GB2342064A

GB2342064A - An open top confectionary mould

Info

Publication number: GB2342064A
Application number: GB9819620A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Klaus Rofer
Original assignee: * KINNERTON; KINNERTON
Current assignee: KINNERTON
Priority date: 1998-09-10
Filing date: 1998-09-10
Publication date: 2000-04-05
Also published as: GB9819620D0

Abstract

An open top confectionary mould 6 comprises a mouth and a corresponding recess 7 to accommodate a confectionary item. The mould opens and closes about a plane substantially orthogonal to the plane of the or each mouth of the mould. Preferably the mould slides along a number of guide means 10 when moving from the open position 12 to the closed position 13. Abutment means 11 may be provided on the guide means to prevent the mould opening beyond a certain point. The mould may be used in the production of filled chocolates, which may be under-cut, and have a chocolate outer shell. A process of producing confectionary using such a mould may comprise the steps of coating the walls of the mould with a substantially even thickness of confectionary, eg chocolate, and then allowing the pocket of confectionary to cool in the mould. Filling may then be applied to the mould, and the mould vibrated in order to aid settlement. A base may then be applied to the moulded confectionary item, which may then be removed.

Description

2342064 IMPROVEMENTS IN AND RELATING TO THE PRODUCTION OF CONFECTIONERY

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to improvements in the production of confectionery, in particular, but not exclusively to so-called "under-cut" confectionery, in particular but not exclusively to "under-cut" chocolates, in particular but not exclusively to "under-cut" filled chocolates. The present invention also relates to an improved method for the production of confectionery, in particular but not exclusively to the production of chocolates, in particular but not exclusRely to so lo called "under-cut" chocolates (filled or unfilled) and to a confectionery product produced employing this new method.

1 Background Art Known to the Applican

Filled chocolates/confectionery are those comprising a chocolate/confectionery outer-shell with a different inner filling that may be flavoured. The filling at room CY temperature, could be for example, a solid filling, e.g. dark chocolate or raisins or the like, or a fast free-flowing liquid e.g. a liqueur, or a slow free- flowing liquid e.g. mallow or indeed any appropriate selection or combination of any of the above. Unfilled chocolates/confectionery items may be described as either those capable of receiving a filling or those that are solid and unfillable e.g. small Easter eggs or otherwise solid chocolate figures.

There are two ways generally known in the art to produce filled chocolates. The first is encapsulation that is usually used for solid fillings. The filling is first immersed or otherwise dipped into a liquefied form of the outer shell chocolate, and then removed from the liquid and allowed to cool. The second technique may be applied to both solid fillings and liquid fillings. This second technique employs the use of moulds. There are two types of mould, flat open-topped moulds that comprise a series of recesses and so-called "book-press" moulds. The open-topped moulds initially have liquefied outer-shell chocolate placed into each respective one of their recesses. A lid is then placed onto the mould and the mould is spun so that the liquefied chocolate coats the wall of each respective recess thoroughly. The lid is then removed, the mould allowed to cool. inverted and---tapped-to release "pockets^' of unfilled outer-shell chocolates.

These types of mould can only be used for pockets that are not "undercut For the purposes of this specification, an "under-cut" item is some aspect of the shape of the item, in this case the completed chocolate outer-shell pocket, that would prevent it from ordinarily being removable, whole, from an inverted open- top mould.

Only the second type of mould known as a "book-press" can be used to produce under-cut pockets of confectionery in particular pockets of outer-shell chocolate.

These "book-press" moulds comprise two plates, each respective one being provided with a recess. The plates are hinged together along one edge. The peripheral edge of each respective recess either mating with the other when the "book" is "closed" or forming a mouth for the entry of a filling (solid or liquid) Each recess typically forms 50% of a "negative" that the liquefied chocolate "outer-shell" initially fills. Once the mould has had the liquefied chocolate added, it is closed, spun and allowed to cool. The book is then opened., revealing a pocket of solidified outer-shell chocolate that is capable of receiving a filling via the mouth of the pocket, Each respective one of these pockets are then typically hand removed from the mould and effectively placed into one of the open-topped moulds described herein above to enable the pocket to receive a filling, the mouth of these pockets typically standing proud of the mould prior to the filling being placed into the pocket. Once a filling has been applied, liquefied outer- shell chocolate is then used to seal the mouth of the pocket top produce the final, finished filled chocolate.

