Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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This invention relates to a food for dogs in the shape
o~ a bone and to a process for the production of this food.
The predilection of dogs for bones is well known. In
addition, a food for dogs has to satisfy certain nutrition
al requirements.
Various attempts have been made to provide food for
dogs to satisfy this dual requirement of shape and composi-
tion.
US-PS 3,567,459 describes a process for the production
by extrusion of foods for dogs resembling bones in which a
thermoplastic mass in the form of a flavoured edible paste
is extruded in the form of a cylindrical strand which is
then transformed by an unspecified technique into a food in
the shape of a bone.
This document, which is confined to the production of
a product having the external shape of a bone made from a
flavoured edible paste, does not provide for the production
of a product having the appearance of a bone while satisfy-
ing the requirements in regard to nutritional qualities.
This is because, since the extruded product has to be
thermoplastic, the paste from which it is formed cannot at
the same time readily satisfy nutritional requirements in
regard to composition which conflict with this thermoplas-
tic character, Tn addition, a.t is known that it is impos-
Bible to extrude a paste having a fats content of more than
a few percent.
Now, it has been found that a food for dogs in the
shape of a bane consisting of an external anveloge based on
cereals and an internal filling of any kind enables the
dual requirement of shape aind nutritional qualities to be
satisfied, the shape being obtained by ~rirtue of the
thermoplastic properties of the envelope and the nutrition-
al qualities resulting from the filling. In addition,
since this product has a crispy texture on the outside and
a marrowy texture on the inside, it is in itself much more
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appetizing for the dog than a bone extruded in accordance
with the prior art.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a food
far dogs in the shape of a bone consisting of an external
envelope of edible paste and an internal filling of any
kind.
Tt has also be found that this product can be obtained
by cooking/co-extrusion under certain conditions.
In the context of the invention, cooking/co-extrusion
is understood to be a process of the kind described, for
example, in US-PS 3,480,445, in which an external envelope
is extruded under pressure with a small addition of water.
During this step, the water is evaporated and the envelope
is cooked, the cooked product expanding as it leaves the
extrusion die. At the same time, a filling of any kind is
co-extruded inside the envelope. According to the prior
art, the product is then canventionally cooled and cut into
pieces.
EP 178 878 describes a device for cutting a strand
consisting of an external envelope of an edible paste and
an internal filling of any kind. According to this docu
meet, a conveyor belt transports the strand, at least one
knife being arranged above the conveyor belt. The knife
makes a reciprocating downward movement combined with a
longitudinal movement in the direction of advance of the
product to be cut. On the one hand,. however, this document
does not relate to a cooked product and, cm the other hand,
only enables a strand to be cut perpendicularly of its
axis.
Now, co-extruded cooked products cannot be compared
with products obtained by simple co-ektrusion which then
have to be cooked to give a finished product. This is
because uncooked products are highly deformable: Thus,
compression of the fi7Lling which inevitably accompanies
35. cutting merely results in stretching of the envelope which
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enables the compressed filling to assume the necessary
position. By cantrast, products obtained by cooking/co-
extrusion lead directly to a finished product. Thus, the
plastic character of a product obtained by such a process
is very limited and compression of the filling caused by a
knife cannot be completely compensated by stretching of the
envelope which can only ever be minimal.
Finally, the prior art does not enable products of any
shape to be produced from a co-extruded strand.
Accordingly, the object of the present invention was
to solve these problems by making it possible to produce a
food for dogs in the shape of a bone obtained by cooking/
co-extrusion and consisting of an external envelope of
edible paste and an internal filling.
Accordingly, the present invention relates to a
process for the production of a food for dogs in the shape
of a bone in which a strand consisting of an external
envelope of edible paste based on cereals and an internal
filling is produced by cooking/co-extrusion and, while the
envelope is still thermoplastic, the strand is cut longi--
tudinally in such a way that the cutting tool does not
enter the filling, the strand also being cut into segments
perpendicularly of its length and simultaneously moulded.
By virtue of this particular form of cutting, in which
the cutting tool does not enter the falling during the
longitudinal cutting of the strand, but only during the
perpendicular cutting into segments to form the individual
bones, minimum compression is appiied to the filling which
thus stays inside i.ts envelope without a tendency to flow
3~ put therefrom.
Other features and advantages will become apparent
from the following description'in conjunction with the
accompanying drawings provided purely by way of example,
wherein:
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic partial section through a
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bane according to the invention.
Figure 2 is a perspective view in a section of a
cooked/co-extruded strand before cutting.
Figure 3 is a diagrammatic view of an arrangement for
carrying out the process according to the invention.
Figure 4 shows part of the arrangement illustrated in
Fig. 3.
Figure 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the
cutting line of a co-extruded strand.
As shown in Fig. 1, a bone according to the invention
consists of an external envelope 1 of an edible cereal-
based paste and an internal filling 2. This bone is in the
shape of a long bone, i:e. it consists of a tubular body
corresponding to the diaphysis of a real bone and has a
head at either end corresponding to the epiphyses of an
actual bone.
The process for making this product essentially com-
prises forming a strand consisting of an external envelope
based on cereals and an internal filling by cooking/co-
extrusion. While the external envelope is still thermo-
plastic, the strand is cut and moulded to form the bone.
Since the thermoplastic properties last for only a few
seconds after leaving the cooking/co-extrusion arrangement,
the cutting operation has to take place in a short time.
Thus, in contrast to the prior art, cutting is carried out
before cooling of the product axed not afterwards.
