GB1578087A - Apparatus for converting a rope of toffee or like plastic material into uniformly spaced cut portions - Google Patents

Description

(54) APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING A ROPE OF TOFFEE OR LIKE PLASTIC MATERIAL INTO UNIFORMLY SPACED CUT PORTIONS (71) We, BAKER PERKINS HOLD INGS LIMITED, of Westfield Road, Peterborough, PE3 6TA, a British Company, do hereby declare the invention for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following sratement:-- It is known to form toffee, sugar, hard and soft candy, fondant and like plastic materials into a rope from which individual sweets are cut and then fed in succession into a wrapping machine. The rope may be of uniform cross section throughout its length or may be die formed into a series of shapes, each corresponding to an individual sweet, interconnected by thin webs of the plastic material.

It is necessary, to enable the wrapping machine to operate at high speeds, to make provision not only for severing of successive portions from the rope during continuous advance of the latter but also for spacing the severed portions at a predetermined distance from one another prior to their entry into the wrapping machine and the present invention provides apparatus for achieving this.

The invention accordingly provides apparatus for converting a rope of toffee or like plastic material into uniformly spaced cut portions, comprising a continuously operating cutter, means for feeding the rope continuously to the cutter, and a helical feed screw disposed beyond the cutter and operative to engage successive portions cut from the rope by the cutter, to accelerate them away from the cutter until they are spaced apart at a predetermined pitch and thereafter to advance them at uniform velocity. When the rope is die formed, as described above, the cutter will of course be arranged to cut through the interconnecting webs.

Preferably the cutter comprises a helical blade mounted on a continuously rotating disc disposed in a plane transverse to the direction of advance of the rope. By use of a helical blade it can be ensured that the continuously travelling rope will be cut into portions with end faces perpendicular to the length of the rope.

Preferably the apparatus includes a conveyor, disposed beyond thc feed screw and including a series of pushers for engaging and advancing the individual spaced portions cut from the rope. This conveyor can be used as the infeed conveyor for a wrapping machine for wrapping the individual portions cut from the rope.

One embodiment of toffee feeding, cutting and spacing apparatus according to the invention is illustrated, by way of example, in the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which, Figure 1 is a side elevation of the apparatus, and Figure 2 is a section taken on the line 2-2 in Figure 1.

As shown in Fig. 1, a rope 11 of toffee of rectangular section, which has previously been formed by a well known type of forming machine (not shown), is continuously fed by a pair of feed rollers 12, which enagage oppb site sides of the rope, into a channel 13 which guides the rope 11 towards a cutter constituted by a helical blade 14 mounted on the rim of a disc 16 secured to a shaft 17 rotatably mounted in a framework 18 and driven by chain and sprocket gearing (not shown). The disc 16 is disposed in a plane transverse to the direction of feed of the rope 11. The helix angle of the blade 14 and its rate of rotation are so related to the rate of feed of the rope 11 that upon each revolution of the cutter it slices a portion from the rope 11 to form an individual sweet 19.

At the rope severing position a gap is pro- vided in the channel 13 to allow passage of the blade 14.

As the sweets 19 are severed from the rope 11 they are engaged, in turn, by the leading edge of a helical feed screw 21 formed on the outer periphery of a rotating drum 22 secured to a shaft 23 rotatably mounted in the framework 18 and driven by chain and sprocket gearing 24. The drum 22 is driven in timed relationship with the cutter and the pitch of the feed screw 21 is such that it firstly accelerates successive sweets 19 away from the cutter, moving them along the channel 13 until they are spaced apart at a predetermined pitch, whereafter the sweets 19 are advanced by the feed screw 21 at uniform velocity towards a transfer position 26.

The feed screw 21 terminates at the transfer position 26 and, as each sweet 19 approaches that position, one of a series of pushers 27 rises through a longitudinal slot 28 in the base of the channel 13, to engage the trailing edge of the sweet 19 and transfer it towards a wrapping machine (not shown).

The pushers 27 are mounted, at the same predetermined pitch as the sweets 19, on a continuously moving chain conveyor 29 mounted on sprockets 31 (one only of which is shown), the conveyor 29 being driven in timed relationship with the rotation of the feed screw 21 so that the movement of the sweets 19 along the channel 13 is continued by the pushers 27 when the sweets leave the zone of action of the feed screw.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS:- 1. Apparatus for converting a rope of toffee or like plastic material into uniformly spaced cut portions, comprising a continuously operating cutter, means for feeding the rope continuously to the cutter, and a helical feed screw disposed beyond the cutter and operative to engage successive portions cut from the rope by the cutter, to accelerate them away from the cutter until they are spaced apart at a predetermined pitch and thereafter to advance them at uniform velocity.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cutter comprises a helical blade mounted on a continuously rotating disc disposed in a plane transverse to the direction of advance of the rope.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, which includes a conveyor, disposed beyond the feed screw and including a series of pushers for engaging and advancing the individual spaced portions cut from the rope.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (4)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. secured to a shaft 23 rotatably mounted in the framework 18 and driven by chain and sprocket gearing 24. The drum 22 is driven in timed relationship with the cutter and the pitch of the feed screw 21 is such that it firstly accelerates successive sweets 19 away from the cutter, moving them along the channel 13 until they are spaced apart at a predetermined pitch, whereafter the sweets 19 are advanced by the feed screw 21 at uniform velocity towards a transfer position 26. The feed screw 21 terminates at the transfer position 26 and, as each sweet 19 approaches that position, one of a series of pushers 27 rises through a longitudinal slot 28 in the base of the channel 13, to engage the trailing edge of the sweet 19 and transfer it towards a wrapping machine (not shown). The pushers 27 are mounted, at the same predetermined pitch as the sweets 19, on a continuously moving chain conveyor 29 mounted on sprockets 31 (one only of which is shown), the conveyor 29 being driven in timed relationship with the rotation of the feed screw 21 so that the movement of the sweets 19 along the channel 13 is continued by the pushers 27 when the sweets leave the zone of action of the feed screw. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:-

1. Apparatus for converting a rope of toffee or like plastic material into uniformly spaced cut portions, comprising a continuously operating cutter, means for feeding the rope continuously to the cutter, and a helical feed screw disposed beyond the cutter and operative to engage successive portions cut from the rope by the cutter, to accelerate them away from the cutter until they are spaced apart at a predetermined pitch and thereafter to advance them at uniform velocity.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cutter comprises a helical blade mounted on a continuously rotating disc disposed in a plane transverse to the direction of advance of the rope.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, which includes a conveyor, disposed beyond the feed screw and including a series of pushers for engaging and advancing the individual spaced portions cut from the rope.

4. Apparatus according to claim 1, substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.