WO1990009262A1

WO1990009262A1 - Device for obtaining food products with curved facets

Info

Publication number: WO1990009262A1
Application number: PCT/FR1990/000103
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gérard Fischer
Original assignee: Fischer Gerard
Priority date: 1989-02-13
Filing date: 1990-02-13
Publication date: 1990-08-23
Also published as: FR2643008A1

Abstract

A device for obtaining fruit or vegetables having facets of given profile consists of a tubular casing (1) provided with slits (3 to 6) which guide cutting means such as piano strings. An internal or external mobile crown moves the cutting means (9, 10) longitudinally. The invention also concerns an industrial installation in which such a device is used.

Description

4

DEVICE FOR PRODUCING CURVED SIDE FOOD PRODUCTS.

The present invention relates to a device for producing food products with curved facets, in particular fruit or vegetables turned from a blank. The term "turned fruit or vegetables" means fruit or vegetables of substantially ovoid shape, shaped so as to have curved facets and - more generally so as to have a particular shape. Such fruits or vegetables are more particularly intended for the food industry and high-end catering. They respond to a concern for refined aesthetic presentation and standardization; both in the form and size of the fruits or vegetables used in canning, in the manufacture of frozen meals and in catering.

In the state of the art, such fruits or vegetables are generally shaped manually. This solution is acceptable for luxury catering, employing qualified personnel capable of correctly carrying out such work. On the other hand, such a solution is not acceptable from an economic point of view in the food industry.

It has also been proposed in the prior art; mechanical solutions. In particular, French patent 88/04831 filed by the applicant describes a method and a device for producing such vegetables using knives with non-rectilinear cutting edges. Such a device is certainly effective, but its cost price is high.

The subject of the present invention is an ef ficient, economical and easy device to be implemented by personnel without any particular qualification, making it possible to produce fruit and vegetables shot under industrial conditions. The present invention relates more particularly to a device for producing food products with curved facets, in particular fruit or vegetables turned from a blank, comprising:

- a tubular jacket provided with parallel guide means two by two,

- A plurality of cutting means each extending between two parallel guide means, - a drive means ensuring the relative movement between the blank and the cutting means.

Device for producing food products with curved facets, in particular fruit or vegetables turned from a blank, characterized in that it comprises a tubular jacket (1), provided with guide means (3 to 6) parallel two by two, extending substantially longitudinally, a plurality of cutting means (9, 10) each extending between two parallel guide means (3 to β), and drive means ensuring the relative movement of the blank and / or cutting means with respect to the tubular jacket so that the cutting means cover the entire useful stroke of the guide means measured along the longitudinal axis while said cutting means cover all the length of the food product measured along the same longitudinal axis.

In the simplest embodiment, the blank mold is stationary relative to the tubular jacket, only the cutting means move along the ^'means ^"guide. RDE e it is also conceivable to provide a device in which the blank moves along the longitudinal axis at the same time as the cutting means move relative to the tubular jacket. In this case, the useful stroke of the guide means is b function of the displacement ratio between the blank and ... the tubular jacket on the one hand and the crown and the tubular jacket on the other hand.

The tubular jacket may include any number of guide means, at least two. It is possible to produce a device comprising an odd number of guide means insofar as one guide means can guide two different cutting means. Thus, by way of example, it is conceivable to make a device comprising three guide slots and three cutting means.

By tubular liner is meant a hollow body open at at least one of the ends whose internal section is at least equal to the section of the food products to be shaped, this section possibly being any, in particular circular or polygonal. The guide means can have any type of profile, in particular that of a curve forming with the longitudinal axis an angle less than 90 °, a straight line parallel to the longitudinal axis or forming with it an angle different from 90 °, a sinusoid, etc ...

The guide means advantageously consist of slots extending longitudinally on the tubular jacket. By extending longitudinally "is meant slots whose main orientation is substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis.

The cutting means are constituted, according to a preferred embodiment, by sharp wires comprising at each end means cooperating with guide means. These sharp wires can be formed by piano cords, that is to say a stainless steel wire, a nvlon wire, or any other wire made of a non-brittle material. '^"

