Block former
AssigneeTetra Laval Holdings & Finance S.A.
InventorValentijn Eise Hoogland
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A block former for the production of blocks of cheese, comprising an upright drainage column with a feed opening for curd particles at the upper end, a closed casing and a perforated inner tube. There is an annular space between the casing and the inner tube and a cutting-off device at the lower end for cutting off blocks of cheese. A discharge device is provided for discharging a cut-off block of cheese after a block forming cycle. A vacuum device is also provided for filling under reduced pressure the inner tube with curd particles via the feed opening and for creating a vacuum in the annular space. The column is divided into an upper and a lower part in such a manner that different pressures can prevail simultaneously in the upper and the lower part during any moment of the cycle.
Claims4
A block former for the production of blocks of cheese, comprising:
- an upright drainage column having an upper end and a lower end said drainage column being formed with an outer casing and a perforated inner tube with an annular space between the outer casing and the perforated inner tube;
- a feed opening provided at said upper end for introducing curd particles;
- a block cutting-off device provided at said lower end for cutting off blocks of cheese;
- a flange provided in the annular space between said upper and lower ends, said flange separating the column into an upper part and a lower part;
- and
- first and second vacuum means connected to respective upper and lower parts,
- wherein said first and second vacuum means are arranged to independently control a pressure in respective said upper and lower parts, when a pillar of curd is present in said drainage column.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.