Device for weighing dough and method for operating such device

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device for weighing dough, comprising an endless conveyor, for conveying a plurality of endless or continuous dough pieces extending essentially in parallel lanes on said conveyor in a direction of conveyance, a weighing-unit, arranged under the endless conveyor, characterised in that the weighing unit comprises multiple weighing rows, spread over the width of the conveyor, each row comprising at least one rectangular weighing section, for independently of the other weighing sections weighing a different dough piece of said plurality of endless or continuous dough pieces. The invention further relates to a method for operating such device.

Claims

1. A device for weighing and cutting dough, comprising: an endless conveyor, for conveying a plurality of elongated dough pieces extending essentially in parallel lanes on said conveyor in a direction of conveyance; a weighing-unit, arranged under the endless conveyor, wherein the weighing-unit comprises multiple weighing rows, substantially spread over the width of the conveyor, wherein the weighing unit does not extend to the full width of the conveyor whereby a space is defined between outer weighing rows and outer edges of the conveyor; a processor in communication with the endless conveyor and the weighing-unit for receiving weight information from the weighing-unit and displacement information from the conveyor, wherein: each of the multiple weighing rows comprises at least one rectangular weighing section, each of the weighing rows and the at least one rectangular weighing section therein being configured to weigh an elongated dough piece arranged in the lane over the respective weighing row independently of any other one of the multiple weighing rows and any other rectangular weighing section any other one of the multiple weighing rows, at least one row of the multiple weighing rows comprises a plurality of horizontal rectangular weighing sections covered by the endless conveyor, the plurality of horizontal rectangular weighing sections being arranged adjacently behind each other in the direction of conveyance, each of the multiple weighing rows is configured to weigh elongated dough pieces that a length greater than a total length of the horizontal rectangular weighing section or sections in the respective weighing row, and the processor is configured to determine a weight per unit length of the elongated dough piece based on the received weighing information from the weighing-unit and the displacement information from the conveyor; and at least one cutting unit, responsive to the weight per unit length from the processor, downstream from the weighing unit, each of the at least one cutting unit for cutting one of the parallel dough pieces.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to generate a control signal for a further processing device of each lane for controlling the further processing device based on the determined weight.

3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one cutting unit comprises a plurality of cutting units.

4. The device according to claim 1, wherein each of the horizontal rectangular weighing sections in the at least one row comprising a plurality of horizontal rectangular weighing sections have different lengths.

5. The device according to claim 1, wherein a weighing section is formed by a table, having a length between 5 and 80cm.

6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the weighing unit comprises a weighing area, wherein weighing rows and weighing sections, are configurable.

7. The device according to claim 6, wherein the weighing area comprises a weighing matrix, with weighing cells, from which weighing sections can be defined.

8. The device according to claim 7, wherein the cells have a size equal or less than 22 cm.

9. The device according to claim 7, wherein the cells have a size equal or less than 11 cm.

10. The device according to claim 7, wherein the cells have a size equal or less than 33 cm.

11. The device according to claim 1, wherein each of the rectangular weighing sections of the at least one row comprising a plurality of horizontal rectangular weighing sections is configured to independently weigh a sub-piece of the elongated dough piece arranged in the lane.

12. The device of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to determine a weight per unit length of the elongated dough piece based on the based on the weights of the sub-pieces of the elongated dough piece measured by the plurality of horizontal rectangular weighing sections and the displacement information from the conveyor.

13. The device according to claim 1, wherein each of the multiple weighing rows begins and ends at the same point as the other weighing rows.

14. The device according to claim 1, wherein the rectangular weighing sections of the weighing rows are aligned with each other in a grid-like array.

15. The device according to claim 1, wherein each of the multiple weighing rows comprises a plurality of horizontal rectangular weighing sections that are arranged so that each of multiple rows has horizontal rectangular weighing sections that are substantially identical to and aligned with the horizontal rectangular weighing sections in the adjacent weighing row.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The invention will now be elucidated into more detail with reference to the following figures. Herein:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a device according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a device according to a second embodiment of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a device according to a third embodiment of the present invention; and

(5) FIG. 4 shows a device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

(6) FIG. 1 shows a device 1 for weighing dough, comprising an endless conveyor 2 (partly shown) for conveying a plurality of endless or continuous dough pieces extending essentially in parallel lanes on said conveyor in a direction of conveyance; a weighing-unit, arranged under the endless conveyor, comprising multiple weighing rows spread over the width of the conveyor, wherein each row comprises at least one rectangular weighing section 3, 4, 5 (normally covered with the endless conveyor), for independently of the other weighing sections weighing a different dough piece of said plurality of endless or continuous dough pieces.

