Dough product rolling apparatus and method for rolling dough products

An apparatus for rolling a sheet of dough product, the sheet of dough product having an engagement surface and a leading feature, the apparatus comprising:

• a support frame;
• a conveyor operatively supported by the frame and having a movable surface upon which the engagement surface of the dough product can be carried in a process direction by a driving engagement between the moveable surface and the engagement surface of the dough product;
• an impacting station for initiating a roll of the sheet of dough product and comprising an impacting device operatively supported by the frame and movably disposed relative to the movable surface of the conveyor, the impacting device movable between an impact position wherein at least a portion of the impacting device is positioned to impact the leading feature of the sheet of dough product as it is conveyed to the impacting station and a position wherein the sheet of dough product can pass between it and the conveyor;
• and
• an engagement enhancement means for enhancing a driving engagement between the moveable surface of the conveyor and the engagement surface of the sheet of dough product when the impacting device will impact the leading feature of the sheet of dough product;
• and
• a rolling member operatively supported by the frame and disposed downstream in the process direction from the impacting station and relative to the movable surface of the conveyor for creating a drag force on a roll initiated portion of the sheet of dough product as it is driven by the movable surface for further rolling the sheet of dough product.

A method for processing a dough product comprising the steps of:

• providing a dough product, the dough product having an engagement surface and a leading feature;
• positioning the engagement surface of the dough product onto a movable surface of a conveyor;
• driving the dough product in a process direction by a driving engagement between the dough product engagement surface and the movable surface of the conveyor;
• impacting the leading feature of the dough product with an impact device operatively positioned along the process direction by movement of the movable surface of the conveyor;
• and
• enhancing the driving engagement between the engagement surface of the dough product and the movable surface when impacting the leading feature with the impact device.

A method for rolling a sheet of dough product comprising the steps of:

• providing a sheet of dough product, the sheet of dough product having an engagement surface and a leading feature;
• positioning the engagement surface of the sheet of dough product onto a movable surface of a conveyor;
• driving the sheet of dough product in a process direction by a driving engagement between the engagement surface of the sheet of dough product and the movable surface of the conveyor;
• impacting the leading feature of the dough product with an impact device operatively positioned along the process direction by movement of the movable surface of the conveyor, and thereby initiating a partial roll of the sheet of dough product;
• enhancing the driving engagement between the engagement surface of the dough product and the movable surface when impacting the leading feature with the impact device;
• and
• rolling the sheet of dough product after a roll is initiated by applying a drag force to the partial roll of the sheet of dough product while the sheet of dough product is driven in the process direction by the movable surface.