Patent Application
20070171766
The present invention relates to the field of kneading, slow fermenting of puff pastry dough requiring storage, and production of sourdoughs and visco-elastic dough at controlled/regulated temperatures and moisture levels, particularly for craft bakers, semi-industrial producers, small, medium and large businesses, laboratories, particularly in the milling industry, makers of sweetened dough products, rusk makers, brioche makers, biscuit makers and certain agricultural and food industries where the aim is to achieve the development of flavor, regularity and better keeping quality, by economical remodeling of existing bakeries which are generally limited in area, and the creation of new types of bakeries, laboratories and biotechnology production sites.
It relates in particular to horizontal and vertical mixing kneaders having tipping bowls for discharging the dough and collecting it in a movable vat or a weigher.
It also proposes improvements to air-conditioning devices with low air mixing associated with regulated and controlled heating and humidifying systems for the fermenting of stored puff pastry dough, combined directly or indirectly with horizontal, oblique, spiral and kneading arm fermenting kneaders for breadmaking and other industries, and with banks of miniature laboratory kneaders for the production of dough and sourdough.
At present, dough and puff pastry dough is fermented outside the kneaders in fermenting and cooling chambers with programmable and controllable temperature and hydration, which can be set to provide controlled keeping and raising power of stored puff pastry dough and sometimes of sourdough in bulk. However, these devices are cumbersome and costly.
There are known kneading devices with horizontal tipping bowls comprising a single rotating arm with two inverted helical branches (known as a “single Z” kneader) used in the biscuit making industry to form a fairly stiff dense dough, as well as the horizontal mixing kneader with two tools and two branches with counter-rotating movements (known as “double Z”) providing high fiber shearing, rather unsuitable for very fragile breadmaking dough, as well as the vertical type of kneader with a fixed bowl, also with counter-rotating tool movements, such as those described in FR-A-0240842.
There are also known mixer kneaders and fermenting reaction kneaders of the horizontal, fixed bowl type with one rotating tool and one fixed tool, such as those described in FR-A-2710551, PCT WO 00/51438 and FR-A-2759863.
It is known that horizontal fermenting reaction kneaders, such as those described in PCT WO 00/51438, also permit dough kneading at approximately 24° in short periods and sourdough making after kneading at approximately 13° over long periods (during staff rest times), based on a cooling system connected to a double insulated wall bowl of the fermenting reaction kneader: this is a relatively costly special unit which is activated in cycles according to the temperature deviations of the sourdough (8/14°) and which activates the temperature deviations of the sourdough (8/14°) and which also activates the slow rotation of the rotating arm as a cooling cycle.
There are also other known types of mixer kneaders with rotating bowls with vertical or oblique axis, generally operating in only a third of the volume of dough in a renewed stream in a fixed bowl or a trolley-mounted pull-out bowl such as those described in FR-A-519267 and EP-0354190.
It is known that mixer kneaders with a single tool rotating concentrically in a fixed bowl have a very limited mixing and kneading range in terms of visco-elasticity of the dough, and that, on the other hand, the rotating tool commonly causes the rotation of the body of dough, thus limiting the kneading action and also leading to a modification of the operating time or, more frequently, a variation in the quality of the results.
It is also known that mixer kneaders with two counter-rotating tools or a rotating tool and a fixed tool in a bowl tend to tear the fibers of breadmaking dough, in spite of their mixing efficiency.
The invention relates to improvements to these devices for the purpose of improving their operation and efficiency in bakeries and enabling bakeries to be remodeled at lower cost.
The invention relates to a fermenting mixer kneader of the type comprising a tool rotating in a fixed bowl which tips to discharge the dough into a movable vat which is collected by an elevator, or more directly the elevation of the fermenting mixer kneader above the hopper of a volumetric weigher, characterized in that it has, in addition to the rotating tool driven by a high-torque transmission, a second freely rotating tool driven by the stream of dough at a lower speed regulated by a brake so as to provide kneading with counter-rotating movements to protect the fibers.
