1. Edible wafer production line comprising in a downstream direction:
an extruder comprising a circular extrusion die capable of forming a non-planar extrudate
a deflector for shaping the extrudate into an extruded sheet;
a stretchingpulling unit for stretchingpulling a the extruded sheet;
a drying unit for drying the extruded product; and
a separating unit for separating the extruded product into pieces of desired dimensions.
2. Wafer production line according to claim 1, wherein the extrudate has a shape selected from the group consisting of is tubular and elliptical.
3. Wafer production line according to claim 1, wherein a second stretching unit is located downstream from the laminating unit.
4. Wafer production line according to claim 1, wherein a laminating unit is placed downstream from the drying unit, prior to the separating unit.
5. Wafer production line according to claim 4, wherein a conveying belt is placed after the laminating unit.
6. Wafer production line according to claim 1, wherein a cooling unit is placed after the separating unit.
7. Wafer production line according to claim 1, wherein the drying unit is selected from the group consisting of an infra-red drying unit and a hot air drying unit.
8. Method for producing edible wafers by extrusion comprising the steps of:
a. preparing an ingredient mix;
b. feeding the ingredient mix in an extruder and cooking the ingredient mix;
c. extruding the cooked mix such that an extruded and expanded non-planar structure is formed;
d. unfolding the structure to provide a large extruded sheet;
e. subjecting the extruded sheet to stretchingpulling;
f. adjusting the sheet in order to obtain a desired thickness;
g. drying the sheet and
h. separating the sheet into wafers of desired dimensions.
9. Method according to claim 8, wherein the ingredient mix is selected from the group consisting of cereal-based and starch-based.
10. Method according to claim 8, wherein an ingredient selected from the group consisting of a sugar solution a fat solution and water are injected in the extruder in step b.
11. Method according to claim 8, wherein the water content of the mix in step b is less than or equal to 15%.
12. Method according to claim 8, wherein the extrusion of step c is performed through a circular die.
13. Method according to claim 8, wherein a structure selected from the group consisting of a tubular and an elliptical structure is formed in step c.
14. Method according to claim 8, wherein step f is performed using a laminating unit.
15. Method according to claim 8, wherein a further step of stretchingpulling the extruded product is out performed after step f.
16. Method according to claim 8, wherein the drying step is carried out by performed using a step selected from the group consisting of infra-red heating of and hot air drying.
17. Method according to claim 8, wherein the drying step reduces the moisture content of the sheet to 1-6.5%.
18. Method according to claim 8, wherein a laminating step is carried out performed after the drying step.
19. Method according to claim 8, wherein the extruded sheet has a width of at least 8 cm.
20. Method according to claim 8, wherein the extruded sheet after step f and before step h has a thickness of 0.5-10 mm.
21. Method according to claim 8, wherein the extruded sheet is has a structure selected from the group consisting of flat and embossed.
22. Method according to claim 8, wherein the separation of the extruded sheet yields a plurality of wafers.
23. Wafer obtainable by the process of claim 8.
24. Wafer obtainable by stretching a sheet selected from the group consisting of a continuous cereal-based and a starch-based extruded sheet and subsequently cutting it to a desired size.
25. A production line comprising:
a extruder comprising a circular extrusion die;
a deflector for shaping an extrudate into an extruded sheet;
a unit for stretchingpulling the extruded sheet;
a laminating unit;
a drying unit; and
a cutting separating unit.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A nonlinear optical mixer for converting energy from one wavelength to a plurality of other wavelengths, the nonlinear optical mixer comprising:
a first cell containing a first pressure of a first Raman-active nonlinear material;
a second cell containing a second pressure of a second Raman-active nonlinear material;
a pump laser source for generating a pump laser beam, a portion of which is directed towards said first cell, wherein a first Stokes sideband is generated;
a beamsplitter for combining and directing a second portion of said pump laser beam and said first Stokes sideband into said second cell; and
wherein the frequency difference between the pump laser and the first Stokes sideband is adjusted, by suitable adjustment of the relative pressures of said first and second cells, to drive a selected Raman transition of said second cell with a controllable detuning, thereby maximizing both the Raman transition nonlinearity and the adiabaticity of the Raman two-photon interaction for a given choice of interacting electromagnetic field intensities.
2. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 1 wherein said Raman-active nonlinear materials in said first and second cells are substantial identical.
3. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 2 wherein the choice of Raman-active nonlinear material is molecular Hydrogen (H2) gas.
4. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 2 wherein the choice of Raman-active nonlinear material is molecular Deuterium (D2) gas.
5. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 1 wherein the second Raman-active nonlinear material is contained in a hollow capillary-style fiber, or a hollow photonic crystal-style fiber.
6. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 3 wherein the pump laser source has a wavelength of approximately 212.9 nm and is provided by the fifth harmonic of a Nd:YAG laser apparatus.
7. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 2 wherein the density of the first Raman-active medium is less than five (5) amagats.
8. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 2 wherein the density of the second Raman-active medium is less than one (1) amagat.
9. A nonlinear optical mixer for converting energy from one wavelength to a plurality of other wavelengths, the nonlinear optical mixer comprising:
a first cell containing a first pressure of a first Raman-active nonlinear material;
a second cell containing a second pressure of a second Raman-active nonlinear material;
a first pump laser source for generating a first pump laser beam directed towards said first cell, wherein a first Stokes sideband is generated;
a second pump laser source for generating a second pump laser beam directed towards said second cell;
a beamsplitter for combining and directing said pump laser light and said first Stokes sideband light into said second cell; and
wherein the frequency difference between the second pump laser and said first Stokes sideband is adjusted, by suitable adjustment of the relative pressures of said first and second cells, to drive a selected Raman transition of said second cell with a controllable detuning, thereby maximizing both the Raman transition nonlinearity and the adiabaticity of the Raman two-photon interaction for a given choice of interacting electromagnetic field intensities.
10. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 9 wherein said Raman-active nonlinear materials in said first and second cells are substantially identical.
11. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 10 wherein said first and second pump laser sources are substantially identical.
12. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 10 wherein the choice of Raman-active nonlinear material is molecular Hydrogen (H2) gas.
13. The nonlinear optical mixer of claim 10 wherein the choice of Raman-active nonlinear material is molecular Deuterium (D2) gas.