According to an advantageous embodiment, the drive means consists of an inner ring having orifices of the four ends in the passage of the cutting means, said orifices extending laterally, said crown being coaxial with the tubular jacket and sliding inside the body of the tubular jacket along the longitudinal axis. The passage openings are advantageously constituted by lateral slots of a width slightly greater than the width of the cutting means and of a length at least equal to the maximum lateral stroke of the cutting means. The movable crown thus drives the cutting wires or the cutting means in the longitudinal direction. The profile of the slots allows lateral movement of the cutting means during this axial movement. Consequently, the plane of each of the cutting means varies as a function of the advancement of the movable crown, and shapes the fruit or vegetable placed inside the tubular jacket by cutting curved facets. Preferably, the cutting means consist of sharp wires extending between two parallel slots having at each of their ends a ring movable in lateral translation in the slot of the guide means, the ring comprising a head of a larger dimension. to the width of the corresponding longitudinal slot of the tubular jacket. According to a variant, the device consists on the one hand of a rigid tubular jacket with an internal diameter greater than the largest of the fruits or vegetables to be shaped, comprising at least one pair of slots extending from a point close to the 'one of the axial ends of the liner to a point close to the opposite axial end of the liner and on the other hand an axial movable crown ent sliding freely around said liner, said movable crown having attachment points d 'at least one piano cord, said piano cord passing through the rigid shirt at the level of the pair of slots. The pair of S ^" slots extending continuously from one end to the other of the tubular jacket ensures guiding of the ^" piano cord which cuts the fruit or the vegetable placed inside the tubular jacket according to the profile imposed by the geometry of said slots. The length of the wire is of course determined by the maximum deformation imposed by the geometry of the slots during axial movement. of the movable crown. Therefore, the cutting wire is relaxed in at least certain positions of the crown, which is without incident on the proper functioning of the device. It is moreover obvious that the number and the arrangement of the slits depend on the number of facets to be produced on the fruit or the vegetable, and that the geometry depends on the desired profile.

According to a first variant, the piano cord is fixed on the movable crown at two attachment points, each of the attachment points being radially distant from the tubular jacket. This radial distance allows the slot to provide a guiding function for the cutting wire. According to a particular embodiment, the fixing means are arranged on the movable crown at two points such that the piano wire is substantially stretched when the crown is pushed back to the end of said shirt.

When the fruit or vegetable is attacked by sharp wires, this tension prevents the wire from sliding on the external surfaces of the fruit or vegetable and does not cause the desired cut.

The piano wire can also be fixed on the movable crown by means of two movable fixing pieces in a transverse plane. The mobile fasteners allow transverse movement of the piano wire fasteners which can thus follow the geometry of the pair of slots during the axial sliding of the mobile crown.

Advantageously, the piano strings are fixed to the movable crown by means of pieces of sliding fixing on a guide rail arranged on the inner surface of the crown in a transverse plane.

According to another embodiment, the device comprises first drive means, cutting means with respect to the tubular jacket and second means for driving the blank relative to said tubular jacket, the displacement chamber of the cutting means and blank drive means being substantially equal to the length of the faceted product after shaping, and the stroke of the cutting means being substantially equal to the length of the guide means measured along the axis longitudinal. The device thus produced facilitates the introduction and the positioning of the blank before shaping. It makes it possible to automate the feeding of the shaping device or of a shaping chain implementing more than one identical device.

The present invention will be better understood on reading the following description based on the drawings where:

FIG. 1 represents a perspective view of a first exemplary embodiment,

FIG. 2 represents a view of the device according to a transverse section BB, - FIG. 3 represents a view of the device according to a transverse section AA,

- Figure 4 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment.

The device shown in Figure 1 is constituted by a tubular jacket (1) around which axially slides a movable ring (2).

The tubular jacket (1) consists of a cylinder open at both ends, with a diameter of 10cm and a height of 15cm. This cylinder is made of food grade stainless steel. It has two pairs * slots respectively (3, 4, 5, 6) produced by electroerosion.

The movable crown (2) has a first part (7) whose interior surfaces match the exterior surface of the tubular jacket (1). This guide portion (7) provides axial guidance of the movable crown (2). The movable crown (2) has a second part (8) spaced radially from the outer surface of the tubular jacket (1). The piano strings (9, 10) are fixed on this second part (8). Piano strings are made of steel wire with a diameter of 2 / 10th of a millimeter. The radial position of the attachment points of the piano strings (9, 9) is such that each attachment point is arranged on the radius passing through the longitudinal axis of the tubular jacket and through the corresponding slot when the movable crown ( 2) is in the middle position. At this time, the piano strings (9, 10) are relaxed. On the other hand, when the movable crown is in the end position, the attachment points of the piano strings (9, O) are angularly offset by the radius passing through the center and through the corresponding slot. As a result, the piano strings are stretched and more effectively attack the fruit or vegetable to be shaped. The fruit or vegetable to be shaped is stitched onto a support (11) constituted by a plate (12) of dimension greater than the section of the tubular jacket (1) and comprising a circular base (13) of a diameter less than the diameter of the tubular jacket and of a thickness such that it is flush with the lower end of the slots (3, 4, 5, β) when the tubular jacket (1) is pressed on the plate (12). At the center of this base (13) is a point (14) on which the fruit or vegetable to be shaped can be applied and ensuring its centering during the vertical movement of the movable crown (2).

