Apparatus for the production of frozen confections

Claim 2

Apparatus for producing frozen confection including, in combination, longitudinally spaced mold-mounting members in substantially parallel relation, each of said members mounting a row of open-topped molds, conveyor means for advancing said moldmounting members and molds along a longitudinal path, a pair of liquid reservoir means disposed adjacent the mold-conveying means, a plurality of first metering devices connected with one of said liquid reservoir means, a plurality of second metering devices connected with the other reservoir means, a relatively stationary plate disposed above and transversely to the longitudinal path of movement of the mold conveyor means, said plate having a plurality of openings arranged in a single row, there being an opening for registration with each of the molds of a transverse row of molds, and a plurality of tubes, each individual tube being disposed to receive liquid from one of said metering devices and terminating in registration with one of the openings in said stationary plate for delivering liquids from said metering devices into the molds of a transverse row adjacent the plate.

Claim 3

The combination according to claim 1 including check valve means disposed between each of the metering devices and the liquid delivery region provided by each of the openings in the plate.

Claim 4

Apparatus for producing frozen confection including, in combination, longitudinally spaced mold-mounting members in substantially parallel relation, each of said members mounting a row of open-topped molds, conveyor means for advancing said mold mounting plates and molds along a longitudinal path, a pair of liquid reservoir means disposed adjacent the mold-conveying means, a plurality of first metering devices connected with one of said liquid reservoir means, a plurality of second metering devices connected with the other reservoir means, a relatively stationary plate disposed transversely to the longitudinal path of movement of the mold conveyor means, said plate having a plurality of openings arranged in a single row, there being an opening for registration with each of the molds in a transverse row of molds for delivering liquid into said molds of the row in registration with the openings, tubular means individual to each metering device for conveying liquid from said first and second metering devices to a region adjacent each opening in the plate, and check valve means connected with each of said tubular means and disposed adjacent each opening in the plate, each of said check valve means having an orifice through which liquid is delivered into a mold.

Claim 5

Apparatus for producing frozen confection including, in combination, longitudinally spaced mold-mounting members in substantially parallel relation, each of said members mounting a row of open-topped molds, conveyor means for advancing said mold mounting plates and molds along a longitudinal path, a pair of liquid reservoir means disposed adjacent the mold-conveying means, a plurality of first metering devices connected with one of said liquid reservoir means, a plurality of second metering devices connected with the other reservoir means, a relatively stationary plate disposed transversely to the longitudinal path of movement of the mold conveyor means, said plate having a plurality of openings arranged in a single row, there being an opening for registration with each of the molds in a transverse row of molds for delivering liquid into said molds of the row in registration with the openings, tubular means individual to each metering device for conveying liquid from said first and second metering devices to a region adjacent each opening in the plate, and check valve means connected with each of said tubular means and disposed adjacent each opening in the plate, each of said check valve means having an orifice through which liquid is delivered into a mold.

Claim 6

Apparatus for producing frozen confection including, in combination, longitudinally spaced mold-mounting members, each of said members mounting a row of open-topped molds, conveyor means for intermittently advancing said mold mounting members and molds carried thereby along a longitudinal path to a mold filling station, liquid reservoir means disposed adjacent the mold-conveying means, said reservoir means including a plurality of chambers, each chamber adapted to contain a supply of liquid confection composition, a plurality of groups of metering devices, there being a group of said metering devices connected with each of said supply chambers, a relatively stationary plate at the mold filling station disposed above and transversely to the longitudinal movement of the mold conveyor means, said plate having a plurality of openings arranged in a single row, there being an opening for registration with each of the molds of a transverse row of molds for delivering liquid into the said molds of the row, and a plurality of liquid conveying tubes, each of said tubes terminating adjacent one of the openings in the relatively stationary plate, groups of said tubes being connected with groups of the metering devices to effect delivery of liquids from the respective chambers through the groups of metering devices and groups of tubes into groups of molds of a row whereby each mold of a group receives liquid composition from one of said chambers, and individual check valve means connected with each of said tubes.

Claim 7

Apparatus for producing frozen confection including, in combination, longitudinally spaced mold-mounting members, each of said members mounting a row of open-topped molds, conveyor means for intermittently advancing said mold mounting members and molds carried thereby along a longitudinal path to a mold filling station, liquid reservoir means disposed adjacent the mold-conveying means, said reservoir means including a plurality of chambers, each chamber adapted to contain a supply of liquid confection composition, a plurality of groups of metering devices, there being a group of said metering devices connected with each of said supply chambers, a relatively stationary plate at the mold filling station disposed above and transversely to the longitudinal movement of the mold conveyor means, said plate having a plurality of openings arranged in a single row, there being an opening for registration with each of the molds of a transverse row of molds for delivering liquid into the said molds of the row, and a plurality of liquid conveying tubes, each of said tubes terminating adjacent one of the openings in the relatively stationary plate, groups of said tubes being connected with groups of the metering devices to effect delivery of liquids from the respective chambers through the groups of metering devices and groups of tubes into groups of molds of a row whereby each mold of a group receives liquid composition from one of said chambers, and individual check valve means connected with each of said tubes.

Claim 8

The combination according to claim 4 wherein the check valve means for each tube is disposed adjacent the metering device for the said tube.

Claim 9

The combination according to claim 4 wherein the check valve means for each tube is supported adjacent an opening in the relatively stationary plate at the filling station.

Claim 10

Apparatus for producing frozen confection including, in combination, longitudinally spaced mold-mounting members, each of said members mounting a row of 16 open-topped molds, conveyor means for advancing the members and molds carried thereby along a longitudinal path, liquid reservoir means disposed adjacent the mold-conveying means, said reservoIr means including a pair of hoppers, each hopper being partitioned to provide two liquid composition supply chambers, a plurality of metering devices associated with each of the hoppers, there being a group of four metering devices connected with each of said chambers, a relatively stationary plate disposed above and extending transversely to the longitudinal movement of the mold conveyor means, said member having 16 spaced openings arranged in a single row wherein each opening is arranged for registration with a mold of a transverse row of molds, a plurality of tubes for conveying liquid composition for delivery into the molds of a row, each of said tubes being connected with one of the metering devices whereby groups of four molds in a row receive liquid composition from one of the chambers, and check valve means connected with each liquid-conveying tube.

Claim 11

Apparatus for producing frozen confection including, in combination, longitudinally spaced mold-mounting members, each of said members mounting a row of 16 open-topped molds, conveyor means for advancing the members and molds carried thereby along a longitudinal path, liquid reservoir means disposed adjacent the mold-conveying means, said reservoIr means including a pair of hoppers, each hopper being partitioned to provide two liquid composition supply chambers, a plurality of metering devices associated with each of the hoppers, there being a group of four metering devices connected with each of said chambers, a relatively stationary plate disposed above and extending transversely to the longitudinal movement of the mold conveyor means, said member having 16 spaced openings arranged in a single row wherein each opening is arranged for registration with a mold of a transverse row of molds, a plurality of tubes for conveying liquid composition for delivery into the molds of a row, each of said tubes being connected with one of the metering devices whereby groups of four molds in a row receive liquid composition from one of the chambers, and check valve means connected with each liquid-conveying tube.

Claim 12

The combination according to claim 7 wherein the liquid-conveying tubes are arranged whereby four consecutive molds of each group receive liquid composition from a different chamber.