GB2533350A - Packaging snack food chips - Google Patents

Abstract

In packaging snack food chips 24 (e.g. tortilla chips), seasoning is deposited onto an upper surface of the chips (at seasoning station 6) and after shingling a group of chips 38 together, the rear chip 34 of the shingled group 38 is the first to enter the packaging container 14. Thus, seasoning is not inadvertently lost from the chips by inversion or flipping, while the seasoned upper surfaces of the chips are still orientated towards the containers openable closure 42. The apparatus has a conveying mechanism for conveying the chips; a holding mechanism for holding a packaging container; and an insertion mechanism to insert the shingled group of chips as a stack into the container. The packaging tube 14 may be static, with the shingled group 38 of crisps pushed into the tube 14; or the tube 14 may be moved relative to the shingled group 38. The singled group 38 may be rotated about a vertical axis (e.g. 180° or 90°) before insertion into the packaging tube (fig 4), closing the container base 18 once the chips are inside. The chips are preferably nestable, e.g. saddle shaped.

Description

Packaging Snack Food Chips The present invention relates to a method of and apparatus for packaging a plurality of snack food chips. The present invention particularly relates to the packaging of a stack of three-dimensionally shaped seasoned snack food chips.

The manufacture of snack food chips well known, A variety of different snack food chips is known having various shapes and configurations, and compositions, rlieR, is a general need in the snack food art to provide consumers with tw taste and aesthetic experiences associated with snack foods, and new ways to package snack foods.

It is known to provide three-dimensionally shaped snack food chips as a stack in a packaging tube or canister. A known packaging method for such a stack is illustrated in Figure 5.

As shown in l ib=are 5, three-dimensionaliy shaped snack food chips 70 exit a fryer. In this example the s are saddle shaped.. The ips are oriented to that a convex lower surface 72 is supported on a conveyor (not shown) which conveys the chips 70 successively to seasoning and packaging stations 74, 76. At the seasoning station 74, seasoning is dropped downwardly onto the upper concave surface 78 of the chips 70. Then the chips 70 arc flipped over, or inverted, by a flipper mechanism (not shown) to enable the re-oriented. chips to be 'shingled together to Corm a shingled assembly 80. Then the shingled assembly 80 is pushed into the open bottom end 82 of a packaging canister 84 sealed at its dosed top end 86 by a lid 83. Then canister 84 is sealed by fitting a base to the bottom end 82.

The seasoned snack chips are flipped over or inverted to enable the shingled assembly to be pushed in the same direction as the conveyor into the canister, and to provide that in the packaged canister the upper seasoned surface 78 faces the top end 86. The seasoned surfaces are oriented upwardly in the packaged stack. When the consumer removes a snack chip the seasoned surface is the upper surface so that the consumer sees the seasoned surface, However, this known packaging method, and associated apparatus, suffer from the pablem that the flipping over or inversion of the seasoned snack chips causes significant loss of seasoning from the snack chip as a result of the seasoned surface being reoriented so as to face downv.ardly. Typically, up to about 20 nit% of the applied seasoning is lost from the chip surface. Also, the dynamic flipping action tends to cause inadvertent chip breakage ancijor spillage from the conveyor, The production efficiency is reduced and. there excessive oduct waste, both of seasoning and snack chips.

There is a need in the art to provide a method of and apparatus for packaging a stack of three-dimensionally shaped snack food Chips that can provide higher production efficiency and reduced product waste, both of seasoning and of snack chips, in the foul' of broken. and/or spilled snack chips. There is also a need in the art to provide such a method and apparatus which can implemented in a snack food chip manufacturing line in a cost-effective manner with regard to both capital costs and production costs.

The present invention aims at least partially to meet those needs, The present invention accordingly provides a method of packaging snack food chips, the method comprising the steps of: conveying a plurality of snack food chips through a seasoning station at which a seasoning is deposited onto an upper surface of the snack food Chips; h) conveying the seasoned snack food chips in a conveying direction to an assembly station downstream of the seasoning station to provide at the assembly station a linear series of a plurality of the seasoned snack food chips, the linear series extending in the conveying direction between rear and front snack food chips of the linear series; c) at the assembly station, shingling together snack food chips of the linear series to form a shingled assembly of the linear series in which the seasoned surface of the seasoned snack food chips is at least partly oriented towards a reverse direction substantially opposite to the conveying direction; inserting the shingled assembly into an open first end of a packaging container, which container is closed at an opposite second end thereof by an openable closure, so that the shingled assembly substantially fills the packaging container as a stack with the seasoning surfaces oriented. towards the openable closure, in the insertion stop the rear snack food chip of the linear series being the first snack food chip of the shingled assembly to enter the packaging container; and applying a base to close the first end and package the shingled assembly within the packaging container.

