Method of co-filling a dairy product and co-filled composite dairy product

Abstract

The present invention concerns a method for producing a composite dairy product by co-filling viscous components and obtaining a spiral or spiral-like product aspect. Advantageously, the method does not require rotational movements of filling nozzles for obtaining the product aspect and thus provides a reduction in the overall complexity of the filling equipment. The composite dairy product comprises a container comprising at least one transparent portion, and wherein a viscous component is visible as a substantially discontinuous stretch on said transparent portion of the container.

1 . A method for continuously filling containers with a dairy product, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a line of containers to be filled;   providing a nozzle, the nozzle comprises at least two openings so as to allow for co-filling of at least two different viscous components into a container;   guiding a container in a vicinity of the nozzle;   co-filling at least two different components through the at least two openings of the nozzle into the container; and,   during co-filling, at least one relative movement between the container and the nozzle is performed, the at least one relative movement comprising: a vertical component of movement, the vertical component of movement being obtained by a movement starting from a first position where the nozzle is in a more proximal position with respect to a bottom of the container and ending in a second position where the nozzle is in a more distant position above the bottom of the container; and a horizontal component of movement, the horizontal component of movement being obtained by a movement wherein the relative position of an axis z of the nozzle with respect to an axis c of the container is changed by displacement of at least one of the axis.   
     
     
         2 . A method for continuously filling containers with a product, wherein the method comprises the steps of:
 providing rows and lines of containers to be filled;   providing a row of side-by-side arranged nozzles, wherein each nozzle comprises at least two openings so as to allow for co-filling of two different viscous components into an individual container;   guiding a row of containers in a vicinity of a row of the side-by-side arranged nozzles;   co-filling at least two different viscous components through the at least two openings of each nozzle into each container of a row; and   during co-filling, at least one relative movement between each container and the respective nozzle is performed, the at least one relative movement comprising: a vertical component of movement, the vertical component of movement being obtained by a movement starting from a first position where each nozzle is in a more proximal position with respect to a bottom of the respective container and ending in a second position where each nozzle is in a more distant position above the bottom of the respective container; and a horizontal component of movement, the horizontal component of movement being obtained by a movement wherein the relative position of an axis z of each nozzle with respect to an axis c of each respective container is changed by displacement of at least one of the axis.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the horizontal component of movement during co-filling is selected from the group consisting of a forward, a backward, a lateral component of movement and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the horizontal component of movement, when projected into a horizontal plane x, is a movement in at least one direction on the plane x, z. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the horizontal component of movement, when projected into a horizontal plane x, defines at least one curve. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the horizontal component of movement, when projected into a horizontal plane x, designs defines a closed shape. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the movement of the nozzle by the parallel displacement of the axis z, when projected into a plane x, y perpendicular to the axis z, is such that the nozzle is repetitively moved, during the step of co-filling, in a vicinity of a lateral wall of the container and away from the lateral wall of the container. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two viscous components have different colors and wherein the container has at least one transparent wall portion, and in the step of co-filling, the at least two viscous components are co-filled such that at least one of the two viscous components becomes visible, on the transparent wall portion, as an interrupted stretch of the viscous component at least partially surrounded by the at least one other viscous component. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the at least two viscous components comprise one dairy viscous component and one non-dairy viscous component. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the nozzle comprises three openings, a central opening for co-filling a dairy viscous component into the container, and two lateral openings for co-filling a non-dairy viscous component into the container. 
     
     
         11 . A composite dairy product comprising at least a first and a second viscous component, the first and second viscous component having different colors, wherein the first viscous component is a dairy viscous component and the second viscous component is selected from the group consisting of dairy viscous components and a non-dairy viscous component, the composite dairy product comprises a container comprising at least one transparent portion, and the second viscous component is visible as a substantially discontinuous stretch on the transparent portion of the container. 
     
