Patents by Inventor Donald Mihalich

Donald Mihalich has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Patent number: 7470119
    Abstract: Center filled confections, such as gummy or jelly candies or fruit snacks are continuously produced by co-deposition into a mold without candy tailing to obtain products with substantially uniform side walls and little, if any, shell breakage and filler leakage or bleed-out problems. Decentering of the filler and its accompanying production of thin or weak shell walls is avoided by at least substantially preventing excessive flow of a fluid or liquid shell component along a single side of shell introduction into the manifold nozzle or nozzle cavity. At least substantially uniform flow of the shell component in an annular passageway of a co-deposition nozzle assembly may be achieved with an apertured disk insert, a plurality of manifold bores, or opposing shell component entry points to evenly distribute the shell component and prevent or substantially reduce filler leakage or bleed-out.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 18, 2004
    Date of Patent: December 30, 2008
    Assignee: Wm. Wrighley Jr. Company
    Inventors: Gerald B. Cotten, Donald Mihalich
  • Publication number: 20050260317
    Abstract: Center filled confections, such as gummy or jelly candies or fruit snacks are continuously produced by co-deposition into a mold without candy tailing to obtain products with substantially uniform side walls and little, if any, shell breakage and filler leakage or bleed-out problems. Decentering of the filler and its accompanying production of thin or weak shell walls is avoided by at least substantially preventing excessive flow of a fluid or liquid shell component along a single side of shell introduction into the manifold nozzle or nozzle cavity. At least substantially uniform flow of the shell component in an annular passageway of a co-deposition nozzle assembly may be achieved with an apertured disk insert, a plurality of manifold bores, or opposing shell component entry points to evenly distribute the shell component and prevent or substantially reduce filler leakage or bleed-out.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 18, 2004
    Publication date: November 24, 2005
    Inventors: Gerald Cotten, Donald Mihalich
  • Patent number: 6413564
    Abstract: Hard candy exhibiting a plurality of segments having differing colors and varying widths is produced by depositing a plurality of supersaturated solutions of ingredients of differing colors into a mold through a nozzle which has openings around its periphery wherein the openings have different widths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 4, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 2, 2002
    Assignee: Nabisco, Inc.
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Klacik, Gerald Brian Cotten, Michael S. Ferrotti, Brian C. Hallacker, Donald Mihalich
  • Patent number: 6099880
    Abstract: Hard candy exhibiting a plurality of segments having differing colors and varying widths is produced by depositing a plurality of supersaturated solutions of ingredients of differing colors into a mold through a nozzle which has openings around its periphery wherein the openings have different widths.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1999
    Date of Patent: August 8, 2000
    Assignee: Nabisco, Inc.
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Klacik, Gerald Brian Cotten, Michael S. Ferrotti, Brian C. Hallacker, Donald Mihalich
  • Patent number: 4657501
    Abstract: A machine for continuously depositing a sorbitol-sweetened hard candy confection which allows the manufacture of such hard candies in a continuous commercial high volume operation. The machine deposits the hard crystalline candies from an aqueous sorbitol solution having a crystalline seeding material therein, such that the sorbitol solution must be maintained in the depositing machine within a relatively narrow temperature range to prevent rapid thickening of the solution at too low temperatures and destruction of the crystalline seeding materials at too high temperatures. The machine includes a heated hopper for the aqueous sorbitol solution and a heated depositing base, through which the aqueous sorbitol solution is deposited through an array of nozzles into candy molds positioned therebeneath. The depositing base is fabricated with heating medium passageways therein, through which a heating medium is circulated.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: January 16, 1986
    Date of Patent: April 14, 1987
    Assignee: Nabisco Brands
    Inventors: Kenneth J. Klacik, Robert J. Vermesh, Paul R. Fronczkowski, Sigismondo A. DeTora, Donald Mihalich