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Kocula company produces machines for baking wafers for ice cream since several decades. 
At the moment Kocula company developed an innovative, new and on its own account technology for baking wafer cones and according to this technology it  launches on the market a new generation of hand operated- machinery as well completely automatized machinery with a high efficiency.

Until now the matrixes in machinery for baking wafer cones (and important to mention that matrixes are the place where the process of baking and forming of the wafers  happens) consisted of three fundamental elements:

• two symmetrical, drawn-apart lower halfs with sockets (in an external shape of the final wafer cone)
• and an upper plate with pins (tangs) which is moulding the inner shape of the wafer.

The baking process on typical automatized machines takes place according to the following, repetitive schema:

1. dosing of the dough into a socket in squeezed half of lower matrixes
2. insertion into the sockets the upper pin (tang)
3. baking connected with a dislocation of a closed matrixes’ packet (from the point of dosing of the dough on a closed circuit to the point back again for the dosage of the dough). A dislocation of a matrixes is necessary to make the space for next matrix's packets and the necessity for operation (during the operation on the way) statics mechanism for the  openingclosing of the half of the matrixes and pins (tangs) of the upper plate, cutting the wafer's excess and a mechanism of dosing of the dough and taking off the freshly baked  wafers
4. lifting of the pin (tang) of the upper plate
5. cutting of the excess of the dough
6. drawing apart of packets of the two halfs lower matrixes
7. removal of the freshly baked wafers
8. pushing together the halfs of the lower matrixes
9. renew the dosage of the dough into the squeezed half of the lower matrixes

 

1. Schema of the wafer's baking process on typical automatized machines

Kocula company in its new baking technology eliminated the necessity of drawing apart and moving a packet of matrixes for/towards baking and pulling out  freshly baked wafers from matrixes which are not separated on halfs and which are completely static.

1. The baking process in a mechanised (as well as in hand operated) machine according to the new technology of Kocula company:
2. dosing of the dough into the sockets
3. insertion into the sockets the pin of the upper board
4. baking in the static matrixes
5. uplifting of the upper board’s pins
6. cutting of the wafer’s excesses in one motion connected with reallocation over the matrixes the ‘taking off freshly baked wafers’ device
7. taking out freshly baked wafers out from the sockets without division of the matrixes into halfs
8. taking off all wafers in a structured packed outside off the machine
9. renew dosage of the dough

2. Schema of baking process according to the new innovative method by Kocula company

Advantages of the innovative technology of baking the wafer cones in matrixes which are not divided into halfs and are completely static.

1. Energy consumption’s savings:
   Baking of wafers requires preheating and a constant upkeep of the temperature of the matrixes at 200 degree Celsius. Independently of energy source (gas or  current/electricity) all machines for baking wafers have a big energy consumption which is growing appropriate to machine’s volume (size) even up to 100 kW/hour. In nowadays machines a significant amount of energy is wasted due to the movement and dislocation of the matrixes while baking. The bigger the machine the longer way for the matrixes to make, even 20 meters in one baking cycle. As a result of a constant movement and of a continual losses of the energy the matrixes need approximately 40 % more energy to keep the temperature which is necessary for a proper baking, than if the matrixes would stay static. In its new innovative method Kocula company has immobilized the matrixes and focused them in one place limiting the movement to taking the wafers off and to uplifting off the pins from the sockets which reduced losses of the heat and enabled to save the energy consumption by 40%.
2. Baking time reduction
   While conducting comparative baking tests on a small ‘test stand’ (where the movement of the lower matrixes were eliminated) we observed, that besides of the reduction   of the energy by 40 % we asserted a significant reduction of the baking time itself. It turned out that the static matrixes (immobilized at one point) not only reduce the heat (energy) which is necessary to keep the right temperature, but also at the same time due to its energy’s stability are able to reduce the baking time even by 30 % in  comparison with the matrixes packet which is moving. The comparative tests results (taken on a test stand) have been proven on the machinery which is in the usage already.
3. Extension of matrixe’s liveliness of the whole machine due to simplification of the construction and lack of movement and wear and tear of particular elements
   In up to now construction of machines for baking wafers the matrixes and several dozens of connected with them movable elements and mechanics are transited (moved)  cyclically along the slide on the way of couple or dozen of so meters (depending on the size of the machine and amount of matrixes packet).
   Taking an average baking time as 2 minutes and the distance to be reached by a packed of matrixes in one cycle of 10 meters it turns out that during 24 hours working of  the machine each matrixes packet covers a distance about 7 km. This simple calculation shows a scale of work which has to be done (in present machines for baking  wafers) by each movable part of the machine taking into consideration the difficult conditions like high temperature, humidity, weight and large powers for squeezing the matrixes. It is effective in a faster consumption of particular elements of a machine and necessity of application of the most expensive smear substances which are  temperature resistant but which need to be (at the same time) foodcontact admitted and approved.
   The innovative technology of Kocula company for baking wafer cones in static packet of matrixes eliminates most movable elements from the construction (which were the essential up to now) and secondly it extends the liveliness of the other matrixes.

Limitations in the innovative technology for baking wafer cones in matrixes which are not divided into halfs and are completely static (immovable).
The only observable limitation of the new innovative technology of baking wafer cones developed and offered by Kocula company is the shape of the engravement on the outer  surface of the wafer cones. A wafer cone which is baked in this method must not have any elements on the outer engravement (see the picture no. 3.2.) which makes not possible for a movement of a baked wafer from the socket towards upper, it means the engravement must have horizontal engravement (picture no. 3.1.) to the diameter of the wafer  without any cross and/or horizontal elements.

3. Comparison of the engravements on the wafer cones: