Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Molding – casting – or shaping
Reexamination Certificate
2001-10-03
2003-05-20
Yeung, George C. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Molding, casting, or shaping
C062S075000, C426S524000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06565907
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to apparatus and procedures for forming a novelty (such as for example, an ice cream novelty with high solids inclusions) and in particular, but not necessarily solely, an apparatus and procedures (and the products of any such procedures) for forming an extruded frozen novelty with high inclusions from a mouldable material.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As referred to in “Ice Cream” (Fourth Edition and subsequent editions prior to the date of this application) W S Arbuckle (The AVI Publishing Company, Inc., Westport, Conn., USA) frozen novelties, typified by those made of ice cream and/or water ices, are frequently extruded and cut across the axis of the extrusion into individual pieces. Such novelties are referred to as being extruded novelties.
The full content of all such prior art editions of Arbuckle are hereby incorporated by way of reference in their entirety.
As used herein “an extruded frozen novelty with high inclusions from a mouldable material” preferably includes an extruded or co-extruded edible material to be maintained at below 0° C. (eg; ice cream and/or water ice or mixtures thereof) and the high inclusions may be any solid or solids [preferably edible] (eg; fruit pieces, confectionery items, etc.). By high inclusions are preferably sufficient such inclusions to preclude or discourage a simple wire or blade cutting transversely of the extrusion or co-extrusion axis of the mouldable material owing to the potential for such a wire or blade to encounter a solid region and thus provide other than a clean separation of a discrete quantum of the high inclusion material from the extrusion mass thereof.
As used herein the term “nozzle means” can be both singular and plural to the extent required should there be a wish to extrude more than one material into each cavity or to dedicate different nozzles to specifically indexed cavities, ie; every alternate cavity.
As used herein “cavity” insofar as the carousel is concerned preferably means no more than an opening to define a periphery, and, as used herein “recess” means both said opening and a base thereof or top thereof depending on whether or not the nozzle feeds from above (preferred) or below.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide apparatus, procedures and products which provide at least an alternative to existing apparatus, procedures and products.
Accordingly in a first aspect the present invention consists in apparatus for forming a novelty from a mouldable material, which apparatus comprises or includes
a carousel (as hereinafter defined) having a plurality of open mould cavities formed therein (whether to the same shape or not), said carousel being rotatable so as to index each cavity to “stations” as herein defined,
means providing a filling “station” which includes or comprises
a nozzle, chute or other means (hereafter “nozzle means”) for injecting or extruding the material into a mould cavity of the carousel when appropriately indexed therewith
means to “close” the indexed mould cavity so as to define a “recess” into which said mouldable material can fill,
said nozzle (or means in fixed relation thereto) being capable of co-acting with said carousel as there is relative movement to act as “shearing means” which has the effect upon rotation of the carousel of shearing the quantity of material within the recess from that material still within said nozzle means, and
means providing a cavity emptying “station” comprising or including
means which after such “shearing” in use will cause the movement of such material contained within an appropriately indexed cavity of the carousel out of the cavity onto a support surface whilst retaining, at least in part, some of the shape of the cavity in the material.
Reference to “carousel” and “station(s)” herein does not preclude a stationary “carousel” having a carousel-like relativity to movable stations, i.e., it is the relativity of the mould cavities to the nozzle means, shearing means and the emptying means that is important.
Preferably the shearing means has the effect of smoothing (at least to some extent) the top of a dispensed amount of material and/or the bottom of the next to be dispensed amount of materials from the nozzle means.
Preferably the apparatus is of a kind that can operate a system of operations substantially as hereinafter described with reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.
In yet a further aspect, the present invention consists in apparatus capable of performing a method substantially as herein described by reference to
FIGS. 5A through 5H
.
In still a further aspect the present invention consists in a method of forming a novelty from a mouldable material (for example, high solids content ice cream, ie; the solids being discrete larger particles), which method comprises extruding the material (e.g. from nozzle means) into a cavity (at least) temporarily provided with a bottom, thereafter causing relative movement between means forming at least part of said cavity and the extrusion nozzle means or the equivalent so as to shear the cavity contained quantity of material from any such material remaining in said extrusion nozzle means or the equivalent and thereafter (preferably after the provision of a stick into the material) discharging the moulded quantity of material from the cavity no longer having a bottom (e.g. by appropriate means) on to a support surface.
Reference herein to extrusion, to extrusion nozzle means, etc. is without a mandatory requirement of the extruded cross-section of the mouldable material conforming to the cross-sectional shape of the cavity.
Preferably said cavity is at least in part provided as part of the carousel.
Preferably said method is performed using apparatus as hereinbefore defined and/or substantially as hereinafter described in more detail.
As referred to herein the materials involved include any suitable novelty material that preferably requires freezing to be mouldable and/or shape retaining but which preferably includes discrete items therein (eg; fruit chunks, confectionary chunks, etc.) Which would render accurate cutting thereof difficult by procedures other than those of the present invention. The present invention however does not preclude the use of such apparatus in such a method with mouldable material not including such components.
In still a further aspect the present invention consists in a novelty item (preferably sticked) resulting from use of apparatus in accordance with the present invention, the use of a method of the present invention or substantially hereinafter described when manufactured by a method substantially as hereinafter described with or without reference to any one or more of the accompanying drawings.
As used herein reference to relative movement or movement of the carousel includes within its ambit intermittent or continuous movement. It is envisioned that the apparatus will be operated at high speed and therefore with conventional equipment in conjunction with the carousel and related apparatus the present invention includes incremental movement such that there is stationery indexing of cavities serially etc. at the “stations” is preferred as it offers the least complicated engineering solution.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4546615 (1985-10-01), Gram
patent: 4986080 (1991-01-01), Grigoli et al.
patent: 5425958 (1995-06-01), Fazio et al.
patent: 5435143 (1995-07-01), Heinrich
patent: 5516540 (1996-05-01), Cathenaut
patent: 6326046 (2001-12-01), Tucker et al.
Ice Cream, Fourth Edition, W.S. Arbuckle, pp. 303-307, 1996.
Martin John Charles
Morcom Selma Elizabeth
Taylor Murray Roundtree
Tucker John Vincent
Jacobson & Holman PLLC
Tip Top Ice Cream Company Limited
Yeung George C.
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