CA1261643A - Machine for making crepes - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT

A machine for manufacturing cooked foodstuffs such as crepes comprises an upwardly directed rotatable concave hot plate 31 which is slightly inclined. A radially disposed pouring tube 38 is arranged above the plate 31 and has holes 78 for dispensing pre-made food mixture onto the plate 31 in a manner causing a constant quantity of mixture per surface area of the plate whereby a thin uniform disc of the mixture is formed. A heating element 33 heats the plate 31 to cook one side of the disc and the plate 31 is mounted on a hub 35 which, upon rotation inverts the plate 31 enabling the partially cooked disc to be dispensed onto a flat further hot plate 32 such that the other side is then cooked. A pump unit 37 pumps the mixture from a tank 39 to the pouring tube 38. A spatula 34 assists in dispensing the partially cooked disc from the hot plate 31. The machine operates cyclically and automatically whilst mixture remains in the tank 39.

Description

~L2~ 3 TITLE: ~CHINE FOR MAKING ~ ~ES
1 This invention relates to apparatus for manufacturing

2 cooked foodstuffs and in' particular to apparatus for

3 manufacturing foodstuffs of the kind made from batter such

4 as for example, crepes.
The traditional method of manufacturing crepes involves 6 pouring a desired amount of pre-made batter into a pre-7 heated frying pan, manually wobbling the pan to distribute 8 the batter evenly over the pan surface, placing the pan on a 9 heat source to cook the underside of the crepe and then inverting the crepe to cook the other side. The traditional 11 method requires particular culinary skills on the part of 12 the chef in order to produce a good quality crepe. A good 13 ~uality crepe according to the connoisseur is very thin and 14 of an even thickness and whilst the present invention is not limited to apparatus exclusively for making crepes, it i~s 16 intend0d to be capable of manufacturing a good quality 17 crepe.
18 Various for~ns oE apparatus have been proposed in the 19 past for manufacturing foodstuffs of the general kind in consideration here such as pancakes, pikelets, crepes, and 21 ~o called "skins" for use in making "chicken rolls" and the 22 like. All the known forms of apparatus suffer from one or 23 more of the following disadvantages. Either they are complex 24 and hence costly to manufacture, they are not fully automatic in the sense that they still require an operator 26 to perform some of the operations manually, or they are not 27 capable of manufacturing a crepe of good quality as defined 28 above. The complexity and hence cost of manufacture 29 generally renders the known apparatus unsuitable for use as a domestic appliance and usually limits use to large 31 commercial use or perhaps use in an industrial situation 32 where foodstuffs are manufac~ured for sale as frozen 33 ~oodstuffs.
34 It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved apparatus for manufacturing cooked foodstuffs of 36 the kind made from batter, which apparatus overcomes one or 37 more of the aforementiond disadvantages of known apparatus.
