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FIELD OF THE INVENTION The invention refers to a novel methodology for producing and extemporaneously retailing foodstuffs requiring, for their production, a thermal treatment and a contemporaneous mixing or stirring action.

A typical and preferred example of such foodstuffs is the so-called Italian ice cream or similar products, such as for example crushed ice drinks, but substances obtainable from heating too, as various edible cream kinds.

The invention concerns also an equipment for producing and extemporaneously retailing the afore said foodstuffs.

Throughout the present specification reference to the Italian ice cream will be made, but it is to be understood that such a definition or better the term "Italian ice cream or similar", will designate also other foodstuffs to which the invention could be applied and, as mentioned, that are obtained from thermal treatment and contemporaneous mixing or stirring operations.

DESCRIPTION OF THE KNOWN ART

Ice cream is actually produced and sold with two different technologies and procedures, and comprises the so-called soft ice cream and the so-called Italian ice cream.

The soft ice cream is produced in appropriate machines providing its continuous production and driven dispensing, often automatically, of a mixture of ice cream and air. The Italian ice cream, having organoleptic characteristics completely different from the former one, is homemade, usually in laboratories adjoining an extemporaneously retail shop, wherein a refrigerated display counter exhibits to consumers a plurality of tubs, each comprising some amount of ice cream with a determined flavor.

The production happens, as afore said, in a laboratory adjoined to the retail shop, where one or more production machines are located, particularly one or more batch freezers and eventually one or more pasteurizers or cooking machines. The pasteurized mixture to be batch frozen is introduced into a batch cylinder provided with cooling means for its walls, and eventually the bottom, and with stirring blades treating the cooled liquid mixture until the desired pasty consistency is reached. At this point the ice cream is drained from the batch freezer and maintained in a cool environment, more often transferred in one or more exposing tubs intended to be placed over the selling counter or preserved in a cooled environment awaiting to be exposed for selling. The batch freezer is then washed to be ready for treating a following mixture, generally having a different flavour from the former one. This procedure involves several drawbacks already present today. First of all the ice cream handling from the batch freezer to the tubs and, with these, into the cooler or the refrigerated display counter, causes a hard engagement for the operator carrying it out, and further presents hygiene problems and deteriorations of the organoleptic characteristics, because the ice cream is exposed to the environment for a more or less long period, with a consequent alteration of its characteristics, obviously starting from the surface.

Secondly, the necessary equipments are numerous and bulky, whereby in any case the complex laboratory - retail shop must occupy a predetermined minimum surface. OBJECT OF THE INVENTION Object of the present invention is now to remedy these and other drawbacks and disadvantages of the known procedure and art, realizing among other things a number of means allowing to produce and directly sell the Italian ice cream or the afore said foodstuffs, without the substance being carried and handled before its withdrawal for selling, and further without it would be exposed in tubs for selling. Other objects of the invention are to provide a procedure and an equipment for producing and selling the Italian ice cream or similar substances allowing to reduce the totally occupied space for such a functions and allowing the consumer not only to verify the appearance of the substance for sale, but also to watch the producing operations of the substance itself and eventually to visually control the various production steps. For realizing these and other objects, the present invention concerns a new method for producing and selling the Italian ice cream or similar substances, as generally defined in claim 1 , as well as a new equipment, especially designed for actuating the mentioned method, as more generically defined in claim 4. DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

These and other peculiarities and characteristics of the invention will be evident from the subsequent description of a preferred embodiment of an equipment for producing and selling Italian ice cream, herein illustrated in the drawings in attachment, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an equipment for producing and selling Italian ice cream according to the invention, in the shape of a display counter. Figure 2 is a perspective view of a module with four batch freezers belonging to the display counter of figure 1.

Figure 3 is an elevation view of the module of figure 2. Figures 4 and 5 are perspective views illustrating the stirring drive means of one of the batch freezers, in a disassembled and assembled condition respectively. Figure 6 is a scheme of a particular and preferred circuit for controlled cooling or heating of a batch cylinder.

Figure 7 is an elevation view of a batch cylinder realized for carrying out the controlled cooling or heating procedures according to the figure 6 scheme. DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to what hereinbefore exposed and claimed, the invention concerns a method for producing and extemporaneously retailing Italian ice cream and other foodstuffs, with several flavors, allowing to eliminate the drawbacks and the disadvantages afore mentioned, essentially producing single ice cream flavors, or similar, in at least as much treatment units or batch freezing units, preserving then the ice cream or similar in the same producing cylinders and taking it out directly from the same cylinders as a consequence of the consumer requests. To realize such a method, the invention provides an equipment for producing, exposing and extemporaneously retailing the ice cream, or similar, of the type shown in the attached figures and more generally in figure 1. In such a figure an equipment is illustrated having a shape of a selling counter 10 composed of a plurality of similar modules 10a, 10b, 10c, 1Od, 1Oe, 1Of, and in reciprocal abutment so that to present to the buyer a predetermined amount of flavours, for example visible to the buyer through transparent lids 11 apposed to each vertical cylinder 12 for producing and preserving the ice cream or similar. In this way the foregoing objects of the present invention are realized, particularly obtaining and preserving better organoleptic product characteristics, reducing the work engagement of the operator / operators and further reducing the spaces required by the necessary equipments for a homemade shop for producing and selling ice cream or similar, practically to the spaces occupied by the counter 10. Referring to figures 2 and 3, every module, for example 10a, presents a supporting frame 13 adapted to sustain and exhibit for example four vertical producing cylinders 12, particularly for batch freezing and preserving the ice cream, each one having a batch freezing stirrer driven by a motor 14 supported by a crossbeam 15. Every motor 14 drives, by pulleys 16, a corresponding drive shaft (not visible in figures 2 and 3), supported by the bearings housed in the casing 17. The drive shaft is rotating in a cylindrical receptacle 12 having a preferably transparent lid 11 and driving the rotation of the batch stirring or mixing known blades. The outer wall of each cylinder 12 is wound by a coil 18 directly or indirectly generating and / or maintaining the requested temperature for producing and / or conserving ice cream. The coil 18 is in turn connected to an appropriately dimensioned freezing unit provided with air or water compressor and condenser. The unit may be assigned to serve a specific module 10a, or preferably the whole counter 10. The temperatures in the cylinder 12 may be adjusted particularly to have different values when the cylinder is intended for producing ice cream, or when the same operates a preservation of the produced ice cream only, otherwise still when different temperatures are requested, eventually higher than the environment one.

