CA2117999A1

CA2117999A1 - Process and apparatus for manufacturing shaped confectionery products

Info

Publication number: CA2117999A1
Application number: CA002117999A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Michael David Peters
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: A C Machines Ltd
Priority date: 1992-04-15
Filing date: 1992-04-15
Publication date: 1993-10-28
Also published as: HUT69973A; HU9402934D0; ATE170045T1; ES2122993T3; CZ254494A3

Abstract

Partially formed products (2) are placed in molds (8) and a fluid such as air or an edible filler is injected into the partially formed products (2), e.g. by needles 17 [Fig. 6], so as to cause expansion and thereby produce final products (2) having the shape of the molds (8). Each mold (8) may comprise an upper mold part (14) and a lower mold part (11). The lower mold parts (11) may be mounted on a chain conveyor (9, 9b, 9c) [Fig. 1] or a rotating cylinder (28) [Fig. 12] so that the partially formed products (2) are moved towards and the final products (2) are moved away from a reciprocating assembly (12, 13) which carries the upper mold parts (14). Preferably, the final products (2) are retained in the upper mold parts (14) and then ejected by a blast of air. The invention enables complicated shapes to be formed at high production rates whilst using an economical amount of chocolate or the like.

Description

93/2070~ 2 i 1 7 9 ~ PCr/GB92/00697 RO~E~SS AND A~PARA~US FOR M~NUFACTURING S~.~PED
CONFECTIONERY PRODUCTS
The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing confectionery and similar products shaped, at least on the external surface, according to a preselected design. The ir.vention also relates to a m~chine for carrying out said process and ~o the shaped final products.
Confectionery products such as chewing gum and bu~ble gum products, soft candies, toffees etcetera, are mass-produced with very high outputs per hour. Methods to produce them in symmetrical shapesf such as spherical ~ cylindrical or ellipsoidal shapes, are }cnown in the art. On the contrary it is not ~ssible to obtaln them with shapes reproducing fancy obj~c~s, nor is it possible to obtain such products with their surface shaped according to a selected design, i,e. with a pl~rality o~
shaped lines and ar~as formed in high- or bas~relief.
The aim of the p~esent invention is to solve the above mentioned problem by providing a way of industri~ 71y producing sh~p2d: confectionery products with a hig~ output per hour iR a simple and ec:onomical way.
P.nother aim of the present inYention is to provide an apparatus for carrying out the above referred to irdu~trial process.

W093/2~70~
21 ~ 7 ~, 3 9 PCT/GB9~/00697 ;~

According to a first aspect of the present in~ention, there is provided a process for manufacturing confectionery products, comprising the steps of: producing an intermediate product which is plastically deformable and has a smaller size than a desired final product; positioning said intermediate product in a mold having a preselected shape;
connecting an interior portion of said intermediate product to a source of pressurized fluid; feeding said pressurized fluid into said intermediate product interior portion to conform said intermediate product to said preselected shape of said mold to produce said final product; disconnecting said final product from said fluid source; and extracting said final product from~said mold.
According to a~ second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a confectionery product mo:lded to a preselected shape and having a plurality o~:molded areas and lines on its outer surface.
:According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided apparatus for producing haped:~confectionery products, comprising: a plurality of~upper and lower mold parts; positioning means for positioning intermediate products in said mold parts;
fluid ~eeding means for feeding pressurized fluid into a~ innex portion of each intermediate product to produce said shaped products; and extractor means ~or removing said shaped products from said mold parts~
Preferred features and e~bodiments of the present invention ar2 describ~d below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
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W093/2~705 2~ PCr/G~9~97 - figure 1 is a side view, partially sec~ioned, of a preferred embodiment of an apparatus according to the invention;
- figure 2 is a front view, partial'~,r sectioned, of the apparatus of figure 1;
- figures 3 to 5 are enlarged side views, in partial section, of the apparatus of figure 1 and show sequential st ps of the in~ention process;
- figures 6 to 11 are side and top enl~rged views, in partial section, of details of the apparatus according to the inYention; and - figures 12 and 1~ are partially sectioned side and front views, respectively, of a further embodiment o~ an appara~us according to the inventi.on.
With reference to the accompanying drawings, ~;` reference 1 :

