US1795153A - Method of incasing edibles - Google Patents

Description

vMarch 3, l931 w` D. THOMPSON METHOD OF INCASING EDIBLES Filed Apil 4,. '1928 3 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR u 0mm @gef/fwd( ATTORNEY March 3, 1931. w. D. THOMPSON METHOD OF INCASING EDIBLES.

Filed April 4, 1928 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 1411i l111111,11',111111111-111111111'1,11 E111/l1111111111111111111111111111111111 INVENTOR ATTORNEY lll/[[11111]] llll/l//lllll A March 3V, 1931. w. D. THOMPSON 1,795,153

METHOD OF INCASING EDIBLES Filed April 4, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 l f ATTORNEY Patented Mar. 3,1931

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE WILLIS D. THOMPSON, OIF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON, ASSIGNOR 0F OQTE-THIRD TO CARL H. CRAWFORD, 0F SPOKANE, WASHINGTON METHOD or messina EnIBLEs Application ined April 4, 192s'.

The object of this invention is to provide a. novel method for incasing edibles. rIhe material preferably employed .is that which is broadly disclosed and claimed in my application tiled October 30, 1922, Serial No. 597 ,994.

One of the features of this invention is to provide a novel method for incasing an edible without the necessity of subsequently closing any unsealed part of such casing.

A further feature resides in quickly immersing and withdrawing the edible into and from a relatively hot bath of material of which the casing is formed.

A further feature consists in anovel element which not only functions to immerse the edibles, but which additionally functions to sufficiently agitate the hot bath to prevent the latter from surface scumming or otherwise hardening.

A further object is to localize the area of the hot bath with respect to its agitator in such a manner that substantially all of the bath will be continuously in motion while the edibles beine: immersed are also prevented from escaping from the means vthat causes such agitation.

A further feature consists in imparting to the immersed edibles suiiicient movement to insure uniform coating of the latter, not only on all of the convex peripheral portions, but also such cavities as for instance the stem and blossom ends of apples.

A further feature consists in a. combined immersing and agitating element that is equipped to fully expose the withdrawn and incased fruit to the outer air to facilitate quick hardening or setting of the material.l A further feature consists of an immersing element that is in the form of a rotatable wheel, in combination with means for feeding the entities to be incased into one exposed portion of the wheel and discharging the incased edibles from another exposed portion of the wheel.

T he invention will be more fully described in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Serial No. 267,368.

Fig. l is a vertical sectional view on line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional View on line 2--2 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of a modified form of my invention which is especially de signedY for coating confections such as ice cream.

Fig. 4 is a similar view with the immersing member in a different position.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5`5 of Fig. 3.

Like characters of reference designate similar parts throughout the different figures of the drawings.

First describing the specific structure shown, 1 indicates a double `walled vat or tank having end walls 2 and 3, side walls 4: and abottomwall. I have shown pipes 6 and 7, connected with said tank andthrough which hot water or steam or any suitable heating medium may be passed to maintain the contents of the tank 1, at the desired temperature. A pipe 8, suitably controlled by a valve 9, may lead from a suitably heated supply tank 10, for replenishing the bath material as the latter is gradually exhausted by successively casing of edibles, and also to maintain the bath at substantially the level A, so that the level of the bath will constantly be in a given relation to the immersing element, to hw presently described.

I have shown means for holding the edibles in relation to the immersing member, and as shown, such means may be in the form of a peripheral guard 11, which is herein shown imperforate although this is not absolutely essential. The arc of this guard 11 is suficient to extend about all of that peripheral portion of the immersing element that depends into the bath. as will be clearly seen in of en agement with the latter. Said guards also ave upwardly extending margins 14 to guide the incased fruit when the latter is being discharged.

Reference will next be made to my improved immersing element.

My improved immersing element is herein shown in the form of a wheel having a hub portion 14, to which or through which a shaft 15 may be secured or extended. The end portions .of said shaft are shown `iournalled in bearings 16, suitably mounted on the upper margins of tank 1, as shown in Fig. 2. Said shaft 15 may be extended at 17, and a pulley 18 may be mounted thereon whereto ower may be applied by a belt 19, to operate tplie immersing wheel. Said wheel is shown revided with substantially radially d1sp osed blades, which are shown as being equi-distantly spaced apart and four in number, although this is not an essential spacing or a limiting number of blades. These blades or spokes 20, transversely subdivide the wheel into a series of fruit receiving channels which not only open peripherally but also cndwise of the wheel, the importance of both these features being hereinafter more fully pointed out. Further, I prefer to make the wheel of aluminum, tin, or some like material ot' high heat conductivity, so that the wheel will not only quickly be heated to the temperature of the bath, but also, because of the slight time of exposure to the air, will not appreciably lose such heat. I further consider it a feature to make the wheel substantially hollow so that the substantially dead air contained therein will not quickly cool. Hence, it will be seen that the blades 20, instead of being of a single thickness, are actuallv dou- 0 ble walled, and'hollow, and liquid tight so that Yto the conveyor 24, in timed relation to the the bath material cannot leak into the wheel.-

