Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus – With upstream screen or perforated plate for straining,... – Upstream of multi-orifice shaping die
Reexamination Certificate
2001-05-03
2001-10-02
Yeung, George C. (Department: 1761)
Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus
With upstream screen or perforated plate for straining,...
Upstream of multi-orifice shaping die
C264S142000, C264S176100, C425S311000, C425S382400, C425S464000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296468
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to an extrusion die, an extruder comprising the extrusion die, a method for manufacturing an expanded cereal using the extrusion die, and an expanded cereal that is obtained by extrusion through the die.
BACKGROUND
EP 0,898,890 describes an extrusion die for producing a product that has the overall shape of a nucleus surrounded by a ring. The product is obtained by extruding a single substance through a die having a feed orifice plate that opens into an extrusion chamber that is divided into two concentric chambers by a separating cone. The position of the cone can be adjusted relative to the outer casing of the die. This adjusts the relative size of the extrusion openings and hence the size of the nucleus and outer ring.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,858,218 describes a cereal in the form of flakes which has a relief comparable to the surface of a raspberry, and a method for obtaining such a cereal. The method involves cooking a mixture of cereal and water at atmospheric pressure, extruding the resulting cooked paste, using a piston to drive the cooked paste through a die having a number of holes to form parallel filaments of the cooked paste, combining the filaments, laterally compressing the bundle in a tubular extension of the die so that filaments stick together and form a cylinder, drying the cylinder, cutting the cylinder transversely into thin slices, and causing the slices to swell under the action of heat.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,482,992 describes a cereal in the form of flakes made up of touching pieces, the intersection where the pieces meet being colored, and a method for obtaining such a cereal. The method involves cooking a mixture of cereal and water in a cooking device to provide a cooked paste; extruding the cooked paste through a die which has a number of circular outlet orifices, in particular six holes arranged in a circle around a central hole; and injecting a colorant through small intermediate holes to form parallel strands of cooked paste which are colored at their interface. The strands are combined into a bundle and compressed laterally in a tubular extension of the die so that they stick together and form a composite strand. The diameter of the strand is then reduced by drawing it longitudinally and the strand is cut transversely into thin slices. The slices are dried and made to swell under the action of heat.
The object of the present invention is to provide an extrusion die that makes it possible to produce an expanded cereal with a particularly attractive three-dimensional shape, the three-dimensional shape being an array of touching balls.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an extrusion die to prepare an expanded cereal. The extrusion die includes a feed ring for receiving material from an extruder; a cylindrical distribution chamber having a front wall and a rear wall that includes the feed ring; an array of parallel extrusion tubes provided in a front wall of the distribution chamber, wherein the array of parallel extrusion tubes is in communication with the feed ring through the distribution chamber; and a cylindrical distribution insert that extends axially from the center of the feed ring towards the front wall but is spaced from the array of tubes.
The array of parallel extrusion tubes may include between about 12 to 30 tubes. The tubes of the array may have a cross sectional shape that is one or more of a circle, oval, polygon, triangle, square, rectangle, or trapezoid. The tubes may be aligned along one or more axes or curves when viewed in cross section. The dimensions of the cross section of each tube may be between about 1 and 4 mm and the area of the cross section of each tube may be between about 1 and 16 mm
2
. The distance between two adjacent tubes in the array may be between about 0.2 and 0.6 mm. The array of parallel extrusion tubes may be in two groups with parallel intersecting axes.
The invention also relates to an extruder that includes an elongated barrel, one or two processing screws within the elongated barrel, at least one extrusion die as described above, and a cutting means.
In one embodiment the extruder has more than one die. In this embodiment the barrel has an upstream end and a downstream end, wherein the downstream end of the barrel is secured to a front plate provided with an orifice that is in communication with the barrel, the front plate is attached to a second plate having an opening that is in communication with the orifice of the front plate, and a bell-shaped pre-distribution chamber, wherein the bell shaped distribution chamber is attached to the second plate and is in communication with the opening of the second plate and is in communication with the feed rings of the extrusion die; and the cutting means is a rotary cutter that rotates against the outlet orifices of the extrusion tubes.
The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing an expanded cereal with the overall shape of an array of touching balls. The method involves the steps of providing a cooker-extruder having an elongated barrel with one or two processing screws within the elongated barrel with a mixture of between about 60 and 90 parts by weight of a starchy material, up to 15 parts by weight of sugar, up to 10 parts by weight of oil, and a sufficient amount of water so that the mixture has a water content of between about 15 and 25 percent by weight; cooking the mixture under positive pressure in the cooker-extruder to provide a thermoplastic substance; extruding the thermoplastic substance through at least one die having an array of parallel extrusion tubes each having an outlet orifice so that the thermoplastic substance expands when it exits the outlet orifices of the extrusion tubes to provide a bundle of strands of expanded thermoplastic substance that stick together; and cutting the bundle into slices as they exit from the outlet orifices of the extrusion tubes to provide an expanded cereal.
The cooking may be conducted at a temperature of between about 105° C. and 180° C., a pressure of between about 40 and 180 bar, a rotation speed for the one or more screws of between about 240 and 370 rpm, and wherein the ratio of the length of the screw to the diameter of the screw is between about 9 and 24. The coefficient of expansion for the extruded strands may be between about 2 and 4. The extruded strands may have a porous texture. The extruded strands may have a residual water content of between about 5 and 12 percent and may be further dried to a water content of between about 1 and 3 percent.
The starchy material may be one or more of a flour selected from the group consisting of wheat, barley, rice, and corn flour or a starch selected from the group consisting of wheat, barley, rice, tapioca, potato, and corn starch. The sugar may be one or more of sucrose, glucose, or fructose. The oil may be present in an amount of between about 4 and 10 percent by weight and may be a butter oil or a vegetable oil. The mixture further include up to 1.5 parts of calcium that may be provided by calcium carbonate or calcium triphosphate or one or more vitamins, trace elements, sodium chloride colorings, or flavorings.
The invention further relates to an expanded cereal prepared by the method of the invention. The expanded cereal product may be coated with one or more of a chocolate coating, a sugar syrup, a fruit syrup, a honey syrup, or a coating that contains one or more vitamins or flavorings.
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Deutsch Roman
Heck Ernst
Martin Jean-Pierre
Nestec S.A.
Winston & Strawn
Yeung George C.
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