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WO 93/~705 PCr~G:B92J006~7 ' 21~L79~9 4 ``

generally ref~rs to an apparatus for the production of shaped candy products 2 reproducing a predetermined design.
Apparatus 1 comprises a plurality of lower half molds 11 and upper half mo7ds 1~, feeding means 5 for feedi~g intermedi~t products 2, i . e . the ~ dW co~fectionery ~roducts to be shaped, to thP lower half molds, and means 12 for temporarily closing together upper and lower molds 11 and 14. Moreover, apparatus 1 comprises fluid feeding means 16, 21 that are connectable to the interior portion of the intermediate products ? and to a source of pressurizPd fluid (not shownJ, and extractor means for extracting the shaped product ~rom the molds 11 or 14.
In the pr ferred embodiment disclosed in the drawings, the upper molds 14 are ~fixed~ i.e. they are reciproca~able : :
along~ their vertical axis z-z but they cannot undergo any lateral ~ traYerse. The lower half molds 1~ are movable from : ~ ~ a first : position corresponding to feeding means 5 to a s~cond position where molds 14 are located, and viceversa, along~ a closed loop path ~.
According to the prefe~red embodiment disclosed in figures 5~ ~he lower molds ll are housed within a plurality of :~1'" i supp~rti~lg ~ars 9a parallel to each other and mounted on a chain conveyor 9, 9c, 9b that forms the closed path 4 . ~s also discl osed in figure 2, the chain conveyor 3 v~
WO 93/2~705 P~/GB92/00697 comprises a couple of shafts 9 rotatably mounted on a frame 3. The shafts 9 are coupled to sprocket wheels 9b, ~y means of which chains 9c are moved, together with bars 9a that are secured to the chain iinks. Frame 3 is also proYided with low ~riction elements F ~fig. 2) supporting bars ga at least at the shaping posi tion .
E~ch bar ga houses a plurality of half molds 11 offset to each other (figure 1.) in order to have a pitch P
corresponding to the ln~ermediate product sorting pit~h in the machqnes (not shown) producing products 2. These machines are known in the art and are not central ~o the present invention.
rame 3 also rigidly supports element 30 wnich ~ .
houses . a plurality of reciprocata.ble saddles 1~ or simllar: means carrying the upper half molds 14. Molds 14 are offset in the same way 2S lower molds 11, with the same~ :~ pitch :P (see figure ~),and are movable from a :closing position, in which they cooperate with lower half molds ~11 to form~a~ closed mold, to ~n upper stop position.
The sadd7es 12 are supp~ ed so as to be slidable in direction z-z, and are reciprocated by the action of motor means such as a pneumatiF cylinder 73. In order that the W O 93~20705 2 ~ ~ 7 9 ~ ~ P ~ /GB92/00697 saddle 12 is moved axially in direction z-z without rotating about the axis æ-z, both an operating shaft 38 and an "idlel' shaft 38a are provided. ~owever it is also possible to use a pneumatic cylinder with a non-rsta~ing shaft.
Each lower half-mold ll and upper hal f-mold 14 ~ s internally shaped in a way that its inner sur.ace reproduces the corresponding half of the obje-t, ~: so that, wh n juxtaposed, the elosed ;nold 8 reproduces the shape of ~he whole object witr.
high- and bas-relief areas and lines.
In the preferxed embo~iment herein disclosed, upper molds 14 are mounted onto saddles 12 together with the f1uid feeding means 16, holding means for temporarily retaining the shaped prducts 2 in the moids 14 9 and extractor means f or extracting ~he shaped products fro~ the upper molds.
di~sclosed in detail in figures 6-9, the pressuriæed luid fe ding means comprises a hollow needle ~ 7 fixed to the upper half-mold 14 and having axis b-b coinciding with ~ axis k-~ of ;the saddle 12 (figure 9) 0 ~e n~edle 17 has a free end 18 with a tip 19, preferably oblique, which'projects into the upper half-mola l4. lhe intermediate roduct 2 is preferably hollow: ~n this case ~ .

