US4438147A — Foaming creamer and method of making same

Claim 1

Independent Claim 83 words

A method of making a foaming creamer comprising: (a) forming a liquid mixture comprising water and solids, said mixture being devoid of an effective amount of surface tension reducing agents, said solids including at least about 5% non-dairy fat, at least about 30% water-soluble non-dairy carbohydrate, and between 0% and about 50% dry skim milk, there being present in said solids an effective amount of a proteinaceous foam stabilizer; (b) blending an inert gas to gassify said mixture; (c) homogenizing said mixture; and

Claim 2

Independent Claim 83 words

A method of making a foaming creamer comprising: (a) forming a liquid mixture comprising water and solids, said mixture being devoid of an effective amount of surface tension reducing agents, said solids including at least about 5% non-dairy fat, at least about 30% water-soluble non-dairy carbohydrate, and between 0% and about 50% dry skim milk, there being present in said solids an effective amount of a proteinaceous foam stabilizer; (b) blending an inert gas to gassify said mixture; (c) homogenizing said mixture; and

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 60 words

(d) spray-drying said mixture, after said gas-blending and homogenizing steps, by: (1) forcing the mixture through an orifice under a spray pressure sufficient to finely atomize the mixture, and (2) contacting the atomized mixture with a gaseous drying medium at an elevated temperature, to thereby produce a substantially dry powder devoid of an effective amount of surface tension reducing agents.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 60 words

(d) spray-drying said mixture, after said gas-blending and homogenizing steps, by: (1) forcing the mixture through an orifice under a spray pressure sufficient to finely atomize the mixture, and (2) contacting the atomized mixture with a gaseous drying medium at an elevated temperature, to thereby produce a substantially dry powder devoid of an effective amount of surface tension reducing agents.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 25 words

A method as claimed in claim 1 in which said non-dairy fat and said non-dairy carbohydrate together constitute at least about 85% of said solids.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 19 words

A method as claimed in claim 2 in which said carbohydrate constitutes less than about 75% of said solids.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 19 words

A method as claimed in claim 3 in which said fat constitutes at least about 20% of said solids.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 19 words

A method as claimed in claim 4 in which said fat constitutes less than about 50% of said solids.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 33 words

A method as claimed in claim 5 in which said solids include at least about 2% of a casein salt, said casein salt constituting at least a portion of said proteinaceous foam stabilizer.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 29 words

A method as claimed in claim 6 in which no skim milk is included in said solids and said casein salt constitutes at least about 3.5% of said solids.

Claim 11

Dependent Claim 30 words

A method as claimed in claim 7 in which said solids include a gum in an amount sufficient to impart to said mixture a viscosity increase of at least 20%.

Claim 12

Dependent Claim 15 words

A method as claimed in claim 8 in which said casein salt is sodium caseinate.

Claim 13

Dependent Claim 23 words

A method as claimed in claim 8 in which said solids constitute between about 48% and about 52% of said mixture by weight.

Claim 14

Dependent Claim 28 words

A method as claimed in claim 8 in which said gum is a cellulosic gum, said cellulosic gum constituting between about 0.1% and about 1.0% of said solids.

Claim 15

Dependent Claim 18 words

A method as claimed in claim 11 in which said cellulosic gum constitutes about 0.5% of said solids.

Claim 16

Dependent Claim 15 words

A method as claimed in claim 12 in which said gum is a carboxymethylcellulose gum.

Claim 17

Independent Claim 69 words

A method of making a foaming creamer comprising: (a) forming a liquid mixture comprising water and solids, said mixture being devoid of an effective amount of surface tension reducing agents, said solids including at least about 5% non-dairy fat, at least about 30% water-soluble non-dairy carbohydrate, and between 0% and about 50% dry skim milk, there being present in said solids an effective amount of a proteinaceous foam stabilizer;

Claim 18

Independent Claim 69 words

A method of making a foaming creamer comprising: (a) forming a liquid mixture comprising water and solids, said mixture being devoid of an effective amount of surface tension reducing agents, said solids including at least about 5% non-dairy fat, at least about 30% water-soluble non-dairy carbohydrate, and between 0% and about 50% dry skim milk, there being present in said solids an effective amount of a proteinaceous foam stabilizer;

Claim 19

Dependent Claim 83 words

(b) blending an inert gas to gassify said mixture; (c) homogenizing said mixture; and (d) spray-drying said mixture, after said gas-blending and homogenizing steps, by: (1) forcing the mixture through an orifice less than about 3.8 mm. in diameter under a spray pressure of at least about 42 kg/cm 2 , and (2) contacting the atomized mixture with a gaseous drying medium at an elevated temperature, to thereby produce a substantially dry powder devoid of an effective amount of surface tension reducing agents.

Claim 20

Dependent Claim 83 words

(b) blending an inert gas to gassify said mixture; (c) homogenizing said mixture; and (d) spray-drying said mixture, after said gas-blending and homogenizing steps, by: (1) forcing the mixture through an orifice less than about 3.8 mm. in diameter under a spray pressure of at least about 42 kg/cm 2 , and (2) contacting the atomized mixture with a gaseous drying medium at an elevated temperature, to thereby produce a substantially dry powder devoid of an effective amount of surface tension reducing agents.

Claim 21

Dependent Claim 33 words

A method as claimed in claim 14 in which said spray pressure is at least about 140 kg/cm 2 and said orifice is between about 1.5 mm and about 3.8 mm in diameter.

Claim 22

Dependent Claim 25 words

A method as claimed in claim 14 in which a swirling motion is imparted to said mixture as said mixture is forced through said orifice.

Claim 23

Dependent Claim 31 words

A method as claimed in claim 1 in which said gas blending step includes the step of introducing the gas into the mixture while maintaining the mixture under a superatmospheric pressure.

Claim 24

Dependent Claim 24 words

A method as claimed in claim 17 in which said mixture is maintained under superatmospheric pressure from said gas-introducing step to said spray-drying step.

Claim 25

Dependent Claim 27 words

A method as claimed in claim 18 in which said gas blending step includes the step of dispersing said gas in said mixture after said gas-introducing step.

Claim 26

Dependent Claim 20 words

A method as claimed in claim 19 in which said gas blending step is performed prior to said homogenizing step.

Claim 27

Dependent Claim 36 words

A method as claimed in claim 1 in which the amount of said gas blended with said mixture is selected to provide a dried powder having a bulk density between about 0.30 and about 0.35 grams/cc.

Claim 28

Dependent Claim 22 words

A method as claimed in claim 1 in which said gas is selected from the group consisting of carbon dioxide and nitrogen.

Claim 29

Dependent Claim 13 words

A method as claimed in claim 22 in which said gas is nitrogen.

Claim 30

Dependent Claim 20 words

A method as claimed in claim 1 in which said skim milk constitutes at least about 10% of said solids.

Claim 31

Dependent Claim 22 words

A method as claimed in claim 24 in which said skim milk constitutes between about 35% and about 45% of said solids.

Claim 32

Dependent Claim 26 words

A method as claimed in claim 14 further comprising the step of blending a flow enhancing agent with the dry creamer resulting from said spray-drying step.

Claim 33

Dependent Claim 32 words

A method of making a beverage mix comprising making a creamer by a method as claimed in claim 26, then fluidizing the creamer and mixing the fluidized creamer with a beverage powder.

Claim 34

Dependent Claim 34 words

A creamer made by a method as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 or claim 6 or claim 7 or claim 8, the creamer having a foam index of at least about 4.

Claim 35

Dependent Claim 19 words

A creamer as claimed in claim 28 in which said foam index is between about 4 and about 8.

Claim 36

Dependent Claim 19 words

A creamer as claimed in claim 29 having a bulk density between about 0.30 gm/cc and about 0.35 gm/cc.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1987-03-20	1987-09-19	1988-03-20	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1991-03-20	1991-09-19	1992-03-20	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1995-03-20	1995-09-19	1996-03-20	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Foaming creamer and method of making same

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