CA2060464A1 - Method and apparatus for shaping and baking an edible container - Google Patents

Abstract

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR
SHAPING AND BAKING AN EDIBLE CONTAINER

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
Methods, mean , and apparatus for large scale commercial production for shaping and baking an edible bread-type flour based container, like that of my United States Design Trademark No. 1,53,865, with specially-formulated flour-based dough within a sealed die-set in which oven baking-heat can generate up to 55-lbs. psi. to produce the exemplary container specifications of said Design Trademark which comprises a unitary, deep-elongated-cavity with an open top, uniformly thin 1/4-inch thick walls, and closed ends, thereby forming an attractive border on and around the container's contents.

Description

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~inition~ and ~ .ig~
Because o~ new structurally~ae~thQtic di~r~nces, the container which thi~ inYention i~ design~d to shap~ and bake cannot propQrly bQ identiPied w~th any oX th~ ~peci~lc na~e~
and~or structures used for prior~art edibl~ containers even though it is consumed in ~h~ sam~ mann~r, i.e.; eaten while held by a person's hand. Foods eaten in thi~ ~anner are known in the ~ood indu~try a~ "finger-~oods." "Fing~r-fosd~" are tho~ that can b~ held by a per~on'0 fingers dir~ctly or by holding an edible containsrfpaakage conveyed to t~ mouth w~thout the a~sistance o~ any acces~ory materials, and, ideally, without soiling said ~ing~rs.
An edib}e contain~r b~co~e~ an edibl~ ~inger-food package wh~n ~00d8 ar~ ~illsd, pack0d, and contain~d therein or ther~on, and th~r~by can b~ hand-convey~d to ~ mouth and eaten.
So~e prior-art typ~ 0~ such ~ing~r-~ood adible-container-p~ckag~ hava ~cquir~d ~p~ci~lc n~mo~ ~or th~ir u~ with sp~cl~ic cont~nt~ such a~: hot-dog bun~, h~mbu~ger bun~, tar~-cup~, pita~pook~t breada, burrito and t~co sholl~, and ic~-cr0s~ conQ3~ Th~ae nam~ h~vo acguir~d unigue ~aning~ with con~u~r~ that id~n~ify, and ara g0n~rally d~crlptiv~ o~, 3paci~ic ~unction~ ~n~ ~hapes ~or ~poci~ic ~ood u~

Th~ N~ n By contra~t th~ fing~r-food Qdible cont~in~r which ~his iQvention is de~ign~d to ~hape and bak~ o n~w and its m~rketplac~ exposur~ ~o limited i~ h~s not y~t acquir~d a unique ~eaning with consumer~. ~ut becaus~ said contain~r ha3 a deep c~ntrally reces~@d de~i~n s~ruc~ure, on~ ~ha~ can encircle its contents, it ha~ ths abili~y to pxesent it~ content~ to the cons~mer in a n~atly attrac~ive manner ~at is vi~ibly different from any bun or other ~dible container-packag~. ~o help ~h~

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con~u~r recogniz~ thi~ visibly dl~er~nt d0~gn~d ~hap~ wl~hin the broad ~lnger-~ood clas~ ati~ns I hav~ named it Boat Bun und~r the Rsgistered Trademark No. 1,449,946 and described its appearance under De3ign Trad~maxk No. 1,539,865.
The de~ign o~ the ~oat~ ~un p~r~lts it to hold many dif~erenk kind~ and size~ o~ ~ood cont~nts. Thi~ d~sign is not limitQd by any l~ngth, width, or d~pth dim~n3ion~; nor by the phy~ical charact~ristic~ o~ it~ bak~d dough; such ~a t~xture, hardnes~, softness, weakn~ss, ~trength, or fl~xibility. Its neatly attrac~ive, de~ign/shap~ i~ its only unigu~ li~itation;
which limitation i~ obviou~ly/adequately racognizable in the Dssign Trade~ar~ 1,539,865.
Wi~h thdt limitation th~ r~ces~d shap~ ~ay ba structured to accommodate peculiar r~qu~rem~nt~ ~or p~culiar contents. For thi~ inv~ntion the ~xemplary paculiar contents are a frank~urter/hot-dog and it8 dr~ing~. In the prior-art, univer~al consu~ption of ~rank~urters i~ in th~ wsll known elongat~d ~plit bun known a~ ths ~hot-dog bun~ n Thi~ bun i5 baked u~ing ~ ~tandard whito-bre~d t ~ ~ dough which characteri~tically h~ a ~o~t, ~pongy t~xture, and l~ inch thick, r~latively in~l~xiblo, w~ak wall~ with no cavity.
B~caus~ consu~r~ d~ire th~ ~o~tn~0s and ~pongin~ o~ th~
prior-~rt bun~ tha n~w art o~ thi~ inv~ntion will ~ub~tantially r~tain th~ de~ir~ble charact~ri~tic~0 ~C~U~Q COn~U~er5 di~lik~ the weakn~ss and poor flexibility o~ tho prior-art's hot-dog bun, thi~ in~ention wi}l provide graatly in~r~a~ed str~ngth and ~lexibility in its walls.

