of continuous or flow-type processes that either produce an end product, such as perhaps a filled bottle of sauce or a foodstuff for a subsequent process that may be, say, in liquid or powder form. The raw materials, sometimes referred to as infeed materials, of such processes are often themselves foodstuffs in liquid or powdered form that must be introduced into the food processing system by a variety of means. These raw food material inputs must be checked and monitored for contamination or damage and often they must be pre-processed, so that they are in a suitable condition for foodstuff production. Beyond the complexity of an industrial scale production system, with its usual health and safety considerations for the workforce, the foodstuff industry must also meet rigorous standards of cleanliness in order to prevent contamination of food products, failure of which may result in injury to consumers. These stringent requirements mean that processes must be tightly controlled and great care needs to be taken in order to ensure the safety of the product and its packaging. Moreover, the processes must be efficient and low-cost. This combination of requirements presents a very specific set of problems to the foodstuff manufacturer. In continuous or semi-continuous manufacturing or packaging processes, anything that causes the manufacturing or packaging process to stop causes severe problems regarding efficiency and cost (e.g., particularly requiring machine operatives to become involved). Furthermore, halting the manufacturing or packaging process is often not possible, as it would typically require the process to re-continue with a full re-start of many devices and systems. The inventor has identified and appreciated that it would be beneficial if the individual functions of a foodstuff production line process could be improved to more efficiently produce foodstuff products and thereby to increase overall productivity and reduce machine operative involvement, whilst at the same time maintaining food safety and minimising contamination. 5 Summary Examples herein described provide a foodstuff production line for a foodstuff manufacturing system and method therefor in order to produce an end product or an intermediary product for 10 use in subsequent processes as described in the accompanying claims. Specific examples are set forth in the dependent claims. These and other aspects will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter. Brief description of the drawings 15 Further details, aspects and example embodiments will be described, by way of example only, with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers are used to identify like or functionally similar elements. Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. 20 FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified drawing of one example of a foodstuff production line according to some example embodiments. FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified drawing of one example of a metal detector process in a foodstuff 25 production line according to some example embodiments. FIG. 3 illustrates one example of a flowchart of a method for a foodstuff production line according to some example embodiments. 30 Detailed description In a first aspect, a foodstuff production line for processing foodstuffs is described that comprises: a controller and at least three infeed processes comprising: a first fat conditioning 35 process configured to pump infed fat into the foodstuff production line (100) in a controlled manner via a heated pipework that is configured to heat fats to a predetermined temperature, consistency and viscosity; a primary, second infeed process configured to add foodstuff to the production line; and a third water dosing system configured to pump a required volume of water into the foodstuff production line, in a controlled manner with the water within a predetermined desired temperature range. A mixer is operably coupled to the controller and the at least three infeed processes and comprises multiple, removable paddles that are driven by an inverter-5 controlled variable-speed electric motor operably coupled to the mixer, wherein the mixer is configured to receive and mix the pumped fat, the foodstuff and the required volume of water received from the at least three infeed processes, wherein a mixing rate is set by the inverter-controlled variable-speed electric motor under instruction from the controller configured to adjust a motor speed in real time in response to a determined characteristic of a motor current 10 that indicates a state of mix of the foodstuff. A piping system is operably coupled to receive mixed foodstuff from an output of the mixer and comprises an integrated metal detector and inline sieve configured to receive, transport and filter the mixed foodstuff. The piping system comprises a dump valve coupled to the integrated metal detector, wherein the integrated metal detector and / or controller is configured to activate the dump valve to reject a contaminated 15 section from the foodstuff. A second mixer is operably coupled to the controller and the piping system and is configured to receive and further mix the mixed foodstuff from an output of the piping system and provide a fine-mixed output to a packaging system, for example via a further CM transport path such that the packaging system may package a foodstuff product produced by 1— the foodstuff production line. In this manner, the advantageous high level of integration of the '^“20 individual functions of in-feed, filtering, mixing, monitoring I detecting of metallic components LO and packaging results in a significant