JP3813623B2 - Chewing gum manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an improved apparatus for continuously processing a chewing gum base.

  The chewing gum components typically include a water soluble bulk portion, a water insoluble chewing gum base portion, and usually a water insoluble fragrance. The water-soluble gum base has an elastomer solvent, a plasticizer, a wax, an emulsifier and an inorganic filler. The water-soluble portion will have some of the fragrance disappear over a period of time while the gum is being rubbed. The gum base portion remains in the mouth while the gum product is being squeezed.

  The chewing gum base, as well as the chewing gum product itself, is manufactured by a batch type process, although continuous extrusion processes can also be used. In the batch method, a Sigma blade batch mixer is usually used. However, batch processing is labor intensive and tends to produce a variety of consistent chewing gums.

  Once the gum base is formed, lectins, emulsifiers such as softeners, glycerin or Wesson oil, softeners such as corn syrup, swelling agents such as sugar or sugar alcohol are added to the dissolved gum base. Fragrances and sweeteners such as fragrance oils and / or spray-dried fragrances are added during continuous mixing until a uniform material is achieved. The chewing gum material is then cooled, rolled, cut and packaged into the final product.

  In order to simplify the production of gum base and chewing gum products and to reduce the time required to produce, it has been developed to use a continuous extruder that produces the chewing gum base and the final chewing gum product. Also, the continuous extrusion process reduces the cost of the final product and produces a more uniform and consistent quality chewing gum and final gum product.

  The use of a continuous extruder to make the final chewing gum product is described in U.S. Pat.No. 5,135,760 to Degady et al., U.S. Pat.No. 5,045,325 to Lesko et al. And U.S. Pat. No. 4 to Kramer et al. No. 55,407. Continuous extruders for making chewing gum bases are shown in US Pat. No. 5,419,919 and US Pat. No. 5,486,366 to Song et al.

  The continuous gum base and chewing gum processing methods shown in these patents typically use a continuous extruder such as a twin screw extruder. These extruders are of the type rotating in the same direction or rotating in opposite directions, meshing with each other or tangent depending on the requirements and purpose involved. These extruders have a plurality of different feed inlets for adding ingredients. The elongated screw mechanism inside the extruder barrel comprises different types of members. Continuous extrusion machines that can be used to produce chewing gum bases or final chewing gum products or both are commercially available from Japan Steel Works, Leistriztz, Werner & Pfleiderer Corp., WLS, Buss Mfg. Co., Togum and Baker Perkins. Including an extruder.

  When the gum base is manufactured, the molten gum base, usually by batch process or using a continuous extrusion machine, is opened into a coated or lined shallow flat container or pan, which is then left to stand. Cooling. As the gum base is cooled, the gum base slabs or blocks are taken and packed into boxes for use in various subsequent chewing gum manufacturing processes. It is well known that gum base products are used for some final gum products, depending on the final product of the chewing gum. The method used to handle a gum base product comprising: opening the gum base into a pan; cooling the hot gum base material of the bread; and treating the gum base's cooled gum base slab. In addition, it takes labor. It usually takes several hours for the gum base product to cool sufficiently for subsequent handling and processing.

  It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for manufacturing, cooling and processing gum base products. It is also an object to provide an improved apparatus and method for cooling a gum base product to facilitate improved end product processing.

  Another object of the present invention is to provide a cooling device that cools the chewing gum base and handles them automatically and continuously from one step to the other.

  These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be further illustrated by the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention.

  The present invention provides an improved apparatus, method and apparatus for handling and cooling gum base products.

  The gum base product produced by a continuous extrusion process is punched into a coated and lined pan, and the pan is inserted into an automatic chiller. The cooling device consists of a pair of cooling towers with spiral conveyors that convey the cooled gum base product to the opposite end after the gum base product has passed. The cooled gum base product is automatically placed on a suitable conveyor or pallet member to prepare for the next step in the manufacture of chewing gum.

  Preferably, one or more are used to automatically position the filling pan, place the liquid chewing gum product in a spiral cooling tower, remove the cooled product from the cooler, and position the lumped product for the next step. A programmed material handling robot is used.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  The present invention is suitable for processing chewing gum bases for use in final chewing gum products. Generally, the present invention provides an apparatus and apparatus and system for handling, cooling and processing a melted gum base product that facilitates use in the final gum product. In this regard, the present invention provides a gum base product despite the gum base treating, cooling and treating the gum base product in a continuous extrusion process of the gum base, conventional batch type processing, or other suitable conventional methods. Must understand that can be used to handle.

