JPH02299551A - Strongly resemblant expression of photograph, picture and character on confectionery and food - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To accomplish the title expression of images strongly resemblant to a negative plate on the surface or interior of confectionery or food by providing holes on a resinous sheet on a dot basis to express an image and by transferring thereon a material such as food to be expressed. CONSTITUTION:An object image such as photograph, picture or character is read using an image reader, processed by a computer and sent to a thermal transfer printer to provide a resinous sheet with innumerable holes on a dot basis, and, according to their assembly density, the corresponding image is expressed on the sheet. Thence, said resinous sheet is laid on a confectionery or food followed by rubbing or pressure contact thereon of a material such as food to be expressed to transfer the image, or said sheet is laid on e.g. another film followed by transferring said material thereon, or the internal surface of a mold is covered with said sheet followed by transferring said material on the internal surface, and then a confectionery or food is put thereinto followed by molding.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Industrial Application Field] The present invention provides a method for expressing a target photograph, pattern, or text exactly on the surface or inside of confectionery such as chocolate, and food such as fish paste products or yogurt. It is related to.

[Conventional technology]

Conventional methods for forming patterns and letters on the surface of chocolate include: (1) a method using a curved surface printing machine, etc.;

■Method by screen printing.

etc. In addition, methods for expressing patterns and letters on the surface of chocolate using chocolate, etc. are as follows: 1. A method in which liquid chocolate, etc. is continuously extruded in a linear manner onto the surface of solidified chocolate.

■There is a method of pouring chocolate into a mold with a pattern or letters cut in it in advance, allowing it to solidify, and then creating an uneven pattern or letters on the surface of the chocolate.

Although it is possible to express patterns and text using the methods from ■ to ■ above, it is difficult to create products that express different patterns, text, and photographs of the prince, person, and person due to the time and cost considerations. It is very difficult. In addition, it is difficult to express shading like a photograph and to express an image faithful to the photograph on the surface of chocolate due to the method and resolution.

On the other hand, a method for reproducing images exactly like photographs on the surface of chocolate is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 63-42651. This method involves forming a selected image from a full-tone photograph on a film as a halftone image, forming a photorelief image of peaks and valleys on the surface of a photosensitive element, and A deformable transfer blanket is poured onto the surface of the photosensitive element and allowed to harden to record peaks and valleys corresponding to the selected image on the surface of the transfer blanket, and chocolate is poured onto the surface of the transfer blanket. By solidifying the chocolate, peaks and valleys are formed on the surface of the chocolate, and by filling these valleys with edible powder of a color that contrasts with that of the chocolate, an image that looks exactly like the photo is created using a method similar to ■. It is a way of expressing.

[Issues with conventional technology]

However, in the above conventional technology, considering the time, cost, and labor required for plate-making, it is difficult to express unique photographs of the prince, person, or person, or designs and letters exactly on the surface of the chocolate. It's almost impossible to get people to buy it. For example, method (2) requires more than several tens of minutes of time and cost for plate making, and method (2) requires more than several tens of minutes and more than several thousand yen. In addition, it is currently impossible to express a photo relief using the method (■), and the method (■) requires several weeks and hundreds of thousands of yen, and there are also problems with the expression method and resolution. It is difficult from this point of view. As a means to solve this problem, a method of expression as a photorelief was proposed in Japanese Patent No. 63-42651, but even in this method, there were problems with the material in plate making and the time required in the manufacturing method. In terms of product availability, labor, and cost, it is actually difficult to think from the perspective of general values and widely popularize confectionery or foods that express the unique photo relief of each person. Furthermore, these methods are limited in the materials used to form the image and the materials used to form the light, making it difficult to apply them to unique products, and even if they were to be realized, the resolution would be limited. There are quite a few doubts about this.

Today's consumer desires are changing in various ways, and in particular, there is a tendency to seek things that are unique or unique to oneself, and demands other than mass-produced and mass-sold items are becoming stronger. Given this social background, it would be of great significance to develop a method that would allow anyone to purchase their own familiar food items based on general values.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the above points, and it is possible not only to make many identical items, but also to create photo reliefs that look exactly like photographs, such as photographs, designs, and letters of the prince, person, and person. In addition, images that look exactly like the fonts of letters as well as pictures can be made into various foods in a short time, at low cost, and more safely using various foods, food ingredients, or food additives. It attempts to form toned images not only on solid confectionery and foods (but also on the surfaces and inside of products such as jelly and yogurt, which was previously thought to be impossible). This is what I am trying to do.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention proposes the following method as a means to solve the above problems.

