Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A21—BAKING; EDIBLE DOUGHS
  • A21C—MACHINES OR EQUIPMENT FOR MAKING OR PROCESSING DOUGHS; HANDLING BAKED ARTICLES MADE FROM DOUGH
  • A21C9/00—Other apparatus for handling dough or dough pieces
  • A21C9/08—Depositing, arranging and conveying apparatus for handling pieces, e.g. sheets of dough

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for adjusting the length of and straighten ⁇ ing an elongate flexible, preferably cylindrical body of a plastic material, said body being imparted a ro- tary movement in order, finally, to be completely straightened by means of a stop flap and, optionally, a turning device.
• the apparatus is especially useful when disposed between a dough moulder and a freezer or oven, the elongate flexible bodies being pieces of dough.
• the present invention therefore aims at providing a method and an apparatus for adjusting the length of the pieces of dough supplied from a dough-moulding machine without necessitating cutting said pieces.
• the apparatus should also allow centering the pieces of dough on the conveyor. Further, the apparatus should allow, if desired, straightening curved pieces of dough before these are delivered to a following processing step.
• the apparatus should permit being dis ⁇ posed at an existing conveyor between a dough-moulding machine and e.g. a freezer.
• an apparatus for adjusting the length of an elongate flexible body having a central portion and two end portions and consisting of a plastic material which apparatus is characterized by a supporting surface for carrying said body after it has been prepared with a length which is at least equal to a desired length, and means for imparting a rotary movement to said body about its longitudinal axis while moving re ⁇ lative to the supporting surface, if the length of the body after said preparation exceeds the desired length.
• several such length-adjusting and centering means are disposed along a conveyor between a dough-moulding machine and the infeed conveyor of a freezer.
• sensors may be provided which detect an excessive length of a piece of dough delivered by the dough-moulding machine and produce signals in response thereto, a control unit, responsive to said signals, being arranged to activate the means for ro- tating the body.
• sensors can be provided which produce signals corresponding to the position of a body, the control unit selecting and controlling the means re ⁇ quired for centering the body on the supporting sur- face.
• novel and distinctive features of the inven ⁇ tion thus reside in that a body having an excessive length is rotated about its longitudinal axis and that the equally long bodies are thereafter completely straightened.
• Fig. 1 is a schematic top plan view of a part of a conveyor included in a first embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 2 is a section taken along the line A-A in Fig. 1 of the apparatus according to the invention
• Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a part of the apparatus in Figs. 1 and 2;
• Fig. 4 schematically- shows an example of the provision of an apparatus according to the present invention between a dough moulder, preparing curved pieces of dough of different length, and a freezer or an oven;
• Fig. 5 is a schematic top plan view of a part of a conveyor provided with inventive flaps according to a second embodiment of the present invention
• Fig. 6 is a schematic side view of the preferred flap according to Fig. 5 in a first, lowered position (full line) and in a second, raised position (dashed line) ;
• Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a turning device in a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
• Fig. 8 is a perspective view of a stop flap in a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• a first embodi ⁇ ment of an apparatus comprising a belt conveyor 2 which supports curved pieces of dough 4 of varying length supplied by a dough- moulding machine D (see Fig. 4).
• the belt conveyor has marginal parts 6, 8 initially being in a substantially horizontal position (see Fig. 1) in which they form a planar surface with a central part 10 of the belt con ⁇ veyor 2.
• pieces of dough 4 of excessive length will be located on the central part 10 with their end portions 12 located on the marginal parts 6 and 8 (see Fig. 1).
• the belt conveyor 2 and, thus, the pieces of dough 4 travel in a direction indicated by an arrow
• Each section 14 has a substantially vertical lateral part 16 against which the raised marginal part 6, 8 will rest, and a substantially horizontal top part 18 fixed to the top face of the section 14 and extending from the la ⁇ teral part 16 thereof towards the centre of the conveyor belt 2.
• the lateral part 16 has a height which is sub ⁇ stantially equal to the width of the marginal part 6, 8.
