Dough divider
OwnerSterret P. Campbellinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Dough which is to be formed into small volumes for later baking into bread, etc. is moved from a mass of dough in the lower portion of a hopper by a pair of helical screws, through a conduit, first to a metering means and then through a dispensing nozzle. A paddle reciprocates through an arc adjacent the dispensing nozzle and on its downward stroke is oscillated so that its lower edge abuts the dispensing nozzle to sever the dough moved through the dispensing nozzle away from the oncoming dough, and then oscillates away from the dispensing nozzle as it returns to its ready position. The downward severing movement of the paddle is initiated by the metering means.
Claims7
Apparatus for separating a viscous flowable paste material such as dough from a large mass of the material into smaller masses of predetermined volume comprising a material hopper, a metering means, a dispensing nozzle, conveyor means communicating at the bottom of said hopper with the material in said hopper for moving the material through said metering means and said dispensing nozzle, said metering means comprising means for measuring the volume of material moved through said metering means, and severing means responsive to said metering means for severing the material moved through said dispensing nozzle from the oncoming material, said severing means comprising a paddle shaft rotatable about its longitudinal axis, a paddle mounted on one end portion of said paddle shaft, means for pivoting said paddle shaft about an axis intermediate the ends of said paddle shaft with the paddle reciprocatable in a vertically extending arc adjacent said dispensing nozzle, and means for rotating said paddle shaft about its longitudinal axis to oscillate the lower edge portion of said paddle into juxtaposition with said dispensing nozzle as the paddle moves downwardly across the nozzle and to oscillate the lower edge portion of said paddle away from said dispensing nozzle as the paddle moves upwardly across the nozzle.
Apparatus for separating a viscous flowable paste material such as dough from a large mass of the material into smaller masses of predetermined volumes comprising a material hopper, a metering means, a dispensing nozzle, conveyor means communicating at the bottom of said hopper with the material in said hopper for moving the material through said metering means and said dispensing nozzle, said metering means comprising means for measuring the volume of material moved through said metering means, and severing means responsive to said metering means for severing the material moved through said dispensing nozzle from the oncoming material, said severing means comprising a paddle, means for oscillating said paddle in up and down directions adjacent said dispensing nozzle, spring means for biasing a lower edge portion of said paddle into engagement with said dispensing nozzle as said paddle moves in a downward direction across said dispensing nozzle to remove the material protruding from said dispensing nozzle and for biasing the lower edge portion of the paddle away from said dispensing nozzle as said paddle moves in an upward direction across said dispensing nozzle to displace the edge portion of said paddle out of the way of the oncoming dough from the nozzle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.