US2655190A

US2655190A - Method of and apparatus for forming an open filling-receiving groove in frankfurter rolls and other bakery products

Info

Publication number: US2655190A
Application number: US171578A
Authority: US
Inventors: Charles O M Mason; Henry J Perry
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1950-07-01
Filing date: 1950-07-01
Publication date: 1953-10-13
Anticipated expiration: 1970-10-13

Description

Oct. 13, 1953 c o M MASON EIAL 2,655,190

METHOD OF AI ID APPARATUS FOR FORMING AN OPEN FILLING-RECEIVING GROOVE IN FRANKFURTER ROLLS AND OTHER BAKERY PRODUCTS Filed July 1, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet l my IIII II IT I V J g kg Oct. 13, 1953 METHOD OF N ET AL 2,655,190 0R FORMING AN OPEN FILLING IN FRANKF ROLLS AND OTHER BAKERY PRODUCT URTER S C. O. M. MASO AND APPARATUS F' RECEIVING GROOVE 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 1, 1950 F an a o mwm nmw Oct. 13, 1953 c. o. M. MASON EIAL 2,655,190

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING AN OPEN FILLING-RECEIVING GROOVE IN FRANKFURTER ROLLS AND OTHER BAKERY PRODUCTS Filed July 1, 1950 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 I 18/819. 7 j'=.//l :82? i? E 99i E.\ "5 i E 5 {11' 80 2,655,190 OPEN LSIRTER Oct. 13, 1953 c. o. M. MASON ETAL METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING AN OOVE IN FRA BAKERY PROD FILLING-RECEIVING GR ROLLS AND OTHER II If I l l I Hnegs Patented Oct. 13, 1953 METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING AN OPEN FILLING-RECEIVING GROOVE IN FRANKFURTER ROLLS AND OTHER BAKERY PRODUCTS Charles 0. M. Mason, Hingham, and Henry J. Perry, Atlantic, Mass.

Application July 1, 1950, Serial No. 171,578

11 Claims.

This invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for producing so-called frankfurt rolls, or other bread or cake products, with an open top groove of permanent dimensions to receive a frankfurt or a salad product, or some other suitable filling.

When serving frankfurts or a salad in a roll it is at present the common practice to slit the roll along the top from one end to the other, and then to open the slit for the reception of a frankfurt or other filling by spreading apart the portions of the roll on each side of the slit. While this operation forms a V-groove in the roll, yet the opening of the slit distorts the roll, making it wider at the top than at the bottom. Such distorted roll has a tendency to resume its original shape and thereby to narrow the V-groove and thus reduce its capacity, with the result that some of the filling may be forced out of the groove.

Moreover, if the slit is not made deep enough the V-groove thus formed may be too small to receive properly the frankfurt' which is placed therein, or to receive a proper amount of filling.

It is one object of our invention to provide a novel method and apparatus by which either a roll for serving frankfurts or salad, or a loaf of bread or cake, may be made with an open groove having permanent dimensions and of a size not only to substantially receive a frankfurt,

but also to receive a generous portion of salad or other filling.

This is accomplished by cutting or carving out from the roll and removing therefrom a portion thereof, as distinguished from merely cutting a slit in the top of the roll as is now the common practice.

Rolls for serving frankfurts and salads are commonly baked in pans containing either a dozen rolls or perhaps a half-dozen rolls, and another object of our invention is to provide a machine which will cut the open filling-receiving groove in all of the rolls of a pan of rolls simultaneously. A further object of the invention is to provide a machine which will not only cut the open groove in each roll of a pan of rolls or in a loaf, but will also remove from the rolls or the loaf the material cut out therefrom in forming the open top groove.

In order to given an understanding of the invention we have illustrated it as being used in cutting an open groove in each roll of a pan or sheet of rolls, but we wish to state that the invention is equally adapted for cutting in a loaf of bread or cake or other bakery product, one

2 or more grooves to receive a desired filling. Consequently the reference herein to pans or sheets of frankfurt rolls or to frankfurts as the filling for the grooves, is to be considered as for illustrative purposes only and not as restricting in any way the use of the invention.

In the drawings wherein we have illustrated some selected embodiment of our invention:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of a machine embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on substantially the line 2- -2 Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary view illustrating the rotary cutters that are used in the device shown in Fig. 2 in connection with forming the groove in each roll.

