Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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Extruder head for making a patterned block of an ice cream
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product
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Field of the Invention
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The invention relates to an extruder head for extruding
streams of an ice cream product of at least two (preferably
three) colours into a carton to form a patterned block of
the product in such carton. The resulting block will have
a substantially uniform cross-section throughout its
length, such cross-section defining a pattern of different
colours. As a result, this same pattern will appear
wherever the block is later subject to a transverse cut.
Prior Art
It is known to package ice cream by extrusion into a
carton to form a block. Moreover, it is known to use more
than one colour, for example to form a block in the
so-called Neopolitan style, in which three colours of ice
cream are layered in a single block.
Summary of the Invention
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The present invention enables the formation of a block
of ice cream or related frozen product (referred to herein
generally as an "ice cream product") in which a more
complex pattern of colours is formed.
The pattern may depict an animal, as in the example
described below, or any other object, animate or inanimate,
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such as a person, a p]ant, a scene, a building, a flag or
other emblem, a trophy, one or more letters or words, a
trade mark, or any other distinctive representation that
may or may not be partially or wholly surrounded by a
border portion of the pattern.
To this end, the invention provides an extruder head
consisting of (a) an elongate mould having (i) an outer
peripheral wall conforming to the cross-sectional shape of
the carton for receiving the carton thereon, and (ii) inner
wall portions within said peripheral wall, said inner wall
portions dividing the mould into a plurality of separate
compartments defining said pattern, and (b) tube means for
conveying streams of an ice cream product of at least two
(preferably three) different colours to an inner end face
of said mould for travel along said mould into the carton
when said carton is mounted on the outer peripheal wall of
the mould, whereby to form said block, (c) said tube means
comprising (i) a main tube for conveying each of said
streams from a respective ice cream product making machine,
and (ii) a plurality of subtubes extending from each main
tube to said inner end face of the mould, (iii) said sub-
tubes being so sized and directed as to feed into each
respective said compartment a said stream of the colour
required for forming said pattern in an amount required to
occupy the cross-sectional area of said compartment.
The extruder head will preferably be designed for three
different colours of an ice cream product, and can even
extend to a fourth or further colours, if desired.
Nevertheless, the invention can be used to form a pattern
having only two colours, for example a representation of
the Canadian flag. The invention enables the formation of
a pattern of this type in which the colours are not simply
placed side-by-side, as in the Neopo]itan style of
packaging mentioned above, but are interwoven in a more
complex pattern. Usually, but not necessary, one or more
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colours w;]l surround, or nearly surround, another colour.
Apart from patterns like the Canadian flag where a central
white bar portion will completely surround a central red
portion depicting the maple leaf, the outline of many
patterns will often be best set off by a peripheral
surround or near-surround of another colour, as will be
evident from the specific embodiment described below.
Brief Description_o___he_Dr_win__
Figure la is a front view of an extruder head
according to one embodiment of the invention;
Figure lb is an enlarged view of the central portion
of Figure la;
Figure 2a is a side view of the extruder head as seen
from the right hand side of Figure la, i.e. on the line
2a-2a in Figure la;
Figure 2b is an enlarged view of the central portion
of Figure 2a, i.e. as seen on the line 2b-2b in Figure lb;
Figure 3a is a rear view of the extruder head as seen
from the right hand side of Figure 2a, i.e. as seen on the
line 3a-3a in Figure 2a;
Figure 3b is an enlarged view of the central portion
of Figure 3a, i.e. as seen on the line 3b-3b in Figure 2b;
Figure 4a is a corner rear view of the extruder head as
seen from half way between the views of Figures 2a and 3a;
Figure 5 is an end view of a mould portion of the
extruder head, as seen on the line 5-5 in Figure la; and
Figure 6 is a diagrammatic representation of the
product formed by such extruder head.
Description of the Embodiment
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The extruder head ~ receives an ice cream product in
three different colours A, B and C from conventional ice
cream making machines (not shown). The extruder head H
includes an elongate mould M over which in the conventional
manner an empty carton (not shown) is placed to receive
the extruded ice cream in the form of a block. The
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rectanqular shape of the mould M, as best seen in Figure
5, complements that of the carton which ~its slidingly
over the outer periphery of the mould M as defined by an
outer peripheral wall 10. Inside this outer wall 10 the
mould is furnished with a main inner wall portion 11 that
is shaped to define the outline of the required represent-
ation, which, in the example shown, is the outline of a
Panda bear. Within the main inner wall portion 11 there
are various subsidiary inner walls portions 12 that serve
10 to divide the pattern into a plurality of separate
compartments. In addition, inner wall portions 13, 14 and
15 form tubes that serve further to define small parts of
the pattern.
All the wall portions 10 - 15, which together define
15 the pattern of colours to appear in the ice cream product
block, continue in the same relationship to one a~other
from the mouth 16 of the mould to a plate P3 that defines
the inner end face of the mould, i.e. the cross-section of
the mould remains uniform from its inner end to its mouth.
