WO1999040796A1

WO1999040796A1 - Dough shaper

Info

Publication number: WO1999040796A1
Application number: PCT/GB1999/000276
Authority: WO
Inventors: Raymond Fox; Keith Morton
Original assignee: Oddy Equipment Limited
Priority date: 1998-02-12
Filing date: 1999-02-12
Publication date: 1999-08-19
Also published as: GB9803019D0; GB2341075A; GB9922884D0

Abstract

A dough shaper method and apparatus for shaping dough balls, by forming cuts through one of a pair of opposed surfaces of the dough ball and which extend towards and close to the opposite surface, so as to simulate hand production of dough balls derived from separately formed plaits.

Description

-1 - DOUGH SHAPER

This invention relates to a machine for shaping dougn prior to the dough being baked to form bread, and to a method of shaping the dough. The resulting bread will have a predetermined shape after baking corresponding to that of the dough prior to baking.

It is known to form bread into aesthetically pleasing shapes such as plaits, knots, twists etc. Whole loaves of bread may be so formed. Alternatively, rolls of various shapes and sizes may be so formed.

The rolls may be finger rolls, or round rolls for example.

It is known that customers find bread, whether loaves or rolls, which are shaped into plaits to be particularly attractive. Such bread therefore tends to sell very well.

It is known to form a bread roll or loaf into a plait by first of all dividing the dough which will form the plait into three or more lengths of dough, and then to form the plait by hand by entwining the three or more lengths of dough in the conventional way to form a plait.

Because it is known only to form bread into plaits by hand, the process is time consuming and therefore expensive.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for shaping dough in the form of a dough ball having an opposed pair of surfaces, the apparatus comprising: cutting means for cutting one of said surfaces of the dough ball to form at least one cut, the depth of the at least one cut being such that the cut is visible at the opposite surface of the dough ball; and - 2 - conveymg means for supporting the dough ball, and transporting the dough ball to the cutting means.

It is known to form bread from dough balls, dough being formed into a ball of a predetermined weight depending on the size of the loaf or roll of bread to be formed from the dough.

In this specification the term "dough ball" will be used to describe any portion of dough of whatever shape, whether dough is formed into a substantially spherical shape, or a more elongated shape or any convenient shape.

The invention is particularly useful for simulating the production of bread formed manually from plaits, from dough shaped by means of the apparatus according to the present invention. The inventors have realised that it is possible to form loaves or rolls of bread which appear to be formed into plaits using the conventional method described heremabove m which three or more lengths of dough are entwined by hand, by forming cuts in a dough ball, which cuts are spaced apart from one another and which extend substantially through the thickness of the dough.

When baked, the cuts appear to define portions of a plait. The cuts develop into dips or valleys m the baked bread with the portions between the cuts developing into raised portions. Because the cuts are also visible on an opposite surface of the bread, an illusion that the bread has actually been plaited by hand is created.

Preferably, the cuts are applied to an upper surface of the dough ball by the cutting means.

Pressure is applied to the dough balls by application of the cutting means to the dough such that the cuts formed in the upper surface of the dough ball extend through the ball and are visible at an opposite, undersurface of the dough ball. - 3 -

The pressure applied to the dough ball through the cutting means has the effect of pushing the dough downwards m the vicinity of the cuts formed m the dough ball. This helps to create the illusion that bread formed from a dough ball is formed into a plait.

The pressure applied to the dough ball by the cutting means must be sufficient to produce cuts which extend through the thickness of the dough ball and are visible on an underside of the dough ball, but not so great that the cutting means cuts the dough ball into one or more pieces. In other words, the dough ball remains intact .

Equally, the pressure must be great enough to produce cuts which extend through the thickness of the dough ball and be visible on the underside of the dough ball. If the pressure is not great enough, the cuts will not be visible on the undersurface of the dough ball, and the illusion that the bread is formed from a plait will not be so realistic.

The inventors have realised that it is possible to form bread into a shape which looks substantially the same as bread which has been formed from a plait in the conventional hand method described heremabove, without having to manipulate three or more lengths of dough. This means that it has been possible to automate the process and therefore produce cheaper plaits of bread.

The invention could also be used to form other shapes, for example, twists.

Preferably, the cutting means comprises a wheel having a tread comprising flutes which form cuts in the dough ball when the cutting means is applied to the dough ball.

Flutes forming the tread of the wheel define a shape which will determine the pattern formed by cuts on the dough - 4 - ball when the cutting means has been applied to the dough ball and will determine the ultimate shape of the bread formed from the dough ball after baking.

The wheel may be mounted on a shaft, and spaced apart from the conveyor means .

The dough ball to be cut may be positioned on the conveyor means and thus pass under the rotating wheel.

