GB2110978A

GB2110978A - Rolling up dough

Info

Publication number: GB2110978A
Application number: GB08228511A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Lars Svanborg
Original assignee: SWISS CROMATIC APS
Current assignee: SWISS CROMATIC APS
Priority date: 1981-10-12
Filing date: 1982-10-06
Publication date: 1983-06-29
Also published as: DE3237844A1; IT8223689A0; JPS58129926A; DK450381A; FR2515484B3; IT1153901B; FR2515484A1

Abstract

Flat workpieces of baked or non- baked dough are rolled up by means of a roller sheet arrangement including a table and an overhead tranverse member, the roller sheet forming a roller loop between the member and the table; the rolling up of a workpiece being effected by a relative displacement between the table and the member. For ascertaining a real initial rolling up of the front end portion as distinguished from a folding over thereof, the size of the roller sheet loop is selected or adjusted according to the character and thickness of the dough member so as to extend over more than 180 DEG of arc in contact with the member end being rolled, whereby the member will act to enhance the rounding of the dough member front end and thus guide it downwardly and rearwardly to complete a real winding of the front end, whereafter further rolling is easily effected. During the further rolling the length of the loop may be adjusted by control means serving to adjust the position of the rear end of the roller sheet behind the loop.

Description

SPECIFICATION A method and an apparatus for rolling up flat dough members This invention relates to the production of bakery products of the rolled up type, both as rolled up from an already baked, flat member or workpiece as in Swiss rolls and as rolled up from a non-baked dough plate for later baking, e.g. croissants, and various types of bread rolls, which may be prepared by mass production in specialized factories and distributed to local bake houses in a natural or frozen condition. It is quite customary that the rolling of these products is effected manually, even in specialized factories, because so far no successful automatic rolling method has been developed.

A simple aid for rolling up flat workpieces is the use of a roller cloth or sheet, which is perfect also for the above purpose, provided the roller sheet initially engages a workpiece front edge portion which has already been rolled up. The great problem has been to effect the initial rolling, since the baked or non-baked dough workpieces simply tend to get folded over instead of being rolled.

It is the purpose of the invention to provide a method whereby it is possible to take advantage of the simple roller sheet aid, but now both for the initial and the subsequent rolling up of the product.

The invention is based on the recognition that it is in fact possible to achieve an initial rolling up of the dough member when the length of the roller sheet loop is carefully adjusted to the character and thickness of the dough members to be handled and when hereby the loop is adjusted so as to extend over somewhat more than 1800 of arc as measured on the cylinder defined by the first winding of the dough member as being rolled up. This in turn means that the said traverse will be located in engagement with this cylinder, through the roller sheet, adjacent the front side of the cylinder as being formed, and the front end of the dough member will hereby be stabilized in its initially curved shape such that by further rolling the said front end will really be rolled up and not just folded.

The effective size of the roller sheet loop may be adjusted as required simply by adjusting the position of the rear sheet end, and such adjustment may even be advantageously carried out during each rolling operation for accomodating the sheet loop to the growing thickness of the rolled up member.

Accordingly, the present invention is characterized by the method as specified in claims 1 and 2, and the invention furthermore comprises the apparatus according to the remaining claims for carrying out the method.

In the following the invention is described in more detail with reference to the drawing, in which: Figure 7 is a schematic perspective view of a rolling apparatus according to the invention, Figure 2 a)-jJ are sectional views illustrating the operation of the roller sheet, Figure 3 and 4 are similar views showing two different manners of releasing the rolled up member from the roller sheet, and Figure 5 is a perspective view of a modified rolling apparatus, and Figure 6 is a side view of a modified detail.

The apparatus shown in Figure 1 comprises a table plate or support 2 covered by a loose roller sheet 4 which is secured to the support 2 adjacent the front end thereof as shown to the right. A transverse roller 6 is mounted on a shaft 8 overhead the support 2, the shaft8 being rested on opposed rail members 10, of which only one is shown. Moreover each shaft end projects through a vertical slot 14 in a movable bracket 12 which is secured to the piston rod 16 of a cylinder 18 as secured to a carrier bracket 20 rigidly connected with the support 2.

Above the rail member 10 is arranged a slightly inclined top rail 22 adjustably held to a carrier plate 26 by means of bolts through vertical slots 24 therein, this top rail frontwise continuing in a rail nose portion 28, which has a foremost chute portion 30 resting on the rail member 10 just behind the free end thereof. The rail nose portion 28, 30 is upwardly tiltable as shown in dotted lines.

The roller sheet 4 is lifted over the roller 6 and is loosely folded at 32 behind this roller. The rear end of the sheet is secured to a transverse bar 34, which is secured to bolts 36 projecting rearwardly through vertical slots 38 in the rigid brackets 20 and being height and length adjustably secured thereto by means of nuts 40.

