Gum Sizing Roller Contouring and Thickness Variation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional gum manufacturing processes are time-consuming and inefficient, requiring significant machinery and force to achieve the desired thickness and contouring of gum products, and struggle with processing shear-sensitive ingredients and maintaining flavor integrity.
Innovation Solution
A method involving a gum sizing system with rollers that simultaneously sizes and contours gum products, creating a thickness variation across the surface to form a continuous sheet or multi-layered composition, reducing shear force and enabling more efficient processing of sensitive ingredients.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Volume of moving object
If traditional sizing machinery with small rectangular orifices is used to size gum, then the gum thickness can be reduced, but a significant amount of force (e.g., 30 HP drive) is required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple sizing rollers into a single sizing system where rollers work in sequence within one integrated unit. This merging of sizing functions reduces the need for multiple separate machinery systems and decreases the total force required compared to traditional single-orifice extrusion methods
Solution Approach 2:
The sizing process is divided into multiple stages, with each roller reducing the gum thickness progressively. Instead of forcing gum through one small orifice, the gum passes through several rollers with progressively smaller gaps, distributing the sizing force across multiple lower-force steps
2Volume of moving object
If a series of sizing rollers are used to progressively reduce gum thickness, then the gum can be sized to desired thickness, but the process becomes time-consuming and requires extensive machinery
Solution Approach 1:
The sizing rollers operate continuously as gum passes through the system, with each roller immediately following the previous one. This continuous sizing process eliminates idle time between sizing stages and maintains constant material flow, significantly reducing total processing time compared to batch or interrupted sizing methods
Solution Approach 2:
Multiple sizing rollers are integrated into a single continuous sizing system rather than using separate machines for each sizing stage. This consolidation allows gum to be sized through multiple reduction stages in one continuous pass, reducing both time and machinery requirements
3Shape
If traditional extrusion methods are used to form contours and channels in gum surfaces, then shaping can be achieved, but it requires numerous added processing steps and is extremely difficult for certain machine directions
Solution Approach 1:
Contours and channels are formed in the gum surface during the sizing process itself, before the gum completes its formation. The sizing rollers are equipped with surface features that imprint contours and channels onto the gum as it passes through, eliminating the need for subsequent separate contouring operations
Solution Approach 2:
The contouring function is merged with the sizing function. The same rollers that reduce gum thickness also form contours and channels on the gum surface through their surface geometry, combining two previously separate operations into one integrated process
4Ease of manufacture
If dusting with powder agent is used to prevent gum sticking to rollers, then gum can be sized without adhesion, but the process requires additional materials and may affect product quality
Solution Approach 1:
A release coating is applied to the roller surfaces to act as an intermediary layer between the gum and the roller metal. This coating provides non-sticking properties without requiring dusting with powder agents during the sizing process, eliminating material loss and potential quality issues from powder contamination
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method enhances the efficiency of gum production by reducing the need for extensive machinery and force, preserving the integrity of shear-sensitive ingredients, and allowing for the creation of complex contours and flavors, resulting in improved product quality and reduced production time.
Implementation Method 1
sizing the gum mass into a continuous gum sheet via the sizing system, the gum sheet having a thickness between about 0.3 mm to 10 mm... creating a variation of thickness across at least a portion of the length or width of the gum sheet via the at least one roller
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 1A~2B
Figure 3A~3C
AI summary
Disclosed is a method for forming a contoured chewing gum product, the method including providing a gum sizing system including at least one roller, moving a gum mass toward and through the sizing system in a direction of flow, sizing the gum mass into a substantially continuous gum sheet via the sizing system, the gum sheet having a thickness between about 0.3 mm to 10 mm at at least a portion of the gum sheet via the sizing, creating a thickness variation in the gum sheet via the at least one roller of the sizing system, wherein the creating of the thickness variation and the sizing of the gum mass into the gum sheet occurs substantially simultaneously, and separating the gum sheet into a plurality of gum pieces, at least one of the plurality of pieces including the thickness variation.