The pressure at which the wheel is applied to the dough ball depends on the thickness of the dough and also on the spacing between the wheel and the conveying means .

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises adjustment means for adjusting the spacing between the conveying means and the wheel.

The space between the wheel and the conveying means is varied to suit the thickness of the dough ball to be shaped. The larger the dough ball, the greater the spacing required between the conveying means and the wheel .

Advantageously, a plurality of wheels are mounted on one shaft. This means that more than one dough ball may be shaped at any one time. For example, if four wheels are mounted on an shaft, then four dough balls may be shaped at the same time.

Alternatively, one long wheel may be used to shape more than one dough ball simultaneously.

Conveniently, the apparatus may comprise one shorter wheel. This may be useful where the apparatus is to be used in, for example, a small bakery where one dough ball at a time may be fed into the apparatus. The dough balls may be fed automatically or by hand.

By using a rotating wheel and a conveying means, a continuous process may be carried out. An advantage of using a continuous process is that a certain degree of randomness is - 5- mtroduced into the shaped dough balls, m that each dough ball coming into contact with a rotating wheel will initially contact a different part of the tread of the wheel due to the fact that the placing of the dough balls onto the conveying means is not accurately timed.

This introduces a degree of "authenticity" to the finished plaited bread, making the bread look as if it has been hand plaited.

The wheel may be formed from aluminium which is coated with a non-stick surface.

Alternatively, the wheel may be formed from a non-stick material .

The wheel may be formed from material other than aluminum, for example, phospor, bronze or a plastics material.

Conveniently, the apparatus further comprises first sprinkler means for sprinkling flour on to the conveying means prior to the balls passing beneath the wheel.

The flour prevents the dough sticking to the conveying means before passing beneath the wheel.

Advantageously, the apparatus further comprises a second sprinkler means for sprinkling flour on to the dough immediately before the cuts have been formed by the wheel .

The flour prevents the dough sticking to the wheel which may happen even though a non-stick surface has been formed on the wheel .

The flour also helps to keep tne cuts open during the baking process which produces more realistic looking plaits.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises dough ball forming means for forming dough into balls . - 6 -

Advantageously, the apparatus further comprises positioning means for automatically positioning the freshly formed dough balls onto the conveying means .

Conveniently, the apparatus further comprises collection means for collecting the shaped dough balls after they have passed through the cutting means prior to baking the shaped dough balls .

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of shaping dough in the form of a dough ball having a pair of opposed surfaces, the method comprising the steps of: conveying a dough ball to a cutting station; and, cutting one of said surfaces of the dough ball to form a plurality of cuts, which extend through the dough ball to be visible on the opposite surface of the dough ball. _

Preferably, the dough ball is conveyed to the cutting station by placing the dough ball on a conveying means, which conveying means is spaced apart from the cutting station and which preferably include a cutter positioned above the conveying means.

Advantageously, the method further comprises the step of sprinkling the dough ball w th flour prior to the dough ball being cut by the cutter.

Preferably, the method further comprises the step of sprinkling the dough ball with flour after the dough ball has been cut by the cutter.

The invention will now be further described by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings m which:

Figure 1 is the schematic representation of an apparatus according to the present invention; - 7 -

Figures 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d are detailed representations of the tread of a wheel forming part of the apparatus according to Figure 1 ; and

Figure 3 is a cross-sectional representation of the wheel of figures 2a, 2b, 2c and 2d.

Referring to Figure 1 , an apparatus for forming dough balls into plaits is designated generally by the reference numeral 1. The apparatus comprises conveying means m the form of a conveyor belt 2. A container 3 contains flour 4 which is sprinkled on to the conveyor belt 2 prior to dough balls being positioned on the conveyor belt in order to prevent the sticking of the dough balls on to the conveyor belt 2.

Dough balls 5 are placed on the conveyor belt either by hand or automatically. Dough guides 6 spaced apart along the width of the conveyor belt 2 separate the dough balls 5. The distance between adjacent dough guides may be adjusted to suit different weights of dough balls.

The dough guides 6 prevent sideways movement of the dough balls during transportation along the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt transports the dough balls 5 to a cutting station having cutting means 7 in the form of a plurality of wheels mounted on an shaft to form a roller. The dough balls 5 are transported to the cutting means 7 via the conveyor belt and the dough guides ensure that the dough balls are appropriately located transversely relative to each wheel when contact is made between a dough ball and a wheel.

A container 8 contains flour 9 which is sprinkled on to each dough ball 5 before it makes contact with the wheel 7. This reduces the chances of the dough balls sticking to the wheel. A further advantage of dusting the dough balls with flour at this point is that once the wheel has cut the dough - 8 - balls, the cuts remain in an open state, giving the plaited dough ball a hand made look once baked.