FIG. 2 represents a view on the transverse section BB corresponding to the middle position of the movable crown (2). As indicated above, the attachment points (15, 16, 17, 18) correspond to the radial projection of the points of intersection of the respective slots (3,

4, 5, 6) with the transverse plane. On the other hand, when the movable crown (2) is moved from the upper or lower position, the intersection of the slots respectively (3, 4,

5, 6) with the transverse plane is angularly offset relative to the point of attachment respectively (15, 16, 17, 18) of the piano strings respectively (9, 10). This radial offset of the attachment points (15 to 18) gives sufficient play to the piano strings (9, 10) which can thus move freely in the transverse plane, which prevents any blocking of the device during the axial stroke of the movable crown (2). Of course, in the variant consisting of providing a guide rail and a fixing piece sliding on this guide rail, the attachment points (15 to 18) ^′ of the piano strings (9, 10) can move on the inner surface of the movable crown (2). Thus, whatever the longitudinal position of the movable crown (2), they can remain on the radius passing through the slots respectively (3 to 6). This variant makes it possible to reduce the transverse size of the mobile crown

(2). Furthermore, this variant makes it possible to reduce the stresses exerted by the piano strings on the walls of the tubular jacket (1) and makes it possible to produce a device made of plastic rather than stainless steel.

The principle of use of the device is as follows: - the user takes a piece of fruit and pricks it on the tip (14) of the support (11). He then takes the tubular jacket (1) and presses it on the support (11) coaxially with the tip (14). The movable crown (2) is then in the high position. The next step consists in exerting pressure on the movable crown (2) so as to make it slide along the tubular jacket (1) until it arrives in the low position. During the movement of the movable crown (2), the piano strings slice the fruit pulp and cut facets whose profile is determined by the shape of the slits (3 to 6). Arrived in the low position, the tubular jacket is turned over in order to release the shaped fruit through the upper open end. In order to improve understanding of the invention, the example chosen includes a limited number of slots. It is understood that it is in no way a question of limiting the invention to this embodiment, the latter covering on the contrary all the variants whatever the number of slots, their geometry, the section of the tubular chamber and crown.

Furthermore, the invention also extends to an industrial installation comprising a plurality of devices, means for controlling the movable crown and an automatic supply of fruit or vegetables. The movable crown (2) can in particular be controlled by a jack or by ranges or by any other mechanical, electrical or hydraulic means known in the state of the art. The feeding system is advantageously constituted by a conveyor belt.

FIG. 4 represents a second embodiment of the device.

The device consists of a tubular jacket (1) of square section. Each of the faces of this tubular jacket has slots (3 to 6) and (20, 21). One of the faces is extended by a base (22) holding the vegetable to be turned (23) in place.

Inside the tubular jacket (1) is arranged a coaxial crown (24), movable longitudinally. This square section frame is operated from outside the AD device via a rod (25) actuated manually or using an electric, pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder. This rod slides in a slot (26) provided on one of the faces of the tubular jacket (1). The crown (24) has a series of laterally extending slots (26). Cutting wires extend between the parallel slots of the tubular jacket (1). The end of the cutting wires has a head (27) with a diameter greater than the width of the slots (3 and 26). The operation of this device is as follows:

- The movable crown (24) is brought back to the end opposite to the base (22). The vegetable or the fruit is introduced inside the tubular jacket (1) and bears on the base (22). Using the rod (25) the movable crown (24) is then moved towards the base (2). It therefore drives the rods (27) disposed at the end of the cutting wires. The lateral displacement of the end of the cutting wires and due to the particular profile of the guide slots provided on the tubular jacket (1). The lateral movement of the ends (27) of the cutting wires is authorized by the lateral slots provided on the crown (24).

When the movable crown (24) has reached the end of the useful travel, the vegetable can be removed either directly or after the said movable crown (24) has been pushed back in the opposite direction.

It is obvious that the device described to illustrate this second embodiment constitutes a simple example which cannot in any way limit the scope of the present invention. In particular, the production of the base can be the subject of very numerous variants without going beyond the scope of this patent.

According to a third embodiment not illustrated by a figure, the base supporting the blank is not fixed as shown in the two embodiments 41 above, but movable relative to the tubular jacket.

