Multi-Layer Dough Forming Roller for Precise Layer Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dough forming machines produce oven-baked products with uncontrollable layers of dough, leading to excess or insufficient amounts, and are limited to low production volumes.
Innovation Solution
A forming machine with a rotatable roller having pistons that move between two depths to create specific forming cavities for each dough layer, equipped with hoppers for precise dough feeding and knives to remove excess dough, enabling controlled layer formation and higher production volumes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a single forming roller with movable pistons is used to create multiple dough layers, then the machine can produce multi-layer oven-baked products, but the amounts of dough in each layer become uncontrollable
Solution Approach 1:
The forming roller is divided into multiple independent cavities, each with its own piston that can be controlled separately. This segmentation allows each dough layer to be formed and controlled independently, enabling precise control of dough amounts in each layer while maintaining the ability to produce multi-layer products.
Solution Approach 2:
The pistons are made movable rather than fixed, allowing dynamic adjustment of cavity depths. The system transitions from static to dynamic control by enabling pistons to move between different positions, which allows precise control of the volume and amount of dough in each layer during the forming process.
2Productivity
If traditional dough forming machines are used, then the structure is simple, but the production volume is limited to low levels
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple forming operations are merged into a single rotating roller that processes multiple cavities simultaneously. The roller combines several forming stations in one device, allowing continuous production of multi-layer products across multiple cavities, thereby significantly increasing production volume while managing complexity through integrated design.
Solution Approach 2:
The rotating forming roller enables continuous operation where dough is constantly fed into cavities, formed, and discharged in an unbroken cycle. Multiple cavities work in sequence around the roller, ensuring that forming action is continuous rather than intermittent, which maximizes productivity without requiring excessive machine complexity.
3Manufacturing precision
If pistons are moved to different depths to form different cavity volumes, then precise layer formation is possible, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
A single set of pistons serves multiple functions by moving to different depths to create different cavity configurations for different dough layers. The same mechanical components perform multiple forming operations, reducing the need for separate mechanisms for each layer and thereby limiting the increase in device complexity while maintaining precision.
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 1A
Figure 2A~2F
AI summary
Described herein is a machine (100) for forming doughs for oven-baked products, of the type comprising a forming roller (20) provided with mobile pistons (24) for providing first and second forming cavities (C1, C2), a first hopper (40) for feeding a first dough to the forming roller (20), a second hopper (60) for feeding a second dough to the forming roller (20), and a conveyor belt (80) for feeding the semi-finished products formed in the forming roller (20) to a subsequent station. The machine (100) further comprises a knife (52) associated to the first hopper (40) and a knife (54) associated to the second hopper (60).