ANIMALS

DESCRIPTION

The invention concerns a system suited to cool hides resulting from the skinning of animals coming from slaughter plants.

It is known that after being slaughtered animals are skinned and their hides are sent to tanneries to be treated and turned into finished leather for use in the furniture, clothing or footwear sectors.

For the sake of simplicity the word "hides" will always be used here below to designate hides resulting from the skinning of animals.

Since hides have a temperature varying between 36 and 38°C and may arrive at tanneries even many hours after being skinned, they must be rapidly cooled to prevent the initiation of the known degenerative processes typical of organic products before their processing.

According to the prior art, hides are stacked on top of each other haphazardly inside large tanks where they are cooled by means of cold water jets conveyed with hoses manoeuvred by operators.

Sometimes, to improve the cooling effect, hides are also covered with ice.

At the current state of the art, there are no systems specifically designed for the cooling of hides and the known cooling systems briefly described above have some recognized drawbacks.

In particular, a first drawback is the high consumption of water that these known systems involve since the cooling is carried out with running water. Another drawback is represented by the fact that the water is conveyed on the hides in a completely random and indiscriminate manner, according to the will of the operator assigned to the task and the criteria adopted by the latter.

A further drawback is represented by the fact that inside the tanks the water flow does not wet all the hides homogeneously because they are stacked haphazardly, and consequently not all of them are actually cooled to the proper temperature, suited to prevent the onset of degenerative processes before the start of the processing carried out at the tannery.

Yet another drawback lies in that to perform the described operations it is necessary to have considerable space available and employ a significant amount of manpower.

The patent document GB 445 881 A is known, which describes an apparatus for cooling and washing hides comprising a rotary drum, internally provided with blades, in which the loading and unloading of the hides are carried out through a single door.

The patent document GB 1 271 931 A is also known, which describes a rotary drum for treating hides that is provided with a hide loading inlet and a hide unloading outlet, arranged at the level of the longitudinal rotation axis, and with an internal propeller that transports the hides from the loading inlet to the unloading outlet.

Both the apparatuses described in the patent documents mentioned above pose the recognized drawback that they do not provide any solution regarding how the hide cooling process could be improved and, above all, how the consumption of the water necessary for the cooling process could be reduced.

The present invention intends to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks.

In particular, it is one object of the invention to provide a system for cooling hides that significantly reduces water consumption compared to the known cooling methods.

It is another object of the invention to provide a system that makes it possible to cool all the hides at the same temperature.

A further object of the invention is to provide a system in which the cooling temperature can be accurately established and controlled by the operator.

The objects listed above are achieved by a hide cooling system according to the main claim, to which reference shall be made.

The specific features of the system of the invention are described in the dependent claims.

Advantageously, in addition to achieving the above objects, the cooling system of the invention also enables some advantages to be obtained.

First of all, a first advantage lies in the possibility of making the work less tiring for operators and more rationally organized.

Still advantageously, the system of the invention makes it possible to reduce the space needed for the cooling operations, for rationalizing the number of transfers, and consequently for improving the productivity of operators and increasing production.

A further, and not the least, advantage lies in that the system of the invention allows the recovery of the cooling water and also of the heat it absorbs during the hide cooling process. The objects and advantages described above will be illustrated in greater detail in the description of the hide cooling system of the invention that is provided here below by way of a descriptive and non-limiting example, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

- Figure 1 shows the axonometric view of the cooling system that is the subject of the invention;

- Figure 2 shows the longitudinal cross section of Figure 1 ;

- Figure 3 shows the top view of Figure 1 ;

- Figure 4 shows the front view of Figure 1 ;

- Figures from 5 to 13 show the view of Figure 2 of the system during different operating stages;

- Figures 12a, 13a show details of Figures 12 and 13.

The hide cooling system that is the object of the invention is shown in different views in Figures from 1 to 4, where it is indicated as a whole by 1.

According to the invention, the system 1 comprises a frame 2 which supports a plurality of vessels with perforated walls indicated as a whole by 3, in particular an initial vessel 3a, an intermediate vessel 3b, and a final vessel 3c.

Each vessel is equipped with a loading inlet 4a, 4b, 4c for the hides P to be cooled and with an unloading outlet 5a, 5b, 5c for the cooled hides P, and a cooling chamber 6a, 6b, 6c for the hides P is defined inside it.

