GB2292301A - Bakery product cooking apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

Batter, e.g. for crumpets, is supplied from a source 7 into rows of retaining rings. The batter passes over a heated chamber 11 whilst being cooked and then beneath a branding plate 37 before being returned beneath the conveyor through a cooling section 19. Six retaining rings are mounted in each chassis member 4 and are releasably retained on the chassis by resiliently biased releasable rods that extend through apertures in the end wall of the chassis 4. <IMAGE>

Description

BAKERY PRODUCT COOKING APPARATUS The invention relates to cooking apparatus for bakery products. In particular, the invention relates to apparatus for producing crumpets and other similar articles.

The basic apparatus for the mass production of crumpets has seen little change since the 1950's. In a typical conventional crumpet production plant, crumpets are cooked on an indexed conveyor comprising a plurality of linked together heat conducting hot plates, known as "plattens1' which are heated from underneath by a heat source. Batter retaining rings which are joined to a pair of transversely spaced apart driven chains are arranged so as to come into close association with the conveyor with the rings sitting on the top surface of the plattens which form the conveyor cooking surface. A measured amount of mixture is poured into each ring at a first processing station, and the conveyor and rings index forward and all the while the plattens are heated from underneath by a number of gas ribbon burners.A plurality of burners are provided so as to ensure a uniform heat distribution on the underside of the conveyor. At the far end of the conveyor, the crumpets are cooked, but have a very pale appearance. In the conventional apparatus once the batter has been cooked the chain and its associated rings are arranged to be driven away from the top surface of the conveyor leaving the crumpets on the hot surface of the conveyor. The chain drive then loops around above the conveyor surface so as to return the rings to an oiling point, where oil is sprayed onto the rings, prior to bringing them back into close association with the conveyor to perform another crumpet making cycle.

At the far end of the conveyor, once the chain has pulled away from the conveyor, the crumpets are dried and then branded by momentarily lowering a heated plate onto their top surface and then raising the plate away. In this manner, the crumpets achieve a pleasant slightly browned top surface, which appeals to consumers.

Following the branding process, crumpets are then stripped from the plattens of the conveyor by pneumatically operated scrapers as the conveyor turns and is looped round to pass back towards the starting end of the process.

The conventional apparatus has a number of drawbacks, which the present invention aims to address.

A first drawback of the conventional apparatus concerns its requirements for the batter retaining rings to be fixably linked to the chain drive. It was thought that this was necessary because if the rings were not so linked, then as the chain drive indexes away from the conveyor at the end of the process, the rings would fall out from the chain drive. Therefore, when it was desired to change ring size or shape (the rings may be circular, square or any other shape), or to clean the retaining rings, a large number of screws would have to be undone so as to remove them from the chain drive arrangement. This is an extremely laborious operation.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a chassis arrangement for receiving batter retainers therein, the chassis being associated to a drive means and the chassis being provided with quick release means for enabling rapid insertion and removal of batter retainers.

By providing a chassis which is separate from the batter retainers themselves, and associating the chassis with the drive means, which may be a pair of transversely opposed driven chains, it is possible to provide a simple quick release means. The quick release means also enables batter retainers of different shapes to be provided and may permit products of different shapes to be produced at the same time.

Preferably, the quick release means comprises one or more removable members associated with each chassis, and arranged to contact with a portion of the batter retainers during a return cycle of the drive means to prevent the retainers falling out of the chassis.

Preferably, the quick release means comprises one or more rods having first and second ends, the rod or rods being associated with each chassis and arranged transversely with respect to a forward motion direction of the drive means.

Preferably, the or each rod is arranged to locate in transversely opposed apertures provided in an upstanding side wall of each chassis member.

Preferably, the first end of the or each rod is provided with a resilient biasing arrangement so that the first end of the rod may be located into one of the transversely opposed apertures, the resilient biasing means compressed to allow insertion of the second end of each rod into the opposing aperture and the resilient biasing means acting so as to resiliently retain the or each rod in position.

Preferably, two such rods are provided for each chassis member.

Preferably, the rods are provided associated with an upper part of each chassis member and a peripheral, inwardly extending retaining flange of the chassis member is preferably provided associated with a bottom part of each chassis member so that batter retainers may be arranged to sit on the retaining flange and prevented from inadvertent removal from the chassis member by means of the quick release means.

A second disadvantage with the conventional apparatus is that the under conveyor heating system is quite complex and a large number of ribbon burners are required. Not only does this lead to complexity when manufacturing the apparatus, but also a very large amount of energy is required to provide the necessary heat along the full length of the conveyor and a substantial amount of this heat escapes from around the conveyor periphery and into the atmosphere, both increasing energy consumption and making the surrounding working area an unpleasant environment.

