CA1060260A - Method and apparatus for preparing chip-type food products - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

A method and apparatus are disclosed for continuously preparing chip-type food products having uniform size and shape. The chip-type food products are produced by preparing a sheet of an edible dough and thereafter cutting the sheet to form at least one continuous strip of the edible dough having a predetermined width. The continuous strip of edible dough is thereafter passed to a continuous conveyor system to restrain the strip of edible dough in a desired configuration. The thus restrained continuous strip is then passed through a reservoir of hot frying oil to cook the continuous strip while it is so restrained. Following the cooking process, the continuous strip of cooked product is separated into chips having predetermined sizes.

Description

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This invention relates to a method and apparatus for preparing chip-type food products. In another aspect, this invention relates to a method and apparatus for preparing chip-type food products having predetermined size and shape.
In still another aspect, this invention relates to a method and apparatus for continuously producing chip-type food products having prede~ermined size and shape by subjecting j a continuous strip of an edible dough material to frying con-ditions while the continuous strip is maintained in a desired configuration by me~ns of a continuous conveyor system.
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In recent years, the food processing industry has experienced a tremendous growth in the area of convenience-type snack foods. Of all convenience-type snack foods, chip-type food products are the most popular. As used throughout this disclosure, the term "chip-type food product" means a thin cooked food product having a relatively large surface area and a thickness of less than about 0.1 inch. Potato based chip-type products are produced in large quantities to meet the growing demand for convenience-type chip food products. Other chip-type food products such as corn based chips and the like are also being produced in larger quantities each year.
The usual method for preparing convenience chip-type snack products is by frying thinly sliced potato sections or thin sections of an edible dough in a suitable frying oil.
Such edible doughs can be made of processed corn, blends of corn and various flours, cooked fresh potatoes, reconstituted dehydrated potato products and the like. Such doughs are usually fashioned into relatively thin sheets and then are cut into desired shapes and sizes. Thereafter, the individual pieces of dough or thinly sliced sections of potato are placed in a reservoir of a hot frying oil. After cooking the thinly sliced sections of potato or the edible dough for a predetermined period of time, the final cooked individual chip-type products are removed from the frying oil. Such processes can be either batch processes wherein the thin sections of potato or the edible dough are cooked in suitable baskets or the frying process can be carried out in a continuous manner wherein the sections of potato or edible dough are introduced into one end of a reservoir of the hot frying oil and the cooked product is removed from the other end of the reservoir.

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6~2~;() It has been found that all chip-type produets prepared by conventional means have uneven and random surface curvatures. As a result, the cooked chip-type products pro-duced by conventional methods must be packaged very loosely in packages that have extremely low bulk densities. Additionally, conventional processing techniques make it very difficult to uniformly cook the materials to produce final chip products having uniform moisture content, texture and color.
Attempts have been made recently to develop methods and various types of apparatus to produce chip-type products having uniform texture, shape, size and color. Such methods and apparatus have either been unsuccessful or they have proved to be extremely expensive because of the complicated types of equipment used in the processes. For example, the method disclosed in U.S. Patent 3,576,647 to Liepa, is direeted to a very eomplieated method for preparing ehip-type produets from dehydrated potatoes using individual molds to eook individual ehips. It is apparent from an examination of this patent that the apparatus is extremely eomplieated, would be very eostly to produee and operate and would be subjeet to a eontinuous need for eostly maintenanee. Ad-ditionally the formation of individual ehips and eooking them individually is a slow process that is eeonomieally unattraetive when high volume production is required.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved eontinuous proeess for preparing chip-type produets. It is another objeet of this invention to ~06~;260 provide an improved method and apparatus for producing chip-type products having uniform size and shape. It is a further object of this invention to provide a continuous method and apparatus for producing chip-type products having uniform tex-ture, size, shape and color.
Other aspects, ob~ects and advantages of this invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon examining the following disclosure, The present invention is directed to an improved process and apparatus for producing chip-type products having a predetermined size and shape. The method involves the prepara-tion of an edible dough material that is first fashioned into a thin dough sheet and is then cut to form a continuous strip of uncooked dough having a predetermined width and shape. Thereafter, the continuous strip of uncooked dough material is passed to a conveyor system that has cooperating surfaces uniformly spaced apart to restrain the uncooked dough in a desired configuration and transport the dough through a cooking medium which may be a reservoir of hot frying oil.The continuous strip is cooked in a restrained configuration to produce a continuous strip of cooked product. Following the cooking process, the continuous strip of cooked product is then separated into individual chips of pre-determined size. The apparatus useful in carrying out the above-mentioned process includes A ~4~
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- 106~260 a continuous conveyor means to receive and restrain a continuous strip of uncooked edible dough material and transport it through a reservoir of cooking medium, for example hot frying oil to produce the continuous strip of cooked product. The apparatus also includes means to separate the continuous strip of cooked product into chips of predetermined size.
The method and apparatus of this invention can best be described by referring to the drawings which show a preferred embodiment of the invention and which include the following:
FIGURE 1 is a schematic side view of the apparatus of the invention showing the relative placement of various pieces of equipment and the sequence of processing steps to produce the chip-type products of predetermined size and shape.
FIGURE 2 is a top view of a section of a continuous strip of edible dough after it is cut and prepared for frying in one of the preferred embodiments of this invention.
FIGURE 3 is an end perspective view of a section of the conveyor belt link apparatus utilized in one of the preferred embodiments of the invention showing a detailed perspective view of the individual belt links used to fabricate the endless moving belts to receive and restrain a continuous dough strip (shown by phantom outline) during the frying operation.
FIGURE 4 is a partial perspective view of one of the preferred endless moving belt arrangements to receive and restrain the continuous dough strip during frying.
FIGURE 5 is a partial sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 1, illustrating the two sections of the endless moving belt apparatus in mating relationship with the continuous -strip of edible dough restrained between the concave and the con-vex surface portions of the belt links.

