HK1025885B - Packaged hollow confectionery product and method of production thereof - Google Patents

Description

Technical field

The present invention relates to a process for the manufacture of a packed confectionery hollow body from a tempered molten confectionery mass, in particular from a chocolate mass or a chocolate-like mass.

State of the art

A known process for the manufacture of a packed confectionery hollow body from a tempered pourable confectionery paste, as currently used industrially by the applicant, usually involves the provision of two corresponding and, if necessary, heated halves of the mould, which are filled entirely with a heated liquid or paste-like confectionery paste in that state. The moulds are then inverted so that a large part of the filled confectionery paste is drained and captured for further use, while a small part of the confectionery paste adheres to the interior of the respective mould as thin and still relatively soft layers. By shaking and shedding the moulds, a substantial, uniform, thin layer of this mould is then produced in the moulds' moulds half-mould.For certain types of confectionery, an inedible surprise article is then placed in at least one of the chilled, frozen confectionery body halves. The corresponding shapes with the frozen confectionery body halves are then briefly reheated and placed in an appropriate alignment, the confectionery body halves pressed together at the edges of their shells, fusing them into a closed confectionery body. If a surprise article was previously placed in a single-pack, the surprise article is now enclosed inside the confectionery body. The cooled body is then cooled to dissolve the liquid and then poured out of the confectionery in a relatively large quantity, for example, in the case of cold packaging or in the case of aluminium paste.

Since the moulds are always reused after the manufacture cycle of the hollow body has been completed, they must be removed from any remaining residues of the candy, and cleaned and, if necessary, stored in the intermediate stage. It is also necessary to build the moulds in a very solid way. The production of large quantities of a certain type of hollow body therefore also requires a correspondingly large number of moulds, which are quite costly. Conversion to another type of candy requires a sufficient number of new moulds, which in turn involves a considerable cost. The large number of the respective moulds must also be stored in a warehouse.

GB 1 052 153 describes a process for making a hollow body of confectionery from a tempered molten confectionery mass, e.g. chocolate. This process involves shaping a half-shell in a thin-walled mould. The mould is placed on a corresponding stamp and the stamp is inserted into the mould. By rotating the stamp, the mould is evenly distributed in the mould. After the mould has solidified, the stamp is removed and two halves, which are also the outer packaging, are joined together to form the mould.

EP 0 730 827 shows a method of manufacturing a hollow confectionery body from a molten confectionery mass by injection moulding, whereby the corresponding confectionery halves are cast into a single piece form which, after the solidification of the confectionery mass, is folded together to form the hollow confectionery body and serve as an outer packaging.

DE 3 342 069 shows a single-piece, self-contained confectionery hollow produced by the sliding process, which is soluble in two corresponding halves of a thin wall, which are also cast by sliding, and the edge of which has a shank protruding partly into the inner part of the mold, protruding into a nut of the confectionery hollow and attaching the halves to the confectionery hollow.

DE 195 35 292 A1 describes a process for the manufacture of chocolate shells in which a tempered chocolate-like fatty mass is filled into a mould and then a chilled stamp is inserted into the mould and the mass contained in it until a desired wall thickness distance is reached. This process releases excess mass from the mould. Before the stamp is introduced into the mould, a separating pressure is generated on those areas of the surface of the stamp which have come into contact with the mass. This is done either by removing the separating pressure from the mould in the gaseous atmosphere surrounding the stamp, which is then separated from the mould by a vaporised spray (water vapor) or by removing a mechanical gas, which is not completely discharged into the mould, such as when using a stamp, which is not to be removed by a mechanical means, such as by removing the gas between the stamp and the printing plate, or by removing a coating agent, which is not to be removed by a mechanical means, such as when using a stamp.

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DE-OS 21 24 277 describes a method for the production of a single layer of chocolate hollow body by means of a slide casting process. In this process, the chocolate is first filled into a form half made of a film, then the form half is closed by means of a corresponding second form half and then the slide casting formed from these two forms is cast, the chocolate spreading out and forming a completely closed chocolate hollow body on the inner walls of the slide casting process. The slide casting moulds, i.e. the hollow moulds of the slides, can be used at the same time as the finished chocolate body. The slide casting mould can be used for the packaging of the chocolate body.