• the top part 18, fixed to the lateral part 16 thus restricts the freedom of movement of the raised marginal part 6, 8 in the vertical plane, a sharp corner 20 being defined between the central part 10 and the raised marginal part 6, 8.
• holders 22 carrying low-friction ele ⁇ ments, such as balls 24, are provided at the outer end of the top part 18.
• the pieces of dough 4', with raised end portions 12, proceed to an engagement device which in this case is a net 26.
• the net 26 can prefer ⁇ ably be raised and lowered and, in this embodiment, ex ⁇ tends substantially transversely of the direction of tra ⁇ vel of the belt conveyor 2. In its lowered position, the net 26 is trailing on the central part 10, which is preferred.
• the piece of dough 4' arrives at the net 26 where it is braked and imparted a rotary move ⁇ ment since the belt conveyor 2 is moving at a constant speed.
• the piece of dough 4 1 thus rolls underneath the net 26, whereby the end portions 12 are rolled into the piece of dough which after this treatment will exhibit the desired length.
• the straight piece of dough 4" has the same weight as the piece of dough 4'. After this shortening operation, which actually also entails a certain straightening of the originally curved piece of dough 4, the piece of dough 4" can be conveyed on to other means, such as a freezer or an oven M (see Fig. 4) for further processing.
• FIGs. 4-6 there is shown a second preferred embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention, where rotation alone is used for shortening the pieces of dough. Since this preferred embodiment basically corresponds to the first embodiment illu ⁇ strated in Figs. 1-3, equivalent parts have been given the same reference numerals.
• a plurality of lower- able flaps 28A, 28B; 30A, 30B; 32A, 32B are arranged in pairs above a conveyor 2 in such a manner that the side edges of the flaps of each pair of flaps 28, 30, 32 make an angle with marginal parts 6 and 8 provided at the side of a central part 10 of the conveyor 2 (see Fig. 5).
• the marginal parts 6, 8 in this preferred embodiment remain hori ⁇ zontal .
• Sensors 38 are pro- vided adjacent the belt conveyor 2, as illustrated in Fig. 5.
• the sensors 38 sense the length of the pieces of dough 4 supplied by a dough-moulding machine D, and more specifically whether the pieces of dough have an excessive length, i.e. exceeding a desired length, and produce signals corresponding to such lengths.
• a control means 40 controls the height of the respective flap above the central part 10.
• the control means 40 controls whether some or all of the flaps should be lowered. If, for instance, a piece of dough 4 is located on the central part 10 and on only one marginal part 6 or 8, i.e. the piece of dough 4 is not centered on the belt conveyor 2, the flap or flaps covering the half of the central part 10 where the length of the piece of dough is deemed to be correct are not lowered, whereas the other flap in the pair of flaps 28, 30, 32 is lowered for working the piece of dough, i.e. rolling the end portion 12.
• the curved pieces of dough 4 supplied by the dough- moulding machine D may be of different length and may not be centered on the supporting surface 2, i.e. on the central part 10 of the supporting surface 2 and on the marginal part 6 and/or 8 (see Fig. 5).
• the dough-moulding machine is so set that the pieces of dough are given a length which is at least equal to a desired length, i.e. the pieces of dough are at least on average made too long purposely.
• the sensors 38 detect the presence of excessive end portions 12 and produce the signals used by the control means 40 for controlling flap-actuating means (not shown).
• the flaps of which only one is illustrated in Fig. 6, have a straight part 42 affecting the pieces of dough, and a part 44 connected to operating means (not shown), and can occupy at least two positions, viz. a first, inoperative position (indicated by a dashed line in Fig. 6) in which the flap is raised and, thus, allows free passage of the piece of dough, and a second position (indicated by a full line in
• Fig. 6 which is preferably occupied when the operat ⁇ ing means of the flap is actuated and in which the flap is lowered, making an angle with the horizontal plane for affecting the piece of dough passing under the flap.
• Each flap preferably is so lowerable that, when in the lowered position, its lowermost part is at a height above the central part 10 corresponding to about five eighths of the diameter of the piece of dough.
• a piece of dough 4 with an end portion 12 will thus, after detection of the position of the end por ⁇ tion on the supporting surface 2, reach the first pair of flaps 28.
• the corresponding flap in the first pair of flaps 28 is actuated, i.e. brought to the lowered position as the piece of dough 4' is passing.
• the flap will then brake the piece of dough and impart a rotary movement to it.
