US3682107A

US3682107A - Apparatus for dispensing material on pastry and the like

Info

Publication number: US3682107A
Application number: US888557A
Authority: US
Inventors: John Macmanus
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1968-12-31
Filing date: 1969-12-29
Publication date: 1972-08-08
Anticipated expiration: 1989-08-08
Also published as: CH526924A; GB1250496A; SE353216B; ES185279U; BE743782A; ES185279Y; NL6919429A; DE1965091A1; FR2027474A1; BR6915690D0; AT302796B

Abstract

The apparatus includes an open entry disposable hose and forcing bag which are formed integrally with each other. At the end extreme from the feeding means, the bag includes a bulbous member. Several embodiments of the integral hose and bag are shown and described. When required, a venting hose is provided for release of trapped air in the material and communicates with an expansion chamber. In certain circumstances, a tube surrounds the bag and is selectively inflatable or deflatable for controlling dispensing of the material in predetermined amounts while still using, for example, a continually fed supply of material to the forcing bag.

Description

Umted States Patent 1 1 3,682,107 MacManus [451 Aug. 8, '1972 [54] APPARATUS FOR DISPENSING 3,204,825 7/ 1965 Underwood ..222/ 105 MATERIAL 0N PASTRY AND THE 3,230,926 1/1966 MacManus 107/14 B X LIKE 3,285,202 11/1966 MacManus ..107/52 X 72 Inventor: John MacManus, 143 -16 22nd igfg'lgg {3 ,3 /352 Road, Whitestone, N.Y. 11357 [22] Filed: 29 1969 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 598,674 12/1925 France ..107/52 [21] 8557 1,149,931 1/1958 France ..107/52 [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Primary Examiner-Frank L. Abbott Assistant Examiner-Henry E. Raduazo Dec. 31, 1968 Great Britain ..6l,985/68 Att0mey McCanna, Mombach, note & Muir [52] US. Cl. ..107/27 107/52, 107/14 T1 51 Int. Cl ..A2lc 9/06, A23g 1/20 [57] ABS CT [5.8] Field of Search ..107/27, 27 A, 52; 222/214, The apparatus Includes an p entry dlsposable hose 222 05 95 and forcing bag which are formed integrally with each other. At the end extreme from the feeding means, the 5 References Cited bag includes a bulbous member. Several embodiments of the integral hose and bag are shown and described. UNlT ED STATES PATENTS When required, a venting hose is provided for release of trapped air in the material and communicates with an expansion chamber. in certain circumstances, a tube surrounds the bag and is selectively inflatable or geaton deflatablefor controlling dispensing of the material in 2 713 369 7/l955 lquerel predeternglirliecfl grnounlts vghile stilgflusinfi, ior exangple, 2,815,887 12/1957 Ford et a1. ..222/105 a y e supp y mate" tot e 2,967,700 l/ 1961 Lee et a1. ..222/255 X 5 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures The present invention relates generally to dispensing and more particularly to an improved apparatus for dispensing a continually flowing, material to a succession of units of pastry, cakes, confections, and the like.

One method of depositing a stiff fluent aerated food product, such as whipped cream, on or into a succession of units of pastry, cakes, confectionery, or the like to decorate them or fill them is described in my U.S. Pat. No. 3,285,202. This method includes pumping a continuing flow, that is a continuous or continual flow, of the product through a flexible hose to a collapsible forcing bag having an open discharge tip. The tip is moved over a unit to deposit the product on or into it in a prescribed pattern by alternately compressing the bag, so that product is extruded from the tip, and then at least partially releasing the compression on the bag to interrupt the flow of product from the tip without interrupting the supply of products to the bag while moving the tip to the next unit, and so on.

The hose and bag previously used for the above described method were separate parts which were sealed together either by gathering the bag and clamping it around the end of the hose using a strap, or by drawing up and clamping both the end of the hose and the neck of the bag around a common coupling piece. It can be seen that this results in a considerable number of folds in the bag where it is gathered and these folds can trap a quantity of the material to be discharged. It is essential that such apparatus be thoroughly cleaned at frequent intervals and this involves dismantling the assembly. The clamping and removal of the bag from the hose takes an appreciable time, and costly labor is involved in these actions.

