Coating pizza shells with sauce and topping - supplied from hopper with rotating combs regulating flow

摘要

A pizza shell is advanced by a foraminous conveyor belt beneath a sauce-applying and topping stations. At the first station the sauce is applied via a spray nozzle and excess material is recycled. In the second station a hopper stores particulate topping which is agitated by a drum with a set of rotating teeth. A second conveyor is positioned beneath the hopper and carries a layer of particulate material beneath regulating rollers to establish a layer of predetermined thickness. The second conveyor discharges this layer onto the pizza and excess material passing through the foraminous conveyor is recycled. The toothed drum in the hopper is rotated so that its lower surface moves in the opposite direction to the second conveyor. The apparatus applies sauce and a layer of topping of controlled depth to a pizza shell.