Patent ID: 7134865

Claim:
Apparatus for forming a continuous dough strand from a large-volume dough mixture, comprising a receptacle for holding the dough mixture, which is provided at the bottom with a discharge opening for the dough, to which two shafts are connected, arranged so as to be fixed parallel to one another and driven in opposite directions in a timed manner for rotary movement in order to effect a downward movement of the dough, the said shafts being provided with profiles acting on the dough in the form of an even number of star arms for each shaft, characterized in that the star arms of the shafts in the position directed towards one another block the downward flow of dough therethrough only over a major part of the axial length of the shafts, the star arms of each shaft being provided at the shaft ends alternately with cutouts for the flow of the dough therethrough during pauses in the timed rotary movement of the shafts, and in that two depositing belts are arranged underneath the shafts in the longitudinal direction of the shafts and spaced apart from one another, which belts are drivable for circulatory movement in opposite directions and for reciprocal displacement in the longitudinal direction thereof.