The use of first a "book-press" mould and then an open-topped mould to produce under-cut pockets ready for filling is a time and labour consuming activity.

c It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an opentopped mould capable of releasing the outer-shell pockets especially if the negative or pocket possesses an undercut without the need of a book-press, There are also further problems associated with "book-press" moulds.

Certain types of "book-press" moulds, those designed to accommodate as many negatives in a single row as possible, are provided with negative dividers to 17 c ensure that no two, formed outer-shell pockets, touch each other in any "book press" mould of this type.

Typically, these negative dividers are to be found at the mouth of two separate negatives and are angled at an angle, which is approximately 8' to the horizontal tn Ity relative to the base of the pocket.

The significance of the 8' angle will now be more fully explained. Fi-ure 1 illustrates a Ion-itudinal cross-section of a filled chocolate comprising a pocket of outer-shell chocolate a filling and a base fitted to the pocket to form the completed filled chocolate. As can be seen in the diagram, there is a region where the applied base of the chocolate is significantly thinner 'X' than the rest "Y" of the 1 base portion. This area of thinness is at its maximum at the highest point of the 80 slope. The thinnest portion of the base once applied will cool more rapidly than the thicker portion of the base and as such, the rate of contraction of the inner portion of the base is going to be significantly greater than the rate of contraction of the thicker outer portion of the base. Invariably, this sets up stress hairline fractures "Z" around the base of the filled chocolate. These hairline fractures may allow leakage of the filling through them and this is extremely undesirable.

1.

Another object of the present invention is to overcome this problem.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention in its broadest aspect, there is provided an open top confectionery mould comprising a mouth, and a recess to accommodate a confectionery item charagterised in that the mould opens and closes about a plane substantially orthogonal to the plane of the mouth of the mould.

Preferably, the mould slides alon- a number of oulde means when moving from its open to its closed position.

More preferably still, the guide means are provided with abutment means to prevent the mould opening beyond a certain point.

1= Preferably, the mould is designed to form under-cut confectionery items.

More preferably still, the under-cut confectionery items are chocolates.

More preferably still the under-cut chocolates are so sized and shaped as to form precursors for filled chocolates.

Preferably, the confectionery mould comprises an array of recesses that can all simultaneously be opened or closed.

A confectionery mould substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in any appropriate selection or combination of Figures 2 - 5 The invention includes within its scope a confectionery production line incorporating an open and closable confectionery mould as specified in any of the In preceding paragraphs.

Preferably, the mould houses recessed. ri-id, mating plastics sheeting According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a process for the production of confectionery utilising an open and closable confectionery Z - -5mould of the type herein described comprising the steps of 1) Adding the confectionery to the mould, 2) Coating the walls of the mould with a substantially even thickness of the confectionery item.

3) Allowing the pocket of confectionery to cool in the mould.

4) Applying the filling to the mould.

5) Adding a base to the pocket.

6) Removing the filled confectionery item.

The invention includes within its scope a process substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by any appropriate selection or combination of Figures 2 - 5 of the accompanying drawings.

According to a third aspect of the present invention there is provided a confectionery item produced using the apparatus and/or the process steps described herein.

Preferably, the process comprises the further step of vibrating the mould once the filling has been applied to aid settlement of the filling Brief Descrit)tion of the Drawing-, Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be more particularly described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying sheets of drawings whereim I. Figure I illustrates a sectional view of a pocket of confectionery formed from a "book-press" mould with its base fitted to the mouth of the pocket.

2. Figure 2 illustrates a top view of all of the working parts of one I C embodiment of the present invention in both its open and its closed state.

Figure 3 shows a top view in cross-section of part of a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

4. Figure 4 illustrates both a side view of one half of one of the mould pieces that form one embodiment of the present invention and a cross-sectional view of the same item.

5. Figure 5 illustrates various dimensions of one type of embodiment, together with a detailed cross-sectional view of the guide members along which each half of the mould travels between opening and closing Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Throughout this specification, the use of the word "integral" is intended to cover not only something which is formed from the outset as one single-entity component, but also anything which. whilst being assembled from a plurality of In initially di sp atately -produced integers, ends up as one overall and normally non dismantleable structure.

