MXPA99007753A - Apparatus and methods for making multiple, patterned extrudates - Google Patents

Abstract

Apparatus (10) and methods are disclosed where plastic extrudable food product is provided such as by a food cooker extruder (12) and is mixed with an additive to form a patterned food product, such as by a pattern forming die (20, 220). The cross-sectional area of the patterned food product is reduced from an inlet end (34) to an outlet end (36) by a factor of at least 50:1 at an average convergence angle of=45°while maintaining the cross-sectional pattern to form a reduced cross-sectional patterned dough, and then is extruded through a die port (13) having an opening equal to the reduced cross-sectional area to form a complexly patterned extrudate. In the preferred form, multiple extrudates are simultaneously formed with the flow rates for each extrudate being adjustable by an adjuster plug (16) including a smooth cylindrical portion (86) extendable into a passageway (14) having a circular cross section of a larger diameter than the cylindrical portion (86). In a preferred form, the additive is injected through ports (248) into an interstitial gap imparted by an annular shoulder (222) between the periphery of the flowing dough and the interior wall surface of the passageway (22) to provide a topical coating to the periphery of the flowing dough to lubricate and reduce friction of the periphery of the flowing dough with the passageway (22) and to produce a surface coloration on the periphery of the flowing dough.

Description

APPARATUS AND METHODS FOR MAKING MULTIPLE-: WITH DESIGN 1. Field of the Invention The present invention comprises apparatuses and methods for manufacturing multi-colored extruded food products with designs. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatuses and methods for reducing a food extrudate with large txansveraal cutting area design to a smaller area while simultaneously maintaining the design, and with apparatuses and methods for adjusting the flow of the extrudable plastic food product. 2. Background of the Invention_ Food products such as cereal products and ready-to-eat snack products ("R-T-E"). They vary widely in their composition, shape, color, taste, texture, etc. Such products may include swollen and non-swollen varieties. Its appearance is an attractive feature that can include specific attributes such as shape and coloration. Especially attractive are products that have a complex but organized design of coloration, shape and / or complex shape.

A wide variety of techniques are known to provide products with complex shapes, such as star anillost, letters, figures, etc. Problems generally include how to consistently provide the desired degree of de ± alle or shape resolution in the finished parts. Similarly, for color products, one of the problems is how to consistently provide a fine level of detail. This problem of imparting a fine level of detail is particularly difficult in the provision of R-T-E cereals with complex designs due to their generally smaller size. The problem is even more serious for R-T-E cereal products that are swollen due to the very small size of the ions that expand to form the finished products. Naturally, the tablets must contain and maintain the complex design and preferably they must maintain the detail of form.

In particular, it would be desirable to prepare swollen RTE cereals having a shape and color design that evoke balls of various sports such as baseballs, football, basketball and soccer, such as those disclosed in the American Design Registry No. 373,671. Laughlin et al. called "Food Product Piece", 2) in the American Application Minutes No. 014,068, filed on October 12, 1993 by Laughlin, called, Food Product Piece "[3] in the American Design Registry No. 368,791 of Laughlin et al. called "Food Product Piece" and 4) in the American Design Registry No. 368,791 of Laughlin et al. called. "Foo Product Piece" [Piece of Foodstuff], respectively, each of them incorporated in the present invention as a reference. Similarly, it would be desirable to prepare swollen R-T-E cereals having color and pattern designs that evoke other food products or non-food products such as French bread toast, such as those disclosed in US Application No. 29 /, presented by Clanton et al, entitled "Food Product", which is incorporated herein by reference, Such products are characterized in part by their high degree of resolution, for example the characteristics of lines (as indicated by traditional designs) of 1 mm> thickness and even 0.5 mm> Provide a cereal pill that when inflated provides a swollen RTE cereal presenting such fine detail is a difficult problem resolving.

Food products with colored or striped lines on the outside such as RTE cereals as well as apparatus and methods for their preparation are described in U.S. Patent 2,858,217 entitled "Cereal Product with Striped Effect and Method for Making Same" [ Product of Cereal with Rayed Effect and Method to Manufacture it] (granted on October 28, 1958 to JO Benson) and which is incorporated herein by reference. The '217 patent discloses an extruder having a color injector die socket for manufacturing an extrudate with a complex design. However, the extrudate is directly extruded, without any reduction in its cross-sectional area. In addition, the method seems to be limited to producing only flakes with. a simple design of more or less straight lines generally parallel. The method is not capable of generating a cereal or sandwich of direct expansion (ie expanded directly from the extruder) having a detail of lines of such a degree d fineness.

In the Patent Estadounidens-e. ? L-.4.4.7.-9.3-1. granted on June 3, 1969 to Benson et al.) named "Process Fo Preparing to Puffed, Concave Shaped Cereal Product" [Process to Prepare a Ceral Product of Concave, Swollen Form] describes an improvement or modification in the . technique, pair provide a piece of sandwich based on cereal with color lines. More particularly, the patent? 931 describe a process for making a piece of R-T-E cereal with flower calyx form which has a complete design. The process consists in extruding a plurality of pulp filaments that are pressed together to form a column or rope without reduction of material in the cross section which is then combined under such conditions that it swells. The braid composed of compressed filaments is then cut into discs which then swell with heat. While useful, the process seems to be limited to producing only the "flower" shape. In addition, the prepared pieces are of a larger sandwich size, rather than the relatively smaller pieces characteristic of the R-T-E cereals.

