PATENTREPORT This section provides information on worldwide patents relevant to food control. Each report gives the following information: title of patent, patentee, patent number, publication date and summary of the patent. The reports have been selected from ‘Food Processing Patent Profiles’ with permission of Derwent Publications Ltd.
Oxygen absorbent for keeping food fresh - contains porous precipitated silica, water, glucose and glucose oxidase Ernst R DE 3828-531: 15 March 1990 An O2 absorbent contains (a) as adsorbent, porous, precipitated Si02 as carrier of water, with at least 40 ~01% of the particle or pore spaces of the SiO? free from water, (b) water, and (c) glucose and glucose oxidase as organic substances. Pref. crystalline cellulose may be used as carrier for water. CaCO? and/or MgC03 may be added to accelerate reaction and/or to provide CO,; the ratio of CaC03 and/or MgCo3: glucose is I:_?-1.5:l. A pH indicator changing colour after consumption of the O2 binder may be added.
Double sided irradiation of product particle food sterilisation allows more uniform dose, increased thickness, large surface area due to sweeping by narrow particle beam CGR MEV EP 360-655; 28 March 1990 Device for double face irradiation of a product comprises (a) a charged particle accelerator emitting a beam of charged particles in the form of impulses; (b) horn shaped sweep chamber under vacuum having an opening occupying half the horn width at its large end, the opening fitted with two beam transparent windows; the opening serving as a passage for the product to be irradiated; (c) a sweep means to move the beam across the horn during an impulse; (d) a first magnetic deviation means to make the divergent beam parallel and a second means to bend the half of the beam not destined to reach the opening from the opposite direction.
Food package - includes resin property Kuraray KK JO 2053-434: 22 February 1990
having
high
The food frying facility includes oven, fresh oil tank. vertical oil filter and a system of pipelines for oil and cooling water. The oil filter has cylindrical lower section with water jacket, conical middle section, upper cylindrical section having a smaller diameter than the lower cylindrical section, and filtering elements. After each cycle of frying, hot oil passes into lower section of oil filter for cooling. Then water is fed into section and expels the oil into conical section for additional cooling and precipitation of solids. In the next stage, oil is pushed by water through filtering elements into upper cylindrical section. Reusable oil is mixed with fresh oil in pipe. Waste is pumped out from lower cylindrical section.
Homogenizer for liquid foodstuffs - consists of twin valve spring-loaded contactor with confuser minimizing pressure loss and energy consumption Provision Mach SU 1507-268; I5 September 1989
Dipstick for nucleic acid hybridization multiple target analyses Microprobe Corp WO 900-564; 22 February 1990
assays
-
permits
Dipstick for nucleic acid hybridization assays comprises a handle connected to a non-porous solid support coated with a solid surface having a porosity which does not affect the diffusion of the free nucleic acids and comprising at least one discrete region having covalently bound nucleic acid probes. The probes may be covalently bound to the surface via spacer arms. The surface may also have proteins conjugated to the surface via disulphide bonds.
hygroscopic
Refrigerator - has refrigeration chamber, ice temperature chamber, vegetable container, far i.r. ray lamp and reflectors Hitachi KK JO 2057483; 27 February 1990 Refrigerator has foods preservation chambers of various temperature zones comprising refrigeration chamber, ice temperature chilled case, vegetable container, far i.r. ray lamp and reflection components to reflect far i.r. rays to chambers. An i.r. ray lamp is provided on the wall of the chilled chamber and a reflection plate is provided at the upper part of the chilled chamber which functions as portion plate to other chamber and to reflect far i.r. rays to the chilled chamber to all the corners. Food Control - April 199 1
Food product frying facility - has oil filter having shape of stepped cylinder with conical middle section and water jacket Potato Food Product SU 1486-154; 15 June 1989
Controlling microwave heating of packaged conveyor belt by computer supplied with temperature data Berstorff Maschinen Gmbh DE 3834-574; I2 April 1990
material - on positional and
Foodstuffs to be pasteurised at various temperatures. or other materials (e.g. pharmaceuticals) to be heated by microwaves within specific temperature ranges and held in open dishes or in packages permeable to microwaves travel on a continuous conveyor belt through a treatment chamber containing microwave feed channels above and below the travelling containers. Portions of leading edge and rear end of each container are sensed by a photoelectric sensor responsive to reflected light, and using a signal emitting e.g. I impulse for each mm travelled. are fed to a computer, also programmed with relative data on material nature (e.g. meat, potatoes, vegetables), portion size. etc. The computer automatically switches on or off the microwave supply to the channel concerned.
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