EP-4739129-A1 - A METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN ICE CREAM HARDENING TUNNEL, AN ICE CREAM HARDENING TUNNEL AND AN ICE CREAM PRODUCTION LINE

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for controlling a hardening tunnel comprising: setting adjustable tunnel parameters for the hardening tunnel, upstream said hardening tunnel providing a plurality of ice cream items on a transportation surface carried by a hardening tunnel conveyor, conveying said ice cream items through said hardening tunnel on said conveyor and generating an adhesion between said ice cream items and said transportation surface, within said hardening tunnel and/or downstream said hardening tunnel continuously measuring said adhesion of said ice cream items, continuously adjusting said tunnel parameters based on said measured adhesion.

Inventors

• MEYER, Søren Christoph

Assignees

• Gram Equipment A/S

Dates

Publication Date

20260513

Application Date

20240705

Claims (20)

1. 1. A method for controlling a hardening tunnel comprising: setting adjustable tunnel parameters (ATP) for the hardening tunnel, upstream said hardening tunnel providing a plurality of ice cream items on a transportation surface (TP) carried by a hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC), conveying said ice cream items through said hardening tunnel on said conveyor and generating an adhesion between said ice cream items and said transportation surface, within said hardening tunnel (HT) and/or downstream said hardening tunnel (HT) continuously measuring said adhesion of said ice cream items, continuously adjusting said tunnel parameters based on said measured adhesion.
2. 2. A method according to claim 1, wherein said ice cream items are transferred from said hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC) by an ice cream transferring system IITS to a further conveyor downstream the hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC).
3. 3. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said ice cream items are transferred from said hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC) by an ice cream transferring system IITS to a further conveyor downstream the hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC) and wherein said ice cream transferring system IITS comprises lifting equipment.
4. 4. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said ice cream items comprises respective ice cream sticks and where said ice cream items are transferred from said hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC) by an ice cream transferring system IITS to a further conveyor downstream the hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC) and wherein said ice cream transferring system (IITS) lifts said ice cream items by ice cream item grippers (IIG).
5. 5. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said adhesion is measured as said ice cream items are being lifted away from said conveyor downstream said hardening tunnel.
6. 6. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said adhesion is measured downstream said hardening tunnel and prior to any optional active loosening of the ice cream items from said hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC) downstream said hardening tunnel.
7. 7. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said continuously adjusting said tunnel parameters based on said adhesion of said ice cream items to provide adhesion of said ice cream items within an adhesion interval.
8. 8. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein adhesion is measured as torque when lifting the ice cream in their respective stick.
9. 9. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein adhesion is measured as force/torque when lifting the ice cream, e.g. by means of a gripper and/or suction device.
10. 10. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein adhesion is measured as lifting force.
11. 11. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein adhesion is measured as rotational force.
12. 12. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein adhesion is measured as displacement force.
13. 13. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein adhesion is measured as tilt force.
14. 14. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein adhesion is measured as a displacement resulting from a test force.
15. 15. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said test force is a predetermined well defined test force.
16. 16. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said step of measuring adhesion is placed inside said hardening tunnel, downstream said hardening tunnel or prior to releasing said ice cream items from said conveyor.
17. 17. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the transportation surface is subject to measuring indicating the condition of the transportation surface prior to the providing of a plurality of ice cream items on the hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC).
18. 18. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the transportation surface is subject to measuring the condition of the transportation surface of the hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC) and modifying the condition on the basis of the measured condition.
19. 19. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein the transportation surface is subject to measuring the condition of the transportation surface of the hardening tunnel conveyor (HTC) and modifying the condition on the basis of the measured condition in a transportation surface cooling arrangement/tunnel upstream said hardening tunnel.
20. 20. A method according to any of the previous claims, wherein said adjustable tunnel parameters may further include anyone of the following: tunnel temperature, airflow (speed of fan(s)), conveyor speed, humidity, air-balancing, number of ice cream items, defrosting of evaporators, defrost of tunnel, rate of upstream effective infeed of ice cream items and/or any combination thereof.