~ cco~modating consumer pre~er~nce~ i~ a de~irable o~iective in mark~ting any new productc I~ i3 an objec~iYe of thi3 invention to accommodate and improv~ on ~uch pre~erences and illustra~e this ob~ective through-ou~ thi~ closure by A ) ~
comparing th~ Boat~ Bun with it~ well-known; univ2r~ally-used, priox-art countsrpart, namely th~ elongated xplit bun.
Therafor~, ~or bs~t mark~tablllty i u~d ~ub~tantially the bread-typ~ dough o~ tha prior-art hot-dog bu~ in my pres~nt costly, manually produced, but nevQrtheless successful, small-scale marketing o~ the BoatD ~un. But to ~hape, bak~, and successPully market the ~oat~ Bun for large-scalQ, hlgh volume, commerclal sal~s it i~ necQs ary that it be produced by a low-cost au~omatad production line. In att~mpting to build such a production line I was confronted with several unforeseen intractable probl~m~, which arQ the concern o~ thi~ invention.
During nine year~ of production fro~ 19~2 to 1991, I
shaped and baked my Boat~ 8un edible container with it-~ deep elongated clos~d end cavity by ~anually draping a ~h~et of 1/8-inch thic~ unbaksd dough over a shape-for~ing malQ metal ~old and cov~ring ik with another shape-confor~ing ~emale me~al mold that was l/4~inch all-arvund larger than th~ male ~old, thus allowing th~ inch sheet o~ dough between th~ tWQ metal ~old~ to doubl~ in ~Aickne~ to approximately l/~-inch, With this ~ethod, m~an~, and manually operat~d apparatu~, the ~emale mold ~imply r~t~d unpr~ured upon th~ dough and wa~ ~ree to mov0 upw~rd a~ th~ buking dough expanded and rose u~wardly from ~ha h~t o~ bakiny. ~ecæuse the operations wer~ ~anual ~his production ~ not pra ti~al for the large-volume l~w-cost production ~ethods necessary for larg~cale ~ale~ in the marketplac~. In addition, the unpr~$sured P~le ~old on top of the baking dough produced unpredictabl~ and und~irabl~
non-unifor~ shape~, wa}l thicknes~e , tex~ure~, and sur~ace colors, in the f inished-baked ~oat~ Bun. The re~ult was a finish~d product that wa~ not acceptablQ or larg~-~cale commercial production and sale in a sophi~tic~ted ~ark~kplace that demand~ an attractive uniformity in the goods it buy~.

It was not until 1991 that I ~olved th~ proble~s created by bread~type dough for use with frankfur~er~ in the Boat~ Bun by ~iscovery of unique and prac~ical me~hods and means for larga-~cale production to ~hape and bake my ~oa~ ~un. The ~ollowing disclosur~ and ob-jectiv~ o~ this invention show new and uniqu~ baking ~thods, mean~, and apparatu3e in the commercial baking industry. ~ut the very uniqueness o~ the Boa~
Bun brought on unexpectably severe problems unique in both kind anâdmagnitud~.

The Uni~ue Pr~blem~ o~ Sh~pin~an~ ~aXing t~ ~oat~ Bun The unique d~si~n created s~v~ral uniqu~ shaping and baking problem~; problems never before encountered and/or solved by the baking industry; especially the proble~ requ~ring the si~ulta~eous shaping and baking of the dough unaer sealed high pras~ure~ within a male/femal~ dis-~et.
In dev~loping this invention ~or shaping and baking the Boat~ Bun it ~ventually b~came appar~nt that several dstailed ob~cti~es had to b~ achieved if the several proble~s within the overall shaping and baking proble~ were to be ~olved; and that they all had to b~ 301ved in-co~ina~ion with practical ~ethod~, means, and apparatuses ~or large-scal~ production, ~nd thu~ for it to b2 a co~orci~l succ~s~ in thQ marketpl~ce. All o~ these ob~ectlvo~ are dQ~cribsd and developed herein.
Th~ ov~rall obj~ctiv~ of thi~ invention i~ to provide th~ basic ~Qthod~, ~ean~, and apparatus~ for large scale commercial production o~ ~y ~oat~ Bun container mad~ with a special-formulated bread-typ~ ~lour dough.
By th~ word '9basicl' I mean tho~ m~thods, ~ans, and apparatuses tha~ underlie this invention' unique individual detail~ covering ~lour formula, baking pressure~ and ~echanical move~ents of on-line ~tations necessary for the op~ration of this invention. I do not include the method~ and m~an~ ~or actually fa~tening said individual details on~o th~ moving belts or chains that convey the~ along a production lln~ through a baklng oven.
Such fastening nor~ally involves old ar~. Such details I leave to the option o~ the practitioner o~ thi3 invention.

