Mincing machine for mincing a product

Abstract

A mincing machine for mincing a product, in particular for mincing meat, includes at least one stationary hole plate and at least one rotating hole plate which interact to mince the product. The mincing machine has a rotating cutter head mounted on a shaft wherein said cutter head is arranged upstream of the interacting hole plates in the conveying direction of the product to be minced in order to interact with a stationary hole plate to mince the product.

Claims

1. A mincing machine for mincing a meat product, comprises: at least one stationary hole plate disposed directly adjacent to at least one rotating hole plate which interact to mince the meat product; a rotating cutter head mounted on a shaft, wherein said rotating cutter head is arranged upstream of the at least one stationary hole plates and the at least one rotating hole plate in a conveying direction of the meat product to be minced, wherein the rotating cutter head is disposed directly adjacent to the at least one stationary hole plate in order to interact with the at least one stationary hole plate to mince the meat product; wherein the rotating cutter head defines a beginning of the conveying direction for the meat product; and wherein an axial gap between the rotating cutter head and the at least one stationary hole plate is adjustable while an axial gap between the at least one stationary hole plates and at least one rotating hole plate stays the same.

2. The mincing machine according to claim 1, wherein the shaft is mounted horizontally.

3. The mincing machine according to claim 1, wherein the at least one rotating hole plate is coupled to the shaft to move with the shaft.

4. The mincing machine according to claim 2, wherein the at least one rotating hole plate is coupled to the shaft to move with the shaft.

5. The mincing machine according to claim 1, wherein the shaft is mounted to be movable in an axial direction, wherein the axial direction is parallel with the shaft's axis of rotation.

6. The mincing machine according to claim 1, wherein a rotational force of the shaft is transferred to the at least one rotating hole plate and is carried out by driving pins driven by the shaft and passing through the at least one hole plate, the driving pins being movable in an axial direction relative to the at least one rotating hole plate, wherein the axial direction is parallel with the shaft's axis of rotation.

7. The mincing machine according to claim 5, wherein a rotational force of the shaft is transferred to the at least one rotating hole plate and is carried out by driving pins driven by the shaft and passing through the at least one hole plate, the driving pins being movable in the axial direction relative to the at least one rotating hole plate.

8. The mincing machine according to claim 7, wherein the at least one rotating hole plate comprises two rotating hole plates which are attached on opposite sides of a spacer ring, wherein the at least one stationary hole plate is fitted between the two rotating hole plates.

9. The mincing machine according to claim 8, wherein the driving pins pass right through through-holes in the spacer ring.

10. The mincing machine according to claim 1, wherein the diameters of the holes of the at least one stationary hole plate are smaller than the diameter of the holes of the at least one rotating hole plate.

11. The mincing machine according to claim 1, wherein an ejector rotating with the shaft is mounted downstream of the at least one stationary hole plate and the at least one rotating hole plate in the conveying direction.

12. The mincing machine according to claim 1, wherein the rotating cutter head is the only rotating cutter head of the mincing machine.

13. The mincing machine according to claim 1, wherein the at least one stationary hole plate comprises three stationary hole plates, and wherein the at least one rotating hole plate comprises two rotating hole plates, wherein the two rotating hole plates are disposed interleaved within the three stationary hole plates.

14. A mincing machine for mincing a meat product, the mincing machine comprising: an inlet housing defining a beginning of a conveying direction for the meat product; a rotating cutter head non-rotatably attached to a rotating shaft, the rotating cutter head disposed downstream of the inlet housing along the conveying direction; a first stationary hole plate disposed downstream of the rotating cutter head along the conveying direction, wherein the first stationary hole plate is not attached to the rotating shaft, and wherein the first stationary hole plate is disposed directly adjacent to the rotating cutter head; a first rotating hole plate disposed downstream of the first stationary hole plate along the conveying direction, wherein the first rotating hole plate is non-rotatably attached to the rotating shaft; an outlet housing disposed downstream of the first rotating hole plate, the outlet housing defining an end of the conveying direction for the meat product; and wherein an axial gap between the rotating cutter head and the first stationary hole plate is adjustable while an axial gap between the first stationary hole plate and the first rotating hole plate stays the same.

