Frozen Food Crushing Rollers Before Defrosting for Puree
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing food processing machines struggle with efficiently extracting puree or juice from frozen vegetable products, particularly due to the deterioration caused by crushing and the difficulty in maintaining a consistent production flow when handling frozen blocks or IQF forms, which affects the quality and consistency of the final product.
Innovation Solution
A crushing machine designed to process both frozen blocks and IQF forms, capable of adjusting its configuration and operating under vacuum or specific pressure, featuring a distribution valve to control the flow rate and a system of crushing rollers with adjustable teeth for precise fragmentation, along with a feeding mechanism to ensure consistent product flow.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the product is preliminarily defrosted using common defrosting systems, then the frozen product can be treated with usual devices for making puree, but the product is subjected to quick deterioration with enzymatic phenomena like oxidation that change color, consistency and taste
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the crushing operation while the product is still frozen, before defrosting occurs. This reverses the conventional sequence where defrosting precedes crushing. By crushing the frozen product first and then defrosting, the system avoids the harmful enzymatic deterioration that occurs during traditional defrosting, while still enabling subsequent extraction operations.
2Loss of time
If frozen blocks larger than 300x100x500 mm are fed to the production plant, then transportation and storage are improved, but the production rate is limited by the size of the blocks
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing large frozen blocks into smaller fragments through crushing. The crushing unit with rotating blades breaks down the large blocks (300x100x500 mm or larger) into smaller pieces that can be more efficiently processed in subsequent extraction operations, thereby increasing production rate while maintaining the advantage of bulk frozen storage and transportation.
3Productivity
If a crushing machine is arranged to crush frozen product into small fragments, then the efficiency of extraction machines is improved, but the crushing action causes break of vegetable product and frees oxidative enzymes that jeopardize quality
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the crushing operation while the product is still frozen, before defrosting occurs. The low temperature during crushing suppresses enzymatic activity, preventing oxidative deterioration. After crushing into efficient fragment sizes for extraction, the product is then defrosted, at which point the extraction process proceeds efficiently without having been exposed to oxidative enzymes during the crushing phase.
4Productivity
If the machine is configured to treat product frozen in blocks, then large scale processing is improved, but the machine cannot treat IQF form product, and vice-versa
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing a crushing machine with adjustable parameters that can handle both frozen blocks and IQF-form products. The crushing unit's rotating blades and adjustable speed allow the machine to effectively process different frozen product forms - from large blocks requiring more forceful crushing to individual frozen pieces requiring gentler handling - making the equipment versatile for various production scales and product types.
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
The machine effectively crushes frozen vegetable products into uniform fragments, maintaining product quality and allowing for precise control of the flow rate, enabling efficient extraction of puree or juice while accommodating both block and IQF forms, thus overcoming the limitations of existing technologies.
Implementation Method 1
a crushing unit arranged in the crushing chamber, said crushing unit comprising a plurality of crushing rollers each of which arranged to rotate about a respective rotation axis and having peripherally a plurality of teeth arranged to cut the product that is frozen in blocks, or in IQF form, for splitting it into said fragments of predetermined size
Implementation Method 2
a distribution valve associated with said outlet port, said distribution valve arranged to adjust the amount of crushed product discharged from said machine through said outlet port
Implementation Method 3
a feeding mechanism to ensure consistent product flow
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A
Figure 2B
AI summary
A crushing machine (1) for a vegetable food product (100) frozen in blocks (100'), or in IQF form (100''). The machine (1) comprises a box-like body (10) containing defining a crushing chamber (15). The box-like body (10) has an inlet port (11), through which the frozen food product (100) is put in the crushing chamber (15) and an outlet port (12) through which a frozen crushed product (105) is discharged from the crushing chamber. In the crushing chamber (15) a crushing unit (50) is mounted comprising a plurality of crushing rollers (55), for example three crushing rollers (55a-55c). Each crushing roller (55a-55c) is arranged to rotate about a respective rotation axis (56a-56c) and is having peripherally a plurality of teeth (57) arranged to cut the frozen product (100) into blocks, or IQF form, for splitting it into the above described fragments of predetermined size- In particular, the rotation axes (56a-56c) of the crushing rollers (55a-55c) are parallel to each other. Furthermore, the outlet port (12) is associated with a distribution valve (40) arranged to adjust the amount of crushed product discharged from the machine (1) through the outlet port (12).