A gauge roller 10 determines the depth of the cut that the wheel makes in each dough ball. The gauge roller is adjustable m a vertical plane in relation to the wheel. In practice, the amount of adjustment required is very small. For example, a machine which is able to handle dough balls varying in weight from about 60g to 450g, it is necessary only to adjust the spacing between the wheel and the conveyor belt by 1.2 mm.

As can be seen more clearly m Figures 2a to 2d. The wheel 7 has a tread 20 having a pattern defined on the tread 20 by flutes 22. The shape and depth of the flutes 22 forming the tread 20 in the wheels forming the plait roller have been designed to give the effect of a hand made plait in the dough and m the ultimately baked bread. In the presently illustrated example, each flute is approximately 21 mm deep. The flutes define channels 24 which have a rounded end 26. Radius of the rounded end 26 is 6.125 mm.

The flutes 22 are formed into two sets, 28 and 30 as shown particularly in Figures 2a and 2d. Each flute 22 in a set is substantially parallel to the other flutes in the set and substantially at right angles to the flutes in the other set. The flutes are positioned at an angle of approximately 45° to a longitudinal axis of the wheels 7.

Once the dough balls have passed beneath the wheel, a discharge conveyor belt 11 transports the now plaited dough balls out of the machine 1.

The dough balls may now be transferred to an oven for baking to produce plaited bread. - 9 -

The illustrated embodiment shows dough balls 5 being conveyed to a cutting station at which a cutter acts to apply downward cuts through the upper surface of each ball and towards the opposite lower surface of the ball, so as to simulate hand production of dough from separate plaits. It should be understood, however, that the method and apparatus of the invention may function in different relative orientations of the dough ball and the cutter, provided that the cutter applies cuts through one surface of the ball, and towards and close to an opposed surface of the ball.

The invention may be applied in a four row machine, as illustrated herein, or may be applied to a single, double or triple row machine.

Claims

- 1 0 - CLAIMS :

1. Apparatus for shaping dough m the form of a dough ball having an opposed pair of surfaces, the apparatus comprising: cutting means for cutting one of said surfaces of the dough ball to form at least one cut, the depth of the at least one cut being such that the cut is visible at the opposite surface of the dough ball; and conveying means for supporting the dough ball, and transporting the dough ball to the cutting means .

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the cuts are applied to an upper surface of the dough ball by the cutting means.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the cutting means comprises a wheel having a tread comprising flutes, which are able to form cuts m the dough ball when the cutting means is applied to the dough ball.

4. Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the wheel is mounted on a shaft and m spaced apart from the conveyor means .

5. Apparatus according to claim 3 or claim 4, further comprising adjustment means for adjusting the spacing between the conveying means and the wheel .

6. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the cutting means comprises a plurality of wheels mounted on one shaft .

7. Apparatus according to any one claims 3 to 6, wherein the wheel or wheels is formed from aluminium coated with a non-stick surface. - 1 1 -

8. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a first sprinkler means for sprinkling flour onto the dough balls prior to the balls passing beneath the cutting means.

9. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a second sprinkler means for sprinkling flour onto the dough immediately before the cuts have been formed by the cutting means.

10. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising dough ball forming means for forming dough into balls prior to the dough ball being cut by the cutting means.

11. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising positioning means for automatically positioning the freshly formed dough balls onto the conveying means .

12. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising means for collecting the shaped dough balls after they have passed through the cutting means prior to baking the shaped dough balls.

13. A method of shaping dough in the form of a dough ball having a pair of opposed surfaces, the method comprising the steps of: conveying a dough ball to a cutting station; cutting one of said surfaces of the dough ball to form a plurality of cuts which extend through the dough ball to be visible on the opposite surface of the dough ball.

14. A method according to claim 13, wherein the dough ball is conveyed to the cutting station by placing the dough ball on a conveying means which is spaced apart from the - 1 2 - cuttmg station and which includes a cutter positioned above the conveying means .

15. A method according to any one of claims 13 or 1 , further comprising the step of sprinkling the dough ball with flour prior to the dough ball being cut by the cutting means.

16. A method according to any one of claim 13 to 15, further comprising the step of sprinkling the dough ball with flour a second time, after the dough ball is cut by the cutting means .

17. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 16, further comprising the step of adjusting the spacing between the cutting means and the conveying means to produce cuts of appropriate depth in the dough.

18. A method according to any one claims 13 to 17, further comprising the step of forming dough into one or more dough balls prior to conveying the dough ball to the cutting means .

19. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 18, further comprising the step of positioning automatically freshly formed dough balls onto the conveying means .

20. A method according to any one of claims 13 to 19, further comprising the step of collecting the shaped dough balls after they have passed through the cutting means prior to baking the shaped dough balls.