Dough Extruder with Low-Pressure Laminar Flow for Cracker Texture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dough extrusion methods for cracker products face challenges with variations in gluten content and extrusion pressures, leading to inconsistent textures and structures, particularly the production of glassy rather than crisp cracker textures, and require high gluten content flours.
Innovation Solution
A dough extruder with a straight extended low-friction compression head and a die plate oriented perpendicular to the laminar flow, using a compression generator to maintain pressures below 120 psi, and a die plate with specific geometries to ensure laminar flow and minimize pressure drop, allowing for the production of a continuous dough rope with uniform density and texture without high gluten flours.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If high extrusion pressures are used to ensure dough structure, then the dough can be extruded effectively, but the cracker texture becomes hard and glassy rather than crisp
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the extrusion pressure parameter from high pressure to low pressure (less than 120 psi), fundamentally altering the extrusion conditions to achieve the desired cracker texture without glassiness while maintaining adequate dough structure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs a die plate with convex tapers and curved surfaces that guide the dough through a smooth, laminar flow path, reducing turbulence and preventing glassy texture formation while maintaining structural integrity
2Object-affected harmful factors
If high gluten content flours are used to achieve desired texture, then the cracker texture improves, but the ingredient requirements and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the reliance on high gluten content (chemical/material property) with a mechanically optimized extrusion system featuring a straight extended compression head and perpendicular die plate, achieving texture improvement through process control rather than ingredient composition
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the extrusion parameters (pressure, temperature, flow characteristics) to compensate for using lower gluten flours, allowing acceptable cracker texture to be achieved without requiring high gluten content ingredients
3Loss of energy
If the die plate is oriented perpendicular to the laminar flow to minimize pressure drop, then the dough flow is optimized, but the extrusion pressure control becomes more challenging
Solution Approach 1:
The patent incorporates pressure sensing and control mechanisms that provide feedback to adjust the compression head force in real-time, maintaining optimal extrusion pressure while the die plate geometry minimizes pressure drop through laminar flow design
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables the production of baked crackers with a non-glassy, crisp texture and uniform leavened cell structure, reducing the need for high gluten flours and minimizing dough weight variation, resulting in a crunchy, organoleptic cracker product with fine bubble cells.
Implementation Method 1
a compression generator configured to extrude a plastic mass in a laminar flow in the range of about less than 120 psi
Implementation Method 2
a die plate attached to a downstream opening of the compression chamber, the die plate being horizontally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the compressive force and laminar flow of the plastic mass
Data Source
AI summary
A dough extruder is disclosed that is configured to provide a continuous dough rope suitable for cracker products using a straight extended low friction compression chamber and a die plate oriented substantially perpendicular to a laminar flow of the dough. In one embodiment, the extruder can have a compressive force sufficient to extrude a plastic mass in a laminar flow in the range of about less than 120 psi; a compression chamber providing for an interior coefficient of friction in the range of about 0.2 and 0.35; and a die plate horizontally aligned with the longitudinal axis of the compressive force.