For this purpose, the chocolate body is either subsequently drilled or a printable section is provided in the packaging, so that a hole is drilled in the chocolate body by impressing this section; the drilled or printable hole is then used to fill the filling. A filling is not a second layer of chocolate body but a mass which essentially fills the entire cavity of the chocolate body. This print also reveals a variant process in which a separating sheet is inserted between the two halves of the mould, the edges of which are slightly cut into the mould cavity by the moulding and its inner section is shortened. The moulding is then shrunk to form two sheets of mould. The moulding is then separated from each other by a trellis and the two opposite sheets are not closed and the moulding is then cut into three separate sheets.

Description of the invention

The present invention is based on the technical problem of creating a novel, effective and economical process for the manufacture of a packaged hollow body of confectionery, which minimises to the greatest extent possible the rate of compression usually caused by possible damage to the product to be manufactured during the manufacturing process.

The first technical problem is solved by a method according to the invention, which has the characteristics of claim 1.

This process of manufacturing a hollow body of confectionery from a tempered moulding confectionery paste, in particular a chocolate paste or a chocolate-like paste, shall consist of the following steps, but not necessarily in the order indicated: (a) separate provision of at least two corresponding thin-walled moulded halves, each having a substantially identical upper surface edge, defining a moulding separation plane, these halves being at the same time a subsequent outer packaging of the confectionery body;(e) the corresponding thin-walled moulded halves are joined to the moulded half-shells of the moulded half-bodies at their moulding side-levels so that the respective edge-sections at the moulding side-levels lie on each other to form a closed hollow mould with a moulded half-bodies composed of the moulded half-bodies, forming a soluble shell-like outer packaging of the moulded half-bodies;

The term 'confectionery hollow body' covers in particular chocolate eggs and so-called surprise eggs as marketed by the applicant. The invention is not, however, limited to those products and the design associated with them. In principle, the invention can also be applied to any other suitable hollow body of confectionery. Forms within the meaning of the invention include not only the two geometric halves of a hollow body which give the shape to the confectionery body to be manufactured, but also several mouldings or mould shells which can be used to form a complete hollow body. The mouldings may also have the same or different mouldings.The composition of the semi-shells may be of the same or different shapes. The joining of the corresponding thin-walled forms does not necessarily require the formation of a solid (but soluble) joint. In the simplest case, it may be sufficient to simply loosely lay the forms on and/or on each other. However, such a process may well be followed by a further process step in which the forms are then fixed in a desired way and soluble.The method of the invention does not require the use of a separating agent, but it is naturally possible in principle to provide for such a means on the moulds and/or stamps.

The method of the invention thus produces the half-shells of the confectionery body in thin-walled moulds which not only form the mould or original mould for the half-shells of the confectionery body to be manufactured, but also represent the subsequent outer packaging of the half-shell and the complete confectionery body composed of it. The moulds thus perform a preliminary half-duplex function.The Committee considers that the present invention is not intended to be a substitute for the present invention, but to be a substitute for the present invention, which is intended to be used as a substitute for the present invention. The Commission considers that the present invention is not intended to be a substitute for the present invention, but to be a substitute for the present invention.The rate of defects caused by defects outside the manufacturing process can therefore be reduced further.

The method of the invention, in which the moulds are not reused in the manufacturing process because of their packaging function, but are left out of the manufacturing process, eliminates both the cleaning step required by the conventional method and the storage or intermediate storage of moulds. Rather, the moulds, which consist of only a thin material, can be prepared and made available for use immediately before or even during the current manufacturing process (the manner in which this can be done is described in more detail below). The manufacture of moulds is sometimes only possible with a very simple tool, or with more complex moulds with only a single tool, which is essential for the pre-processing of the mould. For this reason, the moulding process is a cost-effective and cost-effective solution, as compared to the other methods already known.

Other preferred advantageous embodiments of the process of the invention are covered by subclaims 2 to 18.

