GB967230A - Machine for slitting and filling doughnuts or the like - Google Patents

Abstract

967,230. Slitting and filling doughnuts &c. R. M. W. WARD. April 19, 1963, No. 15637/63. Heading A2A. [Also in Division A4] A machine for slitting doughnuts, cakes and buns and filling them with a liquid filling, such as cream and/or jam, comprises one or more conveyer belts, e.g. endless conveyer belts 2a, b and c driven by an electric motor 7, one or more knife blades, e.g. two rotatable knives 9 driven by the said motor, extending above each belt to slit doughnuts &c., 41a carried on the belt between abutments 6 thereon and, preferably, between stationary guides 34, a wedge 11 behind each knife blade for opening up each slit, a nozzle 14 controlled by a valve 13 behind each wedge, through which nozzle the liquid filling is injected into the opened slit and a sensing device 42 which causes the valve to be opened as soon as a doughnut &c., arrives at the nozzle and closed as soon as the filled doughnut &c. 41b leaves the nozzle. Each valve may be solenoid-operated and each sensing device may comprise a microswitch having an actuating member, which contacts the side of a passing doughnut &c., closes the switch, energizes the solenoid and opens the valve. Alternatively, the sensing device may comprise a photoelectric cell. The liquid filling 19 may be pumped, by a pump 20, from a vat 17, through pipes 15 and 16 into each end of a manifold 12 carrying the nozzle or nozzles. A by-pass pipe 28 controlled by an adjustable spring-loaded valve 27 may be provided between the outlet of the pump 20 and the vat, so that unused liquid filling may return to the latter. The vat may be mounted on four wheels supported in trough-shaped guide rails 39 and 40, so that it can be removed easily and replaced by another vat, e.g. containing a different liquid filling. Each nozzle may be adjustable, so that injection may be effected at desired heights and angles. The machine may be provided with two or three nozzles 14, valves 13 and micro-switches, arranged in series, so that two or three fillings from two or three vats 17, e.g. cream-jam or cream-jam-cream fillings, may be injected into each slit. Each abutment 6 may be provided with a slit 6a to ensure that it avoids a knife blade and nozzle.