Continually-operated looping machine for traditional looped pretzel rolls

摘要

An assembly for converting pre-portioned pieces of bakery dough into traditional looped pretzel rolls comprises a first narrow conveyer belt and a second wider conveyer belt arranged at low-level. A looping station is located beneath the first belt, which captures and twists the two sides of the hanging dough. The resulting knot is secured and prevented from untwisting by a unit consisting of two rotating belts, relieving the dough side-arms of weight above the twisted section. The two hanging arms come to rest on the second belt, followed by the main body of the pretzel. The novelty is that the release of the main body of the pretzel is synchronised by a blocking element which lifts the body and releases it at the right moment.