US3784533A - Apparatus for imparting gloss to soap - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and apparatus for improving the gloss on extruded bar soap from a plodder by using blades to cut away an unfinished surface to form a glossy face.

Description

T. F. MACH Jan. 8, 1974 APPARATUS FOR IMPAR'IING GLOSS TO SOAP Filed March 8, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG! v NV zm'on. 7770/2719 A Mam ATTY.

Jan. 8,- 1974 T. F. MACH 3,784,533

APPARATUS FOR IMPARTING GLOSS TO SOAP Filed March 8, 1971 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG-.5 FIGS IM-a ABa

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1 NVEMTOQ 77/0/7746 F Mac/z United States Patent US. Cl. 264-146 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A method and apparatus for improving the gloss on ex truded bar soap from a plodder by using blades to cut away an unfinished surface to form a glossy face.

This invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming soap, and more specifically to means to impart gloss to soap.

Conventional methods of manufacturing cake soap employ an extruder system or plodder for extruding a continuous bar of soap through a die providing the desired cross-sectional shape of the finished cakes. This bar is then passed through a cutter where it is cut transversely of the direction of flow into cakes. Soap cakes manufactured in this manner, however, do not have a surface gloss which is desired.

It has been known that surface gloss could be imparted to toilet soap and the like by extruding the soap through a constricted opening. However, this practice requires very close control of temperature and other conditions and as a practical matter does not provide the degree of gloss desired. It is the purpose of the present invention to provide a dependable means of producing a good gloss on soap.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for forming a bar of polished soap by extruding a bar of soap while using one or more blades to longitudinally cut the bar to form a glossy surface.

Turning now to the drawings:

FIG. '1 is the schematic view of a plodder provided with a soap glosser, portions thereof being shown by phantom lines.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary cross-sectional view of a nozzle of the plodder and glosser.

FIG. 3 is the downstream end of the glosser as shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is the upstream end of the glosser, portions thereof in phantom lines.

FIG. 5 is a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a second modification of the invention.

FIG. 7 shows a cross-sectional view of a third modification.

One embodiment of my invention is shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 wherein plodder 10 includes a hopper 11 with an outlet 12 leading to a screw conveyor 13 enclosed in a tubular housing 14. The screw 13 is rotated by an exterior drive element of any suitable type such as a gear 15 from a power source (not shown). Abutting the conveyor outlet is a perforated plate 16, and downstream of the perforated plate 16 is a nozzle 17.

A soap glosser 20 is fixed by a fastening ring 18 to the outlet end of the nozzle 17 by pins 19. The soap glosser includes a forming plate 21 in which there is a rectangular opening 22, a blade frame 23 secured by screws 24 to the downstream side of the forming plate, and knife blades 25, 26a, and 26b embedded in slots 27 in the frame 23. The blades are retained in the slots by the periphery of the forming plate 21 which overlaps the ends of the blades 24 In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 4, the blade frame 23 is shaped as two parallel rectangular channels 28 and 29 with a common wall 30. A knife blade is retained in the common wall 30 and blades 26a and 26b are retained in each of the two outer walls 31a and 32b within the edges of the opening in the forming plate leaving a space between the forming plate and the blade frame. Along the outside of the blade frame 23 ramps 33a and 33b lead away from blades 26a and 26b to ridges 34a and 3411.

My plodder with the attached glosser operates in the following manner. Plastic soap is delivered to the hopper 11 and is carried by the screw 13 through the tubular housing 14 and is forced through the perforated plate 16. This plate separates trapped air and forms the soap into homogeneous elongated strands. The continuing operation of the screw forces the strands through the nozzle 17 where they are compressed and formed into a continuous soap bar by the forming plate 21. The extruded soap bar is then forced into the knife blades 25, 26a and 26b of the soap glosser 20.

In the present embodiment, the outer blades 26a and 26b shave two opposed peripheral surfaces of the bar as it emerges from the forming plate. The depth at which these blades shave is determined by the distances 32a and 32b that the outer blades are within the edges of the forming plate. Ideally the blades should shave at the minimum depth needed to remove the irregularities left by the forming plate in the soap surface. The shavings removed by these blades slides along the outside of the blade frame 23 and up ramps 33a and 33b and are deflected off the glosser by the ridges 34a and 34b. A bin (not shown) can be placed to catch the scrap soap for recycling to the plodder.

While the outer blades 26a. and 26b shave the surfaces of the bar, the center blade 25 divides the bar along its longitudinal axis. This forms two half sized bars which emerge from the rectangular channels 28 and 29. Each of these bars will have two glossy surfaces formed by the blades of the present invention.

It is believed that the gloss imparted by the present invention is due to an undamaged crystalline structure which is exposed when the soap is cut. In using this method, the surface speed of the soap as it passes the blades is a factor in determining the degree of gloss imparted. If the surface speed is too great, the crystalline structure will be torn or smeared and the surface formed will not exhibit the degree of gloss desired.

The output of the plodder is usually measured by the number of cakes of soap which can be produced per minute. In manufacturing 3.5 oz. soap cakes which are about 3%, inches in length, a conventional plodder might be capable of producing a maximum of 300 cakes per minute, but in practice run at a rate of per minute to suite production needs. Even at this speed, however, the surfaces formed might lack the degree of gloss desired. By providing a forming plate which makes an enlarged bar and dividing the bar longitudinally into two or more bars of the desired cross section, a slower surface speed can be maintained without reducing efiiciency. If the bar is divided by a knife blade, the two interfaces formed will also have the desired gloss. In the present embodiment, two bars of equal shape are provided for by the insertion of a blade in the glosser which divides the extruded bar through the center.

Several modifications of the present invention might be considered. Whereas the present embodiment produces two bars of soap, each one having two polished faces, FIG. 5 shows the addition of two more blades 35a and 35b at right angles with the existing blades 36, 37a and 37b to produce gloss on all four faces of the soap bars. Another modification is shown in FIG. 6 in which the blades 38a, 38b, 39a and 39b are spaced such that bars emerging from passages 40 and 41 will equal to each other but smaller than the bar which emerges from passage 42. In this manner bars of several sizes or shapes can be produced if cakes of more than one configuration are desired. A third modification is to change the angle of the outer knife blades as illustrated by 43a and 43b in FIG. 7. This configuration would permit the addition of adjustment screws 44a and 44b to extend or retract these blades and thereby vary the depth at which they shave.

In addition to dependably producing gloss, there is another independent benefit in using the present invention. Frequently the last step in the production of cake soap is to stamp a design in the surface of the cake. I have found that surfaces produced by the glosser are excellent for receiving such stamps as is evidenced by a marked reduction of cakes rejected after stamping due to pits and ridges.

While several embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described in detail, it should be understood that other modifications, substitutions and additions may be made without departing from the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for forming a bar of soap comprising a nozzle through which soap may be extruded, said nozzle having at an end thereof an opening through which the soap passes from the nozzle as it is extruded, and a glossing device downstream of said opening, a knife on said device having its blade substantially parallel with the axis of said opening and disposed inwardly of an edge of said opening whereby said knife and said opening edge cooperate to form an extruded surface layer and to separate said layer from said extruded bar.

2. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said end of said nozzle is provided by a plate having said opening therein, which opening is frustoconical in form with the smaller diameter thereof being on the side of said blade which faces said glossing device.

3. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said glossing device includes a pair of said knives in spaced relationship each having its edge parallel with and disposed inwardly of an edge of said opening, each of said knives cooperating with an edge of said opening to form a surface layer of said extruded bar and to separate said layer from said bar.

4. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said glossing device includes means disposed between said knives and downstream of said opening for separating said bar into two parts, said means including a knife and having inclined sides for imparting a gloss to said parts as they pass therealong.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 1 wherein said nozzle includes a plate at said end thereof, said plate including said opening therein, and in which said glossing device is secured to said nozzle.

6. In a method for forming a bar of soap the steps of extruding soap through an opening and then shaving a surface layer from said extruded bar by passing said bar by a knife blade disposed substantially parallel to the axis of said opening and the edge of which is downstream of said opening inward of an edge of said opening, and between said edge of said opening and the axis of said opening whereby said surface layer between said knife and said edge is shaved and separated from said bar.

7. In a method for forming a bar of soap the steps of extruding soap through an opening and shaving surface layers from each of the opposing sides of said bar by passing said extruded bar between knives, the blades of said knives being substantially parallel to the axis of said opening and the edges of which are downstream of said opening inward of opposite edges of said opening and between said edges of said opening and the axis of said opening whereby surface layers on opposing sides of said bar are shaved and separated from said bar.

8. A method as set forth in claim 7 which includes passing said bar past the edge of a knife centrally located with respect to said opening whereby said bar is severed into two parts, and passing said parts along inclined side surfaces of said knife to form a gloss on each of said parts.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,089,197 5/1963 Chaifer et al. 25-8 3,485,905 12/1969 Compa et al 264- 2,748,070 5/1956 Head 258 2,642,620 6/1953 Vogt 264-457 287,699 10/1883 Meeker 264-146 2,373,593 4/1945 Pease 264-157 1,783,287 12/1930 Hilgendorf 2517 2,413,995 1/ 1947 Pease 25106 3,026,594 3/ 1962 Gajda et al 264-148 ROBERT F. WHITE, Primary Examiner J. R. THURLOW, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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