A flow device is provided. The flow device includes at least one conduit (20) and a pick-off (30) providing a pick-off signal (35) for measuring motion of the at least one conduit (20). The flow device also includes a drive (40) that receives a first signal (55) for vibrating the at least one conduit (20) at a resonance frequency and that receives a second signal (56) for vibrating the at least one conduit at a frequency that is different than the resonance frequency. One or more electronics (50) is provided. The one or more electronics (50) generates the first and second signals (55, 56), receives the pick-off signal (35) from the pick-off (30), and measures changes in a time shift between the second signal (56) frequency applied by the drive (40) and the second signal (56) frequency detected by the pick-off (30).

Vibrating flow devices, such as, for example, densitometers or Coriolis flow meters, are available in various sizes and flow capacities. Densitometers typically have one or more conduits of straight, U-shaped, or an irregular configuration which are vibrated transversely by a drive at a resonance frequency for purposes of determining the density of a substance within the densitometer. The particular resonance frequency at which the one or more conduits vibrates is partially determined by the density of the substance within the one or more vibrating conduits. Accordingly, as the density of the substance within the one or more vibrating conduits changes, the frequency at which resonance occurs will change. Therefore, using well known time-tested principals, the particular frequency at which resonance occurs may be used to compute the density of the substance within the one or more conduits.
Densitometers include one or more electronics that transmit a sinusoidal drive signal to a drive, which is typically a magnet/coil combination with the magnet typically being affixed to the flow tube and the coil being affixed to a supporting structure or to another flow tube. The drive signal causes the drive to vibrate the one or more conduits at the resonance frequency. For example, the drive signal may be a periodic electrical current transmitted to the coil. A pick-off detects the frequency of vibration of the one or more conduits and generates a sinusoidal pick-off signal representative of the motion of the flow tube, including the frequency of vibration of the flow tube. The sinusoidal pick-off signal is transmitted to the one or more electronics and used by the one or more electronics to determine the frequency at which the one or more conduits vibrate. If the one or more conduits are vibrating at the resonance frequency, the electronics may use the pick-off signal to determine the density of the substance within the tube. If the one or more conduits are vibrating at a non-resonance frequency, the electronics may adjust the drive signal transmitted to the drive so that the one or more conduits vibrate at the resonance frequency.
Accordingly, using well known principals, vibrating densitometers have been used for years to measure the density of substances. Vibrating densitometers constructed with a single drive and a single pick-off, however, have in the past been incapable of detecting one or more flowing characteristics of the substance within the conduit, such as, for example, whether the substance within the one or more conduits is flowing, the direction in which the substance is flowing, or the mass flow rate of the substance. In particular, in certain applications it may be desirable to determine whether the substance is flowing. In order to detect the presence of flow, changes in the time shift between the frequency of vibration induced by the driver and the frequency of vibration detected by the pick-off may be used. Those skilled in the art appreciate that the time shift equals the phase difference between the frequency of vibration induced by the driver and the frequency of vibration detected by the pick-off divided by the frequency of vibration induced by the driver and the frequency of vibration detected by the pick-off.
Heretofore, in single drive and single pick-off densitometer systems, however, the frequency detected by the pick-off is phase-locked to the frequency applied by the drive. Therefore, as flow occurs or changes, the time shift between the frequency of vibration applied by the drive and frequency of vibration detected by the pick-off does not change as flow occurs or changes. Accordingly, in the past, at least two pick-offs have been required for the detection of the presence of flow, detection of the direction of flow, and the determination of the mass flow rate of the substance.
The present invention is directed to overcoming this and other disadvantages inherent in prior art densitometers.

Flow device and method for operating a flow device


The invention relates to an insulated container for hot drinks or the like comprising an inner cup having a generally frusto-conical cup body and a generally frusto-conical outer shell. The cup is seated within the shell so that a contact path is disposed near the upper edge of the shell, along which contact path the outer surface of the cup body and inner surface of the shell are in contact. At least one bonding spot and/or bonding area for bonding said shell to said cup body is locally formed within said contact path.

There are many examples in the prior art of hand-held, insulated containers for hot liquids such as coffee, tea, soups and the like. Examples may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,266,828, 4,007,670, 5,145,107, 5,460,323, 5,524,817, 5,685,480, and 6,663,926. Each of the containers disclosed there includes an inner cup and an outer shell separated by an air gap. In modern containers of this type, the cup is fabricated of thin paperboard coated inside with a polyethylene resin or the like. The inner cup and outer shell are fastened together by gluing them in strategic locations at top and bottom or, in some recent instances, by heat sealing them together. The air gap between the cup body wall and the shell is conventionally maintained by spacers of varying configuration.

Insulated container, method of fabricating same and apparatus for fabricating


A method and an apparatus for determining an uplink transmission beam are provided. The method includes: a base station transmitting uplink transmission beam indication information to a terminal; where the uplink transmission beam indication information includes beam type indication information, the beam type indication information is used to indicate that the uplink transmission beam for the terminal is obtained based on uplink reference signals, or the beam type indication information is used to indicate that the uplink transmission beam for the terminal is obtained based on downlink reference signals, so as to ensure that the base station is capable of selecting an uplink transmission beam for the terminal.

In view of significant advantages of the Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology in improving peak rate and system spectrum utilization, wireless access technical standards such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) or LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) are established on the basis of MIMO and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) technologies. The performance gains of the MIMO technology derive from the spatial freedom available to the multi-antenna system, thus a most significant evolving trend in the standardization process of the MIMO technology is the dimension expansion.
The LTE Rel-8 supports up to four layers of MIMO transmission. The Rel-9 focuses on the enhancement of the Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO) technology, and up to four downlink data layers may be supported in the MU-MIMO transmission in Transmission Mode (TM)-8. The Rel-10 introduces the support for eight antenna ports, which further improves the spatial resolution of the channel state information, and expands the transmission capacity of the Single-User MIMO (SU-MIMO) to up to eight data layers. The Rel-13 and Rel-14 introduce the Full Dimensional MIMO (FD-MIMO) technology to support up to 32 ports, thereby achieving full dimensional and vertical beamforming.
In order to further enhance the MIMO technology, the Massive MIMO technique is introduced in mobile communication systems. For a base station, fully digitized Massive MIMO antennas may have up to 128/256/512 antenna units and up to 128/256/512 transceiver units, where each antenna unit is connected to one transceiver unit. 128/256/512 pilot signals are transmitted through respective antenna ports, and the terminal measures the channel state information and feeds it back. For a terminal, an antenna array with up to 32/64 antenna units may be provided. Through the beamforming in both the base station and the terminal, tremendous beamforming gains may be obtained to compensate for the signal fading resulting from path losses. Especially for communications in a high frequency band, e.g., at 30 GHz frequency point, the path losses render the radio signal coverage quite limited. With the aid of the Massive MIMO, the radio signal coverage may be expanded to a practical extent.
In a fully digitized antenna array, each antenna unit is provided with a respective transceiver unit, which increases the size, cost and power consumption of the equipment dramatically. This is especially true in consideration of the Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and the Digital-to-Analog Converter (DAC) of the transceiver unit, since the ADC/DAC has experienced a power consumption reduction of merely 1/10 and very limited performance improvement over the last decade. In order to reduce the size, cost and power consumption of the equipment, technical solutions based on the analog beamforming are proposed. In the related art, the terminal may obtain an uplink transmission beam from an uplink beam training process or based on the uplink-downlink beam reciprocity; however, the terminal may not determine the uplink transmission beam in accordance with instructions of the base station.

Method and apparatus for determining uplink transmission beam

DATANG MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS EQUIPMENT CO., LTD.


A container system having a bulkhead liner and method of using the bulkhead liner includes a pliable body with an exterior surface and an interior surface forming a cavity therein. At least one loading aperture is formed through the exterior and interior surfaces for loading a product in the cavity. When filled with the product, the pliable body substantially assumes a shape complementary to the shipping container shape. In one aspect of the invention, a lattice having a plurality of straps is affixed to the exterior surface to resist an expansion force exerted by the product from within the cavity. At least one load-bearing band is situated within the cavity of the pliable body shrouded by a sheath to protect the product from contamination by external elements to which the load-bearing band may be exposed. The load-bearing band is freely movable within the sheath to prevent damage to the pliable body when the product fills the cavity and imparts an expansion force against the pliable body. The load-bearing band is attached to a portion of the lattice to provide additional resistance against the expansion force exerted by the product in the cavity.

