Apparatus for making bread and like food products

Claim 1

A baking system including: a proofing chamber for proofing dough product; a cooking chamber for cooking proofed dough product; conveyor means for successively receiving and conveying dough product through said proofing chamber and moving proofed dough product from said proofing chamber through said cooking chamber; means for introducing microwave energy into said proofing chamber and said cooking chamber; microwave shield means in said proofing chamber and said cooking chamber selectively operable to prevent the escape of microwave energy from said chambers; means for operating said conveyor means at a predetermined speed to move dough to said proofing chamber, transfer proofed dough product from said proofing chamber to said cooking chamber, and remove cooked product from said cooking chamber; means for interrupting the operation of said microwave energy introducing means when product is transferred to and from said chambers; and means for operating said microwave shield means in timed relation with the operation of said conveyor means and said microwave energy introducing means to render said microwave shield means inoperative and permit dough product to move to and from said chambers when said conveyor means are operating to transfer products to and from said chambers, but preventing the escape of said microwave energy when said microwave energy introducing means is operating; said proofing chamber including: a first proofing chamber section having an inlet and an outlet; and a second proofing chamber section having an inlet and an outlet; said cooking chamber having an inlet and an outlet; said conveyor means including: first conveyor means for successively receiving dough product at the inlet of said first proofing chamber section and conveying it through said first and second proofing chamber sections and discharging the proofed dough product at the outlet of said second proofing chamber section; and second conveyor means for receiving the proofed dough product from said first conveyor means and moving it from the inlet of said cooking chamber section to the outlet of said cooking chamber section; and means is provided for introducing microwave energy into said first proofing chamber section and said cooking chamber; said microwave shield means being movable between removed positions and shielding positions covering the inlets and outlets of said first proofing chamber section and said cooking chamber to prevent the escape of microwave energy; means is provided for operating said first and second conveyor means at a predetermined speed to move dough from the inlet toward the outlet of said first proofing chamber section, transfer partially proofed dough from said first proofing chamber section to said second proofing chamber section, transfer proofed dough from said second proofing chamber section to said cooking chamber, and remove the cooked product from said cooking chamber; means is provided for moving said microwave shield means between said shielding and removed positions in timed relation with the operation of said conveyor means to permit dough product to move through said inlets and outlets when said conveyor means are operating at said predetermined speeds, but covering said inlets and outlets when said conveyors are not operating at said predetermined speeds; and means is provided for preventing operation of said microwave meAns when said shield means are in said removed positions.