38 Accordingly, one broad form of the invention which may &yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, `~Z69~6~3 1 be preferred provides a machine for manufacturing cooked 2 foodstuffs in the form of crepes and the like, characteri~ed 3 in that,said machine includes a first hot plate in the form 4 of a rotatable disc, a pouring tube over said plate for dispensing a predetermind amount of a pre~made food mixture 6 onto an upwardl7 directed cooking surface of said plate, 7 said surface is inclined to the horizontal and has a shape 8 adapted to form said mixture thereon into a substantially 9 disc-like configuration during rotation, said pouring tube extends substantially radially over said plate and the 11 direction of rotation relative to said tube is such as to 12 carry said mixture upwardly on the slope of said inclined 13 surface, the pouring tube being adapted to dispense a 14 substantially constant quantity of mixture per surface area of the plate, whereby a substantially constant thickness of 16 mixture is achieved on said surface, and said first hot 17 plate is adapted for movement to an inverted position, when 18 one side of said foodstuff i5 cooked, wherein said partly 19 cooked foodstuff is released so as to all onto a second hot plate for coolcing the other side thereof.
21 In order that the invention may be more readily 22 understood, one particular embodiment will now be described 23 with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein, 24 FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of apparatus for ~5 manufacturing crepes, 26 FIG. 2 is a perspective rear view of the apparatus of 27 FIG. 1, 28 FIG. 3 is a perspective side view of the apparatus of 29 FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a perspective plan view of the apparatus of 31 FIG. 1, 32 FIGS. 5 to 14 are perspective views from various 33 different angles showing the machine in different stages of 34 operation, FIG. 15 is a part sectional side elevation through the 36 centre of the apparatus, 37 FIG. 15(a) is a section on the line 2-2 of FIG. 15, 38 FIGS. 16 to 19 are similar to FIG. 15(a) and show &yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, ~L26~6~3 1 various positions of the clutch mechanism of the apparatus, 2 FIGS. 20 and 21 are part sectional views of the 3 apparatus showing operation of a skimmer or spatula 4 mechanism of the apparatus, FIGS. 22 to 25 are schematic diagrams showing various 6 stages of operation of an ejector mechanism for removing a 7 finished product from the apparatus, and ; 8 FIGS. 26 and 27 are simplified schematic diagrams 9 showing the two positions of a pump mechanism of the apparatus.
11 Referring now to the drawings and particularly to PIGS.
12 1 - 4, the apparatus or machine is shown to comprise 13 essentially a body portion 30, an upper hot plate 31, a 14 lower hot plate 32, an upper hot plate heating element 33, a spatula or skimmer 34, a rotatable hub 35, an ejector 36, a 16 pump unit 37, a pouring tube 38, a tank 39 and an exit ramp 17 40. A lower hot plate heating element tnot shown) i9 18 located within the body portion 30 immediately below the 19 :Lower hot plate 32.
The apparatus according to this embodiment is 21 electrically operated by means of a power cord ~not shown) 22 which may be inserted in any general purpose power outlet.
23 Thus, the upper and lower hot plate heating elements are 24 electric elements which are connected to the supply by ;~ 25 electrical connections (not shown) within the body portion 26 30. Similarly, an electric motor for operating the 27 apparatus and various solenoids within the body portion 30 28 are connected via electrical connections (not shown) to the 29 power supply.
The upper hot plate 31 is an upwardly directed concave 31 plate which is circular and is mounted via a rotatable 32 spindle 41, on the hub 35. In the normal or neutral 33 position of the apparatus, that is, when the apparatus is in 34 the off or start position, the spindle 41 is inclined to the vertical at an angle of about 20 such that the concave 36 upper hot plate 31 is tilted at about 20 with respect to 37 the horizontal. A geared reversible motor 42 (~ig. 15) is 38 located within the body portion 30 an`d is adapted to drive :

&yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merd~.spe, 6~643 1 the upper hot plate 31 in order to rotate the concave disc, 2 via a bevel gear 43. The motor 42 is also used to drive the 3 hub 35 in a rotational direction by means of a special 4 clutch 44 comprising essentially an epicyclic gear train 45.
The epicyclic gear train 45 is more clearly depicted in 6 FIGS. 15 to 19 of the drawings.
7 The epicyclic gear train 45 consists essentially of a 8 pinion gear 46 which is fixed to drive shaft 47 of motor 42 9 and three satellite gears~ 48 which are free running on spindles 49 fixed in relation to the rotatable hub 35. A
11 crown gear 50 is normally free running on the satellite 12 gears 48 and the crown gear has a toothed outer surface as 13 is shown clearly in FIG. 15(a). A circular cam 51 is fixed 14 to the hub 35 and has two stop surfaces 52 and 53 respectively, each of which includes a notch 54 and 55 16 respectively. Two spigots 56 and 57 of different lengths 17 are mounted on a slider 58 which can be actuated by a 18 solenoid 59 and a return spring 60. The longest spigot, 19 that i9, spigot 57, is normally engaged in cam notch 55 as is shown in FIG. 15(a). Operation of the solenoid 59 will 21 cause the slider 58 to move downwardly and close microswitch 22 61. A relay contact 62 is momentarily closed by a control 23 circuit (not shown) when the clutch is required to be used 24 during a machine cycle as will be become apparent 2S hereinbelow.
26 The clutch operates as follo~s. In the initial part of 27 ~he machine cycle, the upperhot plate 31 is rotating in the 28 direction of the arrows shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and as is also 29 ~hown by the arrow in FIG. 15. At a particular point in the machine cycle, it is necessary to rotate the hub 35 through 31 approximately 200, (180 + 20) in order to invert the 32 upper hot plate 31. Prior to this operation, the spigot 57 33 is en8aged in the cam 51 as shown in FIG. 15 (a). ~t the 34 appropriate time, relay contact 62 is closed and the solenoid 59 is energized. The slider S8 is pulled down by 36 the solenoid and causes the microswitch 61 to close. The 37 contact 62 is then released but the solenoid will stay 38 energized via the microswitch 61. When the slider 58 is ~, ~yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, 1 attracted by the solenoid 59 it disengages the spigot 57 2 from cam 51 and at the sa~e time causes the spigot 56 to 3 engage the toothed outer surface of the crown gear 50 4 thereby stopping rotation of the crown gear (see FIG. 16~.
It follows that the cam 51 and the hub 35 on which it is 6 mounted rotate at a reduced speed in relation to the speed 7 of the shaft 47, in the direction indicated by the arrows 8 shown on FIGS. 16 and 17. Once the cam stop surface 52 9 comes into contact with the spigot 57, rotation of the hub is prevented and the crown gear 50 commences rotation 11 forcing the spigot 56 out of the toothed outer surface of 12 the crown gear whereby the slider 58 is raised causing 13 opening of the microswitch 61 and de-energization of the 14 solenoid. This latter operation is clearly depicted in FIG.
18 and the enlargements thereof. The return spring 60 16 completes movement of the slider 58 to its uppermost 17 position wherein the cam 51 and the hub 35 are immobilized 18 and the crown gear 50 is free running. With the hub 35 in 19 the position resulting from movement of the cam 51 to the positions shown in FIGS. 18 and 19, the upper hot plate 31 21 is inverted and is able to continue rotation in its initial ,;
22 direction of rotation.
23 Reverse motion of the hub 35 to return the upper hot 24 plate 31 to its initial position is achieved by reversing direction of rotation of the motor 42 by means of the 26 control circuit (not shown) and applying an impulse to the 27 relay contact 62. It should be pointed out that any angle 28 of rotation of the hub 35 can be achieved by means of the 29 unique clutch arrangement merely by altering the configuration of the stop surfaces 52 and 53. Clearly the 31 clutch arrangement is a unique clutch arrangement which may 32 be used in apparatus other than the apparatus described 33 herein. It is conceivable that the clutch could be used to 34 facilitate rotation of the hub through any fractional number of revolutions greater than one revolution merely by 36 separating the second stop surface 53 from the first stop 37 surface 52 by a predetermined gear reduction.
38 Reference should now be made to FIGS. 26 and 27 which ~yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, -` ~26~ 3 1 disclose in detail the pump unit 37 Eor the purpose of 2 pumping a pre made batter mix from tank 39 to the pouring 3 tube 38 for distribution onto the upper hot plate 31. The 4 pump consists essentially of a cylinder 63 provided at its top end with a holding bracket 64 which affixes the cylinder 6 63 to the body portion 30. The bottom end of the cylinder 7 63 contains a valve 65 which is a flap type valve which in a 8 closed position locks an orifice in the bottom end of the ~-9 cyliner 63. A hollow piston 66 is arranged to slide vertically within the cylinder 63 and has a hollow rod 67 ;11 extending upwardly therefrom such that the internal bore of 12 the rod 67 communicates with the internal bore of the hollow 13 piston 66. A fixed collar 68 and an adjustable collar 69 1~ are provided on the rod 67 and a further valve 70 is provided in the piston 66 for the purpose of closing the 16 bottom end of the hollow piston. Again the valve is a Elap 17 type valve similar to the valve 65. The pump is driven by 18 means of a nut 71 having a pair of fingers which extend 19 through a slot in the side of the body portion 