(7) FIG. 2 shows a device 6 for weighing dough, comprising an endless conveyor 7 for conveying a plurality of endless or continuous dough pieces 8, 9, 10, 11 extending essentially in parallel lanes on said conveyor in a direction of conveyance.

(8) For ruling out, or at least avoiding influence of the tension of the conveyor on the measurement, the conveyor is arranged slackly in a width direction. Thereto, it may be provided with one or more transition parts, arranged slightly inward of the outer edges of the conveyor in the width direction, and wherein the transition parts are arranged to provide the middle part in between the transition part with a substantially flexible suspension in a direction perpendicular to a plane defined by the width direction and the direction of conveyance.

(9) In the embodiment shown, the outer edges of the conveyor comprise a toothed belt, and wherein the device comprises gear drive for driving the conveyor. A drive configuration with a toothed belt is free of slip, and allows to determine and to keep track of the exact position of the belt. The conveyor may preferably be driven at both sides, and may further comprise a line, extending over the with of the conveyor perpendicular to the direction of conveyance, for verifying a correct placement of the conveyor with respect to the gear drive. Other belts may be used as well in combination with the features of the present embodiment.

(10) The device further comprises a weighing-unit 12, arranged under the endless conveyor, comprising multiple weighing rows 13, 14, 15, 16, spread over the width of the conveyor, each row comprising two rectangular weighing sections (normally covered by the conveyor) 13a, 13b, 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b, 16a, 16b, for independently of the other weighing sections weighing a different dough piece of said plurality of endless or continuous dough pieces.

(11) FIG. 2 also shows that the device 6 further includes a processor P for receiving weight information from the weighing sections 13a, 13b, 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b, 16a, 16b and displacement information from the conveyor 7. The processor P determines the weight per unit length of the dough pieces 8, 9, 10, 11 on each lane of the conveyor 7 based on the weight information and the displacement information. The device may also include one or more further processing devices, such as cutting units C positioned downstream of the weighing sections 13a, 13b, 14a, 14b, 15a, 15b, 16a, 16b. Each cutting unit C is associated with one of the lanes of the conveyor 7 and is configured to cut one of the parallel dough pieces 8, 9, 10, 11. The processor P may further be configured to generate a control signal for controlling each cutting unit C based on the determined weight, such as the cumulative weight per lane.

(12) FIG. 3 shows a device 17 for weighing dough, comprising an endless conveyor 18 for conveying a plurality of endless or continuous dough pieces 18, 19, 20, 21 extending essentially in parallel lanes on said conveyor in a direction of conveyance, a weighing-unit, arranged under the endless conveyor, comprising multiple weighing rows, spread over the width of the conveyor, each row comprising four rectangular weighing sections 22a-d, 23a-d, 24a-d, 25a-d, for independently of the other weighing sections weighing a different dough piece of said plurality of endless or continuous dough pieces 18, 19, 20, 21.

(13) In the embodiments from FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, a weighing section may typically be formed by a table, having a length between 5 and 80 cm. For instance, in FIG. 3 weighing sections 22-25a have lengths of 300 mm, weighing sections 22-25b have lengths of 200 mm, weighing sections 22-25c have lengths of 100 mm and weighing sections 22-25d have lengths of 50 mm. A length here is to be seen in the direction of conveyance. The width of all sections may be equal, and chosen such that the required width of the conveyor can be used.

(14) The device according to the invention may even have an exchangeable weighing section, that allows to quickly replace the weighing tables. In such case, the configurations from FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 can be realized in one and the same device.

(15) FIG. 4 shows a further embodiment of a device 26 according to the present invention, wherein the weighing device comprises a weighing area 27, wherein weighing rows and weighing sections, are configurable. As shown in the figure, the weighing area comprises a weighing matrix, with weighing cells a1, etc, from which weighing sections can be defined, or freely configured, as is shown in scheme 28. These cells for instance have a size equal or less than 33 cm, preferably equal or less than 22 cm, and even more preferably equal or less than 11 cm. A dough cube of 11 cm as depicted in FIG. 4 has a weight of 0,5 to 1 gram.

(16) The matrix may be formed by a touch-screen like device over which the endless conveyor moves, or a configurable array of sensitive piezo elements, or a foil with a printed circuit that contacts locally when a pressure is applied, or other solutions known in the art.

(17) Not only can a weight be determined very precisely with this embodiment, but it is also possible to determine shapes of dough pieces conveyed over the conveyor.