Method and apparatus for reducing the temperature of articles
AssigneeThe Commonwealth Industrial Gases Limited
InventorLloyd C. Grewar
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of freezing animal carcasses comprises spraying the carcass with liquid nitrogen to produce a chilled outer layer thereby to seal the moisture within the carcass for the dual purpose of maintaining the quality of the meat and preventing the frosting or icing up of the heat exchange coils of a forced draught cooling system utilized subsequently to bring the entirety of the carcass to a desired chilled or frozen condition. Also disclosed is a freezing room including means for liberating a cryogenic liquid into the air stream from the fans of a forced draught cooling system for rapid pull-down of the room temperature.
Claims7
A method of refrigerating a freshly slaughtered suspended carcass having body weight in excess of 5 kg. comprising the steps of supplying cryogenic liquid to a pre-chilling station containing the suspended carcass after introduction of the carcass into the pre-chilling station, the supply being in timed sequence with the introduction of the carcass;
- quick chilling a thin outer layer of the entire carcass to seal the moisture therein by contacting all of the outer surface of the carcass with controlled usage of the supplied cryogenic liquid, and subsequently cooling the carcass throughout by placing it in a mechanically refrigerated cold room under conditions that ensure that the previously chilled outer layer does not thaw.
A method of refrigerating a freshly slaughtered carcass comprising:
- preparing the carcass for chilling;
- suspending the prepared carcass from conveying means so that substantially all the exterior surface of the carcass is exposed;
- conveying the suspended carcass into a pre-chilling station;
- supplying cryogenic liquid to said pre-chilling station after introduction of the suspended carcass, the supply being in timed sequence with the introduction of the carcass so as to ensure chilling of an exterior surface of the carcass with controlled usage of cryogenic liquid;
- impinging the supplied cryogenic liquid against substantially all the exterior surface of the carcass so that the liquid contacts the exterior surface to produce a chilled outer layer thereby sealing moisture within the carcass;
- conveying the suspended carcass to a chiller room;
- and
- chilling the entire carcass to a desired temperature.
An apparatus for refrigerating a freshly slaughtered carcass comprising:
- a preparation station for receiving a carcass to be chilled and in which the carcass is prepared for chilling;
- a pre-chilling station for freezing an outer layer of the carcass to thereby seal moisture within the carcass;
- a plurality of sprays arranged in spaced apart horizontally-extending arrays positioned on both sides of a conveying path of carcasses into the pre-chilling station so as to impinge a controlled amount of cryogenic liquid against substantially all of the exterior surface of the carcass to produce the frozen outer layer;
- a chiller room for chilling the entire carcass to a desired temperature;
- and
- conveying means for sequentially conveying the carcass between the preparation station, the pre-chilling station, and the chiller room, the conveying means including means for suspending the prepared carcass so that substantially all the exterior surface thereof is exposed.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.