30 and engage ZO on either side of the rod 67 whereby the rod may be raised 21 or lowered by the fingers engaging the aforementioned 22 collars 68 and 69. The nut 71 is mounted on a lead screw 72 23 driven ~y a reversible motor 73 such that rotation of the 24 motor causes the nut 71 to move up and down on the lead screw 72 depending on the direction of rotation. An upper 26 limit switch 74 and a lower limit switch 75 are contacted by 27 the nut 71 at the `e~tremities of its travel and cause 28 reversal of the motor direction. A flexible tube 76 is 29 connected to the upper end of the rod 67 for the purpose of transmitting fluid from the rod 67 to the pouring tube 38 31 which will be described hereinbelow. A tank 39 is adapted 32 for positioning around the cylinder 63 such that the 33 cylinder 63 extends downwardly within the tank to a point 34 adjacent the bottom thereof.
In use of the apparatus the tank 39 is filled with a 36 batter mixture suitable for producing crepes. The 37 adjustable collar 69 is adjusted so as to set the stroke of 38 the piston 66 so that the pump unit 37 will pump the desired &yymmdd&,psspe.001,merdy.spe, 1 amount of ingredients (batter mix) during each stroke 2 thereof. At the commencement of the machine cycle, the 3 motor 73 drives the nut 71 upwardly which in turn pushes the 4 piston upwardly once the fingers of the nut 71 contact the adjustable collar 69. Upward movement of the piston causes 6 the valve 65 to open and the valve 70 to close and thus 7 causes the ingredients to be drawn into the bottom end of 8 ~he cylinder 63 from the tank 39. The operation of the 9 valve is caused by a reduction in pressure within the bottom end of the cylinder 63. When the nut 71 contacts the upper 11 limit switch 74, the direction of rotation of the motor 73 12 is reversed at which time the cylinder 63 below the plston 13 66 is full of the batter mix. Downward movement of the nut 14 71 causes the fingers thereof to contact the fixed collar 68 thus forcing the rod and hence the piston 66 downwardly.
16 Downward movement of the piston causes valve 65 to open and 17 valve 70 to close and the batter mix is therefore pushed 18 upwards in the hollow rod 67 to the pouring tube 38 where is 19 is dispensed out through holes 78 in the pouring tube.
The pouring tube 38 is a tube closed at one end and, as 21 mentioned above, has a number of holes 78 spaced therealong 22 for the purpose of discharging the batter mix onto the upper 23 hot plate 31. The holes are spaced at varying distances 24 apart and have differing diameters so that the amount of mixture discharged over a radial distance varies according 26 to the variation in surface area of the plate such that 27 batter mix per surface area is substantially equal when it 28 spreads on the plate 31. In other words, the holes 78 are 29 closer together and have a larger diameter towards the outer edge of the plate 31 so that more batter mix is discharged 31 as the radial distance from the centre of the plate 32 increases to take into account the additional surface area.
33 It should be noted that when the pouring tube 38 is in 34 position over the upper hot plate 31 ready for pouring, it extends in a radial direction over the plate and the ; 36 direction of rotation of the plate is such that batter mix 37 falling onto the plate is carried in uphill direction on the 38 plate 31. Thus, there is a tendency for the mixture to run i &yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, ~26~L6~3 1 back down towards a position below the pouring tube 38 2 whilst at the same time further mixture is being dispensed 3 onto the plate through the pouring tube 38. The combination 4 of the angle of inclination of the plate, the speed of rotation thereof and the degree of concavity of the plate 6 ensures that a disc-like formation is made on the plate by 7 the mixture. The disc-like formation can be arranged to be 8 very thin and is of consistent thickness enabling 9 manufacture of a good quality crepe.
The pouring tube 38 is mounted on a bracket 79 (FIGS. 3 11 and 4) which can be clipped onto a shaft (not clearly 12 evident in the drawings) driven by a geared reversible motor 13 (not shown) equipped with two limit switches (not shown).
14 The motor and limits switches are mounted within the body portion 30 and are adapted to rotate the shaft from a first 16 position wherein the pouring tube 38 is over the hot plate 17 31 to the second position wherein the pouring tube is away 18 from the hot plate so as to avoid coagulation oE the batter 19 mix during a cooking operation and also to allow for rotational movement of the hub 35 whereby the plate 31 is 21 swung downwardly to an inverted position below the hub.
22 Furthermore, when the pouring tube 38 is moved to the second 23 position away from the plate 31, the holes 78 are upwardly 24 directed so as to avoid dripping of the mixture between operations of the pump unit 37.
26 The ejector 36 is used for the purpose of ejecting a 27 finished product from the lower hot plate 32. The 28 construction of the ejector 36 is apparent in FIGS. 1, 3 and 29 4 and its operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 22 to 25. The ejector consists of a teflon blade 80 31 fixed on a V-shaped frame by means of a stainless steel 32 an~le 81. The V-shaped frame has opposed side members 82 33 which, in the initial position of the frame at the 34 commencement of a machine cycle, extend upwardly above the position of the blade 80. The V-shape frame is mounted on a 36 bracket 83 which is fixed to the rotatable hub 35. The V-37 shaped frame is maintaind in a position where it is 38 effectively an extension of the bracket 83 by means of a &yymmdd&,psspe.001,merdy.spe, ,, ~

