Conventional tanks for cooling mozzarella cheeses at the outlet of machines for molding these cheeses which have, after cooling, to be supplied to other devices for subsequent treatments, for example in tanks for preserving baths and/or to packaging machines, are constructed such that they comprise internally a closed circuit conveyor belt of the pan type which extends several meters from one end to the other of the cooling tank.
Although these known tanks provided with such a conveyor belt carry out their cooling task, they present major problems as regards their general cleaning both because of the structure of the conveyor which is usually in the form of articulated plates which provide a conveyor belt of the so-called caterpillar type which has to be removed from the tank, and because of the for the cleaning of the conveyor belt between the articulations between the plates.
In order to remedy these drawbacks of a practical and hygienic nature, attempts have recently been made to replace these so-called caterpillar belts with a band-type conveyor belt, which is easier to clean, actuating it with an alternating operating movement which is slow during the outward stroke and rapid during the return stroke relying on the floating effect of the mozzerella cheeses in order to avoid any hindrance to the forward movement of these cheeses. These systems have not been successful.