Patent GB-277182-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to dough dividing and working machines
IPC: A21C5/08
Filed: 1926-10-11
Abstract: 277,182. Withers, J. S., (Habaemfa Hallesche Backereimaschinen-Fabrik, Rausch & Filbry). Oct. 11, 1926. Dough dividing and working machines. - In doughworking machinery, of the type in which a hinged pressing and dividing head is lowered by hand on to the mass of dough prior to the pressing operation, mechanism on the main frame of the machine is adapted to couple with and uncouple from the press-plate automatically. Thus the operation of the lever 4, Fig. 1, to the right, after manual release .of the locking-pedal 1, lowers the mechanism. 5, 6, 7 and the attached hooks 9. The downwardly-moving hooks are moved inwardly by the slotted guides 8 so as to engage projections 10 on the press-plate 11 and carry the latter downwardly to press the mass of dough into a flat sheet. On the return stroke the plate is released automatically by the divergence of the hooks. The pressing-head, which carries both the press-plate and the dividing-knives, is hinged at 27 and is raised and lowered by the handle 28. The press-plate 11 is held normally at the upper end of the pressing-head by means of springs 16 and abuts against set-screws 23 which enable this position to be varied. The dividing knives 15 are supported between an upper lever 12 pivoted at 32 and a lower lever 20 pivoted at 33. When the pressing-head 19 is raised to remove the dough, the tail of the lever 20 co-operates with a fixed stop 21 to raise the dividing knives until they are housed in the press-plate and remain thus until the end of the pressing operation, at which stage they are advanced to divide the dough by depressing the lever 12. The knives do not follow the pressing-head on the return stroke, but remain in contact with the dough while the table 18 executes a rotary or jigging movement through the medium of crank mechanism operated from the belt pulley 26. This operation is performed by operating the lever 36 to engage the clutch members 35, 38 or by operating the lever 4 to raise the member 6 additionally to operate the lever 40. At the close of the rotary movement the clutch is disengaged and the pressing-head lifted. During this movement the dividing- knives remain exposed and available for cleaning until the limit of the upward swing is reached. The shafts 37 and 7 are interlocked, by providing each with cut-away portions, so that the clutch can only be engaged when the press-plate is in its highest position, and the press-plate cannot be lowered unless the clutch is disengaged. The pressing-head is balanced by a weight 49, suspended by a cord 51 or attached to an arm projecting from the shaft 27 as shown in dotted lines. Fig. 4 shows a modified machine in which the press-head 19 executes the rotary or jigging movement, being mounted eccentrically on a vertical pin 44 for this purpose. The head in this case is raised mechanically about the hinge 27, being geared by a sector 54 to a clutch pinion 55, the movement being balanced by the weighted lever 48. A stop 59 disengages the claw coupling when the head reaches its highest position. Fig. 5 shows an eccentric mounting 63 for the supporting pulley of the counterweight to allow the effective force of the latter to be varied. Fig. 6 shows another method of varying the force of the balance weight by adjusting the position of the pivoted auxiliary weight-carrying lever 65 relatively to the main lever 50.