Especially in commercial applications, the extrudable food product is supplied in an amount to form a plurality of extrudates. Then the problem arises that the extrudates have uniformity of flow to achieve consistency in the final product __ where, the afste of the velocity and the flow pressure are achieved without increasing the possibility of lower current obstruction. In addition, there is also the problem that the extrudates interfere with one another as they fall on each other, thus making processing downstream more difficult.

In a first preferred aspect, the present invention provides an improvement in apparatus and methods for preparing food products characterized by two ingredients in an organized design. In particular, the present invention provides an improvement in the degree of level of. fineness of the color detail (lmm >) even in food products such as puffed R-T-E cereal pills that have a very small diameter (eg 3 to 6 mm).

In another preferred aspect, the present invention provides an improvement in apparatuses and methods for adding additives to the flowing paste. In particular, the additives are added in the interstitial spaces imparted in the flowing paste. In preferred embodiments, the portions of the interstitial spaces within the flowing paste are filled upstream of the additive of the additives to prevent the additives from flowing into those portions. In that case, one of the objects of the present invention is to prevent there being a disproportionate amount of additives on the outside of the flowing paste. In other preferred embodiments, the entire periphery of the flowing paste is topically coated with an additive having a minimum thickness and having a mass substantially less than the mass of the flowing paste. It is also an object of the present invention to provide additives in the form of a lubricant to obtain a better detail of three-dimensional form in the final products and especially in the expanded final products. Another object of the present invention is to provide additives in the form of a dye to provide coloration of the outer periphery of the flowing paste and of the final product.

In yet another aspect, the present invention provides a flow rate adjustment apparatus for adjusting the extrudable plastic feed flow. In particular, the present invention provides an improvement consisting in that the flow of pulp does not stop or is allowed to accumulate, which will cause hardening of the paste and the hardened paste potentially causes problems of downstream clogging.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 shows a partially cut-away end view of the die face of an extruder of. oven? * for food that shows a plurality of exit gates. Figure 2 shows a widely cut-away cut-away view of a reduction conduit of the present invention taken along lines 2-2 of Figure 1. Figure 3 shows an enlarged cut-away view of a die insert for make a paste with a complex shape of increased size, taken along line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 shows an enlarged sectional view of a die insert showing the channels for food color flow, taken along line 4-4 of Figure 3. Figure 5 shows a sectional view , enlarged from the die insert, taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4 in an upstream orientation. Figure 6 shows an enlarged sectional view of the die insert taken along line 5-5 of Figure 4, similar to Figure 5 but showing a downstream orientation. Figure 7 shows an enlarged plan view of a piece of cereal R-T-E with finished complex inflated design, prepared using the present methods and apparatus of Figures 1-6. Figure 8 shows an enlarged plant view of. the piece of cereal R-T-E, taken along line 8-8 of Figure 7 showing the concave shape of the cereal piece. Figure 9 shows a partial cross-sectional view of the food-mill extruder, taken along line 9-9 of Figure 2. Figure 10 shows an enlarged, partial cross-sectional view of an extruder of oven for food according to the preferred teachings of the present invention.

Figure 11 shows a cross-sectional view, part of the food-type oven extruder of Figure 10. Figure 12 shows an enlarged-plan view of a pie of RTE cereal with finished inflated design, prepared using the present methods and apparatus. of the. Figures 10 11. Figure 13 shows an enlarged plan view of a finished puffed RTE cereal piece, extruded through the same outlet orifice as the piece of Figure 12 but the provision of a lubricant according to the apparatus methods of Figures 10 and 11.

When used in the various drawings, the same numbers indicate the same or similar parts. In addition, when the terms "upper part", "lower part", "first", "second", "upper", "lower" V "alt", "broad", "long", "extreme" are used "," lateral "," horizontal "," vertical similar terms, it should be understood that these terms refer only to the structure shown in the drawing that are used only to facilitate the description of the invention.

DESCRIPTION Referring to the drawings and briefly in particular Figure 1, there is shown an apparatus for preparing a piece of cereal dough of complex design according to the preferred teachings of the present invention, which is indicated in general with the number 10. In the most preferred form, the apparatus 10 generally includes a means for providing at least one extrudable food product or a cooked cereal paste, such as an oven extruder 12. HE_. see, in Figure 1. It is noted that the extruder 12 has at least one, more preferably a plurality of, gates or outlet orifice 13, each for extruding a cooked cereal dough of complex design of the present invention (FIG. what is not shown) or other extrudable food product.

While a furnace extruder is the preferred equipment for providing an extrudable feed, other conventional equipment and techniques may also be employed. For example, a discontinuous horn or semi-continuous oven for cooking the bulk ingredients may be equipped with a forming extruder element and pasta conveyor. In other embodiments, e.g. A low moisture fruit paste can use an endless screw conveyor belt. While in the present description particular reference is made to the provision of farinaceous materials with complex design such as cereals and RTE snacks, the skilled artisan will appreciate that the apparatuses and techniques can be employed with a wide variety of food products. extrudable, especially with plastic foods such as low humidity fruit products.