One example of a thermoplastic composition for an
external envelope is a mixture of wheat,flour, sugar and
salt, for example in the following ratios by weight: flour
89%, sugar 10% and salt 1%. Water is added to this mixture
in a quantity of 5 to 20%. This' is because it has been
found that, under typical cooking/co-extrusian conditions,
i.e. a pressure of approximately 100 bar and a temperature
of the order of 150°C, the addition of water represents a
good compromise between expansion on leaving the extrusion
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die and the thermoplastic character.
The filling may consist of a mixture of 70% by weight
fats, 20% by weight fibers, such as mixture of flour and
bran, and 10o sugar. Another compasition may consist, for
5 example, of a mixture of 43% by weight fats, 33% sugar, 15%
fibres, ~% meat and 3% various additives.
In a principal embodiment of the invention, the strand
does not have a circular cross-section on leaving the
cooking/co-extrusion arrangement. Tnstead, as illustrated
in Fig. 2, the strand consists of an external envelope 1
having a central body 3 of circular or elliptical cross
section and two lateral appendages radially opposite one
another relative to the central body 3. Thus, the external
envelope 1 consists of a central body 3 and two lateral
ribs 4, the central body 3 containing the filling 2.
Finally, the strand is cut and moulded into segments
in the shape of a bane. To this end, the strand is cut
longitudinally at its sides in zones where there is no
filling to give the profile of a bone by forming the
tubular body and the two heads. The strand is also cut
perpendicularly of its length to form segments moulded into
the shape of a bone.
In cases where 'the extruded strand has the shape
illustrated in Fig. 2, the strand is cut longitudinally
along its ribs 4. In cases where the extruded strand has
a circular or elliptical cross-section, fox example as a
result of preliminary flattening, longitudinal cutting is
carried out along the sides of the strand without the
cutting tool entering the filling. Accordingly, it is
useful in this case to have an envelope of adequate thick-
ness.
The process according to the invention is carried out
using the arrangement illustrated in Fig. 3. This arrange-
menu comprises a cooking/co-extrusion unit 5, for example
of the type described in US-p8 3,480,445, and a cutting
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unit 6 fox cutting the strand obtained. A device 7 for
flattening the strand, consisting for example of a cylinder
rotatable about its horizontal axis and perpendicular to
the direction of advance of the strand, may be arranged
between the cooking/co-extrusion unit 5 arid the cutting
unit 6. A conveyor belt 8 may be provided to transport the
strand from the cooking/co-extrusion unit 5 to the cutting
unit 6.
The cutting unit 6 consists of two vertically adjacent
cylinders 9 and l0 with parallel horizontal axes perpen-
dicular to the direction of advance of the conveyor belt 8.
As illustrated in Fig. 4, the upper cylinder 9 is
provided at regular intervals in its outer surface with
recessed female impressions 11 of a profile corresponding
to the shape of the end product, i.e. consisting of a
narrow central part and two widened ends radially spaced
from one another and separated by a surface 12 which may be
part of a cylinder, each female impression 11 being delimi-
ted by an edge line 13 formed by the intersection of the
surface 12 and the impression 11. Each female impression
11 has one or more orifices 111 connected to a source of
gas under pressure (not shown).
The lower cylinder 10 is provided at regular intervals
on its outer surface with projecting male impressions 14
spaced radially from one another and separated by a reces
sed surface 15. In the same way as each female impression
11, each male impression 14 has an edge line 16. This edge
line 16 is of a profile corresponding to the edge line 13
of the opposite female impression 11, the male impression
preferably penetrating slightly intp the female impression.
The two cylinders 9 and 10 are positioned relative to
one another in such a way that a male impression always
faces a female impression, their respective edge lines thus
being in contact.
The mode of operation of the arrangement used to carry
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out the process according to the invention is described in
the following.
A strand consisting of a thermoplastic external
envelope and a filling is produced by the cooking/co
extrusion unit 5. While it is still thermoplastic, this
strand - optionally after having been flattened - is trans-
ported to the cutting unit by the conveyor belt.
The strand is then cut by stamping between a male
impression and a female impression. Since longitudinal
cutting of the strand takes place without the shear line
formed by the two edge nines entering the filling, the
filling is unablevto flow out from the strand. The cutting
of the strand into segments, which is carried out perpen-
dicularly, produces a buttonhole in the outer envelope
because the shear line enters the filling. However, this
buttonhole has a very limited opening so that none of the
filling escapes from the envelope.
In Fig. 5, the cutting lines - both longitudinal and
perpendicular - are shown in the form of dotted lines,wthe
longitudinal cutting,lines being denoted by the reference
L and the perpendicular cutting lines being denoted by the
reference P.
At the same time as the strand is being compressed
between the female and male impressions, its outer surface
formed by the thermoplastic envelope l assumes the form of
those impressions so that the envelope is moulded into the
shape of a bone. More particularly, the filling undergoes
slight compression during perpendicular cutting which tends
to deform the external thermoplastic envelope at the twos
ends of the segment formed so that the envelope is applied
to the male and female impressions: Thus, even if the
strand has two lateral ribs at tha beginning, these two
ribs disappear when the two heads'of the bone are formed.
In addition, as can be seen from Fig. 1, the filling tends
to expand radially during perpendicular cutting, thus
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producing a filling which is wider at the heads of the
final bone than in the tubular body of the bone.
It is possible in the manner described above to obtain
a food for dogs in the shape of a bone of which the nutri
tional qualities may be modified as required in dependence
upon the composition of the filling and which has a crispy
external envelope and a marrowy internal filling.
The cylinders 9 and 10 continue to rotate and the male
and female impressions separate while the waste produced by
cutting is removed. The end product, still held in the
female impression, is then ejected by the injection of
compressed air through the orifices 111. In addition,
ejection by the injection of compressed air has the advan-
tage; through the cooling effect which it produces, of
fixing the shape of the product which thus loses any
thermoplastic character.
