Improvements relating to continuous baking ovens and associated proving chambers

摘要

989,512. Dough prover. G. G. BARKER. (L. H. Wilson). Aug. 17, 1961, No. 29694/61. Heading A4D. A continuous dough prover comprises a proving chamber 24, spaced dough carriers 42 mounted on an endless conveyer 30 movable intermittently through the chamber and means whereby the number of stops may be varied to regulate the proving time. As shown, the conveyer 30, trained over sprockets 27-39, traverses the chamber 24, its tunnel-like extension 25 and a tin cooling chamber 26, all disposed within a casing 22 located adjacent a baking oven 20. Tins with dough pieces are initially loaded on to carriers 42 at station R.S., moved intermittently through the prover and, after passing sprocket 39, are carried downwardly and deposited in turn on a horizontally moving conveyer 60 which delivers them to a vertically movable platform 62. The platform is lowered to station L.S., the tins pushed by a bar 76 on to an oven tray 50 and conveyed around the baking oven 20. The baked bread is discharged from the oven on to a conveyer 54 and removed from the tins 52. The empty tins are placed on a conveyer 84, pushed on to carriers 42 and conveyed through a cooling chamber 26 and discharged at a station D.S. to be recharged with dough pieces. Each carrier 42 is pivotally supported on the conveyer and has a platform comprising closely spaced fingers which are staggered with respect to longitudinally disposed members forming the conveyer 60. Thus, as the carriers 42 pass the conveyer 60 the baking tins 52 are deposited on the conveyer. As the tins reach the end of the conveyer 60 and are about to move on to the platform 62 they pass between a light source and photoelectric cell which operates a motor and causes the platform 62 to be lowered into alignment with the station L.S. To vary the number of stops of the proving conveyer 30 selected regularly spaced carriers 42 are arranged to move past the loading station R.S. without stopping and without receiving dough charges. This is achieved by connecting one of four cam-operated switches in circuit with a motor driving the driving shaft 31 of the conveyer 30. Specification 891,426 is referred to