Apparatus and methods for cleaning a mould drum

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9944504-B2
Application number	US-201514748733-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 24, 2015
Priority date	Dec 23, 2010
Publication date	Apr 17, 2018
Grant date	Apr 17, 2018

Abstract

The present invention relates to a mold drum for molding products from a mass of food starting material. The mold drum comprises one or more cavities with a mold cavity wall having at least partially a porous structure, whereas each cavity is connected to a passage. The present invention further relates to a cleaning apparatus for the inventive mold drum with supporting means for supporting the axis of the drum. Additionally, the present invention relates to a process for cleaning the inventive drum.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A process for cleaning a mould drum for a food product comprising: cleaning the mould drum with a cleaning apparatus;
wherein the mould drum has a central axis in a horizontal direction and outer ends; the cleaning apparatus includes a rotating nozzle, a lifting component for lifting the mould drum, a pair of covering and/or fastening components each having a sealing component; wherein the mould drum is cleaned from the outside by a rotating nozzle;
wherein the rotating nozzle rotates about the mould drum;
the covering and/or fastening components move toward the outer ends of the mould drum; and the lifting component lowers and lifts the mould drum during the cleaning.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising lowering and/or lifting the mould drum prior to the cleaning of the mould drum.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the pair of covering and/or fastening components includes a cleaning fluid connection and an air source connection.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the mould drum has a passage and a cavity, wherein the passage and/or the cavity is dried after the cleaning of the mould drum.

5. The method of claim 2 , wherein the mould drum has a passage and a cavity, wherein the passage and/or the cavity is dried after the cleaning of the mould drum.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein the mould drum has a passage and a cavity, wherein the passage and/or the cavity is dried after the cleaning of the mould drum.

7. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the mould drum comprises two front ends, a passage, and a cavity, and wherein the method includes a step of cleaning the two front ends before a step of rinsing the passage and/or the cavity.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the rotating nozzle is mounted on a spray bar that rotates around the mould drum.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the mould drum is cleaned by a distributor including the spray bar and the nozzle, wherein the distributor includes a plurality of nozzles connected to the spray bar, and the spray bar is connected to a cleaning fluid connection.

10. The method according to claim 9 , wherein the mould drum is covered with a drum cover prior to cleaning the mould drum.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rotating nozzle is connected to a spray bar oriented parallel to the central axis, wherein the spray bar rotates about the mould drum.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the spray bar includes additional rotating nozzles spaced apart along a length of the spray bar.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein each rotating nozzle sprays in a direction generally towards the central axis of the mould drum.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the rotation of the rotating nozzle causes the spray direction to continuously changes between a generally horizontal direction and a generally vertical direction.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the mould drum is maintained in a fixed orientation during the cleaning.

Assignees

• Gea Food Solutions Bakel Bv

Inventors

• Van Gerwen Hendrikus Petrus Gerardus

Classifications

• A22C7/0038 Primary

  Demoulding means · CPC title

• A22C7/0069

  Pressing and moulding by means of a drum · CPC title

• B29C33/72

  Cleaning {(extruder parts B29C48/27; in general B08B7/00)} · CPC title

• A22C7/0076 Primary

  Devices for making meat patties · CPC title

• B08B9/023

  Cleaning the external surfaces {(B08B9/021 takes precedence)} · CPC title