~26~

g 1 spring 84. As will be evident in ~IGS. 22 to 25 which are 2 simplified drawings for the purpose of describing the 3 ejector and thus exclude other components of the apparatus, 4 rotation of the hub 35 causes the bracket 83 and hence the V-shaped frame and blade 80 to rotate therewith in a 6 clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 22. As soon as the 7 teflon blade 80 touches the lower hot plate 32, the relative 8 position of the V-shaped frame in relation to the bracket 83 9 changes due to the pivotal connection therebetween and the spring 84 is extended. The blade 80 moves across the ll surface of the plate 32 and removes a completed crepe on the 12 hot plate 32. The finished product is pushed sideways to 13 ~he exit ramp 40 where it is able to slide down the ramp and 14 onto a collection surface. Continued rotation of the hub in the same direction causes the bracket 83 to move to a 16 position best shown in FIGS. 12 and 13 wherein the blade has 17 ~assed over the plate 32 and the spring 84 is able to pull ~8 the V-shaped bracket back into a position where it is an 19 extension of the bracket 83. In this extreme position the side members 82 are facing in a downward direction. Reverse 21 rotation of the hub 35 causes the bracket 83 and hence the 22 blade 80 to return in an anti-clockwise direction as viewed 23 in FIG. 24, for example, in which case the side members 82 24 contact the surface of plate 32 and the blade 80 which is then upwardly directed, is prevented from contact with the 26 plate 32. Again the spring 84 extends and the side members 27 ~2 move across the hot plate 32 on either side of a partly 28 prepared crepe which has been released onto the plate 32.
29 Thus, the ejector is able to return to its initial position without disturbing the next crepe which is in the process of 31 being prepared. Once the side members 82 have moved across 32 the plate 32, the spring pulls the V-shaped frame back to 33 the initial position and the ejector is ready for the next 34 operation.
Reference should now be made to FIGS. 20 and 21 which 36 show in more detail the spatula or skimmer 34 which is used 37 for the purpose of removing a partly cooked crepe from the 38 upper hot plate 31 when the upper hot plate is in the ~yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, 64~1 1 inverted position. The spatula or skimmer 34 consists 2 essentially of a blade 85 in the form of a tongue which is 3 able to project outwardly from the body portion 30 against 4 the hot plate 31. The blade 85 is formed from spring material so that it may flex and Eollow the contour of the 6 hot plate 31 when it is brought into contact therewith. The 7 blade 85 contains a spigot 86 and the blade is adapted to 8 slide within a housing 87. A pivotal arm 88 mounted on a 9 shaft 89 is actuated by a solenoid 90 connected thereto by means of a linkage 91. The pivotal arm 88 includes a slot 11 92 which engages the spigot 86 and a return spring 93 is 12 adapted to return the pivotal arm 88 to its initial position 13 when the solenoid 90 is deactivated. As can be seen in 14 FIGS. 20 and 21, pivotal movement of the arm 88 causes the blade 85 to slide in the housing 87 and location of the 1~ housing 87 within the body portion 30 is such that operation 17 oE the skimmer cat~ses the blade 85 to pro~ect outwardly and 18 upwardly from the body portion at a qharp angle in relation 19 to the inverted position of the upper hot plate 31. Thus the control circuitry (not shown) is adapted to actuate the 21 solenoid 90 at an appropriate time during the machine cycle 22 30 as to cause the blade 85 to contact the surface of the 23 upper hot plate 31 and follow the contour thereof such that 24 continued rotation of the upper hot plate 31 causes the blade to act as a spatula or skimmer and lift a partly 26 cooked crepe from the surface of the hot plate 31. With the 27 assistance of gravity, a partly cooked crepe on the surface 28 of hot plate 31 is caused to fall therefrom to a position on 29 the lower hot plate 32 in which case it is inverted relative to the hot plate for cooking on the opposite side.
31 Having described the essential features of the 32 apparatus, its operation will now be described with 33 particular reference to FIGS. 5 to 14 of the drawings. In 34 order to use the machine, the tank 39 is firstly filled wi~h a pre-made batter mix which, in the case of making crepes, 36 consists of flour (wheat, buck wheat, rice, etc.), milk 37 and/or water and il: can also include salt, sugar, eggs and 38 some flavourings. Fat is also included under the form of &yymmdd~,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, , . . .

~L:Z6~6~

1 butter or margarine, oil or the~ like for the purpose of not 2 only improving the taste of the finished product, but more 3 importantly for lubricating the hot plates and avoiding the ; 4 product sticking thereto. Usually the flour is plain flour

5 and no artificial or natural yeast is used. The pre made

6 hatter mix is put in the container 39 which has presumably

7 been cleaned subsequent to is previous use along with the

8 piston 66, rod 67, flexihle tube 76 and pouring tube 38 all

9 of which may be readily removed from the body portion 30 for

10 the purpose of cleaning.

