IE50302B1

IE50302B1 - A shirred tubular food casing packed into a tubular netting

Info

Publication number: IE50302B1
Application number: IE2157/80A
Authority: IE
Original assignee: Peter Kg Gerhard
Priority date: 1979-10-19
Filing date: 1980-10-17
Publication date: 1986-03-19
Also published as: ES266373U; ZA806398B; ES262250U; DE2942356A1; ATE2296T1; DK434680A; CA1165166A; YU266280A; DK157164B; ES266373Y; IE802157L; DE3061797D1; FI803262L; ES262250Y; ES266374Y; EP0027592B1; AU6323480A; DK157164C; JPS5661955A; ES266374U

Abstract

1. Shirred foodstuff casing (2, 22, 32) packaged in a tubular net, which has, inside the tubular net (1, 21, 31) a ring-shaped supporting element at least at one end, characterised in that the ring-shaped supporting element is a rubber ring (3, 23, 33) with a circular cross-section.

Description

This invention relates to a shirred, tubular food casing wrapped in tubular netting which may be used without difficulties particularly on sausage filling machines.

It has already been proposed (cf. US Patent No. 3,639,130) to pack shirred, tubular casings in tubular netting having a cord or clip closure for the purpose of transport and storage in water. In the mechanised production of sausage, a shirred and packed food casing such as this is generally pushed onto the filling nozzle of the sausage-filling machine and, following removal of the closure from the tubular netting, is filled in portions. Difficulties can arise when the packed tubular casing is pushed onto the filling nozzle because the net wrapping radially compresses the ends of the shirred food casing. This can be counteracted by using a supporting disc, which has to correspond to the dimensions of the filling nozzle for the bore and to the dimensions of the shirred casing with regard to its external diameter, the supporting disc is introduced into the net wrapping at the ends of the shirred food casing and by guiding the holding force of the net wrapping substantially in the direction of its axis so that deformation is avoided at the ends and the shirred food casing is safely fixed on the filling nozzle in the axial direction.

The disadvantage of this ki'n’d1 of packaging is that a number of supporting discs with the appropriate dimensions has to be kept available and further in the fact that the net wrapping has to be removed after the casing has been opened and fitted onto the filling nozzle.

Accordingly, there is a need to modify the known tubular net wrapping for shirred tubular food casings so that no diffucltles are involved in fitting the packed tubular casing onto the filling nozzle and to fix one and the same tubular casing axially to differently dimentioned filling nozzles.

Accordingly the present invention relates to a shirred foodstuff casing packaged in a tubular net, which has, inside the tubular net a ring-shaped supporting elansnt at least at one end, characterised in that the ring-shaped supporting element is a rubber ring with a circular cross-section.

At the other end - opposite to the rubber ring - the wrapping net may be closed in known manner with a clip after the tubular net, guided from one end of the shirred food casing on the outside of the casing to the other end and through the interior of the casing back to the fixed end of the food casing, has been tightened by pulling at both ends to compress the food casing and after both ends of the net have been cut to the same length. In one preferred embodiment, an opening aid is provided at this opening end before it is closed by the clip, consisting of a hollow disc with a centrally situated annular disc which is provided with a cutting edge. The net packed, shirred food casing is then fitted onto the filling nozzle at its open end where the rubber ring is situated. Thereby the filling nozzle comes up against the centrally situated annular cutting edge which presses onto the net, cuts it and hence automatically opens it.

In another preferred embodiment, the wrapping net is not guided through the hollow interior of the shirred tubular food casing, instead it is guided from the first end of the shirred tubular food casing along the outside S0302 to the second end where the rubber . ring is situated, looped around this rubber-' ring and guided back along the outside of the shirred food casing to the first end. The two ends of the net are tightened in known manner, so that it is also possible to adjust the rubber ring around which the net is looped to a required diameter, and are then closed in the manner described above. After the casing has been fitted onto the filling nozzle, for which purpose the ring generally has to be stretched somewhat further, and after the net has been opened, so that the ring is relaxed to a slight extent, the ring firmly applies around the filling nozzle and thus the wrapping net is firmly fixed around the filling nozzle. The food casing may be readily withdrawn from the wrapping net and filled without the net having to be removed. After the packed food casing has been used, the net wrapping is simply withdrawn with the ring from the filling nozzle.