Fig. l is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view on the line 4-4, Fig. 1.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line liii Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 66 Fig. 4.

Fig. '7 is a fragmentary perspective view showing a part of a pan of rolls, each of which has been provided with the frankfurt-receiving groove.

Fig. 8 is a sectional View on the line 8-3 Fig. 9, said view showing a different embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a section on the line 9-9 Fig. 8.

Fig. 10 is a view showing part of a pan of rolls in which the bottom of the groove in each roll has been formed by the device shown in Figs. 8 and 9.

Figure 11 is a plan view of a part length of one of the rotary slitting knife assemblies.

Referring to Fig. '7, 1 indicates a portion of a pan or sheet of rolls 2, each of which has formed therein a groove 3 for the purpose of receiving a frankfurt or a portion of salad or some other desired filling. Each groove 3 is shown as having parallel side walls 4 and a bottom wall 5, although the invention is not limited to making a groove having parallel side walls, as with suitable modifications which will readily suggest themselves to one skilled in the art the machine may operate to cut grooves having non-parallel side walls.

In accordance with this invention the groove 3 in each roll is formed by cutting or carving out of an ordinary frankfurt roll the material between the side walls i of the groove and above the bottom wall 5 thereof, so that in forming the frankfurt-receiving groove the roll itself is not distorted in any way.

The machine for accomplishing this end comprises a feed apron 6 for feeding forward pans or sheets of rolls l or a loaf of bread or cake, and means for cutting or carving out of each such sheet of rolls or loaf the material thereof between the side walls 4 and above the bottom of each groove as said pan of rolls or loaf is thus fed forward.

The feed apron 6 and the other parts of the machine are shown as mounted on a suitable supporting frame 8, the feed apron 5 passing around rollers 9 and It that are journalled in said frame 8. The roll 9 is an idler roll and the roll I is a driving roll, it being driven from a motor 8| carried by the frame 8. For this purpose the roll I8 has fast therewith a pulley 12 which is driven by a motor 8| through suitable reduction gear 82 and a belt drive 13.

Mounted on the frame 8 are a plurality of disc slitting knives M which are located above the feed apron 6 and are properly spaced from each other so that when a pan of rolls i is fed forward by the apron 6 the knives M will cut slits l in the pan of rolls by which the individual rolls 2 are separated from each other. The knives M are shown as so disposed that they out nearly but not quite through the pan of rolls, thereby leaving the rolls of the sheet connected at the bottom as shown at H3, but by a proper ad- J'ustment of the feed apron or the knives, the latter may be made to cut entirely through said pan of rolls thereby entirely separating the rolls from each other.

The knives l4 should be rotated quite rapidly so that their peripheral speed is greater than the speed of feeding movement of the roll, and the knives, therefore, will act on the rolls with a shearing cut. Said knives may be driven in any suitable way, but we will preferably employ a driving means therefor by which a part of the knives M are rotated in one direction and the remaining knives in the opposite direction, so that the feeding movement of the loaf or pan of rolls will not be appreciably influenced by the frictional engagement of the rapidly rotating knives therewith.

The knives M are shown as mounted on a shaft 83 which is journalled in the frame 8 and which may be driven by any suitable means such as a motor II to which the shaft is belted by a driving belt B4. Certain of the knives M, for instance, those indicated at Ma, are fast on the shaft 83, and hence rotate in the direction in which the shaft rotates. The remaining knives, indicated at Mb, are loosely mounted on the shaft 83 and means are provided for rotating them in a direction opposite to that in which the shaft rotates. For this purpose the cutting knives Mb are mounted on hub elements 85 which are loosely mounted on the shaft 33, and in the illustrated embodiment of the invention each hub element 85 has two knives Mb rigid therewith. The hub elements 85 are driven from a shaft 2 I, each hub element being connected to the shaft by a belt 86. The shaft 2| is driven from the shaft 83 by means of a belt connection 8'! and by crossing the belts 8B the hub elements 85 will be rotated on the shaft 83 in a direction opposite to that in which said shaft rotates.

By this construction the knives Mo will be rotating in one direction while the knives Mb are rotating in the opposite direction, and by ar ranging the knives on the shaft 83 so that approximately one-half the knives will be rotating in one direction and the other half in the opposite direction, the feeding movement of the pan of rolls or a loaf of bread or cake will not be appreciably influenced by the action of the slitting knives l4.