The target photo, pattern, or text is read by an image reader, and the read data is sent to a computer as is or after being processed in a prescribed manner to a thermal transfer printer, and the thermal energy is used to print countless dots onto a resin sheet. The target photograph, pattern, or text is expressed on the resin sheet by making holes in the hole, and the target photograph, pattern, or text is expressed on the resin sheet according to the aggregate density.The resin sheet is placed on the surface of confectionery or food, and the expression material is rubbed or pressed onto this to express the target. A way to express the photographs, designs, and letters that have become.

Note that the resin sheet expressing the image is not placed directly on the confectionery, etc., but is placed on another film, sheet, or board, and the expression material is rubbed or pressed onto it and then placed on the film, sheet, or board. By applying the material to the inner surface of the mold by transferring or using a similar method, rubbing or pressing the expression material onto the inner surface of the mold, and then placing the confectionery or food into the mold and molding it, the expression material can be applied to the surface. You may also try drawing an image.

As the expression material, food or confectionery, food additives, food coloring materials, etc. can be used.

The specific process and its conditions will be described below.

◎Plate making Conventionally, in order to faithfully form a halftone image of a manuscript (object) on food, etc., the plate making process cannot be avoided, either directly or indirectly. In addition, the plate-making process involves the use of chemicals that are not suitable for foods, etc., or involves work that requires time and skill. Above all, the plate itself is expensive, making it difficult to use in general. It is not something that can be thought of based on a set of values and can respond to the demands of the prince and the people.

In the present invention, unlike the photolithography method, an image serving as an original is replaced with a digital signal, and this signal is used as the basis. Furthermore, the material of the plate itself is made of a resin sheet so that it can be used as an inexpensive and disposable plate. The plate-making process also involves converting digital signals into thermal energy and melting the resin sheet, so no special chemicals are used.

◎Resin sheet The resin sheet can be made by pasting a resin film of several microns with adhesive onto a lattice-like structure woven from silk, paper, or various fibers (hereinafter referred to as silk screen). Can be silk screened, glued,
The resin film used is based on the Food Sanitation Law. Also, with regard to silkscreening, the number of meshes has a great effect on the finished product. Note that the read digital signal is converted into thermal energy, and the resin film is melted dot by dot by the heat. In this case, it is best if the resin film is about 2 to 5 microns thick. If the diameter is about 5 microns or more, it will be difficult to stably melt the resin film dot by dot, although it depends on the difference in the material, etc., and for safety reasons, it is necessary for the melted resin film to completely entangle with the silk screen. be. Again, there is a big relationship with the number of meshes in the silk screen, and in order for the melted resin film to completely entangle with the silk screen, it is better to use a silk screen with as thin a film as possible and a silk screen with a fine mesh. is safe and
In this case, a fineness of about 120 mesos or more is required.

◎Expression Method Heat is applied dot by dot to a resin sheet to create an extremely faithful image of the manuscript as a collection of melted holes, and the resulting resin sheet is used as a printing plate. In terms of resolution, it is currently possible to achieve a resolution of up to 400 dots/inch, which is vastly superior to the method described in ■■■■, and will continue to be possible in the future as electronics technology develops. It is clear that a faithful image will be obtained.

In addition, in the present invention, the halftone is expressed by the collective density of melted holes, so
It is possible to express something extremely faithful to the original.

Plates made by these methods are used to transfer onto (or into) confectionery and food products, and specific methods include thick (thick).

◎When using a resin sheet as a plate A, place the plate directly on the food, and transfer confectionery, food, confectionery, food raw materials, food additives, etc. as expression materials onto it by rubbing it.

B. Once the plate is placed on another object such as a film or mold,
Confectionery, food, or confectionery, food materials, or food additives as expression materials are rubbed onto it, and transferred onto a film, mold, etc., and confectionery or food raw materials are poured into it and transferred onto the food.

◎For method A, the confectionery, food, confectionery, food raw material, or food additive to be rubbed must be finer than the mesh number of the silk screen used on the plate during transfer, and it is also highly compatible with the food to be transferred. This is an important point. Furthermore, conditions such as hardness, softness, stickiness, and drying time must be slightly changed depending on the state of the food to be transferred.

