GB2482063A

GB2482063A - Apparatus for producing round pieces of dough

Info

Publication number: GB2482063A
Application number: GB201112107A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Anette Moldestad; Ellen Mosleth Faergestad; Kent Andra Svensson; Alberto Parera-Ruiz; Donna Palmer; Sian Malayne Mitchell; Istvan Faijk
Original assignee: Pera Innovation Ltd; Nofima Mat AS
Current assignee: Pera Innovation Ltd; Nofima Mat AS
Priority date: 2010-07-15
Filing date: 2011-07-14
Publication date: 2012-01-18
Anticipated expiration: 2031-07-14
Also published as: GB201011916D0; GB201112107D0; GB2482063B

Abstract

An apparatus 10 for producing a plurality of substantially circular portions 40 from a sheet 11 of malleable material such as a dough is provided. The apparatus 10 includes a conveyor 12, 32 for conveying a sheet 11 of dough and a cutter 20 for cutting the sheet 11 into portions 25 which tessellate. A press 36 for presses the portions into substantially circular shapes. The cutter is operable to form the tesselatable portions such that the thickness of each portion is non-uniform. The press may be in the form of a second conveyor arranged such that the portions pass between the first and second conveyors.

Description

Apparatus and Method for Producing Substantially Circular Portions from a Sheet of Malleable Material This application relates to a method and apparatus for producing substantially circular portions from a sheet of malleable material, for example for producing substantially circular portions from a sheet of pastry or dough.

Problems of material wastage often occur on current production lines which limits the yield they can achieve.

In pastry production, for example, current production methods use circular cutting profiles and rely heavily upon re working pastry; this is then passed back through the production process. Puff pastry is made up of many layers of pastry and fat, and accordingly, as unused material is merged with new material, percentages of each component will differ over time resulting in elements of the pastry differing.

This has an impact both on appearance and taste and results in poor final products.

Manufacturers handling puff pastry, for example pie and sweet pastry manufacturers, face a competitive threat. Rising waste disposal costs and increasing ingredient costs mean that it is now significantly more costly to the business thaii it used to be to dispose of high levels of unused pastry, leaving them with an unpleasant choice of re-using pastry to produce an imperfect product or discarding it to significant economic disadvantage.

Aspects of the present invention seek to reduce or overcome one or more of the above mentioned problems.

According to the first aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus as in claim 1.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a method as in claim 9.

Advantages of preferred embodiments of the invention include that substantially circular shapes are formed from tesselatable portions. The fact that the tesselatable portions tesselate means that the proportion of the sheet which is not used in making the substantially circular shapes is significantly reduced (ideally to nothing), decreasing the amount of material that is either wasted or which needs to be reused and mixed with new material from which it may differ.

The cutter is operable to form the tesselatable portions such that each portion is of non-uniform thickness, and preferably such that the thickness of each tesselatable portion is greatest at the part of each edge that is furthest from the circumference of the substantially circular shape to be formed. When the tesselatable portions of material are pressed, the reduction in the thickness of the portions forces the diameter of the portions to increase. The provision of greatest thickness at edges which are furthest from the circumference of the substantially circular shape to be formed means that the distance from the centre of the portion to these edges will increase the most, and so the tesselatable portion will more easily be converted to the substantially circular shape required.

The thickness refers to the dimension perpendicular to the major surface of the sheet.

The apparatus preferably comprises a second conveyor which is operable to receive the tesselatable portions from the first conveyor and advance them at a greater speed than the speed at which they are advanced on the first conveyor. This causes subsequent tesselatable portions to separate as they pass from the first conveyor to the second conveyor and so the press will not cause one portion to be merged with the portion following it.

Preferably, the cutter is configured to cut the sheet into an array of tesselatable portions in which portions in a line transverse to the direction of travel are spaced apart. This spacing avoids adjacent portions merging when they are pressed.

Embodiments of the invention provide a new cutting and reshaping system for utilisation in the food/baking industry.

