Edible food containers and the method and apparatus for coating said containers

Claim 2

1,. A sugar syrup barrier coating composition for application to at least the interior surface of an edible food container which comprises a sugar solution having a sugar content of at least 50% by weight.

Claim 3

The sugar syrup barrier coating composition of claim 1, wherein the sugar content is at least 70% by weight.

Claim 4

The sugar syrup barrier coating composition of claim 2 wherein the sugar content is about 80 to 86% by weight with the substantial balance being water.

Claim 5

The sugar syrup barrier coating composition of claim 2, wherein the sugar content if from 70 to about 79% by weight with the substantial balance including water, and an additive to facilitate the adhesion of the coating to the edible food container.

Claim 6

The sugar syrup barrier coating composition of any of claims 1-4, wherein the coating composition further contains a flavor-producing material.

Claim 7

The sugar syrup barrier coating composition of claim 4, wherein the additive is a vegetable gum, a cellulose gum or a modified cellulose gum selected from the group consisting of sodium alginate, Avacel, alginate, propylene glycol alginate, carrageenans, Xanthan gum, hydroxy propyl methyl cellulose and hydroxypropyl cellulose.

Claim 8

The sugar syrup barrier coating composition of claim 6, wherein when Xanthan gum is utilized, it is combined with an additional gum selected from the group consisting of locust bean gum and guar gum.

Claim 9

The sugar syrup barrier coating composition of claim 6, wherein the gum is present in an amount of about 0.1 to 2% by weight based on the weight of the coating composition.

Claim 10

The sugar syrup barrier coating composition of claim 4, wherein the additive is a starch which is present in an amount of 5 to 20% by weight based on the weight of the coating composition.

Claim 11

The sugar syrup barrier coating composition of any of claims 4-9, wherein the sugar content is 77 to 78% by weight.

Claim 12

An edible food container provided with a sugar syrup barrier coating composition according to any of claims 1-10 on at least the internal surface thereof.

Claim 13

The edible food container of claim 11 which contains a dessert food product such as ice cream.

Claim 15

The method of claim 13, wherein the barrier coating composition is applied by a) spraying the edible food container with the barrier coating composition or b) filling the edible food container with the barrier coating composition and then dumping the contents from said container.

Claim 18

The method of claim 15 wherein either the edible food container or the barrier coating composition within the container is rotated to force the barrier coating composition up the inside surface of the container.

Claim 19

The method of claim 15 or 16 wherein the excess coating composition escapes from the top of the container and is recovered for reuse.

Claim 21

A continuous method of applying a coating material to an edible food container for use with a food product which comprises - spraying the internal surface of the food container with the coating material - drying the coating material while spinning the food container to insure a uniform distribution of the coating material on the internal surface of the food container, - optionally inverting the food container to expose the external surface thereof, - spraying the external surface of the food container with the coating material, and - drying the coating material while spinning the food container to insure a uniform distribution of the coating material in the external surface of the food container.

Claim 22

A continuous method of applying a coating material to an edible food container for use with a food product which comprises - spraying the internal surface of the food container with the coating material - drying the coating material while spinning the food container to insure a uniform distribution of the coating material on the internal surface of the food container, - optionally inverting the food container to expose the external surface thereof, - spraying the external surface of the food container with the coating material, and - drying the coating material while spinning the food container to insure a uniform distribution of the coating material in the external surface of the food container.

Claim 23

A continuous method of applying a coating material to an edible food container for use with a food product whic comprises - filling the edible food container with the coating material to coat the internal surface thereof - removing the coating materials from the edible food container - drying the coating material while spinning the food container to ensure a uniform distribution of the coating material on the internal surface of the food container, - coating the external surface of the food container with the coating material, and - drying the coating material while spinning the food container to insure a uniform distribution of the coating material on the external surface of the food container.

Claim 24

A continuous method of applying a coating material to an edible food container for use with a food product whic comprises - filling the edible food container with the coating material to coat the internal surface thereof - removing the coating materials from the edible food container - drying the coating material while spinning the food container to ensure a uniform distribution of the coating material on the internal surface of the food container, - coating the external surface of the food container with the coating material, and - drying the coating material while spinning the food container to insure a uniform distribution of the coating material on the external surface of the food container.

Claim 25

The method of claim 20 wherein the coating material is removed by inverting the edible food container to dump the coating material therefrom.

Claim 27

The method of claim 22 wherein a plurality of container supports are disposed on a second conveyor system positioned below the first conveyor system, and the food containers are transferred from the vacuum pot of the first conveyor system to the container support of the second conveyor system by rotating the first conveyor system to invert the vacuum pot and associated food container to a position above a container support on the second conveyor system and releasing the vacuum on the vacuum pot.

Claim 28

The method of claim 22 wherein a vacuum is applied to the container support for holding the cup thereto in an inverted position.

Claim 29

The method of claim 24 wherein the coating material dumped from the food container is recycled for further use.

Claim 32

The apparatus of claim 26, further including an overflow recovery container (5) operatively associated with the upper portion of the receptacle (2) for recovering excess coating composition which is discharging from the upper portion of the edible food container during the coating operation.

Claim 34

The apparatus of claim 26 or 27 wherein the means for rotating the coating composition comprises a mandril. means and means for rotating said mandril means, said mandril means being adapted to move into and out of the coating composition disposed in the edible food container.

Claim 35

The apparatus of claim 29 wherein the mandril means also functions as the means for introducing the coating composition into the edible food container.

Claim 36

A continuous apparatus for providing a barrier coating composition on the interior and exterior surfaces of an edible food container which comprises - a first conveyor system (20) containing a plurality of container receiving stations (9), - a second conveyor system (20) containing a plurality of container receiving stations (16), said second conveyor being disposed below said first conveyor system, - a vacuum system (17, 18, 19) operatively associated with the container receiving stations of the first and second conveyor systems, - a dispensing means (10) for sequentially placing the edible food containers in the container receiving stations of the first conveying system, - coating means (11, 13, 14) operatively associated with the first conveyor system for coating the internal surface of the edible food container with the barrier coating composition, - means operatively associated with the first conveyor system for spinning and drying the barrier coating composition in the internal surface of the edible food container, - means for rotating the first conveyor system to invert the edible food container to a position above a container receiving means disposed on the second conveyor system and transferring said edible food container to said container receiving means on the second conveyor system in an inverted position, - coating means operatively associated with the second conveyor system for coating the external surface of the edible food containers with the barrier coating composition, and - means operatively associated with the second conveyor system for spinning and drying the barrier coating composition on the external surface of the edible food container.

Claim 37

A continuous apparatus for providing a barrier coating composition on the interior and exterior surfaces of an edible food container which comprises - a first conveyor system (20) containing a plurality of container receiving stations (9), - a second conveyor system (20) containing a plurality of container receiving stations (16), said second conveyor being disposed below said first conveyor system, - a vacuum system (17, 18, 19) operatively associated with the container receiving stations of the first and second conveyor systems, - a dispensing means (10) for sequentially placing the edible food containers in the container receiving stations of the first conveying system, - coating means (11, 13, 14) operatively associated with the first conveyor system for coating the internal surface of the edible food container with the barrier coating composition, - means operatively associated with the first conveyor system for spinning and drying the barrier coating composition in the internal surface of the edible food container, - means for rotating the first conveyor system to invert the edible food container to a position above a container receiving means disposed on the second conveyor system and transferring said edible food container to said container receiving means on the second conveyor system in an inverted position, - coating means operatively associated with the second conveyor system for coating the external surface of the edible food containers with the barrier coating composition, and - means operatively associated with the second conveyor system for spinning and drying the barrier coating composition on the external surface of the edible food container.

Claim 38

The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the coating means is a spray means (14).

Claim 39

The apparatus of claim 31 wherein the coating means comprises a system for filling the edible food containers with the barrier coating composition and dumping the excess into an overflow container (22) for recycling.

Claim 42

The method of claim 34 wherein the edible food container or the barrier coating composition within the container is rotated to force the barrier coating composition up the inside surface of the container.

Claim 43

The method of claim 35 wherein the excess coating composition escapes from the top of the container and is recovered and recycled for reuse.

Claim 45

The method of claim 37 wherein the coated containers are cooled subsequent to the coating operation.

Claim 47

The method of claim 39 wherein the food grade fat material is selected from the group consisting of Myvacet, Duratex and Aratex.

Claim 50

An edible food container provided with a moisture resistant barrier coating composition having a substantially uniform thickness on at least the internal surface thereof, said coating composition comprising a food grade fat, food grade modified fats or mixtures thereof.

Claim 51

An edible food container provided with a moisture resistant barrier coating composition having a substantially uniform thickness on at least the internal surface thereof, said coating composition comprising a food grade fat, food grade modified fats or mixtures thereof.

Claim 52

The edible food container of claim 43 wherein the coating composition further contains a flavor producing material.

Claim 53

The edible food container of claim 43 or 44 which contains a dessert-type food product such as ice cream or a non-dessert-type food product such as Chinese or Mexican food.

Claim 54

The edible food container of any of claims 43-45 wherein the food grade fat is a chocolate coating.