METHOD FOR CONTINUOUSLY MANUFACTURING A MULTI-LAYERED DOUGH MATERIAL

Abstract: A method and apparatus for continuously manufactur­ ing a multi-layered dough material consisting of layers of flour dough and plastic fat overlying each other alternately, such as is used to make raw pies. The dough material consists of flour dough with die-sized pieces of plastic fat dispersed therein. The dough material is formed into a continuous dough strip by a screw-type extruder E and then the strip is formed into multi-layered dough products by a dough strip stretching device comprising rollers 8 and conveyors 15 and 16 moving at increasing speeds.

Description: "Method and apparatus for continuously manufacturing a multi-layered dough material" The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for continuously manufacturing a multi-layered dough material consisting of layers of flour dough and plastic fat, for instance margarine, butter, shortening or the like, overlying each other alternately, which material is used in the manufacture of raw pies for example. In the past such a material has been produced by first forming a mass in which plastic fat is covered with flour dough, then stretching the mass into a three-layered strip, folding the strip, and repeating such stretching and folding operations alternately to produce a plurality of layers one above the other. Another known method employs dough material in which die-sized pieces of plastic fat are dispersed in flour dough and the dough material is then passed between a pair of opposed rollers under pressure to obtain a sheet of dough. The dough sheet is folded into a stack composed of a series of layers thereof, and the stack is then passed between a further pair of opposed rollers under pressure to stretch it and thus to produce a multi-layered dough sheet consisting of layers of flour dough and fat overlying each other alternately. In the latter method however, when the dough material with the pieces of plastic fat dispersed therein is passed between the opposed rollers under pressure to be stretched, regions of the dough material adjacent ot the rollers are subjected to unnecessarily high pressures, so that the stream of the dough material is considerably disturbed. This results in the production of a dough material in which the pieces of plastic fat do not maintain their dispersed state as individual masses, but rather are integrally mixed with the flour dough. Therefore, when the stretched dough material is folded, individual layers of fat are not present, and as a result the dough material does not rise sufficiently when baked, thereby failing to provide pies (for example) of good quality. The problem can be alleviated somewhat by using a plurality of said pairs of opposed rollers arranged in series so as to reduce the amount of dough material to be rolled by each pair of rollers, and thereby to reduce the integration of the fat pieces into the dough, but then the whole structure of the apparatus becomes much larger, making the process uneconomical. Viewed from one aspect the present invention provides a method of continuously manufacturing a multi-layered dough material, comprising the steps of: forming dough material, in which a multiplicity of separate pieces of fat are dispersed in flour dough, continuously into a strip by passing said dough material through a screw-type extruder, and stretching said strip to reduce its thickness by engaging it with a plurality of freely rotatable rollers moving about a closed roller path, while the strip is advanced at successively increasing speeds. Preferably the said fat is in the form of die-sized pieces of plastic fat. By "die-sized" we mean of substantially the same size as a die using in playing games of chance. By "plastic" we mean that the fat retains its shape at room temperature but is spreadable when passed through a screw. The said screw-type extruder preferably comprises a cylinder housing at least one screw, said cylinder being provided at its downstream end with a nozzle having an elongate outlet. Also, the advancement of the extruded strip is preferably effected by a plurality of belt conveyors each moving at a speed greater that any such belt conveyor upstream of it. Viewed from another aspect the invention provides apparatus for use in manufacturing a multilayered dough material, comprising: a screw-type extruder for forming dough material continuously into a strip, comprising a cylinder --prtvided with a hopper for receiving said dough material and delivering it into said cylinder, and further provided at its downstream end with a nozzle having an elongate outlet, and at least one screw housed in said cylinder; and means for stretching said strip to reduce its thickness, which means is positioned downstream of said extruder and comprises a plurality of belt conveyors arranged in series to receive said strip discharged from said extruder and to carry it along a predetermined path, each of said belt conveyors being arranged to move at a speed greater than any such belt conveyor upstream of it, and a plurality of freely rotatable rollers arranged to move about a closed roller path having a straight lower portion spaced from said predetermined path of said strip, said rollers during their movement along said lower portion being arranged to be in contact with said strip moving along said predetermined path. Viewed from a further aspect of the invention provides apparatus for use in continuously manufacturing a multi-layered dough material, comprising a screwtype extruder for forming dough material continuously into a strip, and means for stretching said strip comprising (a) a plurality for freely rotatable rollers arranged to move about a closed roller path and (b) means for advancing said strip at an increasing speed along a path in contact with said rollers. An embodiment of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a conventional -apparatus for