Cargo containers are used to carry bulk cargo such as dry bulk chemicals, powdered and pelletized resins, flour, coffee, grains and the like. When cargo containers are used to carry bulk cargo, the container must be kept clean or be cleaned after each load of cargo is emptied from the container, so that the container can be subsequently used with another load of cargo. Moreover, the cargo must be protected from contamination and from undesirable exposure to natural elements.
Removable liners typically are used to line interior walls or surfaces of the cargo containers in order to carry the bulk cargo without sullying the container and contaminating the cargo. Such a liner protects the cargo during shipment or storage from rain, debris, and the like. After the cargo is delivered, the liner can be removed so that the container is again useable without significant cleaning to carry another load of cargo.
The conventional liner is extremely susceptible to tears or ruptures under certain conditions. For example, the cargo container is often emptied of its cargo by opening its rear door and raising its front end to tilt and slide the cargo through the rear door of the cargo container. This sliding action places great stress on various points of the conventional liner. This stress can cause the liner to rupture, which results in spillage and contamination of the cargo. Additionally, the shifting cargo can cause the liner itself to slide through the rear door of the container and rupture over an edge of the cargo container or upon impact with the ground.
Mechanical braces have been used in an attempt to remedy the deficiencies of the conventional liner. These braces are attached to or near the liner at the rear door area of the cargo container to hold the liner in the container as the cargo is unloaded. However, the braces are cumbersome, bulky and can interfere with unloading the cargo. The braces ironically can damage the liner they are intended to protect as the discharging cargo presses the liner against the braces.
A liner for a cargo container that is resistant to forces imparted by the cargo or its movement, which will not tear at stress points and not contaminate the cargo, is needed in the industry.


A method of tracking an eye gaze include obtaining a pre-calibrated speckle map of the eye of the user, determining a starting position of the eye using the pre-calibrated speckle map, and tracking movement of the eye relative to the starting position by: directing a light beam at the eye, detecting a plurality of speckle patterns formed at a detector by a portion of the light beam reflected by the eye, and tracking movement of the eye relative to the starting position by tracking the plurality of speckle patterns from frame to frame.

Eye-gaze tracking technology can be applied to many fields. For example, eye-gaze tracking may be useful for building a virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) headset for providing accurate three-dimensional renderings to a user. Other applications may include human-computer interfaces for assisting disabled people, activity recognition, image and video compression, computer vision, cognitive studies in medical research, laser refractive surgery, vehicle simulators for in-vehicle research, training simulators including sports training simulators, fatigue detection, and the like. Despite the progress made in the development of eye-gaze tracking technology, there is a need in the art for improved eye-gaze tracking methods.

Method and system for eye tracking using speckle patterns


A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) method includes: applying radio-frequency (RF) pulses comprising a plurality of frequency components and a selection gradient to a subject to simultaneously excite a plurality of sub-volumes in each of a plurality of groups, wherein a plurality of sub-volumes making up a volume of the subject are divided into the plurality of groups so that any neighboring sub-volumes belong to different groups; performing three-dimensional (3D) encoding on each of the excited sub-volumes using a plurality of encoding methods; acquiring magnetic resonance signals from the encoded sub-volumes; and reconstructing the acquired magnetic resonance signals into image data corresponding to each of the encoded sub-volumes.

1. Field
This application relates to magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems and magnetic resonance imaging methods.
2. Description of Related Art
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses magnetic fields produced by magnetism to acquire images of biological tissues in a human body. An MRI system applies a radio-frequency (RF) signal to biological tissues, thereby causing the biological tissues to resonate. The MRI system also applies a magnetic gradient to biological tissues to obtain spatial information about the biological tissues.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Magnetic resonance imaging system using sub-volumes and magnetic resonance imaging method using sub-volumes


A device for attaching a leash to a body board or similar device consisting of male and a female coupler each having an elongated body and an enlarged disk shaped head having a planer inner face for contacting the upper and lower surfaces of the board when the device when the couplers are secured together in the board. The head of the coupler on the upper surface of the board is provided with a leash cord passage which is located along a radius of the coupler between the elongated body and the periphery of the disk shaped head. The leash cord passage opens to the upper and inner faces of the head. A slit is provided in the head to extend radially from the passage to the periphery of the head. The head is sufficiently resilient so that portions of the head adjacent the slit can be bent to open the slit and upon release of the bending force will return to their normal position with the slit closed. The leash is installed by forming a loop around the body of the coupler and passing the body of the cord forming the free ends through the open slit into the cord passage.

Body boards have become very popular for body surfing or floating where the rider lays or sits on the board. A typical body board comprises a panel of foam plastic which may be somewhat resilient and flexible. It is common practice to utilize a leash which is connected to the leg or ankle of the rider and to the body board. The purpose of the leash is to prevent the rider from losing the body board in the event of a fall. Connectors or "leash anchors" have been developed which are adapted to secure the leash cord to a body board. One such leash anchor is disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,615, Robert B. Nealy, granted May 1981. An improved anchor having a flat head which does not extend above the surfaces of the board is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,137,483, Robert B. Nealy, granted Aug. 11, 1992.
Leash anchors of the type disclosed in the above mentioned patents, generally comprise a male and a female coupler which extend from opposite surfaces of the board through a through-running passage in the board. The couplers have enlarged heads which clamp against their respective surfaces of the board to secure the connector in place. In some designs, the component of the leash connector on the upper surface of the board is provided with a raised tab having an opening through which the end of the leash cord is extended and looped back on itself to secure the cord to the connector. This design is undesirable, however, because the tab, which extends above the surface of the board, can pose a potential source of injury to the rider.
In the improved connector design disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,615, the extended tab is eliminated and a passage is molded into the head of one of the couplers through which the end of the leash cord is passed and brought back on itself to form a loop. Connectors of this design require more complicated tooling and consequently are more difficult and more expensive to manufacture.
The connector design defined in U.S. Pat. No. 35,137,483 provides a center bore in the female coupler and an intersecting opening through the body of the coupler located just beneath the enlarged head portion. In this manner the cord is inserted through the center bore then out through the intersecting opening, passed around the body of the coupler and back up through the intersecting opening and out through the center bore to provide a loop around the body of the coupler to secure the leash thereto. Although somewhat easier to manufacture, this design often times required the use of a rod or a similar tool to feed the leash cord through the center bore and intersecting opening. In addition, it is often necessary to substantially uncouple the connector components in order to secure the leash to the connector.

Connector for attachment of a leash or the like


A liquid droplet ejection head has a liquid introduction part, a pump part which is in communication with the liquid introduction part, and a nozzle forming plate in which a nozzle port is formed in an overlapped manner with the pump part. The nozzle forming plate is formed substantially into a rectangle as seen from a liquid ejection side. A resin is molded in at least one of side surface portions along at least long sides of the nozzle forming plate.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to: a liquid droplet ejection head as represented by an ink jet head, a method of wiping thereof, an electronic device provided therewith; as well as a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, a method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescent (EL) device, a method of manufacturing an electron emission device, a method of manufacturing a plasma display panel (PDP) device, a method of manufacturing an electrophoretic display device, a method of manufacturing a color filter, a method of manufacturing an organic electroluminescence (EL), a method of forming a spacer, a method of forming a metallic wire, a method of forming a lens, a method of forming a resist, and a method of forming a light diffusion member, all of the above using the above-described liquid droplet ejection head.
2. Description of Related Art
In an ink jet printer (liquid droplet ejection head) to be used in the conventional printer, or the like, the ink that is ejected in a dragged manner sometimes gets adhered to the circumference of the ink nozzle accompanied by the ejection of the ink droplet, giving rise to the trouble of crooked flight or traveling of the ink droplet or the ejection failure (i.e., poor ejection of the ink droplet). As a solution, with the ink jet head using a particularly high-viscosity ink, the nozzle forming surface is regularly wiped.
The ink jet head has a pump part having assembled together an ink chamber, a piezoelectric element, or the like, and a nozzle forming plate made of stainless steel which is adhered to the liquid droplet ejection surface of the pump part. This nozzle forming plate has formed therein a multiplicity of nozzles (nozzle arrays). Therefore, the wiping is performed along the surface of the nozzle forming plate.
Wiping is generally performed in the following manner. Namely, in a state in which a wiper blade made of rubber is urged against the nozzle forming surface, the wiper blade is relatively moved from end to end in the longer side direction of the nozzle forming surface, whereby the ink adhered to the nozzle forming surface is wiped out.
Since the liquid droplet ejection head is capable of selectively ejecting minute or extremely small liquid droplets from the nozzle arrays, it is applicable to the manufacturing of a color filter for a liquid crystal device, an organic electro luminescence (EL) display device, or the like. It is also expected to be applied to the apparatuses for manufacturing various electronic devices, optical devices, or the like.
When this kind of applied technologies are considered, not only the liquid of relatively low viscosity such as ink but also a liquid of higher viscosity such as resin liquid, or the like, must be made an object of ejection from the nozzle arrays. Therefore, it is required to wipe by strongly urging cloth, or the like, which has impregnated therein a solvent, instead of by using a wiper blade in order to wipe out a liquid of higher viscosity.
In such a case, if the conventional ink jet head (liquid droplet ejection head) is used as it is, the durability of the head itself becomes the problem. Aside from this problem, there is also another problem in that, at the time of wiping, the end of the nozzle forming plate (actually, the assembly inclusive of the silicon cavity which constitutes the pressure chamber of the pump part) sticks to, or catches, the wiping cloth, or the like.
This invention has an object of providing a liquid droplet ejection head which is capable of effectively preventing the above-described problem of catching, or sticking to, the wiping member and a method of wiping. It has also an object of providing an electronic device which is provided with the liquid droplet ejection head, as well as a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, a method of manufacturing an organic EL device, a method of manufacturing an electron emission device, a method of manufacturing a PDP device, a method of manufacturing an electrophoretic display device, a method of manufacturing a color filter, a method of manufacturing an organic EL, a method of forming a spacer, a method of forming a metallic wire, a method of forming a lens, a method of forming a resist, and a method of forming a light diffusion member, all of them using the above-described liquid droplet ejection head.