To achiav~ both ths ovQrall ob~ctiv~ and th~ sQvera ~pecific, detailed, ancillary, and underlying objectives necessary to achieve the overall objective, th~ two mo~t important underlying objective~ are dough formulation and baking under high pressures. Control of thes~ two underlying objectives directly af~ect all the other ancillary objectiYes of thi~ invention.

Obi~ctives of th~ I~vention 1. Methods, Means, and Apparatuses to Produce the Exemplary Boat~ Bun Speci~icaticn~ Fonming ~n Open~Top Cubic Dim~n~ioned Edibla Container with Thi~ible Wall3, a _Dee~l~n~ted cavitY ~nd Clos~d ~nd~
. My ~oat~ ~un may be o~ any length, width and depth depending on the demand~ o~ the marketplace. For thi~ invention its exemplary specifications ar~ an interior 6-inch length, 1-1/4 inche~ width, l-inch depth to accom~odate the 6-inch len~th and 3/4 inch diameter of a ~tandard bun-length frankfurter and it~ dressings. It~ walls are an exe~plary unifor~ thinn~s~ o~ approximately 1~4 inch, and ar~
exc~ptionally ~lexible without brea~ing. No other edible cont~in~r h~ ~v~r ~en comm~rcially made or mark~t~d having the~e ~xe~plary sp2ci~ication~ ~or th~ Boat~ ~un oP this invention. It i~ thore~ore an obje~tive to produc~ said exempl~ry Boat0 Bun ~peci~ications.

2. An Ex~mplary Dough ~or~ulation That Provides Boat~ Bun Walls ~hat Combln~
Ex~ePtionai ~hinness. ~ iP~litY ~ $~x~n~t~
~ he practitioner of this lnvention should be aware of the i~portant roles of both yea~t and a high gluten content in the dough formula to obtain the d~sirablQ objectiv~s o~
thinne~, flexility and ~tr2ngth for the Boat~ Bun'~ walls.
Having exceptional thi.nnes~ and flexibility on the one hand, and 2 a ~
exc¢ptional ~trength on th~ oth~r hand, is an in-opposition and paradoxical co~bination of qualiti~ The qualiti~ o~
exceptional thinness and flexibility would normally re~uc~ the strength of a bun'~ walls. Thi3 would b~ unde~irabl~ for the Boat~ Bun. Becaus~ o~ thinne 3 and flexibility th~ need for uni~ue ~trength 1~ disproportiQnately gr~ater ~han it i~ for any prior axt bun, and it i~ achievable through a uniqu~ dough formulationO
The quality and quantity of th~ ~lour' 5 gluten i~ the main determinant o~ dough str~ngth. But ~or this ~trength to function for th~ Boak~ Bun it ~u~t also have a h$gh lev~l of ~lex and bend. one of the function~ of th~ ye~ t i~ to give the gluten this flex and bend without reducing the r~quired strength.
When setting up a dough formulation, the practitioner hould ~odify both the gluten and y~ast to prGduce whatever ~trength i8 rsquired, along with flex and 90~e bend-wi~hout-breaking, a3 descrlb~d in a compari~on tabl~ b~low. Any bread-type y~aRt dough~ using p~t~t ~lours can b~ proc~ssed throu~h th~ method~ and mean~ o~ thi~ invention. But to attain both th~ ~xceptional ~10x and 3trength gor ~aid Qx~plary use o~
th~ Boa~ Bun ~ho dough ~ormula should giv~ car~ul/~pecial att~ntion to ~h~ ~orc~ntago~ o~ gluten and y~a9t9 ThQ
p~rcentag~ content o~ both of th~ in th~ dough ~or~ula ~hould be ~ub~tantially above the l~v21 used ln nor~al br~ad-bun for~ula~. Flour~ with th~ highe3t gluten cunt~nt plu~ a~ least 3.5% of gluten conc~ntrates ~hould b~ u~Qd and th~ yea~t content should b~ about 50~ higher than in th~ nor~al/average ~read-bun Porfflula~.
Table 1 provides an exemplary dough ~ormula showing ~aid high lev~l of both *yeast and *glute~ in the ~ollowing:

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96 bv W~ ht *Hiyh gluten pa'cent ~lour 49. Oo Water 24 . 00 *Yea~t 6. 00 Vegetable shortening 6 . 00 Invsrt sugar 5 . 00 ~Vital wheat glutan 3 . 50 Egg solid~ 1. 50 Salt ~,~ 50 Caramel colc~r 1. 00 Dou~ pice 1. 00 ~ilk whay . go HB3,9 dQugh cQnditioner/pre~ervativs 60 100. 00%

HB3 dough conditioner/pr~ervativ~ i~ availabl~ fro~

aravan Product~ Co., Inc., Totpwa, New Jer3ey 07512.