With a view to ameliorating the situation, there is provided in accordance with a second aspect a heating system whereby high velocity air and gas are mixed and ignited at a first end region of the conveyor to form a blown flame which extends substantially along an entire cooking length of the conveyor, the heating system being located beneath a top surface of the conveyor to provide a substantially uniform heat distribution along substantially the entire cooking length.

Preferably, the heating system is provided with a heat chamber below the top surface of the conveyor, the chamber running substantially along the entire cooking length and bounded by the underside of the top surface of the conveyor, a first end at which the blown flame apparatus is situated, a second end for extraction of heated combustion products, and insulated bottom and transverse side sections, so as to provide a substantially enclosed heat chamber.

In order to allow movement of the conveyor, there is a gap provided between the conveyor and the rest of the chamber, but preferably this gap is kept to a minimum.

For instance, the gap is preferably in the order of millimetres.

A further disadvantage with conventional crumpet making apparatus is that a separate cooling plant must be provided for cooling down the products prior to packaging.

As conventional systems utilize underslung ribbon burners to heat the conveyor, the cooling plant must of necessity be provided in a separate unit as the environment immediately surrounding the conveyor is too hot. However, in the case of a blown flame system as described above, there is very little heat loss to atmosphere because the heat source is almost totally enclosed by conveyor/heat chamber.

In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, there is provided an underslung cooler situated beneath a bottom surface or return portion of the conveyor.

By providing such an underslung cooler, the dimensions of the apparatus can be minimised and more manufacturing units may be placed within a given area.

A yet further disadvantage with conventional apparatus arises in that prior to associating the batter retainers with the conveyor during a cooking cycle, the retainers must be oiled and this is done using a spray head which rotates around each batter retainer in turn, so as to oil the full periphery of each retainer. This system requires many moving parts, which can lead to excessive servicing requirements. It also can cause a lack of adequate oiling when a change in retainer shape is required as the spray pattern may not correspond to the retainer shape.

In accordance with a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a retainer oiling system comprising one or more static oil conduits, the conduit(s) having a plurality of apertures formed therein so as to enable oil to be sprayed through said apertures and onto the retainers, sufficient apertures being provided to enable substantially the whole of the periphery of each retainer to be oiled.

The or each oil conduit may have a shape which corresponds approximately to a given retainer shape and may be arranged to spray oil during a period in which the retainers are stationary.

Alternatively, the or each conduit may be arranged linearly and operate as the retainers index past.

Preferably, the apertures are arranged to spray oil in a fan shape.

Since the abovementioned oiling system does not require moving parts, servicing requirements are much reduced and the apparatus is considerably simplified.

A yet further disadvantage of conventional apparatus rests in the branding system by which bakery products are browned so as to give them a pleasant appearance. In the conventional system, as nentioned earlier, a heated branding plate is lowered onto a top surface of the cooked products so as to brown them. The mechanism is quite complex, utilising a gas heater, and operates in accordance with the indexing system of the conveyor so as to raise and then lower.

With a view to simplifying the arrangement, in accordance with a fifth aspect of the invention there is provided a static heating element which heats a moveable branding plate, products are passed close to the heating element with the branding plate alone towards the products to brown them.

The heating element preferably forms part of an infrared heater.

The branding plate is preferably arranged to index upwardly to be heated by the heating element, and then downwardly away from the element and towards the product to perform a branding operation.

The invention includes any combination of the first to fifth aspects.

By way of example an embodiment of the present invention will now be described, with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which; Figure 1 is a schematic side view of an embodiment of cooking apparatus in accordance with the present invention; Figures 2A to 2C show respectively a perspective view of a chassis member, a retaining rod and a plan view of a batter retaining ring for use with the apparatus of Figure 1; and Figure 3 shows a spray head for oiling batter retaining rings.

Referring initially to Figure 1, a crumpet plant is shown comprising a conveyor 1 having a number of interlinked plattens, the top surface of each of which forms a hot plate for cooking a number of crumpets (six in the example to be described). A chain drive 3 drives a number of chassis members 4, each chassis member 4 being associated with a platten 2 of the conveyor 1. A control system (not shown) is arranged to index both the chain drive 3 and the conveyor 1 in step with one another so that from a point "A" to a point "B" chassis members and plattens move together. The chassis member 4 is arranged to carry a number of batter retaining rings 6 and these are arranged to sit on the top surface of the plattens 2.

