Classifications

• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A21—BAKING; EDIBLE DOUGHS
  • A21C—MACHINES OR EQUIPMENT FOR MAKING OR PROCESSING DOUGHS; HANDLING BAKED ARTICLES MADE FROM DOUGH
  • A21C5/00—Dough-dividing machines
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A21—BAKING; EDIBLE DOUGHS
  • A21C—MACHINES OR EQUIPMENT FOR MAKING OR PROCESSING DOUGHS; HANDLING BAKED ARTICLES MADE FROM DOUGH
  • A21C11/00—Other machines for forming the dough into its final shape before cooking or baking
  • A21C11/10—Other machines for forming the dough into its final shape before cooking or baking combined with cutting apparatus
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A21—BAKING; EDIBLE DOUGHS
  • A21C—MACHINES OR EQUIPMENT FOR MAKING OR PROCESSING DOUGHS; HANDLING BAKED ARTICLES MADE FROM DOUGH
  • A21C3/00—Machines or apparatus for shaping batches of dough before subdivision
  • A21C3/04—Dough-extruding machines ; Hoppers with moving elements, e.g. rollers or belts as wall elements for drawing the dough
• • A—HUMAN NECESSITIES
  • A21—BAKING; EDIBLE DOUGHS
  • A21C—MACHINES OR EQUIPMENT FOR MAKING OR PROCESSING DOUGHS; HANDLING BAKED ARTICLES MADE FROM DOUGH
  • A21C3/00—Machines or apparatus for shaping batches of dough before subdivision
  • A21C3/10—Machines or apparatus for shaping batches of dough before subdivision combined with dough-dividing apparatus

Definitions

• the invention relates to a device for dividing dough, and more particularly for dividing dough, such as bread dough and other dough products, into portions of substantially equal weight, or a desired weight, respectively.
• German patent application 37 27 596 describes a device for continuously dividing a dough strand of a constant cross-section into dough portions of a constant weight, wherein the dough is hardly mechanically loaded, comprising a supply device for the dough, a shaping device placed so as to connect to the supply device, and a cutting device placed downstream of the shaping device.
• the device comprises a hopper for supplying dough to an assembly of four rollers having an omni-directionally closed roller slit.
• the assembly of rollers then serves both as a conveyor roller, and as a component defining the cross-section or a shaping device.
• the dough strand of even cross-section as produced by the roller slit is passed over a short conveyor belt to a cutting device and cut into pieces there.
• a drawback of the known device is that it is only suitable for very solid dough, which is of sufficient shape stability after the formation of the dough strand by the roller slit. It is an object of the invention to provide an improved metering device which at least partially overcomes the above-mentioned drawback.
• the invention provides a metering device for dough comprising a supply device for the dough, a shaping device placed so as to connect to the supply device, and a cutting device placed downstream of the shaping device, characterised in that the shaping device comprises a series of belt conveyors surrounding a passage channel, each having a conveyor belt, wherein the part of each of the conveyor belts that faces the passage channel forms at least a wall or wall section of the passage channel, and wherein at least one of the conveyor belts facing the passage channel forms a bottom wall for supporting the dough, wherein the supply device comprises a hopper having a supply conveyor belt forming a bottom wall of the hopper, wherein the bottom wall of the hopper connects to the bottom wall of the shaping device and wherein the bottom wall of the hopper and the bottom wall of the shaping device have the same width.
• the device according to the invention is provided with a passage channel, formed by the conveyor belts of the series of belt conveyors which conveyor belts face the passage channel.
• a passage channel formed by the conveyor belts of the series of belt conveyors which conveyor belts face the passage channel.
• the shape of the dough strand of the device according to the invention is defined by the entrance of the passage channel.
• Said entrance is formed by the circulating rollers of the respective belt conveyors.
• the dough strand is omni-directionally supported and kept in the desired shape onwards from the supply device over the length of passage channel.
