Food cooking installation

• US 7,654,194 B2
• Filed: 05/20/2003
• Issued: 02/02/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/20/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Metalquimia, SA
• Original Assignee: Metalquimia, SA
• Inventors: Lagares Corominas, Narcis
• Primary Examiner(s): Fuqua; Shawntina
• Application Number:
  US10/515,040
• Publication Number:
  US 20060083836A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,450 Days
• Field of Search: 99352- 5, 99325- 30, 994/02, 995/16, 995/34, 426520-524, 426/506, 426/509, 165/61, 165/104.14, 165/48.1, 165/232, 165/240, 62/82, 62/61, 622/82, 621/85
• US Class Current: 99/355
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 3/001 Details of apparatus, e.g. for transport, for loading or unloading manipulation, pressure feed valves
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 3/02 by heating materials in packages which are progressively transported, continuously or stepwise, through the apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: A23L 3/10 by heating materials in packages which are not progressively transported through the apparatus

Abstract

The invention relates to a food cooking installation comprising numerous cooking tanks which are used to receive the food items to be cooked; means of loading/unloading the food items into/from said cooking tanks; and means of conveying, driving and storing liquids, which are used to connect a heated liquid container, a cooled liquid container and a piped water delivery point with the aforementioned cooking tanks. In this way, the tanks can be filled and emptied independently and the food items contained therein can be subjected to successive baths for different periods of time and at different temperatures, at least one of the baths being a cooking bath and the other a cooling bath. According to the Invention, each of the aforementioned cooking tanks comprises at least one lateral opening which is equipped with impervious sealing means and which is used to load/unload the food items using the above-mentioned loading/unloading means.

Claims

1. A food cooking installation, of the type comprising:

a plurality of cooking tanks to receive food items to be cooked;

loading/unloading means for loading/unloading the food items into/from said cooking tanks;

liquid heating means associated with a heated liquid tank, liquid cooling means associated with a cooled liquid tank, and a connection to a mains water supply;

liquid conveying, driving and storing means being provided connecting said heated liquid container, said cooled liquid container and said mains water supply to said cooking tanks in order to independently fill and empty said cooking tanks, with the ability of said liquids to be returned to their respective tanks, and to subject the contained food items in the cooking tanks to successive baths for different periods of time and at different temperatures, at least one of said baths being a cooking bath and another a cooling bath,

wherein, each of said cooking tanks comprises at least one side opening provided with hermetic closing means, with the food items being able to be loaded/unloaded through said side openings by said loading/unloading means, wherein said hermetic closing means comprises a sliding closing panel that extends in a substantially vertical plane, said closing panel being arranged to perform a sideways movement to allow/prevent entry inside the cooking tanks, and a frontal movement towards a frame that surrounds said side opening in the tank in order to order to apply pressure to sealing means arranged between the closing panel and said frame.

2. An installation in accordance with claim 1, wherein said wherein said opening hermetic closing means further comprises a device to fix the closing panel in a closed position, applying adequate pressure against said sealing means, and blocking means controlled by at least one safety system in order to lock the closing panel in said closed position and prevent it from being opened while the environmental conditions inside the tank are not suitable.

3. An installation in accordance with claim 2, wherein said safety system comprises a float located close to the bottom of the cooking tank, where the float blocks the opening of the closing panel when there is a minimum amount of liquid remaining in the cooking tank.

4. An installation in accordance with claim 3, further comprising an auxiliary safety device that includes means of detecting the presence of liquid inside the cooking tank, where the means of detection block the opening of the closing panel if said presence of liquid is detected in the tank.

5. An installation in accordance with claim 1, wherein said loading/unloading means for loading/unloading the food items to/from said cooking tanks comprises at least one transport/lifting trolley fitted with handling means capable of holding, lifting and lowering a food item batch and of transferring said food item batch inside one of the cooking tanks at a specific level or to remove it therefrom through said opening, where the transport/lifting trolley is moved along at least one path along the length of at least one side which said cooking tanks are arranged forming at least one row, with their openings aligned in a plane parallel to said path.

6. An installation in accordance with claim 5, wherein said cooking tanks are further arranged to form a second row facing the first one along the length of the opposite side said path, with the openings of said second row also aligned in a plane parallel to the cited path, so that the cooking tanks in both rows can be loaded/unloaded by said at least one transport/lifting trolley.