Th~ pr~otition~r can ~ake con3iderablQ chang0s in th~
ingredient percentage~ ~hown in the exemplary dough formula ~or those ingredi~nt~ that a~fect. olor, tast2, and i~lavor, provided they don't affect con~umer acceptability o~ the baked bun.
But change~ in glut~n and yeast should bs don~ very care~ully b~3c2lu~ they d~t~r~ine t~xtur~ xibility, an phy~ical str~ngth o~ the baked dolagh. }~ny chang~a should be don~3 only a~t~r thoroughly t~ting consu~er acceptability in ~he marketpl~G~. ~y own ~3xperience in the n~arketplaa~ dictates tha~
prudsnc~ and wi~do~ i~ b~st senr~d i~ th6~ perc~ntaqe~ showr abov~ ~or gluton ~nd y~3ast are r~tain~d.
So that th~ przlc~ion~r may ha~ a r~fQr~nc~ for ~he paradoxical in-con~bination t~inna~s, îlex~bility, and ~trength that i~ de~irabl~ ~or th~ Boat~ls Bun I will u~ hlEs v~ry f,amil iar prior art 3plit: bu~ to illustrate ~h~ co~pari~on.
Table 2 illu~trat~ th~ compara~iv~ wall differences by:
a~ U~ing a PQ10UZe ~odel ~-T ~or~ion rod to measure in avoirdupoi~ ounce~ ~he break-apar~ streng~h und~r pull~apart pr~ssure~. And, b. Bending saT~pl~ ~trip1 oP ~3aid wall~ around a 90~
(righ~ angle) corner to measur~ th~ ~xterlt og ~l~xibility be~s~re breaking .

CQ~ara~iv~ Wall Stren~ an~ ll~Y

Break-~part Strength ~verag~ Wall W~dth o~ Nea~urad By Th~ckne~ ~l~a~ ~u~o~ Pressure a.
Prior-art bun1 1~8-inch l-in ::h 2-oz .
Thc Boat 1~, Bun 1/4-inch 1 inch ~-oz.

I,ength o~ Flaxibility Mea~ured by Wall Sample ng~Q~ Bend. _ b.
Prior-art bun1 1/8-inch 5-inc:h 40-Th~ Boat~g Bun1/4-inch 5-inch so Thus, my in-combination paradoxica~l ob~ctive~; of thinne~ lexlbil ity; and strength ar~ achiev~d wi~h Boat~D Bun wall~ that are 350% thinner than thQ wall~ of' th~ prior-art (1~4" v~. 1 1/8~ nd break-ap~rt ~3tren~3th that i3 ~t le~st t~o-tim~ (100%) gr~a~x a~ mea~ured by both pull-pr~ure~
~4-oz. v~. 2-oz.) and a 125~ greater ~lexibility a~ m~a~ured by ~gl~ b~d gO~ 0-), 3. A Die-S~t, Relea~ably ~Qal2d ~og~h~r to With~t~nd a Maxi~um o~ 5~-lb~. p~i. IntQrnal P~e~sure~ ~or Fas~ Shapin~ ~nd Baking Edibl~
Contain~r Walls That ar~ Pr~cision-St~uctur~d ~or Uni~or~ Thinness, Flexibility, and Strength, ~hro~out th~ Entire stxyL~ture of S~ld CQnt ~ ner To produce a ~rankfurter-cont~nt-holding con~ainer size ~or th2 prior-art hot~dog bun reguireY a 2-oæ. piece of ~ough, whil~ th~ ~ize ~or the exempla~y/comparative ~rankfurter Boat~
~un r~guir~s a 1.25 oz. pi~ce o~ dough. Table 3 co~pare~ the processing and baking times for said r~p~c~ive exemplary pieces o~ dough.

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.Table ~
Exemplary Compari~on o~ Dough-Proce~ing/Baking Procedures and Times Por the Prlor-Art Elo~ated Split ~un Vçr3us the Boat~ Bun . TI~E
2.~-oz. 1.25-oz.
Pro~essinq/bak.inq Procedure~Prior-art bun Bo~t~ ~un Fer~en~ation at 82-F. ~
~60-minute~ 25-minutes Proofing (~orming) at 107~FJ

