Moulding machine for production of pasta-filata cheese sticks

1. A moulding machine for production of pasta-filata cheese sticks, comprising:

a moulding unit comprising:

a chamber, which is supplied with pasta-filata and has outlets arranged in line and facing upwards,

at least one mould, which has two rows of channels opening on a first surface of the mould facing downwards and arranged adjacent to said outlets, and

driving means, which are adapted to drive said mould with reciprocating motion between a first position, in which the channels of a first one of said rows are aligned to said outlets to be filled with pasta-filata, while the channels of the second one of said rows are open to the outside for discharge, and a second position in which the channels of the second one of said rows are aligned to said outlets to be filled with pasta-filata while the channels of the first one of said rows are open to the outside for discharge,

a consolidation tub arranged below said moulding unit, and

a first chute and a second chute, which are arranged between said moulding unit and said consolidation tub for receiving pasta-filata in the shape of sticks from the channels of the first row and the channels of the second row respectively, and for unloading said sticks into the consolidation tub, each of said chutes having an inlet end substantially parallel to the plane defined by the axes of said channels, and an outlet end slanting with respect to the horizontal plane by a delivery angle in the range 0° to 45°, wherein said chutes each have a plurality of longitudinal dividers defining a plurality of corridors aligned and equal in number to the channels of each row.

2. The moulding machine of claim 1 , wherein said moulding unit, having reference to the plane defined by the axes of said channels, is slanting with respect to the vertical plane by a slope angle in the range 0° to 45°.

3. The moulding machine of claim 2 , wherein said slope angle (b) is substantially 20°.

4. The moulding machine of claim 1 , wherein said chutes have a curved profile from said inlet end to said outlet end such that said delivery angle is in the range 0° to 30°.

5. The moulding machine of claim 1 , wherein said delivery angle is substantially 20°.

6. The moulding machine of claim 1 , wherein said consolidation tub is provided with longitudinal guides aligned to said longitudinal dividers on the chutes for guiding the sticks while moving forward in the consolidation tub.

7. The moulding machine of claim 1 , further comprising ejection means adapted to eject pasta-filata in the shape of sticks from the channels open to the outside.

8. The moulding machine of claim 7 , wherein said channels are also open on a second surface of the mould facing away from said first surface, and said ejection means comprise pistons slidably received within the channels, all the pistons received within the channels open to the outside being simoultaneously engageable by a respective ejection crossbar which is operatively connected to actuation means for pushing the pistons into the respective channels and discharge the sticks.

9. The moulding machine of claim 8 , further comprising an adjusting crossbar, against which all the pistons received in the channels aligned to the outlets are adapted to abut as the channels are filled with pasta-filata, said adjusting crossbar being provided with adjusting means for varying the distance of the adjusting crossbar from said second surface and, consequently, the length of the sticks.