Method and device for creating blanks from pieces of dough from one or more webs of dough

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for creating blanks from pieces of dough, in particular triangular pieces of dough, from at least one web of dough, comprising a plurality of cutting tools which cut an edge of the pieces of dough as a result of a movement oriented against the at least one web of dough and comprising a conveyor belt device on which the at least one web of dough is conveyed. The cutting tools are arranged on a drum, which is driven in a rotating manner, via tool holders, said drum being superimposed with a vertical movement such that one or more cutting tools 1 which can be found circulating about the drum are moved parallel to the conveyor belt device as a result of the superimposed sequence of movements of the drum rotation and the vertical movement of the drum.

Claims

1. A device (100) for creating blanks of triangular pieces of dough (4) from at least one sheet of dough (2), comprising a plurality of cutting tools (1) which, as a result of a movement directed against the at least one sheet of dough (2), cut an edge (3) of the pieces of dough (4), and a conveyor belt device (5) on which the at least one sheet of dough (2) is conveyed, characterized in that the cutting tools (1) are arranged via tool carriers (6) on a drum (7) which is driven in a rotating manner and on which a vertical movement (8) is superimposed in such a manner that, by means of the superimposed sequence of movement of the drum rotation (9) and the vertical movement of the drum (7), one or more cutting tools (1) which are in circulation around the drum (7) are moved parallel to the conveyor belt device (5).

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that a plurality of cutting tools (1) are fastened on the tool carriers (6) which are assigned thereto and are driven rotatably, and mounted, within the drum (7), which is driven in a rotating manner, in such a manner that the cutting tools (1) face toward the at least one sheet of dough (2) at least during the cutting operation.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, after completion of the cutting operation, the cutting tools (1) execute a rotational movement about a vertical axis (11).

4. The device as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that, in order to trigger the rotational movement of the cutting tools (1) which are coupled in a vertically rotatable manner, a control element (12) is mounted in the region of the tool carrier (6) so as to be movably displaceable parallel to the axis of rotation of the drum (7).

5. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the horizontal control movement of the control element (12) of the tool carrier (6) takes place by means of a curved track (14) acting on said control element.

6. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the vertical movement of the drum (7) is controllable by means of at least one slotted guide track (16).

7. The device as claimed in claim 6, characterized in that the at least one slotted guide track (16) is arranged in the side region (17) of the drum (7).

8. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that, for the vertical movement, the drum (7) is mounted via pivot arms (18) on a pivot spindle (19) which is spaced apart from the axis of rotation (13) of said drum.

9. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that two groups of cutting tools (1) are arranged on the drum (7), wherein one group of cutting tools (1a) executes a right-rotating movement about a substantially vertical axis after the cutting operation and the other group of cutting tools (1b) executes a left-rotating movement about a substantially vertical axis after the cutting operation.

10. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the cutting tools (1) are arranged on tool inserts (20) which are provided with downwardly pointing dough engagement projections (21).

11. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the conveyor belt device (5) has at least one supply conveyor belt (22) and at least one removal conveyor belt (10), wherein the supply conveyor belt (22) ends in the region below the drum (7) and merges into the removal conveyor belt (10), the speed of which is adjustable relative to the speed of the supply conveyor belt (22).

12. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the rotational speed of the drum (7) relative to the speed of the conveyor belts (10, 22) is controllable.

13. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the cut pieces of dough (4) are rotatable in relation to the surface of the conveyor belt (22, 10) and/or are liftable from the surface of the conveyor belt by means of the dough engagement projections (21).

14. The device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the vertical movement (8) of the drum (7) takes place by means of an electric, hydraulic or pneumatic controllable drive.

15. A method for creating blanks of triangular pieces of dough (4) from one or more sheets of dough (2, 2), comprising the following features: providing a plurality of cutting tools (1) which, as a result of a movement directed against the sheet of dough (2), cut an edge of the pieces of dough (4); providing at least one conveyor belt device (5) for conveying the at least one sheet of dough (2, 2), characterized in that a first group of cutting tools (1a) cuts a first edge (3) of the piece of dough (4), wherein, during the engagement of the cutting tools (1), the cutting tools (1) are moved parallel to the conveyor belt (10, 22) by means of a superimposed sequence of movement of a drum rotation (9) and a vertical movement (8) of the drum (7), and a rotation of the pieces of dough (4) cut off from the at least one sheet of dough takes place during said parallel movement.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, characterized in that, during the rotation, the pieces of dough (4) are lifted from the conveyor track.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15, characterized in that a left rotation of the pieces of dough (4) takes place in conjunction with a first group of cutting tools (1a) and a right rotation of the pieces of dough (4) takes place in conjunction with a subsequent group of cutting tools (1b).

