Device for pulverizing desiccated bulk product in a freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs, medicaments, and so forth

• US 6,695,238 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2002
• Issued: 02/24/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hosokawa Micron Corporation, Kyowa Vacuum Engineering Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Hosokawa Micron Corporation, Kyowa Vacuum Engineering Company Limited
• Inventors: Yoshidomi, Tsunehiro, Inoki, Masahiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Rosenbaum, Mark
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, JIMMY T
• Application Number:
  US10/091,118
• Publication Number:
  US 20030006326A1
• Time in Patent Office: 720 Days
• Field of Search: 241/5, 241/39, 241/65, 342/89, 342/87, 342/98
• US Class Current: 241/39
• CPC Class Codes: F26B 5/06 the process involving freezing
• CPC Class Codes: F26B 5/065 the product to be freeze-dried being sprayed, dispersed or pulverised

Abstract

Liquid material is caused to freeze as a molded frozen body in a cylindrical form after the shape of the tubular inner wall surface of the freeze-drying apparatus, wherein the moisture content of the molded frozen material is sublimated under the vacuum to freeze-dry the material in the apparatus. A discharge port is defined at the lower end side of the tube, and jet nozzles are disposed, in the inner wall surface of the tube, for ejecting compressed air or gas toward the inner bore of the tube. The molded frozen body of the liquid material as freeze-dried is crushed and pulverized within the tube, by jet current ejected from jet nozzles.

Claims

1. A freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments comprising:

an upright cylindrical tube for freezing liquid material onto the inner wall surface;

a jacket surrounding the outer periphery of said tube to cause heat medium to circulate in its interior; and

a duct communicatively connected to a vacuum exhaust system which is connected to the upper end side of said tube,

a crushing device, characterized in that said liquid material is frozen on the inner wall surface of said tube as a molded frozen body in a cylindrical form, then the moisture content in the material of said molded frozen body is sublimated under the vacuum condition to desiccate the liquid material by the freeze-drying, that a discharge port is provided at the lower end side of said tube, while a jet nozzle for ejecting pressurized air or gas toward the inner bore of said tube is disposed in the inner wall surface of said tube, thereby making it possible to crush the molded frozen body of said liquid material which has been freeze-dried within the tube, by means of the jet current ejected from the jet nozzle.

3. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments, according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a pressurized fluid nozzle for ejecting pressurized air or gas into the upper end side of the tube or into the duct connected to said upper end side of the tube is disposed in such a manner that said pressurized fluid ejected from said nozzle is blown in and through said tube from the upper part thereof toward the discharge port at its lower part, thereby making it possible that pulverization of the molded frozen body of said liquid material, which has been freeze-dried by freezing the same in said tube with the jet current from the jet nozzle disposed within said tube, is effected in the flow of the pressurized fluid which is blowing from the upper part to the lower part within the tube, in and through the pressurized fluid nozzle.

8. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, at a part of the lower end side of the tube, or at a part of the upper end side of the chamber connected to the tube, there is disposed a funnel-shaped inclined wall, said inclined wall coming into close contact with the lower edge of the molded frozen body which has completed its freezing and drying within the tube;

and that, at a position where the wall surface of the inclined wall is situated, or at a position above the inclined wall, there is disposed at least one jet nozzle to eject jet current of compressed air or gas against the molded frozen body which has completed desiccation, the lower edge side of which is held on the inclined wall.

12. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 3, characterized in that the jet nozzle to be provided in the inner wall surface of the barrel part of a chamber connected to lower end of the tube is disposed with inclination in such a manner that jet current ejected from the nozzle is directed toward the inner wall surface of the chamber, and that, by forming gyrating current which gyrates, in said chamber, along the inner wall surface thereof, the molded frozen body which has completed its desiccation, and falling down from the inner bore of the tube is subjected to floating-rotation by the gyrating current, along with crushing of the molded frozen body due to collision of the crushed material among themselves, and to their crushing due to their collision against the inner wall surface of the chamber, thereby pulverizing the material.

13. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 3, characterized in that a cylindrical chamber connected to the lower end side of the tube is formed in a truncated conical shape, the inner diameter of which gradually increases as it goes downward;

and that the crushed material of the molded frozen body which has completed its desiccation and floating in gyration with the jet current from jet nozzle is introduced to the bottom side of the chamber by the inclination of the inner wall surface of said chamber.

14. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 3, characterized in that a bottom plate is provided in a freely mountable and dismountable manner on the bottom part of a chamber connected to the lower end of the tube, to define at its center part a discharge port at one part of the bottom plate;

and that the bottom plate is provided in a plurality of kinds, and the position of the discharge port is made changeable by exchange of the bottom plate in a mountable and dismountable manner, thereby making adjustable the degree of pulverization of the molded frozen body, which has completed its desiccation in the chamber.

15. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 1, characterized in that a conveying tube for air-transportation is connected to the discharge port to be defined in the lower end side of the tube or the bottom part of the chamber to be connected with the lower end side of the tube, the pulverized frozen body which has been desiccated by the jet current from the jet nozzle is made to be air-transportable through the conveying tube on the jet current from the jet nozzle.

17. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 3, characterized in that a conveying tube for air-transportation is connected to the discharge port to be defined in the lower end side of the tube or the bottom part of the chamber to be connected with the lower end side of the tube, the pulverized frozen body which has been desiccated by the jet current from the jet nozzle is made to be air-transportable through the conveying tube on the jet current from the jet nozzle.

