An appliance for producing frozen food products, such as ice cream or slush drinks, includes a cooling cylinder connected in a refrigeration circuit, the cooling cylinder including a thermally-conductive cylinder wall and end cap closing the distal end of the cylinder wall, the cylinder wall and end cap separating refrigerant on one side from product to be frozen on the other side. A divider member disposed adjacent the cylinder wall forms contiguous evaporator compartments spaced apart axially. Restrictor passages in the divider member permit communication between contiguous compartments and refrigerant first enters the first-cooled evaporator compartment at one of the axial ends and flows in series between the evaporator compartments. For fast, efficient freezing of small batches, the product to be frozen is either driven by the auger, or drains, toward the first-cooled evaporator compartment.

A system, machines and consumables for the preparation of portioned amount of a cooled edible product constituting a defined number of servings which may be 1, 2, 3, etc. are provided. One example of such an edible product is ice cream.

A cooling control device comprises a compressor, a condenser, a material reservoir evaporator, a freezing cylinder refrigeration inlet conduit, and a freezing cylinder refrigeration outlet conduit. An outlet end of the condenser is connected to a condenser outlet pipe. The condenser outlet pipe is in communication with three branch pipes, which are a freezing cylinder refrigeration pipe, a material reservoir pre-cooling pipe and a material reservoir freshness-preserving pipe arranged in parallel. The freezing cylinder refrigeration pipe is in communication with the freezing cylinder refrigeration inlet conduit. The material reservoir pre-cooling pipe and the material reservoir freshness-preserving pipe are in communication with an inlet end of the material reservoir evaporator. An outlet end of the material reservoir evaporator and the freezing cylinder refrigeration outlet conduit are respectively in communication with the compressor. The cooling control device can separate a pre-cooling mode and a freshness-preserving mode for a material reservoir.

A machine for making liquid or semi-liquid food products includes a processing chamber; a frame defining an opening to the chamber; a stirrer mounted inside the chamber; a cooling system including a heat exchanger associated with the chamber; a closing device connected to the frame and movable between a closed configuration occlude the opening, and an open configuration allowing access to the chamber through the opening. The closing device includes a door hinged to the frame. A retaining device acts on the closing device to maintain the closed configuration. The retaining device includes a rotary element, connected to one between the door and the frame and a stop provided on the other. The rotary element is rotatable between a retaining configuration, engaging the stop to stop the opening of the door, and a disengaged configuration, disengaged from the stop to allow opening of the door.

A machine for making liquid and semi-liquid products includes a container for processing the products, a mixer operating inside the container, a heat exchanger, operatively associated with the container for exchanging heat with the product inside the container, a motor driving the mixer, and an inverter, connected to the motor for controlling operation of the motor. A control and operating unit, connected to the inverter sends command signals and receives control signals. A communication fieldbus, interposed between the inverter and the control unit allows transmission of the signals. The control unit is programmed to run a first algorithm of the state machine type configured to control the inverter, include the following states: transmission of a command to the inverter, standby for confirmation that the inverter received the command, transmission of a read request for an inverter operating parameter, standby for receiving the inverter parameter.

Systems and methods have demonstrated the capability of rapidly cooling the contents of pods containing the ingredients for food and drinks.

A system, machines and consumables for the preparation of portioned amount of a cooled edible product constituting a defined number of servings which may be 1, 2, 3, etc. are provided. One example of such an edible product is ice cream.

A system and method for producing rolled ice cream comprising a housing, a plate member located on a top surface of the housing, a compressor configured to provide compressed refrigerant, and a condenser coupled to the compressor. The condenser is configured to provide cooled refrigerant to a bottom surface of the plate member via an outlet tube. The system further comprises a balance valve, wherein the balance valve is configured to enable the refrigerant to bypass the outlet tube while the compressor and condenser are still operational when it is determined that the plate member has reached a predetermined minimum operational temperature.

An ice cream production apparatus comprises a control unit, a freezer, a freezer outlet pump and a piping system provided from the freezer to one or more ice cream outlet nozzles downstream the freezer, can assume at least two operational modes. The first operational mode is a production mode. The second operational mode is a pre-production mode comprising the steps of freezing the ice cream in the freezer such that the ice cream obtains a pre-production viscosity value being equal to or higher than a production viscosity value, and pumping the frozen ice cream into the piping system at a pre-production outlet flow being smaller than a production outlet flow. The pre-production mode is used for cooling the piping system and the ice cream outlet nozzles before operating the ice cream production apparatus in the production mode.

A frozen product machine that solves problems associated with conventional home ice cream and frozen product machines by prevents loss of product in the chamber and decreases freezing time for a liquid product. A cooling chamber is cooled by a cooling element that provides variable cooling temperatures throughout the cooling chamber. A temperature gradient, progressing from lower temperatures at the bottom of the chamber, or the outlet, to higher at the top of the chamber, or inlet, create a more efficient means of cooling a frozen product. An auger, that may be shaped to match the shape of the cooling chamber may include slots that allow for controlled flow of frozen product through the chamber to promote efficient cooling. Hinged fins may rotate from open to closed within the slot to further enhance flow of frozen product through the frozen product machine.