Bread molders

A bread moulder has a feed chute for receiving dough pieces and directing them between counter-rotating sheeting rollers for flattening the dough and delivering it to apparatus for working it between convergent runs of driven endless upper and lower belts. A shutter is hinged in the feed chute and is biased to closed position but is yieldable under impact of a dough pieces thrown onto it to allow the dough piece to pass through the feed chute. A safety gate in the form of a double grille, V-shaped in end view, is hinged to the feed chute and is movable by a handle to cause its leading part to move the shutter into the chute to dislodge any dough lodged therein, its trailing part forming a barrier before the sheeting rollers.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
(1) Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to bread molders. 
(2) Prior Art 
A bread molder for working dough pieces normally includes a feed chute 
through which the dough pieces are fed manually to be received between a 
pair of rapidly counter-rotating sheeting rollers in adjustably spaced 
relationship. These sheeting rollers press and flatten the dough piece 
which is fed from them to an arrangement of driven belts between which the 
dough is worked by being rapidly rolled and compressed before being 
discharged to a catch tray. 
A dough piece will sometimes stick to the feed chute or otherwise fail to 
enter cleanly between the sheeting rollers, and it may be difficult to 
dislodge the dough and ensure that it is properly fed between the rollers 
without risking a serious accident resulting from a hand being caught 
between the rollers. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention has been devised with the general object of providing 
a bread molder incorporating safety means which will obviate or very 
greatly reduce this disadvantage. 
Accordingly, the invention resides broadly in a bread molder of the type 
having a feed chute for receiving dough pieces and directing them between 
counter-rotating sheeting rollers for flattening the dough and delivering 
it to apparatus for working and discharging the dough, wherein a shutter 
is movably mounted in the feed chute and biased to closed position but is 
yieldable under impact from a dough piece thrown thereon to allow the 
dough piece to pass through the feed chute; and a safety gate is hinged to 
the feed chute and is movable by a handle into the feed chute so that any 
dough piece lodged therein is swept to the sheeting roller. The safety 
gate is preferably a double grille, V-shaped in end view and of which, 
when the safety gate is moved into the feed chute, the trailing section 
forms a barrier before the sheeting rollers. Other features of the 
invention will become apparent from the following description.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The bread molder illustrated has a main housing 10 fixed on a stand 11 
which is mountd on castor wheels 12 and furnished with racks 13 to carry 
baker's trays which can be loaded with products to be baked. 
The main housing includes a pair of rigidly interconnected side plates 14 
and 15 which have out-turned peripheral flanges 16 to which are fixed side 
cover plates 17 to form side enclosures 18 and 19. Front and top panels 
indicated at 20 and 21 resepectively are fixed between the side plates 14 
and 15. 
An electric motor 22 is mounted within the main housing 10 and through 
various drives hereinafter described drives the several moving parts of 
the bread molder. 
The feed chute assembly of the dough molder includes a front casing 23 
fixed centrally to the front and top panels 20 and 21 of the main housing 
10. This front casing contains a feed chute 24 to receive dough pieces and 
direct them between a pair of counter-rotating sheeting rollers 25 and 26. 
The feed chute 24 is normally closed by a hinged shutter 24 pivotally 
mounted on a transverse shaft 28 and biased to its closed position by a 
torsion spring (not shown). A pair of parallel guide rollers 29 normally 
lie close to the shutter 27 to either side of its middle part. The shafts 
of the guide rollers 29 are fixed to a plate 30 hinged on top of the front 
casing 23 and can be raised hingedly clear of the shutter, as shown in 
broken outline in FIG. 5. 
Fixed to the shaft of the guide rollers 29 is a safety gate 31 consisting 
of a double or V-shaped grille, normally spring-biased to its upright 
position as shown, but capable of being swung down by handles 32 on the 
shaft 28. 
