Apparatus for filling edible products

Apparatus for filling edible products with a relatively low-viscosity, readily flowable filling material, comprising:

• means for partially forming th product into its final form in an atmosphere of a first pressure,
• nozzle means having a discharge orifice for injecting filling material into said partially formed product,
• means applying a positive pressure and a negative pressure less than said first pressure on said filling material for respectively injecting filling material against said product material and for withdrawing a portion of the filling material into said nozzle means and pulling a portion of the product material against said nozzle means discharge orifice for sealing the orifice against filling material leakage, and
• means for finally forming the product between said nozzle and said injected filling material to form a final product completely sealing said filling material.

Apparatus for filling edible products with a relatively low-viscosity, readily flowable filling material, comprising:

• cylinder means, forming means cooperating with said cylinder means for providing a generally radially opening product material discharge passage for partially extruding the product into its final form in an atmosphere of a first pressure,
• nozzle means for injecting filling material radially into said partially formed product, said nozzle means including at least one orifice confronting said product material discharge passage,
• means applying positive pressure on said filling material in said nozzle means for forcing filling material against said product material and applying negative pressure below said first pressure on said filling material to partially retract the flow of filling material and a portion of said product material against the orifice, and
• means for finally forming the product between said nozzle means and the injected filling material to form a final product completely enclosing the filling material.

Apparatus for filling edible products with a filling material, comprising:

• a product material hopper having a forming cylinder,
• forming piston means reciprocably mounted in said forming cylinder,
• metering piston means axially spaced from said forming piston means and independently reciprocably mounted in said forming cylinder,
• means for reciprocating the forming and metering piston means in said forming cylinder to trap a quantity of product material and extrude it radially outwardly of said forming cylinder in an annular ring, and
• means within said forming cylinder for injecting a ring of filling material substantially radially outwardly into said ring of product material, aid injecting means including annular nozzle means providing split product material flow passages over and through said nozzle means whereby the filling material is injected into the space between said split paths, said filling material injecting means including a filling material supply, tube means joining said supply with said annular nozzle means, and pump means for applying positive and negative pressures on said filling material to control movement of the filling material through said nozzle means, said nozzle means including circumferential discharge means, a plurality of spaced pipes joining said tube means and said discharge means, said spaced pipes allowing passage of said product material therebetween, said nozzle means being spaced between said forming piston and metering piston so that product material is guided past said discharge means from two directions to close off the discharge means during final forming of the product.

Apparatus for filling edible products with a filling material, comprising:

• a product material hopper having a forming cylinder,
• forming piston means reciprocably mounted in said forming cylinder,
• metering piston means axially spaced from said forming piston means and independently reciprocably mounted in said forming cylinder,
• means for reciprocating the forming and metering piston means in said forming cylinder to trap a quantity of product material and extrude it radially outwardly of said forming cylinder in an annular ring, and
• means within said forming cylinder for injecting a ring of filling material substantially radially outwardly into said ring of product material, said injecting means including annular nozzle means providing split product material flow passages over and through said nozzle means whereby the filling material is injected into the space between said split paths, said filling material injecting means including a filling material supply, tube means joining said supply with said annular nozzle means, and pump means for applying positive and negative pressures on said filling material to control movement of the filling material through said nozzle means, said nozzle means including an annular cavity and a plurality of circumferentially spaced discharge ports, and a metering band separating said cavity from said discharge ports for providing a smaller surface area orifice than said annular cavity to control flow of the fill material to said discharge ports.

Apparatus for filling edible products with a filling material, comprising:

• means for partially forming the product into its final form,
• nozzle means for injecting filling material into said partially formed product,
• means for applying positive pressure on said filling material in said nozzle means and for applying negative pressure on said filling material to partially retract the flow of filling material, and
• means for finally forming the product between said nozzle means and the injected filling material to form a final product completely enclosing the filling material, said pressure applying means including a filling material supply, a reversible metering pump coupled to said supply, tube means coupling said pump with said nozzle means, and means for operating said pump in a predetermined sequence for injecting, delaying and reversing the flow of filling material between the supply and the nozzle means, said nozzle means including a metering cavity and a plurality of circumferentially, equidistantly spaced discharge ports, and an annular orifice joining said metering cavity and said discharge ports for controlling the flow of filling material to the discharge ports.

Apparatus for filling edible products with a relatively low-viscosity, readily flowable filling material, comprising:

• cylinder means having a discharge end,
• forming means including disk means having a peripheral edge in generally coaxial alignment with said cylinder means discharge end for providing with said discharge end a generally radially opening product material discharge passage, means for opening and closing said product material discharge passage for radially extruding a quantity of said product material, and means for moving said quantity of product material through said discharge passage for forming first a partially formed product and then a fully formed product having radially inner and outer portions,
• injection means for injecting filling material between said discharge end and disk means outwardly against said partially formed product, said injection means including at least one discharge outlet discharging into said product material discharge passage,
• means applying positive pressure on said filling material in said nozzle means for forcing filling material against said product material while it is in the state of a partially formed product and applying negative pressure sufficient to completely eliminate the positive pressure acting on the filling material so as to halt the flow of filling material out said discharge outlet while said state exists, thereby leaving a predetermined quantity of filling material against said partially formed product,
• means for coordinating said forming means with said cylinder means to complete the extrusion of said partially formed product into a fully formed product completely enclosing said predetermined quantity of filling material.