11 FIG. 5 shows the apparatus in the neutral position at

12 the commencement of a cycle, although in FIG. 5 the

13 apparatus has been previously in use since a partly prepared

14 crepe is on the lower hot plate 32. At the commencement of

15 a machine cycle, the pouring tube 38 pivots to a position

16 over the upper hot plate 31 as shown in FIG. 6. The hot

17 plate 31 is caused to rotate by actuation of the motor 42

18 and then the pump motor 73 is initiated to cause a quantity

19 of the batter mix to be p~mped through the pouring tube 38

20 and onto the upper hot plate 31 to provide an even

21 distribution of the mixture over the rotating plate as can

22 be seen in FIG. 9. The ejection of the mixture through the

23 pouring tube 38 continues through one revolution of the

24 plate 31 and any adjustment necessary to achieve the correct

25 amount of mixture is readily effected by adjusting the

26 adjustable collar 69. At this stage of the cycle, the

27 pouring tube 38 is pivoted back to its initial position away

28 from the upper hot plate 31 and a heating element 33 is

29 initiated to provide heat to the underside of the hot plate

30 31. The heating element 33 projects from a front or

31 forwardly directed face of the body portion 30.

32 The heating element 33 is retained in the on condition

33 for a time sufficient to allow the upper hot plate 31 to

34 cook one side of the crepe and this time may be varied by

35 adjusting a control knob (not shown) of the conrol circuitry f 36 (not shown). The continued rotation of the plate 31 ensures 37 that one side of the crepe is evenly cooked and when this 38 has been achieved, the apparstus proceeds to the next stage ~yrmmdd&~psspe.OOl~merdy.spe~

1 of operation wherein the hub 35 is rotated using the clutch 2 mechanism previously desc'ribed. Rotation of the hub 35 3 causes the ejector 36 to move across the lower hot plate 32 in the manner previously described and in each cycle after the first cycle, the ejector 36 removes a finished crepe 6 from the bottom hot plate 32 and on to the exist ramp 40.
7 Continued rotation of the hub causes the upper hot plate 31 8 to reach a position where it is inverted over the lower hot 9 plate 32 at which ti~e the skimmer mechanism 34 is actuated to lift the partly cooked crepe from the upper hot plate 31 11 and cause it to fall onto the lower hot plate 32. This 12 causes the partly cooked c~epe to be inverted so that the 13 opposite side is cooked by means of the lower hot plate 32 14 which is heated by a heating element (not shown) thereunder.
After the hub 35 has reached its maximum position of 16 rotation in a first direction (see FIG. 12), it remains in 17 such position for approximately four seconds while the 18 partly cooked crepe is removed from the upper hot plate 19 after which time rotation of the motor 42 i~ reversed and the clutch is operated to cause the hub to rotate in the 21 opposite direction returning the upper hot plate back to its 22 initial position. Once the upper hot plate 31 has reached 23 its initial position, the original direction of rotation of 24 motor 42 is established and the next injection operation is ready to commence. The machine will continue to work 26 through this cycle until it is swiched off.
27 It should be mentioned that when the apparatus is 28 first used after refilling of the tank 39, it is necessay to 29 prime the pump unit 37. This is achieved by immersing the piston 66 in the batter whilst it is secured on its bracket 31 64 and holding the pouring tube 38 above the tank 39. A
32 control knob (not shown) for the control circuitry is 33 switched to a "manual" position and a push-bu~ton (not 34 shown~ is pressed to cause the piston to make one upward stroke followed by one downward stroke and the operation is

36 repeated until the pump is primed. The batter which is

37 ejected through the pouring tube 38 during the priming

38 operation ~lows back into the tank 39. Once this priming &yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, ~26~;4~

1 operation is completed, the pouring tube 38 is clipped in 2 position on its bracket 79. The control knob is then 3 switched to the automatic position and the machine proceeds 4 with its cyclic operation as described above. A thermostat (not shown) is provided for controlling the cooking 6 temperature of the upper and lower hot plates and when the 7 thermostat on the bottom hot plate operates the pouring tube 8 38 is pivoted into the operational position.
9 It should be evident that the batter mix ejected from the pouring tube 38 runs down the upper hot plate 31 due to 11 the angle of inclination thereof, but at the same time 12 rotation of the hot plate 31 presents a new area to the 13 batter mix being poured. The combination of the aperture 14 sizes, the intervals between the apertures, the pouring rate, the rotational speed of the plate 31, the diameter of 16 the plate 31, the concavity of the plate 31 and the angle o~
17 inclination thereof results in an even and controlled 18 ~preading of the batter mix. The cooking time for a crepe 19 on the upper hot plate 31 is approximately 150 seconds.
As mentioned previously, the controls for the machine 21 are electronic and electromechanical and include an 2~ adjustable timer. The control circuitry is not disclosed 23 herein as it is considered ~hat any person skilled in the 24 art can readily appreciate the requirements for electronically and electromechanically controlling the 26 machine.
27 It should be evident that the present invention 28 provides a much improved machine for manufacturing crepes 29 and other like foodstuffs and facilitates a high degree of hygiene in the manufacturing process. The tank 39 and all 31 the apparat~s associated with pumping the pre-made mixture 32 onto the upper hot plate 31 are readily dismountable from 33 the machine for cleaning purposes as they are all clipped to 34 outside of the body portion 30. Cleaning can be done in a matter of seconds as with any standard cooking utensils.
36 From a safety point of view, if something should impede the 37 rotation of the hub 35, the unique clutch arrangement will 38 disengage and recovery will occur by switching the machine :