The invention also relates to an air-conditioning system with low air mixing with heating or cooling to prevent the crusting of the puff pastry dough, with a controllable and programmable humidifier, associated directly or indirectly with fermenting kneaders which are for example, but not exclusively, of the horizontal, oblique or spiral type.
According to the invention, the regulation of the speed differential by the brake has an effect on the kneading which can be determined by the user. It also provides a flexibility of operation for doughs having visco-elastic consistencies varying widely according to the flours used and the percentage of water, which can vary about a base of 60% from 48% to 80% of the weight of the dry substances. The incorporation of a freely rotating counter-arm simply driven by the stream of dough at a slower speed than that of the powered arm rotating in a correlated way preserves the fibers of the dough. The economical regulation of the rotation speed of the counter-arm, and therefore of the intensity of the mixing and kneading, by means of a brake which is more economical than a second transmission, improves the results and provides a wider range of use.
Furthermore, at a time when the breadmaking industry is moving toward methods of slow fermentation at 8° to 16° during, and in accordance with, staff rest times ranging from 12 to 48 hours, for day working, and in order to provide hot bread all day long with better flavor, it has been found that the diffusion air-conditioning systems which have been developed for the winemaking industry (a form of biotechnology having similarities with that of breadmaking dough) can cool a dough preparation room housing the fermenting mixer kneader or kneaders, and can easily be used (by limiting the volume of fermenting chambers) for making sourdough, where it is simply necessary to activate, after kneading, either in programmable cycles (for example one minute every thirty minutes), using the programmer of the control panel for programming slow rotation cycles, based solely on time and not on the temperature differences of the sourdough, or continuously and with an extremely slow rotation speed (with the brake released), in order to activate the fragile fibers and introduce air to reactivate the fermenting process and thus prevent the degradation of sourdough which becomes too acid, while supporting the development of flavor.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the interior of the bowl, made from steel for example, is provided, by a manufacturing process known as “rotary molding”, with a thick coating of food-grade non-stick PEHD material to facilitate the discharge of the sticky dough, said coating not requiring the use of stainless steel which has to be polished. The bowl can advantageously be designed with fillets in the corners to facilitate its cleaning, with a plastic boom, and can have a spout higher than the bowl to facilitate the discharge of the body of dough, particularly when the bowel is tipped above the hopper of a weigher, in order to be in the ideal position.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the double-walled wheeled dough collecting vat is provided with a food-grade non-stick coating, made of PEHD for example, using a process known as “rotary molding”.
According to another characteristic of the invention, each end of the branch of each arm is provided with a shape which can push the dough stream back toward the center of the bowl in the single direction of counter-rotating rotation.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the powered arm has an S-shaped helical branch promoting the orientation of the dough stream toward the center of the bowl on each side of the arm, the helicoid angle being about 160/195° and not outside this range, in order to provide, using a sensor, positioned stops of the branch of the arm in the high position to facilitate the emptying of the bowl when it is tipped.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the freely rotating arm, known as the counter-arm, and the powered arm have, at the inverse ends on the securing and guiding ends, progressive cross sections of their respective branches which are much larger on the attachment ends and smaller on the guiding ends.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the arms, made for example from food-grade light alloy castings, are provided with reinforcing inserts at their end attachments, made from bronze or non-stick stainless steel for example, to replace if necessary the positioning of non-stick rings, ensuring the rotation of the arms at the guiding ends and supporting the pressure of the securing elements on the driving end, and additionally to avoid or facilitate finishing machining after casting.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the brake unit is preferably composed of a regulating knob fixed to a threaded shaft, preferably inclined, passing through a tapped bushing, which itself is fixed to one of the two flanges of the frame connecting, at the end of the machined threaded shaft passing through a self-lubricating ring, the lining holder and the lining which bears on the hub of the shaft of the counter-arm, any other braking means being equally feasible.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the bowl is preferably tipped by means of an inflated pneumatic wheel bearing on the outer wall of the bowl, said pneumatic wheel being driven preferably by a compact geared motor with a high reduction ratio, of the two-stage cycloid type or of the planetary type with three gear trains, bolted to the frame.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the two feet of the frame, preferably made from rectangular tube, are positioned outside the two side members of the frame, in order to leave the maximum space free for the movable dough receiving vat, while limiting the width of the side members.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the two lateral covers, which are heat-formed for example, covering the thick side members, are pivoted on hinges, one of the covers incorporating, in the upper inclined part, the control box of the fermenting mixer kneader.