The present invention further provides an apparatus for packaging snack food chips, the apparatus comprising: a conveying mechanism for conveying a plurality of snack food chips in a conveying direction; a seasoning station, located above the conveying mechanism, for depositing a seasoning onto an upper surface of a plurality of snack food chips on the conveying mechanism; an assembly station downstream of the seasoning station, the conveying mechanism being arranged to convey the seasoned snack food chips to the assembly station, the assembly station. comprising a shingling mechanism arranged to shingle together a linear series of a plurality of the seasoned snack food chips to fibrin a shingled assembly extending n the conveying direction from rear to front snack fried chips of the linear series; a holding mechanism for holding a packaging container; and an insertion mechanism arranged to insert the shingled assembly as a stack into an open first end of a packaging container held by the holding mechanism an insertion station, with the rear* snack food chip of the linear series being the first snack food chip of the shingled assembly to enter the packaging container.

Preferred features of these aspects of the present invention. are defined in the dependent claims, The preferred embodiments of the present invention can provide a method and apparatus for packaging seasoned a stack of three-dimensionally shaped snack food chips into a container with reduced or minimal loss of seasoning which has been applied to the snack food chips.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention can further provide a low cost method and apparatus for packaging such a stack of three-dimensionally shaped snack food chips which has haw production costs as well as low capital expenditure. The conveying and insertion apparatus may be retrofitted to an existing snack food chip packaging production line.

Although the invention has particular application to the manufacture of shaped tortilla chips, the method or the present invention may be used to produce a variety of different snack food chip compositions, as well and shapes. For example, the snack food chip may comprise any cereal-based composition, and may comprise any of, any mixture of, or all of maize, wheat, barley, rice or any other grain-derived product, as well as any seasoning, either within the cereal-based composition and/or applied as a topical seasoning, Alternatively, the snack food chip may comprise any vegetable-based composition, for example based on potato, either alone or in admixture with any other vegetable, or any cereal as described above.

The snack food chips may be provided with other product design features to improve eating quality, for example particular flavourings or texturizing components, The snack food chips are packaged so as to he provided in a consumer acceptable retail format, for example a packaging tube or carton, typically hermetically sealed, which is compatible with a retail sales environment.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 schematically illustrates an apparatus for use in a method for packaging snack food chips in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 2 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the packaging method using the apparatus illustrated in Figure 1; Figure 3 schematically illustrates an apparatus for use in a method for packaging snack food chips in accordance with a second embodiment of the present invention; Figure 4 schematically illustrates an embodiment of the packaging method using the apparatus illustrated in Figure 3; and Figure 5 schematically illustrates a known packaging method for packaging a stack of shingled snack food chips into a packaging tube.

Referring to Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings, there is schematically shown an apparatus for use in a method for packaging snack food chips, in. particular tortilla chips, in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The snack chips may have any desired composition, and may include any cereal-based composition or vegetable-based composition suitable for making a snack food dough which may be subsequently cooked; for example by frying, baking, toasting, anicr*owave cooking, or any other suitable cooking process, or any combination of cooking processes, to produce the desired taste and texture, for example a crispy texture, in the resultant chip, The dough may typically comprise a maize-based dough for the manufacture of snack food chips in the form of tortilla chips.

The snack chips may be regularly shaped, for example being triangular, square, rectangular, elliptical, etc., or be irregularly shaped. Typically, the snack chips have a surface area of from 1000 to 2500 mm' and a maximum dimension of fiioin 30 to 100 mm.

The snack food chips packaged according to the present invention are three-dimensionally shaped snack food chips, and in particular may be shaped and dimensioned so as to be suitable for use together with a clip, such as a salsa composition, cream cheese, avocado composition, etc. which are well known in the snack food art.

The apparatus for packaging snack food chips, designated generally by reference numeral 2, comprises a conveying mechanism 4 for conveying a plurality of snack food chips in a conveying direction I/ The conveying direction D is typically linear, i.e. straight, but may be curved or serpentine.

A seasoning station 6 is located above the conveying mechanism 4. At the seasoning station. 6 a seasoning, which may be in powder andior liquid form, is deposited downwardly onto an upper surface of a plurality of snack food chips on the conveying mechanism 4.

An assembly station 8 is downstream, in the conveying direction D, of the seasoning station 6. The conveying mechanism 4 is arranged to convey the seasoned snack food chips to the assembly station 8. The assembly station 8 comprises a shingling mechanism 10 arranged to shingle together a linear series of a plurality of the seasoned snack food chips. This shingling step forms a shingled assembly extending in the conveying direction D from rear to front snack food chips of the linear series.

A holding mechanism 12 is provided for holding a packaging tube 14. The tube may comprise a known canister, such as a cardboard tube covered at one end with sealing film which in turn is covered by a snap-fit removable lid, for example of polyethylene.

