Patent Application
20050000960
This invention relates to a mould used to make culinary preparation such as cakes, pastry, etc.
Very stiff moulds made of metallic material are known, but the fact that they are stiff does not facilitate removal of the preparation from the mould.
Silicone moulds are also known which have the advantage that they can be put into the oven, the microwave oven, the refrigerator, the freezer or the dishwasher without being damaged, but these moulds are not stiff due to the high elasticity of the material.
There are three disadvantages, all of which result from this high elasticity of elastomers: it is difficult to remove the preparation from the mould, it is inconvenient to manipulate the mould because it deforms so easily, and the uncooked preparation (frequently liquid) can easily overflow while the mould is being manipulated.
Solutions have been suggested to obtain a sufficiently flexible mould by making a local overthickness of the material. However, the resulting mould removal performances and the ability to maintain the liquid preparation in the mould are not always satisfactory.
Patent FR 2 827 494 describes a silicone elastomer mould for a culinary preparation to be baked or heated in the oven. The mould comprises a flexible hollow tray made of an elastomer material with a lower part provided with a bottom from which a side wall rises up, an opening being formed around the top end of the side wall, this opening being surrounded by a rigid annular or approximately annular stiffener connected to the said hollow tray.
The preparation is removed from the mould as follows; start with the mould the right way up (opening at the top), and place the bottom of the mould on a support. Press downwards on the stiffener towards the support, so as to curve the side wall and bring the top opening approximately to the level of the bottom.
Although this solution is attractive, it is not perfectly satisfactory, particularly for the removal of all preparations from the mould, since the curved side wall allows a rim to project upwards around the border of the bottom forming an obstacle, for example to the removal of a soft cake or for the correct insertion of a cake turner.
Therefore, the problem that arises is to make a new mould for a culinary preparation allowing very easy removal of the solid preparation from the mould, potentially facilitating resistance of the mould to deformation, particularly if it contains a baked or unbaked liquid or heavy preparation.
The proposed solution is a mould for a culinary preparation of the type mentioned above characterized in that it comprises another rigid stiffener located in the lower part of the hollow tray and connected to it.
So, an object of the invention is a flexible mould for a culinary preparation, comprising:
The first and second stiffening elements can especially be made of one of a rigid plastic material and metal.
Inward radial distortion of the material in the vicinity of the location of the second stiffening element (especially the bottom wall) is prevented.
According to a preferable feature, the first and second stiffening elements are covered with a protective layer adapted for allowing the mould to be heated in a microwave oven.
For preventing the polymerization process of the material to generate decomposition by-products when the mould is manufactured, the flexible, food grade elastomer material of the tray will advantageously comprise a silicone obtained by a process of cross-linking with platinum, as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,359 enclosed in the present description by reference.
According to another preferable feature, the side wall has an essentially uniform thickness, preferably the bottom wall too.
According to another preferable feature, the side wall and bottom wall have an inner surface adapted to be in contact with the culinary preparation, said inner surface being free of any undercut.
According to another preferable feature:
If said second stiffening element is a ring, at least one of the bottom wall and the side wall of the tray can be provided with an open seat (or groove), and said ring can be (possibly removably) secured in said open seat.
Optionally, the wing of the tray can also be provided with such an open seat (or groove),and the first stiffening element is then disposed within said seat.
Alternatively, the second stiffening element can be embedded within the flexible elastomer material near the periphery of the bottom wall.
According to an alternative embodiment, the second stiffening element is a plate defining at least a part of the bottom wall of the tray.
In such a case, the bottom wall having an upper surface directed to the inside of the tray, and a lower surface, said upper surface being preferably covered with an anti-adhesive layer including polytetrafluorethylene.
It can be understood that with this particular arrangement of the two stiffeners, the advantages of the maximum flexibility of moulds, especially made of a silicone type material, are maintained, particularly if the upper and lower stiffeners are both annular (ring) or approximately annular, the lower stiffener then preferably being fixed to the bottom and located close to the junction between this bottom and the side wall. The result is that the entire mould remains flexible, thus improving some mould removal operations.
But some preparations may continue to cause a weight problem, and/or a mould removal problem.
The invention then proposes that the “lower” rigid stiffener should be in the form of at least one plate at the bottom of the mould.
If this bottom plate extends radially around the outside periphery, approximately as far as the junction between the bottom and the side wall, the hinge effect between the bottom and the side wall during mould removal will be reinforced (as in the previous solution with a bottom ring), particularly if the “bottom” stiffener around the external periphery continues around the entire periphery of the lower portion of the hollow tray. Furthermore, if the said plate extends inwards as far as the centre of the bottom, thus occupying most or all of the surface of this bottom, the mechanical behavior of the bottom will be facilitated preventing “belly” effects under the weight and assuring some stability in the bottom mould under all circumstances.
One aspect of the invention also relates to the link between the hollow tray and the “bottom” stiffener, when it is a plate.
The preferred solution for combining mould removal quality, mould cost price and ease of manufacturing, consists of:
Due to all or some of the above characteristics, two mould removal techniques are recommended in particular, in relation with the basic problem that arises.
In the first case, pressure is applied on the mould that tends to bring the level of the bottom and the “top” stiffener surrounding the opening towards each other, thus bending the side wall of the mould which turns on itself, until the bottom rises above the top end of the mould.
To complete mould removal in some cases, it is even recommended that the bottom can be raised above the level of the said top end, until the side wall is unfolded upwards. The mould is then fully turned inside out like a glove.
In the second case, the mould is firstly put inside out and then pressure is applied on the two stiffeners to bring the bottom and the opening towards each other, thus forcing the preparation out of the mould.
In all cases, the mould assembly is stiff enough to be able to use gripping utensils, for example removable handles.
Other special features and advantages of the invention will become clear after reading the following description of an embodiment given as a non-limitative example.
In the attached drawings:
As can be seen particularly in
The mould 1 may have different shapes, for example round, rectangular, elliptical.
The thickness of the side wall(s) is preferably essentially uniform (a few millimeters everywhere), and said side wall is free of any undercut for receiving the article to be heated or for improving local bending of the tray. The bottom wall has advantageously the same features.
If it is round as shown in the figure, the thickness of the ring 4 for an opening diameter 5 of the order of 240 mm, is usually between 0.5% and 1.5% of this diameter, and preferably 1%. In one preferred embodiment, the thickness of the ring 4 is of the same order of magnitude as the thickness of the bottom 2 and side wall 3, and is preferably between 1.5 mm and 4 mm.
The top end of the side wall 3 delimits the opening 5 through which the preparation can be added into tray 1a. The annular part 6 of the top ring 4 located at the opening 5 comprises a first rigid stiffener 7 (or top stiffener).
For example, the stiffener 7 may be made of a plastic material (particularly a type PA 6.6 thermoset material) or a metal such as stainless steel or aluminum. In particular, the stiffener 7 may be a wire with a diameter of between 1 mm and 5 mm.
The stiffener 7, advantageously placed around the entire mould periphery, is located at the same level as the opening 5. It is connected to the side wall 3 only through the ring 4, at a distance from the opening 5. This distance is typically between 10 mm and 40 mm. For a mould with an opening 5 with a diameter of 240 mm and with a height of about 50 mm, the stiffener 7 will preferably be located at a distance from the opening 5 equal to between 0.08 and 0.14 times this diameter, and preferably 0.12 times.
In the embodiment illustrated, the peripheral wing 4 is connected to the top part of the side wall 3 through a rim 8 that is convex upwards.
This area 8 facilitates mould removal, by initiating curvature of the side wall 3 to enable mould removal. The largest force which consists of smoothing the angle between the ring 4 and the side wall 3 is no longer necessary.
In the example shown in
In the example shown in the figures, the ring 4 is formed continuously and is made of the same material as tray la. However, a removable ring 4 could be used.
In
Although not shown in the figures, means suitable for cooperating with removable gripping utensils could be placed at the stiffener 7.
The mould described above typically corresponds to the mould disclosed in FR-A2 827 494.
The mould according to the invention is different from the mould described in the prior application, particularly due to the presence of another rigid stiffener mark 11 in
This second stiffener is located in the lower portion of the hollow tray 1a and connected to it to facilitate removal of the culinary preparation from the mould, or even to stabilize the shape of the bottom 2, during mould removal or when carrying the mould when full.
Like the upper stiffener 7, the lower stiffener may be a ring, annular or approximately annular, with a round section, as shown in
In this case, it is recommended as shown in
It should be noted that in the solution in
However, the solution of an embedded ring 11 in
Another solution consists of using a rigid stiffener in the form of a plate 11′ or 11″ at the bottom of the mould, instead of a retaining ring 11 (
The plate 11′ (or 11″) preferably extends over the entire surface of the bottom 2.
The connection between the tray I and the plate may be made particularly in two different ways: either the plate is embedded in the flexible material of the tray located at the bottom 2 (
In both cases, the tray 1a is made by moulding, the plate being placed in the mould before the flexible material is poured into it; in the second case, shrinkage and elasticity of the material block the plate with respect to the rim 17.
In the first case, the plate 11′ may be made of a piece of sheet metal or a rigid plastic plate (preferably thermosetting).
In the second case, it is a “coated” plate lined on at least its top face 19 by an anti-adhesive coating 21 such as polytetrafluorethylene (PTFE).
In this case, almost the entire bottom 2 is then formed by a solid disk with an anti-adhesive surface fixed to tray 1a.
The advantage of a solution with a discoidal shaped plate like that in
Furthermore, during mould removal, the user does not need to think about where to put his or her fingers on the bottom; there is always a rigid area that will resist finger pressure.
It should be noted that a solution in which the bottom is locally reinforced by several well-positioned plates linked together by a retaining ring if necessary, could be satisfactory in this respect (solution not shown).
The preparation in the figures can be removed from the moulds in two main manners, depending on whether the preparation is removed from the mould the right way down or upside down.
First assumption: mould the right way down and horizontal. The user pushes the upper stiffener 7 downwards and the bottom upwards, acting on the stiffener 11, 11′ or 11″. Without necessarily placing the mould on a support, he or she continues the movement until the bottom 2 passes above the level of the ring 4, in other words above the opening 5, and finishes by turning the mould inside out like a glove finger, the elasticity and deformability of the side wall 3 making it possible.
The retaining ring 11 and particularly the plates 11′ or 11″ then enable a utensil to be inserted along the top wall completely separated from the bottom, if necessary. There is no rim to make the operation more difficult.
When being turned inside out like a glove finger, the arrangement of the retaining ring or the peripheral edge of the plate at the location of the slope change between the side wall 3 and the bottom 2 accentuates the hinge effect at this location.
Second assumption: mould inside out, held by the user. The user pushes on the periphery of the bottom at the same time as he pulls on ring 4, preferably lifting the mould slightly. The side wall folds outwards on itself. The preparation is pushed outside the mould which once again tends to fold back like a glove finger, this time downwards.
To sum up, two methods for removing the culinary preparation from the mould 1 are preferably proposed thanks to the advantageous features of the invention:
The mould is upside down, pressure is applied on the first and second stiffening elements 7, 11, 11′, 11″ to bring the bottom wall and the opening 5 towards each other.
Due to the stiffness of the bottom, the bottom keeps its shape and will not become wavy and create a risk of damaging the preparation, particularly if the preparation is a fragile cake.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 03 08221 | Jul 2003 | FR | national |