Referring to Figure 2, the oven extruder 12 provides the cooked cereal dough in an amount that can supply one or preferably, especially, in commercial applications, a plurality of ducts 14, each of which leads to a gate. In the highly preferred embodiments, the apparatus 10 further includes a means for adjusting the speed and pressure of the cooked cereal dough, for example, the shrinkage flow adjusting plug in adjustable form 16 illustrated. Such a flow rate adjustment means is particularly useful when, as in the embodiment. eJ_. Exixusor supplies a large number of extrusion holes. If such a flux velocity adjustment means is lacking, the characteristics of the particular extrudate (eg pressure, mass flow) from each of the many orifices are difficult to control since the length of the conduit 14 from the central supply may vary.

The flow adjusting plug 16 may include a bar or screw 80 having at least upper and lower portions 84 and 86. The upper portion 84 in the most preferred form includes threads 82. The lower cylindrical portion 86 is in the most preferred form of a shutter having a smooth outer periphery of a diameter that is smaller than the diameter of the conduit 14. In addition, the inner axial end 88 of the portion 86 opposite the portion 84 has a generally flat configuration and specifically has a diameter that is considerably larger than the diameter of the conduit 14. The extruder 12 has a cylindrical core that intersects generally perpendicular to the conduit 14 and that includes: a threaded portion radially outwardly, and a radially inwardly smooth portion having a diameter generally equal to of portion 86 to receive it in rotatable slidable form, such that the center line of portion 86 is generally perpendicular to the central line of the conduit 14. The screw 80 further includes a threaded portion located at an intermediate point between the portions 84 and 86 of a suitable size to receive it in screw form in the extruder's star. The plug 16 further includes a sealing means for preventing mass losses of the extruder 12 from the conduit 14, for example at least a first "0" ring 90, 91 inserted in a peripheral receiving seal groove 92, 93, respectively. The plug 16 further includes a nut 94 threaded into the threads 82 of the portion 84 and which can also be adjusted against the block 96 to secure the screw 80 against some movement such as that produced by the vibration of the extruder 12.

By rotating the screw 80 inwardly from the extruder, the portion 86 can be projected in an adjustable retractable manner within the duct 14. It can then be appreciated that the flow area through the duct 14 in the shutter 16 it is inversely related to the extent to which that portion 86 is projected into the conduit 14. It should be appreciated that the portion 86 can not suspend or stop the flow of pulp through the conduit 14 nor provide an accumulation site for the dough in the duct 14. In particular, due to the smaller diameter of the portion 86 than of the duct 14, the outer measurement of the portion 86 will extend along a chord of the circular section of the duct 14 with a separation from s. center smaller than its radius, allowing the flow of paste between them. It should be appreciated that due to the circular sections of portion 86, the dough tends to flow around portion 86 through duct 14 and not to stop in front of it as it may occur if a flat or other non-cylindrical surface occurs. Similarly, when the portion 86 is fully retracted out of the duct 14, the core of the extruder does not form sites outside the duct 14 in which dough may accumulate. Further, due to the preferred shape of the end 88 in relation to the conduit 14, even when the screw 80 is rotated in such a way that the end 88 se. coupling to the wall of the extruder 12 defining the duct 14, the end 88 does not closely connect with the duct 14 but generally extends in a similar manner along a chord of the circular section ... of the conduct. 14. can. a separation from its center that is less than its radius, allowing the flow of paste between them. Detecting the flow of paste or allowing the accumulation of paste can cause the hardening of the paste, and the hardened paste potentially causes problems of downstream clogging. In the most preferred form, with the end 88 engaging the wall of the extruder 12 defining the conduit 14, the portion 86 covers less than 90% of the cross-sectional area of the conduit, 14 allowing the flow of pulp through at least the 10% of the cross-sectional area of duct 14 at all times- ^, The apparatus 10 further essentially includes at least one color food supply 18 which can supply a flowable color food material such as a food color liquid (oil based or preferably water based). The color supply 18 is in fluid communication with, and the apparatus 10 further includes, a means for mixing and forming with the food color liquid and the extrudable food product, a food extrusion with a complex design, for example the shape-enlarging die insert (in relation to the exit hole) illustrated. In the preferred embodiment, the duct 14 may include a first flared or divergent portion 21 immediately upstream of the die fitting} . 20 to expand the conduit 14 to a diameter equal to the die socket 20, as well as a second convergent flared portion 22 downstream. In the drawing, the duct 14 and other constituent elements are illustrated in a size close to the real one. Therefore, the diameter of the die socket 20 is 30 mm and is located within a partially enlarged portion 24 of the duct 14. As a result of this, the diameter of the dough extrusion of. design, complex has, on leaving the die insert 20, an enlarged initial diameter of 30 mm. Naturally, other sizes can be used for the die fit 20 (eg 15 to 100 mm).

