PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR DEPOSITING AND SPREADING PIZZA SAUCE ONTO A PIZZA BASE

Abstract: An applicator head (2) in a housing (3) has a lower sauce-engaging porous metal plate (10) and an upper plate (11) which define an air chamber (13) therebetween through which compressed air is passed from an inlet (14) to exit through the porous metal plate. A block (4) in the housing (3) is spaced-apart from the upper plate (11) to define a sauce chamber (18). Nozzles (25) lead from the sauce chamber (18) to deliver sauce through a plurality of outlet openings (21) in the porous metal plate (10). Sauce is deposited in a plurality of spaced-apart separate dollops which are spread by compressed air across the face of a pizza base (50). The applicator head (2) may be rotated to further spread the sauce.

Description: PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR DEPOSITING AND SPREADING PIZZA SAUCE ONTO A PIZZA BASE Introduction The invention relates to a method and apparatus for manufacturing pizzas and in particular to a method and apparatus for spreading sauce on a pizza base. One of the problems in manufacturing pizzas is that the sauce applied to the pizza base tends to be uneven. Sauce often spills over the side of the pizza or some parts of the pizza may not have sauce applied. Various attempts have been made to address this problem. US-A-3860990 describes the spreading of sauce on a pizza base by a spiral implement which is rotatable to displace and spread the sauce. FR-A-2485340 describes a machine for spreading sauce on top of a pizza base using a palette knife type scraping blade. GB-A-2269810 describes a sauce depositing head with a plurality of outlet nozzles and associated peg members which are engagable with the nozzle to close off sauce supply. The deposited sauce is spread by a mechanical spreader. ZA-A-8305640 describes depositing a dollop of sauce on the centre of a pizza base, applying an inverted cup over part of the pizza base, and passing compressed air through a membrane in the cup to spread the sauce within the housing. A rubber tube provides a seal between the inverted cup-shaped housing and a pizza base. 034 - 2 - However, none of these methods is practical for a large scale manufacturing facility, either because the sauce is spread too slowly and/or unevenly and/ or leads to substantial waste. They are either impractical to operate at the high rates of automated production required and/ or do not provide adequate sauce spreading across the face of the pizza. There is therefore a need for a method and apparatus for efficiently spreading sauce on a pizza base which will overcome these difficulties. In particular the invention is directed towards providing a sauce spreading apparatus which will address these issues and operate accurately and repeatedly on a large scale factory production. Statements of Invention According to the invention there is provided a process for manufacturing a pizza comprising the steps of: forming pizza dough into a desired shape; depositing a plurality of separate dollops of pizza sauce onto the pizza base, the sauce dollops being spaced-apart across the pizza base; and applying a stream of air to the separate sauce dollops of pizza sauce across the face of the pizza base. In one embodiment of the invention the air stream is applied through the applicator head. Preferably the applicator head includes a plurality of air outlets in the lower face thereof and the process includes the step of delivering air to the outlets to apply a stream of air to the sauce, for spreading. Ideally, at least a portion of the lower face of the head is air pervious for delivery of air to the sauce. In a preferred arrangement air is delivered to the air outlets through an air channel in the head. In one embodiment of the invention A process as claimed in claim 4 or 5 wherein the lower face of the head is at least partially of porous metal, air being delivered through the pores of the porous metal to the sauce dollops. Preferably the dollops of sauce are delivered through outlet sauce nozzles in the applicator head. In this case preferably the applicator head includes a sauce holding chamber and the process includes the step of delivering sauce from the sauce holding chamber through the outlet sauce nozzles. In one embodiment of the invention the process includes the step of moving the applicator head to spread the separate sauce dollops onto the pizza base. In one case the applicator head is rocked to spread the sauce dollops. Alternatively or additionally the applicator head is rotated to spread the sauce dollops. In another aspect the invention provides apparatus for applying and spreading pizza sauce on a pizza base comprising:- a depositing head for depositing a plurality of separate dollops of pizza sauce onto a pizza base, the sauce dollops being spaced-apart across the pizza base; and means for applying an air stream to the separate dollops of pizza sauce across the face of the pizza base. Preferably the apparatus comprises a sauce applicator head having means for applying an air stream to separate dollops of pizza sauce deposited on the face of a pizza base. In this case preferably the sauce applicator head includes a plurality of sauce outiet nozzles for depositing separate dollops of pizza sauce on a pizza base. In a preferred arrangement the applicator head includes the depositor. In one embodiment of the invention the sauce applicator head includes a sauce chamber from which sauce is delivered to be deposited on a pizza base. Ideally the applicator head has a plurality of air outlets in a lower face thereof. In a preferred embodiment the lower face of the applicator head is at least partially of porous metal. Ideally, the porous metal has an average pore size of from 10 to 15 microns. In a preferred embodiment the applicator head has an upper sauce chamber and a lower air distribution chamber separated by a transverse wall, sauce delivery nozzles extending from the sauce chamber to the sauce engaging face of the air distribution chamber. The apparatus preferably