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US 4,361,082 AGranted
Apparatus for manufacturing waffle blocks
OwnerFranz Haas, Sr., Franz Haas, Jr. +1inventors
InventorsFranz Haas, Sr., Franz Haas, Jr., Johann Haas
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process and apparatus for manufacturing waffle blocks filled with cream in which individual waffle sheets are moved on a feeder belt into contact with a coating device for coating on one side and are introduced subsequently into a stacking device where they are individually lifted by at least two oppositely mounted upright spiral feeders that grip the waffle sheets and guide them upwardly in succession against each other until a waffle block composed of a predetermined number of waffle sheets is completed. The completed waffle blocks are pushed by the spiral tracks on a run-off belt and discharged.
Claims33
An apparatus for manufacturing waffle blocks having layers of waffle sheets, the waffle sheets having upper and lower sides, the apparatus comprising:
- a feeder conveyor for moving waffle sheets in a downstream direction;
- a cream coating device disposed adjacent said feeder conveyor for coating the upper sides of at least certain of the waffle sheets with cream prior to entry of the waffle sheets into the stacking device;
- a stacking device disposed adjacent to and generally downstream of said feeder conveyor for receiving waffle sheets, at least some of which are cream coated, from said feeder conveyor for stacking the waffle sheets vertically one under the other to form a sandwich-like waffle block in which cream layers are interposed between the waffle sheets;
- a run-off conveyor disposed downstream of said stacking device for receiving completed sandwich-like waffle blocks discharged from the stacking device and for transporting such waffle blocks away from the stacking device;
- said stacking device including means for:
- vertically lifting a first waffle sheet, received from said feeder conveyor, above said feeder conveyor;
- for joining, by means of the stacking device, a second cream coated waffle sheet to the first waffle sheet to form at least a partial cream and waffle sandwich block by vertically lifting the second cream-coated waffle sheet, received from said feeder conveyor after receipt of said first waffle sheet, above said feeder conveyor to meet the lower side of the first lifted sheet;
- and for vertically lifting, if additional layers are desirous, additional cream-coated sheets, received from said feeder conveyor after receipt of said first and second sheets, above said feeder conveyor to meet the lower side of the last previously lifted sheet to provide a completed cream and waffle sandwich block;
- and
- means for controlling discharge of the completed waffle blocks from the stacking device.
7 more elements
An apparatus for manufacturing waffle blocks having layers of waffle sheets, the waffle sheets having upper and lower sides, the apparatus comprising:
- a feeder conveyor for moving waffle sheets in a downstream direction;
- a stacking device disposed adjacent to and generally downstream of said feeder conveyor for receiving waffle sheets from said feeder conveyor;
- for stacking the waffle sheets vertically one under the other to form a waffle block;
- a run-off conveyor disposed downstream of said stacking device for receiving completed waffle blocks discharged from the stacking device and for transporting such waffle blocks away from the stacking device;
- said stacking device including means for:
- vertically lifting a first waffle sheet, received from said feeder conveyor, above said feeder conveyor;
- for vertically lifting a second waffle sheet, received from said feeder conveyor after receipt of said first waffle sheet, above said feeder conveyor to meet the lower side of the first lifted sheet;
- for vertically lifting, if additional layers are desired, additional sheets, received from said feeder conveyor after receipt of said first and second sheets, above said feeder conveyor to meet the lower side of the last previously lifted sheet to provide a completed waffle block;
- means for controlling discharge of the completed waffle blocks from the stacking device;
- said stacking device including a pair of vertical feeders for engaging and vertically raising the waffle sheets to effect stacking thereof;
- said waffle sheets having lateral sides running in generally the downstream direction and wherein said pair of vertical feeders are disposed adjacent each other such that, in operation, one vertical feeder is on one lateral side of a waffle sheet to be lifted and the other vertical feeder on the other lateral side of the waffle sheet to be lifted;
- said vertical feeders comprising rotatable helical tracks in the form of coiled rod-like elements, said helical tracks providing an upward spiral movement, said helical tracks having axes of rotation;
- and
- means for rotatably driving said helical tracks in opposite rotary directions relative to one another.