Apparatus and method of assembling head unit, of positioning liquid droplet ejection head, and of fixing liquid droplet ejection head; as well as method of manufacturing LCD device, organic EL device, electron emission device, PDP device, electrophoretic display device, color filter, organic EL, spacer, metallic wire, lens, resist, and light diffusion member


A process and a device for discharging free-flowing media, especially molten metal that is contained in a hermetically sealable vessel having an outlet (2) that has a level-recording unit (3). Pressure is built up in the vessel by supplying a pressurized gaseous medium introduced into the interior of the vessel, whereby the liquid metal is forced from the vessel. After attainment of a certain level of the free-flowing medium in the outlet (2) as detected by the level-recording unit (3), the gaseous medium for building up the dosing pressure is further introduced into the vessel (1) for a predetermined or predeterminable amount of time. Control of pressure inside the vessel (1) is effected by a control unit (4) that receives corresponding signals from a time-recording device (15).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to processes and a device for dosing free-flowing media, especially molten metal that is contained in a hermetically sealable vessel with an outlet that has a level-recording unit, at which pressure is built up by means of a gaseous medium introduced into the interior of the vessel, through which the free-flowing media is forced from the vessel.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A device of this type is known from DE-PS 20 22 989, in which the pressure needed to deliver molten metal is recorded by several pressure sensors. One drawback of this arrangement is that several pressure-measuring wires must be attached to the hermetically sealable vessel that serves to receive the molten metal, which makes it difficult to insulate the vessel. Moreover, the measured results are distorted. Ultimately, the sensors must be replaced from time to time, which limits the service life of the device.

Processes and device for dosing free-flowing media


A food condiment slice, method of using, composition and method for making, and methods for manufacturing are described. The food condiment slices are used with sandwiches, other food products, and beverages. The food condiment slices may have different structures such as face-fused, side-fused, face-fused-side-fused, woven, and chopped. The food condiment slices are formed from condiments such as catsup, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, barbecue sauce, steak sauce, jellies, jam, preserves, butter, margarine, marinades, creamers, and syrups. More than one food condiment can be integrated into a single food condiment slice. The food condiment slices eliminate the need and inconvenience of using and carrying spreadable, squeezable, and pourable food condiments. Also included are beverage condiment slices or discs such as coffee or tea dairy and non-dairy creamers.