Embodiments of the invention comprise a cutting and reshaping technology which is modular to current dough processing lines. The process preferably involves cutting sheets, for example dough sheets, with the use of a cuffing device (which can for example be pneumatic or roller) into hexagonal portions with a 3 dimensional shape (for example having a shaped top surface such as circus tent/castle ramparts) creating differing thicknesses across the area of the hexagonal cut of shape. Pieces (for example dough pieces) are then preferably reshaped back to perfect circular shapes of constant thickness with the use of a dual conveyor system. The conveyor system provides sufficient forces to the dough in order to produce the reshaping technique. Previous reshaping technologies have been unsuccessful in producing a perfect final shape suitable for usage on a commercial production line. Not only do preferred embodiments of the invention significantly reduce wastage levels, but they also increase the production level within a certain time period. This offers manufacturers the opportunity to increase production and reduce energy costs.

Preferred embodiments eliminate the need to reprocess the dough, therefore avoiding the costs associated with this.

Preferred embodiments of the invention combine the use of a 3 dimensional shaped profiled cutting tool and dual conveyor system with variable height to reshape hexagonal shaped dough cut-outs of variable height, cut from a dough sheet, into separate circular formed cut-outs of constant thickness with near to zero waste.

Dough is preferably cut with a hexagonal outside and variable height profile whilst passing through on a conveyor system. Each portion is then separated sufficiently through passing onto a separate conveyor operating at a higher revolution to that of the primary conveyor. The height of the dual conveyor system will then reshape the dough through application of pressure.

Embodiments of this invention when applied to the food industry provide the stated benefits as well as maintaining the three paramount components of the food industry; taste, texture and appearance.

* Increase in Production Capacity Current machinery, on average, is capable of processing up to 6 meters of dough per minute; with the use of embodiments of the present invention output can rise by at least 20% in a given time frame. Not only does this significantly reduce the need for reworking dough, but it also ensures that the taste/appearance of each type of dough remains constant.

* Reducing Wastage Through significantly reducing the levels of re-workable dough in the production process with the use of a hexagonal profile a web' of waste pastry (up to % of the initial pastry sheet) can be avoided. Previously, the used puff pastry would be required to be reused in short crust pastry or even disposed of after short periods of time. The disposal of food waste can cost up to 100/tonne in some EU states, and this is set to rise over the coming years as EU governments seek to reduce the level of waste going to landfill.

* No considerable power consumption difference Although an additional feature on current production lines, apparatus according to embodiments of the invention do not increase energy consumption for companies due to the lack of requirement for re working of the dough. Therefore production costs, at worst remain the same. The significant increase in production capacity preferably introduces further economies of scale and reduces production costs per unit over a set period of time.

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the invention; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a tesselatable shape and the substantially circular portion produced in the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a cutting mechanism according to the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a side view of the cutting mechanism of Figure 3 in which internal components are also depicted; Figure 5 is an end view of the cutting mechanism of Figures 3 and 4 in which internal components are depicted; Figure 6 is a side view of a tesselatable shaped cutting unit of the cutting mechanism of Figures 3 to 5; Figure 7 is the side view of the tesselatable shaped cutting unit of Figure 6 in which the internal components are depicted; Figure 8 is a perspective view of the cutting element of Figures 6 and 7 viewed from above; Figure 9 is a perspective view of the cutting element of Figures 6 to 8 viewed from below; Figures 10 and 11 are side views of the apparatus according to embodiment of Figures 1 to 9 in the region of the press; Figures 12 and 13 are end views of the apparatus of Figure 1.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of an apparatus for producing a plurality of circular portions from a sheet of pastry. The apparatus 10 comprises a first conveyor 12 for conveying a sheet 11 of pastry.

The first conveyor 12 is formed of a belt looped around two rollers 14 and 16.

The rollers 14, 16 are operable to be rotated, and thereby to rotate the belt to advance the sheet 11 along the upper surface of the conveyor 12 at a constant speed.