11 more elements
An apparatus for manufacturing waffle blocks having layers of waffle sheets, the waffle sheets having upper and lower sides, the apparatus comprising:
- a feeder conveyor for moving waffle sheets in a downstream direction;
- a stacking device disposed adjacent to and generally downstream of said feeder conveyor for receiving waffle sheets from said feeder conveyor for stacking the waffle sheets vertically one under the other to form a waffle block;
- a run-off conveyor disposed downstream of said stacking device for receiving completed waffle blocks discharged from the stacking device and for transporting such waffle blocks away from the stacking device;
- said stacking device including means for:
- vertically lifting a first waffle sheet, received from said feeder conveyor, above said feeder conveyor;
- for vertically lifting a second waffle sheet, received from said feeder conveyor after receipt of said first waffle sheet, above said feeder conveyor to meet the lower side of the first lifted sheet;
- and for vertically lifting, if additional layers are desired, additional sheets, received from said feeder conveyor after receipt of said first and second sheets, above said feeder conveyor to meet the lower side of the last previously lifted sheet to provide a completed waffle block;
- and
- means for controlling discharge of the completed waffle blocks from the stacking device;
- said stacking device including a pair of vertical feeders for engaging and vertically raising the waffle sheets to effect stacking thereof;
- said waffle sheets having lateral sides running in generally the downstream direction and wherein said pair of vertical feeders are disposed adjacent each other such that, in operation, one vertical feeder is on one lateral side of a waffle sheet to be lifted and the other vertical feeder on the other lateral side of the waffle sheet to be lifted;
- said vertical feeders comprising rotatable helical tracks, said helical tracks providing an upward spiral movement;
- each helical track comprising a coil with only two turns, said feeder conveyor having an upper surface on which said waffle sheets are carried, an upper portion of each coil being disposed at a level above said upper surface of said feeder conveyor, each such upper coil portion comprising between one turn and one and one-half turns of the coil.
10 more elements
An apparatus for manufacturing waffle blocks having layers of waffle sheets, the waffle sheets having upper and lower sides, the apparatus comprising:
- a feeder conveyor for moving waffle sheets in a downstream direction;
- a stacking device disposed adjacent to and generally downstream of said feeder conveyor for receiving waffle sheets from said feeder conveyor for stacking the waffle sheets vertically one under the other to form a waffle block;
- a run-off conveyor disposed downstream of said stacking device for receiving completed waffle blocks discharged from the stacking device and for transporting such waffle blocks away from the stacking device;
- said stacking device including means for:
- vertically lifting a first waffle sheet, received from said feeder conveyor, above said feeder conveyor;
- for vertically lifting a second waffle sheet, received from said feeder conveyor after receipt of said first waffle sheet, above said feeder conveyor to meet the lower side of the first lifted sheet;
- and for vertically lifting, if additional layers are desired, additional sheets, received from said feeder conveyor after receipt of said first and second sheets, above said feeder conveyor to meet the lower side of the last previously lifted sheet to provide a completed waffle block;
- and
- means for controlling discharge of the completed waffle blocks from the stacking device;
- said discharge controlling means including an abutment disposed immediately downstream of said stacking device to provide a stop for each waffle sheet to prevent discharge thereof from said stacking device during stacking, said abutment also providing an end guide for aligning said waffle sheets during stacking;
- said abutment being vertically movable between an upper discharge blocking position, in which the waffle sheets in said stacking device engage the abutment, and a lower discharge position, in which the waffle sheets in the stacking device do not engage the abutment and in which the completed waffle block is free to move downstream, said vertical movement of said abutment being over a distance corresponding to the vertical height of a completed waffle block.
8 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.