ITFI20130014A1 - CONE AND / OR CANNOLI FORMING SYSTEM - Google Patents

Description

DESCRIPTION

â € œSystem for forming cones and / or cannoliâ €

The present invention relates to a system for forming cones and / or cannoli for automatic machines for producing waffles and to an automatic machine comprising this system. The formed pods have a typically conical and / or cylindrical conformation and / or of baskets and / or shells, the system forming the so-called rolled croissants and / or cigars / cigarettes from pods, rather than baskets and / or shells.

The field of application of the invention is that of automatic machines for the production of wafers for ice cream, sweet or savory in general.

The automatic machines for the production of pods of the known type typically have a pressure tank for the mixture of the pods, a volumetric injection pump for liquid food mixes with adjustable dosage, a by-pass system to avoid production stoppages and a system for forming cones and / or cannoli. This system includes a pod cooking device, typically consisting of a rotating carousel drum equipped with a plurality of cooking plates where a conduit coming from the pressure tank delivers the food mixture to be cooked directly on one of the plates when the itself moves underneath the duct following the rotation of the drum. Once the dough has been dispensed, the plate closes by cooking it to form a wafer, typically circular in shape. The wafer is cooked during the slow movement of the drum and arrives at a processing station where it is transferred inside a mold shaped by a pusher arm that pushes it into the mouth of the same.

Known forming systems provide for the presence of a movable counter-mold which is automatically inserted into the mold while the wafer is loaded inside the mold, and comes out of it to allow the extraction of the formed wafer. This wafer remains inside the mold for a cooling time suitable for its perfect constitution, in order to be subsequently removed in a removal station and conveyed to an exit station of the machine.

The known molding systems have the drawback that, before the wafer can be removed from the external surface of the counter-mold to which it adheres and therefore before being able to load a new wafer inside the mold, a sufficient time must pass for cooling the cone or cannolo-shaped wafer, otherwise there is the risk of not having a well-formed, compact, crunchy and quality final product. This means that the final production of pods requires substantial compliance with the formation and cooling times of the pod and therefore the machine does not result in a production of final pods commensurate with the quantity of pods that the cooking device is able to produce and transport. in the processing station. The final pods produced are therefore substantially lower in number than that potentially obtainable.

The present invention aims to solve the aforementioned drawbacks of the prior art and to indicate a system for forming cones and / or cannoli for automatic machines for the production of pods and relative automatic machine capable of optimizing the production times of the pods formed, lowering it considerably compared to what is known.

One purpose of the invention is to significantly increase the production efficiency of the formed pods, considerably increasing the production quantities and at the same time guaranteeing the quality of the finished product.

In order to achieve these purposes, the object of the present invention is a system for forming cones and / or cannoli for automatic machines for producing waffles, an automatic machine for producing waffles according to the characteristics of the attached claims.

Advantageously, the invention allows to considerably improve the production of pods both in terms of quantity produced and qualitative of the formed pods.

Advantageously, it is possible to considerably increase the production speed of the formed pods, up to optimize it with respect to the production capacity of the cooking device used.

Further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become clear from the following detailed description of a preferred form of application of the invention, provided purely for explanatory and non-limiting purposes with the aid of the attached figures, in which:

<∠’> figure 1 represents a schematic perspective view of an automatic machine for the production of pods including a cone and / or cannoli forming system according to the present invention;

<∠’> figures 2, 3, 4 and 5 represent perspective views of the cone and / or cannoli forming system present in figure 1 according to distinct operating conditions.

With particular reference to Figure 1, the number 10 indicates as a whole an automatic machine for the production of pods, which comprises a system for forming cones and / or cannoli, indicated as a whole with 20.

Said machine 10 also comprises a tank for the mixture of the pods not shown, for example of a pressure type, means for dispensing and dosing the liquid mixture, for example a volumetric injection pump for liquid food doughs with adjustable dosage, as well as a by-pass system to avoid production stoppages. The tank for the mixture of the pods, the dosing means and the bypass system are schematically indicated contained in a body 18 of the machine 10 and not detailed for simplicity as they are substantially known.

The automatic machine 10 for the production of pods illustrated in Figure 1 comprises a cooking device 22 for pods C, movable between at least one feeding station 12 and a processing station 13, consisting for example of a motorized carousel drum 23 and therefore rotating (in particular in an anticlockwise direction as shown in Figure 1 by the arrow R), equipped with a plurality of cooking plates 24, in particular of the type with smooth and / or engraved molds in special cast iron.

