JPS6347424B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Various dough pie crust foods, such as pizza, are generally obtained where the product is produced as a dough pie crust under a shell having a polymerized layer of selected ingredients.

The food commonly known as pizza is usually covered with a tomato-based seasoning layer and various selected topping ingredients such as cheese, olives, ground meat, etc. are added to the sauce-covered shell before the baking process. Put it on.

The prevalence of such foods and the size of the market for their sale often justify automation of the process for producing these foods.

Similarly, increasingly restrictive health regulations permit the manual preparation of food for consumption in public restaurants in many cases, but not for products produced for resale in retail grocery channels or for institutional service. The degree of contact between food products is limited.

Traditionally, pizza-style food products are primarily assembled in separate steps and in separate operations, and equipment such that the pizza or pizza-style food product is assembled in one fully consistent motion while minimizing contact with the human body. is not known in the art.

Additionally, conventional methods such as those described above are labor intensive and therefore very expensive and require multiple handling of pizza shells and other pie crust confections during cooking and prior to packaging.

In the apparatus provided by the present invention, food products having a pie crust as a base, such as pizza-type food products, can be processed from start to finish with minimal human contact, especially when the pie crust is placed on the apparatus. Cooking is possible where the pie shell does not require manual handling from the time it is placed until the time the finished product is removed from the device for cooking or packaging.

Additionally, the device of the present invention is designed to be easily compliant with stringent health regulations while eliminating human contact with the product and allowing for easy cleaning.

Similarly, the apparatus of the present invention can produce suitable pie crust-based food products in large quantities and at high throughput, significantly reducing the effort previously experienced in preparing such products.

In summary, the apparatus according to the invention applies seasoning to a pie shell, recovers any excess sauce or other seasoning that does not stick to the pie shell, and then applies selected special topping ingredients to the pie shell. Equipment is provided to remove excess material during the movement of the crust and also to recirculate the unused portion of the material not used in the pizza shell.Special topping materials are fed from the hopper and the contents of the hopper are Mix thoroughly until applied to pizza shell.

More specifically, the invention includes a first conveyor system for receiving and transporting preformed pie crusts in a selected direction, a topping system for applying ingredients to the pie crusts, and a topping system for applying ingredients to the pie crusts; A sauce-like raw material of the selected fluid is sprayed onto a pie crust placed at a selected position above and traveling on a first conveyor, and the sauce-like raw material sprayed onto the pie crust is passed through holes in the conveyor. a hopper device located above the first conveyor device adapted to receive the special topping material to be applied with the pie crust; The apparatus includes a second conveyor apparatus which is not perforated and is located at the bottom of the hopper and is adapted to convey the topping material over the second conveyor in the same direction of travel as the first conveyor. Furthermore, a topping storage and mixing device is placed inside the hopper and continuously mixes the topping raw material in the hopper and discharges the topping raw material of a selected thickness onto a second conveyor device, and a topping raw material conveyed on the second conveyor is 1 has a feeding device that feeds the pie shells onto the pie shells carried by a conveyor device.

Although the apparatus described herein as one embodiment within the scope of the present invention is described for the preparation of pizza-type foods, the apparatus within the scope of the present invention is also applicable to the preparation of other similar foods.

The following describes an apparatus according to one embodiment within the scope of the invention.

In FIG. 1, the apparatus includes two main operating parts: a sauce application section collectively indicated at 1 and a topping material application section indicated at 2.

In FIG. 2, which is a somewhat enlarged view of the sauce applicator station from a slightly different angle, the sauce applicator is arranged on a frame arrangement 5, which includes a conveyor device 3 of the chain type or other aperture type.
is provided, and its upper surface runs in the direction of arrow 3A. Although this conveyor is not shown, it is driven by a motor (see Figure 2) that is compatible with a device that includes a sprocket and chain mechanism.The sprocket and chain mechanism drive the rollers 6 and the chain 3. 3A, the chain 3 is placed at both ends of the frame mechanism 5 and the bearings 6 are placed at each end of the frame mechanism 5.
A and 4A run around rollers 6 and 4 which are now able to rotate.

As shown in the figure, the hopper 7 placed below the conveyor 3 has an outlet 9 that communicates with a pump 8 and extends from side to side of the frame 5.
from the pump 8 to the outlet 12A and from the nozzle 13A on the upper surface of the conveyor 3.
and 13B are arranged, and pizza sauce or other appropriate raw materials are injected in a spray form from nozzles 13A and 13B and evenly applied to the pie crust traveling on the conveyor 3.

One purpose of the open working configuration of the conveyor 3 is to send excess jets from the nozzles 13A and 13B via the hopper 7 for reuse.