Mounted on the frame 3 is another series of rapidly rotating disc slitting knives which are arranged in pairs, each pair operating to out two slits in each roll 2 which define the side walls 4 of the groove 3 to be formed therein, and asso ciated with each such pair of knives is movable a cutting element which operates to cut the bottom wall 5 of the groove 3 in each roll.

These slitting knives for cutting the side walls 4 of the grooves 3 are mounted on a stationary shaft I? which is supported in the frame 8, and as stated above, said slitting knives are arranged in pairs, each pair operating to cut the side walls of a groove 3 in one of the rolls 2. The slitting knives of each pair are indicated at 18 and I9 and they are of such a size and so disposed that as the pan of rolls is fed forward by the feed apron B the slitting knives i8 and E9 of each pair cut the side walls of the groove 3 in one of the rolls.

Any suitable means for rapidly rotating the knives i8 and i3 may be employed, but priorably we will use a driving means constructed so that the slitting knives of each pair are rotating in opposite directions. The purpose of this is to provide means for better controlling the feeding movement of the pan I of rolls. If all of the slitting knives i8 and 19 were rotating in a counter-clockwise direction Fig. 2 the friction of the rapidly rotating knives on the rolls would have a tendency to move the rolls forward and since the slitting knives are rotated very rapidly such tendency might throw the sheet of rolls out of control.

On the other hand if the slitting knives i8 and is were rotated in a clockwise direction Fig. 2 the friction between the knives and the material of the rolls might be so great as to overcome the feeding movement of the feed apron 6 and thus prevent the rolls from moving forward.

By arranging the slitting knives l8 and I9 so that part of the knives are rotating in one direction and part in the opposite direction the tendency of the knives which are rotating in a counter-clockwise direction to move the pan of rolls forward at an undue speed is counteracted by the tendency of the knives which are rotating in a clockwise direction to retard the feeding movement of the rolls.

In the construction shown the slitting knife i8 of one pair and the adjacent slitting knife IQ of an adjacent pair are fast on the same hub element 2B which is rotatably mounted on the shaft [1, the latter being a stationary shaft.

The various hubs 20, each of which has rigid therewith the slitting knife 18 of one pair and the slitting knife (9 of an adjacent pair constitutes separate knife units. Said knife units are driven from the transverse shaft 21 mounted on the frame, the driving connection being such that any two adjacent hub members 20 are rotated in opposite directions.

Each hub 20 is formed with a pulley portion 22 around which passes a driving belt 23 driven by a pulley 24 fast on the shaft 21. The belts driving the alternate hubs 29 are crossed belts as shown at 23c, the other belts 23 being open belts. As stated above the shaft 21 is driven from the shaft 83 by means of a belt 86.

Cooperating with each pair of knives l8 and H! by which the side walls of the groove 3 of any roll is cut, is a movable cutting element constructed by its movement to make a transverse cut at the bottom of the slits formed by the knives 8 and I9 and extending from one slit to the other, said cutting element forming the bottom 5 of the groove 3 of each roll.

In the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 6 this movable cutting element is in the form of a rotary tubular cutter 21 which has a rotary cutting movement, the cutting edge 28 of which operates between the adjacent to the corresponding pair of slitting knives l8 and I9 as best shown in Fig. 4. There is such a rotary tubular cutting knife for each pair l8 and I!) of slitting knives and each tubular cutting element is shown as secured to and carried by a tubular shaft 28 which is mounted in bearings 29 carried by a gear box 39 which extends transversely across the feeding apron 6 and above the latter. The portion of each tubular shaft 28 located within the gear box has mounted thereon a spiral gear 3| which meshes with and is driven by a cooperating spiral gear 32 carried by a shaft 33 journalled in the gear housing 30. One end of the shaft 33 extends beyond the end of the gear housing and is provided with a pulley 34 which is connected by a belt drive 35 to the motor I The cutting edge 28 of each cutter 21 may be described as having an arcuate shape which is formed on an are having as its center the axis of the cutter, and in its rotary movement the cutting edge moves in such arc.

Each rotary cutting knife 2'! is 'detachably secured to its tubular shaft 28 by means of a suitable coupling 36 so that each tubular knife can be removed from its shaft for grinding or repair.

The rotary cutting movement of each tubular cutting element 2! will cut from the roll a core portion 3! which passes through the tubular cutter, and means, hereinafter described, is provided for removing these cores as they accumulate in the tubular shafts 23.

