Abstract: An apparatus and method for measuring a uniform volume and weight of food material, and continuously delivering it, is provided. The apparatus comprises screws disposed at the bottom of a hopper and a delivering means having a rotating cylinder and vanes freely slidable in respective pairs of slots formed in the periphery of the cylinder. The delivering means is disposed in a housing, and both ends of the vanes slidably contact the inner surface of the side wall of the housing to form compartments between each adjacent pair of vanes. In the apparatus, the material is fed by screws and introduced into the compartment for measuring. Since the rotational speeds of the screw and cylinder are respectively controlled to introduce a sufficient amount of the material into the compartment, the density of the material in the compartment becomes uniform. The material is then continuously discharged from the apparatus.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for continuously producing filled dough pieces is provided. A pair of toothed rotary disc cutters are arranged on a conveyor belt feeding a filled cylindrical dough body. A plurality of dividers mounted on the periphery of a wheel are disposed between and above the teeth. The dividers and the teeth rotate about their own axes to flatten the cylindrical dough body and to split it by their cooperatively synchronized movement whereby completely incrusted spherical or variously shaped filled dough pieces are produced.

Abstract: An apparatus for producing a plurality of trapezoidal dough pieces of the same orientation from a web of moving dough sheet includes a first rotatable cylindrical cutter producing two kinds of series of trapezoidal dough pieces arranged in opposite orientations, one kind of series of continuous, the other separated into pieces. The series which is continuous is sidetracked upwardly, cut into pieces by a second rotatable cylindrical cutter and then reversed by passing around a curved surface and following onto the moving surface on which the dough pieces of the other series are being conveyed. The fall causes all dough pieces to have the same orientation.