the present invention is known in the baking industry or dividers trade as a dividing and rounding machine and is referred to herein generally as 10 . the dividing and rounding machine 10 consists generally of an upper yoke section 11 , a dividing and rounding section 12 , and a base section 13 . the upper yoke section 11 is preferably constructed of a sturdy metal and provides the leverage necessary for the operation of the dividing and rounding machine 10 . the upper yoke section 11 includes as its primary components , an upper yoke 14 , an operating lever 15 , a pivot bracket 16 , a drive rack 17 , a pair of glides 18 , and a ring pivot mechanism 19 . the operating lever 15 is essentially an elongate lever which provides leverage for the movement of the various components in the dividing and rounding section 12 . the inner end of the operating lever 15 is mounted at the upper surface of the upper yoke 14 by means of the pivot bracket 16 . the drive rack 17 is preferably of a two piece construction having an upper section 49 and a lower section 50 . the upper section 49 is pivotally attached at its top end to the first pivot means 20 of the pivot bracket 16 . the upper section 49 of the drive rack 17 extends downwardly through the upper yoke 14 ; the ring pivot mechanism 19 and the trip plate 22 to releasably engage the lower section 50 of the drive rack 17 . the glides 18 extend downwardly through the upper yoke 14 and ring yoke 29 to engage the top surface of trip plate 22 . the ring pivot mechanism 19 is attached at one end to the second pivot means 21 of the pivot bracket 16 and at its other end , the ring pivot mechanism 19 is rotatably attached to the ring yoke 29 . finally , the bottom arms 34 of the upper yoke 14 are directly attached to the frame 47 of the dividing and rounding machine 10 to support the components of the dividing and rounding section 12 above the base section 13 . the dividing and rounding section 12 is preferably constructed of aluminum and / or plastic components and includes a trip plate 22 , a trip lever 23 , a plug plate 24 , a knife plate 25 , knife blades 26 , plug stems 27 , plugs 28 , pallet 32 , and crank plate 33 . the trip plate 22 includes a trip lever 23 and turn knobs 39 . the glides 18 extend downwardly from the upper yoke 14 and attach directly to the top surface of trip plate 22 . the trip lever 23 releasably engages the trip groove 40 on the upper section 49 of the drive rack 17 . the plug plate 24 is located immediately below the trip plate 22 and is releasably attached to the trip plate 22 by the turn knobs 39 . presently , the plug plate 24 and knife plate 25 include a large number of individual plugs 28 and knife blades 26 , respectively , which are attached to the lower surface of each plate . it is readily anticipated that the plug plate 24 and / or the knife plate 25 may be made of a single piece construction to eliminate the need for the large number of individual pieces which are presently manually attached to each plate . additionally , the removability of the plug plate 24 and knife plate 25 allow the operator to create specialty pieces for holidays or other special occasions by using a plug plate 24 and knife plate 25 combination configured to create designs such as hearts , snowmen or christmas trees . once production of the specialty pieces is completed , the desired plug plate 24 and knife plate 25 combination may be reinstalled in the dividing and rounding machine 10 . the plug stems 27 extend downwardly from the plug plate 24 and pass through openings in the knife plate 25 to hold the knife plate 25 releasably aligned with the plug plate 24 . the plug stems 27 hold the plugs 28 a fixed distance from the plug plate 24 and in alignment with the knife plate 25 so that the knife blades 26 fit between the respective plugs 28 . the knife blades 26 extend downwardly from the knife plate 25 in a fixed pattern to create openings between the respective knife blades 26 having the same identical volume . the knife blades 26 are held in place by an inner ring 41 , an outer ring 42 and cross members 43 . the knife blades 26 , inner ring 41 , outer ring 42 and cross members 43 fit between the spaced apart plugs 28 to form a generally flat false bottom surface during the initial operation of the dividing and rounding machine 10 . once the trip lever 23 is released from the trip groove 40 , the knife blades 26 extend downwardly past the spaced apart plugs 28 to divide the dough . the ring yoke 29 is a generally u - shaped structure which extends downwardly from the ring pivot mechanism 19 to surround the dividing and rounding section 12 . the arms 45 of the ring yoke 29 are generally adjacent to the outer surface of the trip plate 22 and plug plate 24 . the arms 45 include a pair of ring grooves 31 near their lower surface to retain the ring 30 during the dividing and rounding procedure . ring 30 includes an outer rim 44 and a pair of ring slots 46 along its top , outer surface . ring 30 is positioned so as to generally encircle the plug plate 24 and knife plate 25 . finally , the base section 13 of the