Moreover, the invention relates to a food product comprising a wafer being partly coated and which contains a food core, wherein -the wafer is substantially fan-shaped, -the wafer has a thickness that makes it easy to grasp in the same manner as a fan is grasped, -the wafer has two opposed fan-shaped lateral walls, each of which has an upper lateral edge adjacent the opening of the wafer and lower lateral edges, which extend downward from each end of the upper lateral edge and which are joined at the bot- tom of the wafer, -the lateral walls are mutually joined by transverse walls, which extend along the lower lateral edges of the lateral walls to form a wafer that is closed in the sides, -the food core is arrange in a fully or partly finished wafer.

More specifically the invention relates to products in which the food core comprises an ice-cream mass and in which the formed food product is a wafer with ice-cream.

Thus the food core may be formed from other products such as mousse, cheese, vege- tables or other foods, which preferably may be supporte by the wafer and may be consume together with the wafer.

Especially in the ice-cream industry many types of filled food products are known.

Thus wafers may be provided with a number of different shapes such as cones, cups, hollow rods, shells or the like. It is most common for these products to be manufac- tured by forming the wafer and then filling the formed wafer with the desired content.

The prior art wafer may be associated with problems, especially for children. If the wafer should have a food core having a certain volume then the cone, the cup or the hollow rod would have a great dimension which makes it difficult to handle. Thus it is difficult to bite off the ice-cream from a large conical ice-cream in the same way as it also will be difficult to bite off the ice-cream which is provided in a cup-shaped wafer.

These prior art product types have existed on the market for decades.

Also shell-shaped products are known in the form of so-called taco shells. Thus it is known to manufacture a wafer having the shape of a taco shell embracing a core of ice-cream. It is known to manufacture the shell beforehand and it is also known to shape the food core and then form the taco shell around the pre-shaped food core.

However, it is a problem that the food content of a taco shell may be lost from the open sides of the wafer. This provides a poor quality for the food product. This is es- pecially a problem associated with an ice-cream product where a certain melting oc- curs before the ice is consume. Such food product will not be suited to contain a vis- cous ice-cream product, a so-called soft-ice.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a method for producing a food prod- uct of the type mentioned by way of introduction and to provide such food product in which the above drawbacks are remedied by providing a new food product which is easy to handle and which is suited for automatic filling or for manual filling, refera- bly with an ice-cream mass.

According to the present invention this is obtained with a food product which is char- acterised in

-that the upper lateral edges of the lateral walls are substantially straight as seen from the side of the product, -that the lower lateral edges of the lateral walls are substantially continuously curved and is substantially elliptical or circular in form, -that the transverse walls as seen in cross-section has a curved form being substan- tially elliptical or circular, -that the opening of the wafer, as seen from above has substantially elliptical end portions and an intermediate portion in which the opposed sides are parallel or curved, and -that the food core extends at least to the upper lateral edges.

A method according to the present invention is characterised in that an open fan- shaped wafer is provided which is embodied in such a way -that the upper lateral edges of the lateral walls are substantially straight as seen from the side of the product, -that the lower lateral edges of the lateral walls are substantially continuously curved and is substantially elliptical or circular in form, -that the transverse walls as seen in cross-section has a curved form being substan- tially elliptical or circular, -that the opening of the wafer, as seen from above has substantially elliptical end portions and an intermediate portion in which the opposed sides are parallel or curved, and -that the food core extends at least to the upper lateral edges, -that the wafer during transport is supporte at the lower half of the wafer thereby leaving an edge area along the opening of the wafer free, which edge area is pro- vided with an outer coating.

A food product of this type is very easy to grasp, seeing that the fan-shape may be manufactured with different thickness. Hereby it is possible to obtain a greater or mi- nor volume based on the size of the fan-shaped wafer. Moreover, the product may be manufactured in such a narrow form that it may easily be grasped even by the hand of a child. A secure grip is obtained as the fan-shaped product has curved edges thereby

adapting easily to the anatomy of the hand even for a child. As the wafer has a closed fan-shape which solely is open at the upper side, there will be no risk that the food- stuff falls out. In case the foodstuff is ice-cream where a partial melting occurs during the consumption then there will be no risk that melted ice-cream will run out of the wafer.