In Figure 2, it can be seen that the complex-shaped dough extrusion thus formed is then moved by the pressure flow and the apparatus 10 further includes a means for reducing the cross section of the complex design food extrusion while simultaneously maintaining the design, for example, the reduced or narrowed conduit 25 illustrated. The reduced conduit 25 can be manufactured from a single piece having, for example, a frustoconical core or, as illustrated, with a plurality of individual parts such as the first, second and third parts 26, 28 and 30, respectively, illustrated. The individual pieces can be cleaned more easily. In addition, the angle of convergence and other attributes, eg. the internal surface, can be adjusted as needed (eg smooth surface, non-stick) to adapt to the differences in the characteristics of different food products. In Figure 2 it is seen that the duct 14 has a relatively larger initial diameter 24 and a relatively smaller exit or end diameter 36 in the outlet gate 13. Furthermore, although the duct 14 is illustrated with a cross-sectional cross-sectional area , in. Other embodiments conduit 14 can be manufactured with a more complex peripheral design or configuration to define or define in part the external shape or configuration of the finished part, including rectangular shapes Cej_ .. stars, rings, ovoids, geometric shapes as well as irregular (eg animals, objects such as trees, cars, etc.).

In addition, the duct 14 can be manufactured with an interior surface of desired characteristics, e.g. polished or Teflon surface or other non-adherent surface, for example to provide reduced friction to facilitate the conservation of the complex design or to reduce the deformation of the design. The ovoid cross section for the duct is especially desirable for the preparation of a football or rugby ball.

An important feature of the present invention is the angle of convergence of the reduced conduit 25. It has been considered important to maintain an average confine convergence angle of 5 ° to 45 °, preferably 5 ° to 20 ° and more preferably 10 ° to 15 °. To maintain the design, reduce the cross-sectional area at the same time. Po "average convergence" is understood to be the angle formed between the diameter of the die insert 20 and the diameter 36 of the outlet gate 13 in the length of the reduced conduit 25. As illustrated, with the conduit parts 26, 28 and 30, some pieces, ex. 26 and 30 ,. they have a sharper angle of convergence while piece 28 has a softer angle. The internal obs.truccianea should be avoided (eg ridges) in order to provide a continuous conduit to minimize the disruption of the complex design formed in the paste. Figure 2 shows that the diameter 36 of the outlet orifice is 3 mm. Since the duct 14 can have a complex cross-sectional shape as described above, the degree of design reduction is more appropriately characterized in terms of the reduction of the cross-sectional area, rather than more simply a reduction in diameter. Therefore, the degree of reduction of the cross-sectional area in the illustrated embodiment is 100: 1. Of course, for other embodiments (eg for larger snack pieces), the degree of cross-section reduction can be as small as 25: 1. The diameter 36 of the outlet orifice for a snack product may be correspondingly larger, eg, from 5 to 15 mm.

Surprisingly, such a smooth convergence angle allows a reduction in the cross-sectional areas of at least 50: 1 and even 100: 1, while maintaining a fine level of detail in the complex design. Therefore, a complex shape can be imparted to a face or cut. txanavers_aJL of larger size paste and then reduce it to a desired smaller finished cross sectional area. This arrangement allows the manufacture of a relatively large die socket to impart the complex design. While it is possible to manufacture a small die insert to impart the desired degree of detail to the final output diameter in an extruder in the development stage, is not commercially practical due in part to the clogging or jamming of the die socket 20. The provision of a reduced conduit 25 having the required convergence angle allows the provision of three-dimensional shapes to be produced with a fine level of detail of . strain. In addition, the finished pieces are characterized by a color in the whole piece compared with a coloration only topical.

Furthermore, it is seen that the mixing is not immediately close to the discharge gate 13 but is distanced from it. This allows the dough to "settle" modestly in a way to help maintain the complex shape.

With reference to Figure 3, this shows an enlarged cross-section of the forming die insert 20 of design 20. As can be seen, this particular die insert can be used to manufacture a two-color food piece 40 which is seen in Figure 7. It has a swirl or spiral design. However, they can be replaced by other design forming die inserts, which can, for example, provide the design of lines for products that evoke soccer, basketball, baseball and other sporting objects.

The die socket 20 includes a means for imparting at least one, and more preferably a plurality of paste interstitial space for example between a plurality of d dough divider ducts such as ducts 44, 45 respectively formed by the dividing elements d die 47. The die insert 20 may further include means for injecting a food color or a second color paste into the interstitial spaces, for example a plurality or set of evenly spaced food dye injection gates 48, formed on the elements of die division 47 and fed by a fluid supply conduit 50. The extrudable food product itself may be colored. The color supply 18 can supply a different color to. the same color that has a darker or lighter shade. Specifically, food liquid is supplied to food color canduatoa 50 from one or more food color supply gates such as gates 52, 54 and. 56, respectively in the die dividing elements 47. Naturally, when the second colored material or material is a food product such as a second fruit paste or paste, the ducts and the dies. aoapuertas.- de-- injection, can be enlarged to reduce friction and the possibility of obstructions.