Different types of spreadable, squeezable, and pourable food condiments are known for use in preparing cold-cut sandwiches, hamburgers, hotdogs, bagels, pitas, English muffins, muffins, fish sandwiches, tortillas, crackers, croissants, cold cuts, noodles, and many other types of sandwiches or food products. Such spreadable, squeezable, and pourable food condiments include catsup, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, barbeque sauce, steak sauce, tartar sauce, peanut butter, jellies, jams, preserves, cheeses, cheese spreads, butter, honey butter and other flavored butters, margarine, marinades, creamers, syrups, spaghetti sauces, gravy sauces, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, glazes, salad dressings, or any other types of spreads, or food dressings. When making sandwiches using the squeezable, pourable, or spreadable condiments as mentioned, the spreadable, squeezable, and pourable condiments which are distributed onto or in sandwiches are often absorbed into the sandwich bread causing the bread to loose its texture, forming a sloppy, soggy, and doughy result. The taste of the bread also suffers. Because of the absorption of the condiments into the bread and the bread becoming soggy and mushy, the sandwich bread often falls and/or tears apart during handling. Also, individuals using the spreadable, squeezable, and pourable condiments oftentimes must contend with the condiment leaking or dripping from the food item during eating. In addition, outdoor activities, such as camping, picnics, and vacations in which food is packed and carried generally includes the packing of condiments such as those recited above. The packing and carrying of the condiments often requires use of a cooler with ice to maintain the temperature of the cooler at a temperature which will insure that freshness of the condiments and other items is maintained. A drawback of packing the bottles and jars of condiments in the cooler is the space taken up in the cooler by the bulky bottles and jars used in packaging the condiments. Smaller versions of bottles and jars used to package condiments have been introduced. However, these smaller versions do not overcome the problems noted above because several types and shapes of jars and bottles must be packed and carried. The present invention overcomes the drawbacks noted above.
This invention relates to new and improved forms for condiments which are applied to sandwiches, hamburgers, hotdogs, bagels, pitas, English muffins, muffins, fish sandwiches, tortillas, crackers, croissants, cold cuts, and any other types of sandwiches or other food products. The food condiment of the instant invention is provided for sale in plastic or cellophane packages containing a plurality of stacked individually wrapped hermetically sealed, sandwich-sized, single-serve slices. Alternative packaging for the sandwich-sized, single-serve, slices of food condiment involves providing a plurality of face-to-face stacked food condiment slices with each slice separated from the other using paper separator sheets on the face surfaces of each of the food condiment slices. These paper separated food condiment slices may then be further wrapped and packaged in a box or wrapped in cellophane or other desired materials, as an outer packaging material. The packages containing a plurality of food condiment slices can be sold in grocery stores, super markets, and convenience stores to the general public. Also, other establishments, such as delicatessens, convenience stores, sandwich shops, and restaurants may also use the food condiment articles of the instant invention to prepare sandwiches for sale. The form, shape, and consistency of the food condiment article of the instant invention allows the sandwich to be prepared at a time in advance of the sale because the individually sliced food condiments of the instant invention will not affect the texture of the bread used to make the sandwich when the sandwich is stored for an extended period of time.
When preparing a food item, for example, using the individually wrapped sandwich-sized, single-serve slices of food condiment of the instant invention, the individual wrapping is first removed from the food condiment by opening the wrapping and removing the sandwich-sized, single-serve, slice of food condiment. The sandwiched-sized, single-serve, sliced food condiment is then placed on a sandwich, bagel, pita, English muffin, muffin, fish sandwich, tortilla, cracker, croissant, cold cuts, or any other types of sandwiches or food items, without the requirement and inconvenience of spreading, pouring, or squeezing the food condiments onto the food item. The consistency of the sandwich-sized, single-serve, sliced food condiment produced by the instant invention is flexible or limber, has a smooth texture, has a non-sticky feel, and retains the definite sandwich-sized shape or other shape provided to it by the manufacturing process during handling. That is, it can be removed from the hermetically sealed protective wrapping, picked up and handed with fingers, and used in preparing a food item by transferring it whole to the food item being prepared without destroying or breaking-apart the single-serve food condiment slice. The food condiment formed and used in the instant invention is intended to melt or soften when exposed to heat. Thus, individuals using the instant invention would not have to contend with the dripping of the food condiment from the food item during eating, as is often the case when using the spreadable, pourable, or squeezable condiment forms.
As a specific example, an individual preparing a sandwich desiring mayonnaise would remove an individually wrapped, hermetically sealed, sliced food condiment of mayonnaise from a hermetically sealed wrapper, and place the sliced mayonnaise food condiment on a first slice of sandwich bread used in preparing the sandwich. The sliced mayonnaise food condiment can be placed on the slice of sandwich bread in contact with the bread without causing the bread to become soggy. That is, the bread does not appreciably or substantially absorb moisture from the sliced mayonnaise food condiment which would cause the bread to loose its texture and become weakened due to sogginess or mushiness. The individual preparing the sandwich can prepare the sandwich at a time in advance of consumption without the worry of the sandwich becoming soggy or mushy during its storage.
An additional advantage of the sliced food condiments of the instant invention includes elimination of the tedious burden of packing and carrying bulky bottles and jars on outings, such as picnics, barbeques, and vacations. Individuals using the instant invention would carry the desired food condiments in the form of sandwich-sized, single-serve, hermetically sealed, individually wrapped slices. A plurality of these individually wrapped, hermetically sealed, sandwich-sized, single-serve food condiment slices may be further packaged in cellophane or plastic. Such packaging containing the plurality of sandwich-sized, single-serve, hermetically sealed, individually wrapped food condiments is easily stored in a cooler without taking up a significant amount of cooler space. Also, use of the sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment forms of the instant invention provides for easy use of food condiments without the messy clean-up required when using spreadable, squeezable, or pourable condiments.
An additional use for the food condiments of the instant invention is barbeques, wherein a sheet layer barbeque sauce food condiment of the instant invention can be placed over the food being cooked, as in an oven, or on a grill. The food being cooked or grilled may also be wrapped in a sheet of barbeque sauce food condiment. When the food wrapped in the food condiment, or when a food condiment having the condiment thereon, is placed on the grill or in an oven, the sheet layered barbeque sauce food condiment melts and coats the food as it cooks. There is no longer a need to apply pourable, squeezable, or spreadable barbeque sauce on the food being cooked or grilled, although additional and different condiment slices can be added to the cooking food.
A first embodiment of the instant invention provides a sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slice. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slice can be a condiment such as catsup, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, barbeque sauce, steak sauce, tartar sauce, peanut butter, jellies, jams, preserves, cheeses, cheese spreads, butter, margarine, creamers, syrups, spaghetti sauces, gravy sauces, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, glazes, salad dressings, or any other types of spreads or food dressings. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slice, is individually wrapped with a hermetically sealed protective wrapping. A plurality of the individually wrapped, hermetically sealed, sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slices can further be packaged for sale. While all of the food condiment and beverage condiment slices or discs of the instant invention can be of any desired shape and size and thickness necessary for the intended purpose, discussion of the embodiments will refer to only sandwich-sized slices.
The manufacturing process used to produce the food condiment products of the instant embodiment can involve forming the condiments into a large sheet formed condiment and dividing the large sheet formed condiment into individual sandwich-sized, single-serve, slices of food condiment, and then individually wrapping the individual sandwich-sized, single-serve, slices of food condiment in a hermetically sealed protective plastic, thermoplastic, or cellophane single-serve wrapping. A plurality of the hermetically sealed, individually wrapped, single-serve, sandwich-sized, food condiment slices can then be further packaged for sale.
The food condiment is formed into a sheet by a process such as extrusion molding, thin film molding, injection molding, compression molding, or any other process or combination of processes which will accomplish the objective of forming sheet-formed food condiments. The size of the food condiment sheets being manufactured may vary depending on such factors as, among others, subsequent operating or process steps, capacity of machinery, and type of process used. The food condiment sheets may have any desired thickness. As an example, the thickness of the condiment sheets, and the resulting individual food condiment slices, can be determined by the average amount or average volume of a particular food condiment generally added to a sandwich or other food item for consumption. The formed food condiment sheets are subsequently divided by a cutting operation into sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slices. The cutting operation uses a cutting tool which has heated cutting blades or non-heated cutting blades, which provides a smooth cut. The final product of the manufacturing process is a sandwich-sized, single-serve, slice of a food condiment, having a desired thickness, which is hermetically sealed in an individual wrapping. A plurality of the hermetically sealed individually wrapped sandwiched-sized, single-serve, food condiment slices can be further packaged in a labeled, protective plastic, thermoplastic, or cellophane wrapping for shipping, dispensing and sale.
The manufacturing process may also produce the sandwich-sized, single-serve, slices of food condiment individually. Sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slices can be formed directly by a manufacturing process that does not require formation of large condiment sheets followed by its subsequent division. This manufacturing process can include molding processes such as extrusion molding, pouring, injection molding, or any other molding process, or combination of processes, that will accomplish the objective of transferring the food condiment into or onto molding surfaces having the desired final shape. Following the molding process, the molded sandwich-sized, food condiment slices are removed from the molds followed by the step of individually wrapping, using a hermetic seal, each single-serve, sandwich-sized, food condiment slice. A plurality of the hermetically sealed, individually wrapped, single-serve, sandwich-sized, food condiment slices may be further packaged for sale, as indicated previously. The alternative also exists here for using separator sheets between each individually manufactured slice of food condiment in a stack such that one face surface of two individual food condiment slices would share opposite faces of a separator sheet.
A second embodiment of the instant invention is to provide a sandwich-sized, singe-serve, combination food condiment slices comprising at least two food condiments face-fused together to form a sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slice. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slices are individually wrapped with a hermetically sealed protective wrapping. A plurality of the individually wrapped, hermetically sealed, sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slices can be further packaged for sale. The structure of the individual slices of the sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slices each has an outer face surface and an inner face surface. The two inner face surfaces are fused to each other forming a sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused, combination food condiment slice. The first outer face surface of the face-fused combination food condiment slice is comprised of a first food condiment. The second outer face surface is comprised of a second food condiment. It is noted that the first food condiment and the second food condiment can be the same. Again, the first food condiment and the second food condiment, of the face-fused combination food condiment slice, are fused together at their inner face surfaces. Fusion of the inner face surfaces of the first and second food condiment slices forms the sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slice. The fused combination food condiment slice has a first face side comprising the first food condiment and a second face side comprising the second food condiment. As noted previously, the first food condiment can be the same food condiment as the second food condiment The fused combination food condiment slice may also have additional food condiment slices added to the fused combination food condiment structure, if so desired. A resulting food condiment structure comprising three single food condiment slices would have one of the three single food condiment slices sandwiched between and fused to the inner face surfaces of the outer two food condiment slices.
Formation of the fused combination food condiment slices can be accomplished by different methods. A first method describes steps for making a fused combination food condiment slice having two different food condiments. Initially, each of the two separate food condiment sheets, which can be formed by the molding methods previously disclosed in the first embodiment of the instant invention and hereby incorporated in this discussion, is heated on one of its surfaces to the flow point of the food condiment. The heated surfaces of the two separate food condiment sheets are then mated or contacted together such that the heated and mated surfaces bond together to form a fused combination food condiment sheet. The first food condiment sheet forms one outer face surface of the fused combination food condiment sheet and the second food condiment sheet forms the opposite outer face surface of the fused combination food condiment sheet. The fused combination food condiment sheet is then processed through a cutting step in which the fused combination food condiment sheet is divided, by cutting, into separate sandwich-sized, single-serve, fused combination food condiment slices.