The first conveyor 12 is mounted upon a supporting frame 18. The frame 18 is configured such that it can be stood upon a surface and maintain the upper surface of the conveyor 12 substantially horizontal. In some embodiments, the frame 18 is adjustable such that the upper surface of the conveyor 12 is maintained in a substantially horizontal plane despite being placed on a non-horizontal surface.

A cutter 20 is provided such that a cutting mechanism 22 is disposed above the upper surface of the conveyor 12.

The cutting mechanism 22 is operable to cut sheet 11 into tesselatable portions as the sheet 11 is advanced by the first conveyor 12. The cutter 20 can be mounted on the frame 18.

The cutting mechanism 22 is shown in more detail in Figures 3 to 9. The cutting mechanism 22 comprises cutting edges 24 which, in operation, are pressed into the sheet 11 as the sheet 11 is advanced by the first conveyor 12. The cutting edges 24 can be pressed into the sheet by operation of pneumatic pistons 26 at regular intervals of time as the sheet 11 is advanced at a constant speed. However, other mechanisms for pressing the cutting edges 24 into the sheet 11 are possible, for example the cutting mechanism can be provided as a roller into which the cutting edges are provided such that as the sheet 11 advances, the cutting mechanism rotates and presses the cutting edges into the sheet 11 at regular intervals to form tesselatable shapes 25.

The cutting edges 24 are arranged as a series of individual tesselatable shaped cutting units 28 in which the cutting edges 24 for each unit 28 form the outline of a tesselatable shape. The units 28 are mounted adjacent to each other in the cutting mechanism 22. The cutter 20 is operable to cut the sheet 11 into tesselatable portions without gaps between the portions which would otherwise result in wasted material.

The units 28 can be provided with air holes 42.

The tesselatable portions 25 into which the cutting mechanism 22 cuts the sheet 11 are hexagons. This is achieved by providing the tesselatable shaped cutting units 28 with a hexagonal cross section.

In some embodiments, the cutting mechanism 22 is provided with a profiled surface 30 between the cutting edges 24. The profiled surface 30 is configured to make each of the tesselatable portions 25 formed in the sheet 11 to have regions of varying thickness. This can be done by providing a profiled surface in the shape of a circus tent or castle ramparts. In a particularly preferred embodiment, the profiled surface 30 is arranged to create regions of greatest thickness in the vicinity of a section of cutting edge 24 which is furthest from the desired circumference of the substantially circular portions to be created. This has the advantage that, when the tesselatable portions 25 are pressed, as described below, there is more material to be pressed out in these regions in order to convert the tesselatable portion into a substantially circular shape.

A second conveyor 32, which is of a similar construction to the first conveyor 12 is arranged such that its longitudinal axis is aligned with the longitudinal axis of the first conveyor 12. The first and second conveyers 12, 32 are also preferably arranged such that they are at the same level and such that their upper surfaces advance in the same direction, which is in the direction from the first conveyor to the second conveyor. They are also arranged such that tesselatable portions of sheet 11 arriving at the end of the first conveyor 12 will pass onto the second conveyor 32. In other words, the gap between the first and second conveyor is arranged to be less than the minimum diameter of a tesselatable portion 25.

The second conveyor 32 is arranged to advance tesselatable portions 25 at a greater speed than the sheet 11 is advanced by the first conveyor 12. The second conveyor is operable to advance the tesselatable shapes 25 at least 3 times the speed of the first conveyor. The second conveyor 32 is mounted on a frame 34, which has features corresponding to frame 18 in order to maintain a substantially horizontal upper surface of the second conveyor 32.

A press 36 is provided, preferably at the second conveyor 32. The press 36 is more clearly depicted in Figures 10 to 13.

