TH59417A - Extrusion molds with additive reservoirs. - Google Patents

Abstract

The DC60 extruder die assembly and its application are revealed. It is designed to be adapted to a wide range of commercially available extruders commonly used in the food industry. The extruder die assembly is inserted into the appropriate cavity within the extruder in such a way that the first extruder section is guided down into a coaxial passage within the forming section and merges with the fluid additive in the injection section, where the compressed food mass is extruded through converging nozzle holes in the injection section to produce the extruded food product. The forming and injection sections are formed as a matching unit. When properly aligned and welded, this matching unit creates a concentric reservoir within its inner surface through which the fluid additive may be delivered through at least one capillary channel, and preferably a number of others, creating distinct cross-sectional patterns in the flowing mass of the first extruder section, respectively. The extruder die assembly and its application are revealed, and it is designed to be adapted to a wide range of commercially available extruders commonly used in the food industry. The extruder die assembly is inserted into the appropriate channel within the extruder in such a way that the first extrusion section is guided down to a coaxial passage within the forming section and merged with the fluid additive in the injection section, where the compressed feed mass is extruded through converging nozzle holes in the injection section to produce the extruded food product. The forming and injection sections are formed as a matching unit. This matching unit, consisting of the forming and injection sections, when properly aligned and welded, creates a conduit of internal reservoirs through which the fluid additive may be delivered through at least one capillary channel and, in a better form, several more, creating distinct cross-sectional patterns in the flowing mass of the first extrusion section, respectively.

Claims (19)