The crumpet plant further comprises a batter ring oiling portion 5 for the oiling of the batter retaining rings 6 which are removably connected to the chassis members 4. Batter feeding means 7 are provided for depositing a measured amount of batter into each of the batter retaining rings 6. The plattens 2 of the conveyor 1 are heated from underneath by a high velocity ignited mixture of gas and air from gas feed pipe 8, air feed pipe 9 and mixing and ignition portion 10. The high velocity ignited mixture (hereinafter called "blown flame") is almost totally enclosed within a heat chamber shown generally at 11. The heat chamber 11 comprises the underside of the plattens 2, insulated end walls 12, 13, an insulating bottom surface 14 and insulated side walls (not shown in this illustration).The products of combustion are exhausted from the heat chamber 11 by means of an exhaust system 15. The heat chamber 11 is arranged to be as enclosed as possible so as to maintain an even heat distribution across the underside of the conveyor which passes over it. There is of course sufficient clearance between end walls and side walls of the heat chamber 11 to allow the conveyor to move freely, but this is the only clearance which is given and is typically limited to one or two millimetres height clearance, the width of each platten 2 being substantially the same as the width of the heat chamber 11.

Adjacent to an end portion of the conveyor 1, there is located a static drying element 36 which may be an infrared heater and a further static infrared heater 16 which, by means of a moveable branding plate 37 is arranged to brown the top surface of products so as to give them an appearance which appeals to consumers.

Finally, a pneumatic scraper 17 is provided which assists removal of cooked crumpets from each platten 2 and is arranged, along with the heater, so as to operate in accordance with indexing of the conveyor 1. Finished products then drop onto a transport conveyor 18 for transport towards a packaging plant (not shown) . The conveyor 18 runs through a cooler, shown schematically at 19 which is in a position underslung the main conveyor 1.

By providing the cooler in such an underslung position, it is possible to save extra floor space. However, such positioning of the cooler is only permitted by virtue of the fact that the heating chamber 11 is constructed in the manner described and, by virtue of its construction, does not allow excessive amounts of heat to escape to atmosphere. If this were not the case, then the area beneath the crumpet production line would not be a suitable environment in which to cool down the finished products.

Referring now to Figures 2A to 2C, a sample chassis member 4, a retaining rod 20 and a batter retaining ring 6 are respectively shown.

The chassis member 4 is arranged to be fixably associated with chain drive 3, but for the purposes of simplifying the illustration of the chassis member 4, it is here shown separately. The chassis member 4 comprises end walls 21, 22 each of which is arranged in use to be joined to the chain drive. The end wall 21 has a pair of apertures 23 formed therein and end wall 22 has a pair of apertures 24 formed therein, the apertures of end walls 21, 22 being arranged in opposition with one another. The chassis member 4 further comprises side walls 25, 26 and an inwardly extending bottom flange 27, side walls 25, 26 each having 5 upstanding partitions 28.

Referring now to Figure 2B, a retaining rod 20 is shown. The rod 20 is arranged to be of a suitable diameter so as to enable it to pass through one pair of the opposed apertures 23, 24. The rod 20 is provided with a spring 29 located adjacent one end of the rod 20 and having a first fixed end 30 and a free end 31. The spring 29 may therefore be compressed from its end 31 so as to bring end 31 closer to fixed end 30.

In Figure 2C, a batter retaining ring 6 is shown.

The retaining ring 6 is suitably dimensioned so as to sit on the bottom retaining flange 27 of chassis member 4 and be loosely held between upstanding partitions 28. The retaining ring 6 is of a depth which is less than a distance from the bottom retaining flange 27 which is than a perpendicular distance from bottom retaining flange 27 to apertures 23, 24.

The elements of Figures 2A to 2C work together as follows. With the chassis members 4 in position associated with chain drive 3, retaining rings 6 are placed into the chassis member 4 by inserting them from above until they sit on bottom retaining flange 27. In the example shown in Figure 2A, six retaining rings 6 may be accommodated within each chassis member 4. In order to prevent the retaining rings 6 from falling out of the chassis member 4 when the chain drive makes its return run, two retainer rods 20 are utilised for each chassis member 4 to keep the rings 6 in position. The retainer rods are fitted as follows. Firstly, first end of each rod 20, the first end being the end adjacent to spring 29 is inserted into one of the apertures 24 from the interior of the chassis member 4 so that that end of the rod 20 protrudes out of the chassis member 4.The rod 20 is then pushed so as to compress spring 29 and move the free end of the spring 31 towards fixed end of spring 30 and this enables the other end of the rod 20 to be located within opposing aperture 23. When an operative releases the rod 20, action of the spring 29 causes the rod 20 to be positively located across the chassis member 4 and to be held there by the free end of the spring 31 and a stop portion 32 provided on the opposite end of the rod and arranged to be larger than aperture 23 in diameter so as to prevent the rod inadvertently disengaging.

