HK1044450B - Method for forming creases on a piece of dough - Google Patents

Abstract

A METHOD AND AN APPARATUS FOR FORMING CREASES IN THE TOP SURFACE OF A PIECE OF DOUGH SUCH AS A CHINESE BUN OR OTHER BUN IS PROVIDED, WHEREIN THE FORMED CREASES TEND TO REMAIN IN THE FINAL PRODUCT AFTER IT IS SUBJECTED TO PROCESSES SUCH AS ONES OF FERMENTING AND STEAMING. THE APPARATUS (1) FOR FORMING CREASES IN A ROUGHLY SPHERICAL TOP SURFACE OF A PIECE OF DOUGH (5) COMPRISES A PLURALITY OF ROTARY SHAFTS (37) ROTATABLE REVERSIBLY , THE ROTARY SHAFTS BEING SPACED EQUALLY ON AN IMAGINARY CIRCLE LOCATED ABOVE A PIECE OF DOUGH (5) THAT IS PLACED IN A PREDETERMINED POSITION; AND LEVERS (39) EXTENDING DOWNWARDLY, EACH LEVEL HAVING A CREASE-FORMING PORTION AT A LOWER END THEREOF AND BEING SECURED, FOR ROTATION, TO THE CORRESPONDING ROTARY SHAFT (37), THE LEVERS (39) BEING INCLINED SO THAT THE PLANES ALONG WHICH THE LEVERS MOVE WHEN ROTATED BY THE ROTARY SHAFTS DEFINE AN UPSIDE-DOWN POLYGONAL CONE, AND SO THAT WHEN THE LEVERS ROTATE THE CREASE-FORMING PORTIONS OF THE LEVERS TRENCH THE PIECE OF DOUGH IN A DIRECTION SUCH THAT THE TOP SURFACE IS PEELED, AND SUCH THAT PROJECTIONS FORMED OF THE PEELED PORTIONS OF THE TOP SURFACE BECOME THICKER GRADUALLY AS THE PEELING PROCEEDS.(FIG. 2)

Description

Apparatus for forming crease on dough

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for forming a crease in the top surface of a piece of food material, such as dough having a rough spherical top, such as chinese bun or other types of bun, and more particularly to a method and apparatus that allows for the formation of a crease in the piece of dough after it has been processed into a finished product.

Background

In one conventional method, a fold is formed in the top surface of a piece of dough, such as chinese bun or other types of bun, and a die is pressed against the bun to form a channel and thereby form the fold. However, when a crease or a groove is formed on the top surface of the bread in this way, the bread is subjected to a processing procedure such as fermentation or steaming, so that the wall of the groove sags, so that the crease is almost disappeared. Therefore, it is common to manually form creases in Chinese breads or the like.

The use of mechanical devices to form creases in the spherical top surface of a piece of dough has been proposed in prior art publications, such as Japanese patents JP-B-H3-72268 and JP-B-2761855.

In the first publication of JP-B-H3-72268 (prior art first publication), a plurality of forming plates having inner ends are reciprocally movable in the radial direction. Each of said inner end portions has a crease forming portion which is bent in a direction in which a crease to be formed on a piece of dough is twisted. A plurality of forming plates are advanced in a radial direction into the piece of dough, the dough being located at a central position surrounded by the forming plates so that a groove is formed by the crease forming portion at a position of a top surface of the dough, a predetermined distance from a center of the top surface, and a vortex-shaped crease is formed by twisting a periphery of the top. Also, the vertical shaft having a smaller diameter contacts and rotates the top in the horizontal direction to twist the fold.

Thus, in the first document disclosed, twisted creases are formed on the top surface of a piece of dough, and these creases can be retained in the finished product. However, in the apparatus disclosed in the first prior art document, a structure for reciprocating a plurality of forming plates and a mechanism for allowing a vertical shaft to contact and twist the top of a piece of dough are required, and thus the mechanical structure is relatively complicated. There is therefore a need for an improved device.