A dough piece to be worked in the bread molder and of a size suitable for a 
bread loaf may be thrown onto the shutter 27 between the guide rollers 29, 
causing the shutter to swing to an open position so that the dough piece 
will pass through the chute 24 to the counter-rotating sheeting rollers 25 
and 26. If the dough piece should stick to the chute or otherwise fail to 
enter between the sheeting rollers, the safety gate 31 may, as shown in 
FIG. 5, be swung down by means of either handle 32, clearing the guide 
rollers 29. The leading part of the grille of the safety gate moves the 
shutter 27 to sweep the dough piece to the feed rollers, and the trailing 
section of the grille is brought into such position as to form a barrier 
to prevent the operator of the bread molder from inserting his hand into 
the chute and possibly having it caught between the sheeting rollers. 
If smaller dough pieces are to be worked for making bread rolls, for 
example, two such pieces at a time may be fed through openings 33 which 
are formed at both sides of the hinged shutter 27 and again if either 
should stick it can be cleared by operation of the safety guide as 
described. 
If dough pieces are to be worked to make shell rolls, two elongated fingers 
of dough at a time may be inserted through shell roll tubes 34 held 
removably in sleeves 35 fixed in holes at the sides of the top of the 
front casing 23 and leading vertically down to the sheeting rollers 25 and 
26. 
Each of the sheeting rollers 25 and 26 is surfaced with rubber or the like. 
The front sheeting roller 25, of greater diameter than the rear roller, 
has a shaft 36 rotatable in bearings in blocks 37 bolted to the outer 
faces of the main housing side plates 14 and 15. Pivoted to these fixed 
blocks at 38 are a pair of hinged blocks 39 which carry the bearings for 
the shaft 40 of the rear and upper sheeting roller 26. A shaft 41 through 
both side plates 14 and 15 carries at each end a lever arm 42 connected by 
a J-shaped bar 43 to a hinged block 39. Within the side enclosure 18 a 
bifurcated lever 44 fixed on the shaft 41 carries between its arms an end 
of a hand-lever 45 extending through and spring-loaded into engagement 
with a rack 46 at one side of the front of the dough molder main housing 
10. By means of the hand-lever 45 the two hinged blocks 39 may be moved in 
unison to move the sheeting roller 26 closer to or further from the 
sheeting roller 25, to adjust the thickness to which a dough piece will be 
pressed when passed between the two rollers. 
Fixed to the two hinged blocks 39 are the ends of a transverse bar 47 
movable, when the hinges blocks are pivoted, in arcuate slots 48 in the 
side plates 14 and 15. Between the side plates the bar 47 carries a 
scraper blade 49 bearing against the roller 26 to ensure that dough is 
parted from this roller and will fall onto a felt covered endless top belt 
50 carried by a large drive or front roller 51 and a smaller idler or rear 
roller 52. The dough piece received on the top run of the top belt 50 is 
carried, in the direction indicated by an arrow in FIG. 2, under a curling 
chain 53 consisting of a flexible section of chain-woven metal fabric 
fixed at its front to a transverse bar 54 and at its rear to a transverse 
bar 55 tensioned by springs 56. The dough piece is rolled between the 
rearwardly and upwardly moving belt 50 and the curling chain 53 and is fed 
over the top of the belt down onto the rear upper part of the top run of a 
lower belt 57. The dough piece travels forwardly and downwardly between 
the top run of the lower belt and the bottom run of the top belt. These 
runs are downwardly and forwardly convergent and, as indicated by arrows 
in FIG. 2, they move in opposite directions. The top belt is driven faster 
than the lower belt, and so the dough piece, rolled rapidly and 
progressively compresed, proceeds downwardly and forwardly. 