The press 36 comprises a third conveyor 38 which is disposed above the second conveyor 32 and which is arranged to rotate such that its lower surface, which is facing the upper surface of the second conveyor 32, advances in the same direction as the upper surface of the second conveyor 32 and at the same speed. The distance between the lower surface of the third conveyor 38 and the upper surface of the second conveyor 32 can be adjusted for example to the desired thickness of the substantially circular portions 40. However, it is preferably arranged to be less than the thickness of the point of greatest thickness of the tesselatable portions 25, and more preferably less than the thickness of the original sheet 11. The third conveyor is arranged such that its longitudinal axis is parallel with the longitudinal axis of the second conveyor 32.

The third conveyor 38 is configured such that the combination of its length and speed of motion allow a sufficient pressing time for the tesselatable portion between the second and third conveyors 32, 38 to allow the third conveyor 38 to press the tesselatable portions into substantially circular shapes 40 and to avoid shrinkage of the material.

By thickness, the dimension referred to is that perpendicular to the major surface of the sheet 11.

In operation, the apparatus functions as follows.

A sheet of material 11 is loaded onto the first conveyor 12, which is operated to advance the sheet at a constant speed. As the sheet 11 passes beneath the cutter 20, the cutting mechanism 22 cuts the sheet 11 into tesselatable portions 25.

As described above, in a preferred embodiment, pneumatic pistons 26 are operated at regular time intervals as the sheet is advanced at a constant speed to press cutting units 28 into the sheet 11. These cutting units cut the sheet 11 into tesselatable portions 25 owing to their tesselatable shaped outline of cutting edges 24.

As the tesselatable portions 25 reach the end of the first conveyor 12 (in the vicinity of the roller 16), they pass on to the second conveyor 32. Since the second conveyor 32 advances at a greater speed than the first conveyor 12, each tesselatable portion 25 is separated from the portion following it as it is picked up by the second conveyor 32 and spends a short interval travelling a greater speed than the shape following it. In addition, where the portions are staggered with respect to the leading edge of the sheet 11, then all adjacent portions 25 can be separated by the variation of speed between the first and second conveyors 12, 32.

As the portions 25 are advanced along the second conveyor 32, they pass between the press 36 and the second conveyor 32. The press 36 presses the portions to reduce their thickness, They therefore increase in diameter to form a substantially circular shape 40. This is particularly effective where the portions have regions of varying thickness, since the press 36 can cause the regions of increased thickness to be pressed into regions where the edge needs to be moved further out from the centre of the portion to convert the portion 25 into a substantially circular shape 40. Particular advantages are obtained where edges of the portion 25 which are furthest from the circumference of the desired circular shape 40 have the greatest thickness.

An embodiment of a cutting and reshaping system consists of three conveyors and a profiled hexagonal cutting tool. A dough sheet 11 is fed on to the first conveyor 12 on which the profiled hexagonal and 3 dimensional height profile cutting tool 20 or shaped rotary cutter is mounted. The cutting tool 20 is capable of cutting dough 11 and imparting the profile shape to the dough sheet 11 (note: this can either be roller cutter or stamp cutter to pace with line). The profile dimension can be varied depending on dough type. Once cut and shaped the dough pieces 25 are transferred onto the second conveyor 32 running at least three times the speed of the first conveyor 12. The increased speed of the second conveyor 32 results in separation of the hexagonally cut dough 25. A third conveyor 38 is positioned above the second conveyor 32 and is synchronised to run at the same speed as the second conveyor 32.

The height spacing between the second conveyor 32 and third conveyor 38 can be varied. The length of the third conveyor 38 is specified based on the speed of the second conveyor 32 to ensure adequate holding time is achieved to avoid dough shrinkage. The separated hexagonally cut dough 25 is passed through the spacing between the second conveyor 32 and third conveyor 38 (note: the spacing can be adjusted to the desired thickness of the reshaped circular dough and has to be lesser compare to the thickness of the input dough sheet). While the hexagonally cut dough is passed through the spacing between the second conveyor 32 and the third conveyor 38, it is subjected to compressive forces, which deforms the hexagonal dough 25 into circular dough. Once the dough is deformed to a circular shape, it is continued to be held under compression along the length of the third conveyor 38.

