JPS6219136B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a synthetic frozen confectionery product, a method for its production and an apparatus for its preparation. In particular, the invention can be used, for example, in ice cream confectionery and its preparation.

A large number of commercially available methods for preparing ice cream confections are known, including various types of extrusion equipment for ice cream and confectionery of similar construction, examples of which are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,643. (Lipton).

Ice Cream Neapolitan and Italian ice creams share a multi-layer technique.
In each case the layer is thick. Japanese patent application 1966
No. 20065 (Morinaga) describes another two-layer ice cream confectionery, which also has a confectionery filling and a tyokolate coating. Ice cream sandwiches with biscuit elements are also known (eg British Patent No. 1219593, Eskimo Pie).

Although it is the aim of many known methods to make ice cream confections with decorative shapes and configurations, the range of shapes and configurations accessible to known techniques is still limited, and the aim of the present invention is to create ice cream confections with decorative shapes and configurations. The objective is to obtain a product with a configuration and a corresponding device and method.

We have also surprisingly found that extrudable foods, such as air-saturated frozen confections, can be extruded into extremely thin layers.

The invention therefore provides a plurality of (e.g. at least four)
The composite confectionery product has overlapping extruded layers of extrudable confectionery material of 1.5 mm, each layer having a thickness of less than about 5 mm. Air-saturated frozen confectionery, such as ice cream, is extremely suitable as a confectionery material. Approximately 1 mm of the second confectionery material between the extruded layers of frozen confectionery
Insert a thinner extremely thin layer. These intercalating layers may be sprayed or may be a fat-based confectionery material, such as a sprayed layer. The intercalating layers can be sufficiently thin so that they are at least partially continuous. In some attractive embodiments of the invention, the core or substrate of other confectionery materials can be coated or coated with a plurality of thin extruded confectionery layers, the core having a non-planar surface and therefore a profile. A product is produced.

The method according to the invention comprises the step of extruding a confectionery material, such as an air-saturated frozen confectionery, in a plurality of superimposed thin layers onto a dispensing conveyor. This is accomplished using a series of aligned channel extrusion outlets and/or by continuous relative advancement and retraction of the channel extrusion outlets with respect to the substrate.

The apparatus according to the invention has a take-off conveyor arranged to receive the output of a channel-type extruder for producing a plurality of thin overlapping layers of extrudable confectionery material.

In some embodiments, the channel-type extrusion outlet is arranged to move sequentially forward and backward relative to a take-off conveyor, which optionally carries another substrate, such as a continuous tray for product. The invention also provides an apparatus suitable for making confectionery products, in particular ice confectionery, which apparatus is arranged to extrude extrudable confectionery material in a continuous layer (preferably thin) on a take-off conveyor line or other moving substrate. The apparatus also has a plurality of extrusion nozzles (e.g., thin channel extrusion nozzles) with a plurality of extrusion nozzles, optionally between the extrusion nozzles or following each extrusion nozzle, for dispensing a second confectionery material onto the conveyor. A confectionery spray outlet (or other dispensing outlet) is provided on the corresponding extrusion layer, arranged to spray or dispense confectionery material before it is covered with a subsequent extrusion layer.

In operation, extrusion of an extrudable confectionery product, such as an iced confection, onto a take-off conveyor according to an embodiment of the method according to the invention involves depositing the confectionery on top of the top layer of confectionery products placed on or in front of the take-off conveyor. This is done by extruding and depositing layers (usually about 5 mm or less thick) sequentially approximately in the direction of movement of the substrate, each layer of confectionery being coated with a second layer of confectionery before it is covered with the next layer of extruded confectionery. Confectionery ingredients are preferably sprayed.

A corresponding product of the invention is a synthetic confectionery product, which has a plurality of (preferably thin) extruded confectionery material layers, which usually have an iced confectionery material and optionally a second A layer of confectionery material (preferably by spraying) is inserted. The invention also provides a product of this type that is formed on a plate, as will be described later. In some examples of products, decorative patterns are formed on some or all of the thin extruded layers. Obviously several different types of confectionery, variations in color and flavor can be used in different layers.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the extrusion is an ice cream or other ice confection from an extrusion manifold, as described in more detail below, and the intermediate spray layer of second confectionery material is a continuous spray disposed between extrusion outlets of the extrusion manifold. It may be, for example, sprayed thiokolate or other fatty layer material sprayed from a nozzle.

Also, in a preferred embodiment of the invention, the extruded body is placed on a series of plates that run in tandem, for example along a conveyor, and the production of the final product involves cutting the extruded layered product between the plates to form the layered product. The dishes containing the products are separated, for example on a faster moving conveyor, and the products are frozen/
There is a step of curing and enveloping them.

The production of iced confectionery products can alternatively be carried out by continuously extruding the product on a take-off conveyor as is known, hardening and advancing it through a freezing tunnel, then surface heating the conveyor belt to release the stuck frozen product, and continuously forming the product. The cured and frozen product can then be cut and packaged.

The forming conditions and temperatures etc. used for the elements of the product made as described herein are not unduly strict and any wide range of conditions known per se can be used, e.g. The cream can be conveniently extruded at -4°C to -5°C.

The number of layers of the extruded product and the corresponding number of extrusion outlets in the manifold are not critical and may be, for example, 4-20, 8-12.

It is important that each individual extrusion outlet should adjust its height above the substrate from which it extrudes the product, i.e.
For an extrusion outlet, the substrate is usually a conveyor belt or a tray on it, and for each successive outlet, the substrate is the product of the previous part of the apparatus. The height adjustment should provide a slight drop distance for the extrusion on the substrate, not enough to cause excessive bending or narrowing of the extruded strip, but sufficient to provide a reliable clearance. is a sufficient distance; approximately 15 mm is appropriate for standard ice cream. As a particular example where the individual extrudates are about 2 mm thick, the first nozzle is arranged to give a belt or conveyor device clearance of 2-5 mm, for example about 2-4 mm, and the remaining nozzles are each 2 mm thick. -Can be biased by 4mm height. It is desirable to be able to adjust the gap in order to ensure fine control of the product mold during operation and to create decorative effects if desired. Such adjustment may itself be obtained with any convenient mechanical device such as a conventional adjustable bayonet or soft tube fitting. It is therefore usually said, as a broad guideline, that successive extrusion nozzles step upwardly from the height of the first substrate by a step corresponding approximately to the extent of the thickness of the successive layer.

An important series of examples of methods and products according to the invention are those in which some or all of the successive extruded layers are non-flat. This can be achieved by extruding the material onto a non-flat substrate (for example onto different types of products, onto suitably shaped dishes) or by extruding a series of layers of different sizes and/or types. For example, methods and apparatus according to embodiments of the present invention can be used to fully automatically imitate semi-log-shaped confections, such as those produced by the confectionery industry, exhibiting a contoured annual ring structure. For this purpose, a small circular or semicircular core of extruded material is first placed on a substrate (e.g. a plate or conveyor) in a known manner and then alternating spray and extrusion layers are detailed herein. The first extrusion layer is applied using a technique and modified so that it has an appropriate width adjusted to overlay the top, sides of the core, so that when this layer descends from the channel extrusion nozzle, It wraps around the core and forms a semicircular annual ring structure. After spraying the layer, successive groove-shaped extrusion nozzles are arranged, each of which is successively slightly larger in width, to extrude an outer portion of a semicircle onto a given formed portion of the product. be done. In this embodiment, as in others, the channel extrusion nozzle need not be flat, but can be made more or less adapted to the shape of the layer to be extruded.

Attached illustrative views, namely Figure 1, Figure 2, Figure 2a
The figures, FIG. 3, and the following description depict embodiments of the invention by way of example only. Referring to Figure 1, there is shown an extrusion manifold 1 for iced confectionery, the manifold having eight 2-shaped groove-shaped extrusion nozzles, each of which has an opening of square cross section approximately 75 mm x 3 mm. have. The first nozzle is placed about 14 mm above the take-off conveyor belt 3, and successive nozzles are placed stepwise about 3 mm higher. The nozzles are coupled to an inlet and feed line from an ice cream or other ice cream freezer, each nozzle having an associated flow control device (not shown) such that the extrusion rate through the various nozzles is equal or any other desired proportion. (In another embodiment, it is not necessary that all nozzles be fed from the same ice cream freezer supply pipe, and therefore multilayer products with different ingredients in different layers, e.g. different flavors and/or colors) (You can make ice cream).