The actual method of transferring chocolate using this method is to place a plate on the surface of the chocolate (cover it), rub food or food ingredients over it, and make sure that it is applied only to the holes in the plate. Because it adheres, it is possible to form a halftone image on chocolate that is faithful to the plate, that is, faithful to the original. At this time, the food, food raw material, or food additive that is rubbed into the chocolate may cause a smearing phenomenon in the image that is formed, depending on the rubbing method, because the surface of the chocolate is a flat, almost mirror-like surface. appears. On the other hand, if it is too hard, the formed image will be uneven, depending on the rubbing method. However, these problems can be resolved to some extent by using methods such as rubbing or coating a separate sheet uniformly, placing it on top of the plate, and applying pressure uniformly from above to perform transfer. I can do it. Furthermore, by imparting some stickiness to the food, food raw material, or food additive to be rubbed, even soft objects will not bleed, and will be able to be rubbed stably and easily. For example, when transferring onto chocolate this time, by using a mixture of propylene glycol and sugar as the base material for rubbing, due to their nature, it is difficult to dry as a lump, and when rubbing It has properties similar to adhesives, and solidifies when an image is formed as a collection of points several microns in size. Therefore, it is extremely ideal in terms of work efficiency. Roughly, by mixing this as a base, you have a certain degree of freedom in selecting the food, food raw material, or food additive to be rubbed into. -For example, it is possible to form a golden image by processing pure gold into powder and mixing it together.

Furthermore, by mixing alcohol with powdered food, food raw materials, or food additives, the drying time after transfer can be freely adjusted.

In this way, by using this method, it is possible to form halftone images with various materials.

◎About method B This method is an indirect version of method A, and before directly transferring it to food, it is first transferred to another film or mold using the method described in A above, and then transferred there. This method creates a halftone image that is extremely faithful to the original by pouring food into it. In this case, the resolution of the image and the fidelity of the appearance are as described above, but in order to pour the food later, the food, food raw materials, or food additives to be rubbed are different from the food in the transferred light. Conditions such as compatibility are somewhat stricter, but as with method A, in this case, it is not necessarily better to have good compatibility, and it may be better to have symmetrical properties.

However, the range of choices for rubbing materials has expanded,
The selection range is also expanded when it comes to selecting foods, etc. using transfer light. Due to these factors, various methods can be considered for transfer to films, molds, etc. -For example, a plate is placed on a film or mold, and then an oil-based food, food raw material, or food additive is processed into a film and placed on top of the plate. A certain amount of pressure is applied from above, and heat is instantaneously applied. Then, the oil-based food, food ingredients, or food additives melt momentarily and flow down into the perforated areas of the plate, forming a halftone image faithful to the plate on the film or mold below. Furthermore, since heat is applied instantaneously, if the oil is based on an oil with a high melting point, it will solidify before the image bleeds, depending on the amount of heat applied, so there is less worry about this.

As a similar method, by using food sheets etc. instead of using films or molds, it is now possible to form halftone images in food that are faithful to the original, which was not possible until now. It is possible to form halftone images on (in food) confectionery and foods such as jelly and yogurt.

◎Regarding a transfer method similar to Methods A and B and special application examples of products, the resin film to be applied to the resin sheet used during plate making is replaced with one that does not melt even when heat is applied, and the silk sheet is replaced with oil. A few microns of prepared food, food ingredients, or food additives are applied to the base. The sheet created in this way is overlapped with another film, and after applying heat dot by dot, similar to the current plate-making process, the two overlapping sheets and film are peeled off. Because heat is applied dot by dot during plate making, the food, food ingredients, or food additives that are applied are oil-based, so they melt in dots and adhere to the stacked films, resulting in halftones. Once the image is formed, the food is poured in as in method B, and a halftone image is created on the food.

Also, if the thermal energy in the plate-making process described above is replaced with the application of force using the same principle as a dot impact printer, the food, food raw materials, or food additives applied to the film would also need to be oil-based. Without,
There is a considerable degree of freedom in selecting the material to be painted.

Furthermore, it is also possible to use an edible sheet instead of the film or mold used in method B. For example, if you use a water-soluble sheet, it is possible to use an edible sheet for food containing a large amount of water, such as jelly or yogurt. It becomes possible to form a halftone image on the food (depending on the material). In this case, the sheet dissolves in moisture after transfer, leaving only a halftone image, making it possible to form halftone images in foods such as jelly and yogurt, which was previously considered impossible.

〔Example〕

As shown in the figure, first, a photograph 1 brought by the target chocolate purchaser is read as a digital signal by an image reader 2, and the data is input into a computer 3, either as is or converted into a half-drone image, enlarged, or reduced. , performs necessary processing such as black and white inversion. Then, this processed data is sent to the thermal transfer printer 4, and this printer 4 makes countless holes in the resin sheet 5 in units of dots.
Express the image on top.