18. The method as claimed in claim 15, characterized in that the rotated pieces of dough (4) are conveyed away in one or more lines lying one behind another on the conveyor belt (10).

Description

(1) The invention is explained in more detail with reference to exemplary embodiments in the figures of the drawing, in which:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a schematic top view of a device according to the invention;

(3) FIG. 2 shows a schematic side view of the device according to FIG. 1;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a perspective detailed view of the cutting tool drum, which is provided in the device, with its position elements and the cutting tools arranged therein;

(5) FIG. 4 shows a further perspective view of the cutting tool drum arranged in the device;

(6) FIG. 5 shows a side view of the cutting tool drum;

(7) FIG. 6 shows a section through the cutting tool drum and the conveyor belts, which are located therebelow, at a right angle to the drum spindle;

(8) FIG. 7 shows a top view of the drum arranged above the conveyor belts;

(9) FIG. 8 shows a schematic illustration of the slotted guide track arranged in the side region of the drum and of the lifting distance, which is caused by said slotted guide track, of the drum spindle with respect to the angle of rotation of the cutting tool drum;

(10) FIG. 9 shows a schematic illustration of the cutting tools arranged on tool carriers and the coupling of said cutting tools in order to trigger a slotted-guide-controlled rotational movement about a vertical axis.

(11) The device 100 (only illustrated schematically in its entirety in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2) for creating blanks of pieces of dough 4 from at least one sheet of dough 2, 2 has a plurality of cutting tools 1 which, as a result of a movement directed against the at least one sheet of dough 2, cut an edge 3 of the pieces of dough 4, wherein the sheet of dough 2 or the pieces of dough 4 are conveyed on a conveyor belt device 5.

(12) In addition, the entire device 100 has dough rollers 102 for rolling out the sheet of dough 2 and a cutting device 103 in order to separate the sheet of dough 2 into sheets of dough 2 lying next to one another.

(13) Said sheets of dough 2 lying next to one another are brought into a laterally spaced-apart position on what is referred to as an expansion table 104 and then move via a supply table 105 into a cutting device 106 in which the drum 7 with the cutting tools 1 is accommodated in order to cut the pieces of dough 4. Said cut pieces of dough 4 are then brought via a removal table 107 to a winding station 108 connected downstream.

(14) According to the core of the invention, the cutting tools 1 are arranged via tool carriers 6 on a drum 7, which is driven in a rotating manner and on which a vertical movement 8 is superimposed in such a manner that, by means of the superimposed sequence of movement of the drum rotations 9 and the vertical movement 8, one or more cutting tools 1 which are in circulation around the drum 7 are moved parallel to the conveyor belts 10 of the conveyor belt device 5, which conveyor belts are arranged under the drum 7. The cutting tools 1 are fastened for this purpose in an advantageous manner on the tool carriers which are assigned thereto and are driven rotatably, and mounted, within the drum 7, which is driven in a rotating manner, in such a manner that the cutting tools 1 are directed downward at least during the cutting operation, i.e. during the engagement in the at least one sheet of dough 2.

(15) After completion of the actual cutting operation and of an expansion operation in relation to the incoming strip of dough, the cutting tools 1 execute a rotational movement about a vertical axis 11, wherein, in order to trigger the rotational movement, the cutting tools are driven in the region of the tool carrier via a control element 12 which is mounted so as to be movably displaceable parallel to the axis of rotation 13 of the drum 7.

(16) The horizontal control movement of the control element 12 for the tool carriers 6 takes place by means of a curved track 14 which acts on the end of the control element 12 and is sensed by a sensing element 15 which is connected by a lever to the end of the rod-like control elements 12.

