Rotating Circular Cutter for Scoring Frozen Unproofed Dough
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Solution Overview
Problem
Bakery operators face challenges in consistently scoring frozen un-proofed bread dough before thawing and baking, as the dough's changes during proofing make pre-proof scoring inconsistent and difficult to achieve.
Innovation Solution
Combining scoring with blunt-edge cutting, where a rotating circular cutter pinches the dough's upper and lower skins together to form strips or pieces, either before or simultaneously with cutting, ensuring the score remains intact during freezing and subsequent baking.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If pre-proof scoring is performed on frozen un-proofed dough, then bakery operators can save time on manual scoring, but the score consistency deteriorates due to dough changes during proofing
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing the scoring operation on the dough sheet before it undergoes proofing and freezing. The scoring blades cut the dough surface while it is still in its un-proofed state, creating scores that will remain consistent throughout subsequent processing. This eliminates the need for manual scoring at the bakery while ensuring uniform score patterns are maintained through proofing and baking.
2Productivity
If scoring is performed on un-proofed dough before freezing, then production efficiency is improved, but the difficulty of maintaining score integrity increases due to dough changes during proofing
Solution Approach 1:
The scoring operation is performed preliminarily on the dough sheet before freezing and subsequent proofing. The scores are created in the un-proofed dough and remain intact through the freezing and thawing process, maintaining their integrity when the dough is later proofed and baked. This preliminary scoring ensures both high production efficiency and reliable score integrity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses rotating circular cutter blades that replicate the scoring pattern across the entire dough sheet. Each blade creates identical score marks as it rotates, producing consistent and uniform scores throughout the dough surface. This copying mechanism ensures that every portion of the dough receives the same score treatment, maintaining integrity and consistency.
3Manufacturing precision
If manual scoring is performed after proofing, then score consistency is maintained, but labor costs and processing time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The dough sheet scoring apparatus performs the scoring operation automatically as the dough sheet passes through the device on the production line. The rotating blades self-service by cutting the dough surface without requiring manual intervention, thereby maintaining score consistency while reducing labor requirements and processing complexity compared to manual scoring methods.
Data Source
AI summary
Frozen un-proofed dough pieces are produced by pinching an upper skin of an un-proofed dough body to a lower skin and producing a score through the upper skin prior to freezing. The un-proofed dough pieces are formed by mass production, with an un-proofed dough sheet being cut to form dough strips which are then cut into the un-proofed dough pieces, with the score for each un-proofed dough piece being formed either before, during or after the individual un-proofed dough pieces are actually created, but before freezing.