&yymmdd~,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, 64~3 1 from automatic to manual and back to automatic again.
2 The simplicity of the machine renders it extremely 3 economical to manufacture and thus it is suitable for use as 4 a domestic appliance although use in commercial situations such as fast food shops, is clearly an area where the use 6 should be extensive. In commercial situations, or in 7 industrial situations for manufacturing packaged frozen 8 foods, the apparatus may be modiEied to include a plurality 9 of upper and lower hot plates on the same rotatable hub whereby a numher of crepe or like foods may be manufactured 11 at the same time.
12 Clearly other modifications to the above described 13 embodiment may be readily envisaged by persons skilled in 14 the art. For example, according to another embodiment, the top heating element and the spatula or skimmer are fixed on 16 to the rotatable hub. The skimmer operates from a central 17 cam during the downstroke rotation of the hub and the 18 rotation proceeds only in one direction so that a complete 19 revolution of the hub is required in order to return the upper hot plate 31 to its initial position. This requires 21 the heatingelement for the upper hot plate to be mounted on 22 the hub and to rotate therewith which further requires a 23 sliding electrical connection between the control circuitry 24 within the body portion and the rotatable hub. A set of brushes is required for this purpose. According to this 26 embodiment, the bottom hot plate is slightly offset and 27 inclined to compensate for inertia of the partly cooked 28 crepe when it is removed from the upper hot plate during its 29 rotation on the hub to an inverted position.
In a modification to the embodiment previously 31 described, the upper hot plate 31 may take the form of a 32 flat disc rather than a concave disc in which case it is 33 necessary for the disc to have upturned edges to prevent the 34 mixture from flowing off the plate and to ensure a disc-like formation of the mixture on the rotating plate. This 36 modification is not generally desirable since it creates 37 difficulties for the spatula or skimmer 34 in engaging the 38 inverted upper hot plate to release a partly cooked product.

&yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe, 6~6~3 1 The concave hot plate readily enables the skimmer 34 to 2 follow its contour for the'purpo~e of releasing the partly 3 cooked product.
4 The claims form part of the disclosure of this specification.

~ .

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:: : :

: &yymmdd&,psspe.OOl,merdy.spe,

Claims (14)

1. A machine for manufacturing cooked foodstuffs in the form of crepes and the like, characterized in that, said machine includes a first hot plate (31) in the form of a rotatable disc having an upwardly directed cooking surface which is inclined to the horizontal and has a shape adapted to form a pre-made food mixture poured thereon into a disc-like configuration during rotation, heating means (33) associated with said first hot plate to heat said hot plate (31) so as to cause at least one side of said disc-like mixture to be cooked, and said first hot plate (31) is adapted for automatic movement to an inverted position when said one side is cooked so as said foodstuff is released therefrom.

2. A machine as defined in claim 1, characterized in that, a second hot plate (32) is arranged beneath the inverted position of said first hot plate (31) whereby said foodstuff released from said first hot plate (31) falls onto said second hot plate (32) with the opposite side of said foodstuff in contact therewith.

3. A machine as defined in claim 2, characterized in that said first hot plate (31) is in the form of an upwardly directed concave disc and a pouring (38) tube is arranged over said disc to pour a predetermined amount of said pre-made food mixture thereon, said pouring tube (38) extends radially over said disc and has radially spaced pouring holes (78) therein; the direction of rotation of said disc relative to said tube (38) is such as to carry said mixture upwardly on the slope of said inclined surface and said pouring tube (38) is adapted to dispense a substantially constant quantity of mixture per surface area of the plate whereby a substantially even thickness of mixture is achieved on said surface.

