Apparatus and method for browning and baking pies

Claim 2

An oven, adapted for baking and browning pies, comprising: a. support and transport means for carrying said pies through said oven while continuously rotating said pies, said transport means defining a path of movement of said pies through the oven; b. a pair of spaced burners fixed in position above said path, each said burner adapted to direct its heat so as to be primarily absorbed by said pies at respective edge portions thereof; and c. the path and rotation of said pies relative to said burners being arranged such that said burners continuously direct heat on respective different edge portions of said pies without any substantial overlap of heating, and such that all exposed areas of each of said pies are heated uniformly during movement through said oven.

Claim 3

The oven as described in claim 1, wherein said transport means carries said item along a substantially linear path while concurrently rotating same, such that said item is carried through a cycloidal-like path.

Claim 4

The apparatus as described in claim 2, wherein said transport means comprises first and second conveyor elements arranged along said path such that each supports said pies, common drive means, first engaging means driven by said common drive means to drive said first conveyor element at a first speed, second engaging means driven by said common drive means to drive said second conveyor element at a second and faster speed, and guide means adjacent to said first conveyor, said two conveyor elements and said guide means cooperating to rotate said item while confining it on said two elements, such that it is continuously rotated as it is transported along said path.

Claim 5

The apparatus as described in claim 1, wherein said burners are infra red burners, each of said burners supplying heat continuously along said path.

Claim 6

An oven, adapted for either baking or browning pies, comprising: a. support and transport means for carrying said pies through said oven while continuously rotating said pies, said transport means defining a path of movement of said pies through the oven; b. a pair of spaced burners fixed in position within the range of 31 to 33 inches above said path, each said burner adapted to direct its heat so as to be primarily absorbed by said pies at respective edge portions thereof; c. the path and rotation of said pies relative to said burners being arranged such that said burners continuously direct heat on respective different edge portions of said pies without any substantial overlap of heating, and such that all exposed areas of each of said pies are heated substantially uniformly during movement through said oven; d. a lower burner positioned below said support and transport means; and e. burner control means for controlling the heat output of said spaced burners and said lower burner, so that said oven is adaptable to brown pies when said spaced burners are controlled to produce substantially full heat, and to bake pies When said lower burner is controlled to produce substantially full heat and said spaced burners are controlled to produce low heat.

Claim 7

An oven, adapted for either baking or browning pies, comprising: a. support and transport means for carrying said pies through said oven while continuously rotating said pies, said transport means defining a path of movement of said pies through the oven; b. a pair of spaced burners fixed in position within the range of 31 to 33 inches above said path, each said burner adapted to direct its heat so as to be primarily absorbed by said pies at respective edge portions thereof; c. the path and rotation of said pies relative to said burners being arranged such that said burners continuously direct heat on respective different edge portions of said pies without any substantial overlap of heating, and such that all exposed areas of each of said pies are heated substantially uniformly during movement through said oven; d. a lower burner positioned below said support and transport means; and e. burner control means for controlling the heat output of said spaced burners and said lower burner, so that said oven is adaptable to brown pies when said spaced burners are controlled to produce substantially full heat, and to bake pies When said lower burner is controlled to produce substantially full heat and said spaced burners are controlled to produce low heat.

Claim 8

An oven, adapted for baking and browning pies, comprising: a. support and transport means for carrying said pies through said oven while continuously rotating said pies, said transport means defining a path of movement of said pies through the oven; b. a pair of spaced burners fixed in position above said path, each said burner adapted to direct its heat so as to be primarily absorbed by said pies at respective edge portions thereof; c. the path and rotation of said pies relative to said burners being arranged such that said burners continuously direct heat on respective different edge portions of said pies without any substantial overlap of heating, and such that all exposed areas of each of said pies are heated uniformly during movement through said oven; d. a vertical partition positioned continuously along each side of said path, said partitions defining a baking zone through which said item is transported by said transport means, each said partition being hollow to passage of air therethrough and having a substantially continuous generally horizontal opening located above said conveyor elements and below said burners; and e. air blower means connected to the top of said partitions for exhausting air out of said zone, such that the air within said zone is maintained substantially of uniform temperature and moisture.

Claim 9

An oven, adapted for baking and browning pies, comprising: a. support and transport means for carrying said pies through said oven while continuously rotating said pies, said transport means defining a path of movement of said pies through the oven; b. a pair of spaced burners fixed in position above said path, each said burner adapted to direct its heat so as to be primarily absorbed by said pies at respective edge portions thereof; c. the path and rotation of said pies relative to said burners being arranged such that said burners continuously direct heat on respective different edge portions of said pies without any substantial overlap of heating, and such that all exposed areas of each of said pies are heated uniformly during movement through said oven; d. a vertical partition positioned continuously along each side of said path, said partitions defining a baking zone through which said item is transported by said transport means, each said partition being hollow to passage of air therethrough and having a substantially continuous generally horizontal opening located above said conveyor elements and below said burners; and e. air blower means connected to the top of said partitions for exhausting air out of said zone, such that the air within said zone is maintained substantially of uniform temperature and moisture.

Claim 10

The apparatus as described in claim 6, wherein said burners are positioned within a range of 31 to 33 inches above said path, and said burners focus their heat output downward such that no substantial portion of the heat absorbed by said pies is reflected from said partitions.

Claim 11

The apparatus as described in claim 7, comprising a substantially continuous lower burner located below said support and transport means.

Claim 12

The apparatus as described in claim 8, comprising first burner controls for controlling the heat output of said pair of burners, and second burner controls for controlling the heat output of said lower burner, such that the oven may be adapted to brown pies by providing substantially full heat from said pair of burners and no heat from said lower burner, and to bake pies by providing low heat from said pair of burners and substantially full heat from said lower burner.

Claim 13

The apparatus as described in claim 6, comprising a plurality of adjacent zones, each zone having a common one of said partitions with each adjacent zone, said partitions having the property of insulating each zone from the environment of each adjacent zone.