In the second publication JP-B-2761855 (the second prior art publication), a plurality of support bars are provided on an imaginary circle such that the support bars are arranged at equal intervals from each other and face in a direction tangential to the imaginary circle. Bellcranks with fold forming plates located on the lower portion of the bellcranks, pivotally mounting the bellcranks on support bars so that their fold forming plates reciprocate in a radial direction as the bellcranks oscillate. The lower end portion of each fold forming plate is formed into a plate of a curved shape so as to form a shearing blade. The creased forming edges of these shearing blades form grooves in the top surface of a piece of dough, thereby forming an embossed pattern in the top surface of the dough.

In the second document disclosed in the prior art, each of the two-armed cranks oscillates in a vertical plane in which the vertical center line of the piece of dough, which is positioned at the center, lies. Thus, if the crease-forming plate has a simple flat plate-shaped configuration, a simple linear groove is formed in the surface of the dough as the shaping plate moves radially inward toward the surface of the dough. Therefore, in order to form curved creases on the surface of the dough, the lower end portion of each crease forming plate is formed as a curved shearing blade so that its crease forming edge moves with respect to a vertical plane in which the vertical center line of the dough is located, and reciprocates the bellcrank.

Therefore, in the second document disclosed in the prior art, the fold forming plate forms a groove to form a fold. Also, during the swinging of the bellcranks, each bellcrank changes from its inclined position to its vertical position; and each fold forming plate descends due to the swing. Thus, when the crease-forming plate forms a crease/groove on a piece of dough, it tends to press the dough downward, thus collapsing or deforming the dough. Such a drawback needs to be improved.

Generally, when forming a crease in the top surface of a bun, such as a chinese bun or other type of bun, having a rough spherical top, a portion of the crease-forming panels form a channel centrally in the surface of the food material, such as a piece of dough. These grooves are formed at the surface position of the dough, perpendicular to the plane tangential to the surface of the dough, at which position the crease-forming plate is in contact with the surface of the dough; this is due to the fact that the crease-forming plates form a groove in a direction perpendicular to a tangential plane from the periphery towards the centre of the dough.

If, as described above, the grooves thus formed are substantially perpendicular to the surface of the sheet of dough, after the dough is subjected to a leavening or steaming process or the like to become a finished product, the side walls of the grooves will collapse, so that almost no crease is seen in the finished product.

Disclosure of Invention

However, if the crease-forming plate forms a groove in the rough spherical top surface of a piece of dough so that the crease-forming plate peels off the skin of the dough and forms an inclined groove in the top surface of the dough, each peeled surface portion forms a protrusion having an angle with respect to the remainder of the piece of dough at the formed groove, the protrusion having an end forming an acute angle, the protrusion having a sharp end being able to maintain its shape after the dough is subjected to a leavening or steaming process or becomes a finished product.

The present invention addresses the deficiencies in the art and the above-identified trends by providing a projection with a sharp end that is still capable of being preserved in the finished product.

In one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for forming creases in a rough spherical top surface of a piece of dough, the method comprising allowing a plurality of plates to form the creases in the rough spherical top surface so as to form grooves in the top surface in a direction other than toward the center of the piece of dough, so that the top surface is peeled off, the protrusions formed by the peeled portions of the top surface gradually becoming thicker as the peeling process continues, thereby forming acute angles of protrusion at distal ends of the respective protruded portions.

In another aspect of the above-described method of the present invention, the projections may be pressed between adjacent plates to form creases, so that the projections formed at the peeled portions of the top surface of the dough become more sharp.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for forming a crease in a substantially spherical top surface of a piece of dough, comprising: a plurality of rotating shafts which are rotatable in forward and reverse directions, the rotating shafts being arranged at equal intervals on an imaginary circle which is located above the dough arranged at a predetermined position, each rotating shaft extending obliquely downward and outward; and rod pieces fixed to the respective rotation shafts and extending downward from the respective rotation shafts, each rod piece having a crease forming portion at a lower end, the rod pieces being capable of being inclined so as to converge toward a center line of the imaginary circle, so that the crease forming portions of the rod pieces form grooves in a direction on the piece of dough when the rotation shafts are rotated, so that a top surface of the piece of dough is peeled, and thus a convex portion constituted by the peeled portion of the top surface becomes thicker gradually as the peeling process continues to form an acute-angled convex portion.