• the bottom wall of the hopper is just as wide as the width of the passage channel, particularly the operational width, wherein the bottom wall of the hopper connects to, and preferably is placed adjacent to and at the same level as the bottom wall of the passage channel, the dough subjected to substantially minimum mechanical load, in a careful manner can be introduced from the hopper into the passage channel.
• the supply conveyor belt supports the supply of dough to the shaping device.
• a further advantage of the passage channel according to the invention is that the walls of the channel move along with the dough strand. As a result there substantially is no friction between the walls of the channel and the dough strand, as a result of which the dough is subjected to less mechanical load and moreover is substantially loaded in the same way at all locations, which is advantageous to the dough structure. Moreover it will not be necessary to use a lubricant on the walls of the channel.
• the device according to the invention is able to run substantially "oil-free".
• the hopper comprises an outflow opening in a side wall, wherein the outflow opening is bounded at the lower side by the bottom wall, and wherein the width and the height of the outflow opening equal the width and height, particularly the operational width and operational height, of the passage channel of the shaping device that is placed immediately adjacent to the outflow opening.
• the supply conveyor belt and the conveyor belt forming the bottom wall of the shaping device are integrally formed. In that way the dough is advantageously continuously supported when passing through the supply device and the shaping device.
• the passage channel comprises a substantially rectangular cross-section, wherein the passage channel is defined by a bottom wall conveyor belt, an upper wall conveyor belt and two side wall conveyor belts.
• the side wall conveyor belts continue into the hopper and at that location form side wall sections of the hopper that are adjacent to the bottom wall. In that way a mechanical load of the dough to be processed in the metering device can be further reduced when being transferred from the hopper to the shaping device.
• the two side wall conveyor belts are placed between the upper wall conveyor belt and the bottom wall conveyor belt.
• the longitudinal sides of the two side wall conveyor belts abut the adjacent upper and bottom wall conveyor belt, respectively. In that way the conveyor belts form a substantially omni- directionally closed passage channel surrounding the passage.
• the conveyor belts of the shaping device are provided with a support device for the conveyor belts bounding the passage channel to rest upon.
• the support device comprises a roller track comprising a series of freely rotatable rollers placed parallel next to each other in transportation direction, wherein an axis of rotation of the rollers is oriented substantially transverse to the transportation direction. Because of the rollers that are fixedly positioned in the belt conveyor, wherein the dough is moved past the rollers, a kneading action can be performed on the dough in the passage.
• the size and/or weight of the dough portions may for instance be adjusted by setting a desired length at a constant cross-section of the dough strand. Due to the improved shape stability of the dough after being formed in the shaping device according to the invention, dough pieces can be realised with a larger accuracy and/or a lower variety in size and/or weight.
• the distance between the longitudinal side walls, and thus the operational width of the passage device is adjustable, as a result of which the surface of the cross-section of the dough strand is adjustable.
• the upper wall and bottom wall conveyor belt are placed between the two side wall conveyor belts.
• the longitudinal sides of the upper wall and bottom wall conveyor belt abut the respective adjacent side wall conveyor belts.
• the distance between the upper and bottom wall, and thus the operational height of the passage device is adjustable, as a result of which the surface of the cross-section of the dough strand is adjustable.
• the rectangular cross-section along the passage channel is substantially constant, preferably having a height and width that is substantially constant over the length of the passage channel.
• the device further comprises drive means for the conveyor belts of the series of conveyor belts of the shaping device, wherein the drive means are adapted for synchronising the movement of the conveyor belts, preferably having them run in sync.
• the cutting device comprises a cutting conveyor belt for supporting the dough, wherein a cutting element is placed above the cutting conveyor belt.
• the cutting conveyor belt and the conveyor belt forming the bottom wall of the shaping device are integrally formed. In that way the dough is continuously supported in an advantageous manner when passing through the shaping device and the cutting device.
• the cutting element can be placed at a fixed position with respect to the cutting conveyor belt. In that case the cutting motion will have to be performed very quickly, so that a dough strand moving along on the cutting conveyor belt cannot be blocked by the cutting element.
• the supply of the dough strand to the cutting device can be carried out intermittingly, so that the cutting conveyor belt is strongly decelerated or even stopped during cutting the dough strand.
