Apparatus for forming thin materials

Abstract

Apparatus for forming thin pieces of dough material are disclosed. Dough, e.g. masa, used in preparing chip-type food products, can be formed into a sheet, the sheet cut into the desired shaped pieces and the pieces removed from the sheeting and cutting operations and delivered for further processing and frying prior to packaging. The dough is delivered in bulk to a nip between two rolls where it is formed into a sheet as the dough passes between the rolls. Downstream of the nip the sheet is removed from one roll and adheres to the second roll which is engaged by a cutter. The removal is insured by the application of gas pressure from within the first roll. The resulting cut pieces of dough are removed from the second roll by the application of gas pressure from within the roll, and the cut pieces are thereby delivered to a take-away conveyor for passage to further processing and frying operations. In order to place the sheet on the second roll and subsequently deliver the cut pieces to the take-away conveyor, the rolls are configured to apply gas pressure at particular positions along the path of movement of the dough.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.