Method and apparatus for producing products with serially registered multiple colors

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for printing indicia on confectionery products such as chewing gum. A mass of confectionery product is formed into a thin, flat sheet. The sheet may be divided into individual sheets for cooling. Next, the sheet or sheets of confectionery are passed through the printing machine to print indicia thereon. Printed confectionery products and packages thereof are also provided.

We claim:  
     
         1 . A method of printing indicia on confectionery products comprising: 
 a) providing a sheet of confectionery product;    b) cooling the sheet to a temperature below approximately 56° F.; and    c) printing indicia on the cooled sheet of confectionery product.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  where at least two colors are printed in registration with one another on the sheet of confectionery product.  
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of dividing the sheet into individual sheets prior to printing.  
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of forming the sheet from a mass of confectionery product, the sheet having a thickness of approximately 0.054 inches to about 1 inch.  
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4  wherein the step of forming the sheet is performed on a different machine than that used to perform the printing step.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 3  further comprising the step of storing the sheets for approximately 12 hours to about 36 hours prior to printing.  
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of removing excess dusting compound from the sheet prior to printing indicia on the sheet of confectionery product.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  wherein at least three colors of edible ink are printed on the sheet of confectionery product.  
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising the step of dividing the sheet into pieces of confectionery product after printing.  
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the confectionery product is selected from the group consisting of chewing gum, taffy, gummy candy and dehydrated fruit based confections.  
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the confectionery product comprises chewing gum.  
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the pieces comprises generally flat pieces of chewing gum formed by scoring a thin, flat sheet having a thickness of between about 0.054 inches and about 1 inch, the gum piece having a rectangular shape with a length of between about 3 and about 5 inches and a width of between about 1.5 and about 2.5 inches.  
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 3  wherein the sheets are generally rectangular, flat sheets of chewing gum having: 
 a) a thickness of between about 0.054 and about 1 inches;  
 b) a width of between about 5 and about 20 inches; and  
 c) a length of between about 1 and about 17 inches.  
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the indicia is in the form of printing on a check.  
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the indicia is in the form of printing on a traffic citation.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the indicia is in the form of printing on a magic eye puzzle.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the indicia is in the form of printing on a sports trading card.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the confectionery sheet is printed with multiple printed indicia thereon and is divisible into smaller pieces of confectionery, each with an individual, complete printed indicia thereon.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the printing is done by a rotogravure process.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the printed indicia has a high degree of resolution.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the confectionery comprises chewing gum and is cooled to a temperature of approximately 51° F. to 56° F. prior to printing.  
     
     
         22 . A method of printing indicia on confectionery products comprising: 
 a) providing a plurality of separately divided sheets of confectionery product; and    b) printing indicia on the sheets of confectionery product.    
     
     
         23 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the sheets are cooled to a temperature below approximately 56° F. prior to printing.  
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 22  further comprising: 
 a) feeding the sheets of confectionery products onto a moving conveyor bed;  
 b) removing excess dusting compound from the sheets of confectionery on the conveyor bed; and  
 c) printing the indicia on the de-dusted sheets of confectionery product as they move on the conveyor bed.  
 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the step of printing indicia comprises printing two colors of ink in register on the confectionery product sheets.  
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24  wherein a rotating brush is used to remove excess dusting compound.  
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26  wherein a plurality of hold down fingers hold some of the sheets of confectionery product on the conveyor bed while the sheet is being contacted by the rotating brush.  
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the conveyor bed includes recesses and the confectionery product sheets are carried in the recesses while the sheets are printed to provide accurate registration of two or more successive prints on the confectionery product sheets.  
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 24  wherein the individual sheets are fed from a magazine feeder.  
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 29  wherein the magazine feeder is positioned at an incline relative to the conveyor bed.  
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the confectionery product is selected from the group consisting of chewing gum, taffy, gummy candy and dehydrated fruit based confections.  
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 22  wherein the confectionery product comprises chewing gum.  
     
     
         33 . An apparatus for producing a sheet of confectionery product with printing thereon comprising: 
 a) a cooling device for cooling the sheet of confectionery product to a temperature below approximately 56° F.; and    b) a printing device for printing indicia on the sheet after cooling.    
     
     
         34 . The apparatus of  claim 33  further comprising a rolling machine to form a continuous sheet of confectionery product and a blade configured to cut the continuous sheet into separate sheets of confectionery product prior to printing.  
     
     
         35 . The apparatus of  claim 33  wherein the blade comprises a rotating blade.  
     
     
         36 . An apparatus for producing sheets of confectionery with printing thereon comprising: 
 a) means for providing individual sheets of confectionery products;    b) a printing device; and    c) a conveyor bed for conveying the individual confectionery sheets through the printing device.    
     
     
         37 . The apparatus of  claim 36  further comprising a de-dusting station for removing dusting compound from a surface of the sheets of confectionery to be printed.  
     
     
         38 . The apparatus of  claim 37  wherein the de-dusting station comprises a plurality of hold down fingers for holding the confectionery sheet down on the conveyor bed as the sheet travels through the de-dusting station.  
     
     
         39 . The apparatus of  claim 37  wherein the apparatus comprises two de-dusting stations.  
     
     
         40 . The apparatus of  claim 36  wherein the apparatus comprises two printing devices to print two colors of ink in register with one another.  
     
     
         41 . The apparatus of  claim 37  wherein the de-dusting station comprises a brush which rotates opposite the direction of travel of the confectionery sheet through the de-dusting station.  
     
     
         42 . The apparatus of  claim 36  wherein the apparatus comprises two de-dusting stations each comprising a brush which rotates opposite to the direction of travel of confectionery sheet through the de-dusting station and a plurality of hold down fingers, and wherein the hold down fingers of one de-dusting station are offset from the hold down fingers of the other de-dusting station.  
     
     
         43 . The apparatus of  claim 36  wherein the conveyor bed conveys the sheets in a spaced apart fashion through the printing device.  
     
     
         44 . The apparatus of  claim 36  further comprising a magazine feeder for feeding the individual sheets one at a time from a stack of sheets.  
     
     
         45 . The apparatus of  claim 44  wherein the magazine feeder is sloped compared to the conveyor bed.  
     
     
         46 . The apparatus of  claim 45  wherein the angle of slope of the magazine feeder is adjustable.  
     
     
         47 . The apparatus of  claim 44  wherein the magazine feeder comprises a pneumatic cylinder and two guide shafts parallel to the cylinder.  
     
     
         48 . The apparatus of  claim 44  wherein the magazine feeder comprises a push plate with a machined end used for actuating the push plate.  
     
     
         49 . The apparatus of  claim 43  wherein the conveyor bed includes recesses sized to accept the sheets of confectionery.  
     
     
         50 . The apparatus of  claim 49  wherein the recesses have a depth of about {fraction (1/16)} inch.  
     
     
         51 . The apparatus of  claim 43  wherein the printing device comprises a roller with one or more raised surfaces for contacting the surface of the sheets of confectionery to be printed.  
     
     
         52 . The apparatus of  claim 36  further comprising a scorer device to divide the sheet of confectionery after printing into individual pieces of printed confectionery.  
     
     
         53 . The apparatus of  claim 36  wherein the printing device is configured to print onto chewing gum.