Automatic, periodic plate-freezing

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and a device for periodic in feeding of boxes containing food items into plate freezers. The invention solves problems relating to handling of boxes, where traditional methods damage the boxes and the ham the food objects within the boxes. The new method and device solve this problem in such an automatic and periodic manner that food items can be frozen in sensitive packing such as thin carton boxes.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to a method and a device for periodic, automatic in feeding of carton-boxes containing food products into horizontal plate freezers.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Several methods and devices for freezing food objects in carton-boxes are known in the art. Traditional carton-box freezing is usually performed in two different ways. Either, the carton-boxes are placed in a rack which is then transported into a blow freezing unit or alternatively the carton-boxes are placed in special freezing pans which are then feed into horizontal, automatic plate freezers. The problem with current methods of freezing food products in carton-boxes is that the carton-boxes need quite a lot of handling and a proper solution of automatic and continuous freezing process is needed.[0003]The most common way of freezing food objects in carton-boxes is blow-freezing, where the boxes are loaded onto racks and the racks are then feed into a freezing co...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0014]The automatic and periodic in feeding method is essentially different from the traditional methods of feeding plate freezers in the following way. The traditional method requires that every unfrozen box is either manually placed into the freezer pans or placed in the freezer by pushing forward boxes onto freezer plates and thereby pushing ahead the boxes in front of the box being pushed to fill the freezing plate. The traditional methods cause damage to the boxes and deformation of the unfrozen box. The new method is different in that every box is only pushed in as far as they destined to, such that the unfrozen box will never be subjected to more stress or force than necessary by using an unfrozen box to push another box further into the freezer or out of the freezer. This prevents damage and deformation as the in-feeding and out feeding of the boxes from the freezer is completely separated, because when a box with fluid on the outside of the box has been frozen in a plate freezer it will stick to the plate. Then, when a box with unfrozen food products is pushed onto the freezer plate and used to push the box frozen to the plate off the plate, it will at least deform the unfrozen box and most likely deform the product within the box.

[0015]Another important feature of the new method and device is that it allows the boxes to expand vertically or upwardly into the space between the product and the lid of the box and in the worst case pushing the lid up a certain small distance. This prevents the boxes and their contents damaged due to lateral pressure arising if the box has no room to expand upwardly. This feature is achieved by a spacer for setting or determining the distance between the freezing plates and thereby adjusting the space between the plates depending on the product and the thickness of the box each time.

[0016]The traditional way of handling freezing of sensitive products, which can not withstand conventional plate freezing has been the blower freezing method. The traditional blow freezing methods are less efficient in many ways in that they require longer freezing time, more energy, increased product loss as well as additional equipment floor space. However, when it comes to freezing products, blow-freezing has been the first choice of method for freezing in order to ensure delivery of undamaged products. This new method now replaces the only advantage of blow freezing over plate freezing.

[0017]An additional advantage of using plate freezing of sensitive products is automation which is obtained by using freezing plates instead of freezing pans. The automation makes it possible to freeze a large volume of products in boxes with constant quality and low cost compared with older, traditional methods.

[0018]In a first aspect of the present invention a method is provided for freezing food products in boxes. The method comprises a) releasing a whole stack of fully frozen boxes in a plate freezer from a freezing plate, b) forming a new stack by transporting one or more rows of boxes all the way into the far end of the freezing plate, c) transporting another row or rows of boxes up against the first row or rows boxes. Steps a-c) are repeated until the plate is full and a whole new stack is formed. The freezing plate above the boxes loaded onto the plate is positioned in a certain distance from the boxes below the plate, such that the boxes are able to expand upwardly towards the freezing plate above the boxes. Furthermore, a positioning means determines the position of a row of boxes loaded onto the plate so that the following row of boxes is transported next to the preceding row of boxes but not but not against the preceding row of boxes. This will prevent the following row of boxes to crash into a newly loaded row of boxes and thereby deform the boxes being pushed into the freezer and harming the food products therein.

Problems solved by technology

The traditional methods cause damage to the boxes and deformation of the unfrozen box.

The traditional blow freezing methods are less efficient in many ways in that they require longer freezing time, more energy, increased product loss as well as additional equipment floor space.

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