APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR COOLING PRODUCTS

Abstract

Apparatus for cooling products including a cooling chamber with a conveyor for conveying the products through the chamber, at least one circulator for circulating a cooling gas within at least a part of the chamber, and a first aperture element with a plurality of first aperture openings. The conveyor and the at least one circulator are arranged within the cooling chamber such that the cooling gas can impinge a first side of the conveyor, wherein the first aperture element is arranged within the chamber such that the cooling gas penetrates through the first aperture openings before impinging the first side of the conveyor.

Claims

1. An apparatus for cooling products, comprising: a cooling chamber with a conveyor for conveying the products through the cooling chamber, at least one circulator for circulating a cooling gas within at least a part of the cooling chamber, a first aperture element with a plurality of first aperture openings, wherein the conveyor and the at least one circulator are arranged within the cooling chamber such that the cooling gas can impinge a first side of the conveyor, and wherein the first aperture element is arranged within the cooling chamber such that the cooling gas penetrates through the first aperture openings before impinging the first side of the conveyor.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the conveyor is designed such that a pressure gradient between the first side of the conveyor and the second side of the conveyor is generated when the first side of the conveyor is impinged with the cooling gas.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus is designed such that the products can be received at the first side of the conveyor.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first aperture openings are slits oriented along a conveying direction of the conveyor.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a second aperture element with a plurality of second aperture openings is provided such that the cooling gas penetrates through the second aperture openings after having passed the conveyor.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the second aperture openings are slits oriented along a conveying direction of the conveyor.

7. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first aperture element and the second aperture element are designed and arranged such that each of the first aperture openings is aligned with a corresponding of the second aperture openings.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the apparatus further comprises guiding elements for guiding a flow of the cooling gas, wherein the guiding elements are arranged within the cooling chamber such that an impingement section is formed adjacent to a first side of the conveyor, in which the cooling gas can impinge the first side of the conveyor having a first pressure, wherein the first aperture element is arranged within the impingement section, wherein the conveyor is designed such that the cooling gas can penetrate through the conveyor so as to have a second pressure at a second side of the conveyor, wherein the second pressure is lower than the first pressure, and wherein the guiding elements are arranged such as to form at least one backflow channel from the second side of the conveyor to the at least one circulator, and wherein the cooling gas can be directed into the impingement section via the at least one circulator.

9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the guiding elements are arranged such that the cooling gas can flow concurrently through the impingement section and the at least one backflow channel.

10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein at least two circulators are provided and wherein at least one of the guiding elements is arranged between the circulators.

11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the at least one backflow channel is formed between at least one respective guiding element and a boundary of the cooling chamber.

12. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the impingement section has a rectangular cross section perpendicular to a conveying direction of the conveyor.

13. A method for cooling products, comprising the steps of: conveying the products through a cooling chamber with a conveyor, and generating a flow of a cooling gas within the cooling chamber, wherein the flow is generated in such a way that the cooling gas impinges a first side of the conveyor after having penetrated through first aperture openings of a first aperture element.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the products are placed onto the conveyor in such a way that each of the products is assigned at least one respective of the first aperture openings.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the cooling gas that penetrates through the at least one first aperture opening assigned to a respective product impinges the product centrally.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0071] FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of an apparatus for cooling products.

[0072] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a second embodiment of an apparatus for cooling products.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0073] FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of an apparatus 1 for cooling products 2 that comprises a cooling chamber 3 with a conveyor 4 for conveying the products 2 through the cooling chamber 3. The conveyor has a first run 16 and a second run 17. The products 2 can be received at a first side 8 of the conveyor. The conveyor 4 comprises a plurality of perforation openings and is designed such that a pressure gradient between the first side 8 of the conveyor 4 and a second side 9 of the conveyor 4 is generated when the first side 8 of the conveyor 4 is impinged with a cooling gas.

[0074] The conveyor 4 is designed such that the cooling gas can penetrate through the conveyor 4 so as to have a second pressure at the second side 9 of the conveyor 4. The second pressure is lower than the first pressure. In this example, the first side 8 of the conveyor 4 is an upper side and the second side 9 of the conveyor 4 is a lower side. Also, the apparatus 1 comprises two circulators 5 for circulating the cooling gas within the cooling chamber 3. Each circulator 5 has a motor 11. Further, the apparatus 1 comprises a first aperture element 12 with a plurality of first aperture openings 14. The conveyor 4 and the circulators 5 are arranged within the cooling chamber 3 such that the cooling gas can impinge a first side 8 of the conveyor 4. The first aperture element 12 is arranged within the cooling chamber 3 such that the cooling gas penetrates through the first aperture openings 14 before impinging the first side 8 of the conveyor 4. The first aperture openings 14 are slits oriented along a conveying direction of the conveyor 4. The conveying direction of the conveyor 4 is oriented perpendicular to the drawing plane of FIG. 1.

