August 2024

The customer uses two 40 in. (1016 mm) diameter screeners, which are positioned at the sifting station near the end of each production line. The sprinkles emerge from an area called the panning room where they are shaped and coated. Each stainless steel, food-grade screener has two vibratory decks: a top deck with a 6-mesh (3350 micron) screen and a bottom deck with a smaller-aperture 14-mesh (1310 micron) screen to yield sprinkles within a defined size range. A chute automatically feeds the sprinkles into the center of the top screen on each unit. The vibratory action of the screener moves the sprinkles from the center toward the edge of each deck. Oversized sprinkles move in controlled pathways to a discharge spout at the periphery of the top screen.

In two production lines, the blend of molten chocolate and solid particles is then fed through double wall piping into the center inlet of one screener dedicated to dark chocolate, or the other dedicated to white chocolate. Imbalanced weight gyratory motors impart multi-plane inertial vibration, which accelerates the rate at which molten chocolate passes through 1020 µm (17-mesh) apertures in the screen, and the rate at which solid particles travel across the screen and exit through a discharge spout at the screen’s periphery. Molten chocolate passes through the screen in less than one minute and cools by no more than 0.5°C (0.9ºF), preventing it from solidifying. Vibration starts automatically when the pump feeds the screener, and runs for a pre-set time once the pump has stopped. Each screener can handle 150 kg (330 lb) per hour.