HK1067023B - Automatic pasta-cooker for restaurants, spaghetti-houses and the like - Google Patents

Description

Automatic pasta-cooker for restaurants, spaghetti-shops and the like "

The present invention relates to an automatic pasta-cooker which enables the rapid and programmed cooking of pasta and similar food products at atmospheric pressure.

It is known that in restaurants, spaghetti shops and other similar public commercial establishments, it is necessary to prepare a large number of pasta dishes quickly in order to serve a large number of consumers in as short a time as possible. Automatic devices for cooking pasta are known, for example, from italian patent n.1,207,735, from U.S. patent n.5,142,966 and from italian patent n.1,207,741. These known devices are all designed to operate at high pressure and therefore all have the typical disadvantage that the devices cannot operate at atmospheric pressure.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an automatic pasta-cooker operating at atmospheric pressure, eliminating the above mentioned drawbacks. The above objects are achieved with an automatic pasta-cooker, whose characteristics are specified in claim 1. Other features of the automatic pasta-cooker described above are specified in the subsequent claims.

The automatic pasta-cooker according to the invention has the advantage that it can be operated at atmospheric pressure by acting on a control panel, which is operated with an associated software.

Another advantage of the automatic pasta-cooker according to the invention lies in the fact that the pasta is cooked, the cooking water and the inside of its container never contact the operator's hands, thus guaranteeing a complete compliance with the hygiene regulations.

These and other advantages and features of the automatic pasta-cooker according to the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of an embodiment of the invention with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

figure 1 shows a schematic view in side view of an automatic pasta-cooker according to the invention; and

figure 2 shows a similar view of two pasta-pots, which are combined in order to supply two different pasta such as spaghetti and pene, which require different cooking times.

With reference to figure 1, it can be seen that the automatic pasta-cooker according to the invention is mainly composed of a cooking chamber 1, said cooking chamber 1 having an inlet valve 2 upstream and an outlet valve 3 downstream. The inlet valve 2, when in the open position, enables the pasta to enter the cooking chamber 1 after falling from a turning device 4, said turning device 4 being arranged on a container 5, in said container 5 the pasta to be cooked is arranged.

The container 5 is also equipped with an electric punch 6, said electric punch 6 pushing the pasta up until it reaches a chute not visible in the figures. The chute is equipped with a vibrating mechanism which moves the pasta onto a support equipped with a weighing device. This weighing device is close to a pasta delivery valve (not shown in the figures) when the weight of the pasta contained in the holder reaches the programmed weight. At the same time, the turning device 4 is raised to rotate about the pivot 7 until it reaches an almost vertical position, so that the pasta contained in the turning device 4 slides downwards through the inlet valve 2 into the cooking chamber 1 when the inlet valve 2 is in the open position. A suitable software controls the temporal sequence of these movements.

The boiler 8 supplies hot water to the interior of the cooking chamber 1 through a pipe 9. For this purpose, the cooking chamber 1 is provided with an inflow valve 10. At the top of the cooking chamber 1 a vent valve 11 is mounted, which vent valve 11 has the purpose of avoiding overpressure inside the cooking chamber 1.

When the pasta contained in the cooking chamber 1 reaches the programmed first cooking stage, the discharge valve 3 opens, said valve being operated by a suitable control means managed by the software of the pasta-cooker. Through the valve 3, the cooked pasta descends into a second cooking chamber 12, the structure of said second cooking chamber 12 being identical to that of the cooking chamber 1 superimposed thereon, but having a different shape. In practice the diameter of the second cooking chamber 12 is about twice the diameter of the cooking chamber 1 superimposed thereon, wherein the pasta, for example spaghetti or other long pasta, is in a vertical position, while in the second cooking chamber 12 it assumes a horizontal position, since it has already been partially cooked. The shape of the second cooking chamber 12 also extends horizontally.

The second chamber 12 has, in actual operation, the function of stabilizing the cooked pasta and of acting as a temporary container for the pasta waiting to be dispensed.

The bottom of the chamber 12 is closed by a shut-off shutter 13, said shut-off shutter 13 being controlled by a pneumatic piston 14. The shut-off shutter 13 closes the bottom of the chamber 12 in a watertight manner and, when the shut-off shutter 13 is opened, it lets the cooked pasta fall onto a plate 15, said plate 15 being arranged underneath in order to serve the customer.

The second chamber 12 is also equipped with a ventilation valve 16, said ventilation valve 16 having the same function as the valve 11 added to the cooking chamber 1. From the downstream pipes downstream of the valves 11 and 16 a line 17 is formed, said line 17 feeding the steam into a heat exchanger 18. The final cooking water drained from the chamber 12 is also sent to the heat exchanger 18 by a drain pump 20 through another line 19. This pump is connected to the control panel and is able to remove a certain quantity of cooking water in order to ensure that the cooked pasta is properly moist during the addition of the seasoning. The small amount of water still adhering to the pasta discharged into the chamber 12 also ensures a further small degree of cooking.