[0075] The apparatus 1 further comprises guiding elements 6 for guiding a flow of the cooling gas, wherein the guiding elements 6 are arranged within the cooling chamber 3 such that an impingement section 7 is formed adjacent to the first side 8 of the conveyor 4, in which the cooling gas can impinge the first side 8 of the conveyor 4 having a first pressure. The impingement section 7 has a rectangular cross section in a plane perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveyor 4. The first aperture element 12 is arranged within the impingement section 7. The conveyor 4 is designed such that the cooling gas can penetrate through the conveyor 4 so as to have a second pressure at a second side 9 of the conveyor 4, wherein the second pressure is lower than the first pressure, and wherein the guiding elements 6 are arranged to form a backflow channel 10 from the second side 9 of the conveyor 4 to the circulators 5. The cooling gas can be directed into the impingement section 7 via the circulators 5. The guiding elements 6 are arranged such that the cooling gas can flow concurrently through the impingement section 7 and the backflow channel 10. The backflow channel 10 is confined by guiding elements 6 and a boundary of the cooling chamber 3. One of the guiding elements 6 is arranged between the circulators 5.

[0076] The products 2 can be placed onto the conveyor 4 in such a way that each of the products 2 is assigned at least one respective of the first aperture openings 14. In FIG. 1 the first aperture opening 14 assigned to a product 2 is located above below the product 2. The cooling gas that penetrates through the at least one first aperture opening 14 assigned to a respective product 2 impinges the product 2 centrally.

[0077] In the cross section view of FIG. 1 two circulators 5 can be seen. Further circulators 5 can be provided at other positions in the conveying direction. Respective further guiding elements 6 may also be provided.

[0078] FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of an apparatus 1 for cooling products 2. Unless described otherwise in the following, the second embodiment is equivalent to the first embodiment. Compared to the first embodiment, the second embodiment further comprises a second aperture element 13 with a plurality of second aperture openings 15. The second aperture element 13 is provided such that the cooling gas penetrates through the second aperture openings 15 after having passed the conveyor 4. The second aperture openings 15 are slits oriented along a conveying direction of the conveyor 4. The first aperture element 12 and the second aperture element 13 are designed and arranged such that each of the first aperture openings 14 is aligned with a corresponding of the second aperture openings 15.

[0079] With the apparatus 1 products 2 such as food products can be cooled using a cooling gas such a gas comprising nitrogen. With aperture elements 12, 13 a flow of the cooling gas can be guided. Thereby, the products 2 can be cooled particularly energy efficiently and at a particularly high cooling rate.

[0080] While the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications, and variations as fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims. The present invention may suitably comprise, consist or consist essentially of the elements disclosed and may be practiced in the absence of an element not disclosed. Furthermore, if there is language referring to order, such as first and second, it should be understood in an exemplary sense and not in a limiting sense. For example, it can be recognized by those skilled in the art that certain steps can be combined into a single step.

[0081] The singular forms a, an and the include plural referents, unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0082] Comprising in a claim is an open transitional term which means the subsequently identified claim elements are a nonexclusive listing i.e. anything else may be additionally included and remain within the scope of comprising. Comprising is defined herein as necessarily encompassing the more limited transitional terms consisting essentially of and consisting of; comprising may therefore be replaced by consisting essentially of or consisting of and remain within the expressly defined scope of comprising.

[0083] Providing in a claim is defined to mean furnishing, supplying, making available, or preparing something. The step may be performed by any actor in the absence of express language in the claim to the contrary.

[0084] Optional or optionally means that the subsequently described event or circumstances may or may not occur. The description includes instances where the event or circumstance occurs and instances where it does not occur.

[0085] Ranges may be expressed herein as from about one particular value, and/or to about another particular value. When such a range is expressed, it is to be understood that another embodiment is from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value, along with all combinations within said range.

[0086] All references identified herein are each hereby incorporated by reference into this application in their entireties, as well as for the specific information for which each is cited.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0087] 1 apparatus [0088] 2 product [0089] 3 cooling chamber [0090] 4 conveyor [0091] 5 circulator [0092] 6 guiding element [0093] 7 impingement section [0094] 8 first side [0095] 9 second side [0096] 10 backflow channel [0097] 11 motor [0098] 12 first aperture element [0099] 13 second aperture element [0100] 14 first aperture opening [0101] 15 second aperture opening [0102] 16 first run [0103] 17 second run