System and apparatus for controlling blistering

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10440962-B2
Application number	US-201615380181-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 15, 2016
Priority date	Jun 25, 2013
Publication date	Oct 15, 2019
Grant date	Oct 15, 2019

Abstract

A system and method for controlling blisters. The method begins by mixing the ingredients to form a dough with a moisture content between about 35% and 60%. The dough is sheeted and cut. Thereafter, the dough is pre-heated to reduce the moisture content to between about 10% and about 45%. The preforms are then docked and dehydrated. The docking system, in one embodiment, has a backing plate and a docking device with at least two docking pins of varying lengths. The docking device is adjustable relative to the backing plate. The system also has a removing plate which removes preforms from the docking pins.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for controlling blisters, said method comprising:
mixing ingredients to form a dough, wherein said dough has a moisture content between about 35% and 60% by weight;
sheeting said dough to form sheeted dough;
cutting said sheeted dough to form preforms;
pre-heating said preforms to form pre-heated preforms with a reduced moisture content of between about 10% and about 45%;
docking said pre-heated preforms with a docking device comprising a cylindrical body having at least a first set of docking pins and a second set of docking pins located on an outer periphery of the cylindrical body, wherein each of the first set of docking pins has a first length and each of the second set of docking pins has a second length, and wherein the first length is different than the second length, wherein a first docking distance only allows each of the first set of docking pins to engage the pre-heated preforms, and wherein a second docking distances allows each of the first set of docking pins and each of the second set of docking pins to engage the pre-heated preforms, the docking step further comprises adjusting a docking distance to the first docking distance to dock the pre-heated preforms with only the first set of docking pins or adjusting the docking distance to the second docking distance to dock the pre-heated preforms with the first set of docking pins and the second set of docking pins; and
dehydrating said preforms to a moisture content of less than 4%.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said ingredients comprise a farinaceous ingredient.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said sheeted dough comprises a thickness of between about 0.015 and 0.1 inches.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said preforms of said cutting step comprise a uniform moisture content distribution.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said moisture content is reduced by between 10-50% after said pre-heating step.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said preforms comprise a non-uniform moisture content distribution after said pre-heating step.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
removing the pre-heated preforms from the docking pins with a removing plate.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said docking step further comprises:
rotating the docking device along a rotational axis of the docking device.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
adjusting a docking pattern of said preforms by adjusting the docking distance between the rotating docking device and a backing plate.

10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising:
locking the rotating docking device to maintain the docking distance.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said docking comprises docking with docking pins, wherein said docking pins comprise a diameter of about 0.1 inches or less.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said dehydrating comprises frying.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said docking comprises completely piercing said preforms.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein said preform after said pre-heating step comprises a hardness value of 5 grams or greater.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said preform after said pre-heating step comprises a cohesiveness value of 0.3 grams or greater.

Assignees

• Frito Lay North America Inc

Inventors

• Kelly Joseph William

Classifications

• A21D13/60

  Deep-fried products, e.g. doughnuts · CPC title

• A21D13/42

  Tortillas · CPC title

• A23V2002/00

  Food compositions, function of food ingredients or processes for food or foodstuffs · CPC title

• A21C1/006

  Methods · CPC title

• A23P30/00

  Shaping or working of foodstuffs characterised by the process or apparatus (A23P10/00, A23P20/00 take precedence) · CPC title