According to another characteristic of the invention, a liftable safety screen incorporates a water inlet unit composed of flexible connectors, a valve or solenoid valve, a flow meter and two special nozzles to promote the atomized water and air mixture which is important for the mixing stage and consequently for the development of flavor during fermenting.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the double PEHD wall of the movable vat is filled with insulating foam, while the material of said movable vat produced by rotary molding surrounds the lower metal chassis onto which is pressed a sliding hatch which, in the open position, is completely incorporated in the lower shape of the movable vat on the handle side, the metal chassis of said movable vat being made from hollow rectangular tube positioned in the lower part of the movable vat to allow the positioning of the two forks of an electrical stacking truck for distribution in its lowest possible position before elevation above a weigher hopper or above a high table of a dividing head.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the sliding hatch of the movable vat is guided by a distribution unit comprising two guides, four sleeves, a drive screw, a threaded sleeve and a handwheel which can be replaced by a small motor in a version in which the hatch is automatically opened/closed and activated for the complete discharge of the dough into the weigher hopper.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the movable vat is replaced, in a fully automatic version, by an elevating distribution table equipped, for example, with rollers on rails which can move the fermenting mixer kneader horizontally before the dough is tipped directly into a hopper of a volumetric weigher with a control panel.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the sliding hatch of the movable vat is guided by a distribution unit comprising two guides, four sleeves, a drive screw, a threaded sleeve and a handwheel which can be replaced by a small motor in a version in which the hatch is automatically closed and opened, activated for the complete discharge of the dough into the weigher hopper.
According to another characteristic of the invention, the movable vat is replaced, in a fully automatic version, by an elevating distribution table equipped, for example, with rollers on rails which can move the fermenting mixer kneader horizontally before the dough is tipped directly into a hopper of a volumetric weigher with an independent control panel. The elevation and movement of the elevating table which is preferably hydraulic, and the tipping of the bowl provided with a spout are carried out either by a geared motor, or by an electrical or electro-hydraulic jack, or, more economically, by a pneumatic actuator supplied from a compressed air network which is usually available in an industrial or semi-industrial enterprise.
According to another characteristic of the invention, a temperature sensor is advantageously positioned on the side of the lower part of the tipping bowl, and is connected by a flexible insulated cable to the display of the control panel, as is the electrical cable of the water flow meter of the measured supply screen.
According to a first improvement of the invention, the fermenting kneaders are provided with a panel for programming/regulating the kneading during the working time of the bakers and the sourdough production cycles during their rest periods, while combining the programs with the regulation of the air temperature by means of a controller incorporated into each type of kneader.
According to another improvement made to horizontal fermenting kneaders for breadmaking, the shape of the braked counter-arm blade is spiral, to ensure more constant penetration into the dough and more uniform speed regardless off its position in the rotation in the bowl.
According to another improvement made to horizontal fermenting kneaders for breadmaking, the bowl is tipped by a compact geared motor and brake unit of a cycloid or planetary type, which uses rollers to drive a belt fixed to the bowl, enabling the bowl to be tipped for discharge and raised again with better integration.
According to another improvement made to horizontal fermenting kneaders for breadmaking, the water inlet, its solenoid valve and its flow sensor are fixed, preferably but not exclusively to one of the two thick side members with a rosary connector on the safety screen which also provides the water inlet to two special atomizing nozzles promoting the water/flour/air combination.
