Current Newsletter
VOLUME 29, NO. 2
Loose frozen product conveying and handling equipment has always been part of Gem Equipment’s product line. A customer ordered a two station mixed vegetable line before this company was three months old. Each station consisted of a tote dumper, a loose freeze breaker and a proportional feeder. Each hydraulically actuated tote dumper dumped product into a 5-foot square pyramid shaped hopper, which fed the loose freeze breaker. Product from the loose freeze breaker dropped into second 5-foot square hopper that fed the proportional feeder. From the proportional feeder, product discharged onto a vibrating conveyor. Tote dumpers, hydraulic power supply, hoppers, loose freeze breakers and proportional feeders were all mounted on common support structure. At the time that Gem Equipment was established, most mixed vegetable lines had stainless steel hoppers, breakers and proportional feeders. All other components, including the operator’s catwalk and access stairway were carbon steel.
The loose freeze breakers were blade and bar configuration, a style still in use. Rotating blades force the product between stationary bars. The rotor has blades welded to the shaft in a spiral pattern. The stationary horizontal bars, located just below the rotor shaft, are supported by passing through slots in the housing. The bars are held in place by a round rod passing through a hole in each bar and a hole in a tab welded to the outside of the housing. An agricultural spring clip keeps the round rod in place. The stationary bars can be removed to accommodate fragile free flowing product. A mid 1970’s upgrade was to mount the loose freeze breaker on a slide mechanism so it could be moved out of the product stream for fragile product. Using little imagination, this feature was designated “slide-aside.”
Through the years, Gem has manufactured various configurations of devices to force frozen-together product apart. Needless to say it is important that product passing through these devices stays frozen. When you get down to basics, besides thawing, there are only two ways to separate particles of product that are frozen together. Either tear the particles apart or push hard enough on the frozen clumps to break the ice between the product particles. Since the loose freeze breaker described above utilizes both concepts to separate product particles, it can be rather harsh for fragile product. A more gentle configuration uses two rolls with their shafts mounted in a horizontal plane. Both rolls are driven with the tops moving toward each other to form a nip point. Spacing between the rolls can be adjusted providing an opportunity for the operator to select the optimum gap for any specific product. Smooth rolls are the most gentle. For tougher applications, roll surfaces can be rougher. A configuration using two multi-tip star wheels, with adjustable spacing, set up so they can mesh, has proven to be very effective.
Some readers may wonder why so much concern with loose freeze breakers. After all, product discharging from a modern freezing tunnel is normally loose frozen. Unfortunately, moisture in product left in cold storage for extended periods tends to migrate, resulting in product frozen into clumps.