The second technical problem underlying the invention is solved by a hollow confectionery body packaged in accordance with the invention and bearing the characteristics of the claim. 19

This packed confectionery cavity consisting of a confectionery mass, in particular a chocolate mass or a chocolate-like mass, shall comprise at least two composite half-shells of the confectionery body forming the cavity, each of which is soluble in one of at least two thin-walled, identical, corresponding moulds, each of which has a border section forming a saturated edge completely surrounding the cavity, with essentially identical yellow surface, which defines a cross-sectional plane of the mould, where the moulds with their respective edge sections are joined together in a closed high-mould, which forms the outer surface of the cavity, which is completely soluble.

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The hollow body of the confectionery packed in accordance with the invention offers the advantages already mentioned in connection with the invention process. Furthermore, the hollow body of the confectionery packed in accordance with the invention, with its outer packaging moulds, creates a completely new type of packaging for this type of confectionery, which in turn opens up new design possibilities.

Other preferred design features of the hollow body of the confectionery packaged in accordance with the invention are covered by subclaims 20 to 30.

Brief description of the drawings

A preferred embodiment and further details and advantages of the process and the hollow body of the confectionery packaged in accordance with the invention are described and explained below by reference to the drawings showing: Fig. 1a schematic cross-sectional view of a hollow body of confectionery packed in accordance with the invention;Fig. 2a detailed enlarged view of a peripheral area of the hollow body of confectionery packed in accordance with the invention from Fig. 1;Fig. 3a schematic longitudinal section through a hollow body of confectionery packed in accordance with the invention along the line A-A in Fig. 1;Fig. 4a schematic flow diagram of the process of the invention for the manufacture of a hollow body of confectionery packed in accordance with the invention;Fig. 5a schematic overview and a cross-sectional view of the hollow body of confectionery packed in accordance with the invention as part of a hollow body of confectionery packed in accordance with the invention;Fig. 6a schematic cross-sectional view of a hollow body of confectionery packed in accordance with the invention is used in conjunction with a template of the process of the invention for the manufacture of a hollow body of confectionery packed in accordance with the invention;Fig. 6a schematic cross-sectional view of the process of the process of the confection is used in conjunction with a template of a hollow body of confectionary packed confectionery packed in accordance with the invention.

Detailed description of an embodiment of the invention

In the following description and figures, identical components are also identified by the same reference marks, unless further differentiation is necessary, to avoid duplication.

The egg-shaped candy body 2 is composed of two half-shells of 6,8 candy bodies, each of which is composed of two layers. The outer half-shell itself is made of a candy mass, i.e. in this case a chocolate-like mass, and has an egg shape. Inside the candy body 2 is an inedible surprise article 4. The egg-shaped candy body 2 is composed of two half-shells of 6,8 candy bodies, each of which is composed of two layers. The outer half-shell itself is made of a dark chocolate-like mass, i.e. in this case a chocolate-like mass, and has an egg shape. The inner half-shell is made of 6,4 candy-like masses, each of which is approximately 12 mm thick. The outer half-shells are composed of a soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft, soft,

As can be seen in both Fig. 1 and especially Fig. 2, which shows an enlarged detailed view of an edge area of the confectionery hollow body 2 packed in accordance with the invention as shown in Fig. 1, the two mould halves 10, 12 each have an essentially identical upper surface edge section 16 defining a mould trench level 18. Over this edge section 16 the mould halves 10, 12 are surrounded by their respective common mould trench levels 18 to form a closed hollow mould 20 perpendicular to each other. This mould body 20 is composed of the outer half of the mould hollow superconductor 6, 8 hollow moulds 2 as a completely soluble mould-like outer part.

In the present example, the composite half-shells of the confectionery body 6, 8 forming the closed confectionery body 2 are naturally located at their half-shell edges 24, 26 only loosely connected to each other. To remove the surprise article 4, they must be located inside the confectionery body 24, 26 and therefore only the adjacent half-shells 6, 8 and 26, which are connected by a simple hand-held black holes, for example, in the case of the black holes 6, 8 and 26, which are also included in the black holes 6, 12, 12, 12, and 12, which are in the configuration of Figure 6.