continuously manufacturing a multilayered dough material; Figure 2 is a plan view of an apparatus according to the present invention; Figure 3 is a side view of the apparatus shown in Figure 2; Figure 4 is an enlarged view of the dough stretching device of the apparatus shown in Figure 3; Figure 5 is a schematic side view of a screwtype extruder of the apparatus; Figure 6 is a cross-sectional diagrammatic view of dough material when in a cylinder constituting a part of the extruder; and Figure 7 is a cross-sectional diagrammatic view of dough material after being discharged from a nozzle of the cylinder. Figure 1 of the drawings shown a conventional apparatus for continuously manufacturing multilayered dough material. Dough material F is prepared by mixing flour with a plurality of die-sized pieces of plastic fat, for example margarine, butter or shortening, in the amount of more than 50% by weight of the flour, and slightly kneading the mixture with salt water in the amount of 40% by weight of the flour to the extent that the pieces of fat are not substantially crushed. The dough material F is fed into a hopper 21, from where it is passed under pressure through a gap formed between a pair of opposed rollers 22 which are rotated in opposite directors about their respective shafts, to form a sheet of dough. The dough sheet is received on a first belt conveyor 26 positioned beneath the pair of rollers 22. When it falls from the end of the conveyor 26 the sheet is received on a second belt conveyor 27 positioned beneath the first conveyor 26. The dough sheet falling from the first conveyor 26 is folded on the second conveyor 27, as shown in Figure 1, by moving the first conveyor 26 horizontally back and forth alternately. The folded dough G is then passed under pressure through successively reduced gaps between a plurality of pairs of opposed rollers, in'this case three pairs of rollers 23, 24 and 25, which are rotated in opposite directions, respectively, whereby the folded dough G is stretched into a multi-layered dough sheet. In such conventional apparatus, however, the dough material is subjected to undesirably high pressure at regions thereof adjacent to the pairs of rollers, which results in the production of a dough material in which the pieces of plastic fat, particularly those adjacent the pairs of rollers, are integrally mixed with the flough dough rather than maintaining a dispersed state therein, so that the desired layers of fat are not produced in the folded and stretched dough sheet. Referring now to Figures 2 and 3, which illustrate an embodiment of the present invention, a hopper 1 is mounted on a cylinder 2 so that dough material 5, prepared generally in the same manner as mentioned above with respect to the prior art, can be fed into the hopper 1 and thence delivered into the cylinder 2. Two screws 3 are arranged side by side in the cylinder 2 and are arranged to be rotated about their respective axes by drive means (not shown) provided outside of the cylinder. The cylinder 2 is provided at its forward end with a nozzle 4 having an elongate outlet 6 for discharging the dough material therefrom in the form of a continuous strip 5". All of the parts so far described make up a screw-type extruder designated as E. A first belt conveyor 15 is positioned for the upper flight thereof to receive the dough strip 5" discharged from the extruder E. The upper flight of the conveyer 15 extends under the extruder E and is arranged to receive flour from a flour feeder 17 to preventing adhesion of the dough strip 5" to the conveyor A second belt conveyor 16 is positioned downstream of the first conveyor 15 so that the upper flights of the conveyors 15 and 16 are arranged in series but with a gap therebetween. The speed of movement of the second conveyor 16 is greater than that of the first conveyor 15. A dough-strip stretching device S is shown on a larger scale in Figure 4. It comprises a plurality of rollers 8 supported on respective shafts 9 so as to be freely rotatable thereabout. The shafts 9 are connected to chains 10 by suitable means, which chains are constrained to move along an endless path a by sprocket wheels 13 and 14. Therefore, when the sprocket wheels rotate, the rollers 8 move along an endless path similar to the path a to generate an outer envelope curve b, thereby applying a rolling pressure to the dough strip 5" when the rollers move along a lower straight portion of the curve b. The upper flight of the first belt conveyor 15 is disposed to approach the lower straight portion of the curve b at an angle a, but the uppermost portion of the conveyor 15 is spaced from said lower straight portion by a distance a The upper flight of the second belt conveyor 16 is parallel to the said lower straight portion of the curve b and is spaced therefrom by a distance h which is smaller than the distance g. A further belt conveyor 18 is disposed downstream of the belt conveyor 16, the upper flights of these conveyors having opposed ends adjacent to each other whereby the conveyor 18 can receive a dough sheet which has been stretched by the stretching device S and is thereafter discharged from the second belt conveyor 16. The dough sheet carried along the conveyor 18 is then delivered to a rocking plate 19. A conveyor belt 21 running on a base 20 is positioned unde the rocking plate 19 and extends at right angles with respect to the direction .