Shaping & Baking in 380~F. oven ~0-minutes 13-minutes ln non-~aaled in sea}ed pan & cover die-set Total proce~ingJbaking time80-minut~ 43-minutes Th~ abov~ exe~plary compari~on graphi~ally shows the radioal reduction in dough-processing~baking ti~Q o~ the Boat~
Bun v~rsu~ the prior-art split bun that i~ th~ re~ult o~ baking under maximum of 55-lbs. p5i prsssure. Th~ 55-lbs. p~i maximum pres~urQ i~ only a practical operating max~mum. At this maximum the shaping o~ tha ~aking dough i~ compl~te. There is no nePd for a higher pres~ur~. Howev~r, i~ th~ pra~sure ~hould inadvertently ~xc~od 55-lb~. p~i, thi3 would not ~lqnl~lcantly af~ect th~ qu~llty o~ the baked bun.
~ h~ 80-nlnute total tims requir~d by tha prior-art's co~bined ~er~ntation, proofing, and baklng i8 reduced to 4 3 -minute~ by th~ thod~, means, and app~ratus~ o~ this invention for producing the Boat ag Bun . This produc~ the following comparative re~ults-1. a .75-oz., or 37.5% reduction in dough weight;
2. a 35-1ainutes (60-minO v~. 25-~in~ ) or 58% reduction in the two combine~ ~unctions of ~erm~nta~ion and proof ing b~cau~e most of th~se two function~; are faat ~inished within the sealed pressur~3~ of` said die-set during the 18-minut~ baking ti~e;
3. a 3~ ~Rinutes, or 46% reductiorl in ~he three overall combined function~ of fermentation, proofing, and baking;

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4. all o~ thes~ ~a~or proce~lng reduction~ translate into ~ub~tantlal overall monetary ~a~ings in op~rating co~ts.
Th~Ae reductions ara obtained through u~ o~ th~ uniqu~ method~, mean~, and apparatuse~ compri~ing a prQ~ure-seal~d die-set ~or ~haping and baking the di~ensions of th~ Boat~ Bun, a~ de~cribed in bha next ob;ective and the drawlngs.
Prior-art frankfurter-type split-bun~, and any other yea-~t-rai~ed bread-type dough bun~ r have never had their doughs com~ercially proce sed, ~ormed, and baked under positive, seale~, high preAsure~. Their doughs have alway~ be~n proces~ed, formed, and baked in open, floating-cover, or 1005a-~itting pan~ or ~ram~ that do not enclo~e the dough within a sealed ~re3surized spac~. .
Th~ir dough3 ar~ alway~ expo~ed to ~ome oYen ambient-air te~psra~ure~, and ar~ frQ~ ~o rls~, expand, or contract whil2 being f~rmented, retardad, proo~ed and baked within the confino~ o~ their own open and/or non-~eal~d pans ~o whate~er ~ize, ~hap~, textur~, and wall thic~n~s th~ir quantity/w~ight o~ dough, and th~ir tim~/temp~ratur~ o~ baking, produc~s. ~hera i~ no public r2co~d o~ br~ad-typ~ y~a~t raised dough3 b*ing b~k~d und~r th~ ~eal~d high pre3sures r~uired for my inv~ntion. Th~ b~king indus*ry appar~ntly ha~ never b~en con~rontQd ~ith th~ need for, and~or the probl~ of, ~his kind of baking.
~ ut this n~ed and thi~ proble~ li~8 at th~ heart of thi~ in~ention. Without th~ con~in~d high pr~ures g~nerated during the baking of th~ Boat~ Bun naith~r tho individual nor th~ combined obj~ctive~ of thi~ invention could be achiev@d.
Thu3 the obj~ctive of fa~t forming the Boat0 Bun'~ con~ainer walls, not only produces time, en~rgy, and ~pac~ ~aving advantages over th~ prior-ar~, but also the related s~bs~antial monetary ~avings.

~ J~/l It 1~ theræ~ore an o~ectlvQ o~ ~his invention to shape and hak~ my contain~r walls withir a ~e~led di2 ~t with heat-gen~ratad high pre~sure~.