The machine 10 also comprises means 26 for feeding the cooking device 22, located in this feeding station 12, for supplying the same device 22 with a slurry for waffles. In Figure 1, these means preferably comprise a nozzle for dispensing the liquid mixture located above at the center of a corresponding cooking plate 24, which is opened by means of opening and closing means of the plate which are not detailed for simplicity. what you notice. The dispensing nozzle 26 is connected to the tank for the mixture of the pods, not shown, by means of the interposition of the known type volumetric injection pump, for the correct dosage of the right quantity of liquid mixture on the smooth and \ or engraved on the cooking plate 24 in order to create the wafer C of the desired consistency.

The cone forming system 20 comprises at least a first final wafer forming device, indicated as a whole with 30, which can be associated with the aforementioned cooking device 22 in the processing station 13 for forming a wafer C.

As will be detailed below, the processing station 13 comprises a station 13a for loading the still malleable wafer C inside the forming device and a station 13b for removing the wafer shaped in the form of a cone or cannolo from said forming device 30 and 30â € ™.

These stations 13a for loading the wafer C and removing 13b for the shaped wafer are alternatively operative at the processing station 13.

The machine 10 is advantageously equipped with suitable conveying means associated with the cooking device 22 in the processing station 13, for conveying a wafer C formed in the cooking device 22 to the final forming device 30 at a loading station 13a.

Said conveying means 28 comprise, for example, a pusher arm 28 equipped with a contrasting plate 29 moved in such a way as to grip a wafer available in the processing station 13 when the corresponding cooking plate 24 is opened, and further moved in in such a way as to drag the wafer itself towards an inlet 31 of the final forming device 30, the details being clearly visible in Figure 2, which illustrates the device 30 precisely in the described operating condition.

Advantageously, the cone and / or cannoli forming system comprises at least a second final wafer forming device 30â € ™.

With particular reference to Figures 1 to 3, each final wafer forming device 30 and 30 'comprises a mold 32 and a counter-mold 34, movable with respect to the mold 32 between an insertion position 14 and an extracted position 15 thereof. The counter-mold 34 is equipped with gripping means, for example, preferably retractable shaped teeth obtained on the external surface of the counter-mold 34 and not illustrated for simplicity, as well as with a motor 35 capable of rotating its external surface. in such a way that when the counter-mold 34 is in the insertion position 14 (figures 2, 3 and 4), with the aid of the gripping means, it rotates the wafer C, which is still malleable and just cooked at the exit from the cooking plate, until it assumes the final shape, in the illustrated example of a rolled croissant S.

In the attached figures, the mold and counter-mold have a conical shape, but they can also have other shapes, for example cylindrical, depending on the type of shape to be given to the still malleable wafer.

Typically, the counter-mold 34 is extracted from the mold 32 after a time of formation, cooling and settling of the wafer sufficient to guarantee its shape and the optimal final consistency.

For this purpose, the cone and / or cannoli forming system comprises at least two separate cooling stations 16 and 17.

Advantageously, the presence of the second final pod forming device 30â € ™ allows the simultaneous formation of further pods C, thus significantly increasing the number of pods produced in the unit of time (about 70% more), as it will be. better clarified in the following after the explanation of the functioning of the system itself. More in detail, the first 30 and the second 30â € ™ forming device are substantially identical and both are positioned integral with the frame 40 with the relative molds 32, 32â € ™. Preferably, the frame 40 is constrained vertically movable through the aid of known and not further specified means in such a way as to alternatively bring the two devices 30, 30 'into the processing station 13, where the relative molds 32 are able to receive wafer C in the respective inlets 31, in order to be able to advantageously form several final shapes of wafer C in sequence. a respective first cooling station 16 and second cooling station 17. In particular, the first 16 located on the vertical above and the second 17 located on the vertical below the processing station 13, ie located on the opposite side with respect to the processing station 13. Advantageously, this solution allows to increase the production of pods while maintaining the overall dimensions of the system final reduced and with a relatively simple handling of the frame.

The final forming device for pods 30 and 30â € ™ is also equipped with means for removing the wafer C from the forming device itself. In particular, these removal means comprise a blowing tube 41, associated with the frame 40 and alternately interacting with each mold 32 to blow a flow of air and promote the detachment of the cone or cannolo from the mold 32 itself.

The removal means also comprise a removal arm 36 operatively active on an external profile of the surface of the counter-mold 34, to facilitate the extraction of the cone or cannolo from the counter-mold 34 itself.

Advantageously, according to what is illustrated in the attached figures, this arm 36 can be associated with the external surface of the same counter-mold 34, fixedly constrained with respect to the mold 32, in particular fixed to a frame 40 like the mold 42. The counter-mold 34 itself, in its translational movement, operationally interferes with said arm 36 by activating it.