15. The mincing machine of claim 14, wherein the rotating shaft is mounted to be movable in an axial direction, wherein the axial direction is parallel with the rotating shaft's axis of rotation.

16. The mincing machine of claim 14, including a second stationary hole plate disposed downstream to the first rotating hole plate along the conveying direction where the second stationary hole plate is not attached to the rotating shaft, including a second rotating hole plate disposed downstream to the second stationary hole plate along the conveying direction where the second rotating hole plate is non-rotatably attached to the rotating shaft, and including a third stationary hole plate disposed downstream to the second rotating hole plate along the conveying direction where the third stationary hole plate is not attached to the rotating shaft, and wherein the outlet housing is disposed downstream to the third stationary hole plate.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention. In such drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of a cross section through an embodiment of a mincing machine according to the invention; and

(3) FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the mincing machine of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(4) FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show a mincing machine 1, which has an inlet housing 2 to supply a product to be minced, such as meat (sausage meat), raw substances of animal or vegetable origin (e.g. fish and vegetables). A cutter set housing 3 is connected downstream to the inlet housing 2 in the conveying direction of the product wherein a cutter set 4 is accommodated in said cutter set housing 3, said cutter set being assembled on a driven, horizontally-mounted shaft 5 (motorized shaft) and which serves to mince the product, typically a foodstuff such as meat. An outlet housing 6 to discharge the minced product is mounted downstream of the cutter set 4 in the conveying direction.

(5) As can be seen from FIG. 2, starting from the inlet housing 2, a spacer sleeve 7 and a cutter or blade head 8 are mounted successively on the shaft 5, said cutter head interacting with a stationary hole plate 9 arranged in the cutter set housing 3 to pre-mince the product. The cutter head 8 is mounted non-rotatably on the shaft 5 provided with grooves and is driven by it. The cutter head 8 exerts a centrifugal force on the product so that foreign bodies in particular are carried outwards in a radial direction where they are removed through a discharge valve.

(6) An assembly having a first and second rotating hole plate 11, 12 between which a second stationary hole plate 13 is arranged, is mounted downstream in the conveying direction of the product. A spacer ring 14 is inserted in a central opening of the second stationary hole plate 13. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the first and second rotating hole plates 11, 12 are fastened by screws respectively on opposite sides of the spacer ring 14. The spacer ring 14, and thus both rotating hole plates 11, 12 can be rotated around the stationary hole plate 13.

(7) In order to be able to transfer force from the shaft 5 to the spacer ring 14, six driving pins 15 of a driving bush 16 are inserted through corresponding through holes in the spacer ring 14. The free ends of the driving pins 15 are received by through holes in a disc-shaped cover 17 which is arranged to rotate in the central opening of a third stationary hole plate 18 and rotates in tandem with the shaft 5.

(8) The arrangement with the two rotating hole plates 11, 12 as well as the first to third stationary hole plates 9, 13, 18 are clamped in the radial direction by means of an outer guide ring 19 and forms a hole plate module 10. The two rotating hole plates 11, 12 have a slightly smaller outer diameter than the stationary hole plates 9, 13, 18 which is why two spacer rings 20a, 20b shown in FIG. 2, are mounted on them to prevent the product from passing by. The cutter set 4 is completed by an ejector 21, mounted on the shaft 5 by means of a nut and by a thrust ring. The ejector 21 serves to place the minced product in a rotary motion before it is ejected through the outlet housing 6 out of the mincing machine 1.

