Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Treatment or preparation of farinaceous dough – batter – or...
Patent
1999-05-10
2000-03-14
Yeung, George C.
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Treatment or preparation of farinaceous dough, batter, or...
425319, 425323, 425334, 426499, A21C 300, A21D 600
Patent
active
060369906
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the shaping of dough for producing bread and other baked goods and, in particular, it concerns devices and methods for automated knotting of dough strands to form knotted or plaited shapes.
It is known to produce various types of bread rolls and loaves in which a roll or "strand" of dough is knotted. Examples include a generally round shape formed from making a simple single knot in a strand of dough (see FIG. 22), and a more complex figure-of-eight shape (see FIG. 19). Such shapes are particularly important for producing intermediate size rolls, as well as for full-size loaves for specific markets such as the traditionally plaited "halla" loaves.
Despite the very high degree of mechanization in the baking industry, the plaiting or knotting of dough strands remains today an exclusively manual procedure. Some of the reasons for the lack of mechanization in this field will be understood from the following description of the conventional method for plaiting a figure-of-eight roll (FIGS. 1-5).
The existing procedure is divided into several steps, the first of which is bending of the right-side end 10 of a strand 12 to juxtapose it with and stick it to a straight section of the strand as shown in FIG. 1. The left-side end 14 of the strand is then passed through the loop so formed in such a manner that the left-side end 14 passes first above and then under the strand as indicated in FIG. 2. The second loop thus formed is tightened as shown in FIG. 3, and the first loop is twisted through 180.degree. to the left as indicated in FIG. 4. The left-side end 14 is pushed through the loop 16 formed by twisting as shown in FIG. 5, the left-side end being directed first above and then under the strand. This completes the plaiting procedure.
The transitions described above require operations such as: pushing of the left-side end 14 under the strand (FIG. 2) which necessitates a change of grip on the end; tightening of the left-side end 14 (FIG. 3) which causes friction of the dough strand sections and adhering thereof; and twisting of the first loop through 180 .degree. (FIG. 4), etc. These operations make the development of reliable automatic machinery very difficult.
There is therefore a need for a commercially viable device and method for automated production of knotted or plaited dough structures.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a device and method for automated knotting of dough strands to form knotted or plaited shapes.
According to the teachings of the present invention there is provided, a device for forming a knot in a strand of dough comprising: (a) a work surface for receiving the strand of dough, the work surface featuring at least one aperture; (b) a mechanical manipulator positioned over the work surface and configured for gripping and manipulating a first part of the strand of dough so as to form a loop of dough having a central opening associated with the aperture, the manipulator also being configured to deploy a second part of the strand in overlapping relation to the aperture; and (b) a displacer element aligned within the aperture and moveable in a direction substantially perpendicular to the work surface, the displacer element being configured to displace the second part of the strand through the plane of the loop of dough, thereby forming a knot.
According to a further feature of the present invention, there is also provided a spacer element associated with the aperture, the spacer element being configured to provide an outer surface around which the loop of dough is formed, thereby delimiting the central opening.
According to a further feature of the present invention, a vertical channel passes through the spacer element, the vertical channel being configured to accommodate the second part of the strand of dough.
According to a further feature of the present invention, the spacer element has a lateral opening contiguous with, and extending along the length of, the vertical channel.
According to a further fea
REFERENCES:
patent: 2114951 (1938-04-01), Young et al.
patent: 2629340 (1953-02-01), Allen et al.
patent: 4288463 (1981-09-01), Groff et al.
patent: 5492708 (1996-02-01), Hemmerichn
patent: 5556660 (1996-09-01), Schutz
patent: 5702732 (1997-12-01), Piller
Bread T. T. Ltd.
Friedman Mark M.
Yeung George C.
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