Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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1 ANAEROBIC MEAT EMULSIFICATION
APPARATUS AND METHOD
Background of the Invention
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and
method for in-line emulsification of meat materials and
for preventing ambient air contact with meat emulsions.
More particularly, the apparatus and method hereof are
concerned with a meat-material emulsifier coupled di-
rectly to casing equipment by means of an imperforate
conduit and an accumulator which aids in maintaining
uniform meat emulsion flow to the stuffer.
2. Description of_the Prior Art
Cooked emulsified meat products include
sausage-type products such as frankfurters and bologna
cooked in a casing. A typical installation for stuffing
meat emulsions in a casing includes a bowl chopper,
inclined conveyor belt, vacuumizing emulsion pump,
transfer pipe, and emulsion casing equipment. In the
use of this equipment, portable hoppers or vats trans-
port meat material previously ground to the desired
particle size to the bowl chopper. The meat material is
then dumped into the chopper along with other ingredi-
ents such as water, salt, sugar, and seasonings. The
bowl chopper includes a closable lid and the meat mater-
ial is chopped to the desired size within the closed
chopper which draws a vacuum to deaerate the meat mater-
ial. The chopping process also extracts salt-soluble
protein from the meat.
3 Chopped meat material is then transferred
from the chopper by means of a rotating disk assembly to
the meat emulsifier. The meat emulsifier causes the fat
globules contained in the meat material to be suspended
in a matrix of salt-soluble protein. This is necessary
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in order to prevent the final product, such as franks or
bologna, from "greasing out" during the cooking process.
After passing through the emulsifier, the meat material
is transferred by way of the inclined conveyor belt to the
infeed hopper of an emulsion stuffer pump. Typical stuffer
pumps must also vacuumize the meat material because the meat is
exposed to ambient air on two different occasions after
chopping. That is to say, the meat material is exposed to air
during transfer from the chopper to the emulsifier and during
transfer from the emulsifier to the infeed hopper. The stuffer
pump then pumps the meat emulsion by means of a pipe to casing
equipment which stuffs the emulsion into casings. The stuffed
meat emulsions are then cooked, cooled, and packaged.
A prior art improvement to the above described process
exists which provides for in-line grinding in order to prevent
exposure of meat materials to ambient air during processing.
Such an improvement is disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 4,700,899
which discloses continuous vacuum grinding method and apparatus.
The '899 patent concerns an apparatus using a piston-type pump
which vacuumizes meat particles and then pumps them through an
imperforate conduit, through an in-line grinder, and directly
into casing equipment thereby preventing contact between ambient
air and the final ground product before stuffing into a casing.
The method and apparatus of the '899 patent, however, do not
disclose a method or apparatus for in-line emulsification or for
preventing ambient air contact between ambient air and a meat
emulsion.
Furthermore, the prior art does not disclose a method
or apparatus for in-line water addition to a meat material after
vacuumizing of the meat material.
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1 For example, in a vacuumizing piston-type pump, water
cannot be added before vacuumizing the product because
the resulting meat-water mixture becomes too viscous or
stickey for proper vacuumization of the meat.
Summary of the Invention
The problems outlined above are solved by the
method and apparatus of the present invention. That is
to say, the method and apparatus hereof provide for
in-line emulsification of a meat material and in-line
casing of meat emulsion while preventing exposure of the
- meat emulsion to ambient air. Furthermore, the method
and apparatus hereof allow for the use a vacuumizing
piston-type meat pump with continuous, in-line water
addition
Broadly, the present apparatus for in-line
emulsification of meat material comprises emulsifier
means for receiving and emulsifying a meat material in
order to produce a meat emulsion therefrom; means for
supplying the meat material to the emulsifier means;
casing means for receiving and casing the meat emulsion;
and transport means including imperforate conduit means
for directly and operably coupling the casing means and
emulsifier means for transporting the meat emulsion from
the emulsifier means to the casing means while prevent-
ing contact between the meat emulsion and ambient air.
