System and method for the thermal treatment of a product, particularly a food item

摘要

Systems and methods for thermal treatment of packed product(s), e.g, food items, using electric current, which includes providing interconnected electrodes to facilitate the flow of electric current through the products in series, parallel, or any other combination, thus efficiently heating the products in a controlled manner.

主权项

1. A system for the thermal treatment of products, wherein the products are food items, by introducing a heating energy into the products using an electric current when the system is in a treatment position, the system comprising:
a support system configured to receive a plurality of packing units, wherein each packing unit contains at least one product and each packing unit has at least one first packing unit electrode and at least one second packing unit electrode disposed thereon; and a first system electrode unit having at least two first connector electrodes, wherein each first connector electrode is placed in contact with the at least one first packing unit electrode when the system is in the treatment position to permit the electric current to flow therethrough; a second system electrode unit having at least two second connector electrodes, wherein each second connector electrode is placed in contact with the at least one second packing unit electrode when the system is in the treatment position to permit the electric current to flow therethrough; wherein the first connector electrodes of the first system electrode unit are arranged to be opposite the second connector electrodes of the second system electrode unit when the system is in the treatment position; and wherein the at least two first connector electrodes are selectively interconnected with each other, and the at least two second connector electrodes are selectively interconnected with each other, to permit the current to flow through at least two packing units at least one of in series and in parallel when the system is in the treatment position.