CA2015953A1 - Ice cream sandwich machine - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT
A machine for manufacturing wrapped ice cream sandwiches includes means for extruding a flow of ice cream.
Means are provided for pushing pairs of cookies against said flow of ice cream and into a slot on an index wheel. Means for advancing said index wheel to carry sandwiches made of pairs of cookies surrounding slabs of ice cream to a position aligned with a conveyor are provided, with a conveyor to carry said sandwiches to a wrapping station, where there are means to align wrappers with said sandwiches at said station. Means are included to transport sandwiches through a wrapping chamber, as well as means to fold the ends and rear flaps of said wrapper against said sandwich thereby to wrap it.
Lastly, means to seal said wrapper are provided. The means to fold the ends and rear flaps, and to seal the wrapper are driven by pneumatic cylinders timed for actuation and retraction by electronic sensing means linked to the conveyor means and the advancing means. Increase of the speed of the conveyor result in a coordinated increase in the speed of said folding and sealing.

Description

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The present invention relates to the field of food processing.
In particular, the present invention provides an improved ice cream ;
sandwich making machine.

There are three basic starting materials which go into the manufacture of an ice cream sandwich: ice cream, cookies, and wrappers. A large number of machines exist to combine these three materials into a finished product. Examples are shown in U.S.
Patents 3,316,860 (which does not include wrapping means);
3,119,353, 2,794,404 and 4,078,362.

The machine of U.S Patent No. 4,078,362, is typical of ice ~/G~
cream sandwich manufacturing machines currently on the market. It ;~ comprises, in combination, a sandwich maker, means for conveying sandwiches and a wrapping mechanism. The sandwich maker is ~;
composed of an ice cream extruder that extrudes a stream of ice ~-~ 15 cream having a side to side cross-section profile the same as that of the end to end cross sectional profile of an ice cream sandwich.
The extruder head is flanked by two inclined cookie trays, and cookie pushers are provided to push pairs of cookies, one from each tray, against the flow of extruded ice cream, as that flow enters a notch in a toothed index wheel. Each notch in that wheel will ;;
form one ice cream sandwich, being a desired thickness of ice cream between two cookies. As the sandwiches are formed, the wheel moves , . .~ ::
}~ incrementally forward to the next notch, with the flow of ice cream ' ~ ~ 1 '- ' ' ''' "~: . ': "'' ' 2 ~ 1 5 9 5 3 ~ :

being sheered off by the edge of the cookie in the just-formed sandwich. The process of filling notches in the index wheel continues, and as the wheel progresses around so that a sandwich is horizontally oriented, that sandwich is moved by a conveyer chain laterally to a wrapping station, where the sandwiches are wrapped.

At the wrapping station, in known machines, a series of four wrapping steps are conducted very rapidly. First, a pivotally reciprocating arm slaps the sandwich up through a folding chamber.
On its way up, the sandwich is urged into contact with a wrapper which has been positioned by a paper feed apparatus. As the sandwich is pushed through the wrapping chamber, the ends of the wrapper are forced down, and the sides are also forced down. The sandwich then reaches the top of its vertical travel~, and two pivoting arms envelop it, pushing the end flaps of the wrapper under the ends of the sandwich. Another pivoting arm then pushes the side flap of the wrapper under one side of the sandwich, and a final pivoting arm pushes the sandwich away from the wrapping station, thereby folding the last flaps of t~e wrapper under the :, other side of the sandwich. This final push also pushes the sandwich past a heat sealing station, which heat seals the wrapper about the sandwich.

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The ice cream sandwich maker described above has proved quite satisfactory for the high speed manufacture of ice cream sandwiches. Use of it has been accompanied by certain drawbacks, however, which until now have ~een dealt with in a fairly labour intensive and time consuming manner. The drawbacks and how they have been dealt with, include:

a) The entire machine is manufactured on a rigid iron or steel frame that has been painted to resist rust. It must be, and is, frequently cleaned (about once every four hours) because of its contact with ice cream, an ideal medium for the growth of bacteria. The fact that the machine is built on a rigid framq means that each joint in the frame must be thoroughly cleaned, which takes time. Also, each point of attachment of a machine part to the frame must be thoroughly cleaned.
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b) The cookie pushers comprises push rods, and the wrapping mechanism comprises levers which are cam actuated, the cams being motively connected to chains. This means that ;
the entire system is mechanically timed, and any chain slippage, cam jamming or shaft wear will upset the precise timing needed to operate the system. It also means that the lever operating the elevator imparts a slap to the cookies and sandwiches as the case may be. ~ `i ;

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2 ~ 3 This is minimized by precise tooling of the cams, but still is a factor in the overall efficiency of the machines, as a significant number of sandwiches are broken by the slapping action of the elevators, especially the one which carries the sandwich up, off the conveyor and through the wrapping chamber.