D~c~iption o~ th~ Inven~ion ~ An exe~plification of th~ ~Qthod~, means and their sQquential st~ps, th~t I have d2vi~Qd ~or shaping and baking the Boat~ Bun under high pr~ur2 utilizes a hing~d clamping frame ~or rel~asably loc~ing a die-set under baking pr23~ur~ within said die-set up to 5~ lbY. p8i. A detail~d de~cription o~ said frame is pre~ent~d in thQ acco~panying drawing9.
Within said die ~et and cla~ping ~ram~ th~
~haping-baking o~ said dough take~ plac~ ac follows:
A di~-~et compri~ing a pair of m~tchi~g and ne~ting male and female dies formsd ~rom 22 g~ge ~he~t metal or ther~oplastic, with any standard dough-relea~e agent covering its dough-contacting ~r~aces, having a unl~or~ open ~paced r~lationship with an ~xe~plary 1/4 inch b~tw~n ~aid di~3 to providQ th~ thin unl~or~ wall thickn~ requ~r~d ~or the Boat~
Bun; a piec~ o~ mix~d, non-~erment~d/retard~dOprco~ed, high gluten, bro~d~typ~ dough, with 6% (b~ tota} dough w~ight) yeast within its ~or~ula, hæl~ within s~id ~p~c~ ~tw~en ~d di~;
said dou~h-holdlng di~s c~nt¢rad and pr~s~d tightly ~ogeth¢r in ~aid sp~c~d relationship, th~reby spreading out ~aid ~ough within said ~pac~; and th~n relea~ably locked t~g~ther in a hinged clamping ~ra~e in po~itive ~eal~d r~lationship to confin~
the optimum intern~l 55-lb~. p~i high pre~uro g~nsr~ted by a~out 350-F baking heat, wher~by said ~r~su~e/h~at will expand ~aid dough to ~ aid space and ~hape/bake it in about l~-~inute~; said r~lea ~ble lock b~ing ~pring-loa~@~ ~o provide int~rnal pres~ure r~ f after it reach8~ a predetermined pressur~ level under $5-lbs. psi.

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In an ~xeD~plary proce~ o~ baking, the rapid expansior o~ th~ ds:~ugh fro~n a quiescent pieca into a complet~d E~oat~, Bun within said die-set proceeds in the following step~:
B~fore bakinq: a 1 1/4~oz. elongated pi~ce of dough is d~po~ited into the bottom of the feDIale member o~ th~ di~-set.
Th~n the mal~ member i~ mated and centered within th~ ~emale ab~r partially ~lal:tening and ~preading th~a dough-piece . o it occupie~ about 2 o:~ th~ 7- ::u . inch~Ei within 'che 1/4-inch space between ~aid di~ t. Said dough-vccupied die-set is then m~chanically ~;ealed by clamping within a spring-loaded rel~asable locking frame~, and plac~d in th~ baking oven.
Durin~ baking: The axpan~ion of ~aid dough i~ v~ry ~ .
slow during thQ fir~t hal~ oi~ its 18-minute baking time-cycle.
After abollt ~ 2-minutea o~ th~ baking cycle, when th~ dough reaches about 170 - F., it has a rapid expansion that within about 3-minute3 s~tantially ~ill th~ dough into th~ entlre op~n ~pace within ~aid die-s~t. ~uring the r~maining 3-mimltes o~
baking time, thsa dough r~aches about 3~0-F~, ~h~ pr~s~ure rises to a pred~ter~in~d lev~l und~r 55-lb3. pBi, the~ dough co~pletes its expan~lon~ compacted, and ~ully ~hapecl/ba}ced within said die ~Qt a~ ~XC~88iV~!I int~rnal prQssuro i~ rel$eved by ~aid ~pring-load~d rOE31~a~abl~ lock.
At the end o~ said 18-~inutes shas pin~baklng cycle said di~-se~ i~ unlo¢ked, ~parated, and ~aid ~e~ale die is ~urned upsid~ down; whereupon ~aid bak~d 13oat ,~, B~m will ~all out of ~aid di~, ready for packaging and shipping.
It will b~3 under~tood by ~killed practition~rs that considerabl2 variation~ may be laad~ in th~ Qxe~plary ~pecification~ o~ my invention, a~3 de~cribed above, without departing from it~ ~pirit or e~sence., For example, optional me~hod~ rOr r~31ievirg excessive internal pres~;ure ::an b~3 ~hrough a seriç~s o~ . 001 inch diameter hole3 located along ~he 2dges of said ~a~ale die where th~

~amale and mals di~s IZ~Q~, or through pro~ ur~-induced ~eparation o~ the dle-set it~ withisl a 1008e~1y clamped clampinq ~ra~ through said hole~ or through said pressura-induced separation o~ said die-set that baked dough, called fla~hing, can/will extrrude out of ~aid dl~-~et. It $-~ at ~aid hole~ or sf3paration that said ~lashingE~ can become part of thQ edg~s o~ ~aid baked Boat,!l, Bun. I$ ~aid rlashing~ are ex~Q~sive, wheth~r through said holQ~ or thrc~ugh ~aid di~-set separa~ion, they can 2aqily and quickly be trimmed off before packaging aid shaped/baked Boat x Bun.
The most dif~icult optional m~thod i~ to provide perf~act, uniform, consist~nt control ov~r all th~ variabl~ that af~ect th~ int~rnal die-s~t pre ~ure~ durinq th~ baXing proce3~e~ o~ my Boat0 Bun. These variable~ include dough formulation and w~ight; the pre-baking teD~perature~3 during mixinq and cutting; and the baking its~lf. I~ pQrfect control c:an be attained ov~r said variabl~a~ th~n ~aid baking dough could i~ill ~a.id di~ t p~r~ectly with a minimum Or pr~uro and no extruded dough ila~ ing. Th~ e~e~:t would be~ z~n ~V~Il exchange b~w~en th8 3)aksd dough ~nd the alx ~ithin th~s ~ix~d csbic ~pace withln l:h~ dl~ ~t2 . ThB a ~ r would ba incorporated into the air-c~ll structur~ oit the bak~d dough. I~ th~ practitioner of thi3 in~ention e~anno~ attain ~uch a practical-op~rating perfect conl:rol oP ~id vari~bl~s, then provi~ion ~or r~ ro~
~laXCQ~3~3iV0 pre~sllre mu~t be mada with m~aln~, ~uch a~ the sxQ~pl~ry provi~ion di~s::lo~d in thi~ v~antion.
The invention i5 illu~trated in th~ acc:oEIp~nying drawings and described by the ~ollowing d~ltailç!d explanations oP
the drawing~ wherein my die-se~s are w~lded together in groups Or PourO Th~ ~equence of the numbered F~gur2~ al~o describe the ~equenc~ of my procs6~ing procedure~
Fig. 1 i~ a per~pective view o~ a dle ~ek A with the ~ale and ~emale member3 separa ed and lying alongside each f.~

