Rotor for blades for food processing machines and related process

• US 20030188640A1
• Filed: 02/28/2003
• Published: 10/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/07/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Primo Bertocchi
• Original Assignee: Primo Bertocchi
• Inventors: Bertocchi, Primo
• Granted Patent: US 7,252,036 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 99/501
• CPC Class Codes: A23N 1/02 combined with disintegrating or cutting

Abstract

A rotor for food pulping or straining machines is equipped with a plurality of blades (2) designed to act on the food product to force at least part of it out through a sieve (3) that surrounds the rotor (1) and is characterised in that the blades (2) are shaped in such a way as to cause sudden changes of direction in the moving product particles, thus producing a rapid succession of impulses that act on substantially stationary product particles adhering to the sieve (3), these impulses causing the propulsion of the substantially stationary product particles.

Claims

1. A rotor for food pulping and straining machines of the type equipped with a plurality of blades (2) designed to act on the food product to force at least part of it out through a sieve (3) that surrounds the rotor (1), characterised in that the parts of the rotor blades (2) facing the sieve (3) are shaped in such a way as to cause sudden changes of direction in the moving product particles, thus producing a rapid succession of impulses that act on the substantially stationary product particles adhering to the sieve (3), these impulses causing the substantially stationary particles to be detached from the sieve.

2. The rotor according to claim 1, wherein the sudden changes of direction are such that the path followed by the moving product particles is a broken spiral consisting of relatively short, angled lines.

3. The rotor according to claim 1, wherein at least one blade (2) has at least one notch (5) made in the edge of it facing the sieve (3).

4. The rotor according to claim 3, wherein the longitudinal axis of the notch (5) makes an angle α

with the surface of the blade (2) such that that the motion transmitted to the moving product particles has an axial component according to the rotor (1) whose direction is concordant with the direction of the axial component of the spiral.

5. The rotor according to claim 3, wherein the longitudinal axis of the notch (5) makes an angle α

with the surface of the blade (2) such that the motion transmitted to the moving product particles has an axial component according to the rotor (1) whose direction is opposite to the direction of the axial component of the spiral.

6. The rotor according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the angle a varies between 10°

and 80°

or between 100° and

170°

.

7. The rotor according to claim 3, wherein at least one blade (2) has one to ten notches (5) made in it.

8. The rotor according to claim 3, wherein the width and depth of the notch (5) range from one half to double the thickness of the blade (2) in which it is made.

10. A pulping or straining machine for food products, characterised in that it comprises at least one rotor (1) according to any of the foregoing claims from 1 to 8 or in that it operates according to a process according to claim 9.

9. A process for propelling food product particles in a food pulping and straining machine equipped with at least one rotor surrounded by a sieve, characterised in that the moving product particles are subjected to sudden changes of direction in such a way that they describe a broken spiral path consisting of relatively short, angled lines;

these sudden changes of direction producing a rapid succession of impulses acting on the product particles which adhere to the walls of the sieve and which are therefore substantially stationary in such a way as to detach them from the sieve and to put them back into circulation together with the other moving product particles.