CA1056198A - Self-sustaining stick of shirred food casing - Google Patents

Abstract

SELF-SUSTAINING STICK OF
SHIRRED FOOD CASING

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A self-sustaining length of shirred tubular food casing comprising a stick of shirred and compressed tubular food casing having a bore extending therethrough and a sheathing material closely drawn about the periphery of said stick of shirred food casing and down about at least a portion of the terminal pleats at each end thereof and terminating at each end thereof in a reinforced aperture aligned with the bore through said shirred casing stick, said sheathing material totally retaining said stick of shirred food casing therein and forming a self-sustaining length thereof that will not be prematurely deshirred.

S P E C I F I C A T I O N

1.

Description

~ai56198 ~ ~

Reference is had to the applicant's co-pending applica~ion Serial No. 225,979, filed April 19, 1975.
This invention relates to a stick of shirred, com-pressed food casing and, more particu~arly, tD a stick of shirred tubular food casing retained within a sheathing material to protect the stick from premature deshirring~ and to a method for preparing the same.
Tubular cellulosic food casings of intermediate and large size, either reinforced with fibrous web material or not, are produced in circumference sizes generally ranging from about 5 inches to about 15 inches. These tubular casings have a wall thickness greater than that of the small-diameter -tubular casings used in the production of sausages such as frankfurters and which generally have a circumference within the range of from about 1 3/4 inches to about 4 3/4 inches. - ~-: .
When shirred, using methods and apparatus well known in the ~ :
art as, for example, disclosed in U.S. Patent Nos. 2,983,949 and 2,984,574 to Matecki, the pleats formed in the thicker walls of larger size tubular casings cannot be compacted as much as those in the thinner walls of small-diameter casings.
As a result, the sticks of shirred and compressed casing do `
not retain their integrity, and tend to break and deshirr. ~ -In order to overcome this disadvPntage, the shirred sticks .,~ - .. .:
of larger sized tubular casings are conventionally provided with a support core, preferably in the form of a tube of ', ~ ' ' ':, '"

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1~15~ 8 plastic material, inserted into the bore of the stick immediately after compressing the shirred stick, with deshirring or premature Qeparation of the com- -pressed pleated casing being prevented by a pin or peg extending transversely through the walls of the support tube at both extremities thereof restraining the stick endwise.
This core and peg arrangement is rela~ively expensive. Moreover? before the meat-stuffing opera-tion3 the shirred casing sticks must be immersed and soaked in water to impart to the wall of the casing the flexibility necessary for such operation and the core and restraining pegs do not permit ready soaking of the inside wall of the compressed sticks. Further~
more, for the stuffing operation, the core tu~e and peg arrangement does not permit re~dy placement on a stuffing horn without additional time-consuming manipu- `~
lation by the stuffer operator.
Other techniques for supporting a shirred casing sti~k and preventing premature deshirring th~reof -- ~
have been ~hown in the patent literature and specific ~ ;reference i6 made to V. S. Patent ~08. 3,446,634 to ~ - , . .
5tahlberger, 39528~825 to Doughty and 3,639,130 to Eichin.
However, there is still t~e demand for a ;
method of retaining shirred casing stic~s and preventing premature deshirring thereof that is simple and ~ . .

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economical to use, which permits ~he shirred casing .
stick to be readily moisturized without undue manipulation ~nd danger of premature deshirring and -~
- allows ready placement of the shi.rred casing stick :~
on a stuffing horn.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a self-sustaining length of shirred ~ ;
and compressed tubular food casing comprising a length ; .
of shirred and compressed tubular food casing having a bore extending therethrough and having a sheathing material closely drawn and tensioned about the perip~ery .
of said shirred casing and down about at least a portion of the terminal. pleats at each end thereof, said sheathing maeerial having an integral reinforced aperture at each end thereof aligned with the bore ;;
:~ .
through said shirred tubular casing. : ~ .
There is alsc~ provided, in accordance with the present invention, a method for preparing a self-sustaining lengt:h of shirred and compressed tubular food casing having a oentral bore extending .;
therethrough which comprises supporting a length of ;;~
shirred and compre.ssed tubularfood casing having a ~.
substantially straight bore extending therethrough `
about a mandrel" providing a length of heat shrinkable she~lthing material and arranging said sheathing mat~arial about the periphery of 6aid supported shirred casing wieh the ends thereof extending 4.