In accordance with the present invention a disposable hose and forcing bag for use in the method described are formed integrally with one another and the bag consists of a bulbous portion at the end of the hose having an unobstructed discharge outlet. The interior of the bag is smooth and generally free of folds or wrinkles.

With this arrangement no dismantling of the hose and bag is necessary for cleaning purposes and all that is required for temporary cleaning is to cause a sterilizing fluid to flow through the hose and bag. The hose and bag can be disposed of at the end of each working day. This is possible because of the comparative low cost of the integral unit and by saving in the high cost of cleaning and washing labor.

Although the discharge outlet may be permanently fitted with a decorating shaped nozzle, such as the conventional star nozzle, means are preferably provided at the outlet for fitting a variety of different nozzles to the outlet. One such means comprises providing the nozzle.

as part of a tubular body which fits within the discharge outlet and which is held in position by a collar which screws onto the outside of the body trapping the bag material between the collar and the body. Another means comprises forming the nozzle as part of a tubular body which fits and which is held in position by a resilient band or adhesive tape such as cellophane tape. The band or tape surrounds and clamps the bag material against the outside of the body. Yet again the nozzle may form part of a tubular body which is held frictionally within the discharge outlet, the wall of the outlet being capable of being rolled into an annular ring to provide an entrance to receive the body and subsequently unrolled around the body.

The hose may have a length of, for example, between 1 and 4 feet and the hose (or each duct within the hose if the hose is divided by longitudinal internal webs into separate ducts) may have an internal diameter of between A and 1% inches, and preferably below onehalf inch. The wall thickness of the hose is comparatively unimportant consistent with the desired flexibility. The bag wall thickness is more important and is preferably as thin as possible consistent with sufficient strength to withstand the excess pressure of the product. A typical range of bag wall thickness is between 4 and 16 thousandths of an inch, depending upon the combination of the viscosity of the aerated product and its related high pressure.

The hose and bag may be integrally formed by any suitable method. For example they may be formed as a single dip moulding on an appropriately shaped former from which the moulding is stripped. Another method consists of extruding a parison most of which will form the hose and subsequently blow moulding the end of the parison into a bulbous portion to provide the bag. Alternatively the hose and bag unit may be formed by two overlapping layers of thermoplastic sheet material which are sealed together along two longitudinally ex-. tending, diametrically-opposed seams formed by heat welding. When this method is used at least the bag portion may be formed by four overlapping layers of sheet material, the two inner sheets being heat welded together to form an inner bag and the two outer sheets being heat welded together to form an outer bag whereby an insulating space is provided between the two bags. The four overlapping layers of sheet material may consist of two tubes laid flat one over the other and a single heat welding operation forming two opposed edge seams through all four layers can then be made. This will result in the production of the inner product bag, and an outer insulating bag divided into two halves. In either case, the outer bag may then be minutely perforrnated to contribute to an air flow through the insulating space. This is particularly useful if the bag is to be manipulated by hand, the insulating space insulating the product from the heat of the operators hand.

For the handling of particularly delicate product, the operator may find it desirable to wear special gloves to deter the heating of the cold product passing through the bag from the heat of the operators hands manipulating the bag. Suitable gloves may be made of plastics material for example by a dip moulding operation, with the tips of the fingers cut off so that the sensitive manipulation of the bag by the operator's finger tips is not impeded.

The hose and bag will usually be made from a translucent, preferably transparent, synthetic plastics material, such as PVC of a blood carrying quality. In any case it must be non-toxic and compatible with food hygiene.

In order to prevent the hose, if very thin walled, from kinking in use and thereby interfering with the steady flow of aerated product, the hose may require to be reinforced by a helix of flexible wire which may be either inside, loosely surrounded, or embedded in the wall of the hose.