The object of the present invention is to provide an ice cream sandwich machine which overcomes, to a large extent, the drawbacks associated with known machines, and which consistently manufactures lo a high quality ice cream sandwich product. -In a broad aspect, the present invention relates to a machine ~: for manufacturing wrapped ice cream sandwiches comprising in combination: (a) means for extruding a flow of ice cream; (b) means for pushing pairs of cookies against said flow of ice cream and into a slot on an index wheel; (c) means for advancing said index wheel to carry sandwiches made of pairs of c~okies surrounding slabs of ice cream to a position aligned with a ; conveyor; (d) a conveyor to carry said sandwiches to a wrapping station; (e) means to align wrappers with said sandwiches at said station; (f) means to transport sandwiches through a wrapping chamber: (g) means to`fold the ends and rear flaps of said wrapper ; against said sandwich thereby to wrap it; and (h) means to seal said wrapper characterized in that said means (f) and (g) are :,~
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`~` :' 2 ~ 3 driven by pneumatic cylinders timed for actuation and retraction by electronic sensing means linked to said conveyor means (d) and said advancing means (c) whereby increase of the speed of said conveyor means will result in a coordinated increase in the speed of said means (f) and (g).

In another broad aspect, the present invention relates to a machine for manufacturing wrapped ice cream sandwiches comprising in combination: (a) means for extrudihg a flow of ice cream; (b) : lo means for pushing pairs of cookies against said flow of ice cream and into a slot on an index wheel; (c) means for advancing said index wheel to carry sandwiches made of pairs of cookies .....
surrounding slabs of ice cream to a position aligned with a ~; conveyor; (d) a conveyor to carry said sandwiches to a wrapping ~ ~

~ 15 station; (e) means to align wrappers with said sandwiches at said `~ . :

- station; (f) means to transport sandwiches through a wrapping .

~` chamber; (g) means to fold the ends and rear flaps of said wrapper ~' against said sandwich thereby to wrap it; and (h) means to seal :~

said wrapper characterized in that said machine is built on a solid .

vertical plate frame, behind which are located motor means for :~

;~ driving said machine. ~ ::

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In drawings which illustrate the present invention by way of example: ;:

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2 ~ 3 , Figure 1 is a partially schematic view of the front of an ice cream sandwich making machine embodying the present invention;

Figure lA is a photograph of same;

Figure 2 is a partially schematic view with the rear of an ice cream sandwich making machine embodying the present invention;
.; ~ "' "' ::' Figure 2~ is a photograph of same;
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~, Figure 3 is a photograph of the sandwich conveying and ~ .
wrapping mecha~isms; ~ ~
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,., Referring to Figures 1, lA, 2 and 2A, which show front and ;. ::~
rear views, partially open to expose the novel drive system of the :machine of the present invention, the operation of the present ::::~
invention is as follows~

i) Ice cream sandwich cookies are loaded into the cookie trays which flank the extruder. ~ .

15ii) Ice cream is fo~ced through the extruder horn into slots ::~ on an index wheel; as the flow of ice cream enters the ~slot, cookie pushers, which are actuated by a pneumatic ~ :

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2~5~3 cylinder, push pairs o~ cookies a~ainst the sides of the flow of ice cream, and into the aligned slot on the index wheel.

iii) The index wheel, which is driven by a Camco~ indexer mechanism then rotates one space counter clockwise, causing the right-hand cookie of the just-formed sandwich to sheer off the flow of ice cream from the extruder, ;
which will then be aligned with the next slot, to form another sandwich.
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iv) When the index wheel has carried the formed ice cream sandwich downwardly 90, the sandwich will then be aligned with a flexible plastic conveyor belt, which is provided with a plurality of regularly spaced pusher elements, .-which move the sandwiches out of the index wheel over to a wrapping station. The belt is driven in incremental fashion, timed with the movement of the index wheel, by a Cyclo~ indexer.

v) At the wrapping station, the sandwich is first slid onto an elevator, which moves in a vertical line, up and down.
The elevator is powered by a pneumatic cylinder such as ~ a Festo D2H-32-150-PVA. Just before the sandwich reaches "~ the elevator, a wrapper is pulled from a roll over the '.~ ~

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2 ~ 3 elevator and cut. The wrapper is centred over the elevator and accordingly, the sandwich will be centred beneath the wrapper.