Description

A METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN ICE CREAM HARDENING TUNNEL, AN ICE CREAM HARDENING TUNNEL AND AN ICE CREAM PRODUCTION LINE Field of the invention [0001] The present invention relates to a method for controlling an ice cream hardening tunnel an ice cream hardening tunnel and an ice cream production line. Background of the invention [0002] Ice cream items manufacturing in an industrial scale is a mature technical art, and ice cream manufacturing lines have been available for decades. Ice cream state of the art manufacturing lines have developed significantly over the many last years meeting requirement from the users in terms of design, taste, price, texture, etc. [0003] An example of such state of the art system is disclosed in EP 2 934 168 Bl dealing in particular with how to control what may be referred to as an ice cream hardening tunnel. An ice cream hardening tunnel may in short be described as a tunnel continuously cooling ice cream items fed to the hardening tunnel upstream while the ice cream items are transported through the ice cream hardening tunnel. The basic functioning of the ice cream hardening tunnel is to harden ice cream items which has been produced having ice cream temperatures warm enough to be able to manufacture and form the items at least partly. The hardening is obtained by reducing the temperature of the ice cream, enough to harden the ice cream to have a stable form to pack and store the produced item in a reliable way and obtaining a robust manufacturing process. [0004] A challenge of the disclosed hardening tunnel is that it is difficult to control and the result of this is e.g., an unnecessarily high energy consumption depending highly on the human control. In order to assist this difficult controlling of the disclosed hardening tunnel the system of EP 2 934 168 Bl measure the surface temperature of the ice cream items and the lifting torque. A challenge with the suggested control approach is that the operating of the hardening tunnel and the entire ice cream manufacturing line is difficult and that defective products may very likely be the result of this type of operation thereby not only risking lower yield but more importantly leading to challenges and quality issues further downstream the ice cream manufacturing line. Summary of the invention [0005] The invention relates to a method for controlling a hardening tunnel comprising: setting adjustable tunnel parameters for the hardening tunnel, upstream said hardening tunnel providing a plurality of ice cream items on a transportation surface carried by a hardening tunnel conveyor, conveying said ice cream items through said hardening tunnel on said conveyor and generating an adhesion between said ice cream items and said transportation surface, within said hardening tunnel and/or downstream said hardening tunnel continuously measuring said adhesion of said ice cream items, continuously adjusting said tunnel parameters based on said measured adhesion. [0006] The hardening tunnel may be understood as a freezing tunnel for producing ice cream products. The hardening tunnel freezes down the ice cream items manufactured at a somewhat higher temperature to ensure the right hardening and core temperature of the ice cream items. The hardening tunnel could typically comprise a conveyor with a length in the size ratio of 100, 500, or 1000 meters. [0007] The term hardening tunnel could be understood as a tunnel in a production line for e.g., ice cream products. A hardening tunnel could also be understood as a freezing tunnel, a cooling tunnel, or an ice cream tunnel. The hardening tunnel could be used to lower the temperature of the ice cream items in the production line and thereby harden the ice cream items. A hardening tunnel could typically comprise a long conveyor for the ice cream items used for transporting the ice cream items through the hardening tunnel. In the hardening tunnel there could also be elements for regulating the temperature and thereby freeze the ice cream products. The hardening tunnel could further comprise apparatus and devices for controlling, regulating, and guiding the airflow inside the hardening tunnel to optimize the hardening process of the ice cream items. The hardening tunnel could typically comprise an air-balancing system to keep the freezing inside the hardening tunnel and the warmer air outside the hardening tunnel. The air-balancing could be fans or air blowers which could generate a pressure inside the hardening tunnel to keep the freezing air inside. Especially at the inlet and outlet of the conveyor, the hardening tunnel could use the air-balancing system to prevent the warmer air compared to the freezing air in the hardening tunnel to get into the hardening tunnel. In the same aspect the air-balancing system in the hardening tunnel could also prevent the freezing air to get out of the hardening tunnel by the air-balancing system. [0008] The term tunnel parameters are to be understood as parameter