JPS5811179B2 - Method for manufacturing molded ice candy - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the manufacture of popsicles, ie, ice confections, usually consisting of a shaped portion of ice cream or sorbet attached to a handle, such as a stick.

Generally, popsicles are made by filling a mold with the popsicle mixture, inserting a stick into the mixture inside each mold, and applying a freezing agent, such as a salt solution, to the outside of the mold to freeze the popsicle mixture and fix the stick. A heated liquid such as salt water is applied to the outside of the mold in order to release the surface of the popsicle from the mold cavity, and the molded solid stick is removed in order to remove the finished popsicle. Manufactured in mass production by drawing from the mold cavity.

In this case, a temporary handle is used to remove the iced confection from the mold and does not form part of the finished product.

Regarding such methods, the cavity of the mold must not be concave inward, that is, the thickness and width of the molded unit must be constant, or the cavity must not be concave inward, or the thickness and width of the molded unit must be constant, or the cavity must not be concave inward. It is generally essential that the amount of energy used must be gradually increasing (i.e. not decreasing).

This is necessary to facilitate the removal of molded articles from conventional single-piece molds, and thus imposes limitations on the shape of the articles that can be manufactured.

The present inventor has discovered that if the mold is made of a thin elastic material, it is possible to produce ice confectionery such as a popsicle that is concave inward on a large scale, and that the molded popsicle has a handle. discovered that it could be removed from the mold by pulling it out.

According to this method, when the inwardly shaped popsicle is removed from the mold by pulling the handle out of the mold cavity, the mold is elastically stretched and the desired shape of the popsicle, if any, is formed. The candy is completely turned inside out to remove it.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing an ice confectionery molded into an inwardly concave shape, and the method includes a method of manufacturing an ice confectionery mixture having a plurality of inwardly concave voids. A process of filling the ice confectionery mixture into a thin elastic mold, a process of introducing a handle into the ice confectionery mixture in each mold, and a process of introducing a freezing agent into each mold so as to freeze the ice confectionery mixture and fix the handle. The process includes a step of acting on the outer surface, and a step of deforming the mold and pulling out the handle so as to remove the inwardly concave ice confection on the handle from the mold.

In this case, each mold is gradually turned over as the handle is pulled out to strip the iced confection from the mold.

In other cases, depending on the shape of the mold, the mold may be elastically secured to prevent it from completely inverting, thus simplifying subsequent operations such as cleaning and refilling. This is desirable.

To minimize the possibility of the mold collapsing prior to filling, it is preferred that the mold be introduced into the brine tank for freezing only after it has been filled.

It has been observed that if a liquid cryogen (eg, brine) is introduced into the tank before the mold is filled, the pressure from the liquid cryogen tends to crush the unsupported walls of the mold.

The crushed walls become stuck together due to the presence of frozen moisture, making subsequent filling difficult.

The filled mold is introduced into the liquid cryogen tank to a point where the liquid level in the mold is above the liquid level in the liquid cryogen tank, and the outer portion of the liquid in the mold becomes frozen. It is preferable to hold it in this position until the shape is fixed by.

It has been found that a liquid level difference of 6 mm to 10 mm is appropriate.

There are two main reasons for this. The first reason is to compensate for excess pressure when the density of the freezing agent is greater than the density of the frozen confectionery mixture, and the second reason is that slight excess hydrostatic pressure within the mold will reduce the final It has been found to be beneficial in preventing localized stresses that cause product distortion.

The liquid level in the mold can be leveled with the liquid level in the cryogen tank to complete the freezing operation.

This involves removing the unfrozen liquid from the mold.

Alternatively, this can be accomplished by further submerging the mold into a cryogen tank.

The popsicle mixture may be water ice, ice cream, sorbet or other frozen confectionery, or a combination thereof.

As an alternative to filling the mold before introduction into the liquid cryogen tank, the mold can be held open by air pressure just before filling.

In this case, an elongated compound nozzle is used, which first pushes the mold back from the inverted configuration to the normal configuration for filling, and then uses external hydrostatic pressure to collapse the mold walls so that they do not stick together. Air pressure is applied from a central jet to ensure that the ice confection mixture is immediately injected through a concentric filling nozzle surrounding said jet to fill the mold.

Next, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a mold 1 made of a flexible thin-walled elastic material (in this example, rubber or latex with a wall thickness of 0.76 mm) has a rectangular shape having a mold entrance 4 of 51 mm x 25.4 mm, each 19 mm deep. Attached to collar 2.

The depth of this mold is 101.6 mm. The collar 2 extends downwardly from a metal top plate 3 whose dimensions, layout and fittings correspond to those of a conventional mold so that it can be handled on conventional popsicle molding equipment. do.

In an alternative form, no collar is used and the mouth of each flexible mold is in the form of a grommet of thicker material with a radial peripheral groove in which The edge of the rectangular hole in the upper plate can be inserted into the hole.

As can be seen from the drawing, the mold cavity is inwardly concave, especially with a constriction 5.

These constrictions make it impossible to remove constricted-shaped popsicles from regular molds;
However, in accordance with the present invention, the elasticity of the mold material allows the mold material at the waist to stretch elastically as the bottom portion of the molded popsicle is removed.

However, this has one limitation.

That is, the maximum cross-section of this mold must not exceed the dimensions of the mold inlet 4, since the metal top plate cannot be stretched and the popsicle must be removed through this mold inlet. This is because it will not happen.

In use, a group of molds 1 are filled to a predetermined level with a popsicle mixture (e.g. sherbet mixture) while held in air (i.e. without being submerged in a tank of freezing salt water). Ru.

The top plate 3 is then introduced into the saline cryogen tank up to a predetermined level 7 (the level shown in FIG. 1).

At this stage, the level of the popsicle mixture is slightly higher than the level of the freezing agent, as indicated at 8 in FIG. 1 (actually approximately 13 mm).

One reason for the difference in levels is that the density of the brine is greater than that of a regular popsicle mixture, and therefore the pressure on both sides of the mold walls needs to be balanced to prevent the mold from warping. This is because there is.

The difference between levels 8 and 7, which typically ranges from 6.4 mm to 9.5 mm, depends on the density of the popsicle mixture chosen and that the popsicle mixture is saturated with carbon dioxide (e.g. A larger amount is required if the density is smaller due to the ice cream mixture (with normal excess).

To avoid localized stresses that could change the shape of the final molded product even if the densities are equal,
It has been found that a slight level difference is desirable to ensure that a slight hydrostatic overpressure is created within the mold.

Then, as soon as the mixture begins to solidify in the mold and a frozen shell forms within the mixture, an excess of water is added to bring the level of the popsicle mixture equal to or slightly below the level 7 of the brine. The amount of mixed liquid filled in is extracted.

At this stage, part of the mixture may be replaced with another type of mixture to produce a so-called separate product (for example, a product in which sherbet and ice cream coexist separately).

Alternatively, the mold can be submerged even lower in the freezing agent to equalize the levels.

Once freezing has proceeded sufficiently, the rod 6 is then mechanically guided relative to the top plate 3 and inserted into position within the mixture.

This is a conventional popsicle manufacturing step using conventional stick gripping and guiding equipment.

Once freezing is complete, the bars are firmly fixed, so that the finished popsicle can be removed from the mold by subsequently pulling them out relative to the top plate 3.

However, before this occurs, there is a common step in which the mold is briefly contacted with a hot liquid in order to slightly melt the surface of each popsicle that is in contact with the mold.

FIG. 2 shows the popsicles starting to be pulled out from their respective molds.

During this process, the mold is gradually turned over, as shown in this figure at the beginning.

In order for this withdrawal to take place, the walls of each type must not only be elastically stretchable at the waist 5 but also have a high degree of flexibility.

Furthermore, the mold material must be able to withstand repeated bending and tensile actions at low and varying temperatures.

Following removal of the popsicle from the mold, the mold is pushed back to its original shape by an elongated probe or jet of air.

The procedure of filling the mold before immersion in salt water prevents the hydrostatic pressure of the salt water acting on the outside of unsupported mold walls when immersed in salt water from crushing the mold walls and causing them to stick together. and thus enable subsequent filling operations to be accomplished.

If the apparatus constructed from the mold requires contacting the mold with a salt spray or salt water bath prior to filling, the above problems may be overcome by pneumatically supporting the mold prior to filling. can be done.

In this case, an elongated compound nozzle is used, which pushes the mold from an inverted position back to normal for the next filling, and applies air pressure from an air jet to prevent the mold walls from collapsing due to hydrostatic pressure. The mixture is then injected through concentric nozzles surrounding the air jet to fill the mold.

This elongated nozzle is preferably constructed of a rubber or plastic material so as to minimize the risk of contacting and damaging the mold.

The embodiments of the present invention are as follows.

(1) A patent characterized in that each mold is gradually turned over while the handle is being pulled out, like peeling the mold from an ice confection. (2) The mixture is such that each mold is placed at least partially inside a tank of liquid freezing agent. A method as claimed in the preceding claims, characterized in that the molds are frozen in each mold by dipping into the tank, and the molds are filled before dipping into said tank.

(3) The filled mold is introduced into the liquid freezing agent tank to a point where the liquid in the mold is above the liquid in the liquid freezing agent tank, and the outside of the liquid inside the mold is frozen. The method according to (2) above, characterized in that the method is held in the position until the shape is fixed.

(4) The method according to (3) above, wherein the liquid in the mold is brought to the same level as the liquid freezing agent tank after fixing the shape of the mold.

(5) The method according to (4) above, wherein the liquids are brought to the same level by withdrawing the liquids from the mold.

(6) The method according to (4) above, wherein the liquids are brought to the same level by further submerging the mold into a liquid freezing agent tank.

(7) An ice confectionery produced by the method described in the claims or any one of (1) to (6) above.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a group of filled molds immersed in a salt water bath, and FIG. 2 shows the popsicles beginning to be removed from the molds. 1...Type, 2...Color, 3...
...Metallic upper plate, 4...Mold entrance, 5...
...Constriction part, 6.. Stick, 7.. Level of freezing agent, 8.. Level of popsicle mixture.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A step of filling the ice confectionery mixture into a mold, a step of inserting a handle into the ice confectionery mixture in each mold, and a step of freezing the ice confectionery mixture and fixing the handle. and applying a freezing agent to the outer surface of each mold, the molds being part of a mechanical molding and freezing apparatus. made of flexible thin-walled elastic material in the form of an inwardly concave cavity fixed to and extending downwardly from a fixed collar defining a mold entrance in a rigid upper plate comprising a part; to be,
Each of the handles is successively pulled out to deform the mold and remove the ice confection having an inwardly concave shape on the handle. A method for manufacturing ice confectionery molded into a mold that is concave toward the inside.