The inner coating provides the wafer with a sufficient resistance for softening due to moisture or due to the influence from the content. The coating, which constitutes an inner moisture barrier will typically be a coating containing fat or a chocolate coating.

It will also be possible to provide the wafer with an outer coating if this is necessary to maintain the crispness of the wafer. The coating may be applied with the opening of the wafer facing upwards or downwards.

It is possible to manufacture the product by machiner by filling the food product into a wafer, which has been finished/surface coated beforehand. Alternatively, the filling of the foodstuff in itself may comprise a part of the coating of the wafer in case the foodstuff contains a fatty content which hardens on the inner side of the wafer. It is possible to fill the wafer with a food content wherein a part of the components will combine with the surface of the wafer and thereby form a coating.

Alternatively, it is also possible to effect an outer coating which totally or partly cov- ers the wafer and the filled-in food product. Such outer coating will be applied to an edge area along the opening of the wafer. Such outer coating will be applied to an edge area along the opening of the wafer. This may e. g. be the case with a chocolate coating for an ice-cream wafer.

When producing the food product embodied with characteristics as explained above it is possible to transport the wafer by a support which is engaged at the lower half of the wafer. Accordingly an edge area on the opening is kept free. This is important as the outer coating should not be brought into contact with supporting equipment in form of trays, kippers, jaws etc. If such supporting equipment is brought into contact with coating there would be a risk of malfunctioning. As the wafer is provided with the

bottom part curved in a substantial elliptical or circular form, it is possible to have a secure support even in trays as the centre of gravity would be arrange very low in the wafer product having a rounded bottom part. Accordingly the wafer would be pro- vided in a stable position even if it is only supporte in the opening in the tray, which opening has edges being in contact with the lower portion of the wafer When filling the wafer the applied coating hardens by leaving the wafer for a suitable period of time for the applied coating. This can e. g. be effected during a cooling de- pendent on the product type used.

The finished wafer with a hardened coating providing a moisture barrier may be filled with the product.

In case the food product is an ice-cream mass, this will preferably be filled into the wafer with time elapse filling. This time elapse filling may establish a finished product which is then subjected to a finishing treatment in form of a freezing. The frozen product may then be packed and be marketed in the same way as other ice-cream products.

Filling may also be effected in other ways. Thus it is possible to form a combination product which optionally comprises a content of juice, jam, chocolate or caramel as inner or outer rippling. It is also possible to fill in two or more types of ice-cream having different colours. As an alternative to time/elapse filling, the filling may also be effected by using extruding which is well known for the filling of wafers, cups and the like.

A bottom filling, e. g. of jam or the like, may be filled before the ice-cream. Moreover, the filling may be combine with a subsequent filling by injection of alternative prod- ucts, e. g. juice or the like, which are known from so-called pencil filling in other ice- cream products. Moreover, the filling may be finished with special multi nozzles in order to obtain a special decoration effect at the top of the product.

The ice-cream product may be covered with a chocolate based or fat containing coat- ing covering the ice-cream mass and a part of the upper edge area of the wafer. This may, e. g., be obtained by dipping the ice-cream product into chocolat or the like for establishing the outer coating. The coated product may be applied onto a dried granu- late, e. g. a dust of nut or the like in the coating still being wet so that the dry granulate is maintained in the coating when this is hardened/dried. The dry granulate may be applied, e. g. by use of a so-called dry-coter which is a known equipment for ice- cream production. Alternatively, it may also be effected by use of a special rubber bellow which squeezes the dry granulate onto the product.

After the filling the product may be subjected to a finishing treatment either by freez- ing or by cooling in case of a mousse product. The finished product may then be packed in sales pacages which are well known for other ice-cream products.

As an alternative to the above industrial automatic filling the ice-cream product may also be produced by manual filling which e. g. is known in connection with soft-ice in a situation where the products are produced at the sales place. In this situation the ice- cream mass, preferably soft-ice, is filled into the wafer by extruding. This extruding establishes the finished product which may be given a finishing treatment by dipping into chocolate or sprinkling with nuts or chocolate or the like.

The product in question is a new and hitherto unknown food product. In this food product it is preferred that the two opposed lateral walls are provided substantially parallel. This renders it impossible to make use of a traditional stacking which is known from conical wafers, cups and the like.