According to another improvement made to horizontal fermenting kneaders for breadmaking, an electrical control box containing the electrical components and the frequency controller is incorporated on the transmission side and fixed to the side member.
According to another improvement made to oblique and spiral fermenting kneaders for breadmaking, a transmission unit which is extremely compact because of the implementation of a high efficiency planetary type geared motor such as those used in particular in construction site machinery requiring a high radial capacity is adapted without reinforcement to the driving of kneading arms. This transmission unit is installed on a thick vertical pivoted support plate connected to a hollow column made for example, but not exclusively, from very thick square or rectangular tube.
According to another improvement made to oblique and spiral fermenting kneaders for breadmaking, the arm transmission support plate is connected to and pivoted on a column in the upper part of the equipment which incorporates the bushings, an auxiliary gas actuator and an indexing pin which locks the head unit in the kneading position by fitting into a thick part which itself is connected to the pivot.
According to another improvement made to oblique and spiral fermenting kneaders for breadmaking, the unit consisting of a shoe brake or regulated by a compact cycloid or planetary geared motor acts by means of a single roller coated with a flexible material bearing on the outer periphery of the rotating bowls.
According to another improvement made to banks of horizontal, oblique and spiral fermenting kneaders, a single geared motor drives all the arms at the same speed, for example, but not exclusively, by means of pulleys and toothed belts, the very high precision between the different kneaders being specified particularly for each type of bank, the mechanism being fully incorporated into a beam made from tube of square or rectangular section.
According to another improvement made to banks of horizontal, oblique and spiral fermenting kneaders for laboratories, a single geared motor drives the bowls, for oblique and spiral kneaders, and the counter arms, for horizontal kneaders, to provide a high precision between the kneaders, the whole system being incorporated into a beam for each type of bank.
According to another improvement made to banks of small oblique or spiral breadmaking fermenting kneaders, the beam unit including the different arms is liftable, with the assistance of a gas actuator. In horizontal kneaders, only the screens are liftable.
According to another improvement made to small oblique or spiral breadmaking kneaders with a bowl capacity of up to one hundred and twenty liters, two beams of square or rectangular section made from thick tube or by mechanical welding are used for each machine, with bushings, toothed belt or chain connected to a compact geared motor unit, while the liftable upper beam unit is retained.
As shown in
As shown in
The small horizontal fermenting mixer kneader shown in
The set of devices shown in
As shown in
This unit is shown in
The transmission means shown in
On the electrical control side, the brake system shown in
The set of devices shown in
The set of devices shown in
An electrical distribution stacker for lifting the movable vats completes the equipment.
As shown in
The devices which have been described relate in particular to horizontal fermenting mixer kneaders with combinations of tools with counter-rotating movements, preferably regulated by a brake with respect to the speed differential and the intensity of relative forces in a bowl coated with a thick rotary molded food-grade non-stick material to facilitate, when the bowl is tipped, the complete discharge of the body of dough into one of the movable vats made from rotary molded food-grade non-stick material which is subsequently collected by a simple distribution elevator for discharge either into the hopper of a volumetric weigher or onto a high table of a dividing head by the opening of the hatch of the vat. In this economical configuration, two to three movable vats can be used to store the bodies of dough for fifteen to forty minutes, a period favorable for the production of flavors and the rising power of the dough during fermenting phases, before the bodies of dough are divided into pieces of puff pastry dough.
In the automated version,, the horizontal fermenting mixer kneader is bolted directly to a hydraulic elevating table for distribution, equipped with rollers on rails to allow horizontal movement and the placing of the mixer kneader immediately above the hopper of a volumetric weigher before the bowl is tipped for the discharge of the whole body of dough, guided by the spout of the bowl.
The invention also relates to devices on vertical kneaders for pastry making, hotel, laboratory and domestic applications, with a smaller bowl volume but still having a powered tool and a freely rotating counter-tool whose speed is regulated by a brake.
