CA1160909A - Process and apparatus for feeding wafer pieces into chocolate-slab casting moulds - Google Patents
Process and apparatus for feeding wafer pieces into chocolate-slab casting mouldsInfo
- Publication number
- CA1160909A CA1160909A CA000388762A CA388762A CA1160909A CA 1160909 A CA1160909 A CA 1160909A CA 000388762 A CA000388762 A CA 000388762A CA 388762 A CA388762 A CA 388762A CA 1160909 A CA1160909 A CA 1160909A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- wafer
- pieces
- casting moulds
- supporting plate
- mandrels
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
- 238000005266 casting Methods 0.000 title claims abstract description 116
- 238000000034 method Methods 0.000 title claims description 13
- 230000008569 process Effects 0.000 title claims description 13
- 235000019219 chocolate Nutrition 0.000 claims abstract description 61
- 235000012431 wafers Nutrition 0.000 claims abstract description 44
- 238000012546 transfer Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 29
- 238000005520 cutting process Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 12
- 230000006835 compression Effects 0.000 claims abstract description 4
- 238000007906 compression Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 4
- 238000004519 manufacturing process Methods 0.000 claims abstract description 4
- 230000008093 supporting effect Effects 0.000 claims description 65
- 208000020401 Depressive disease Diseases 0.000 claims description 52
- 230000000284 resting effect Effects 0.000 claims description 6
- 230000000875 corresponding effect Effects 0.000 claims 4
- 238000010276 construction Methods 0.000 description 5
- 238000009434 installation Methods 0.000 description 4
- 230000009471 action Effects 0.000 description 3
- 239000000969 carrier Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000004140 cleaning Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000011248 coating agent Substances 0.000 description 2
- 238000000576 coating method Methods 0.000 description 2
- 239000006071 cream Substances 0.000 description 2
- 230000008901 benefit Effects 0.000 description 1
- 235000015243 ice cream Nutrition 0.000 description 1
- 238000003780 insertion Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000037431 insertion Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000003993 interaction Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000014759 maintenance of location Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000149 penetrating effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 230000000452 restraining effect Effects 0.000 description 1
- 238000000926 separation method Methods 0.000 description 1
- 238000003892 spreading Methods 0.000 description 1
- 230000007480 spreading Effects 0.000 description 1
Classifications
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A23—FOODS OR FOODSTUFFS; TREATMENT THEREOF, NOT COVERED BY OTHER CLASSES
- A23G—COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
- A23G3/00—Sweetmeats; Confectionery; Marzipan; Coated or filled products
- A23G3/02—Apparatus specially adapted for manufacture or treatment of sweetmeats or confectionery; Accessories therefor
- A23G3/20—Apparatus for coating or filling sweetmeats or confectionery
- A23G3/2007—Manufacture of filled articles, composite articles, multi-layered articles
- A23G3/2023—Manufacture of filled articles, composite articles, multi-layered articles the material being shaped at least partially in a mould, in the hollows of a surface, a drum, an endless band or by drop-by-drop casting or dispensing of the materials on a surface or an article being completed
- A23G3/203—Apparatus for laying down the liquid, pasty or solid materials in moulds or drop-by-drop, on a surface or an article being completed, optionally with the associated heating, cooling, proportioning, cutting cast-tail, antidripping device
-
- A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
- A21—BAKING; EDIBLE DOUGHS
- A21C—MACHINES OR EQUIPMENT FOR MAKING OR PROCESSING DOUGHS; HANDLING BAKED ARTICLES MADE FROM DOUGH
- A21C15/00—Apparatus for handling baked articles
- A21C15/002—Apparatus for spreading granular material on, or sweeping or coating the surface of baked articles
Abstract
ABSTRACT
To manufacture chocolate slabs filled with wafers, wafer-pieces are laid into depressions in chocolate casting moulds, these depressions being lined with chocolate. The wafer-pieces ejected from a cutting device and lying a-gainst one another both laterally and in a longitudinal direction are first moved counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, then sepa-rated from one another laterally to the lateral spacing between the depressions, and longitudinally to the longitudinal spacing between successive depressions.
Finally, with a reversal of the direction of movement, the pieces are laid synchronously with the movement of the casting moulds into the depressions.
If appropriate, the margins of the wafer-pieces projecting beyond the casting mould are pressed under the margin of the casting mould as a result of local compression of the wafer-pieces. The apparatus provides, above the conveying arrangement for the chocolate slab casting moulds conveyed one behind another, a spreader device for the wafer-pieces conveyed, lying against one another, counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, and, connected downstream of the spreader device against the direction of transport of the casting moulds, a transfer device which is driven by the conveying arrangement and which lays the wafer-pieces in the correct position into the chocolate slab casting moulds.
To manufacture chocolate slabs filled with wafers, wafer-pieces are laid into depressions in chocolate casting moulds, these depressions being lined with chocolate. The wafer-pieces ejected from a cutting device and lying a-gainst one another both laterally and in a longitudinal direction are first moved counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, then sepa-rated from one another laterally to the lateral spacing between the depressions, and longitudinally to the longitudinal spacing between successive depressions.
Finally, with a reversal of the direction of movement, the pieces are laid synchronously with the movement of the casting moulds into the depressions.
If appropriate, the margins of the wafer-pieces projecting beyond the casting mould are pressed under the margin of the casting mould as a result of local compression of the wafer-pieces. The apparatus provides, above the conveying arrangement for the chocolate slab casting moulds conveyed one behind another, a spreader device for the wafer-pieces conveyed, lying against one another, counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, and, connected downstream of the spreader device against the direction of transport of the casting moulds, a transfer device which is driven by the conveying arrangement and which lays the wafer-pieces in the correct position into the chocolate slab casting moulds.
Description
Process and apparatus for feeding wafer pieces into chocolate slab casting moulds The invention relates to the manufacture of chocolate slabs which are filled with one or more wafer-pieces. In the chocolate slab, each wafer-piece is surrounded by chocolate. Preferably, the wafer slices are laid into individual ribs and connected to one another with chocolate bridges.
Chocolate slabs of this type are made in so-called single-slab installations in which the depressions in a casting mould are lined with a chocolate coating, the wafer-pieces are then laid into the appropriate depres-sions in the chocolate casting mould and the casting mould is filled with chocolate. The wafer-pieces have a shape corresponding to the dep~essions in the chocolate slab and are obtained by cutting up wafer sheets, or wafer sheets combined into wafer blocks. The wafer sheets used in this process are gener-ally rectangular, very thin and flat, brittle baked products such as are also used for ice-cream wafers or cream-filled wafer slices.
So that the chocolate slabs made in this way have a pleasant appearance and no wafer-piece projects from the chocolate, that is to say all the wafer-pieces are surrounded on all sides by chocolate, it is necessary to lay the individual wafer-pieces into the particular depression in the casting mould in the correct position with great accuracy.
For this purpose, the present invention provides a process and an apparatus for feeding a single-slab installation with wafers cut into wafer-pieces.
In particular, the invention provides process for feeding cut wafer-pieces into the chocolate slab casting moulds of an apparatus for manufacturing chocolate slabs filled with wafers, while the casting moulds are conveyed in a straight line one behind another, the wafer pieces being laid into depressions, provided to form the chocolate slabs and located side by side and one behind another, in the casting moulds, after the depressionsihave been covered with a chocolate layer; wherein the wafer pieces ejected from a cutting device and being adjacent both laterally and longitudinally are first moved against the direction of transport of the casting moulds, then guided apart from one another, laterally and longitudinally to the spacing between the depressions, and, finally, with a reversal of the direction of movement, are laid synchron-ously with the movement of the casting moulds into said depressions, any margins of the wafer pieces projecting beyond the casting mould being pressed under the margin of the casting mould by local compression thereof.
By this process, the individual wafer pieces, which have been obtain-ed by cutting up a wafer sheet or a wafer block consisting of several wafer sheets superimposed on one another in layers, are laid accurately and in the correct position into the depressions in the chocolate slab casting moulds.
According to an alternative form of the process according to the invention, it is envisaged that, during their movement counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, the contiguous wafer pieces are first guided apart laterally, then the front ends of the foremost row of wafer pieces are each aligned with a line at right-angles to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, the rows of wafer pieces are then separated longitudinally to the spacing between the depressions in the casting moulds and, subsequently, with a reversal of the direction of movement, are laid synchronously with the movement of the casting moulds into the depressions.
Another alternative form of the process provides that, during their movement counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, the wafer pieces are separated in the longitudinal direction, to the spacing between the depressions and are guided apart from one another laterally to the lateral spacing between the depressions only during the reversal of the direction of movement, and are subsequently laid into the depressions.
To achieve an exact position, constant for all wafer-pieces, in rela-tion to the chocolate slab casting moulds, even when the movement of individual wafer-pieces is uneven, the process envisages that the wafer-pieces are stopped before they are drawn apart from one another in a longitudinal direction.