productivity gain. Furthermore, the first fat conditioning T"— process is configured to pump fat into the foodstuff production line in a controlled manner at a predetermined temperature for optimal mixing, thereby ensuring correct consistency and viscosity of fat content is maintained at all times. Furthermore, the water infeed system is 25 configured with a water measuring and dosing device to provide an accurate volume of water, thereby ensuring that the correct water content is maintained at all times. In some examples, the multiple, removable paddles in the mixer may be configured such that additional paddles can be added to the mixer, or paddles can be removed from the mixer, 30 and / or different configurations and sizes of paddles are used, dependent on the foodstuff product that is being prepared in the foodstuff production line, hence optimising the mixing process. In this manner the flexibility of the manufacturing system can be significantly increased. 35 In yet further examples the first fat conditioning process configured to pump fat into the foodstuff production line in a controlled manner at a predetermined temperature for mixing via a heated pipework may comprise a fat heating and mixing process in which fats are heated to the predetermined temperature and initially mixed in order to obtain an optimal consistency and viscosity of the fat provided to the subsequent mixer, hence significantly improving the overall productivity and efficiency of the production line. In this manner, the mixing stage of the production line process can be adapted to meet the demands of a range of applications and 5 foodstuff types. In yet further examples, the packaging unit incorporates optical detection devices configured to align packaging correctly to ensure a correct orientation of the packaging film in a final product output from the foodstuff production line, thereby enabling a use of a variety of printed 10 packaging materials without a re-design or re-programming of the process controller. In some examples, a controller is operably coupled to a sensor as one of the optical detection devices, such that the process may be automatically stopped by the controller once the sensor has determined that a packaged box of foodstuff is full. In this manner a loss of production is avoided and waste is reduced. 15 In a second aspect, a method for producing foodstuffs in a foodstuff production line is described. The method comprises: pumping fat into the foodstuff production line in a controlled CM manner at a predetermined temperature for mixing via a heated pipework; heating fats to a 1— predetermined temperature, consistency and viscosity; adding foodstuff to the production line; '^“20 pumping a required volume of water into the foodstuff production line in a controlled manner LO within a predetermined range of temperature. The method further includes receiving and T"— mixing, by a mixer, the pumped fat, the foodstuff and the required volume of water; wherein the mixer comprises multiple, removable paddles that are driven by an inverter-controlled variable-speed electric motor that sets a mixing rate of the mixer. The method includes 25 adjusting a motor speed in real time in response to a determined characteristic of a motor current that indicates a state of mix of the foodstuff. The method includes transporting and filtering the mixed foodstuff by a piping system that comprises an integrated metal detector and inline sieve, activating a dump valve coupled to the integrated metal detector to reject a contaminated section from the foodstuff; and further mixing the mixed foodstuff from an output 30 of the piping system and providing a fine-mixed output to a packaging system. In this manner an efficient production line process is defined that allows the efficient processing of foodstuffs whilst simultaneously incorporating required safety features for detecting contamination of the product. 35 Referring first to FIG. 1, a plan view of a simplified schematic of a foodstuff production line 100 is illustrated. The process flow of foodstuff is from the top to the bottom of the diagram as indicated by the arrows. In this example there are three infeed processes, which may be more or less complex depending upon the foodstuff product being handled, and a set of subsequent follow-on processes arranged physically in a line. It is envisaged that in some examples it may be necessary, depending upon the foodstuff product being produced, to include further branches or parallel process operations, which would require a more complex production line. In the example foodstuff production line 100 the foodstuff being manufactured requires the addition of fats. Hence, a first infeed process is a fat conditioning process 105 that ensures one ingredient within the mix is ‘fat’ and that the fat is maintained at, and provided at, a correct temperature for mixing. In this manner, through use of a fat conditioning process 105, there are no clumps of fat (or at least a reduced number of fat clumps) that would cause a decrease in the quality of the final foodstuff product. Thus, in this example, the fat handling process includes heated pipework and pumps that allow the fat to be introduced in a controlled manner into the production line. A further third infeed process includes a water dosing system 115, which is designed so as to pump the required volume of water maintained within a specific temperature range. The water volume may be controlled by a variety of means including contactless ultrasound methods or direct measurement, using say vanes rotating in the flow or other venturi type systems. The primary, second infeed process 