Foods and beverages: apparatus – Edible laminated product making apparatus – Means forming or reshaping plural sheets or webs
Reexamination Certificate
2000-10-13
2001-05-29
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Edible laminated product making apparatus
Means forming or reshaping plural sheets or webs
C099S353000, C099S44300R, C099S450100, C198S345100, C198S456000, C425S101000, C425S363000, C425S373000, C425S297000, C425S321000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06237473
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF INVENTION
This invention relates to an apparatus for continuously transporting food dough in a system for continuously producing food dough, such as cake and bread dough. Particularly, it relates to an apparatus for centering a food dough sheet that is continuously supplied.
PRIOR ART
FIG. 5
shows a conventional apparatus for transporting food dough. It includes an apparatus for centering a dough sheet. An apparatus for extending food dough, such as cake dough, extends it to form a dough sheet that has a predetermined thickness (about 3 mm), and then feeds it to a following process. However, either the thickness or width, or both, of the extended dough sheet cannot avoid being varied due to various conditions, e.g., variations in the thickness and width of dough supplied from a dough-supplying mechanism located upstream. Also, the dough sheet sometimes meanders while being fed To adjust the meandering of the dough sheet and the deflection of the center line of it, a roller is located at the end of the transporting apparatus. The roller shifts the conveying surface of the transporting apparatus to the right or left, so that the dough sheet can be centered. This centering operation is manually performed while an operator observes it. That is, the operator suitably rotates a handle or lever of a driving shaft of the centering roller, so that the roller is shifted right or left relative to the advancing direction of the dough sheet.
In that prior-art apparatus, an operator always has to observe with the naked eye variations in the width of the dough sheet, etc. If the centering operation is not performed, the available width of the dough sheet will decrease, and thus at a following process much of the dough sheet cannot be available at both its sides, so that the productivity will decline.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
This invention aims to resolve the above-mentioned problems by the prior-art centering apparatus. Thus, this invention is to provide a transporting apparatus. It includes a supporting member to support at a certain height a continuous dough sheet that is continuously fed, sensors located at the supporting member to sense the positions of both edges of the dough sheet, a computing apparatus that calculates the center position of the dough sheet based on the results of the detection of the sensors, and a shifting apparatus that shifts the dough sheet right or left relative to the transporting direction of the dough sheet based on the results of the calculation, thereby preventing much of the dough sheet from being unavailable at both its sides at a following process, so that the productivity can increase.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4905583 (1990-03-01), Hayashi
patent: 4994293 (1991-02-01), Hayashi
patent: 4996915 (1991-03-01), Morikawa et al.
patent: 5078585 (1992-01-01), Morikawa et al.
patent: 5142631 (1992-08-01), Ueno et al.
patent: 5169664 (1992-12-01), Ueno et al.
patent: 5219592 (1993-06-01), Hirabayashi et al.
patent: 5281120 (1994-01-01), Morikawa et al.
patent: 5382154 (1995-01-01), Morikawa et al.
patent: 5421714 (1995-06-01), Morikawa et al.
patent: 5440974 (1995-08-01), Ueno et al.
patent: 5460081 (1995-10-01), Ueno et al.
patent: 5516538 (1996-05-01), Ueno et al.
Finnegan, Henderson Farabow, Garrett and Dunner L.L.P.
Rheon Machinery Co., Ltd.
Simone Timothy F.
LandOfFree
Transporting apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Transporting apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Transporting apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2493104