The arm 36 is also equipped in its terminal part with a head or a brush element 37, in particular having a triple lobe shape, which remains adherent to the external surfaces of the counter-mold 34 when it moves between the position of insertion 14 and the extracted one 15 as it is elastically constrained in adherence to the aforesaid surfaces.

The operation of the cone and / or cannoli forming system 20 is detailed below. The dispensing nozzle 26 delivers the right amount of slurry for waffles to the feeding station 12 in the center of a corresponding cooking plate 24 having the plate open top, which closes after dispensing, starting to cook the dough to obtain wafer C. Figure 1 shows, purely by way of example, a cooking device having a carousel drum 23 which rotates , in particular anticlockwise R for a certain time, allowing the dough to cook. In the meantime, the system 20 continues to fill successive plates 24 in the same way, until each individual plate 24 is brought back to the dispensing nozzle 26 where the upper plate reopens and the slurry is dispensed.

According to what is illustrated in figure 1, at the start of the machine, in correspondence with the processing station 13, which at that moment acts as the loading station 13a, there is the first final forming device 30, while the second final device 30â € ™ is stationary and empty at the bottom, in what will be the second cooling station 17.

In this configuration, the opposing plate 29 goes, through said rotation, to be inserted below the wafer C while the pusher arm 28 at the top descends to grip the wafer and to convey it towards the inlet 31 of the mold 32 (see for this Figures 1 and 2), inside which the counter-mold 34 is inserted in the insertion position 14. The shaped teeth, obtained on the relative external surface of the counter-mold 34, interfere with the still hot wafer C to grab it. The motor 35 then rotates the external surface of the counter-mold 34 around its own axis of symmetry 34a, dragging the wafer C completely inside the mold 32, rolling it (figure 3), until the wafer C acquires the final shape, cone S, as in the example illustrated, or cylinder.

Once the wafer C has been completely loaded inside the first final forming device 30 (figure 3), the system 20 moves the frame 40 vertically upwards, as represented by the relative arrow F in figure 4, bringing the second final forming device 30â € ™ in the processing station 13 and the first final forming device 30 at the first cooling station 16. The system 20 now rotates the carousel drum 23 bringing the next plate 24 to the processing station 13, plate 24 which is opened on the way; the conveying means 28, 29 grip the subsequent pod C and direct it to the inlet 31 'of the mold 32' of the second device 30 'repeating the same forming procedure as already described for the device 30.

During the entire time interval necessary to position the second final forming device 30â € ™ in correspondence with the processing station 13 (which now acts as the loading station 13a as shown in figure 4), the subsequent loading of the wafer C again malleable inside the second forming device 30â € ™ and the simultaneous displacement and subsequent stationing of the first forming device 30 in correspondence with the first cooling station 16, the wafer inserted in the first forming device 30 assumes the desired shape and the consistency suitable for its final use.

Once the wafer C has been loaded inside the second forming device 30â € ™, the system 20 moves the frame 40 vertically downwards according to the relative arrow F (figure 5), bringing back the first final forming device 30 again in the processing station 13 which now acts as the removal station 13b of the wafer now shaped S in the form of a cone or cannolo.

At this point, the removal of the S-shaped cone or cannolo wafer from the relative mold and counter-mold. This removal takes place according to two successive phases: a first phase in which the blower tube 41 blows air into the mold 32, causing the detachment of the wafer formed by the mold 32 itself, and a second phase in which the counter-mold 34 with the wafer formed C is extracted from the mold 32 in the extracted position 15, in correspondence with the removal station 13b and the cone or cannolo from the counter-mold 34 is extracted from the counter-mold 34 itself with the aid of the removal arm 36 and its head 37.

In fact, during the extraction and retraction movement, the counter-mold 34 operationally interferes with the removal arm 36, activating its movement.

During the extraction movement, the removal arm 36 interferes, together with its brush element 37, with the upper edge of the formed wafer S, separating it from the outer surface of the counter-mold 34 (figure 5) until the same formed wafer S falls towards means of collection and transport of the automatic machine, means not illustrated for simplicity as they are known.

At this point the cycle restarts as illustrated in Figure 2, since the first forming device 30 is still stationed in the processing station 13 which now becomes the loading station 13a of the malleable wafer C. The pod is loaded inside this first device 30 as has already been described above.

Once the wafer C has been loaded, the system 20 moves the frame 40 vertically upwards, bringing the second final forming device 30â to the processing station 13 and the first final forming device 30 to the first processing station. cooling 16.

Also in this case, during the handling, unloading and subsequent reloading of the first final forming device 30, the wafer contained in the second forming device 30â € ™ was able to cool down in the second cooling station 17 and reach the adequate consistency.