vi) The elevator is then actuated to push the sandwich up through a folding chamber, which pushes the ends of the wrapper down over the ends of the sandwich, so that the ends of the wrapper lie flat vertically against the ends of the sandwich. The front and rear flaps of the wrapper are also pushed down, but in order to achieve a neat end product, they cannot be tucked in simultaneously with the ends, so at the top of the elevator, when the sandwich has cleared the end fold chamber the front and rear flaps are pushed down loosely.

vii) When the sandwich has reached the top of the elevator, the elevator will be aligned with a pair of end fold tuckers, which are powered by pneumatic cylinders. The elevator is then retracted, and substantially simultaneously, the end fold tucker cylinders are actuated, causing the end fold tucker plates fastened to the ends of the cylinders to slide beneath the sandwiches.' !This ifolds the ends flaps against the underside of the sandwich. The sandwich at this point is being supported by the tucker plates.

~:; ~'-.,' 2015~3 '"'~ :'' ,:,, viii)The sandwich at this point is horizontally aligned with a bottom flap folder, powered by a pneumatic cylinder.
The end fold tucks are then retracted, and simultaneously, the bottom flap folder is actuated. The bottom flap folder pushes a tucker plate under the sandwich, causing the bottom flap of the wrapper to be pushed against the underside of the sandwich.

ix) The sandwich pusher cylinder is then actuated, to push the sandwich off the bottom folder. The bottom folder is then retracted, following which the pusher is retracted. The action of the pusher pushes the sandwich ~:~ onto a plate which causes the front of the wrapper to fold up against the underside of the sandwich -completing the wrapping. A short distance from the front of the plate, the sandwich passes over a heated element, which activates a heat sensitive adhesive on the inside . ~:
surface of the wrapper, causing the wrapper to seal to itself where it overlaps. Wrapping is then completel and 1''~' ~
` the action of further sandwiches being pushed off the bottom flap folder by the pusher causes the finished sandwiches, at a rate of up to more than three per second, to progress down a polished metal ramp, where ~- they are boxed, by hand or automatically.
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2 ~ 5 3 In order to achieve a high rate of production, it is essential -~
that the entire system be synchronized very precisely. This is achieved in two ways: mechanically and electronically. This is different from previous machines, which depended entirely upon mechanics for timing.

Referring to Figures 2 and 2A, the drive system of the machine is illustrated. The drive system is centred around a three quarter horse power electric motor ~ which provides mechanical power to all parts of the system except those utilizing pneumatic cylinders.
The output shaft of Motor M is connected to the gearbox G with left and right outputs. ~ ~
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The left hand output from the gearbox drives a first Ca~co~
indexer C which powers the index wheel. An output from the Ca~co~
indexer powers, via a belt drive, an electro cam encoder E which is electronically linked to a bank of solenoids S. The electro cam encoder plays a key role in coordinating the timing of the moving parts of the machine of the present invention. The encoder is provided with means for sensing the rotational position of its ;~
central shaft, in degrees relative to a fixed point. The location of the shaft is transmitted via gray code to a programmable limit ;
switch lPLS). The PLS is programmable on a number of channels, for instance 16, to provide a command to a part of the machine, at a ~ 10 , ;,, ~ ) 9 ~ 3 ~:

specified position of the encoder shaft, over an arc of rotation of same.

Coordination of the parts via sensing of the position of the encoder shaft is accomplished by coordination of actuation and deactuation of the various parts of the machine in proper order.
In a working embodiment of the present invention, 12 channels of the Programmable Limit Switch are utilized to operate the pneumatic cylinders of the present invention as follows:

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No. Cylinder Shaft location Command -1 elevator 210 extension 2 elevator 30 retraction 3 cookie pusher 256 extension ~

4 cookie pusher 120 retraction `-sandwich pusher 125 extension ;~
6 sandwich pusher 195 retraction 7 bottom folder 90 extension 8 bottom folder 185 retraction 9 side tuckers 31 extension side tuckers 90 retraction 11 dumper 190 extension 12 dumper 180 inhibit dump Channels 1 - 10 transmit commands over a 60 arc, with channel 12 trænsmitting over a 10 range only. Moreover, it will be noted that the dumper iB not actuated during each cycle, but only when required. ~he dumper is connected via an air clutch to the paper feed mechanism such that when the paper feed is actuated, the dumper is disabled. If it is desired to dump sandwiches, the dumper is switched on, thereby stopping further action of the paper feed, which keeps the wrapping station from jamming. ;

