Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus – Control means responsive to or actuated by means sensing or... – Feed control of material en route to shaping area
Patent
1991-10-09
1993-07-13
Woo, Jay H.
Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus
Control means responsive to or actuated by means sensing or...
Feed control of material en route to shaping area
425169, 425220, 425239, 425240, A21C 1100
Patent
active
052271749
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to an apparatus for portioning dough, comprising a filler hopper for the dough leading into a chamber from which the dough is moved by a pusher member to at least one receiving opening on the circumference of a drum bearingly supported for rotation around a horizontal axis, which receiving opening passes the chamber and, in cooperation with a stripper edge makes the proper portioning, a pre-portioning tool being provided in the filler hopper separate from the pusher member, preferably in form of two star rollers moved synchronously with opposite direction of rotation, and wherein a sensor means for the filling amount of dough in the chamber or, respectively, in the filler hopper is provided below the pre-portioning tool for controlling the drive means of the pre-portioning tool, and wherein an adjustment member for the volume of dough received by the respective receiving opening is provided.
An apparatus of this kind is known (for example German Offenlegungsschrift 2,244,469 and 2,853,270). Within the known construction the sensor means is formed by a rod adjustably supported with respect to its height position within the filler hopper above the path of the pusher member, which rod switches on the drive means of the star rollers when the amount of dough in the chamber decreases a predetermined value, so that dough is fed to this chamber. The dough pushed away by the pusher member lifts the rod whereby the drive means of the star rollers is switched off again and the stillstanding star rollers with their arms facing each other shut off the travel of dough to the chamber. Within this known embodiment it may happen that a greater amount of dough jams the rod so that it cannot more swivel to above, particularly if dough is jammed between the wall of the filler hopper and the rod.
Further it has been shown that difficulties arise if by means of the same apparatus alternatively dough portions having a low weight are produced with portions having a greater weight. It is known to provide the apparatus with an adjustment device by means of which the volume of the receiving opening at the proper portioning position can be adjusted to the desired volume of the dough portion. Since it has been shown that a smaller volume of dough shall be present in the chamber guiding the pusher means when producing dough portions of low weight, it is known within apparatus of the initially described kind to consider this circumstance by corresponding adjustment of the switch actuated by the sensor means. However, the greater volume of dough in the chamber or, respectively, within the section of the filler hopper below the star rollers is, the greater is the danger that the sensor rod is jammed by the dough. In dependence from the jammed position of the sensor means this may have as a consequence that either too less dough is conveyed in the chamber by the star rollers, what means the danger of idle portions, or that too much dough is conveyed into the chamber so that there the dough is excessively squeezed during movement of the pusher member.
The invention has at its object to avoid these disadvantages and to improve an apparatus of the initially described kind so that jamming of the sensor means by the dough is reliably avoided even if great amounts of dough are do be controlled in the chamber, or if the volume of the dough portions to be produced must be changed. The invention solves this task by the fact that as the sensor means at least two stationary capacitive sensors responsive to the approach of wet mass are provided, which sensors are inserted one above the other into the inner surface of the wall of the hopper member or, respectively, of the chamber and are related to different volumes of the dough portion to be produced, and that for adaptation to different volumes of the dough portions to be produced the respective active sensor ist selectable by means of a change-over switch which is coupled to the adjustment member for the desired volume of dough. Such sensors are known in other technical fields
REFERENCES:
patent: 1057231 (1913-03-01), Frischmann
patent: 2539319 (1951-01-01), Oyer
patent: 2666229 (1954-01-01), Vogt
patent: 4771915 (1968-09-01), Cand et al.
patent: 4828863 (1989-05-01), Aoki
Mackey James P.
Woo Jay H.
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