• the flaps in the second pair of flaps 30 are actuated, i.e. a corresponding operation for adjusting the length of and centering the pieces of dough 4' as described in connection with the first pair of flaps 28 is initiated.
• the apparatus is preferably provided with a plu ⁇ rality of such pairs of flaps.
• a plu ⁇ rality of such pairs of flaps In practice, it has been found that two or three pairs of flaps are suffi ⁇ cient for shortening and centering almost all existing pieces of dough of excessive length and/or not centered on the supporting surface 2.
• the preferred embodiment of the ap ⁇ paratus according to the present invention has a stop flap 48 optionally cooperating with a turning device 46.
• the turning device consists of an elongate trough disposed transversely of the direction of travel of the supporting surface (see Fig. 4) and having two substantially circular end walls 50, 52, which are intended to be fixed to an attachment (not shown) for the turning device and which carry sensors 54, 56, and two long sides 58, 60.
• the long side 60 of the turning device facing away from a terminal roller 62 serves as a roll-off surface for transferring a piece of dough to a following belt.
• the stop flap 48 consists of a preferably right-angled section 64 having two long sides 66, 68 and disposed transversely of the direction of travel of the supporting surface at a distance from the terminal roller 62 and the turning device 46 (see Fig. 4).
• the stop flap 48 also has two end walls 70, 72 to be fixed to an attachment (not shown) for the stop flap.
• the operation of the stop flap 48 and of the turning device 46 is controlled by means of signals produced by the above-mentioned sensors 38 for detect ⁇ ing the position of the pieces of dough on the support- ing surface 2 or by means of signals from sensors (not shown) provided especially for this purpose.
• the stop flap is lowered when a piece of dough, carried along by the supporting surface 2 and centered after the pairs of flaps 28, 30, 32, approaches the stop flap.
• the stop flap engages the piece of dough for a certain predetermined period of time and is thereafter raised to allow free passage of the piece of dough which is now substantially straight. Since the stop flap 48 is disposed immediately in front of a terminal roller 74, the piece of dough 4" will almost immediately drop onto e.g. the conveyor of an oven or a freezer.
• the design of the turning device 46 ensures an adjustment of the straightness of the piece of dough before the stop flap, should this alone not be able to completely straighten the pieces of dough, the long side 60 of the turning device facing away from the terminal roller serving as a roll-off surface for maintaining the straightness of the piece of dough in connection with the transfer thereof.
• the thus operating apparatus prevents stoppage in freezers or ovens because of excessively long pieces of dough to be frozen or baked.
• the compact design of the apparatus makes it easy to supplement existing plants, the apparatus being preferably disposed between a dough-moulding machine and a freezer/an oven.
• the net used in the first embodiment and the pairs of flaps used in the second, preferred embodiment may be replaced by other means performing the same function.
• the net of the first embodiment may also consist of a rigid, ver ⁇ tically movable plate or a pair of plates, e.g. of plastic or sheet metal .
• the side of the plate or each plate which is intended to engage the piece of dough or a portion thereof for imparting a rotary movement thereto and consequently shortening the piece of dough should have a surface which produces sufficient fric ⁇ tion against the piece of dough to make it rotate.
• a layer of foam plastic or the like may advantageously be provided. In this man- ner, the flaps need not be actively pressed against the piece of dough but can impart a rotary movement to the piece of dough simply by their own weight.
• the invention is generally applicable for adjusting the length of any elongate, flexible, preferably cylindrical bodies of plastic material.

Landscapes

• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Shaping Of Tube Ends By Bending Or Straightening (AREA)
• Tyre Moulding (AREA)
• Specific Conveyance Elements (AREA)
• Manufacturing And Processing Devices For Dough (AREA)
• Formation And Processing Of Food Products (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

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• 1988
  • 1988-02-18 SE SE8800592A patent/SE8800592L/ not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1988-08-02 JP JP50725188A patent/JPH03503717A/ja active Pending
  • 1988-08-02 EP EP19880907851 patent/EP0401218A1/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1988-08-02 WO PCT/SE1988/000393 patent/WO1989007397A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1988-10-05 ES ES8803013A patent/ES2010823A6/es not_active Expired

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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