Coating apparatus – Edible base or coating type – Projected of forced flow of coating material
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-24
2001-12-04
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Coating apparatus
Edible base or coating type
Projected of forced flow of coating material
C118S013000, C118S024000, C118S411000, C099S450100, C099S450700, C099S516000, C222S309000, C222S330000, C222S564000, C222S380000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325016
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates generally to automated dispensing devices, and, more particularly to an apparatus for applying pizza sauce to individual pizza shells, such as at a high volume producer of frozen pizzas.
BACKGROUND
Pizza making is generally a labor intensive undertaking. Pizza crusts or shells are produced from a dough substance, and seasoned tomato sauce is spread evenly over the shell. Finally, other toppings such as cheese, meats, and vegetables are added according to personal taste. In many situations, it is advantageous to produce pizzas as fast as possible. This is the case in the manufacture of frozen pizzas.
It is simply not cost effective to manually produce individual frozen pizzas. In order for the manufacturer to achieve a suitable profit margin, frozen pizzas must be produced rapidly with as little human intervention as possible. Manufacturers have incorporated many different devices in the pizza making operation to automate certain tasks. Chief among these tasks is the addition of toppings. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,525,374 describes an automated pizza meat dispenser; U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,726 describes an automated device for adding a flowable material, such as pizza sauce, to a food target, U.S. Pat. No. 4,801,097 describes a food ingredient dispensing device; U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,367 and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 36,178 describe apparatuses for applying pizza sauce to a pizza; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,101 describes a multi-purpose applicator.
Generally, automated pizza sauce dispensing devices include dispensing manifolds having baffles or diffuser plates for uniformly distributing a flowable pizza sauce about a pattern plate which ultimately delivers the flowable food material to a pizza shell, U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,102 and U.S. Pat. No. Re. 36,178 include such baffles, as do Pizzamatic Sauce Dispenser Models 2100 and 2400.
The baffles of the prior art are often uniquely manufactured for the sauce dispenser application depending on the consistency, viscosity, and volume of the sauce applied to the shell. However, frozen pizza makers frequently change the style of sauce applied to their pizza shells. Since pizza sauces vary in consistency and viscosity it would be advantageous to design a single baffle which will uniformly distribute many different types of pizza sauce about a pattern plate.
Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus for adding a flowable material to a shell for use in the pizza making industry as described herein.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises an apparatus for dispensing a quantity of a flowable material to a target object. The dispensing apparatus comprises a supply manifold assembly, a portion control pump assembly, and a dispensing manifold assembly.
The supply manifold includes an passageway having a ferrule inlet, an upper valve adaptor, and an outlet passage portion. The ferrule inlet is in alignment with and joined to a material supply conduit which is in communication with a source of flowable material. The conduit transports the flowable material from the source to the supply manifold.
The upper valve adaptor includes an upper valve which allows the flowable material to be withdrawn from the source of material upon the up-stroke of the portion control pump and prevents the flowable material from being forced back into the source on the down-stroke of the portion control pump.
The dispensing manifold includes a dispensing chamber, a manifold plate, a baffle, and a pattern plate. An outlet valve is positioned within supply manifold adjacent an aperture in the manifold plate. The outlet valve prevents the flowable material from being drawn from the dispensing manifold upon the up-stroke of the piston pump and allows the flowable material to enter the dispensing chamber upon the down-stroke of the piston pump.
The dispensing chamber is formed between the manifold plate and the pattern plate. The baffle is suspended within the dispensing manifold in the dispensing chamber between the manifold plate and the pattern plate. The baffle is approximately, centrally aligned with the aperture in the manifold plate.
The baffle includes a peripheral edge and a central portion. A delivery orifice is positioned within the central portion. The delivery orifice is displaced from a substantially horizontal plane defined by the peripheral edge of the baffle. The delivery orifice is generally displaced in a direction which is towards the aperture in the manifold plate. A delivery orifice positioning portion of the baffle plate slopes upwardly from the delivery orifice towards the peripheral edge to displace the delivery orifice from the peripheral edge of the baffle.
The pattern plate is positioned downstream of the manifold plate and the baffle. The pattern plate receives sauce material diffused by the baffle and delivers it in a predetermined pattern to a pizza shell The pattern plate is provided at a given thickness to provide a plurality of apertures with sufficient length to provide friction between the sauce material to be passed therethrough. Depending upon the consistency, viscosity, and volume of the sauce material applied, any residual sauce material is retained within the plurality of apertures during the up-stroke of the piston pump. The plurality of apertures are arranged in a desired pattern to insure proper coverage of sauce on the pizza shell.
Other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the following drawing.
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“Comp
Anderson Michael
Egan James N.
Fitch, III Clifford E.
Fitch, Jr. Clifford E.
Rota Skipper Corp.
Simone Timothy F.
Wallenstein & Wagner
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