Patent Application
20110256280
This invention pertains especially to apparatus for making pizza crusts with cheese-filled rims, and more particularly, it pertains especially to semi-automatic apparatus for making pizza crusts with cheese-filled rims, one at a time for instant baking and serving to patrons.
Pizza crusts with cheese-filled rims are relatively new in the restaurant industry, and very little prior art has been found to describe a method or an apparatus for making these pizzas. The following document constitutes the only pertinent example found in the prior art.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,479,087 issued to F. Cole et al, on Nov. 12, 2002. This document discloses a machine using cheese extrusion devices mounted on robotic arms to deposit beads of cheese on the edges of several pizza crusts at the time. This machine is built for large production to fulfill a large distributor market for example. The size and cost of this machine are outside the needs of the small and medium size restaurant operators.
Small restaurant bakers have been preparing cheese-filled pizza crusts by hand to satisfy a client demand. However, this client demand is growing and therefore, there is a market need for a semi-automatic apparatus that can be used by bakers of small and large kitchens to improve their efficiencies while improving the consistence of texture and quality of their cheese-crust pizzas.
In the present invention, there is provided a semi-automatic stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker for making a pizza crust with a cheese-filled rim, especially. The word “cheese” is been used hereinbefore because the most popular application for the machine according to the present invention is for filling rims of pizzas with cheese. It is believed that this application is a best one to establish the class of machine to which the present invention pertains.
However, the stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker according to the present invention can be used to insert other fillings than cheese in the rims of pizzas. These other fillings are numerous and include sauces, spices, ground meat, tomato pastes and purees of vegetables, for examples. Similarly, the machine according to the present invention can also be used to make pies, tarts, turnovers and other pastry products. The fillings that can be used in pies and pastries include chocolate, sugar, jams, jellies, syrup, shredded coconuts and other shredded nuts. Therefore, the word “filling” will be used henceforth to remind the reader that the machine according to the present invention is not limited to stuffing pizza rims with cheese. Similarly, the expression “sheet of dough” will be used hereinafter to designate a pizza crust, a pie crust, a tart crust, a turnover crust and other crusts of baked goods.
Broadly, in one aspect of the present invention, the stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker has a surface for receiving a sheet of dough thereon; a hem former that is movable relative to a sheet of dough along an edge of the sheet of dough when the sheet of dough is laid on the aforesaid surface. The hem former is used for guiding the edge of the sheet of dough along a helical path and for forming a hem along the edge of the sheet of dough. The stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker also has a filling dispenser mounted near the hem former. The filling dispenser has a discharge chute that is oriented to deposit filling over a central axis of the helical path, prior to forming the hem.
In another aspect of the present invention, the filling dispenser comprises a cheese shredder, such that the rim of the sheet of dough can be filled with shredded cheese. It will be appreciated that when the filling has a liquid, semi-liquid, paste-like or granular-like consistency, the shredder is replaced by a screw conveyor or it is fed by gravity.
This stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker is easy to use by bakers for making one pizza at a time for example. The components of the stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker are of simple construction and can be mounted in different configurations. This stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker can be manufactured at a reasonable price in order to be accessible to small and medium size restaurant owners.
In yet another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for making a sheet of dough with a stuffed rim. This method comprises the steps of spreading filling over the edge of a sheet of dough, and folding the edge of the sheet of dough along a helical path over the filling, for forming a hem containing the filling.
This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of the invention may be understood quickly. A more complete understanding of the invention can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof in connection with the attached drawings.
A preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denote like parts throughout the several views, and in which:
Referring back to
The preferred stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker 20 has a circular table 22 on which a disc of dough referred to herein as a sheet of dough 24 is placed. A curved blade 26 is mounted over the table 22. This curved blade 26 has a curvature such as a snow plow whereby it has the ability to turn the edge 28 of a sheet of dough 24 over itself in a helical path 30 to form a hem 32 along the rim of the sheet of dough 24.
The table 22 is preferably rotatable on a shaft 34 by a motor which has not been illustrated for clarity. The direction of rotation of the table 22 is indicated by arrow 36. Similarly, the central axis of the helical path 30 is being represented by label 38.
The preferred stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker 20 has a filling dispenser 40 which has a discharge chute 42 oriented into the hem 32 being formed by the curved blade 26, as it can be appreciated from the drawings.
The preferred filling dispenser 40 is a motor-operated cheese shredder that has a feed hopper 44. The cheese to be shred is preferably forced fed in the hopper 44 by a spring loaded cover or otherwise. A spring-loaded cover or a weighted plunger has not been illustrated because it is also known to those skilled in the art of cheese-shredding hoppers.
The shredded cheese 46 is placed on the sheet of dough 24 in such a way as to be enclosed inside the hem 32. For more clarity, the shredded cheese 46 is dispensed over the central axis 38 of the helical path 30, upstream from the hem 32.
The preferred stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker 20 also has a hem sealer 50 that is mounted to a same base structure 52 as the curved blade 26. The hem sealer 50 has a preferred form of a wheel mounted on a rod 54 extending from the base structure 52. In use, the hem sealer 50 is forced down against the sheet of dough 24 on top of the folded edge 28′ to rotate with a slight pressure against the folded edge 28′ to close the hem 32 by slight pressure deformation, as the sheet of dough 24 rotates.
The hem sealer 50 is not considered as being essential to the operation of the preferred stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker 20, because some bakers may prepare pastry products without sealing the hem 32, or may prefer to close the hem 32 themselves by hand. For this reason, the hem sealer 50 is preferably mounted in a movable manner so that it can be selectively deployed or moved away from the process.
The filling dispenser 40 is also mounted to the base structure 52 by means of a brace 56 or a similar structure, such that the discharge chute 42 of the filling dispenser 40 remains in alignment with the mouth of the curved blade 26, or as mentioned before, it remains in alignment to deposit filling over the central axis 38 of the helical path 30.
Again, the mechanism for raising or for lowering the hem sealer 50 has not been illustrated, for clarity. Many conventional actuators can be used for this purpose.
The base structure 52 is movable toward and away from the table 22 along a slot 60 for example extending radially from the table 22. The purpose of this movement of the base structure 52 is to bring the curved blade 26 in operating position against and under the edge 28 of a sheet of dough 24 when initiating a rim filling operation.
A common mounting of the filling dispenser 40, the hem sealer 50 and the curved blade 26 to the base structure 52 is to ensure that three elements can be moved in unison while keeping their mutual alignment.
The mechanism that is used for moving the base structure 52 radially has not been illustrated because many arrangements that are well known in the art can be used to perform this function.
Another purpose of the movement of the base structure 52 along the slot 60 is to accommodate for the making of sheets of dough of different diameters. In that case, the table 22 is preferably replaced by one that has a similar diameter as the sheet of dough to be formed. The support structure 52 is then positioned to operate within a range that is appropriate for the diameter of the table 22 being used.
Referring now to
The preferred curved blade 26 is illustrated with more clarity in
Although the elements illustrated in
The first alternate arrangement for a hem former is illustrated in
Although the preferred embodiment has been illustrated as an stuffed-rim pastry/pizza maker where the sheet of dough is rotated under a filling dispenser, those skilled in the art will understand that another embodiment can be made with the sheet of dough remaining stationary while a filling dispenser 40 and a curved blade 26 are moved around the sheet of dough, on a robotic arm for example. Also, it will be appreciated that obvious modification can be used to accommodate square or rectangular sheets of dough. Therefore, the above description should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention.