~' ' , :: ; , ~: : ' . :
.: . , beyond the ends of said shirred casing, shrinking ~ .
said ~heathing material about the periphery of said 6hirred casing ~o that it is closely drawn thereabout, and shrinking the sheathing material extending beyond each of the ends of ~aid shirred casing 80 that it is closely drawn about at least a portion of the ~ i terminal pl~at6 at each end of sald ~hirred casing `
and forms integral reinforced apertures therein aligned with the bore extending through said shirred c~sing . ;;~
whereby said length of compressed, shirred casing is .~-retained totally within said ~heathing material without restricting the bore therethrough.
An advantageous aspect of the sheathed length ;
of shirred and compressed tubular food casing of the present invention is that the compressed length o~
; .~hirred cHsing is substantially maintained and the tub~lar casing material may be moisturized by immer~ing `~
in water without removing the ~heathing material.
Furthermore3 the sheathing material and reinforced end -~
portions thereof will restrain expansion in the tubing ; ;
length due to increased moisture content and retain the terminal pleat~ of the moi~turized casing thereby per~
~i~ting the moisturized shirred casing to be readily mounted on v~rious type~ of stuffing horns.
The article and method-of ~he present .~
invention will become more fully apparent from the ~: -following description and the accompanying dr~wing in ~ ;

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which:
Fig, 1 is a side view, partially in section, of an exemplary embodiment of a self-sustaining length of shirred and compressed tubular food casing of the invention. `~
Fig. 2 is a side view, part in section and part broken away, of a mandrel with a shirred and ;.
compressed stick of food casing on said mandrel with . a sheathing material arranged thereabout.
Figs. 3-5 are fragment~ry side views, part in section, showing various steps of a typical method ~ :
for preparing the she~thed, shlrred ~tick of food .
casing illustrated in Fig. 1.
Fig. 6 is the end view of the sheathed stick `
prepared as illustrated in Figs. 3-5. .
Figs. 7-8 are fragmentary sideviews,part in section~ of an alternate embodiment of a method : for preparing the ~heathed7 shirred stick of c~sing .~,,' 'i ' . , .
~ illu~trated in Fig. 1, Referring now tG the drawing, there is shown ~ ::
ln Fig. 1 a stick 10 of ~hirred and compressed tubular :
food casing having a bore 11 extending therethrough.
The stick 10 of shirred casing is contained within ~heathing material 12 that is closely drawn and ten~
sioned about the periphery of said stick of shirred casing with the por~ions 13 of shea~hing material 12 extending beyond the ends of ~aid stick being drawn down about ~ .

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1~ 56~9 ~ 9004 : .
at least a portion of the terminal pleat~ 15 at each end of the stiek 10 of 3hirred casing forming end i~
walls therefor. In each end of the sheathing material 12 is an aperture 19 that ls qubstantlally aligned wlth the bore 11 through said stick 10 of shirred casin~ with the sheathing material defining the edge of each aperture 19 being formed Lnto an integral reinforcing bead 17. The apertures 19 in the ends of `
the sheathing material 12 should generally be of a diameter large enough that the bore 11 is:not oc~
cluded; however, they sh~tld nbt be so large that the reinforced end walls do not retain the compressed ~ .
length of shirred casing stick IO and terminal plea~s -.
~15 thereof during handling and further processing.
ShLrred tubular food casings that may be :' ' . :.' ~: ,.
employed in accordance with ~he~practice of the inven~
.
: . tion are food casi~gs, and preferably regenerated . `~ -~
cellulosic food casings, prepared by any of the well known methods and Lncluding fibrous food casing that 20 has a fLbrous web embedded in the wall thereof.
Material constLtutLn~ the sheathing material of the presen~ invention may be prepared from any one . :~-. ~
~: of a wide variety of film forming polymers and . ~ .
copolymers well known in the art as, for example, ; :~ .
polyvinylidene chloride and copolymers thereof, poly~
vinylchloride, polyethylene and other polyolefins, polyesters and the like. Especially preferred are ~ :

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sheathing ma~erials prepared from heat-shrinkable plastic film or plas~ic film that exhibits some heat- -shrinking characteristics. Suitable plastic film sheathing material may be translucent, opaque or trans-parent and may have a film thicknes~ be~ween about - ;
.0005 inch and .003 inch, or greater, depending on the size of the shirred casing stick to be enveloped and ~
length of tubular casing incorporated in said stick. ~ `
In addition, suitable plastic film sheathing material may be a continuous film or perforated.
It is essential that the sheathing material be closely drawn and tensioned about the periphery and ends of the compressed shirred tubular casing and tha~ the physical properties of the sheathing ma~erial are suit-able to restrain the original longitudinal compression on the shirred casing~ restrain the contents during handling and further processing and thereby maintain its -~
physical integrity. It is particu~arly preferred that the ends of the sheathing material which are closely ~ ~
drawn about ~nd retain the terminal pleats of said casing ~ -stick and terminate in apertures, are provided with in~
tegr~l reinforcement means therein as, for example, the reinforcing beads 17 or thickened wall sections formed by fusing overfolded film material and the like.
In general, suitable sheathing materi~l may be seamless or seamed tubing that may be prepared as individual discrete lengths or cut from continuous lengths -:

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, ~ 5 619 ~ 9004 o~ tuhing, or may he sheet material that is formed about the shirred casing stick and then heat ~ealed.
Perfor~tions can be provided in the sheathlng material ~o facilitate the imbibing of water by the outer surface of the compressed pleats. Such perforations can be :~
of a size, shape and placement to no~ adversely affect the strength of the ~heathing material.
A typical method of preparing the 6heathed, shirred casing stick of the present invention ~s, for example, the sheathed ~tick of Fig. 1 is illustrated in Figs. 2 to 6. Fig. 2 shows a stick of ~hirred and compressçd tubular food casing 10 having a bore 11 therethrough mounted on a mandrel 32. The mandrel may be the end of a shirring mandrel that is part of the ^
shirring apparatus or may be an auxiliary mandrel to which the ca~ing stick was moved after completion of the shirring and compresxion operations. A sheet of plastic film sheathing material 12, preferably made of . .
heat shrinkable polyethylene, has been formed into a ~ -closely fitting tube about the length of shirred casing -and overlapping portions thereof were heat sealed, ~ ;~
using techniques well known in the art, forming a longi~
tudinal ~eam 36. End portions 13 of the sheathing material 12 extend beyond the ends of the terminal - pleat~ 15 of the ~hirred casing stick 10.
A blas~ of hot air from "shrink gun" ~0 (Fig~
3, 4 and 5) i8 then directed over the end portion 13 of ~ .

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the sheathing material extending beyond the end of -shirred stick 10 causing the film to shrink and draw down abou~ the terminal pleats 15 at the end of the shirred stick 10 (Figs. 3-5). The terminal end 20 of the film sheathing material is also melted back and fused into a reinforcing bead 17 about an aperture 19 in the sheathing material (Fig. 6). It will be obvious ~ ;
that both ends 13 of the sheathing material 12 may be simultaneously heat s~runk about the terminal pleats 15 ~ - -at each end of the shirred casing stick 10.
The sheathing material 12 about the periphery of the shirred casing stick 10 may then be heated by the shrink gun 50, or by passing the supported casing stick through a heatlng chamber to shrink the sheathing material so that it is closely drawn about the periphery of the shirred casing stick 10. It is preferred ~o initially heat shrink end portions 13 about the terminal pleats 15`and then to heat shrink the intermediate portions of the sheathing material 12 to thereby obtain a taut package suitable for containing the contents during handling, and to restrain endwise expansion forces of the compressed casing. After the film cools, the shea~hed, shirred casing stick may be doffed from about the support mandrel 32. The sheathed stick of shirred tubular food casing prepared as described above is a self-sustaining stick of shirred casing that can be grasped and carried without breaking or prema~ure 10 .