The lower belt 57 is carried by a lower or drive roller 58 and an upper or 
idler roller 59, the shafts 60 and 61 of which are carried by a belt 
adjustment frame indicated generally at 62. This frame includes parallel 
side pieces 63 with bearings for the shafts and interconnected at the 
front by a curved delivery plate 64. Lugs 65 extending from the upper and 
lower parts of each side plate 63 are pivoted to corresponding arms of 
bell cranks 66 fixed on upper and lower transverse shafts 67 and 68 
respectively the other arms of the bell cranks being connected by 
connecting rods 69. Within the side enclosure 18 (see FIG. 3) there is 
fixed to an end of the lower shaft 68 a block 70 to which are pivoted and 
spring loaded the ends of a bifurcated lever 71 from the upper end of 
which a hand lever 72 passes through and is spring-loaded into engagement 
with a rack 73 in a flange 16 of the main housing 10. By operation of this 
hand lever, the shaft 68 may be turned in one direction or the other to 
act, through the bell cranks 66 and connecting rods 69, to cause the belt 
adjustment frame 62 and the lower belt 59 to move in parallelism towards 
or away from the upper belt 50. 
As shown in FIG. 4, the shaft 74 of the motor 22 carries a pulley wheel 75 
which through a belt 76 drives a large pulley wheel 77 on the shaft 78 of 
which is a sprocket (not shown) engaging an endless chain 79 driving an 
idler sprocket 80; sprockets 81 and 82 on the shafts 40 and 36 of sheeting 
rollers 26 and 25; a sprocket 83 on the shaft 84 of the top belt drive 
roller 51; an idler pulley 85; a sprocket 86 on the shaft 60 of the lower 
belt drive roller 58, this shaft 60 passing through a slotted or oversize 
hole (not shown) in the side plate 15; and an idler sprocket 87 on a 
pivoted arm 88 acted on by a tension spring 89. 
The bread molder incorporated a dough shaping device for limiting the 
extent to which a dough piece, rolled and compressed between the upper and 
lower belts 50 and 57, is permitted to lengthen. The cylindrical ends of 
an otherwise square-section shaft 90 are rotatable in bearings in the 
upper ends of a pair of standards 91 fixed to the inner faces of the side 
plates 14 and 15. A lift frame 92 has its front fixed on the shaft 90, and 
through the rear of this frame is a rod 93 on which are slidable a pair of 
sleeves 94, each formed integrally with a shaping side arm 95. A lever 96 
fulcrumed on the lift frame 92 and spring-loaded into engagement with a 
rack 97 on this frame is connected by connecting rods 98 to the two 
sleeves 94 so that, by varying the position of the lever 96, the shaping 
side arms 95 may be brought closer or further apart. When the dough 
shaping device is not required for use, a lift lever 99 pivoted on the 
shaft 90 may be swung down and engaged releasably with a catch 100 on a 
standard 91, causing the lift frame to lift the shaping side arms 95 clear 
of the dough molder belts 50 and 57. When the shaping device is to be 
used, the lever 99 is released from the catch 100 and is raised so that 
the shaping side arms 95 are lowered to enter the space between the belts 
50 and 57. Each of the shaping side arms 95 has extending outwardly from a 
position near to its distal end a shaft 101 carrying a roller 102 to 
contact the belts 50 and 57 and keep th shaping side arm just clear of 
both belts. The upper parts of the two shaping side arms are downwardly 
convergent; their middle parts are substantially parallel, and their 
lowermost parts are divergent. Lead-in plates 103 are provided on the 
upper parts of the shaping side arms to ensure that a dough piece 
discharged over the rear of the top belt 50 will be received between the 
two shaping side arms. 
It is important that the shaping side arms should not be introduced between 
the belts 50 and 57 while these belts are too close to accommodate them 
and that, while the shaping side arms are in place, the lower belt 57 
should not be inadvertently advanced towards the top belt 50. In either 
case the belts could be damaged by the shaping side arms. To avoid these 
possibilities, safety switches 104 and 105 are provided in the side 
enclosure 14 as shown in FIG. 3, and are connected in the circuit of the 
motor 22. A rod 106 depends from a lug 107 fixed on the square-section bar 
and has its lower end fixed to a switch actuator 108. When the lift lever 
99 is disengaged from the catch 100 and raised to lower the shaping side 
arms 95 into operative position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the switch 
actuator 108 is lowered clear of the safety switch 104 which is opened. 
