JPH0260552A - Food printing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily print a prescribed beautiful and clear color pattern on a food surface by transferring a heat-transfer material to a heat-adhesive thin film by light irradiation. CONSTITUTION:The surface 1a of a food 1 such as chocolate is optionally coated with a non-toxic coating and then coated with a non-toxic heat-transfer material 3 such as edible ink. A heat-adhesive thin film 2 is placed on the coated surface. The thin film 2 is scanned e.g., with a laser light 5 from above in the form of a pattern to transfer the heat-transfer material 3 of the scanned part to the transferring face 4 of the thin film 2 and the heat-transferred part 6 is peeled off from the food together with the thin film 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a method for printing patterns on the surface of foods such as chocolate.

(Prior art) As a conventional method for creating a pattern on the surface of food such as chocolate, a mold complementary to the pattern is manufactured, molten chocolate is poured into the mold, and the mold is cooled and fixed. There is a known method for removing it later (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-141
No. 748, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 58-132988). Alternatively, after applying multicolor patterns using a screen method using multicolor inks on the surface of a synthetic resin sheet, etc., a mold of a desired shape is placed on the sheet, and then each printed pattern in the core mold is placed on top of the sheet. There is also a known technique in which a multicolored pattern is transferred onto the surface of the chocolate by pouring molten chocolate, allowing the chocolate to harden, and then releasing the chocolate from the transfer sheet and the mold. Publication No. 50-155674) O (Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The above-mentioned conventionally known techniques are suitable for mass production and are suitable for mass production, but are not suitable for small quantity production.

As consumers have recently begun to demand individualization and differentiation, it has become difficult to sell large quantities of chocolates with the same pattern, so it is now possible to instantly create a wide variety of patterns. In this way, there has been a growing desire to sell products with the same pattern in small quantities.

Furthermore, in the method using a mold with a pattern engraved on it, the pattern is created only by the unevenness of the mold, so it is impossible to create a pattern in a color different from the color of the food. , It is also difficult to make delicate patterns such as facial features appear clearly.

In addition, although the method using the multicolored patterned sheet described above ultimately yields chocolate with multicolored patterns, it always requires time to pour molten chocolate into molds and wait for it to solidify. It is. Therefore, although it is suitable for high-density production, it is not possible to make patterns appear on solid chocolate or the like at will.

The problem arose was how to create patterns on solid chocolate, etc., in a short period of time.

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present invention has been made in order to meet the above-mentioned demands and to solve the above-mentioned problems.
The invention involves coating the surface of food with a non-toxic thermal transfer material, overlaying a heated adhesive thin film on the coated surface, irradiating light from above the thin film so as to draw a pattern, and thermally transferring the area immediately below the light irradiation area. The material is transferred to the heat-adhesive thin film side, and then the thin film is peeled off, and a pattern is made to appear on the surface of the food by the heat transfer material remaining on the surface of the food and the part where the peeled heat transfer material was. This is a characteristic feature.

Further, claim 20 of the invention is the method according to claim 1,
This method is characterized by coating the surface of the food with a non-toxic paint before applying the non-toxic thermal transfer material to the surface of the food.

Note that in this specification, patterns include, for example, pictures, designs,
It shall include characters, symbols, illustrations, and figures such as the face or body of a person or animal.

Furthermore, the term "application" includes not only application using a brush or the like, but also application using a spray.

(Embodiment) An embodiment of the invention set forth in claim 1 is shown below in FIGS.
The explanation will be based on (b).

First, as shown in FIG. 1(A), a non-toxic thermal transfer material 3 such as an edible ink is uniformly applied to the surface 1a of a food product, chocolate in this example, and then a heating adhesive is applied onto the applied surface. Layer the thin film 2.

Next, the laser beam 5 is irradiated from above the thin film 2 so as to draw a pattern (in this example, the patterned portion is irradiated, but conversely, a portion other than the patterned portion may be irradiated).

