Abstract: Method and apparatus for applying a cooking mix to the rotary cooking drum of an automatic machine for making pancakes or the like by means of a continuously rotating paste-entraining roller partly immersed to a substantially constant depth in a mix tank, the film of mix being entrained by adhesion on the surface of the roller and contacting movable means for partly retaining this film, resulting in the formation of a bead of mix which touches lightly upon the surface of the cooking drum and thus coats it.

Abstract: An appliance for making sorbet or ice cream and including means for preventing the mixer blades from becoming locked in the ice by effecting the progressive withdrawal of these blades from a vertical orientation towards a horizontal orientation under the action of the opposing torque applied to the blades by the hardening of the ice during freezing, and an automatic stopping device which is mechanically operable as a result of the withdrawal of the blades or a part associated therewith to break the motor supply circuit when the blades reach their withdrawn position.

Abstract: A yoghurt-making machine comprises an enclosure inside which a receptacle containing milk pots is disposed above a basin. The space between the receptacle and basis is partly filled with a fusible material, such as commercial paraffin wax which has a cooling curve exhibiting a solidification plateau at a temperature near to the optimum temperature of yoghurt formation. A heating resistor attached to the basin is immersed in the fusible material which is thereby heated. The basin has a bottom defining with the enclosure a closed chamber completely separated from the fusible material. A temperature-limiting element is connected to the resistor and disposed so as to be responsive only to the air temperature within the chamber and is operable to terminate the heating of the fusible material when the temperature in the chamber is higher than the solidification plateau of the fusible material.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for applying a cooking mix to the rotary cooking drum of an automatic machine for making pancakes or the like by means of a continuously rotating paste-entraining roller partly immersed to a substantially constant depth in a mix tank, the film of mix being entrained by adhesion on the surface of the roller and contacting movable means for partly retaining this film, resulting in the formation of a bead of mix which touches lightly upon the surface of the cooking drum and thus coats it.

Abstract: A pancake-making machine (for baking French-type pancakes or "crepes") has a drum rotatable by a drive motor via heat-resistant synthetic-resin gears on its ends. A transfer roller carried on a batter trough is displaceable toward and away from the drum by a handle which controls the drive motor to arrest both the drum and the transfer roller when the two are pulled apart. The transfer roller forms a layer of batter on the drum which is heated by an internal electric heating element supplied with current through axially extending copper sleeves at its ends. The handle is a bent wire pivoted at each end in a slot in the machine housing and latchingly engageable against the displaceable trough. A thermistor imbedded in the drum adjacent the surface thereof is connected via an electronic circuit to a triac in series with the heating element to control the drum heating. A wire stretched tight between two support arms serves to strip the baked pancake from the drum.

Abstract: Electrically driven device for automatically opening food cans using a serrated wheel to turn the can and a fixed cutting element, consisting of an oscillating arm supporting the spindle of the serrated wheel and controlled in its movement by a cam, with a device for reversing the direction of operation in order to return to the rest position releasing the can after removal of the lid, characterised by the fact that the reversal device consists of a sleeve fixed coaxially on the shaft of the motor, the two ends of which are cones each fitting into a female cone, each female cone being hollowed out of a bevel pinion mounted loose on the shaft of the motor, and the two bevel pinions being meshed permanently with a bevel gear turning at right angles to the shaft of the motor and actuating the serrated wheel driving mechanism, the shaft being given an end play which enables a driving friction to be obtained between either of the conical ends of the sleeve and the enclosing female cone, and thus to reverse at will

Abstract: A thermostatic regulating device for the surface of a heating cylinder of a cooking appliance consisting essentially of a stretched metal wire applied along a spiral path with a wide helix angle to the surface of the cylinder, the variations in the length of the wire due to heat-induced expansion or contraction acting after amplification on a microswitch incorporated in the heating circuit for said cylinder.

Abstract: A pancake-making machine (for baking French-type pancakes or "crepes") has a drum rotatable by a drive motor via heat-resistant synthetic-resin gears on its ends. A transfer roller carried on a batter trough is displaceable toward and away from the drum by a handle which controls the drive motor to arrest both the drum and the transfer roller when the two are pulled apart. The transfer roller forms a layer of batter on the drum which is heated by an internal electric heating element supplied with current through axially extending copper sleeves at its ends. The handle is a bent wire pivoted at each end in a slot in the machine housing and latchingly engageable against the displaceable trough. A thermistor imbedded in the drum adjacent the surface thereof is connected via an electronic circuit to a triac in series with the heating element to control the drum heating. A wire stretched tight between two support arms serves to strip the baked pancake from the drum.