Benefits
Tray tunnel system for ice cream extrusion
Application for extrusion, shaping, filling, decorating and hardening of ice cream. Examples of product types: ball top cones, desserts, wafer cups, sandwiches, cakes and logs, slices, bite sizes, stick products and candy bars.
Quick facts
Tray tunnel system for the extrusion, shaping, filling and hardening of ice cream
Capacity
Up to 43,200 products/hr
Applications
Ice cream sticks, sandwiches, cones, wafer cups, candy bars, slices, bite size, cakes, and logs
Flexible production, efficient hardening
- High speed operation and a range of smart features enable the lowest cost per product on the market
- Modular design and easy cleaning deliver product versatility with secure product changeovers
- Product quality is consistent, with on target output (standard deviation below 1%)
Features
Modular design
Easily adapted to meet a range of needs
A modular design maximizes versatility with regard to the product being made and the capacity required. Moreover, the layout of the equipment, the choice of tray size and the equipment placement on the worktable can all be varied to meet your needs.
Double fan set-up
Cost efficient production
The Tetra Pak® tunnel has two sets of fans that circulate cooled air around the products, to ensure they are efficiently and evenly hardened. These fans deliver the desired hardening effect with the lowest possible power consumption, thereby reducing production costs.
Servo cutter
Precisely repeatable production
The servo cutter slices the extruded ice cream with a high degree of precision every time (standard deviation below 1%). This, combined with the fact that the Tetra Pak® freezer upstream delivers a well mixed and consistent stream of product, means that every single ice cream coming off the line is the correct and the same size.
Automatic stick inserter
Enhances food safety and production reliability
With an automatic stick inserter, operators just need to load up boxes of sticks, and they receive an alert when it’s time to reload. This gives several advantages: there is no contamination risk from human contact; boxes cost less than bundled sticks, and one person can easily handle a four lane production line. This feature also supports the unit’s high operational speed – up to 200 sticks per minute per lane.
Start-up process design
Efficient, hygienic and minimizes product losses
Preparation for production is carried out outside the tray to ensure safe and clean start-up without the risk of contamination. As the ice cream mixture enters the extrusion nozzles, they are gradually cooled down. When they reach the right temperature and fill out the nozzle to form the correct shape, the operator sets the cutter in motion. The size of each ice cream slice can then be measured, and when it is correct, the operating system can be moved over to the production trays. This start-up process means there are no non-conforming products on the tray and no mess.
Product release system
High yield transfer
When it’s time to pick the products up and transfer them to the down stream equipment, they have to be released from the tray in a controlled way, to avoid shifting their position or damaging them. Our system gently holds the ice creams in place, while tapping them to free them from the contact surface.
Worktable-equipment interface
Easy switch between different product types
This unit has a well-defined and standardized interface between the equipment and the worktable. It consists of identical mounting points where the equipment used to create (and differentiate) products is mounted. Production is easily varied, simply by switching and moving fillers, decoration equipment, biscuit dispensers etc.
Options
Dehumidifier
Extended run time between defrosting
If planning to run continuous operation for several days in a row, it is important to control the humidity in the hardening tunnel to prevent frost build up. The dehumidifier supplies dry air to the tunnel and keeps the moisture level down.
Add-on and exchange modules
Enabling production of a broad range of ice creams
Whatever kind of ice cream you want to produce, there is an add-on module or modules to make it possible. Different stick product size and shape, full and half sandwiches, ice cream slices, candy bars, bite size, ball top cones, wafer cups, decorated cakes, logs etc.
Special hardening trays
Broadening the range of possible products
With the addition of special trays, the line can also be used for hardening of flat top cones, cups and boxed products. In this instance, the product is typically supplied from a filling machine rather than being ‘made’ on the worktable.
Internal cladding
Further enhances food safety
This option consists of an insulated housing with fully welded stainless steel cladding on the inside, which allows for heavy washing. Welding eliminates the need for caulk seal assemblies and so minimizes the risk of bacterial contamination. Equipped with this option, your extrusion tunnel meets the strictest food safety regulations.
Large inclusions with Tetra Pak® Extrusion Wheel
Capture new opportunities with patented new design
A vertical vertical rotating wheel shapes ice cream products with large inclusions – up to 25 mm in size – and places them precisely and gently on the worktable trays for further handling. The unit requires only one metre of space on the worktable and interfaces quickly and seamlessly with all our A series extrusion lines with no special arrangement. Only electricity is required. Produce and quickly develop new products including sandwiches, stick products, bars and slices with a wide range of sticky, fragile and chunky large inclusions – and combined with liquid ripple.
Tetra Pak® Decoration Depositing unit
Create innovative ice cream designs
This advanced, highly automated solution lets you decorate ice cream products with different materials such as caramel, ripple/fruit sauce or chocolate compound. The unit consists of a pump system, print heads and design software, and is mounted on the extrusion line worktable. Product quality is repeatable and precise, and it is easy to create new designs.
Ice Cream Position Assist
Ice Cream Position Assist
Ice Cream Position Assist is a digital monitoring application that enables production efficiency, improve product quality and helps reduce product waste for ice cream extrusion lines. The solution uses laser sensors to measure tray condition and position of sticks and products. Issues can be detected early, which allows for early error correction. This makes it possible to avoid both misplaced sticks and products not being picked up at all.
Ice Cream Video Care
Get full visibility of your ice cream line
Ice Cream Video Care lets you visually monitor inaccessible and “hidden” areas of ice cream production lines. Featuring up to 16 cameras, the solution enables improved quality control and troubleshooting – by making it easier to locate the root cause of quality issues, it becomes possible to reduce downtime and product waste. Ice Cream Video Care provides access to live video as well as recordings.
Ice Cream Centre Filling Assist
Fine-tune ice cream position
Ice Cream Centre Filling Assist helps you produce precision-perfect ice cream cones, sandwiches and similar products on filling units on extrusion lines. The system analyses chain pin position by measuring time intervals as the pins pass the sensors. Any deviations are compensated for, ensuring that the ice cream – and ripple – consistently end up where it should: in the centre of the cone or wafer.
Ice cream Product Development Centre
At the Tetra Pak Ice Cream PDC you can experiment with the latest ice cream processing solutions in a complete production environment at semi-industrial scale.
