Method and apparatus for forming a food article

• US 5,246,721 A
• Filed: 08/12/1992
• Issued: 09/21/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 08/12/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Siragan Kerkonian
• Original Assignee: Siragan Kerkonian
• Inventors: Kerkonian, Siragan
• Primary Examiner(s): Yeung, George
• Application Number:
  US07/928,290
• Time in Patent Office: 405 Days
• Field of Search: 426/279, 426/280, 426/282, 426/283, 426/284, 426/138, 426/513, 426/514, 99/450.6, 99/450.7, 425/412, 425/438, 425/444
• US Class Current: 426/279
• CPC Class Codes: A21C 9/06 Apparatus for filling pieces of dough such as doughnuts A21C11/163 takes precedence; apparatus for filling baked articles A21C15/007
• CPC Class Codes: A23P 30/10 Moulding

Abstract

An apparatus and method is provided for forming a food article having a spheroidal shell with a filling. The apparatus includes a female mold body with a cavity which has walls that define the bottom and lateral shape of the spheroidal shell. A plurality of male mold plugs are sequentially inserted into the cavity of the female mold body. A measuring plug inserted in the cavity evenly distributes a charge of shell-forming material in the lower portion of the cavity. A shell-forming plug inserted in the cavity redistributes the evenly distributed charge of shell-forming material in a layer of generally uniform thickness at the bottom and along the lateral walls of the cavity, leaving an open-ended shell on removal of the shell-forming plug. A charge of filler is received in the open-ended shell. A shell-closing plug having a concave end surface is then inserted in the cavity to form the upper portion of the shell material over the top of the filler to complete the food article. The female mold member has a movable lift plug at the lower end of the cavity to remove the completed food article from the cavity.

Claims

1. An apparatus for forming a food article having a spheroidal shell with a filling, comprising:

a female mold member body having an upwardly opening cavity therein with bottom and lateral walls, the walls defining the bottom and lateral configuration of said spheroidal shell;

and a plurality of male mold plugs sequentially inserted in the cavity of the female mold member, including;

(a) a measuring plug which on insertion into the female mold cavity evenly distributes a charge of shell forming material in the lower portion of the cavity,

(b) a shell forming plug which on insertion in the cavity of the female mold member redistributes the evenly distributed charge of shell forming material in a layer of generally uniform thickness at the bottom and along the lateral walls of the cavity, leaving an open-ended shell on removal of the shell forming plug, the shell receiving a charge of filler for the food article, and

(c) a shell closing plug having sharp edges defining a concave end surface which on insertion of the plug into the cavity of the female mold member forms the upper portion of the shell material over the top of the filler, completing the food article; and

(d) means for removing the completed food article from the female mold member.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which the female cavity is cylindrical and the measuring plug is cylindrical with a flat lower end.

3. The food forming apparatus of claim 1 in which the lower end of the cavity is concave and the lower end of the shell forming plug is convex.

4. The food forming apparatus of claim 1 in which the means for removing the food article from the female mold cavity includes a lift plug at the lower end of the cavity, the lift plug being movable to lift the food article from the cavity.

5. The food forming apparatus of claim 1 wherein the female mold has an upper surface with guide rods extending upwardly from the upper surface;

each of the male plugs has a carrier plate with holes receiving the guide rods to guide movement of the plug; and

means for limiting the movement of the carrier plate and plug toward the female mold surface.

6. The food forming apparatus of claim 5 in which the movement limiting means is a screw threaded to the plate and engageable with the female mold surface.

7. The food forming apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shell-forming plug has a central pin removably received in a longitudinally-extending bore through the shell-forming plug such that removal of the central pin from the bore of the shell-forming plug inserted in the female mold cavity admits air into the bore so that the shell-forming plug can be retracted from the female mold cavity without distorting the shape of the layer of shell-forming material.

8. The food forming apparatus of claim 1 wherein the shell-closing plug has a plurality of air passageways longitudinally extending through the shell-closing plug admitting air into the passageways while allowing the shell-closing plug to be removed from the female mold cavity without distorting the shape of the completed food article.

9. A method for forming a food article having a spheroidal shell with a filling, comprising the steps of:

(a) placing a charge of shell-forming material in an upwardly-opening cavity in a female mold member,

(b) evenly distributing the charge in the lower portion of the cavity by inserting a measuring plug in the cavity,

(c) forming an open-ended shell from the shell-forming material by inserting a shell-forming plug in the cavity,

(d) adding the food filling to partially fill the open-ended shell,

(e) closing the open-end of the shell around the food filling, and

(f) removing the completed food article from the cavity.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the shell-forming plug has a central pin removably located therein so that retracting the central pin from the shell-forming plug admits air to the cavity allowing the shell-forming plug to be removed from the cavity without distorting the shape of the open-ended shell.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the open-ended shell is closed around the filling by inserting a shell-closing plug in the cavity, the shell-closing plug having a plurality of air passageways allowing for the removal of the shell-closing plug without distorting the shape of the completely formed food article.