Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Normally noningestible chewable material or process of...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-08
2001-03-13
Corbin, Arthur L. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Normally noningestible chewable material or process of...
Reexamination Certificate
active
06200608
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to chewing gum base, and more particularly to a process for making chewing gum base by providing the to ingredients in free flowing dry form and blending the powder ingredients together into a gum base mixture that can be used to make chewing gum.
Typically, chewing gum base has been made by adding the gum base ingredients into a heated mixer. The gum base ingredients often come in large slabs, bales or solid drums, and have to be ground, crushed or otherwise reduced in size in order to obtain the desired quantity for a batch of gum base and to feed the ingredients into the mixer. In the mixer, the gum base ingredients are compounded and then removed from the mixer in molten form. The molten, finished gum base is processed into various forms such as pellets, slabs, laminated casts, strands, etc., ready for packaging and sale. When used to make chewing gum, the gum base is melted and mixed with the other chewing gum ingredients.
This typical process, though widely used, has several drawbacks. First, many different chewing gum bases have to be prepared, each including either different ingredients or different proportions of ingredients, to meet the needs of different chewing gum manufacturers for each of their products. Since the compounding of chewing gum base typically takes 20 minutes or more in a mixer, making all of the different gum bases takes time. Further, the gum bases then cool prior to being shipped to an end user, who then has to remelt them in the chewing gum mixer.
Of course, there are many known variations to this process. For example, U.S., Pat. Nos. 5,571,543; 5,523,097; 5,419,919 and 5,397,580 disclose processes of making chewing gum base in a continuous fashion. In the example in these patents, a filler with a particle size less than 12 microns and an elastomer sized to 2-7 mm are mixed and added as a mixture. Powdered vegetable oils and molten polyisobutylene are also added.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,450 discloses a gum base manufacturing process in which certain dry powder ingredients are pre-blended with liquifiable materials before being mixed with the elastomer.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,486,366 discloses a process of making chewing gum base in a continuous mixer which includes restriction elements. A blend of ground elastomer, filler and elastomer plasticizer (with unspecified particle sizes) is fed into the mixer at one zone and other gum base ingredients are added at a later zone.
In each of these processes, the chewing gum base ingredients are compounded together in a molten form and then cooled before being used to make a chewing gum composition.
Several patents, such as U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,543,160 and 5,545,416 disclose a process by which gum base ingredients are compounded together in the same continuous mixer that is then used to make the chewing gum. While such a process has many benefits, it is not in widespread use, and many chewing gum manufacturers continue to use conventional equipment which operates in a batch system, and therefore desire to add the chewing gum base as an initial ingredient.
It would therefore be a great improvement if there were a less time and energy consuming method of making a variety of gum bases that could still be added as an initial ingredient into a convention chewing gum mixing operation.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a first aspect, the invention is a method of making a particulated chewing gum base comprising the steps of compounding a hard elastomer and an elastomer plasticizer together in a pre-blend compound, pulverizing the pre-blend compound, and mixing the pulverized pre-blend compound with a particulated gum base softener; thereby forming a blend of particulated gum base ingredients.
In a second aspect, the invention is a particulated chewing gum base comprising a hard elastomer pulverized to less than 0.6 millimeters in size; a filler of less than 20 microns in size; and an elastomer plasticizer, the particulated gum base being a free-flowing mixture of gum base ingredients.
In a third aspect, the invention is a method of making a chewing gum composition comprising the steps of adding a premixed blend of particulated gum base ingredients including an elastomer, an elastomer plasticizer, a filler and a softener to a gum mixer; adding a powdered bulking agent to the gum mixer; adding a flavor to the gum mixer; and mixing the premixed blend of particulated gum base ingredients, powdered bulking agent and flavor to make the chewing gum composition.
In a fourth aspect, the invention is a free-flowing particulated gum base comprising particulated gum base ingredients of a size less than or equal to about 6 millimeters, the gum base being free of liquid ingredients and comprising a pulverized hard elastomer of less than 0.6 millimeters, a pulverized elastomer plasticizer, and softeners having a congealing point greater than 50° C.
In a fifth aspect, the invention is an intermediate ingredient for a particulated chewing gum base comprising a hard elastomer and an elastomer plasticizer; the hard elastomer and elastomer plasticizer being compounded into a homogenous composition and then pulverized to a free-flowing powder having a particle size of less than 6 millimeters.
In a sixth aspect, the invention is a method of making a particulated chewing gum comprising the steps of a) compounding a hard elastomer and an elastomer plasticizer together into a pre-blend compound; b) pulverizing the pre-blend compound; and c) mixing the pulverized pre-blend compound with a particulated gum base softener and a powdered bulk sweetener, thereby forming a blend of particulated chewing gum ingredients.
The particulated gum base of the present invention can be added as an initial ingredient to conventional chewing gum mixers in place of prior art chewing gum base. However, the particulated chewing gum base can be produced with less time and energy consumption than typical prior art gum bases. The preferred particulated gum base uses a novel intermediate compound. The preferred particulated gum base can also be used to make novel particulated chewing gum compositions, where one or more of the chewing gum ingredients is powder blended with the particulated chewing gum base.
These and other advantages of the invention will be best understood in view of the attached drawing.
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Gmunder Charlean
Kanca Kenneth M.
Li Weisheng
Marshall Frederick H.
Zuromski Edward J.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Corbin Arthur L.
L. A. Dreyfus Co.
Shurtz Steven P.
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