110 in this example is used to add powder or sauce or liquid as a foodstuff to the production line. In some examples, it is envisaged that additional (e.g., above three) infeed processes may be employed, to allow other ingredients or feedstocks to be added via further processes. Transport mechanisms associated with the distinct infeed processes may be realised in a variety of ways depending upon the foodstuffs that are being transported. In the current example a first transport path 120 may be a heated pipe in order to maintain the fat at the predetermined, correct temperature, whereas the second transport path 122 may be a simple conveyor belt and a third transport path 124 may be a further pipe, either heated or not heated depending upon the requirements of the water supply in the production line 100. A mixer 125 is fed by the three transport paths 120, 122, 124. In accordance with examples, the mixer 125 is configured with multiple, removable (or re-configurable) paddles 122, such that additional paddles 122 can be added or paddles 122 can be removed, thereby further increasing the flexibility of the process. Advantageously, the paddles are configured to be removable for maintenance and cleaning. In this manner, the number and configuration of the paddles 122 may be optimised for the foodstuff product that is being prepared, thereby ensuring an optimised mixing of the ingredients. In some examples, the mixer 125 is also driven via an inverter-controlled electric motor 128, which allows the speed of the mixer 125 to be varied, so as to prevent mechanical overloading of the mixer 125 and also the correct mixing rate for the product. Thus, in some examples, the mixer 125 is a variable speed mixer configurable to mix the foodstuff and other input ingredients, which includes water and fats at a specific temperature, at a constant or variable rate, appropriate to the foodstuff production line process. The filter / sieved feedstock now falls into the mixer 125. In some examples, the mixer 125 is a variable speed mixer configurable to mix the filtered / sieved feedstock at a constant or variable rate, appropriate to the process. In this example, the mixer 125 is driven by an inverter-controlled electric motor 128, which may be a highly integrated type such that the inverter is mounted close to or on or in the motor, thereby removing a need for an electrical cabinet near to the production process. In other examples, the inverter-controlled electric motor 128 may be a stand-alone motor with an inverter cabinet on or near to the mixer 125. The inverter-controlled electric motor 128 allows a very accurate control of motor speed and hence of the mixing process. In some examples, the mixing speed may also be adjusted in real time, driven by some characteristic of the process, such as motor current that would indicate the state of the mix. After the mixing process the product is transported through a piping system 130 that includes an integrated metal detector 132 and inline sieve 134. The integrated metal detector 132 is a metal detector that is configured to activate a reject dump valve further down the production line in order to reject the contaminated section of fluid, as illustrated in FIG. 2. In this example, the created foodstuff in the foodstuff production line 100 may be further processed or mixed in a second mixer 135, after which it is transported to the packaging unit 145 via a further transport path 140. A skilled artisan will be able to appreciate that in some examples, the second mixer 135 may comprise a further set of paddles, which may be removable, and a sieve that is configured with a more granular mesh size. In some examples, the (further) sieve may be optimised for the specific foodstuff being produced. In some examples, the second mixer 135 may also be a variable speed mixer configurable to mix the previously mixed and sieved foodstuff again, at a constant or variable rate, appropriate to the process. In this production line 100, a packaging unit 145 is equipped with an optical identification system 148, thereby allowing a use of printed packaging films or materials to be optically identified on the foodstuff packages, to facilitate correct packaging material for the foodstuff to be placed in. In some examples, the optical identification system 148 may include a vision system or camera, or may be a simple optical sensor depending upon the complexity of the packaging material. The optical identification system 148 is able to align the packaging correctly to ensure the correct orientation of the packaging film. A controller 180 is operably coupled to, or comprises a part of, foodstuff packaging line 100. In some examples, the controller 180 may be a programmable logic controller (PLC) or programmable controller (PC). A PLC or PC is an industrial computer that has been ruggedized and adapted for the control of manufacturing processes, such as assembly lines, machines, robotic devices, or any activity that requires high reliability, ease of programming, and process fault diagnosis. In this example, the controller 180 is operably coupled to the mixer 125 to control the speed of the mixing process by control of the inverter-controlled electric motor 128, based on the foodstuff to be produced by the production line 100. The controller 180 is also configured to adjust a motor speed of the of the inverter-controlled electric motor 128, in real time, in response to a determined characteristic of a motor current that indicates a state of mix of the foodstuff. In this manner, the controller 180 is able to ensure a correct mixing rate for the foodstuff product. The control functionality in this