More particularly, the transport means in-
cludes accumulator means operably coupled with the
emulsifier means and the casing means for receiving and
accumulating meat emulsion from the emulsifier means and
for discharging an accumulation of the meat emulsion to
the casing means. Additionally, the accumulator means
includes structure for accumulating the meat emulsion
whenever the emulsifier means is producing the meat
emulsion at a rate greater than the rate at which the
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1 casing means is casing the meat emulsion, and for dis-
charging an accumulation of the meat emulsion whenever
the emulsifier means is producing the meat emulsion at a
rate less than the rate at which the casing means is
casing the meat emulsion.
Advantageously, the accumulator has a full
position and an empty position and includes structure
for stopping the supply of meat material and stopping
operation of the emulsifier when the accumulator is in
the full position and for starting the supply of meat
material and starting operation of the emulsifier means
when the accumulator is in the empty position.
Broadly, the method of the present invention
for in-line emulsification of meat material includes the
steps of supplying the meat material from a source
thereof to an emulsifier means; emulsifying the meat
material in the emulsifier means to produce a meat
emulsion; transporting the meat emulsion through imper-
forate conduit means from the emulsifier means directly
to a casing means while preventing contact between the
meat emulsion and ambient air; and casing the meat
emulsion in the casing means.
The transporting step preferably includes the
steps of accumulating the meat emulsion from the emulsi-
fier means in an accumulator whenever the emulsifiermeans is producing the meat emulsion at a rate greater
than the rate at which the casing means is casing the
meat emulsion, and discharging accumulated meat emulsion
from the accumulator means to the casing means whenever
the emulsifier means is producing the meat emulsion at a
rate less than the rate at which ,the casing means is
casing the meat emulsion.
Preferably, the accumulator has a full posi-
tion and an empty pos;tion and the method of the present
invention further includes the steps of stopping the
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1 supplying and the emulsifying of the meat material
whenever the accumulator means is in the full position,
and the starting the supplying and the emulsifying of
the meat material whenever the accumulator means is in
the empty pOSition.
The present invention also includes a meat
emulsification system comprising pumping means for
delivering a stream of meat material, the pumping means
including structure for deaerating the meat material;
emulsifier means for receiving the stream of meat mater-
ial and for creating a meat emulsion; casing means for
receiving the meat emulsion and for casing the emulsion
to yield a final meat product; means including imperfor-
ate conduit means for operally coupling the pumping
means, emulsifier means, and the casing means respect-
ively in a series relationship and for preventing con-
tact with ambient air of both said material and said
emulsion; and means located downstream of the deaerating
structure for injecting water into the deaerated meat
material.
Preferably, the pumping means includes a
piston pump, the conduit means includes an in-line
grinder means located within the conduit downstream of
the water injecting means and upstream from the emulsi-
fier means and further includes a static mixer locatedwithin the conduit downstream of t'ne grinder means and
upstream of the emulsifier means.
The present invention also includes a meat
emulsification method comprising the steps of producing
a deaerated stream of meat; conveying the deaerated
stream to an emulsifier while preventing contact between
the deaerated meat and ambient air; injecting water into
the deaerated meat; and emulsifying the deaerated meat-
water mixture.
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1 Brief Description of the Drawing
.
The single drawing figure is a schematic plan
view in partial section of the equipment of the present
invention.
Description of the Preferred Embodiment
Referring now to the drawing, the anaerobic
meat emulsification apparatus 10 of the present inven-
tion broadly includes supply means 12, emulsifier l4,
transport means 16, and casing equipment 18.
Supply means 12 includes dual cylinder,
reciprocal piston pump 20, water injection assembly 22,
continuous, in-line grinder 24, static mixer 26, and
conduit 28 operably interposed between grinder 24 and
emulsifier 14.
In more detail, pump 20 is a commercially
available unit made and sold by Marlen Research Corpora-
tion of Overland Park, Kansas and includes a control
console (not shown), an infeed auger-hopper (not shown),
piston assembly housing 30, and a pair of outlets 32.
Pump housing 30 includes a pair of identical
piston and cylinder assemblies 34, 36 which operably
communicate with respective outlets 32. Each assembly
34, 36 includes a reciprocal, tubular sleeve 38, a
reciprocable, apertured piston 40 ~ithin sleeve 38, and
a tubular, rearwardly extending piston rod 42 secured to
piston 40. Assemblies 34, 36 reciprocate within a
chamber of housing 30 communicating with the infeed
auger-hopper.
Pump 20 also includes deaerating or vacuumiz-
ing structure 44 which includes vacuum line 46 coupled
to the rearmost end of rod 42 which communicates with a
tubular passageway defined by rod 42. Additionally,
each piston 40 includes a plurality of evacuating aper-
tures 48 therethrough. The forward end o~ rod 42 includ-
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es a radially extending plate 50 having pins 52 located for
insertion within corresponding apertures 48 during operation of
the assembly as will be described.
Pump 20 also includes a conduit structure which
specifically includes a bifurcated, generally U-shaped conduit
54, the legs of which are respectively coupled to pump outlets
32. The apex of conduit 54 includes a shiftable diverter valve
56 for the purpose of alternating opening of the respective legs
of conduit 54. Moreover, meat pump 20 is described in U.S.
Patent Nos. 4,097,962 and 4,479,614.
Conventional components make up water assembly 22 which
includes pipe tee 58, water pipe 60, water pump 62, and check
valve 64 and variable orifice valve 66 which are interposed in
series in pipe 60. Pipe tee 58 is interposed between the outlet
of the diverter valve 56 and grinder 24 with the third leg of
tee 58 coupled with water pipe 60 as shown in the drawing
figure.
Grinder 24 is commercially available from Marlen
. Research Corporation of Overland Park, Ransas, and includes
angled inlet housing 68 which supports hydraulic motor 70 and
knife drive 72. A multiple blade grinder knife 74 is affixed
to the forward end of drive 72, and coacts with apertured
grinder plate 76. The overall grinder 24 further includes a
frustoconical outlet housing 78 which leads to and communicates
with the inlet of static mixer 26.
An acceptable conventional static mixer 26 is
commercially available from Charles Ross and Son company of
Hauppauge, New York, and includes vaned mixing module 80 located
within mixing housing 82 which is operably coupled between
grinder outlet housing 78 and the inlet
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1 to conduit 28. Advantageously, mixer 26 also includes
pressure gage 84 coupled near the outlet thereof.
Conventional conduit 28 is preferably config-
ured as a 90-degree ell and operably couples the outlet
of mixer 26 with the inlet of emulsifier 14. Desirably,
conduit 28 includes temperature gage 86 located near the
outlet thereof adjacent the inlet of emulsifier 14.
Conventional emulsifier 14 is preferably
Model AR901 commercially available from Cozzini ~rothers
Company of Chicago, Illinois. Emulsifier 14 includes
motor 88, emulsifier drive 90, and emulsion mill 92
having inlet 94 and outlet 96.
Transport means 16 includes accumulator 98
and transport pipe 100 configured as a tee intercoupling
emulsifier 14, casing equipment 18, and accumulator 98.
Conventional accumulator 98 is commercially
available from Marlen Research Corporation of Overland
Park, Kansas, and includes housing 102 and end cap 104
with product port l0O defined therein. Accumulator 98
also includes piston 108 coupled with piston rod 110
both of which are recei~ed within housing 102. Accumu-
lation chamber 112 is defined in housing 102 between the
outboard face of piston 103 and product port 10o.
Conventional casing equipment 1~ is schemat-
ically represented in the drawing figure 3nd can be anytype of commercially available equipment suitable for
incasing meat emulsion in a casing. The choice of a
particular unit depends upon preferance of the user and
the type of final product desired.
Accumulator 98 also includes a full or high
limit switch (not shown) which is activated when accumu-
lation chamber 112 is full, that is, activated by piston
rod 110 wl-en it is extended fully leftwardly as viewed
in the drawing figure. Additionally, accumulator 98
includes an empty or low limit switch (not shown) which
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1 is activated when chamber 112 is empty, that is, acti-
vated by rod 110 when it is extended fully rightwardly.
The high and low limit switches are conventionally and
operably connected to emulsifier 14, meat pump 20,
grinder 24, and water pump 62 whereby these components
are shut off when the high limit switch is activated and
are restarted when the low limit switch is activated.
In the use of the preferred apparatus as
described above, a meat material including other ingred-
ients is introduced into the hopper (not shown) supply-
ing meat pump 20 whereupon the material enters the
described piston assembly chamber within the respective
assembly housing 30. As illustrated in the drawing
figure, piston-cylinder assembly 34 is in the retracted
position. Conversely, piston-cylinder assembly 36 is
illustrated in the forward moving position having pre-
viously received a charge of meat material from the
hopper. During retraction of sleeve 38, a vacuum is
drawn through line 46 (there being a vacuum pump or
other suitable structure, not shown, operably coupled
with line 46). Such is accomplished by virtue of aper-
tures 50 and tubular rod 42, permitting deaeration of
the meat material.
Next, sleeve 3~ is shifted forwardly to its
closed position as shown by piston-cylinder assembly 36
in the drawing figure so as to capture and entrap a
charge of meat material. During this orward sleeve
shifting, the vacuum conditions are rnaintained so as to
assure full deaeration.
Next, the vacuum is relieved without entrance
of ambient air and piston rod 42 an.1 ?iston ~0 are moved
forwardly so as to expel the charge of deaerated product
out of pump 20 and into the associated leg of conduit 54
as shown in the drawing figure hy the position of
piston-cylinder assembly 36. At this point, pins 52
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1 move forwardly into their associated piston apertures 48
to clear the latter and block fLow of meat into the
vacuum line, and the piston forces the deaerated charge
from associated sleeve. During this sequence, diverted
valve 56 is also shifted so as to open the associated
leg of conduit 54 into pipe tee 58, so as to define an
open flow path for the deaerated meat material through
pipe tee 58 and into grinder 24. During the foregoing
operation, it will be understood that the adjacent
piston assembly is operating in an alternative fashion,
i.e., sleeve 38 thereof is retracted and then pushed
forwardly to trap a charge of meat material. In this
fashion, pump 20 operates in a batch-continuous manner,
so as to continuously feed a stream of meat material.
In the latter connection, it will be observed that
because of the completely closed nature of the overall
system, the product remains fully deaerated as it emerg-
es from stuffer 18 wherein it is contained within an
appropriate casing.
Next, as the deaerated meat material passes
through pipe tee 60, water from water injection assembly
22 enters therein and mixes with the deaerated meat
material. Pump 62 receives a supply of potable water
from an appropriate source and delivers the water under
pressure through water pipe 60. Variable orifice valve
66 serves to reliably meter the water at the desired
flow rate and check valve 64 ensures no back feed into
water injection system 22.
Next, the meat material enters grinder 24
through housing inlet 68 where it is ground by virtue of
grinder knife 74 through grinder plate 76 and discharged
through outlet housing 78.
The meat material leaving grinder 24 enters
four element static mixer 26 which provides thorough
turbulent mixing of the meat material in order to thor-
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1 oughly blend the ingredients including water and the
meat particles.
The meat material then passes through conduit
28 to emulsifier inlet 94. Pressure gage 84 aids the
operater of apparatus 10 to ensure proper operation
supply means 12. Temperature gage 86 is provided to
ensure that the meat material entering emulsifier 14 is
at the proper temperature as this temperature is import-
ant to produce a stable meat emulsion in emulsifier 14.
The length of conduit 28 is designed so that the meat
material passing therethrough has sufficient retention
time for salt-soluble protein to be extracted from the
meat particles so that the protein is available to form
the matrix in the emulsion. Accordingly, conduit 28 can
be designed longer or shorter as appropriate to ensure
sufficient retention time before the meat material
enters emulsifier 14.
The purpose of emulsifier 14 is to reduce the
particle size of the meat material in order to provide a
very fine matrix of salt-soluble protein trapping meat
fat globules therein. A proper emulsion is important to
ensure that the fat globules remain entrained within the
matrix during cooking to avoid the undesirable condition
known as "greasing out" in which fat particles form on
the surface of the final meat product during cooking and
produce an undesirable appearance and taste in the final
product.
The meat emulsion produced by emulsifier 14
exits emulsion mill 92 by way of outlet 96. Transport
pipe 100 conveys the meat emulsion to casing equipment
18.
A typical meat emulsion caser is semi-
continuous in operation in that it encases continuously
into a particular casing and then pauses during change-
over to another casing. During the pause between cas-
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1 ings, meat emulsion traveling through pipe 100 feeds
through product port 106 into accumulation chamber 112.
The meat emulsion entering chamber 112 forces piston 108
and piston rod 110 leftwardly as viewed in the drawing
figure. Normally, piston rod 110 and piston 108 are
biased rightwardly by hydraulic pressure on rod 110
resulting in a pressure within chamber 112 of about 70
psi .
Additionally, emulsifier 14 typically pro-
duces a meat emulsion at a rate greater than the rate at
which equipment 18 can encase meat emulsion. This also
causes emulsion to enter accumulation cha~ber 112 until
accumulator 98 reaches its full or high limit position
at which time the high limit switch stops pump 20, water
pump 62, grinder 24, and emulsifier 14. Equipment 18,
however, continues to operate in its semi-continuous
mode and thereby gradually depletes the emulsion from
chamber 112 as piston 108 forces the accumulated emul-
sion outwardly through product port 106 and through
transport pipe 100 to the equipment 18. ~hen accumula-
tor 98 reaches its empty or low limit position at which
point accumulation chamber 112 is near empty, low limit
switch restarts pump 20, water pump 62, grinder 24, and
emulsifier 14 begin again supplying emulsion to pipe 100
and ultimately equipment 18. Thus, equipment 18 operat-
es continuously while the other components of the system
automatically turn off and restart according to the
action of accumulator 98.
As those skilled in the art will appreciate,
the design of apparatus 10 prevents contact between
ambient air and both the meat material and the meat
emulsion contained therein and ambient air. Thus, the
absence of any entrained air in the final product pro-
duced by apparatus 10 allows production of a high densi-
ty product and inhibits any product degradation which
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1 may be caused by entrained air. Additionally, the
arrangement of apparatus 10 eliminates the necessity for
an intermediate incline conveyor, hopper, and emulsion
stuffing pump. Thus, the apparatus and method of the
present invention provide for a more economical and more
efficient production process from the standpoint of
equipment and labor while simultaneously providing a
product with quality higher than that previously obtain-
able for meat emulsion products.
10 Specific and detailed examples of the use of
the apparatus and method of the present invention are
discussed hereinbelow.
Examples
EXAMPLE 1
Beef Frankfurters
Bind Bind
Lbs. % Fat Fat Factor Combination
Lean cow meat
20 (less tenders) 125 13 4.06 96 30.0
Plates
and/or flanks 155 50 19.37 36 13.9
Primal beef
trimmings 120 34 10.20 58 17.4
400 - 33.63
Water 100 COMBINED FORMULA TARGETS
Salt 9.0 ~ind -
Sugar 4.0 Fat Factor
Seasoning 4._0 2~ 47.4
517.0 Total Formula
WeiOht
B The meat was coarse ~round using a Hobart ~-3J5", four-
hole plate. Tnen the meat was chill-mixed to 27-23F.
When the temperature reached 30F., the salt, sugar, and
seasoning were added and blended into tlle !neat during
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1 the final two-to-three minutes of mixing. This mixture
B was placed into a Marlen~ribbon auger-hopper.