Within the scope of the invention, spikes (not shown) extending above the top surface of the conveyor 3 are provided so that the dough shells are placed on the spikes rather than on the surface of the conveyor between the bottom of the pizza shells and the conveyor surface. This also minimizes the amount of undesirable sauce on the bottom of the pie shell as it travels on the conveyor 3.

The coated pizza shells are then conveyed from the conveyor 3 to a topping section, in particular a conveyor 22 which, like the conveyor 3, is in an open working configuration. The conveyor 22 runs on rollers 34 and 33, as clearly shown in FIG. 4, and the drive roller 33 is driven by a shaft 27 mounted in a frame mechanism provided to support the entire topping. be done.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the conveyor 22 is driven by a chain 28 which is equipped with a motor 29 and runs around a sprocket 26 held on a shaft 27, and which is equipped with a second sprocket 26A and drives a sprocket 30. The sprocket 30 drives the rotating chain 32, which rotates the shaft 31 and drives the conveyor section 35 below the hopper 72, as will be described later.

The second conveyor 35 has the same structure as the conveyor 22.
is provided below the hopper 72 and the rollers 36 and 37
The roller 36 runs over an axle 31 extending across the width of the frame 21 as shown schematically in FIG.
It is driven by a sprocket 30 held at

The pizza shells travel along the conveyor 35 below a hopper 72, where topping ingredients are stored and mixed as will be described later, and upon exiting the conveyor 35, the pizza shells are transferred to the spacing rollers 5 shown in FIG.
The topping ingredients are placed on the pizza as described below as they are received on the conveyor consisting of the two pizzas. The drive mechanism of the roller 52 is shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, and
The explanation will be given with reference to the drawings and FIG.

In FIG. 3, a motor 41 is provided to drive a roller 52 as shown in FIG. A tension play device 44 is provided as shown in FIG.
Continuously adjust the tension in step 5. Sprocket 46
rotates the shaft 47, which extends across the entire width of the frame 21 to the sprocket 48 as shown in FIG.
Extends until. The sprocket 46A is also held by a shaft 47, and the chain 5 runs around a sprocket 54 held on a shaft 59 mounted on both ends of the frame 21.
Drive 5. A plurality of shafts 59 are provided to rotatably hold the husband roller 52, each shaft 59 holding a gear 49, and one gear 49 holding a sprocket, as shown in FIG. 5 on the side of the frame. 54. Idle gears 51 are provided between each gear 49 and suitably mesh with gears 49 so that all gears rotate in the same direction, thereby rotating rollers 52 in the same direction and feeding the pizza shell as previously described. A gap 52A (FIG. 3) is provided between each roller to prevent the topping material from falling onto the pizza shell.
The material then falls onto a hopper 54 located below the conveyor roller 52 and from the hopper 54 onto the conveyor 53, where the material is recovered for disposal or for recirculation to the hopper 72 as described below.

Regarding the Supply of Topping Materials In FIG. 3, a hopper 72 is provided for receiving and storing topping materials. The hopper 72 is the bracket 7
1 above the conveyor base 83, and both sides of the hopper 72 extend downwardly to a point near the top of the imperforate conveyor belt 75. Conveyor belt 75 preferably has bearings 85A and 8 as shown.
It is movable around rollers 84A and 84B supported by 5B. Intermediate idler roller 82
is provided to maintain the position of the upper run of the conveyor 75 in the proper position relative to the bottom of the hopper 72 and to prevent topping material from escaping from both sides of the hopper 72.

The conveyor base 83 is attached to the bracket 5 as shown in the figure.
6 is fastened to the frame 21.

In accordance with one feature of the present invention, a mixing device is included in the hopper 72 to maintain the integrity of the mix of ingredients when it is necessary to add additional ingredients and maintain a proper mixture.

In the case of the example shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, two eccentric disks 98 and 99 are provided. The shaft 93 is located at the center of the disk 99 and is eccentric with respect to the disk 98 by a dimension B. As shown, the shaft 94 is rotatably housed within the shaft bearing of the disk 99.
The ends of a shaft 94 extending through the shaft connect to a link 92 which in turn connects to a pivot 96 carried by a disk 98 so that the center point between the shaft 93 of the disk 99 and the center of the pivot on the link 92 is shown. The gap (dimension A in FIG. 8) is equal to dimension B, and the finger 91 held by the shaft 94 is always directed downward while the disk 99 rotates about the shaft 93. To accomplish this, the disk 99 is fixedly rotated together with the shaft 93 and the disk 98 is freely rotated independently of the shaft 93.

According to another feature of the invention, a device is provided for holding the topping material in the hopper 72 and controlling its discharge.