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FIGURE 6 is a partial top view of a segment of the lower endless moving belt of Figure 4 as the belt passes over a sprocket wheel.
FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of a section of the con-tinuous strip of cooked product.
FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a single chip after it is separated from the continuous strip of cooked product illustrated in Figure 7.
The overall process can be most easily illustrated by referring to Figure 1. In Figure 1, dough components 10 are prepared by mixing and blending in suitable blending and mixing equipment, not shown, and are conveyed by means of conveyor 11 to extruder 12. Extruder 12 extrudes the dough components into a thin, continuous sheet of uncooked dough material 13 which is conveyed by means of conveyor 14 to ~-dough conditioner 15 wherein the thin sheet of dough material is cured to a desired moisture content. Usually, curing chamber 15 is a series of continuous conveyor belts that transport the dough sheet through the chamber in multiple passes. This multiple passage of the dough through the chamber increases the residence time of the dough in the chamber to produce an even cure of the dough to produce a dough sheet having the desired moisture content.
Following exit from curing chamber 15, dough sheet 13 is transported by means of conveyor 16 to suitable cutting means 17 wherein the dough sheet is cut into interconnected continuous strips of dough material 18 having predetermined .

widths. Scraps of the dough sheet from cutting means 17 can be collected in cutter hopper 17a for recycle to the initial mixing and blending apparatus where dough components 10 are prepared for sheet formation.
Following the cutting operation, individual continuous strips of dough material 18 are then continuously transported by means of conveyor 19 to fryer 20. Fryer 20 is a large reservoir containing frying oil 21 and is heated by suitable heating means 22 to the desired cooking temperature.
10Disposed within fryer 20 is a continuous conveyor system made up of a lower continuous conveyor belt means 23 and an upper continuous belt means 24. As more fully des-cribed hereinafter, upper conveyor belt 24 meshes with lower conveyor belt 23 to receive and transport the continuous strips of dough material 18 through the reservoir of hot cooking oil 21. It is preferred that the level of hot frying oil 21 is above a substantial portion of the mating surfaces of conveyor belts 23 and 24 so that the continuous strips of dough material 18 can be preferably fried as they are trans- -ported through the reservoir of hot cooking oil 21.
Conveyor belts 23 and 24 operably engage sprocket wheels 25. Sprocket wheels 25 can be operably connected to a suit- `~ ' able driving means (not shown) such that they may be rotated at essentially constant speed. Suitable idler wheels and rollers may also be utilized to support conveyor belts 23 and 24 as they pass through the reservoir of hot frying oil 21.

106~Z6~) Blower means 26 is disposed at the exit end of the endless conveyor belt system whereby cooked continuous strip 27 is subjected to a jet of air to blow off excess frying oil as cooked strip 27 is removed from the reservoir of hot cooking oil 21. After the removal of excess frying oil by means of blower means 26, seasoning materials such as salt, flavorings and the like can be sprinkled on continuous cooked strip 27 by means of seasoning dispenser 28. As the seasoning material is sprinkled onto the hot surface of cooked strip 27, it adheres to the surface to impart the desired seasoning effect. : :
Following the application of the seasoning material, continuous cooked strip 27 is transported by means of con-veyor system 29 to separating means 30. The purpose of separating means 30 is to separate continuous cooked strip 27 into individual chips of predetermined size. Following the separation of cooked strip 27 into individual chips, individual chips 31 are then deposited onto conveyor means 32 and they are thereafter transported to suitable storage 20 means or to suitable packaging means wherein they may be `-packaged in suitable containers for distribution. Usually, conveyor system 29 is sufficiently long to allow continuous cooked strip 27 to be cooled prior to passing it to separating means 30.
The method and apparatus of this invention are particularly applicable to the preparation of chip-type food products from starchy vegetable materials. Thus, the method and apparatus ~:
~ ~ ' 106~;~60 are applicable to the production of chip-type food products from base materials including potatoes, corn, wheat flour, rice flour, oat flour, barley flour and mixtures thereof and the like. Many different recipes involving the use of at least one of the foregoing starchy vegetable materials are known in the art. Generally spéaking the method and apparatus of this invention can be utilized to process any of such known -recipes into chip-type products having predetermined size and shape. However, as will be discussed hereinafter, care must be exercised in the preparation of the dough material to mini-mize undesired swelling and expansion of the dough material during the cooking process.
In preparing the dough to be used in the method and apparatus of this invention, it is preferred that the dough components have a water content in the range of from about 25 to about 60 percent by weight and more preferably about 45 to 55 percent by weight in order to form them into a thin sheet prior to cutting into the continuous strips that will be subsequently cooked. Thus, it may be necessary to add water to or remove water from the dough components to increase or decrease respectively the moisture content to the desired level prior to forming the sheet of uncooked dough.
The invention described herein is particularly applicable to the production of potato based products. The invention is also particularly applicable to the production of corn based products wherein corn alone or in admixture with potato solids are used to produce the dough.

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~060Z60 It has been found that potato based chip-type products of exceptional quality can be produced by forming a dough at least partially from potato solids. As used throughout this specification, the term "potato solids" means cooked fresh potatoes as well as dehydrated potatoes including potato flakes, potato granules and the like. The term "potato solids" also includes mixtures of the foregoing. As herein-after outlined, where a potato based product is desired, addition of large amounts of potato flour should generally be avoided because of the high levels of free starch in potato flour. The dehydrated cooked potatoes can be mixed with cooked fresh potatoes in all proportions if desired. It has been found that it is necessary to use cooked potatoes in order that the starch may be "gelled" to give strength to the dough sheet and to control expansion of the dough as it is cooked in the process of this invention.
It is known that potatoes vary in their composition depending upon the variety of potato, the growing conditions of the potato, the time of harvest, the length that the potato has been stored, etc. One significant variable that is noted in the compositions of potatoes is the amount of reducing sugar that is present in the potatoes.
It is, of course, known in the art that the reducing sugar content of potatoes affects the color properties and flavor of the cooked product. In order to obtain uniform color and flavor qualities of cooked products made in accordance with this invention, it is desirable to utilize dough materials having relatively constant and low reducing .

