METHOD FOR COATING A COMPACTED POWDER CAKE, IN PARTICULAR FOR PRODUCING A CAPSULE CONTAINING BEVERAGE POWER

Abstract

A method for coating a powder compact, in particular for producing a capsule containing powdered beverages, comprises the following steps: i) Providing a powder compact of a powder containing at least one polysaccharide, ii) Providing a container having a container wall of a perforated material enclosing a cavity, the container having an inlet opening for introducing coating liquid into the cavity, iii) placing the powder compact in the cavity of the container, the powder compact being smaller than the volume of the cavity, (iv) introducing a coating liquid containing a coating material into the cavity via the inlet port, v) immersing the container filled with the powder compact and the coating material in a hardener liquid containing a hardener compound, the viscosity of the hardener liquid being lower than the viscosity of the coating liquid, and vi) Removal of the container from the hardener liquid and removal of the coated powder compact from the container.

Claims

1. A method for coating a powder compact, in particular for producing a capsule containing beverage powder, comprising the following steps: i) providing a powder compact of a powder containing at least one polysaccharide, ii) providing a container having a container wall of a perforated material enclosing a cavity, the container having an inlet opening for introducing coating liquid into the cavity, iii) placing the powder compact into the cavity of the container, wherein the powder compact is smaller than the volume of the cavity, iv) introducing a coating liquid containing a coating material into the cavity via the inlet port, v) immersing the container filled with the powder compact and the coating material in a hardener liquid containing a hardener compound, the viscosity of the hardener liquid being lower than the viscosity of the coating liquid, and vi) removing the container from the hardener liquid and removing the coated powder compact from the container.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the powder compact is spherical and made of a powder of a substance selected from the group consisting of coffee, tea, drinking chocolate, cocoa and milk powder by pressing the powder with a pressure of 0.01 to 1.000 MPa.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the container has a spherical cavity.

4. The A method according to claim 1, wherein the perforated material of the container wall is a wire mesh having a mesh size of from 0.01 to 0.30 mm.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the wire mesh is made of stainless steel and has a wire thickness of 0.01 to 0.30 mm.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a tube firmly connected to the container is arranged above the inlet opening of the container.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the tube is a rectangular tube or a round tube having a length of from 1.0 to 5.0 cm.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the tube is a round tube having an inner diameter of 0.1 to 5.0 mm.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the container comprises two half-calottes, each of the same dimensions and each formed from the perforated material, which are connected via a hinge, the half-calottes enclosing a spherical cavity when the two half-calottes are each placed on top of one another with their equator in a snug fit, one of the half-calottes having the inlet opening at its pole.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the inlet opening has a circular cross-section with a diameter of from 0.1 to 5.0 mm.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the container is connected in a rack with one or more other containers of the same dimensions, so that several powder compacts can be coated simultaneously.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein a coating liquid is used which contains a coating material selected from the group consisting of starch, cellulose, chitin, carrageenan, agar and alginates.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein a hardener liquid is used which contains a hardener compound which crosslinks the coating material via i) covalent bonds or ii) via ionic and/or coordinative bonds.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein a coating liquid is used which contains an alkali metal alginate as coating material, and a hardener liquid is used which contains an alkaline earth metal salt as hardener compound.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein an alkali metal alginate solution is used as the coating liquid, and an alkaline earth metal salt solution is used as hardener liquid.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the alkali metal alginate solution is an aqueous solution comprising 0.5 to 5% by weight alkali metal alginate.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein the alkali metal alginate solution is an aqueous solution comprising 0.5 to 5% by weight sodium alginate.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein the alkaline earth metal salt solution is an aqueous solution comprising 1 to 7% by weight of an alkaline earth metal salt.

19. The method according to claim 15, wherein the alkaline earth metal salt solution is an aqueous solution comprising 1 to 7% by weight calcium chloride.

Description

[0051] It shows:

[0052] FIG. 1A container suitable for the process according to the invention with a container wall made of a perforated material according to an embodiment of the present invention in the open state.

[0053] FIG. 2 the container shown in FIG. 1 in closed state.

[0054] The container 10 shown in FIG. 1, suitable for use in the process according to the present invention, comprises two half-calottes 12, 12′ connected to each other by a hinge 14. The two half-calottes 12, 12′ each have the same dimensions and are each formed of the same perforated material, preferably a wire mesh of stainless steel. The equators 16, 16′ of the two half-calottes 12, 12′ each have a radially outwardly projecting collar 18, 18′ of the, which surround the half-calottes 12, 12′ in each case in a circular ring shape. An inlet opening 20 is provided at the pole of the upper half-calotte 12′, above which a tube 22 fixedly connected to the container is arranged. The two half-calottes 12, 12′ form the container wall 24.

[0055] In the opened state shown in FIG. 1, a powder compact can be easily introduced into the cavity 26 of the container 10 according to process step iii) and a coated powder compact can be easily removed from the cavity 26 of the container 10 according to process step v). By folding the two half-calottes 12, 12′ together via the hinge 14, the two half-calottes 12, 12′ can be brought together with their equators in a snug fit and closed, as shown in FIG. 2. In this state, the coating liquid can be introduced via the tube 22 and the inlet opening 20 into the cavity 26 of the container according to process step iv) and the container 10 filled with the powder compact and the coating material can be immersed in the hardener liquid container according to process step v).