GB1600551A

GB1600551A - Honey wafer biscuits and means for filling said biscuits

Info

Publication number: GB1600551A
Application number: GB1365/78A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1977-01-18
Filing date: 1978-01-13
Publication date: 1981-10-21
Also published as: SE7800530L; CA1106223A; DE2701765A1; IT1092284B; IT7819334A0; FR2377158A1; NL7800619A; BE862706A; DK22178A; ATA15678A; AT363304B; ES466120A1

Description

(54) HONEY WAFER BISCUITS AND MEANS FOR FILLING SAID BISCUITS (71) I, MATTHIAS SCHMIDT, a citizen of the Federal German Republic, of D-7108 MGckmiihl, Federal German Republic, do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention refers to honey wafer biscuits and to an apparatus for filling such wafer biscuits with honey.

In recent years the food industry has launched a variety of new products but up to now it has not been possible to put bees honey on the market in a pre-packed and easily edible form.

This has been due, on the one hand, to the fact that it is necessary to have the honey available in portions or alternatively in blocks in an edible coating, and, on the other hand, to the fact that the filling of such honey in portions is most difficult in view of the extreme stickiness and viscosity of honey.

It is an object of this invention to produce an edible honey wafer biscuit which is suitable for mass production, which can be simply and safely packed for sale, and which can be stored for a long time.

Furthermore, it is an object of this invention to provide a device by means of which wafer biscuits can be filled in a perfectly satisfactory manner with portions of honey and by means of which honey can be separated in exact portions from a rod of honey.

According to the invention, a honey wafer biscuit comprises: (a) overlying top and bottom edible wafer biscuit parts, at least one of which has a chamber; (b) bees honey in said chamber; and (c) edible adhesive at the joints between the parts.

The invention also comprises apparatus when used for filling a honey wafer biscuit according to the invention, comprising a honey storage container and sealable openings for discharging the honey in portions, in which both the transport of honey from the honey container to the discharge openings in a rodlike manner and the separation of portions of honey from the rods is effected by pneumatic or hydraulic means.

The chambers of the wafer biscuit, after the baking of the upper part and the lower part, may be filled with bees honey, preferably crystalized, creamy honey, which is honey of a substantiaily solid consistancy, and both wafer parts may thereafter be bonded to each other by means of an edible adhesive. The wafer biscuit filled with honey may then be packed, if desired being provided with an additional layer, for example of chocolate, before being packed.

The small chambers of the wafer biscuit can be filled with honey from a honey filling apparatus; however, it is also possible to provide the honey in the form of portions pre-packed in edible coatings. The coatings may be made of material which is impermeable to honey. The material encloses the honey like a sachet which can be inserted in the chambers of the wafer biscuit. The wafer biscuits can be covered on the side facing the honey filling with a layer of grease so that the permeation of the honey into the wafer biscuit is completely prevented, even if viscous honey is used as a filler. The material for the cover can also be a plastics material provided that said material is dissolved when eaten without influencing the digestion.

The edible adhesive is preferably mixed in powder form with liquid honey. Preparing the adhesive with water is not possible, because the wafer biscuits would soften. The adhesive is applied as a sticky viscous mass, which bonds the two wafer biscuits parts together.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 shows one embodiment in crosssection of a honey wafer biscuit in accordance with the invention, Figure 2 shows another embodiment in cross-section of a honey wafer biscuit in accordance with the invention, Figure 3 shows a plan view of a wafer biscuit and schematically the operation of an apparatus for filling the biscuit, Figure 4 is a lateral view of the filling aparatus with one form of a cutting knife system and a wafer biscuit underneath.

Figure 5 shows the cutting knife system according to Figure 4 schematicallywith the cutting knives closed, Figure 6 shows the arrangement according to Figure 5 but with the cutting knives open, Figure 7 shows another form of cutting device with the cutting knives closed, Figure 8 shows the cutting device according to Figure 7 with the knives open, Figure 9 is a plan view of the cutting device shown in Figures 7 and 8, and Figure 10 is a schematic view of a honey filling machine, according to the invention, partly in section, which is operated pneumatically or hydraulically.

Figure 1 shows in cross section a wafer biscuit W with a bottom part 1 and a top part 2 formed with honey chambers 3. Bottom part 1 and top part 2 of the wafer biscuit are bonded together by means of an edible adhesive 4 after the honey portions have been filled into the honey chambers. The chambers can also be provided with a lining 8, 8' made of a material which is impermeable to honey, especially if viscous honey is used; a layer of grease can also be applied to the inner surfaces of the wafer biscuit forming the chambers.

Figure 2 shows the bottom part 6, 7 of the wafer congruent with the top part 2, 3 thereof; top part 2, 3 and bottom part 6, 7 are bonded by means of an edible adhesive 4. 9 indicates a honey sachet, i.e. a honey portion in a casing which is impermeable to honey, whereby the honey portion is preformed and only needs to be inserted into the wafer biscuit. The casing can be made of plastics material or the like provided the material dissolves when being consumed without having any adverse effect on the digestion. S indicates a weak area in the wafer W which forms a predetermined break position when single bars are broken off. 10 indicates the package foil or similar.

The wafer biscuit is preferably filled in one step, as is shown schematically in Figure 3. A cutting device is located above each chamber; the cutting devices in each row thereof are connected by twin-axes 11, 12,... and are connected at both ends to members 13 and 14. The connecting members 13, 14 are joined together at 15 and are moved by means of handle 16 in the direction of the arrow.

Figure 4 shows the filling apparatus schematically and in cross section along the line I-I of Figure 3. The box-like apparatus 17 is provided with lateral walls 18 and 19 within which a piston 20 is movably arranged and is sealed against the lateral walls 18, 19 by means of seals 21. Underneath the piston 20 the honey supply 22 is provided, which is divided at its lower part into sections 24 formed by the vertical walls 23. The bottom 25 of the apparatus 17 is formed with discharge openings 27.

Underneath each opening 27 a cutting device 28, 29, 30, 31 is provided, which includes two cutting elements. The two cutting elements 28, 29, and 30, 31 are moved in the direction of the arrow towards each other and apart from each other, whereby the cutting edges 29 and 31 for cutting off the honey rod contact each other exactly and allow a sure and clean cutting through of the honey rod so that the correspond ing honey portion 5 (Figure 1) falls downwardly into the chamber 7 (or 3) of the wafer biscuit W underneath.

In Figures 5 and 6 the operation of the cut tingdevices28, 29 ;30, 31 is schematically shown.

The knife 28 has a movable fulcrum which is connected to a movable fulcrum 39 by means of a linkage 34, which extends to a rigid fulcrum 35. Correspondingly, the cutting knife 30 includes a movable fulcrum 36, which is connected to a rigid fulcrum 37 through a linkage 38, which is extended to the movable fulcrum 39.

Fulcrums 33 and 39 are connected to each other by means of a linkage 40, and the fulcrum 33 is connected to a movable fulcrum 42 by means of a linkage 41; within fulcrum 42 a rod 43 is supported which has a fixed fulcrum 44 on its one end and an operation handle 45 (corresponding to the operating handle 16) at its other end. Figure 5 shows the position of the linkage system with closed knives and Figure 6 shows the position thereof with open knives.

In Figure 7, 8 and 9 a modified embodiment of a cutting device is shown, in which the moving of the cutting knives relative to each other is made in a circular path as distinct from the rectilinear movement according to Figures 4, 5 and 6. The cutting knives 48, 50 are continuous, which means that they extend over essentially the entire width of the honey container part circular in cross section, and are pivoted at the ends through arms 47, 49 in pivot bearings 46. The knives are operated through link mechanisms, which are similarly constructed as shown in Figures 5 and 6 in connection with the cutting device according to Figure 4. However, in addition means (not shown), for example a link motion, is required in order to transmit the rectilinear movement of the linkages into a circular movement. By supporting the knives at their ends, it is ensured that the honey container is kept free and that the honey portions, which are cut off, can fall downwardly into the recesses of the wafer biscuits as schematically shown in Figure 8.

