Nestec S.a.

Jean Horisberger

Ernst Heck

Werner Pfaller

Roman Deutsch

Jean-Jacques Desjardins

A process for the manufacture of cooked cereals or dry pet food by preparing a mixture of water and a dry premix mainly comprising cereal flour or semolina, and pressing the mixture, with the aid of a gear pump, firstly through a heat exchanger wherein it is cooked and then through an extrusion die to form an extruded product. Also, an apparatus for carrying out the process and a product obtainable by the process.

Extrusion process, apparatus and product

An extrusion die for making shaped extrudate products has structure which defines a central duct which is convergent from a duct inlet opening to a duct outlet opening and has structure which defines a tubular extrusion duct co-axial with the central duct and which also is convergent from a duct inlet opening to a duct outlet opening. A feed diaphragm member has a portion which converges to an opening which opens to a distribution chamber which diverges so that substance being extruded is distributed to the central and tubular ducts. Diaphragms are provided in the ducts to delimit passage of extrudate substance into the ducts. Additionally, members are provided for altering the position of the central duct and its duct outlet relative to the second duct member and its outlet.

Extrusion die assembly for obtaining differently shaped products

Edible cups containing an edible filling are prepared by extrusion-cooking ingredients which include a cereal ingredient and extruding an extrusion-cooked product strip, passing the product strip to a heated pressing device for hot-pressing the product strip while it is still thermoplastic to form cavities in the strip which define cup structures in a row and then, incisions are made between the cup structures, a food product filling is introduced into the cup structure cavity and the strip is cut so that filled cups are obtained.

Preparation of edible food product cups containing a filling

Extrusion cooked coextruded food products having a cereal-based outer envelope in a thermoplastic state are cut by passing the product between two parallel counter-rotating cylinder surfaces which define male and female impression elements configured and positioned so that upon rotation, the impression elements of one surface converge with the elements of the other surface in a male to female relation for cutting the product into discrete pieces.

Cutting coextruded thermoplastic food products

A machine for continuously stamping at least one advancing product strip has a stamping wheel, the rotatable wheel having at least one heated stamping die positioned about its outer circumference, and has a rotatable shaft for driving the stamping wheel and pairs of rotatable synchronizing rollers affixed on rotatable shafts upstream and downstream of the stamping wheel in the line of the advancing strip for positioning the advancing strip for stamping and for delivering the advancing stamped strip for cutting. The stamping wheel driving shaft and the shafts of the synchronizing rollers are connected to a motor for being driven in synchronism so the stamping wheel and rollers have a peripheral speed equal to the linear speed of advance of the product strip. A plurality of stamping wheels may be aligned side by side for being driven by one driving shaft for stamping a plurality of advancing product strips with the pairs of rollers extending and encompassing each product strip advancing to and departing from the stamping wheel. For cutting the stamped product strip or strips, a rotatable cutting device is affixed on a rotatable shaft and a cooperating rotatable anvil wheel is affixed on a rotatable shaft downstream of the pair of rollers which are downstream of the stamping wheel. The cutting device and anvil wheel also are driven in synchronism with the other elements so the cutting device and anvil wheel will have a peripheral speed equal to the linear speed of the advancing stamped product strip.

Growing community of inventors

Ecublens, Switzerland

Jean Horisberger