The final reshaped circular dough 40 is obtained at the end of the third conveyor 38.

In an alternative embodiment, instead of the third conveyor 38, the press can include a flat press for pressing the tesselatable portions into substantially circular shapes. In this embodiment, a frame, similar to the frame of the cutter 20, supports pneumatic pistons, which support the flat press such that the flat press is disposed above the upper surface of the second conveyor 32. The pneumatic pistons supporting the flat press are similar to the pneumatic pistons 26 which support the cutting mechanism 22. The pneumatic pistons of the press are operable to press the flat press at regular time intervals from a height above the second conveyor 32, which is greater than the maximum thickness of the tesselatable shapes 25, to a predetermined height above the second conveyor 32. The predetermined height corresponds to the distance between the lower surface of the third conveyor 38 and the upper surface of the second conveyor 32 as described above with respect to the preferred embodiment. The flat press is sufficiently wide in a direction transverse to the direction of movement of the second conveyor that no part of a tesselatable shape can pass the press without being pressed. The pistons are operable to press the flat press to the predetermined height above the second conveyor 32 sufficiently frequently that every tesselatable portion is pressed into a substantially circular shape 40.

The pneumatic pistons 26 and/or the pneumatic pistons of the press can be operable by means other than pneumatic. For example, they can be hydraulic pistons.

Features of different modifications and embodiments can be combined or interchanged as desired.

The disclosures in United Kingdom patent application no. 1011916.2, from which this application claims priority, and in the abstract accompanying this application are incorporated herein by reference.

Claims

-10 -CLAIMS1. An apparatus for producing a plurality of substantially circular portions from a sheet of malleable material, comprising: a conveyor for conveying a sheet of malleable material; a cutter for cutting the sheet into portions which tessellate, thereby minirnising wasted material; and a press for pressing the tesselatable portions into substantially circular shapes, wherein the cutter is operable to form the tesselatable portions such that the thickness of each portion is non-uniform.
2. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the cutter is provided with a profiled surface to form said non-uniform thickness.
3. An apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the profiled surface has the shape of a circus tent or castle ramparts.
4. An apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the thickness of the edge of each tesselatable portion is greatest at the part of each edge that is furthest from the circumference of the substantially circular shape to be formed.
5. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the press comprises a second conveyor arranged with respect to the first conveyor such that portions being conveyed by the first conveyor pass between and are pressed between the first and second conveyors.
6. An apparatus according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the press includes a flat press operable to press the tesselatable portions into substantially circular shapes.
7. An apparatus according to any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a second conveyor for receiving the tesselatable portions from the first conveyor and conveying them at a greater speed than the speed at which they are conveyed on the first conveyor in order to separate subsequent portions as they pass from the first conveyor to the second conveyor; wherein the press is located for pressing the portions as they are conveyed by the second conveyor.
8. An apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the press comprises a third conveyor located proximate to a region of the second conveyor such that portions being conveyed by the second conveyor pass between and are pressed by the second and third conveyors; wherein the third conveyor is separated from the second conveyor by a distance less than the thickness of the point of greatest thickness of the tesselatable portions, and wherein the third conveyor is operable to advance at the same speed as the second conveyor to press the portions into substantially circular shapes as they pass between the third conveyor and the second conveyor.
9. An apparatus according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the cutter is configured to cut the sheet into an array of tesselatable portions in which portions in a line transverse to the direction of travel are spaced apart.
10. An apparatus according to any preceding claim, wherein the tesselatable portions are hexagons.
11. A cutter as defined in any of claims 1-10.
12. A method of preparing substantially circular shapes from a sheet of malleable material, comprising: conveying a sheet of malleable material along a conveyor; cutting the sheet into tesselatable portions; pressing the tesselatable portions into substantially circular shapes.
13. An apparatus substantially as described herein and with reference to each of the accompanying drawings.
14. A method substantially as described herein and with reference to each of the accompanying drawings.