The air conditioning system developed according to the invention has two main functions, namely that of producing and maintaining a constant temperature of the air and the puff pastry dough between 20′ and 26° during the bakers' working times, particularly for the purposes of kneading, rest times for the body of dough, division, relaxation time, shaping and storing puff pastry dough on wheeled racks, this phase corresponding to a first fermentation known as “fast” (daytime work), and that of reducing and maintaining the temperature of the air, the puff pastry dough and the sourdough in the range from 9° to 16° during the bakers' rest times, particularly to allow the slow rising of the puff pastry dough and the production of sourdough in interaction with the operation of the fermenting kneaders, this phase corresponding to a second fermentation known as “slow fermenting and sourdough production” (night work).
Also according to the invention, it is possible to apply two main types of air conditioning/reversible cooling units available on the construction and building installations market, these being, on the one hand, the advanced conventional units (technology developed for the winemaking industry) frequently used with diffusion ducts for balanced distribution of the air and with more slowly rotating fans, and, on the other hand, diffusion of conditioned air by means of a heat pump combined with a compressor unit with, for example, a conditioned air inlet above a new type of sealed flexible suspended ceiling incorporating lighting and diffusing the air gently at its periphery to cool or heat the bakery, via a gap of approximately twelve millimeters between the ceiling and the walls or partitions (such air conditioning suspended ceilings have been developed recently in the building installation industry and this method is particularly suitable for the remodeling of bakeries and for fitting new types of bakeries with networks of ducts equipped with hatches which can connect a number of rooms equipped with air conditioning suspended ceilings.
According to the invention, the control panels of horizontal, oblique and spiral fermenting kneaders for breadmaking, industry, and laboratory banks consist of two kneading programs (one based on the mixing and kneading times and the other based on the mixing time and the raising of the dough temperature during kneading), a bowl tipping program, a program for the solenoid valve and display of the water quantity, and a sourdough production program based on time to provide, in interaction with the action of the air conditioning, a decrease in temperature of the sourdough body being formed from approximately 24° to 12° at a slow rate (interaction of the sourdough mixing and the air temperature) and then subsequently by alternating cycles of slow rotation of the arms for approximately 1 minute every 40 minutes to produce a sourdough with a high aromatic quality (oxygenation+mechanical activity of the dough=stimulus to the fermenting process), these programs being connected to an automatic controller incorporated into each type of kneader (with combination of the programs and the air temperature regulation).
In FIGS. 13 to 15 which show a horizontal fermenting kneader for breadmaking, the reference 111 indicates the frame holding the bowl 112 in which the driving arm 113 rotates and in which the braked helical counter-arm 114 is located.
The bowl 112 is tipped by the compact cycloid or planetary geared brake motor 115 which drives, by means of rollers 116, the belt 117 fixed to the bowl.
The water inlet 118 with its solenoid valve 119 and its flow sensor 120 are fixed to one of the two thick side members 121 with a connector rotating on the safety screen 122 and supplies two atomizing nozzles 124 via a distributor 123.
The box 125 containing the electrical components and the frequency-based speed controller is incorporated in the transmission side 126 and fixed to the side member 121.
In the spiral fermenting kneader as shown in
The arm transmission support plate 130 is connected to and pivoted on the column 129 in the upper part which incorporates the bushings 131, an auxiliary gas actuator 132 and an index pin 133 which locks the assembly in the kneading position by fitting into a thick flange 134 which is itself connected to the pivot 135.
The unit consisting of a shoe brake 136 or regulated by a compact cycloid or planetary geared motor tips the bowl 137 by means of a roller 138 covered with a flexible material and bearing on the outer periphery of said bowl 137.
In banks of small oblique and spiral fermenting kneaders such as those shown in
In the banks of these small fermenting kneaders, the bowls 144 are all driven by a single geared motor unit 145 incorporated in a beam 146. In the banks of small horizontal fermenting kneaders, the counter-arms are also all driven by a single geared motor unit.
As shown in
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0405776 | May 2004 | FR | national |
| 0503005 | Mar 2005 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/FR05/01305 | 5/27/2005 | WO | 11/27/2006 |