According to another aspect of the apparatus of the present invention, the axes of rotation may extend outwardly and downwardly such that the distal ends of the respective axes of rotation face away from the centerline of the imaginary circle, wherein the respective rods are fixed to the respective axes of rotation such that the rods are inclined inwardly when the distal ends of the rods are adjacent to the centerline of the imaginary circle.

Drawings

Figure 1 is a front view of an embodiment of the apparatus for forming creases of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a partial side sectional view of the embodiment shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front view showing the lever rotatable in the forward and reverse directions in an open state according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the lever in the open state.

Fig. 5 is a side view of two open levers, wherein all other levers have been omitted for clarity of illustration.

Fig. 6 is a side view of two levers in a closed state.

Fig. 7 is a bottom view of all the levers in a closed state.

Fig. 8 is a schematic view for explanation, showing the direction in which each crease forming portion forms a groove on a piece of dough.

Detailed Description

In fig. 1 and 2, the apparatus 1 for forming creases according to the invention is arranged in a position adjacent to a machine 3 for producing food products, which machine 3 may be a wrapping machine. The machine 3 for producing food products is an apparatus for producing food material (dough pieces 5), such as chinese bread or other types of bread, wherein the individual bread has a rough spherical top. Since machines for producing food products of this type are already known, details of the structure and functioning of such machines are not described in detail.

The crease forming apparatus 1 is used to form creases in the top surface of a piece of dough 5, wherein the dough 5 is produced by a food production machine 3. In this embodiment, the crease forming device 1 is mounted on a support bracket 7, said bracket 7 in turn being fixed in parallel on the side of the machine 3 for producing food products. A support bracket 7 is provided adjacent the rear of the conveyor 9. the conveyor 9 may be a belt conveyor, the sheeted dough 5 is conveyed by the conveyor 9, the dough 5 is produced by the food product producing machine 3, and the dough 5 is conveyed by the conveyor 9 to a location where it is processed for a subsequent process. That is, the support bracket 7 is disposed at the rear side of the conveying device 9 in fig. 1, the support bracket 7 is located at the left side of the conveying device 9 in fig. 2, the conveying device 9 is omitted in fig. 2, and only the conveying guide 21 is depicted.

The support brackets 7 support vertical support elements 11, the creasing-forming apparatus 1 being mounted on the front wall of said vertical support elements 11, so that the creasing-forming apparatus 1 can move in a vertical direction. More specifically, a pair of brackets 13, 13 are mounted on the front wall of the support member 11 so as to be opposed to each other in the vertical direction, and the opposed brackets 13, 13 fix upper and lower end portions of a pair of vertical guide bars 15, as shown in fig. 1. The upper and lower brackets 13, 13 also support a screw rod 19 that can be adjusted in the vertical direction, and an adjustment knob 17 is provided at the tip of the screw rod 19 so that the screw rod 19 can be rotated in the forward and reverse directions.

The guides 15, 15 support and guide a lifting carriage 23, said lifting carriage 23 being located above the transport guide 21. The nut member 25 is fixed to the lifting bracket 23 such that the nut member 25 is engaged with the adjustment screw 19 so that the lifting bracket 23 can move in the vertical direction when the adjustment knob 17 is turned. The position of the lifting bracket 23 in the vertical direction can thus be adjusted.

A control motor 29 is mounted on the lifting bracket 23, and a housing 27 having a hollow cylindrical shape is fixed to the bottom of the lifting bracket 23. A drive gear 33 located within the housing 27 is secured to the output shaft 31 of the control motor 29. A plurality of rotating shafts 37 each provided with a driven gear 35 are rotatably mounted on the housing 27, the driven gears 35 being engaged with the driving gear 33.

