AUTOMATED LINE FOR VACUUM IMPREGNATION OF FOOD PRODUCTS AND THE METHOD OF PROCESSING PRODUCTS IMPLEMENTED IN IT Russian patent published in 2021 - IPC A23B9/32 A23B9/16 

FIELD: food tech.

SUBSTANCE: automated line for vacuum impregnation of food products with high density contains a cylindrical vacuum chamber, equipped in the upper part with a perforated annular insert located coaxially to it, having a gap with the wall of the vacuum chamber, and a removable horizontally located mesh shutter separating the zone free from the product, a sealed hatch cover for loading and unloading the product, a solution level sensor and a branch pipe for pumping out air, connected through an electric contact vacuum meter, a ball valve of a vacuum pump, a liquid and dust separator with a vacuum pump, another input of an electric contact vacuum gauge through a ball valve of a vacuum pump, a manometer with a pressure regulator is connected to the air compressor with a receiver and a filter for air purification, the vacuum chamber in the middle part is rigidly connected to the shaft of the tipping drive equipped with an inductive position sensor, in the lower part the vacuum chamber has a supply and drain pipe for infusion solution, which is connected to a ball valve for supplying and pumping out the solution, which is connected to a three-way ball valve for changing the direction of the suction flow of the impregnating liquid and a three-way ball valve for changing the direction of the suction flow of the impregnating liquid, these ball valves have electric drives and are installed with the ability to turn on and off by the control unit signals, and the power supply of the electric drives of the ball valves, the vacuum pump, the self-priming pump, the gear motor of the vacuum chamber tilting device is carried out by connecting to a three-phase AC 380 V network through a circuit breaker, the control unit contains a programmable controller configured by means of a remote control having buttons "Solution preparation", "Start", "Unloading", "Initial position", setting and monitoring the air pressure in the vacuum chamber, the duration of exposure to vacuum and impregnating liquid on the product, turning on the impregnating liquid solution preparation command, and switching on the device for tilting the vacuum chamber for unloading the finished product after the end of the impregnation process. The method of food processing, implemented in an automated vacuum impregnation line, is characterized by the fact that food product is loaded into a cylindrical vacuum chamber to the level of a mesh damper that limits a damper zone free of product, air is pumped out of the vacuum chamber using a vacuum pump and the product is held in for a for a short preset time, determined by the type of product, at the end of the vacuuming of the dry product, the vacuum chamber is filled from the bottom with the impregnating liquid from the container with the impregnating solution above the level of the mesh damper to 90% of the volume of the vacuum chamber using a self-priming pump and the product is kept in the impregnating liquid for a given time determined by the type of product, at the end of the exposure, the vacuum is released to atmospheric pressure or higher, the product is held for a specified time, determined by the type of product, then the remaining impregnating liquid is pumped back into the container, the hatch is opened, the mesh damper is turned over and the vacuum chamber is turned over to unload the finished product into the storage hopper for subsequent washing and drying.

EFFECT: invention improves consumer properties of food products by ensuring the uniformity of their impregnation with an impregnating solution.

12 cl, 6 dwg, 1 tbl