General Mills, Inc.

William C Bornhorst

Michael P Waldherr

Steven A Stein

James M Olive

Niclas M Scher

Mary K Carstensen

Lloyd J Zoubek

Mary K Cartstensen

An apparatus (,) for forming open ended, cone-shaped snack products includes a rotary cutter (,) having opposed, counterrotating rollers (,) each formed by multiple cutting discs (,) axially spaced on a mandrel (,) by spacers (,). A dough sheet formed by a sheet forming device (,) is conveyed to a slitting device (,) which slits the dough sheet into multiple pairs of dough strips. The dough strips are conveyed on a conveyer (,) towards the rotary cutter (,). The first dough strips of each pair pass over the end of the conveyor (,), and twisted 90&deg; as they pass over sheaves (,) and pass between stationary guides (,) to the first roller (,) while the second dough strips of each pair pass over the end of the conveyor (,), are twisted 90&deg; as they pass over sheaves (,) and pass between the stationary guides (,) to a second roller (,). The pair of dough strips are drawn under tension through the nip of the rollers (,) in a face to face stacked orientation. The snack products are cut and shaped by cavities (,) in the cutting discs (

Dough forming apparatus and methods

Apparatus and methods of fabricating half products in the field of puffed snack piece fabrication are disclosed including a rotary cutter (16) having an opposed pair of rollers (18). At least one of the rollers (18) of the rotary cutter (16) has cavities (112) arranged in a first, central portion (110) which stamp out first pieces and cavities (118) arranged in second and third, boundary portions (114, 116) for stamping out second pieces from the remaining portions of a continuous dough sheet (14). The first pieces are of the desired shape and size for the half products, and the second pieces are of a size and shape mechanically separable from the first pieces. In first preferred forms, the first pieces have tesselated shapes allowing the cavities (112) in the central portion (110) to be in a tight, juxtapositional pattern. In other preferred forms, the second pieces have nontesselated shapes, with pockets (113) of a pyramid shape located in the central portion (110) between the cavities (112) to reduce migration of the scrap material into the cavities (112) while the first pieces are stamped from the continuous dough sheet (14). After stamping, the first and second pieces are dried in an oven (134) and then separated by a separator (136). The dried first pieces form the half product. The dried second pieces can be ground in a grinder (138) and added to the ingredients (120) forming the dough prior to or during mixing in mixer (122). The mixed ingredients (120) are cooked and extruded as dough for formation into a sheet (12) by a sheeting apparatus (124). In the preferred form, the sheet (12) is flipped and aligned into a folded continuous two-ply sheet (14) prior to entering the rotary cutter (16).

Apparatus and methods for recouping scrap dough material

Food product

Apparatus and methods of fabricating half products in the field of puffed snack piece fabrication are disclosed including a rotary cutter (16) having an opposed pair of rollers (18). At least one of the rollers (18) of the rotary cutter (16) has cavities (112) arranged in a first, central portion (110) which stamp out first pieces and cavities (118) arranged in second and third, boundary portions (114, 116) for stamping out second pieces from the remaining portions of a continuous dough sheet (14). The first pieces are of the desired shape and size for the half products, and the second pieces are of a size and shape mechanically separable from the first pieces. After stamping, the first and second pieces are dried in an oven (134) and then separated by a separator (136). The dried first pieces form the half product. The dried second pieces can be ground in a grinder (138) and added to the ingredients (120) forming the dough prior to or during mixing in mixer (122). The mixed ingredients (120) are cooked and extruded as dough for formation into a sheet (12) by a sheeting apparatus (124). In the preferred form, the sheet (12) is flipped and aligned into a folded continuous two-ply sheet (14) prior to entering the rotary cutter (16).

A single continuous dough sheet (12) is conveyed by a conveyor (20) up an incline to a dough tension and drive system (38). In the system (38), the dough sheet (12) passes around a lower drive roller (40), around an intermediate drive roller (42), and around an upper drive roller (44). The dough sheet (12) extends at a downward angle to an idler roller (80) which directs the dough sheet (12) generally vertically downward in a flat condition. A wishbone pushing element (82) having a rounded V-shape forms the first face of the dough sheet (12) into a generally V-shape having two wings. The wings of the V-shape are then guided by an aligning element (96) such as laterally spaced rollers (98, 100) which roll on the opposite face of the wings to form a folded, two-ply continuous dough sheet (14). The angular relationship of the legs (84, 86) of the pushing element (82), the lateral spacing of the rollers (98, 100 ) of the aligning element (96) and the three dimensional positioning of the pushing element (82) and the aligning element (96) can be adjusted to insure that the free edges in the folded continuous dough sheet (14) are aligned relative to each other.

Method of flipping and aligning a dough sheet

A single continuous dough sheet is conveyed by a conveyor up an incline to a dough tension and drive system. In the system, the dough sheet passes around a lower drive roller, around an intermediate drive roller, and around an upper drive roller. The dough sheet extends at a downward angle to an idler roller which directs the dough sheet generally vertically downward in a flat condition. A wishbone pushing element having a rounded V-shape forms the first face of the dough sheet into a generally V-shape having two wings. The wings of the V-shape are then guided by an aligning element such as laterally spaced rollers which roll on the opposite face of the wings to form a folded, two-ply continuous dough sheet. The angular relationship of the legs of the pushing element, the lateral spacing of the rollers of the aligning element and the three dimensional positioning of the pushing element and the aligning element can be adjusted to insure that the free edges in the folded continuous dough sheet are aligned relative to each other.

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Plymouth, MN, United States of America

William C Bornhorst