WO2022229757A1

WO2022229757A1 - Heating device for cocoa butter based material

Info

Publication number: WO2022229757A1
Application number: PCT/IB2022/053316
Authority: WO
Inventors: Judayle Dsouza
Original assignee: Judayle Dsouza
Priority date: 2021-04-27
Filing date: 2022-04-08
Publication date: 2022-11-03
Also published as: TWM615257U

Abstract

The principal object of this invention is to provide a device to evenly and precisely heat small quantities of cocoa butter based materials; Another object of the invention is to negate the need for a water bath and other similar methodologies requiring the use of liquids for heat distribution and dispersion, therefore eliminating the risk of introducing moisture; yet another object of this invention is to maintain the cocoa butter based materials at steady temperature and thus incubate the cocoa butter based materials; yet another object of the material is to allow for the simultaneous heating and incubation of various kinds and colors of cocoa butter materials at their individual temperature requirements simultaneously; yet another object of this invention is to allow the user to dynamically set the temperatures of each of the individual chambers independently.

Description

HEATING DEVICE FOR COCOA BUTTER BASED MATERIAL

Preamble:

The invention generally relates to a heating device for cocoa butter based material. It consists of a housing, multiple heat chambers contained within the housing, multiple heating elements and a controller. The heat chambers contained within the housing and designed so as to contain cocoa butter based material. The capacity of each of the heating containers is smaller than or equal to 500g. The heating elements affixed to the heat chambers. The controller is contained within the housing and coupled to each of the heating elements independently so as to control their individual heating temperatures.

[Fig. 2]

Technical Field:

The invention generally relates to a heating device and more specifically to a device which is used to heat cocoa butter colors.

Prior Art:

In general, chocolate confections usually need to be decorated and/or colored during the production process. When it is necessary to color a small quantities of chocolate (such as chocolate bonbons, chocolate bars, etc.), the current practice is to use a microwave oven or other manual methods. This involves tempering and incubating each cocoa butter color before and during the process. The problem with using a microwave oven for heating is that it is difficult to precisely control the amount of heat and achieve even heating (i.e. without creating hot spots). Microwave heating can result in damaged cocoa butter crystals, which ultimately leads to a decrease in the quality and the overall appearance of the finished product. In addition, due to the poor heat retention of small amounts of material (low thermal mass), the use of manual methods to temper very small amounts of cocoa butter color can lead to a time-consuming temperature regulation process and create inconsistencies in the finished product. Also, the standard practice of using a double boiler to warm cocoa butter based products can have the undesireable effect of moisture being introduced into the cocoa butter based products and cuse irreversible damage. Due to the high price of cocoa butter and cocoa butter colors, waste based on the above technical problems can cause considerable financial losses to small businesses and can also lead to a decline in overall product quality

Objects of invention:

Brief Description:

[0001] This new invention enables the heating/incubation of small quantities of cocoa butter based materials.

[0002] This equipment is specially designed to heat/incubate cocoa butter based materials. It consists of a housing, multiple heat chambers, heating elements and a PID controller. The heat chambers are contained within the housing and are used to house the cocoa butter based materials. The capacity of each of the heat chambers is less than or equal to 500 grams. A heating element is wrapped around each of the heat chambers. The controller is contained within the housing where it is coupled to each of the heating elements of the individual heat chambers and can control each of their temperatures independently.

[0003] In one implementation of the present invention, the heating elements comprise of polyamide film heaters.

[0004] In one implementation of the present invention, the heating temperature is controlled within a range from 20 to 80 degrees Celsius.

[0005] In one implementation of the present invention, the cocoa butter based material heating device further comprises of multiple temperature sensors, coupled with heating elements and a controller. The centralized controller measures the heating temperature of the individual heating elements and consequently controls the heating temperature to essentially equal the preset heating temperature.

[0006] In one implementation of the present invention, the controller is based on a PID algorithm.

[0007] In one implementation of the present invention, the individual heating elements are affixed to the wall of the heat chambers.