Situated directly above each tubular cutter 21 is a deflector member 38 having an inclined upper face 39 over which the portion 40 of the roll which is cut out therefrom by the knives l8 and I9 is fed. Situated above the tubular knives and at the rear of the deflectors 38 is a transverse belt 4| on to which the portions 40 of the various rolls are deposited. This belt 4| can be driven in any suitable way and functions to convey the discarded portions 49 of the various rolls into a suitable receptacle 42.

The deflectors 33 are carried by a supporting member 43 which extends transversely of the machine and is suitably mounted on the frame 8. h

This supporting member 43 also forms a support or rest for the upper run of the endless conveyor 4|.

For removing the cores 3! from the tubular cutters 21 and tubular shafts 28 we have provided suitable suction apparatus. The right hand end of each tubular shaft 28 is received in a recess formed in a member 44 which is secured to the gear box 39 by means of bolts 45. Said member 44 has an opening 46 therethrough which leads into a suction box 4'! that extends transversely of the machine. The interior of the suction box 41 is connected by a pipe 49 to a suction chamber 49 in which vacuum conditions are maintained by a suitable vacuum pump 59.

With this arrangement the header or suction box 41, with which all of the tubular shafts 28 communicate, will have a vacuum condition established therein which operates to suck each core member 31 as it is formed through the corresponding shaft and into the suction box 41. From this suction box the accumulated cores are conveyed by suction through the pipe 48 into the suction chamber 49.

Another manner of cutting the bottom of the groove 3 in each roll is shown in Figs. 8 and 9. In said figures there is provided a reciprocating cutting knife 5| for each pair of cutting discs l8 and I9. Each cutting blade 5| is in the form of an elongated strip having a cutting edge 52 at its forward end and each blade is connected at its outer end to a plunger 53, one end of which is received in a chamber 54 formed in a guiding element 55. The various guiding elements 55 are mounted in the side wall 56 of a chamber 51 through which extends a cam shaft 58 having thereon a plurality of cams 59, one for each of the cutting elements. Each plunger 53 is provided at its end with a follower roll 6|) bearing against the cam and each plunger is acted on by a spring 6| which bears at one end against the member 55 and at the other end against a collar 62 fast on the plunger 53.

The springs 5| thus hold the follower rolls in engagement with the cams 59 and as the shaft 58 is rotated the combined action of the cams 59 and springs 6| produce a vibrating or reciprocating movement of the cutting knives 5| in the direction of their length and thereby the transverse cuts are made in the various rolls which form the bottom of the groove 3 thereof.

In the construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9 the bottom of the groove will be fiat as shown at 5a in Fig. 10 instead of rounded as shown in Fig. 7. In both forms of the invention the cutting elements for cutting the bottom of the grooves in the rolls are movable elements which perform their cutting function by their movement. In the construction shown in Figs. 1-6 the cutting movement of the cutting elements is a rotary movement and in the construction shown in Figs. 8 and 9 the cutting movement is a reciprocating movement.

The portions 49 and the cores 3'! of the rolls which are cut out are therefrom in forming the grooves may be utilized in various ways. In the baking industry there is a constant demand for bread crumbsand these discarded portions of the rolls 2 can well be used for this purpose.

In order to hold each pan or sheet of rolls in feeding contact with the feed apron during the time that the groove 3 is being cut in each roll, we propose to employ a hold-down member 65 for each roll, each hold-down member being located directly underneath the corresponding tubular cutter 21 and having a tapered shape with a pointed end 51. The top face 69 of each holddown member engages the corresponding cutter 21 and the bottom face 69 engages the bottom 5 of the groove 3 formed in the roll. Said holddown members therefore serve to maintain the proper contact between the rolls 2 and the feed apron 6 to enable said apron to feed the rolls for- Ward. Each hold-down member is provided with a stem iii by which it is held in place, said stems being secured to the gear box 39 in any suitable way.