Next, the resin sheet 5 expressing the image is placed on the chocolate 6, food, confectionery, etc. 7 as the expression material is rubbed onto it, and the resin sheet 5 is peeled off.

In this way, an image 8 identical to, or similar to, the photograph formed through the holes in the resin sheet 5 is drawn on the surface of the chocolate 6.

[Effects of the present invention]

As described above, the present invention reads photographs, designs, characters, etc. with an image reader, processes them with a computer, and creates holes in dot units in a resin sheet with a thermal transfer printer to express an image based on the density of the holes. , place this on top of confectionery or food and rub expressive materials such as food over this,
The image was transferred using pressure contact. As a result, an image resembling an original such as a photograph can be displayed on or inside confectionery, food, etc.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to express the photos, designs, etc. desired by the prince on confectionery and food products quickly and at low cost, making it possible to develop products that meet the demands of consumers. .

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figure is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment according to the present invention. 1-----1 photo 2-----1 image reader 3-----computer 4--------
Printer 5-, -1111 resin sheet 6----
--Chiyokolate 7 --- Expressive materials (food, confectionery, etc.) 8 ------Engraving of a single-image drawing, Procedure amendment for Figure 2 (method) November 8, 1999, 1, Incident Indication Patent Application No. 1-121029 2. Name of the invention: Method of expressing the target photographs, designs, and characters on confectionery and food products 3. Relationship with the person making the amendment case Applicant: 41 Nakayamazakicho, Kakamigahara City, Gifu Prefecture Address: Nikko Seika Co., Ltd. Representative: Kani Sotabu 4, Agent: 5-73-2 Honkomagome, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113 August 14, 1999 6, Subject of amendment (1) Details of the invention in the description (2) Drawing 7, contents of amendment (1) Description 17 basis, 4th line from the bottom, ``As shown in the drawings'' should be changed to ``As shown in Figure 1.'' Correct to. (2) In the second line from the bottom of page 17 of the specification, the phrase "read, then" is corrected to "read, then, as shown in Figure 2,". (3) 2nd line from the top of page 18 of the statement “Transfer data”
The statement has been corrected to ``The data show a thermal transformation as shown in Figure 3.'' (4) 6th line from the top of page 18 of the specification “Next, the image -
'' should be corrected to ``Next, the image as shown in Figure 4''. (5) In the 10th line from the top of page 18 of the specification, the phrase ``If you do this, you will get chocolate 6'' will be corrected to ``If you do this, you will get chocolate 6 as shown in Figure 5.'' (6) The brief description of the drawings column on page 19 of the specification shall be amended as follows. [The figure shows the production process of the expression method according to the present invention,
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of the image reading process, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the image processing process by a computer, and FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the process of expressing an image on a resin sheet using a printer.
Figure 4 is an explanatory diagram of the process of expressing an image on chocolate,
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of chocolate with an image expressed on its surface. (7) Amend the drawings as attached to this document. 8. List of attached documents (1) 1 copy of drawings

Claims (4)

[Claims] (1) The target photo, pattern, or text is read by an image reader, and the read data is sent to a computer as is or after being processed in a specified manner to a thermal transfer printer, and the thermal energy is used to make dots on a resin sheet. A countless number of unit holes are made, and the target photograph, pattern, or text is expressed on the resin sheet by the collective density of the holes, and this resin sheet is placed on the surface of confectionery or food, and the expression material is rubbed or pressed onto it. A method to express exactly the photograph, pattern, or text that was targeted. (2) The expressed resin sheet is placed on the surface of a film or mold, and the expression material is rubbed or pressed onto it to transfer it to the film or mold. Claim 1, wherein the target photograph, pattern, or text is expressed exactly by performing retransfer, and in the case of a mold, the confectionery or food is poured into the mold and molded after the transfer is performed on the inner surface of the mold. A method to express photographs, designs, and text exactly on sweets and foods. (3) A very thin layer of oil-based expression material was applied to the surface of the resin film, which cannot be melted by a thermal transfer printer, and another resin film was layered on top of this, and the expression material was melted dot by dot using a thermal transfer printer, and the expression material was superimposed. Claim 1: An image is formed on the surface of the film by peeling the film, and confectionery or food is transferred to the image.
How to express photos, designs, and text exactly on the sweets and foods listed. (4) Apply a few microns of food, food raw materials, food additives, etc. onto the film, place this film on top of confectionery, food, another film, mold, etc., and read the data from the top in the same way as a dot impact printer. A method of expressing a photograph, pattern, or text exactly by applying force based on the same principle.