~06~260 sugar levels, as disclosed in U.S. 3,835,222 to Wisdom et al.
Therefore, in order to obtain a uniform cooked potato product in large scale commercial operations, it is desired to closely control the amount of reducing sugar in the potato dough.
The amount of reducing sugar can be conveniently controlled by a fermentation process wherein a yeast such as brewer's yeast is added to the potato based dough or the dough com- -ponents followed by a fermentation process for a desired period of time. Thus, the use of the fermentation treatment may be desirable in some instances to control the reducing sugar content of the dough material prior to cooking.
In addition to the use of potato solids as dough com-ponents, other starchy materials can be optionally employed as dough components. Examples of such other starchy materials are rice flour, potato flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, wheat flour and the like. When these other starchy materials are utilized in conjunction with said potato solids, they are facilely admixed with the potato solids by conventional means.
Such other starchy materials are preferably blended with the potato solids in a dry blender followed by the addition of water to raise the moisture content of the resulting dough components to a range of from about 25 to about 60 percent by weight. Preferably, the moisture content of the dough components will be in the order of about 45 to about 55 percent by weight. When other starchy materials are added to potato solids as dough components, it is preferred that they be added in such amounts that they consist of less than 40 percent - ~ 1060Z60 by weight of the total weight of the solids of the dough.
If the fermentation process is carried out, the fermentation can be on the thus moistened mixture of the potato solids and the other starchy materials if present.
One particularly useful type of starchy material that can be mixed with the potato dough components is a pregella-tinized tapioca starch. Pregellatinized tapioca can be employed to further improve the cohesiveness and the strength of the continuous sheet of dough material and the continuous strip of uncooked dough material, as described hereinafter.
Additionally, the pregellatinized tapioca starch advantageously adds to the texture quality of the final cooked product.
The fermentation process can be conveniently carried out by simply mixing from about 0.1 to about 1 percent by weight of yeast, based on the total solids content, to the dough components and maintaining under fermentation condltions prior to forming them into the continuous sheet of dough material. One convenient method of adding the yeast to the dough or dough components is to form a slurry of the yeast in water and thereafter mix the slurry with the dough or dough components. The yeast may be admixed with the potato solids alone or with the dough containing the potato solids.
Preferably when the potato solids (preferably in particle form) are fermented, the fermentation is carried out with the dough or the dough components having a water content in the range of about 50 to about 60 percent by weight based on the total wet weight of dough or dough components. Following the combination of the yeast with the dough or dough components, .

' ~060260 the combination is maintained at a temperature in the range of from about 75 to about 100F for a period of time suf-ficient to reduce the reducing sugar to the level desired.
Generally, not more than about four hours are necessary.
Preferably, the fermentation will be carried out at a tem-perature in the range of about 85 to about 95F with a relative humidity in the fermentation zone of at least about 80 percent.
During the fermentation period, the reducing sugar content of the potato dough components can be reduced to the desired level. The foregoing suggested fermentation process is usually not needed when the reducing sugar content of the potato particles used as dough components is below 0.2 weight percent.
Other components can be added to the dough components either before or after the fermentation step if desired.
Such other products can include various emulsifier agents that have been found to improve the texture of the final product. Such other products also can be added to improve the subsequent processing of the dough components into the continuous sheet of dough material and in the formation of the continuous strips of uncooked dough material. Exemplary of emulsifier materials that can be utilized are monoglycerides of various vegetable oils and meat fats, diglycerides of various vegetable oils and meat fats and mixtures thereof and the like.

~060Z60 It will, of course, be understood that the edible dough that is processed in accordance with this invention will usually consist essentially of the aforementioned starchy vegetable materials including, but not limited to wheat flour, oat flour, barley flour, other cereal flours and mixtures thereof and the like. Edible doughs consisting essentially of potato solids, corn and mixtures thereof can be processed particularly well in accordance with this invention.
Prior to the formation of the continuous sheet of un-cooked dough material, it has been found desirable to have the dough components in a particulate form as opposed to a viscous doughy mass. Viscous dough masses are difficult to handle and require a considerable amount of mechanical work to form the doughy masses into the desired thin continuous sheets of dough material.
Mechanical work exerted on the doughy materials, par-ticularly shear-type work, tends to rupture the potato particles to liberate free starch. Free starch, in large amounts, can have a deleterious effect on the cooking properties of the ~oughymaterials. For example, the dough may expand too much during the cooking process to yield a cooked product having blistered and wrinkled surfaces. Since one of the prime advantages of the instant process is the formation of products having very uniform texture, size, shape, appearance and the like, free starch levels should be monitored to avoid excessive expansion during the cooking process.

-' 1~6~260 Following the mixing and fermentation process, the dough components are then formed into a continuous sheet of uncooked dough material by conventional methods. Any suitable means known in the art for forming thin sheets of dough material can be utilized in this step. For example, the dough com-ponents may be kneaded and rolled to a thin, flat sheet of material or they may be subjected to an extrusion process.
In an extrusion process, the dough components are preferably used in the granular or particulate form and are fed to an extruder wherein they are extruded into a thin, flat con-tinuous sheet of dough material by means of the extruder screw and die head. One particularly useful type of extruder is the conventional extruder that utilizes an extruder screw within a barrel attached to an adjustable extruder die. In this type of extruder, the dough components can be fed into the rear portion of the extruder and the action of the rotating screw within the barrel will create the motive force for forcing the dough components out through the extruder die.
One such useful type of extruder is the well-known De Maco extruder. In some instances, it may be desirable to add heat to the area of the extruder die to decrease the viscosity of the dough components and thus aid in the formation of a uniform sheet of dough material.
As previously discussed, it is undesirable to have a high free starch content in the dough prior to cooking.

Trade Mark Therefore, the extruder should be chosen and operated with care to prevent the unnecessary mechanical shear work on the dough resulting in undesirable rupture of the individual potato cells to liberate free starch during the sheet formation step.
Normally, the lips of the extruder are adjustable in order to provide a degree of adjustment of the thickness of the material being extruded into the continuous sheet of dough material.
In forming chip-type potato snack products, it has been found desirable that the continuous sheet of dough material has a uniform thickness in the range of about 0.020 to about 0.025 inches thick. Of course, the width of the sheet material will be dependent upon the type and size of sheet forming equipment utilized as well as the cutting mechanism to be subsequently utilized to cut the continuous strips of uncooked material.
When extruders are used to form the continuous sheet of dough material, it has been found that the thickness of the dough sheet can also be controlled to some extent by a controlled stretching of the sheet material as it exits from the extruder die. Thus, the thickness of the continuous sheet of dough material can be more precisely controlled by utilizing .
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a set of take-up rollers that have an adjustable speed. By utilizing the take-up roller apparatus, it ls possible to stretch the continuous sheet of dough material as it exits from the extruder die to produce the continuous sheet of uncooked dough having the desired thickness. One additional benefit that is obtained by using the stretching technique to closely control the thickness of the continuous sheet of dough material is the reduced tendency of the continuous sheet of dough material to split after stretching.
Other types of extruders including circular extruders can be utilized to form the continuous sheet of dough material.
When such circular die heads are used, the extruded envelope of dough can be split and opened up into a flat sheet prior to cutting it into continuous dough strips for frying.
Normally the continuous sheet of dough will be formed into a flat sheet for subsequent processing including the formation of continuous strips of dough material. The con-tinuous sheet of dough material used to form the continuous strips of dough that are subsequently cooked must have sufficient strength to undergo the subsequent handling steps of drying, cutting and frying without unnecessary breaking or tearing.
In view of the importance of the formation of a continuous sheet of dough material, it will be understood that the dough components themselves must be processed and maintained to have relatively constant moisture content.

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As previously discussed, water content of the dough sheet can vary from about 25 to about 60 percent by weight. When processing potato-based products (i.e. containing more than 50 weight percent potato solids, based total solids weight), it is preferred to maintain the water content within a range of about 45 to about 55 percent by weight. Whatever the water content selected for good processing, it is important that the content be maintained relatively constant during a substantial period of the extruder operation to avoid un-necessary and constant changing of the extruder operation andthe take-up roller operation to produce the continuous sheet of dough material having a uniform thickness.
Following the formation of the sheet of dough material, it is desirable to condition the sheet to produce a dough sheet having improved strength. It has been found that the strength of the dough sheet can be increased considerably by subjecting it to a curing or dough conditioning process wherein the water content of the sheet is reduced. It should be em-phasized, however, that while the curing step is desirable in some instances, it may not be necessary if the dough sheet has sufficient integrity. The curing process, if desired, can be carried out by passlng the thin, flexible sheet of dough material through a curing chamber or oven that consists of a series of continuous belts passing through a zone having very closely controlled temperature and humidity levels. Thus, by passing the continuous sheet of dough material through the curing oven, the sheet of continuous dough material is conditioned -- 106()~60 to produce a dough sheet having reduced water content and generally increased strength. When processing potato based dough, it has been found desirable that the continuous sheet of dough material have a final water content hefore cutting of from about 10 to about 25 percent by weight. Following this conditioning step, it will be apparent that the dough sheet will have shrunk slightly, both in width and in thickness Thus, a dough sheet having an extruded thickness of about 0.020 to about 0.025 inches will shrink to a thickness of about 0.015 to about 0.020 inches thick.
Following the curing step, the continuous sheet of dough material is ready for the cutting process wherein it is cut into continuous strips of dough material for sub-sequent frying. The purpose of the cutting operation is to produce a thin continuous strip of dough material that can be restrained in a predetermined configuration during the cooking operation. Thus, the cutting operation produces the continuous strip of uncooked dough material having a predetermined width. It, of course, will be understood that if the dough sheet formation, as discussed above, is capable of producing the continuous strips of dough material having the desired width, then the cutting step can be eliminated.
However, in commercial operations it has been found more desirable to form the large sheet of dough material and thereafter cut the continuous strips, having predetermined width and shape, from the large continuous sheets.

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The cutting operation can be accomplished by conventional means using any suitable means known in the art.
For example, the thin sheet of dough material could be passed to a series of knives that can cut the dough sheet into thin continuous strips of dough if desired. However, such fixed knives will produce only a thin, straight continuous strip of dough material. While the thin, straight strips of dough material are very easily produced, using knives and various rollers, it is usually desirable to produce a shaped continuous strip of dough material. When the thin, straight-edged continuous strips of dough material are cooked, the resulting cooked product will be in the form of a ribbon-like continuous strip of cooked product. Since the continuous strip of cooked product must thereafter be separated into individual chips, such thin straight-edged strips usually result in the formation of rectangular-shaped chip products.
One of the preferred embodiments of this invention is directed toward producing a thin continuous strip of dough material having a configuration such as is illustrated in Figure 2. By using a cutting apparatus such as herein described, the continuous strip of dough material 18, as illustrated in Figure 2, can be produced and thereafter fried in a restrained configuration that results in the formation of a continuous strip of cooked product having uniform size and shape. The continuous strip of cooked product can then be very easily separated into individual chips having a pleasing and desirable form. To facili-tate the separation of a continuous strip of cooked product into ~060; :60 individual chips it has been found that the formation of a continuous strip of interconnected dough sections connected together with comparatively narrow segments of dough is desirable, especially when the separation will be accomplished by breaking. For example, the continuous strip of dough material 18, shown in Figure 2, can have dimensions of about two inches across the major width and the narrow interconnecting segment can be considerably less e.g. about 3/8 to about 3/4 inch. Usually, the width of the narrow interconnecting segment of the continuous strip of dough will be about 1/4 to 3/4 of the major width of the strip. While the widths of dough material between the individual dough segments in the contin-uous strip of dough material is preferably relatively narrow, they should not be so narrow as to unduly~weaken the strength of the continuous strip that is subsequently cooked and processed. In one preferred embodiment of this invention, thin continuous strip of dough material 18 illustrated in Figure 2 can be cooked in a restrained configuration that imparts a slight curve or bend to the strip to produce a continuous strip of interconnected individual chips such as is illustrated in the perspective view of Figure 7. There-after, the cooked continuous strip 27 of interconnected chips, as illustrated in Figure 7, can be passed to a suitable separating device wherein the individual chips are separated from the continuous strip of interconnected chips. The resulting individual chip is illustrated by the perspective view of Figure 8.

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To produce said continuous strip of dough material 18, such as illustrated in Figure 2, a conventional cutting means can be employed such as the known Riciarelli cutter.
It is, of course, known that the Riciarelli cutters are reciprocating punch-type cutters that find utility in the pasta industry. By passing the thin, flat continuous sheet of dough material, following the dough conditioning step, to the Riciarelli cutter, continuous strips of uncooked dough material can be produced that can thereafter be fed to the restraining devices, hereinafter described.
Other conventional cutting devices can also be utilized to produce the continuous strip of dough material that is processed in accordance with this invention. Other suitable cutting devices include rotary cutters having cooperating male and female portions to cut the sheet of dough material into the desired interconnected continuous strips of dough.
It will, of course, be understood by those skilled in the art that multiple continuous strips of dough material can advantageously be cut from each sheet of dough material fed to the cutter, such that each sheet of dough material produces a multipliclty of continuous strips of uncooked dough material. This multiplicity of continuous strips of dough material can be continuously fed to a similar multiplici~y of restraining means for cooking, thus increasing the output of the commercial chip producing operation.