A somewhat similar hold-down H is shown in Fig. 9 which hold-down holds the rolls firmly against the feed apron and prevents the pan or 'shown by the diverges slightly from the cutting end toward the opposite end so as to facilitate the passage of the cores 3'! therethrough. The progressively increasing diameter of the bore of each cutter from its cutting end allows the cores 31 to move freely therethrough under the influence of the suction developed in the chamber 41, and thus prevents the cutters from becoming clogged,

It will be noted that the feed apron inclines downwardly, thereby carrying the rolls in which the grooves 3 have been formed below the gear box and chamber 41 in Figs. 1 and 4, and below the chamber 51 in Fig. 9. The feed apron 6 is shown as delivering the grooved rolls on to an endless receiving apron 62 which passes i around two rollers 63 and 64. The roll 63 is operatively connected to the roll 9 of the feed apron 6 by means of a sprocket chain 65 which passes around sprocket wheels fast on the shafts of the rolls 9 and 63.

Referring to Fig. 5 it will be noticed that the knife 18 of one pair of knives rotates in an opposite direction from that of the knife 18 of an adjacent pair, because of the fact that one knife I8 is driven by an open belt 23 and the adjacent knife is driven by a crossed belt 23a.

The cutting end 28 of each rotary tubular cutter 21 operates between and closely adjacent the corresponding pair of slitting knives l8, l9, and

in order to prevent any clogging of the cutting u edge of either the tubular cutter 21 or the slitting knives l8, l9, we propose to rotate each tubular cutter in such a direction that the portion of the cutting edge thereof adjacent either of the knives l8 and I9 will move in a direction opposite to that of the knives. This involves rotating one cutter 21 in one direction and the adjacent cutter on either side thereof in an opposite direction as arrows in Fig. 3. This end can be accomplished by making the spiral gear 3| on each shaft 28 with an opposite pitch to that of the spiral gear of the adjacent shaft 23.

While we have shown herein and described some embodiments of our invention, we desire to state that the invention is not limited to the construction shown as various changes can be made therein without departing from the invention.

Furthermore although the apparatus illustrated has been primarily designed for forming filling-receiving grooves in frankfurt rolls, yet, as stated above, the apparatus is equally well adapted for forming grooves in a loaf of bread or cake or other similar bakery product.

We claim: 1. An apparatus for forming a frankfurt-receiving groove in a frankfurt roll comprising means to feed said roll forward, a pair of coaxial rotary disc knives spaced from each other and situated to out two slits in said roll extending from one end to the other, a reciprocating cutter to make a transverse cut in each roll from one end thereof to the other at the bottom of the slits cut by the disc knives, means to reciprocate said cutter, and means to remove the portion of said roll between the parallel slits and above the transverse cut thereby to form in the roll a frankfurt-receiving groove.

2. An apparatus for forming a frankfurt-receiving groove in a frankfurt roll as defined in claim 1, in which means are provided for reciproeating the cutter in the direction of the feed of the rolls.

3. An apparatus for preparing frankfurt rolls for the reception of filling material comprisinga feed apron for feeding a sheet of rolls forward in a straight line in the direction of the length of the rolls,.a plurality of pairs of rotary disk slitting knives above the apron, one pair for each roll of the sheet of rolls, for cutting in each roll as said sheet of rolls is fed forward two parallel slits extending in the lengthwise direction of the roll and from one end to the other thereof, means for rapidly rotating said slitting knives with a surface speed considerably in excess of the speed at which the pan of rolls is fed forward, an elongated movable cutting element for each pair of knives, each cutting element extending in the general direction of the feed of the sheet of rolls and having a cutting edge at its forward end, and means to give each cutting element a cutting movement to make in the corresponding roll a transverse cut connecting the bottom of the slits therein.

4. An apparatus for preparing a frankfurt roll for the reception of filling material comprising a feed apron for feeding a sheet of frankfurt rolls forward in a straight line in the direction of the length of the rolls, a plurality of pairs of rotary disk slitting knives above the apron, one pair for each roll of the sheet of rolls, for cutting in each roll as the sheet of rolls is fed forward two parallel slit-s extending lengthwise of the roll from one end to the other thereof, means to rotate the slitting knives, a plurality of elongated cutting elements arcuate shaped in cross section and each having an arcuate cutting edge at one end, there being one such cutting element for each pair of slitting knives, and means to turn the cutting elements about their axes, means mounting said cutting elements so that each makes in the corresponding roll a curved transverse cut connecting the bottom of the slits therein.