This will bring the motor 22 to rest, unless the bifurcated lever 71 has 
already been moved to such a position that a switch actuator 109 on an arm 
110 extending from the lever 71 is coacting with and closing the safety 
switch 105. Therefore if the belts 50 and 57 are not appropriately spaced, 
the motor 22 is automatically stopped when the lowering of the shaping 
side arms 95 commences; and if, while the molder is operating with the 
shaping side arms in operative position, the lever 71 is moved to vary the 
spacing between the belts 50 and 57, the motor will again be instantly 
stopped and the belts brought to rest. 
It is often required that a dough piece worked between the belts 50 and 57, 
its length restricted by the shaping side arms 95, should be divided into 
(normally) four substantially equal pieces, for the purpose of four-piece 
or cross-grain moulding of a bread loaf. For this purpose, the machine 
includes three similar and parallel splitter blades 111. These blades are 
removably mounted on three blade carriers 112 fixed upon a transverse bar 
113, its end passing through slotted holes 114 near to the bottom of the 
side plates 14 and 15 and being fixed to the lower extremities of L-shaped 
arms 115 of which the upper ends are pivoted, at 116, near to the upper 
rear parts of the side plates. A transverse shaft 117 rotatable in 
bearings in the side plates 14 and 15 has fixed to its ends a pair of 
parallel levers 118 and 119, each connected by a connecting rod 120 to the 
extremity of an L-shaped arm 115. From the lever 118 there extends a 
handle 121 which is spring-loaded into engagement with a rack 122 in a 
flange 16 at the lower front part of the housing 10. The handle may be 
operated to rotate the shaft 117 to act, through the levers 118 and 119 
and the connecting rods 120 so to swing the L-shaped arms 115 that the 
splitter blades 111 are caused to advance substantially in parallelism 
from their normal inoperative position shown in FIG. 2 to their operative 
position shown in broken outline, passing closely through parallel slots 
123 formed in the curved delivery plate 64. The leading edges of the 
splitter plates are sharpened, and are curved so that when fully advanced 
they are located clear of, but close to, the part of the belt 50 passing 
under the drive roller 51. Dough pieces which have been worked in the 
machine are discharged to the delivery plate 64 and travel gravitationally 
down a fixed ramp 124 onto a catch tray 125 extending from the front of 
the machine. 
A safety bar 126 is provided at the front of the machine and, when pressed 
in an emergency acts through appropriate switching gear (not shown) to 
stop the motor 22. 
It will be seen that the bread molder is very versatile in its operations, 
and can be used to produce a full range of bread sticks, rolls, viennas 
and 4-piece sandwich breads. With the shaping arms 95 lifted clear of the 
belts 50 and 57 the machine will work dough for making bread sticks or 
other breads not made in tins; when the latter are required the shaping 
arms 95, their spacing adjusted as required, are moved into position 
between the belts. If the worked dough is to be divided into sections for 
the production of 4-piece sandwich breads, the splitter blades 111 are 
brought into their advanced position. With the shaping arms 95 lifted 
clear, dough pieces for bread rolls may be worked two at a time by feeding 
them through the side openings 33 of the shutter 27. If dough is to be 
worked for making shell rolls, fingers of dough can be inserted lengthwise 
two at a time through the shell roll tubes 34, to be rolled spirally. 
The provision of the shutter 27 and the safety gate 31 very greatly reduces 
the likelihood of a baker suffering a severe accident from catching his 
hand between the sheeting rollers 25 and 26, and the provision of the 
safety switches 104 and 105 ensure that the belts will not be damaged by 
insertion of the shaping arms 95 while the belts are inappropriately 
spaced, or by incorrect adjustment of the belt relationship while the 
spacing arms are in place. 
The particular embodiment of the invention herein described and illustrated 
may, of course, be subject to modifications of constructional detail and 
design within the scope and ambit of th invention hereinafter claimed.