The fruit receiving channels of the wheels, all of which are preferably alike, each have -what I Will term a. receiving bight formed over which the fruit may be rolled by gravity into said receiving portion 22. I have very generally shown a slide or conveyor 24. suitably mounted at 25. and down along which fruit may roll over the hump 23. and into the receiving portion 22, as will be clearlyv .seen in Fig. l. Of course, fruit will be delivered rotation of the immersing wheel. 1 As blade B, descends, the hump 23. will act to hold the fruit in place until blade l has reached the leftfh'and'portiono flguard 11. Itwill be seen that the adjacent wall of the next blade C, is a flat gravity delivery Wall, which I will indicate at 26. I may state that the immersing wheel may be built so that each fruit receiving channel will be of a Width to receive only a single fruit entity, in which event, the

ards 13, would coact with the wheel to revent the fruit from rolling endwise out o the fruit receiving channel before descent of the fruit. However, in order to illustrate how the capacity of the device can be greatly increased, and without in any way desiring to limit myself, I have shown the channels provided With subdividing walls 27 so that a row of two entities may be delivered thereto from conveyor 24. I have shown said Walls 27 so spaced that different sized fruit may be received in the resulting spaces. For instance, viewing Fig. 2, small size fruit may be received in space 28 and large sizes in space 29. As regards the spacing of the blades from each other, the channels formed thereby may, and in practice have been so spaced that they will receiveY such a variant of sizes, in the absence of walls 27, that I could incase orape` fruit or lemons' with equal facility. lIl lith the walls 27, this range would be cut down as will be obvious. However, it will be noted that from the bight 21 to the outer ends of the blades, the latter diverge, and in reality, this is the structural feature that affords me the greatest possible range for different sized fruit. `Where walls 27 are used in the channels, like means, as indicated at 32, will be used on the conveyor, 'in the same relation and spacing, whatever the same may be.

Before entering into a minute description of the method and operation of the device, I will next refer to a novel means whereby the fruit may be delivered or discharged from the iinmersing wheel.

I have shown a gravity delivery wall 33. on tank l, which is in receiving relation with a gravity wall 26, of blade D. when the wheel is in the position shown in Fig. 1. Thus, it. will be seen that the wheel can be loaded and unloaded from different points, and. in the present construction, said points are different peripheral points. The fruit from wall 33. maybe received in any desired manner, not herein shown.

I have shown a fruit entity or entities about to be delivered onto blade B. At this point, it may be informative to state that I have in actual practice. with a single entity machine of four pockets as shown` successfully rotated the immersing wheel at fifty revolutions per minute, at which rate` I have incased two hundred apples per minute. Therefore. it will be seen that at such a speed. I have no diiliculty in loading and discharging while the wheel is operating at a constant speed, and without the necessity of stopping the wheel for either loading or unloading. With a machine taking more than one entity,

the rate of operation would be correspondingly increased.

Continuing the description of operation. it will be clear that the fruit entity between blades B and E, striving to respond to buoyancy, takes the position shown in dotted lines and will bear against guard 11, as well as against wall 26, of blade B. As blade B descends further, the entity will, in responding to buoyancy. seek the highest abutment which will be the bight Q1, between blades B and E, for the reason that the outer end of blade B will continue to descend aud project below the level A, as rotation continues. Now it will be seen that the fruit entity, regardless of its size, is tloatingly immersed and advanced by the blades, and is free to take different positions in its travel through the bath. Hence, I am assured that the bath material will not only completely coat, but also will enter such cavi ties as the blossom and stem ends of such fruit as apples. for instance, and that the air that might otherwise be pocketed in such cavities is bound to be released. As the wheel advances. it will be seen that the entity be tween blades Eand D, will seek the highest point, which is the bight 21. and then as blade E advances from the position shown, and blade I) ascends out of the bath, the straight wall 26 of blade E. will shift the fruit entity toward the guard 11. as bladeE asccnds. Thus. when blade E. reaches the point now occupied by blade D, the entity on top of wall 26. will be at nearly the radially outer end thereof and'iu position quickly7 to roll ontowall 33. In fact, just as soon as blade I), gets to the position shown, or as soon as it gets far enough so that the guard 11 will release thel entity. the latter will, by gravity, seek a radially outermost position on wall 26 and after such entity has ascended above guard 11, so as not to he restrained thereby, it will freely roll toward and onto wall 33, in spite of the fact that wall .20 is ascending.