As indicated above, the invention is not limited to
any particular pat~ern. By the same token the outer wall
10 of the mould need not necessarily be rectangular, but
can be circular or any other shape that will fit the carton
into which the ice cream is to be extruded.
The head H receives the ice cream product in colours
A, B and C, in respective main tubes Al, Bl, Cl. These
tubes are then each subdivided a number of times and
appropriately interlaced to convey respective streams of
the ice cream product to the inner end face P3 of the
30 mould M. For example, tube Al is joined by a removable
clamp A2 to a further tube A3 (Figure la) which is then
divided (Figure lb) into subtubes A4 - A9 that feed to
respective holes A4 - A9 in the plate P3 as seen in Figure
5. Similarly, the tube Bl is divided into tubes B2 and B3.
35 Tube 82 is connected by a removable clamp B4 (Figure 3a) to
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a further tube B5 which is then divided into subtubes B6 -
B10 (Figures lb and 3b) that feed to respective holes B6 -
B10 in the plate P3 (Figure 5). The tube B3 is connected
by a removable clamp Bll to a further tube B12 (Figure 4a)
which is then divided into subtubes B13 - sl5 (Figures lb
and 2b) that feed to respective holes B13 - B15 in the
plate P3 (Figure 5). ~imilarly, the tube Cl is divided
into tubes C2 and C3. The tube C2 is connected by a
removable clamp C4 to a further tube C5 (Figure 4a) which
is then further divided into subtubes C6 - C10 (Figure 3b)
that feed to respective holes C6 - C10 in the plate P3
(Figure 5). The tube C3 is connected by a removable clamp
Cll to a further tube C12 (Figure la) which is then divided
into subtubes C13, C14 and C15 (Figure lb or 3b) that feed
to respective holes C13, C14 and C15 in the plate P3
tFigure 5).
The tubes A3, B5, B12, C5 and C12 are supported in the
orientation shown by a plate Pl, and the plates Pl and P3
are interconnected by a plate P2 to furnish the device
with the necessary strength and rigidity.
The removable clamps play no part in the function of
the device, being provided to enable it to be at least
partially dismantled for cleaning. The tubes and subtubes
will preferably be made of stainless steel.
Let us assume that colour A will be white, e.g.
vanilla; that colour B will be dark, e.g. chocolate; and
that colour C will be red, e.g. strawberry. It will be
seen from Fig~re 5, and from the finish product shown in
Figure 6, that, in these circumstances, the rear back
portion A10 of the bear pattern, which is formed in a
compartment All of the mould fed by holes A4, A5 and A7,
will be white. Also white will be the head portion A12 of
the bear formed in a compartment A13 fed by holes A6, A8
and A9.
A forward portion B16 of the pattern, which is formed
in a compartment B17 fed by holes B6, B7, B8 and B10, will
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be dark. A rear leg portion Bl8, which is formed in a
compartment Bl9 fed by hole B9 will also be dark. In
addition a dark ear portion s20 is formed in a compartment
B21 supplied by the hole sl3, a dark eye portion B22 is
formed in a compartment B23 supplied by the hole B14, and
a dark nose portion B24 is formed in a compartment B25
supplied by the hole Bl5.
The remaining colour, red, will be supplied to border
portions of the pattern formed respectively in compartments
Cl7 and Cl8. The compartment Cl7 is supplied through
holes C6 - ClO, and the compartment C18 is supplied
through holes C13 to Cl5.
The diameters of the tubes, especially of the subtubes,
and the cross-sections of the holes in the plate P3 through
which they feed the ice cream product, together with the
number and distribution of the holes in each of the
compartments of the mould, are so adjusted, having regard
to the shape and cross-sectional area of each compartment,
that the correct quantity of ice cream product of each
colour stream is fed to each compartment to form the
finished product with little or no tendency for the stream
in one portion of the pattern to flow laterally into an
adjacent portion of the pattern.
If desired, the tubes leading to the mould, and
especially the smaller subtubes, and/or the mould itself,
can be externally chilled by suitable means (not shown)
for maintaining the product at the best temperature for
performing the extrusion process and forming the final
block that is the objective.
The apparatus as described above will exert a certain
amount of "back pressure" on the streams, i.e. a resistance
to flow, resulting from the relatively small diameters of
some of the tubes. The conventional wisdom in the art of
ice cream packaging holds that such back pressure should
be minimised to avoid loss of the air trapped in the
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product. It has been found, however, when operating an
extruder head as illustrated in the drawings, that the
degree of back pressure involved is not in fact a serious
problem, and that a very satis~actory final product of
S good quality can be obtained notwithstandin~ the
relatively small diameter tubes through which the streams
must be forced by an incoming pressure provided by the ice
cream making machines.