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Trade Mark ~22-,, 1061)260 The continuous strip of dough material 18 illustrated in Figure 2 is only one preferred configuration of interconnected continuous dough strips that can be processed according to this invention. Numerous other types of shapes and con-figurations can be fashioned, according to the desires of the chip producer. For example, instead of a series of oval-type chips, as illustrated, other shapes such as interconnected squares, hexagons, octagons and the like can also be produced and fried continuously according to this invention.
Since the cutting operation described above will result in the formation of scrap material that is cut away from the continuous strips of dough, it may be desirable to recycle the scrap material to the dough sheet forming step. Thus, the scrap from the cutting step can be collected in a suitable cutter hopper and thereafter reprocessed by grinding and by admixing with water to reconstitute it to the desired moisture content and added to the dough components initially charged to the extruder or the other sheet forming apparatus utilized.
This recycle step will materially reduce the waste involved in carrying out the process of this invention.
It should be understood that the continuous strips of dough material formed in the cutting step have sufficient strength and flexibility to render them suitable to allow subsequent processing. Thus, the shape of the cut continuous strips should be such that there is a sufficient amount of dough material bridging the individual chip portions in the continuous strips to retain such sufficient strength and flexibility to allow the continuous strip to be passed to the ;
suitable conveying and restraining means that are submerged in the cooking medium.

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After the continuous strips of dough material are formed, they are passed to suitable restraining means that will restrain the dough in a desired configuration while it is cooked. The restraining means can be any means that will continuously restrain the dough in a desired restrained configuration while it is cooked. For example, different types of molds or clamps can be utilized to restrain the dough in the desired configuration as it is continuously passed through the reservoir of hot frying oil. However, it is most desirable to utilize a continuously moving restraining apparatus that will receive the uncooked dough strip and pass it through the cooking medium while it is restrained in the desired configuration. One such continuous moving restraining apparatus is illustrated in Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6.
Basically, the continuous restraining apparatus illus-trated in the above-mentioned figures is a conveyor system having cooperating surfaces that are uniformly spaced apart in mating relationship with the continuous strip of dough material restrained therebetween.
By utilizing the restraining apparatus, as illustrated in the above-mentioned figures, it is possible to produce uniform continuous strips of cooked product effectively with a minimum of expense and maintenance of the equipment.
This type of apparatus represents a distinct improvement over mold-type equipment that has been used in the past for the processing of individual chips and other cooked products. This type of apparatus also allows for high speed production of chip-type products that cannot be achieved using prior art methods where individual chips are cooked without using an interconnected continuous dough strip.

The apparatus can be more easily described by referring to Figures 3 through 6. Basically, the conveyor system for re-straining the continuous strips of dough material in the desired configuration during the frying operation includes a lower inter-connected continuous conveyor surface 23 and an upper intercon-nected continuous conveyor surface 24. As described hereinafter, the lower and upper surfaces are made up of interconnected belt segments having cooperating surfaces that mate together producing a uniformly spaced apart lower and upper surface that will restrain the continuous strip of dough material while it is cooked.
One of the preferred types of cooperating belt segments is illustrated in Figure 3 wherein a portion of lower inter-connected continuous conveyor surface 23 and upper interconnected continuous conveyor surface 24 are illustrated with lower belt links 33 and upper belt links 34 spaced apart vertically to more clearly illustrate their operation. Individual lower belt link 33 is comprised of a pair of oppositely disposed and spaced apart mounting brackets 35. At the base of each of mounting brackets 35, a pair of spaced appart mounting apertures 36 are located for attaching lower belt link 33 to a suitable drive chain, as hereinafter described. The attachment of lower belt links 33 is accomplished by means of lower carrier rods ~ -43 which are passed through the aligned aperturès 36.~ (Lower carrier rods 43 are illustrated only in fragmentary view in Figure 3, but extend across belt links 33 as more fully illus-trated in Figure 5.) Concave restraining surface 37 is rigidly attached to the upper portion of mounting brackets 35. Concave restraining surface 37 contains a plurality of oil apertures 38 to allow hot cooking oil to contact the continuous strip of dough material 18 (illustrated in phantom outline) whlle it is rest-rained by concave restraining surface 37 as it passed through the reservoir of hot cooking oil.

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~06[)Z60 Individual upper belt link 34 is comprised of a pair of oppositely disposed and spaced apart mounting brackets 39 for mounting the upper belt link assembly to a suitable drive chain, not illustrated. Each of mounting brackets 39 have a pair of mounting apertures 40 for attaching upper belt link assembly 34 to the drive chain. The attachment of upper bélt links 34 to the drive chain is accomplished by means of upper carrier rods 44 which are passed through aligned apertures 40. (Upper carrier 44 are illustrated in fragmentary view in Figure 3, but extend across belt links 34 as more fully illustrated in Figure 5.) Convex restraining surface 41 is rigidly attached to mounting brackets 39. A plurality of oil apertures 42 pass through con-vex restraining surface 41 to allow hot cooking oil to contact the continuous strip of dough material while it is restrained by convex restraining surface 41 as it passes through the hot oil reservoir.
As will be more apparent in Figure 6, the lower edges of mounting brackets 35 are formed to allow an interconnecting of adjacent lower belt links by flaring out one end of each of the lower edges of mounting brackets 35 to a distance sufficient to allow them to fit over the lower edge of the adjacent lower belt link. By using this flared configuration, mounting apertures 36 of one lower belt link can be aligned with mounting apertures 36 of the adjacent belt link to allow suitable lower carrier rod 43 to be inserted through the aligned mounting apertures for attach-ment to a suitable drive chain which is driven by sprocket wheel 25. The mating of concave restraining surface 37 and convex restraining surface 41 with the spaced apart relationship are -more fully described and illustrated in Figure 5.
Figure 6 illustrates one preferred method whereby lower belt links 33 can be connected to a suitable driving train to form lower continuous belt means 23. It will be apparent ;~

106~260 that upper belt links 34 can be similarly connected together to form upper continuous belt means 24.
As shown in Figure 6, a series of lower carrier rods 43 are utilized to connect the series of lower belt links 33 together in end-to-end relationship. Lower carrier rods 43 are passed through the aligned mounting apertures 36 in the lower edges of mounting brackets 35. As previously noted, one end of each of the lower edges of mounting brackets 35 is flared out to accommodate the lower edge of the adjacent mounting bracket 35. This flared configuration allows the adjacent lower belt links to be assembled in such a fashion that apertures 36 can be aligned and such that concave res-training surfaces 37 are disposed in a substantially continuous relationship when the lower continuous belt means operates in a substantially horizontal configuration. Since the concave restraining surface is a substantially continuous trough-like surface, it is not necessary to provide any particular type of synchronization or alignment between the linear movement of continuous dough strip 18 and the individual lower belt links 33. It is, however, important that the linear speed of advancing continuous dough strip 18 be sub-stantially the same speed as the linear speed that lower continuous belt means 23 and upper continuous belt means 24 advance. This represents a substantial improvement over prior art type cooking equipment wherein individual molds must be carefully synchronized with individual dough sections to precisely deposit the individual dough sections on the in-dividual molds.

