Method of packing meat

This invention relates to a method of packing meat and to a mould for use in such a method.

The term "meat" as used in this specification refers to animal meat for consumption such as chicken, beef, pork, lamb, mutton and the like. The meat may be in the form of meat pieces (such as chicken portions and cubes of beef) as well as ground and minced meats.

Meat is generally packed for transportation and storage by sealing the meat within a bag or wrapping the meat in a plastics material and thereafter packing the meat into a container. Despite the packed meat being stored in a refrigerated environment the shelf-life of the meat is nevertheless limited as air is often present within the packing material which encourages the degradation of the meat.

According to the invention there is provided a method of packing meat comprising the steps of:

providing a mould having a block-shaped cavity, positioning a flexible bag having an opening within the cavity of the mould,

inserting a shaping device into the bag so as to arrange the bag within the cavity in a configuration generally corresponding to the block-shaped cavity of the mould,

introducing the meat into the bag through the opening so as to form a generally block-shaped body of meat within the bag,

drawing a vacuum on the contents of the bag,

sealing the opening of the bag while maintaining the vacuum on the contents of the bag, and

removing the bag from the mould.

The method may include the step of vibrating the mould during or after the introduction of the meat into the bag.

Typically, the method includes the step of freezing the contents of the bag. The method may also include the step of introducing a marinade, sauce or gelatinous substance into the bag.

The method of the invention may be used for packing a plurality of block-shaped, meat-filled bags in a container suitably shaped to receive the block-shaped bags.

Alternatively, the block-shaped, meat-filled bags may be arranged on a pallet and held in position on the pallet by means of a covering being secured around the bags.

According to a preferred form of the invention, the mould comprises an open-topped box defining a block-shaped cavity for receiving the bag, a peripheral edge defining the open top of the box, slits formed in the peripheral edge on opposed sides of the box, and a lid having two sections moveable between an open position in which the sections are moved away from the opening and a closed position in which the sections lie across the opening, the sections in the closed position being arranged relative to one another so as to define a gap substantially in register with the slits and being adapted to receive an end portion of the bag in a collapsed condition.

Typically, the lid sections are hingedly connected to the open top edges of opposed sides of the box.

Preferably, the mould includes means for gripping opposite edges of the bag to cause a substantially flat sealing surface to be formed. The means for gripping is typically provided by the arrangement of the gap and the slits in the open top of the box.

The mould may include an adjustable base for varying the volume of the cavity within the mould.

The shaping device is typically a chute configured to be received within the cavity of the mould. Typically, the chute has a rectangular cross-section. Preferably, the chute is inserted into the bag within the cavity of the mould to such an extent so as to urge the bag into the comers of the block-shaped cavity.

Preferably, the flexible bag is oxygen impervious and is formed of a plastics material.

This specification also extends to cover a mould for use in a method as described above.

An embodiment of the invention is described in detail in the following passages of the specification which refer to the accompanying drawings. The drawings, however, are merely illustrative of how the invention may be put into effect, so that the specific form and arrangement of the features shown is not to be understood as limiting on the invention.

Figures 1 to 6 illustrate the sequence of steps in one embodiment of the method of packing meat according to the invention;

Figure 7 is a perspective view of a bag packed with meat according to the invention;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a pallet with a number of bags of prepacked meat packed thereon;

Figure 9 is an exploded perspective view of a first embodiment of a mould with an adjustable base; and

Figure 10 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of a mould with an adjustable base.

The method of the invention provides a means of vacuum packing meat in the shape of a block within a sealed, airtight bag. The method is described in the specification with reference to Figures 1 to 6 of the accompanying drawings.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, a flexible oxygen impervious bag 10 is provided into which the meat is to be packed. The bag 10 has elongate sides 12, a closed end 14 and an open end 16 such that the bag forms an open pocket. The bag is formed of a barrier material which is impervious to oxygen and the seals extending along the elongate sides 12 and the closed end 14 of the bag are also impervious to oxygen.

The shaping of the meat into a block form within the bag 10 is achieved by packing the meat into the bag while the bag is positioned within a mould. The mould 20 depicted in Figure 1 is generally box-shaped having major side faces 22, side faces 24 extending between the major side faces and base 26. The mould has an open top which leads into a block-shaped cavity, the shape of the cavity determining the shape into which the meat will eventually be moulded according to the method of the invention.

Arranged on opposed edges at the top of the mould are a pair of wings 30 which are hinged to the top edge of the major faces 22 of the mould and are able to pivot into a closed position in which they lie across the opening of the top of the mould. Clips 18 are provided for securing the wings 30 in the closed position. Slits 32 are also provided at the top edge of the mould. The slits 32 broaden towards the top of the mould into a v-shaped section.

Also depicted in Figure 1 is a chute 34 which has a generally rectangular cross-section. The cross-sectional dimensions of the chute allow it to be freely inserted into and removed from the box-shaped cavity 28 of the mould 20. The chute 34 has a pair of ears 36 extending from the uppermost edge of the chute which allow it to be gripped while being inserted into and removed from the mould 20.