The invention also provides apparatus for feeding cut wafer-pieces into chocolate slab casting moulds which are conveyed one behind another on a conveying arrangement and which have depressions provided for the chocolate slabs and into which the wafer-pieces are laid, wherein, above a conveying arrangement for the casting moulds, there is a spreader device for wafer-pieces transported, lying against one another, counter to the direction of movement of the casting moulds, a transfer device driven by the conveying arrangement being connected to said spreader device, said spreader device having channels leading to the transfer device and having a lateral spacing corresponding to the lateral spacing of said depressions, a roller resting on the casting moulds and adapted to press the wafer-pieces into the casting moulds being located downstream of the transfer device in the direction of movement of the casting moulds.
This apparatus makes it possible to lay the wafer-pieces which are pushed ~forward, for example, from a buffer zone or the like in the correct positions in the chocolate slab casting moulds. During this time, the forward push which conveys the wafer-pieces out of the buffer zone is used to intro~uce the wafer-pieces into the apparatus as far as the transfer device.
~60~9 A further feature of the invention envisages that the transfer device has a supporting plate for the wafer-pieces which is arranged in an extension of th,e spreader device, a movable, preferably pivotable stop for the wafer-pieces which is located in the region of the end of the supporting plate, and an endless revolving wafer-piece carrier which passed under the supporting plate and which carries holding members for the wafer-pieces, these members being assigned to the depressions in the casting moulds, and if appropriate, a clean-ing device for the wafer-piece carrier, the spreader device having at the end a transport device which preferably forms the bottoms of the channels receiving the wafer-pieces and which conveys the wafer-pieces over the supporting plate up to and against the movable stop. This design permits uniform pushing-forward of the wafer-pieces by means of the transport device connected downstream of the spreader device. This pushing-forward guarantees, together with the movable stop, a constant position of successive rows of wafer-pieces, when these are gripped and carried along by the holding members of the wafer-piece carrier. As soon as they are held firmly by the holding members of the wafer-piece carrier, the wafer_pieces are in the correct mutual position for being laid into the depressions in the chocolate~slab casting moulds.
According to the invention, the holding members can be designed as preferably movable clamps gripping the wafer-pieces when they come up against the stop.
According to a preferred feature of the invention, the holding mem-bers are designed as mandrels insertable into the wafer-pieces. They can be arranged so that they can be sunk into and retracted from the wafer-piece carrier. A mandrel with a preferably rectangular cross-section is assigned to each wafer-piece or to each depression in the casting mould.
g~9 It can also be provided, that in each case two mandrels are assigned to each wafer_piece or to each depression in the casting mould~ This results, especially in the case in relatively long wafer-pieces, in a stable retention of the wafer-pieces on the wafer-piece carrier.
When the row of wafer-pieces lying against the stop are gripped by the holding members of the wafer-piece carrier, to prevent the next row of wafer-pieces from being pushed further, another preferred feature of the invention envisages that the transfer device has a holding device for that next row. According to the invention, this holding device can be formed by clamps gripping the individual wafer-pieces laterally~
According to another feature of the invention, the holding device can be formed by mandrels which are mounted pivotably in respect of the support-ing plate of the wafer-pieces and which are insertable into the wafer-pieces.
A preferred embodiment of the invention involves providing the mo~able stop at the squared-off end of a two-armed lever which is pivotable in relation to the supporting plate and which supports at its other end the holding device designed as insertable mandrels. Simultaneous movement of the stop and holding device is thereby made possible, as a result of which the control is substantially simplified, since only one cam control is required for two functions.
The transfer device may have a pressure plate for the wafer-pieces, which is located above the supporting plate and is arranged pivotably in rela-tion to the supporting plate and which, when the wafer-pieces are gripped by the mandrels, lies par~llel to the supporting plate, in which case the distance between the pressure plate and the supporting plate is then at least equal to the height of the wafer-pieces. This guarantees reliable and uniform insertion 1~9~
of the holding members into the wafer-pieces and, consequently, exact posi-tioning of the wafer-pieces on the periphery of the wafer-piece carrier.
The wafer-piece carrier is preferably designed as a drum revolving about an axis at right angles to the direction of transport of the casting moulds. This design provides a simple construction of the wafer-piece carrier which can be driven, in a simple way, synchronously with the conveying arrange-ment of the chocolate slab casting moulds.
In the case of a wafer-piece carrier equipped with immovable mandrels, the path of which in the region of the supporting plate of the wafer-pieces runs away, preferably downwards, from the plane of the supporting plate, preferably in the form of an arc of a circle, the end of the supporting plate pointing towards the wafer-piece carrier preferably has a segment which is pivotable towards the wafer-piece carrier and which interacts with a pivotable pressure plate located above this segment, the respective wafer-pieces being attached onto the mandrels as a result of the pivoting of the segment and of the pressure plate. The simultaneous pivoting of the pressure plate and of the pivotable segment of the supporting plate enables the wafer-pieces to be attach-ed onto the mandrels of the wafer-piece carrier, without the wafer-pieces being moved in a longitudinal direction relative to the mandrels. This ensures that the wafer-pieces are treated carefully. The pivotable segmont of the supporting plate can be inclined obliquely upwards in relation to the supporting plate itself, so that a wafer-piece running onto this segment is lifted somewhat.
The pivot axis of the pivotable segment of the supporting plate is appropriately located in front of the summit of the wafer-piece carrier, looking in the direc-tion of movement of the wafer-piece.
A further preferred embodiment of the invention involves designing the wafer-piece carrier as a rotating drum which is driven by the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds and which carries on the drum periphery mandrels arranged according to the depressions in the casting moulds, and locating the supporting plate for the wafer pieces tangentially to the drum periphery, the pivot bearing of the pivotable segment of the supporting plate being positioned in the region of this upper side of the drum, whilst the cast-ing moulds can be moved tangentially past the lower side of the drum. This gives a compact and simple construction of the apparatus.
Furthermore, the invention provides apparatus for feeding cut wafer pieces into chocolate slab casting moulds which are transported behind one another on a conveying arrangement, said moulds having depressions for the chocolate slabs and into which the wafer pieces are laid, wherein, above the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds, there is a feed for wafer pieces supplied, lying against one another both laterally and in a longitu~inally counter to the direction of movement of the casting moulds a transfer device being connected downstream of this feed and adapted to engage the individual wafer pieces individually and, with a reversal of the direction of movement, separatesthem from one another laterally and longitudinally to spacings corresponding to the arrange~ent of the depressions in the casting moulds, and lay them into the depressions, a roller resting on the casting moulds being adapted to press the wafer pieces into the casting moulds being connected downstream of the transfer device.
This design makes it possible to introduce in the correct position into the chocolate slab casting moulds the wafer pieces which emerge, for example, lying against one another from a cutting device, even without inter-posing a laterally acting separating device for the wafer pieces. For this purpose, the invention envisages, that the transfer device has individual carrier elements each assigned to a wafer-piece~ and provided with holding members for the wafer-pieces, that the transfer device has for each carrier element a particular guide path which leads from the feed of the wafer_pieces lying against one another, with a reversal of the direction of movement, to a scraper device located above the path of the casting moulds, and that a drive device shifting the carrier elements along their guide paths is provided. In a compact construction of the apparatus, this enables the wafer-pieces to move apart from one another simultaneously both to the lateral distances between the depressions located side by side and to the longitudinal distances between the depressions located one behind another, the exact position of the wafer-pieces which corresponds to the mutual positions of the depressions being reached immediately before the wafer-pieces are laid into the depressi~ns.
A further feature of the invention provides that the drive device may have drive elements which are arranged transversely to the transport device of the casti~g moulds and are movable along this direction of transport and which each engage with all the carrier elements of a row which are arranged side by side.
A preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention involves forming the transfer device as a stationary drum, in the periphery of which the guide paths are designed as grooves, and providing a cage which surrounds the drum, formed from bars and driven by the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds and which re~eives between its bars the carrier elements engaging into the guide paths by means of pins.
A robust construction which is susceptible to few faults and which enables the wafer-pieces to be laid precisely into the casting moulds is achiev-ed in this way. A further advantage is the smaller number of lateral guide5 necessary for the wafer-pieces before they are gripped by the transfer device.
Several wafer-pieces can be laid side by side or one behind another into the depressions in the casting moulds provided for the chocolate slabs, so that each chocolate slab represents a uniform block of wafer-pieces which is covered with chocolate. The depressions in the chocolate slab casting moulds can also be made like ribs, and only one wafer-piece is arranged or several wafer-pieces are arranged side by side or even one behind another in each rib of the finished chocolate slab. The ribs of the chocolate slab are connected to one another via chocolate bridges forming predetermined breaking points, and the chocolate slabs can have ribs connected to one another on their longitudinal sides only OT the ribs can also be connected to one another via chocolate bridges on their longitudinal sides and on their end faces.