- WO ~3/20705 PCI`./GB92/006g7 the length of the projecting portion of the needle is greater than the thickness of the wal G.` ~h~ Droauct and 9).
An opposite end 20 of the bored needle 17 is connected to duct 21 which is in turn connectable to a source of pressurized fluid, known per se and not shown, suitable for delivering a fluid at a preset pressure. The pressuri~ed fl:~id can be air or an edible filler, ~cn as G
sugar syrup or the like.
~: Adjacent the needle 17 is provided a collar 18 havlng a sharp edge facing into the half-rnoid 14 and projecting ~herein for a predetermined dls~ance.
~ , The ~ purpos2 of collar l~ is to seal the hole ~ade by ~he needle 17.

The holding means 22 comprises two opposed arms 24, hin~ed to: saddl e 12, and having free pointed f:ront ends 25 and rear ends 26.

he~ : arms 24 are biased by elast c ~eans, such as :springs 27, which towards a cl~sed posi:~on in which ~heir free e~ds 25 ~roject nto the~ closed: mold 8 :at the interface 15 be~ween the hal~-moids 1 : (figure 8). The free ends 25 project through notches l~a and 14a provided in thP lower half-mold ll and in the upper half-mold 1 4, respectiv~ly.
The r~ar ends 26 of arms 24 are provided with projecting W O 93/2fl705 PCT/GB92~00697

2~ 1 7 ~ ~ ~ 8 portions 29 in order~ upon heir engag~ment by the fixed element 30 once the saddle 12 reaches its back s~op position, to have the arms 24 open against l,he ac,,.on of spring means 27 and thus release the shaped product.
Extractor means comprises a plurality of blowing nozzles 31, located in the internal surface of t,~2 upper half-mold 14. I~he axes c-c of ducts 23 of the nozzles are parallel t~ the axis b-b of needle 17 and the nozzles are symmetrically positioned around the needie. ~his provides optimal extraction of the shaped product The noz~les 31 are connectable through ducts 21 and 32 ~;
to a source of ~ressurized air fnot shown~.
In figure 7 is s~wn the preferred configalration of reciprocatable saddles 12. According to this embodiment, e~h s~ddle 12 carries two upper molds 14 offset ~rom each o ther by the required pitch P. ~ch saddle has a transverse: . section that is substantially rectangular~
with~ two~opposit~ co~er portions missing~
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~; It:~is thus possible to position two adjacent saddles 12 very ~ close together (see figure 7) and to maintain ~: the required pitch P between molds mounted on adjacent saddles.
1'ne duc~s 21 and 32 for each half-mold 14 are positioned above each other and the ducts for the two molds 4 of each saddle 12 are positioned on , .~ W O 93t20705 2 r ~ 3 ~
P ~ /GB92/00697 opposite side of the saddle Figtlres 10 and 11 show a preferred em~odiment for ste-pwise movement of the bars 2a along the chain conveyer. In this c^~se, instead of known motors acting on one shaft 9, bars 9a are moved by means of a pneumatic piston directly acting on the bars 9a. More specifically each bar ~a is provided each side adjacent to frame 3 ~ith a hole 1~. ~n tne outsid~

o f frame 3 is provided piston U~2 pneuma ically insertable and ~etrac~able into and from the hole 10.
Piston U~2 is mounted on slider H and is rec:iprocatable between two positions, along guiding ways M, ~y means of nother pneumatic piston U/1.

