US 4,056,345 AGranted

Dough forming apparatus

AssigneeAmpco Foods Inc.

InventorsMounir A. Shatila, William H. VonDer Lieth, John L. Veeneman, Marion E. Thomas

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Abstract

A horizontal chamber and a piston movable in the chamber to discharge potato dough through a discharge opening at one end of the chamber. A dough dividing structure adapted for mounting in the discharge opening. A diaphragm and means for mounting the diaphragm on the face of the piston such that when the piston is retracted in the chamber from a body of dough therein, an air passage is created to relieve the vacuum between the diaphragm and the dough, thereby avoiding distortion of the dough. For charging the chamber with a body of dough to form an impervious barrier therein there is an adapter in vertical alignment below the constitutent introducing devices; the adapter supports the piston and the cylinder in vertical alignment below the constituent introducing devices so as to expedite charging of the machine to form an impervious dough barrier. After the constituents set into a dough the chamber, with the impervious barrier therein, and the piston are installed in the machine for normal operation. An improved nozzle for introducing the water constituent which nozzle virtually eliminates all kinetic energy or velocity necessarily developed when the water is delivered to the nozzle.

Claims13

Dependent claims

In apparatus for reconstituting dehydrated potato agglomerates by adding water to the agglomerates to form dough and for shaping the dough into shaped potato pieces, said apparatus being of the type having an impervious wall defining an elongate chamber of uniform cross-sectional shape, means mounting said chamber on a generally horizontal axis, said chamber being open ended to define a discharge opening at one end thereof and a rear opening opposite the discharge opening, a piston movable in said chamber, means extending through said rear opening and operative to move said piston toward and away from said discharge opening to effect discharge of dough through said discharge opening, dough shaping means supported adjacent said discharge opening shaping dough discharged from said chamber by movement of said piston toward said discharge opening, a first latch element on said piston moving means and a second latch element on said piston that is removably interengageable with said first latch element to effect removable attachment of said piston to said piston moving means, said chamber wall having an upward open side opening adjacent said rear opening, and means operative to introduce into said chamber through said side opening preselected amounts of potato agglomerates and water, the improvement for forming an impervious dough barrier spanning said discharge opening comprising supporting means interengageable with said second latch element supporting said piston in a substantially horizontal plane, means mounting said supporting means in vertical alignment below said introducing means, and means positioning said chamber upon the piston when the piston is engaged on said supporting means in substantially vertical disposition, said positioning means being disposed to position said chamber so that said piston is within said chamber adjacent said discharge opening thereby to form an impervious receptacle thereabove for receiving agglomerates and water from said introducing means.

In apparatus for forming dough into shaped pieces wherein the apparatus is of the type having a dough chamber defining at one end thereof a discharge opening, a piston slidable in said chamber, means operable to controllably reciprocate said piston toward and away from said discharge opening, and shaping means adjacent said discharge opening for shaping dough egressing therefrom in response to movement of said piston toward said discharge opening, the improvement comprising a portion of said piston facing said discharge opening defining a substantially planar rigid support surface, a flexible impervious diaphragm substantially congruent to said support surface, means for attaching said diaphragm in overlying relation to said planar support surface, said attaching means being confined interior of the periphery of said diaphragm to thereby allow movement of the periphery of the diaphragm, and an airvent passage in said piston extending from said planar support surface to the opposite side of said piston so that when said piston is moved away from dough in said chamber a portion of said diaphragm is peeled away from said planar surface to afford an air path through said airvent passage and around said diaphragm.

Apparatus for forming potato agglomerates and water into a dough and for shaping the dough into french fry shaped pieces comprising a chute for delivering a preselected quantity of potato agglomerates along a vertically downward path, a water nozzle adjacent to said chute for delivering a preselected amount of water along a vertically downward path, said nozzle including inner and outer hollow cylindrical walls defining an annular space therebetween, means for delivering water at substantial velocity to the interior of the inner cylindrical wall, a plurality of upwardly extending passages through the inner wall for delivering water to the annular space intermediate the inner and outer wall, and a plurality of outlet openings in the lower region of the outer cylindrical wall, an impervious cylinder having a side inlet opening, means removably supporting the cylinder along a horizontal axis with the inlet opening in vertical alignment below said chute and said nozzle, said cylinder being open ended to define a discharge opening at one end thereof and a rear opening at the opposite end thereof, a piston for slidable sealing movement within the cylinder, said piston having a substantially planar surface facing said discharge opening, a flexible impervious diaphragm configured to overlie said planar surface, means securing an upper portion of said diaphragm to said piston so that said diaphragm remote from said securing means is separable from said planar surface, an airvent passage through said piston and disposed adjacent to said diaphragm securing means so that when said diaphragm is moved away from said piston an air passage is formed around said diaphragm, a rod extending through said rear opening, said rod and said piston having complementally interengagable latch members for removably retaining said piston to said rod, said latch members acting to retain the piston in a position so that said diaphragm securing means is upward, means operative to controllably reciprocate said rod so as to move said piston toward and away from said discharge opening, means in vertical alignment below said chute and said nozzle mounting said piston with the planar surface thereof orientated horizontally and facing upward, said piston mounting means having a shape corresponding to the latch member on said rod so as to removably mount said piston below said chute and said nozzle, a planar horizontal surface circumscribing said piston mounting means to support said discharge end of said chamber so that said chamber is disposed in substantially vertical alignment below said chute and said nozzle for charging said cylinder with potato agglomerates from said chute and water from said nozzle, and means mountable on said cylinder in spanning relation to said discharge opening dividing dough exiting said discharge opening in response to movement of said piston toward said discharge opening.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.