Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~2~ 8Z
PRO~ESS AND APPARATU~ ~OR CHARGING A FILIER INTO EDIBLE
HO~OW STICKS
~ his invention relates to a process and apparatus
for filling edible hollow stic~s, wafer rolls and the like.
In the industrial manufacture of sweets ~illed
with ice cream it is known to charge ice cream from both
ends into hollow sticks which are provided on the inside
with a fat-containing coating and to close the filled
hollow sticks at each end with a cap of fat-containing
material. In such process the internally coated hollow
sticks are moved in steps past charging stations, each
of which carries a plurality of charging nozzles, which
are simultaneously moved into and out of a plurality of
hollow sticks. The hollow sticks are not moved during
that movement of the charging nozzles and are moved
only thereafter by a s-tep which corresponds to the number
of filled hollow sticks.
The ice cream is discharged as a continuous stream
from a free~er and is delivered through elas~ic, flexible
tubing to the intermittently operating charging stations.
The elastic, flexible tubes breathe in order to adapt the
stream of ice cream continuously discharged by the freezer
to the intermittent filling activity o~ the filling nozzles~
While the hollow sticks are not moved, the
previously filled hollow sticks are pro-vided with the
end caps. To form said end caps, the fat-con-taining
cap material is applied to the hollow sticks in a liquid
state. The hollow sticks which have been filled and provided
with the end caps are then moved through a cooling passage,
in which a solidification takes place.
lZ~)8~2
That known process of filling with ice cream has
only a low produc-tion rate because the ice cream is chargea
into -the hollow sticks only when they are at a standstill.
It is an object of the invention to provide a
process and apparatus which permit a filling of hollow
sticks at a higher production rate.
In a process of charging a filler consisting
preferably of ice cream into edible hollow sticks, which
are preferably internally coated, particularly wi-th
chocolate, that object is accomplished in accordance
with the invention in that hollow sticks exten~ing parallel
to each other are moved continuously and the filler is
continuously charged into -the moving hollow sticks in a
direction which is transverse to their direction of
movement in an operation in which filler is charged
into hollow sticks of different groups in alternation
and the continuous stream in which the filler is supplied
is directed to the hollow sticks of a given group imme-
diately after the hollow stic~s of another group have
been filled.
~ efors the groups of hollow sticks are filled
in alternation, the hollow sticks may deæirably be placed
on a continuously revolving conveyor so that the longitu-
dinal axes of the hollow sticks are substantially parallel
to each other.
In a preferred embodiment of the process the
groups of hollow sticks which are filled in alternation
overlap each other so that unfilled hollow sticks of one
group are disposed betwee~ previously filled hollow sticks
of another group.
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~201 34~2
Within the scope of the invention~ the filling o-f
the hollo~ sticks of each group may be initiated as soon as
the filling of the hollow sticks of the group which have
been filled before has been terminated.
~ he invention provides also a process of charging
ice cream into hollow sticks which are internally coated,
preferably with chocolate. ~hat process is characterized
in that the hollow sticks are placed in juxtaposition and
with horizontal longitudinal axes on a revolving conveyor
and are then continuously moved by said conveyor, the ice
cream is continuously charged into the continuously moving
hollow sticks by two charging devices, which comprise
charging tubes and are operated in alternation and each
of which is moved from an initial position to an end
position in synchronism with the hollow sticks on the
conveyor, durin~ said movement of the charging devices
their charging tubes are moved into and out of respective
hollow sticks and the ice cream is charged into the hollow
sticks as the charging tubes are moved out of the hollow
sticks) whereafter the charging device is returned to its
initial position, in which process a continuous stream of
ice cream is fed to the charging devices and the charging
operation of a gi~en charging device is initiated as soon
as the charging operation of another charging device has
been terminated.
In a different embodiment of the process the ice
cream is charged by the chargin~ device into the hollow
sticks of consecutive, preferably overlapping groups and
the hollow sticks which have been skipped by the first
eharging device are filled by at least one succeeding
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084~3~
charging device.
~ or carrying out the process according to the
invention the invention proposes apparatus which is
characterized by a continuously revolving conveyor,
on which holloN sticks having longituainal axes that
are transverse to the direction of travel are moved
from a feeding station for feeding unfilled hollow sticks
to a delivering station for delivering filled hollow stickst
at least two charging devices, each of which is movable
along a length portion of the conveyor in synchronism
therewith and comprises at least two charging tubes 9
which are adapted to be moved into and out of respec-tive
hollow sticks, and a single feed line, which serves to
supply the filler and branches to the charging devices
and communicates with all charging tubes.
Within the scope of the invention the conveyor
may consist of a conveyor for conveying the hollow sticks
with horizontal longitudinal axes and at least two carriages
carrying respective charging devices may be provided one
behind the other along said conveyor and be adapted to be
displaced in and transversely to the direction o~ travel
by respective cam mechanisms.
The invention will now be explained more in
detail by way of example with reference to the drawings,
in which
~ igure 1 is a side elevation showing a contin-
uously operating filling machine for carrying out the
process according to the invention and
Figure 2 is an end elevation of the machine
shown in ~igure 1.
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~2084~Z
Whereas the invention will be introduced with
reference to the charging of ice cream into hollow sticks
which are internally coated with chocolate, it will be
understood that the invention can also be used to charge
other fillers into hollow sticks or wafer cones or other
containers which are uncoated or externally coated or are
coated with different materials or are only partly coated.