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~060260 By examining Figure 6, it will be noted that the ends of lower carrier rods 43 extend beyond the edge of mounting brackets 35 and that securing means 45 frictionally engage lower carrier rods 43 to prevent lateral movement of lower belt links 33 along the length of lower carrier rods 43. Immediately adjacent secur-ing means 45, a conventional drive chain assembly 46 is mounted on lower carrier rod 43. Drive chain assembly 46 is attached to lower carrier rod 43 by means of a suitable cotter pin 47 disposed in an aperture drilled through lower carrier rod 43.
When a plurality of belt links are disposed along each of ;
lower carrier rods 43 to produce a multiplicity of lower con-tinuous belt means, various types of spacers 48 may be disposed between adjacent mounting brackets 35 to prevent lateral movement of lower mounting brackets along lower carrier rods 43. Suitable spacers 48 may be ordinary washers placed around carrier rods 43 between adjacent mounting brackets 35.
Drive chain 46 is sized so as to engage lower sprocket wheel 25 which is driven by a suitable driver means not shown.
As will be evident from Figure 6, a plurality of lower belt links 33 can be disposed along each of lower carrier rods 43.
As a result of this multiple arrangement of lower belt links 33 along lower carrier rod 43, it is possible to have a multi-plicity of lower continuous belt means operating from a single drive chain and sprocket wheel drive mechanism. This lends the apparatus illustrated in the figures to high volume production of chip materials.
It will be apparent that upper continuous belt means 24 will be comprised of upper belt links 34 that can be mounted on upper carrier rods 44 in a manner similar to that described above for the lower continuous belt means.
In the operation of the lower and upper continuous belt means, it will be evident that both the lower continuous belt means and the upper continuous belt means must be driven .

106~Z60 at essentially the same linear speed to suitably receive and restrain the continuous dough strip added as it is tran~ported through the frying oil reservoir 21. Therefore, it is desirable that sprocket wheels 25 all be of the same size and that all of the sprocket wheels be driven by a common drive means.
Figure 4 further illustrates the operation of lower continuous belt means 23 and upper continuous belt means 24.
In Figure 4, a portion of lower continuous belt means 23 and upper continuous belt means 24 is illustrated showing the entrv of continuous dough strip 18 as it is fed from cutting means 17 ky means of conveyor 19. Continuous dough strip 18 is fed into the moving concave restraining surfaces 37 of lower belt links 33 as lower continuous belt means 23 moves at a linear speed equal that of advancing continuous dough strip 18. Continuous dough strip 18 is loosely supported in concave restraining surface 37 until it reaches a point where moving convex restraining surfaces 41 of upper belt links 34 come into mating relationship with lower belt links 33.
Upper continuous belt means 24 moves at the same linear as lower continuous belt means 23. As a result of the mating relationship of convex restraining surface 41 with concave restraining surface 37, continuous dough strip 18 is bent into an arch-like configuration. Since lower continuous belt means 23 forms a substantially continuous supporting sur-face to support dough strip 18 and since upper continuous belt means 24 forms a substantially continuous surface to restrain dough strip 18, there is no particular need to ...... ~ ., ~ ~., - . .. . ... - ~ . .

1~60260 synchronize or align the individual links of the upper and lower continuous belt means or the individual interconnected dough sections so long as the upper and lower continuous belt means and the continuing dough strip all move at sub-stantially the same speed. This represents an important improvement in the art wherein complicated and complex synchronization and timing equipment is required when indi-vidual chips are produced as in the aforementioned patent to Liepa.
Figure 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure 1. Thus, Figure 5 illustrates the mating relationship of lower belt link 33 and upper belt link 34. By examining Figure 5, it is noted that the upper edge of mounting brackets 35 are in contact with the lower edge of mounting brackets 39. This firm contact of the upper edge of mounting brackets 35 with the lower edge of mounting brackets 39 creates a spaced mating relationship between concave restrain-ing surface 37 and convex restraining surface 41. Within the space formed by the mating relationship between concave restraining surface 37 and convex restraining surface 41, continuous dough strip 18 is restrained in an arch-like configuration as it is conveyed through the hot frying oil.
In the preparation of potato chip-type products, the pre-ferred distance between concave restraining surface 37 and convex restraining surface 41 is from about 0.02 to about 0.1 inches. Since most edible continuous dough strips 18 will expand to fill the space between the concave and convex . .