It is possible to produce the wafer having the two lateral walls arrange under a mu- tual angle in order to establish a partial stacking. Due to the ease of biting in the prod- uct it is, however, a limited size of the angle which may be used between the two lat- eral walls of the food product.

The fan-shaped wafer will be produced with lateral walls running parallel or substan- tially parallel. This makes it impossible to use a stacking and handling which is known from traditional food products. Accordingly, there are special requirements for trans- port, storing and handling of the wafer. Thus the wafer must be handled in special handling steps after the manufacture of the wafer in a wafer bakery. The wafer bakery may be provided in immediate connection with a filling operation. However, there will often be a need for transport of the wafers from the wafer manufacturer to the ice- cream factory. During this transport it is necessary that the wafers are packed in a way so that they are protected against transport damages. Especially it has turned out that a wafer having substantially flat parallel walls will have a tendency to collapse during longer time of storing and transport. It is believed that this is due to tensions in the bakedproduct.

The method of producing the food product comprises a handling step in which the wafers are conveyed to the filling operation, preferably grouped into several rows.

During this step the wafers are arrange at or in a holder comprising supporting means which at least partially enter into the hollow of the wafer. Hereby the wafer is pro- tected against shock excitations so that it will not break. Simultaneously, it is in an advantageously way possible to overcome the problem with collapsing. As the sup- porting means enter totally or partly into the hollow of the wafer a support is estab- lished which prevents the product to collapse even if tensions occur in the wafer's substantially parallel lateral walls. The supporting means may solely be in contact with an edge area of the wafer or enter substantially into the hollow of the wafer in order to support a greater part of the lateral walls and possibly also the transverse walls of the wafer.

When the wafer is conveyed to the filling operation the individual wafer may be grasped from the holder and conveyed to transport means which convey the products through the filling operation and the finishing treatment. In connection with the trans- fer to the transport means the wafer may be turned 180°C if necessary in order to ori- entate the opening upwards so that they can be filled from above by means of tradi-

tional filling equipment. Alternatively the wafer may remain in the holder during the filling operation and finishing treatment.

The transport means which are used for the transport of the wafers through the filling operation will preferably be trays in a tray conveyor or slats in a slat conveyor which is then used to convey the product through the finishing treatment in form of freezing in a freezing tunnel.

During the application of the inner coating the wafer may be arrange in the holder which simultaneously is used for the subsequent transport and possibly also the filling.

This may be the case when the supporting means which enter into the hollow of the wafer consist of a protruding edge area which is arrange along the opening of the wafer and thereby free the inner of the wafer so that a nozzle from the underside of the holder may spray coating material up through the opening into the inner of the wafer.

The wafers may manually be arrange in the holders or by means of automatic trans- port equipment. It is possible to effect a coating at the wafer manufacturer's or as a pre-treatment step as part of the filling of the wafer.

In stead of producing the product by a direct extrusion of ice-cream mass into the wa- fer it is possible to provide a form stable ice-cream product. Thus it is possible to pro- duce the ice-cream core in freezing pockets which are well known from the manufac- ture of ice-lolly products. These products may be produced with a mould in such a way that they fit into the wafers. After the ice-cream core is form stable it may be withdrawn from the freezing pocket and transferred to a separate step where it is ar- ranged in the wafers which have been provided with an inner coating.

With this method it is optional to fill the wafer with the opening orientated upwards or with the opening orientated downwards. Said method makes it possible to produce and ice-cream product in which the core extends a substantial distance outside the wafer.

The invention will now be explained in further detail with reference to the schematic drawing, in which

Fig. 1 shows different embodiments of a food product according to the inven- tion, Fig. 2 shows an embodiment of a holder for supporting wafers during the handling and/or possible filling, Fig. 3 shows another embodiment of a holder for the wafers, Fig. 4 shows a further embodiment of a holder for use when inserting wafers into a transport system, Fig. 5 a picture illustrating an embodiment of a method according to the inven- tion, Fig. 6 a picture illustrating another embodiment of a method according to the invention, Fig. 7 a picture illustrating a further embodiment of a method according to the invention, Fig. 8 a picture illustrating further part-operations in a method according to the invention, Fig. 9 a picture illustrating a further embodiment of a method according to the invention, and Fig. 10 a picture illustrating a further embodiment of a method according to the invention.

