Abstract:
The present invention relates to a dough cutter for cutting a plurality of dough products from a dough sheet. The dough products are cut from the dough sheet into a defined geometrical shape and provide for easy pull-apart pastries once they are baked, cooked, or fried. The dough cutter consists of a plurality of dies, each containing a plurality of inner geometric cutouts.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates generally to pastry items and methods for manufacturing pastry items. Additionally, this invention relates to a dough cutter device that creates geometrically themed pastry dough shapes having separable/severable cutouts. 
     Pastries are a popular food item in grocery stores, convenience stores, doughnut shops, state and county fairs, and other venues. These pastries are usually sold as a single serving. When several pastries are desired, the consumer must purchase multiple, separate pastries. 
     Some pastries are produced by placing several individual pastries together prior to frying or baking them. This approach grew from the desire to provide a grouping of pastries in a single package that allows the consumer to pull the pastries apart. Creating these “pull-apart” pastries is a difficult task. Most of these pastries are made by cutting out several smaller dough pieces and placing them together in a pan. This creates the illusion of a pull-apart type of pastry. Unfortunately, this approach is labor intensive and fails to provide for a pastry with multiple cutout pieces connected by a pull-apart web of dough. 
     It is desirable to provide pastries grouped together in a true pull-apart form that are capable of being packaged in a single package. It is also desirable to provide the pull-apart pastries in a variety of geometric shapes such as trapezoids, squares, circles, triangles, pentagons, octagons, semi-circles, four point stars, five point stars, six point stars, cartoon characters, and nearly any other possible geometric shape. Unfortunately, the industry lacks the ability to produce these geometrically themed pull-apart dough shapes in an automated manner using the currently available rotary or planar dough cutters. 
     A need exists for a dough cutter that is capable of generating large quantities of dough shapes for pull-apart pastries. Furthermore, a need exists for the dough cutter to be compatible with automation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention provides an apparatus and method for creating a pull-apart dough pastry. 
     In one embodiment, a rotary dough cutter is provided. The rotary dough cutter is a cylinder with an outer surface. There are at least one outwardly projecting guide rim attached to the outer surface. The outer surface also carries a plurality of outwardly projecting circumferentially attached dies. Each die further includes an outer wall circumscribing each of the dies. The outer wall defines a die geometric shape and a depth of the die. The outer wall is capable of cutting dough in a shape defined by the die geometric shape. There are a plurality of inner geometric cutouts positioned within the outer wall. Each of the plurality of inner geometric cutouts abuts an adjacent inner geometric cutout. There are a plurality of cutout walls defining a shape for each of the inner geometric cutouts. Each cutout wall abuts an adjacent cutout wall. Each abutment forms a gap therebetween. The cutout walls have a depth substantially similar to the outer wall depth. Finally, the dies include a separator defined by the cutout walls. 
     In another embodiment, a rotary dough cutter is provided. The rotary dough cutter has a cylinder with a guide rim affixed thereto and outward projecting therefrom. There are a plurality of dies circumferentially attached to and outwardly projecting from the cylinder. Each of the dies has an outer wall surrounding it. The outer wall defines a shape and depth of the die. A plurality of inner geometric cutouts are positioned within the outer wall. A plurality of cutout walls defines the shape for each of the inner geometric cutouts. The cutout wall provides the point of abutment for each inner geometric cutout. The cutout wall has a depth substantially similar to the depth of the outer wall. There are a plurality of separators defined by the cutout walls. 
