DOUGH DIVIDER WITH REMOVABLE KNIVES

Description

2. Connect the roller to the drive means. This locking rod extends through an opening provided for this purpose in the lockable blades. Advantageously, the aforementioned support is part of the cutting blades and comprises support blades having slots extending in a transverse direction relative to the longitudinal direction of the blades from a longitudinal edge 5 of these support blades. The intermediate blades also have transverse slots on the edge opposite the edge having the slots that interlock the locking blades. The support blades are arranged in the row such that the locking blades and the support blades extend substantially parallel to each other and so that the slots of the support blades interlock the intermediate blades 10 at the location of the slots of the intermediate blades while these latter slots interlock the support blades. Preferably, the support blades are supported by the said locking rod.According to an advantageous embodiment, the blades have a cutting edge and a non-cutting edge along their longitudinal direction, the cutting edges of the blades extending along the same plane. According to a preferred embodiment of the divider, the lockable blades and / or support blades have fixing rings on the non-cutting side to accommodate the locking rod. According to an interesting embodiment, the blades have a substantially identical height transversely to their longitudinal direction, the fixing rings extending beyond this height. According to a very interesting embodiment, the slots provided in the blades have a width in the longitudinal direction of the blades that is greater than the thickness of the blades fitted into these slots. Generally, in the position furthest from the bottom and the grid, the grid is located below the bottom. According to an alternative form of realization, in the position far from the background and the grid, the grid is located above the background.30 Other details and features of the invention will become apparent from the following description, given by way of non-limiting example, of some particular embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings. BE2026 / 7038 3 Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of a dough divider, according to the invention, with a grid. Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view of a detail of the grid with the locking rod in a locked position. Figure 3 is an exploded schematic perspective view of the disassembled grid. Figure 4 is a schematic top view of a grid according to the invention. Figure 5 is a schematic top view of the subdivided base of a dough divider. Figure 6 is a schematic side view of a divider with the grid in a distant position below the base. Figure 7 is a schematic side view of the divider in Figure 6 with the grid and the base in a close-up position.Figure 8 shows a schematic perspective view of another embodiment of a dough divider according to the invention, comprising a cylindrical tank equipped with a grid. Figure 9 is a view similar to that of Figure 8, in which the grid is shown disassembled, in an exploded view. Figure 10 illustrates the grid of Figure 9 in an exploded view, at a larger scale. In the different figures, the same reference numerals refer to the same or similar elements. The dough divider, according to the invention, is intended to cut a mass of dough into pieces by means of a grid comprising cutting blades.25 This machine, according to a first interesting embodiment of the invention, is schematically represented in Figures 1 to 7 and comprises a frame1 with a tank2 provided with a bottom3 and a dividing device comprising a movable grid7 which is displaceable in a substantially vertical direction. The upper side of the tank2 has an access opening4.30 The grid 7, shown in Figures 2 to 4, has meshes 9 defined by intersecting cutting blades 10 to divide the dough mass 8 into pieces 11. In the embodiment of the divider shown in the figures, the meshes 9 are rectangular, but can also be circular or have other shapes. 35 BE2026 / 7038 4 The cutting blades 10 have a cutting edge 21 and a non-cutting edge 22 and include support blades 13, intermediate blades 14 and locking blades 15. The cutting blades 10 have transverse slots 16 which are wider than the thickness of these blades 10 and which are provided for mounting the intermediate blades 14 on the support blades 13 and the locking blades 15 on the 5 intermediate blades14. In this way the cutting blades10 are nested one inside the other to form the grid7. To this end, the transverse slots16 include front slots17 with entry19 at the cutting side21 of the cutting blade10 and / or rear slots18 with entry20 at the non-cutting side22 of the cutting blade10.The front slots 17 and rear slots 18 cooperate to connect the cutting blades 10 transversely, with the cutting edges 21 preferably in the same plane. The support blades 13 have front slots 17 to accommodate the intermediate blades 14 with their rear slots 18 provided to accommodate the support blades 13. The locking blades 15 have rear slots 15 to enclose the cutting blades 14 with their front slots 17 provided to accommodate the locking blades 15. A locking rod 23 is provided to hold the cutting blades 10 in position when they are interlocked to form the grid 7. This locking rod 23 ensures, in particular, the relative immobilization of the cutting blades 20 10 with, preferably, a certain amount of play. Preferably, in a locked position, the rod 23 extends through the lockable blades 15 and beyond the non-cutting side 22 of the support blades 13, as shown in Figure 3. The lockable blades 15 have openings, in particular rings 24, to accommodate the rod 23.The cross-section 25 of these openings or rings 24 is preferably larger than the cross-section of the rod 23, particularly in the longitudinal direction of the locking blades 15. Preferably, the cross-section of the