The heat exchanger 18 provided in the pasta-cooker according to the invention allows to recover most of the heat contained in the cooking water discharged from the chamber 12. To this end, the heat exchanger, to which steam is sent through the duct 17 and hot water is sent through the duct 19, brings the fluid flowing in said ducts into thermal contact with the mains water, which is fed to the boiler 8 through the duct 22 by means of the pump 23. The heat exchanger 18 is also provided with a conduit 24 for the final draining of the cooking water.

The mains water supply is preferably softened before supplying it to the heat exchanger 18. Another preferred solution is to suitably insulate the two cooking chambers 1 and 12 and equip them with internal resistors and thermostats. All the valve regulating devices and other control devices are connected to a control panel on which the cooking time and the quantity of pasta taken out of the container 5 can be set.

When it is desired to cook two different pasta products such as spaghetti and penne simultaneously, which have different cooking times, the two pasta pots can be combined in the manner described later with reference to figure 2. Two pasta pots are installed side by side and one boiler 8 is used to supply hot water. The heat exchanger 18 is furthermore a pasta pot for joining and the ducts 17 and 9 are for two pasta pots. In the case of the device shown in fig. 2, it is possible to fill the plate 15 with spaghetti and the plate 15' with a different pasta, such as pene. The operation of the pair of cooking chambers 1 'and 12' is substantially the same as already described for the pair of cooking chambers 1 and 12. The same reference numerals as in figure 1 but without "'" apply equally to the container 5' and all other elements involved.

Additions and/or modifications can also be made to the pasta-cooker of the invention without departing from the scope of the invention. The modification is for example to slidably mount the containers 5 and 5' on one or more rails to ensure a faster supply of dry pasta to the cooking chamber. For example, it is possible to arrange the container 5 on a track at the rear of the two combined pasta-pots and to arrange the container 5' on a track at the front of the two combined pasta.

An addition is for example to provide a container 25 close to one of the two cooking chambers, for example close to the chamber 12, said container 25 containing a brine containing a precise quantity of salt. The container 25 is connected to the hot water supply pipe 9 downstream of the valve 10 by a small pipe 26. When the valve 10 is opened to let hot water into the chamber 1, a programmed quantity of brine is sucked from the container 25 through the small pipe 26. The percentage of salt in the water in the vessel 25 is adjusted according to the taste of the consumer and other variables of the cooking process.

The pasta-cooker according to the invention has been designed and described for automatic cooking of pasta, but it is obvious that it is also possible to cook beans or other dry food products with dry. In fact it suffices for some minor modifications to be able to be made by the person skilled in the art.

Claims (5)

1. Automatic pasta-cooker comprising a first cooking chamber (1), said first cooking chamber (1) being equipped with a valve (2) for feeding pasta raw material and with a valve (3) placed below for discharging cooked pasta; a second cooking chamber (12) arranged below the discharge valve (3) of the first chamber (1) and equipped at the bottom with a flap (13) for discharging cooked pasta, said first chamber (1) being connected to a conduit (9), said conduit (9) being intended to supply hot water produced by the boiler (8), said second chamber (12) being connected to a conduit (19) for discharging cooking water, and both chambers (1, 12) being connected to a conduit (17) for discharging steam through vent valves (11, 16), said conduit for discharging steam and conduits (17, 19) for cooking water ending in a heat exchanger (18), said heat exchanger (18) preheating tap water before feeding it into the boiler (8).

2. Automatic pasta-cooker according to claim 1, characterized in that: it also comprises a container (5) for pasta raw material, said container (5) being equipped with a punch (6) and a turning device (4), said turning device (4) being suitable for feeding pasta raw material to the first cooking chamber (1).

3. Automatic pasta-cooker according to claim 1, characterized in that: the shutter (13) is of the cutoff type and is driven by a pneumatic piston (14).

4. Automatic pasta-cooker according to claim 1, characterized in that: it also comprises a container (25) for brine, said container (25) being equipped with a small pipe (26), said small pipe (26) being connected to the first cooking chamber (1) through a pipe (9) for supplying hot water.

5. An automatic pasta-cooker, characterized in that: it comprises at least two pasta-pots according to one or more of the preceding claims, said at least two pasta-pots being supplied with hot water from a boiler (8) and being connected to a heat exchanger (18) by means of a steam-venting conduit (17), two different cooking water-venting conduits (19, 19 ') and two different venting pumps (20, 20').