As an alternative method to fusing the food condiment sheet together, an edible bonding layer may be sandwiched between the first food condiment sheet and the second food condiment sheet to join the two food condiment sheets together. In this alternative bonding method, the edible bonding layer can be preheated on both sides to its flow temperature and mated or contacted to the two food condiment sheets in separate steps. One of the two preheated face surfaces of the edible bonding sheet is mated and bonded with an inner face surface of the first food condiment sheet. Then, the other preheated face surface of the edible bonding sheet is then mated and bonded to an inner face surface of the second food condiment sheet. It is noted that because both face surfaces of the edible bonding sheet have been preheated to the flow point of the edible bonding sheet, the mating and bonding steps may alternatively occur simultaneously, wherein both food condiment sheets are mated and bonded to the edible bonding sheet in a single step, rather than mating and attaching one and then mating and attaching the other in separate steps. As a further alternative, one face surface of the edible bonding sheet can be preheated to the flow point temperature of the edible bonding material and then mated with a face surface of an inner first food condiment sheet. Following this bonding step, the second face surface of the edible bonding sheet is preheated to the flow point temperature of the edible bonding sheet and mated with an inner face surface of the second food condiment sheet. The resulting fused combination food condiment sheet which results from any of the above mating and bonding processes is then processed through a cutting step in which the fused combination food condiment sheet is divided, by cutting, into separate sandwich-sized, single-serve, fused combination food condiment slices. The cutting device used to perform the cutting step may optionally have a surface used for compression and optionally the compression surface may be heated to a temperature which will allow at least one of the first food condiment or the second food condiment to flow. The compression surface allows, although not required, a decorative design, crimping, or border to be embossed into the periphery or other desired area of the fused combination food condiment slice during the cutting step. It may also provide or form a raised border to the sandwich-sized, single-serve, fused combination food condiment slice. The cutting device may optionally be heated to the flow point temperature of the first food condiment or the second food condiment during the cutting step to provide smooth cut edges to the sandwich-sized, single-serve, fused combination food condiment slices. Also, rather than heating the edible bonding material, the food condiment sheets can be heated to their flow points such that they are softened at their surface and then bonded to the edible bonding sheet. Alternatively, all sheets can be heated at their surfaces for bonding.
A further alternative of the second embodiment is to bond by fusion a first food condiment slice to a second food condiment slice by performing the fusion in an area of the face-to-face food condiment slices other than the peripheral edges. This process involves heating an area of the inner face of at least one of the food condiment slices to its flow point and is contacted with the inner face surface of the second food condiment slice.
An additional method for fusing two separate food condiment sheets involves the steps of mating a face surface of a first food condiment sheet with a face surface of a second food condiment sheet that has been positioned on a work surface. Next, the mating edge portions of the two mating face-to-face food condiment sheets are restrained by friction between the two mating surfaces of the condiment sheets, or by holding devices, clamps, or any other desired means, at the edge portions of the mating condiment sheets, if necessary, such that the opposing food condiment sheets do not substantially shift or move from their face-to-face relationship. Next, at least one compression/heating/cutting device is contacted with the outer face surface of the upper food condiment sheet. The compression/heating/cutting device is heated at its peripheral edge molding or reshaping surface and its cutting surface to the flow temperature of the first food condiment or the second food condiment. The compression/heating/cutting device is contacted to the outer surface of the upper exposed food condiment sheet. The compression/heating/cutting device compresses and heats at least the upper food condiment sheet in the area adjacent to or in contact with the compression molding surface blades. This step also cuts and forms a sandwich-sized, single-serve, fused combination food condiment slice from the two mating food condiment sheets by cutting through the two food condiment sheets and bonding the edge portions of the two food condiment sheets together by heat molding of the peripheral edge portions adjacent the cut. A decorative design, crimping, or border, may also be embossed into the bonded periphery or another desired area of the sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused food condiment slice during the cutting and compression step.
A third method for fusing two separate food condiments to form a face-fused combination food condiment can be performed using a molding process such as extrusion molding or injection molding or pouring. This process produces individual sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slices. The process uses a plurality of molds having the shape of the desired sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slice. A predetermined quantity of a first food condiment is injected, poured, or extruded into the mold. The mold may be heated or cooled or be at room temperature depending on the process and the food condiment being molded. After a predetermined time, a predetermined quantity of a second food condiment is ejected, poured, or extruded into the mold and over the upper surface of the first food condiment that was previously ejected, poured, or extruded into the mold. The temperature of the second ejected, poured, or extruded food condiment or the first ejected, poured, or extruded food condiment, or both causes bonding of the two food condiments at their mating face surfaces. The mating face surfaces can be the entire face surfaces of the food condiments, or a portion thereof The resulting sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slice is then removed from the mold.
As an example, an individual preparing a sandwich desiring to use catsup and mustard on a sandwich can do so by removing a sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slice of catsup and mustard from its hermetically sealed protective wrapping by opening the wrapping and removing the sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slice of catsup and mustard. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, face-fused combination food condiment slice of catsup and mustard is then placed whole on a sandwich without the requirement and inconvenience of spreading, pouring, or squeezing the two condiments onto the bread or sandwich. The advantages of combining the condiments into a face-fused combination of two or more condiments are that only one package need be purchased rather than two or more; reduced weight and number of condiment packages when on outings vacations, picnics, and barbeques, for example; much easier to storexe2x80x94less storage space needed; and reduction in the time needed to prepare a sandwich or cook a food.
A modification of the second embodiment is to provide a sandwich-sized, singe-serve, side-fused combination food condiment comprising food condiments sections fused together at their edge or side portions to form a sandwich-sized, single-serve, side-fused combination food condiment slice. The term side-fused is used to distinguish it from face-fused. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, side-fused combination food condiment slices are individually wrapped with a hermetically sealed protective wrapping. A plurality of the individually wrapped, hermetically sealed, sandwich-sized, single-serve, side-fused combination food condiment slices can be further packaged for sale. The structure of the sandwich-sized, single-serve, side-fused combination food condiment slice has food condiment sections joined together by fusion of their edge or side portions. Each of the food condiment sections has a front face surface and a back face surface. Fusion of the food condiment slices forms a side-fused food condiment slice having a front face surface and a back face surface originating from the front and back face surfaces of the individual food condiment sections. Each of the food condiment sections is fused with at least a second one of said food condiment sections at their edge or side portions. Depending on the structure of the food condiment a portion of the edge or side portion of each condiment section or all of the edges or side portions is fused to the edges or side portions of an adjacent food condiment section. The front face surface of the sandwich-sized, single serve, side-fused combination food condiment slice is comprised of at least two food condiment sections and at least one food condiment. The back face surface is comprised of at least two food condiment sections and at least one food condiment. The first food condiment section and the second food condiment section, of the side-fused combination food condiment slice, are fused together at their edge or side portions. Fusion of the edge or side portions of the first and second food condiment sections forms a side-fused combination food condiment slice. The side-fused combination food condiment slice has a front face surface comprising at least two food condiment sections and a back face surface comprising at least two food condiment sections. The side-fused combination food condiment slice may have one or more food condiments making up the side-fused combination food condiment structure, if so desired. In this modification, side-fusing two separate food condiment sections to form a side-fused combination food condiment slice can be accomplished by initially forming two separate food condiment sheets, each of which can be formed by the molding methods previously disclosed in the first embodiment of the instant invention and hereby incorporated in this discussion. Also, face fused combination food condiment sheets can also be used in this modification and are formed by the molding methods previously disclosed in the second embodiment of this invention and is hereby incorporated in this discussion. After formation of the food condiment sheets, a cutting operation is performed to divide the single food condiment sheets into a plurality of cut shapes. The cutting operation can be performed using, for example, a die cutting apparatus which spans the length and width of the food condiment sheet such that the cut shapes are formed in a single mating of the die with the food condiment sheet. The cut shapes of one single food condiment sheet are matched and joined at their side surfaces to cut shapes formed from a second single food condiment sheet. The fusion of the cut shapes forms sandwich-sized, single serve, side-fused, combination food condiment slices, such that the shapes are placed into and fused within molds. Also, the shapes are paired or matched such that a side-fused, combination food condiment sheet is formed. The sheet can then be further divided to form sandwich-sized, single-serve, side-fused, combination food condiment slices. The method or forming sandwich-sized, single-serve, side-fused, combination food condiment slices using side fusion involves preheating the side surfaces of the cut shapes to their flow point and contacting the preheated side surfaces of the food condiment cut shapes together. As an example, a cutting operation can be used to cut rectangular strips from first and second single food condiment sheets. The cut food condiment rectangular strips from the first food condiment sheet are then positioned in an alternating side-by-side relationship with the cut food condiment rectangular strips from the second food condiment sheet. The side surfaces of the rectangular strips of the first and second food condiments are heated to their flow points and fused, resulting in a food condiment sheet having alternating first and second food condiment strips fused together at their side surfaces. The resulting food condiment sheet is then cut into strip sheets having a sandwich-sized width. The strip sheets having a sandwich-sized width along their horizontal axis are then further divided a plurality of times perpendicular to their longitudinal axis to provide a sandwich-sized length. The resulting food condiment is a sandwich-sized, single-serve, side-fused, combination food condiment slice. The number of alternating food condiment strips in a single food condiment slice is a function of the width of the food condiment strips cut from the first and second food condiment sheets. The widths are predetermined based on the total desired number of condiment strips, and the number of condiment strips of each type of condiment desired in the final sandwich-sized, single-serve, combination food condiment slice. It is noted that the first and second food condiment strips can be cut having a width such that upon side fusion of an appropriate number of the first and second food condiment strips, a food condiment sheet results having the sandwich-sized length or width. This step avoids the process of forming larger side-fused food condiment sheet versions requiring division of the larger side-fused food condiment sheet into strip sheets. Also, as previously mentioned, face fused combination food condiment sheets can also be used as a source of food condiment strips. The same alternating pattern and method can be used as discussed above for forming sandwich-sized, single-serve, side-fused combination food condiment slices. Individual food condiment slices can also be formed from the die cut operation by placement of the appropriate number of food condiment die cut sections into individual molds to form a desired pattern. Sections from different food condiment die cut sheets can be used to fit the desired pattern. Fusion of the side surfaces is then performed.
Additionally, two or more of the formed side-fused combination food condiment sheets or slices can be fusion bonded together at their face surfaces. The same pattern, condiments, and orientation can be used on both sheets. However, other patterns, condiments, and orientation can be substituted.