As shown in Figure 2 of the following by the reference sign 28 and a dashed line, the joined, overlapping mould halves 10, 12 are slightly welded in the area of their perimeter sections 16 and saturn rings 22 respectively. The weld 28 is located in the mould half-plane 18 and runs continuously around the saturn ring 22 and the mould body 20. The mould halves 10, 12 are thus not only precisely aligned to each other but also sealed at their perimeter sections 16 and 22 respectively in the fourth mould 18 respectively. The hollow seal produced by the weld 28 protects the mould in the 20 mould bodies from the fluid flow and also allows some repackaging.

Further details of the hollow body of the confectionery product 2 and its moulded halves 10, 12 which also act as the outer packaging are shown in Figure 3, which shows a schematic longitudinal section of the hollow body of the confectionery product 2 along lines A to A in Figure 1. The plane of incision indicated by lines A to A corresponds to the position of the overlapping separation planes 18 of the two moulded halves 10, 12. As can be seen from the figure, the saturnine edge of a 22 different moulded halves 10, 12 has an outwardly protruding sloping edge area 30, a 30th of the moulded halves. The single hollow 10, 12 and 12 moulded halves, which are at their intersections, are arranged in a way that makes them closely resemble each other. These two moulded halves 10, 28 and 30 are located on the same side of the outer packaging, and can therefore be separated by twelve or twenty moulded halves.

The method of manufacture of a packed confectionery hollow body according to the invention will now be explained with reference to Figures 4-6; for the following description, it is assumed that this method produces the packed confectionery hollow body 2 shown in Figures 1-3

Fig. 4 shows a schematic flow diagram of the process of the invention for the manufacture of a hollow body of confectionery 2 from a tempered pourable confectionery mass, in particular a chocolate mass. In the present example, the process is carried out in a continuous process.

In step S1, a thin, food-grade plastic material (in this case polypropylene) is provided in foil form on a roll, the foil thickness of the plastic material used being approximately 0.2 to 0.3 mm. The plastic foil is then rolled up, fed into a flat surface arrangement of a foil heater and heated there (step S2).

In step S3 the heated plastic film is then drawn in a deep drawing device, forming from the film plane a number of identical, adjacent and consecutive semi-shaped recesses 32 which form a continuous half-shape set 34, 36 (see Fig. 5) over the film. Each recess 32 represents a substantial part of a mold used for subsequent production of the actual sweet-hole body 2.

Then, in step S4, the deep-drawn semi-finished products 34, 36 are marked on their outer side, i.e. the side which will later be facing the finished confectionery hollow 2 (see Figure 1), with a marking device 14 (this marking device 14 may be, for example, an impression and/or a label and/or a sticky label or similar).

The bottom and top of the form, which are then cut at the edges to a suitable form suitable for further processing, form a pair of form sets 34, 36 whose recesses 32 and adjacent edge sections 16 form a variety of pairs of thin-walled form sets 10, 12 corresponding to each other.

The upper and lower moulds 34, 36 are transferred to a subsequent stage of the production line at step S6 at a transfer station.

In this case, the separate preparation is due to the fact that the lower and upper half-forms 34, 36, as shown in Figure 5, are prepared in a slightly different order in the order of the initial plates, and that the two halves of the forged product are then cut into the hole by means of a further deep-drawing process. In this example, the forged product is defined in Figure 10, 12 and 12 in the order of the 12th and 12th halves of the forged product, which correspond to the 12th and 12th halves of the forged product, respectively.

In the course of their provision, the moulds are placed in step S8 on supporting forms 40 (see Figure 6) which are complementary to the two moulds 34, 36 and their moulds 10, 12 formed therein, and thus support the individual moulds 10, 12 on their outer sides.

In the next step S9, the moulds 34, 36 are fed into a filling unit and moulds 10, 12 are filled with a predetermined volume of the tempered molten pastry dough 42 using a dark pastry dough.

Since the following operations are the same for each of the forms 10, 12 and 6, 8 of the confectionery half-shell, only one of the forms 10 and 6 of the forms 10, 12 and 6, 8 of the confectionery half-shell will be used.