It has been found that both the flow control and mixing required for proper operation of the device is provided by the carousel mixing assembly 90. Especially carousel 90
At the bottom of the rotating arc, the finger 91 rotates at an arbitrary speed so as to move in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the conveyor 75, comb the topping material, separate the material, and move the material backward with respect to the running direction of the conveyor 75. . Preferably, the vertical position of the carousel 90 is adjusted such that the gap between the fingers 91 and the conveyor 75 is approximately equal to the desired topping depth, and the toppings are simultaneously combed by the fingers 91 and the carousel 90 is The speed is adjusted to maintain the toppings within the hopper 72 except for the portion of the toppings that passes below the fingers 91, and the carousel 90 serves as a metering device.

For some applications, a second device may be used to meter the flow rate of the topping, and in the illustrated example includes a drum 73 held by a rotating shaft 74 supported in a bracket 79, from which the flow rate is measured. Radially outwardly extending fingers 61 cause roller 73 to rotate in the direction shown by arrow 62 so that the roller also retains the topping material within hopper 72. In such an application, the roller drum 73 is connected to the conveyor 75.
The topping material discharged from the hopper 72 onto the conveyor 75 passes directly under the finger 61 unless an excessively thick material is discharged from the hopper 72.

Drive mechanism for drum 73 and conveyor 75
A drive mechanism for the drum 78 located downstream from the drum 78 will be described at the same time.

However, when a carousel mixing device of the type shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 is provided and rotates, the track path of the downwardly extending fingers 91 of the carousel causes the fingers to move in a direction opposite to the direction of travel of belt 75. The fingers penetrate the mass of toppings held in the hopper 72 and move the toppings into the gap between the rear of the hopper 72 and the bottom of the trackway of the fingers 91 and the surface of the belt 75 so that the carousel is ejected from the hopper 72. It primarily determines the thickness of the topping to be applied to the shell.

Regarding the drum 77, this drum 77 is held by a shaft 101 supported by brackets 57 located on both sides of the base 83. The drum 77 is placed at a certain distance from the roller 84B, and the conveyor 75 passes around the roller 84B to open the opening 6.
0 (FIG. 7) so that the topping ingredients conveyed by the conveyor 75 fall like a fire onto the pizza shell passing below the space 60. Drum 77, like drum 73, has outwardly extending fingers 78 and has a rotation rate of drum 77 optionally determined by the separation between the ends of conveyor 75 and the diameter of sprocket 58 (FIG. 1). The speed of the chain 88 driven by the sprocket 58 controls the rate of topping material added to the pizza shell. Therefore, the drum 77 is
rotates in the direction of A, the surface of the drum and the conveyor 7
5 surfaces move in the same direction within space 60.

Carousel mixer and shaft 74 for rotating drum 73 in the direction of arrow 62 as well as shaft 7A of drum 77
The drive mechanism for sprocket 58 is clearly shown in FIG. In FIG. 6, the shaft 47 extends into and through the frame 21, is journalled, and is driven by sprockets 46 on both sides of the frame 21, as described above. Shaft 47 holds sprocket 48 and sprocket 112. Sprocket 48 is adapted to receive a drive chain 88 which runs under an adjustable chain tensioner 81 around sprocket 74A, as is well known in the art, to tension drum 73.
7 and runs below sprocket 58 which drives shaft 78A and drum 77 in the direction shown by arrow 8A in FIG.

A motor 103 is provided and an output sprocket 10
6, the sprocket 106 drives the chain 107 which is received by the sprocket 86, and the sprocket 86 drives the shaft 85B to rotate the roller 84B and move the conveyor 75 in the general direction shown in FIG. Drive.

Reduction gear 11 equipped with a third sprocket (not shown) on shaft 47 and having output sprocket 116
0 sprocket 108 and conveyor 53
(see FIG. 1) drives a chain that drives a sprocket 117 connected to a shaft 118.
A hopper 54 is provided below the point of separation between the end of the belt 75 and the outer periphery of the drum 77 and any topping material not received by the pizza shell falls through the hopper 54 onto the conveyor 53 and returns to the process.

Referring now to FIG. 7, one example of the operation of an apparatus within the scope of the present invention is illustrated with respect to two pizza shells 121 and 124, both having layers of sauce topping shown at 122 and 125, respectively. ing. pizza shell 1
21 shows the exit from pizza spout heads 13A and 13B where two sauce sprayers 13A and 13B continuously discharge sauce stream 126 into hopper 7 for collection and recirculation. Pizza shell 121 is fed to a conveyor formed between end rollers 33 and 34 while pizza shell 124 is fed to a conveyor formed between end rollers 33 and 34 .
occupies a fixed position below the space 60 between the conveyor end 75 and the conveyor end 75 to receive the topping material. As shown, the fingers 78 of the drum 70 are used to feed the toppings 123 that are added to the pizza shell 124.
extends inward.