~ he filling machine shown in ~igures 1 and 2
comprises a continuously driven, revolving conveyor 1,
in which outwardly open semimonocoques 2 are connected
to form an endless conveyor element and at the receiving
station 3 receive hollow sticks from a chute 4. ~wo charging
devices 5, 5' are moun-ted on two mutually independently
movable carriages 6, 6' disposed on the side of the
conveyor 1. Each charging device 5 comprises two charging
tubes 7, which are axially parallel to the hollow sticks
disposed in the semimonocoques 2.
Each charging tube 7 is connected to an ice cream
feed pipe 10 b~ a valve 9, which is con~rolled by a
pneumatic cylinder 8. The two ice cream feed pipes 10
of each charging device 5 or 5' are connec-ted to a fit-
ting 11. The ~ittings 11 of both charging devices are
connected to a common feed line 13, which branches at
12 and is directly connected to the freezer, not shown,
which serves to make ice cream.
Each carriage 6 or 6' is operatively connected
on its underside to a camwheel 14, 14'~ the contour of
which determines the movement of the carriage as the
camwheel is rotated. When the carriage 6' is in an initial
position, in which the charging tubes 7 of the charging
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~Z~)~34~2
device 5' are aligned with the hollow sticks and still
disposed outside of said hollow sticks 7 a rotation of
the camwheel 14' will cause -the carriage 6' to move in
the direction of -the arrow 15 and will cause the charging
tubes 7 to move into the hollow sticks transversely to the
direction of travel (arrow 15). During the continued
movement of the carriage 6' in synchronism with the
conveyor 1, the charging tubes 7 are moved out of the
hollow sticks and the ice cream is charged into the
hollow sticks. When the charging operation has been
terminated, the charging tubes 7 are moved entirely
out of the hollow sticks by means of the carriage 6'
and the latter is moved to its end position and is sub-
sequently returned to its initial position opposite to
the direction of travel (arrow 15). The carriage 6 carrying
the charging device 5 is moved like the carriage 6' carrying
the charging device 5'. ~he movements of the carriages 6, 6'
are staggered in time relative to each other in such a
manner that the charging tubes 7 of a given charging
device 5 have been moved into respective hollow sticks
when the charging tubes 7 of the other charging device 5'
are in the posi-tion assumed by them at the end of the
charging operation.
In the embodiment of the filling machine which
is shown by way of example, the spacing of the two charging
tubes 7 of a given charging device equals twice the spacing
of two consecutive hollow sticks on the conveyor 1 so that
the charging device 5' is used to fill the first, third,
fifth etc. hollow sticks and the charging device 5 serves
to fill the second, fourth, sixth etc. hollow sticks. It
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~IL2~848~
will be understood that each charging device may comprise
four charging tubes having, e.g., such a spacing that one
charging device serves to ~ill the first, second, ~ th and
sixth hollow sticks whereas the other charging device serves
to fill the third, fourth, seventh and eigth hollow sticks~
The filled hollow sticks are removed from the
conveyor at the delivery station 16.
Three charging devices may alternately be
provided and be operated in alternation in an arrangement
in which for each of -the three charging devices the time
required by the carriage for moving the charging -tubes
into the hollow stick~ equals the time required by the
carriage to move the charging -tubes out of the hollow
sticks and also equals the time required for the return
of the carriage from its end position to its initial
position.
The ice cream is continuously fed to the charging
devices 5, 5' through the feed line l3. The charging
operation of a given charging device 5 begins as soon
as the charging operation of another charging device 5'
has been terminated. As a result, the stream of ice cream
in the feed line 13 will not be interrupted and will be
directed to one charging device and to the other in
alternation.
When the process according to the invention
is carried out with only two charging devices, the filling
of the hollow sticks of a given group is initiated when -the
filling of the hollow sticks of an adjacent group has been
terminated.
~Yhen the process according to the invention is
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~B~82
carried out with three charging devices, which are arranged
one behind the other along the co~veyor, the first charging
device is used to charge ice cream into the hollow sticks o*
groups which are spaced a larger distance apart and the
intervening hollow sticks are filled in succession by -the
two other charging devices in an operation in which the
second or third charging device is used first to continue
the charging operation.
In all cases which have been described there will
be a continuous s-tream of ice cream in the feed lineO
The hollow sticks are preferably conveyed in a
horizontal orientation. But the hollow s-tioks may alter-
natively be conveyed with parallel vertical longitudinal
axes. In that case the carriages may be moved in a plane
which is parallel to the plane con-taining the longitudinal
axes of the hollow sticks or the carriages may be moved in
a preferably vertical plane, which is at an oblique angle
to the plane containing the longitudinal axes of the hollow
sticks, and the charging tubes of the charging device are
moved into and out of the hollow sticks in the plane
containing the longitudinal axes of the hollow sticks.
~ harging devices may be provided only at one
end of the hollow sticks so that the hollow sticks are
completely filled only from one end.
~ lternatively, charging devices may be provided
at both ends of the hollow sticks so that one half of each
hollow stick is filled from one end and the o-ther half from
the other end, or the hollow sticks of one group are filled
entirely from one end and the hollow sticks of another group
are also entirely filled from the opposite end.
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