1060260 -~
restraining surfaces, the clearance between these surfaces will determine the thickness of the final cooked product.
Therefore, it may be desirable to fabricate individual lower belt links 33 and upper belt links 34 to allow the distance between concave restraining surface 37 and convex restraining surface 41 to be adjusted.-Figure 5 also illustrates lower carrier rod 43 as itpasses through aligned mounting apertures 36 and upper carrier rod 44 as it passes through upper mounting apertures 40.
Figure 4 further illustrates the relationship of the plurality of lower belt links 33 and upper belt links 34 as they form lower continuous belt means 23 and upper con-tinuous belt means 24 respectively. As noted from Figure 4, the plurality of lower belt links 33 are mounted such as to form a substantially continuous and planar concave restraining surface upon which continuous dough strip 18 is uniformly supported as it travels along the length of fryer 20 in a substantially horizontal path. Likewise, the axrangement of the plurality of upper belt links 34 is such that a sub-stantially continuous convex restraining surface 41 is formed to uniformly engage the upper surface of continuous dough strip 18 as it travels along the length of fryer 20 in a substantially horizontal direction.
As depicted in Figure 1, it is desirable that continuous dough strip 18 is received by concave restraining surface 37 and that convex restraining surface 41 engages the upper surface of continuous dough strip 18 and forces continuous dough strip 18 into conformity with the arched space between ' :' : : . ...
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concave restraining surface 37 and convex restraining surface 41 prior to entry of the continuous dough strip into the reservoir of hot cooking oil. As the thus restrained con-tinuous dough strip 18 travels along a substantially horizontal path along the length of fryer 20, it is submerged in frying oil 21. Since oil apertures 38 are disposed along the entire surface of concave restraining surface 37 and since oil apertures 42 are disposed along the entire surface of convex restraining surfaces 41, the hot frying oil intimately contacts both sides of continuous dough strip 18 as it travels along the horizontal length of fryer 20. As a result, continuous dough strip 18 is cooked into a crisp, uniformly cooked continuous strip 27.
Figure 7 is a perspective view of a section of the cooked continuous strip 27 as it exits from the reservoir of frying oil 21.
As moving cooked continuous strip 27 exits from the reservoir of frying oil 21, a substantial amount of frying oil drains from the surface of cooked continuous strip 27 by virtue of the incline of lower continuous belt means 23.
Excess frying oil can be removed from the surface of cooked continuous strip 27 by directing a jet of air along the surface of cooked continuous strip 27 by means of blower means 26.
It has been found that even though hot cooked continuous strip 27 has a water content in the range of about 1 to 10 weight percent and generally between about 1 and 4 percent by weight, it is still pliable and will bend to a certain , ....
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106~Z60 degree without fracturing as it exits from the hot frying oil.
As a result of the ability of hot cooked continuous strip 27 to bend without fracturing, it is possible to slightly bend cooked continuous strip 27 and place it on conveyor 29 for removal from the vicinity of fryer 20. While the cooked continuous strip is still in a heated condition, it can be passed beneath seasoning dispenser 28 wherein suitable seasoning material such as salt, barbecue flavor and the like can be dispensed on continuous strip 27.
Following the deposition of the desired seasoning material, conveyor 29 passes cooked continuous strip 27 to separating means 30. If desired, cooling means such as fans and the like can direct cooling fluids such as air across the surface of cooked continuous strip 27 as it passes along conveyor 29. As cooked continuous strip 27 cools, it becomes rather brittle and frangible. This property facilitates the separation of cooked continuous strip 27 into individual chips 31. Thus, separating means 30 can be a conventional cutting means that will suitably cut continuous cooked strip 27 into individual chips or it can be a breaker roller whereby a mechanical force is applied to cooked continuous strip 27 to break it into individual chips of desired proportions.
When a continuous dough strip such as the strip illus-trated in Figure 2 is cooked to produce a cooked strip of product such as illustrated in Figure 7, the separation into individual chips can be very easily accomplished by passing the cooked strip, as illustrated in Figure 7, through a series of breaker rollers. These brea]cer rollers can be circular rotating rollers either with or without lugs to fracture the ':

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cooked strip into individual chips. Because the weakest point of the cooked continuous strip illustrated in Figure 7 is that point wherein the individual chip segments are joined together, the breaking can very easily be accomplished such as by merely passing the chip beneath a roller surface lo-cated slightly below the planar surface of continuously moving cooked continuous strip 27, such as is depictea in Figure 1. Various other means known in the art can be utilized to separate the continuous strip of cooked product into individual chips having the desired shape and size.
It will be apparent that the illustrated configuration of the lower belt links and the upper belt links in a ccncave and convex configuration is one of choice and that many dif-ferent types of configurations can be utilized if so desired.
For example, the instant process lends itself readily to the production of essentially flat chip-like materials.
However, when a curved or arch-like configuration is utilized, it is preferred that the concave portion of the restrained continuous dough strip will open upwardly so as to allow for more even cooking of the restrained continuous dough section. It is theorized that if the restrained continuous dough section is cooked with the concave portion facing downwardly, water vapor can collect in the upper portion of the concave surface and result in uneven cooking of the continuous dough strip. Therefore, if the concave portion is faced upwardly it can allow the vaporized water to more easily escape from the surface of the cooking dough strip.

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Aside possible convenience, it will also be apparent that there is no particular need for the continuous dough strips being passed through the reservoir of hot frying oil in a substantially horizontal orientation. Thus, the continuous dough sections can be passed through the hot frying oil in a vertical orientation if so desired.
In order to assure an even and uniform cooking of the continuous dough strip, it is desired that the plurality of oil apertures 38and 42 in the lower and upper belt links be be sufficiently numerous and well-spaced as to allow intimate contact of the hot frying oil with both sides of the con-tinuous dough strip as it is passed through the reservoir of hot frying oil. Therefore, it is preferred that the apertures be relatively small with the diameter of each aperture being less than about 3/8 inch. If the diameter of the individual oil apertures exceeds 3/8 of an inch, it has been found that water dispersed throughout the dough can more easily vaporize into steam during the frying process and may cause bubbles and other irregularities to form on the surface of the con-tinuous dough strip as it is fried. In addition to thepossible irregularities formed on the surface of the cooked continuous strip, some difficulty may also arise from an expansion ofthe dough material into larger oil apertures if employed and thus result in a breaking of the cooked continuous strip of material as it passes out of the reservoir of hot frying oil.