In the illustrated embodiment, the nozzles are spaced approximately 25 cm apart;
For example, four spray outlets are provided between each pair of nozzles, these outlets for spraying thiokolate or other (e.g. fat-based) confectionery material onto the extruded iced confectionery ribbon or layer deposited from the previous nozzle. Supplied from spray manifold.

As shown, the take-off conveyor belt 3 is part of an endless stainless steel belt that passes through a freezing and hardening tunnel 5, with heaters 6, scrapers 7, A cutter 8 is provided and the product is then removed for packaging on a transport conveyor 9.

During operation, the conveyor belt moves at approximately 0.7 m/min, and standard ice cream confectionery is practically -5°C to -6°C.
The material is extruded as hard as possible through each nozzle at a rate of approximately 35 kg/hour. At 100% proper pass this will be 5-10 cm wide and approximately 3 mm thick, consisting of 8 layers, each approximately 3 mm thick.
Produces 2.4cm multilayer products. Intermediate Thyokolate Layer Spray The nozzles are each arranged to spray at a rate of about 7 Kg/hour, and a very thin layer is formed (partly discontinuously) between each pair of extruded ice confection layers.

FIG. 2 shows another arrangement of the device according to the invention,
This equipment consists of a staged extrusion manifold 1 (preferably stainless steel), a nozzle 2, a conveyor belt 3,
It has a spray outlet 4, a freezing tunnel 5, a cutter 8 and a take-off conveyor 9, which has been modified. Extrusion is not done directly on conveyor 3,
Instead, it is on a continuum of shallow dish 10, for example a thermoformed plastic dish, which dish has a peripheral lip of about 2 mm in height. These pans, for example, have a flange around their periphery so that they can be placed positively in the conveyor path or line and propelled over the line by means of suitable cams or carriers. The cutter 8 is activated at the end of the extrusion/spray line and immediately after cutting the products (still uncured) are separated from each other and transferred to the transport conveyor 9.
It is carried to the freezing tunnel 5 by. Manifold 1, conveyor 3, shown discontinuously in FIG.
The above product naturally shows that the manifold, conveyor spray device can be extended as many extrusion devices as desired. Although only four extruded and sprayed layers are shown in the product shown in FIG. 2, it can be seen that the number corresponds to the number of extrusion nozzles and spray locations. FIG. 2a shows a cross-section of the product, each having five extruded layers 11 and five sprayed layers 12 on the pan. Decorations and finishes such as cream, nuts, fruits and other garnishes can, of course, be added on top of all layers of the product or in intermediate fillings and intermediate layers, if desired.

This method does not require control to ensure that the product is properly uniform, and certainly one of the advantages of the multilayer product and method described above is that periodic or other non-uniformities within the product can be easily accommodated as the method changes. It is something that can be introduced, thereby adding to its appeal to consumers.

The invention is susceptible to numerous modifications and variations, such as whipped cream, mousse, marshmallows, biscuit pieces/fat mixture,
Air-saturated cheesecakes and other non-frozen extrudable foods can also be extruded through the manifold outlet to produce multilayer extrudates or extrudates alternating with ice cream layers, as well as foondan, peanut butter, acidic fruit juice, yam or Other materials in place of the fatty layer, such as fat- or water-based sauces or creams, such as sugar/fat/dairy confectionery containing molasses, can also be sprayed, extruded, dispensed or distributed by means of an attached intermediate spray device.

In particular, as a development of the device shown in FIG. 2, twelve or more thin layers of ice cream or other iced confectionery are extruded one after the other by the device,
Within the apparatus, three sets of four extrusion nozzles are each fed from a manifold fed by an ice cream feed tube. A single manifold is preferred since the device facilitates balancing or adjusting the extrusion rate of the nozzles with respect to each other, the adjustment being accomplished by the desired type of clip or flow control inserted between the manifold and the nozzles. It is done with a valve. Three sets of nozzles are placed in rows along the length of a continuously moving conveyor and are graded as described above. The width and thickness of the individual channel nozzles are also arranged as described above.