A third embodiment of the instant invention is to provide a sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven food condiment slice. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven food condiment slice is also individually wrapped with a hermetically sealed protective wrapping. A plurality of these individually wrapped, hermetically sealed, sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven food condiment slices can be stacked and further packaged for sale. The woven sheet can be manufactured by weaving strips and/or strands of a desired food condiment that have been cut from a food condiment sheet previously formed through extrusion molding, thin film molding, injection molding, compression molding, or any other process which will accomplish the objective of forming sheet-formed food condiments. Following formation of the food condiment sheets, the strips and/or strands of food condiment can be cut from the sheet of food condiment using a cutting operation. The strips and/or strands are then interwoven to form a woven food condiment sheet. The woven food condiment sheet comprises one or more food condiments. Strips and/or strands of one or more food condiments are woven together at any desired angle to each other. It is also noted that the strips and/or strands can be twisted along their longitudinal axis prior to weaving to provide a helical, coiled, or curled structure or form to the condiment strip and/or strand.
As an example of a particular structure and design for a woven food condiment, strips and/or strands of a first food condiment can be placed parallel or at an angle to each other on a work surface. A second food condiment in the form of strips and/or strands, which may be the same or different from the first food condiment, are then be interwoven with the first food condiment at any desired angle. Any desired pattern of weaving can be used and any desired angle can be used. When a constant size, width, length, or thickness, of strands and/or strips are used in weaving the food condiment single serve slice, the degree of tightness, packing, or closeness of the strands and/or strips in a given direction or angle depends on the amounts of the first and second food condiments desired. The size, shape or thickness of the strands and/or strips can also be varied in conjunction with the degree of tightness, packing, or closeness of the strands and/or strips in the weaving to determine the number of strands and/or strips of each food condiment to be used in the weaving to obtain the desired amount of each food condiment for the resulting sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven food condiment. After the weaving step has been completed, a cutting operation is performed on the woven food condiment sheet to produce sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven food condiment slices. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven food condiment slices formed by the cutting operation can be of any desired geometrical shape; such as square, rectangular, circular, triangular, oval, etc. The next step in the process is to ensure that the sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven food condiment slices are retained in the woven form. To accomplish this, the peripheral edge portion of the woven food condiment slice can be compression molded, using a tool or device, to bond, tie, merge, or join together the margin ends of the overlapping strands and/or strips of the peripheral edge portion of the woven food condiment slice. The tool can also be heated, if desired, to a temperature which will allow at least one of the first food condiment or the second food condiment to flow and bond to at least one of the first food condiment or the second food condiment. The compression surface used for the compression operation may be combined with the cutting tool such that both the cutting and compression operations can be performed together. A decorative design or border may also be embossed into the periphery of the woven food condiment slice during the compression and optional heating step. As an alternative, a preformed edible edge sealer may be applied and heat sealed to the peripheral cut edges of the woven food condiment slice to retain the woven food condiment slice in its woven form by preheating the edible edge sealer to its flow temperature, applying the preheated edible edge sealer to the peripheral cut edges of the woven food condiment slice, and compressing the preheated edible edge sealer to bond the edible edge sealer to the peripheral cut edges of the woven food condiment slice to thereby retain the weaving pattern given to the woven food condiment slice. Alternatively, the preformed edible edge sealer can first be applied to the peripheral cut edges of the woven food condiment slice and, next, heat sealing the peripheral cut edges of the woven food condiment slice using a tool or device to compress and heat the preformed edible edge sealer to its flow temperature such that the preformed edible edge sealer flows into and around the interstices of the woven peripheral cut edges of the woven food condiment slice to bond the edible edge sealer to the peripheral cut edges of the woven food condiment slice to thereby retain the weaving pattern given to the woven food condiment slice.
The woven strips and/or strands may also be formed by extrusion of the strips and/or strands from an extrusion apparatus onto a work surface. The strips and/or strands may be formed from one or more food condiments. A plurality of extrusion nozzles can be used to extrude the food condiment to form the woven food condiment sheet with the desired angle between the strips and/or strands.
An alternative to the third embodiment of the instant invention is to provide a sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven food condiment slice comprising forming the sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven food condiment slice by weaving strands and/or strips of a face-fused combination food condiment into a woven sheet. This form of the woven food condiment is also individually wrapped with a hermetically sealed protective wrapping. A plurality of these individually wrapped, hermetically sealed, sandwich-sized, single-serve, combination, woven food condiment slices can be stacked and further packaged for sale. The combination woven food condiment sheet can be manufactured by weaving face-fused combination strips and/or strands comprised of the desired food condiments. The face-fused combination strips and/or strands are formed by a cutting operation performed on previously formed face-fused combination food condiment sheets. The first step for producing woven, sandwich-sized, single-serve, combination, food condiment slices is to produce food condiment sheets of a single food condiment. The method of producing food condiment sheets of a single food condiment was discussed previously in the first embodiment of the instant invention and is hereby incorporated in this discussion. As discussed, food condiment sheets can be formed through extrusion molding, thin film molding, injection molding, compression molding, or any other process or combination of processes which will accomplish the objective of producing sheet-formed food condiments. The next step is to produce face-fused combination food condiment sheets. Methods of producing face-fused combination food condiment sheets were discussed in the second embodiment of the instant invention and is hereby incorporated into this discussion. Following formation of the face-fused condiment food condiment sheet, strips and/or strands are cut from the face-fused combination food condiment sheet using a cutting operation. The strips and/or strands are comprised of a first food condiment bonded or face-fused to a second food condiment. The strips and/or strands have a first food condiment on a first face surface and a second food condiment on a second face surface. The strips and/or strands cut from the face-fused combination food condiment sheet are then interwoven to form a woven face-fused combination food condiment sheet. The strips and/or strands may be woven at any desired angle to each other. Also, since the strands and/or strips have one food condiment on one face and a second food condiment on the opposite face, the weaving operation may be accomplished such that the first food condiment is on one face of the woven combination food condiment sheet and the second food condiment is on the opposite face of the woven combination food condiment sheet. Alternatively, the weaving operation can be performed such that adjacent strips and/or strands used to form each face of the woven combination food condiment sheet can be reversed such that one strand or strip displays a first food condiment and the adjacent strand and/or strip displays a second food condiment. The result being that each face of the woven combination food condiment sheet has first and second food condiments displayed.
Additionally, the woven fused combination food condiment sheet may have strips and/or strands cut from a fused combination food condiment sheet and strips and/or strands cut from a food condiment sheet that is formed from only one food condiment. This method of weaving strips and/or strands cut from a fused combination food condiment sheet and strips and/or strands cut from a food condiment sheet formed from only one food condiment allows use of three condiments in a woven food condiment sheet. Three condiments can also be provided in a woven condiment sheet by weaving strips and/or strands from a fused combination food condiment sheet having three different condiments fused together. Also, weaving of strips and/or strands from a first fused combination food condiment sheet, formed from first and second food condiments, with strips and/or strands from a second fused combination food condiment sheet formed from third and fourth food condiments allows construction of a woven food condiment sheet having four different food condiments. Any number of condiments can be woven into a sheet woven combination food condiment sheet. As an additional embodiment, woven combination food condiment sheets can be formed from strips and/or strands from two different single condiment sheets. A second woven combination food condiment sheet can be formed from strips and/or strands from a third and fourth single condiment sheets. The two separate woven combination condiment food condiment sheets can then be combined at their face surfaces by preheating an edible bonding layer to its flow point. The preheated performed edible bonding layer is then applied to the upper surface of the first woven combination food condiment sheets such that the edible preheated bonding layer bonds to the strips and/or strands of the woven combination food condiment food condiment sheet. The second woven combination food condiment sheet is then applied to the opposite surface of the preheated preformed edible bonding sheet such that the edible preheated preformed edible bonding sheet bonds to the strips and/or strands of the second woven combination food condiment sheet. The woven combination food condiment sheet formed has a first outer face having a woven food condiment sheet comprised of woven food condiments and a second outer face, opposite the first face, and having a woven food condiment sheet comprised of woven food condiments. The two inner faces being joined in a face-to-face relationship by an edible bonding sheet. The edible bonding sheet also acts to retain the woven condiment strips and/or strands in a woven form for subsequent cutting and molding operations.
Alternatively, the woven strips and/or strands of the woven food condiment sheet can be retained in their woven form by preheating an edible sealant sheet to its flow point and applying the preheated edible sealant sheet to the upper exposed surface of the woven food condiment sheet such that the preheated edible sealant sheet contacts, melts, and flows over, into, and around the interstices of the woven strips and/or strands of the woven food condiment to thereby retain the weaving pattern given to the woven food condiment for subsequent cutting or molding operations.
A further alternative would be to spray the woven strips and/or strands of the woven food condiment sheet with a liquid edible bonding material prior to the cutting operation to retain the weaving pattern given to the woven food condiment.
As an example of a particular structure and design for a woven combination food condiment slice, face-fused strips and/or strands of a first face-fused combination food condiment sheet are placed parallel to each other on a work surface. A second face-fused combination food condiment in the form of face-fused strips and/or strands, which may be the same or different from the first face-fused combination food condiment, can then be interwoven with the first face-fused strips and/or strands at any desired angle. Any desired pattern of weaving can be used and any desired angle can be used. When a constant size, width, or length, of face-fused strands and/or strips are used in weaving the single-serve, combination food condiment sheet, the degree of tightness, packing, or closeness of the face-fused strands and/or strips in a given direction depends on the amounts of each of the food condiments desired. The size, shape or thickness of the face-fused strands and/or strips can also be varied in conjunction with the degree of tightness, packing, or closeness of the face-fused strands and/or strips in the weaving to determine the number of face-fused strands and/or strips of each food condiment to be used in the weaving to obtain the desired amount of each food condiment for the resulting sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven combination food condiment. After the weaving step has been completed, a cutting operation is performed on the woven combination food condiment sheet to produce sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven combination food condiment slices. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven combination food condiment slices formed by the cutting operation can be of any desired geometrical shape; such as square, rectangular, circular, triangular, oval, etc. The next step in the process is to ensure that the sandwich-sized, single-serve, woven combination food condiment slices are retained in the woven form. To accomplish this, the peripheral edge portion of the woven combination food condiment slice can be compressed, using a tool or device, to bond, tie, merge, or join the margin ends of the overlapping strands and/or strips of the peripheral edge portion of the woven fused combination food condiment slice together. The tool can also be heated to a temperature which will allow at least one of the first food condiment or the second food condiment of the face-fused strips and/or strands to flow and bond to at least one of the neighboring first food condiment or the second food condiment face-fused strips and/or strands. The compression surface may be combined with the cutting tool such that both the cutting and compression operations can be performed together. A decorative design, crimping, or border may also be embossed into the periphery of the woven combination food condiment slice during the compression and optional heating step.
As an alternative, a preformed edible edge sealer may be applied and heat sealed to the peripheral cut edges of the woven combination food condiment slice to retain the woven combination food condiment slice in its woven form by preheating the edible edge sealer to its flow temperature, applying the preheated edible edge sealer to the peripheral cut edges of the woven combination food condiment slice, and compressing the preheated edible edge sealer to bond the edible edge sealer to the peripheral cut edges of the woven combination food condiment slice to thereby retain the weaving pattern given to the woven food condiment slice.
