The present application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. 119 to Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-137263, filed on Aug. 17, 2020. The contents of this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
The present invention relates to a method for making a shortcake within a mold of package container, which is suitable for mass-production of a packaged shortcake provided with a property hard to collapse during delivery, and also relates to an assembly line conveyor system for carrying out the method of the mass-production. More particularly, a method and a system for producing a new packaged shortcake (including an ice cream cake) which is made within a mold of the package container by processes reverse to normal and able to provide a shortcake decorated by a large amount (about twice volume of the conventional one) and multi-layers of cream on a sponge cake or pancake.
If the shortcake can be available at any other market stores than a cake factory, it is very convenient for customers.
Generally, cut shortcakes are sold directly at the cake factory shop where the shortcakes are made, because the shortcakes are easy to be collapsed, so that it is difficult to deliver it to the market from the cake factory if without being packaged. It is caused by the following making process.
In the process, there has been carried out a hand-made process which comprises a step of making a whole cylindrical sponge cake and applying the cream to it. Furthermore, there is a step of cutting the creamed whole cake to a pre-determined size. In the cutting process, the operator usually uses a rotary table. That is, the whole cake is placed on the rotary turntable and the operator can cut the cake into predetermined sizes while manually rotating the cake turntable. Then, the operator separates the fan-shaped cut cake on the turntable by using a take-out fork, or the like, and transfers each of the fan-shaped cut cakes onto, for example, a belt conveyor. Then, on the belt conveyor, each of the cut cakes is wrapped at the outer peripheral side surface by a belt-shaped film. In addition, finally a decorative work for topping fruits and the like is also performed.
Therefore, in the conventional process, it is a problem to need a lot of steps. That is, the operation of separating the cut cakes on the rotating table, the operation of transferring the cut cakes onto the belt conveyor and the process of packaging the cut cake by winding of a film, are necessary, so that the operation takes much time. Furthermore, there is also required space for making the shortcake. Therefore, in order to solve such a problem, there has been an automated rotating table provided which is capable of performing various processing operations without requiring the transfer operation to a belt conveyor in the JP-A-2015-142527
However, in the preparation of a shortcake using such a cake manufacturing turntable, the whole cake cutting process, the transfer process to a belt conveyor, and the packaging process are indispensable, so that there is a difficulty to sell them in any other place than the cake factory. In other words, under the current situation since many market stores want to sell the shortcakes and every customer wants to buy the shortcake at other market stores than the cake factory, it is necessary to make a shortcake provided with a property hard to collapse during the delivery of shortcake from the cake factory site to the market stores. As described above, it is difficult to sell the shortcake at the store far from the cake factory. This is because the shortcake formed by cutting the whole cake, is liable to be damaged by a slight impact, so that it is difficult to deliver the shortcake as it is to a sales place such as a remote store from the cake factory. In the other words, the shortcake invention mentioned here is the one which must be sold at the stores from the cake factory. In view of the fact that many customers desire to purchase the shortcake in the current market store in recent years, it is therefore the objective of the present invention to provide a shortcake which can be delivered to a market store remote from the cake factory without breaking down of the cake, and so the customer can purchase the shortcake at the usual market, take it out home, and easily unpackage it at home and eat it.
Accordingly, it is also another objective of the present invention to provide a method of making or manufacturing the same.
Usually, a shortcake used to be made with easily broken property during delivery, from the following processes, baking out of a sponge cake, creaming on the outside, topping with fruit, etc., and then dividing and packaging, and then being sold. The inventors have taken the point to be solved into consideration and completed the present invention by noting that, if the shortcake can be produced with hardly broken properties during delivery, it becomes possible to be sold in a market store other than the cake shop or cake factory. At this point, the inventors tried to reverse the manufacturing process of the shortcake and produced newly packaged shortcake. In other words, the present invention has been completed by utilizing a combination of a package container and a taking out insole sheet as a manufacturing mold to reverse the shortcake total processes from the head to the base.
That is, the present invention is a method for making a shortcake having a structure formed by stacking at least two cream layers on a sponge cake or pancake, comprising the steps of:
1) Supplying a package container 10 having an opening at the top and tapered side walls outwardly in an upward direction;
2) Setting the insole film 20 to cover an inner bottom surface and at least a pair of inner opposing side walls of the package container, the ends of which being taken out from the package opening;
3) Forming a topping layer 30 of the shortcake on the insole film covered on the inner bottom surface of the package container;
4) Forming a first cream layer 40 on the topping layer 30 in a manner to cover the topping layer and be spread over the inner bottom area of the package container;
5) Placing a second cake block 50 having a smaller area than that of the first cream layer 40 in a manner to be attached on the first cream layer 40;
6) Forming a second cream layer 60 on the cake block 50 to cover and sandwich the cake block 50 with the first cream 40 and the second cream layer 60;
7) Placing a cake platform on the second cream layer 60 in a manner to cover all of the second cream layer 60, and
8) Finally fitting a bottom lid 90 into an opening of the package container 10 in a manner to support all of the shortcake.