In another preferred embodiment, the shirred tubular food casing is clamped between two rubber rings, around which the wrapping net is looped in the manner described above. If the wrapping net, in the form of a double net, is only guided along the outside of th shirred food casing, the ends of the net are preferably not closed by means of a clip at one end of the food casing. Instead the second end of the net, after being wrapped around the second rubber ring, is guided back along the outside of the food casing approximately to the centre thereof where it is welded to the first end of the wrapping net.

The shirred food casing (stick) packed into a tubular net with at least one rubber - ring situated at one end in accordance with the invention are preferably produced as follows: The shirred food casing is removed in the form of a hollow stick from a standard commercial shirring machine and introduced into a tubular net of suitable length. At one end, the rubber ring is threaded on over the tubular net and moved right up to the shirred tubular casing. The tubular net is then pushed over both the ring and the shirred tubular casing so that the shirred tubular casing is packed into a double net.

The new-packed food casing may then be closed in known manner by means of a clip.

In addition, it is also possible to introduce the net-packed food casing into a known holding and sealing machine. In this case, too, a rubber ring is again initially threaded on over the exposed end of the net wrapping, pushed up to the shirred tubular food casing and the second end of the tubular net is also pushed over the ring and the food casing. The second side of the holding and sealing machine is then applied and the two inverted ends of the net are welded in known manner. Any superfluous ends are then cut off. have a circular cross-section of from 2 to 8 mm.

The hollow disc and annular disc comprising a cutting edge which are used as an aid to opening are preferably made of a thermoplastic material, such as polyamide, ABS or polystyrene. 302 The wrapping net is normally a polyethylene net and the food casing preferably consists of cellulose regenerate which has to be moistened before filling.

Several embodiments of the food casing with the improved wrapping are described in detail in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Figure 1 shows a shirred food casing 2 which is packed into a double net 1 of polyethylene and which is provided at one end with a rubber ring 3 and at its other end with an opening aid consisting of a hollow disc 4 and an annular disc 5 with a cutting edge. The wrapping net is closed at this end by means of a clip 6.

Figure 2 shows a shirred food casing 22 which is packed into a double net 21. At both ends of the food casing, there are situated rubber rings 23 around which the wrapping net was guided. The wrapping net 21 which only lies on the outside of the food casing 22 is externally welded at 7, i.e. approximately at the centre of the food casing 22.

Figure 3 is a modification of the arrangement in Figure 2 in which the end of the food casing 32 is closed by means of a clip 36. Through this measure, the casing is open at one end for fitting onto the filling nozzle, whereas in the embodiment shown in Figure 2 it may be fitted on at either end.

Claims

1. Shirred foodstuff casing packaged in a tubular net, which has, inside the tubular net a ring-shaped supporting element at least at cne end, characterised in that the ring shaped supporting element is a rubber ring with a circular cross-section.

2. Packaged foodstuff casing according to Claim 1, characterised in that at the other end of the shirred foodstuff casing there is present, as an opening aid, a hollow disc with a centrally located annular disc possessing a cutu^-.u edge, and that at this end of the foodstuff casing the two ends of the packaging tubular net are closed by means of a clip.

3. Packaged foodstuff casing according to Claims 1 c.2, characterised in that the packaging net is looped over the rubber ring and is present, in the form of a double net, only on the outside of the shirred foodstuff casing.

4. Packaged foodstuff casing according to Claim. 1 characterised in that a second rubber ring with a circular cross-section is present at the other end of the shirred foodstuff casing.

5. Packaged foodstuff casing according to Claims 1 or 4, characterised in that the two ends of the packaging tubular net are welded together on the outside of the foodstuff casing.

6. Packaged foodstuff casing according to Claims 3, 4 or 5, characterised in that the packaged foodstuff casing is closed by a clip on one side.

7. A shirred food casing packaged in a tubular net, as claimed in claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.