The invention is explained in more detail below in exemplary embodi-ments with reference to the drawings. In the drawings: Pigure 1 shows a cross-section through a chocolate slab provided with ribs filled with wafers, Figure 2 shows a longitudinal section through the chocolate slab according to Figure l, Figure 3 shows a cross-section through an embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention, with a drum as a wafer-piece carrier, Figure 4 shows a view of the embodiment of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 3, Figure 5 shows a plan view of a detail of Figure 3, Figures 6 to 8 show, in successive phases of movement, the movable stop and the pivot-able pressure plate of a first embodiment, interacting with the mandrels of the wafer-piece carrier, Figures 9 to 12 show successive phases of movement of a second embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, Figure 13 shows a view of a further embodimen+ of an apparatus according to the invention, Figure 14 shows a diagrammatic view of part of the embodiment of Figure 13, looking in the direction of the arrow B of Figure 13, Figure 15 (on the same sheet as Figure 1) shows a detail of Figure 14 in a cross-section, Figure 16 shows a carrier element in a side view, Figure 17 shows a plan view of the carrier element of Figure 16, Figure 18 shows, similarly to Figure 16, a further embodiment of the carrier element in a side view, and Figure 19 shows a plan view of the carrier element of Figure 18.
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a chocolate slab which has ribs 3 filled with wafer-pieces 2 and connected to one another via chocolate bridges 4.
Chocolate slabs 1 of this type are made in a so-called single-slab installation. Here, chocolate slab casting moulds 5 are moved on a conveying arrangement through the single-slab installation. The chocolate slab casting moulds 5 have rib-like depressions 7 for forming the ribs 3 of the chocolate slab 1. The casting moulds S are first covered with a chocolate layer, the wafer-pieces 2 are then laid into the rib-like depressions 7 in the casting moulds 5 and the cavity of the casting moulds 5 which remains afterwards is filled with chocolate.
The wafer pieces 2 are obtained by cutting wafer sheets or wafer blocks. To enable the wafer-pieces 2 to be laid into the rib-like depressions 7 in the casting moulds so that, when the casting moulds 5 are filled with chocolate, none of the wafer-pieces projects out of the chocolate coating, it is necessary to align each wafer-piece 2 exactly with that rib-like depression into which it is to be laid. For this purpose, the wafer-pieces 2 ejected from a cutting device, lying against one another both laterally and in a longitudinal direction or separated laterally merely by the cutting width of the cutting device are first moved counter to the direction of transport of the casting g~ 9i~
moulds 5, then guided apart from one another laterally up to the lateral distances between the rib-like depressions 7 and in a longitudinal direction up to the longitudinal distances between successive rib-like depressions 7, and, finally, with a reversal of the direction of movement, are laid synchron-ously with the movement of the casting moulds 5 into rib-like depressions in these.
In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, there is a spreader device 8 which has diverging channels 9 for wafer-pieces located next to one another. These channels g~are formed by lateral guides lO and a bottom.
A transport device ll aligned with the bottom of the channels is provided at the end of the spreader device. The channels 9 guide the wafer-pleces ap-art from one another laterally to distances corresponding to the lateral spacing between the rib-like depressions, and into a transfer device. This has a supporting plate 12 which is arranged as an extension of the~conveyor belt ll of the spreader device 8 and on which the wafer-pieces 2 are pushed up to and against a stop 13 by the action of the conveyor belt ll. Located above the supporting plate 12 is a holding-down device 14 for wafer-pieces, the distance between this and the supporting plate 12 being somewhat greater then the height of the wafer-pieces. The holding-down device 14 is stationary in relation to the supporting plate 12.
The end of the supporting plate 12 away from the spreader device 8 is provided, in the manner of a comb, with several slits 15. Locate~ above the comb-like end of the supporting plate 12 is a pressure plate 16 which is pivotable in relation to the latter and which can be pivoted between a position in which it lies parallel to the supporting plate 12 and a position inclined thereto.
Above the pressure plate 16 a two-armed lever 17 is arranged pivotably in relation to the supporting plate 12 about an axis at right angles to the direction of movement of the wafer-pieces. The lever 17 is angled at its end located downstream in the direction of movement of the wafer-pieces, and is provided with the st~p 13 for the wafer_pieces 2. At its opposite end the lever 17 is provided with one or more rows of mandrels 18 arranged trans-versely to the direction of movement of the wafer-pieces, and in each row of mandrels one mandrel is assigned respectively to one of the transversely spaced wafer-pieces. The distance between the first row of mandrels and the stop 13 is made greater than the length of a wafer_piece 2, so that, when the lever 17 is pivoted, a mandrel 18 of the foremost row of mandrels penetrates respectively into that wafer-piece 2 which lies, on the supporting plate 12, behind the wafer-piece 2 which has just been released by the stop 13. The function of this row of mandrels is to ensure that the wafer_pieces advanced by the transport device 11 do not run beyond the raised stop 13, since this can be lowered only when the rear end of the wafer-piece impaled on the drum has passed beyond the stop. If several parallel rows of mandrels are provided, successive mandrels 18 can engage the same wafer-piece or two successive wafer_ pieces.
The pivotable pressure plate 16 is connected to the two-armed lever 17 via lateral push rods 20 provided with stops 19, so that, when the lever 17 is pivoted and the stop 13 lifted beyond a certain amount, the pressure plate 16 is also lifted.
A wafer-piece carrier 21 is located underneath the supporting plate 12 and above the conveying arrangement for the casting mould 5. This carrier is designed as a drum which is driven by the conveying arrangement of the ~ vg casting moulds and is provided on the outer side of its shell with holding members for the wafer-pieces 2 designed as mandrels 22. In this embodiment, two mandrels 22 are provided for each wafer-piece 2 or each rib-like depression 7 in the casting moulds S, the centre-to-centre distance between successive pairs of mandrels 22 being equal to the centre-to-centre distance between successive depressions in the direction of transport. The lateral distance between the mandrels 22, measured in the axial direction of the drum, corres-ponds to the lateral centre-to-centre distance be~een rib-like depressions 7 lying side by side.
When the drum 21 rotates, the mandrels 22 pass through the slits 15 of the supporting plate 12.
Between the drum 21 and the top side of the casting moulds 5 there is a scraper device which has a stripper plate 23 arranged essentially tangent-ially to the drum 21.
The plate 23 has an initial segment 24 which is inclined towards the drum 21 and which engages under the wafer-pieces 2 attached on the mandrels 22~ Like the supporting plate 12, the stripper plate 23 is also provided with slits for the passage of the mandrels 22. On the periphery of the drum 21 there is a cleaning brush 25 which clears from the mandrels 22 any adhering residue of wafer or cream. A roller 26 can be provided behind the scraper device and located just above the top side of the casting moulds 5. This roller rests~on the casting moulds 5 and presses any projecting edges of the wafer-pieces 2 under the margin of the casting moulds as a result of local compression of the wafer-pieces 2.
The interaction between the two-armed lever 17, the pivotable preSsure plate 16 and the drum 21 provided with mandrels 22 is now explained in more detail with reference to Figures 6 to 8 with stop 13 and pressure plate 16 3s lowered, the wafer-pieces 2 are pushed up to and against the stop 13 by the conveyor belt 11 of the spreader device 8. The front of the wafer-pieces 2, which is curved as a result of the spreading of the wafer-pieces 2 in the spreader device 8, is aligned by the stop 13 perpendicularly to the direction of transport of the casting moulds 5 or parallel to the drum axis.
As a result of rotation of the drum, the first mandrel 22 of a pair of mandrels penetrates into the wafer-piece 2 lying against the stop 13, this wafer-piece being pressed both against the pressure plate 16 and against the stop 13. The distance between the first mandrel 22 and the front end of the wafer piece 2 is thereby set exactly. The stop 13 now rises as a result of pivoting of the lever 17, and the first mandrel carries the wafer-piece with it and, when the drum 21 rotates further, the second mandrél 22 then penetrates into the wafer-piece 2 which has been moved a little further forward. The two-armed lever 17 is now pivoted further, as a result of which the pressure plate 16 is likewise pivoted up via the push rods 20 and stops 19, so that the rear end of the wafer-piece 2 can pass through under the pressure plate 16, and, the mandrel 18 attached to the front end of the lever 17 penetrates into the next wafer-piece 2.
As soon as the rear end of a wafer-piece 2 has passed the front end of the pressure plate 16, the two-armed lever 17 is partially pivoted back again, as a result of which th0 pressure plate 16 is first lowered into its operative position and the mandrel 18 is drawn out of the following wafer-piece 2. As soon as the rear end of the wafer-piece has also passed the path of movement of the stop 13, the latter returns to its original position, and the next wafer-piece is pushed against the ~top 13 as a result of the th~st of the conveyor belt 11, the cycle of operation beginning again.
.
The cycle of operation in another embodiment of an apparatus accord-ing to the invention is illustrated in Figures 9 to 12.
According to this embodiment, an end segment 27 which is pivotable towards the drum 21 about an axis parallel to the drum axis is provided in the supporting plate 12. The pivot axis of the associated pressure plate can be located either above the latter, preferably on the axis of rotation of the lever 17, or below the pressure plate 16 (indicated by a broken line), preferably on the axis of rotation of the end segment 27.
In Figure 9, the wafer-piece 2 rests against the stop 13. The end segment 27 of the supporting plate 12 is arranged horizontally. When the wafer-piece 2 located on the drum has advanced a little, the stop 13, the end segment 27 and the pressure plate can be lowered somewhat, without the mandrels penetrating into the wafer-piece resting on the end segment 27.
