1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for producing croissants, and particularly to an apparatus and method for rolling up the forward end of a dough piece to produce croissants.
2. Description of Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 3,704,664 teaches an apparatus for forming Swiss rolls, in which apparatus a dough sheet is fed forwardly on a lower conveyor, and the rear end of the dough sheet is lifted upwardly by an upper segment 38 of a lifting means 36, and the lifted rear end of the dough sheet is contacted by a forwardly moving upper conveyor to be curled. The lifting of the rear end of the dough sheet and the winding up of it, however, have not satisfactorily been accomplished, because the rear end of the dough, lifted by the lifting means 36, is caused to contact the belt of an upper or curling conveyor 44 to curl at a high position so that the beginning of the rolling up becomes unstable, and because a relatively wider gap between the upper conveyor and the lower conveyor at their upstream end is arranged to allow the forward moving of the dough sheet while being wound up, resulting in loosely rolled products. Accordingly, there have been produced somewhat inferior products in that they are not tightly wound up or are readily unwound.