Blender for ingredients into soft-serve freezer products

Abstract

An assembly is mounted to a soft serve confection freezer. It includes a set of modules in a circular array and separately replaceable in a magazine. Each module supports a container storing a dry food ingredient in particulate form, and has a motor driven product impeller for controlled discharge of particulates from the container to a blender assembly. The blender assembly has a housing and screw-type auger of cooperating configurations and which cooperate with a central passageway for frozen confection flowing from the freezer, to blend solids into the confection and discharge into a customer's container for immediate consumption. Control panel selection of ingredients by the operator according to the customer's order, is provided. Components are arranged to facilitate cleaning.

1 . A method for blending dry edible solid ingredients with a frozen base product comprising: 
 starting a flow of the frozen base product from a freezer outlet to a blending chamber to flow through the chamber to a blended product outlet;    selecting a plurality of types of edible ingredient solids and entering solids of the selected types into said blending chamber;    augering said selected types solids into flow of said base product when flowing through said chamber and thereby producing a blend of said solids in said frozen base product; and    delivering said blend out of said blending chamber through said blended product outlet.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1  and further comprising: 
 storing in containers, a plurality of solids of different types of edible ingredients, each different type in a different container;    selecting certain ones of said different types for blending;    releasing the solids of the selected types from those of said containers storing said selected types, into the flow of said frozen-base product; and    blending the solids of the selected types into the flow of said frozen-base product.    
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 2  and further comprising: 
 rotating transfer impellers by motor drivers for releasing said solids.    
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 2  and further comprising: 
 releasing said solids of said selected types in sequence of one type following another type.    
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4  and further comprising: 
 predetermining the said sequence prior to starting the flow of said frozen base product;    releasing each of said selected types for a certain period, and releasing all selected types in a release sequence cycle; and    repeating said sequence cycles while said frozen base product continues to flow to the blending chamber.    
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5  and further comprising: 
 actuating a device for starting the flow of said frozen base product from the freezer outlet; and    responding to the actuation of the device to initiate the releasing and augering of said solids into said blending chamber.    
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 6  and further comprising: 
 using actuation of said device to initiate operation of both a blender motor and the said sequence cycle.    
   
   
       8 . The method of  claim 1  and further comprising: 
 using a rotary auger with spiral flights formed around a hollow core with a longitudinal axis; and    flowing said frozen base product from said freezer outlet downward through said core toward said blended product outlet.    
   
   
       9 . The method of  claim 8  and further comprising: 
 providing a wall having an inside surface circular around said axis and surrounding said auger;    providing matching profiles of said auger and said inside surface thereby fitting said auger to said inside surface;    sweeping downward on said surface with said auger flights while rotating said auger relative to said wall, on said axis;    using a conical portion of said interior surface to guide said solids inward as they are swept downward by said rotating auger, into said frozen base product flowing downward from said core through said chamber to said blended product outlet.    
   
   
       10 . The method of  claim 9  and further comprising: 
 admitting solids swept downward, into said flowing frozen base product, through cutouts between flights in said core.    
   
   
       11 . The method of  claim 10  and further comprising: 
 enabling solids guided inward into said cutouts as said auger is rotated, to move upward relative to the bottom of the flight above the cutout at the location of entry of the solid into the cutout, and move inwardly along a curved surface of said auger toward said axis and into said flowing frozen base product.