The apparatus so far described cooperates with a conveyor belt 42, on which flat dough members 44 are brought to a position from which they are transfereable to the support 2. The members 44 are rhombic and are formed out of a dough plate strip 46 by or between oblique cut lines 48. A member 44 as stopped in front of the support 2 is lifted onto the support along the arrow 50 by any suitable transfer means. In the example shown the transfer means comprise a fixed working cylinder 52, on the piston rod 54 of which there is arranged a transfer head 55 carrying a local cylinder 56 for operating a number of gripping fingers 58 to engage an edge area of the member 44 so as to draw the member 44 onto the support 2 by retraction of the piston rod 54.As shown by an arrow 60 the oppositely oriented rhombic dough members may be correspondingly delivered to another rolling apparatus (not shown) located at the other side of the conveyor belt 42.

Once a dough member 44 has thus been placed on the support 2 and on the roller sheet 4just in front of the transverse roller 6 (see also Figure 2a) the cylinders 18areactuatedtomovethe brackets 12 and therewith the roller 6 forwardly over the support 2, corresponding to Figure 2b. Hereby the sheet folds 32 are straightened out, and soon (Figure 2c) the roller sheet 4 just in front of the roller 6 will be folded rearwardly in a loop 62 underneath the roller 6, when the roller sheet is brought to engage the front end of the dough member 44.

By the further movement of the roller 6, as illustrated in Figure 2c and 2d the front end portion of the dough member 44 will be caused to be rolled up simply because of the travel of the loop 62. The curvature of the rolling will at this stage be determined mainly by the character and thickness of the dough member 44.

Thereafter, as shown in Figure 2e, the front end of the member 44 will reach the location of the roller 6, and now the curvature of the rolling up will be given mainly by the length of the roller sheet loop 62.

However, this length has in advance been adjusted to suit the natural rolling tendency of the front end of the member 44 under the given circumstances, so the result is that the leading end of the member 44 will contact the roller 6 through the sheet 4. By this contact it is ensured that the dough member front end is urged further downwardly with a last pronounced influence to adopt a curved shape. The said front end portion will show a certain tendency to straighten out itself from this curved shape, but the curvature already obtained will be sufficient to ensure that during the following motion of the roller 6 the curved front end of the member 44 will remain curved to such a degree, as illustrated in Figure 2f, that the front end will be rearwardly oriented when it meets with the top side of the member 44 behind the front edge portion thereof as now rolled up.

This is the critical phase of the initial rolling process. Once it is ensured that the front edge of the member 44 as initially rolled up is oriented rearwardly, then the following movement of the roller 6 as shown in Figure 2g and 2h will result in a real rolling up of the member 44. Normally, from Figure 2g to Figure 2h a certain compaction of the central area of the member being rolled up will take place, whereby the front end of the member 44 is pushed into the centrai, open space of the first winding.

During the following further displacement of the roller a further regular rolling up of the member 44 will take place, see Figure 2i. The roll will tend to grow, of course, and there are three possibilities of taking this growth into account: 1) The loop 62 is kept constant, and the growth is compensated for by a correspondingly increasing compaction of the dough material as possible primarily for already baked dough members; 2) The loop is allowed to increase its effective diameter by virtue of the roller 6 being lifted in a controlled or sporadic manner, e.g.

by the upward pressure of the growing roll, whereby the curvature of the loop is decreased; and 3) The length of the loop 62 is increased by forward displacement of the rear end of the roller sheet; for enabling such an operational displacement the bolts 36 of Figure 1 may be replaced by working cylinders 64 as illustrated in Figures 2a-c, these cylinders being operatively connected with suitable control means for effecting a displacement of the rear sheet end according to the requirements, as indicated by an arrow a in Figure 2i.

The finally rolled up article is designated 66 in Figure 2j. If in that position the roller 6 is still located in contact with the front side of the roll, then the article 66 is trapped within the loop 62 and is not directly releasable therefrom. However, as far as the apparatus according to Figure 1 is concerned, the roller shaft ends 8 will cause the rail nose portions 28,30 to be lifted and then to snap down behind these shaft ends by the final forward movement of the roller 6, and when thereafter the piston rods 16 are retracted the shaft ends 8 will be forced upwardiy along the inclined nose portions 30 and get returned along the top side of the upper rail system 28,22 until at the rear end thereof the roller 6 falls down into its initial position.The lifting of the roller 6 at the front end of the rail nose portion 28,30 is illustrated in dotted lines in Figure 3, from which it will be clear that the rolled article 66 is thereby liberated from the sheet loop and is left freely resting on the support 2 and accessible for any suitable removal means, e.g.

for pushing it off the support 2 down onto the conveyor 42 according to Figure 1.