As the meat fed into the cylinders of a Marlen~food
pump, it was deaerated using the Marlen~vacuum piston
sytem. It was pumped to an in-line grinder at a rate of
116.7 lbs. per minute with the addition of 33.3 lbs. per
minute of water at 160F. The continuously fed mix was
fine ground through 8-5/8" diameter plate having 3/32"
diameter holes followed by soluble protein extraction in
line ahead of the emulsifier. A turbulent flow static
mixer was used to promote this extraction at a tempera-
ture of approximately 55F. The mix then was emulsified
through 1 mm. plate openings at 9,000 lbs. per hour with
a temperature rise to 70-72F. After emulsification,
the finished product was stuffed into casings at a rate
between 7,200 and 8,000 lbs. per hour. Since the flow
through the emulsifier was 9,000 lbs. per hour, the
excess accumulated in a pressure accumulator to a high
set point which, when reached, shut down the preparation
process. The accumulator maintained the desired flow
rate until a set point was reached and the preparation
systems was restarted.
After casing, the sausage was linked, placed on smoke
sticks and given a normal frankfurter process to 160-
165F. internal temperature before chilling and packag-
ing.
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EXAMPLE 2
Pork_and Beef Frankfurters
Bind Bind
Lbs. % Fat Fat Factor Combination
Extra lean
cow meat 90 8.0 1.8 82 18.4
Special lean
pork trim 60 28.0 4.2 77 11.6
Regular
10 pork trim 120 58.0 17.4 35 10.5
Regular
beef trim 130 30.0 9.7 75 24.3
~ 33.1 64.8
Water 100 COMBINED FORMULA TARGETS
15 Salt g Bind
Sugar 4 Fat Factor
Seasoning 4 2~ 47.4
517 Total Formula
Weight
The handling was identical to Example 1 except that the
water was injected at 140F. to achieve 50F. ~or the
soluble protein extraction prior to e~ulsification.
Also, the emulsified temperature was 66-68F.
EXA,MPLE 3
Pork Frankfurters
Bind Bind
Lbs. % Fat Fat Factor Combination
Special lean
30 pork trim 165 28.0 11.6 77 31.8
Regular
pork trim 135 58.n 19.6 35 11.8
Extra lean
?ork trim 75 8.0 1.5 82 15.4
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1 Blade meat 25 10.0 0.6 96 6.0
40~ 33.3
Water 100 COMBINED FORMULA TARGETS
Salt 9 Bind
Sugar 4 Fat Factor
Seasoning 4 25.8 50.2
5~r Total Formula
Weight
The handling was identical to Example 1 except that the
water was injected at 125F. to achieve 48F. for the
soluble protein extraction prior to emulsification.
Also, the emulsified temperature was 63F-65F.
EXAMPLE 4
Pork Frankfurters
The same formula used in Example 3 is prepared using a
conventional vacuum chopper method to replace the de-
aeration, water injection, and soluble protein extrac-
tion described therein. All ingredients are combined in
the chopper using normal procedure for such preparation
with tne final temperature target of 47-52F. before
ending the chopping cycle.
B This deaerated material is placed into the ~arlen~pump
using a standard hopper ~not a ribbon auger type). The
material is then pumped to the emulsifier at the rate of
9,000 lbs. per hour. The action of the accumulator is
the same as for Example 1 as was all subsequent handl-
ing.
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1 EXAMPLE 5
_
Chicken Frankfurters
Lb. FatCombination
Bind
5 Mechanically
deboned chicken 400 18.0 58
Water 100 COMBINED FORMULA TARGETS
Salt 9
Sugar 4 Bind
Seasoning 4 Fat Factor
517 Total Formula 1~.'' 44.9
Weight
The handling was the same for Example 4 except the final
chopping temperature of the meat was 32F., and the
emulsified temperature was controlled to 38-40F.
All examples produced product densities of at least 1.02
for stuffing.