7. An installation in accordance with claim 5, wherein each of said cooking tanks (1) includes a second opening on the side opposite the first opening, said second openings being aligned in a plane parallel to a second path along which at least one second transport/lifting trolley, so that the cooking tanks can be loaded/unloaded indistinctly through each of the first and second openings, or loaded through one and unloaded through the other.

8. An installation in accordance with claim 5, wherein said cooking tanks are, at least in an intermediate zone of said row, laterally grouped two by two, with each cooking tank having a free side wall, and separation gaps being formed between each two of said free side walls, said separation gaps having a sufficient width to permit at least the complete opening movement of the closing panel for the opening of one of the cooking tanks adjacent to one of said separation gaps, with some of said liquid conveying, driving and storing means being arranged on the free side wall of each cooking tank and associated with liquid inlet and outlet pipes to the cooking tank through said free side wall.

9. An installation in accordance with claim 5, wherein said at least one trolley is self-propelled and moves over rails along said path, and is able to make selective stops in front of any of the cooking tanks that is selected for introducing or removing a batch of food items under the control of programmable electronic means.

10. An installation in accordance with claim 5, wherein said handling means associated with the trolley for holding, raising and lowering a batch of food items and for introducing or removing said batch from a cooking tank comprises a horizontal support element connected to a vertical lift device, and transversal guides mounted on said horizontal support element, said lift device being able to place said horizontal support element at various suitable heights so that said transversal guides are aligned with corresponding guides installed at one or more levels inside the cooking tank.

11. An installation in accordance with claim 10, wherein said transversal guides of the trolley handling means are associated with driving means that cooperate with drive means associated with said cooking tank guides for introducing or removing a batch of food items into/from the same.

12. An installation in accordance with claim 11, wherein said driving means of the guides are driven by motors located outside of each cooking tank, said motors being coupled to the driving means through one of said free side walls in cooperation with dynamic sealing means.

13. An installation in accordance with claim 11, further comprising a plurality of load platforms adapted to be used by the trolley handling means, including a configuration suitable to be coupled by said driving means, a batch of food items being able to be loaded above each of the load platforms, either arranged in stacked moulds or inside a cage in which the food items are arranged in moulds, packages or individual wrappers, which are generally separated into layers by means of spacer plates.

14. An installation in accordance with claim 13, further including a demoulding station for demoulding food items cooked in the cooking tanks by batches in stacked moulds, with said rails extending to said demoulding station, so that the trolley can remove said batches of cooked and cooled food items from any of the cooking tanks and transport them to the demoulding station.

15. An installation in accordance with claim 13, further including at least one load platform storage station that is accessible to the trolley moving along the rails.

16. An installation in accordance with claim 1, wherein each cooking tank includes at least one stem inlet connected to a steam supply via a valve that is controlled to mix steam with either heated liquid from said heated liquid tank or mains water from said mains water supply mains connection, or a mixture of the two, inside the cooking tank in order to raise the temperature to the required level under the control of programmable electronic means.

17. An installation in accordance with claim 1, further including liquid recirculating means driven by a pump between an outlet and an inlet of the cooking tank in order to homogenize the liquid temperature inside the tank and thus prevent any possible temperature differences in different zones of the same.

18. A food cooking installation, comprising:

a plurality of cooking tanks to receive food items to be cooked;

means of loading/unloading the food items into/from said cooking tanks;

means of heating a liquid associated with a heated liquid tank;

means of cooling a liquid associated with a cooled liquid tank and a connection to a mains water supply;

means of conveying, driving and storing the liquids, which are connected to a heated liquid container, a cooled liquid container and a mains water that are connected to said cooking tanks so that said cooking tanks can be independently filled and emptied, with said liquids being optionally returned to their respective tanks, and the contained food items in the cooking tanks can be subjected to successive baths for different periods of time and at different temperatures, with at least one of said baths being a cooking bath and another for cooling,

wherein each of said cooking tanks comprises at least one side opening with means for being hermetically sealed, so that the food items can be loaded/unloaded through which side openings by said means of loading/unloading,

wherein the means of hermetically sealing comprises a sliding closing panel that extends in a substantially vertical plane, with said closing panel having sideways movement to allow/prevent entry inside the cooking tanks, together with frontal movement towards a frame that surrounds said side opening in the tank in order to apply pressure to the means of hermetically sealing the tank between the closing panel and the frame, and

wherein the means of hermetically sealing the opening also comprises a device to fix the closing panel in a closed position, applying adequate pressure against said means of hermetically sealing and the means of blocking this, controlled by at least one safety system, in order to lock the closing panel in said closed position and prevent it from being opened while the environmental conditions inside the tank are not suitable.