With particular reference to Figures 2 and 4, it can be observed that the vessels have an essentially cylindrical shape and are positioned aligned one after the other along the longitudinal axis X passing through their inlets and outlets.

It should be immediately noted that the system described herein comprises three vessels but this is only one of the many embodiments of the system, which may comprise any number of vessels.

At least one drive unit, indicated as a whole by 7, sets the vessels rotating according to an axis of rotation which coincides with the longitudinal axis X along which the vessels are aligned.

It can be seen that the initial vessel 3a has its unloading outlet 5a facing and communicating with the loading inlet 4b of the adjacent intermediate vessel 3b that follows it and the unloading outlet 5b of the intermediate vessel 3b is in turn facing and communicating with the loading inlet 4c of the final vessel 3c. Inside each vessel there are shaped blades 8, respectively 8a, 8b and 8c, which move the hides P forward in the direction indicated by the arrow A from the loading inlet 4a of the initial vessel 3a to the unloading outlet 5c of the final vessel 3c during the rotation of the vessels themselves around the axis X.

The individual vessels are joined together by joining means of the known type, such as bolts or other type of joints, which connect them rigidly to one another. In this way, a single drive unit 7, comprising a gear motor 7a and a driving belt 7b wound around a pulley 7c associated with one of the vessels, sets all the vessels rotating around the axis X.

Obviously, the drive unit can also be of another type.

In any case, other embodiments are possible, in which all the vessels are mutually independent and each one of them is set rotating individually and independently of the others through a corresponding drive unit.

Each vessel is partially immersed in a cooling tank 9 containing chilled water that is maintained at the desired temperature by a chilling device, indicated as a whole by 10, placed above the vessels and connected with the cooling tank 9.

The cooling tank 9 is divided into three sectors 9a, 9b and 9c, distinct and communicating, in each one of which a corresponding vessel 3a, 3b and 3c is partially immersed, in whose cooling chamber 6a, 6b and 6c the chilled water contained in the relevant sector of the cooling tank 9 circulates.

More particularly, the sectors into which the cooling tank 9 is divided comprise: an initial sector 9a in which the corresponding initial vessel 3a is partially immersed, a final sector 9c in which the corresponding final vessel 3c is partially immersed, and an intermediate sector 9b, included between the initial sector 9a and the final sector 9c, in which the intermediate vessel 3b is partially immersed.

The sectors 9a, 9b and 9c communicate with one another through an overflow system that is described in greater detail below.

With regard to the device 10 for chilling the water contained in the tank 9, it is of the type that regulates the amount of ice delivered into the cooling tank 9, and it essentially comprises a chilling unit 10a for the production of the ice G which is collected in a storage tank 10b and conveyed into the tank 9 where it melts spontaneously following the contact with the water contained therein, which is therefore chilled.

A screw conveyor 10c conveys the ice from the storage tank 10b to a conveying channel 10d communicating with the cooling tank 9 into which the ice G falls by gravity.

In particular, as can be observed especially in Figure 1 , the conveying channel 10d communicates with the final sector 9c of the cooling tank 9, while the initial sector 9a of the same tank 9 is provided with a discharge pipe 9e.

While the ice melts, in the final sector 9c of the tank 9 the water temperature remains at the constant value of 0°C for the whole time during which water and ice coexist.

There is a control unit 13 that can be seen in Figures from 1 to 4, to which the driving means 10e of the screw conveyor 10c and a temperature-measuring bulb 9d immersed in the final sector 9c of the cooling tank 9 are connected. Obviously, the representation of the control unit 13 and of the temperature- measuring bulb 9d is purely indicative since, for example, the control unit 13 may be integrated in the control panel of the system, which is not shown or described herein as it pertains to the prior art.

It can also be observed, in particular in Figure 2, that the frame 2 rests on the surface S by means of front support legs 2a and rear support legs 2b and the latter are shorter than the former.

In this way, the alignment axis X of the vessels 3 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction defined by the supporting surface S and diverging upwards in the direction of advance A of the hides P inside the vessels.