[0008] In one implementation of the present invention, the cocoa butter based material heating device further consists of individual insulation layers, covering the outer surface of each of the heat chambers.

[0009] In one implementation of the present invention, the housing further comprises of a control panel which accepts user input and conveys the appropriate signals to the controller.

[0010] In one implementation of the present invention, the cocoa butter based materials comprises of cocoa butter, cocoa butter silk, cocoa butter colors and/or various chocolate compounds (example: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, compound chocolate, ganache’s etc.).

[0011] In one implementation of the present invention, each of the heat chambers can accommodate various kinds of cocoa butter based products and various colors simultaneously.

[0012] Based on the above invention cocoa butter based material heating device comprises of multiple heat chambers and the capacity of each heat chamber is less than or equal to approximately 500 grams. Each heating chamber has its own heating element and is independently controlled by the controller. The controller can separately and independently control the heating temperature of each heating element. In this way, the cocoa butter based material heating device can heat a very small amount of cocoa butter based material and precisely control its temperature, it can also simultaneously heat and incubate different types and colors of cocoa butter based materials. It can meet the different heating and incubation needs (different preset temperatures) of each of the compounds present in the individual heat chambers simultaneously. Therefore, the cocoa butter based material heating device with this implementation can improve the quality and yield of chocolate products and improve product production efficiency while reducing production costs.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a cocoa butter based material heating device schematic, based on an implementation of the present invention.

Fig.2 is a schematic diagram of an exploded view of a cocoa butter based material heating device based off an implementation of the present model. Fig.3 is a functional block diagram of a cocoa butter based material heating device based off an implementation of the present invention.

Fig.4 is a bird’s eye view of the internal structure of the cocoa butter based material heating device’s housing based off an implementation of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a bottom view of the external structure of the cocoa butter based material heating device housing based off an implementation of the present invention.

Fig.6 is a schematic view of a control panel of a cocoa butter based material heating device based off an implementation of the present invention.

Detailed Description

[0001] With regards to the foregoing and other technical contents, features and attributes of the present invention including the following detailed description of each implementation of the reference schema, the directional terms mentioned, e.g. up, down, front, back, left, right etc., are only used as the directions with regards to the attached schema. Therefore, the direction used is intended to illustrate, but not limit the creation to the current implementation. Furthermore, in the following document the same or similar elements will be given the same or similar reference numbers.

[0002] Fig.1 is a schematic diagram of a cocoa butter based material heating device created in accordance with an implementation of the present model. Fig. 2 is an exploded view of an implementation of a cocoa butter based material heating device created in accordance with the present model. Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an implementation of a cocoa butter based material heating device created in accordance with the present model. Please refer to fig.l to fig.3 where in the label 100 references the cocoa butter based material heating device which can be used to heat and/or incubate small quantities of various cocoa butter based materials. This consist of an external housing labeled 110, multiple heat chambers labeled 120, multiple heating elements labeled 130 and a controller labeled 150. The heat chambers labeled 120 are placed inside the housing labeled 110 and are contained within the internal housing cavity labeled SI. The heat chambers labeled 120 is used to accommodate the cocoa butter based material which will be heated, tempered and/or insulated (incubated).

[0003] In general, chocolate confections are decorated and/or colored. First cocoa butter (or white chocolate) is heated and melted (about 20 to 55 degrees Celsius) to achieve a fluid state. Food coloring can then be added to the melted cocoa butter and mixed thoroughly. In certain implementations, food coloring may include food coloring powder (food safe pigment), oil-soluble food coloring or liquid food coloring. When using oil-soluble food coloring, if the temperature difference between oil-soluble food coloring and cocoa butter is very large, cocoa butter will become hard and solidify, so before adding oil-soluble food coloring, it is necessary to heat the oil-soluble food coloring to a temperature close to cocoa butter. After coloring the chocolate it can be appropriately tempered to increase the luster (appearance) and snap of said chocolate.

[0004] In some chocolate confections you can use an airbrush or a brush to create a thin layer of tempered (incubated) colored cocoa butter based materials (including cocoa butter, food coloring etc.) on the inner surface of the mold before filling the mold. This will create a scaffolding for the cocoa butter crystals to grow and create nucleation sites so that the subsequently filled tempered chocolate can form the correct crystalline structure when cooled in the mold. This creates an environment more conducive for the adhesion of the cocoa butter based material and the tempered chocolate. Therefore, the procedure to accurately temper (incubate) a small amount of cocoa butter based material is crucial for the production of chocolate.

[0005] Thus, in the present implementation, the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 may be used to heat the cocoa butter based materials including cocoa butter, cocoa butter silk, cocoa butter colors and/or various chocolate compounds (example: milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, compound chocolate, chocolate ganache’s etc.) and the like. Compound chocolate herein may include cocoa butter mixed with vegetable oil, glucose, lecithin and/or other additives. In certain implementations, the heat chambers 120 may contain different cocoa butter based products or colors of cocoa butter. For example, each of the heat chambers 120 can contain dissimilar products such as chocolate compounds, cocoa butter and/or food coloring with the heat adjusted in each chamber to meet the different temperature requirements for the heating and tempering of each of the different products simultaneously. In one implementations, each of the heat chambers 120 may also be used to heat cocoa butter based materials having different colors, for example, if the finished chocolate has a variety of different colors, each of the multiple heat chambers 120 may simultaneously be used for the different colors of cocoa butter to improve production efficiency. Of course, the present implementation is not limited to these.

[0006] because the melting point range of cocoa butter is extremely narrow, it starts to soften and can become a liquid when it is heated up to about 28°C, and once the temperature approaches 33°C all the desirable crystals are melted. But if the heating temperature is too high or too low or if it is exposed to moisture, it may cause cocoa butter to seize and affect the quality of the finished product. In particular, it is difficult to control and maintain a constant and even temperature when heating a very small amount of cocoa butter based material in view of this, the present implementation of the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 contains heat chambers 120 each of which have a maximum capacity of up to 500 grams. It is therefore suited to heating very small amounts of cocoa butter based materials. In one implementation, the capacity of each heating chamber 120 is between 50 grams to 500 grams. In one implementation each heating chamber 120 has a maximum volume of approximately 175 ml. Each of the heating elements 130 are affixed to their corresponding heat chambers 120. The controller 150 is contained within the housing 110 and connected to each of the heating elements 130 and to the corresponding heat chambers 120 to which they are affixed. This is in order to independently control each of the heating element’s 130 temperatures, with the overarching objective of independently heating each of the chambers to their individual preset temperatures which in turn correspond to the different cocoa butter based materials and colors that they may contain, all of which can be achieved simultaneously using this device.

[0007] in certain implementations, the heating element 130 may be, for example, a polyimide film heater (e.g., kapton heater), polyester film heating sheet (polyester film heater) or similar film heaters which may be embedded, for example, within the side wall of each heating chamber 120. The material of the side wall of the heating chamber 120 may comprise of, for example, stainless steel or other suitable high thermal conductivity materials. In the present implementation, the heating element 130 may be a polyimide film heater which possesses ample flexibility and excellent dielectric properties. In the present implementation, the heating temperature of the heating element 130 for all intensive purposes is confined within a range from 20°C to 80°C. Practically speaking, the range can contain an error of +/- 1 degree Celsius which creates a practical lower and upper bound of 19°C and 81°C respectively. Of course, the above values are only used as an example, but the implementation is not limited to this. In such a configuration the heating element 130 it is possible to heat the cocoa butter color by directly heating the side wall of each heating chamber 120 instead of using a water bath. It is customary to use a water bath for the purpose of gentle and even heating but this increases the risk of water or water vapor contaminating the cocoa butter and thus causing the chocolate to seize. Thus, the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 of the present implementation may enhance the yield and reduce the risk of damage to the product.

[0008] in certain implementations, the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 may include multiple thermal insulation layers which are individually wrapped around the outer surface of the heat chambers 120 to achieve the desired effect of heating and insulation. For example, the insulation material may include ceramic fibers such as Superwool or Superwool plus or other suitable thermal insulation. While however, the present implementation is illustrated as an example and is not limited to these materials. In certain implementations, the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 may further include an upper lid 160, multiple washers 170 and a mounting bracket 180. The mounting bracket 180 is contained within the housing 110 and includes multiple mounting cavities 182. Heat chambers 120 are sized so as to pass through the mounting cavity 182 and mate with it to attach the heat chambers 120 within the housing 110. The upper lid 160 may cover the heat chambers 120 and includes multiple housing holes 162 to expose the heat chambers 120 below. The washers 170 may be affixed to the upper lid 160 and the heat chambers 120 to further seal the heat chambers 120 and prevent water vapor and heat dissipation. Washers 170 may be made of food grade rubber or other suitable elastic material.

[0009] Fig.4 is a schematic diagram of the interior housing of the cocoa butter based material heating device according to an implementation of the present invention. Fig.5 is another perspective view of a cocoa butter based material heating device according to an implementation of the present invention. Referring to fig.4 and fig.5 at the same time, in some implementations, the bottom of the housing of the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 may include multiple exhaust vents 114 for venting heat and moisture in the housing 110. In some implementations, the housing 110 may further include multiple bottom feet 119, which are located on the bottom surface (e.g., at the four comers) of the housing 110, so that the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 can be stably placed on a flat surface (such as a work counter), and spacers are used to raise the heating device 100, so that the bottom surface of the housing 110 and the work surface are maintained at a safe distance allowing the hot air and moisture in the housing 110 to smoothly pass through the vents 114 and be dissipated. In addition, in some embodiments, the bottom plate may further include multiple screw bosses 116, so that the printed circuit board (not shown) can be mounted to the housing 110 by passing screws through the screw bosses 116. The controller 150 can be located on the printed circuit board. In some embodiments, the housing 110 can further include a connection port 118, which can be coupled to a printed circuit board in the housing and is adapted to be connected to an external power source through a power cord to provide power to the cocoa butter based material heating device 100.

[0010] In certain implementations, the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 may further include multiple temperature sensors 140 which may be coupled to multiple heating elements 130 and the controller 150 which measures the heating temperature of each of the heating elements 130.

In certain implementations, the housing 110 may include a control panel 112 connected to the controller 150, to receive user inputs and transmit them to the controller 150. The controller 150 may include PID (proportional -integral-derivative) controller which is able to adjust the heating algorithm based on tuned constant values and adjust the output. The purpose of the PID algorithm is to carefully track and maintain a steady temperature. The controller can adjust the input value according to the historical data collected and adapt to changes in environmental conditions, load etc. this make the system more accurate and stable. In this way, the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 can not only accurately heat the cocoa butter based materials to a desired temperature, but can also maintain the cocoa butter based materials at a stable temperature and incubate it in the heating chamber 120 (i.e. it can maintain constant temperature and help to retain heat, incubating the cocoa butter based materials), allowing the user to perform the coloring steps more comfortably and without worrying about cooling or overheating of the cocoa butter based materials.

[0011] Fig.6 is a schematic view of the control panel of the cocoa butter based material heating device in accordance with an implementation of the present invention. Please refer to both fig. 3 and fig. 6, in order to understand the working principle of the control panel 112 which may include a display 1124 and the input panel. Input panel includes multiple buttons for entering operating instructions, such as the start/stop button 1121, value adjustment buttons 1125, select button 1122, temperature unit toggle button 1123, and the like. Display 1124 is used to display the current user selection and/or equipment operating status. In the present implementation the display 1124 may be a LCD display, and the operating buttons may be membrane switches, but the implementation is not limited to this. Thus configured, the user may enter their desired function via the control panel 112, for example, the select button 1122 may be pressed to select the heating chamber 120 to be heated, the value adjustment buttons 1125 may be pressed to adjust the preset heating temperature, the temperature unit toggle button 1123 may be pressed to toggle between the Fahrenheit or Celsius temperature scales, the start/stop button 1121 may be pressed to start or stop the operation of the cocoa butter based material heating device 100, and the like. The control panel 112 is used for receiving the users operating instructions (signal), and transmitting them to the controller 150, it can be used to control the operation of the cocoa butter based material heating device 100, for example, heating the selected heating chamber 120 to the preset temperature and the like. In the heating or insulation process the temperature sensors 140 may be used to test the temperature of the heating elements 130 of the heat chambers 120. The temperature sensors 140 will sense the temperature of the heating elements 130 affixed to the corresponding heat chambers 120 and send the results back to the controller 150. This is done so as to allow the controller 150 to compare the heating temperatures of the heating elements 130 with the expected preset heating temperatures and adjust the heating state of the corresponding heating elements 130 as needed. Thus the controller 150 can raise the temperature to or maintain it at the expected preset temperature accurately and in doing so the cocoa butter based material heating device 100 of the present implementation may more precisely control the temperatures of the heat chambers 120.

[0012] As described above, the present invention cocoa butter based material heating device comprises of multiple heat chambers and the capacity of each heat chamber is less than or equal to 500 grams. Each heat chamber has a corresponding heating element, which is coupled independently to the controller, so that the controller can individually control the heating temperature of each heating element. For example, the cocoa butter based material heating device can independently heat a small amounts of cocoa butter based materials and their heating temperatures can be precisely controlled at the same time. Different kinds or colors of cocoa butter based materials can be heated and the device can meet the different heating requirements of each of them simultaneously. Thus the present new type of creative implementation of the cocoa butter based material heating device can improve the quality and yield of chocolate products, and can improve product production efficiency and reduce production costs. Symbol Description

100: Cocoa butter based material heating device

110: Housing

112: Control panel

1122: Select button

1124: Display

1121: Start/ stop button

1123: T emperature unit toggle button

1125: V alue adj ustment button

114: Vents

116: Screw boss

118: Port

119: Bottom feet

120: Heating chamber

130: Heating element

140: Temperature sensor

150: Controller

160: Upper lid

162: Bottle holes

170: Washers

180: Mounting brackets

182: Mounting cavity

SI: Housing cavity

Claims

1. Claim 1 : A cocoa butter based material heating device, for heating cocoa butter based materials, including: housing, consisting of multiple heat chambers, contained within the housing which can simultaneously accommodate multiple cocoa butter based materials, wherein the capacity of each of the heat chambers is substantially less than or equal to 500 grams; a controller is contained within the housing, and coupled with each of the heating elements, to control the heating temperatures of each of the heating elements, respectively.

2. Claim 2: Cocoa butter based material heating device as described in request item 1 wherein multiple heating elements comprise of thin film heaters.

3. Claim 3: Cocoa butter based material heating device according to request item 1 wherein said heating temperature is substantially between 20°C to 80°C.

4. Claim 4: The cocoa butter based material heating device as described in request item 1 further comprises of multiple temperature sensors, coupled to multiple heating elements, and the controller to test the temperature of each of the heating elements.

5. Claim 5: Cocoa butter based material heating device according to request item 1 wherein said controller comprises of a PID controller.

6. Claim 6: Cocoa butter based material heating device according to request item 1 wherein each of the heating elements are affixed to the side wall of each of the heat chambers.

7. Claim 7: The cocoa butter based material heating device as described in request item 6 further comprises of thermal insulation layers each covering the outer surface of the heat chambers.

8. Claim 8: Cocoa butter based material heating device as requested in item 1 wherein the housing further comprises a control panel, coupled to the controller, to receive the user's operating instructions, and transmit these operating instructions to the controller.

9. Claim 9: Cocoa butter based material heating device as described in request item 1 wherein the cocoa butter based materials comprises of cocoa butter, cocoa butter silk, food coloring, chocolate or compound chocolate (i.e. milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, compound chocolate, ganache’s etc.).

10. Claim 10: cocoa butter based material heating device according to request item 1, wherein each of the heat chambers can house cocoa butter based materials of different kinds or colors.