• the cutting element can be placed so as to be moved back and forth in a transportation direction of the cutting conveyor belt.
• the movement of the cutting element at least in the transportation direction, runs substantially synchronous to the movement of the cutting conveyor belt. Because the cutting element is able to move along with the cutting conveyor belt and therefore with the dough strand, there is sufficient time to cut the dough suitably into parts, particularly in such a way that the dough structure is spared as much as possible.
• the cutting element can be moved substantially transverse to the support surface of the cutting conveyor belt for cutting the dough.
• the cutting element comprises a guillotine.
• the cutting element is placed substantially transverse to the transportation direction of the cutting conveyor belt.
• the dough strand can be substantially transversely cut in half, and dough parts having a substantially rectangular bottom surface are realised.
• the cutting element can be placed at an angle, particularly an acute angle, to the transportation direction of the cutting conveyor belt.
• the dough strand can be cut substantially at an angle, and dough parts having a substantially parallelogram-shaped bottom surface are realised.
• the cutting element can be moved between a first position substantially transverse to the transportation direction and a second position at an angle to the transportation direction.
• first cutting the dough strand in the first position subsequently moving the cutting element to the second position and cutting it in said second position, dough parts having a substantially triangular bottom surface can be realised.
• the cutting element is for instance moved from the one to the other position in between each cutting movement.
• the cutting element is rotatable about an axis of rotation extending substantially transverse to the transportation surface of the cutting conveyor belt.
• the device further comprises a control for controlling the cutting element depending on the speed of movement of the dough in the cutting device and a desired size and/or weight of the dough portions.
• Figure 1 shows a schematic top view of a first embodiment of a device according to the invention
• Figure 2 shows a schematic view in cross-section along the line A-A in figure 1 ,
• Figure 3 shows a schematic view in cross-section along the line B-B in figure 1 ,
• Figure 4 shows a schematic top view of a second exemplary embodiment of a device according to the invention
• Figure 5 shows a schematic view in cross-section along the line C-C in figure 5
• Figure 6 shows a schematic view in cross-section along the line D-D in figure 5.
• the first exemplary embodiment of a metering device 1 according to the invention shown in figures 1 , 2 and 3, comprises three parts; a supply device 2, a shaping device 3 and a cutting device 4.
• the supply device 2 comprises a hopper having upright walls 21 , 22 and a bottom wall 24.
• the bottom wall 24 in this exemplary embodiment is formed by a part of the belt conveyor 1 1 extending below the hopper.
• a support device 241 for supporting the bottom wall 24 a support device 241 , in the form of a roller track comprising a series of freely rotatable rollers, is placed between the rollers 12, 324 on either side of the bottom wall 24.
• the surface of the belt conveyor 11 facing the inner side of the hopper may in that case be provided with means for improving the transportation of dough out of the hopper.
• the conveyor belt comprises a surface of a material having a high frictional coefficient, at least to dough.
• the surface of the conveyor belt is provided with a surface texture for increasing friction between the surface and dough and/or for taking along dough to the outlet opening 26 of the hopper.
• the upright wall 22 of the hopper that faces the shaping device 3, is placed substantially transverse to the bottom wall 22.
• the belt conveyor 1 1 is placed substantially horizontally and the upright wall 22 is placed substantially vertically.
• the upright wall 23 facing the shaping device 3 is placed at an angle so that the upper side 25 of the shaping device 3 deflects.
• the upright wall 21 facing away from the shaping device 3 can be slid substantially parallel to the bottom wall 24 in the direction L for adjusting the length of the bottom wall in the hopper.
• a circulating roller 12 of the belt conveyor 1 1 is placed below the wall 21 facing away from the shaping device 3.
• the belt of the belt conveyor 1 1 connects against the lower sides 21 of the hopper, except with the wall 22 facing the shaping device 2.
• the wall 22, 23 facing the shaping device 3 is provided with an opening 26 for letting the dough pass from the hopper to the shaping device 3.
