Pizza making method and system

Abstract

The invention provides an automated method and apparatus for pizza production which is initiated by individual order placement and uses only fresh ingredients (no ingredients are frozen, pre-prepared or pre-cooked). Each dough portion is individually and mechanically prepared from flour and other fresh, pre-proportioned ingredients. The dough portion passes through a series of shaping and pre-heating processing stations to prepare a flattened and partially baked pizza base. Using a preheated or continuously heated conveying tray, the pizza base passes under a number of metering and distribution devices for selected application of tomato sauce and/or various other toppings according to the order. Baking occurs in one of multiple ovens to complete pizza preparation. Multiple ovens are provided to facilitate the automated preparation of multiple pizzas at any given time. A tray conveying system transports one or more trays through the various processing stations to accommodate multiple orders at the same time.

Description

RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] The present application is a continuation-in-part of applicant's co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 832,409, filed 11 Apr. 2001, entitled “Method and Device for Producing Pizza”, which application is a divisional application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09 / 294,702, filed 19 Apr. 1999 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,245,370), which application is a continuation-in-part of Patent Cooperation Treaty Application No. PCT / EP98 / 05093, filed 12 Aug. 1998, which application claims priority to Italian Patent Application No. BZ97A000044, filed 19 Aug. 1997. [0002] The present application is a continuation-in-part of Patent Cooperation Treaty Application No. PCT / EP01 / 04656, filed 25 Apr. 2001, entitled “Dough Mixer with Metering Device”, which application claims priority to European Patent Application No. 00109611.4, filed 5 May 2000. [0003] The present application claims priority under 35 USC § 119(a) to Italian Patent Application No. BZ2001A000033, filed 7 ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0033] The automatic cutting device of the present invention provides a simple, easy-to-clean cutting and transfer device that uses some of its cutting movements to transfer the pizza. The present invention attaches a sheet that slides vertically by its own weight or by spring action to a side of a plate provided with blades. After cutting the pizza, the sheet holds the cut pizza in the cutting position as the plate that supports the pizza during cutting moves horizontally to drop the pizza onto a top box of a stack of take-out boxes disposed below.

Problems solved by technology

The known devices are not designed for preparing individual dough portions per work cycle within relatively short periods of time and by charging with ingredients in individual portions; further, known devices do not provide that each dough portion prepared and discharged for shaping leaves no ingredients or dough residue inside the device.

The known devices are also not designed to perform a periodic, completely automatic sterilization of the kneading chamber and elements.

Also known in the art is the problem of charging kneading devices with relatively exact volumetric amounts of flour or flour-like ingredients which are hydroscopic.

Such problems result from the tendency of flour-like materials to form accumulations or agglomerates inside the container, that varying the material volume above the metering mechanism strongly affects the metering process and that it is difficult to achieve an even filling and/or emptying of the metering chamber.

Systems with a plurality of tubes and nozzles are unsuitable for liquids such as tomato sauce as tomato sauces are rarely homogenous in fluidity and texture.

As such, the individual nozzles fed from one single supply tube rarely dispense equa

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