includes means for moving the applicator head to follow the contour of the pizza base and/or to spread the sauce. In one arrangement the means for moving the applicator head comprises means for rocking the head to spread the sauce. Alternatively or additionally the means for moving the applicator head comprises means for rotating the head to spread the sauce. Brief Description of the Drawings The invention will be more clearly understood from the following description thereof given by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing in which:- Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view of a sauce depositing and spreading apparatus of the invention; Figs. 2 is an underneath plan view of a head part of the apparatus; Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view of a detail of the apparatus of Fig. 1; Figs. 4(a) to 4(c) are cross sectional views iUustrating the operation of the sauce depositing and spreading head; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of a modified form of the apparatus of Figs. 1 to 4; and Figs. 6(a) to 6(d) are diagrammatic plan views illustrating the operation of the apparatus. Detailed Description The apparatus 1 comprises a depositing head for depositing a plurality of separate dollops of pizza sauce onto a pizza base and means for applying an air stream to the separate sauce dollops to spread the pizza sauce across the face of the pizza base. In more detail the apparatus 1 comprises an applicator head 2 having an upwardly extending cylindrical housing 3. The housing 3 has a block 4 mounted therein with a central bore having a sauce inlet tube 5 extending therethrough. The applicator head 2 has a lower sauce -engaging face defined by a lower plate member 10 and an upper plate 11 which is spaced-apart from the lower plate 10 to define therebetween a chamber 13 having a side inlet 14 for a supply of compressed air. The block 4 is axially spaced-apart from the upper plate 11 to define a sauce chamber 18 to which sauce is delivered form the sauce inlet tube 5. A plurality of separate sauce nozzles 20 extend from the sauce chamber 18 and each terminate in an outiet hole 21 in the sauce-engaging plate 10. Thus, a plurality of spaced-apart sauce outlet holes 21 are provided across the face of the sauce -engaging plate 10 as best illustrated in Fig. 2. One nozzle 20 is shown in detail in Fig. 3 and comprises an inwardly tapered nozzle inlet section 25 and a nozzle outlet 26. The arrangement is such as to promote the flow of sauce through the nozzles 20 as required while preventing the sauce from dripping from the head. Thus, the outiet holes 21 are sized in accordance with the viscosity of the sauce. For example, the outlet holes may be typically in the region of 10mm diameter. To optimise the deposition of the sauce at different positions on a pizza base the sauce outlets 21 are arranged in size and position as typically illustrated in Fig. 2. In this case, there is an outer ring of twelve holes 21, an inner ring of six holes 21 and a central hole 21. The centre hole may be of typically 7mm diameter, the inner ring holes 21 of 8mm diameter and the outer ring holes 21 of 10mm diameter. We have found that this pattern and hole size gives excellent sauce spreading. The lower plate 10 is air pervious to deliver a stream of air across substantially all of the upper surface of a pizza base to effectively spread the dollops of sauce applied to the base. The plate 10 is of a sintered porous metal with a very large number of outlet holes as illustrated in Fig. 2. Typically the pore size is about 20 microns. Such a porous metal is available from Mott Corporation. The air stream assists in preventing the sauce and the pizza base from sticking to the applicator head. In use, sauce is delivered by a pump through a hose 33 to a side inlet port 32 on the sauce delivery pipe 5. A block valve 35 carried by a ram 36 normally closes the inlet port 32. In this configuration a slug of sauce 40 is charged in the chamber 18, the nozzles 25 and the section of the sauce pipe 5 downstream of the block valve 35. When a pizza base 50 is entered under the applicator head 2 the ram 36 retracts pulling the block 35 upwardly and exposing the sauce inlet opening. The pump is operated to deliver a desired quantity of sauce through the hose 33 and into the sauce pipe 5. This sauce enters under pressure and drives the held up slug of sauce 40 in the pipe 5, chamber 18 and nozzles 25 ahead of it to exit through the outiet holes 21 and deposit a plurality of separate sauce dollops 55 on the pizza base 50 as illustrated in Fig. 4 (a). During this procedure compressed air is delivered through the porous sauce engaging plate 10 and the plurality of separate dollops of sauce are spread partially across the face of the pizza base as illustrated in Fig. 4(b). Optionally the applicator head engages the sauce on the pizza base and a mechanical spreading force is applied as illustrated in Fig. 4(c) to produce a pizza base 60 with an even covering of sauce as illustrated in Fig. 4(d). Referring to Figs. 5 and 6(a) to 6(d) in this case the apparatus also includes means for moving the sauce outiet nozzles 25 relative to a pizza base 50. The means for moving the nozzles 25 comprises a ram 70 which extends from a support 72 to a pivot connection 71 on the housing 3. On actuation of the ram 70 the housing 3 is rotated to move the nozzles 25 relative to a pizza base 50. In this way the sauce is more evenly distributed. The sauce application and spreading is illustrated diagrammatically in Figs. 6(a) to 6(d). The sauce dollops 51 are applied to the base 50 through the sauce nozzles 25 and the air stream has the effect of locally spreading the dollops as illustrated in Fig. 6(b). Air flow from above will give good spreading however a movement of the applicator head will further enhance the spreading in that any boundaries between adjacent spread dollops are broken down and the sauce is further spread as illustrated in Fig. 6(d). The invention is not limited to the embodiments hereinbefore described which may be varied in detail.

