Improvements in or relating to the Coating of Sweets and the like with Chocolate or other Material.
Year: 1897

page_text: . Date of Application, 21st Jan., 1897-Accepted, 6th Mar., 1897
Improvements in or relating to the Coating of Sweets and the like
with Chocolate or other Material.
A communication from LOUIS BERNHARDT LEHMANN, Machine-works, in
Dresden-Löbtau, Empire of Germany.
I, ALFRED JULIUS BOULT of 111 Hatton Garden in the County of Middlesex,
Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
In the following specification is described a machine which has for its object the
coating or covering of confectionery (more particularly "pralines") with chocolate
or other coating by dripping it into said coating material. Except as regards
feeding in the confectionery the machine acts automatically in such manner that
the sweets are immersed face downwards and then delivered in an upright position.
By such working a product is obtained which as regards cleanliness and good
appearance is equal to that produced by hand.
A characteristic feature of the invention consists in a rotating or continuous
carrier carrying grate-like supports which receive the sweets and step by step
bringing the said supports to the place where they are supplied with sweets and
then over a tank which can be raised and which is filled with the mass for coating
the sweets. By raising said tank up to the supports whilst they remain at rest,
the sweets are immersed and coated and finally, by means of guides arranged in the
same direction as the supports, brought into an upright position and deposited on
their bottom surfaces.
A construction of the machine having continuous carrier will be described first.
Fig. 1 is an elevation
Fig. 2 is a vertical cross section,
Fig. 3 a plan of a piece of a support adapted to receive conical sweets-on an
enlarged scale.
Two endless bands or chains A run over pulleys a a and a' a' which are secured
in pairs ou the shafts bb, b is connected by means of two toothed wheels e e with
the ratchet wheel d on the shaft d' which is rotated by the pawl d² step by step
from the steering shaft e by means of a crank connecting rod f¹ and arm f2;
each step in this movement corresponds to the distance of the two supports on A,
which are according to Figs. 2 and 3 the form of a grate; on A. A are secured the
euds of a series of bent arms 9 g the other (inner) ends being connected together
in pairs by cross pieces g'o' and the latter carrying rings g2 92, in which the
sweets are placed in series with their points downwards. These supports
however are described only by way of example and must of course be modified
according to the shape of the sweets to be treated and to the arrangement of the
supports.
Un e are mounted within the frame sides cams h h on the peripheries of which
rest vertically guided rods i i. These support by means of a cross beam ¹ the
tank I which is filled with the coating material of desired consistency with which
the sweets are to be covered. The tank is of such width that the inner sides of gg
together with the supports are immersed when the tank is raised.
A bell-crank lever k carrying a hammer head K swings on each side of the

page_text: frame about a pivot the end of the longer arm k, of each rod resting against the
periphery of the discs 2k which are partly toothed as in ratchet wheels and are
keyed outside the frame on the shaft e. The hammers accordingly repeatedly
give-during the time that the ratchet teeth act on the levers kk-quick light
blows on A A whereby the superfluous covering mass is caused to drop off from
the sweets, which have been immersed.
Concentrically with the pulley a a are arranged on the right hand side (where
the sweets move downwards) guides which are connected to one another so as to
form a grating, thus affording a guide for the bottom surfaces of the sweets, and
preventing them from falling out whilst travelling round the pulley. Thereby the
sweets travelling round a a are turned so that although they are dipped "point
downwards, they are deposited after having passed between a a and 11, on their
bases, when they fall out from their supports, as shown at x (Fig. 1).
In order to take up or remove the sweets deposited in this way there is preferably
arranged an advancing table in the form of an endless band M travelling over
rollers m m'. This band is caused to move step by step from the shaft c by an
eccentric n and ratchet gear n¹ n² N.
On the band M is directed a blast from a ventilator O the shaft of which is
rotated at a high rate of speed from the driving shaft P.
The shaft e is slowly rotated from the shaft P by means of two toothed
wheels p p.
The sweets are placed in the position G¹ into the support G, points downward.
The next step or movement A A brings the support into the position G² above the
tank I. During the time that A A are at rest the tank is raised by the eccentrich h
and rods ii, and the sweets become immersed. Then the tank I again descends
and during the time that the support passes into the position G³ during a part of
the movement of A A, the superfluous mass is shaken off. Then the sweets are
guided downwards by Il and deposited on M which convey them step by step to
the left. In consequence of the continuous supply of fresh air by the ventilator the
drying of the sweets takes place in a rapid manner. The emptied support finally
arrives into its original position G' where it is again filled. As there are preferably
several supports G, several series of sweets are treated simultaneously so that at
each step movement of A A, a new series is introduced, one series being immersed
and one deposited on the carrier band.
A modification which, unlike the one described is destined to be worked by
hand, is illustrated in Fig. 4 in side elevation, and in Fig. 5 in front view (as seen
from the left hand side of Figure 4).
The travelling carrier is constituted by two pulleys Q on large annular hubs q
which project inwards from the framing. The toothed wheels 99 on QQ, engage
with toothed wheels r r mounted on the shaft r having a hand crank 2. A single
support is employed which exactly corresponds to the support hereinbefore
described and is similarly designated by the letters G ggl g², the bent arms 9 g are
of course secured to the circumferences of the wheels QQ.
Between the hubs is supported a shafts having wheels s¹s one half of each of
which is provided with teeth said shaft s being adapted to be rotated by the hand
crank s independently of 1. During one half of the revolution the tank for the
covering mass here also marked I is raised by the toothed portions ss engaging
with and raising the vertically guided toothed racks t t said tank again descending
as soon as toothless halves si s come opposite to the tooth racks. During the
second half of the revolution the shaking off of the superfluous material from the
sweets by shaking device K kk takes place, said device being similar to the one before
described; k² k² being mounted on the shaft s. There is also here a guide surface
formed by rods or guides ll, which is arranged round the side of QQ and guides
the sweets on to the endless band M. The movement of the band M by rollers m m¹
by means of the crank n, connecting rods n' n² N and ratchet wheel has no new
features, compared with the first described construction.
T is a supply-table.

page_text: The position of the support, when the sweets are introduced into it, coincides in
this construction with the dipping position. If Q Q are brought into these
positions, the shaft r' is left stationary and s is turned by means of the handle s³,
whereupon the tank I rises and sinks thereby causing the immersion and imme-
diately afterwards the shaking off of superfluous coating material, to take place.
Then the shaft & is left stationary and the support is caused to move downwards
along by turning the shaft r by the handle 2.
It is evident that many details may be varied in the two constructions herein-
before described without departing from the spirit of the invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent and in what manner the
same is to be performed, 1 declare that what I claim is :-
1. The method of coating sweets and the like with chocolate, or other material,
consisting in placing the sweets on a support or supports arranged on a rotatable
continuous carrier the supports being brought intermittently over a tank containing
the coating material when said sweets are immersed by raising the tank superfluous
material being shaken off by hammers striking against the carrier band and finally
the sweets being guided and deposited on a table or endless band in such way that
the sweets falling out from supports are deposited on their bottom surfaces in an
upright position substantially as described.
2. A machine for coating sweets and the like, with chocolate or other material,
consisting of a rotating continuous carrier carrying supports for the sweets said
carrier being rotated intermittently to permit the sweets to be filled into their
supports immersed in the coating material by the raising of the tank containing
such coating material with means for shaking off superfluous material from the
treated sweets, and means for guiding and depositing the sweets upon a table or
travelling band, substantially as described.
3. The combination and arrangement of parts forming a complete machine for
coating sweets and the like with chocolate or other material, substantially as
described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 and 3, or Figures 4 and 5, of the
accompanying drawings.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.