Referring briefly to Figure 4, it can be seen that the die insert 20 may further include a color fluid supply receptacle 58 provided by the color supply 18 and that is in fluid communication with or feeds the gates of food color supply 52, 54 and 56. The die insert 20 may further include a means for sealing the color fluid supply receptacle 58 to prevent premature mixing with the paste, for example the "O" rings 60 and 62 illustrated Referring briefly to Figure 5, this shows the upstream face 64 of the die socket 22. Figure 5 shows that the upstream face 64 for this particular die socket does not contain any color supply discharge hatches and that the The discharge is preferably carried out in a running direction aba-j »®.

Brief reference is made to Figure 6, where the relationship between the., Supply inlet gates 52, 54 and 56, the supply conduits 50 and the color discharge gates 48 are more simply seen. color tends to fill the interstitial spaces in the flowing dough, between the ducts 44, 45 and 46 formed by and behind the die dividing elements 47 to create a line in the shape of the die dividing elements 47 in the Extruded paste flow. With reference to Figures 3 and 4, the grooves 57 are provided in die dividing elements 47 extending axially from the downstream side toward, but spaced apart from, the upstream face 64 and specifically upstream from the discharge ends. of the floodgates. 48. The axial length of the grooves 57 is sufficient for the dough to be extruded through the ducts. 44A. 45 and, 46 tend to flow inwardly and fill the portions of the interstitial spaces in the grooves 57 upstream of the place where the color is discharged from the gates 48. The portions of the interstitial spaces that are axially in line with the grooves 57 they are then filled with paste upstream from the place where the color is discharged to prevent the color added by the gates 48 from flowing into those portions.

In the preferred form shown in Figures 3 and 4, the grooves 57 are shown formed in the die dividing elements 47 at the intermediate point between the gates 48 and the inner surface wall and t in the preferred form, adjacent to the wall of inner surface of the die socket 20. If the die dividing elements 47 extend toward and engage the interior surface wall of the die socket 20, the color tends to travel in the interstitial spaces all the way to the wall of inner surface of the die socket 20 and tends to fill the gap between the paste passing through the conduits 44, 45 and 46 and the inner surface wall of the die socket 20. This produces a disproportionate amount of color in the outside of the extruded dough. Therefore, the grooves 57 generally prevent the color from traversing all the way to the inner surface of the die insert to virtually eliminate or reduce the color on the outside of the extruded paste.

If you can also appreciate that grooves 57 can also be provided in the die splitting elements 47 sequestered from the interior surface wall of the blank 20. One of the reasons for such an arrangement is that multiple colors are desired in the extrudate. This can be achieved by supplying a first color to certain gates 48, providing a different color or shade. a .. las. Other gates 48. The grooves 57 can then be provided in the die dividing elements 47 which separate those certain gates 48 from the other gates 48 to generally prevent the additives from mixing in the extruded past.

Reference is briefly made to Figures 7 and 8 which shows that the piece of food 40 produced by the apparatus methods of Figures 1-6 may be cup-shaped and that coloration may extend throughout the body of the piece. The illustrated piece 40 is a piece of swollen R-T-E cereal, prepared by direct expansion from the extruder having a finished diameter of 70 mm.

In the present invention, the complex design paste of reduced cross-sectional diameter is extruded through the reduced diameter exit orifice 36 (eg 3 mm). Then, the extrudate is cut in a conventional manner to form individual pieces, for example with one or more rotating knives. Depending on the conditions of the extrudate, a non-swollen tablet can be formed to swell it later, or alternatively, and preferably here, a swollen, expanded, expanded piece is formed directly. The finished food piece swollen posteriorly or swollen by direct expansion upon exiting the outlet orifice 13 is essentially characterized by having a high resolution or a fine degree of color detail. The detail may include the surface coloration of lines as thin as 0.5 mm in the swollen product. In certain embodiments, the interior is also bicolor or multicolored and has topical or surface coloration.

While in the present invention the illustrated particular die socket 20 is designed to mix a liquid food color in a cooked cereal paste in order to provide an extremely fine line of fine detail, the die socket 20 can be modified (eg enlarging the gates 52, 54 and 56, t the fluid conduits 50 and the discharge gates 48) for mixing two or more cooked pastas or other flowable color food materials, especially liquefied fats (eg chocolate, cheese), or fruit pastes In addition, while the illustrated die insert is designed to provide the illustrated swirled finished product, other die inserts can be interchanged to provide the line coloring detail to provide the particular desired end products, such as balls. various sports (soccer, basketball, baseball, American football) to which s referred above.

It will be appreciated that for the extrusion embodiments if direct expansion or swelling upon extrusion, lines having a detail of 0.1 mm in width can be obtained. In the subsequent expansion (eg, deep fat frying, injector swelling, fluid bed swelling, swelling with radiant heat or other swelling methods), swollen pieces naturally expand resulting in an increase in the width of the line. These enlarged lines (ie, 0.5mm >), however, are finer than the lines that can be obtained by any other known method. If desired, thicker lines can be formed (eg 3 mm).