An insertion mechanism 16 arranged to insert the shingled assembly into an open first end 18 of the packaging tube 14 held by the holding mechanism 12 at an insertion station 20. The insertion mechanism 16 is adapted so that the rear snack food chip of the linear series is the first snack food chip of the shingled assembly to enter the packaging tube 14.

There is also provided a base applicator 22 for applying a base (not shown) to close the first end 18 and package the shingled assembly within the packaging tube 14.

In the embodiment of Figure 1, during the insertion the holding mechanism 12 is arranged to be static and the insertion mechanism 16 is arranged to push the shingled assembly into the packaging tube 14. In an alternative embodiment, not illustrated, during the insertion the holding mechanism 12 is arranged to move towards the insertion mechanism 16 and the insertion mechanism 16 is arranged to push the shingled assembly into the packaging tube 14.

In the embodiment of the apparatus of Figure 1, the insertion mectumi sin 1.6 is adapted to move Me shingled assembly from the assembly station 8 to the insertion station 20 in a reverse direction R relative to the conveying direction D. embodiment of the packaging method using the apparatus of Figure 1 will be escribed with reference to Figure 2.

In a first step of the method a plurality of snack food chips 24 are conveyed in the conveying direction D by the conveying mechanism 4 through the seasoning station 6 at which the seasoning, which may be powder andlor liquid as described above, is deposited onto an upper surface 26 of the snack food chips 24. The snack food chips 24 are three dimensionally shaped and mutually stackable, preferably nestable, for example saddle shaped. In the illustrated embodiment the snack food Chips 24 are substantially convex on a first side 28 and substantially concave on an opposite second side 30. The seasoning is applied to the substantially concave second side 30.

Thereafter the seasoned snack food chips 24 are conveyed by the conveying mechanism 4 in the conveying direction D to the assembly station 8 downstream of the seasoning station 6 to provide at the assembly station 8 a linear series 32 of a plurality of the seasoned snack food chips 24. The linear series 32 extends in the conveying direction D between rear and front snack food chips 34, 36 of the linear series 32.

At the assembly station 8, the shingling mechanism 10 shingles together the snack food chips 24 of the linear series 32 to form a shingled assembly 38 of the linear series 32 in which the seasoned surface 26 of the seasoned snack food chips 24 is at least partly oriented towards the reverse direction R, which is substantially opposite to the conveying direction D. In the shingled assembly 38, a rear side 30, which is the upper seasoned surface 26, of the snack food chips 24 receives therein a front side 28 of any snack food chip 24 which is adjacent thereto in the reverse direction R. Then, the insertion mechanism of the packaging babe 14. The serts the shingled assembly 38 into the open first end 18 14 is closed at an opposite second end 40 thereof by an operable closure 42, such as a sealing film covered by a snap-fit removable lid. After the insertion the shingled assembly 38 substantially fills the packaging tube 14 with the seasoned surfaces 26 oriented towards the operable closure 42.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figure 2, the shingled assembly38 is moved in the reverse direction R. between the assembly and insertion steps. In the insertion step the rear snack food chip 34 of the linear series 32 is the first snack food chip 24 of the shingled assembly 38 to enter the packaging tube 14, Finally the base applicator 22 applies a base (not shown) to close the first end 1.8 and package the shingled assembly 38 within the packaging tube 14.

The seasoned upper surface 26 of the snack food chips 24 is oriented upwardly during the insertion step. Between the seasoning step and the insertion step the seasoned upper surface 26 of the snack food chips 24 is not inverted so as to be oriented downwardly. This means that seasoning is not inadvertently lost from the seasoned surfaces by inversion of the seasoned snack tbod chips as in the known packaging process described hereinabove.

In the illustrated embodiment, during the insertion the packaging tube 14 is static and the shingled assembly 38 is pushed into the packaging tube 14, Alternatively, during the insertion the shingled assembly 38 is inserted by relative movement between the packaging tube 14 and the shingled assembly 33.

Figures 3 and 4 schematically show an alternative embodiment of the packaging apparatus and method of the present invention. In this embodiment, prior to the insertion station 20 a rotation mechanism 50 is provided for rotating the shingled assembly 38 about a vertical axis X orthogonal to the conveying direction D Such rotation orients the shingled assembly 33 in a third direction. In the illustrated embodiment, the rotation mechanism 50 is adapted to rotate the shingled assembly about an angle of about 180" and the third direction is the same as the conveying direction a The insertion mechanism. 16 inserts the shingled assembly 38 into the open first end 18 along the third direction, In an alternative embodiment, the shingled assembly 38 is rotated about an angle of other than about 180", for example 90°, and the third direction is inclined to the conveying direction D. Various other modifications to the apparatus and method of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art.