Disclosed is a machine for advancing bakery pans in a step wise fashion along a production line. A rotary indexer having three radially extending arms mounted on a common shaft and spaced apart 120.degree. relative to adjacent arms is used to advance the pans step-wise one cup at a time. Each arm has distal ends at which rollers are mounted which engage the upper portion extending about the perimeter of each cup. A single stroke air cylinder has a wedge mounted to its piston. The wedge engages a cam assembly mounted on the shaft to which the rotary indexer is mounted. Retraction of the wedge allows the pans to push against the rotary indexer to rotate it. The wedge returns to a position to stop rotation of the shaft, only allowing the shaft to rotate through a 120.degree. turn. The pan moves step-wise along the assembly line path into a position to receive a dough packet from a conveyor that deposits dough packets into the cups. The rotary indexer is mounted to be moved manually towards and away from the path of travel of the pans to accommodate pans having cups of different depths.
RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part application of the parent U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/545,409, filed June 28, 1990 and entitled, "Reciprocating Indexing Machine for Baking Pans," which is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/356,118, filed May 24, 1989 and entitled, "Indexing Machine for Baking Pans," issued as U.S. Pat. No. 4,945,825. These prior U. S. patent applications are incorporated herein by reference and made part of this continuation-in-part application.
Equipment for the automatic tray positioning of single cylindrical or spherical pieces. The equipment includes a first conveyor for the feeding of a sequence of single pieces along a first direction and a second intermittent advancement conveyor for the feeding of single trays along a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction. There are also provided a first sensor for the detection of the passage of the single pieces, a second sensor for the detection of the passage of the single trays, and an electronic control device that receives signals from the sensors and controls an advancement step of the second conveyor.
Apparatus (10) for manufacturing different shaped bakery products, such as hamburger and hot dog buns, includes a dough packet feeder (18) which advances to an exit station (22) in a step-wise manner rows of dough packets having a first shape. A roller gate (20) positioned at the exit station (22) to receive the rows of dough packets exiting the dough packet feeder (18) includes a first roller member (20a ) having three rows of receptacles (20b ) spaced apart from each other 120.degree. and each sized to receive an individual dough packet having the first shape. A bakery pan indexing feeder (26) advances in a step-wise manner bakery pans (60) or(62) into which the dough packets are deposited by a moving carrier member (52) positioned between the roller gate (20) and the bakery pan indexing feeder (26). The moving carrier member (52) has a receiving end onto which the rows of dough packets are deposited after leaving the roller gate (20) and an exit end where the dough packets leave the moving carrier member. A moveable pressure mechanism (76) is selectably moved into position adjacent the moving carrier member (52) to form the dough packets into a second shape when the second shaped bakery product is to be made
A conveyor indexing mechanism for a bakery production line includes a variable speed motor, a conveyor, a number of baking pans, a dough packet drop mechanism, a sensor, and a timing generator. The conveyor moves the baking pans under the dough packet drop mechanism at a base speed and a ramp-up speed based on input from the sensor and timing generator. The sensor senses pan pockets in the baking pans which causes the motor to assume the base speed. The timing generator periodically causes the motor to assume the ramp-up speed. The indexing mechanism ensures that a row of pan pockets will be below the dough packet drop mechanism so that a row of dough packets will consistently fall therein with maximum throughput. The absence of any clutch or brake reduces wear, as does the continuous motion of the drive train, which prevents backlash in the gear components. A programmable controller receives system inputs and instructs an inverter to change the motor speed. A pair of potentiometers can easily set the base and ramp-up speeds.
An apparatus and method for making bread according to a predetermined ingredient recipe having a grain supply bin, a grinder for the grain, a dry ingredient supply, and a liquid ingredient supply. A processing unit selectively introduces predetermined amounts of the grain and the liquid/dry ingredients into a mixing chamber. The dough mixture produced is conveyed through proofing and baking steps.
A positioning system for controlling the rotation of a shaft or other member through a defined angular increment. The system includes a rotor which may be coupled in torque transmitting communication with the shaft, and a an indexing assembly for driving the rotor. The indexing assembly includes a slide or other follower which is operably coupled to a first actuator, which may be hydraulically or other otherwise fluid-powered, and to a biasing member, which may be a second actuator, which is also operably coupled to the first actuator. The first actuator is actuable to move the follower and, in turn, a pawl from a locking position to a release position, and to engage another pawl with the rotor effecting the rotation thereof in a rotary direction through the angular increment. The first actuator is de-actuable to return, responsive to the biasing member, the pawls and follower to their original positions.
