Dough Divider / Rounder

Overview

A dough divider takes a bulk mass of mixed dough and cuts it into pieces of equal weight, then a rounder rolls each piece into a tight ball ready to prove. Dough is loaded into the Dough Hopper, which feeds the Measuring Chamber where a piston packs a fixed volume; the Dividing Head shears that column into portions, the Knife Oil Pump keeps the cut surfaces from sticking, and the Rounding Unit shapes each piece. A Flour Duster lays down flour to stop dough clinging, and the Control System sets piece weight, count and rounding time. Everything is built on a stainless Frame & Hygienic Panels that wipes down for bakery hygiene.

How it works

The machine divides by volume, not by weighing each piece. The Measuring Chamber is a honed cylinder of fixed bore; its piston packs the chamber full of dough so that a known volume is trapped every stroke. Because well-mixed dough is close to uniform in density, equal volume gives equal weight, and the Volume Adjustment Screw trims piston travel to dial the gram weight in. Once the chamber is charged, the Dividing Head indexes its drum and the Dividing Knife shears the column into portions, driven by the Knife Drive Motor.

Cut dough is sticky and tears if it drags on the steel, so the Knife Oil Pump films a trace of food-grade oil onto the knife and drum through its Oil Spray Nozzle jets; the Flour Duster adds a light flour coat from the Sifting Brush for the same reason. Each portion then drops into the Rounding Unit, where a Drive Belt running against the Rounding Cone rolls the piece around a spiral path, dragging its skin taut into a smooth ball. The Control System sequences the piston, knife, oil pump and rounder for every cycle and counts pieces against the batch, while the interlocked Frame & Hygienic Panels panels and Emergency Stop stop the drives the instant anyone reaches in.