Reference is made to Figures 10 and 11 which show an alternative form of a die insert 220 which can be used to make a two-color food item 240 which is seen in Figure 12, which has a coloration of outer periphery. Specifically, the die insert 220 imparts an interstitial space of pulp in the pulp flow at the upstream end of the reduced conduit 25 and around the entire periphery of the pulp flow. slides in a direction relative to the inner surface wall of the flared portion 22. In particular, the inner diameter of the inner surface wall of the die socket 220 is smaller than the inner diameter of the inner surface wall of the flared portion at its upstream end embedded in the die socket 220. Thus, a radially extending annular rim 222 is defined by the axial end of the die socket 220 that extends between the interior surface wall of the upstream end of the die. the flared portion and the inner surface wall of the die socket 220. Therefore, the flange 222 extends from the inner surface wall of the flared portion 22 perpendicular to the flow direction of the dough.

The die insert 220 may further include a means for injecting an additive in the form of a food color and / or lubricant into the interstitial space of the paste. In the preferred form, the additive is injected with a point discharge before a continuous discharge into the interstitial space and most preferably is injected through a plurality of uniformly spaced injection gates 248 having first ends intersecting the receptacle 58 and having second ends terminating in the annular rim 222 over a diametrical distance greater than the inside diameter of the die socket 220 and smaller than the inside diameter of the flared portion 22 at its end. top embedded in the die socket 220. The gates 248 have a dimension perpendicular to the flow direction, of paste and parallel to the periphery of the flowing paste, which is substantially less than the dimension of the flange 222 and. of the interstitial space. It can be seen that the additive tends to flow from the supply 18 to the receptacle 58 through the gates 248 and to fill the interstitial space in the flowing paste, formed by and behind the rim 222 to create a line in the shape of the periphery of the pulp flow, which flows parallel to and provides a topical coating for the periphery of the pulp flow. In the most preferred form, five gates 248 are provided to ensure that the additive is provided in an amount that fills the interstitial space around the entire periphery of the pulp flow and so that the topical coating extends over the entire periphery of the lumen. pasta that flμye. It should be appreciated that the additive in the topical coating has a minimum thickness and has a mass substantially less than the mass of the paste flow and in the most preferred form the additive is a colorant to produce a coloration, of surface on the flowing paste. In most preferred form, the mass ratio or peao_ of the paste to the additive introduced through the gates 248 is in the order of 200: 1.

The upstream face of the die insert 220 does not contain any discharge gate and the discharge of the additive is preferably in the downward direction. In the most preferred form of the present invention shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the additive is located exclusively on the periphery of the pulp flow. However, it should be appreciated that the die insert 220 may include die splitting elements 47 such as, but not limited to, the type shown and described for the die insert 20.

It should be noted that the additive in the form of a color provistp in the interstitial space imparted by the rim 222 results in topical or surface coloration of the entire outer periphery of the paste flow. Further, in the preferred form, the colorant provided in the interstitial space by the rim 222 acts as a lubricant to reduce the friction between the outer periphery of the pulp flow and the inner surface wall of the reduced conduit 25. The reduction in friction allows that the pressure at which the dough is driven through the duct 25 is reduced for the same performance. Also,., Has. found that this reduction in friction results in a better three-dimensional detail and is especially important ... to, affect the expansion characteristics of the paste. Specifically, it has been found that when the extrudate is cut and then expanded, the cuts of the expanded food piece 240 are generally flat and extend generally perpendicular to the periphery of the food piece 140 as shown in Figure 12. Therefore, it is possible to obtain square edges when the extrudate is expanded, which is especially important when the extrudate is cooked cereal pasta to be expanded. In contrast, when lubrication is not provided to the pulp flow, the expanded feed is in the form of a cushion or cat eye as shown in Figure 13. It should be appreciated that the pulp for forming the food pieces of Figures 12 and 13 flowed through the exit holes 13 of the same size and shape.

In the most preferred form, the piece of food 240 has the shape and appearance of a toast of French bread but of much smaller size. In particular, the food piece 240 includes a body having first and second cut faces, generally parallel and a peripheral edge. In the preferred form, the body is formed by extrudate pulp and in the most preferred form is formed by expanded extruded pulp, for example by swelling or direct expansion. The body within the peripheral edge and between the first and second faces is the color of the paste which in the most preferred form is uniform. The additive that forms the topical coating is a different color to the color of the paste and is located on the peripheral edge to represent the brown crust or surface of a slice of bread. It should be appreciated that one or both faces can be colored after cutting the dough, for example by applying a sugar coating that includes a dye.

Although most preferably the additive introduced by the gates 248 into the interstitial space imparted by the flange 222 acts as a lubricant to reduce the friction between the paste flow and the conduit 25 and results in the surface coloration of the periphery of the food piece 240, the additive does not necessarily have to include a colorant or produce such surface coloration of the food piece 240. In general, additives that function as lubricants include aqueous solutions, and passtically oil-based solutions that do not adversely affect the dough or final part 40 and 240 produced therefrom.