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Preferably, the surfaces of the concave and convex restraining surfaces of the lower and upper belt links will be made of a suitable metallic material, such as stainless steel with oil apertures fabricated therein having a diameter of about 1/16 of an inch. It is also preferable that the centers of the apertures be spaced uniformly along such surfaces on about 3/16 inch spacings. Relatively rigid mesh material can also be utilized to fabricate the concave and convex restraining surfaces from, if desired.
Since the lower continuous belt means and the upper continuous belt means are subjected to contact with the hot frying oil as well as the dough material during the frying operation, it is desirable that all components thereof be fabricated of a suitable corrosion resistant material such as stainless steel. Likewise, the sprocket wheels driving the belt means should be fabricated of any suitable corrosion resistant material such as for example, stainless steel.
The fryer used to contain the hot cooking oil is preferably sized to conform to the shape of the continuous conveyor system disposed therein to reduce the requirement for excess volumes of frying oil in the frying oil reservoir.
When the frying operation is carried out, it is desirable to utilize a vegetable oil such as cottonseed oil, corn oil, soy bean oil, peanut oil, coconut oil and the like or mixtures thereof as the frying oil. The temperature of the oil can vary between about 325F to about 400F with a frying time between about 10 to 60 seconds. Of course, the frying conditions 11:)6~)260 will be dependent upon the composition of the cooked dough, the thickness of the continuous dough strip, the desired degree of cooking, the temperature of the frying oil, etc.
One convenient method of controlling the frying time is by adjusting the linear speed of the dough strips as they are cut and conveyed through the reservoir of hot frying oil.
The individual chips will be of substantially uniform shape and size that makes them particularly applicable to packaging in nesting configuration such as in cylindrical, 10 barrels or cans. The packaging, of course, can be carried ; , out using conventional packaging techniques.
While the foregoing specification has been directed to a preferred process of frying a continuous strip of dough material, the method and apparatus are a~so applicable to using other types of cooking mediums including but not limited to oven baking, boiling and the like, wherein continuous strips of dough materials are cooked in a suitable manner -while being restrained in the desired configuration as herein discussed. , It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many different modifications and changes may be made in the foregoing disclosure and thus, it must be appreciated that ~' such changes and modifications can be made or followed without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

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Claims (36)

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A continuous process for preparing chip-type food products of uniform shape comprising:
a) forming an edible dough into a thin dough sheet;
b) cutting said dough sheet to form at least one continuous strip of said edible dough having a predetermined width;
c) passing said continuous strip to a conveyor system having cooperating surfaces uniformly spaced apart to restrain said continuous strip in conforming relationship to said cooperating surfaces;
d) passing the restrained continuous strip of said edible dough through a cooking medium to cook said restrained continuous strip to form a continuous strip of cooked product; and e) thereafter separating said continuous strip of cooked product into chips of predetermined size.

2. The process of claim 1 wherein said cooking medium is hot frying oil.

3. The process of claim 2 wherein said dough sheet is cut into at least one continuous strip of interconnected dough sections of predetermined shape connected together with compara-tively narrow segments of dough.

4. The process of claim 3 wherein said dough sheet is cured prior to passing said sheet to the cutting means for cutting said sheet into at least one continuous strip of inter-connected dough sections.

5. The process of claim 4 wherein the dough sheet is cured to reduce the water content to a level in the range of from about 10 to about 25 weight percent.

6. The process of claim 5 wherein said edible dough is comprised of potato solids.

7. The process of claim 6 wherein at least a portion of said potato solids are dehydrated potato solids.

8. The process of claim 7 wherein said edible dough contains yeast.

9. The process of claim 8 wherein said edible dough contains tapioca flour.

10. The process of claim 4 wherein said edible dough is comprised of corn.

11. The process of claim 3 wherein said continuous strip of cooked product is passed to breaker rolls and the interconnected cooked sections of predetermined shape are broken into individual chips of predetermined size.

12. The process of claim 2 wherein said edible dough is comprised of potato solids.

13. The process of claim 12 wherein at least a portion of said potato solids are dehydrated potato solids.

14. The process or claim 1 wherein said thin dough sheet is formed by extruding the dough components into said sheet.

15. The process of claim 14 wherein the thickness of said sheet is controlled by stretching the sheet as it exits from the extruder.

16. The process of claim 2 wherein said edible dough consists essentially of potato solids.

17. The process of claim 2 wherein said edible dough consists essentially of potato solids and corn.

18. An apparatus for the continuous preparation of chip-type food products comprising:
a) means to receive and restrain in a predetermined configuration a continuous strip of edible dough;
b) means to transport the restrained continuous strip of edible dough through a reservoir containing a cooking medium to produce a continuous strip of cooked product; and c) means to separate said continuous strip of cooked product into chips of predetermined size.

19. The apparatus of claim 18 wherein said means to receive and restrain is a continuous means to receive and restrain said continuous strip of edible dough.

20. The apparatus of claim 19 wherein said means to receive and restrain said continuous strip of edible dough comprises a pair of endless moving belts disposed with a portion of both belts in mating relationship and spaced such as to restrain said continuous strip of edible dough in a predeter-mined configuration and including means to move a portion of said belts in mating relationship through said reservoir containing said cooking medium with said continuous strip of edible dough restrained between said belts.

21. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said belts have a plurality of apertures therein to permit said cooking medium to contact at least a portion of said continuous strip of edible dough as it is transported through said reservoir in a restrained configuration.

22. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said belts comprise operably connected links with one of said belts having links with concave surfaces with the other of said belts having links with convex surfaces to mate together forming an arched surface to restrain said continuous strip of dough.

23. The apparatus of claim 21 wherein said apparatus includes means for forming said continuous strips of edible dough.

24. The apparatus of claim 23 wherein said means for forming said continuous strips of edible dough includes cutting means to cut said continuous strips from a thin, flat dough sheet.

25. The apparatus of claim 24 wherein said means for forming said thin, flat dough sheet is an extruder.

26. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein said apparatus includes means to stretch said thin, flat dough sheet as it exits from said extruder.

27. The apparatus of claim 25 wherein said apparatus includes means to cure said flat dough sheet.

28. The apparatus of claim 18 including breaker rollers to separate said continuous strip of cooked product into chips having predetermined size.

29. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said reservoir is a fryer containing frying oil with means to supply heat to said frying oil.

30. The apparatus of claim 29 including at least one air jet to direct a jet of air onto said continuous strip of cooked product to remove excess frying oil therefrom adjacent said reservoir.

31. The apparatus of claim 20 wherein said means to transport said endless belts through said reservoir are chains driven by sprocket wheels at substantially the same linear speed.

32. A process for forming a continuous strip of chip-type food product comprising:
(a) forming an edible dough into a thin dough sheet;
(b) cutting said dough sheet to form at least one con-tinuous strip of said edible dough having a plurality of sections which are connected through a segment of said product of narrower width than said sections;
(c) passing said continuous strip through a cooking medium while said strip is restrained in a shape in which said plurality of sections are laterally curved; and (d) withdrawing said strip from said cooking medium.

33. The process of claim 32 in which said cooking medium is hot frying oil.

34. The process of claim 33 in which said food product is comprised of corn or potato solids.

35. The process of claim 3 or 4 wherein step (e) is performed after said strip of cooked product has become friable.

36. The process of claim 35 wherein said edible dough is comprised of potato or corn solids.