We claim:
1. An assembly for making snack food pieces, said assembly comprising:
a toasting oven configured to receive and convey therethrough a continuous sheet of snack food dough material;
a proofing oven located downstream of said toasting oven and configured to receive said sheet of snack food dough material from said toasting oven and to convey said snack food dough material therethrough;
a frying apparatus located downstream of said proofing oven, said frying apparatus comprising an oil pan assembly and molds configured to immerse snack food piece preforms in oil contained within said oil pan assembly;
a die-cutting transfer roller assembly located intermediate said proofing oven and said frying apparatus, said die-cutting transfer roller assembly configured to cut the snack food piece preforms from the continuous sheet of masa and transfer the preforms to said frying apparatus; and
a take-away transfer roller assembly located downstream of said frying apparatus, said take-away transfer roller assembly configured and disposed to remove cooked snack food pieces from said frying apparatus and to transfer the cooked snack food pieces to take-away apparatus for subsequent processing of the cooked snack food pieces.
2. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said molds comprise two-piece molds which are configured to restrain said snack food piece preforms while said snack food piece preforms are immersed in the oil.
3. The assembly of claim 2, wherein said frying apparatus comprises
a housing;
a first rotating belt assembly disposed within said housing and comprised of a plurality of first mold elements which form first portions of said two-piece molds; and
a second rotating belt assembly disposed within said housing and comprised of a plurality of second mold elements which form second portions of said two-piece molds;
wherein said first and second rotating belt assemblies are disposed in cooperating relationship with each other and in relation to said oil pan assembly such that as said first and second belt assemblies rotate, said first and second mold elements come together to define said two-piece molds and restrain the snack food piece preforms therein; transport the preforms through oil contained within said oil pan assembly; and then move away from each other such that said enclosed molds open and the cooked snack food pieces can be removed therefrom by said take-away transfer roller assembly.
4. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said molds are generally elongated and continuous and restrain a succession of snack food piece preforms therein.
5. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said molds are curved such that snack food pieces cooked within said frying apparatus are curved.
6. The assembly of claim 1, wherein said die-cutting transfer roller assembly is configured to cut generally triangular snack food chip preforms arranged in alternating fashion.
7. The assembly of claim 2, wherein said first mold elements comprise concave mold cavities and said second mold elements comprise convex mold plates which mate with said concave mold cavities and wherein said first and second mold elements are configured such that the two-piece molds formed thereby are generally elongated and continuous so as to restrain a succession of snack food piece preforms therein, whereby said assembly can be operated on a continuous basis to produce a continuous succession of curved snack food pieces.
8. The assembly of claim 7, wherein said die-cutting transfer roller assembly is configured to cut generally triangular snack food piece preforms arranged in alternating fashion, whereby said assembly can be operated on a continuous basis to produce a continuous succession of curved, triangular snack food pieces arranged in alternating fashion.
9. The assembly of claim 1, further comprising a shaping roller assembly located downstream of said proofing oven and configured to impart texture to said continuous sheet of snack food dough material.
10. The assembly of claim 9, wherein said shaping roller assembly is configured to impart macroscopic texture to said continuous sheet of snack food dough material.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An electronic device comprising:
a housing defining an interior space, the housing including a plate-like member that defines a slide opening;
a sliding cover including a cover component disposed on the plate-like member and slidably attached to the slide opening along a transverse direction, a detected component fixed to the cover component and extending into the interior space of the housing, and a first restrictor fixed to the cover component; and
an internal member disposed inside the housing, the internal member including a detector switch having a contact component configured to contact the detected component when the detected component is located at a specific position, the detector switch detecting when the contact component has come into contact with the detected component, and a second restrictor disposed adjacent to the first restrictor when the detected component is located at the specific position,
the first restrictor and the second restrictor being configured to restrict the plate-like member from moving away from the internal member when the detected component is located at the specific position.
2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein
the second restrictor is disposed between the first restrictor and the plate-like member when the detected component is located at the specific position.
3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein
the first restrictor is a protruding component that extends into the interior space of the housing, and
the second restrictor defines a holding space in which the protruding component is held when the detected component is located at the specific position.
4. The electronic device according to claim 3, wherein
the protruding component extends along the transverse direction, and
the holding space extends in the transverse direction.
5. The electronic device according to any of claim 1, wherein
the contact component is configured to rotate around an axis perpendicular to an outer surface of the plate-like member.
6. The electronic device according to claim 5, wherein
the contact component is rotated by the detected component when the detected component moves to the specific position.
7. The electronic device according to claim 1, further comprising:
a power supply controller configured to start supplying current when the detector switch has detected contact between the contact component and the detected component.
8. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein
the internal member is a frame disposed along an inner surface of the housing.
9. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein
the first restrictor is disposed above the center part of an inner surface of the plate-like member.
10. An imaging device comprising:
a housing defining an interior space, the housing including a plate-like member that defines a slide opening;
a sliding cover including a cover component disposed on the plate-like member and slidably attached to the slide opening along a transverse direction, a detected component fixed to the cover component and extending into the interior space of the housing, and a first restrictor fixed to the cover component;
an internal member disposed inside the housing, the internal member including a detector switch having a contact component configured to contact the detected component when the detected component is located at a specific position, the detector switch detecting when the contact component has made contact with the detected component, and a second restrictor adjacent to the first restrictor when the detected component is located at the specific position; and
a lens attached to the housing,
the first restrictor and the second restrictor being configured to restrict the plate-like member from moving away from the internal member when the detected component is located at the specific position.