HK1003473A1 - Method and device for the manufacture of casings for the stuffing of meat products - Google Patents

Abstract

Method for manufacturing a casing (2) intended for producing sausages and comprising two strips (21, 22) of animal intestine or gut (casing), of substantially equal width, arranged one above the other, the said method comprising the following stages: (a) drying of the gut (casing) sections, (b) cutting-out of the dry gut (casing) sections in order to obtain portions (211, 212, 221, 222) of substantially rectangular shape, (c) assembly of the various portions in order to obtain at least two strips (21) and (22) which can be superposed, (d) assembly of the two superposed strips (21, 22) in order to obtain a longitudinal casing (2), (e) turning over on itself of the said casing characterised in that the stage (e) of turning over is performed on either side of a hollow core (58) of longitudinal extent whose front border serves as the support of the fold of the casing during turning over. <IMAGE>

Description

The present invention relates to sausage or sausage-dried meat products.

In accordance with the Code of Carcuterie, Salsa and Meat Preservation, 3rd edition January 1986, published by the Technical Centre for Carcuterie, Salsa and Meat Preservation, a sausage or sausage comprises: an elongated porous shell, e.g. a natural or artificial casing, the two ends of which are each connected by a string e.g. a meat paste which has undergone a maturation-drying process through the casing or casing, usually composed of raw meat, e.g. pork, minced more or less finely, hard fat, and various seasoning ingredients.

The present invention relates to an open pork intestine, i.e. worked and shaped to result in a sausage or dry sausage envelope, which allows embossing under industrial conditions, i.e. with good productivity and relatively homogeneous quality from one sausage to another.

Specifically, the invention concerns an envelope comprising a plurality of pieces of approximately rectangular shape and approximately equal width, arranged one above the other, the two edges of which are continuously connected to the two edges of the other respectively, according to their length, e.g. by seam.

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Experience has shown that a casing thus formed and obtained has all the qualities of a natural casing, while allowing embossing under industrial conditions. Thus, a casing as previously defined slows the drying of the sausage, protects it from the external atmosphere, and is sufficiently resistant to tearing and tearing, under the industrial embossing conditions encountered.

An envelope as described above is obtained in accordance with document FR-A-453 942, by a process involving the following steps: (a) drying of a plurality of sections of gut, of very diverse animal origin, each comprising at least one thickness of gut; (b) cutting of all sections of gut in the dry state, each according to a significant number of generators or the length of the gut, to obtain a plurality of pieces of a substantially rectangular shape; (c) joining, for example by sewing, of pieces, which can be superimposed, and according to their edges, to obtain a longitudinal envelope; (d) turning of the envelope on itself, to arrange the two edges assembled within the envelope.

The present invention is based on a process for turning the envelope mechanically, i.e. with minimal manual intervention by the operator, whereby the longitudinal envelope is obtained first by joining, for example by end-to-end sewing, different pieces to at least two overlapping bands of approximately equal width, then by joining the two overlapping bands by continuously connecting the two edges of one to the two edges of the other, and the turning step (d) is performed by returning on either side of a hollow core of non-longitudinal extension, having at its anterior end a contour of non-invertible or outer circumference, the inner or outer edge of which serves as the inner or inner edge of the envelope and the posterior end of the core, which is then returned to its inner or outer edge, and the inner or outer edge of the envelope is then turned, and the inner or outer edge of the core is returned to its inner end, and the inner end of the core is then returned to its inner or outer edge, and the inner end is then returned to its inner end, and the inner end is then returned to its inner end.

The solution proposed according to the invention allows for the overturning of very large lengths of shell.

The present invention is now described by reference to the attached drawings, in which: Figure 1 represents a perspective view of a casing manufactured according to the inventionFigure 2 represents a front view of a sausage manufactured according to the invention, in process of embossing, with a casing according to Figure 1Figure 3 represents a front view of a sausage manufactured according to the inventionFigure 4 represents a cutting view according to line IV-IV of Figure 3 of the sausage represented on this latterFigure 5 represents a perspective view, with partial tearing, of a cutting device for the intestine, which can be used for the execution of the process according to the inventionFigure 6 represents a view at the end of the deviceFigure 5 represents a view at the end of the deviceFigure 7 represents a perspective view of a turn-off device which can be used in the execution of the inventionFigure 8 represents a cutting device with its head in Figure 9 represents a view at the end of Figure 9

In accordance with Figure 3, a sausage 1 manufactured according to the invention comprises an elongated envelope 2 of tubular or cylindrical shape, the two ends of which 2a and 2b are joined together and bound by two metal fasteners or rings 26 respectively.

The envelope 2 consists of two bands 21 and 22 of approximately equal width, arranged one above the other, the two edges 21a and 21b of which are continuously connected, for example by seam, to the two edges 22a and 22b of the other respectively.

Each strip 21 consists of two pieces 211 and 212 sewn together continuously in a transverse direction (perpendicular) to the envelope 2 by seam 25, and so on.

As shown in Figure 4, each strip 21 or 22 comprises, in an overlapping manner, possibly naturally glued to each other, a pork menu sheet 24 on the inside of the envelope 2 and a pork tender sheet 23 on the outside of the envelope. Furthermore, referring to the pork intestine, which morphologically has an inside and an outside side, i.e. before being cut and worked to produce the previously described strips 21 and 22, the overlapping of sheets 23 and 24 is done in such a way that the originally outside side of the menu is originally arranged against the outside side.

In accordance with Figures 5 and 6, the cutting device shown includes: a gutter 50 to support and stabilize a straight support 51, e.g. a tube of food grade plastic, on and around which a dry tube is stretched a cutting medium 52 with a translated mobile support 53 on the gutter 50 by means of bearings 54 cooperating with two rails 55; on the support, in relation to the inside of the gutter, a rotating cutting blade 56 is placed opposite the cutting blade 56; a handle 57 is placed to allow the translated handling of the cutting medium 52.

In accordance with Figures 7 to 9, the overturning device comprises: a hollow core 58 of longitudinal extension, e.g. a metal tube laid horizontally on a support 64; this hollow core has two openings 58a and 58b at its front end and 58b at its rear end respectively; the edge of the 58a opening, not visible in Figure 7, supports the circular fold of the envelope 2 in the process of being turned over, and the rear opening is used for the introduction of the unfolded envelope; the hollow core 58 has a longitudinal slit 58c, allowing the unfolded envelope to be introduced,at the beginning of the turn step, a means 59 of introducing a fluid, e.g. compressed air, in relation to the rear end 58b of core 58, to circulate a flow within tube 58 and to establish a fluid gap between the front edge of tube 58 and the fold of the folding envelope 2, a traction head 60 of the inverted envelope 2, which flows outside hollow core 58, from its front end 58a to its rear end 58b; this traction head is in relation to the front opening 58a, and has two lateral traction heads 61 which are held in place by friction of the envelope 2 by thebetween core 58 and the pebbles; as shown in Figure 7, this traction head has its own drive 62 of pebbles 61 and is detachable from the front opening 58a, so as to allow the extraction of the reversed envelope 2 an outer plunger 63 on the side of the rear end 58b of the hollow core 58 to stop the reversed envelope 2 flowing outside core 8 to the rear end 58b.

With the devices and equipment described above, a casing 2 as shown in Figure 2 can be obtained, but in the pleated state, after the various manufacturing steps described here.

The first step is to take a variety of animal intestinal sections, e.g. beef or pork, each selected according to its shape and size and the quality of the intestine, and the sections thus retained are wet, possibly in a pleated form, e.g. extracted from a brine in which the intestine was originally stored.

First, straight supports are available, e.g. tubes made of polyvinyl chloride, as shown in Figure 5 under reference number 51; on each of these straight supports, one or more successive sections of overlapping guts are laid down, depending on the final quality sought and the specific characteristics of the previously selected sections.

All straight supports, each coated with one or more tube thicknesses, are then arranged vertically on a single support and all sections of the tube are dried together in this arrangement by any appropriate means, e.g. in a furnace, or in an atmosphere with controlled hygrometry and temperature.