rings 24 is such that it allows the rod 23 to be loosely positioned in the rings 24, preferably with a freedom of movement equal to half the thickness of the blades 1030 up to three times the thickness of the blades 10. The cross-section of the rings 24 in the longitudinal direction of the locking blades 15 is, for example, equal to the cross-section of the rod 23 increased by half the thickness of the blades BE2026 / 7038 5 10 up to five times the thickness of the blades 10. Consequently, a free space between the rings24 and rod23 are provided. Because of this, grid7 is mounted somewhat mobile and / or loosely connected with respect to rod23. Rod23 extends preferably perpendicularly to the lockable blades15 and support blades13. Therefore, locking rod23 is preferably parallel to the intermediate blades14.It is also possible for the rod 23 to extend through the locking blades 15 and also through the support blades 13, which is not shown in the figures. As with the locking blades 15, the rod 23 can also be loosely positioned through the support blades 13.10 Thus, it is not necessary to fix the blades 10 with screws. Therefore, the grid 7 is easily removed by pulling out the rod 23, which can be done quickly and without tools. The grid 7 is mounted in a movable manner in the tank 2 and can be moved relative to the bottom 3, in a substantially vertical direction, through this bottom 3, by means of a drive device 12, as shown in figures 6 and 7. For this purpose, the bottom 3 is composed of slots 6 separated by passage slots 5 to allow the cutting blades 10 of the grid 7 to pass through, as shown in figures 5 and 6. The slots 6 are therefore inserted into the meshes 9 of the grid 7. The bottom 3 and the grid 7 can extend substantially parallel to each other.20 The grid 7 is fixed to the drive device 12 by means of eyelets 25 through which the locking rod 23 extends, as shown in Figure 2. Therefore, the eyelets 25, or another means of fixing, allow the rod 23 to be fixed to the drive device 12. In a position far from the grid 7 relative to the bottom 3, a quantity 25 of a mass of dough 8 can be spread on the bottom 3 of the vat 2 and can rest on this bottom 3 without the cutting blades 10 passing through the mass of dough 8. In this position, the grid 7 with the cutting blades 10 extends below the bottom 3. In a position close to the grid 7 in relation to the bottom 3, the cutting blades 10 pass through the mass of dough 8 when it rests on the bottom 3 of 30 bowl 2. When moving the grid 7 across the bottom 3, the cutting blades 10 are pushed through the mass of dough 8 in order to form the dough pieces 11. In this position closely positioned, the cutting blades 10 therefore first pass through the passage slots BE2026 / 7038 6 5 of the bottom 3 of the tank 2 and then the mass of dough 8 when it rests on the bottom 3 of the tank 2, in particular, on the trowels 6 of the bottom 3.The grid 7 can be fixed by the rod 23 to the drive device 12, as shown in figures 2 and 3. Several rods 23 can be provided. Figure 3 shows two rods 23 which are mounted parallel to each other between the grid 7 and the drive device 12. The cutting blades 10 of the grid 7 are preferably interlocked and loosely mounted so that the cutting blades 10 have a freedom of movement relative to each other equal to half the thickness of the blades 10 up to three times the thickness of the cutting blades 10. In this regard, the front slots 17, the rear slots 10 and / or the passage slots 5 have a width that is greater than the thickness of the cutting blades 10, preferably half to three times greater. In particular, a gap is present between the slots and the blades interlocked in these slots that is between half the thickness of the blades and three times the thickness of the blades. This loose arrangement results in a reduction of friction between the grid 7 and the trowels 6 of the 15 bottom3ofthetank2duringthepassingofthecuttingblades10ofthegrill7throughthepassingslots5.For cleaning the grid 7, it is easy to disassemble. The locking rod 23 is removed from the lockable blades 15 to disassemble the grid 7, preferably simply without tools. The lockable blades 15 are then removed from the 20 intermediate blades 14, and then the intermediate blades 14 are removed from the support blades 13. Another embodiment of the divider according to the invention, not shown in the figures, differs from the previous one in that the grid 7 is mounted in its remote position above the bottom 3. In this second embodiment 25, the bottom 3 is not necessarily divided into slots, but can form a continuous surface without the passage slots. The grid 7, which constitutes a dividing device for dividing the dough mass 8 into dough pieces 11, is mounted on the upper side of the vat 2, preferably in a removable manner allowing the grid 7 to be moved between an open position and a closed position 30. In the open position, the vat 2 has an access opening 4.As in the first embodiment, the cutting blades 10 are nested one inside the other to form the grid 7. A locking rod 23 is provided to hold the cutting blades 10 in position when they are nested. The rod 23 can be mounted in a removable frame which allows the grid 7 to move between the open and closed positions. To cut a mass of dough 8 into pieces 11, the grid 7 is moved to its open position to make the vat 2 accessible. A portion of the dough mass 8 is then spread on the bottom 3 and the grid 7 is moved to the closed position 5. The drive device 12 for moving the base 3 and the grid 7 relative to each other, in this embodiment, allows the base 3 to be driven in the tank 2 in order to move it in a vertical direction. The base 3 of the tank 2 and the grid 7, when the latter is in the closed position 10, can be moved between a distant position and a position close to each other.In the distant position, a space is present above the bottom 3, and below the sieve 7, allowing the dough mass 8 