Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Treatment or preparation of farinaceous dough – batter – or...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-09-07
2001-07-31
Yeung, George C. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Treatment or preparation of farinaceous dough, batter, or...
C426S502000, C426S517000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06268004
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for bread production, and more particularly a process and apparatus for stably forming a continuous and uniform belt-like strip having a predetermined thickness from a gel-like elastic material such as bread dough by causing the dough to effectively and constantly flow downward from an outlet provided at the bottom of a hopper.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a conventional method to produce a large amount of bread, a certain amount of bread dough in a hopper is sucked by a piston into a cylinder provided at the bottom of the hopper, and then the bread dough is extruded from the cylinder and cut, and this cutting and extruding step is repeated.
The above-mentioned conventional method contains many complicated steps. Also, this method applies repeated shearing stress to the bread dough which decreases its elasticity. Therefore, a chemical additive such as potassium bromate is added to the bread dough to restore the original gluten tissue and to recover its membrane function, which is required for producing bread.
Japanese Patent Publication Nos. 5-3253 and 6-37 disclose additional apparatuses and methods. These references teach pressing dough between rotating opposed rollers to continuously produce a dough strip. However, these references teach a method by which the pressure on bread dough applied by the opposed rollers is prevented from increasing too much by detecting with a sensor a relevant amount of dough supplied from an upper pair of pressing rollers to a lower pair of pressing rollers, and then adjusting the rotating speed of the upper pressing rollers based on this sensed amount. However, the methods and apparatuses disclosed by these references are also complicated and expensive. Further, a distance between the rollers of each pair of rollers is fixed, thereby limiting the properties and amount of dough passing between the rollers, and subjecting the dough to excessive pressure such that the elasticity of the dough is lost.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention overcomes the disadvantage in the conventional methods by enhancing the discharging effectiveness of dough from the gap between opposed pairs of pressing structures, while retaining effective pressing movements by the opposed pairs of pressing structures.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of continuously and quantitatively supplying bread dough, which comprises providing a pressing structure including two movable members, one having at least one roller or one belt conveyor and the other having at least one belt conveyor, such that the two movable members are oppositely positioned in a generally horizontal direction below a bread dough feeder, putting bread dough into the bread dough feeder, and actuating the two movable members to reciprocally move in a generally horizontal direction to increase and decrease the distance between the two movable members, thereby preventing the pressure applied to the bread dough positioned between the first and second movable members from being excessively increased, so as to allow the bread dough to stably flow downward therebetween.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for continuously and quantitatively supplying bread dough comprising a pressing structure provided below a bread dough feeder which includes two movable members, one of which includes at least one roller or one belt conveyor, and the other of which includes at least one belt conveyor, the roller being adapted to rotate about its own axis to apply a force to pull bread dough downward from the bread dough feeder. The belt conveyor is adapted such that its conveying surface moves in a downward direction to apply a force to pull the bread dough downward. The two movable members are oppositely positioned in a generally horizontal direction, both or either of the two movable members being adapted to reciprocally move in a generally horizontal direction to increase and decrease the distance between the two movable members, thereby preventing the pressure applied to the bread dough positioned between the first and second movable members from being excessively increased, so as to allow the bread dough to stably flow downward there between.
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Abstract of RU 20 201 723.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
Rheon Automatic Machinery Co. Ltd.
Yeung George C.
LandOfFree
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