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;With reference also to figure 1, piston U/2 and slider H

are: ~movable from position 9a/1 (i.e. the bar position immediately upstream of the molding position) to posltion ga/2 (i.e. the molding position itself)-: ~:: During ~operation, ~ piston U/2 is first inserted into hole 10 of bàr ~a located at position 9a/1. ~ hen piston U/l is . , , actu~ted and th~ bar is moYed from position 9a/1 to position 9a/2; the pitch R of this traverse can thus be perfectly controlled in order to obtain a correc~
lignment of lower half molds 11 and upper half molds 14 at position ga/2.

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WO 93/20705 PCI`/&B92/006g7 21~ 7~9 lo Once molds 11 and 14 are aligned and Joined ~o for~
mold 8, piston U/2 is retracted and moYed b~ck to position 9a/1 to which a new bar 9a has been traversed upon movemen~ of the original bar to position 9a/2. The cycle i s the:
repea~ed.
It should also be no~ed that, thanks to this emhodiment, bars sa and therefore the molding step can be operated at the same pace at which is operated the equipment producing ~ he intermediate raw product.
:~ The proc~ss according to the invention will now be described with xeference to figures l to 5.
: rhe intermediate raw products 2 are produced in a know~
machine,~:upstream to the . apparatus 1 of the present invention.
By intermediate ( raw ) products are meant confectionery products ;that ccording to prior art a_e either suitable to : be packed as inished products or have to undergo only some~ fini~shing steps, such as coating. In the following description reference will be made to spherical and hollow bu~l~e-~ums, hut, as ~ previously mentioned, the p~ocess appl i 5 ~lso to non-spherical and non-hollow bubble-gums and~other products such as toffees etc~
From this known machine fnot shown~ the products 2 are fed to ifeeding means havin~2 an inter-product pitcn the sa~.e as t~,~t of the oUtDUt row of the known machine. This mear;, ~hat ~`::
:

~ W O 93/20705 2 ~ ~ 7 3 ;3 ~ P ~ /GB92/00697 11 !

if the known machine produces a row of, e. 5., _ ' raw products a~ 32 different output positicr;s, ~ e bars 9a wi i have '2 offset molds 11 with the same pitch as t:le out?u., ?ositio~.s and products.

Feeding means 5 is a hopper having offset du~ts 7 through which products 2 are fed to correspondingly offset lower molds 11 on bar 9a mounted on ~hain conveyor 9.
The bar is then moved, by known mea~s or by the d e~i ce above disclosed with reference to figures 10 and 11, to position ~a/2 (figure 3~. Upper molds 14 are then lowered by saddles 12 onto lowe~ half molds 14 (figure 4), thus fo~ming a whole shaping mold 8, and ~dle 17 pierces product 2. At the same time, collar 1S sli~htly compresses the D~er surface of product 2, providing a fluid-tigh~
: se~ 1 around needle l7.
Air,~ sugar syrup or another suitable pressurized f l uid is then ::fed through needle 17 to the hollow interior of produ~t 2 . This expands the product and urges it against the inner surface of molds 11 and 14 and confc~rms its shape to :: the mold design. Durin~ this swelling step, product :2 is also urged against collar 1~ and ~ree pointed ends 25 of ~rms 24 (see . igure 9).

In or~er to be expanded and molded, intermediate products 2 are in a plastically deforma~le condition. In the case of bubble gums, this condition is .

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W O 93t20705 PCT/~B92/00697 achieved by ensuring that the intermediate ?roaucts 2 are hot enough when they exit ~ om the upstream producing machine to be su~ficien~l~ deformable.
However, heating or cooling means may be provided upstxeam of feeding means 5 LO optimize produa~ 2 temperature.
At the end of this step, shaped product 2 is therefore secured b~f arms 24 to the upper half mold 14 and to s~ddle 12.
The fluid pressure required depends on the nature and kind of product ~bubb 7 e gum, toffee e~cetera). For ~the a~erage bu~ble-gum product having a wall thickness within he range of 2 mm to 6 mm arld an initial diameter of 23-24 mm and a final diameter of about 26 mm, the air ;~ ~pr~ssure va7ue is about 3,5-4,0 atm. The skilled man will a-~ily ~detsrmine the suitable pressure for each product after~:a few tests.