However homogenous the high overrun aerated product when pumped into the hose, there is inevitably a slight separation of the air resulting from the high compression of, and within, the product as the product passes through the hose en route to the bag, particularly when the flow is interrupted for even short periods. This results in voids of air occurring at irregular zones throughout the hose. This trapped air which is under high pressure at this point will cause spluttering of the product from the discharge tip of the bag when the air void reaches the tip resulting in unsaleable cripp es.

To meet this problem the wall of the hose or of the bag may be provided with a minute hole or holes for the venting of any air voids from the product passing through the hose and bag. Preferably the venting hole or holes lead outwards into an expansion chamber open to the atmosphere. This is important in that any product escaping with the air through the venting hole or holes is instantly expanded to atmospheric pressure so that it does not clog the holes while at the same time being contained within the product collecting chamber so as not to lead to messiness and poor sanitation in the working area. A suitable form of collecting expansion chamber is formed by a flexible tubular sausage-like skin one end of which is open to atmosphere and the other end of which is sealed to the wall of the hose or bag around the venting hole or holes by means, for example, of a washer which is bonded to the wall of the hose or bag and traps a flange at the end of the chamber against the wall of the hose or bag.

It has previously been considered necessary that the forcing bag for use in the method described be compressed manually to control the extrusion of the product from the bag outlet. However, I have discovered that the compression of the bag may be varied automatically, if the bag is provided with an internal or external inflatable-deflatable part, the expansion of which intermittently reduces the capacity of the product bag, in combination with means for selectively supplying fluid intermittently under pressure to the part. The fluid, such as air under pressure may be supplied to or removed from the inflatable part, such as a ring surrounding the bag or an inner bag within the product bag, through a pipe extending alongside the flexible hose, or down within the hose or through the wall of the product bag, respectively. The supply of air under pressure to the inflatable part, and its venting, to cause compression and allow expansion of the bag, may be controlled by a remote valve, or by a valve adjacent to the bag for manipulation by the hands of the operator holding the bag. When the control is remote, it is possible for the whole depositing operation to be programmed and for the bag to be supported and manipulated by mechanical means.

In one shape of the bag which is particularly advantageous for holding and manipulating, the hose merges into a divergent portion of the bag. From there the bag tapers to the discharge outlet with the maximum width of the bag occurring nearer to its junction with the hose than to the discharge outlet.

In another advantageous shape, the bag is substantially tubular with a diameter little greater than that of the hose. This is useful in ensuring a first in, first out flow of the product through the bag so that the discharged product has a uniform quality.

The integral hose and bag may be used with an apparatus as described in my aforementioned patent, in which the aerated product is first whipped in one machine and deposited into a hopper of a second machine from which it is pumped by a reciprocating or other pump through a connection to the hose and hence to the bag. The integral hose and bag may also be used with a machine such as that described in my copending patent application, Ser. No. 883,867, filed Dec. 10, 1969, now US. Pat. No. 3,606,626 wherein the liquid product and air are simultaneously drawn in by a pump and discharged through an improved static homogenizer to an outlet. The integral hose and bag are profitably used in conjunction with a machine of this kind, which necessitates investment in, and use of, only one machine instead of two, the upstream end of the hose being arranged by specially designed means to be coupled to the outlet of the machine.

Some examples of bags and hoses constructed in accordance with the present invention, and their use, are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of one example of hose and FIG. 2 is a side elevation to a larger scale with parts in section of a coupling at the upstream end of the hose of the FIG. 1 example;

FIG. 3 is a section showing a decorating nozzle at the tip of the bag of the FIG. 1 example;

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of part of a second example;

FIG. 5 is an elevation with parts in section of a third example;

FIG. 6 is a section taken on the line VI-VI in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 isan elevation with parts in section of a fourth example;

FIG. 8 is a view, part in section and part in elevation, of a fifth example; and

FIG. 9 is a plan view of an improved bag in collapsed form,

The example illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 incorporates a flexible hose 8 formed integrally with a thin walled bag 9 by, for example, extruding a parison including the hose and blow moulding the bag. The bag 9 has a shorter divergent portion 10 and a longer tapering portion 11 which terminates in a straight outlet throat 12.

