Bake Form for Manufacturing a Food Product

Abstract

An automated system and method for manufacturing a cone-shaped food product holder requires the coordinated use of a forming unit, a conveyor unit and a control unit. In their combination, the forming unit rotates a conically-shaped bake form at a constant angular velocity ω. Simultaneously, the conveyor unit advances a bread dough strip on a conveyor belt at a constant linear velocity v, for deposit of the bread dough strip onto the bake form. In order to account for the conical configuration of the bake form, the actions of the forming unit and the conveyor unit are coordinated by the control unit. Specifically, the control unit moves the conveyor unit with a predetermined rotation relative to the forming unit to form the food product holder on the forming unit for subsequent baking.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A food product forming unit which comprises:
 a bake form, wherein the bake form is shaped as a hollow, right circular cone defined by a vertex, and a base, and an axis, and wherein a portion of the cone at the vertex is removed to form a vent on the bake form and the base of the cone remains open to provide access into the hollow of the bake form, and further wherein a detent is formed along a periphery around the open base;   a conically-shaped mandrel having an outer surface, wherein the mandrel is dimensioned to be coaxially received into the hollow of the bake form to juxtapose the outer surface of the mandrel with an internal surface of the bake form in the hollow of the bake form; and   a mechanism for rotating the mandrel, together with the bake form, while a strip of bread dough is deposited along a spiral pathway on an external surface of the bake form to prepare the food product for baking.   
     
     
         2 . A forming unit as recited in  claim 1  wherein the mandrel further comprises:
 a base O-ring positioned on the mandrel for engagement with the detent around the base opening of the bake form; and 
 a support O-ring positioned on the mandrel at a distance from the base O-ring for cooperation with the base O-ring to stabilize the bake form on the mandrel during an engagement of the mandrel with the bake form. 
 
     
     
         3 . A forming unit as recited in  claim 2  further comprising a slip ring mounted on the mandrel, wherein the slip ring can be moved in an axial direction on the mandrel to disengage the bake form from the mandrel. 
     
     
         4 . A forming unit as recited in  claim 1  wherein the bake form has a height of 6.5 inches, with a base diameter of 3.5 inches, and the external surface of the bake form is tapered toward the axis of the bake form at an inclination angle α of 14°, and further wherein the vent diameter of the bake form is 0.16 inches. 
     
     
         5 . A forming unit as recited in  claim 4  wherein the bake form is made of a polyethersulfone resin. 
     
     
         6 . A forming unit as recited in  claim 1  wherein the strip of bread dough has cross-section dimensions, prior to baking, with a width w of one and one-half inch, and a height h of one-quarter inch, and wherein the bread dough strip is deposited onto the bake form along the spiral path with a partial overlap in a range of one-quarter inch to three-quarters of an inch. 
     
     
         7 . An apparatus for preparing a food product which comprises:
 a product forming unit for shaping and supporting the food product during a baking process;   a conveyor unit for delivering a bread dough strip to the forming unit prior to the baking process; and   a control unit for coordinating the delivery of bread dough from the conveyor unit to the forming unit during a shaping of the food product.   
     
     
         8 . An apparatus as recited in  claim 7  wherein the product forming unit comprises:
 a bake form; 
 a mandrel for receiving the bake form in an operative engagement therewith, wherein the mandrel defines a mandrel axis; and 
 a rotary drive motor, wherein the rotary drive is connected to the mandrel for rotating the mandrel in combination with the bake form about the mandrel axis at a constant angular velocity ω to deposit the strip of bread dough along a spiral pathway on an external surface of the bake form to prepare the food product for baking. 
 
     
     
         9 . An apparatus as recited in  claim 7  wherein the conveyor unit comprises:
 an elongated channel having a proximal end and a distal end with a length therebetween; 
 a conveyor belt that runs through the length of the channel; 
 a pivot at the proximal end of the conveyor channel to rotate the conveyor channel through an angle θ in a horizontal plane around the pivot point to move the distal end of the conveyor channel through an arc length l arc  to deposit the strip of bread dough along a spiral pathway on an external surface of the bake form to prepare the food product for baking. 
 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus as recited in  claim 7  wherein the control unit comprises:
 a cam defining a cam axis and having an edge, wherein the edge of the cam is engineered with a variable distance R, wherein R is measured between the cam axis and the edge of the cam and is dependent on the angle φ around the cam axis where R is measured, and wherein variations in R with changes in φ establish a predetermined geometric curve for the edge of the cam; and 
 a drive motor for rotating the cam about the cam axis with dynamic changes in φ determined by corresponding changes in R, and wherein the edge of the cam interacts directly with the conveyor unit to move the conveyor channel under influence of the geometric curve at the edge of the cam to deliver bread dough to the bake form of the forming unit. 
 
     
     
         11 . A method for manufacturing a food product holder which comprises the steps of:
 orienting a conical-shaped mandrel with its axis inclined in a vertical plane at an angle α relative to a coplanar horizontal line;   engaging a conical-shaped bake form onto the mandrel in coaxial alignment therewith to orient a portion of the bake form parallel to the horizontal line defined by the mandrel;   providing a conveyor channel having a proximal end and a distal end, with the proximal end mounted at a pivot point for rotation of the conveyor channel through an angle θ in a horizontal plane around the pivot point, to move the distal end of the conveyor channel along an arc length l arc  relative to the bake form;   rotating the bake form on the mandrel at a constant angular velocity ω;   controlling a cyclical rotation of the conveyor channel through the angle θ, and a consequent cyclical translation of the distal end of the conveyor belt through the arc length l arc , to coordinate the translation of the distal end of the conveyor channel with the rotation of the conical-shaped bake form; and   advancing a bread dough strip along the conveyor channel to deposit the bread dough strip from the distal end of the conveyor channel onto the rotating bake form to form the food product holder in a predetermined pattern on the bake form for subsequent baking.