example is also based on the types and quantities of the removable (or re-configurable) paddles 122 used in the mixer 125. In this example, the controller 180 is also operably coupled to the second mixer 135 to perform a similar function as with the first mixer, to fine-tune the foodstuff mixing process of the production line 100. In this example, the controller 180 is also operably coupled to the optical identification system 148 to align the packaging correctly to ensure the correct orientation of the packaging film. In some examples, the controller 180 is also configured to automatically stop the production line process when a fully packaged box of the foodstuff product is detected. In this manner a loss of production is avoided and waste is reduced. In the example production line 100, the end process 150 is in general a transportation process of an end product, where the end product may relate to an intermediate business-to-business product for further processing or may be an end product for a business-to-customer, such as a packet of sauce for direct shipping to an end user. FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified drawing of one example of a metal detector process 200 in a foodstuff production line, according to some example embodiments. The metal detector process 200 includes an integrated metal detector 132 that is located in a foodstuff production line for producing packaged foodstuffs in sauce or powder form, the foodstuff production line comprising a controller and at least three infeed processes, such as the controller and at least three infeed processes illustrated in FIG. 1. The integrated metal detector 132 is coupled to the product pipework 130 and coupled to a dump valve 215. The metal detector and / or controller are configured to activate a reject dump valve 215, further down the production line in order to reject a contaminated section from the foodstuff 225, for example containing metal contaminants, as illustrated in FIG. 2. The food product that is being produced 220, with the metal contaminants extracted therefrom, is output from the dump valve 215. In this manner, the integrated metal detector 132 and inline sieve in FIG. 1 are configured to reduce (and preferably eliminate) all foreign body objects (including removing any metallic fragments) in the mixed foodstuff in the production line 100, thereby ensuring safety of the final foodstuff product by in a compact and effective manner. Thus, after passing through the integrated metal detector 132 and inline sieve 134, a homogeneity and quality of the mixed foodstuff product being manufactured is increased, not least as a result of any metallic contamination being identified and removed. FIG. 3 shows a flow chart 300 of a method for a foodstuff production line according to a second aspect. At 310, the flow chart includes pumping fat into the foodstuff production line, say foodstuff production line 10 of FIG. 1, in a controlled manner at a correct temperature for mixing via a heated pipework. At 315, the flowchart includes adding foodstuff to the production line in a form of powder and / or sauce and / or liquid. At 320, the flowchart includes pumping a required volume of water into the foodstuff production line in a controlled manner within a predetermined desired temperature range. At 325, the flowchart includes receiving and mixing by mixer (say mixer 125 of FIG. 1) the pumped fat, the foodstuff and the required volume of water; wherein the mixer comprises multiple, removable paddles (say paddles 122 of FIG. 1) that are driven by an inverter-controlled variable-speed electric motor that sets a mixing rate of the mixer. At 328, the flowchart includes adjusting a motor speed in real time in response to a determined characteristic of a motor current that indicates a state of mix of the foodstuff. At 330, the flowchart includes transporting and filtering the mixed foodstuff by a piping system (say piping system 130 of FIG. 1) that comprises an integrated metal detector and inline sieve whilst concurrently reducing a number of foreign body objects in the mixed foodstuff. At 335, the flow chart includes further mixing the mixed foodstuff from an output of the piping system and providing a fine-mixed output to a packaging system (say packaging system 145 of FIG. 1); and at 340, the flowchart includes packaging a foodstuff product produced by the foodstuff production line. By way of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, a production line 100 for processing foodstuffs in powder, liquid or sauce form according to some aspects is presented that includes at leasts infeed functions and further mixing, sieving, metaldetection and packaging functions integrated into one optimised production line. In the foregoing specification, it will be evidentto a skilled person that that various modifications and changes to the example embodiments herein described may be made therein without departing from the scope as set forth in the appended claims, and that the claims are not limited to the specific examples described above. Any arrangement of components to achieve the same functionality is effectively ‘associated’ such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any two components herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can be seen as ‘associated with’ each other such that the desired functionality is achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermediary components. Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being ‘operably connected,’ or ‘operably coupled,’ to each other to achieve the desired functionality. Furthermore, those skilled in the art will recognize that boundaries between the abovedescribed operations merely illustrative. The multiple operations may be combined into a single operation, a single operation may be distributed in additional operations and operations may be executed at least partially overlapping in time. Moreover, alternative embodiments may include multiple instances of a particular operation, and the order of operations may be altered in various other embodiments. In the claims, the word ‘comprising’ does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps than those listed in a claim. Furthermore, the terms ‘a’ or ‘an,’ as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. Also, the use of introductory phrases such as ‘at least one’ and ‘one or more’ in the claims should not be construed to imply that the introduction of another claim element by the indefinite articles ‘a’ or ‘an’ limits any particular claim containing such introduced claim element to inventions containing only one such element, even when the same claim includes the introductory phrases ‘one or more’ or ‘at least one’ and indefinite articles such as ‘a’ or ‘an.’ The same holds true for the use of definite articles. Unless stated otherwise, terms such as ‘first’ and ‘second’ are used to arbitrarily distinguish between the elements such terms describe. Thus, these terms are not necessarily intended to indicate temporal or other prioritization of such elements. 15 11 24

Claims

1. A foodstuff production line (100) for producing packaged foodstuffs (150), the foodstuff production line (100) comprising:a controller (180);at least three infeed processes (105, 110, 115) comprising:a first fat conditioning process (105) configured to pump infed fat into the foodstuff production line (100) in a controlled manner via a heated pipework that is configured to heat fats to a predetermined temperature, consistency and viscosity;a primary, second infeed process (110) configured to add foodstuff to the production line (100); anda third a water dosing system (115) configured to pump a required volume of water into the foodstuff production line (100) in a controlled manner within a predetermined range of temperature;a mixer (125) operably coupled to the controller (180) and the at least three infeed processes (105, 110, 115) and comprising multiple, removable paddles (122) that are driven by an inverter-controlled variable-speed electric motor (128) operably coupled to the mixer (125), wherein the mixer (125) is configured to receive and mix the pumped fat, the foodstuff and the required volume of water received from the at least three infeed processes (105, 110, 115), wherein a mixing rate is set by the inverter-controlled variablespeed electric motor (128) under instruction from the controller (180) configured to adjust a motor speed in real time in response to a determined characteristic of a motor current that indicates a state of mix of the foodstuff;a piping system (130) operably coupled to receive mixed foodstuff from an output of the mixer (125) and comprising an integrated metal detector (132) and inline sieve (134) configured to receive, transport and filter the mixed foodstuff and comprising a dump valve (215) coupled to the integrated metal detector (132), wherein the integrated metal detector (132) and / or controller (180) is configured to activate the dump valve (215) to reject a contaminated section from the foodstuff (225); anda second mixer (135) operably coupled to the controller (180) and the piping system (130) configured to receive and further mix the mixed foodstuff from an output of the piping system (130) and provide a fine-mixed output to a packaging system (145).

2. The foodstuff production line (100) of Claim 1, wherein the packaging unit (145) is fitted with an optical detection device configured to align packaging to ensure a correct15 11 24orientation of a packaging film in a final product output from the foodstuff production line (100).

3. The foodstuff production line (100) of Claim 1, wherein the second mixer (135) provides a fine-mixed output to a packaging system (145) via a further transport path (140), wherein the packaging system (145) is configured to package a foodstuff product produced by the foodstuff production line (100).

4. A method (300) for producing foodstuffs in a foodstuff production foodstuff (100), the method comprising:pumping infed fat (310) into the foodstuff production line (100) in a controlled manner via a heated pipework;heating fats to a predetermined temperature, consistency and viscosity;adding foodstuff (315) to the production line (100);pumping a required volume of water (320) into the foodstuff production line (100) in a controlled manner within a predetermined range of temperature;receiving and mixing (325) by mixer (125) the pumped fat, the foodstuff and the required volume of water; wherein the mixer (125) comprises multiple, removable paddles (122) that are driven by an inverter-controlled variable-speed electric motor (128) that sets a mixing rate of the mixer (125);adjusting a motor speed (328) in real time in response to a determined characteristic of a motor current that indicates a state of mix of the foodstuff;transporting and filtering (330) the mixed foodstuff by a piping system (130) that comprises an integrated metal detector (132) and inline sieve (134);activating a dump valve (215) coupled to the integrated metal detector (132) to reject a contaminated section from the foodstuff (225); andfurther mixing (335) the mixed foodstuff from an output of the piping system (130) and providing a fine-mixed output to a packaging system (145).

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