Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus – With apparatus assembly or dismantling means or with idle part – For extrusion or injection type shaping means
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-22
2002-09-17
Davis, Robert (Department: 1722)
Plastic article or earthenware shaping or treating: apparatus
With apparatus assembly or dismantling means or with idle part
For extrusion or injection type shaping means
C425S319000, C425S381000, C425S38200R, C425S464000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06450796
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rotary nozzle die machine for a dough extruder for producing a twisted dough product. More particularly, the invention relates to a rotary nozzle die arrangement for extruding dough through at least three openings with the rotating nozzle twisting the dough together to form a twisted dough product having qualities similar to a conventional laminated dough product, such as a cracker.
The only known prior rotating nozzle die machine for a dough producing arrangement was used for producing a spiral wound or braided pretzel product and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,288,463, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. An extrusion die machine utilizing rotary nozzles, with each nozzle having two openings through which dough was extruded as the nozzle was turned, was used to form the spiral wound pretzel dough product. Based upon the vertical distance from the extrusion head to the conveyor belt and the speed of the conveyor belt, the pitch of the spiral wound dough product was varied to a desired configuration. However, in the prior known apparatus, pressures of at least 100 psi were generally required in order to force the dough through the extrusion head and out through the openings in the rotating nozzle. While such pressures could be generated in an extruder, it only allowed the use of certain types of dough formulations containing very low protein. Thus, the prior arrangement did not allow the use of a soft texture dough, such as the type of dough used in cracker products since the high extrusion pressure caused damage to the starch and gluten chains within such dough. Accordingly, the prior known arrangement was only usable with a heavier pretzel dough.
The sealing of the dough from the rotary mechanisms within the die plate of such machines is critical to creating a machine that is both sanitary and capable of operating substantially continuously without significant operator intervention. Standard sealing methods, such as those employed in the prior art apparatus, were susceptible to the abrasiveness of the dough and the high pressures necessary to extrude the dough. Such conventional sealing arrangements often failed prematurely and did not work well due to the high viscosity of the dough and the need to have all of the seals and all other “wetted” parts sanitary in their construction, which is required by the food processing industry. The mechanical seal arrangement in the prior apparatus which was intended to prevent dough from entering the bearings that support the rotating nozzles would often fail after a relatively short period of use, requiring the entire extrusion head to be disassembled, cleaned and rebuilt. This involved a time consuming tear down of the equipment during which time the production line was idled.
It would be desirable to provide an extrusion die apparatus having at least three rotating nozzles with a streamlined arrangement to allow extrusion of dough at lower pressures. It would also be desirable to provide an improved sealing arrangement in such an apparatus to prevent the migration of dough into the bearings or other components which support the rotating nozzles in order to diminish or eliminate the need for time consuming tear downs of the rotary nozzle extrusion die for clean out and rebuilding upon seal failure. It would also be desirable to provide a new and unique snack product having a laminated texture utilizing a more efficient manufacturing method.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a rotating nozzle die machine with an improved seal arrangement in order to prevent dough ingress to a nozzle support bearing. The sealing arrangement utilizes a multi-stage seal including at least one seal with at least one but, preferably a plurality of direction changes of at least 90° which prevent dough ingress by requiring higher pressures than available through the extrusion system in order to force the dough to overcome the directional changes to pass through the seal.
In another aspect, the present invention comprises a rotary nozzle die machine with a rotating nozzle having three or more openings. The die and the nozzle have a streamlined dough passageway in order to reduce extrusion pressure to less than 100 psi to prevent damage to the gluten structure of the dough to be extruded. The rotating nozzle produces three or more distinct dough streams and the rotation of the nozzle creates a laminating effect by spirally winding the streams of dough together into one continuous piece creating a laminated texture gradient within the product.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a food product having a laminated texture formed by a rotary laminating process in which three or more strands of dough are extruded through a rotating nozzle and are spirally wound or twisted together prior to being baked.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1714234 (1929-05-01), Ost
patent: 2199825 (1940-05-01), Kretchmer
patent: 2856868 (1958-10-01), Kennedy
patent: 4288463 (1981-09-01), Groff et al.
patent: 4445838 (1984-05-01), Groff
patent: 5492706 (1996-02-01), Cockings et al.
patent: 5670185 (1997-09-01), Heck et al.
Groff E. Terry
Knott Kevin G.
Pasquini Vincent G.
Riegel Brett A.
Shepler Steven W.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld L.L.P.
Davis Robert
Leyson Joseph
Reading Bakery Systems
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