• the shaping device 3 comprises a series, particularly four, belt conveyors 32, 33, 34, 35 surrounding a passage channel 31 , each belt conveyor having a conveyor belt, wherein the part of each of the conveyor belts 321 , 331 , 341 ,351 facing the passage channel 31 forms a wall of the passage channel 31 .
• the lowermost conveyor belt 321 forms a bottom wall for supporting the dough.
• the belt conveyor forming the bottom wall 321 is a part of the belt conveyor 1 1 , extending below both the hopper 2, the shaping device 3 and the cutting device 4.
• the passage channel 31 is shaped substantially rectangular.
• the passage channel 31 comprises a bottom wall 321 and an upper wall 331 and two longitudinal side walls 341 , 351 .
• the upper wall 331 and the bottom wall 321 are placed between the two side wall conveyor belts 341 , 351.
• the longitudinal sides 332, 333 of the upper wall 331 and the longitudinal sides 322, 323 of the bottom wall 321 abut the respective adjacent side wall conveyor belts 341 , 351.
• a support device 346, 356 is placed between the circulating rollers 344 and 345, 354 and 355 of the side wall conveyor belts 341 , 351 , for supporting the conveyor belts 341 , 351 .
• support devices 326, 336 are placed for the conveyor belts bounding the passage channel 31 to rest upon.
• said support devices 326, 336 are formed like a roller track each comprising a series of freely rotatable rollers placed parallel to each other in transportation direction T, wherein the axis of rotation of the rollers is oriented substantially transverse to the transportation direction T and parallel to the bottom wall 321 and the upper wall 331 , respectively.
• the support devices 326, 336 in the form of a roller track cause far less frictional resistance when the conveyor belts are driven past the respective support devices.
• the conveyor belts 321 , 331 are slightly flexible in a direction substantially transverse to the plane of the respective conveyor belts, the conveyor belts are able to move apart between the rollers and at the location of the rollers are moved towards each other again.
• the rollers that are fixedly placed with respect to the conveyor belt 321 , 331 are thus able to perform a kneading action on the dough that is taken along by the conveyor belts 321 , 331 , 341 , 351 through the passage channel 31 .
• the speeds of the conveyor belts 321 , 331 , 341 , 351 are synchronised with respect to each other so that the walls of the passage channel 31 are able to run along with the dough as one unity.
• the shaping element runs along with the dough, there is substantially no friction between the dough and the walls of the passage channel.
• the conveyor belts 321 , 331 are provided with a reinforcement (not shown) extending substantially transverse in the transportation direction T over the width of the conveyor belt.
• a reinforcement (not shown) extending substantially transverse in the transportation direction T over the width of the conveyor belt.
• the reinforcement can be designed like metal rods which are embedded in the direction d in the material of the conveyor belts 321 , 331 .
• the cutting device 4 comprises a bottom wall 41 which in this exemplary embodiment is formed by a part of the conveyor 1 1 extending below the cutting element 42.
• the cutting element 42 comprises a blade 43 which by carrying out a cutting motion, is able to cut the formed dough strand through down to the bottom wall 41 .
• the blade 43 is designed like a guillotine that is substantially movable in vertical direction S.
• the cutting element 42 can be moved back and forth in the transportation direction
• the cutting element is able to move along substantially synchronously to the conveyor belt 1 1 during making an incision in the dough, and after making the incision is completed, can be moved back to a part of the dough strand situated upstream, in order to start a new cutting motion again at that location.
• the conveyor belt 1 1 is provided with a support device 45 at the location of the bottom wall 41 , which support device is designed like a flat plate placed directly underneath the surface of the bottom wall 41.
• a second exemplary embodiment of a metering device 7 according to the invention is shown.
• This metering device 7 also comprises three parts: a supply device 5, a shaping device 6 and the same cutting device 4, as already described above in the first exemplary embodiment.
• the metering device 7 may be positioned downwardly inclined in transportation direction T, as shown in figure 5.
• the angle ⁇ between a bottom wall 54, 621 , 41 of the metering device 7 and a horizontal surface is adjustable, preferably at an angle of 15 degrees or smaller.