^of-movement of the stretched dough sheet. The dough sheet is folded on the conveyor belt 21 by the swinging motion of the rocking plate 19 as shown in Figures 1 and 2. The number of folds can be selected by adjusting the speeds of the conveyor belt 21 and the rocking plate 19. The conveyor belt 21 may alternatively be disposed to extend in the same direction as the direction of movement of the stretched dough sheet. Furthermore any other means may be employed for carrying out the folding of the dough sheet. In operation, the dough material 5 prepared in the manner already mentioned is fed into the hopper 1 and thence into the cylinder 2, and is extruded from the extruder E through the outlet 6 of the nozzle 4 by the rotation of the screws 3, while itself being rotated. During this operation there occurs some difference between the rate of rotation of the dough material 5' (Figure 5) and that of the pieces of fat 7 in the cylinder 2, and furthermore the dough material 5' in the cylinder 2 is subjected to a greater shearing force in the circumferential direction as it approaches the inside wall of the nozzle 4. This shearing force increases still further at the region of the nozzle 4 adjacent to the narrow outlet 6, with the result that the pieces of fat 7 are distributed in the dough material 5' along a number of concentric or spiral layers, as diagramatically shown in Figure 6. When the dough material 5' is discharged from the nozzle 4 through the narrow outlet 6 to form a dough strip 5"t the strip 5" has a cross-section as diagramatically shown in Figure 7. The dough strip 5" discharged from the extruder E is received on the upper flight of the first belt conveyor 15 and carried into the dough stretching device S to be subjected to a stretching operation. The dough strip 5" is stretched by a tensile force due-to the different speeds of the belt conveyors 15 and 16 and the rolling pressure of the rollers 8 as they move along their closed path. Thus, the multiple layers of fat in the dough strip 5" are stretched in the same direction as that of the moving dough strip 5", whereby a multi-layered dough material is produced. Although only a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and alterations may be made therein without departing from the scope of the appended claims. For instance, the ratio of the components of flour dough, fat and salt water constituting the dough material 5 can be variously altered as desired. However, the dough material 5 should be of a relatively loose nature or of comparatively low viscosity, as otherwise the dough material in the hopper 1 would tend to adhere to the wall of the hopper, or the screws 3 would tend to kick back the dough material. It would then become necessary to have an operator attend the extruder E, and to manually press the dough material to cause it to move into the screws so that the latter continuously receive the material. Also, although the extruder E has been described as having two screws 3, only a single screw or more than two screws may be used is desired.

Claims: Claims 1. A method of continuously manufacturing a multi-layered dough material, comprising the steps of: forming dough material, in which a multiplicity of separate pieces of fat are dispersed in flour dough, continuously into a strip by passing said dough material through a screw-type extruder, and stretching said strip to reduce its thickness by engaging it with a plurality of freely rotatable rollers moving about a closed roller path, while the strip is advanced at successively increasing speeds. 2. A method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said fat is in the form of diesized pieces of plastic fat. 3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said screw-type extruder comprises a cylinder housing at least one screw, said cylinder being provided at its downstream end with a nozzle having an elongate outlet. 4. A method according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein said strip is advanced by a plurality of belt conveyors each moving at a speed greater than any such belt conveyor upstream of it. 5. A method according to any of the preceding claims, comprising a further step of folding said stretched strip on the upper flight of a moving belt conveyor so as to form a desired number of layers of said stretched strip. 6. Apparatus for use in manufacturing a multilayered dough material, comprising: a screw-type extruder for forming dough material continuously into a strip, comprising a cylinder provided with a hopper for receiving said dough material and delivering it into said cylinder, and further provided at its downstream end with a nozzle having an elongate outlet, and at least one screw housed in said cylinder; and means for stretching said strip to reduce its thickness, which means is positioned downstream of said extruder and comprises a plurality of belt conveyors arranged in series to receive said strip discharged from said extruder and to carry it along a predetermined path, each of said belt conveyors being arranged move at a speed greater than any such belt conveyor upstream of it, and a plurality of freely rotatable rollers arranged to move about a closed roller path having a straight lower portion spaced from said predetermined path of said strip, said rollers during their movement along said lower portion being arranged to be in contact with said strip moving along said predetermined path. 7. Apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising a folding device positioned downstream of said strip stretching device for folding the stretched strip on the upper flight of a moving belt conveyor so as to form on said upper flight a desired number of layers of said stretched strip. 8. Apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising a flour hopper arranged to apply flour to the upper flight of the first one of said plurality of belt conveyors. 9. Apparatus for use in continuously manufacturing a multi-layered dough material, comprising a screwtype extruder for forming dough material continuously into a strip, and means for stretching said strip comprising (a) a plurality of freely rotatable rollers arranged to move about a closed roller path and (b) means for advancing said strip at an increasing speed along a path in contact with said rollers.

Inventors: YOSHIOKA, MITSUHARU
Applicants: RHEON AUTOMATIC MACHINERY CO. LTD.
Application year: 1984
Main classification: A21C3
IPC codes: A21C3, A21C11