Abstract:
A dough dispenser for donuts, donut holes, fritters and so forth has a frame and dispensing hopper with a novel quick change hopper lock, a novel piston and adjustable dispensing valve for donut holes, and a novel structure for quick change of different sets of dispensing pistons and cutter dies.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention pertains to a dough dispenser, for dispensing fluid doughs for pastries and other food products. 
     2. The Prior Art 
     The prior art in dough dispensers typically dedicates the dispenser to one specific size and shape of pastry form. A specific example, there are large donuts, standard donuts, mini donuts, donut holes, bismarks, and so forth. There is no single dispenser that will do all of these. 
     Installation and removal of dough dispensers to and from the frying equipment has always been a problem. These dispensers need to be washed and sanitized with regularity. 
     Mechanism or structures have not been provided for quick changing of the dough cutting piston and cutter die, and there has not been an adjustable mechanism for varying the size of a dispensed piece of dough. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a dough dispenser having improved structure for dispensing solid pieces of dough, such as donut holes, fritters and Greek loukoumathes and the like that do not have a central aperture. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a dough dispenser having structure for quick change of a dough hopper. 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a dough dispenser with easily changable dispensing pistons and cutters. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A dough dispenser has a dough hopper, a dough outlet from the hopper, a piston in the outlet, a piston drive structure, and a dough dispensing port through one side of the piston. 
     A dough dispenser has a frame with C-shaped tracks, a motor and gearbox, a dough hopper with a flange, a piston in the hopper and connectible to the gearbox, and a pivotable cam lock that self opens and latches the hopper into the frame upon insertion of the hopper. 
     A dough dispenser has a hopper, a motor and gearbox, a dispensing piston on a drive rod extending from the gearbox, a removable toroidal cutter die in the hopper and semi-permanent fasteners retaining the die to the hopper. 
     Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and accompanying drawings in which the preferred embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is set forth and shown by way of illustrative example. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an elevational view in section of the preferred embodiment of a dough dispenser according to the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the structure of FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the structure of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 4 is a detail elevational section view of one dough piston and cutter; 
     FIG. 5 is a view through lines V--V of FIG. 4; and 
     FIG. 6 is a detail elevational sectional view of a second dough piston and cutter. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The present invention is particularily useful when embodied in a dough dispenser such as is shown in FIGS. 1-6 and which is generally indicated by the numeral 10. The dispenser 10 has a frame 12, a dough hopper 14, a dispensing piston and cutter generally indicated by the numeral 16. 
     The frame 12, as seen from above in FIG. 2, is a generally T-shaped structure on which an electric motor 18, reduction gearbox 20 and eccentric drive 22 are mounted. The frame 10 has a pair of opposed general C-shaped tracks 24, 26 which have their open sides facing each other as best shown in FIG. 1. A third C-shaped track 28 in the rear of the frame 12 and on the base by the T-shape faces toward the first and second tracks 24, 26. At the very rear of frame 12 and at the extremity of the base leg of the T-shaped frame 12 is an elongate journal 30 pivotally mounted upon a pedestal 32. The pedestal 32 is fixed upon a fryer (not shown) and provides a swing mount for the dispenser 10. The dispenser 10 can then be swung in over the fryer and back away from the fryer. The three tracks 24, 26, 28 are approximately 90 degrees from each other as measured from the centerline of the hopper 14. The hopper 14 has an upper and outward extending annular flange 34 that slides into and through the first and second tracks 24, 26 and then into the third track 28 for 3 point suspension of the hopper 14. A self actuating and self locking hopper lock, generally indicated by the numeral 36, is mounted on the base leg of the T-shaped frame 12 adjacent the third track 28. The lock 16 has a movable lock latch 38 pivotally mounted upon a fulcrum pin 40. The pin 40 is mounted above the hopper annular flange 34 so that the hopper 14 can be slid into the tracks 24, 26, 28 underneath the pin 40 and latch 38. The latch 38 has a leading ramp 42 that is engaged by the annular flange 34 upon insertion of the hopper 14 into the frame 12. The ramp 42 lifts the latch 38 up and over the annular flange 34. When the flange 34 has been received in the third track 28 and the flange 34 has gone past the ramp 42, the latch 38 drops down inside of the flange 34, and locks the hopper 14 in the frame 12. The latch 38 has a rearward facing lock abutment 43 which lockingly engages the inside of the hopper 14 and the flange 34. The preferrable surface on the lock abutment 43 is a gradually increasing radius cam which very tightly wedge locks the hopper 14 into and against the third track 28. The latch 38 is self actuating and self locking when the hopper 14 is pushed in. When the hopper 14 is to be removed, the latch 38 is manually pulled up and the hopper 14 pulled out of the frame 12. 
     In the bottom of the hopper 14 is a lower tubular dispensing section 44 having a dough dispensing piston 46 and a dough cutter 48. A piston drive rod 50 extends up through the hopper 14 and connects the eccentric 22 to the piston 46. The connection of the drive rod 50 to the eccentric 22 is a slip-on-slip-off quick connection enabling the drive rod 50 to be easily connected when the hopper 14 is placed in the frame 12 and to be easily removed when the hopper 14 is removed from the frame 12. 
     A first piston 46 and cutter 48 is shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. This specific piston 46 and cutter 48 is for pastries without a center aperture, i.e. donut holes, fritters and Greek loukoumathes. The cutter 48 is a polytetrafluoroethylene plastic toroid having a central dispensing aperture 52, a sharp cutting edge 54 and a plurality of apertures 56 into which frictionally retained fastener pins 58 are inserted. 
     The piston 46 also of solid polytetrafluoroethylene is retained to the drive rod 50 by a removable piston pin 60. The piston 46 has a hollow skirt 62 extending upward into the hopper 14. A dispensing port 64 is cut out the side of the piston 46 and through the skirt 62. The dispensing port 64 is the void between the arcuate ends 66 of the skirt 62. Above the piston 46 is an annular bi-valve ring 68 fixed to the drive rod 50 by a spider 70. Below the annular ring 68 is a bi-valve disc 72 loosely fitted on the drive rod 50 and held up by a valve support 74. Between the spider 70 and bi-valve disc 72 is an adjustable length bi-valve stop 76. The stroke of the drive rod 50 is constant and the height of the valve stop 76 is adjusted to dispense more or less dough. A short valve stop 76 dispenses more dough and a long stop 76 dispenses less dough per cycle of the piston 46 when the dispensing port 64 is lowered out of the dispensing aperture 52. 
     A second piston 46A and cutter 48A is shown in FIG. 6 in the same hopper 14. The drive rod 50 has the same valve ring 68, spider 70 and valve support 74 and bi-valve disc 72. There is no bi-valve stop 76 and in FIG. 6, the bi-valve disc 72 engages and shuts off against the valve ring 68 during a dispensing cycle. A larger diameter full skirted piston 46A is matched with the larger diameter dispensing aperture 52A of an alternative cutter die 48A. The alternative cutter die 48A is fastened and held in the dispensing section 44 by the same fastener pins 58. 
     The matched sets of piston and cutter 46, 48 and 46A, 48A and other such pistons and cutters, may be quickly and easily changed in a given hopper 14. The piston 46A and cutter die 48A of FIG. 6 dispense a donut with a central aperture. 
     Although other advantages may be found and realized and various modifications may be suggested by those versed in the art, it should be understood that I wish to embody within the scope of the patent warranted hereon, all such embodiments as reasonably and proerly come within the scope of my contribution to the art.