Now it will be clear that just as soon as thc entity emerges from the bath, it will be almost entirely exposed to the surrounding air, and at this point. the importance of having the fruit receiving channels open both periphcrally andA cndwise of the wheel. will be clear. since this construct-ion greatly facili- 'tutes the fullest exposure of the incased entity to the outer air. 'It will alsobe clear that the upstanding guards 14', will prevent the entity from rolling ofi' the` wheel. laterally thereof.

It is desired to explain that as the whccl blades ascend out of the bath. thc latter drains ot't from the projecting portions of the wheel, cleanly. and much after the fashion of water, although in fact. the bath material is slightly' thicker and less fluid than water. It is also noted from actual practice that the wheel blades. from the delivery to the intake position, do not apprcciably cool oil from the bath temperature. i This is partly due to the slight period of exposure to the outer air, and partly due to the fact that the blades are hollow and filled with dead air that is maintained at substantially bath temperature. If the wheel was of a skeleton form, the bla-des would lose much of their tem erature in passing. from the delivery to the lntake position.

By reason of the relatively 10W temperature of the fruit comparedt the bath, the shell begins to set just as soon as the fruit enters the bath, and by the time it is lifted out of the bath, the inner` ortions of the shell have set, leaving only at in portion outside, to be set by the outer air. Hence, I am assured of a casing completely covering the fruit and uniformly setting, just as soon as the fruit has been raised to the delivery position in relation to wall 33. Further, the fruit is really never in a single position While in Contact with any blade, and this prevents abutting contact from having any tendency to prevent a complete coating of the fruit. n

I will next explain the particular nature of the bath material for which this device was particularly designed to operate.

In my application filed October 30, 1922,`

Serial No. 597.994, I have disclosed a bath maerial adapted to incase either frozen or vrefrigerated edibles, and this bath material is composed, in one embodiment, of asphalt and parain, and in another embodiment, of asphalt, parafiin, and stearin.

The parafiin is the body ingredient, the as phalt is the binder and thickener, and the stearin is the hardener. The preferred minimum and maximum melting point paraffin which I have found practical, is that having a low melting point. of 118 F. and a hi h melting point of 130 F. As regards aspha t, the low melting point may be 110 F. and the high melting point 120 F.. with a penetration of 80 to 90. As regards stearine, (vegetable base rather than cococine base) the low melting point may be 140 F. and the high melting point 150 F. The most practical proportions of the three ingredients, on a hundred pound mix. isz-paraffin. 80 lbs.; asphalt` 121/, lbs.: and stcarine, 71/2 lbs.

In practice, I prefer to keep the resulting bath at about one hundred and twenty five degrecs F., although with different melting point materials higher or lower bath temperatures are practically possible and I would say that a minimum bath temperature would be substantially 120 F. and a maximum bath temperature 130 F.

y 'lhis bath is a quick cooling bath material. In practice. I have found that I cannot get instant cooling of the material without having the fruit refrigerated to some extent. However. I use the terni refrigerated broadly, and have gotten good results where the fruit was at as high a temperature as fifty degrees F., but better results, that is, quicker setting of the casings can bc obtained if the ,fruit is between and 40 degrees F. The main reason why the fruit should be at a tcmperature in sharp contrast with the bath, which is broadly a refrigerated fruit, is that with such a low temperature, the casing is set not only by the outer air, but also by the inner coolimgr action of the fruit. This is important by reason of the tact that the material is a low conductor of heat, which is a highly valuable property. 4In this respect, I have found that'best results have been obtained in having the dipping operation carried on with the surrounding air not above seventy degrees F. However, better results can be obtained if the surrounding air is tween fifty and sixty degrees F. This sur rounding temperature" is important, as according to the best of my knowledge, the

' quick settingof the easing is the result of thejoint action of the cool fruit, on the inside of the shell and the cool air cn the outside of Till the shell.

As a guide to the public, in. carryingout this method, it may be state'dlthat.ivferfiriel stance, the both coolsmto an'extrenie beloiv its practical minimum temperature, then the coating on the fruit would vbe far too thick, or it the time of immersion was prolonged, the shell would be far too thick, and further, with a normal bath tem erature and with thc fruit say, at thirty one egrecs F., a too thick lcoa-ting would result. In practice, I have found that a shell approximately the thicki ness of a hensgegg 'isthe best,.es eeially for hard fruit like pears and apples,v or instance. For softer vfruit like grape fruit or cranoes, it may be desirable to form a slightly thic ier shell.

If the teniperature of the bath was over the practical maximum. the shell would he too thin, irrespective of the period of immersion, and if the periodof immersion was toc rapid, the shell would be either too thin or would incornpletely cover thefruit.

The best results are obtained if the period of immersion is not over two seconds and it may be as low as a second and a fraction.