In Figure 10, the stop 13 is in its lowest position and the wafer_ piece is easily pressed onto the mandrels 22. After this has been carried out, the stop 13 pivots back to its topmost position (Figure 11), and the :end segment 27 and the pressure plate 16 are pivoted further downwards.
In Figure 11, the pressure plate 16 and the end segment 27 are in their lowest position and the wafer-piece is secured on the mandrels. The pressure plate 16 now pivots upwards to the topmost position and thus ~pens the way for the pressed-on wafer-piece and also ~r the next wafer-piece. To prevent the following wafer-piece from being pressed onto the impaled wafer-piece, it is possible, as in the embodiment of Figures 6 to 8, to provide one or more rows of mandrels to press into the following wafer-pieces or the con-veyor belt 11. When the rear end of the preceding wafer-piece 2 moves clear as a result of rotation of the drum 21, the end piece 27 can pivot back again - 15 _ into its horizontal position and the restraining mandrels removed or the conveyor belt 12 switched on> as a result of which the wafer-pieces move up against the stop 13. A new cycle of operation can now begin.
The actions of Figures 6 to 12 were each described for only one wafer-piece 2 or for the wafer-piece following it in the direction of movement. The same actions also apply, of course, to all other wafer-pieces arranged parallel thereto.
The embodiment of Figures 13 to 17 provides, above the conveying arrangement 6 for the casting moulds, a feed 28 for wafer-pieces 2 which lie against one another both laterally and in a longitudinal direction and which are separated laterally merely by the cutting width of the cutting device. As regards separation of the wafer-pieces 2 in the longitudinal direction, this embodiment is identical to the construction described with reference to Figures 6 to 12. Only as regards the lateral spacing of the wafer-pieces to distances corresponding to the rib-like depressions 7 does this embodiment differ from that described previously. A stationary drum 29 has on its periphery guide tracks 30 which can be designed preferably as dovetail-shaped or T-shaped or such-like grooves, and these guide tracks 30, extending over half the drum periphery~ diverge from spacings corresponding to wafer-pieces 2 lying against one another to spacings corresponding to those of the rib-like depressions 7 in the casting moulds 5. Carrier elements 31, one for each wafer-piece 2, en-gage with these guide tracks 30 through pins 32.
Two mandrels 22 are provided as holding members on each carrier element 31, the rear pin 32 of the carrier element 31 being located behind the rearward end of a wafer-piece 2 attached on the mandrels 22.
The carrier elements 31 are arranged on the drum periphery in rows ~Q90~
separated from one another by bars 33 parallel to the drum axis~ The bars 33 project laterally beyond the drum 29 and are connected, via lateral discs 34 mountled rotatably on the stationary drum shaft, to a cage which can be driven by the conveying arrangement 6 of the casting moulds. As a result of rotation of the cage, the carrier elements 31 are shifted row by row along the guide tracks 30, the guide tracks 30 extending over the drum shell in such a way that the carrier elements 31 are arranged parallel to one another both when the wafer_ pieces 2 are received and when the wafer-pieces 2 are deposited in the rib-like depressions 7 in the casting moulds 5.
An alternative form of the invention provides carrier elements, having pins with projections located underneath the bars 32, so that the guide tracks can be designed as simple grooves and the carrier elements are held in the guide tracks by the bars engaging over the projections. In this case, the rear end of the carrier elements is rounded semi-circularly (Figure 18 and Figure 19).
Furthermore, a holding-down device can be located above the supporting plate, even in the embodiment of Figures 9 to 12, the front edge of the holding-down device being flush with the start of the end segment 27. The holding-down device prevents the wafer-piece from tipping off.
Although, in each case, drums have been described as preferred exemplary embodiments for wafer-piece carriers or for supports of the guide tracks of the carrier elements, it is also possible, of course, to provide endless revolving chain drives or conveyor belts or carriers of any shape for the guide tracks, without departing from the idea of the invention. In the same way, instead of the rigid mandrels, movable mandrels or clamps can also be provided as holding members. Likewise, the cross-sectional shape and the number of mandrels can be varied, depending on the size and shape of the wafer-pieces.
Chocolate slabs of this type are made in so-called single-slab installations in which the depressions in a casting mould are lined with a chocolate coating, the wafer-pieces are then laid into the appropriate depres-sions in the chocolate casting mould and the casting mould is filled with chocolate. The wafer-pieces have a shape corresponding to the dep~essions in the chocolate slab and are obtained by cutting up wafer sheets, or wafer sheets combined into wafer blocks. The wafer sheets used in this process are gener-ally rectangular, very thin and flat, brittle baked products such as are also used for ice-cream wafers or cream-filled wafer slices.
So that the chocolate slabs made in this way have a pleasant appearance and no wafer-piece projects from the chocolate, that is to say all the wafer-pieces are surrounded on all sides by chocolate, it is necessary to lay the individual wafer-pieces into the particular depression in the casting mould in the correct position with great accuracy.
For this purpose, the present invention provides a process and an apparatus for feeding a single-slab installation with wafers cut into wafer-pieces.
In particular, the invention provides process for feeding cut wafer-pieces into the chocolate slab casting moulds of an apparatus for manufacturing chocolate slabs filled with wafers, while the casting moulds are conveyed in a straight line one behind another, the wafer pieces being laid into depressions, provided to form the chocolate slabs and located side by side and one behind another, in the casting moulds, after the depressionsihave been covered with a chocolate layer; wherein the wafer pieces ejected from a cutting device and being adjacent both laterally and longitudinally are first moved against the direction of transport of the casting moulds, then guided apart from one another, laterally and longitudinally to the spacing between the depressions, and, finally, with a reversal of the direction of movement, are laid synchron-ously with the movement of the casting moulds into said depressions, any margins of the wafer pieces projecting beyond the casting mould being pressed under the margin of the casting mould by local compression thereof.
By this process, the individual wafer pieces, which have been obtain-ed by cutting up a wafer sheet or a wafer block consisting of several wafer sheets superimposed on one another in layers, are laid accurately and in the correct position into the depressions in the chocolate slab casting moulds.
According to an alternative form of the process according to the invention, it is envisaged that, during their movement counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, the contiguous wafer pieces are first guided apart laterally, then the front ends of the foremost row of wafer pieces are each aligned with a line at right-angles to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, the rows of wafer pieces are then separated longitudinally to the spacing between the depressions in the casting moulds and, subsequently, with a reversal of the direction of movement, are laid synchronously with the movement of the casting moulds into the depressions.
Another alternative form of the process provides that, during their movement counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, the wafer pieces are separated in the longitudinal direction, to the spacing between the depressions and are guided apart from one another laterally to the lateral spacing between the depressions only during the reversal of the direction of movement, and are subsequently laid into the depressions.
To achieve an exact position, constant for all wafer-pieces, in rela-tion to the chocolate slab casting moulds, even when the movement of individual wafer-pieces is uneven, the process envisages that the wafer-pieces are stopped before they are drawn apart from one another in a longitudinal direction.
The invention also provides apparatus for feeding cut wafer-pieces into chocolate slab casting moulds which are conveyed one behind another on a conveying arrangement and which have depressions provided for the chocolate slabs and into which the wafer-pieces are laid, wherein, above a conveying arrangement for the casting moulds, there is a spreader device for wafer-pieces transported, lying against one another, counter to the direction of movement of the casting moulds, a transfer device driven by the conveying arrangement being connected to said spreader device, said spreader device having channels leading to the transfer device and having a lateral spacing corresponding to the lateral spacing of said depressions, a roller resting on the casting moulds and adapted to press the wafer-pieces into the casting moulds being located downstream of the transfer device in the direction of movement of the casting moulds.
This apparatus makes it possible to lay the wafer-pieces which are pushed ~forward, for example, from a buffer zone or the like in the correct positions in the chocolate slab casting moulds. During this time, the forward push which conveys the wafer-pieces out of the buffer zone is used to intro~uce the wafer-pieces into the apparatus as far as the transfer device.
~60~9 A further feature of the invention envisages that the transfer device has a supporting plate for the wafer-pieces which is arranged in an extension of th,e spreader device, a movable, preferably pivotable stop for the wafer-pieces which is located in the region of the end of the supporting plate, and an endless revolving wafer-piece carrier which passed under the supporting plate and which carries holding members for the wafer-pieces, these members being assigned to the depressions in the casting moulds, and if appropriate, a clean-ing device for the wafer-piece carrier, the spreader device having at the end a transport device which preferably forms the bottoms of the channels receiving the wafer-pieces and which conveys the wafer-pieces over the supporting plate up to and against the movable stop. This design permits uniform pushing-forward of the wafer-pieces by means of the transport device connected downstream of the spreader device. This pushing-forward guarantees, together with the movable stop, a constant position of successive rows of wafer-pieces, when these are gripped and carried along by the holding members of the wafer-piece carrier. As soon as they are held firmly by the holding members of the wafer-piece carrier, the wafer_pieces are in the correct mutual position for being laid into the depressions in the chocolate~slab casting moulds.
According to the invention, the holding members can be designed as preferably movable clamps gripping the wafer-pieces when they come up against the stop.