However, the presence of adjustable feet 14 at the ends of the legs, which can be observed in Figure 2 and in the successive Figures from 5 to 13, makes it possible to vary the inclination of the tank 9 and of the vessels 3 as desired by the user, from the horizontal position to an inclined position having any angular value.

With reference to the direction of advance A of the hides P in the vessels 3, in the cooling tank 9 the chilled water overflows from the final sector 9c to the intermediate sector 9b and from this to the initial sector 9a in the direction indicated by the arrow B, contrary to the direction of advance A of the hides, until reaching the discharge pipe 9e at the outlet of which it can be recovered. The overflow system is carried out through level adjusting means that are configured so that the level of the water contained in any one of the sectors, with respect to a reference horizontal plane, is lower than the level of the water contained in the sector that follows it, according to the direction of advance of the hides inside the vessels.

In this way, a water head is created between the water levels in the two adjacent sectors, which generates along the tank 9 a counter-current water flow with respect to the hide advance direction.

According to the embodiment illustrated in Figures 12 and 12a, the level adjusting devices comprise movable foils 20 with adjustable height, each one of which is slidingly coupled with a partition 21 that separates two sectors 9a, 9b and 9b, 9c adjacent to each other and is arranged at a height to be chosen by the user to define a water head 22 between the levels of the water they contain.

According to the embodiment shown in Figures 13 and 13a, the level adjusting devices comprise a plurality of siphons 30, each one of which is constituted by a shaped pipe in the form of a U with the concave portion 31 facing upwards and comprising two branches 32, 33 that place the adjacent sectors 9a, 9b and 9b, 9c in communication.

Each branch 32, 33 is provided with a sliding sleeve 32a, 33a that can be moved along the respective branch 32, 33 to adjust the water head 34 between the levels of the water contained in the adjacent sectors.

There is a loading chute 11 at the level of the loading inlet 4a of the initial vessel 3a and a collection tank 12 for the cooled hides P is located under the unloading outlet 5c of the final vessel 3c.

The system of the invention, as already explained, can also be constructed according to a variant embodiment that is not shown in the figures but only briefly described below and that includes a single vessel equipped with a loading inlet and an unloading outlet, inside which there are a plurality of partitions, each provided with a through opening.

Thus inside the vessel a plurality of cooling chambers are defined, consecutive to one another according to the axis of rotation of the vessel itself, in each one of which there are the shaped blades suited to advance the hides.

The actual operation of the system is described here below with reference to Figures from 5 to , which show the sequence of the hide P cooling process. With reference to Figure 5, the cooling process begins when the operator positions the first hide P1 on the loading chute 11 from which said hide falls by gravity into the initial vessel 3a, as shown in Figure 6.

The loading of the hide on the chute 11 can be carried out in a completely manual manner by one or more operators, depending on the size and weight of the hide, or, for particularly large and/or particularly heavy hides, through lifting means.

When the hide P1 is located inside the initial vessel 3a, it is immersed in the chilled water contained in the initial sector 9a of the cooling tank 9 where the cooling process begins.

Since the vessels are set rotating by the drive unit 7, when the shaped blades 8a come into contact with the hide P1 , as shown in Figure 7, they make it advance in the direction indicated by the arrow A, until it is transferred into the intermediate vessel 3b making it pass through the unloading outlet 5a of the first vessel 3a and through the loading inlet 4b of the intermediate vessel 3b. In the meantime, the operator continues to load on the chute 11 further hides P2 and P3, shown in Figures 6 and 7, which begin their route through the vessels 3a and 3b as already described for the hide P1.

Inside the intermediate vessel 3b the hide P1 is further cooled and when the shaped blades 8b present in the intermediate vessel 3b come into contact with it, as shown in Figure 8, they transfer it into the final vessel 3c, as shown in Figure 9, where it is further cooled.

Finally, the shaped blades 8c present in the final vessel 3c transfer the hide into the collection tank 12 located under the unloading outlet 5c, as shown in Figures 10 and 11.

In the meantime, the additional hides from P2 to P6 are subjected to the cooling process without interruption, passing through the vessels 3 while the operator continues to load hides on the chute 11, like for example the hide P7 shown in Figure 11.

It is important to explain how the hide cooling process takes place inside the cooling chambers of the vessels 3.