The upstream end of the hose 8 is shown coupled to a rigid duct 13 along which in use a continuous or continual flow of aerated food product will be pumped into the hose and bag. As shown in FIG. 2 the duct 13 is extemally screw-threaded and terminates in a chamfered portion 14 over which the end 15 of the hose is stretched. The end of the hose 15 is trapped in position against the chamfered portion 14 by a complementary chamfered portion of a coupling nut 16 which screws onto the duct 13. This is an extremely hygienic construction since for cleaning purposes when the coupling nut 16 is removed there are no internal screw threads on the duct 13, which may be part of a whipping machine, to clean.

Obviously an adapter could be fitted to the duct 13 with two or more outlets whereby two or more hose and bag units may be fitted to a common duct 13.

In the event of the wall thickness of the hose 8 and the characteristics of the material from which it is formed being such that the hose is likely to kink and impede the flow of product through the hose owing to twisting of the hose in use, the hose may be loosely surrounded by means of a wire helix 17. The resilience of the helix 17 will maintain a minimum radius of curvature when the hose flexes.

A shaped decorating nozzle 18 of star formation is fitted to the throat 12 without the need for the hose to be removed from the duct 13. This is possible by the provision of a tubular body 19 made of a light weight plastics material having an inwardly extending annular flange 20 at its lower end through which the nozzle 18 can be pushed downwards and located by means of an outwardly extending flange 21 which rests on the flange 20. The body 19 is substantially cylindrical and can be pushed upwards into the throat l2 and then located in position by means of a plastic nut 22 which screws onto an externally screw-threaded portion of the body 19 to clamp the lower end of the throat 12 between itself and the body. There is a clearance between the screw threads on the nut 22 and the body 19, and the crests of the threads are rounded, to accommodate the material of the throat 12 without tearing it. A tight fit is ensured because of a slight inward taper at the bottom of the body 19 and on the bottom of the nut 22. The nozzle 18 can be removed readily for cleaning or replacement by a differently shaped nozzle, by simply unscrewing the nut 22, removing the body 19, replacing the nozzle 18, refitting the body 19, and screwing up the nut 22 again.

The extrusion of whipped cream or other aerated food product from the bag may be controlled by manual compression of the bag to collapse the bag partially, followed by a partial release to enable the bag to fill up again, as described in my aforementioned patent. Alternatively the bag may be compressed and held partially collapsed by inflating an annular flexible tube 23 which surrounds the upper part of the bag 9 inside a rigid annular ring 24. This may be achieved by supplying compressed air to the tube 23 through a line 25. Inflation of the tube 23 partially collapses the bag as shown in FIG. 4 and enables the product to be extruded through the nozzle 18. The extrusion of the product from the noule can then be interrupted temporarily without interrupting the flow of product through the hose into the bag, by venting the tube 23 so that the tube can collapse as the bag expands to receive the product. The cycle is then repeated.

FIG. 4 also shows the bag 9 fitted with an expansion chamber in the form of a tubular sausage skin-like chamber 26. One end of the chamber 26 is flanged and is sealed around a puncture in the upper wall of the bag 9 by means of a surrounding adhesive washer 27. The upper end 28 of the chamber is open to the atmosphere and the chamber is located alongside the hose 8 by means of a loose strap 29. The purpose of the chamber is to enable any air voids which have separated from the product passing down the hose 8, to be automatically vented through the chamber 26 as they reach the bag. Any worms of product extruded through the hole into the chamber 26 are contained within the chamber and they can subsequently be removed by compressing the lower end of the chamber 26 between two fingers and drawing the fingers along the chamber to extrude the worms of product from the end 28.

In the example illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the hose 8A and bag 9A are formed by two overlapping layers of thermoplastic sheet material which are heat welded together along two seam lines 30. The bag 9A is shown surrounded by an outer bag 31 formed by two further plies of the sheet material secured together by two heat welded seams 32. The outer bag which is provided with a number of air venting holes 33 provides an insulating air space 34 between the two bags to insulate the product in the bag 9A from the heat of an operators hand. This bag is shown as having a straight outlet throat at its outlet end which terminates in a slight flare formed by two lateral ears of the laid flat overlapping sheet material from which the bag is made. A nozzle formed by a tubular body 18B is inserted up into the throat and the two ears are wrapped and sealed around the body 18B so that the body is closely embraced by the bag material. The body 18B is held in position and the seal maintained by a resilient band 35, which may be made of rubber or plastics material. The band may be fitted in position by a tool having, say four radially expanding fingers. The band is placed over the fingers which are then expanded to stretch the band. The fingers and stretched band are then offered over the body and the fingers withdrawn to release the band. A1- ternately, the body 18B may be held in position by an adhesive tape, such as cellophane tape, placed around the bag to hold the two ears in position.

The FIG. 7 example of hose 8B and tubular bag 98 are formed as a dip moulding on an appropriately shaped former. In this example the nozzle 18B is shown frictionally retained within the tip of the bag 93 having been secured by rolling the tip 36 of the bag back to form an annular ring and then unrolling the ring again over the outside of the nozzle 18B. The hose 8B may be supported by a spring helix similar to the helix 17 if necessary.

Referring again to FIG. 4, it will be recalled that the bag 9 may be compressed and held partially collapsed by inflating the annular flexible tube 23. Alternatively, the tube 23 may be disposed inside the bag 9 and, upon inflation, operate to reduce the space inside the bag. Again, the inflatable inner member may be like a balloon disposed inside the bag 9. In one embodiment, a coupling piece is provided at the junction of the hose and bag. The line or conduit 25 advantageously passes through a passageway in the coupling piece to supply I compressed air to intermittently inflate and/or deflate the inner member.

FIG. 8 shows another means for mechanically compressing the bag. Here the hose 8C and bag 9C are formed by any of the above described procedures. A collar 42 is heat welded to the tube 8C or otherwise 5 secured to the bag or tube in airtight relation. An outer imperforate bag 44 surrounds at least a portion of bag 9C and is sealed thereto at its lower end in any convenient manner. This provides an imperforate air space 46 between the two bags. Collar 42 is provided with a passageway 47, to which is coupled a line 25C. Delivery of air under pressure to space 46 partially collapses the bag 9C and extrudes the product. The extrusion of the product can then be interrupted temporarily without interrupting the flow of product through the hose 8C into the bag 9C, by venting the hose 25C so that the bag 9C can expand to receive additional product. The cycle is then repeated.

FIG. 9 illustrates an improved form of pastry bag or forcing bag, generally designated 50. The bag is advantageously much smaller than its predecessors, having a collapsed or lay-flat size of 8 inches in length and 3 inches in width at the widest point. Especially as related to whipped emulsions, this bag aids in a first in first out control of the product and improves the quality of the product dispensed. The small size is further advantageous in providing improved control (one-handed instead of the usual two-handed method) by a decorator when using the bag thus releasing the other hand for movement of cakes ready to be decorated in sequence. This would usually require an additional person. In the embodiment illustrated, the bag 50 is formed by two overlapping layers of thermoplastic sheet material which are heat welded along two

opposite seam lines

52, 54.

Bag 50 is provided with a straight outlet throat 56 at its outlet end which terminates in a slight flare formed by two

lateral ears

57, 58. As previously described, a conical nozzle may be inserted into the throat, the ears folded back to form a conical retention surface, and the assembly held in position by a fastener such as a resilient band,- or an adhesive strip. In the embodiment illustrated, when flat the outlet throat 56 is about 1 If; inches between the seam lines 52, 54 for easy insertion of a nozzle having about three-fourth inch diameter at its large end. The throat 56 is about 2 inches long.

Bag 50 is also provided with a straight inlet throat 66 about l k inches long and, when flat, about threeeighth inch between the seam lines 52, 54. When rounded, the inlet throat allows a one-half inch O.D. (one-fourth inch I.D.) tube to be inserted. Throat 66 also terminates in a slight flare formed by two

lateral ears

67, 68. The tube can be connected by folding the ears and applying any clamp or fastener, i.e. as previously described.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has herein been illustrated and described, this has been done by way of illustration and not limitation, and the invention should not be limited except as required by the scope of the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A disposable apparatus for dispensing whipped cream to a succession of units of pastry, cakes, confections, and the like and for use with feed means for providing a continuing flow of the whipped cream, the apparatus including: a disposable bulbous forcing bag of relatively thin hygienic synthetic plastic material and having an inlet at one end and an unobstructed discharge opening opposite the inlet; the bulbous forcing bag having a smooth interior surface generally free of folds and wrinkles; the forcing bag having a wall thickness between about 0.004 inch and 0.016 inch; a disposable flexible hose of hygienic synthetic plastic material formed integrally with the bulbous forcing bag and having an internal diameter between one-fourth inch and one-half inch and considerably smaller than the bulbous forcing bag; the flexible hose having one end integrally connected to the bulbous forcing bag at the bag inlet to communicate with the bag inlet; the flexible hose merging smoothly into the bulbous forcing bag at said connection so that the interior surface is smooth; the flexible hose having a second end connectable to the feed means whereby a continuing flow of whipped cream is fed along the flexible hose to the bulbous forcing bag; the bulbous forcing bag being so constructed and arranged that it is flexible and compressible; an inflatable member mounted on the forcing bag and so arranged that expansion of the inflatable member reduces the capacity of the forcing bag; and means for selectively supplying fluid under pressure to the inflatable member to partially collapse and temporarily reduce the forcing bags capacity to dispense the whipped cream and upon release of the fluid pressure, to interrupt the flow of whipped cream through the discharge opening without interrupting the feeding of material to the forcing bag.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the forcing bag is formed from two overlapping layers of thermoplastic material which are heat sealed together along two longitudinally-extending, diametrically opposed seams; the forcing bag having a divergent car at the seam at the discharge opening; a decorating shaped nozzle fitted at the discharge opening; the ear being folded over to form a reduced retention surface for the nozzle; and fastening means outwardly of the forcing bag for holding the ear in folded position and retaining the nozzle at the discharge opening.

3. In an apparatus for dispensing whipped cream to a succession of units of pastry, cakes, confections, and the like and including a flexible forcing bag having an unobstructed discharge opening, and means for providing a continuing flow of the shipped cream to the forcing bag, the improvement comprising: an inflatable annular flexible tube circumjacent the forcing bag and disposed outwardly thereof and so arranged that expan sion of the member reduces the capacity of the forcing bag, means for selectively supplying fluid under pressure to the tube to automatically vary discharge of the whipped cream from the discharge opening, and a rigid annular ring outwardly of the annular tube but adjacent thereto for supporting the tube when inflated.

4. A disposable hose and forcing bag for dispensing an aerated food product, such as whipped cream, to a succession of units of pastry, cakes, confections, and the like, and for use with feed means for providing a flow of the material along the hose to the forcing bag; characterized in that the hose and forcing bag are formed integrally with one another of hygienic plastic material; the hose having a wall thickness which allows the hose to be flexible; the hose having an outlet end merging smoothly into the bag so that the interior surface is smooth; the forcing bag being formed from two overlapping sheets of hygienic thermoplastic material which are heat sealed together along two longitudinally-extending, diametrically opposed seams; the forcing bag having a bulbous shape with a smooth interior substantially free of folds and wrinkles; the foreing bag having a reduced inlet where the hose is integrally connected and a reduced outlet opposite the inlet; the forcing bag having a wall thickness which allows the bag-to be compressed and partially collapsed to temporarily reduce its capacity and dispense through the outlet; the forcing bag having two oppositely facing, outwardly-extending, divergent cars at the outlet, one at each seam; a nozzle fitted inside the forcing bag at the outlet; the ears being folded over around the out-

Claims

1. A disposable apparatus for dispensing whipped cream to a succession of units of pastry, cakes, confections, and the like and for use with feed means for providing a continuing flow of the whipped cream, the apparatus including: a disposable bulbous forcing bag of relatively thin hygienic synthetic plastic material and having an inlet at one end and an unobstructed discharge opening opposite the inlet; the bulbous forcing bag having a smooth interior surface generally free of folds and wrinkles; the forcing bag having a wall thickness between about 0.004 inch and 0.016 inch; a disposable flexible hose of hygienic synthetic plastic material formed integrally with the bulbous forcing bag and having an internal diameter between one-fourth inch and one-half inch and considerably smaller than the bulbous forcing bag; the flexible hose having one end integrally connected to the bulbous forcing bag at the bag inlet to communicate with the bag inlet; the flexible hose merging smoothly into the bulbous forcing bag at said connection so that the interior surface is smooth; the flexible hose having a second end connectable to the feed means whereby a continuing flow of whipped cream is fed along the flexible hose to the bulbous forcing bag; the bulbous forcing bag being so constructed and arranged that it is flexible and compressible; an inflatable member mounted on the forcing bag and so arranged that expansion of the inflatable member reduces the capacity of the forcing bag; and means for selectively supplying fluid under pressure to the inflatable member to partially collapse and temporarily reduce the forcing bag''s capacity to dispense the whipped cream and upon release of the fluid pressure, to interrupt the flow of whipped cream through the discharge opening without interrupting the feeding of material to the forcing bag.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the forcing bag is formed from two overlapping layers of thermoplastic material which are heat sealed together along two longitudinally-extending, diametrically opposed seams; the forcing bag having a divergent ear at the seam at the discharge opening; a decorating shaped nozzle fitted at the discharge opening; the ear being folded over to form a reduced retention surface for the nozzle; and fastening means outwardly of the forcing bag for holding the ear in folded position and retaining the nozzle at the discharge opening.

3. In an apparatus for dispensing whipped cream to a succession of units of pastry, cakes, confections, and the like and including a flexible forcing bag having an unobstructed discharge opening, and means for providing a continuing flow of the shipped cream to the forcing bag, the improvement comprising: an inflatable annular flexible tube circumjacent the forcing bag and disposed outwardly thereof and so arranged that expansion of the member reduces the capacity of the forcing bag, means for selectively supplying fluid under pressure to the tube to automatically vary discharge of the whipped cream from the discharge opening, and a rigid annular ring outwardly of the annular tube but adjacent thereto for supporting the tube when inflated.

4. A disposable hose and forcing bag for dispensing an aerated food product, such as whipped cream, to a succession of units of pastry, cakes, confections, and the like, and for use with feed means for providing a flow of the material along the hose to the forcing bag; characterized in that the hose and forcing bag are formed integrally with one another of hygienic plastic material; the hose having a wall thickness which allows the hose to be flexible; the hose having an outlet end merging smoothly into the bag so that the interior surface is smooth; the forcing bag being formed from two overlapping sheets of hygienic theRmoplastic material which are heat sealed together along two longitudinally-extending, diametrically opposed seams; the forcing bag having a bulbous shape with a smooth interior substantially free of folds and wrinkles; the forcing bag having a reduced inlet where the hose is integrally connected and a reduced outlet opposite the inlet; the forcing bag having a wall thickness which allows the bag to be compressed and partially collapsed to temporarily reduce its capacity and dispense through the outlet; the forcing bag having two oppositely facing, outwardly-extending, divergent ears at the outlet, one at each seam; a nozzle fitted inside the forcing bag at the outlet; the ears being folded over around the outside of the nozzle to form a reduced retension surface therefor; and fastening means outwardly of the forcing bag for holding the ears in folded position and retaining the nozzle in position.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein the forcing bag has a cylindrical throat immediately adjacent the divergent ears.