The chute 34 serves the purpose of shaping the empty flexible bag 10 within the mould prior to the introduction of meat into the bag. This is best illustrated by reference to Figures 2 and 3 of the accompanying drawings. In Figure 2 the chute 34 is slid into the bag which draws the otherwise generally planar bag into an open shape around the chute 34. The chute 34 with the bag 10 arranged around it is then slid into the mould 20 until the base edge of the chute 34 comes to rest against the base of the cavity 28 of the mould. The clearance between the side walls of the chute 34 and the inner side walls of the cavity of the mould should be sufficient to receive the thickness of the material forming the flexible bag as well as allowing the chute 34 to be easily slid into and removed from the mould 20.

Once the chute 34 is in position within the mould 20, it will be appreciated that the bag 10 is drawn into a generally hollow block shape between the chute 34 and the mould 20. Furthermore, the lower edge of the bag is urged into the comers of the cavity of the mould. The elongate sides of the bag are dimensioned such that they extend up the sides of the mould into a position intermediate the upper edge of the chute and upper edge of the mould.

It will be appreciated that the sequence of positioning the chute within the bag and thereafter inserting the bag and the chute into the mould may be reversed by first positioning the bag within the cavity of the mould 28 and thereafter inserting the chute into the bag. The order or sequence in which these steps are performed is not of critical significance, rather the significance lies in the generally open block shape which the bag achieves within the mould prior to the introduction of meat into the bag.

The meat to be packed into the bag 10 is introduced into the bag through the chute 34. As the meat is introduced into the bag the chute may either be gradually withdrawn from the bag or the chute may be left in place to be withdrawn from the bag once the required volume of meat has been packed into the bag.

During the packing process the meat is compacted to avoid large voids forming within the body of packed meat. To assist with this compacting of the meat the mould 20 may be vibrated during the packing of the meat into the bag.

At this stage in the method a marinade, sauce or gelatine may also be added into the bag.

Once the required volume of meat has been packed into the bag 10 the chute 34 is withdrawn from the bag as is depicted in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings. As can also be seen from Figure 4, the elongate sides 12 of the bag 10 protrude through the slits 34 in the sides of the mould. This allows the wings 30 of the mould to be pivoted across the top of the mould without significant bunching of the bag taking place in the vicinity of the wings 30.

The dimensions of the wings 30 are such that on being pivoted across the top of the mould a gap remains between the adjacent edges of the opposed wings 30 through which the end of the bag 10 is allowed to protrude. In Figure 5 a diagrammatic cross-section of the bag is depicted with the upper end of the bag protruding between the gap formed by the wings 30. A vacuum creating apparatus 38 and a sealing apparatus 40 are also depicted diagrammatically in this drawing. The vacuum creating apparatus 38 draws a vacuum on the contents of the bag such that the contents of the bag is left essentially oxygen free with less than 0,1% by mass gaseous oxygen within the bag. While maintaining the vacuum on the bag, the bag is sealed along its top edge by means of heat, alone or in combination with pressure. Standard heat sealing apparatus may be used for this purpose.

Once sealed, the bag is withdrawn from the mould and the compacted nature of the meat within the bag and the vacuum which is drawn on the bag retains the bag and its contents in a generally block-shaped configuration. At this stage in the process, the bag and its contents are typically frozen to assist with the preservation of the meat.

The generally block-shaped configuration of the packaged meat, as depicted in Figure 7, allows relatively easy bulk handling of the meat by packing the bags of meat on a pallet 44 as depicted in Figure 8. Once positioned on the pallet a net or outer wrapping 42 is drawn around the bags of meat 10 to retain them in their packed configuration on the pallet. Similarly, the block-shaped bags of meat may be packed into a suitably shaped box, the block-shape of the bags allows the bags to be packed into the box with little free space.

A modification which can be made to the mould is depicted in Figure 9 of the drawings. In this embodiment of the invention the mould 46 has an open bottom 48 with an adjustable base plate 50. This allows the volume of the cavity within the mould to be varied by raising or lowering the base plate 50. The base plate is held in position by means of a pair of knurled fasteners which may be screwed in position into co-operating slots 52 provided in the side faces of the mould.

Figure 10 depicts a second embodiment of a mould suitable for use in the method of vacuum packing meat described above. As with the mould depicted in Figures 1 to 4 and 9, the mould 60 depicted in Figure 2 is generally box shaped, however, the sealing arrangement of the wings 62 differs from the previously described mould in that the wings 62 extend beyond the side walls of the mould over a pair of C-shaped projections 64 extending from the side walls of the mould 60. The use of this mould 60 in the method is substantially the same as the previously described mould with clips 66 being provided to secure the wings 62 in the closed position once the meat has been introduced into a bag located within the mould.

It will be appreciated that the shape of the mould may be varied to allow for different shaped blocks of meat to be formed and as a result the specific embodiments of the invention which have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings should not be seen as limiting on the invention as they are merely illustrative of a way in which a concept of

- ΐο the invention may be put into practice.