Intermediate thiokolate spray equipment takes the form of a continuous pressure air type spray supplied with pressurized air and a thiokolate or vegetable, fat-based layer at about 40°C to 45°C, spray or any desired type of flow control. feed from one or more layer supply manifolds having devices for delivering fan-shaped sprays, preferably in near-relatively thin layers, vertically below the product line, placing the spray in a passageway having a width somewhat less than the product width; placed.

The remaining stages of this development of the method are carried out as described above, and the plastic dishes (especially thermoformed) can be packaged as desired, but especially with reinforced wax paper bags and cardboard outer packaging. advantageous,
Conveniently, alternatively plastic "ball wraps" or paper, plastic or foil "pillows"
It is also advantageous and convenient to wrap the product and seal around it, as is well known in itself.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic cross-sectional view of an alternative apparatus for making the above product. Groove-shaped extrusion nozzle 2 is indicated by arrow 1
It can move reciprocatingly in the line of motion of the conveyor belt 3 (possibly carrying successive plates as in FIG. 2) in the direction indicated by a. Groove nozzle 2
A spray outlet 4 for the fat base layer is mounted in front of the. The device is placed such that the lateral reciprocating motion of the nozzle 2 overlaps the extruded thin layer, and the spray outlet 4 is arranged to operate intermittently to cover the newly deposited layer with a very thin layer of fat-based layer. Ru. Other handling characteristics can be arranged in the same manner as described for other embodiments of the invention.

It will be appreciated that any of the several features described herein may be combined and modified by the user within the scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is another embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2a is a sectional view of a confectionery product, and FIG. 3 is an illustrative view of yet another embodiment of the invention. 1...Manifold, 1a...Arrow, 2...Nozzle, 3...Conveyor belt, 4...Spray outlet, 5...Tunnel, 6...Heater, 7...Scraper, 8...Katsuta, 9... Conveyor, 10...
...Dish, 11, 12...layers.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A synthetic frozen confectionery product comprising a plurality of extruded layers of an air-saturated first frozen confectionery material and a second confectionery material arranged within the first frozen confectionery material. , at least four of said frozen confectionery materials.
the overlapping layers each have a thickness of about 5 mm or less, and the second confectionery material is formed of a layer of fat-based confectionery material, each about 1 mm thick.
A synthetic frozen confectionery product having a thickness of: and inserted between adjacent layers of said first frozen confectionery material. 2. Composite refrigeration comprising a plurality of overlapping extruded layers of an air-saturated first frozen confectionery material and a layer of a second confectionery material interposed between adjacent layers of the first frozen confectionery material. A method of manufacturing a confectionery product, comprising: extruding extrudable, frozen, air-saturated confectionery material onto a dispensing conveyor into at least four overlapping layers, each having a thickness of about 5 mm or less; Synthetic freezing characterized in that intervening between the layers of the extruded first frozen confectionery material are layers of a second fat-based confectionery material, each having a thickness of about 1 mm or less. Method of manufacturing confectionery products. 3. Composite refrigeration comprising a plurality of overlapping extruded layers of an air-saturated first frozen confectionery material and a second layer of confectionery material interposed between adjacent layers of the first frozen confectionery material. Apparatus for manufacturing confectionery products, comprising: a take-off conveyor; and a channel for extruding at least four overlapping layers of air-saturated frozen confectionery material, each having a thickness of about 5 mm or less, onto the take-off conveyor. and a spraying device for inserting a layer of fat-based confectionery material between the extruded layers, said spraying device being capable of producing a layer of about 1 mm or less. A manufacturing device for synthetic frozen confectionery products characterized by: 4. The manufacturing apparatus for synthetic frozen confectionery products according to claim 3, wherein the groove-shaped extrusion device is arranged to move continuously forward and backward with respect to the take-out conveyor. Manufacturing equipment.