In figures 4 and 5 is illustrated an embodiment of batch freezing means, essentially composed of a shaft 19 rotated by a corresponding motor 14 and rotating in abutment over the bearings 20 inserted in seats 21 of a flange 22 integral with the shaft 19. Further on its upper face the flange 22 presents seats 23 for housing cylindrical endings 24 of the batch freezing blades 25.

In the upper portion the blades 25 exhibit a further cylindrical ending 26 adapted for housing into seats 27 of a covering element 28, that is preferably transparent. The covering element 28 exhibits a further central opening ^' 29 to introduce the components for the mixture to be prepared. The whole is then covered by a preferably transparent lid 11 with safety sensors (not illustrated), adapted to interrupt stirring when the lid 11 is raised.

To serve the produced ice cream, the blades 25 may be eventually drawn out, with the covering element 28 too, for a better access to the containing cylinder. It has to be noticed that in case of ice creams requesting a preventive pasteurization or cooking operation, such an operation may be conducted separately or in the same batch cylinders 12, conveniently by adjusting the operating procedures, particularly the temperature, for example in the way herein after explained. The same operations can be carried out in case of heating and stirring edible creams. It has been noticed that a batch cylinder capacity comprised from 4 to 10 liters allows to better carry out the objects of the invention. However, it has to specified that the invention is not to be considered limited to these values, because it is possible to have cylinders with a lower or greater capacity than the suggested ones. Further, it is possible to throttle the refrigeration of every cylinder or of some cylinders, because of cost savings, when the product is in the preserving step in a reduced amount. Figures 6 and 7 respectively show a particularly preferred thermic controlling circuit for a batch cylinder 12 and the treating coil structure at the outer wall of such a cylinder 12.

Referring first to figure 6, a refrigerant unit 30, with a water or air condensation, of an itself known type, preferably operates for every batch cylinder 12 of the counter 10. Every batch cylinder 12 has its own outer side wall wound by a coil 18 that, in this particular case, as illustrated in figure 7, is actually formed by two overlying coils, of which the inner one 31 operates for the glycol circulation, whereas the outer one 32 circulate the cooling gas coming directly from the unit 30. Referring again to figure 6, the refrigerant unit 30 feeds with a cooled gas a cooling circuit of the coil 32, provided with an intake trunk 33, with a shut - off valve 34 and an expansion valve 34', as well as a returning trunk 35. The coil 32 is able then to cool, crossing the coil 31, the inner of the cylinder 12 to the requested temperature to carry out the batch freezing.

Once the batch freezing is finished, the ice cream obtained must be conserved ^" at a temperature lower than the environment temperature, but strongly higher than the batch freezing temperature. To obtain this, the cooled gas outgoing from the refrigerant unit 30 is sent, through a separated circuit 36, to an heat exchanger 37 where glycol is cooled and then sent to the coil 31 through a circuit 38, provided with a shut - off valve 39 and fed by a pump 40. The described circuit operation is as follows. During the batch freezing step in the concerned cylinder 12, the valve 39 is closed and the glycol pump 40 is stopped, whereas the valve 34 is opened to allow the cooling gas to circulate in the coil 32 and obtain the freezing desired temperature for the mixture in the cylinder 12. At the end, the valve 34 is closed, whereas the valve 39 is opened and the pump 40 is operated, to circulate the glycol in the coil 31 and thereby to maintain the ice cream at the preserving desired temperature.

In case wherein pasteurization or cooking in the cylinder 12 are desired, or further a thermic cream treatment at a higher temperature than the environment one, a third circuit (not illustrated), provided with an opening or closing valve too and with temperature regulating means, may connect the hot gas exiting from the refrigerant unit with the coil 32 or with the heat exchanger 37 and then with the coil 31 , thereby realizing an high temperature appropriate thermic treatment.

As an alternative to low temperature cooling during the batch freezing, it is possible, by removing the circuit 33 - 35, to enter into the cylinder 12 an appropriate and controlled amount of liquid nitrogen, both manually (as exemplified in 41), and preferably by a duct 42, directly into the stirring mixture.