According to a preferred feature of the invention, the holding mem-bers are designed as mandrels insertable into the wafer-pieces. They can be arranged so that they can be sunk into and retracted from the wafer-piece carrier. A mandrel with a preferably rectangular cross-section is assigned to each wafer-piece or to each depression in the casting mould.
g~9 It can also be provided, that in each case two mandrels are assigned to each wafer_piece or to each depression in the casting mould~ This results, especially in the case in relatively long wafer-pieces, in a stable retention of the wafer-pieces on the wafer-piece carrier.
When the row of wafer-pieces lying against the stop are gripped by the holding members of the wafer-piece carrier, to prevent the next row of wafer-pieces from being pushed further, another preferred feature of the invention envisages that the transfer device has a holding device for that next row. According to the invention, this holding device can be formed by clamps gripping the individual wafer-pieces laterally~
According to another feature of the invention, the holding device can be formed by mandrels which are mounted pivotably in respect of the support-ing plate of the wafer-pieces and which are insertable into the wafer-pieces.
A preferred embodiment of the invention involves providing the mo~able stop at the squared-off end of a two-armed lever which is pivotable in relation to the supporting plate and which supports at its other end the holding device designed as insertable mandrels. Simultaneous movement of the stop and holding device is thereby made possible, as a result of which the control is substantially simplified, since only one cam control is required for two functions.
The transfer device may have a pressure plate for the wafer-pieces, which is located above the supporting plate and is arranged pivotably in rela-tion to the supporting plate and which, when the wafer-pieces are gripped by the mandrels, lies par~llel to the supporting plate, in which case the distance between the pressure plate and the supporting plate is then at least equal to the height of the wafer-pieces. This guarantees reliable and uniform insertion 1~9~
of the holding members into the wafer-pieces and, consequently, exact posi-tioning of the wafer-pieces on the periphery of the wafer-piece carrier.
The wafer-piece carrier is preferably designed as a drum revolving about an axis at right angles to the direction of transport of the casting moulds. This design provides a simple construction of the wafer-piece carrier which can be driven, in a simple way, synchronously with the conveying arrange-ment of the chocolate slab casting moulds.
In the case of a wafer-piece carrier equipped with immovable mandrels, the path of which in the region of the supporting plate of the wafer-pieces runs away, preferably downwards, from the plane of the supporting plate, preferably in the form of an arc of a circle, the end of the supporting plate pointing towards the wafer-piece carrier preferably has a segment which is pivotable towards the wafer-piece carrier and which interacts with a pivotable pressure plate located above this segment, the respective wafer-pieces being attached onto the mandrels as a result of the pivoting of the segment and of the pressure plate. The simultaneous pivoting of the pressure plate and of the pivotable segment of the supporting plate enables the wafer-pieces to be attach-ed onto the mandrels of the wafer-piece carrier, without the wafer-pieces being moved in a longitudinal direction relative to the mandrels. This ensures that the wafer-pieces are treated carefully. The pivotable segmont of the supporting plate can be inclined obliquely upwards in relation to the supporting plate itself, so that a wafer-piece running onto this segment is lifted somewhat.
The pivot axis of the pivotable segment of the supporting plate is appropriately located in front of the summit of the wafer-piece carrier, looking in the direc-tion of movement of the wafer-piece.
A further preferred embodiment of the invention involves designing the wafer-piece carrier as a rotating drum which is driven by the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds and which carries on the drum periphery mandrels arranged according to the depressions in the casting moulds, and locating the supporting plate for the wafer pieces tangentially to the drum periphery, the pivot bearing of the pivotable segment of the supporting plate being positioned in the region of this upper side of the drum, whilst the cast-ing moulds can be moved tangentially past the lower side of the drum. This gives a compact and simple construction of the apparatus.
Furthermore, the invention provides apparatus for feeding cut wafer pieces into chocolate slab casting moulds which are transported behind one another on a conveying arrangement, said moulds having depressions for the chocolate slabs and into which the wafer pieces are laid, wherein, above the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds, there is a feed for wafer pieces supplied, lying against one another both laterally and in a longitu~inally counter to the direction of movement of the casting moulds a transfer device being connected downstream of this feed and adapted to engage the individual wafer pieces individually and, with a reversal of the direction of movement, separatesthem from one another laterally and longitudinally to spacings corresponding to the arrange~ent of the depressions in the casting moulds, and lay them into the depressions, a roller resting on the casting moulds being adapted to press the wafer pieces into the casting moulds being connected downstream of the transfer device.
This design makes it possible to introduce in the correct position into the chocolate slab casting moulds the wafer pieces which emerge, for example, lying against one another from a cutting device, even without inter-posing a laterally acting separating device for the wafer pieces. For this purpose, the invention envisages, that the transfer device has individual carrier elements each assigned to a wafer-piece~ and provided with holding members for the wafer-pieces, that the transfer device has for each carrier element a particular guide path which leads from the feed of the wafer_pieces lying against one another, with a reversal of the direction of movement, to a scraper device located above the path of the casting moulds, and that a drive device shifting the carrier elements along their guide paths is provided. In a compact construction of the apparatus, this enables the wafer-pieces to move apart from one another simultaneously both to the lateral distances between the depressions located side by side and to the longitudinal distances between the depressions located one behind another, the exact position of the wafer-pieces which corresponds to the mutual positions of the depressions being reached immediately before the wafer-pieces are laid into the depressi~ns.
A further feature of the invention provides that the drive device may have drive elements which are arranged transversely to the transport device of the casti~g moulds and are movable along this direction of transport and which each engage with all the carrier elements of a row which are arranged side by side.
A preferred exemplary embodiment of the invention involves forming the transfer device as a stationary drum, in the periphery of which the guide paths are designed as grooves, and providing a cage which surrounds the drum, formed from bars and driven by the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds and which re~eives between its bars the carrier elements engaging into the guide paths by means of pins.
A robust construction which is susceptible to few faults and which enables the wafer-pieces to be laid precisely into the casting moulds is achiev-ed in this way. A further advantage is the smaller number of lateral guide5 necessary for the wafer-pieces before they are gripped by the transfer device.
Several wafer-pieces can be laid side by side or one behind another into the depressions in the casting moulds provided for the chocolate slabs, so that each chocolate slab represents a uniform block of wafer-pieces which is covered with chocolate. The depressions in the chocolate slab casting moulds can also be made like ribs, and only one wafer-piece is arranged or several wafer-pieces are arranged side by side or even one behind another in each rib of the finished chocolate slab. The ribs of the chocolate slab are connected to one another via chocolate bridges forming predetermined breaking points, and the chocolate slabs can have ribs connected to one another on their longitudinal sides only OT the ribs can also be connected to one another via chocolate bridges on their longitudinal sides and on their end faces.
The invention is explained in more detail below in exemplary embodi-ments with reference to the drawings. In the drawings: Pigure 1 shows a cross-section through a chocolate slab provided with ribs filled with wafers, Figure 2 shows a longitudinal section through the chocolate slab according to Figure l, Figure 3 shows a cross-section through an embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention, with a drum as a wafer-piece carrier, Figure 4 shows a view of the embodiment of Figure 3, looking in the direction of the arrow A in Figure 3, Figure 5 shows a plan view of a detail of Figure 3, Figures 6 to 8 show, in successive phases of movement, the movable stop and the pivot-able pressure plate of a first embodiment, interacting with the mandrels of the wafer-piece carrier, Figures 9 to 12 show successive phases of movement of a second embodiment of the apparatus according to the invention, Figure 13 shows a view of a further embodimen+ of an apparatus according to the invention, Figure 14 shows a diagrammatic view of part of the embodiment of Figure 13, looking in the direction of the arrow B of Figure 13, Figure 15 (on the same sheet as Figure 1) shows a detail of Figure 14 in a cross-section, Figure 16 shows a carrier element in a side view, Figure 17 shows a plan view of the carrier element of Figure 16, Figure 18 shows, similarly to Figure 16, a further embodiment of the carrier element in a side view, and Figure 19 shows a plan view of the carrier element of Figure 18.
Figures 1 and 2 illustrate a chocolate slab which has ribs 3 filled with wafer-pieces 2 and connected to one another via chocolate bridges 4.
Chocolate slabs 1 of this type are made in a so-called single-slab installation. Here, chocolate slab casting moulds 5 are moved on a conveying arrangement through the single-slab installation. The chocolate slab casting moulds 5 have rib-like depressions 7 for forming the ribs 3 of the chocolate slab 1. The casting moulds S are first covered with a chocolate layer, the wafer-pieces 2 are then laid into the rib-like depressions 7 in the casting moulds 5 and the cavity of the casting moulds 5 which remains afterwards is filled with chocolate.
The wafer pieces 2 are obtained by cutting wafer sheets or wafer blocks. To enable the wafer-pieces 2 to be laid into the rib-like depressions 7 in the casting moulds so that, when the casting moulds 5 are filled with chocolate, none of the wafer-pieces projects out of the chocolate coating, it is necessary to align each wafer-piece 2 exactly with that rib-like depression into which it is to be laid. For this purpose, the wafer-pieces 2 ejected from a cutting device, lying against one another both laterally and in a longitudinal direction or separated laterally merely by the cutting width of the cutting device are first moved counter to the direction of transport of the casting g~ 9i~
moulds 5, then guided apart from one another laterally up to the lateral distances between the rib-like depressions 7 and in a longitudinal direction up to the longitudinal distances between successive rib-like depressions 7, and, finally, with a reversal of the direction of movement, are laid synchron-ously with the movement of the casting moulds 5 into rib-like depressions in these.