• the supply device 5 comprises a hopper having upright walls 51 , 52 and a bottom wall 54.
• the bottom wall 54 is now also formed by a part of the belt conveyor 15 extending below the hopper.
• a circulating roller 16 of the belt conveyor 15 is placed below the wall 51 facing away from the shaping device 6 .
• the belt of the belt conveyor 15 connects against the lower side of the wall 51 of the hopper, except at the wall 52 facing the shaping device 6 and the longitudinal walls 51 1 .
• the bottom part of the longitudinal walls 51 1 is formed by a part of the belt conveyor 65 extending adjacent to the hopper which belt conveyor at the location of the hopper forms a longitudinal side wall section 57.
• a portion of dough in the hopper is thus taken along by the bottom wall 54 and the longitudinal side walls 57 in the direction of the shaping device 6.
• a flat plate 541 is placed underneath the belt conveyor for supporting the bottom wall 54.
• a flat support plate 58 is placed between the rollers 59, 654 and 59, 644, as shown in figure 4.
• the wall 52, 53 facing the shaping device 6 is provided with an opening 56 for passing the dough through from the hopper to the shaping device 6.
• This shaping device 6 as well comprises a series of, particularly four, belt conveyors 62, 63, 64, 65 surrounding a passage channel 61 , each of which belt conveyors has a conveyor belt, wherein the part of each of the conveyor belts 621 , 631 , 641 , 651 facing the passage channel 61 forms a wall of the passage channel 61 .
• the lowermost conveyor belt 621 forms a bottom wall for supporting the dough.
• the bottom wall 621 is a part of the belt conveyor 15, extending underneath both the hopper 5, the shaping device 6 and the cutting device 4.
• the passage channel 61 is substantially rectangular.
• the passage channel 61 comprises a bottom wall 621 and an upper wall 631 and two longitudinal side walls 641 , 651 .
• the longitudinal side walls 641 , 651 are placed between the upper wall 631 and the bottom wall 621 .
• the longitudinal sides 641 , 643 and 652, 653 of the longitudinal side walls 641 , 651 abut the respective adjacent bottom wall conveyor belt 621 and upper wall conveyor belt 631 .
• a support device 646, 656 is placed between the rollers 644 and 645, 654 and 655 of the side wall conveyor belts 641 , 651.
• said support devices 646, 656 are formed like a roller track which each comprise a series of freely rotatable rollers placed parallel to each other in transportation direction T, wherein the axis of rotation of the rollers is oriented substantially transverse to the transportation direction T and parallel to the longitudinal side walls 651 , 641 .
• Said rollers tracks also ensure less frictional resistance and in one embodiment are also able to perform a kneading action on the dough that is passed along through the passage channel 61 .
• a support device 626, 636 each comprising a substantially flat plate, is placed between the rollers 634 and 635, 624 and 625 of the upper conveyor belt 631 and bottom conveyor belt
• Said support devices 626, 636 urge the conveyor belts 621 , 631 against the longitudinal sides 642, 643 and 652, 653 of the longitudinal side wall conveyor belts 641 , 651 . Downstream of the shaping device 6 a cutting device 4 is placed which has already been discussed in more detail above.
• both the bottom wall conveyor belt, the upper wall conveyor belt and the longitudinal side wall conveyor belts can all be provided with a support device in the form of a roller track as for instance shown in a combination of a view in cross-section of figure 2 and a top view of figure 4.
• the various devices may also be provided with individual conveyor belts for one or several of the supply devices 2, 5, shaping devices 3, 6 and/or cutting device 4.

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• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Food Science & Technology (AREA)
• Manufacturing And Processing Devices For Dough (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

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Family Cites Families (16)

• 2008
  • 2008-01-15 NL NL2001183A patent/NL2001183C2/nl not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2009
  • 2009-01-15 WO PCT/NL2009/050010 patent/WO2009091247A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2009-01-15 EP EP09701717A patent/EP2229058A1/de not_active Withdrawn

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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