Cutting – Means to drive or to guide tool – Tool displaceable to inactive position
Reexamination Certificate
1999-12-21
2001-05-08
Bray, W. Donald (Department: 3725)
Cutting
Means to drive or to guide tool
Tool displaceable to inactive position
C083S592000, C083S613000, C083S660000, C083S665000, C083S866000, C030S365000, C030S293000, C366S069000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06227093
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to devices for food preparation, specifically a device for the “docking” or perforating of an uncooked pizza dough crust.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Pizza is an extremely popular food since it is tasty, convenient, and relatively easy to prepare. The success of pizza restaurants has resulted in the proliferation of a variety of pizza franchises specializing in the rapid preparation, baking and serving or even delivering of low cost, high quality pizza pies.
As in any restaurant relying on selling a high volume of products, consistency is a key to achieving success. Significant in building a successful restaurant franchise is the concept of providing food products which meet an expectation of the public with regard to quality of ingredients, product packaging, price, and consistency of taste. Consumers have come to expect that when they order a specific food product from a franchise restaurant, that it will be essetially the same product in a Massachusetts retaurant or another franchise location in Arizona under the same name. In the pizza business, the same is true. Customers expect to receive the same product in various franchise locations, making the preparation, baking and presentation of the product extremely important for customer satisfaction arid therefore, success.
One of the factors which must be controlled to assure a quality pizza crust is in the perforation of the flattened uncooked dough, a process called “docking.” Docking is defined in Wayne Gisslen's book
Professional Baking
, Second Ed., published in 1985 by John Wiley & Sons, as “piercing or perforating pastry dough before baking in order to allow steam to escape and to avoid blistering.” Further, in
The New Professional Chef
™, Fifth Ed., 1991, published by Van Nostrand Reinhold, edited by Linda Glick Conway, at page 721, docking is described as “slashing the top of shaped dough before baking it to allow the top to expand an/or to create a decorative effect.” In the same book, docking is described at page 845 as “to cut the top of dough before baking to allow it to expand.”
Docking is necessary to ensure that undue blistering is all but eliminated in order to enhance flavor—eliminating burnt crust, and to allow ingredients placed on top of the pizza to cook evenly and without being displaced by bubbles, etc. Docking is generally accomplished by hand by either slashing the dough with a knife or by hand rolling an item like a short rolling pin over the dough which has been provided with a series of protrusions with which to pierce the dough. These devices must be of restaurant grade, and must be used properly to have the desired effect.
DISCUSSION OF THE PRIOR ART
U.S. Pat. No. 4,606,923 issued Aug. 19, 1986 to inventor Ricke sets forth a satisfactory discussion of the prior art up to that point relevant to the embossing of dough to produce fried pizza crusts. In the discussion, various patents are noted: Novissimo, U.S. Pat. No. 3,303,796, teaching forming three-dimensional shapes by roll-pressing; Stamping pizza sections as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,765,909, issued to Moline; scoring food products in a scoring “station” using a device comprising flexible plastic teeth, as in Wagner, U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,751; as well as Totino, U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,659, which teaches docking a dough sheet using punched holes which upon frying form fairly hard zones, and others.
Hand dockers are generally fairly heavy, and if not careful, a user can drop such an appliance with either damage to the roller as a result, or even personal injury if accidently hit by the device. At a minimum, such an event necessitates washing the device, taking time and therefore reducing productivity.
Since the Ricke patent, other prior art references have evolved which are worthy of note. The Conkey Patent, U.S. Pat. No. 4,718,769 discloses a dough preparation apparatus having a shaft with a plurality of individual rollers mounted thereon. Sleeves are rotatably mounted upon the shaft end regions as handles, and the apparatus is guided by a a pair of guaging rollers just inside each handle. U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,090 issued to Paulucci Mar. 4, 1986 also teaches docking a pizza crust such that docking produces holes spaced one and one-quarter inches apart in both directions thoughout the width and breadth of a sheet, which is then cut into pieces of desired shape.
Other information related to the docking of dough in high-volume food processing operations can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,591,470, issued Jan. 7, 1997 to Bartley, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,417,989, issued May 23, 1995 to Atwood et al. These two later patents teach the use of automated machines for docking prepared foods such as pizza crusts or bialys.
The automated pizza docker disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,388, includes a motor driven shaft with radially expanding spines for perforating the dough. These spines are offset on wheels to avoid forming a continuous line, reducing the tendency of the doughto lift after perforation. A comb assembly is provided to aid in separating the dough lifted by the spines. The Sullivan device, though effective, is fairly large in terms of its footprint, requiring a set amount of designated space, and presenting the need for spatial consideration in a retail or franchise setting. Further, it requires consumption of electricity, which increases costs of operation and introduces the further burden of maintenance requirements for safe and continuous operation.
What is needed then is a low-cost alternative docking device which can be used safely, with low maintenance, and potentially without a cost of operation such as consumption of electricity. Further, a reliable device which can be table or counter-mounted would be desirable in applications where only limited workspace is available.
SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pizza docking device which is useable in a franchise or fast food operation where limited counterspace is available.
It is a further object of the invention to be of manual operation, alleviating the need for power, motors, or the additional expense of maintenance associated therewith.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a means of retaining the docking device such that it is not easily dropped.
It is a further object of the present invention to leave perforations in the dough at the desired spacing and desired depth to assure high quality tast and texture, while preventing sticking or lift.
The device may either be mounted on a counter, or because of its configuration, may be securing set on a flat surface with little danger of movement due to its inherent weight.
Briefly, the preferred embodiment includes a pan or shelf whereupon a generally round flattened uncooked pizza dough crust may be placed for the docking operation. On the sides of said pan are provided guides which retains a roller provided with a plurality of pins for docking the flattened dough. The roller is operated by hand via a rotatable handle on each end. Just inside the handle are mounted guide discs to maintain the roller in registration with the guides. The pins are oriented spirally along the roller to prevent tearing of the dough, and at predetermined spaces, a ring is interposed within said pins to aid in keeping the dough from lifting during the docking process. At one end of the pan, the guide is configured to accept the roller up and out of the way such that the docked pizza crust may be lifted off the pan for the next step of food preparation. At the opposite end of the preferred embodiment, the pan protrudes downward providing a stop against which the device may contact the counter where it is to be used. A dowell may also be provided in the pan to secure a cutting board or other suitable restaurant-grade insert, thereby facilitating removal for cleaning. The entire device may be comprised of stainless steel, plastic or a combination of each such that the desired weights of roller and pan are achieved.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1026436 (1912-05-01), Gre
Bray W. Donald
Robertson Gerald L.
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