  In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the invention is used with a continuous extrusion mold to produce a chewing gum base. In particular, when used with a continuous gum base, the present invention facilitates handling, cooling and other processing of the gum base immediately after being extruded from the extruder.

  A schematic diagram of the apparatus of the present invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, wherein FIG. 1 is an overall side view and FIG. 2 is a front view. FIG. 1A shows another embodiment of a portion of the apparatus. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing key steps of a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 shows a pan lining apparatus. This system is indicated by reference numeral 10.

  A continuous extruder 12 is used to make the gum base product 14 and the gum base product is temporarily stored in an accumulator tank 16. The liquid gum base product is sent to surge tank 22 by pump 20. This material is sent by pump 26 through conduit 24 to pan filling station 28. The gum base material 14 is placed in a line on the platform 32 or in a lined bread 30.

  As in conventional gum base processing, the sticky, melted gum base material adheres to the bread when it is clumped and can be lined with plastic material to prevent it from having to be removed or talc It is practiced to coat bread with such a powder material. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the pan is lined with plastic material, more preferably the plastic liner is fed by the feed mechanism 140 and automatically placed on the pan by an industrial robot. This will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

The gum base material industrial bread 30 is picked up either individually or automatically by the industrial robot 40 in pairs and moved to the entrance of a transport mechanism 42 that transports the bread to the helical cooling device 44.

  In this regard, as better shown in FIG. 2, the robot 40 has an operating range 46 that causes the rotating arm 48 to move the pan from the platform 32 of the station B to the conveyor 42 of the station C. The arm 48 has a gripping mechanism 50 at one end so that the robot can grip and pick up one or more pans 30 with its hand. As shown in FIG. 1, the robot 40 is in the process of picking up the pan 30 ′ at the station B. Further, the position of the robot arm at the position where the pan 30 'is placed on the transport mechanism 42 of the station "C" is indicated by broken lines by reference numerals 48' and 50 '.

  In addition, according to the present invention, bread that has been emptied in the range of the motion 46 of the robot 40 is provided. The emptied pan 52 is shown at station “A” in FIG. Thus, in use, the robot 40 is controlled to pick up bread emptied at station “A” from the platform 54 and move them to place them in place at station B. Here, the bread is filled with gum base material 14 and moved to station C where it is placed on the conveyor 42 at the entrance to the helical cooling mechanism 44.

  As mentioned above, although the continuous extruder 12 is shown in the drawings produced by the chewing gum base 14, it will be appreciated that the chewing gum base can also be used by conventional batch type processing. In batch processing, the molten gum base material is poured into a surge tank 22 and sent to another pan 30 by a pump 26 for cooling.

  According to the present invention, a pair of helical coolers 44 and 46 are preferably used. As shown, the cooler has spiral shaped transport mechanisms 45 and 47 that transport the gum base material pan 30 through cooling towers 44 and 46 while cooling the liquid gum base.

  This type of helical belt cooling tower is commercially available from T.J.White. Typically, these devices are several stories in width from 6 to 9 m14 cm (20 to 30 feet) high. The temperature inside the spiral coolers 44 and 46 is maintained at a level of approximately -1 ° C to 15.6 ° C (30 ° to 60 ° F) for rapid cooling of the material. The two spiral conveyors 44 and 46 are arranged adjacent to each other, and the gum base material is first fed up to the first conveyor of the spiral conveyor 45 and conveyed to the upper part of the second conveyor at point D. Then sent down on the next second spiral conveyor 47 where it can exit for processing at the end of the conveyor mechanism 60. This is indicated by station “E” in the drawing.

  When the bread 30 exits the helical cooler 46, the gum base material is in a solid state. The time for the liquid gum base pan 30 to pass through the spiral coolers 44 and 46, ie, the time to travel from point "C" to point "E", is approximately 1 to 4 hours.

As the cooling gum base material exits the spiral conveyor 46 at station “E”, it is automatically processed by the second industrial robot 70. The robot 70 has an operation range 72. Robot 70 has a rotating arm member 74 at one end, a manual hook or grasping mechanism 76.

  Preferred robots for use with the present invention are commercially available from a number of manufacturers such as FANUC. According to the present invention, it is possible to provide one robot that performs the operations of both the robots 40 and 70.

  The robot 70 picks up one or two pans 30 of cooled and solidified gum base material and moves them to the stage area where they are placed on the platform or table 54. A suction cup (not shown) at the end of arm 74 sticks to the solidified “chunk” of gum base material and raises it from the pan. The robot 70 then moves the block 79 to the starting area “F” where the bread is placed in the transport mechanism 82 on the pallet 80. (The empty pan of platform 54 is moved by robot 40 to stage area “B” where it is reused.

  The pallet 80 is moved to a predetermined position. The pallet stage mechanism 84 sends the pallet to the transport mechanism 82. As the pallet 80 is filled with multiple blocks 79 of cooling gum base material, they pass along the second pallet transport and stage mechanism 86. When the entire pallet reaches the end of the transport and handling device mechanism 86, it is picked up for processing by the elevating mechanism 90 or the like and stored or processed into a final chewing gum product.

  Another embodiment for processing individual blocks of cooled gum bath material is shown in FIG. 1A. In this embodiment, the mass of cooled gum base material is simply placed on conveyor 100 by robot 70 where it is continuously processed and removed for further use. In this regard, the cooled gum base block is sent to the final chewing gum processing area, placed in a batch type mixer, reheated, melted and used for continuous chewing gum processing.

  Typically, the process according to the present invention involves a gum base manufacturing system or apparatus (either a continuous extruder or a batch mixer), one or more industrial robots, a pan filling area, one for cooling and solidifying the liquid gum base material. Or a plurality of cooling towers and a final handling storage area. One industrial robot is used to use the hot gum base material pan to move to the inlet of the first spiral tower, with the cooled gum base material pan from the spiral conveyor outlet to the final stage area. A second industrial robot is used for sending. The cooled gum base material pans are placed on a pallet that is available or handled by a car or other machine in a variety of ways such as being placed individually on the conveyor in the final stage area.

  The flowchart shown in FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred important feature of the present invention. The gum base material is extruded into the surge tank (22) (step 110) and conveyed (step 112). Preferably, the pan (30) placed on the load platform (32) by an industrial robot and lined with a sheet of plastic material (step 116) is filled with a liquid gum base material (step 118). The filled pan is placed in the cooling mechanism by the robot (step 120) and cooled (step 122). The bread from the cooling mechanism with the solidified gum base material is removed by an industrial robot (step 124). The robot separates the chunks of gum base material from the bread (step 126) and stacks the blocks on a pallet that has already been moved to the appropriate position (step 130) (step 128). The filled pallet is stored so that the gum base material can be easily used to produce the final gum product (step 132).

  FIG. 4 shows a feed mechanism 140 that feeds a sheet of plastic material for lining an empty bread. Plastic material is provided on the material of the two rolls 142 and 144 disposed on the shafts 143 and 145. The materials 142 and 144 are fed to a cutting mechanism 146 that cuts the rolled material into individual sheets 142 ′ and 144 ′. When the empty pan 30 is placed on the platform or table 32, the plastic sheets 142 'and 144' are placed on them. In this respect, the sheet can be pulled from a roll of material by hand or by the robot 40. Once the sheet of material is placed in the pan, the pan is filled with a gum base material. The weight of the material adapts the liner to the shape of the bread.

  The apparatus, method and system of the present invention may be characterized by being incorporated in various embodiments, some of which are shown and described above. The present invention may be practiced in other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. The described embodiments are not intended to be limiting but are limited only by the scope of the claims. Modifications within the scope of the claims are intended to be included within those scopes.

It is a block diagram of the automatic handling and cooling device by this invention. FIG. 1A shows another embodiment of a portion of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is a front view of an automatic handling and cooling device according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a shallow container or bread linner mechanism.

Claims (3)

A continuous extruder (12) for continuously producing a liquid gum base material (14) ;
A cooling device (44, 46) disposed adjacent to the continuous extruder for cooling the liquid gum base material to produce a solid gum base material;
A first robot (40) having a rotating arm (48) for conveying the liquid gum base material from the extruder to the cooling device;
A second robot (70) for transporting the solid gum base material from the cooling device to a first stage region;
An apparatus for processing a chewing gum material. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein a plurality of containers (30) are disposed adjacent to the extruder and the liquid gum base material is poured into the containers before being introduced into the cooling device. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second robot has a vacuum suction device (76) for transporting the solid gum base material from the cooling device to the stage region.