1. The extruder die assembly for creating distinctly different forms in the extruded food mass during extrusion consists of (a) the forming section, which comprises (i) the inlet face with the inlet port, (ii) the concentric passages extending from the inlet port to the outlet port, (iii) the forming die element transversely to the concentric passage, and (iv) the outlet face with first circumferential grooves enclosing the outlet port; (b) the injection section, which comprises (i) the inlet face with second circumferential grooves enclosing the injection die insert (1), such injection die insert having at least one capillary channel in such a way that the fluid contacts the second circumferential groove (a), where such capillary channel includes both upstream and downstream discharge points, (ii) the discharge channel connecting the fluid path between the second circumferential groove and the fluid source of the filler; and (c) the connecting and sealing pathway of the outlet face of the forming section with the inlet face of the injection section to establish position and alignment. (i) The first and second circumferential grooves. In order to create and separate the reservoir tubes along the surrounding surfaces between them (ii) the molding parts and the injection mold inserts together in order to seal the counter-flow ejection of the capillary cavity. 2. The extruder die assembly as specified in Claim 1, which is further comprised of, in conjunction, the axially aligned combination of (d) the nozzle section, which consists of (i) the inlet face with the inlet port, (ii) the converging passage, and (iii) the outlet port. 3. The extruder die assembly as specified in Requisition 1, where the first and second surface grooves connect to a number of bulkheads which, when properly aligned, divide the surface reservoir tube into a number of surface reservoir tube voids, and where (b) (ii) consists of a number of separate outlet channels, each connecting a fluid path between one of the number of surface reservoir tube voids in the second surface groove and one of the fluid additive sources. 4. Extruder die assembly as specified in claim 2, where the cross-sectional area of the converging passages is reduced by a factor less than 20:1 between the inlet and outlet ports of the nozzle section. 5. Extruder die assembly as specified in claim 4, where the cross-sectional area of the converging passages is reduced by a factor greater than 4:1 between the inlet and outlet ports of the nozzle section. 6. An extruder die assembly for creating distinctly different forms in the extruded food mass during extrusion, consisting of, in coordination, a combination arranged in the same axial direction of (a) a number of matching sets arranged in a longitudinal alignment, each set consisting of (i) a forming section consisting of (1) an inlet face with an inlet port, (2) a concentric passage extending from the inlet port to the outlet port, (3) a forming die element transverse to the concentric passage, and (4) an outlet face with a first circumferential groove enclosing the outlet port; (ii) an injection section consisting of (1) an inlet face with a second circumferential groove enclosing the injection die insert; (a) such injection die insert having at least one capillary channel in such a manner that the fluid contacts the second circumferential groove; (i) where such capillary channel includes both upstream and downstream discharge points; and (2) a discharge channel connecting the fluid path between the second circumferential groove and the filler source. (iii) the connection and sealing pathways of the extrusion outlet surface to the injection inlet surface to position and align the capillary channel; (1) grooves along the first and second perimeter surfaces to create and separate the containment channels along the perimeter surfaces between them; (2) the molding and injection insert parts to seal the countercurrent discharge of the capillary channel. 7. The extruder die assembly as specified in claim 6, which is further comprised of, in conjunction, the axially aligned combination of (b) the nozzle section, which consists of (i) the inlet face with the inlet port, (ii) the converging passage, and (iii) the outlet port. 8. Extruder die assembly as specified in claim 7, where the cross-sectional area of the converging passages is reduced by a factor less than 20:1 between the inlet and outlet ports of the nozzle section. 9. Extruder die assembly as specified in claim 8, where the cross-sectional area of the converging passages is reduced by a factor greater than 4:1 between the inlet and outlet ports of the nozzle section. 10. An extruder die assembly for creating distinctly different forms in the extruded food mass during extrusion, consisting of, in combination with (a) a first extruder flow path, where such path shall consist of pathways to receive and direct the first extruder flow to the center passage; (b) at least one groove-forming path in the first extruder flow to divide the first extruder flow into a number of adjacent extruder flows; (c) a fluid additive injection path into at least one groove during the flow of a number of adjacent extruder flows; (i) where the injection path shall consist of a common injection mold insert with at least one capillary channel in such a way that the fluid contacts the surrounding surface reservoir tubes enclosing the injection assembly; (ii) where the injection path shall consist of a delivery path connecting the fluid paths between (d) a path for combining the flow of a number of closely spaced extrusion sections with the flow of a second extrusion section while maintaining the relative position of the fluid additive generally between the flows of a number of closely spaced extrusion sections; and (e) a path for reducing the cross-sectional area of the flow of the second extrusion section. 11. An extruder die assembly as specified in claim 10, where the reduction path is further assembled with a reduction path of the cross-sectional area of the second extruder flow by a factor less than 20:1. 12. An extruder die assembly as specified in claim 11, where the reduction path is further assembled with a reduction path of area across the cross-section of the second extruder flow by a factor greater than 4:1. 13. Methods for creating distinctly different models in the extruded food mass during extrusion. Such methods consist of a combination of the following steps: (a) supplying the flow of the first extruder, where the supply step consists of receiving and directing the flow of the first extruder to the center passage; (b) creating at least one groove in the flow of the first extruder to divide the flow of the first extruder into a number of adjacent extruder flows; (c) injecting fluid additive into at least one groove between the flows of the adjacent extruder; (i) where the injection step uses a common injection mold insert with at least one capillary channel in such a way that the fluid contacts the surrounding surface containment tubes enclosing the injection assembly; (ii) where the injection step is continued with a supply channel connecting the fluid path between the surrounding surface containment tubes and the fluid additive source; and (d) combining the flow of the adjacent extruder with the flow of the second extruder, while generally maintaining the relative position of the fluid additive between the flows. A number of tightly packed extruded sections. 14. The method specified in claim 13, which includes (e) reducing the cross-sectional area of the flow of the second extruded section by a factor less than 20:1. 15. The method specified in claim 14, which involves reducing the cross-sectional area of the flow of the second extruded section by a factor greater than 4:1. 16. The method specified in claim 13 where the fluid additive is colored. 17. The method specified in claim 16 where the fluid additives shall consist of the first color and the first extruded part shall consist of the second color. 18. The method specified in claim 13 in which the fluid additives are flavored. 19. The method specified in claim 18 where the fluid additive contains the first fragrance and the first extruded portion contains the second fragrance.