Once dried, each straight support 51, covered with one or more thicknesses of dry pipe, which together by bonding form a single natural wall, is placed in the gutter 50 of the device shown in Figure 5. By moving the cutting medium 52 in translation, the dry wall is split, according to a tube generator 51. Each straight support 51, which has served as a support for drying and cutting, is recovered and a plurality or multiplicity of pieces or plates of a substantially rectangular shape, each made up of a single thickness of gut, or at least two thicknesses perfectly glued to each other, is obtained.

With an industrial sewing machine and a food-grade cotton yarn, the various pieces obtained, of homogeneous dimensions and shape, are assembled end to end to obtain at least two overlapping strips, such as 21 and 22 shown in Figure 1, for example, the outer face of one against the outer face of the other. As many pieces as are needed are assembled to obtain the final length desired for each of the strips to be overlaid. The two strips 21 and 22 are then assembled, always by seam, to obtain a tubular envelope of defined caliber 2. More precisely, the seams are made along the length of the strips, and the two edges are joined on either side of the envelope.

At the end of this sewing process, the longitudinal seams joining the edges of the two strips are placed outside the resulting envelope.

With the equipment described in Figures 7 to 9, the envelope is then turned over, while the folded envelope is folded for intermediate storage for later use. This is done on both sides of the hollow core 58, the edge of the front opening 58a of which serves to support the circular fold of the envelope 2 being turned over. The unfolded envelope is moved inside the hollow core 58, from its back end 58b to its front end 58a, and the folded envelope, outside the core 58, is moved around.A stream of compressed air is introduced into the hollow core by means of the medium 59 in such a way that a gas gap is established or interposed between the edge of the anterior opening 58a and the circular fold of the inverted envelope 2. The inverted envelope flows out of the hollow core 58 by the drive of the traction head 60, but the front end of the inverted envelope is blocked longitudinally against the outer tip 63, whereby the inverted envelope is gradually bent, perpendicular to the direction of the nozzle 58,By folding the traction head 60, the folded envelope can be removed in a pleated form and transferred to any suitable support, flexible or rigid, perforated or not, to ensure that it is maintained and prevented from deforming during storage.

By properly packing the resulting pleated envelope 2 on a support, e.g. in brine, under vacuum or in a controlled atmosphere, the essential qualities of the resulting envelope can be preserved until it is used, i.e. embossed to make sausages.

Claims (3)

1. Method of manufacturing a casing (2) intended to obtain delicatessen products of the sausage or dried sausage type, by being stuffed, comprising the following steps:

   (a) drying a plurality of sections of gut or animal intestine, each section comprising at least one thickness of gut;

   (b) cutting the plurality of sections of gut in the dry state, each substantially along one generatrix of the said gut, in order to obtain a plurality of pieces (211, 212, 221, 222) of substantially rectangular shape;

   (c) joining the superimposable pieces together, for example by stitching, and along their edges in order to obtain a longitudinal casing (2);

   (d) turning the said casing inside out in order to locate the two joined edges (21a, 21b, 22a, 22b) on the inside of the said casing

   characterized in that the longitudinal casing (2) is obtained, firstly by joining the various pieces, for example by stitching, in order to obtain at least two superimposable strips (21, 22) of substantially equal width, then by joining the two superimposed strips (21, 22), continuously linking the two edges of one to the two edges of the other, and the turning inside out step (d) is carried out on either side of a hollow core (58) with longitudinal extension, exhibiting, at its anterior end (58a), an opening of substantially closed contour, the border of which serves for the fold of the casing being turned inside out to rest against, and the casing which has not been turned inside out is run along the inside of the hollow core, from its posterior end (58b) to its anterior end (58a), and the casing which has been turned inside out is run along the outside of the hollow core, from its anterior end to its posterior end, or vice versa, that is to say with the casing which has not been turned inside out on the outside, and the casing which has been turned inside out on the inside of the hollow core (58).
2. Method according to Claim 1, characterized in that the drying step (a) is carried out by locating each section of gut on and around a straight support (51), the shape and dimensions of which are suited to the gut to be dried, and the step (b) is carried by cutting the dry gut on the said straight support.
3. Method according to Claim 2, characterized in that each straight support (51), together with its dry gut, is supported and immobilized in a gutter section (50), and a cutting means (52) is moved over the gutter section, with a cutting blade (56) along one gut generatrix.