DEVICE FOR SEPARATING BEER WORT FROM DREGS

Technical field

The present invention relates to a device for separating beer wort from dregs. Background Art

Beer is currently produced by using devices capable of separating a mixture composed mainly of water, ground malt, rice, substitutes, maize and rye into a liquid part, the so-called beer wort, and a solid residue, known as dregs. These known types of device are constituted by a substantially cylindrical vessel, which is provided internally with a base arranged below a filtration grille provided with a plurality of holes allowing the outflow of the wort and preventing the passage of the solid residues, having a chosen size, which thus remain within the vessel, constituting the dregs; on the base of the vessel there are also slots connected to adapted wort collection headers, which are suitable to convey said wort for example into appropriately provided tanks.

A device commonly known as dregs mixer is provided inside the vessel and is adapted to stir the mix in order to facilitate the gravity separation of the dregs from the wort, thus facilitating the outflow of said wort through the grille and toward said headers.

The known dregs mixer is constituted by a rotating shaft which is arranged along the longitudinal central axis of the vessel and supports, at one end, substantially radial arms from which a plurality of blades protrude, typically at right angles to said base, and typically have a linear or sawtooth profile.

After introducing the mix in the tank, the rotation shaft is actuated, thus turning the arms and the respective blades, which stir said mixture, facilitating the mutual separation of the dregs and the wort and the gravity outflow of said wort through the holes of the grille.

The main drawback of these known types of filtration device is that the tangential speeds of the blades arranged at different distances from the rotation shaft are mutually different and therefore one can have a very high tangential speed for the blades that lie proximate to the free ends of the arms and a relatively low tangential speed for the blades that lie proximate to the rotation shaft.

Very high tangential speeds of the blades, particularly if the mixture is particularly dense, can reduce the penetration of said blades therein, accordingly not ensuring an appropriate stirring of the mix; in this case, the mixture is not crossed and stirred by the blades but is instead turned as a compact mass.

Excessively low tangent speeds may instead be insufficient to achieve the intended stirring.

These drawbacks are observed more toward the end of the process, when the mass of dregs is preponderant because most of the liquid has flowed out.

Another drawback of known types relates to the fact that the motion of the blades, by occurring along circular paths having a fixed diameter, affects mainly only some regions of the mass of dregs and accordingly creates preferential paths inside said mass for the wort, and this entails the less than optimum extraction of the sugars from the entire mass of dregs. Disclosure of the Invention

The aim of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, eliminating the drawbacks of the cited background art, by providing a device that allows to achieve optimum stirring of the mixture, so as to facilitate the separation of the dregs from the wort and avoid the formation of preferential paths for said wort within the dregs, thus ensuring high filtration efficiency.

Within this aim, an object of the invention is to provide a device that allows to stir uniformly the entire mass of the mixture, thus further

increasing filtration efficiency.

Another object is to ensure optimum stirring of the mixture even when, toward the end of the process, said mixture is mainly constituted by dregs and is therefore very dense. Another object is to provide a device that is structurally simple and has low manufacturing costs.

This aim and these and other objects, which will become better apparent hereinafter, are achieved by a device for separating beer wort from dregs, comprising a substantially cylindrical vessel provided, proximate to its base, with means for filtering and discharging said wort, characterized in that inside said vessel there is a rotating support with which at least one first shaft and at least one second shaft are associated eccentrically, said shafts being arranged coaxially to each other and rotating independently of each other, one or more first and second arms being radially associated with said shafts, each arm supporting respectively one or more first and second blades which are free of mutual interference during the rotation of said at least one first and second shafts.

Brief description of the drawings

Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will become better apparent from the following detailed description of a particular but not exclusive embodiment, illustrated by way of non-limiting example in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view, in which partial cross-sections have been taken for the sake of clarity; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the rotating support, of the first and second shafts, and of the first and second arms of the device according to

Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view, taken along a diametrical plane, of the rotating support, of the first and second shafts, and of part of the first and second arms of the device of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the motor drive of the first and second shafts of the invention;

Figure 5 is a plan view of the rotating support of the device of Figure 1; Figure 6 is a schematic plan view of the rotary motion of the first and second shafts with respect to their longitudinal axis. Ways of carrying out the Invention

In the exemplary embodiments that follow, individual characteristics, given in relation to specific examples, may actually be interchanged with other different characteristics that exist in other exemplary embodiments.

Moreover, it is noted that anything found to be already known during the patenting process is understood not to be claimed and to be the subject of a disclaimer.

