STATIC RACK OVEN

Abstract: A bakery oven comprises a heating chamber (1) bounded by generally vertical walls (2, 3, 4, 5), a plurality of hot air supply apertures (7) situated in two opposing walls (2, 4) and a fan (6) for circulating air in the oven. The arrangement is such that hot air is distributed through the hot air supply apertures, flows over and around goods to be baked on the shelves of the rack (8) and is returned for recirculation via those walls (3, 5) which do not contain hot air supply apertures.

Description: STATIC RACK OVEN This invention relates to a static rack oven, that is, an oven in which the rack of goods to be baked, once placed in the oven, does not move. All ovens, whether commercial or domestic, suffer from the same problem, that is, that it is extremely difficult to achieve a uniform standard of bake over an entire rack of goods. This is the result of two effects. First, due to the fundamental fact that hot air rises, goods lying at the top of an oven tend to bake considerably faster than those lying at the bottom. Second, due to the reflection of heat from the sides of the oven, goods lying at the edge of a baking tray tend to bake faster than those lying in the middle, although this effect is much less apparent than the first effect. In a domestic oven possessing, typically, three shelves, these problems can largely be overcome by manually rotating the baking trays and exchanging the top and bottom trays after half the estimated baking time has elapsed. This operation can be accomplished in less than 15 seconds and thus the goods should not be detrimentally affected by the opening of the oven door. However, when baking on a commercial scale, the baking trays are of a much larger size and a baking rack will probably possess about sixteen tray stations, depending on the size and type of goods to be baked. Thus to perform the above-described method of rotating and exchanging individual baking trays, the entire rack of goods would have to be removed from the oven for a considerable length of time, which would almost certainly have a detrimental effect on the quality of goods being baked. It would also take a considerable time to carry out the operation. To avoid this removal of the rack from the oven with its inevitable consequences, various bakery ovens have been produced which incorporate a device for automatically rotating the rack within the oven chamber. For instance, ovens are known which include a rotary turntable in the oven chamber on which racks of goods may be loaded. Alternatively, some ovens possess a "carousel" which rotates about a central vertical axis and has a number of individual stations to accommodate a rackof goods. However, both these devices must be driven by a motor and controlled by an extensive system of gears and bearings, all of which require maintenance which can prove costly. Furthermore, since the racks are rotated within the oven chamber, the oven must be larger in size than a static rack oven and hence takes up more space in a bakery. Such ovens are also extremely expensive. Another alternative is provided by the tunnel oven. This consists of an oven chamber which is shaped like a tunnel and a conveyor belt which passes through the tunnel. The racks of goods are loaded onto the conveyor belt, pass through the oven chamber and are removed at the other end of the tunnel after baking. As in the case of ovens incorporating rotary turntables or carousels, a motor and system of gears, bearings, etc. is required to drive the conveyor belt and all this machinery is expensive and requires costly maintenance. A tunnel oven also occupies a considerable amount of space in a bakery. It has been pro1 posed in UK Patent No.1530361 to provide an oven which has an oven chamber in which there are supports for two columns of baking trays, there being a space between the two columns and at the sides of each column . Heating elements are located in these spacesaxiair a?air circulating means, which is designed to draw air out of the oven chamber through the space between the two columns, is located at the top of the oven. A number of slits are located in opposed side walls of each column through which hot air may pass. In operation, hot air passes down through the spaces at the sides of each column, passes through the adjacent slits and is drawn by the air circulating means over the goods to be baked, out of the centremost slits into the central space between the columns and up to the roof of the oven chamber for recirculation. However, this uni-directional pattern of air flow over the goods to be baked does not achieve an even bake as the temperature of the air drops as it passes from the outermost side of the baking tray to the central space and therefore the goods which lie closest to the central space are not baked as quickly as the goods closest to the sides of the oven chamber. It is thus an object of the present invention to obviate these problems by providing a bakery oven which is compact, economical to manufacture and operate and achieves a uniform standard of bake' over an entire rack of goods. According to the invention there is provided a bakery oven comprising a heating chamber bounded by generally vertical walls, a plurality of hot air supply apertures situated in two opposing walls and a fan for circulating air in the oven characterised in that the hot air is distributed through the hot air supply apertures, flows over and around goods to be baked on the shelves of the rack, and is returned for recirculation via those walls which do not contain hot air supply apertures. It is preferred that the fan is mounted in the roof of the oven and that the hot air, after flowing over and around the goods to be baked, returns to the roof of the oven for recirculation. It is also preferred that the fan is a backward curved bladed fan which operates at a constant speed, since this type of fan distributes the air more evenly and hence more effectively than other types, without the need for a scroll. Preferably, the hot air supply apertures are adjustable and preferably consist of horizontal slots of adjustable opening. It is also preferred that the opening of each slot may be individually set. The horizontal slots may be bounded by upper and lower flanges, the upper flangesrbeing vertically adjustable to allow the opening of the slots to be varied. f The air may be heated by electric elements or by a heat exchanger fired by gas or oil. When electric elements are used as the heat source, it is preferred that the electric elements are situated within the walls containing the hot air supply apertures and are distributed over the full length of the walls. In practice the bottom element may not be required since the air reaching the lower slots will have passed over all the elements above and will therefore be hottest. A preferred embddiment of the invention is now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying schematic drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a sectional front elevation of an oven according to the invention. Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1, showing the position of the door, and Figure 3 is a diagrammatic section in plan on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 showing the direction of air flow. Referring to the drawings, Figs 1 and 2 show an oven chamber 1 bounded by three vertical walls 2,3,4, the fourth end wall being formed by the door 5. A - fan 6 is mounted in the roof of the oven to distribute the hot air through the hot air supply apertures 7 and over and around the rack 8 of goods to be baked. The fan is a backward curved bladed fan since it has been found that this type of fan distributes the hot air more evenly and hence more effectively than other types without the need for a scroll. The fan is driven by a motor 9 which is positioned on the roof of the oven but outside the oven chamber 1. A small auxiliary fan is mounted above the blades of the main. fan to prevent the motor from overheating as a result of heat from the oven chamber being conducted along the fan drive shaft to the motor. The hot air supply apertures, which consist of horizontal slots bounded by upper and lower flanges 10 and 11 respectively, are located in the two opposing side walls 2,4 and are aligned in direct opposition to one another. The upper flanges 10 can be adjusted vertically to alter the opening of the slot and thereby regulate the air flow. Each slot may be individually adjusted although slots are normally set so as to achieve an even result for goods which are difficult to bake because of a high sugar or fat content, e.g. Scotch Rolls. Once the precise settings have been determined for a partidular oven, all goods should bake evenly. However, the fact that the slots are adjustable allows the operator to compensate for any variations which may occur in use or-to achieve any special standard which may be stipulated by individual customers. The air is heated by passing over electric elements 12 which are located within the side walls 2,4. These elements 12 are distributed over the full length of the walls 2,4, so that the air supply passes over an electric element 12 immediately prior to passing through an aperture 7 into the oven chamber 1. In operation, a loaded baking rack 8 is wheeled into the oven chamber and the air supply apertures are adjusted so that the air is directed above and below each station 13 in the rack. It should be noted that the rack then remains static until the baking operation is complete. The openings of the apertures 7 are graduated to compensate for the fact that heat rises. Thus the apertures 7 lying near the top of the oven are adjusted so that they have smaller openings than those lying near the bottom. The optimum slot openings for a typical oven have been found to lie in the ranges specified in the table below. The slots have been numbered from bottom to top. Number , Minimum Opening Maximum Opening 1 - 5 3 mm 6 mm 6 - 9 2 mm 5 mm 10 - 12 1 mm 4 mm 13 - 16 closed 3 mm It is also important that the sides of the baking rack 8 should not be too close or too far from the hot air supply apertures 7. If they lie too close then the goods at the edges of the trays 14 will tend to burn whereas if they lie too far away then the goods in the middle of the trays 14 will not be adequately cooked. For a typical baking rack in which the trays 14 are 76 cm by 46 cm, the distance between the edge of the trays 14 and the hot air supply apertures should be in the range of 15 cm to 40 cm. A particularly important feature of the oven is the pattern of hot air distribution as shown by the arrows in Figures 1 and 3. As previously mentioned, goods lying at the sides of a tray 14 tend to bake faster than those lying in the middle. However, since the hot air supply apertures 7 in the oven are located in the two opposing side walls 2,4, two separate opposing airflows are set up which pass over and around the goods and meet at the middle of the baking trays 14. It is believed that there is thus a greater density of hot air at the middle of the trays 14 which compensates for the fact that the air itself is slightly cooler than when it left the supply apertures 7. After the two airflows have combined, the air passes out of the ends of the rack 8 and returns to the roof of the oven ready for recirculation via the end wall 3 and door 5. Thus, by adjusting the air supply apertures 7 as described above, this highly efficient air flow system enables a uniform standard of bake to be achieved over an entire rack of goods without the need to turn round the rack after it has been placed in the oven. Although the preferred embodiment of this invention specifies that the fan be mounted in the roof of the oven, it should be appreciated that a similar bi-directional air flow over the goods to be baked could be achieved by placing the fan in any part of the oven. For instance, the fan could-be located in a recess in the floor of the oven. It is important though that the appropriate type of fan be selected according to the position in the oven where the fan is to be located.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A bakery oven comprising a heating chamber (1) bounded by generally vertical walls (2,3,4,5), a plurality of hot air supply apertures (7) situated in two opposing walls (2,4) and a fan (6) for circulating air in the oven characterised in that the hot air is distributed through the hot air supply apertures, flows over and around goods to be baked on the shelves of the rack (8), and is returned for recirculation via those walls (3,5) which do not contain hot air supply apertures. 2. A bakery oven according to claim 1 characterised in that the fan (6) is mounted in the roof of the oven and the hot air, after flowing over and around the goods to be baked, returns to the roof of the oven for recirculation. 3. A bakery oven according to claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that the fan (6) is a backward curved bladed fan. 4. A bakery oven according to any preceding claim characterised in that the hot air supply apertures (7) are adjustable. 5. A bakery oven according to any preceding claim characterised in that the hot air supply apertures (7) consist of horizontal slots of adjustable opening. 6. A bakery oven according to claim 5 characterised in that horizontal slots are bounded by upper and lower flanges (10,11), the upper flanges (10) being vertically adjustable to allow the opening of the slots to be varied. 7. A bakery ovpn according to claim 5 or claim 6 characterised in that the opening of each slot is individually set. 8. A bakery oven according to any preceding claim characterised in that the air is heated bytelectric elements (12). 9. A bakery oven according to claim 8 characterised in that electric elements (12) are situated within the walls (2,4) containing the hot air supply apertures (7) and are distributed over at least substantially the full length of the walls. 10. A bakery oven according to any one of claims 1-7 characterised in that the air is heated by a heat exchanger fired by gas or oil.

Inventors: ANDERSON, WILLIAM JAMES, JACKSON, DOUGLAS, PHILIP, ROBERT NICOL, RUSSEL, JAMES ROBESON HUTCHISON
Applicants: DOUBLE D BAKERY ENGINEERING LTD.
Application year: 1983
Main classification: A21B1
IPC codes: A21B1