Fig. 1 illustrates different examples of a food product according to the invention in form of ice-cream products. The food product 1 consists of a fan-shaped wafer 2 and a food core 3. The wafer 2 has two opposed substantially parallel lateral walls 4 and a transverse wall 5 connecting the two lateral walls 4.

The food products A and B are shown having lateral walls 4 substantially with a partly circular form. The central portion 7 of the upper side edge of the wafer 2 is substan- tially rectilinear and the end portions 7'have a curvilinear form, e. g. a circular form.

The product A has a food core 3 only filling the inner hollow of the wafer 2. The product B has a food core 3 extending substantially outside the wafer 2. Moreover, the product B has an outer coating 6 not only covering the food core but also an edge area 8'along the opening 8 of the wafer.

In the products C, D and E the wafers 2 are produced with substantially triangular lat- eral walls 4 as the curve 9'at bottom 9 has a small radius of curvature. Moreover, the product D differs in having lateral walls 4 arrange in planes extending under a mutual angle. Thus the distance between the lateral walls is greater at the opening 8 than at the bottom 9 of the wafer. Due to the ease of biting it is, however, limited how large the angle may be between the two lateral walls 4. The angle between the two lateral walls will preferably be of between 0 and 30°. However, the angle will depend on the size of the wafer 2.

The wafers are provided with an inner coating 10 (only illustrated in the product C and D illustrated as empty wafers 2). This coating is a moisture barrier and in the case of an ice-cream product it will typically be formed of chocolate.

Product F is a wafer having lateral walls 4 being substatially halfcircular and trans- verse walls 5 being curved.

The distance between the lateral walls 4 of the wafer 2 may be of between 10 and 50 mm and the wafers may be formed in order to contain a volume in the order of be- tween 20 cm3 and 300 cm3, preferably of between 50 cm3 and 130 cm3.

Fig. 2 illustrates a holder 11 in the form of a plate formed of cardboard or plastic or other suitable material and which is provided with a matrix of openings 12 in which the wafers 2 may be arrange. As illustrated in the left hand side of Fig. 2, the wafers 2 are formed having lateral walls 4 arrange under an angle in such a way that certain stacking is possible. By use of the plate-formed holders 11 good protection of the in- dividual wafers 2 during transport and handling is obtained. The holder 11 may be used for fixing the wafers 2 in a matrix during a subsequent filling with possible inner coating and the food core. Alternatively, the wafers may be provided with the inner coating before arranging them in the holders 11.

Fig. 3 illustrates another embodiment of a holder 13. The holder 13 comprises a rail 14 having recesses 15 in which the lower part of the wafer 2 is accommodated. At the

opposing side the holder 13 has a protruding supporting means 16 entering partly into the inner 17 of the wafer supporting an edge area 18 of the lateral walls of the wafer.

Hereby a collapsing of the wafer is obviated and they will also be protected against shocks and breakage during transport and handling. The holder 13 may be provided with supporting means arrange between holders partly being arrange above each other so that more holders may be stacked upon each other in such a way that the wa- fers 2 are provided with the lower part in the recess 15 and with the upper edge sup- ported by the supporting means 16 in a holder 13 arrange above.

Fig. 4 illustrates a further embodiment of a holder 19. The holder 19 comprises a tube 20 supporting a stack of wafers 2. The holder 20 is intended for use by placing the wafers 2 in transport means 21, preferably a tray conveyor or a slat conveyor which is used to convey the wafers to the subsequent filling. Moreover, the holder 19 com- prises a conveying means 22 for individual extracting of wafers 2 from the bottom of the stack of wafers.

As mentioned above the wafers may alternatively be conveyed to the filling operations in a holder 11 or 13. Thus it is possible to convey the wafers in several parallel rows or in one single row to the filling operation and finishing treatment and possible sub- sequent packing.

Figs. 5-9 show different embodiments of the method according to the invention. The different steps, part-operations and elements, used in the method will be denoted with identical reference numbers and, accordingly, they will not be explained in detail in connection with each of the figures.

