Patents by Inventor Shuji Akimoto

Shuji Akimoto 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: 7297357
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for manufacturing puffed snack having a hard surface layer and soft inside, and having a good texture and a difference in color tone between the surface layer and the inside. After spraying a coating liquid or water onto the surface of a dough extruded from an extruder in the form of a rope, the extrudate is dried so that the moisture content of the sprayed extrudate becomes 5 to 12% by weight and then cut. The apparatus used for this manufacturing method comprises a spray device for uniformly spraying the surface of the dough extruded from a nozzle hole of an extruder, a drying device arranged on the downstream side of the driving device, a drawing mechanism comprising belts spanned in a tensioned state so as to clamp the extrudate, a holding cylinder for holding the extrudate and arranged adjacently on the downstream side of the drawing mechanism, and a cutting blade arranged in close proximity to the outlet side opening of the holding cylinder to cut the extrudate.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 25, 2002
    Date of Patent: November 20, 2007
    Assignee: Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shuji Akimoto, Takahiro Miura, Taisuke Yamane
  • Publication number: 20040037926
    Abstract: A method and apparatus for manufacturing puffed snack having a hard surface layer and soft inside, and having a good texture and a difference in color tone between the surface layer and the inside. After spraying a coating liquid or water onto the surface of a dough extruded from an extruder in the form of a rope, the extrudate is dried so that the moisture content of the sprayed extrudate becomes 5 to 12% by weight and then cut.
    Type: Application
    Filed: May 13, 2003
    Publication date: February 26, 2004
    Inventors: Shuji Akimoto, Takahiro Miura, Taisuke Yamane
  • Patent number: 6592353
    Abstract: A device (10) for distributing expandable dough to plural holes (5A) is provided at a terminal end of a rotor (3) in an extruder to form plural expanded confectioneries, each of which has a rod-like configuration. A first member (20) with a through hole (22) at central portion thereof has plural and radial channels (24), and a second member (30) connected to the first member has a multi-faced pyramid-like projection (34) at a central portion of the inner wall therof. The inner wall has channels (36), each radially extending from a base of a face of the projection. The channels in the second member and the other channels in the first member are opposingly arranged in alignment to form diverging flow passages for the expandable dough. The second member has plural bores (32) arranged so as to form a concentric circle, and one each of each bore communicates with one end of the diverging flow passage while the other end is opened to form an expanding portion for the confectionery dough.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 15, 2001
    Date of Patent: July 15, 2003
    Assignee: Meiji Seika Kaisha, Ltd.
    Inventors: Shuji Akimoto, Hajime Hamada, Noriyuki Manada
  • Patent number: 6419972
    Abstract: There are provided a stick type expanded starch confectionery with a wave-like configuration on its surface and a process for easily manufacturing the same, which uses an extruder method. According to the process, the stick type expanded starch confectionery is obtained by adjusting amounts of water and calcium salt to an amount of starch raw material to prepare a dough, whereby fluidity of thermally treated dough extruded from a double-staged die which belongs to an extruder is controlled.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 29, 2000
    Date of Patent: July 16, 2002
    Assignee: Meiji Seika Kabushiki Kaisha
    Inventors: Shuji Akimoto, Hajime Hamada, Iwao Hachiya