System and apparatus for controlling blistering
AssigneeFrito-Lay North America, Inc.
InventorJoseph William Kelly
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A system and method for controlling blisters. The method begins by mixing the ingredients to form a dough with a moisture content between about 35% and 60%. The dough is sheeted and cut. Thereafter, the dough is pre-heated to reduce the moisture content to between about 10% and about 45%. The preforms are then docked and dehydrated. The docking system, in one embodiment, has a backing plate and a docking device with at least two docking pins of varying lengths. The docking device is adjustable relative to the backing plate. The system also has a removing plate which removes preforms from the docking pins.
Claims12
A system for docking a dough, said system comprising:
- a backing plate;
- a docking device comprising a cylindrical body having at least a first set of docking pins and a second set of docking pins located on an outer periphery of the cylindrical body, wherein each of the first set of docking pins has a first length and each of the second set of docking pins has a second length, and wherein the first length is different than the second length;
- wherein said docking device is separated from said backing plate by a docking distance maintained by a locking mechanism, and wherein said docking distance is the shortest distance between a center of the docking device and the backing plate, and wherein the docking distance is adjustable between at least two docking distances,
- wherein a first docking distance only allows each of the first set of docking pins to engage the dough;
- and
- wherein a second docking distance allows each of the first set of docking pins and each of the second set of docking pins to engage the dough.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.