(17) The vertical movement up and down of the drum 7 is controlled in the exemplary embodiment by means of curved tracks 16 which are arranged in the side regions 17 of the drum 7 and can form, as it were, the side walls of the drum 7. So that the drum 7 can be moved upward and downward, the drum 7 is mounted via pivot arms 18 on a pivot spindle 19 which is spaced apart from the axis of rotation 13 of said drum.

(18) Two groups of cutting tools 1 are arranged on the drum 7; a first group of cutting tools 11a executes a right-rotating movement after the cutting operation, and a second group of cutting tools 21b executes a left-rotating movement after the cutting operation. These alternative rotations to the right and to the left lead to the fact that pieces of dough which, in the exemplary embodiment, are triangular are all aligned, after the cutting of their edges, in such a manner that they firstly point with a triangle base in the removal direction and are secondly oriented one behind another on the conveyor belt in a plurality of rowsdepending on the number of cutting tools per tool carrierand can thus be transported away in a row.

(19) The cutting tools 1 are arranged on tool inserts 20 which are provided with downwardly pointing dough engagement projections 21 in order to ensure a reliable rotation of the cut-off pieces of dough 4.

(20) In a customary manner, the conveyor belt device 5 has at least one supply conveyor belt 22 and at least the removal conveyor belt 10 that has already been mentioned, wherein the supply conveyor belt 22 ends in the region under the drum 7 and merges into the removal conveyor belt 10, the speed of which can be adjusted relative to the speed of the supply conveyor belt 22. The rotational speed of the drum 7 is, for its part, adjustable relative to the speed of the removal conveyor belt 10 and of the supply conveyor belt 22.

(21) The cut pieces of dough 4 are rotated in relation to the surface of the supply and removal conveyor belt 22, 10 by means of the dough engagement projections 21 and by means of the cutting tools 1 and are lifted from the respective surface of the conveyor belt of the supply or removal conveyor belt 22, 10.

(22) In the case of the method which can be carried out by a device of this type, a first group of cutting tools 1a cuts a first edge of the piece of dough 4 and a second subsequent group of cutting tools 1b cuts a second edge of the piece of dough 4. During the engagement of the cutting tools 1, a parallel movement of the cutting tools 1 relative to the conveyor belt 10, 22 is achieved by the superimposed sequence of movement of the drum rotation and the vertical movement of the drum 7, and a rotation of the piece of dough 4, which has been cut off from the at least one sheet of dough, about a vertical axis takes place during said parallel movement in such a manner that the pieces of dough, as is visible particularly clearly in FIG. 2, are removed with a triangle base in the conveying direction 24.

(23) The rotation of the tool carriers 6 within the drum 7 is achieved by belt drives 30 which are arranged in a side region of the drum 7 and ensure that the cutting blades are directed downward during the drum rotation.

(24) FIG. 8 once more illustrates how the movement up and down 35 of the axis of rotation 13 is controlled by the curved tracks 16 in the side region of the drum 7. The superimposed rotation of the drum 7 and its movement up and down 35 lead to the cutting blades being guided substantially horizontally during their engagement in the dough, as a result of which a reliable rotation and orientation of the pieces of dough can take place.

(25) It can clearly be seen in FIG. 7 how the tool inserts 20 are fastened to the tool carriers and can be rotated via the control element 12. The control element 12 is connected via an intermediate element 26, with the pretensioning of a spring 25, to a sensing element 15 which rolls along the curved track 14 and therefore undertakes a collective rotation of the tool inserts 20 about the vertical axes.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

(26) 1 Cutting tool 1a Group of cutting tools 1 1b Group of cutting tools 2 2,2 Sheet of dough 3 Edge 4 Piece of dough 5 Conveyor belt device 6 Tool carrier 7 Drum 8 Movement (vertically) 9 Drum rotation 10 Removal conveyor belt 11 Vertical axis 12 Control element 13 Axis of rotation of 7 14 Curved track 15 Sensing element 16 Slotted guide track 17 Side region 18 Pivot arms 19 Pivot spindle of 7 20 Tool insert 21 Dough engagement projections 22 Supply conveyor belt 24 Conveying direction 30 Belt drive 35 Movement up and down 100 Device 102 Dough rollers 103 Cutting device 104 Expansion table 105 Supply table 106 Cutting device 107 Removal table 108 Winding station