In the exemplary embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, there is a spreader device 8 which has diverging channels 9 for wafer-pieces located next to one another. These channels g~are formed by lateral guides lO and a bottom.
A transport device ll aligned with the bottom of the channels is provided at the end of the spreader device. The channels 9 guide the wafer-pleces ap-art from one another laterally to distances corresponding to the lateral spacing between the rib-like depressions, and into a transfer device. This has a supporting plate 12 which is arranged as an extension of the~conveyor belt ll of the spreader device 8 and on which the wafer-pieces 2 are pushed up to and against a stop 13 by the action of the conveyor belt ll. Located above the supporting plate 12 is a holding-down device 14 for wafer-pieces, the distance between this and the supporting plate 12 being somewhat greater then the height of the wafer-pieces. The holding-down device 14 is stationary in relation to the supporting plate 12.
The end of the supporting plate 12 away from the spreader device 8 is provided, in the manner of a comb, with several slits 15. Locate~ above the comb-like end of the supporting plate 12 is a pressure plate 16 which is pivotable in relation to the latter and which can be pivoted between a position in which it lies parallel to the supporting plate 12 and a position inclined thereto.
Above the pressure plate 16 a two-armed lever 17 is arranged pivotably in relation to the supporting plate 12 about an axis at right angles to the direction of movement of the wafer-pieces. The lever 17 is angled at its end located downstream in the direction of movement of the wafer-pieces, and is provided with the st~p 13 for the wafer_pieces 2. At its opposite end the lever 17 is provided with one or more rows of mandrels 18 arranged trans-versely to the direction of movement of the wafer-pieces, and in each row of mandrels one mandrel is assigned respectively to one of the transversely spaced wafer-pieces. The distance between the first row of mandrels and the stop 13 is made greater than the length of a wafer_piece 2, so that, when the lever 17 is pivoted, a mandrel 18 of the foremost row of mandrels penetrates respectively into that wafer-piece 2 which lies, on the supporting plate 12, behind the wafer-piece 2 which has just been released by the stop 13. The function of this row of mandrels is to ensure that the wafer_pieces advanced by the transport device 11 do not run beyond the raised stop 13, since this can be lowered only when the rear end of the wafer-piece impaled on the drum has passed beyond the stop. If several parallel rows of mandrels are provided, successive mandrels 18 can engage the same wafer-piece or two successive wafer_ pieces.
The pivotable pressure plate 16 is connected to the two-armed lever 17 via lateral push rods 20 provided with stops 19, so that, when the lever 17 is pivoted and the stop 13 lifted beyond a certain amount, the pressure plate 16 is also lifted.
A wafer-piece carrier 21 is located underneath the supporting plate 12 and above the conveying arrangement for the casting mould 5. This carrier is designed as a drum which is driven by the conveying arrangement of the ~ vg casting moulds and is provided on the outer side of its shell with holding members for the wafer-pieces 2 designed as mandrels 22. In this embodiment, two mandrels 22 are provided for each wafer-piece 2 or each rib-like depression 7 in the casting moulds S, the centre-to-centre distance between successive pairs of mandrels 22 being equal to the centre-to-centre distance between successive depressions in the direction of transport. The lateral distance between the mandrels 22, measured in the axial direction of the drum, corres-ponds to the lateral centre-to-centre distance be~een rib-like depressions 7 lying side by side.
When the drum 21 rotates, the mandrels 22 pass through the slits 15 of the supporting plate 12.
Between the drum 21 and the top side of the casting moulds 5 there is a scraper device which has a stripper plate 23 arranged essentially tangent-ially to the drum 21.
The plate 23 has an initial segment 24 which is inclined towards the drum 21 and which engages under the wafer-pieces 2 attached on the mandrels 22~ Like the supporting plate 12, the stripper plate 23 is also provided with slits for the passage of the mandrels 22. On the periphery of the drum 21 there is a cleaning brush 25 which clears from the mandrels 22 any adhering residue of wafer or cream. A roller 26 can be provided behind the scraper device and located just above the top side of the casting moulds 5. This roller rests~on the casting moulds 5 and presses any projecting edges of the wafer-pieces 2 under the margin of the casting moulds as a result of local compression of the wafer-pieces 2.
The interaction between the two-armed lever 17, the pivotable preSsure plate 16 and the drum 21 provided with mandrels 22 is now explained in more detail with reference to Figures 6 to 8 with stop 13 and pressure plate 16 3s lowered, the wafer-pieces 2 are pushed up to and against the stop 13 by the conveyor belt 11 of the spreader device 8. The front of the wafer-pieces 2, which is curved as a result of the spreading of the wafer-pieces 2 in the spreader device 8, is aligned by the stop 13 perpendicularly to the direction of transport of the casting moulds 5 or parallel to the drum axis.
As a result of rotation of the drum, the first mandrel 22 of a pair of mandrels penetrates into the wafer-piece 2 lying against the stop 13, this wafer-piece being pressed both against the pressure plate 16 and against the stop 13. The distance between the first mandrel 22 and the front end of the wafer piece 2 is thereby set exactly. The stop 13 now rises as a result of pivoting of the lever 17, and the first mandrel carries the wafer-piece with it and, when the drum 21 rotates further, the second mandrél 22 then penetrates into the wafer-piece 2 which has been moved a little further forward. The two-armed lever 17 is now pivoted further, as a result of which the pressure plate 16 is likewise pivoted up via the push rods 20 and stops 19, so that the rear end of the wafer-piece 2 can pass through under the pressure plate 16, and, the mandrel 18 attached to the front end of the lever 17 penetrates into the next wafer-piece 2.
As soon as the rear end of a wafer-piece 2 has passed the front end of the pressure plate 16, the two-armed lever 17 is partially pivoted back again, as a result of which th0 pressure plate 16 is first lowered into its operative position and the mandrel 18 is drawn out of the following wafer-piece 2. As soon as the rear end of the wafer-piece has also passed the path of movement of the stop 13, the latter returns to its original position, and the next wafer-piece is pushed against the ~top 13 as a result of the th~st of the conveyor belt 11, the cycle of operation beginning again.
.
The cycle of operation in another embodiment of an apparatus accord-ing to the invention is illustrated in Figures 9 to 12.
According to this embodiment, an end segment 27 which is pivotable towards the drum 21 about an axis parallel to the drum axis is provided in the supporting plate 12. The pivot axis of the associated pressure plate can be located either above the latter, preferably on the axis of rotation of the lever 17, or below the pressure plate 16 (indicated by a broken line), preferably on the axis of rotation of the end segment 27.
In Figure 9, the wafer-piece 2 rests against the stop 13. The end segment 27 of the supporting plate 12 is arranged horizontally. When the wafer-piece 2 located on the drum has advanced a little, the stop 13, the end segment 27 and the pressure plate can be lowered somewhat, without the mandrels penetrating into the wafer-piece resting on the end segment 27.
In Figure 10, the stop 13 is in its lowest position and the wafer_ piece is easily pressed onto the mandrels 22. After this has been carried out, the stop 13 pivots back to its topmost position (Figure 11), and the :end segment 27 and the pressure plate 16 are pivoted further downwards.
In Figure 11, the pressure plate 16 and the end segment 27 are in their lowest position and the wafer-piece is secured on the mandrels. The pressure plate 16 now pivots upwards to the topmost position and thus ~pens the way for the pressed-on wafer-piece and also ~r the next wafer-piece. To prevent the following wafer-piece from being pressed onto the impaled wafer-piece, it is possible, as in the embodiment of Figures 6 to 8, to provide one or more rows of mandrels to press into the following wafer-pieces or the con-veyor belt 11. When the rear end of the preceding wafer-piece 2 moves clear as a result of rotation of the drum 21, the end piece 27 can pivot back again - 15 _ into its horizontal position and the restraining mandrels removed or the conveyor belt 12 switched on> as a result of which the wafer-pieces move up against the stop 13. A new cycle of operation can now begin.
The actions of Figures 6 to 12 were each described for only one wafer-piece 2 or for the wafer-piece following it in the direction of movement. The same actions also apply, of course, to all other wafer-pieces arranged parallel thereto.
The embodiment of Figures 13 to 17 provides, above the conveying arrangement 6 for the casting moulds, a feed 28 for wafer-pieces 2 which lie against one another both laterally and in a longitudinal direction and which are separated laterally merely by the cutting width of the cutting device. As regards separation of the wafer-pieces 2 in the longitudinal direction, this embodiment is identical to the construction described with reference to Figures 6 to 12. Only as regards the lateral spacing of the wafer-pieces to distances corresponding to the rib-like depressions 7 does this embodiment differ from that described previously. A stationary drum 29 has on its periphery guide tracks 30 which can be designed preferably as dovetail-shaped or T-shaped or such-like grooves, and these guide tracks 30, extending over half the drum periphery~ diverge from spacings corresponding to wafer-pieces 2 lying against one another to spacings corresponding to those of the rib-like depressions 7 in the casting moulds 5. Carrier elements 31, one for each wafer-piece 2, en-gage with these guide tracks 30 through pins 32.