In the most preferred form, the floodgates. 248 are linear between the receptacle 58 and the rim 222 to facilitate cleaning. In addition, the gates 248 extend upstream at a relatively small acute angle and most preferably at an angle in the order of 10 ° with the inner surface wall of the die socket 220 and hence the flow direction of the die. paste through them, in order to reduce the tendency of the pulp to flow back to them and thereby block the gates 248. In this regard, the presence of the flange 222 increases the formation of the interstitial space between the pulp and the conduit 25 in the interconnection of the socket 220 and the conduit 25. Therefore, the interstitial space is of a size that ensures that the additive flows between the gates 248 and around the entire perimeter of the flange 222. In addition, eddy currents are created in the inetersticial space that the additive tends to carry through the gates 248 and discourage backward flow to the gates 248. Therefore, the presence of the flange 222 provides better uniformity and more control over the introduction of the additive around the entire periphery of the pulp flow.

The extrudable food may comprise one. wide variety, r of conventional food types and in particular may include a fruit material such as a paste or pieces, mashed potatoes (eg for a manufactured flake), aerated jams (eg for the manufacture of chocolates or marshmallows). ) or a cooked cereal paste. The cooked cereal paste can be, for R-T-E cereals (swollen or non-swollen), sandwiches, baked goods, or pastes. Cereal cereal pastes for T-T-E cereals are especially desirable.

Swollen food products such as snacks can be prepared by puffing hot air, frying in deep fat, puffing with injector or microwave (especially high intensity, eg intensity .. e. field> 100 V / cm). To the composition of the swollen product without frying in deep fat you can add oil or apply oil in topical form. R-T-E cereals may have a sugar coating. The swollen food pieces of the product base (ie, before or without oil or sugar) can have a density of 0", 1 af, 5 g / cm3. or a plane through the body of the food piece. The "highly complex" food products are characterized in that they have a plurality of color characteristics, at least two of which (eg, two planes or a line and a plane) intersect within the body of the food piez.

Other past flow adjustment devices with or without replacement of the preferred flow adjusting plug 16 of the present invention can be used if .11 are located upstream of the die socket 20 or 220; and 2) do not increase the possibility of downstream obstruction.

Now that the basic teachings of the present invention have been explained, many extensions and variations will be obvious to an ordinary art connoisseur. For example, various inventive aspects of the present invention have been disclosed and it is believed that the combination thereof produces synergistic results. However, such aspects can be used alone or in other combinations according to the teachings of the present invention. By way of example, although grooves 57 have been developed in the die socket 20 that form extrudates with complex designs, similar intakes can be provided upstream of a static mixer to provide dye, flavor, or other additives except for injections of typical in points, in the cross section of the fluj.a ^ _ In particular the grooves 57 prevent the dye, flavor or other additives from coming into contact with the inner surface wall of the socket in the place where the static mixer has difficulties for mix them completely with the main flow of product. This would allow the static mixer to be shorter and yet, provide a uniform extrudate and therefore reduce the cost, space and fall requirements of. pressure, of the static mixer.

In a similar way, although the introduction of an additive in the form of dye and / or lubricant has been revealed in relation to a relatively large degree of cross-section reduction, the apparatus of Figures 10 and 11 may used in other applications where external periphery coloration and better detail are desired in three-dimensional form in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

Therefore, since the disclosed invention can be realized in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or the general characteristics thereof, some of which forms have been indicated, the embodiments described in the present invention are considered in all illustrative aspects and not restrictive The scope of the invention should be indicated by the appended claims, rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes within the meaning and range of equivalence of the claims should be encompassed therein. .

Claims (26)