     In another embodiment, the invention provides a method for creating a pull-apart dough based product. The inventive method comprises the steps of: 
     (a) placing the dough on a flat surface; 
     (b) forming a dough sheet having a length; 
     (c) placing the dough sheet on a conveyor belt; 
     (d) moving said dough sheet under said rotary dough cutter using said conveyor belt, wherein said rotary dough cutter rotates as said length of said dough sheet contacts said rotary dough cutter; 
     (e) applying sufficient pressure to cause said rotary dough cutter to contact said conveyor belt, thereby creating a plurality of dough shapes having a thin connective web, said rotary dough cutter having:
         (i) a cylinder having an outer surface;   (ii) at least one guide attached near an end of the cylinder and projecting radially outward, said guide positioned to orient said cylinder on said conveyor belt;   (iii) a plurality of dies circumferentially attached to and outwardly projecting from the outer surface, each die including:
           (1) an outer wall defining the dough shape and being capable of separating the dough sheet into portions of dough matching the dough shapes, wherein the outer wall defines a depth of the die;   (2) a plurality of inner geometric cutouts circumscribed by the outer wall;   (3) a plurality of cutout walls connected to the outer wall and forming the inner geometric cutouts within the outer wall, the cutout walls being arranged with at least one surface abutting an adjacent cutout wall, the abutments defining a gap therebetween, wherein the cutout walls have a depth substantially similar to the depth of the die;   (4) a separator defined by and positioned between the abutments and cutout walls   (5) wherein the gap creates a thin web of dough as a defined separation line;   
               

     (f) cooking the dough shapes; and 
     (g) serving the dough shapes as the pull-apart dough based product. 
     Numerous objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent as the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments is read in conjunction with the drawings which illustrate such embodiments. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of a dough cutter. 
         FIG. 2  depicts a front view of a dough cutter. 
         FIG. 3  depicts a section side view of a dough cutter taken from  FIG. 2  along lines  3 - 3 . 
         FIG. 4  depicts a plan view of the dies of a dough cutter. 
         FIG. 5A  depicts the sectional side view taken from  FIG. 4  along lines  5 A- 5 A. 
         FIG. 5B  depicts the sectional side view taken from  FIG. 4  along lines  5 B- 5 B. 
         FIG. 6  depicts a plan view of a die of a dough cutter laid out flat. 
         FIG. 7  depicts a perspective view of a dough cutter die. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     The dough cutter described herein will be describes with reference to a doughnut dough cutter to facilitate understanding of the invention. But, the dough cutter can be any pastry dough cutter used to create pull-apart pastries as disclosed herein. A non-limiting list of other examples may include pie crusts, rolls, croissants, cookies, bread, etc. 
     As used herein, the term “die” refers to the cutting element used to create a single pull-apart pastry having a plurality of smaller pastries connected together with a thin web of dough. The term “inner geometric cutout” refers to the cutting element used to create one of the smaller pastries having a geometric shape and connected together with the thin web of dough. The term “separator” refers to the resulting area positioned between each of the inner geometric cutouts. The terms “connective web space” or “gap” refer to a small opening positioned between abutting adjacent “inner geometric cutouts” defining the space for creating the connective piece of dough between the “inner geometric cutouts.” 
     Referring to the drawings, the dough cutter is illustrated and generally designated by the numeral  10 . As shown by the drawings and understood by those skilled in the art, dough cutter  10  and components thereof are associated with separation of a plurality of cutouts from a dough sheet by using the dies positioned on dough cutter  10 . 
     Regarding  FIGS. 1-3 , dough cutter  10  has tube or cylinder  12 . Cylinder  12  is shown having an outer surface  14  and at least one guide rim  16 . Outer surface  14  of cylinder  12  has at least one guide rim  16  located near edge  18   a  or  18   b . Projecting radially outward from surface  14 , guide rim  16  defines depth  20 . Preferably, guide rim  16  has sufficient depth  20  to align cylinder  12  during use and as described below. Alternatively, guide rim  16  has depth  20  equal to depth  22  of die  24  to provide a standoff distance between a flat surface (not shown) and outer surface  14 . 
     In the doughnut dough cutter example depicted in  FIGS. 1-7 , preferably, there are at least two guide rims  16  utilized. First guide rim  26  is positioned near first outer edge  18   a  of cylinder  12 , and second guide rim  28  is positioned near second outer edge  18   b  of cylinder  12 . 