After~ ~the shaping s~ep the pressurized fluid source is disconnected from needle 17, and saddles 12 are brought to their raised stop position (figure ~). Shaped products 2 are retain~d by arms 4 and follow path 34 (figures 1 and 23 until saddl~ 12 reaches its upper stc~. Then projecting portions 29 are pressed and arms 24 open to îree the products 2.

Compressed air is then fed througn aucts 32, 21 to nozzle- _' ~ - ~ W~ ~3/2070~ 7 ~ a 9 PCr/G~9~/0~6g7 and shaped products 2 are extracted (eiectedl fxom uppPr half molds 14 to fall onto conveyor 6 that brings them after cooling to wrapping and packaging equipment (not sho~n) or to coating apparatus (not shownJ. Where products 2 are bubble-gums, they preferably undergo a su~sequent sugar coating step in a way known per se, still retaining their shaped appearance notwithstanding this coatlng step.
It should be noted that molds ll plus ~ars 9a in positions 9aJ1 and 9a/2, and molds 14 plus saddles 12, while having rele~ant axes perpendicular to each oth r, are incllned with respect to the plane of the first portion of path 4.
Bec~use of this incliRation~ after the molding and shaping ;step,~when shaped products are released ~nd extracted from upper; molds 11, the rel evant bar 9a will have moved from position 9a/2 to the position shown with do~ted lines in :figure~ the released And ejected products will fall first ~on ~: the thus~moved bar and fro~ it to conveyor 6 al:ong ~ path 35 .
:Dimensions; of products 2 depend on dimensions of ~aw~;~ produc~s and can vary within, e.g., 10 to 40 mm if the produc~s are spherical, and withiI~, e.g., 1 to 12 cm if thé I products are roughly cylindrical or elli~tical . I The : : : : ::
sh~pes of the products may vary accordingly: football, basket, ba5e~all or soccer balls, ca, toon char~ct~rs, WO 93/20~05 P~/GB92~00697 2 ~ 1 7 9 9 9 1 4 corn, vegetables, fruits, etcetera.
In fig~res 12 and 1~ is show~ another possible embodiment according to t~le present invention.
In these figures the same references of previous figures 1-11 are used for the same elements.
In this embodiment the basic principle is the same as before, but instead of chain conveyor g bars 9a are mounted on a rotating cylinder 28.
Besides this, the other main difference from previous embodiment resides in the means for feeding intermedlate products to lo~er half molds 11. In this case (figure 12) raw products 2 are fed from the known producing machine (not shown) to a feeder 36 comprising a plurality of offset ducts 37, each aligned with the stop position of relevant mold 11. Feeder 36 further comprises two retaining arms 39, e~h cooperating with a plurality of the~ o~fset ducts 7 in order to ret~ 7 n raw pro~ucts 2 ~..hile cylinder 28 is rotat~d from onP position to the next one.
h the preferred~e~mbodiment, arms 39 are hinged and pneumatically operated by pistons 40 at a preset rate to alternately block and unblock the ducts 7. An even Sett~r feeding of raw intermedlates 7 is obtained'by using a belt conveyor ~not shown~ upstream of feeder 36 to ca~ry products 2 from the known producing madine. Th~ belt con~eyor will be m~vable W093/20705 ~ 3 ~ 9 PCT/GB92/00697 in steps substantially equal to the diameter of product 2: products 2 will thus be ~ed to molds 11 by the combined action of gravity and movement of the belt conveyor.
From the above em~odiments it is evident that the present invention provides- several further advantageous features. In fact, by working at the same rate as the machine producing the intermediate products, it is possible to have a very high rate that results in a very high output, usually above 500 pieces per minute. Moxeover, by using the same : inter-product pitch as the output of the machine producing the intermediate products, space is saved.;
A further advantageous feature is that the apparatus can be located at the end of a known n.achine producing the intermediate products without expensively modifying the known machine.
. :Ano~her advantage is that molds 11, 14 and/or bars 9~a can be easily removed from chain conveyor ~-9c :or~:cylinder 28 in order to be repl~ced with different molds for differently shaped products.
A still further adYantage is that bigger final products can be obtained, with the same weight as the : intermediate products.
Last but not least, the final s~sar ooating step~
: if: done, does not conceal the molded lines and areas on :~the product 2, but instead enhances them, ~:::especiall~ if the co~ting colour is different from the product colour. In this case a coating process producing a thin coat will be used so as to coat only the high-relief areas.
`~ ~In order to obtain this result the coating syrup :is spread on the walls of the coating pans, and is not W0~3/20705 PCTJGB92~00697 ~ ~
2 ~ 9 - lS -applied directly to the shaped products. Filling in of bas-relief lines and areas is thus avoided.
However, even if a thick coating is used, i.e.
the bas-relief areas are coated in the same colour as the rest of the surface, the high- and bas-relief areas are still discernable and the shaped appearance is maintained. In fact, a greater amount of coating syrup will be deposited in bas-relief lines, thus giving a more intense colour to those lines compared with the high-relief areas.

