Dough-dividing and toroid-forming apparatus

Apparatus for automatically forming bagels or the like with a minimum working of the dough comprising:

• (a) a first rotary plate member adapted for rotation about a first axis and having a plurality of first cylindrical openings disposed therethrough at equal distances about a common radius from said first axis;
• (b) a second rotary plate member adapted for rotation about a second axis parallel to said first axis and having a plurality of second cylindrical openings disposed therethrough at equal distances about a common radius from said second axis, said second rotary plate member being disposed close adjacent and behind said first rotary plate member such that one of said first cylindrical opening and one of said second cylindrical openings can be positioned concentrically;
• (c) first indexing means for rotating said first and second plate members between a position where one each of said first and second cylindrical openings are concentrically aligned to a position where the next each in sequence of said first and second cylindrical openings are concentrically aligned;
• (d) a plurality of cylindrical forming cups carried by said second rotary plate member concentric with said second cylindrical openings, said forming cups facing away from said first rotary plate member and tapering outward from a first internal diameter at the inlet adjacent the front face of said second rotary plate member to a larger internal diameter adjacent the outlet at the opposite end of said forming cups;
• (e) a non-rotary plate member disposed concentrically about said second axis and adapted for longitudinal movement along said second axis between a position close adjacent said second rotary plate member and a position removed from said rotary plate member;
• (f) a plurality of cylindrical mandrels carried by said non-rotary plate member facing said first rotary plate member and being disposed to be concentric with said second cylindrical openings and said forming cups with one each of said first and second cylindrical openings concentrically disposed by said first indexing means, the end of the one of said mandrels disposed concentrically with said concentric first and second cylindrical openings being conical;
• (g) means for injecting dough into one of said first cylindrical openings and for formin said injected dough into disc-shaped dough lumps as said first rotary plate member is indexed between positions by said first indexing means;
• (h) means for forming the center of said disc-shaped dough lumps into a web;
• (i) second indexing means operably connected to said first indexing means for operating said web forming means each time said first indexing means has moved said first and second rotary plates on position;
• and,
• (j) third indexing means operably connected to said first indexing means for moving said non-rotary plate member from said removed position to said adjacent position and back again each time said first indexing means has moved said first and second rotary plates one position whereby said mandrels are thrust into said forming cups and removed therefrom to pierce said web of the one of said dough lumps at said conical pointed mandrel position and transfer said latter dough lump from said first rotary plate member to said second rotary plate member and to roll said dough lumps partially down said forming cups at the position of the others of said mandrels thus forming the bagel shape before said dough lumps finally emerge from said outlet end of the one of said forming cups at the position of the final one of said mandrels, said first indexing means being adapted to not index said first and second rotary plate members when said third indexing means has said mandrels inserted into said first and second cylindrical openings.