As shown in the diagram of Figure 6, in step S10, a movable cooled stamp 44 or moulding stamp is introduced into the moulding half 10 and the tempered confectionery mass 42 filled in to form a moulding half-tray 6 of the desired wall thickness and to solidify the moulded moulding half-tray 6 between the stamp 44 and the moulding half 10. The outer contour 46 of the moulding half-tray 48 into the moulding half 42 and the moulding half-tray 10 into the moulding half 42 correspond to the inner contour 44 of the moulding half-tray 58 with the moulding half-tray 44 to the moulding half-tray 46 to the moulding half-tray 46 (the moulding half-tray corresponds to the inner contour 44 of the moulding half-tray 58 to the moulding half-tray 44 to the moulding half-tray 46 in the first example of this moulding half-tray 46 and half-tray 46 in the moulding half-tray 46 to the moulding half-tray 46).

Figure 6 shows that the stamp 44 has a collar-like, graduated stamping surface 52 in its upper stamping section adjacent to the main section 48. When the stamping position of the confectionery body semi-tray 6 to be formed in step S10 is reached, the stamping surface 52 essentially closes the form 10 at its tread level 18, with the stamping surface 52 lying on the peripheral section 16 of the form 10. Thus, the stamping surface 52 defines a geometrically precise black-bodied semi-hard-bodied 24 (Fig. 2) which is then displaced by the stamping surface 44 when the stamping surface 42 is attached to the stamping surface 52.

It is easy to see that, when using such a stamp 44, the volume of the stamps entered in the form 10 should be precisely dosed, as indicated above, in step S9 a volume of the confectionery mass is therefore entered in the form 10 whose volume corresponds essentially to the volume of a hollow space between the inner contour 50 of the form 10 and the outer contour of the stamp 44 inserted in the form 10 and the stamping surface 52 closing the cutting plane 18.The supporting shapes are supported by a sub-stamp not shown in the drawings. In practice, the volume may in principle be slightly larger, since, depending on the requirements of the stamping surface 52, excess mass may still be released at the marginal section 16 or the separation level 18 depending on the case. However, precise dosing is preferable.Fig. 2) which is formed by a similar confectionery body half-shell 26 edge of a corresponding confectionery body half-shell 12 which is treated in an analogous manner.

In step S11, the stamp 44 is removed from the mould half 10, 12 and the solidified confectionery mass 42 in it, and in the mould half 10, 12 there is now a first single-layer (see Figures 1 and 2 for reference 6.2) confectionery body semi-shell 6 with a thin wall thickness.

The half-shell 6 of the confectionery body in its half-shape 10 is then transported to a refrigeration unit and further cooled in a step S12 over a specified period of time to achieve a certain degree of crystallization of the confectionery mass.

Since the present example is intended to produce a confectionery hollow body 2 having confectionery body semi-shells 6, 8 with a two-layer structure (see Figures 1 and 2), the operations described in steps S9 to S12 are repeated almost in analogue order to form a second layer 6.4 of confectionery mass 42 in the already solidified confectionery body semi-shell layer 6.2 formed in steps S9 to S12.

The essential differences between steps S13 to S16 and the previous steps S9 to S12 are that in the present case a light confectionery mass 42 is used for the second layer 6.4, that the stamp 44 has a slightly different geometry and dimension from the stamp used for the first layer 6.2 (indicated in Figure 6 by a dashed line 54 on the stamp 44), and that the precise volume of the powder to be filled in the forming half 10 and the first layer 6.2 contained in it is matched to the light confectionery mass 42 on this other layer 44.

After the two two-layered half-shells 6, 8 of the hollow body 2 have been completed in the manner described above, step S17 uses an insertion device to insert a surprise article 4 (see Fig. 1), for example a small toy or similar, into one of the two half-shells 6, 8.

In the following steps S18 - S20, the corresponding thin-walled moulded halves 10, 12 and the moulded solidified half-shells 6, 8 are joined at their moulded half-shell levels 18 and peripheral sections 16 respectively, so that the respective moulded half-shell levels 18 lie on top of each other to form a closed hollow moulded body 20 with a hollow moulded body 2 contained within it composed of the moulded half-shells 6, 8 and the super-hollow moulded body 20 forming a soluble outer packaging of the moulded half-shell body 2.

This is done by first folding the two moulding halves 34, 36 and the associated support moulds 40 in the corresponding orientation (as indicated in Fig. 5 by the arrow 60), and pressing them slightly together, in step S18. The corresponding mould halves 10, 12 are then aligned in corresponding orientations at their peripheral sections 16 (still connected per moulding halves) and their moulding half-trees 18 respectively.

In the present example, the half-shells of the sweetener 6, 8 enclosed by the hollow moulded body 20 are only loosely interlaced at their geometrically precise edges 24, 26 It is of course also possible, and provided for in the present invention, to heat at least one of the half-shells of the sweetener 6, 8 at its half-shell 24, 26 which is compatible with a half-shell 24, 26 of the other corresponding half-shells of the sweetener 6, 8 so that the half-shells of the sweetener 6, 8 are completely closed when the thin front half-shells 10, 12 are added or joined to their half-shell 24, 26 and the half-shell is completely closed.

In step S19, the support moulds 40 carried up to that point are reopened by a support mould opening device and removed from the overlapping mould half-sets 34, 36.

The welding 28 is carried out in the mould-half-section plane 18 continuously around the mould body 20 or the saturn-like edge 22, so that the corresponding mould halves 10, 12 are not only exactly fixed to each other but also sealed at their mould-half-section planes 18 (see Fig. 2 and 3). The mould-half-section plane 18 is thus completely closed.

In essence, at the same time as welding, in step S20, the respective moulds 20, which are still connected by their mould half-lines 34, 36, are separated from the set format as a single object and cut to a final packaging format by means of a punching device, cutting at the flat edge sections 16 of the 18 mould halves which are adjacent to their mould half-lines 10, 12. The cut shape and cut geometry are chosen in such a way that in this process a completely circular, circular mould 22 is formed, which completely surrounds the mould body 20, has a loose, circular mould 22 with a segmented edge-like cutting area 30 mm, which forms a 30 mm diameter.

The individual hollow moulds 20 which have been welded and extruded and which protect the inner mould 2 are separated from the remaining residues of the moulds 34, 36 in step S21 and provided for interim storage or transport to the final customer.

The invention is not limited to the above examples of embodiments, which merely serve to explain the basic idea of the invention in general terms. Within the scope of protection, the process and the packaged hollow bodies of the confectionery may take forms other than those described above. The process and the packaged hollow bodies of the confectionery may in particular have features which are a combination of the particular features of the respective claims. Furthermore, the sweet-potato body described may have a different structure from that described above. Accordingly, the shape of the thin-potato products may also be similar. For a product which is made of different types of confectionery, for example, two or more layers of black powder or other substances may be used in the process, and the composition of the products may be modified in the process, as well as the additional dimensions and dimensions of the products used.

Reference marks in the claims, description, summary and drawings are intended only to facilitate the understanding of the invention and are not intended to limit the scope of protection.

List of reference marks

It shall be designated as: 2Sweets hollow body4Surprise article6Sweets hollow body half-shell of 26.2Outer half-shell layer of 66.4Inner half-shell layer of 68Sweets hollow body half-shell layer of 28.2Outer half-shell layer of 88.4Inner half-shell layer of 810Lower half-shell of 2012Over half-shell of 2014Marking material16Rund section of 10,1218Sweets hollow body/shell outer packaging of 222Saturn rings outer rims of 10,1224Sweets hollow body-shell of 626Supper half-shell of 848Supper half-shell of 848Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 848Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 4448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half-shell of 448Supper half

Claims (28)