In the method of the present invention, it is also possible to make topping of some fruits directly as the topping layer, or to make topping of the fruits together with the fruit source, as may be appropriate. A fruit sauce layer or puddle 80 may also be provided between the second cream layer and the base platform.
In other words, a first feature of the method of the present invention is that a package container 10 is used as a mold for making the shortcake, and a plurality of shortcake layers 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 are sequentially constructed, in which at least the same kind or different kinds of cream layers are stacked in a package container in a reverse process. When a shortcake is produced in the reverse process, the removal of the shortcake from the package container becomes a problem. To solve this problem, the top-open package container 10 has a structure that is formed by outwardly open tapered walls in an upward direction and is provided with an insole film 20 which covers the inner bottom surface and at least a pair of opposing inner sidewalls of the package container, and whose ends are taken out from the package opening. The insole film 20 may be in the form of a band-like strip (as shown in
A second feature of the method of the present invention is that the cream layers are made as multilayer structures 40 and 60 as much as possible for making the shortcake luxurious. In the case of making a luxurious cake, it is necessary to stack two or more adjacent cream layers 40 and 60, but if the volume of the cream layers is increased, it becomes difficult to secure the shape retention of the shortcake. According to the present invention, it is one of the objects of the present invention to maintain the shape retaining property of the stacked cream layers by sandwiching a dough layer 50 such as a sponge cake between 2 adjacent cream layers 40 and 60. In this case, a source layer or puddle 80 of the same kind or different kind as the topping layer 30 may be provided between the second cream layer 60 and the base platform 70 to give the cake a deep taste. As a result, in the packaging container according to the present process, there can be reversely produced a Mont Blanc-type rectangular shortcake having a total volume of 300 to 500 cm3 with a source and cream capacity of approximately twice of sponge capacity, which include 30 to 40 ml of the topping source layer of the first layer 30; 100 to 120 ml of the whipping cream layer of the second layer 40; 50 to 100 ml of the dough layer of the third layer 50; 50 to 100 ml of the custard cream layer or choco cream layer of the fourth layer 60, 10 to 20 ml of the source layer of the fifth layer 80; and 80 to 100 ml of the sixth layer 70.
Then, since the third feature of the present invention is formed by filling and changing a sauce and a cream from a nozzle into a package container, it is preferable in manufacturing that the whipped cream material having a soft peak (60% whipped cream) and a specific gravity of about 1 is used. Further, the use of the intermediate shape retaining dough 50 is important, and the whipped cream layer 40 should be adjusted by mixing milk lipids of vegetables 70 to 80% with respect to animal matter 20 to 30%. Therefore, the shape of the source and cream filling nozzle may be devised by increasing the number of the nozzles in the formation of the topping source layer of the first layer, the whipping cream layer of the second layer, the custom or chocolate cream layer of the fourth layer, and the source layer of the fifth layer.
The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed in color, Copies of this patent or patent application publication with color drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and payment of the necessary fee.
The present invention can produce the chocolate shortcake of 6-layer composition of
1) a process of supplying the package container 10 having the top opening as a cake manufacturing container,
2) a process of setting the take-out film 20 as an insole in the package container 10,
3) a step of forming the topping layer 30 of the cake on the insole film 20 in the package container 10,
4) a step of forming the first cream layer 40 on the topping layer 30,
5) a step of placing the shape-retaining sponge cake 50 on the first cream layer 40,
6) a step of forming the second cream layer 60 on the shape-retaining sponge cake 50,
7) a step of placing the cake base platform 70 on the second cream layer 60,
8) a step of fitting a bottom lid 90 into an opening of a package container 10.
The above steps can be realized by system which comprises the following units;
1) a unit of supplying the package container 10 having the top opening as a cake manufacturing container is positioned at the position P1 in
2) a unit of setting belt-shaped film 20 as an insole in the package container 10 is positioned at the position P2 in
3) a unit of forming the topping layer 30 of the cake on the insole film 20 in the package container 10 is positioned at the position P3 in
4) a unit of forming the first cream layer 40 on the topping layer 30 is positioned at the position P4. The first cream layer 40 is easy to collapse, so that a cake block 50 which has a smaller area than that of the first cream layer and is provided on the first cream layer for retaining a cake structure shape. Therefore, fifthly
5) a unit of placing the shape-retaining sponge cake 50 on the first cream layer 40 is positioned at the position P5 in
6) a unit of forming the second cream layer 60 on the shape-retaining sponge cake 50 is positioned at the position P6 in
7) a unit of placing the cake base platform 70 on the second cream layer 60, the first cream layer 40, the shape-retaining sponge cake 50, and the second cream layer 60. Therefore, 8) a unit of fitting a bottom lid 90 into an opening of a package container 10 is positioned at the position P8 in
When each of the above units can be constructed as an assembly line belt or roller conveyor system, the system can be useful for mass-production of the multi-layer shortcake provided with a packaged protection. Further, the above units may be operated manually by using hand nozzle or can be operated automatically by robot provided with multiple nozzles. In a preferred embodiment, there can be provided a assembly line conveyer system of mass production for producing shortcake having a structure formed by stacking at least two cream layers on a cake platform, comprised of: 1) a belt conveyor 100; 2) a unit for supplying a package container 10 having an open top surface on the belt conveyor as a cake production mold; 3) a unit for pushing a transparent film 20, 22 from a top surface opening 11 into an inside of a transported package container 10 at a first position P1 of the belt conveyor and setting the film inside the container as an insole; 4) a unit for providing a first plurality of nozzles N1 at a second position P2 downstream from the first position P1 and dropping a topping layer 30 of the cake onto an insole film 20 from an opening 11 of a top surface of the package container 10 and 5) a second plurality of nozzles N2 at a third position P3 downstream from the second position P2; 6) a unit for placing a shape retaining dough 50 on the first cream layer 40 located at a fourth position P4 downstream from the third position P3; 7) a unit for forming a third plurality of nozzles N3 on the shape retaining dough 50, at a fifth position P5 downstream from the fourth position P4; 8) a unit for placing a cake base dough 70 on the second cream layer 60 at a sixth position P6 downstream from the fifth position P5; 9) a unit for fitting a lid 90 into the opening of the package container 10.ted at a seventh position P7 downstream from the sixth position P6 or outside the belt conveyor.
In another preferred embodiment, the source layer 80 may be formed between the second cream layer and the cake platform (that is, a whole cake) with the same source as the first source layer.
In the present invention, in the first step, the package container shown in
In this package container 10, an insole film 20 is set so that an internally packaged cake does not remain inside the container and can be taken out. As the insole film, the strip-shaped transparent film 20 shown in
In order to carry out the manufacturing method, the assembly line belt or roller conveyor installation shown in
Then, at a fifth position P5 downstream from the fourth position P4, a unit or robot for placing a shape retaining sponge dough or sponge cake block 50 on the first cream layer 40 is provided. When the shape retaining sponge dough 50 to be placed on the cream layer 40 is almost half of the area of the cake platform sponge dough 70, the shape retaining function of the cream layer can be provided.
In the present invention, a third plurality of nozzles N3 are provided at a sixth position P6 downstream of the fifth position P5, and a unit or robot for forming the second cream layer 60 on the shape-retaining sponge dough 50 is provided. As shown in
Thereafter, in the final step, a unit or robot for placing the cake platform or base dough 70 on the second cream layer 60 is provided, but in the sixth position P6 to the seventh position P7 in front thereof, there may be provided a fourth nozzle N4 for forming a strawberry sauce or a chocolate sauce 80 at a corresponding portion of the shape retaining sponge 50. Finally, at an eighth position P8 downstream of the seventh position P7, a unit or robot for placing the cake base fabric 70 on the second cream layer 60 is provided. Thereafter, in the ninth position P9, a unit or robot is provided in which the end portions of the insole films 20, the films 20 are folded back toward the base side, and the bottom lid 90 is fitted into the opening portion of the package container 10. This unit may be arranged outside the belt conveyor.
When the above-mentioned manufacturing method is carried out by the above-mentioned equipment, the package container shown in
When the above-mentioned manufacturing method is carried out by the above-mentioned facility, a finished product is manufactured by stacking the package container 10 with the bag-like insole film 22 interposed therebetween. As shown in
According to the method of the present invention, it is possible to mass-produce (a) shortcake although it has a large number of steps by means of a flow operation due to the reverse process method from the head to the bottom using a package container as a mold of the manufacturing container, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost. In particular, it should be noted that a shortcake can be made with about twice the amount of sauce and cream for decorating it, relative to the amount of dough or sponge.
In addition, since the shortcake produced by the method of the present invention can be delivered or shipped in a shape-preserved state, so that the shortcake can be sold in a place other than a manufacturing factory or a cake making shop because it will not collapse during the shipment.
Further, the shape-retaining package case is hermetically protected, and the storage property is excellent, thereby taking out the shortcake from the package becomes somewhat problem but since the package container is formed by covering the trapezoidal container 10 having a divergent cross section through the insole film 20, the cake can be easily taken out from the package by pulling out the insole film 20 without adhering to the package container 10. That is, the inner shortcake can be easily taken out from the package container with the end portion 21 of the belt-shaped sheet protruding from the opening 11 of the outer package 10 or the bag-shaped packaging sheet end portion 23. Covering the entire inner circumference of the package and covering the entire circumference of the interior cake with the bag-shaped insole film 22 (
The take-out process of the shortcake becomes easier by provision with a gap such as an air layer between the outer package 10 and the insole film or the inner cake, so a process of providing a slit as shown in
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2020-137263 | Aug 2020 | JP | national |