The present invention relates to a pan for baking bread on an industrial scale which has a plate acting as a cover and is, nevertheless, light and easy to handle.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Pans are known for baking the type of bread known as pan loaf on an industrial scale. These pans comprise a plurality of baking moulds and, in many cases, a plate acting as a cover of the pan.

Said plate acting as a cover is placed to avoid the upper part of the bread from becoming convex and thus obtaining, insofar as possible, a loaf of uniform square or rectangular section which is easy to handle. Nevertheless, it has been observed that, in practice, despite the use of the cover, the existing pans obtain a loaf which has many irregularities or bulges on its surface.

During the baking process of the pan loaf on an industrial scale, said pans are displaced empty along chains until reaching the production chain where the raw bread dough falls inside the moulds. Next, the pans are covered with said plate acting as a cover and they enter the fermentation process.

Once the dough has fermented, the pans enter the oven to bake the dough. During baking it is necessary to maintain the pans covered to guarantee the square form of the bread. However, during baking the bread dough may displace the plate that serves as a cover. To prevent the raising of the plate, it is typical to use plates or covers of a heavy weight (6 to 8 kg) which are not displaced with the thrust of the bread dough. However, these plates hinder fast heat transmission and are difficult to handle.

Fast heat transmission during the baking process is essential to avoid problems in the quality of the inner structure of the bread (if the heat is not transmitted quickly it favours the formation of air bubbles). Therefore, to achieve a fast transmission of heat during baking, it is convenient to reduce to a maximum the thickness of the plate that configures the moulds, the same as the thickness of the plate acting as a cover of the pan. Nevertheless, if the plate that configures the moulds is of little thickness the mould base will tend to easily wear during its displacement on the industry's transport chains. On the other hand, if the plate acting as a cover is of little thickness, this plate moves during the baking of the bread preventing a loaf of uniform section from being obtained.

To avoid wear of the pan, it is typical to resort to reinforcing structures that laterally cover the pan and give it resistance. However, these reinforcing structures also hinder the uniform transmission of heat in certain areas, which translates into a less homogeneous baking which negatively affects obtaining a regular shaped loaf.

In light of the above, it would be desirable to have a light pan which guarantees fast baking and obtaining a loaf with uniform section, which was resistant and easy to handle.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The objective of the present invention is that of resolving the aforementioned drawbacks, providing a pan for baking bread which has the advantages that will be described below.

In accordance with this objective, the present invention provides a pan for baking bread comprising a plurality of baking moulds, a plate acting as a cover of said moulds, and means to prevent the raising of said plate as the bread is baked inside said moulds, and it is characterized in that said means to prevent the raising of said plate comprise a fastening device associated to a structure of said pan, said fastening device including at least one hook which is hingedly joined to said structure, said hook being susceptible of fastening a portion of said plate when it tilts on said structure.

The fastening device has the advantage that it effectively and safely prevents raising the cover without the need to resort to the use of plates with a heavy weight. In particular, it has been observed that with this fastening device the weight of the cover can be reduced to approximately 4 kg, which positively results in a large energy saving (quicker baking with smaller energy consumption). Furthermore, the pan is light and easy to handle.

Another advantage of the pan claimed lies in the fact that said fastening device makes it possible to implement on an industrial scale an automatic process to place and remove the plate acting as a cover, externally actuating said hook or a counterweight that is associated with said hook. This positively leads to an improvement in the bread production yield.

Preferably, said fastening hook is hingedly joined to a shaft of a structure of the pan which is interposed between two of said baking moulds and, advantageously, said structure is joined to the outer walls of two of the pan moulds. Again advantageously, said plate acting as a cover comprises a lower portion which extends from the underside of said plate, said lower portion being interposed between two of said moulds in order that it can be gripped by said hook whilst said hook remains concealed under the plate in a closed position of the plate. In this way, as the hook is concealed under the plate in the closed position, a pan is obtained of a compact design which facilitates industrial handling, whilst it avoids the accidental opening of the hook.

According to a different embodiment, the plate comprises an upper portion arranged traversed in a plate groove, said hook being susceptible of fastening said upper portion when it tilts and traverses said groove.

Preferably, said fastening hook is joined to a weight configured by way of a counterweight to tilt said hook automatically and fasten the plate, said same weight being susceptible of acting as a counterweight if actuated in the opposite direction to release the hook from the plate. In this way, the cover is very easy to place and remove which facilitates the industrial application of the pan. For example, the weight acting as counterweight of the hook can be actuated in its lower part by a piston located under the transport chain of the pan to make the hook tilt and release the plate. Alternatively, the hook can be actuated in its upper part to make it tilt and release the plate. These two options have been represented in the figures section of the present application.

