Recirculating Dispensing Tap for Hygienic Food Pasteurization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing pasteurizers require frequent cleaning and sanitizing, especially inside the tap, where product residues easily get trapped, and there is a need for a pasteurization cycle that allows product recirculation without removing machine parts or the tap for easy sanitation.
Innovation Solution
A pasteurizer design with a dispensing tap that includes a tubular duct movable between dispensing and recirculation positions, allowing product recirculation and simultaneous cleaning without removing the tap, utilizing a conduit with radial openings for fluid communication between the tank and recirculation orifice, enabling thermal treatment and sanitation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the tap is removed for cleaning, then cleaning effectiveness is improved, but operational complexity and time loss increase
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the cleaning function from the external cleaning process (requiring tap removal) and integrates it into the tap structure itself through the recirculation system. The cleaning fluid is circulated through the tap's internal ducts via the recirculation pump, allowing cleaning to occur without removing the tap from the machine.
Solution Approach 2:
The tap performs its own cleaning through the recirculation system. The cleaning fluid is pumped through the tap's internal passages and returned to the tank, enabling the tap to clean itself without external intervention or disassembly, thus maintaining operational simplicity while ensuring thorough cleaning.
2Ease of operation
If the tap structure is simplified, then ease of cleaning is improved, but product recirculation capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The recirculation system serves multiple functions: it enables product recirculation for temperature control and homogenization during operation, and it facilitates cleaning by circulating cleaning fluid through the same ducts. The tap structure remains simple while achieving both product handling and cleaning functions through the multi-functional recirculation system.
3Productivity
If recirculation occurs without tap removal, then operational efficiency is improved, but cleaning accessibility worsens
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses hydraulic principles by circulating cleaning fluid through the tap's internal ducts via the recirculation pump. The fluid flows through the same passages used for product dispensing, using pressure-driven flow to access and clean internal surfaces without requiring physical access or disassembly of the tap.
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 design facilitates easy sanitation and reduces bacterial proliferation, ensuring food hygiene by allowing recirculation and cleaning of the tap without disassembly, enhancing operational efficiency and hygiene safety.
Implementation Method 1
the thermal treatment is generally performed by means of electrical resistors and/or a heating system based on a thermodynamic cycle
Implementation Method 2
a piston (6) slidable in a sealed fashion inside the duct (5)... the piston (6) being movable between a first end of stroke position (P1)... and a second end of stroke position (P2)
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2A~2B
Figure 3A~3B
AI summary
The invention relates to a machine (1) for making and dispensing liquid or semi-liquid food products, comprising: - at least one tank (2) for containing the product to be processed and dispensed and having a discharge orifice (3) for the product to be dispensed; - at least one dispensing tap (4) comprising: - an external conduit (5) having an inlet orifice (5A) which is connected, in use, to the discharge orifice (3) of the containment tank (2), a product release orifice (5B) and a product recirculation orifice (5C), - a tubular duct (6) having formed in it a first internal cavity (7) which is provided with at least one radial opening (8).