Abstract
Provided herein are capsules for the preparation of cooled edible products from their ingredients, more specifically multi-components capsules that contain two or more ingredients for producing a cooled edible product.
Claims
1. A capsule containing substances for the preparation of a cooled food product by a food-processing appliance, the capsule containing at least one first substance having a first phase transition temperature and at least one second substance having a second phase transition temperature, such that, in use by the food processing appliance configured for utilizing the capsule, the first and second substances are introduced from the capsule into a cooled processing chamber of the appliance one after the other, such that the first and second substances undergo at least partial phase transition at said first and said second phase transition temperature, respectively, during processing to produce said cooled food product.
2. The capsule of claim 1, comprising a capsule body having a bottom wall, a circumferential side wall extending upwardly from the bottom wall and defining a capsule opening, and a pierceable or rupturable or removable lid, sealing the capsule opening, and an axis defined between the bottom wall and the lid.
3. The capsule of claim 2, wherein the lid is configured for piercing or rupturing by a piercing element of the food processing appliance.
4. The capsule of claim 2 or 3, wherein the capsule body comprises at least one first compartment accommodating said first substance and at least one second compartment accommodating said second substance.
5. The capsule of claim 4, wherein the first and second compartments are integrally formed one with the other.
6. The capsule of claim 4, wherein the first compartment is positioned on top of the second compartment along the axis.
7. The capsule of claim 6, wherein a pierceable or rupturable sheet separates between the first and second compartments.
8. The capsule of claim 4, wherein the first and second compartments are arranged side-by-side within the capsule body.
9. The capsule of claim 4, wherein the first and second compartments are concentrically arranged about the axis.
10. The capsule of claim 1, wherein the second substance has a higher viscosity and/or higher density than the first substance, forming within the capsule a top layer comprising substantially the first substance and a bottom layer comprising substantially the second substance.
11. The capsule of claim 1, wherein the phase transition temperature of the first substance is higher than the phase transition temperature of the second substance.
12. The capsule of claim 1, wherein the phase transition temperature of the second substance is higher than the phase transition temperature of the first substance.
13. The capsule of claim 1, wherein the capsule contains substances in an amount suitable for the preparation of a single serving of said cooled food product.
14. The capsule of claim 1, wherein the first and second substances are in liquid form.
15. The capsule of claim 1, wherein one of the first and second substances is selected to form a cooled edible continuous phase of the cooled food product and the other of the first and second substances is selected to form a semi-solid, viscous or solid additive distributed in the continuous phase.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0028] In order to better understand the subject matter that is disclosed herein and to exemplify how it may be carried out in practice, embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0029] FIGS. 1A-1C are longitudinal cross-sections through schematic representations of a capsule according to an embodiment of this disclosure in which the two compartments are vertically stacked along the axis of the capsule.
[0030] FIGS. 2A-2C are longitudinal cross-sections through schematic representations of a capsule according to another embodiment of this disclosure, in which the two substances form distinct layers within the capsule due to differences in density and/or viscosity.
[0031] FIGS. 3A-3C are longitudinal cross-sections through schematic representations of a capsule according to another embodiment of this disclosure, in which the two compartments are arranged side-by-side.
[0032] FIGS. 4A-4C are longitudinal cross-sections through schematic representations of a capsule according to another embodiment of this disclosure in which the two compartments are concentrically arranged about the axis of the capsule.
[0033] FIGS. 5A-5C are longitudinal cross-sections through schematic representations of a capsule according to another embodiment of this disclosure in which the two compartments are concentrically arranged about the axis of the capsule.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0034] FIGS. 1A-1C show a capsule according to this disclosure, typically for use in an appliance for the preparation of a single serving of a cooled edible product, such as ice-cream. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1A, capsule 100 comprises a capsule body 102 having an interior space 102, that is defined between bottom wall 104, circumferential side wall 106 and pierceable or rupturable lid 108. The top edge 110 of the circumferential wall 106 also defines an opening 112 through which the capsule may be filled with desired substances at the producer's facility and then closed by the lid 108 (although it is also possible that filling of the capsule with the substances will alternatively be carried out via an opening in bottom wall 104 or side wall 106, that, after filling, is sealed or plugged). An axis 114 is defined between the bottom wall and the lid.
[0035] Although the exemplified capsule has a frustoconical shape, it is to be understood that the capsule may have any suitable form or geometry, e.g. cylindrical, cubic, trapezoid, pyramidal, tetrahedron or any other shape.
[0036] In the capsule of FIG. 1A, divider wall 116 separates between a first (top) compartment 118 that contains a first substance, and a second (bottom) compartment 120 that contains a second substance; the first and second substances differ in their freezing temperatures. In this embodiment, the divider wall 116 is constituted by a pierceable or rupturable sheet, that is typical impermeable to the first and second substances (for example an aluminum foil).
[0037] In use, as schematically demonstrated in FIG. 1B, once the capsule is introduced into the appliance, a hollow piercing element 122 of the appliance (not shown) pierces the lid 108, to gain access to the first compartment 118. The first substance is then transferred from the first compartment 118 to a processing chamber of the appliance via the piercing element 122, e.g. by vacuum, and undergoes a first stage or a first set of steps within the processing chamber. Once the processing has reached a stage in which the introduction of the second substance is desired or required, the piercing element 122 is axially (vertically) advanced towards the divider wall 116 in order to pierce it, as seen in FIG. 1C, thus gaining access to the second substance.
[0038] A similar principle of utilization is shown in FIGS. 2A-2C. In these figures, like elements were given like numbers, however shifted by 100 for ease of convenience. For example, the bottom wall 204 in FIG. 2A is similar in structure and/or function to bottom wall 104 in FIG. 1A. The reader is referred to the description of FIGS. 1A-1C for fully understanding the function of each element.
[0039] In the capsule 200, shown in FIG. 2A, first substance has at least one chemical and/or physical property (e.g. density, viscosity, etc.) that is different from the second substance, such that this difference in properties results in phase separation into a top layer 230 comprising substantially the first substance and a bottom layer 232 comprising substantially the second substance. In this manner “virtual” compartments are formed, without the need to separate between the substances by a mechanical of physical means. In use, the vertical position of the hollow piercing element 222 will determine which substance is extracted from the capsule; namely in the sequence shown in FIGS. 2B-2C, the first substance 230 is first transfer from the capsule to the processing chamber of the appliance, followed by transferal of the second substance 232. However, it is also possible that the second substance will be transferred first by vertically positioning the hollow piercing element 222 closer to the bottom wall 204 to extract the second substance 232, and only afterwards transfer the first substance 230 to the processing chamber.
[0040] In the capsule of FIGS. 3A-3C, the first and second compartments are arranged side-by-side. Vertical divider wall 316 divides the internal space of the capsule into two, side-by-side compartments 318 and 320, that contain the first and second substances, respectively. In use, selective positioning of the hollow piercing element 322 can be used to draw the desired substance from the capsule.
[0041] In a similar manner, closed-loop wall 416 formed in capsule 400 in FIGS. 4A-4C divides the internal space of the capsule to two concentric compartments 418 and 420, each containing a different substance. Such concentric arrangement may also be obtained by the configuration of FIGS. 5A-5C, in which the inner compartment 540 is constituted by a cup-shaped element 540, that is held in position by a linking stem 542 extending from the bottom wall 504 and supports the cup-shaped element 540. Cup shaped element 540 forms a compartment containing one of the substances while the remainder of the internal volume of the capsule forms the other compartment 518.
