Patent Application
20160107794
The invention generally pertains to the art of food preparation and, more specifically, to a packaged dough product, as well as a method of packaging the dough product. In particular, the invention is concerned with employing a separator to compartmentalize a tubular container for packaging both dough and an additional ingredient in separate regions within the tubular container, wherein the dough proofs and expands within the package so as to vary the relative volume of the separate regions and alter internal pressures within the tubular container.
Due to the time demands placed on consumers by the everyday activities of modern life, the preparation of food products and meals from scratch has decreased and the popularity of pre-made or partially pre-made foods has increased dramatically. A food product that has become increasingly popular in a pre-made configuration are dough based food products such as, for example, developed and undeveloped dough products. These dough products can be stored in either a refrigerated or frozen state for extended periods and are “freshly” prepared in a matter of minutes as desired by the consumer. In some instances, these dough products can represent a substantially final product requiring only a heating or baking step such as, for example, cookies, bread, bread sticks, biscuits and croissants. Alternatively, these dough precuts can represent components or building blocks of a final product such as, for example, a pie crust or pizza dough that will be combined with a variety of other ingredients to form the final product. Regardless of whether the dough product itself constitutes a final product or merely a component of the final product, these dough products constitute enormous time savers for the consumer in that the consumer need not prepare the dough products from scratch using base ingredients such as, for example, flour, water, eggs, yeast, salt, sugar and the like.
One popular method for packaging and storing dough products has been to use a can format, wherein the dough product is contained within a cylindrical, paperboard body having caps at both ends of the body. Depending upon the dough product, these cans can be constructed to withstand increased internal pressures. While the can format can work very well for dough products, there are some instances in which it is desirable to include additional ingredients with the dough product in order to complete or enhance enjoyment of the final cooked dough product. In order to accommodate these additional ingredients in a can format, a variety of designs have been utilized for separating the additional ingredients from the dough. Certain known configurations employ the use of separate cup assemblies to store the additional ingredients. While cup assemblies can be successfully used to separate and store both dough and additional ingredients in a can format, the use of these cup assemblies can lead to an increase in packaging costs due to increased raw material costs and packaging complexities. To address this concern, it has also been proposed to replace the cup assemblies with pouches. With either arrangement, given that the dough will proof within the can and thereby expand, resulting in an increase in the internal pressure of the can, care must be taken to assure that the pouch can withstand the increased internal pressure. Typically, this pressure issue is addressed in two ways, i.e., designing the can to release the building pressure and constructing the cup or pouch to withstand the increased pressure. Unfortunately, regardless of efforts expended in this field, it is not uncommon for the cups or pouches of additional ingredients to burst within the can.
In accordance with the invention, a canned dough product includes a food package container in the form of a tube, such as a spirally wound paperboard or other fibrous tube, having a closed, internal cavity which is separated into two compartments by a separator. In one of the compartments is stored at least one dough product, while the other compartment houses at least one additional ingredient for use with the dough product. In a preferred form of the invention, the at least one additional ingredient is contained in a pouch.
During initial packaging, the tube is closed at one end and then loaded with one or more dough products. The dough product(s) can take various forms, such as a rolled dough sheet or individually stacked dough discs. Positioned above the dough product(s) is the separator, followed by the additional ingredient(s) and a tube closure member or end cap. A reverse loading order can also be employed.
Subsequent to the initial packaging, the dough product proofs and expands within the tube, causing the separator to shift, thereby increasing the volume of the dough product containing compartment and reducing the volume of the additional ingredient containing compartment. The separator is specifically sized and configured to enable not only the initial shifting but to also expand in diameter such that, subsequent to the shifting, an outer annular wall of the separator is forced against an inner surface of the tube, thereby preventing the separator from further floating or sliding within the tube. More specifically, in a preferred configuration, the separator is formed with a domed region into which the dough product expands upon proofing. When this occurs, outward radial forces are exerted on the separator, with these forces causing increased engagement between the outer wall of the separator and the inner tube surface. Continued proofing of the dough product causes sealing of the dough containing compartment and a rise in the internal pressure of this compartment relative to the ingredient containing compartment.
Additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention wherein like reference numerals refer to corresponding components in the several views.
With initial reference to
Interior cavity 17 is configured to contain one or more dough products. In the embodiment depicted, interior cavity 17 is shown to house a plurality of stacked dough products 26-31 in the form of dough discs used to make biscuits. However, at this point, it should be realized that the invention can be utilized in packaging various different types of dough products, including dough discs, one or more sheets of dough or even a block of dough, for making a wide range of final products, including cookies, bread, biscuits, rolls, croissants, pie crust, pizza dough and the like. In any case, above dough products 26-31 is positioned a separator 36 which constitutes a solid member that divides interior cavity 17 into a first or lower compartment 38 and a second or upper compartment 39. On the other side of separator 36, in upper compartment 39, is shown a pouch 42 which houses one or more additional ingredients 43 for use with dough products 26-31. For instance, in the case of the illustrated embodiment wherein dough products 26-31 constitute discs used to make biscuits, pouch 42 can be employed to contain icing which can be spread upon the cooked biscuits. In other embodiments, pouch 42 can contain other ingredients such as garlic, cheese, butter or the like. Although the use of a pouch is preferred, one or more other types of containers could be provided in upper compartment 39 to store the additional ingredient(s). In the embodiment shown, pouch 42 includes an outer wrapper 45 having one or more sealed end portions, such as that indicated at 47.
Reference will now be made to
It should be noted that the size and shape of separator 36 is based on the preferred use of cylindrical tube 5. As will become more fully evident below, other complementary tube and separator configurations could be employed, including a wide range of polygon designs. In addition, the central region 65 of separator 36 preferably employs smooth arcuate contours for reasons detailed below, yet other recess configurations could be employed. The actual size of tube 5 can also greatly vary but, in the most preferred embodiments wherein tube 5 is cylindrical, tube 5 will typically have an inner diameter between 1.75 inches (approximately 4.5 cm) and 2.875 inches (approximately 7.3 cm). Separator 36 is correspondingly sized so as to be only slightly smaller in diameter for reasons which will become fully evident below from a detailed discussion of the initial packaging of container 2, along with the subsequent sealing and pressurization of container 2.
As discussed above, dough products 26-31 at least partially proof within container 2. That is, as is known in the art, the dough includes a leavening agent, such as yeast, which will cause dough products 26-31 to expand within container 2 as illustrated in comparing
With the above arrangement, since upper compartment 39 is at a much lower pressure, there is no concern with pouch 42 bursting. In addition, tube 5 can withstand the greater pressure, particularly with the inclusion of a label (not shown) which holds spiral seam 8 together. With the variable volume compartment arrangement of the invention, a standard container of this type can be advantageously reduced in overall height, generally by about ¼ inch (0.6 cm) without reducing the amount of dough being provided. Obviously, with mass production, this represents a significant material cost savings.
Certainly, various changes to the above described arrangements can occur without departing from the invention. For instance, the order of loading the container can be reversed. Also the separator could be inverted such as shown in
