System and apparatus for controlling blistering
AssigneeFrito-Lay North America, Inc.
InventorJoseph William Kelly
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for controlling blisters. The method begins by mixing the ingredients to form a dough with a moisture content between about 35% and 60%. The dough is sheeted and cut. Thereafter, the dough is pre-heated to reduce the moisture content to between about 10% and about 45%. The preforms are then docked and dehydrated. The docking system, in one embodiment, has a backing plate and a docking device with at least two docking pins of varying lengths. The docking device is adjustable relative to the backing plate. The system also has a removing plate which removes preforms from the docking pins.
Claims15
A method for controlling blisters, said method comprising:
- mixing ingredients to form a dough, wherein said dough has a moisture content between about 35% and 60% by weight;
- sheeting said dough to form sheeted dough;
- cutting said sheeted dough to form preforms;
- pre-heating said preforms to form pre-heated preforms with a reduced moisture content of between about 10% and about 45%;
- docking said pre-heated preforms with a docking device comprising a cylindrical body having at least a first set of docking pins and a second set of docking pins located on an outer periphery of the cylindrical body, wherein each of the first set of docking pins has a first length and each of the second set of docking pins has a second length, and wherein the first length is different than the second length, wherein a first docking distance only allows each of the first set of docking pins to engage the pre-heated preforms, and wherein a second docking distances allows each of the first set of docking pins and each of the second set of docking pins to engage the pre-heated preforms, the docking step further comprises adjusting a docking distance to the first docking distance to dock the pre-heated preforms with only the first set of docking pins or adjusting the docking distance to the second docking distance to dock the pre-heated preforms with the first set of docking pins and the second set of docking pins;
- and
- dehydrating said preforms to a moisture content of less than 4%.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.