Frozen, frozen and/or cryogenic portions of liquid or viscous products
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges with adhesion of portions during freezing, deep freezing, and cryogenic processes, leading to agglomerates that are difficult to separate, affecting the quality and appearance of finished products, and require high energy expenditure due to the use of metal molds, which also limit the creation of complex shapes and complicate demolding.
Innovation Solution
The use of a continuous conveyor belt with molds made of elastomeric material having a glass transition temperature below 0°C, which remains rigid during freezing and flexible at higher temperatures, allowing for easy demolding and the creation of complex shapes without the need for pre-cooling or additional demolding additives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If metal molds are used for freezing portions, then the portions can be frozen effectively, but the molds have high mass leading to high energy expenditure for cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameter of the mold from metal to elastomeric material, which has lower thermal mass and different thermal conductivity. This parameter change reduces the energy required to cool the mold while maintaining effective freezing capability, directly resolving the contradiction between freezing effectiveness and energy consumption.
2Temperature
If metal molds are used for freezing portions, then the portions can be frozen effectively, but the molds require pre-cooling to ensure crusting of the product
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the thermal parameters of the mold material from metal to elastomeric material. The elastomeric material has lower thermal conductivity and lower heat capacity, which eliminates the need for pre-cooling while maintaining effective freezing during the actual process, thus resolving the contradiction between freezing effectiveness and time loss.
3Temperature
If metal molds are used for freezing portions, then the portions can be frozen effectively, but the molds make it difficult to create complex shapes and complicate demolding
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material properties from rigid metal to flexible elastomeric material. This parameter change in flexibility and elasticity allows the mold to be easily demolded after freezing and enables the creation of complex shapes that would be difficult or impossible with rigid metal molds, resolving the contradiction between freezing effectiveness and ease of manufacture.
4Temperature
If conventional freezing processes are used, then portions can be frozen, but adhesion occurs during freezing leading to agglomerates that are difficult to separate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the surface properties of the mold from metal to elastomeric material. The elastomeric material provides different surface characteristics that prevent adhesion of the frozen portions to the mold, eliminating agglomerate formation and ensuring clean separation of individual portions, thus resolving the contradiction between freezing effectiveness and portion separation quality.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution reduces energy consumption, ensures easy and reliable demolding without residue, allows for the production of complex shapes, and maintains product quality by preventing adhesion and agglomeration, resulting in consistent and reproducible frozen products.
Implementation Method 1
made of at least one elastomeric material having a glass transition temperature below 0°C, making it possible to resolve all the technical problems encountered with the technologies of the prior art. Due to their glass transition temperatures, the molds of the equipment according to the present invention remain rigid during freezing, deep freezing and/or cryogenics.
Implementation Method 2
regain their flexibility upon returning to a temperature above the glass transition temperature, making it possible not to break the mold during demolding operations and not to alter the frozen product.
Implementation Method 3
a bottomless honeycomb belt located opposite a cooled zone which serves as a bottom for the partial mold that constitutes the cells. The cooled zone is preferably the metal plate of a cryogenic liquid exchanger, this cooled zone ensuring the deep freezing of the liquid or pasty product.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present invention relates to the field of manufacturing frozen, deep-frozen and/or cryogenized portions of liquid or pasty product and in particular the manufacturing of IQF products and in particular equipment for freezing and/or deep-freezing portions of liquid or pasty products comprising or not at least one solid element, comprising a continuous conveyor belt and means for driving said continuous conveyor belt characterized in that the continuous conveyor belt comprises at least one mold open only in its upper part and made of at least one elastomeric material having a glass transition temperature of less than 0°C as well as the corresponding manufacturing method.