The right hand output from gearbox G drives a pulley which is connected via a belt to a second gearbox G' having two output shafts. One output shaft drives a Cyclo~ indexer which powers the ;~
sandwich conveyer, moving it in a coordinated fashion relative to the index wheel, with one incremental movement of the conveyor, from the index wheel to the elevator, being accomplished for each incremental motion of the index wheel. The other output from the gear box drives a paper feed unit, at a 1:1 ratio, the paper feed unit serving to draw wrapper material from a roll over the sandwich at the base of the elevator, and cut the wrappers from the roll.
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I It will be observed from the above description of the drive ¦~ system that the machine of the present invention is made up of ¦ 15 individual units, each of which performs a function. They are kept ;
¦~ in mechanical synchronization by the fact that each of the electro cam encoder, the indexer which drives the conveyor, and the paper ;~
feed, is driven at exactly the same speed. One complete cycle of the me~hanisms of each will be precisely timed with one complete cycle of the mechanisms of the other. The Camco indexer which drives the index wheel ls driven at half the spleed of the others.
This is because the unit operates on one full index stop per half~
cycle of its mechanism.
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Referring to Figures 1 and 2 in general, additional features of the present invention will now be discussed.

First, it will be observed that each unit comprised in the above-described drive system is mounted not on a frame made up of interconnected structural members, as is the case for prior machihes, but rather, the present invention utilizes a thick aluminum (or other suitable material) vertical plate as a ~nitary frame member upon which all components are mounted. Several significant advantages are realized with the plate-like frame of the present invention. The plate is extremely rigid, with negligible flex during operation, so the relative distance between units of the drive system remains constant. This ensures that timing - which is all important - is optimized. Furthermore, with a plate-like frame, the driving units of the machine are isolated from the ice cream sandwich being manufactured. Cleaning of the machine is also somewhat simplified, due to the fact that as the plate is hosed off, matter simply slides off it, with very few crevices or ledges to catch on.

Furthermore, with regard to cleaning, it will be noted that the~present invention`does not rely on timing or driving chains, and does not utilize cam-operated levers in its wrapping mechanism.
Furthermsre, the machine of the present invention does not in a 2 ~ 3 preferred embodiment utili~e a conveyor chain between the index wheel and the wrapping mec~anism. Instead, the present invention utilizes belts instead of chains, and pneumatic cylinders instead of cam-operated levers. It will be appreciated that the present invention, then, much more sanitary than ice cream sandwich machines in the past, as it does not provide the number and variety of surfaces which, say, a timing chain does, for the growth of bacteria. Moreover, since a machine of this sort must be cleaned once every four hours on average, cleaning is much easier and faster without the presence of chains, levers and the like.

It is to be understood that the examples described above are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention. It is expected that numerous variants will be obvious to the person skilled in the food processing machinery art, without any departure from the spirit of the present invention. The appended claims, properly construed, form the only limitation upon the scope of the present invention.

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Claims (2)

1. A machine for manufacturing wrapped ice cream sandwiches comprising in combination:

a) means for extruding a flow of ice cream;
b) means for pushing pairs of cookies against said flow of ice cream and into a slot on an index wheel;
c) means for advancing said index wheel to carry sandwiches made of pairs of cookies surrounding slabs of ice cream to a position aligned with a conveyor;
d) a conveyor to carry said sandwiches to a wrapping station;
e) means to align wrappers with said sandwiches at said station;
f) means to transport sandwiches through a wrapping chamber:
g) means to fold the ends and rear flaps of said wrapper against said sandwich thereby to wrap it; and h) means to seal said wrapper characterized in that said means (f) and (g) are driven by pneumatic cylinders timed for actuation and retraction by electronic sensing means linked to said conveyor means (d) and said advancing means (c) whereby increase of the speed of said conveyor means will result in a coordinated increase in the speed of said means (f) and (g).

2. A machine for manufacturing wrapped ice cream sandwiches comprising in combination:
a) means for extruding a flow of ice cream;
b) means for pushing pairs of cookies against said flow of ice cream and into a slot on an index wheel;
c) means for advancing said index wheel to carry sandwiches made of pairs of cookies surrounding slabs of ice cream to a position aligned with a conveyor;
d) a conveyor to carry said sandwiches to a wrapping station;

e) means to align wrappers with said sandwiches at said station;
f) means to transport sandwiches through a wrapping chamber;
g) means to fold the ends and rear flaps of said wrapper against said sandwich thereby to wrap it; and h) means to seal said wrapper characterized in that said machine is built on a solid vertical plate frame, behind which are located motor means for driving said machine.