GB605172A - Improvements in or relating to apparatus for testing the cold flow of cheese, or other substances possessing rheological properties - Google Patents

Abstract

605,172. Testing rheological properties of cheese etc.; indicators. PACKMAN, P. J., and GUARD, R. F. W. Dec. 17, 1945, No. 34137. [Classes 106 (ii) and 106 (iv)] Apparatus for testing the cold flow of cheese, bitumen, waxes, confectionery, &c., comprises a base or datum surface 10 to rest on the cheese, a movable indenter 11, 13 adapted to be pressed into the cheese under an applied load, and a dial indicator 27 connected to the loading means to measure the degree of penetration of the cheese by the indenter and the degree of recovery of the cheese. The base has two brackets 15, 16 thereon, a lever 18, bearing on a roller 19 mounted at the head of the indenter 11, being pivoted in the bracket 16, and a twoarmed lever 22 being pivoted in the bracket 15. The arm 18 has an extension 25 operating on the spindle 26 of the indicator 27, and is provided with a roller 20 adapted to be engaged by a cross-bar 21 of the lever 22 which depresses the indenter 11 through the arm 18 under the influence of a weight 24 on the lever 22. A plate spring 29 partially counterbalances the weight of the arm 18 and indenter 11, but allows the latter to remain in contact with the cheese when the lever 22 has been raised. Means to hold the lever 22 in the raised position comprises a crank 38 riding beneath one arm of the lever and mounted on a counterbalanced arm 36 pivoted at 35 in an upright 28 on the base 10. In a modification, the apparatus is in a casing on which the cheese &c. is placed, and an indenter is projected upwardly from the casing into the cheese. A lever pivoted intermediate its ends is forked at one end to engage a cross-pin on the indenter and is adapted to be weighted at the other end by a weighted pivoted frame controlled by a crank handle. In use, the depth of penetration in a certain time, and the degree of recovery of the cheese in a certain time, are related to one another as a numerical factor. The dial indicator 27 has a fixed or adjustable scale and a movable pointer, and an additional scale or cursor comprising a transparent cover 33 carried in a rotatable bezel, this second scale being adjusted to the position of the pointer after penetration and having a reversed scale to show directly the degree of recovery of the indenter.