o~her. The m~le dia~ A-l include paripheral rlange~ l-a and twelve p~rlpherally-located clip~ 4, weldQd togethex with three (seen in Fig. 2) straps 3, raady ~or tip-over into and onto four welded-together ~emale dia~ A-2~ The twelve clip~ keep the male dies in centered position within the ~our welded-together ~emale diegO Two tabs 5 welded on the f~alQ die~ ~a~ilitatQ
separation of the ~oat~ ~un-containing di~-sets a~ter baking.
Fig. 2 is a perspective vi~w o~ th0 die-~et with the mal~ die~ l in elavation above the ~ale dies A-2. The male dies are welded to three strap~ 3 and ar~ poised ~or insertion into ~h~ female die~ A 2, which contain ~lnger~ o~ 5-oz.
unbaked.dough b.
Fig. 3 i3 a per~pective view o~ th~ mall~ dies A-1 inserted within the ~emale dies A-2 to ~orm ~our di~ ~sts with ~aid diss centerad and held closad tog~th~r by clips 4, wi~h unbaked dough (not vis~bl~) in ide the di~-set~.
Fig. 4 i~ a cro~s-section YieW taken along line X X o~
Fig. 3 ~howinq p~rti~lly-baked dough 6 ~illing ~he l/~-inch pac~ ~-a betw~en the m~le and r~male die~. Thi$ i~ the condition/po~ition o~ said dough a~t~r about 12-minuts~ in the baking cyclo~
Fig. 5 i~ a per~p~ctiv~ vi~w o~ th~ di~-~ets ~ within an open cla~plng-~rame 7, wlth th~ di~-s~ts po~ition~d in readin~s ~or said clamping-~ra~ to be clo~d ~nd locked ov~r the~.
Fig. 5-A i~ a p~rspec~ive vi~w o~ cla~plng fra~ 7 in open po.ition and important member~ o~ ~aid ~rame in both ssambled and di~assembled view~. ~okQ Y-A, hown assembled insid~ the circl3 and di~assembled in~ide th~ br~cket, is the passiv~/~tationary ~emb~r of said ~ram~ locking a~embly and include3 angl~d shoulder~ x, rece~3e~ y, and pillow-block z.

Fig. 50B ig a p~r~pec~ive horizontal, disas~embled-from-said frame, view of the insid~ and out~ide of the 2 9 ~
active/mov@ahle lock~bolt~and~pin ~emb~r~ o~ ~aid ~r~e'~locking a~embly. Pin d i8 po~itioned in ~lot d-1, under pres~urs from spring d-2, with 9aid pre~ure calibratable and maintainable at any desired pressure up to 55-lb~. p3i by ad~ustinq spring pre~sure with adjustable ~cr~w d-3~ Fig. V-~, encixcled in ellip~a, shows said active/~ov@able member of said fra~' 3 locking a~s~mbly in vartical po~itlon ~ully assembled within said frame.
Fig. 5-C i~ a persp~ctive view of both the disassembled part~ (in bracket) and the assembled part~ V-C ~in circle) o~
the as~e~bly that holds said locking a~embly within aid frame, co~pri~ing yolk x-l, pillow-block y~l~ and pinion z-l .
Fig. 6 i~ a p~rspectiva ViQW 0~ die-~et~ A in clamped-locked position within clamping fra~Q 7 with locking pin d in spring-pressured po~ition locked within rece3s y, with dough filling the sp~ce (invisib}e) b~tween th~ male and female dies ready to entQr, bake in~id~, and exit a baking ov~n. When the pre~urs ~rom th~ ba~ing~axpanding dough with~n the die-sets is enough to lift pin d out oP r~C~ae~ y, th~n pin d will ~lide down angled shoulders x whereby ~aid cla~ping ~r~ unlocked and op~n~d, and ~ald di~ ta, with thei~ ~nclo~d baked dough, rQ~ovabl~ ~ro~ ~aid cla~ping fra~. .
Fig. 7 i~ a p~rspectiv~ vi~w ~ho~-ing th~ op~ned frame 7 aftar ~aking, with ~alQ di~ remoYed, and bak~d bun 8 lying within thQ ~emale di~.
Fig. 8 i~ a p~spectiv~ vi~ o~ ~hæ b~ksd bun~ 8 being tipp~d out of th~ir ~e~al~ die~ A2 b~tto~ ~id~ up, Fig. 9 i~ a perspective full~cale vi~w of ~y exemplary bun 8 ~op-side up with-a ~rankfurter 9 r~ iding within said bun.
Whil~ in th~ ~oregoing specifcation a d~tail~d d~cription of a ~p~ci~ic embodim~n~ of th~ ~ nY~n~ion wa~ set ~orth for the purpose o~ illu~tration, 1~ will be und~rstood ~hat many o~ ~he detail~ herein giv~n may be vari~d con~iderably by tho~e skilled in th~ art without depar~ing rro~ the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (21)