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Claims

1. A process for manufacturing confectionery products, comprising the steps of:
producing an intermediate product which is plastically deformable and has a smaller size than a desired final product;
positioning said intermediate product in a mold having a preselected shape;
connecting an interior portion of said intermediate product to a source of pressurized fluid;
feeding said pressurized fluid into said intermediate product interior portion to conform said intermediate product to said preselected shape of said mold to produce said final product;
disconnecting said final product from said fluid source; and extracting said final product from said mold.

2. A process according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:
positioning said intermediate product in a lower mold part at a first position;
moving said intermediate product and said lower mold part to a second position at which an upper mold part is located;
closing together said upper and lower mold parts and producing said final product; and returning said lower mold part to said first position.

3. A process according to claim 2, wherein said final product is temporarily secured to said upper mold part after being produced.

4. A process according to claim 2, wherein said lower mold part is moved between said first and second positions by a chain conveyor.

5. A process according to claim 2, wherein said lower mold part is moved between said first and second positions by a rotating cylinder.

6. A process according to any previous claim, wherein said intermediate product has a hollow interior, and said pressurized fluid is air and/or a viscous edible filler.

7. A process according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein said final product is a bubble gum, and said process further comprises the step of sugar coating said final product.

8. A confectionery product molded to a preselected shape and having a plurality of molded areas and lines on its outer surface.

9. A confectionery product according to claim 8, wherein said product is a bubble gum product having a sugar coating.

10. A confectionery product according to claim 8 or 9, wherein said product has a hollow interior.

11. Apparatus for producing shaped confectionery products, comprising:
a plurality of upper and lower mold parts;
positioning means for positioning intermediate products in said mold parts;
fluid feeding means for feeding pressurized fluid into an inner portion of each intermediate product to produce said shaped products; and extractor means for removing said shaped products from said mold parts.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said lower mold parts are movable between a first position where said positioning means is located and a second position where said upper mold parts are located, said upper mold parts being reciprocatable between open mold positions and closed mold positions in contact with said lower mold parts.

13. Apparatus according to claim 11 or 12, further comprising holding means for temporarily retaining said shaped products in said upper or lower mold parts.

14. Apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said extractor means, fluid feeding means and holding means are located on said upper mold parts.

15. Apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein said fluid feeding means comprises a hollow needle and a sharp edged collar projecting into each pair of upper and lower mold parts, and said extractor means comprises a plurality of blowing nozzles positioned substantially parallel to each needle.

16. Apparatus according to any one of claims 11 to 15, wherein said lower mold parts are mounted on a chain conveyor or a rotating cylinder.