Tower screen dual surface finish

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11317596-B2
Application number	US-201816232397-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 26, 2018
Priority date	Dec 26, 2018
Publication date	May 3, 2022
Grant date	May 3, 2022

Abstract

A block former (1) for the production of blocks of cheese (19) includes an upright drainage column (2) having a feed opening (3) for curd particles (4) at an upper end (5) of the drainage column (2). The drainage column (2) includes an inner wall (6) having an interior surface (7) against which a pillar of curd (8) formed of the curd particles (4) slides as the pillar of curd (8) moves downwardly through the drainage column (2). The upright drainage column (2) is divided into an upper part (9) and a lower part (10). The interior surface (7) at the upper part (9) has a first finish and the interior surface (7) at the lower part (10) has a second finish that provides higher friction with the pillar of curd (8) relative to the first finish.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A block former for the production of blocks of cheese, the block former comprising
an upright drainage column having a feed opening for curd particles at an upper end of the drainage column, the drainage column including an inner wall having an interior surface against which a pillar of curd formed of the curd particles slides as the pillar of curd moves downwardly through the drainage column,
the drainage column being divided into an upper part and a lower part, wherein the interior surface of the upper part and the lower part form a continuous contact surface with the pillar of curd as the pillar of curd moves downwardly through the drainage column from the upper part to the lower part,
wherein the interior surface at the upper part has a first finish that has a first coefficient of friction, the interior surface at the lower part has a second finish that is different than the first finish and has a second coefficient of friction, and the second coefficient of friction is higher than the first coefficient of friction,
wherein the second finish is a shot-peened finish that is formed using a micropeening treatment process, has a greater surface roughness than the first finish and provides higher friction with the pillar of curd relative to the first finish,
whereby a sliding motion of the pillar of curd falls through the upper part of the drainage column at a rate that is greater than a rate at which a sliding motion of the pillar of curd falls through the lower part of the drainage column.

2. The block former according to claim 1 , wherein the lower part of the drainage column forms more than half of the drainage column.

3. The block former according to claim 2 , wherein the lower part of the drainage column forms 60% to 70% of the drainage column.

4. The block former according to claim 1 , wherein the second finish has a surface finish roughness between 2.65 micrometers and 2.80 micrometers.

5. The block former according to claim 1 , wherein the second finish provides at least 15% higher friction against the pillar of curd than the first finish.

6. The block former according to claim 1 , wherein the first finish has a surface finish roughness between 0.75 micrometers and 0.90 micrometers.

7. The block former according to claim 1 , wherein the upper part has an inner cross-sectional area that is less than an inner cross-sectional area of the lower part.

8. The block former according to claim 1 , wherein the upper part transitions into the lower part over a distance that is less than 10% of the height of the upper part.

9. The block former according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a closed casing that surrounds the inner wall, wherein a space is defined between the casing and the inner wall; and
a vacuum device connected to the space for filling under reduced pressure the drainage column with curd particles via the feed opening and creating a vacuum in the space.

10. The block former according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a cutting-off blade at an end of the lower part for cutting off blocks of cheese from a lower end of the pillar of curd that has been transformed into cheese, wherein a cut-off block of cheese is discharged from the block former.

11. The block former according to claim 1 , further comprising a relief gap formed in the inner wall at a location at which the upper part and the lower part meet to enable sliding of the pillar of curd against the interior surface of the inner wall.

12. The block former according to claim 11 , further comprising a spray device, wherein a bottom portion of the upper part is inserted into a top portion of the lower part, the relief gap being formed adjacent an area in which the upper part and the lower part overlap, and the spray device is attached to the drainage column and configured to spray the area in which the relief gap is formed.

13. A method of producing blocks of cheese by using the block former according to claim 1 , the method comprising feeding curd particles at an upper end of the drainage column, allowing the curd particles to form a pillar of curd that moves downwardly through the drainage column, gradually compacting the pillar of curd to form cheese at a lower end of the block former, and cutting off blocks of cheese at the lower end of the block former.

14. The method according to claim 13 , further comprising forming each of the blocks of cheese to have at least one of:
a weight percent of moisture that is equal to or less than 31%,
a weight percent of salt content that is equal to or greater than 2%, and
a weight percent of fat content that is equal to or less than 25%.

15. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the upper part and the lower part of the upright drainage column are arranged upstream a location where the pillar of curd is cut into blocks of cheese.

Assignees

• Tetra Laval Holdings & Finance

Inventors

• Olson Michael

Classifications

• A01J25/13 Primary

  Moulds therefor · CPC title

• A23C19/024

  using continuous procedure · CPC title

• A47J9/007

  by molding · CPC title

• A01J25/112 Primary

  in cylinders · CPC title

• A47J9/002

  by forming, e.g. peeling off or extruding, curls or rings · CPC title