     In the preferred embodiment, surface  14  carries a plurality of circumferentially attached dies  24 .  FIG. 6  depicts the preferred embodiment wherein a plurality of outwardly projecting dies  24  form a plurality of rows  30 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , dies  24  in each row  30  are preferably positioned and aligned to maximize the number of dies  24  in each row while minimizing space  32  between each die  24 . In a preferred embodiment, space  32  is about 0.4 inches (10 millimeters). Each row  30  has row centerline  34 . Row centerline  34  is separated from an adjacent row  30  by distance  36 . In a preferred embodiment, distance  36  is about 3.75 inches (95 millimeters). But, distance  36  is a design parameter defined by: (a) the size of cylinder  12 ; (b) the desired separation space  32  desired between each die  24 ; and, (c) the acceptable volume of waste dough. 
     Dies  24  may be manufactured from metals or ceramics. Preferably, dies  24  have a non-stick surface. If the material properties of die  24  do not inherently have a non-stick property, a non-stick coating is applied either during manufacturing of die  24  or during dough cutting operations. 
     Die  24  has outer wall  38  defining die shape  40  of the pull-apart pastry. In the example shown in  FIGS. 1-7 , outer wall  38  has a geometrically shaped die shape  40  that is a trapezoidal. However, die  24  may be any geometric shape. 
     Each die  24  defines a plurality of inner geometric cutouts  42  and separators  44 . Each of the plurality of inner geometric cutouts  42  are defined by cutout walls  46 . Additionally, each of the plurality of inner geometric cutouts  42  are positioned within and circumscribed by outer wall  38 . 
     Inner geometric cutouts  42  have a plurality of cutout walls  46  with interstitial abutments  48  providing the point of abutment  50  between each adjacent inner geometric cutout  42 . Preferably, each inner geometric cutout  42  abuts at least one other inner geometric cutout  42 . At point of abutment  50 , the abutting inner geometric cutouts  42  may be affixed to each other by welding, gluing, soldering, or other methods known to those skilled in the art. 
     Interstitial abutments  48  and corresponding points of abutment  50  define connective web space, or gap  52  between adjacent inner geometric cutouts  42 . As depicted in  FIGS. 4 and 7 , gap  52  is formed from cutout wall  46 . Preferably, gap  52  is about 0.25 inches (6 millimeters) across and about 0.125 inches (3 millimeters) below cutting edge  54  of cutout wall  46 . Thus, gap  52  provides for and defines the connective web of dough for each pastry connecting each pull-apart pastry. 
     Cutout walls  46  define cutout shape  56  of inner geometric cutout  42 , As shown in  FIGS. 1-7 , inner geometric cutouts  42  are circular. However, the inner geometric cutouts  42  can be any shape and have any number of inner geometric cutouts  42 . As shown in the doughnut example, cutout wall  46  has a thickness of about 0.03 inches (1 millimeter), outer wall  38  has a thickness of about 0.08 inches (2 millimeters). 
     Referring to a preferred embodiment shown in  FIG. 4 , nine inner geometric cutouts  42  are shown. It is preferred that each die  24  include at least three inner geometric cutouts  42 . 
     In the doughnut example, optional hole-like cutter  58  is positioned within each inner geometric cutout  42  to create annular pastries, or pastries having a hole or penetrating portion removed prior to cooking. As shown in  FIGS. 4 and 7 , hole-like cutter  58  is centrally positioned. Hole-like cutter  58  provides for the removal and extraction of dough from within each of inner geometric cutouts  42  as die  24  is pressed into dough sheet  60 . 