Claims: CLAIMS 1. A process for manufacturing a pizza comprising the steps of: forming pizza dough into a desired shape; depositing a plurality of separate dollops of pizza sauce onto the pizza base, the sauce dollops being spaced-apart across the pizza base; and applying a stream of air to the separate sauce dollops of pizza sauce across the face of the pizza base. 2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein the air stream is applied through the applicator head. 3. A process as claimed in claim 2 wherein the applicator head includes a plurality of air outiets in the lower face thereof and the process includes the step of delivering air to the outlets to apply a stream of air to the sauce, for spreading. 4. A process as claimed in claim 3 wherein at least a portion of the lower face of the head is air pervious for delivery of air to the sauce. 5. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 4 wherein air is delivered to the air outiets through an air channel in the head. 6. A process as claimed in claim 4 or 5 wherein the lower face of the head is at least partially of porous metal, air being delivered through the pores of the porous metal to the sauce dollops. 7. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 6 wherein the dollops of sauce are delivered through outiet sauce nozzles in the applicator head. 8. A process as claimed in claim 7 wherein the applicator head includes a sauce holding chamber and the process includes the step of delivering sauce from the sauce holding chamber through the outlet sauce nozzles. 9. A process as claimed in any of claims 2 to 8 including the step of moving the applicator head to spread the separate sauce dollops onto the pizza base. 10. A process as claimed in claim 9 wherein the applicator head is rocked to spread the sauce dollops. 11. A process as claimed in claim 9 or 10 wherein the applicator head is rotated to spread the sauce dollops. 12. A process for manufacturing a pizza substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 13. Apparatus for applying and spreading pizza sauce on a pizza base comprising:- a depositing head for depositing a plurality of separate dollops of pizza sauce onto a pizza base, the sauce dollops being spaced-apart across the pizza base; and means for applying an air stream to the separate dollops of pizza sauce across the face of the pizza base. 14. Apparatus as claimed in claim 13 comprising a sauce applicator head having means for applying an air stream to separate dollops of pizza sauce deposited on the face of a pizza base. 15. Apparatus as claimed in claim 14 wherein the sauce applicator head includes a plurality of sauce outiet nozzles for depositing separate dollops of pizza sauce on a pizza base. 16. Apparatus as claimed in claim 15 wherein the applicator head includes the depositor. 17. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 14 to 16 wherein the sauce applicator head includes a sauce chamber from which sauce is delivered to be deposited on a pizza base. 18. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 14 to 17 wherein the applicator head has a plurality of air outlets in a lower face thereof. 19. Apparatus as claimed in claim 18 wherein the lower face of the applicator head is at least partially of porous metal. 20. Apparatus as claimed in claim 19 wherein the porous metal has an average pore size of from 10 to 15 microns. 21. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 14 to 20 wherein applicator head has an upper sauce chamber and a lower air distribution chamber separated by a transverse wall, sauce delivery nozzles extending from the sauce chamber to the sauce engaging face of the air distribution chamber. 22. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 14 to 21 including means for moving the applicator head to follow the contour of the pizza base and/or to spread the sauce. 23. Apparatus as claimed in claim 22 wherein the means for moving the applicator head comprises means for rocking the head to spread the sauce. 24. Apparatus as claimed in claim 22 or 23 wherein the means for moving the applicator head comprises means for rotating the head to spread the sauce. 25. Pizza sauce applicator apparatus substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. 26. Pizzas whenever manufactured by a process as claimed in claims 1 to 12 and/or using an apparatus as claimed in any of claims 13 to 25.

Inventors: DARMON JACINTA, MCGILLICUDDY GENE, DARMON, JACINTA, MCGILLICUDDY, GENE
Applicants: BILLCREST PROD LTD, DARMON JACINTA, MCGILLICUDDY GENE, BILLCREST PRODUCTS LIMITED, DARMON, JACINTA, MCGILLICUDDY, GENE
Application year: 1999
Main classification: A21C9
IPC codes: A21C9