In the above manner, it can be seen that retaining rods 20 in cooperation with chassis member 4 and retainer rings 6 provide a quick release means for changing batter retainers 6.

Referring now to Figure 3, a single spray head is shown which forms part of the oiling system 5. The spray head 33 comprises an oil conduit 34 and a number of spraying apertures 35. Oil is received from an oil feed (not shown) and sprayed through the spraying apertures 35 onto the batter retainers 6 prior to their association with the conveyor 1. In the example shown, six such spray heads 33 would be provided. The spray apertures 35 are arranged so as to provide a fan of oil so as to substantially cover the entire periphery of a given retainer ring 6.

The oiling system 5 is arranged to work in time with the indexing of the system so that chassis member 4 with its six associated retainer rings stops at spray system 5, is sprayed, and then moves on.

By way of example, a crumpet production sequence using the apparatus of Figures 1 to 3 will now be described.

Batter retaining rings are first oiled within their associated chassis member 4, by means of the spray system 5 and its six associated spray heads 33. Chain drive 3 next indexes the chassis member, in step with conveyor 1 to bring the chassis member 4 into close association with a given platten 2 of the conveyor 1, the system then indexes through until the chassis member is beneath the batter feeder 7 which delivers measured amounts of batter into each of the six retainer rings 6, by means of six delivery nozzles (not shown). The conveyor then indexes onward, with retainer rings and plattens 2 in close association and heated from underneath by the blown flame system already described.

Cooking then proceeds as the conveyor moves forward from position "A" to position "B". At position "B", the batter mixture is sufficiently cooked to enable the oiled retainer rings to be indexed away from the conveyor 1 and looped around to return to their initial position.

Cooking of the product continues until the conveyor has passed over the end of the heat chamber 11 and the cooked mixture is dried by drying element 36, following which the crumpets are then branded by branding plate 37 of the infrared heater 16 to gain a browned top surface. The branding plate 37 is arranged to index up towards the static heater 16 between branding operations to heat the plate up and then to lower onto the products to brand them.

The conveyor 1 then proceeds to an end region where each platten 2 turns so as to be vertically aligned and allow the finished crumpets to fall onto transport conveyor 18. Pneumatic scraper 17 assists removal of the crumpets from plattens 2 if necessary. Finished crumpets are transported along transport conveyor 18 into underslung cooler unit 19 where they are cooled sufficiently to enable them to be packed in a packing area (not shown). After packaging, crumpets may be dispersed to distribution points where they will be sold.

The above described apparatus provides many important advantages over the conventional apparatus.

Firstly, the provision of separate chassis member 4 and rings 6 enables a suitable quick release means to be devised. In this particular case, the quick release means comprises a pair of rods 20, but other simple quick release means may also be envisaged. The procedure of changing rings, for cleaning, or for replacement by rings of a different shape is therefore greatly simplified.

Secondly, the provision of the innovative blown flame system described enables both a substantially uniform heat distribution along the cooking length of the conveyor, a substantially reduced heat loss to atmosphere and consequently reduced energy costs. An extra benefit of this system is that because the heating chamber 11 is virtually enclosed, the environment around the main cooking area is a lot cooler and this enables an underslung cooler to be utilised and dimensions of the apparatus to be minimised.

Another advantageous aspect of the apparatus described resides in the oiling system for oiling retainer rings in that the number of moving parts are reduced, thus enhancing reliability. Similarly, by providing a static heating element such as infrared heater at a remote end of the conveyor and associating a moving branding plate 37 with it to brown the finished products, this mechanism too is simplified.

It should of course be borne in mind that many variations may be made to the apparatus described which would still fall within the scope of the invention. For instance, instead of having spray heads as shown in Figure 3 which operate in time with the indexing operation of the chain drive 3, a simple straight oiling tube may be provided which is arranged to operate as the retainer rings index passed it and in this manner, the system is further simplified.

Modifications to the quick release mechanism may also be envisaged and instead of providing transversely located retaining rods 20, longitudinal retainers may be provided, or instead of providing a sprung system, an arrangement of clips or other suitable fixing means could be provided.