It is useful to make the intermediate and end walls for restricting the individual honey rods upwardly (51, 52, 53, 54) and downwardly tapered (as shown in Figures 7 and 8) so that a wiping effect is obtained when the knives are returned. Figure 9 shows the casing 55, which includes the rotational bearing. 56 and 57 are connecting points of the linkages with the cutting knives.

A filling machine according to the invention, which is operated pneumatically or hydraulically is schematically shown in Figure 10. The filling machine comprises a honey container 100, to which honey is supplied from a mixer 101, in which the crystalized honey is given a creamy consistency, as its crystals are broken by the mixing operation. During this mixing process pollen can be mixed with the honey. The honey container 100 is connected through a pneumatic valve 103 with a pressurized source 104, which is connected through a pressurized air pipe 105 with a control unit 106; actuating the pressure source 104 operates the valve 103 and honey is pressed from the container 100 into the pipe 107. Pipe 107 has branches 108-111, which are connected to inlets 112-115 of intermediate honey containers 116-119, the outputs 120-123 of which are connected to pneumatic valves 124-127, which include control inputs 128-131 with connecting pipes 132-135, 136 to the pressure source 104 or 104' coupled to the control unit. The control pressure for the control inputs 128-131 can be chosen at the same level as the pressure within the inputs 112-115; however, it is sufficient to have this control pressure smaller than that at the inputs 112-115, because in the former case the honey rod is merely to be cut by the pneumatic pressure, whereas in the latter case the honey rod has to be moved through the pipes. The outputs 137-140 from the pneumatic valves 124-127 are used for discharging the honey portions 141 into the chambers 144-147 of the wafer biscuits 142, 143.

The wafer biscuits 142, 143 are laid upon a layer, which can be part of a continuously moving conveyor belt, which, however, can also be in the form of baking tray, which is passed through the machine on rollers 149, 150. The rollers 149, 150 preferably run on flanges or the like, which are firmly connected to the casing 151. The casing 151 preferably holds the honey container 100 and the control unit 106 as well as the pressure sources 104, 104'; if the pressure for transporting and for cutting off the honey rod is chosen at the same level, only one pressure source 104 is required.

Claims

WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A honey wafer biscuit comprising: (a) overlying top and bottom edible wafer biscuit parts, at least one of which has a chamber; (b) bees honey in said chamber; and (c) edible adhesive at the joints between the parts.

2. A honey biscuit wafer according to Claim 1, wherein the edible wafer biscuit parts are impermeable to honey.

3. A honey biscuit wafer according to Claim 1, wherein said chamber is formed by a cup-like indentation in one of said parts.

4. A honey biscuit wafer according to Claim 3, wherein the wafer is dividable by weakened portions of the parts adjacent to the chamber.

5. A honey biscuit wafer according to Claim 1, wherein the bees honey in the chamber is surrounded by a layer of material which is impermeable to honey.

6. A honey biscuit wafer according to Claim 5, wherein the honey has been inserted in the form of a preformed sachet comprising honey contained within a casing of material impermeable to honey.

7. A honey biscuit wafer according to Claim 1, in which the honey is crystallized bees honey of creamy consistency.

8. A honey biscuit wafer according to Claim 1, wherein the wafer is coated with chocolate.

9. Apparatus when used for filling honey wafer biscuits according to Claims 1 to 5, 7 and 8, comprising a honey storage container and sealable openings for discharging the honey in portions, in which both the transport of honey from the honey container to the discharge open- ings in a rodlike manner and the separation of portions of honey from the rods is effected by pneumatic or hydraulic means.

10. Apparatus according to Claim 9, in which intermediate honey containers are provided, into which honey is supplied from said storage container by means of a control device hydraulically or pneumatically, and in which hydraulically or pneumatically operated valves are provided at the outputs of the intermediate containers, each valve being controlledhydraulically or pneumatically at a control input for separating portions from the honey rod.

11. Apparatus according to Claim 10, in which the wafer biscuits to be filled with honey are arranged underneath the outputs of the valves on conveying plates or transport conveyors which are automatically advanced synchronously with controlling the discharge valves.

12. Apparatus according to one of Claims 9 to 11, which is mounted within a casing which is provided with wheels.