Alternatively, the preformed edible edge sealer can first be applied to the periphery and cut edges of the woven fused combination food condiment slice and, next, heat sealing the periphery and cut edges of the woven combination food condiment slice using a tool to compress and heat the preformed edible edge sealer to its flow temperature such that the preformed edible edge sealer flows into and around the interstices of the woven periphery and cut edges of the woven combination food condiment slice to bond the edible edge sealer to the peripheral cut edges of the woven combination food condiment slice to thereby retain the weaving pattern given to the woven combination food condiment slice.
As an example of the third embodiment, an individual preparing a cold-cut sandwich desiring to use catsup and mustard on a sandwich can do so by removing a woven combination food condiment slice of catsup and mustard from the hermetically sealed protective wrapping by opening the plastic wrapping and removing the woven combination food condiment slice of catsup and mustard from the cellophane or plastic wrapping. The woven combination food condiment slice of catsup and mustard is then placed whole in or on a sandwich without the requirement and inconvenience of spreading, pouring, or squeezing the two condiments onto the bread, item, or sandwich. The advantages of combining the condiments into a woven combination food condiment slice are that only one package need be purchased rather than two or more bottles and jars; reduced weight and number of packages when on outings, vacations, picnics, and barbeques, for example; much easier to storexe2x80x94less storage space needed; and reduces time needed for preparing sandwiches or cooking a food item that uses a condiment of the instant invention.
A forth embodiment of the instant invention is to provide a sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped food condiment slice comprising at least one food condiment. The at least one food condiment in the sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped food condiment slice exists as a plurality of discontinuous or chopped pieces which are intermixed and fused together at their surfaces. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped food condiment slices are individually packaged in a hermetically sealed protective wrapping. The chopped pieces of food condiment making up the chopped food condiment slice are intermixed with each other. If there is more than one condiment, the number of discontinuous, broken, or chopped pieces of each food condiment is approximately equal and proportionately mixed in the sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped food condiment slice. However, there may be variation in which one of the chopped food condiments may be present in a larger amount than the other chopped food condiments. The sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped food condiment slice can be formed by first producing a sheet formed chopped food condiment sheet. The chopped food condiment sheet may be formed from a chopped food condiment sheet of a single food condiment, or a plurality of food condiments, or a face-fused food condiment sheet, or a side-fused food condiment sheet, or any combination thereof Initially, a food condiment sheet of a single food condiment is produced. The method of producing the food condiment sheets of a single food condiment was discussed in the first embodiment of the instant invention and is hereby incorporated in this discussion. The method of producing face-fused combination food condiment sheets was discussed in the second embodiment of the instant invention and is hereby incorporated in this discussion. As discussed, food condiment sheets can be formed through extrusion molding, thin-film molding, injection molding, compression molding, or any other process, or combination of processes that will accomplish the objectives of forming sheet-formed food condiments. After forming a food condiment sheet of a single food condiment, or a face-fused combination food condiment sheet, or a side-fused combination food condiment, the food condiment sheet is divided, by cutting, to form chopped food condiment pieces. The cutting operation can be performed using a die cutter with a width and length equal to or larger than the food condiment sheet wherein the cutting apparatus is used to stamp the food condiment sheet to form a plurality of food condiment pieces. The food condiment pieces can then be processed through a hopper or chamber which will eject the chopped pieces of food condiment, by air or inert gas blowing, at a sheet-forming mold to form a chopped food condiment sheet, or a slice-forming mold to form a sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped food condiment slice. The temperature of the air used to blow the chopped food condiment pieces should be such that it heats, cools, or maintains the temperature of the outer surfaces of the chopped food condiment pieces so that the chopped food condiment pieces will adhere to each other at their contacting surfaces after distribution in the mold. If a chopped food condiment sheet is formed through the blowing operation, the chopped food condiment sheet is thereafter processed through a subsequent cutting step in which the chopped food condiment sheet is divided into separate sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped food condiment slices. The chopped food condiment sheet can be made by blowing one or more different types of food condiments into a mold to form a chopped combination food condiment sheet. Also, fused condiment pieces that originate from fused combination food condiment sheets can be used to form chopped food condiment sheets, in which they alone are used, or the fused chopped food condiment pieces can be used in conjunction with chopped food condiment pieces of a single food condiment. That is, different combinations of food condiment pieces can be used to form a chopped food condiment sheet. The cutting device used to perform the cutting operation to form sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slices may optionally have a surface used for compression and optionally both the compression surface and cutting surface may be heated to a temperature that will allow at least one of the food condiments represented in the chopped food condiment sheet to flow. The compression surface, if desired, allows a decorative design or border, to be embossed into the periphery or other desired area of the chopped food condiment slice during the cutting step and compression step. The compression surface of the device mates with and compresses a peripheral portion of the chopped food condiment slice. It may also provide or form a raised border, or crimped border to the chopped food condiment slice. The optional heating of the cutting blades to the flow point temperature of at least one of the chopped food condiments, provides smooth cut edges to the sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped food condiment slice. If a sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slice is formed by the blowing operation, then the sandwich-sized, single-serve, food condiment slice is removed from the mold before, after, or during cooling.
The food condiment pieces may also be formed by extrusion, in which the food condiment is extruded. The extruded food condiment can be cut or divided as it is extruded, or it can be extruded and divided in a separate cutting operation. The extruded food condiment pieces can then be processed through a hopper which ejects the extruded cut pieces of food condiment, by air or inert gas blowing, at a sheet-forming mold to form a sheet, or at a slice-forming mold to form a sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped food condiment slice. The extrusion apparatus may also provide multiple extrusion outlets that allow extrusion and division of more than one food condiment. Also, the extrusion apparatus can provide for fusion and bonding of different types of food condiments at their surfaces during extrusion. The bonded extruded food condiment is then divided by cutting into chopped food condiment pieces. Depending on the temperature of the extruded, cut, food condiment, the temperature of the air or inert gas used to blow the chopped food condiment pieces should be such that it heats, cools, or maintains the temperature of the outer surfaces of the chopped food condiment pieces so that the chopped food condiment pieces will adhere to each other at their contacting surfaces in the mold. The ejection apparatus used to eject the cut pieces of food condiment at the molding surfaces, can also be used to coat the cut condiment pieces with an edible bonding material, such as by spraying an edible bonding material in liquid form on the cut extruded condiment pieces prior to their entry into the ejection apparatus, during residence in the ejection apparatus, or following ejection from the ejection apparatus, so as to enhance adhesion of the food condiment pieces at their contacting surfaces.
Another method of forming side-fusion food condiment slices involves an alternative extrusion and cutting method. The extrusion apparatus is provided with extrusion nozzles with the desired shape through which food condiment compositions are extruded. To enhance fusion and bonding of the extruded food condiment materials, the exit portion of the extrusion nozzles may be heated to the flow point of the extruded condiments. As the heated surfaces of the extruded condiments contact, adhesion and bonding occur to attach the individual extruded food condiments together at their longitudinal side surfaces, thereby forming a food condiment loaf. Following extrusion, the formed food condiment loaf is divided into slices or discs, as by cutting. Any number of extrusion nozzles, types of condiments, and extruded condiment shape can be used.
As an example, an individual preparing a cold-cut sandwich desiring to use catsup and mustard on the sandwich can do so by removing a sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped combination food condiment slice of catsup and mustard, which is formed of intermixed food condiment pieces of catsup and mustard fused at their surfaces, from a hermetically sealed protective wrapping by opening the wrapping and removing the sandwich-sized, single-serve, chopped combination food condiment slice of catsup and mustard and then placing the slice on the sandwich without the requirement and inconvenience of spreading, pouring, or squeezing the two condiments onto the bread or sandwich. The advantages of combining the at least two condiments into a chopped form are that only one package need be purchased rather than two or more; reduced weight and number of packages when on outings vacations, picnics, or barbeques, for example, much easier to storexe2x80x94less storage space needed; and reduces time needed for preparing sandwiches or cooking a food item.
Examples include sandwiches made at home for eating at lunch, sandwiches made by a restaurant for delivery or take-out service, and sandwiches prepared, packaged and displayed in a grocery store deli or convenience store for subsequent sale to a customer. A sandwich is made by placing a first slice of bread on a work surface, placing a single-serve food condiment slice on the first slice, placing a sandwich filler or optionally placing a sandwich filler on the single-serve food condiment slice, placing a second slice of the same or different single-serve food condiment slice or optionally placing a second food condiment slice of the same or different single-serve food condiment. The single-serve food condiment slice, optional sandwich filler, optional second single-serve food condiment slice, and other desired sandwich filler food items can be added to the sandwich in any desired order. It is noted, however, that initial placement of the single-serve food condiment on the bread surface may shield the bread slice from moisture by additionally functioning as barrier to moisture, which aids in preventing sogginess of the bread.
A further embodiment, which is drawn to beverages, includes forming dairy or non-dairy creamer or coffee creamer beverage slices for coffee, tea, hot chocolate, cold chocolate, or other food or beverage items. The dairy or non-dairy creamer or coffee creamer beverage condiment slice can also be sweetened and/or flavored. As an example, an individual preparing a cup of coffee, and desiring cream for the coffee, would add a dairy or non-dairy coffee creamer beverage slice to the coffee and stir. The coffee creamer beverage slice dissolves in the coffee releasing and distributing the dissolved coffee creamer beverage slice to the coffee solution. If the individual desires a sweetener, the coffee creamer beverage slice can also be combined with sugar or an artificial sweetener. This allows an individual to add cream and sweetener to the coffee without the inconvenience of adding two different beverage condiments separately. The beverage slices of the instant invention are made using the same methods as used to prepare the food condiment slices of the instant invention. Also, the beverage slices of the instant invention may have the same structures, sizes, and shapes as the food condiment slices of the instant invention. It is noted that the dairy or non-dairy coffee or tea creamer beverage slice may also be used on food items such as ice cream or strawberries.
A further embodiment is drawn to spaghetti sauces which are formed into food slices according to the methods described in the instant invention. A spaghetti sauce sheet or slice of desired size, flavorings, additives, ingredients, etc., can be laid over prepared noodles and heated, as by microwave, to melt the spaghetti sauce sheet or slice over the noodles. The spaghetti sauce sheet or slice may also be heated separate from the noodles and poured over the noodles, if desired.
A further embodiment of the instant invention is drawn to gravy slices for meats, mashed potatoes, whole potatoes, etc. A gravy sauce slice of desired size, flavoring, additives, ingredients, etc., can be laid over the prepared food item. The heat from the food item can melt the gravy sauce slice or the food with the gravy sauce slice thereon can be heated, as by microwave, to melt the gravy slice. The gravy sauce slice can also be heated and melted separate from the food item and then poured over the food item.
It is noted that the food condiment slices of the instant invention may be low fat, no fat, salt-free, cholesterol-free, and sugar-free, if desired.
It is noted that any of the food condiment slices produced by the instant invention can be formed from one or more of the following condiments and may exist in any of the shapes, forms, designs, or condiment combinations of the instant invention. That list comprises catsup, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, barbeque sauce, steak sauce, tartar sauce, peanut butter, jellies, jams, preserves, cheeses, cheese spreads, butter, honey butter and other flavored butters, margarine and flavored margarines, marinades, creamers, syrups, spaghetti sauces, gravy sauces, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, glazes, salad dressings, or any other types of spreads, or food dressings.