dividing and rounding machine 10 consists generally of a frame 47 , a rounding lever 35 , a motor ( not shown ), and a variable crank shaft ( not shown ). the rounding lever 35 is attached to one side frame 47 and operates to engage the motor with variable crank shaft to eccentrically rotate the crank plate 33 . in operation , the dough is placed on the pallet 32 and the pallet 32 is then placed on crank plate 33 by aligning the bottom surface of pallet 32 with the pallet extension 38 . the operator then pulls down on operating lever 15 to rotate pivot bracket 16 which moves the first pivot means 20 and pushes downwardly on the drive rack 17 . as the drive rack 17 is pushed downwardly , the entire dividing and rounding section 12 moves downwardly to a position a few inches above the dough on the pallet 32 . further downward movement of operating lever 15 rotates the second pivot means 21 which in turn lowers ring yoke 29 and ring 30 . as the second pivot means 21 is moved downwardly , the ring 30 contacts pallet 32 to form an outer circumferential border for the dough . further downward movement of the operating lever 15 lowers a dividing and rounding section 12 of the dividing and rounding machine 10 until the dough is evenly flattened this is accomplished by pressing the false bottom surface created by the knife blades 26 and plugs 28 against the pallet 32 and the inner surface of the ring 30 . once the dough has been flattened , lever 23 is released from the trip groove 40 to disengage the drive rack 17 from the trip plate 22 . once the drive rack 17 is disengaged , further downward pressure on the operating lever 15 pushes the knife plate 25 and knife blades 26 downwardly beyond the lower surface of the plugs 28 to divide the dough into equally sizes pieces . after the dough is divided , the operator begins the rounding process by pulling the rounding lever 35 forward . the rounding lever 35 then causes the motor to engage the variable crank shaft . the variable crank shaft and motor operate to eccentrically rotate the crank plate 33 . rotation of the crank plate 33 also causes the pallet 32 to eccentrically rotate while the dough remains within the various openings created by the knife blades 26 . continued rotation of the dough and pallet 32 causes the dough to form dough balls of equal size and shape which may then be baked and used as rolls or buns . the design of the present invention allows for the removal and cleaning of all of the components of the dividing and rounding machine 10 which contact the dough . the following step by step procedure is described to illustrate the ease with which the present invention may be cleaned or adapted for the production of dough balls having a different weight , quantity or shape . typically , the ring 30 is removed first . this is accomplished by pulling down on the operating lever 15 until the ring 30 contacts the pallet 32 . the operating lever 15 is then raised slightly so that the ring 30 may be rotated until the ring slots 46 are aligned with the ring grooves 31 on the arms 45 of the ring yoke 29 . next , the operating lever 15 is raised and the ring 30 is removed from the pallet 32 . the next step in removing the elements of the dividing and rounding machine 10 , is to remove the plug plate 24 and knife plate 25 from the dividing and rounding section 12 . this is accomplished by pulling down on the operating lever 15 until the false bottom surface of the plugs 28 and knife blades 26 contact the pallet 32 . the turn knobs 39 on the trip plate 22 are then turned to release the plug plate 24 from the trip plate 22 . next , the plug plate 24 and knife plate 25 are rotated to release the locking groove 51 on the lower section 50 of the drive rack 17 from the cross key 52 on the upper section 49 of the drive rack 17 . finally , the operating lever 15 is raised to lift the trip plate 22 away from the plug plate 24 and knife plate 25 . the plug plate 24 and knife plate 25 are then removed from the dividing and rounding machine 10 . the last component to be removed from the dividing and rounding machine 10 is the pallet 32 . the pallet 32 is removed from the dividing and rounding section 12 by merely lifting the pallet 32 off the pallet extension 38 . it is anticipated that that present invention is readily adaptable to machines that perform only the dividing function of the present invention and that various modifications may be made to the present invention by those skilled in the art without avoiding the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims attached hereto .
a dough dividing and rounding machine for dividing and rounding dough wherein the machine includes a removable ring and dividing assembly for the convenient cleaning of the machine and to allow for the interchangeability of the dividing assembly with a second dividing assembly for the production of dough having different sizes , quantities or shapes . the present invention being particularly adapted for use in dividing and / or dividing and rounding machines wherein a predetermined quantity of pieces of equal sized dough are produced .