1. CLAIMS 1. A method for adding at least one first additive to an extrudable feed comprising the steps of: flowing the extrudable feed in one direction through a conduit having an inner surface, the extrudable feed flowing has a periphery that slides in relation to the interior surface of the conduit; imparting an interstitial space in the extrudable feed flowing between the periphery of the flowing extrudable food and the inner surface I of the duct; and injecting the additive through at least one first gate, in the interatial spacing between the interior surface of the conduit and the periphery of the flowing extrudable feed, the gate has a dimension perpendicular to the direction of the extrudable feed that flows and parallels the periphery of the flowing extrudable food which is substantially smaller than the dimension of the interstitial space, the additive flows from the gate into the interstitial space parallel to the periphery of the extrudable feed flowing to provide a topical coating to the periphery of the flowing extrudable food .
2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of injecting comprises the step of injecting the additive in the form of a lubricant, the topical coating of the lubricant reduces the friction between the periphery of the flowing extrudable food and the inner surface of the conduit.
3. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of. imparting comprises the step of imparting the interstitial space around the entire periphery of the flowing extrudable food, the topical coating extending over the entire periphery of the flowing extrudable food.
4. 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of injecting comprises the step of injecting the additive in the form of a dye, the topical coating producing a surface coloration in the extrudable food that flows.
5. 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of injecting comprises the step of injecting the additive into txavés of the gate extending upstream at a relatively small acute angle with the direction of the extrudable feed flowing.
6. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of imparting comprises the step of providing a flange extending from the inner surface perpendicular to the direction of the flowing extrudable food and the periphery of the flowing extrudable food; and wherein the step of injectax comprises the step of injecting the additive through the gate that ends in the annular rim.
7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of flowing comprises the step of flowing the extrudable feed through the conduit of a reducing cross-section, downstream of the flange.
8. 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the flow passage comprises the step of flowing the extrudable feed through the conduit having an outlet orifice downstream of the place where the additive is injected into the interstitial space, the outlet orifice is formed on one side; . and where, the. Me, everything also comprises the step of cutting the extrudable food to form individual pieces.
9. 9. An apparatus for providing a topical coating to an extrudable food comprising, in combination: a conduit through which the extrudable food flows, the conduit has an inner surface, the extrudable flowing food has a periphery that slides relative to the interior surface of the duct, an interstitial space is imparted in the extrudable food flowing between the periphery of the extrudable food flowing and the interior surface of the duct; and at least one first gate for injecting an additive into the interstitial space between the inner surface of the duct and the periphery of the flowing extrudable feed, the gate has a dimension perpendicular to the direction of the extrudable feed that runs and parallel to the periphery of the food Extrudable flowing liquid that is substantially smaller than the interstitial space dimension, the additive flows from the gate to the interstitial space parallel to the periphery of the exudable food flowing to provide the topical coating at the periphery of the flowing extrudable food.
10. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the gate injects the additive in the form of a lubricant, the topical coating of the lubricant reduces the friction between the periphery of the flowing extrudable food and the inner surface of the conduit.
11. 11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the interstitial space extends around the entire periphery of the flowing extrudable food, the topical coating extends over the entire periphery of the flowing extrudable food.
12. 12. The apparatus of claim 11, the gate injects the additive in the form of a dye, the topical coating produces a surface coloration in the extrudable feed that flows.
13. 13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the gate s extends upstream at an acute angle relatively small with the direction of the extrudable feed flowing.
14. 14. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising the combination: a flange extending from the inner surface perpendicular to the direction of the flowing extrudable food and the periphery of the flowing extrudable food; where the step of injecting comprises the step of injecting the additive through the gate which ends in the annular rebord.
15. 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the candlestick has a reducing cross-section, downstream of the flange.
16. 16. A piece of food comprising, in combination: a body formed by extrudate paste having first and second sides and a peripheral edge; and a topical coating of a color different from the color of the paste of the first and second faces and located on the peripheral edge of the body.
17. 17. The food piece of claim 16, wherein the body is formed of expanded, extruded dough.
18. 18. The food piece of claim 17, wherein the body is formed of swollen, extruded dough.
19. 19. The food piece of claim 17, wherein the body is formed by extruded dough, directly expanded.
20. 20. The food piece of the_ claim. 16 ,. where the body within the peripheral edge and between the first and second faces is of a uniform color.
21. 21, A method for adding at least one additive to an extrudable feed comprising the steps of: flowing the extrudable feed in one direction through a conduit having an inner surface, the extrudable feed that flows has a periphery that slides in relationship with the interior surface of the conduit; and providing the additive between the interior surface of the duct and the periphery of the flowing extrudable food, the additive flows parallel to the periphery of the extrudable food flowing to provide a topical coating to the periphery of the flowing extrudable food, the additive of the topical coating it has a minimum thickness and a mass substantially less than the mass of the extrudable food that flows.
22. 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the step of providing comprises the step of providing, the. aditi p to an extrudable feed ratio to additive in the topical coating in the order of 200: 1.
23. 23. The method of claim 21, wherein the step of providing comprises the step of providing the additive located exclusively on the periphery of the flowing extrudable food.
24. 24. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of providing comprises the step of providing the additive in the form of a lubricant, the topical coating of the lubricant reduces the friction between the periphery of the flowing extrudable food and the inner surface of the conduit.
25. 25. The method of claim 24, wherein the step of providing comprises the step of providing the additive in an amount such that the topical coating extends over the entire periphery of the flowing extrudable food.
26. 26. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of providing comprises the step of providing the additive and dye form, the topical coating produces a surface coloration on the extrudable food that flows. SUMMARY Apparatus (10) and methods are disclosed, where a plastic extrudable food product is provided, for example, by an oven extruder for 5 food (12) and is mixed with an additive to form a food product with design, for example by means of a pattern forming die (20, 220). The cross-sectional area of the food product with design is reduced from an inlet end (34) to an outlet end (36) by a factor of at least 50: 1 with an average convergence angle < 45 ° while maintaining the design? or cross-section to form a paste with reduced cross-sectional design and then extrudate through a die gate (13) having an opening equal to the reduced cross-sectional area to form a complex design extrudate. In the preferred form, multiple extrudates are formed simultaneously and the flow rates for each extrudate are adjustable by a shutter of 15 adjustment (16) including a smooth cylindrical portion (86) extending into a duct (14) having a circular cross-section with a larger diameter than the cylindrical portion (86). In a preferred form, the additive is injected through the gates (248) into the interstitial space imparted by an annular rim (222) between the periphery of the flowing paste and the surface of the inner wall of the conduit 20 (22) to provide a topical coating to the periphery of the flowing dough, to lubricate and reduce the friction of the periphery of the dough flowing with the duct (22) and to produce a surface coloration on the periphery of the dough. flowing pasta. 25