The invention is particularly concerned with the initial and the following rolling up of the dough members, and it is deemed unnecessary to describe in more detail the associated handling of the dough members and the resulting rolled articles.

It should be mentioned, however, that another possibility of releasing the final article 66 from the loop 62 will be to continue the forward displacement of the roller 6 beyond the front edge of the support 2, as illustrated in Figure 4, whereby the article 66 is brought to fall down onto a receiver conveyor 68 and whereafter the roller 6 will be retractable into its initial position without having to be lifted over the article 66.

This manner of releasing the article 66 is used in the modified apparatus which is illustrated in Figure 5. This apparatus will be described very briefly, because its operation is essentially the same as already described with respect to the initial and the following rolling up ofthe dough members 44, though now with inverted absolute movements between the support 2 and the roller 6.

In Figure 5 the roller 6 is substituted by a traverse 70 which is rigidly mounted on an apparatus frame 72. On the frame 72 is slidingly arranged a support 74, which is reciprocally movable by means of a working cylinder 76. On the support 74 is laid a roller sheet 78, which is lifted over the traverse 70 and is rearwise fixed to a roller 80 as carried by the support 74. The support 74 further carries a working cylinder 82, the piston rod of which has a tooth rack cooperating with a pinion hub portion of the roller 80 such that the angular position of this roller is adjustable by means of the cylinder 82, whereby the effective length of the roller sheet is adjustable. At the front end of the support 74 is arranged an upstanding stop member 84, which is pivotal, by means of a cylinder 86, into a forwardly and downwardly protruding position as shown in dotted lines.

In its position as shown in Figure 5 the support 74, 78 is operable to receive dough members as supplied in any convenient manner, e.g. as shown by means of an unloader unit generally designated 88, this unit in known manner comprising a movable conveyor, which receives dough members continually from a feeding conveyor 90 and reciprocating for intermittently depositing the members on the support 74.

When thus one or more dough members are brought to rest on the support 74 the cylinder 76 is actuated to displace the entire support rearwardly, whereby the already described rolling operation will be effected, though now with inverted absolute movements, the traverse 70 here being stationary while the support 74 including the sheet fixation roller 80 is moved. The control means of the cylinder 82 are set to provide for the correct initial length of the roller sheet 78 and are operable during the rolling to adjust the effective sheet and loop length as desired. At the end of the retraction of the support 74 the rolled article 66, as shown in Figure 4, will simply be rolled over the front edge of the suppport and fall down onto a conveyor 68. In the system of Figure 5 the end stop member 84 is swung down by means of the cylinder 86 prior to this last phase of the rolling operation.The support 74 is then returned into its initial position, without any requirement as to raising of the traverse 70 or lowering of the support.

The traverse 6 or 70 should not necessarily be a roller, as the sheet may well slide about a smooth rod shaped traverse, even without this being of circular cross section. Figure 6 shows an example, in which the traverse consists of two superimposed rods or rollers 92.

As mentioned, it is important that the loop size is so adapted that the traverse acts as a support for a front side portion of the initial dough member roll, since the front end of the dough member is then caused to bend sufficiently to be really rollable thereafter. Correspondingly, the traverse should be adapted to contact the roll, through the sheet, with a portion of its rear surface, whereby the loop will normally be subjected to a locally increased curvature immediately at or above the contact area, the dough member front end as necessary for further rolling up is safeguarded.

Claims

1. Amethodofrolling upaflatworkpieceof baked or non-baked dough by means of a roller sheet, whereby the work-piece is placed on the roller sheet as rested on a support surface and forming a partial loop in front of and open towards an edge of the workpiece, the sheet loop being located between the support surface and the underside of an overlying traverse and the sheet being laid partly around this traverse so as to project rearwardlyfrom the top side thereof to a rear fixation means associated with said support surface, the rolling action on the workpiece being effected by moving the traverse forwardly along the support surface, relative hereto, characterized in that the rolling action on the dough member is effected with the use of such a size of the roller sheet loop as adapted to the kind and thickness of the dough member that the front area of the dough member is initially rolled up with a curvature diameter which is larger than the distance between the support surface and the underside of the traverse and that the traverse is hereby located so as to have a rearwardly oriented surface portion thereof contacting the front side of the cylinder as defined by the said curvature diameter.

2. A method according to claim 1, whereby during the progressing rolling up of the dough member the sheet loop is caused to be prolonged by a continuous orstepwise pushing forward of the rear sheet end adjacent said fixation means.

3. An apparatus for carrying out the method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the fixation means of the rear end of the roller sheet are position adjustable to enable an adjustment of the effective size of the roller sheet loop.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, in which the roller sheet is rearwise wound onto a stationary cylinder associated with control means for adjusting the angular position of the cylinder.

5. An apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, in which control means are provided for effecting said adjustment cyclically during the operation of the apparatus.