Furthermore, if the same equipment as drum 73 is provided, the drawings show an over-accumulation of topping material behind the drum 73, and as the equipment rotates, the bottom of the fingers 61 near the conveyor 75 will remove the toppings discharged from the hopper 72. The amount of raw material is adjusted. Within the scope of the present invention, when a mixer carousel 90 as shown is provided, the fingers of the carousel 90 dip into the floor of the toppings during rotation and extend at a distance above the surface of the upper run of the conveyor 75 at the bottom of the track. When the topping of the appropriate depth can be obtained on the conveyor 75, the drum 7
It turns out that 3 can be omitted.

Having described one embodiment in accordance with the invention, it will be apparent to those reading this description that other configurations are possible within the scope of the invention.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the entire device according to the present invention;
The figure is an enlarged view of a portion of the device in Figure 1, and Figure 3 is an enlarged view of a portion of the device in Figure 1.
An enlarged view of the second part of the apparatus shown in the figure, FIG.
A schematic diagram of the conveyor configuration included in the apparatus shown in the figure,
5 is a schematic illustration of the operation of the conveyor arrangement shown in FIG. 1; FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of another drive mechanism provided for a portion of the apparatus of FIG. 1; and FIG. Schematic diagram of operation, FIG. 8 is a drawing of one example of the mixing device taken along a plane passing through line 8--8 of FIG. 3: First conveyor; 7: Source recovery device; 5
4: Hopper; 61, 91: Finger; 73,
77: drum; 91: finger; 93: axis;
94: Arm; 90: Carousel type mixing device; 7
5: Second conveyor; 13A, 13B: Spray device or nozzle.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1. A pizza topping device for filling dough pie crusts with selected ingredients; a perforated conveyor system and a selected position above the first conveyor system for blowing a selected fluid sauce-like ingredient onto the pastry pie crust traveling on the first conveyor; and a hopper device for receiving a selected special topping substance to be added to the dough pie crust disposed above the first conveyor device and traveling on the first conveyor. , a hopper device including a second conveyor device without holes located at the bottom of the hopper device, the topping material being conveyed onto the second conveyor device in the same running direction as the running direction of the first conveyor; a topping holding and mixing device placed in a hopper for mixing topping materials in the hopper and measuring the discharge of a selected amount of topping materials from the second conveyor; 1. A pizza topping device comprising a feeding device for feeding said pastry pie crust running on two conveyors or on said first conveyor. 2. A pizza topping apparatus as claimed in claim 1, comprising a sauce material for recovering said selected fluid sauce-like material that is blown toward said first conveyor and not received on said pizza shell. Equipment including overspray recovery equipment. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the topping material is conveyed from the second conveyor and not held on the pastry pie crust which is located below the feeder and runs on the first conveyor. equipment including a hopper device for collecting 4. The device according to claim 1, wherein the topping holding and mixing device includes a separated disk device that is rotatably supported on both sides of the hopper device about an axis that crosses the first direction. a carousel type mixing device, the device having at least two parallel arm devices extending between the disk devices at a selected distance from the center of the disk devices; The carousel type mixing device rotates along an orbital path as it rotates, and the carousel type mixing device is provided with a finger device extending from the arm device, and the disk device directs the finger device in a downward direction when the disk device rotates. Aligned, the outer tip of the finger device approaches the second conveyor at the lowest point of the running arc of the tip, and the finger device moves the topping in a direction opposite to the running direction of the second conveyor. and the toppings to be dispensed are conveyed onto the second conveyor below the tip of the finger device, furthermore the direction of movement at the bottom of the track run of the finger device is opposite to the direction of travel of the second conveyor device. Apparatus having a drive for rotating the disk device of the mixing device in a direction to maintain the toppings in the hopper and control the rate of delivery of the toppings from the hopper. 5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the topping holding device is placed at the outlet from the hopper device and rotates in a direction such that the bottom edge moves in a direction opposite to the running direction of the second conveyor device. a drum device having a radially outwardly extending finger device, the tip of the finger device being connected to the second point at the lowest point of the arc of travel of the tip;
Equipment in close proximity to conveyor equipment. 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the feed device is spaced a selected distance from an end of the first conveyor device and rotates about an axis transverse to the direction of travel of the second conveyor device. The first one can be
a feed drum arrangement defining a flow space between the ends of the conveyor for the dispensing of toppings, the drum arrangement having a radially outwardly extending finger arrangement; The tip of the finger device near the end rotates in the same running direction as the conveyor device so that the topping material carried by the second conveyor travels from the first conveyor onto the first conveyor device with the aid of the feed drum device. A device that cascades down onto a pastry pie shell.