US-12622444-B2 - System and method for efficient pellet manufacturing

US12622444B2US 12622444 B2US12622444 B2US 12622444B2US-12622444-B2

Abstract

A method for separating a trim section from a body of comestible structure includes forming a trim score line in the body of the comestible structure to define the trim section in the body of comestible structure and actively applying a force to the trim section via a force generating device to separate the trim section from the body of comestible structure along said trim score line.

Inventors

Gigi Ng
DAVID GUEVARA
Bharat Jani

Assignees

PERFETTI VAN MELLE BENELUX BV

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20200715

Claims (18)

1 . A method for separating a trim section from a continuous body of comestible structure, the method comprising: moving said continuous body of said comestible structure along a direction of travel; forming a trim score line in said continuous body of said comestible structure to define said trim section in said body of said comestible structure, said trim section being arranged between said trim score line and an outer periphery of said continuous body of said comestible structure; after forming said trim score line to define said trim section, engaging said trim section of said continuous body of said comestible structure with at least a portion of at least one force generating device, said force generating device comprising a roller; exerting, via said roller, a force on said trim section along a direction of breaking, said direction of breaking being arranged at an angle relative to said direction of travel of said continuous body of said comestible structure; said force separating said trim section from the said continuous body of said comestible structure along said trim score line, wherein said forming said trim score line in said continuous body of said comestible structure is via at least one scoring or cutting device, said at least one scoring or cutting device comprising a spiral protrusion which engages a portion of said trim section and moves said trim section laterally out or laterally outwardly from the body of said comestible structure as it moves in said direction of travel.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said force exerted to said trim section includes applying a tensile force to said trim section.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising forming a comestible mass into the body of comestible structure via a forming system upstream from said forming said trim score line.
4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein said forming said comestible mass into the body of comestible structure and said forming said trim score line occur simultaneously.
5 . A method for separating a trim section from a continuous body of comestible structure along a trim score line, the method comprising: forming said trim score line in said continuous body of said comestible structure to define said trim section, said trim section being arranged between said trim score line and an outer periphery of said continuous body of said comestible structure; after forming said trim score line to define said trim section, engaging said trim section with a force generating device, said force generating device including a roller; wherein said roller exerts a force to a web of said trim score lines, said force being applied in a plane parallel to a surface of said continuous body of said comestible structure; and rupturing the web via said force to separate said trim section from said continuous body of said comestible structure, wherein said forming said trim score line in said continuous body of said comestible structure is via at least one scoring or cutting device, said at least one scoring or cutting device comprising a spiral protrusion which engages a portion of said trim section and moves said trim section laterally out or laterally outwardly from the body of said comestible structure as it moves in said direction of travel.
6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein said body of comestible structure is movable in a direction of travel and wherein said force applied to said web includes a first component and a second component and said first component extends in a direction transverse to said direction of travel of the body of comestible structure.
7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein said first component of said force is smaller than said second component of said force.
8 . The method of claim 6 , wherein said second component of said force extends perpendicularly to said direction of travel of the body of comestible structure.
9 . The method of claim 5 , further comprising forming a comestible mass into the body of comestible structure via a forming system upstream from said forming said trim score line.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said direction of breaking and said direction of travel lie in a plane parallel to a surface of said continuous body of said comestible structure.
11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said roller rotates about an axis of rotation at an angle relative to said direction of travel.
12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said force generating device operates outwardly beyond said trim score line.
13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said angle relative to said direction of travel is an angle extending outwardly relative to the body of said comestible structure as it moves in said direction of travel.
14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein said force generating device comprises a first force generating device and a second force generating device, said first force generating device arranged adjacent a first edge of said continuous body of said comestible structure, and said second force generating device arranged adjacent a second edge of said continuous body of said comestible structure, said first edge being opposite to said second edge of said continuous body of said comestible structure.
15 . A method for separating a trim section from a continuous body of comestible structure, the method comprising: moving said continuous body of said comestible structure along a direction of travel; forming a trim score line in said continuous body of said comestible structure to define said trim section in said body of said comestible structure, said trim section being arranged between said trim score line and an outer periphery of said body of said comestible structure, said trim section extending along said direction of travel of said continuous body of said comestible structure; applying compressed air to a surface of said trim section via at least one force generating device comprising a compressed air delivery unit; wherein said compressed air exerts a force on said surface of said trim section along a direction of breaking; wherein said force separates said trim section from said continuous body of said comestible structure along said trim score line, wherein said forming said trim score line in said continuous body of said comestible structure is via at least one scoring or cutting device, said at least one scoring or cutting device comprising a spiral protrusion which engages a portion of said trim section and moves said trim section laterally out or laterally outwardly from the body of said comestible structure as it moves in said direction of travel.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein said force is a shearing force applied by said compressed air delivery unit in a perpendicular direction to said surface of said trim section.
17 . The method of claim 15 , wherein said force is applied to said surface of said trim section along a direction of breaking, said direction of breaking being arranged at an angle relative to said direction of travel of said continuous body of said comestible structure.
18 . The method of claim 15 , wherein said force generating device comprises a first force generating device and a second force generating device, said first force generating device arranged adjacent a first edge of said continuous body of said comestible structure, and said second force generating device arranged adjacent a second edge of said continuous body of said comestible structure, said first edge being opposite to said second edge of said continuous body of said comestible structure.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application is a National Stage application of PCT/US2020/042121, filed Jul. 15, 2020, which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/880,467, filed Jul. 30, 2019, both of which are incorporated by reference in their entirety herein. FIELD The present disclosure relates to comestible manufacturing methods and systems and more particularly, to a method and system for separating at least a portion of a comestible structure after scoring and/or cutting the comestible structure. BACKGROUND Typically, the process of making and packaging comestibles, such as a confection or chewing gum, is time-consuming and involves a significant amount of machinery. For example, the process of making and packing gum products can include mixing and producing a finished gum as a non-uniform output, extruding and forming the finished gum into loaves, conditioning the loaves of the finished gum, extruding the loaves into a continuous thin sheet of the finished gum, rolling the continuous sheet through a series of rollers to a uniform reduced thickness, scoring and dividing sheets into individual scored sheets, conditioning the individual sheets in a conditioning room, dividing sheets into gum pieces, and packaging the gum pieces. Such processes of making and packaging gum products are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,254,373 assigned to the predecessor of interest of the present assignee, and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/352,110 assigned to the present assignee; the teachings and disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties to the extent not inconsistent with the present disclosure. During the manufacturing process, the lateral edges of the gum are typically removed such that the outermost pieces formed in the gum have a desired edge. The material that is trimmed or removed from the edges of the gum may be recycled back to an upstream portion of the manufacturing system to reduce waste. This trimming of material, as performed in existing manufacturing systems, generally includes forming one or more scores in the gum to define the portion of the gum to be trimmed. The scored gum is supported, such as by a sliding surface or glide plate. However, the width of the scored gum is greater than the width of the sliding surface such that the portion of the gum to be trimmed is not directly supported by the sliding surface. As a result, the gravitational forces acting on the portion of the gum to be trimmed, cause these portions at the outermost edges of the gum to separate from the remainder of the gum along the score lines. While this method of separating the trim portions of the gum via gravity is suitable when the edges of the formed pieces have a planar configuration, such a method may not be suitable for trimming material along a score having a non-linear configuration. This may be a result of the increased length (measured in a vertical plane) over which the trimmed material must be separated from the remainder and/or because the gravitational force acting on the trimmed portion is only partially applied in a direction of separation. BRIEF SUMMARY According to an embodiment, a method for separating a trim section from a body of comestible structure includes forming a trim score line in the body of the comestible structure to define the trim section in the body of comestible structure and actively applying a force to the trim section via a force generating device to separate the trim section from the body of comestible structure along said trim score line. In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, in further embodiments actively applying a force to the trim section via said force generating device includes applying a tensile force to the trim section. In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, in further embodiments said force generating device includes a roller. In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, in further embodiments actively applying a force to the trim section via said force generating device includes applying a shearing force to the trim section. In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, in further embodiments said force generating device includes at least one compressed air delivery unit. In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, in further embodiments said force is applied to the trim section at an angle relative to a direction of travel of the body of comestible structure. In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, in further embodiments said angle is greater than 0° and less than 90°. In addition to one or more of the features described above, or as an alternative, in further embodiments a component of said force applied to the trim section is arranged in a direction of breaking. In