19. A food cooking installation, comprising:

a plurality of cooking tanks to receive food items to be cooked;

means of loading/unloading the food items into/from said cooking tanks;

means of heating a liquid associated with a heated liquid tank;

means of cooling a liquid associated with a cooled liquid tank and a connection to a mains water supply;

means of conveying, driving and storing the liquids, which are connected to a heated liquid container, a cooled liquid container and a mains water that are connected to said cooking tanks so that said cooking tanks can be independently filled and emptied, with said liquids being optionally returned to their respective tanks, and the contained food items in the cooking tanks can be subjected to successive baths for different periods of time and at different temperatures, with at least one of said baths being a cooking bath and another for cooling,

wherein each of said cooking tanks comprises at least one side opening with means for being hermetically sealed, so that the food items can be loaded/unloaded through which side openings by said means of loading/unloading,

wherein the means of hermetically sealing comprises a sliding closing panel that extends in a substantially vertical plane, with said closing panel having sideways movement to allow/prevent entry inside the cooking tanks, together with frontal movement towards a frame that surrounds said side opening in the tank in order to apply pressure to the means of hermetically sealing the tank between the closing panel and the frame,

wherein said means of loading/unloading, for loading/unloading the food items to/from said cooking tanks, comprises at least one transport/lifting trolley fitted with handling means capable of holding, lifting and lowering a food item batch and of transferring said food item batch inside one of the cooking tanks at a specific level or to remove it through said opening, where the transport/lifting trolley will move along at least one path along the length of at least one side along which said cooking tanks are arranged, forming at least one row, with their openings aligned in a plane parallel to said path, and

wherein said cooking tanks are also arranged to form a second row facing the first one along the length of the side opposite said path, with the openings of said second row also aligned in a plane parallel to the cited path, so that the cooking tanks in both rows can be loaded/unloaded by said at least one transport/lifting trolley.

20. A food cooking installation, comprising:

a plurality of cooking tanks to receive food items to be cooked;

means of loading/unloading the food items into/from said cooking tanks;

means of heating a liquid associated with a heated liquid tank;

means of cooling a liquid associated with a cooled liquid tank and a connection to a mains water supply;

means of conveying, driving and storing the liquids, which are connected to a heated liquid container, a cooled liquid container and a mains water that are connected to said cooking tanks so that said cooking tanks can be independently filled and emptied, with said liquids being optionally returned to their respective tanks, and the contained food items in the cooking tanks can be subjected to successive baths for different periods of time and at different temperatures, with at least one of said baths being a cooking bath and another for cooling,

wherein each of said cooking tanks comprises at least one side opening with means for being hermetically sealed, so that the food items can be loaded/unloaded through which side openings by said means of loading/unloading,

wherein the means of hermetically sealing comprises a sliding closing panel that extends in a substantially vertical plane, with said closing panel having sideways movement to allow/prevent entry inside the cooking tanks, together with frontal movement towards a frame that surrounds said side opening in the tank in order to apply pressure to the means of hermetically sealing the tank between the closing panel and the frame,

wherein said means of loading/unloading, for loading/unloading the food items to/from said cooking tanks, comprises at least one transport/lifting trolley fitted with handling means capable of holding, lifting and lowering a food item batch and of transferring said food item batch inside one of the cooking tanks at a specific level or to remove it through said opening, where the transport/lifting trolley will move along at least one path along the length of at least one side along which said cooking tanks are arranged, forming at least one row, with their openings aligned in a plane parallel to said path, and

wherein said means of handling associated with the trolley for holding, raising and lowering a batch of food items and for introducing or removing said batch from a cooking tank, comprises a horizontal support element connected to a vertical lift device, together with transversal guides mounted on said horizontal support element, with said lift device being able to place said horizontal support element at various suitable heights so that said transversal guides are aligned with some corresponding guides installed on one or more levels inside the cooking tank.