(9) The driving bush 16 is mounted non-rotatably on the shaft 5. As the shaft 5 is turned by the driving pins 15, the two rotating hole plates 11, 12 are also set in a rotary motion in order to interact with, respectively, two of the three stationary hole plates 9, 13, 18 to mince the product. A very small gap is formed between the stationary hole plates 9, 13, 18 and the rotating hole plates 11, 12. The product itself serves as a lubricant and prevents the hole plates 9, 11, 12, 13, 18 from wearing as the shaft 5 rotates. The hole plates 9, 11, 12, 13, 18 effect the mincing as well as an emulsification and homogenization of the product. Since the angle of the cutting edges is 90, the cut material is more battered or crushed than cut so that the product appears creamier than is the case when mincing by the interaction of the cutter head 8 and the first stationary hole plate 9.

(10) It is advantageous if the axial gap A between the front side of the first stationary hole plate 9 and the cutter head 8 can be adjusted within certain limits since, by using this method, it is possible to affect the degree of pre-mincing of the product as well as the throughput quantity and the heat transferred into the product. It can also be advantageous if the cutter head 8, or more accurately its cutter blades (not shown), is in contact with the first stationary hole plate 9 during the rotary motion in case they need resharpening. For the purposes stated, the maximum variation of gap A that is required is no more than a few millimeters, and as a rule only one or more tenths of a millimeter. Due to the very small gap or, respectively, the very short distance between the stationary hole plates 9, 13, 18 and the respectively adjacent rotating hole plates 11, 12, the rotating hole plates 11, 12 cannot be moved during the axial movement of the shaft 5.

(11) However, in order to be able to adjust the gap A between the cutter head 8 and the first stationary hole plate 9, it is necessary to move the shaft 5 in the axial direction relative to the rotating hole plates 11, 12 which can be done with the aid of the driving bush 16 further described above, which is moved when the shaft 5 is moved axially while the hole plate module 10 mounted between the driving bush 16 and the cover 17 remains in place in the axial direction in the cutter set housing 3. A support ring 22 is mounted on that end of the cutter set housing 3 facing towards the inlet housing 2 and an annular thrust element 23 is mounted at the other end of the cutter set housing 3 facing towards the outlet housing 6 to fix the axial position of the cutter set 4.

(12) Axial movement of the shaft 5 can be done by using a hand wheel, for example, while the mincing machine 1 is running in order to adjust the desired gap A between the first stationary hole plate 9 and the cutter head 8. Alternatively, instead of moving the shaft 5, the gap A can be realized also by moving the cutter set 4 or, respectively, the hole plates 9, 11, 12, 13, 18 relative to the cutter set housing 3 and with the shaft stationary in the axial direction, as described, for example, in DE 199 60 409 A1 cited at the beginning.

(13) By pre-mincing with the cutter head 8, it is possible to design the diameters of the holes of the hole plates 9, 11, 12, 13, 18 so that they do not decrease in the conveying direction as has been the case up to now, but, instead, the diameters of the holes of front hole plates in the conveying direction can be selected to be smaller than the diameters of holes in hole plates further along in the conveying direction. For example, in FIG. 2, the diameters of the holes in the first stationary hole plate 9 are somewhat smaller than the diameters of the holes in the first rotating hole plate 11. The diameters of the holes in the other hole plates 13, 12, 18, on the other hand, decrease in the conveying direction of the product, as can be seen clearly in FIG. 2.

(14) When the product needs to be minced more finely, further rotating cutter heads can be mounted before the cutter head 8 in the conveying direction, said further cutter heads interacting with further hole plates. Also, in the case of these cutter heads, the respective axial distance to the stationary hole plate can be adjusted by moving the shaft 5 in the axial direction. Naturally, in this case, the cutter set housing 3 must be made larger in the axial direction than is the case in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2.

(15) In particular, instead of using the cutter set 4 described here, it is also possible to insert another type of cutter set into the cutter set housing 3, such as a cutter set in which hole plates interact solely with cutter heads in order to create a shear cut, or a cutter set in which the cutting is done additionally by means of a centrifugal cutting ring (rotor-stator principle) which is arranged downstream of the hole plates 9, 11, 12, 13, 18 in the conveying direction. Ideally, the different cutter sets are dimensioned such that they fit into the same cutter set housing 3. The mincing machine 1 therefore offers high flexibility as well as short setting times when changing the cutter sets.