Figure 2 illustrates a top view that is partially "see-through" of a mould generally referenced 6 that forms a preferred embodiment of the present invention The open-topped mould 6 comprises a plurality of recesses 7 adapted to accommodate a confectionery item (not illustrated), each respective recess 7 being separable into two equal halves about a plane substantially orthogonal to the plane of the mouth of the mould 6 in its normal attitude of operation.

Each respective half of each respective recess 7 is held together in a substantially closed configuration 13 via a series of magnets 8 located either side of each respective recess 7. The location of these magnets 8 is better illustrated in Figures and 4. The mould 6 is designed to open 12 in the manner illustrated in Figure 2 to a maximum gap 9 for each respective half of each respective recess 7 The maximum open distance obtainable by the mould 6 in its fully open position 12 is dictated by the positioning of the stop members 11 fitted to the guide members 10.

In use, the mould 6 when moving from its closed state 13 to its fully open state 12 runs along a series of substantially parallel, substantially straight guide members 10 that are integral to and run in a substantially transverse direction to the plane of opening of the mould 6. Fitted to each respective end of each respective guide member 10 is an abutment member 11 designed to prevent the mould 6 opening any further, once the outer most faces of each respective side of the mould 6 have come into contiguous abutting relationship with each respective abutment member 11.

The mould 6 moves from its closed 13 to its open state via the use of a plurality of opening members (not illustrated) designed to co-operatively engage with each respective jaw 14 of the mould 6 just prior to the commencement of the opening of the mould 6. The opening members (not illustrated) then continue to move into the mould 6 forcing the mould 6 to split apart in the manner described and shown herein. It should be noted that the minimum width of the opening members 14 is substantially equal to the maximum gap 9 obtainable by each series of recesses 7 in their fully open position 12. In this particular embodiment, the jaw 14 is substantially "V" shaped, the angle subtended by each arm of the "V" is 40'.

In The recesses 7 shown in Figure 4 (4a and 4b) are not profiled to form undercut c pockets of confectionery. They are smooth walled truncated recesses that are so sized and shaped as to produce smooth-walled pockets of unfilled confectionery In an alternative embodiment illustrated in Figure 4 (4c) a cross-section of the mould recesses 7 is shown and these recesses 7 are so sized and shaped as to produce under-cut confectionery. The under-cut portions 15 of each respective recess 7 cannot extend laterally (with respect to the walls of the recess 7) beyond the distance of the gap 9 illustrated in Figure 2 (otherwise, the under- cut pockets of confectionery formed would not drop out of the mould 6 when the open 12 mould 6 was inverted). In essence therefore, the gap 9 dictates the maximum undercutting 15 of any of the internal dimensions of the recess 7 of this particular embodiment.

Instead of using a specifically designed undercut mould 6 of the type illustrated in Figure 4 (4c), a non-undercut mould 6 having a number of recesses 7 of the type illustrated in FicUre 4 (4a and 4b) could still be used to produce undercut confectionery if it were used in conjunction with for example. two sheets of rigid, recessed plastics material (not illustrated). This material would be designed to lie flat against those areas of the mould 6 that do not form part of each respective half of an opposing recess 7, whilst the recessed portions of each respective plastics sheet would each lie within one half of opposing cavities that form each respective recess 7 of the mould 6 The recessed areas of each respective side of the plastics sheet would be designed to mate with each other in a similar way to each respective opposing half of a recess 7 in the mould 6. The advantage of using an "inneC profiled recess in this manner is that the recess could be a negative for an undercut "toy-soldier" or if'toy-soldiers" are not required, then an alternative recessed "InneC could be inserted The use of plastics sheets in this way enables cheap variants of under-cut or alternatively non-undercut confectionery items to be produced using the same mould 6 without the expense of producing dedicated moulds 6 from the outset. The only expense incurred would be that of forming the plastics sheets in the first place.