The rotating shafts 37 are disposed at equal intervals along an imaginary circle having a center line CL corresponding to the rotational axis of the output shaft 31. Each of the turning shafts 37 is disposed obliquely so that the distal end face of the turning shaft 37 is disposed downward and outward, i.e., in a direction away from the center line CL of the imaginary circle. That is, the inclined rotational axis 37 is provided on the inclined, upwardly converging outer surface of an imaginary cone having a center line CL.

Although in this embodiment the drive gear 33 is exemplified as a helical gear and each driven gear 35 is a spur gear, the drive gear and the driven gear may be a spur gear and a helical gear, respectively, or both the drive gear and the driven gear may be helical gears. In short, any mechanism may be employed as long as the inclined rotation shafts 37 can be simultaneously rotated.

A long rod 39 is fixed to the distal end of each of the rotary shafts 37 so as to be capable of forward and backward rotary movement, i.e., swinging movement. Each rotating lever 39 extends downward and is perpendicular to the axis of rotation 37. Therefore, as shown in fig. 1, when the turning shafts 37 are turned, the orientation of the inclination of each turning lever 39 is opposite to the orientation of the inclination of the corresponding turning shaft 37, and therefore the distal ends of all the turning levers 39 converge in the vicinity of the center line CL. That is, when the rotating shaft 37 rotates, the lower end of the rotating lever 39 reaches the center line CL, and the rotating lever 39 is inclined, so that when the lever 39 rotates, a spatial area surrounded by a plane defined by the focal point of the rotating lever 39 is a polygonal cone inclined upside down from the top.

Further, each of the turning levers 39 has a crease forming portion 41 at a lower end (or distal end) thereof to form a crease in the top surface of a piece of dough 5. The width of the fold forming portion 41 is larger than the width of the other portion of the bar 39, and therefore this portion protrudes in the width direction. When the rotary shaft 37 is rotated until the lower portions of the rotary lever 39 converge at the center line CL, the proximal ends of the fold forming portions 41 of the rotary lever 39 are opposed to each other with respect to the center line CL, as shown in fig. 1. Therefore, referring to fig. 6, each crease forming portion 41 formed at the lower portion of each turning bar 39 forms a groove on the top surface of the dough 5 while being inclined, and the upper portions 41U of the crease forming portions 41 converge at the center line CL with the lower portions 41L thereof located away from the center line CL.

During the operation of the crease forming apparatus 1 of the above-described structure, first, the vertical position of the apparatus 1 with respect to the size and height of a piece of dough 5 is adjusted by turning the adjustment knob 17, wherein the dough 5 is produced by the food production machine 3. Then, the drive control motor 29 drives the drive gear 33 to rotate, so that the rotating shaft 37 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow a in fig. 1, so that the rotating lever 39 at its lower position is rotated upward to its upper position shown in fig. 1, where the rotating lever 39 is opened upward and enlarged in size, as shown in fig. 3 and 4.

The dough 5 produced by the food producing machine 3 is conveyed on the conveying device 9, which is located below the crease forming apparatus 1, the conveying device 9 is stopped, and the motor 29 is controlled to rotate in the reverse direction so that the rotating shaft 37 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow B in fig. 1. The rotating link 39 is thus rotated from the upper position shown in fig. 5 to the lower position, and the fold forming portions 41 at the lower end of the rotating link 39 converge at the center line CL. Therefore, as shown in fig. 1 and 6, the crease forming portion 41 forms an inclined groove on the top surface of the dough 5, thereby forming a crease.

Since the rotation shaft 37 is inclined and also since the rotation lever 39 can be rotated or swung on the inclined plane in the vertical direction in the forward and reverse directions, the crease forming portion 41 can form a groove on the top surface of the dough 5 as shown by an arrow C in fig. 8 so that the top surface of the dough 5 is peeled or sliced, and as the peeling or slicing action proceeds, the convex portion 43 formed on the top surface by peeling or slicing the piece by the crease forming portion 41 becomes gradually thicker but not toward the center of the dough 5. A groove is formed on the dough 5 in one direction by the crease forming portion 41 so that the top surface of the dough 5 is peeled off, and each of the convex portions 43 formed by peeling off a part of the top surface of the dough has a distal end or tip forming an acute angle.

