Dough manipulation apparatus

Details Dough manipulation apparatus Dough manipulation apparatus

1997-07-09

1999-01-26

Nguyen, Khanh P.

Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus

Means feeding fluent stock from plural sources to common...

425296, 425308, 425363, 425373, 4254031, 426502, 426503, 426517, 426518, A21C 302, A21C 908, A21C 1110

Patent

active

058635661

DESCRIPTION:

BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to dough manipulation apparatus and is concerned with dough manipulation apparatus for use with biscuit cutting machines.
2. Brief Description of Related Art
Traditional methods of the manufacture of biscuits on an industrial scale involve the production of a continuous sheet of dough. The dough is usually mixed in batches which are then deposited in the hopper of a dough sheeting unit or `sheeter`. The dough mass is drawn from the hopper down through rollers so as to form a continuous sheet which is then conveyed to the biscuit cutting machine where the required forms of biscuits are cut from the sheet. The biscuit forms are then conveyed to an oven. The remainder of the dough sheet, being `scrap`, is usually returned to the hopper of the sheeter for reprocessing.
Various types of biscuit product can be made from dough that has been sheeted in this manner. Dependent upon the type of product to be produced, the dough consistency will vary from a soft, relatively inelastic material to one of a relatively tough, springy, elastic consistency. Additionally, in order to produce a product with particular characteristics it is beneficial and, for some products, necessary to produce a laminated dough sheet.
The lamination process involves the production of a laminate formed by several separate sheets laid one on top of the other. This process enables the option of depositing a fat/flour mixture between the sheets. However, many biscuit products benefit from the lamination process without the inclusion of deposits between the sheets.


SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to the present invention, dough manipulation apparatus for use with a biscuit cutting machine, wherein the apparatus is operable to form and then manipulate dough sheets before output of said sheets to the biscuit cutting machine, comprises a sheet forming unit and a sheet laminating unit, and means for controlled bypass of the sheet laminating unit whereby output of sheets produced by the sheet forming unit is passed to the biscuit cutting machine, without lamination or, alternatively, by turning the sheets through a substantial angle to the sheet laminating unit and then to the biscuit cutting machine.
FR-A-2007744 relates to a machine for preparing pasta products which has a length-adjustable, and inclinable table whereby the products can be selectively passed to one of two belt conveyors.
However, unlike the present invention which results in a very compact plant, the design of the FR-A-2007744 machine results in one which is extremely long.
The means for controlled bypass of the sheet laminating unit may comprise sheet diverter means and means whereby the diverter means can be selectively brought into and taken out of operation.
The sheet diverter means preferably comprise a diverter bar disposed at an angle to the direction of sheet travel, and sheet support rollers extending from, and supported by, said bar.
The sheet diverter means may further comprise a plurality of secondary rollers coaxially aligned with said first-mentioned rollers and movable towards and away from the first-mentioned rollers along the common axes of both the rollers.
Alternatively, the means for controlled bypass of the sheet laminating unit may comprise sheet diverter means employing reversible conveyor means and means for reversing the direction of travel of the conveyor means, the arrangement being such that in one direction dough sheet produced by the dough sheet forming unit can be conveyed to the sheet laminating unit and in the opposite direction said dough sheet can be conveyed directly to the biscuit cutting machine.
In such an arrangement, the dough sheet forming unit may be duplicated and comprise a pair of sheet forming units, each comprising a hopper and a set of co-operating rolls, the units being disposed above the reversible conveyor means.
The invention also comprises the combination of the dough manipulation apparatus and a biscuit cutting machine.
The biscuit cutting machin

REFERENCES:
patent: 1883592 (1932-10-01), Crosland
patent: 3917856 (1975-11-01), Wong et al.
patent: 4518617 (1985-05-01), Haas, Sr. et al.

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