4. A machine for manufacturing cooked foodstuffs in the form of crepes and the like, characterized in that, said machine includes a first hot plate (31) in the form of a rotatable disc, a pouring tube (38) over said plate for dispensing a predetermind amount of a pre-made food mixture onto an upwardly directed cooking surface of said plate, said surface is inclined to the horizontal and has a shape adapted to form said mixture thereon into a substantially disc-like configuration during rotation, said pouring tube extends substantially radially over said plate and the direction of rotation relative to said tube is such as to carry said mixture upwardly on the slope of said inclined surface, the pouring tube (38) being adapted to dispense a substantially constant quantity of mixture per surface area of the plate, whereby a substantially constant thickness of mixture is achieved on said surface, and said first hot plate (31) is adapted for movement to an inverted position, when one side of said foodstuff is cooked, wherein said partly cooked foodstuff is released so as to fall onto a second hot plate (32) for cooking the other side thereof.

5. A machine according to claim 4, characterized in that, said shape is in the form of an upwardly directed concave disc and a combination of said shape, the angle of said inclination, the speed of said rotation and the rate of said dispensing causes said mixture to form said disc-like configuration which is a thin substantially uniform disc on said surface.

6. A machine according to claim 5, characterized in that, said pouring tube is mounted on a body portion (30) of said machine in a manner facilitating pivotal movement of the tube (38) from said position over said first plate (31) to a position away from said first plate (31) for avoiding coagulation of said mixture in said tube (38) due to heat dissipated by said first plate (31).

7. A machine according to claim 6, characterized in that, said first hot plate (31) is mounted on a rotatable hub (35), thereby said movement of said disc to an inverted position is effected at the appropriate time during a machine cycle, said hub (35) has an ejector mechanism (36) mounted thereon whereby rotation of the hub causes the ejector mechanism (36) to push a completely cooked product off said second hot plate (32) prior to the release of a partly cooked product from said first hot plate (31) onto said second hot plate (32).

8. A machine according to claim 7, characterized in that, said machine includes a skimmer mechanism (34) mounted on said body portion and having a resilient blade (85) adapted for movement into contact with said rotating hot plate (31) when said hot plate is in said inverted position, said blade following the surface contour of said hot plate to thereby release said partly cooked product therefrom in the event that it has adhered to the plate during the cooking process.

9. A machine according to claim 8, characterized in that, said rotatable disc is mounted on a spindle (41) which is rotated by a reversible electric motor (42) within said body portion via a drive shaft (47) and bevel gears (43) between said drive shaft and spindle, and said drive shaft incorporates an electrically operated clutch mechanism (44) in the form of an epicyclic gear train (45) and cam arrangement for imparting by-directional rotational movement to said rotatable hub at the appropriate time during a machine cycle.

10. A machine according to claim 9, characterized in that, separate electric heating elements are mounted on said body portion and extend under the respective hot plates to provide radiant heat thereto, the element (33) associated with said first hot plate extends thereunder when said first hot plate is in the initial or upright position.

11. A machine according to claim 10, characterized in that, said epicyclic gear train comprises a pinion gear (46) fixed to said drive shaft, satellite gears (48) around said pinion and each mounted on a respective shaft (49) fixed relative to said hub, a crown gear (50) surrounding said satellite gears and adapted to run free on said satellite gears when said clutch mechanism is disengaged, and means for engaging said crown gear whereby rotation thereof is prevented so as to cause rotation of said hub from said drive shaft via said satellite gears.

12. A machine according to claim 11, characterized in that, said cam arrangement includes a cam member (51) fixed to said hub, said cam member has first and second stop surfaces (52,53) between which limited rotational movement extends, said means for engaging said crown wheel comprises a spigot (56) adapted to engage between indentations on the outer circumferential surface of said down wheel, said spigot forms part of a control mechanism which includes a further spigot (57) fixed to the first mentioned spigot and spaced therefrom so as to move in unison therewith, said further spigot is adapted to engage one or the other of said stop surfaces to prevent rotation of said hub and when released from a said stop surface allows rotation of said hub until the other of said stop surfaces engages said further spigot, said first mentioned spigot is free of said indentations when said further spigot engages a stop surface and engages said indentations when said further spigot is released.

13. A machine according to claim 12, characterized in that, said control mechanism is actuated by a solenoid (59).

14. A machine according to claim 13, characterized in that a microswitch (61) is engaged by said control mechanism to maintain said solenoid energized during engagement of said clutch mechanism and is released by said control mechanism when said other of said stop surfaces engages said further spigot causing rotation of said driven member to stop and said first mentioned spigot to be carried out of its position between said indentations due to forced rotation of said crown wheel.