With reference to the figures, the reference numeral 1 designates a device for separating beer wort from dregs, which comprises an advantageously hollow and cylindrical footing 2, which supports a substantially cylindrical vessel 3 whose diameter is advantageously larger than the diameter of the footing 2.

The vessel 3 is provided with a base 4, which is substantially circular in plan view and has means of a known type for filtering and discharging the wort; such means are constituted by a plurality of slots 5 provided in the base 4, which are connected to suitable underlying headers 6, which are adapted to convey the liquid part of the dregs, for example, to a vat or a tank, not shown in the accompanying figures. The filtration and discharge means are further constituted by a known type of grille 7, which is substantially circular in plan view and has approximately the same diameter as the base 4 and is fixed by means of its perimetric edge at the internal lateral surface of the vessel 3, at a chosen distance from the base 4. A plurality of holes 8 are formed in the grille 7 and have dimensions

which allow the passage of the liquid part of the mixture, the beer wort, and prevent the passage of solid bodies of chosen sizes, which thus remain within the vessel 3, constituting the dregs.

The vessel 3 can be closed in an upper region by a lid 9, which is for example substantially conical and with which it is possible to associate one or more spray heads, not shown in the accompanying figures, which are adapted to dilute the dregs and wash the vessel 3.

Two first mutually identical and substantially circular first openings, designated by the reference numeral 10 in Figure 1, are formed respectively in the grille 7 and in the base 4, at the central axis of the vessel 3, and can accommodate a rotating support 11, which is substantially cylindrical and has a substantially inverted T-shaped longitudinal cross-section so as to form in a lower region a substantially cylindrical and hollow head 12, from which a likewise substantially cylindrical and hollow stem 13 protrudes on the opposite side with respect to the base 4.

A second opening 15, which advantageously has a circular plan shape, is formed in an eccentric position on the upper end 14, which is substantially flat and has an approximately circular plan shape, of the stem 13. The rotating support 11 can be turned with respect to its longitudinal central axis by way of the action of suitable first movement means, constituted advantageously by a first electric motor 16 or gearmotor, which is accommodated advantageously in the footing 2 and is connected to the rotating support 11 for example by way of suitable mechanisms which can turn a transmission shaft 17, which is keyed to the bottom 18 of the rotating support 11.

Advantageously, the rotating support 11 is enclosed in a cylindrical housing 19, which is arranged at the first openings 10.

Advantageously, the housing 19 has a substantially cylindrical lateral surface 20 and a lid 21, which is preferably frustum-shaped and has an

upper end face which is closed hermetically by the upper end 14 of the stem 13.

At least one first shaft 22 and at least one second shaft 23 are associated eccentrically with the rotating support 11, are arranged coaxially to each other and rotate independently of each other; in the example shown in the accompanying figures, the second shaft 23 is arranged inside the first shaft 22 and protrudes upward and downward from it respectively with its upper end and with its lower end.

By turning the rotating support 11, the first shaft 22 and the second shaft 23 trace a substantially circular path in plan view, the center of which approximately coincides with the axis of the rotating support 11.

The first shaft 22 and the second shaft 23 protrude above the rotating support 11 through the second opening 15, which is formed eccentrically with respect to the upper end 14 of the stem 13; said shafts can be turned with respect to their axis independently of each other by way of second movement means, which are constituted advantageously for example by a second electric motor and a third electric motor or gearmotor, designated respectively by the reference numerals 24 and 25, which are fixed within the rotating support 11 and are connected respectively to the first shaft 22 and the second shaft 23.

As an alternative, a same electric motor or gearmotor can be connected both to the first shaft 22 and to the second shaft 23 by virtue of appropriate mechanisms adapted to impart chosen different angular velocities to the first and second shafts. One or more first arms 26 are associated radially with the end of the first shaft 22 that protrudes upward with respect to the housing 19, and each arm supports one or more first blades 27, which have a chosen shape, for example a cylindrical one, are mutually equidistant and protrude from the respective first arm 26 in a direction which is advantageously approximately perpendicular to the base 4.

In the illustrated embodiment, the first arms 26 are two, are mutually identical and are arranged diametrically with respect to the vessel 3 so as to affect part of its length.

One or more second arms 28 are associated radially with the end of the second shaft 23 that protrudes above the housing 19 and beyond the end of the first shaft 22, therefore above such one or more first arms 26; each second arm supports one or more second blades 29, which have a chosen shape, for example a cylindrical one, are mutually equidistant and protrude from the respective second arm 28 advantageously approximately at right angles to the base 4.

