Patent Publication Number: US-2003234338-A1

Title: Mold for making confections

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] The present invention relates to a mold for making confections, and more particularly to a mold that can be easily manufactured and handled to make specially shaped confections.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] In making a specially shaped confection, materials for making the confection are usually manually or mechanically injected to form a blank, which is then colored or decorated on an outer surface thereof. A confection so produced normally has a beautiful but dull appearance, making the confection not so cute, vivid and attractive.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0003] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a mold for making confections that enables easy production of confections having cute, vivid, and attractive appearances.  
       [0004] To achieve the above and other objects, the mold for making confections according to the present invention mainly includes a main body having a recess provided at one surface thereof. The recess may show different shapes and is provided on an inner bottom surface with dams lower than a top of the recess to divide the shape of the recess into several separated areas, and fine engraving ribs lower than the dams to show different curves or straight lines in the separated areas. Materials of different colors are separately poured into the separated areas in the recess to a level lower than the dams, and a binding stratum is formed between tops of the dams and the recess. After the materials and the binding stratum are set to form a molded confection, the main body is inverted and bent upward to separate the molded confection from the mold.  
       [0005] The recess on the main body of the mold is further provided on the inner bottom surface with raised and depressed portions matching with the shape of the recess, so the molded confections has a vivid and delicate outer appearance.  
       [0006] The main body of the mold is made of a flexible material, so that it can be easily bent to separate the molded confection from the recess of the mold. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0007] The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein  
     [0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mold for making confections according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0009]FIGS. 2 and 3 show the manner of making a confection with the mold of the present invention;  
     [0010]FIG. 4 is a sectioned side view of the mold of the present invention being used to make a confection; and  
     [0011]FIG. 5 shows the manner of separating a molded confection from the mold of the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
     [0012] Please refer to FIG. 1 that is a perspective view of a mold for making confections according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown, the mold mainly includes a main body  1  that is made of a flexible material, such as silica gel, and is provided on one surface with a recess  11 . The recess  11  maybe differently contoured to show various shapes, patterns or figures. An inner bottom surface of the recess  11  may include a plurality of raised and depressed portions, depending on the shape, pattern or figure designed for the recess  11 . Dams  12  lower than a top of the recess  11  are provided in the recess  11  at predetermined positions to divide the shape, pattern or figure of the recess  11  into several separated areas as desired. In each of the separated areas of the recess  11 , fine engraving ribs  13  lower than the dams  12  and showing different curves or straight lines are provided according to the shape, pattern or figure designed for the recess  11 . Materials of different colors for making the confection may be separately poured into the separated areas in the recess  11  without becoming mixed with one another.  
     [0013] Please refer to FIGS.  2  to  5 . To use the mold of the present invention to make a confection, first separately pour materials  2  of different colors into the separated areas of the recess  11  on the main body  1 . To prevent different colors from mixing with one another in the recess  11 , the materials  2  should always be poured into the separated areas of the recess  11  to a level lower than the top of the dams  12 . Thereafter, an additional amount of the material  2 , which may be in one single color, is poured into the recess  11  to fill a space between tops of the dams  12  and the recess  11  to serve as a binding stratum  3  to bind materials  2  in the separated areas into one unit. After the materials  2  and the binding stratum  3  are set, a confection  100  is molded in the recess  11 . At this point, the main body  1  of the mold may be turned upside down and bent upward to separate the molded confection  100  from the recess  11  to complete the production of the confection  100 .  
     [0014] Since the recess  11  on the main body  1  is provided with dams  12  to produce separated areas, and the inner bottom surface of the recess  11  is provided with raised and depressed portions to create special features, the confection  100  molded in the recess  11  may show different colors at different areas and have a three-dimensional outer surface, giving the confection  100  a cute and vivid appearance. Moreover, the lower engraving ribs  13  in the separated areas of the recess  11  create fine lines or texts on the outer surface of the molded confection  100 , making the confection  100  looked more delicate, attractive, and delicious.  
     [0015] The mold of the present invention formed from flexible main body and provided with recess, dams, and engraving ribs enables easy and quick molding of cute, delicate, and attractive confections, and is therefore practical for use.