# US 6,764,293 B2 · Apparatus for forming confectionery product

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- Number: US 6,764,293 B2
- Document ID: US6764293B2
- Status: Granted
- Kind: B2
- Application number: 09/875,190
- Filed: 2001-06-07
- Published: 2001-10-11
- Granted: 2004-07-20
- Earliest claimed: 1999-12-13
- Assignees: Mars, Incorporated
- Inventors: Peter Thomas Kashulines, Jr.; Emil Anthony Kritzer; Robert Otto Brandt, Jr.; Aubrey Elmo Jones, Jr.; Malcolm Albert Austin; Ray Louis Peterson
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US6764293B2

## CPC

- A23G 3/0289: {Compression moulding of paste, e.g. in the form of a ball or rope or other preforms, or of a powder or granules}
- A23G 1/205: {Apparatus in which the material is shaped at least partially in a mould, in the hollows of a surface, a drum or an endless band, or by drop-by-drop casting or dispensing of the material on a surface, e.g. injection moulding or transfer moulding}
- A23G 1/207: {Compression moulding of paste, optionally in the form of a ball, a rope or other preforms, powders or granules}
- A23G 3/0252: {Apparatus in which the material is shaped at least partially in a mould, in the hollows of a surface, a drum, an endless band, or by a drop-by-drop casting or dispensing of the material on a surface, e.g. injection moulding, transfer moulding}
- B30B 11/16: using pocketed rollers, e.g. two co-operating pocketed rollers
- A23G: COCOA; COCOA PRODUCTS, e.g. CHOCOLATE; SUBSTITUTES FOR COCOA OR COCOA PRODUCTS; CONFECTIONERY; CHEWING GUM; ICE-CREAM; PREPARATION THEREOF
- B30B: PRESSES IN GENERAL (producing ultra-high pressure or ultra-high pressure and high temperature to effect modifications of a substance, e.g. for making artificial diamonds B01J3/00 ){(compressing means for refuse receptacles B65F1/1405)}

## Abstract

A method and apparatus for making a shaped confectionery product of Bingham plastic rheology by cold extrusion wherein particles of the confectionery product are fed between counter-rotating form rolls having depressions corresponding to the desired product shape. The particles are compacted and compressed between the form rolls and fuse together to exit with a thin web of material interconnecting the shaped confectionery product. The release of the product from the roll surface is aided by induced differential motion between the rolls.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus for cold forming a shaped article of an edible product from particulate pieces of said product comprising:
a support frame structure;
a pair of form rolls mounted for counter rotation within said frame structure;
said mounting for said form rolls comprising a shaft for each said form roll rotatably mounted within said frame structure;
each said form roll including a plurality of depressions on the peripheral surface thereof shaped to form an article of a desired shape;
each said form roll being mounted for counter rotation toward each other with said depressions aligned to match with the depressions in the other of said form rolls at the interface where each form roll is closest to the other;
drive means for driving said form rolls in counter rotation; and
said rolls being spaced from each other so as to compress and compact said particulate pieces into shaped article conforming to the shaped depressions on said form rolls interconnected by a thin web of said material,
wherein said shafts are dimensioned and mounted so as to twist when said particulate pieces are formed into a shaped configuration as said form rolls are driven.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said drive means comprises a variable speed drive means.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said form rolls include a fluid passageway adjacent the surface of said rolls to accommodate the flow of a fluid medium at a temperature which is other than ambient temperature.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

Apparatus according to claim 3 including a fluid passageway through said shafts upon which said form rolls are mounted in fluid communication with said fluid passageway adjacent the surface of said form rolls so that said fluid medium circulates through said shafts and through said fluid passageway adjacent the surface of said form rolls.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

Apparatus according to claim 4 including fluid passageways within said support frame structure to accommodate the flow of said fluid medium through said fluid passageways within said support frame structure.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said form rolls are mounted within said frame structure so that prior to the introduction of said particulate pieces of said product the surfaces of said form rolls are in contact with each other.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said shafts are dimensioned and mounted so as to flex when said particulate pieces are shaped into a shaped configuration as said form rolls are driven.