US356450A - Manufacture of candies - Google Patents

Description

(Specimens.)

W. E. COLEMAN.

MANUPAGTURB 0F GANDIES, TOY GONFEGTIONS, aw.

No. 356,450. Patented Jan. 25, 1887.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE..

WALTER E. COLEMAN, OF BROOKLYN, NEW- YORK.

MANuFAcTuRE o? GANDIES, TOY CONFECTIONS, ac.

BPBUIIICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 356.450, dated January 25, 1887.

Appui-,ation mea apra sarees. sel-in No. musee. (specimens.)

To all whom it'm ay concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER E. COLEMAN, formerly a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, having declared myintenti'o'n of becoming a citizen-of the United States, and being at. present a resident of the c'ity of Brooklyn, in the county of-Kings and State of NewfYork, have invented certain new and useful Improvey ments in the Manufacture of Candies, Toy Conic fections, &c.; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,- and exact description of the invention, which 'will enable Iothers skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My improvements relate more especially to theclass of confections which are designated as molded goodsy. consisting of -a suitable paste or semi-liquid preparation cast or molded into forms and designs of various kinds Hcretofore this class of goods have been formed lby pouring the material by handlinto temporary molds or matrices previously formed by hand in a bed of starch. Briefly stated, the loperation has been, after leveling the surface 23 of a quantity of starch deposited in a suitable "starch board or tray, to form in such starch a series of intaglio depressions or matrices by forcing altorelievo patterns into the starch. The material to be cast was then poured into th e several matrices by hand, and'afterithad set or hardened sufficiently the whole contents of the starch board ortray was s'ifted to separate 'the castings from the body of starch,

. Y that still adheringbeing presumablyremoved by further subjectingthe castings to an airblast.

Forl various reasons the old method is slow y and expensive. Owing to the nature of the material in whieh the matrices are formed, un- 40 usual care and skill must be bestowed upon the operation in order to even approximate uniformity orperfection in result. Uniformity, in-the size and shape of the castings is desirable in all this class of goods, but especially when the castings are tobe coated -with chocolate or other comparatively expensive matelrial, in which case imperfections or voverflow not only spoil the appearanceof the product,bnt

l.also take up a disproportionately large quan- 5c tity of the more expensive material. `Again',

v the matrices, although so difficult andexpe'n sive to produce, are only available each for the formation-,of a single casting, so that, taking into-consideration the number of matrices that'are formed and not used on account of 55 obvious imperfections, and also the 'number of Acastings that are -iinally discarded in practice for a similar reason,' it w-i'llhe seen that there are numerous disadvantages attending the use of'such a process.`

The object of my invent-ionis to not only obviate the diflculties indicated, but also simplify, cheapen, and expedite theY manufacture of the moldings or castings herein referred to, and'lto accomplish all without the aid of specially-skilled labor. l

The m'or'e essential feature of Vmy improved processconsists in forming the castings in permanent molds formed of an elastic or semi- -elastic material, and retrievingv the said eastings after they have set or hardened by bending the said molds, substantially as. hereinafter set forth, in such manner as to cause the side walls ot' the matrices to open or .recede from the casting, ,when the latter will d rop out or may be readily removed' without injury to either matrices 'or castings. l

My invention also. includes theproccss'hereinafte'r described of filling the matrices and removing the surplus from the mold by passing the latter under a'hopper charged with the material to be cast, and under a suitable scraper or flexible side wall of the hopper, which prevents the undue escape of the semiliquid material and levels off vthe upper surface of the material thus detached andremevcd from the hopper. v

Another feature of my invention consists in rendering the -process continuous by forming the castings in matrices formed in an endless belt or mold; by which theyre discharged during the passage arou nd the supporting-cylinder at one end of the apparatus, the matrices thus ,emptied continuing onward until they again come underneath the feeding-hopper and; are again filled, conveyed' around the cylinder, and emptied thereby, as before described. In connection with certain grades of goods which cool or set rapidly, this process of continuous uninterrupted working is of importance, although in other grades of goods which require considerablel time to harden or set the process may be carried on by casting intoelastic or semi-elastic mats or sheets of molds,

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which, after being passed underneath the hopper and filled, maybe conveniently setaside until the castings acquire the requisite degree of hardness'or tenacity, when the castings may be removed'fromthe matrices, asbefore stated,

by'bending the molds.

The castings produced by my process are perfectly uniform and true, and come from their matrix in proper condition for dippingn or otherwise finishing.

Iam aware that in patent to Sowle, No; 28,815, June 19, 1860, a continuous system of cutting lozenges from asheet of paste is shown,

4in which the fiat lozenges thus formed are deare loosenedand ejected bybending the molds,

the inherent elasticity of the molds themselves effecting the discharge of the castings, wh creas in the Sowle machine the lozenges are not cast at all, but are forcibly cut out o f a sheet of material by rigid metal knives in the form of dies, from which they are removed by rigidplun gers. There is absolutely no employment of eltic material in the Sowie device, except as a backing for the sheet-of` material from which the lozenges are stamped out, and the elasticity in that case is rather utilizedl to force the. material into the dies than to remove it therefrom, as in my process of manufacture.A Aside from the obvious differences in appara' tus and process,it would be practically impos- 'sible to produce by the Sowle apparatus the equivalent of the various and intricate forms of castings which I can produce by my process of casting in flexible molds, his dies and plungers (which are even used for printing or compressing the faces of the lozenges) practically. limiting his apparatus tov the production of dat cakes of even thickness. Y

Another leading distinctionl between the Sowle apparatus referred to and my improved process consists in the fact that his process contemplates the use of paste exclusively, and it would be impossible to mold a liquid or semi-liquid material in his apparatus, whereas my invention is especially designed for the purpose of making castings from a liquid or semiliquid material which runs into and fills the 'molds by its own gravity, no cutting or 'compression being used to shape the castings,

the surplus material. being simply scraped o' the face of the sheet of moidsbefore the material 'nas time to harden or set.

In the accompanying drawings I illustrate apparatus which may be employed in carrying out my process of manufacture, although I expressly disclaim any intention of confining myself tothe use of any special form -of appa ratus, the essential features of my inventionst Vas hereinbefore set forth, being'capa'ble of 'employment and adaptation in conjunction with various modifications in details of construction of apparatus. t

Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of an apparatus for continuously working my improved process, the central portion being broken away. Fig. 2 is aplau of the same parts shownin Fig. 1; Fig'. 3, a sectional vicwof a portion of the semi-elastic mold bent and in the act of discharging the castings.

The mold Ais made ofl rubber or other suitable elastic or semi-elastic substance permanently formed with a series of matrices, a.

The moldA maybe in the form of an endless belt or sheet,` as shown in the drawings; or it may be in the form of a sheet `or mat of suitable length for handling, the essential feature being a sufficient degreeof elasticity to Apermit of the discharge of the castings from the matrices by bending the mold so as to .stretch or open the matrices, as illustrated in Fig. 3.

In carrying out my process the batch of candy or other confection to be used to form the castings is put, in a' semi-liquid or soft con: dition, into a hopper, B, and the mold A is then passed underneath its lower opening, b, the matrices a being thereby' filled with the material; The surplus material is removed from the face of the mold and retained withinA the hopper by a rubber dam or scraper, b.

,To still further insure vthe removal of any excess of material `from the face of the mold A, I prefer to pass the mold underneath a take-up roll, ,C, the periphery of which moves in an opposite direction to that ofthe surface of the mold, and thereby wipes off any remain,- ing surplus and transfers it to a, scraper, c, which may be provided with a trough, c', for its reception.

Where the apparatus used is continuous, as illustratedin the drawings, the endless mold 'is eithermade of sucient len th to edect the setting of the castings be ore they reach the discharging-cylinder D, or that end of the apparatus is situated in a chilling or drying room, whereby the castings are quickly rendered tkto discharge; or, the candy or confection naturally being prepared in batches of a given quantity, requiring a prescribed time to prepare, the endless mold may be made to accommodate a single batch with in the matrices situated at any one time above the table T, and after being filled that portion of the mold may be allowed to'remain upon the table until the next batch is ready. or until the castings have set suciently to be discharged.

In this continuous apparatus it may bc desirable to use an agitator, E, 'of any suitable construction, which will beator jar the back side of the mold A as it passes underneath, in order to insure the discharge of any of the castings that may be inclined to stiel:` to iheir matrices 'from any cause. A starcher, S, may also be situated underneath the table for the 15 Fig. s.

2o feet to myinvention,

' to any 25 fetnring castings of candy purpose of dusting the emptied matrices with starch preparatory to their again passing underneath the hopper B'.

4It is obvious thatthe endlessI mold is not 5 absolutely essential to the carrying out of my improved process,since (by way ol' illustration) it might bedivided into several. sections, thereby forming mats or sheets which could .he passed underneath the hopper and scraper :o and laid aside until the castings were ready -for removal, when the mats or sheets might be bentl or sprung out by .any suitable means in order to effect the discharge of the castings, las hereinbefore set'fort-h, and as illustrated in Any suitable' means fornpplying the neces sary power and effecting the required motions may be employed. y

Having thus described means of giving ef'- wi thout confn i ng ymyself special form ,of apparatus, what I claim as my invention, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The process herein described of manuor confectionery I oma fluid or semi-finiti material, consisting Sin depositing such material in matrices formed in a mold of elastic or semi-elastic material, allowing the castings to set or harden, and

3o -thexi loosening or discharging them therefrom bybending the mold, snbstantiallyin the manner and for the purpose described.

2..-The process herein described of manufacturing castings of candy or confectioneryfrom a fluid or. semi-iilid material, consisting in depositing the prepared material 1n a sulla Yable hopper, from the lowerlend ofvwhich it is .from a liquid or semi-fluid material, consisting in depositing the said material in a suitable hopper, fronrtlie lower end of which it is rennovedby mueudless belt of elastic or semielasticL material formed wit-ha series of mat- Aricos, in which the castings are allowed to set or harden, and from which they are discharged by the stretching of the saidelastic mold as lt passes over a curved surface, substantially 1n thc manner and for thepurpose described.

WALTER E. COLEMAN.

Witnesses:

WM. GARDNER, .GEo. W. MIATT.

the pur j

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