Method and system for producing gluten-free oats

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9700919-B1
Application number	US-201213673231-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Nov 9, 2012
Priority date	Nov 9, 2012
Publication date	Jul 11, 2017
Grant date	Jul 11, 2017

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 a series of mechanical differentiation operations on a combination of grains, including oats and foreign, or gluten containing, grains. The various operations include aspiration, width grading and length grading steps, as well as a late stage density separating 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 method of producing gluten-free oats from a combination of grains including oats and other, gluten containing grains comprising:
performing a series of mechanical grading operations on the combination of grains to establish an initially processed combination of grains; and
separating the initially processed combination of grains to remove gluten contaminated oat groats and to establish gluten-free oats.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing the series of mechanical grading operations includes both a series of width grading operations and a series of length grading operations on the combination of grains.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the series of mechanical grading operations are performed on hulled oats.

4. The method of claim 2 , further comprising performing the series of grading operations in combination with the separating being density separating to reduce a percentage of the other grains to less than approximately 0.035% by weight versus the oat grains.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the separating constitutes density separating, with the method further comprising: aspirating, after density separating, the initially processed combination to establish the gluten-free oats.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising: aspirating the combination of grains prior to performing the series of mechanical grading operations on the combination of grains.

7. The method of claim 2 , wherein the length grading operations are performed to remove at least 23% of the combination of grains.

8. A method of producing gluten-free oats from a combination of grains including oats and other, gluten containing grains comprising: performing a series of mechanical differentiation operations on the combination of grains to remove the gluten containing grains and gluten contaminated oat groats to establish gluten-free oats.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein performing the series of mechanical differentiation operations includes subjecting the combination of grains to a series of grading operations including both a series of width grading operations and a series of length grading operations.

10. The method of claim 9 , wherein performing the series of mechanical differentiation operations further includes density separating the combination of grains.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein performing the series of grading operations in combination with the density separating reduces a percentage of the other grains to less than approximately 0.035% by weight versus the oat grains.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising: aspirating, after density separating, the combination of grains to establish the gluten-free oats.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising: aspirating the combination of grains prior to performing the series of mechanical differentiation operations on the combination of grains.

14. The method of claim 9 , wherein the length grading operations are performed to remove at least 23% of the combination of grains.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein the length grading operations includes at least three length grading operations performed at distinct feed rates.

16. The method of claim 8 , wherein the series of mechanical differentiation operations are performed on hulled oats.

17. A system for producing gluten-free oats comprising:
a series of mechanical graders for initial processing of a combination of grains, including oat grains and foreign grains containing gluten to establish an initially processed combination of grains; and
a separator located downstream of the series of mechanical graders for performing a subsequent separation process on the initially processed combination of grains to remove gluten contaminated oat groats and to establish gluten-free oats.

18. The system according to claim 17 , wherein the series of mechanical graders include both a series of width graders and a series of length graders.

19. The system according to claim 18 , wherein the separator is a density separator, said system further comprising: an aspirator located downstream of the density separator.

20. The system according to claim 18 , wherein the length graders include at least three graders arranged in succession and configured to operate at distinct, successively lower feed rates.

Assignees

• Gen Mills Inc

Inventors

• Zietlow Philip K
• Winderl Daniel J
• Romsa Jay
• Hobart Kara M
• Hellweg John M
• Bierbaum Troy D

Classifications

• B07B13/04

  according to size · CPC title

• B07B13/003

  Separation of articles by differences in their geometrical form or by difference in their physical properties, e.g. elasticity, compressibility, hardness · CPC title

• A23L7/00

  Cereal-derived products; Malt products; Preparation or treatment thereof (preparation of malt for brewing C12C) · CPC title

• B07B15/00

  Combinations of apparatus for separating solids from solids by dry methods applicable to bulk material, e.g. loose articles fit to be handled like bulk material (using wet methods B03B7/00; using gas currents B07B9/00) · CPC title

• B07B13/00

  Grading or sorting solid materials by dry methods, not otherwise provided for; Sorting articles otherwise than by indirectly controlled devices (grading eggs A01K43/04) · CPC title