Two mandrels 22 are provided as holding members on each carrier element 31, the rear pin 32 of the carrier element 31 being located behind the rearward end of a wafer-piece 2 attached on the mandrels 22.
The carrier elements 31 are arranged on the drum periphery in rows ~Q90~
separated from one another by bars 33 parallel to the drum axis~ The bars 33 project laterally beyond the drum 29 and are connected, via lateral discs 34 mountled rotatably on the stationary drum shaft, to a cage which can be driven by the conveying arrangement 6 of the casting moulds. As a result of rotation of the cage, the carrier elements 31 are shifted row by row along the guide tracks 30, the guide tracks 30 extending over the drum shell in such a way that the carrier elements 31 are arranged parallel to one another both when the wafer_ pieces 2 are received and when the wafer-pieces 2 are deposited in the rib-like depressions 7 in the casting moulds 5.
An alternative form of the invention provides carrier elements, having pins with projections located underneath the bars 32, so that the guide tracks can be designed as simple grooves and the carrier elements are held in the guide tracks by the bars engaging over the projections. In this case, the rear end of the carrier elements is rounded semi-circularly (Figure 18 and Figure 19).
Furthermore, a holding-down device can be located above the supporting plate, even in the embodiment of Figures 9 to 12, the front edge of the holding-down device being flush with the start of the end segment 27. The holding-down device prevents the wafer-piece from tipping off.
Although, in each case, drums have been described as preferred exemplary embodiments for wafer-piece carriers or for supports of the guide tracks of the carrier elements, it is also possible, of course, to provide endless revolving chain drives or conveyor belts or carriers of any shape for the guide tracks, without departing from the idea of the invention. In the same way, instead of the rigid mandrels, movable mandrels or clamps can also be provided as holding members. Likewise, the cross-sectional shape and the number of mandrels can be varied, depending on the size and shape of the wafer-pieces.
Claims (52)
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:
1. Process for feeding cut wafer-pieces into the chocolate slab casting moulds of an apparatus for manufacturing chocolate slabs filled with wafers, while the casting moulds are conveyed in a straight line one behind another, the wafer-pieces being laid into depressions, provided to form the chocolate slabs and located side by side and one behind another, in the casting moulds, after the depressions have been covered with a chocolate layer; wherein the wafer-pieces ejected from a cutting device and being adjacent both laterally and longitudinally are first moved against the direction of transport of the casting moulds, then guided apart from one another, laterally and longitudinally to the spacing between the depressions, and, finally, with a reversal of the direction of movement, are laid synchronously with the movement of the casting moulds into said depressions, any margins of the wafer-pieces projecting beyond the casting mould being pressed under the margin of the casting mould by local compression thereof.
2. Process according to Claim 1, wherein, during their movement counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, the wafer-pieces lying against one another are first guided apart from one another laterally, the re-spective front ends of the foremost row of wafer-pieces are then aligned with a line perpendicular to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, the wafer-pieces are then separated in the direction of movement to the longitudi-nal distances between the depressions in the casting moulds, and subsequently, with a reversal of the direction of movement, are laid synchronously with the movement of the casting moulds into depressions in these.
3. Process according to Claim 1, wherein, during their movement counter to the direction of transport of the casting moulds, the wafer-pieces lying against one another are separated in the longitudinal direction to the longitud-inal distances between the depressions, and are guided apart from one another laterally to the lateral distances between the depressions only during the re-versal of the direction of movement, and are subsequently laid into the depres-sions.
4. Process according to one of Claims 1 to 3, wherein, the wafer-pieces are stopped before they are separated in the longitudinal direction.
5. Apparatus for feeding cut wafer-pieces into chocolate slab castings moulds which are conveyed one behind another on a conveying arrangement and which have depressions provided for the chocolate slabs and into which the wafer-pieces are laid, wherein, above a conveying arrangement for the casting moulds, there is a spreader device for wafer-pieces transported, lying against one another, counter to the direction of movement of the casting moulds, a transfer device driven by the conveying arrangement being connected to said spreader device, said spreader device having channels leading to the transfer device and having a lateral spacing corresponding to the lateral spacing of said depressions, a roller resting on the casting moulds and adapted to press the wafer-pieces into the casting moulds being located downstream of the trans-fer device in the direction of movement of the casting moulds.
6. Apparatus according to Claim 5, wherein, the transfer device in-cludes: a supporting plate for the wafer-pieces which is arranged as an ex-tension of the spreader device; a movable stop for the wafer-pieces located in the region of the end of the supporting plate; and an endless revolving wafer-piece carrier guided to move under the supporting plate and which carries holding members for the wafer-pieces; the spreader device being preceded by a transport device which forms the bottom of channels receiving the wafer-pieces and which conveys the wafer-pieces over the supporting plate up to and against the movable stop.
7. Apparatus according to Claim 6, wherein, said holding members are designed as clamps adapted to engage the wafer-pieces when they rest against the stop.
8. Apparatus according to Claim 6, wherein, the holding members comprise mandrels insertable into the wafer-pieces.
9. Apparatus according to Claim 8, wherein the mandrels are arranged so that thee can be sunk into and retracted from the wafer-piece carrier.
10. Apparatus according to Claim 8 or 9, wherein there is a mandrel cor-responding to each wafer-piece or to each depression in the casting mould.
11. Apparatus according to Claim 8 or 9, wherein there is a pair of mandrels corresponding to each wafer-piece or to each depression in the casting mould.
12. Apparatus according to Claim 6, wherein said transfer device has a holding device adapted to engage wafer-pieces not engaging against the stop and lying on the supporting plate.
13. Apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein the holding device is formed by clamps gripping the individual wafer-pieces laterally.
14. Apparatus according to Claim 12, wherein the holding device is formed by mandrels mounted pivotably in relation to the supporting plate and which are insertable into the wafer-pieces.
15. Apparatus according to Claim 14, wherein the movable stop is provided at one end of a two-armed lever which is pivotable in relation to the supporting plate and which carries at its other end the holding device designed as insert-able mandrels.
16. Apparatus according to Claim 15, wherein the holding device has at least one row of mandrels which is arranged at righ angles to the direction of movement of the wafer pieces, one mandrel being assigned to each wafer piece.
17. Apparatus according to Claim 16, wherein the holding device has two rows of mandrels, one row of mandrels being assigned respectively to one of two successive transverse rows of wafer pieces.
18. Apparatus according to Claim 17, wherein the transfer device has a pressure plate for the wafer pieces located above the supporting plate and which is arranged pivotably in relation to the supporting plate and which, when the wafer pieces are gripped by the mandrels, lies parallel to the supporting plate, the distance between the pressure plate and the supporting plate then being at least equal to the height of the wafer pieces.
19. Apparatus according to Claim 18, wherein the movable stop and the pivotable pressure plate are adapted be pivoted by cams driven by the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds.
20. Apparatus according to Claim 19, wherein the stop and the pressure plate are pivotable at least partially together.
21. Apparatus according to Claim 18,wherein the holding device, the movable stop and the pivotable pressure plate are adapted to be actuated individually by cams driven by the conveying arrangement.
22. Apparatus according to Claim 6, wherein the wafer-piece carrier is designed as a drum revolving about an axis at right angles to the direction of transport of the casting moulds.
23. Apparatus according to Claim 22, wherein the transfer device has a scraper device located above the path of the casting moulds adapted to strip the wafer-pieces from the holding members of the wafer-piece carrier when these pieces already project into the depressions of the casting moulds.
24. Apparatus according to Claim 23, wherein the mandrels are fasten-ed immovably on the wafer-piece carrier and the supporting plate and the scraper device are designed as comb-like plates provided with slits for the mandrels.
25. Apparatus according to Claim 24, wherein the path of the mandrels in the region of the supporting plate runs downwards away from the plane of the supporting plate in the form of an arc of a circle, the end of the supporting plate pointing towards said wafer-piece carrier having a segment which is pivotable towards the wafer-piece carrier and which interacts with a pivotable pressure plate located above this segment, the respective wafer pieces being impaled the mandrels as a result of pivoting of the segment and of the pressure plate.
26. Apparatus according to Claim 25, wherein the wafer-piece carrier comprises a rotating drum driven by the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds and which supports on the drum periphery said mandrels arranged according to the depressions in the casting moulds, the supporting plate for the wafer-pieces being arrangedtangentially to the drum periphery, the pivot bearing of the pivotable segment of the supporting plate being located in the region of the upper side of the drum, whilst the casting moulds move tangentially past the lower side of the drum.