Fig. 5 shows an embodiment in which the wafers 2 are provided in the holders 11. The holders 11 are arrange on trays 13 in a tray conveyor. The wafers 2 are conveyed in direction of an arrow 24. First they are conveyed to a coating step 25 where by means of nozzles 26 they are provided with an inner coating 10 of chocolate 27 sprayed into the wafers 2. In a subsequent transport section 28 the wafers may be dried or cooled in order to harden the chocolate coating before a filling step 29. In the filling step 29 ice-

cream 30 is filled into the wafers 2 by means of nozzles 31 which form a part of a known time elapse filling system. After the filling the wafers are conveyed into a freezing step 32 in the form of a freezing tunnel. After the freezing the trays are con- veyed to a removal step 33 in which the wafers 2/the holders 22 are removed from the tray conveyor and conveyed to a packing step (not shown). The tray conveyor which is an endless chain will then have an empty tray which is ready to be filled with a new holder 11 containing wafers 2.

Fig. 6 illustrates another embodiment in which a conveyor 34 is embodied as a slat conveyor. In the coating step 25 chocolate is sprayed into the wafers 2 which are ar- ranged with the opening turning downwards. After the spraying the wafers are turned in a turning step 35. As the wafers are now provided with the opening facing down- wards, surplus chocolate will run off in a chocolate drain 36. By means of a pump 37 chocolate is pumped through a conduit 38 to the nozzles 26.

After the formation of the inner coating 10 the wafers 2 are conveyed to a cooling step 39. After the cooling step the wafers are conveyed to the filling step 29 and further to a freezing step 32. After the freezing step there may applied an outer chocolate coating covering the ice-cream core and the upper portion of the wafer or the products may be conveyed directly to a packing step 40.

Fig. 7 illustrates an alternative embodiment of a part-operation by the method accord- ing to the invention. The wafers 2 are arrange with the opening facing downwards on a conveyor 42 which may be a slat conveyor or a conveyor in which the wafers are arrange in holders provided with openings having a turned-up edge area for support- ing the wafers by abutting the inner side of the wafers. Accordingly, the conveyor 41 is provided with an opening below each wafer 2. In the coating step 25 the wafers will be provided with a coating by means of a nozzle 42 spraying chocolate into the wafer. Subsequently, surplus chocolate can run off in the drain 36. After the coating the wa- fer is conveyed through a cooling step 39 and may then be filled in any desired way.

Fig. 8 illustrates a further embodiment of part-operations by the method according to the invention. After the freezing step 32 in which the wafers 2 are arrange with the opening facing upwards, the wafers are conveyed to a turning step 43. The wafers are now provided with the opening facing downwards and may be arrange in modifie grasping equipment which in principle is known from the handling of conical wafers.

The wafers 2 are conveyed through a dipping step 44 in which the form stable frozen product is dipped into a chocolate bath. Then the product is conveyed through a turn- ing step 45 so that the wafer is again arrange with the opening facing upwards. The product is then conveyed to a finishing treatment step 46 in which the wet chocolate is sprinkled with nuts or the like. The product is then conveyed through a drying to a packing step 40.

Fig. 9 illustrates an embodiment in which an ice-cream mass 47 is extruded into freezing pockets 48 in a freezing apparats 49. The frozen product is withdrawn from the freezing pocket 49 in a withdrawal station 50 and is conveyed through a with- drawal equipment 51 to a station 52 in which the form-stable frozen product is in- serted into a wafer 2 which is provided on a conveyor 53. The ice-cream core 3 is thus made form-stable in a shape adapted to the following insertion into the wafer 2.

Hereby it is possible to produce a food product in which the ice-cream core 3 may extend in substantial distance outside the wafer 2. Moreover, it is possible to produce the ice-cream core 3 with different embodiments as e. g. combination products consist- ing of juice and ice-cream. After the ice-cream core 3 has been arrange in the wafer 2, the product may be conveyed to a finishing treatment as explained above or to a packing step.

Fig. 9 illustrates an embodiment, which substantially corresponds to that illustrated in fig. 6. However, according to this embodiment, following the freezing step 32, there will be effected a dipping step 44 and a finishing keatment step 46 before the product is conveyed through a drying to a paking step 40. Moreover it is noted that the wafers 2 leave the freezing step 32 with the bottoms facing upwards and accordingly are ready for the dipping step 44 without a turning. Even though the invention has been explained especially with regard to the production of ice-cream products, it is possible to modify the food product and the method steps and provide the wafer 2 with a different type of food. It will also be possible to replace the freezing step with other forms of treatment, e. g. a heating.