1. Apparatus for shaping and baking an elongated, deep-cavity, open top-side, closed-ends, edible container, comprising a die-set of complementary shape-conforming male and female dies nesting within each other and uniformly spaced apart by a predetermined space in which a piece of bread-type flour dough may be contained, shaped, and baked by oven-heat-generated pressure inside said space when said dies are sealed together within a clamping frame having a releasable lock.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said space is an exemplary 1/4-inch whereby said container's walls are shaped and baked to an exerplary uniform 1/4-inch thickness.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 including dough within said space which contain levels of gluten and yeast substantially above the levels in normal bread-type doughs.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 including means for releasably clamping the male and female dies o hold internal pressure up to 55-lbs. psi during baking.

5. The apparatus of claim 4 in which said clamping means includes spring-loaded releasable locked clamping apparatus.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 including a spring which is calibrated to open said clamping apparatus at a specified pressure up to 55-lbs. psi within said sealed die-set.

7. The apparatus of claim 4 in which said clamping means holds said die-set while it is within an oven at temperatures that generate internal pressures within said die-set up to 55-lbs psi.

8. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said space has exemplary dimesions of 5-inch length, 1-1/4-inch width, and 1-inch depth.

9. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said male and female members of said die-set are made with 22-gage sheet metal or thermoplastic.

10. The apparatus of claim 1 including means for unlocking and unclamping the frame after the container is baked whereby said die-set can be pulled apart to release said baked container from said die-set.

11. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said releasable lock is spring-loaded to release a locking pin when the internal pressure within the baking-heat-exposed die-set reaches a pre-determined level under 55-lbs. psi.

12. An apparatus for holding and baking an edible, elongated, thin-walled, boat-like container comprising a die-set with a dough-containing fixed space between its male and female members, and a releaseable-locked hinged frame which function.
as a clamp around said die-set while it is within a heated baking oven.

13. In combination:
a) a die-set with shape-conforming, spaced-apart male and female members having an internal space that will shape and bake an edible container with a cavity whose exemplary internal dimensions are 6-inches long, 1 1/4-inches wide, and 1-inch deep;

b) flour dough in the space between said male and female members of said die-set; and c) a hinged frame that clamps and seals said dough containing die-set together with a spring-loaded lock that is calibrated to open when a specified internal pressure under 55-lbs. psi is reached.

14. A method of shaping and baking an elongated, open top-side edible container comprising the steps of inserting a piece of bread-type flour dough into a space formed by nested male and female dies, clamping the dies together so that they will not move apart until a predetermined internal pressure is reached, inserting the clamped dies and the dough into an oven and baking the dough, releasing the clamped dies when said predetermined internal pressure is reached, removing the dies and the baked dough from the oven, and removing the baked dough from dies.

15. The method of claim 14 in which said dough includes high gluten and yeast content.

16. The method of claim is in which said dough contains high gluten flour and about 3.5% of gluten concentrate by weight of total dough weight.

17. The method of claim 16 in which said dough contains about 6% of yeast by weight of total dough weight.

18. The method of claim 14 in which said clamped dies are released when said internal pressure reaches about 55 psi.

19. The method of clam 14 in which the baked dough has interior dimensions of about 6-inch length, 1 1/4-inch width, and 1-inch depth.

20. The method of claim 14 which said baked dough has walls that are 350% thinner, 125% more flexible, and 100%
greater strength-against-breaking in comparsion to the prior-art's elongated split bun.

21. The method of claim 14 in which said dough has walls that are flexible and bendable without breaking.