Hershey has filed a patent for a confection mold conveying system and methods for manufacturing confection products. The system includes a first conveyor segment with pusher fingers that engage confection mold trays in one direction and avoid engagement in the opposite direction. The trays are then received by a second conveyor segment with a rotatable shaft that continuously advances the trays in the desired direction. GlobalData’s report on Hershey gives a 360-degree view of the company including its patenting strategy. Buy the report here.
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According to GlobalData’s company profile on Hershey, enzyme fortified cocoa products was a key innovation area identified from patents. Hershey's grant share as of June 2023 was 1%. Grant share is based on the ratio of number of grants to total number of patents.
Confection mold conveying system for manufacturing confection products
A recently filed patent (Publication Number: US20230128219A1) describes a confection mold conveying system. The system includes a first conveyor segment with pusher fingers that engage confection mold trays while being translated in one direction and avoid engagement while being translated in the opposite direction. Aligned with the first conveyor segment is a second conveyor segment that receives the confection mold trays and includes a rotatable shaft with a helical channel. The rotation of the shaft continuously advances the trays in the same direction.
The system also includes a third conveyor segment aligned with the second conveyor segment, a stacking system aligned with the third conveyor segment, and a destacking system aligned with the first conveyor segment. The confection mold trays have confection-receiving cavities and tabs that engage with the helical channel of the second conveyor segment.
Additionally, the system includes a filling apparatus positioned to fill the confection-receiving cavities of the trays while they are at rest on the first conveyor segment. The trays can be transitioned from a vertical stack to a series of horizontally aligned trays using the destacking system.
The patent also describes a method of confection mold conveying using the system. The method involves conveying the trays along the first conveyor segment with the pusher fingers engaging the trays in one direction and avoiding engagement in the opposite direction. The trays are then continuously advanced along the second conveyor segment using the rotatable shaft with the helical channel.
The method may also include filling the confection-receiving cavities of the trays while they are at rest on the first conveyor segment and cooling the confection in the cavities while the trays advance along the second conveyor segment. The trays can be further conveyed along a third conveyor segment using pusher fingers that engage and avoid engagement with the trays in a similar manner as described for the first conveyor segment.
Overall, this patent describes a confection mold conveying system and method that allows for efficient and continuous movement of confection mold trays, filling of the trays with confection, and cooling of the confection. The system includes various conveyor segments, pusher fingers, and a rotatable shaft with a helical channel to facilitate the movement and processing of the trays.
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GlobalData Patent Analytics tracks bibliographic data, legal events data, point in time patent ownerships, and backward and forward citations from global patenting offices. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.
