Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Creating cavity by displacement of mold-held fluent or...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-27
2001-12-04
Corbin, Arthur L. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Creating cavity by displacement of mold-held fluent or...
C426S515000, C426S660000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06326041
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of food products.
2. Description of the Related Art
Such a process is known, for example, from WO-A-95/32633 and BP-A-0 589 820, which describe a process and a system whereby a cooling element with a temperature below 0° C. is immersed in a molten material (such as chocolate) which was previously poured into a mold. The molten material thus solidifies, forming a shell and enabling the cooling element to be extracted from the mold, after serving as a molding plug.
Generally similar arrangements are also known from EP-A-0 914 774 and EP-A-0 914 775.
The shape of the plug enables the chocolate to be evenly distributed inside the mold (forming a shell while still in a fluid state). At the same time, the fact that the plug is cooled enables the chocolate shell to solidify.
In practice, cooling is not normally allowed to continue until the entire mass of the shell solidifies, but only until the portion of chocolate in contact with the plug is solid. The time required for this varies in dependence on the temperature of the plug: usually it takes 4-6 seconds. In other words, the plug is held inside the mold for the time it takes for the portion (or layer) of chocolate in contact with it to solidify, thus enabling it to be detached and extracted.
This technique has various disadvantages, however.
First, the structure of the plug is unavoidably somewhat complex, owing above all to the need to provide the cooling structures, which must be able to follow the movement of the plug.
Secondly, the shape of the plug must complement the internal shape of the product being formed. As a result, the machine must be fitted with a different type of plug when production is changed to a different item.
A further disadvantage is due to the fact that, before extracting the plug and, even more, before being able to do anything to the shell that has just been formed (filling it, for example, or coupling it to a similar shell or the like), it is necessary to wait until the edible material forming the shell is, at least partially, solid. This need to wait for a certain period of time before being able to extract the plug from the mold means that the efficiency of the process is intrinsically low.
The aforesaid disadvantages are particularly significant should the technique be used to manufacture large numbers of items of small dimensions, small hollow chocolate eggs, possibly with a filling, for example.
In this context, it should not be forgotten that the molding material is usually chocolate or a material similar to chocolate, which needs to be cooled in accordance with definite and precise criteria and timing laws, so as to avoid, any anomalous crystallization, for example, which might result in ingredients separating and migrating to the surface.
A further significant disadvantage relates to the possible formation of condensation on the surface of the plug.
Since the plug is cooled to below 0° C., it causes ambient steam to condense onto its surface (forming dew). This problem further delays the removal of the plug and, above all, constitutes a possible, dangerous source of contamination of the product being manufactured: some of the water which accumulates on the plug is in fact deposited on the chocolate shell. For this reason, the structure of the plug is usually housed in a complementary housing maintained at an extremely low relative humidity, thereby further complicating the overall structure of the system in respect of both organization and cost. In any case, this measure does not guarantee that the problem will be eliminated.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The object of the present invention is to provide a process for the manufacture of food products which is able to overcome the aforesaid disadvantages.
This object is achieved, according to the invention, by providing a process having the features claimed in the subsequent claims which follow.
The process of the invention is based on the recognition of the fact that it is possible to use a (preferably rigid and hollow) body made of edible material as the molding plug and to leave it in the mold, as an integral part of the finished food product, once the molten material has solidified.
This arrangement provides various advantages.
First, the body of edible material which acts as the plug “locks” the melted material in the mold, ensuring the stability of the desired shape and avoiding the need to wait for the material to solidify, even partially. The product formed in the mold can be forwarded directly to the next stage in the process (filling and/or coupling with a similar shell) without any delay.
As to coupling the shell with a similar one, it is possible to measure the quantity of molten material poured into the mold in such a way that the insertion of the edible plug causes a rim of melted material to form around the opening of the mold, which can be used for bonding to a similar rim around another shell. This would work when using conventional frontal coupling techniques used in the manufacture of a variety of food products, such as chocolate eggs, for example.
It is of course clear that a lot of time is saved, thus improving productivity. In addition, it is possible to avoid having to cool the molding material (chocolate, for example, with the characteristic difficulties involved in this process, as recalled earlier) only to have to heat at least a small portion once again so as to bond it to another shell.
Another considerable advantage of the invention consists in the fact that in order to switch production to a differently shaped item, it is sufficient only to adopt plugs of edible material of the different, corresponding shape, without having to refit the machine, and in particular the assembly which moves the said plugs, which is preferably constituted by vacuum-grip members, which is able to work in the same way with edible plugs of different shapes.
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Corbin Arthur L.
Rothwell Figg Ernst & Manbeck p.c.
Soremartec S.A.
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