System for producing gluten-free oats

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10086377-B2
Application number	US-201815957555-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 19, 2018
Priority date	Jan 20, 2015
Publication date	Oct 2, 2018
Grant date	Oct 2, 2018

Abstract

A method and system for removing foreign grains from oat grains to establish gluten-free oats, i.e., oat grains having gluten levels below 20 ppm and, more preferably, below 10 ppm, relies upon performing various mechanical differentiation operations on a combination of grains, including oats and foreign, or gluten containing, grains. The mechanical differentiation operations can be arranged in series or in a combination of series and parallel operations. The various operations preferably include width grading and multiple length grading steps, as well as an aspirating steps, as well as a potential debearding step. The resulting oats can be used to make a wide range of gluten-free oat food products, including cereal and granola products.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system for producing gluten-free oats comprising:
a first series of mechanical graders, including at least a first width grader, configured to process a combination of grains, including oat grains and foreign grains containing gluten, to establish an initially processed combination of grains;
a second series of mechanical graders, including at least one length grading operation, configured to process a portion of the initially processed combination of grains to establish a first supply of processed grains; and
a third series of mechanical graders, including at least one length grading operation, configured to process another portion of the initially processed combination of grains to establish a second supply of processed grains, wherein the third series of mechanical graders are distinct from and arranged in parallel to the second series of mechanical graders, wherein the system is configured such that at least one of the first and second supplies of processed grains will constitute a supply of gluten-free oats.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising: a fourth series of mechanical graders configured to process a still further portion of the initially processed combination of grains to establish a third supply of processed grains, wherein the fourth series of mechanical graders are arranged in parallel to each of the first and second series of mechanical graders.

3. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a debearder located upstream of each of the second and third series of mechanical graders.

4. The system according to claim 3 , further comprising: an aspirator located upstream of each of the second and third series of mechanical graders.

5. The system according to claim 2 , wherein each of the second and third series of mechanical graders includes both width and length graders.

6. The system according to claim 5 , wherein each of the second and third series of mechanical graders includes multiple length graders.

7. The system according to claim 6 , wherein each of the second and third series of mechanical graders includes a recycle loop for recycling initially separated grains for repeated grain separation back through the multiple length graders.

8. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a size screener for removing unthreshed wheat from the combination of grains prior to the first width grader.

9. The system according to claim 8 , wherein the size screener has a less than a 9.5/64 inch screen size.

10. The system according to claim 9 , wherein the screen size is 8.5/64 inch.

11. The system according to claim 4 , wherein the aspirator is located downstream of the debearder.

12. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising a recycle loop configured to receive at least some of the combination of grains from at least one of the second and third series of mechanical graders and recycle the at least some of the combination of grains back through at least one of the second and third series of mechanical graders.

13. The system according to claim 1 , further comprising: means for combining the first and second supplies of processed grains downstream of the third series of mechanical graders.

Assignees

• Gen Mills Inc

Inventors

• Zietlow Philip K
• Winderl Daniel J
• Arlinghaus Mark E

Classifications

• A23L5/20

  Removal of unwanted matter, e.g. deodorisation or detoxification · CPC title

• A23L7/196

  Products in which the original granular shape is maintained, e.g. parboiled rice · CPC title

• B02B5/02 Primary

  Combined processes · CPC title

• A23L7/10

  Cereal-derived products · CPC title

• B02B3/00

  Hulling; Husking; Decorticating (decorticating textile fibres D01B1/14); Polishing; Removing the awns (in threshing machines A01F12/42); Degerming · CPC title