Food condiment, composition, method of molding, and method of using


A cold spray coating process is disclosed. The cold spray coating process includes positioning a cold spray nozzle relative to a bearing assembly, rotating the bearing assembly, and directing a powdered babbitt material through the cold spray nozzle, to a surface of the rotating bearing assembly. The powdered babbitt material adheres to the surface of the rotating bearing assembly, forming a coating on the surface. Another cold spray coating process includes positioning the cold spray nozzle relative to a bearing assembly, rotating the cold spray nozzle, and directing a powdered babbitt material through the cold spray nozzle, to a surface of the bearing assembly. The powdered babbitt material adheres to the surface, the rotating of the cold spray nozzle forming a coating on the surface. Another cold spray coating process includes monitoring properties of the coating on the surface of the bearing assembly with a coating monitor.

Various materials used in industrial applications are subject to a diverse set of hostile conditions. For example, certain turbine components are subjected to thermally, mechanically and chemically stressful environments which can be harmful to the components. Often, a material's surface is provided with a protective coating specific to the operating conditions and intended use. As one example, turbine bearings are often coated with a protective babbitt material. However, coating of the material's surface can be difficult to control, unpredictable, time consuming, space consuming and costly.
Babbitt material is typically applied to component surfaces using centrifugal force while the component is spinning To apply babbitt coating this way, the babbitt material must be in liquid form. Additionally, the component to which the coating is being applied must be pre-heated. Such a technique suffers from various drawbacks. Such a technique requires a large pot of melted babbitt material, is limited in application based upon component shape, may result in wasted babbitt material during application, may result in poor surface properties, may result in excess babbitt material being machined away, can suffer from phase separation during application, requires spinning of the component, or combinations thereof.
After coating, as a component is subjected to wear during operation, damage to the babbitt material occurs in various areas. The damaged babbitt material, if detected early, is repaired in order to prevent damage to the component itself One example method of repair involves stripping of the babbitt material, preparing the surface of the component for re-application of liquid babbitt, subsequent machining, or combinations thereof. Such methods are time consuming, can be costly, can result in damage to the component, may lead to further wasted babbitt material during application and machining, or combinations thereof.
A coating process and coated article that do not suffer from the above drawbacks would be desirable in the art.


A semiconductor acceleration sensor, including a semiconductor substrate, in which a mounting portion is formed in the substrate, and first and second cantilevered beams are formed in the substrate in opposite sides of the mounting portion so that these three members are aligned along a straight line, and in which a weight is formed at an end of the first cantilevered beam, and first and second strain sensing devices are formed in approximately the same layout in surface portions of the first and second cantilevered beams, respectively.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor acceleration sensor having improved temperature characteristics.
2. Description of the Background Art
In FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a conventional semiconductor acceleration sensor which is fabricated by carrying out an etching process an N-type silicon substrate having a (100) surface, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Specification No. 62-213280. In semiconductor acceleration sensor prepared by etching the silicon substrate, a rectangular silicon center mass or weight 2 is arranged in the central portion of a frame 1 isolated therefrom, and a cantilevered beam 3 for detecting an acceleration couples the central left side portion of the silicon weight 2 to the frame 1. Another cantilevered beam 4 for a temperature compensation having no weight on its end is formed to the frame 1 near the cantilevered beam 3 in parallel therewith. The cantilevered beam 4 is so designed that the thickness and width are equal to those of the cantilevered beam 3. A pair of piezoresistors 5a is formed in the surface portion of the cantilevered beam 3 by doping a P-type impurity in the direction of the <110>crystal axis so as to extend in parallel with each other in the longitudinal direction of the cantilevered beam 3. A pair of piezoresistors 5b are formed in the surface portion of the cantilevered beam 4 in the same manner as those of the cantilevered beam 3. Usually, a protecting film composed of SiO.sub.2 is formed over the surface of the silicon substrate including the piezoresistors 5a and 5b.
The piezoresistors 5a and 5b are so connected to constitute a bridge structure shown in FIG. 2, and thus, in fact, the ends of the piezoresistors 5a and 5b are bonded to electrodes (not shown) composed of an aluminum film or the like in order to connect exterior devices via wirings.
Now, when acceleration is provided for the semiconductor acceleration sensor, as indicated by arrows in FIG. 1, the silicon weight 2 receives the force due to acceleration, and thus the cantilevered beam 3 for acceleration sensing is bent. Hence, a bending stress is applied to the piezoresistors 5a formed in the surface portion of the cantilevered beam 3, and their resistances are varied. At the same time, in turn, the force which the cantilevered beam 4 for temperature compensation receives due to acceleration is slight, and the cantilevered beam 4 is hardly bent. Consequently, a bending stress is hardly applied to the piezoresistors 5b, and their resistances are hardly changed.
Assuming that the resistance of each of piezoresistors 5a 5b is defined as R and the resistance variation of the piezoresistor 5a is .DELTA.R, the output voltage Vout of the bridge circuit shown in FIG. 2 is represented by the following formula. EQU Vout=(1/2).multidot.(.DELTA.R/R).multidot.V.sub.B (1)
wherein V.sub.B is the voltage applied to the bridge circuit.
Further, consideration as to offset temperature characteristics is sufficiently provided in the semiconductor acceleration sensor described above. That is, the thermal stress caused by the difference of the thermal expansion coefficient between the silicon and the protecting film such as SiO.sub.2 formed thereon is different among the four piezoresistors 5a and 5b to cause an offset voltage. The influence due to the generation of the offset voltage can be prevented by using the two cantilevered beams 3 and 4 for acceleration sensing and temperature compensation. That is, these two cantilevered beams 3 and 4 are designed to equal conditions such as thickness and width except that the acceleration sensing cantilevered beam 3 has the silicon weight 2 on the end, and the piezoresistors 5a and 5b of the cantilevered beams 3 and 4 are also designed to equal conditions and layouts. Therefore, almost the same thermal stress caused by the difference of the thermal expansion coefficient between the protecting film such as SiO.sub.2 and the silicon is provided for the piezoresistors 5a and 5b, and thus the offset temperature characteristics are improved.
However, the conventional acceleration sensor has some problems. That is, firstly, since the two cantilevered beams 3 and 4 and weight 2 connected to the cantilevered beam 3 are formed within the frame 1 having a rectangular ring form with a space 6 therebetween, a complicated etching process is required.
Secondly, in addition to the thermal stress caused by the difference of the thermal expansion coefficient between the protecting film and the silicon, there is another main cause for reducing the offset temperature characteristics. That is, usually, the frame 1 is adhered to a mounting member, and the mounting member is attached to a package by using an adhesive to carry out a mounting of the sensor chip. There is another thermal stress caused by the difference of the thermal expansion coefficient among the silicon, the mounting member, the package and/or the adhesive. However, no consideration relating to the latter thermal stress is provided in the conventional acceleration sensor shown in FIG. 1, and hence thermal stresses of different strengths are applied to the piezoresistors. In particular, thermal stresses of different strengths are applied to the piezoresistors 5a and 5b for acceleration sensing and temperature compensation, with the result of reducing the offset temperature characteristics.
Thirdly, since the two cantilevered beams 3 and 4 are attached to a part of the inside side surface of the frame 1, stress concentrated areas or portions indicated by circles 7 are produced in the acceleration sensor to cause a weak structure for breakdown or destruction.