I have successfully used asphalt and paraftin, in combination. without a hardener, and vhave succeeded in forming a complete shell about fruit in the vsaine manner and with equal facility with respect to the combination of ingredients above set forth, that is, including a hardencr, such as stearin. However. in the absence of a hardener, the shell vcannot be removed from the fruit nearly so easily as with a hardener. Thus, while I prefer toemploy the hardener. for the more advantageous results of quick removal of the shell` I do not Wish-to be limited thereto. l

A feature of importance is that the tank should not be made so large but that the wheel will keep. the entire contents of the tank agitated, thereby preventing scumming,

and also acting to maintain a uniform temperature of the bath by reason of the tact that'the constant agitation brings central or intermediate portions oi the bath material constantly into engagement with the heated Walls of the tank. This is important because the constant ingressot1 cooled or refrigcrated fruit, acts to cool the bath, and even if'an excess of heat were applied to the bath, still, in the absence of agitation, central portions of the bath would soon become too cool.

It will be noted that with the pockets or fruit receiving clninnels l not only opening Y peripherally but'also laterally, the bath mate'ral will drain oil iromthe ascending blades very quickly, and this is desirable not only for the purpose of avoiding cooling oii of the bath.` but to prevent. anytcndency of the beth material to 'hardenV on "the blades in gobs.A

As a criterion ormy use ot the Word' refrigerated, it may b c atcdvthatfl: useit in the sensgtliattcloperature which is low enough to ietard or prevent bacterial growth.

In Figs. 3, 4. and 5, I have shown a modified for-melf my 'invention in which the.

heated vat is designated at 33. and isadaptM ed to contain the bath material having a level shown at I have shown a periphe `al guard at 35, and lateral guards at 36. A gravity delivery board is shoivnuat A shaft 39, is, jour-nailed in hearings 39 and may be'operated by a pulley and belt40 and el. respectiveiy.

This forni of the invention has been dcvclopcd for small edibles and is of especial advantage in coating ice cream in the form disclosed by my hereinbei'orc identified case. I may say that the bath, i'or this machine, Wouldv vfollowv the .temperatnr'eand' other in structions set forth in said case as regards the lower point melting asphalt and paiailin than should he used on fruit, to economical advantage.

In this form of the invention. the immersing member is shown in the form of a U-shaped receiver having a concave receiving portion 42. and a combined immcrsing and gravity delivery portion 43. The ball of egg-shaped body of ice cream is adviscdly of smaller diameter than the concave receiving portion 42. so that the ice crean; body will be tree to turn and will merely be float ingly guided through the bath and by reason of its limited but tree action under buoyancy, all portionswill be coated. The bath material is free to move past the guard 35 and be brought into engagement' with the heated Walls ot the vat, as in the preferred construction.

In Fig. 3, I have shown in dotted lines, one stage of revolution oil the immersing member wherein the' innnersino; portion 43 is causingr the ice cream body to descend in the bath.

In the dotted line position in Fig. 4, the ice cream body is buoyantly lifted into engagement with the receiving portion 42`. In the full line position in Fig. 4, I show how the delivery portion 43 registers with delivery board 37 so that the coated ice cream body can roll oi by gravity. The speed of this type of machine, for this particular purpose, will be as rapid as the feed-in means, which may be either manual or otherwise, will permit.

I do not wish to be limited to the disclosure herein made Aexcept for such limitations as the claims may import.

I claim:

1. The herein-described method of incasl ing edibles, which consists, in loatingly immersing the edible into and through a hot bath of quick hardening incasing material with the edible freely moving responsive to buoyant action to thereby expose all peripheral portions of the edible to said bath, and in withdrawing the coated edible from the bath.

2. The herein-described method of incasing fruit entities, which consists, in iloatingly mmersing a cold or cooled fruit entit into and through a hot bath of quick har ening material with the entity freely moving responsive to buoyant action to thereby expose all peripheral portions of the entity to said bath, and in withdrawing the ncased entity from the bath and exposing the entity to a cooling atmosphere to hasten setting of the material.

3. The herein-described method of incasing fruit entities, which consists, in loatingly moving a fruit entity of a temperature at approximately forty degrees F., in a liquid bath of quick hardening material having approximately a temperature of 120 to 130 degrecs F., and removing the coated entity WILLIS D. THOMPSON.

into a surrounding air temperature of not l over seventy degrees F., and preferably under such temperature.

4. The herein-described method of incasing edibles, which consists, in oatingly immersing a buoyant edible into and through a heated bath of quick hardening material to Y coat the edible, in restricting the volume of the bath material suliiciently to cause agitation of the latter by assage of the edible therethrough 'and there y prevent sc and maintaining the material substantially uniform in temperature in all portions of the bath, and in withdrawing the coated edi ble from the bath.

5. The herein-described method of incasing edibles which consists, in iloatintly immersing a buoyant edible into and' rough ahnt bath of quick hardening incasing material with the edible freely movable responsive'te its buoyancy to t ereby expose all peri heral portlons of the edible to said bath, the th being sulliciently restricted in v01-

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