Wherever crumpets are mentioned, it should be realised that other bakery products may be substituted therefor and that the benefits of the invention are not limited to crumpet making apparatus.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) , and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) , may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s) . The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.

Claims (25)

1. A chassis arrangement for receiving batter retainers therein, the chassis being associated with a drive means and the chassis being provided with quick release means for enabling rapid insertion and removal of batter retainers.

2. An arrangement as claimed in Claim 1 in which the quick release means comprises one or more removable members associated with each chassis arranged to contact with a portion of the batter retainers during a return cycle of the drive means to prevent the retainers falling out of the chassis.

3. An assembly as claimed in Claim 1 or 2 in which the quick release means comprises one or more rods having first and second ends, the rod or rods being associated with each chassis and being arranged transverse with respect to a forward motion direction of the drive means.

4. An arrangement as claimed in Claim 3 in which the or each rod is arranged to locate in transversely opposed apertures provided in an upstanding side wall of each chassis.

5. An arrangement as claimed in Claim 4 in which the first end of the or each rod is provided with a resilient biasing arrangement so that the first end of the rod may be located into one of the transversely opposed apertures, with the resilient biasing means being compressed to allow insertion of a second end of each rod into the opposing aperture, the resilient biasing means acting so as to resiliently retain the or each rod in position.

6. An arrangement as claimed in any of Claims 3 to 5 in which two rods are provided for each chassis member.

7. An arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim in which the quick release means are associated with an upper part of each chassis with a peripheral, inwardly extending retaining flange of the chassis being provided associated with a bottom part of each chassis so that the batter retainers may be arranged to sit on the retaining flange and thereby be prevented from inadvertent removal from the chassis from the bottom part of the chassis.

8. An arrangement as claimed in any preceding claim including a plurality of differently shaped batter retainers, any one of which may be selected for insertion into the chassis and retention by the quick release means.

9. A chassis arrangement substantially as herein referred to with reference to, and as shown in any of Figures 1, 2A, 2B or 2C.

10. Cooking apparatus for bakery products, the apparatus comprising a heating system whereby high velocity air and gas are mixed and ignited at a first end region of a conveyor of the apparatus to form a blown flame which extends substantially along an entire cooking length of the conveyor, the heating system being located beneath a top surface of the conveyor to provide a substantially uniform heat distribution along substantially the entire cooking length.

11. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 in which the heating system is provided with a heat chamber below the top surface of the conveyor, the chamber running substantially along the entire cooking length and bounded by the underside of the top surface of the conveyor, the first end at which the blown flame apparatus is situated, a second end for extraction of the heated combustion products and insulated bottom and transverse side sections so as to provide a substantially enclosed heat chamber.

12. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 10 or 11 in which a gap is provided between the conveyor and the rest of the chamber.

13. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 12 in which the gap is in the order of millimetres.

14. Cooking apparatus substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.

15. Cooking apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 10 to 14 including a chassis arrangement as claimed in any of Claims 1 to 10.

16. Cooking apparatus for bakery products including a conveyor on which products are arranged to be cooked and a cooler located beneath the conveyor through which cooked products are arranged to pass after cooking.

17. Cooking apparatus including a plurality of retainers arranged, in use, to receive batter, the apparatus further including a retainer oiling system comprising one or more static oil conduits, the or each conduit having a plurality of apertures formed therein so as to enable oil to be sprayed along said conduit or conduits and through said apertures on to the retainers, the conduits being provided with sufficient apertures to enable substantially the whole of the internal periphery of each retainer to be oiled.

18. Cooking apparatus as claimed in Claim 17 in which the or each oil conduit has a shape which corresponds approximately to a given retainer shape.

19. Cooking apparatus as claimed in Claim 17 or 18 in which the or each oil conduit is arranged to spray oil during a period in which the retainers are stationary.

20. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 17 to 19 in which the or each conduit is arranged linearly and operate as the retainers index past.

21. Apparatus as claimed in any of Claims 17 to 20 in which the apertures are arranged to spray oil in a fan shape.

22. Cooking apparatus including a plurality of retainers and a retainer oiling system substantially as herein described with reference to, and as shown in Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.

23. Cooking apparatus for bakery products, the apparatus including a static heating element that is arranged to heat a movable branding plate with means being provided for causing bakery products to pass close to the heating element with the branding plate moving downwardly towards the products to brown them and then back up towards the heating element to regain heat.

24. Apparatus as claimed in Claim 23 in which the heating element forms part of an infra red heater.

25. Heating apparatus incorporating a static heating element and a movable branding plate substantially as herein referred to and as described in Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings.