Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Processes – Treatment or preparation of farinaceous dough – batter – or...
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-15
2001-10-16
Yeung, George C. (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Processes
Treatment or preparation of farinaceous dough, batter, or...
C425S239000, C425S240000, C425S311000, C426S503000, C426S516000, C426S517000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06303168
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the processing of bakers' dough. More specifically, the invention relates to processing methods and systems for forming and dividing a dough stream that are particularly well suited for the processing of specialty dough, for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a typical commercial bread making process for the manufacture of fine grain bread products, i.e. white bread, hamburger buns, etc, baker's dough, which is primarily made of flour and water, is blended in a large mixer. A particularly high water content usually is desirable in the dough composition formed in the mixer because a high water content tends to make a softer baked product (approximately 60 pounds of water per 100 pounds of flour is common for fine grain bread products). Gluten, which is a component of flour, absorbs and retains the water so that a dough of a sticky, paste-like consistency is made. After mixing, the sticky dough typically is then transferred to a stuffing pump which forms the dough into a moving bar or stream of dough that passes through a conduit to dough processing equipment. The processing equipment can include, among others, a dough distribution manifold which distributes the stream of dough into multiple streams of dough, a dough divider which continually divides the dough streams into pieces of dough of equal volume and deposits the dough pieces in multiple columns of dough pieces onto a moving belt of a surface conveyor for further processing along a processing path.
Extrusion-type dividers, such as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,356,652, 5,270,070, 5,264,232, 4,948,611, 4,424,263 and 4,332,538, for instance, for dividing dough streams into dough pieces are well known in the prior art and typically utilize vacuum pressure to draw dough into the divider and either a single or a double screw to deliver the dough through dough conduit to a metering pump. The metering pump runs at constant speed and provides a volumetrically consistent stream of dough which is then chopped off into dough pieces of equal volume. By utilizing these extrusion-type dividers, the formation of bread-sized dough pieces (dough pieces with a scaling weight of approximately 18-32 ounces) at a rate of 200 dough pieces per minute is not uncommon.
After baker's dough has been mixed, the dough begins to develop CO
2
and begins to expand or rise as it ages. As the dough is being handled by the aforementioned processing equipment, it is important that the gluten structure of the dough not be allowed to deteriorate, such as can occur by shearing, tearing, stretching or maintaining the dough at elevated pressures for prolonged periods of time. Maintaining a pliable gluten structure provides a final product which has a uniform grain structure with the gluten structure forming the walls of small pockets that trap the CO
2
gas being formed within the dough, and the walls providing the tight, even grain structure desired for fine grain bread products. However, in a typical commercial bread making process for the manufacture of specialty dough products, i.e. hard rolls, pumpernickel, frozen doughs, etc, processing dough in the aforementioned manner produces an inferior product and has been considered unsuitable.
Heretofore, specialty dough products typically are manufactured by a process known as ram and shear. As shown in
FIGS. 1A-1C
, a typical ram and shear system
500
incorporates a hopper
502
containing a mass of dough to be processed
504
(50 pounds of water per 100 pounds of flour in the dough is common), and a blade or shear
506
that reciprocates across the bottom of the hopper between a retracted position
508
(FIG.
1
C), where the bottom of the hopper is opened, and a cutting position
510
(FIG.
1
A), where the bottom of the hopper is closed. A cavity
512
is provided beneath the shear
506
, and a ram
514
is provided for reciprocating within the cavity. A block
516
cooperates with the cavity
512
and includes a dough-receiving cylinder
518
and a piston
520
that are arranged opposite the ram
514
. The block
516
, and its cylinder
518
and piston
520
are movable between a dough-receiving position
522
(FIG.
1
A), where the cylinder communicates with the cavity, and a dough-depositing position
524
(FIG.
1
C), where dough
504
drawn into the cylinder is expelled by the piston onto a moving belt
526
of an endless belt-type conveyor, for instance.
In operation (FIG.
1
A), the shear
506
is pushed to its cutting position
510
, thereby closing the bottom of the hopper
502
and trapping a portion of dough in the cavity
512
. The ram
514
is then pushed into the cavity (
FIG. 1B
) so that the dough trapped in the cavity is pushed into the cylinder of the block
518
, which is oriented in its dough-receiving position
522
. The ram
514
continues to push the dough from the cavity and into the cylinder until the piston
520
is forced against its stop
528
, thereby ensuring that a pre-measured portion
530
of dough
504
is pressed into the cylinder. The block
516
then moves to its dough-depositing position
524
(FIG.
1
C), where an upper portion of the block seals the cavity
512
. The piston
520
then slides through the cylinder
518
, pushing the pre-measured portion
530
of dough out of the cylinder and onto a moving belt
526
of an endless belt-type conveyor. As the dough portion
530
is being deposited onto the belt, the shear
506
pulls back to its retracted position
508
, which opens the bottom of the hopper, and the ram
514
pulls bake, thereby drawing a vacuum which draws dough
504
from the hopper and down into the cavity
512
in front of the ram (FIG.
1
A). This procedure is then repeated as necessary.
Some of the prior art ram and shear systems simultaneously operate multiple S pistons, i.e. 4-8 pistons, in order to increase dough piece output. However, the prior art ram and shear systems typically are limited to a maximum operating speed of approximately 25 strokes per minute, e.g. 100 dough pieces per minute for systems utilizing 4 pistons to 200 dough pieces per minute for systems utilizing 8 pistons.
In an effort to further increase the productivity of specialty bread manufacture, attempts have been made to produce specialty breads on modern extrusion-type dough processing equipment, e.g. equipment that provides a continuous flowing dough stream. However, processing specialty dough through an extrusion-type divider to produce a continuous flowing dough stream typically results in a final product that has an undesirable fine grain structure (which is very desirable in white breads, for instance), or has numerous other undesirable qualities, such as lacking in volume, having a shortened shelf life, etc. As a result, extrusion-type dough dividers have not, heretofore, been able to penetrate the market for specialty products.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide improved dough processing methods and systems which address these and other shortcomings of the prior art.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Briefly stated, the present invention is directed to systems and methods for forming and dividing a dough stream from a mass of baker's dough. In particular, the present invention is capable of producing a continuous flowing dough stream that is well suited for the processing of specialty doughs. Preferred embodiments of the present invention utilize a piston to transform a mass of dough into a stream of dough. Additionally, the stream of dough can be volumetrically controlled and formed into a plurality of dough pieces of equal volume.
In a preferred embodiment, the system includes a hopper assembly incorporating a housing which is adapted to receive and store a mass of dough. A pump chamber communicates with the hopper assembly so that the mass of dough can be drawn from the housing and into the pump chamber. The pump chamber houses a first piston which is configured to reciprocate between a retracted position and an extended position, so that in its
The Dominion Companies, LLC
Thomas Kayden Horstemeyer & Risley
Yeung George C.
LandOfFree
Method and apparatus for forming and dividing a dough stream does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method and apparatus for forming and dividing a dough stream, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method and apparatus for forming and dividing a dough stream will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2607585