     As shown, hole-like cutter  58  is circular, but it can be any shape or plurality of shapes. Other shapes can be created by the addition of other cutting devices. For example, hole-like cutter  58  can be removed or repositioned to change the shape of inner geometric cutouts  42 . Another example is to have a shape, or plurality of shapes such as stars, internally added to inner geometric cutout  42  to create a pastry with designs or shapes. Additionally, hole-like cutter  58  is reconfigurable to only remove a portion of dough from dough sheet  60  so as to create a design on the pastry. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 ,  5 A,  5 B and  7 , separators  44  are defined by cutout walls  46  of inner geometric cutouts  42 . Alternatively, separators  44  are defined by cutout walls  46  of inner geometric cutouts  42  and interstitial abutments  48 . In the doughnut example depicted in  FIG. 4 , separators  44  are triangularly shaped. Preferably, separators  44  have solid surface  61  that is outwardly positioned on separator  44 . Separators  44  and solid surface  61  must form an area designed to force dough of dough sheet  60  towards inner geometric cutouts  42  and/or gap  52 . 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1-5B  and  7 , each die  24  has several cutting surfaces creating the pull-apart pastry. Die  24  has two different depths further defining the pull-apart pastry. The different cutting surfaces of die  24  include a main cutting surface  62  of outer wall  38  and cutting edge  54  of cutout wall  46 . Cutting edge  54  defines the edges of separator  44  and solid surface  61 . For the doughnut example, hole-like cutter  58  is added as a cutting surface  64  and is positioned within the area defined by cutout walls  46  that form inner geometric cutout  42 , so as to create the plurality of annular pastries or doughnuts. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 5A and 5B , outer wall  38  defines depth  22  of die  24  and for dough cutter  10 . Cutout walls  46  and solid surface  61  of separators  44  have depth  66 . Depth  66  is substantially similar to or equal to depth  22 . Preferably, hole-like cutter  58  has a depth  68  that is also substantially similar to depth  22  of die  24 . Interstitial abutment  48  has depth  70 . Depth  70  must be less than depth  66 , thereby defining the depth of gap  52 , which is positioned between adjacent inner geometric cutouts  42 . In a representative example depicted in  FIGS. 3-5B , depth  22 , depth  66  and depth  68  are about 1 inch (25 millimeters). Depth  70  is about 0.125 inches (3 millimeters) less than depth  22 , depth  66  and depth  68 , or about 0.875 inches (22 millimeters). 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , crossbar  72  carries trunions  74 , which support cylinder  12 . In a preferred embodiment, cross bar  72  is connected to an automated machine controlling the cutting process. In an alternative embodiment, cross bar  72  has a handle for manual operations. 
     During operations using dough cutter  10  a dough sheet is created using common means. Dough sheet  60  is formed by placing it on a flat surface (not shown) and spreading it out. For automated processes, dough sheet  60  is placed on conveyor belt  76  in preparation for making geometrically themed dough shapes. After being formed, dough sheet  60  has length  78  and width  80 . Dough sheet  60  can also be formed directly on conveyor belt  76 , and it can be formed from a nearly continuous sheet of dough. For manual processes, dough sheet  60  is placed on a flat surface (not shown). 
     In the preferred automated embodiment, dough cutter  10  is positioned over dough sheet  60 , which is located on conveyor belt  76 .  FIG. 1  depicts guide rim  16  aligning cylinder  12  with conveyor belt  76  and positioned over dough sheet  60 . Dough cutter  10  is automatically raised and lowered using cross bar  72  and a mechanical system (not shown). As conveyor  76  moves, dough sheet  60  passes under cylinder  12 , whereby cylinder  12  rotates in direction  82  as a result of dies  24  making contact with dough sheet  60 . In this preferred embodiment, cylinder  12  has rotational movement in direction  82  and positioning movement associated with the mechanical system. 
     When a manual process is utilized, dough cutter  10  is manually translated over dough sheet  60  with guide  18  providing a standoff distance between dough sheet  60  and cylinder  12 . In this embodiment, cylinder  12  has rotational movement in direction  82  and linear movement along length  78  of dough sheet  60 . 
     Once the plurality of geometrically themed dough shapes are cut from dough sheet  60 , they are cooked by baking or frying. Additional steps of preparation can occur, such as glazing or icing the finished product. The geometrically themed dough shapes are now pastries ready to be sold. These pastries may be sold the same day or be packaged for later consumption. When being served, the pastries are severed along the thin connective web of dough that is created by gap  52 , thereby creating a pull-apart dough-based pastry. 
     Other embodiments of the current invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a consideration of this specification or practice of the invention disclosed herein. Thus, the foregoing specification is considered merely exemplary of the current invention with the true scope thereof being defined by the following claims.