Method and Apparatus for Producing Chunks or Kibbles of a Foodstuff

The present invention pertains to producing kibbles or chunks of solid foodstuffs and, in particular, production of such particles while retaining characteristics of the foodstuff.

In the manufacture of foods such as ice cream, it has become increasingly more popular to include chunks or kibbles of another foodstuff into the ice cream. For example, a popular ice cream is called "Cookies and Cream". This ice cream is produced by incorporating pieces of the well-known cookie, which is a sandwich of two cookies with a cream center into the final product. Individual chunks of the cookies are dispersed throughout the ice cream matrix. Other foodstuffs, such as chocolate cups containing peanutbutter, candy pieces and the like, have been used in the production of ice cream.

A problem arises in producing chunks or kibbles of soft and/or meltable foodstuffs by using conventional food grinders. A conventional food grinder of the type employing the cutter and comb principle such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,215 and 4,753,395, which produce the chunks or kibbles by a shearing action, can result in the loss in identity of the foodstuff and the resulting product is of poor quality. For example, the product can be turned to the consistency of mush. In grinding or kibbling of fruits, the fruit can be significantly damaged creating an undesirable product. When chunking or kibbling meltable products, such as product-based confections, the heat generated during the grinding process results in broken product that melts to form a glutinous mass which sticks to the cutting teeth of the chunking or grinding device.

Powered tooth and comb cutting or grinding devices have been used in various applications as illustrated by U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,669,271; 2,853,247; 3,151,814 and 4,801,101.

In order to overcome the problems of producing chunks or kibbles of solid foodstuffs in a cutter and comb-type grinding device, it has been discovered that if the cutters are made with a particular shape, which facilitates bringing the material to be chunked or kibbled into the proper portion of the mill and the material being chunked or kibbled and the cutting mechanism are simultaneously exposed to a liquid cryogen, e.g., nitrogen, the foodstuff can be chunked or kibbled to produce discrete shapes while maintaining the identity of the foodstuff as a chunk or kibble taken from what would be considered to be a whole piece of the foodstuff.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a device according to the present invention with a portion broken away to illustrate interior details thereof.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the device of FIG. 1 with portions removed for illustration.

FIG. 3 is a section taken along line 2--2 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a front elevational view of a cutting device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an end view of the device of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a schematic representation of the interior of the apparatus of the invention illustrating flow of the cryogen.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary schematic illustrating the overlapping spray pattern of the device of FIG. 6.

According to the present invention, an apparatus suitable for producing chunks and kibbles of solid foodstuffs is shown as 10 in FIG. 1. The chunker, kibbler or grinder 10 as shown in FIG. 1 includes a housing 12 having an entry end 14 and a discharge end 16. Disposed on the entry end 14 of housing 12 is a directional cover/chute or baffle 18 which directs product from a conveyor belt 20 into the housing 12 so that the product is conducted by gravity from the entry 14 to the exit 16 of the housing 12. Disposed within housing 12 is a cutting assembly which includes a cutting apparatus 22 mounted on a shaft 24. Shaft 24 is disposed transversely in housing 12 so that the product must fall across the axis of rotation of shaft 24 as it moves through the housing 12. Shaft 24 can project through one end of the housing 12 and be adapted for rotation by a motor or other device (not shown). Cutting assembly 22 includes a plurality of cutters or bars 26 shown in detail in FIG. 4. Refering to FIG. 4 each cutter 26 includes a cylindrical body portion 28 which is adapted for mounting on shaft 24 by a centrally located aperture 30. Aperture 30 is located so that the body of the cutter 26 projects equally from each side of the shaft 24. On each end of the body 28 of cutter 26 is a tooth or cutting portion 32. Each cutting portion 32 as shown in FIG. 5 is made so that it has a cross-section generally in the shape of a trapezoid. The cutting portion 32 has on the larger of the two parallel faces of the trapezoid, a grabber or grabbing means or a hook-like section 34. Hook-like section 34 is produced by machining the larger face of the trapezoidal cutting portion 32 so that two planner surfaces intersect at an obtuse angle, such as shown diagrammatically in FIG. 4.

The cutting assembly 22 includes a sleeve 36 through which the cutters 26 project so that the spacing between the cutters and two comb-like devices 38 and 40 can be used for the cutting or shearing action. The comb-like devices 38 and 40 are made so that the teeth of the comb have a generally rectangular shape. The comb-like sections 38 and 40 are best illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Referring to FIG. 2, the projecting ends of the cutters 26 pass in proximity to the comb-like devices 38 and 40 so that the material to be kibbled or chunked is forced between the cutter 34 and the combs 38 and 40. The hook-like sections 34 of the cutters 26 cause the product to be pulled or directed to effect a cutting, shearing, chunking or kibbling action between the cutter 26 and the combs 38, 40. The combs 38, 40 are fixed to the interior of the housing 12 at an angular relationship to the axis of the shaft 24 and on either side of the housing as shown in FIG. 3. As shown in FIG. 3, a pair of doctor bars or cleaning blades 35, 37 are disposed in the outer surface of cylinder or sleeve 36 to effect removal of built-up of cut product in the comb-like devices 38-40. Blades 35, 37 are disposed longitudinally on opposite sides of the sleeve 36 and extend from opposite ends of sleeve 36 in an overlapping fashion without extending for the length of the sleeve 36. Blades 35, 37 can have a hook-like surface similar to that of cutters 26 fabricated on the longitudinal surface of the blade or bar that passes combs 38, 40 first during rotation of the cutter assembly.

Disposed within the housing are a plurality of spray nozzles 42 which, in turn, are connected to supply pipes 44, which, in turn, are connected to a header pipe 46 and a product delivery pipe 48, which, in turn, is connected to a source of liquid cryogen (not shown). As shown in FIGS. 1, 6 and 7, a plurality of nozzles are spaced equally across the housing 10 so that the liquid cryogen is sprayed (FIG. 6) in a direction that impinges on the cutting apparatus 22 and on the product shown by arrow 50 in FIG. 6 as it passes into the cutting device. Therefore, the product is cooled and the apparatus is cooled, crust freezing the product and preventing melting of the product, changing the cell structure, and thus maintaining the characteristics of the foodstuff being ground. As shown in FIG. 7, the nozzles 42 are arranged so that there is an overlapping spray pattern across the width of the housing 12.

A device according to the present invention was constructed using rows of cutting teeth staggered angularly around the shaft 24 as shown in the drawing. The nozzles 42 were set so that the spray was directed at a downward angle of 25.degree. from the horizontal into the housing 12. Using such a device, peanutbutter-filled chocolate cups were successfully ground into fragments without destroying the characteristics of the peanutbutter cups so that the particles could be recognized. The particles were then used to produce an ice cream product.

A machine according to the present invention is preferably fabricated from stainless steel and the cutters 26, which are sometimes referred to as cutting bars or teeth, are rotated around a horizontal axis by a variable speed drive located outside of the grinding chamber. The cutting bars or teeth fabricated with the hook-like portion are used to grab the foodstuff and direct it into engagement with the combs 38, 40 so that the kibbles or chunks are produced. Liquid nitrogen sprayed inside of the grinder 10 to cool both the product and the cutters 26 prevents the product from being turned to mush or a glutinous mass and achieves the desired results of a kibble or chunk of a larger foodstuff where the identity of the larger foodstuff is maintained.

Having thus described our invention, what is desired to be secured by letters patent of the United States is set forth in the appended claims.