Then the system 20 controls the extraction of the counter-mold 34 of the second final forming device 30â € ™ having the wafer S formed inside it as mentioned, wafer S which is disengaged from the counter-mold in the same way as described above with reference to the device 30. At this point, the first forming device 30 is in correspondence with the first cooling station 16, while the second forming device 30â € ™ must be reloaded (figure 4) and the system thus continues its operation cyclically with the same procedure already described as long as the automatic machine stop is not commanded.

From the described operation it is clear that the system according to the invention is advantageously able to exploit the times during which the wafer needs to be settled and cooled, in particular in the case of the example inside the mold of the final forming device, to form a different wafer already ready and available in the cooking device and in a new final forming device. Experience shows that with the use of the system, for example, the production of formed pods increases by about 70% and it is possible to optimize production with respect to the characteristics of the cooking device used, using them to the maximum of their production capacity in compliance the cooking times of the liquid dough and the time required for the shaping and final cooling of the wafers in order to obtain a product of excellent final quality. Advantageously, the solution with a double final forming device with an arrangement aligned on opposite sides with respect to the processing station, in particular when arranged on a vertical one, allows to have an ejection of the formed wafer in the same station of the automatic machine, thus rationalizing it the collection process through the collection and transport means of the automatic machine.

It is clear that further and numerous variations are possible for the skilled in the art to the cone and / or cannoli forming system for automatic machines for the production of waffles and to the automatic machine for the production of waffles according to the invention, as well as It is clear that in its practical implementation the forms of the illustrated details may be different and the same may be replaced with technically equivalent elements. For example, there may be many devices for the final forming of wafers alternatively present in the processing station, as may be the frames on which they are set up and the handling for their alternative arrival at the processing station. There are also various devices for cooking the pods used in the automatic machines and from which the particular couplings with the final forming devices in the processing station and the relative means for conveying the formed pods derive.

Claims (13)

CLAIMS 1. System for forming cones and / or cannoli for automatic machines for the production of waffles, comprising: - at least one pod processing station (13), fed by a pod cooking device (22), - a first device for the final forming of pods (30), fed with still malleable pods at said processing station (13), characterized in that it comprises at least a second final wafer forming device (30â € ™), fed with still malleable wafers at said processing station (13), for the simultaneous formation of further wafers (C); said first (30) and said second (30â € ™) final wafer forming device being movable between a said processing station (13) and at least a first (16) and a second (17) cooling station of said forming (20). 2. System, according to claim 1, characterized in that said first (30) and said second (30â € ™) device for final waffle forming are alternatively movable between the processing station (13) and at least one respective cooling station (16:17). 3. System according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said first (16) and said second (17) cooling station are located on the opposite side with respect to the processing station (13). 4. System, according to claim 3, characterized in that said first (30) and said second (30â € ™) device for final waffle forming are aligned along a direction, in particular along a substantially vertical direction, constrained to a frame (40) vertically movable. 5. System, according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a loading station (13a) for a still malleable wafer inside said first (30) or said second (30â € ™) final device for forming pods, and a removal station (13b) for the formed pod. 6. System according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said loading station (13a) and said removal station (13b) are alternatively present and operative at said processing station (13). 7. System according to the preceding claim, characterized in that the final wafer forming devices (30, 30â € ™) comprise a mold (32) and a counter-mold (34) movable relative to the mold (32) between a insertion position (14) and an extracted position (15). 8. System according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said forming devices (30, 30â € ™) comprise means for gripping said wafer (C) to grasp it and facilitate its insertion inside it. System according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that it comprises means (41, 36, 37) for removing the wafer (C) from the mold (32) and from the counter-mold (34). 10. System according to the preceding claim, characterized in that said wafer (C) removal means (41, 36, 37) comprise a blower tube (41) which can be alternatively associated with each mold (32) to blow a flow of air inside the mold (32) and cause the detachment of the formed wafer. 11. System according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that said wafer (C) removal means (41, 36, 37) comprise a removal arm (36) and a head (37), operatively active on a profile exterior of the lateral surface of said counter-mold (34). 12. System according to the previous claim, characterized in that said counter-mold (34) is movable relative to said wafer (C) removal means (41, 36, 37) and operatively interferes with said arm (36) to activate it. 13. Automatic machine for the production of pods comprising a pod cooking device (22), movable between at least one feeding station (12) and a processing station (13), a tank for mixing the pods, means dispensing and dosing (26) of the cooking device (22), conveying means (28, 29) associated with the cooking device (22) to facilitate the wafer coming out of the cooking device (22), characterized in that it comprises a system for forming cones and / or cannoli according to one of the preceding claims.