Product portion enrobing process and apparatus, and resulting products
First Claim
1. A method of enrobing a product portion in polymer strands comprising:
- mounting at least one product portion on a holding device, the holding device passing at least partially through a body of said at least one product portion;
producing a flow of polymeric fibers from a polymer spray head to create a polymer enrobing zone;
moving said holding device to pass said at least one product portion through said polymer enrobing zone such that a plurality of said polymeric fibers wraparound said at least one product portion to produce an enrobed product portion;
applying an electrostatic charge with the holding device to the plurality of said polymeric fibers, said at least one product portion, or a combination thereof; and
removing at least a portion of said holding device.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method of enrobing a product portion in polymer strands includes mounting at least one product portion on a holding device and passing the at least one product portion through a polymer enrobing zone. The polymer enrobing zone can include a flow of polymeric fibers produced by a polymer spray head. The polymer fibers can wraparound the at least one product portion to produce an enrobed product portion. The holding device can hold the at least one product portion by passing at least partially through the body of the product portion. At least a portion of the holding device is removed from the enrobed product portion. In some cases, the at least one product portion includes smokeless tobacco.
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Citations
32 Claims
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1. A method of enrobing a product portion in polymer strands comprising:
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mounting at least one product portion on a holding device, the holding device passing at least partially through a body of said at least one product portion; producing a flow of polymeric fibers from a polymer spray head to create a polymer enrobing zone; moving said holding device to pass said at least one product portion through said polymer enrobing zone such that a plurality of said polymeric fibers wraparound said at least one product portion to produce an enrobed product portion; applying an electrostatic charge with the holding device to the plurality of said polymeric fibers, said at least one product portion, or a combination thereof; and removing at least a portion of said holding device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32)
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Specification