Apparatus for continuously stretching a strip of dough

An apparatus for continously stretching a strip of dough, which is fed from an upstream direction and stretched in a downstream direction, comprising:

• a base, and a conveyor mechanism supported on said base comprising a plurality of serially arranged conveyors, including in order from the upstream direction to the downstream direction an entrance belt conveyor, an intermediate belt conveyor, and an exit belt conveyor, each conveyor running from an upstream end to a downstream end, the speed of each conveyor being variable, the speed of any downstream conveyor of the plural conveyors being higher than that of the nearest upstream conveyor,
• dough holding means, including a roller mechanism comprising a plurality of rollers rotatable about their axes and movable along a path, including a straight portion, above the plural conveyors, moving at a speed higher than that of the conveyors, the straight portion of the roller path being positioned over the plural conveyors, thereby holding the dough fed between the roller mechanism and the plural conveyors to produce the strip of dough;
• and
• means for adjusting an inclined feeding angle from the upstream direction between said straight portion of said roller path and said entrance and intermediate conveyors, including a first frame supporting the two conveyors, a first pivot mounted on the base and disposed at or adjacent the downstream end of the intermediate conveyor, wherein a downstream end of the frame is pivotally mounted to said first pivot, and a first lowering and lifting means for moving an upstream end of the frame vertically, thereby adjusting the feeding angle of the two conveyors from the upstream direction relative to the straight portion of the roller mechanism.