     
         12 . The composite dairy product of  claim 11 , wherein the second component is visible as a plurality of substantially discontinuous stretches on the transparent portion of the container, at least two of the plurality of discontinuous stretches are located one above the other. 
     
     
         13 . The dairy product of  claim 11 , wherein two groups of two or more substantially discontinuous stretches of the second viscous component are located on opposed sides at the wall of the container. 
     
     
         14 . The dairy product of  claim 11 , wherein the discontinuous stretches visible on a transparent portion of the container have an irregular form on the transparent portion. 
     
     
         15 . The dairy product of  11 , wherein the second viscous component is provided in the container as a least one continuous stretch of the component, which extends from a central position in the container towards a lateral wall of the container and again towards the central position, thereby forming on the visible transparent portion of the container the substantially discontinuous stretch. 
     
     
         16 . The dairy product of  claim 15 , wherein the second viscous component further extends substantially from the bottom to the top of the container together with the first viscous component. 
     
     
         17 . An apparatus for co-filling two edible viscous components into a container for providing a composite dairy product, wherein the apparatus comprises at least one nozzle comprising at least two openings for simultaneously co-filling the two viscous components through the nozzle into said container, the apparatus comprising a line for guiding a line of containers to be filled in a filling relationship with respect to the nozzle, the apparatus is arranged so as to perform at least one relative movement between the container and the nozzle during co-filling of the two viscous components, the at least one relative movement comprising: a vertical component of movement, the vertical component of movement being obtained by a movement starting from a first position where the nozzle is in a more proximal position with respect to a bottom of the container and the movement ending in a second position where the nozzle is in a more distant position above the bottom of the container; and
 a horizontal component of movement, the horizontal component of movement being obtained by a movement wherein the relative position of an axis z of the nozzle with respect to an axis of the container is changed by substantially parallel displacement. 
 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , comprising a plurality of n, side-by-side arranged nozzles, wherein n is an integer equal to or greater than 2, the apparatus comprising side-by-side arranged holders for holding a row of containers in a filling relationship with respect to the nozzles. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 18 , comprising a connecting structure to which the nozzles are attached, wherein the connection structure performs the horizontal component of movement by displacing in parallel the axis z of each nozzle. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein all movements of the nozzles relative to the respective container filled by the nozzle during the co-filling is mediated by corresponding movement of the connecting structure. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 19 , wherein the nozzles are rigidly connected to the connecting structure during operation of the apparatus. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 17 , comprising a single motor that coordinates all parallel displacement movements of the nozzle. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus according to  claim 17 , wherein the nozzle comprises one central and at least two lateral openings, wherein a first viscous component can be filled through the central opening and a second viscous component can be filled through the lateral openings in the nozzle. 
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the displacement of at least one of the axis is a parallel displacement of the axis. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the horizontal component of movement during co-filling is selected from the group consisting of a forward, a backward, a lateral component of movement and combinations thereof. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the horizontal component of movement, when projected into a horizontal plane x, is a movement in at least one direction on the plane x, z. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the horizontal component of movement, when projected into a horizontal plane x, defines at least one curve. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the horizontal component of movement, when projected into a horizontal plane x, defines a closed shape. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the movement of the nozzle by the parallel displacement of the axis z, when projected into a plane x, y perpendicular to the axis z, is such that the nozzle is repetitively moved, during the step of co-filling, in a vicinity of a lateral wall of the container and away from the lateral wall of the container. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the at least two viscous components have different colors and wherein the container has at least one transparent wall portion, and wherein in the step of co-filling, the at least two viscous components are co-filled such that at least one of the two viscous components becomes visible, on the transparent wall portion, as an interrupted stretch of the viscous component at least partially surrounded by the at least one other viscous component. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the at least two viscous components comprise one dairy viscous component and one non-dairy viscous component. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the nozzle comprises three openings, a central opening for co-filling a dairy viscous component into the container, and two lateral openings for co-filling a non-dairy viscous component into the container.