As already noted, the vessels 3 are aligned according to the X axis which is inclined and diverging upwards with respect to the horizontal surface S on which the frame 2 that supports the system rests.

Since the hides to be cooled gradually lose heat in the transition from the initial vessel to the final vessel, the chilled water contained in the respective sectors into which the cooling tank is divided has gradually decreasing temperatures as the hide passes from the loading inlet of the initial vessel towards the unloading outlet of the final vessel. Accordingly, the chilled water contained in each sector of the tank is still able to cool the hide contained in the sector of the tank preceding it and thus the preferably but not necessarily inclined arrangement of the vessels, together with the presence in the sectors 9a, 9b and 9c of the level adjusting devices constituted by movable foils 20 or by siphons 30, allows the water to overflow from each sector to the one preceding it in the direction indicated by the arrow B, opposite the direction A of advance of the hides P. The heat exchange for the best exploitation of the cooling power of the water is thus optimized.

During the counter-current flow of the water with respect to the hides P, the colder water that comes from the final sector 9c meets hides at increasingly higher temperatures and when it arrives at the initial sector 9a it is at the highest temperature, close to that of the hides P that are introduced in the initial vessel 3a.

Therefore, the water that arrives at the initial sector 9a and that comes out by gravity through the discharge pipe 9e has a significant amount of heat that can be recovered, for example by means of a heat pump.

Advantageously, this energy recovery makes the operation of the system even more economical, as it is added to the optimization of the cooling power of the water described above.

Moreover, all the discharged water recovered, after suitable purification, can be recycled in the chilling system to produce ice again.

Therefore, the system that is the subject of the invention achieves the object to reduce the consumption of water, streamline the processing cycle, and reduce costs through the recovery of the heat contained in the hide cooling water. During the cooling process, the final temperature of the cooled hides is maintained at the value pre-established by the user through the monitoring and control of the temperature of the water contained in the final sector 9c of the cooling tank 9.

In fact, if the temperature taken by the temperature-measuring bulb 9d exceeds the reference temperature set by the user, the control unit 13 activates the drive means 10e of the screw conveyor 10c which delivers pre-established amounts of ice G into the conveying channel 10d which then introduces it into the final sector 9c of the cooling tank 9, lowering the temperature of the water contained therein to the pre-established value.

Obviously, the temperature of the water present in the final sector 9c varies as a function of the temperature of the hides P loaded thereon and thus, by regulating the amount of ice G delivered to the final sector 9c of the cooling tank 9, it is possible to control the temperature of the water not only in the final sector 9c but also in all the other sectors 9a and 9b of the cooling tank 9 while at the same time keeping the entire cooling process of the hides P under control.

Finally, in a further advantageous manner, it is possible to produce ice by operating the chilling system during night hours, when the cost of electricity is lower, and this contributes to further savings related to the operation of the system.

Therefore, based on the above, it is clear that the cooling system of the invention achieves all the set objects.

In particular, the system of the invention allows a drastic reduction in water consumption compared to the prior art.

Furthermore, the invention also achieves the object to cool all the hides at the same temperature and at a value which can be pre-established by the operator.

It has also been shown that, in addition to achieving the aforementioned objects, the system of the invention also enables the rationalization of the work of the operator, who is not forced to move but rather is positioned in front of the loading chute through which he/she loads the hides into the system, perhaps assisted by the use of lifting means such as hoists, lifting clamps and the like. In this way, the advantage of making the operator's work less tiring has also been achieved.

In addition, it has been shown how it is possible to recover the heat absorbed by the water during the cooling of the hides.

All of this involves significant savings to be obtained relating to the cooling process with respect to the methods of the known art.

As already mentioned, the system of the invention may have different forms from those shown in the figures, and in particular it may be constituted by any number of vessels.

Furthermore, during the construction stage the system of the invention may be subjected to the implementation of changes or variant embodiments that are neither represented in the figures nor described in the text.

It is, however, understood that if such variant embodiments and changes fall within the scope of the following claims, they shall all definitely be considered protected by the present patent.

Where technical features mentioned in any claim are followed by reference signs, those reference signs have been included for the sole purpose of increasing the intelligibility of the claims and accordingly such reference signs do not have any limiting effect on the protection of each element identified by way of example by such reference signs.