The use of a mould 6 in the production of confectionery. in particular, the production of filled chocolates has tremendous advantages over the use of conventional techniques, especially if the filled chocolates are undercut chocolates. Several steps in the manufacture of under-cut filled chocolates that are labour intensive do not need to take place. Similarly, the 8' anQle of the mouth of the pocket used in the current process for manufacturing filled chocolates using book-press moulds. is no longer present. Therefore, the differential rates of contraction of the base 3 when fitted to the mouth 4 of the pocket 2 does not take place and as a result. the stress fractures do not occur, allowine a areater use of liquid fillings for filled chocolates.

The preferred method of producing filled chocolates using the apparatus described herein comprises the following series of steps 1) Adding a set quantity of the confectionery, in this case the liquefied form of the outer shell chocolate.

2) Applying a lid to the open-topped mould and then turning the mould upside down and vibrating it to ensure that the walls of the recess 7 are coated in an even layer of the liquefied outer shell chocolate, The liquefied outer shell chocolate is then allowed to cool before the mould is rotated back into its original starting position.

4) The lid is removed and any excess solidified outer shell coating that stands proud of the plane of the mouth of the recess 7 is scraped away.

5) A filling is then added to the unfilled chocolate and the mould vibrated gently to aid settlement of the filling, 6) A base of uniform thickness is then added to the mouth of the pocket to produce a filled chocolate, 7) Any uneven surplus of the chocolate is then scraped away and the mould 6 is then split apart in the manner described herein to release the filled chocolates.

The mould 6 can be of any general size and can comprise any number of rows and columns of recesses 7. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the mould 6 itself will have the dimensions of 425 x 275mm and this particular mould can be opened from its 275mm to a maximum of 300mm. The mould 6 itself is made from stainless steel. 20 Of course the embodiments that have just been described have been described by way of example only and a number of modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. For instance, plastics sheets need not necessarily be used, metal sheets could be used e.g. stainless steel. Furthermore, the 40' angle described hereinabove could be varied. 25 Although the present invention has been described herein above with reference to a number of independent aspects, it will be apparent from this overall specification that each respective one of these aspects are so linked as to form part of the same inventive concept.

Finally, the materials from which plastics sheets can be constructed may be selected without further inventive thouQht by, the intended skilled addressee of this specification. The methods of manufacturing, any of the components described herein above will similarly present no problem to the skilled addressee and need not be discussed here.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. An open top confectionery mould comprising at least one mouth and a corresponding recess to accommodate a confectionery item in which the mould opens and closes about a plane substantially orthogonal to the plane of the or each mouth of the mould.

2. An open top confectionery mould as claimed in claim 1, in which the mould slides along a number of guide means when moving from its open to its closed position.

3. An open top confectionery mould as claimed in claim 2, in which the guide means are provided with abutment means to prevent the mould opening beyond a certain point.

4. An open top confectionery mould as claimed in any one of claims I to 4, in which the mould is designed to form under-cut confectionery items.

5. An open top confectionery mould as claimed in claim 4, in which the under-cut confectionery items are chocolates.

6. An open top confectionery mould as claimed in claim 5, in which the under-cut chocolates are so sized and shaped as to form precursors for filled chocolates.

7. An open top confectionery mould as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, in which the confectionery mould comprises an array of recesses that can all simultaneously be opened or closed.

8. An open top confectionery mould as claimed in any one of the preceding Z.

claims, in which the mould houses recessed, rigid, mating plastics sheeting.

9. A confectionery production line incorporating an open top confectionery mould as defined in any of the preceding claims.

10. A process for the production of confectionery utilising an open and closable confectionery mould of the type defined in the preceding claims, the process comprising the steps of- 1) adding the confectionery to the mould; 2) coating the walls of the mould with a substantially even thickness of the confectionery item; 3) allowing the pocket of confectionery to cool in the mould; 4) applying the filling to the mould; 5) adding a base to the pocket; and 6) removing the filled confectionery item; Z

11. A process for the production of confectionery as claimed in claim 10, in which the process comprises the farther step of vibrating the mould once the filling has been applied to aid settlement of the filling.

1 A confectionery item produced using the apparatus and/or the process steps defined in the preceding claims.

13. A confectionery mould substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated in any appropriate selection or combination of FigqUes 2 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.

14. A process substantially as herein described with reference to any appropriate selection or combination of Figures 2 to 5 of the accompanying drawings.