It consists of a platform that can slide inside the tubular jacket, via a guide rail. Mechanical means ensure the relative displacement of the tubular jacket (1), the inner ring (24), and the movable base so that: D + d = M where

D represents the displacement of the movable crown (24) relative to the tubular jacket (1) • d represents the relative displacement of the base for introducing the blank relative to the tubular jacket (1)

M represents the average length of the shaped object. The relative displacement can be achieved by any means known in the state of the art in particular it is possible to use actuators controlled by an electrical or electronic servo control system so that their displacement verifies the formula described above. It is also conceivable to control the relative movement by mechanical means such as toothed wheels cooperating with notched rails. Such means are well known to those skilled in the art referring to techniques known in other fields of mechanics. By way of example, it may refer to centering systems for supplying paper to printers of the "Laser ritter" brand from the company "Apple", using two lateral slides, the relative movement of which relative to the tray. power is controlled by such mechanical means. „

There are of course very many means for ensuring the relative displacement of each of the members and it is also possible to envisage blocking the means for introducing the blank when the latter is introduced. in the tubular jacket, the only movement being that of the movable crown driving the cutting wires.

The present invention is in no way limited to the few examples described, but on the contrary extends to all possible variants.

Claims

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1 - Device for producing food products with curved facets, in particular fruit or vegetables turned from a blank, characterized in that it comprises a tubular jacket (1), provided with guide means (3 to 6) two parallel in pairs, s Summer ^the udant substantially longitudinally, a plurality of cutting means (9, 10) each extending between two parallel guide means (3 to 6), and drive means providing relative displacement of the blank and / or the cutting means with respect to the tubular jacket so that the cutting means cover the entire useful stroke of the guide means measured along the longitudinal axis while said means cuts run the entire length of the food product measured along the same longitudinal axis.

2 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to claim 1, characterized in that the guide means (3 to 6) consist of slots extending longitudinally on the tubular jacket. '_ *

3 - Device for the production of food products with curved facets according to any one of claims 1 to 2, characterized in that the cutting means consist of sharp wires (9, 10) comprising at each end means cooperating with the guide means.

4 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the drive means is constituted by an inner ring (24) having orifices for passage of the cutting means s' extending laterally, said crown (24) being coaxial with the tubular jacket (1) and sliding at the interior of said tubular jacket (1) along the longitudinal axis.

5 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to claim 4, characterized in that the passage openings are constituted by lateral slots (26) of a width slightly greater than the diameter of the end (27) of cutting means and of a length at least equal to the maximum lateral stroke of the cutting means. 6 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the cutting means consist of sharp wires extending between two parallel slots of the tubular jacket (1), and having at each end a ring (27) movable in lateral translation in the slots (26) of the movable ring (24), said rings having a head of a dimension greater than the width of the corresponding slot of the tubular jacket (1). 7 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to claim 1, characterized in that it consists on the one hand of a rigid tubular jacket (1) with an inner diameter greater than the largest of the fruits or vegetables to be shaped, comprising at least one pair of slots (3, 4) extending from a point close to one of the axial ends of the tubular jacket (1) to a point close to the opposite axial end of said jacket, and on the other hand, a movable crown (2) axially sliding freely around said jacket (1), said movable crown (2) comprising attachment points (15, 16), of at least one cord piano (10), said piano cord (10) passing through the jacket (1) at the pair of slots (3, 4).

8 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to claim 1, characterized in that the cor5d ^"e piano (9) is fixed on the impeller (2) by two attachment points (15, 16), each of the attachment points (15, 16) being radially distant from the outer wall of the tubular jacket (1).

9 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to claim 8, characterized in that the fixing means are arranged on the movable crown (2) at two points such as the piano wire (9). is substantially taut when the crown (2) arrives near the ends of the shirt (1) ^' .

10 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to claim 8, characterized in that the piano wire (9) is fixed on the movable crown (2) by means of fastening parts sliding on a rail guide disposed on the inner surface of the movable ring (2) in a transverse plane.

11 - Device for the production of food products with curved facets according to any one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that the jacket (1) has several pairs of slots (3, 4) symmetrical with respect to a median transverse plane .

12 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to any one of claims 8 to 11, characterized in that the jacket (1) comprises at least one pair of slots (3, 4) describing an arc of circle between two points arranged near the two ends of a generator of said jacket. 13 - Device for producing food products with curved facets according to any one of claims 8 to 12, characterized in that it further comprises a removable support of a dimension greater than the cross section of the shirt provided with an inner base (13) of a section substantially smaller than the cross section of the jacket (1) and of a thickness corresponding substantially to the axial distance between the end of the slot (3) and the nearest end of the jacket (1) said base having a means for holding the fruit or vegetable to shape.

- 14 - Installation for the production of turned fruit or vegetables, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of devices according to any one of the preceding claims, each provided with a mechanical actuation means of the movable crown (2 ) as well as a food carrying a plurality of fruits or vegetables to be shaped facing the open end of the liners of said devices.,