27. Apparatus for feeding cut wafer-pieces into chocolate slab casting moulds which are transported behind one another on a conveying arrangement, said moulds having depressions for the chocolate slabs and into which the wafer-pieces are laid, wherein, above the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds, there is a feed for wafer-pieces supplied, lying against one another both laterally and longitudinally, counter to the direction of movement of the casting moulds, a transfer device being connected downstream of this feed and adapted to engage the individual wafer-pieces individually and, with a reversal of the direction of movement, separate them from one another laterally and longitudinally to spacings corresponding to the arrangement of the depressions in the casting moulds, and lay them into the depressions, a roller resting on the casting moulds being adapted to press the wafer-pieces into the casting moulds being connected downstream of the transfer device.
28. Apparatus according to Claim 27, wherein the transfer device has individual carrier elements which are each provided with holding members for a single wafer-piece, the tranfer device having for each carrier element a particular guide track which leads from said feed of the wafer-pieces lying against one another, with a reversal of the direction of movement, to a scraper device located above the path of the casting moulds, a drive device being pro-vided for shifting the carrier elements along their guide tracks.
29. Apparatus according to Claim 28, wherein said guide tracks are arranged symmetrically to the longitudinal centre axis of the casting moulds and diverge essentially uniformly from one another.
30. Apparatus according to Claim 29, wherein the drive device has drive elements arranged at right angles to the direction of transport of the casting moulds and movable along this transport direction and which each engage with all the carrier elements of a transverse row.
31. Apparatus according to Claim 30, wherein the transfer device is formed by a stationary drum, in the periphery of which said guide tracks are formed as grooves, a cage which surrounds the drum being formed from bars and being driven by the conveying arrangement of the casting moulds, said cage receiving between its bars said carrier elements engaging by means of pins into said guide tracks.
32. Apparatus according to Claim 27, 28 or 29, wherein said feed has a supporting plate for the wafer-pieces, pivotable stop being provided in the region of the end of the supporting plate facing the transfer device.
33. Apparatus according to Claim 27,,wherein the holding members are designed as mandrels insertable into the wafer-pieces.
34. Apparatus according to Claim 33, wherein each carrier element has two mandrels located at a distance from one another.
35. Apparatus according to Claim 33, wherein each carrier element has a mandrel with a rectangular cross-section.
36. Apparatus according to Claim 33, 34 or 35 wherein the mandrels are designed so that they can be sunk into the respective wafer-pieces.
37. Apparatus according to Claim 27, wherein the transfer device has a holding device for those wafer-pieces on the supporting plate not resting against the stop or not yet delivered onto the drum.
38. Apparatus according to Claim 37, wherein holding device is formed by mandrels mounted pivotably in relation to the supporting plate of the wafer-pieces and which are insertable into the wafer-pieces.
39. Apparatus according to Claim 38, wherein the movable stop is provided at one end of a two-armed lever which is pivotable in relation to the supporting plate and which carries at its other end the holding device design-ed as insertable mandrels.
40. Apparatus according to Claim 39, wherein that the holding device has at least one row of mandrels which is arranged at right angles to the direction of movement of the wafer-pieces, one mandrel being assigned to each wafer-piece of a transverse row.
41. Apparatus according to Claim 40, wherein the holding device has two rows of mandrels, one row of mandrels being assigned respectively to one of two successive transverse rows of wafer-pieces.
42. Apparatus according to Claim 41, wherein the transfer device has a pressure plate for the wafer-pieces which is located above the supporting plate and which is arranged pivotably in relation to the supporting plate and, when the wafer-pieces are gripped by the mandrels, lies parallel to the supporting plate, the distance between the pressure plate and the supporting plate then being at least equal to the height of the wafer-pieces.
43. Apparatus according to Claim 42, wherein the movable stop and the pivotable pressure plate are adapted to be pivoted by cams driven by the con-veying arrangement of the casting moulds.
44. Apparatus according to Claim 43, wherein that the stop and the pressure plate are pivotable at least partially together.
45. Apparatus according to Claim 42, wherein the holding device, the movable stop and the pivotable pressure plate are each actuated individually by cams driven by the conveying arrangement.
46. Apparatus according to Claim 42 wherein the supporting plate and the scraper device are designed as comb-like plates provided with slits for the mandrels.
47. Apparatus according to Claim 27, wherein the carrier elements are provided with immovable mandrels and the guide tracks extend downwards, from the plane of the supporting plate, the end of the supporting plate extending towards the guide tracks has a segment which is pivotable towards the guide tracks and which interacts with a pivotable pressure plate located above this segment, the respective wafer-pieces being attached onto the mandrels of the carrier elements as a result of pivoting of said segment and of the pressure plate.
48. Apparatus according to Claim 31, wherein a rear pin of each carrier element is located behind the rearward end of a wafer-piece attached on the mandrels of that carrier element.
49. Apparatus according to Claim 25, wherein the pivotable segment located at the end of the supporting plate is, in its upper end position, arranged inclined obliquely upwards in relation to the supporting plate.
50. Apparatus according to Claim 31, wherein the carrier elements are held in the guide tracks by said bars.
51. Apparatus according to Claim 50, wherein said bars engage over projections provided on the carrier element.
52. Apparatus according to Claim 25 or 26, wherein the pivot bearing of the pivotable segment is located in the region of the upper side of the drum, specifically within -10° of the apex thereof.
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| AT0530280A AT377682B (en) | 1980-10-27 | 1980-10-27 | METHOD AND DEVICE FOR LOADING CHOCOLATE TABLE CASTING MOLDS WITH PRE-CUTTED WAFFLE PIECES |
| ATA5302/80 | 1980-10-27 |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1160909A true CA1160909A (en) | 1984-01-24 |
Family
ID=3574282
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA000388762A Expired CA1160909A (en) | 1980-10-27 | 1981-10-26 | Process and apparatus for feeding wafer pieces into chocolate-slab casting moulds |
Country Status (12)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| JP (1) | JPS57105140A (en) |
| AR (1) | AR228879A1 (en) |
| AT (1) | AT377682B (en) |
| BR (1) | BR8106947A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1160909A (en) |
| DD (1) | DD208072A5 (en) |
| DE (1) | DE3142398A1 (en) |
| ES (1) | ES506570A0 (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2492633A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB2086303B (en) |
| IT (1) | IT1171607B (en) |
| YU (2) | YU43046B (en) |
Families Citing this family (5)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AT391244B (en) * | 1985-04-03 | 1990-09-10 | Haas Franz Waffelmasch | DEVICE FOR INSERTING WAFFLE PIECES IN THE RECESSES OF CASTING MOLDS, ESPECIALLY CHOCOLATE TABLE CASTING MOLDS |
| AT388081B (en) * | 1984-02-20 | 1989-04-25 | Haas Franz Waffelmasch | DEVICE FOR SEPARATING FILLED WAFFLE CUTS TRANSPORTED IN SEVERAL CONTINUOUS LINES AND CROSS-LAYING CROSS-ROWS |
| AT515383B1 (en) * | 2014-01-17 | 2016-02-15 | Haas Food Equipment Gmbh | Baking device and removal device |
| AT14088U1 (en) * | 2014-05-06 | 2015-04-15 | Loacker Ag A | chocolate Bar |
| AT14222U1 (en) * | 2014-05-06 | 2015-06-15 | Loacker Ag A | chocolate Bar |
-
1980
- 1980-10-27 AT AT0530280A patent/AT377682B/en not_active IP Right Cessation
-
1981
- 1981-10-21 AR AR287175A patent/AR228879A1/en active
- 1981-10-23 IT IT49554/81A patent/IT1171607B/en active
- 1981-10-26 FR FR8120029A patent/FR2492633A1/en active Granted
- 1981-10-26 YU YU2547/81A patent/YU43046B/en unknown
- 1981-10-26 ES ES506570A patent/ES506570A0/en active Granted
- 1981-10-26 CA CA000388762A patent/CA1160909A/en not_active Expired
- 1981-10-26 JP JP56170233A patent/JPS57105140A/en active Granted
- 1981-10-26 DE DE19813142398 patent/DE3142398A1/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1981-10-27 BR BR8106947A patent/BR8106947A/en unknown
- 1981-10-27 GB GB8132331A patent/GB2086303B/en not_active Expired
- 1981-10-27 DD DD81234389A patent/DD208072A5/en unknown
-
1983
- 1983-05-12 YU YU01055/83A patent/YU105583A/en unknown
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| JPS57105140A (en) | 1982-06-30 |
| ES8206961A1 (en) | 1982-09-01 |
| FR2492633B1 (en) | 1985-01-18 |
| AR228879A1 (en) | 1983-04-29 |
| BR8106947A (en) | 1982-07-13 |
| IT1171607B (en) | 1987-06-10 |
| DE3142398A1 (en) | 1982-09-30 |
| IT8149554A0 (en) | 1981-10-23 |
| YU43046B (en) | 1989-02-28 |
| FR2492633A1 (en) | 1982-04-30 |
| GB2086303A (en) | 1982-05-12 |
| AT377682B (en) | 1985-04-25 |
| ES506570A0 (en) | 1982-09-01 |
| ATA530280A (en) | 1984-09-15 |
| JPH0211221B2 (en) | 1990-03-13 |
| DD208072A5 (en) | 1984-03-28 |
| YU105583A (en) | 1988-10-31 |
| YU254781A (en) | 1983-10-31 |
| GB2086303B (en) | 1984-08-22 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry |