Filling unit and method for filling a confectionery product into a mould or a container

Abstract

There is disclosed a filling unit and a method for filling a confectionery mass, such as ice-cream, into a container or a mould. The filling unit (1) includes a fill housing (4) with a filling nozzle (2) and at least two dosing pistons (7, 7"), each dosing piston (7', 7") provided displaceably in a cylinder (8', 8") which is connected to the fill housing (4). In the fill housing (4), a valve (5, 5") is arranged for each cylinder (8, 8") A mixing block (3) with internal ducts (15',15"), preferably an exchangeable one, connects each of the outlets (11,, 11") from the fill housing (4) with each their internal 10 duct in the filling nozzle (2), which can be exchangeable as well. This makes the filling unit very flexible as it can be used for a plurality of different variants with various patterns. The method includes confectionery mass being conducted from a filling nozzle (6, 6") into at least one of the cylinders (8, 8") while the dosing piston (7,7") in the cylinder (8', 8") is retracted (A) into the cylinder (8,8"), after which the confectionery mass is dosed down into the mould or container (12) by actuating the dosing pistons (7,7"). The speeds of the pistons (7, 7") are controlled independently of each other, providing that varying patterns can also be formed in longitudinal direction of the ice-cream / confectionery product. The movement of the filling unit (1) relative to the container or mould can be varied as well while the filling nozzle (2) is withdrawn from the mould or container (1) during the dosing of the confectionery mass, providing additional options for variation in patterns.

Description

technical field [0001] The invention relates to a filling unit for filling confectionary products into molds or containers, comprising a filling box with a filling nozzle and a dosing piston displaceably arranged in a cylinder of the filling unit. [0002] The invention also relates to a method for filling confectionery pieces, such as ice cream, into containers or moulds. Background technique [0003] The present invention is particularly suitable for filling any confectionery product that contains air and is therefore compressible, such as ice cream, sorbet, mousse and the like. However, the present invention may also be used for filling air-free pastry confectionery pieces, including, for example, water-based ice cubes. The invention will be explained using ice cream as an example, but is not limited to this type of product. [0004] It is well known to use filling units to be able to fill ice cream into different types of containers, including for example traditional i...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

[0006] However, this packing unit has several disadvantages

The dosing piston itself is clearly a technically complex design

The dosing piston is also complicated to clean, especially the piping inside the dosing piston

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