to be received. The blades 10 are oriented with their cutting edges towards the bottom 3. When the vat 2 and the sieve 7 are in the close position, the sieve 7 passes through the said space above the bottom 3 and cuts the dough mass 8 present there into dough pieces 11. In this form of realization of the divider, the upper surface of the bottom 3 is adjacent to the lower side of the sieve 7 in the close position. Thus, to form the dough pieces 11, the bottom 3 of the vat 2 is raised by the drive device 12 against the grid 7, causing the dough 8 to pass through the mesh 9 of the grid 7. It would also be possible to move the grid 7 towards the bottom 3. Then, the grid 7 is moved to the open position to remove the dough pieces 11 from the bottom 3 of the vat 2. Figures 8 to 10 show another embodiment of a dough divider 25 according to the invention.This form of embodiment differs from that shown in Figure 1, notably in that the tank 2 is cylindrical, whereas the tank in Figure 1 is rectangular. In a rectangular tank, the cutting blades 10 of the grid 7, which extend parallel to each other, can be made with a substantially identical length 30. On the other hand, when the tank 2 has a cylindrical shape, the circular geometry of the tank implies that the cutting blades 10 have variable lengths, adapted to the circular contour of the tank 2. BE2026 / 7038 8 The grid 7 of this embodiment of the divider comprises, in the example shown, a single lockable blade 15 provided with rings 24, each intended to receive a locking rod 23. In figure 8, an inspection door normally arranged on the front face of the frame 1 has been omitted, so that two locking rods 23 cooperating with the rings 24 of the lockable blade 5 15 are visible.Depending on the dimensions of the tank 2 and / or those of the mesh 9 of the grid 7, the grid 7 may include more than one locking blade 15. The grid 7, which passes through the cylindrical tank with a circular contour 10, includes support blades 13 which interlock with intermediate blades 14 by means of transverse slots 16 in a similar manner as represented in the embodiment of figures 1 to 3. The locking blade 15 interlocks with the intermediate blades 14 in order to form the grid 7 which is lockable to the drive device 12 by means of locking rods 23 in a similar manner to the grid of figures 1 to 3. The grid 7, intended to be inserted into a cylindrical tank with a circular contour, includes support blades 13 which cooperate with intermediate blades 14 through transverse slots 16, said blades being assembled by mutual engagement by means of said slots, in a manner analogous to the 20 form of realization of figures 1 to 3.The locking blade 15 cooperates with the intermediate blades 14 through corresponding gaps, said blades being assembled by mutual engagement, in order to form the grid 7, which is fixed to the drive device 12 by means of locking rods 23 passing through the rings 24 and the eyelets 25 provided for this purpose on the drive device 12. The 25 length of the blades is adapted to the circular contour of the tank 2. In this particular embodiment, two intermediate blades 14a are fixed to each other by means of two support blades 13a and form an assembly 26. In particular, said support blades 13a are fixed to the intermediate blades 14a, extend between them and are arranged transversely 30 with respect to the intermediate blades 14a. Other intermediate blades 14 and support blades 13, not forming part of this assembly 26, may also be present in the grid, as illustrated in grid 7 of figure 10.BE2026 / 7038 9 A grid 7 comprising such an assembly 26 makes it possible to apply the advantages of the invention to dividers equipped with non-rectangular tanks 2, requiring cutting blades 10 of different lengths, for example in the case of a tank 2 having a circular contour. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the different 5 embodiments described above, but that other variants may still be envisaged without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, it is possible that in the second embodiment above, the base 3 is divided into slots 6 and has passage slots 5 for the cutting blades 10 of the grid 7. It is also possible, for example, that the number and / or position of the locking rods, support blades, cutting blades, and / or lockable blades is different from the number and / or position shown in the figures. The rings 24 of the locking blades 15 can be formed at any suitable opening allowing the locking of said locking blades 15 relative to the drive device 12.In particular, according to the invention, the grid 7 is assembled and held in position in the divider by means of at least one removable locking rod 23, said rod being arranged to cooperate directly with some of the cutting blades 10, and in particular with at least one lockable blade 15.20 To this end, the lockable blades 15 each have at least one opening or ring 24, dimensioned and positioned so as to allow the passage of the locking rod 23 when the grid 7 is assembled. The locking rod 23 thus extends, in the locked position, through said passage openings 24 in a direction, preferably, substantially transverse 25 to the longitudinal direction of the lockable blades 15. The locking rod 23 is configured to simultaneously ensure a function of holding the cutting blades 10 assembled together to form the grid 7, and a function of directly fixing the grid 7 to the drive device 12.To this end, the locking rod 23 cooperates directly with the drive device 12, without requiring separate fastening means for assembling the cutting blades 10 and for attaching the grid 7 to the drive device 12. Consequently, the grid 7 can be detached from the drive device 12 and removed by simply withdrawing the locking rod 23, this withdrawal 35 BE2026 / 7038 10 allowing both the release of the cutting blades 10 from each other and the separation of the grid 7 from the drive device 12. Such a co.