Patent ID: 7770513

Claim:
An apparatus for making an expanded food product comprising: (a) a heatable pressure-baking and expansion mold comprising at least one movable mold element connected to a driving system that moves said mold element upwardly and downwardly in a vertical direction, said driving system comprising at least one hydraulic cylinder attached to said mold element, said hydraulic cylinder being connected to a fluid feed line of a hydraulic fluid pressure generator system that delivers fluid to said hydraulic drive cylinder, said hydraulic cylinder also being connected to a fluid return line which flows the utilized fluid back through a cooling unit to a fluid reservoir of said fluid pressure generator; and (b) a supply system for transporting a material into said mold; wherein said hydraulic drive cylinder further comprises a manifold mounted directly to a cylinder head, wherein said fluid feed line and said fluid return line are connected to the manifold which includes at least one forward valve for the forward stroke and at least one return valve for the return stroke of a cylinder piston in said hydraulic drive cylinder, and wherein said forward and said return valves are selectively actuatable and wherein said manifold includes at least two forward valves for said forward stroke and at least two return valves for said return stroke of said cylinder piston, said forward and the return valves are selectively actuatable from a control unit.