Apparatus for producing a centerfilled food product

An apparatus for the continuous, straight-through production of a tubular centerfilled food product having an edible baked thermoplastic shell and a core of an edible filling material which comprises

• a pair of opposed endless belts having their facing runs vertically spaced apart a distance equal to the desired thickness of the baked shell portion of said product,
• means for depositing a layer of a semi-liquid batter onto one of said endless belts,
• means for moving the facing runs of said belts in the same direction at the same linear speed whereby said batter layer is carried between the facing runs of the opposed belts to gauge the thickness of said batter layer,
• heating means associated with said endless belts adapted to heat the endless belts whereby the batter layer carried between the facing runs of said endless belts is heated and its moisture content is reduced to provide a continuous pliable thermoplastic sheet having a set, controlled thickness,
• tube forming means including a cylindrical tube adapted to receive the continuous thermoplastic sheet while in a pliable state and roll the sheet around its longitudinal axis until the edges of the sheet are butted together to form a continuous, closed cylindrical tube having a longitudinal, non-overlapping seam,
• filling means extending into said cylindrical tube to a point beyond which the edges of the sheet are butted together for introducing an edible filling material into the core of said closed cylindrical tube,
• cooling means adapted to cool the closed cylindrical tube and
• cutting means adjacent the cylindrical tube means for cutting the continuous filled tube into pieces of desired length.