~ ,., . . . -. , ~056198 90~4 separation and has an unrestricted bore that permits ready installation of the shirred stick on a stuffing horn, Flexible plastic film suitable for use as a sheathing material in accordance with the present invention may be preformed into a seamed or seamless tubing. The internal diameter of said preformed tubing should be large enough so that it may be readily posi-tioned about a shirred ca~ing without disrupting the integrity thereof but should not, of course, be so large in diameter that it will not be closely drawn and ten~
sioned about the shirred stick on heat-shrinking. In gen~
eral, the diameter of a preformed tube should be about 5-10%-larger than the outer diameter of the shirred casing stick. It is e~sential that the sheathing material used is long enough to contain the full length of ~he compressed leng~h of shirred food casing and at least~a portion of the terminal pleats at each end of shirred c~sing. It is also important that enough material is available for the formation of an integral reinforced section to retain the terminal plea~s of the shirred caæing without restriction of the bore therethrough.
In an alternative embodiment, a short portion of the end portions 13 of the sheathing ma~erial 12 that extends beyond the ends of the shirred casing stick 10 may be overfolded or infolded. Upon 11,. ~ ' : . .. : -, ~6~563L~8 C)004 application of heat during heat-shrinki~g of the sheathing material, the Eolded por~ions of sheathing material are fused togcther as they shrink down about the terminal pleat 15 of the shirred casing thereby forming reinforced apertured end-walls for the sheathed casing.
In another alternatlve embodiment (Figs. 7-8), each end of the mandrel 32 is provided with a funnel-shaped recess to serve as a drogue 60 for mating with a probe portion 62 of heated forming mandrel 64.
Mandrel 64 can be of the same or greater diameter than that of mandrel 32. By juxtaposing the end of drogue 60 with the terminal pleats 15 of the shirred casing stick 10, heat shrinking of end portion 13 of the sheathing material provides a reinforcing~bead 42 about an aperture 43 that is smaller than the casing bore 11 (Flg~ 7). In a succeeding step, probe ~;
portion 62 of mandrel 64 is hea~ed to a temperature - ~ :
sufficient to soften, thicken and reshape bead 42 to an aperture 44 that is equal to or greater than bore 11 (Fig. 8). Thus more heat shrinkable material can be provided to form a stronger size-controlled rein-forcing bead 42 at each end of the stick and yield a ~
sheathed stick of ~hirred casing that is highly re- , sistant to endwise expansion forces without restriction of the bore therethrough.
As already mentioned, the self-sustaining .
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~ 356198 9004 stick of shirred tubular food casing of the present invention may be soaked in water, when necessary to increase the flexibility of the tubular casing, without premature separation of the compressed pleats and the moisturized stick may then be placed on a .
stuffing horn without undue manipulation and without the need to remove the sheathing material. Further~
more, it is possible for the tubular casing to be ~ :
stuffed with food emulsion without removing the ~
sheathing material or by removing only a portion of ~:
the sheathing end-wall.thereby preventing undesirable ~: :
premature deshirring of the shirred stick while mounted on a stuffing horn.
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Claims (10)

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A self-sustaining length of shirred and compressed tubular food casing comprising in combination:
(a) a stick of shirred and compressed tubular food casing having a bore extending therethrough; and (b) a thin-walled heat shrinkable sheathing material closely drawn and tensioned about the periphery of said stick of shirred casing and down about at least a portion of the terminal pleats at each end thereof and terminating at each end thereof in a reinforced aperture aligned with and non-occluding the bore through said shirred casing stick, said sheathing material totally retaining said stick of shirred food casing therein and forming a self-sustaining length thereof.

2. The self-sustaining length of shirred food casing of claim 1 wherein said sheathing material is a thin-walled plastic film.

3. The self-sustaining length of shirred food casing of claim 1 wherein said shirred tubular casing has a fibrous web embedded in the wall thereof.

4. The self-sustaining length of shirred food casing of claim 1 wherein said reinforced aperture comprises an integral fused bead of sheathing material defining the edges of the aperture.

5. The method of preparing a self-sustaining length of shirred and compressed tubular food casing having a central bore extending therethrough which comprises:
(a) providing a stick of shirred and compressed tubular food casing having a substantially straight bore extending therethrough supported about a mandrel;
(b) providing a length of thin-walled heat-shrink-able sheathing material and arranging said sheathing material about the periphery of said supported shirred casing stick with the ends thereof extending beyond the ends of said shirred casing;
(c) shrinking said sheathing material so that it is closely drawn about the periphery and down about at least a portion of the terminal pleats at each end of said shirred casing and is terminated at each end in a reinforc-ed aperture aligned with and non-occluding the bore extending through said shirred casing and whereby said stick of shirred casing is retained within said sheathing material; and then (d) removing said sheathed length of shirred food casing from about the mandrel support.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein said sheathing material comprises a tube having a diameter large enough to envelop said shirred casing without disrupting the compression thereof.

7. The method o claim 5 comprising heating said film sheathing material extending beyond the ends of said shirred casing to shrink the same down about the terminal pleats of said shirred casing and then heating said film sheathing material intermediate the ends thereof to shrink the same about the periphery of said shirred casing.

8. The method of claim 5 comprising heating the film sheathing material to shrink the same about the periphery and terminal pleats of said shirred casing and fusing the sheathing film defining the apertures in each end thereof into an integral reinforcing bead.

9. The method of claim 5 comprising over-folding a portion of the sheathing material extending beyond the ends of said shirred casing and fusing said overfolded portions of film to form reinforced end walls for said sheathed stick of shirred casing.

10. The method of claim 5 comprising the further step of heating and reshaping the reinforced apertures in the ends of said sheathing material.