Advantageously, the structure of the pan whereto the fastening hook is joined comprises a piece which acts as a stop to limit the tilting movement of the weight and said hook.

Again advantageously, the upper edge of said hook has a curved profile to facilitate the sliding and upper placement of the plate acting as a cover.

According to an embodiment of the pan of the present invention, the plate acting as a cover comprises a plurality of recesses which act by way of a cover of each one of said moulds, each one of said recesses defining an insert “e” of the plate in the upper edge of the walls of said moulds. This insert “e” enables an adjustment between the plate and the walls of the moulds which makes it possible to accurately fix the dimensions of the internal cavity wherein the dough is housed during the baking. In this way, it guarantees that a loaf is obtained with uniform section, since the dough growth space is exactly delimited. Furthermore, said insert “e” facilitates and contributes to the fastening of the plate.

The obtainment of a loaf with uniform section according to design and a free of irregularities on its surface have the advantage that it facilitates handling during packaging. Indeed, it has been observed that the form of the uniform loaf facilitates the packaging process (use of standard measurement packaging).

Preferably, said recesses of the plate each define an insert “e” equal to or greater than 5 mm in the upper edge of the walls of said moulds. These recesses of the plate may be obtained by a process of inlaying or stamping of a sheet, preferably a metal sheet.

Advantageously, the surface of the recesses designed to cover the opening of the moulds has corrugations and, preferably, said corrugations configure waves with wavelengths equal to or less than 9 mm. These corrugations have the advantage that they increase the heat transmission surface of the plate during baking. Again advantageously, the surface of the recesses designed to cover the opening of the moulds has a cross-section of slightly convex profile. This avoids the formation of depressions in the bread after baking.

Preferably, the surface with corrugations of the recesses comprises a plurality of orifices to allow the entry of hot air. This air inlet favours fast heat transmission to the dough.

Advantageously, the pan moulds comprise sidewalls provided with corrugations, lacking at least the upper edge of said walls of said corrugations to enable the insertion of the plate recesses. The corrugations in the sidewalls facilitate fast heat transmission during baking. Preferably, the corrugations of said side walls define a plurality of ribs which are vertically disposed with respect to the base of said pan. It has been observed that the vertical ribs facilitate the extraction of the bread once baked and protect the inner coating of the moulds from wear.

According to a preferred embodiment, said pan comprises a reinforcing structure which includes a tubular profile disposed on the periphery of said pan, said tubular profile enveloping the edges of said moulds and said tubular profile being mounted separated from said edges so that it defines a space for the air circulation. This enveloping tubular profile has the advantage that it laterally reinforces the pan and enables at the same time uniform baking since the hot air circulation guarantees fast heat transmission to the edges of the moulds, which also translates into a significant energy saving.

Advantageously, said tubular profile is mounted so that it appreciably protrudes from the base of the moulds to protect said moulds from wear. Thanks to this, the same reinforcing structure of the pan edges protects the base of the moulds without negatively affecting the thermal transmission of heat. All of this enables the manufacturing of a resistant pan which can be manufactured with sheet thicknesses less than 1 mm, which again leads to a significant energy saving for the bread maker.

According to said same preferred embodiment, said pan comprises means for the vertical stacking of two or more units, said stacking means including a plurality of lugs which are vertically extended upwards from the reinforcing structure of the pan, said lugs being susceptible of being inserted in a plurality of recipient cavities associated to the reinforcing structure of another pan, the plate acting as a cover of the pan being provided with a plurality of grooves wherethrough said lugs protrude when the recesses of said plate cover the openings of the moulds. These means allow the vertical stacking of the pan without the need to dispense with the reinforcing structure which protects the edges and the base of the moulds.

Advantageously, each one of said lugs is configured from a profile which defines in its lower end a recipient cavity of the lug of another pan and in its upper end a protuberance for the insertion of said lug in the cavity of another pan.

In the present invention, recess is understood as a portion of the plate acting as a cover configured to penetrate in the inner cavity of each one of said moulds. These recesses are further configured so that each defines an insert “e” of the plate in the upper edge of the walls of the moulds. This insert “e” enables an adjustment of the plate in the inner cavity of the moulds where the dough is housed.

Despite the fact that in this description reference has been made to the fastening device of the plate in combination with the recesses of said plate, it is necessary to highlight that the configuration of a cover or plate with recesses is in itself a claimable aspect of the pan. In this sense, according to an also claimable aspect the present invention a pan is provided for baking bread comprising a plurality of baking moulds, a plate acting as a cover of said moulds, and means to prevent the raising of said plate as the bread is baked inside said moulds, and it is characterized in that the plate acting as a cover comprises a plurality of recesses which act by way of a cover of each one of said moulds, each one of said recesses defining an insert “e” of the plate in the upper edge of the walls of said moulds.