1. Method for the manufacture of a hollow confectionery body (2) from a pourable confectionery composition (42) of controlled temperature, in particular a chocolate composition, including the following steps:

   a) separate provision (S1 - S7) of at least two thin-walled mould halves (10, 12) matching each other, which each have an upper planar edge section (16, 22) of identical construction defining a dividing plane (18) of the mould halves, wherein these mould halves (10, 12) also form a subsequent outer package (20) of the hollow confectionery body (2),

   b) pouring (S9; S13) the confectionery composition (42) into the respective mould halves (10, 12),

   c) introduction (S10; S14) of a plunger (44) into the respective mould half (10, 12) and the controlled-temperature confectionery composition (42) poured into it, to form in each case a confectionery body half-shell (6, 8) with a desired wall thickness, and to let the respective confectionery body half-shell (6, 8) formed in this way solidify between the plunger (44) and the mould half (10, 12),

   d) removal (S11; S15) of the plunger (44),

   e) joining together (S18 - S20; 28, 60) the thin-walled mould halves (10, 12) matching each other with the solidified confectionery body half-shells (6, 8) arranged therein, at their dividing planes (18) of the mould halves, so that the edge sections (16, 22) rest on one another at the dividing planes (18) of the mould halves, to form a closed hollow mould body (20) with a hollow confectionery body (2) located therein and assembled from the confectionery body half-shells (6, 8), wherein the hollow mould body (20) forms a releasable shell-like outer package of the hollow confectionery body (2), and

   f) trimming (S20) the finished closed hollow mould body (20) at the planar edge sections (16) of its mould halves (10, 12), which rest on one another at their dividing planes (18) of the mould halves, to a final package size for a single hollow confectionery body (2), so that a Saturn ring-like edge (22) extending completely round the mould body (20) is formed.
2. Method according to claim 1, characterised in that before step e) at least one of the confectionery body half-shells (6, 8) is heated at its confectionery body half-shell edge (24, 26), which fits together with a confectionery body half-shell edge (24, 26) of the at least one other matching confectionery body half-shell (6, 8), so that the confectionery body half-shells (6, 8) are joined to form a closed hollow confectionery body (2) when the thin-walled mould halves (10, 12) are joined together (S18 - S20) in step e) at their confectionery body half-shell edges (24, 26).
3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that after step d) steps b) to d) are repeated at least once (S13 - S15), to form at least one further shell layer (6.4, 8.4) of a confectionery composition (42) in the already presolidified confectionery body half-shell (6.2, 8.2).
4. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that the controlled-temperature confectionery composition (42) is cooled (44) in step c).
5. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that after step d) the confectionery body half-shells (6, 8) located in their mould halves (10, 12) are further cooled (S12; S16).
6. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that before step a) the thin-walled mould halves (10, 12) with their edge sections (16, 22) forming the dividing plane (18) of the mould halves are in each case deep-drawn (S2, S3) from a thin, plate- or film-like food-resistant synthetic material.
7. Method according to claim 6, characterised in that during deep-drawing (S2, S3) several identical mould halves (10, 12) located one beside and/or behind the other are shaped, forming a coherent set of mould halves (34, 36).
8. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that before step a) the thin-walled mould halves (10, 12) are provided with a marking means (14) on their outer side facing away from the hollow confectionery body (2).
9. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that in at least one of steps a) to e) the mould halves (10, 12) are supported (S8 - S19) on their outer sides by a supporting mould (40) of complementary shape to the mould halves (10, 12).
10. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that immediately before step e) the mould halves (10, 12) matching each other are folded onto one another (S18; 60) to form a complete hollow mould body (20).
11. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that, when joining together (S20; 28) the mould halves (10, 12) in step e), at least one edge section region (30) of the edge sections (16, 22) is hollowed out, so that the edge sections (16, 22) rest loosely on one another at this point (30) in the dividing plane (18) of the mould halves.
12. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that the mould halves (10, 12) are sealed (S20; 28) at their edge sections (16, 22) when joined together (S20; 28) in step e).
13. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that the mould halves (10, 12) and/or sets of mould halves (34, 36) which have been deep-drawn and/or provided with a marking means (14) are trimmed (S5) to a set size before step a).
14. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that during trimming (S20) a separating tab (30) is formed on the section (30) of the Saturn ring-like edge (22) at which the edge sections (16, 22) rest loosely on one another in the dividing plane (18) of the mould halves.
15. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that at least two of the following steps are performed essentially simultaneously:

    - joining together (S20; 28) the thin-walled mould halves (10, 12) matching each other,

    - trimming (S20) the mould halves (10, 12) resting on one another to a final package size,

    - sealing (S20; 28) the mould halves (10, 12) at their edge sections (16, 22).
16. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that