2. A freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments comprising:

an upright cylindrical tube for freezing liquid material onto an inner wall surface;

a jacket surrounding the outer periphery of said tube to cause heat medium to circulate in its interior; and

a duct communicatively connected to a vacuum exhaust system which is connected to the upper end side of said tube,

a crushing device, characterized in that a discharge port is provided at the lower end side of said tube, and a jet nozzle for ejecting pressurized air or gas against the inner wall surface of said tube is provided at an axial part in the interior of said tube, to thereby pulverize a molded frozen body as freeze-dried in said tube by means of the jet current from the jet nozzle.

16. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 2, characterized in that a conveying tube for air-transportation is connected to the discharge port to be defined in the lower end side of the tube or the bottom part of the chamber to be connected with the lower end side of the tube, the pulverized frozen body which has been desiccated by the jet current from the jet nozzle is made to be air-transportable through the conveying tube on the jet current from the jet nozzle.

4. A freeze-drying apparatus comprising:

an upright cylindrical tube for freezing liquid material onto an inner wall surface thereof, a jacket surrounding the outer periphery of said tube to cause heat medium to circulate in its interior; and

a duct communicatively connected to a vacuum exhaust system which is connected to the upper end side of said tube, said liquid material being frozen on the inner wall surface of said tube in the form of a cylindrical molded frozen body, and sublimating the moisture content in the material of said molded frozen body under the vacuum condition to freeze-dry the molded frozen body,

a pulverizing device for desiccated bulk product in the freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments, characterized in that a funnel-shaped inclined wall, for holding said molded frozen body in close contact with the lower edge thereof, which has completed its freezing and drying within the tube, is mounted on the lower end side of said tube;

that a jet nozzle for ejecting the jet current of pressurized air or gas against molded frozen body, as desiccated, the lower edge side of which is held on said inclined wall thereof, is mounted on the lower end part of the inner wall surface of said tube, at a position on the wall surface of the inclined wall or above its inclined wall, a discharge port being formed at the inclined descending side of the inclined wall to thereby comminute the molded frozen body sequentially from its lower end side with use of the jet current from the jet nozzle and to discharge the pulverized product from the discharge port.

5. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 4, characterized in that a pressurized fluid nozzle for ejecting pressurized air or gas is provided on the upper end side of the tube or on the duct connected to the upper end side of the tube, in such a manner that the pressurized air or gas ejected therefrom may be blown in and through the inner bore of the tube from the upper part down to the discharge port below, by way of the inner bore of the tube and the inner bore of the funnel-shaped inclined wall, thereby making it possible that sequential crushing of the molded frozen body of the liquid material, which has been freeze-dried by freezing the same within the tube by the jet current from the jet nozzle provided at the lower end side of the tube, may be done within the flow of the pressurized fluid which is blown in the tube as well as the funnel-shaped inclined wall, through the pressurized fluid nozzle in the direction of from the upper position toward the discharge port.

9. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 4, characterized in that said jet nozzle to be disposed above said wall surface of said funnel-shaped wall surface or above said inclined wall is disposed at a predetermined inclined angle with respect to the tangential direction of the peripheral surface of the molded frozen body, and with respect to the radial direction of the molded frozen body.

10. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the jet nozzle to be disposed above the wall surface of the funnel-shaped inclined wall or above the inclined wall is so controlled that the action of ejecting the jet current from said nozzle is effected intermittently at a predetermined time interval.

11. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 4, characterized in that the funnel-shaped inclined wall to be disposed at the lower end side of the tube or at the upper end side of the chamber, in a manner to hold the lower edge side of the molded frozen body which has frozen and completed its desiccation in the tube, is so made that the lower end edge of the inclined wall form an orifice to reduce the inner diameter of the amber.

6. A freeze-drying apparatus, comprising:

an upright cylindrical tube for freezing liquid material onto an inner wall surface thereof, a jacket surrounding the outer periphery of said tube to cause heat medium to circulate in its interior; and

a duct communicatively connected to a vacuum exhaust system which is connected to the upper end side of said tube, said liquid material being frozen on the inner wall surface of said tube in the form of a cylindrical molded frozen body, and sublimating the moisture content in the material of said molded frozen body under the vacuum condition to freeze-dry the molded frozen body;

a pulverizing device, characterized in that a cylindrical chamber with the discharge port being defined in the bottom part of the tube is connected to the lower end side of the tube having an opening provided in the lower part thereof;

a jet nozzle for ejecting jet current of pressurized air or gas is mounted on the inner surface side of the chamber, to thereby pulverize the molded frozen body of the liquid material, as freeze-dried in the tube, with the pressure as well as the jet current ejected from the jet nozzle.

7. The freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs and medicaments according to claim 6, characterized in that a pressurized fluid nozzle for ejecting pressurized air or gas is provided in the duct to be connected to the upper end side of the tube or to the tube itself, in such a manner that the pressurized fluid to be ejected from the nozzle is blown to the discharge port from the upper part, through the inner bore of the tube or the inner bore of the chamber, whereby crushing of the molded frozen body by the jet current from the jet nozzle to be provided in the inner surface side of the chamber is effected within the flow of the pressurized fluid, which is ejected from this pressurized fluid nozzle and blown within the tube and the chamber, in the direction of from its upper part down to its lower part.