Then, only the part of the heat-adhesive thin film 2 irradiated by the laser beam 5 receives energy and becomes sticky, and the heat energy is also transmitted to the thermal transfer material 3 directly under that part, so that part Only the thermal transfer material 3 is transferred onto the transferred surface (lower surface) 4 of the thin film 2. On the other hand, since the thin film 2 in the part not irradiated with the laser beam and the thermal transfer material 3 directly under the thin film 2 do not become sticky, the thermal transfer material 3 directly under the part still remains coated on the surface la of the chocolate 10. .

Therefore, when the thin film 2 is peeled off as shown in the same figure (b), the thin film 2
Since the thermal transfer material portion 6 transferred to the thin film 2 is peeled off together with the thin film 2, a pattern identical to, for example, the background color of chocolate appears on the surface la.

Next, an embodiment of the invention according to claim 2 is shown in FIG.
The explanation will be based on (b).

First, as shown in FIG. 2(A), a non-toxic paint 8 is uniformly coated on the surface 1a of a food, for example, a chocolate 10, and then a thermal transfer material 3 such as an edible ink is uniformly applied on the coating layer 8. Apply to. Then, in the same way as in the previous embodiment, a heated adhesive thin film 2 is layered on the surface coated with the thermal transfer material.
Next, the laser beam 5 is applied so as to draw a pattern from above the thin film 2.
(In this example, the patterned portion is also irradiated, but conversely, parts other than the patterned portion may be irradiated).

Then, only the thermal transfer material directly under the part irradiated by the laser beam was transferred to the transferred surface (lower surface) 4 of the heat-adhesive thin film 2, and the thermal transfer material directly under the part not irradiated was still applied onto the coating layer 8. It remains as it is.

Therefore, when the thin film 2 is peeled off as shown in the same figure (b), the thin film 2
Since the transferred thermal transfer material portion 6 is peeled off together with the thin film 2, a pattern 7 is obtained on the surface of the chocolate due to the difference between the coating layer 80 color and the thermal transfer color 30.

In the case of this embodiment, the coating layer 8 may be selected from a non-toxic paint that is adhesive to the chocolate 1 and the thermal transfer material 3 at room temperature and easily peeled off from the heated thermal transfer material 3. .

In the above embodiment, the patterned part or the part other than the patterned part is irradiated with the laser beam, but for example, a shielding plate formed by hollowing out the patterned part or the part other than the patterned part is made in advance, and the shielding plate is made by cutting out the patterned part or the part other than the patterned part. It is also possible to irradiate the plate all at once from above using a halogen lamp or the like.

Further, a desired color of thermal transfer material such as edible ink can be selected.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, in the invention of claim 1, a non-toxic thermal transfer material is applied to the surface of the food, a heat-adhesive thin film is overlaid on the coated surface, and a layer above the thin film is formed. By simply irradiating light to create a pattern, the thermal transfer material under the surface of the light irradiated area can be transferred to the thin film side, and a desired beautiful color pattern can be obtained with an extremely simple method.

In addition, in the invention of claim 2, since the non-toxic paint is coated before the non-toxic thermal transfer material is applied, in addition to the above-mentioned effects, the adhesiveness of the pattern portion to the food surface and the pattern portion are improved. This has the effect of improving the releasability of the coating layer in other areas and making it possible to create even clearer patterns.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a side view of an embodiment of the invention as claimed in claim 1, and FIG. The figure (b) shows the thin film removed after irradiation. FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are side views showing an embodiment of the invention according to claim 2 in a manner similar to FIGS. 1(a) and (b), respectively.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A non-toxic thermal transfer material is applied to the surface of the food, a heated adhesive thin film is placed on the applied surface, and light is irradiated from above the thin film so as to draw a pattern. The thermal transfer material directly under the irradiation area is transferred to the heat-adhesive thin film side, and then the thin film is peeled off, and a pattern is created on the surface of the food using the thermal transfer material remaining on the surface of the food and the part where the peeled thermal transfer material was. A food printing method characterized by making the food appear. 2. The food printing method according to claim 1, further comprising coating the surface of the food with a non-toxic paint before applying the non-toxic thermal transfer material to the surface of the food.