Moreover, when the crease forming portions 41 are gradually moved from their wide open position as shown in fig. 3 and 4 to the closed position shown in fig. 6 and 7, the front crease forming portions 41 forming the grooves on a part of the top surface of the dough 5 press down the adjacent projecting portions 43, which adjacent projecting portions 43 are peeled off and partially separated (angled) by the rear crease forming portions 41, which rear crease forming portions 41 are adjacent to the front crease forming portions, i.e., the rear crease forming portions 41 function to restrict the projecting portions 43 from moving too far forward. Therefore, the projecting portion 43 can be efficiently peeled off and angled by the pair of adjacent fold forming portions 41.

As can be appreciated from the above, when alternating raised portions and depressions (i.e., creases) are formed on the top surface of a piece of dough, in embodiments of the present invention, the creases are formed by partial separation and angling the raised portions that are peeled off, thus forming acute angles at the distal ends of the creases, rather than merely forming grooves in the top surface of the dough. Thus, the creases formed in the dough will always retain their original shape, even when formed into a finished product, i.e., the dough will retain its original shape after one or more processing steps, such as fermentation and steaming.

Although each fold forming portion 41 is depicted as a flat plate shape in the above-described drawings, it is conceivable that the fold forming portion 41 may be provided as a wedge shape having a wedge-shaped portion 45A on one side or wedge-shaped portions 45A, 45B on both sides, as shown by the broken line (chain line) in fig. 4. Since in the crease-forming portions each crease-forming portion has a wedge shape, the crease-forming portions rotate and move forward converging to the centre line CL, the pressing pressure applied to the dough portion between adjacent pairs of crease-forming portions is greater than if the wedge-shaped crease-forming portions were not used. Thus, it may result in the peeling portion 43 being angled with respect to the remainder of the dough and forming a convex acute angle and a longer length. Therefore, the convex portion can always remain in the finished product.

The above-described embodiments are merely illustrative of the present invention and do not limit the scope of the present invention. It will be clear to a person skilled in the art that other variants can be obtained without departing from the scope of the invention, which forms are described in the claims of the present application.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, each of the turning levers 39 is made as a straight flat plate and is provided at its distal end with the crease forming portion 41, and the crease forming portion 41 has a wide width and a straight edge 41E as shown in fig. 5, so as to form a groove in the dough 5. However, the edge 41E may be shaped in a concave shape or a convex shape, or other desired shapes. Further, each rotating lever may be a curved member, or may be made of a rod-like member having a desired diameter. When the turning lever is made of a rod-like member, it can be bent to form a desired rod-like portion and a crease forming portion.

In addition, the crease forming portion 41 may be covered with a fluoroplastic, such as a fluoroplastic under the trade name TEFLON, to prevent the dough material from sticking to the crease forming portion, if such a structure is desired, taking into account the viscosity of the dough material, as well as the material properties of the crease forming portion 41.

Claims (1)

1. An apparatus (1) for forming a crease in a substantially spherical top surface of a piece of dough (5), comprising:

a plurality of rotation shafts (37) rotatable in forward and reverse directions, the rotation shafts (37) being arranged at equal intervals on an imaginary circle located above the dough (5) disposed at a predetermined position, each rotation shaft extending obliquely downward and outward; and

and rod pieces (39) fixed to and extending downward from the respective rotation shafts (37), each rod piece having a crease-forming portion at a lower end, the rod pieces being capable of being inclined so as to converge toward a Center Line (CL) of the imaginary circle, so that the crease-forming portions of the rod pieces form grooves in a direction on the piece of dough as the rotation shafts rotate, so that the top surface of the piece of dough is peeled, and so that a convex portion constituted by the peeled portions of the top surface becomes gradually thicker as the peeling process continues to form an acute-angled convex portion.