Patent MX-2011004983-A (MX)
Title: Tortilla-processing machine by a pressing method.
Inventor: PEREZ JOSE VERDUZCO
IPC: A21C11/00
Filed: 2011-05-11
Abstract: The present invention discloses a plurality of modular devices that allow tortillas to be produced on industrial scale with a maximum efficiency and the ability to reproduce the quality, texture and appearance of the best handmade tortillas as standardized as possible. In order to achieve this, a completely modular electromechanical design has been employed for manufacturing Testal or dough-ball pressing units (the dough in the process of making tortillas before it is cooked) for different types of dough, the basic pressing unit comprising a mechanical press impelled by a direct current motor which is controlled by an electronic unit for monitoring the general operation of the press. The control circuit indirectly determines when the compression plate has collided with stopping elements that define the tortilla thickness by means of the current drawn by the motor. Because the stopping elements are manually placed on the machine base and may be adjusted to a predetermined thickness, t hey may also be integral with a fully automatic system which is controlled by the electronic control unit, thereby allowing the machine to produce tortillas having different thicknesses which are determined by an electronic command, this feature being of decisive importance as the taste, texture and appearance of tortillas greatly depend on the Testal thickness used for the manufacture thereof. The pressing system is enhanced by using a plurality of tools that facilitate the Testal detachment from the compression plate, said tools being interchangeable and operating over the core design of the press structure. The tools of the invention include the use of contact plates providing a lotus-type effect, this effect being named after the Egyptian lotus properties which is repellent to almost everything, and when compared with the Lotus effect, Teflon is a mediocre-quality anti-adherent. The lotus-effect compression plate is manufactured by deposition of nanoparticles on the surface of a plurality of materials by a chemical process which allows an anti-adherent pressure surface to be obtained. The invention also includes the use of compression plates cooled by peltier-type electronic coolers in order to take advantage of the fact that adherence is often directly proportional to temperature, so that there is proposed a design wherein the compression plate is cooled and automatically maintained at about two degrees above the freezing point. In an alternate embodiment of the invention, there is provided an accessory method for our compression tortilla-making design, which comprises using electrostatic charges for controlling the Testal adhesion to each of the first and second compression plates. There is still further provided a method for compressing the Testal by means of a spherical-shaped element made of flexible material which exerts pressure on the Testal when inflated, thereby flattening the same on a plate to obtain a raw tortilla in its traditional shape. The inflation and disinflation process of the spherical-shaped element is performed by displacement of a piston within a cylinder which transfers fluid from the inner portion thereof to the inner portion of the spherical-shaped element, this design being substantially simple and efficient and enables high speed production of tortillas. In addition to the compression unit, there is further disclosed a volume-conveying auger design, the augers being manufactured by polymer injection, thereby obtaining augers with higher efficiency and hygiene features than those made of welded metal. The design of the augers is made so that its removal from molds is feasible as not every auger geometry design may be manufactured by the injection method due to the angles that are generated during the process by the curved surface. For the purpose of the present invention, the augers are molded on a steel shaft, which ensures a perfect and permanent attachment to be obtained therebetween, and allowing the augers to be used for compressing the dough and preparing the same for the Testal-shaping process. These augers are also integral with the design of the dispensing machine module which produces the Testal with the weight and form required by using a cylindrical-shaped element wherein an auger is forcibly disposed therein and driven by a stepper motor, this motor rotating a predetermined number of degrees as commanded by the electronic control unit thereof, thereby resulting in a perfectly predetermined displacement of the dough inside the cylindrical-shaped element. A trimming plate is useful for separating the Testal to be processed from the remaining dough, and an optoelectronic assembly serves as an additional element for controlling the Testal volume, said optoelectronic assembly comprising a light transmitter and a light receiver which may be collimated so that the assembly serves as a displacement detector for preventing the Testal from exceeding a predetermined size.