Patent ID: 7022353

Claim:
A method for continuously coating cores of gum material to provide a smooth, thick shell of coating material thereon comprising: (a) introducing sheets of gum material into a mixer; (b) rotating said mixer to break up the sheets of gum material into individual cores of gum material; (c) applying one or more layers of a first sugar syrup coating material on said cores of gum material inside said rotating mixer; (d) continuously transferring said cores of gum material into an inlet end of a rotating drum member; (e) transporting the cores of gum material from said inlet end to an outlet end of said drum member such that the first cores of gum material introduced into said inlet end are substantially the first cores of material to be exhausted from said outlet end; (f) applying a plurality of layers of a second sugar syrup coating material, said second coating material including a different amount of sugar than said first material, on said cores of gum material inside said drum member as the cores proceed from said inlet end to said outlet end; (g) drying said coated layers on said coating cores of gum material by circulation of heated air inside said drum member; and (h) inclining said drum member relative to the horizontal in order to insure that the first cores of gum material introduced into said inlet end of said rotating drum member are substantially the first cores of gum material to be exhausted from said outlet end of said drum member; wherein a smooth, shell of substantially uniform thickness of coating materials is formed on each of said cores of gum material comparable to coatings formed by a batch-type coating process, and in a faster manner.