5. An apparatus for preparing a frankfurt roll for the reception of filling material comprising a feed apron for feeding a sheet of frankfurt rolls forward in a straight line in the direction of the length of the rolls, a plurality of pairs of rotary disk slitting knives, there being one pair for each roll of the sheet of rolls, said slitting knives being operative to cut in each roll as the sheet of rolls is fed forward two parallel slits extending lengthwise of the roll from one end to the other thereof, means for rotating said slitting knives, a plurality of tubular cutting elements, one for each roll, each cutting element having a cutting edge at one end, means to rotate said cutting elements about their axes, means mounting said cutting elements so that as the rolls are fed forward each cutting element makes a cylindrical cut in the corresponding roll from one end to the other thereof, which cylindrical cut connects the bottom of the slits in said roll, and means for removing from each tubular cutter the core which it cuts from the roll.

6. An apparatus for preparing a frankfurt roll for the reception of filling material as defined in claim 5, in which the means for removing the cores from the tubular cutter comprises suction means connected to the delivery end of the tubular cutter.

7. An apparatus for preparing a frankfurt roll for the reception of filling material as defined in claim 5, and which includes a suction box with which the rear ends of the tubular cutting elements communicate, and means to maintain reduced pressure in the suction box thereby to draw thereinto by suction the cores out from the rolls by the cutting elements.

8. An apparatus for preparing a frankfurt roll for the reception of filling material comprising a feed apron for feeding a sheet of frankfurt rolls forward in a straight line in the direction of the length of the rolls, a plurality of rotary disk slitting knives, one for each roll of the sheet of rolls, for cutting in each roll as the sheet of rolls is fed forward two parallel slits extending lengthwise of the roll from one end to the other thereof, means for rotating said slitting knives, a plurality of tubular cutting elements each having a cutting edge at one end, there being a tubular cutting element for each pair of slitting knives, means to rotate said cutting elements about their axes, means mounting said cutting elements so that as the rolls are fed forward each cutting element makes a cylindrical cut in the corresponding roll which connects the bottom of the slits therein, each cutting element having a progressively increasing interior diameter from the cutting end to the opposite delivery end, a suction box with which the delivery ends of the tubular cutter elements communicate, and means to maintain in said suction box a reduced pressure thereby to draw thereinto the cores cut from the rolls by the rotating cutters.

9. An apparatus for preparing a frankfurt roll for the reception of filling material comprising a feed apron for feeding a sheet of frankfurt rolls forward in a straight line in the direction of the length of the rolls, a plurality of rotary disk slitting knives, one pair for each roll of the sheet of rolls, for cutting in each roll two parallel slits extending lengthwise of the roll from one end to the other thereof as the sheet of rolls is fed forward, a plurality of elongated cutting elements, one for each pair of slitting knives, said cutting elements being operative to make in each roll as it is fed forward a transverse cut connecting the bottoms of the slits therein, a shaft on which said slitting knives are loosely mounted, means rigidly connecting one knife of each pair to the adjacent knife of an adjacent pair to form a two-knife unit, means for rotating some of the two-knife units in one direction and the remainder of the two-knife units in the opposite direction.

10. An apparatus for preparing a frankfurt roll for the reception of filling material as defined in claim 9, in which means are provided for rotat- 10 ing the alternate knife units in one direction and the other knife units in the opposite direction.

11. Apparatus for forming a filling-receiving groove in bakery material such as bread, rolls, cake, etc., comprising feeding means to feed such bakery material forward, a plurality of pairs of rotary slitting knives situated above the feeding means, means to rotate said knives rapidly with a surface speed considerably in excess of the speed at which the bakery material is fed forward, thereby to make pairs of slits in said material extending in the direction in which such material is fed, an elongated movable cutting element for each pair of slitting knives, each cutting element extending in the general direction of the feeding movement of said bakery material and having at its forward end a cutting edge of an extent to make a cut extending from one slit to the other of a pair of slits made by a pair of slitting knives, means to give each cutting element a cutting movement, and means mounting said cutting elements so that each cutting element makes a cut in the bakery material connecting the bottom of a pair of slits therein.

CHARLES O. M. MASON. HENRY J. PERRY.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 384,209 Mentzer June 5, 1888 442,878 Geiger Dec. 16, 1890 527,963 Gay Oct. 23, 1894 1,748,249 Skoverski Feb. 25, 1930 1,920,095 McCall July 25, 1933 1,923,069 Bach Aug. 22, 1933 1,984,388 Wilkes Dec. 18, 1934 2,059,108 Hobbs et al Oct. 27, 1936 2,297,158 McDonald Sept. 29, 1942 2,359,881 Serr Oct. 10, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 545,224 Germany Feb. 26, 1932