    - in step c) a plunger (44) is used, comprising a plunger mould surface (52) which, on reaching a plunger position required for forming the desired wall thickness of the confectionery body half-shell (6, 8) to be shaped, closes the mould halves (10, 12) essentially level at their dividing plane (18) and defines a geometrically precise confectionery body half-shell edge (24, 26),

    and

    - in the preceding step b) into the respective mould half (10, 12) is poured (S9, S13) a measured volumetric quantity of confectionery composition

    - whose volume essentially corresponds to the volume of a cavity which is defined between the inner contour (50) of the mould half (10, 12), the outer contour (46) of the plunger (44) introduced into the mould half (10, 12), and the plunger mould surface (52) which closes the dividing plane (18) level, or

    - whose volume essentially corresponds to the volume of a cavity which is defined between the inner contour (58) of a confectionery body half-shell (6, 8; 6.2, 8.2) moulded in a previous step, the outer contour (54) of the plunger (44) introduced into the mould half (10, 12), and the plunger mould surface (52) which closes the dividing plane (18) level,

    so that a confectionery body half-shell (6, 8) with an exactly defined confectionery body half-shell edge (24, 26) is formed, which fits together precisely with an identical confectionery body half-shell edge (24, 26) of a matching confectionery body half- shell (6, 8).
17. Method according to one or more of the above-mentioned claims, characterised in that before step e) at least one surprise article (4) is introduced (S17) into at least one (6) of the already solidified confectionery body half-shells (6, 8).
18. Packaged hollow confectionery body (2) consisting of a confectionery composition (42), in particular a chocolate composition or a chocolate-like composition, including

    - at least two confectionery body half-shells (6, 8) assembled and forming the hollow confectionery body (2), which are in each case releasably moulded in one of at least two thin-walled, identical mould halves (10, 12) matching each other,

    - wherein the mould halves (10, 12) each have an upper planar edge section (16, 22) of identical construction which forms a Saturn ring-like edge (22) extending completely round the mould body (20) and which defines a dividing plane (18) of the mould halves at which the mould halves (10, 12) with their respective edge sections (16, 22) resting on one another are joined together to form a closed hollow mould body (20) which completely surrounds the hollow confectionery body (2) formed from the confectionery body half-shells (6, 8), as a releasable shell-like outer package.
19. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to claim 18, characterised in that the confectionery body half-shells (6, 8) each have a geometrically precisely shaped confectionery body half-shell edge (24, 26) which fits together precisely with an identical confectionery body half-shell edge (24, 26) of a matching confectionery body half-shell (6, 8).
20. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to claim 18 or 19, characterised in that the confectionery body half-shells (6, 8) rest loosely on one another at their confectionery body half-shell edges (24, 26).
21. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to one or more of claims 18 to 20, characterised in that the confectionery body half-shells (6, 8) are joined at their confectionery body half-shell edges (24, 26) to form a closed hollow confectionery body (2).
22. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to one or more of claims 18 to 21, characterised in that the mould halves (10, 12) are deep-drawn (S3) from a food-resistant synthetic material.
23. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to one or more of claims 18 to 22, characterised in that the mould halves (10, 12) are provided on their outer side with a marking means (14).
24. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to one or more of claims 18 to 23, characterised in that the joined-together mould halves (10, 12) at their edge sections (16, 22) comprise at least one edge section region (30) at which the edge sections (16, 22) rest loosely on one another in the dividing plane (18) of the mould halves.
25. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to one or more of claims 18 to 24, characterised in that the mould halves (10, 12) are sealed (28) at their edge sections (16, 22) .
26. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to one or more of claims 18 to 25, characterised in that the Saturn ring-like edge (22) in the region of the loose edge section region (30) has a separating tab (30) with which the joined-together (28) mould halves (10, 12) are to be released again.
27. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to one or more of claims 18 to 26, characterised in that the confectionery body half-shells (6, 8) are constructed in several layers (6.2, 8.2; 6.4, 8.4).
28. Packaged hollow confectionery body according to one or more of claims 18 to 26, characterised in that in its interior is arranged at least one surprise article (4).