The first arms 26 are shorter than the distance between the axis of the second shaft 23 and the axis of the second blades 29 that lies closest to the housing 19.

The second blades 29 are therefore arranged on the respective second arms 28 so as to not interfere with the first blades 27 during the rotation of said at least one first and second shafts; advantageously, the second blades 29 are thus arranged in a region which lies outside the circumference traced in plan view by the free end of said one or more first arms 26.

Advantageously, the maximum distance between two consecutive first blades 27 of a same first arm 26 and the maximum distance between two consecutive second blades 29 of a same second arm 28 are shorter than twice the distance between the rotation axis of the rotating support 11 and the axis of the second opening 15 within which the first shaft 22 and the second shaft 23 are positioned; in this manner, by adjusting appropriately the angular velocities of the first shaft 22 and of the second shaft 23, during each full turn of the rotating support 11 each first and second blade can be moved radially by an extent at least equal to their distance respectively from the first or second blade that precedes and/or follows it, thus affecting the entire mass of the mixture. Advantageously, the device 1 comprises suitable vertical movement

means for the first arms 26 and the second arms 28, which are suitable to move said first and second blades with a vertical reciprocating motion.

The vertical movement means can be constituted, for example, by appropriate mechanisms suitable to lift the transmission shaft 17, and therefore the rotating support 11 rigidly coupled thereto, with respect to the footing 2 and therefore with respect to the base 4 of the vessel 3.

Operation of the device is therefore as follows: with reference to Figure 1, after placing the mixture in the vessel 3 and closing the lid 9, it is possible to turn the rotating support 11, the first shaft 22 and the second shaft 23.

The second shaft 23 is turned at a lower angular velocity than the first shaft 22, so that the linear velocities of the first blades 27 supported by the first arms 26 are proximate to the linear velocities of the second blades 29 supported by the second arms 28, which are longer than the first arms 26. For example, the first shaft 22 can be turned at an angular velocity comprised between 2.4 rpm and 30 rpm, while the second shaft 23 can be turned at an angular velocity comprised between 0.8 rpm and 10 rpm.

The substantial uniformity of the linear velocities of the first blades

27 and of the second blades 29 allows to achieve a more uniform stirring of the mixture, to reduce the processing and filtration time, and at the same time allows better utilization of the filtered mass, with a gain in extracted wort.

The rotation of the rotating support 11 entails a rotation of the first shaft 22 and of the second shaft 23 about the rotation axis of the rotating support 11 ; the first and second blades therefore move along a path which is obtained from the combination of the rotation of the respective first and second shafts about their own longitudinal axis and their rotation about the central longitudinal axis of the rotating support 11.

The motion of the first and second blades therefore has a component which is radial with respect to the base 4 of the vessel 3, which further

improves the stirring of the mixture and prevents the onset of preferential paths for the wort inside the dregs, thus ensuring the extraction of sugars from the entire mass of dregs.

In particular, the first and second blades move radially with respect to the base 4 by a distance which is at least equal to the mutual distance between two consecutive first blades 27 and between two consecutive second blades 29, thus ensuring that the combination of said first and second blades affects, at each turn, the entire mass of the mixture, further improving the speed and efficiency of the filtration. The vertical movement of the first blades 27 and of the second blades

29 further improves the stirring of the mixture.

It has thus been shown that the invention has achieved the intended aim and objects, a device for separating beer wort from dregs having been provided which, by way of the possibility to impart different angular velocities to the first and second blades as a function of their distance from the rotation axis of the respective first and second shafts, allows to achieve very uniform stirring of the mixture, thus increasing the speed and efficiency of the filtration and reducing the occupation times of the device.

Further, by way of the possibility to impart to the motion of the blades a component which is radial with respect to the base of the vessel, a further improvement of the uniformity of the stirring of the mixture is achieved and the formation of preferential paths for the wort inside the mass of dregs is avoided, further improving the speed and efficiency of the filtration.

The invention is of course susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the appended claims.

The materials used, as well as the dimensions that constitute the individual components of the invention, may of course be more pertinent according to specific requirements.

The various means for performing certain different functions need not certainly coexist only in the illustrated embodiment but can be present per

se in many embodiments, including ones that are not illustrated.

The characteristics indicated as advantageous, convenient or the like may also be omitted or be replaced with equivalents.

The disclosures in Italian Patent Application No. TV2005A000119 from which this application claims priority are incorporated herein by reference.