The present invention finds application in the field of bread making. More pre- cisely, the present invention relates to a method for marking a bread product (i.e. to impress a distinctive sign thereon) in order to distinguish said product from other foods of the same type. The present invention further relates to a stamp to be used to mark a bread product (in order to implement the aforesaid method).

Review of the prior art

As known, the various types of bread are currently visually distinguishable from one another exclusively because of the design of the bread product, i.e., be- cause of the aesthetic aspect thereof. In light of this, it may be highly difficult to establish, on the basis of observation alone, whether two bread loaves of the same type, such as, for example, two “baguettes”, come from the same bakery or from different bakeries. The foregoing finds greater confirmation with refer- ence to industrially made bread products. If large volumes of bread are to be sold daily (such as in the so-called “large-scale retailing", for example), said products may not in fact be handcrafted since they would have a non- competitive cost. The production of bread, in these contexts, takes place by means of industrial machines which, In a sort of “assembly line", produce a lim- ited number of types of bread (i.e., those most requested by the market). How- ever, the use of industrial machines to produce large amounts of bread results in the bread products of the same type being almost identical to one another, in the eyes of consumers, without any possibility of distinguishing the bakery of origin or the supplier.

Objects of the Invention it is the object of the present invention to overcome the aforesaid drawbacks by indicating a method for producing a bread product adapted to impress a visual mark on the latter to distinguish said product from other products of the same type,

Summary and advantages of the invention

The present invention relates to a stamp to be used during the production of a bread product and adapted to impress a visual mark (i.e., a mark which may be observed by a consumer of the bread product, for example when buying said product) on said product, said stamp comprising:

● a metal stamping plate including one or more reliefs adapted to impress a visual mark on a dough for the production of a bread product, when brought into contact with said dough;

● means for heating said plate adapted to heat the latter so that it reaches a temperature not fewer than 200°C, preferably at least at said reliefs;

● means for the reversible connection between said plate and said heating means.

Incidentally, the term “reversible connection” means that the plate may be con- nected to the heating means and may be disconnected therefrom an indefinite number of times.

Advantageously, by virtue of the reversibility of the aforesaid connection means, the stamping plate may be replaced by a similar piate but having different re- liefs, i.e., adapted to impress a different visual mark on a bread product.

Other innovative features of the present invention are shown in the following description and are referred to in the dependent claims.

According to an aspect of the invention, said plate is made of AISI 304 steel (corresponding to “18-10” stainless steel) at least at said reliefs. AISI 304 steel is advantageously suitable for contacting foods.

According to another aspect of the invention, said heating means comprise:

● a metal block in contact with said plate;

● one or more resistors, preferably “armored” (i.e., coated with an “armor”, for example of the ceramic type, electrically insulating but thermally highly con- ductive), in contact with said metal block;

● feeding means adapted to circulate electric current in said resistors, so that the latter, given a circulation of electric current therein, heat up due to the Joule effect and transfer heat to said metal block.

According to this aspect of the invention, the resistors, when heated by Joule ef- fect, transfer heat, mainly by conduction, to the metal block which, in turn, trans- fers heat, again mainly by conduction, to the stamping plate.

According to another aspect of the invention, said metal block is at least partial- ly made of aluminum.

Advantageously, the aluminum is adapted to heat up quickly, as well as to transfer heat just as quickly to the stamping plate.

According to another aspect of the invention, said stamp comprises;

● means for detecting the temperature of said plate;

● means for controlling said heating means, said control means being adapted to

- acquire the temperature of said plate from said detection means and to

- operate said heating means so that said piate

> heats up until reaching a stamping temperature, which may be deter- mined by a user of said stamp, and

> once said stamping temperature has been reached, is kept at said stamping temperature for a period of time which may be determined by a user of said stamp.

The invention also relates to a method for producing a bread product, said method comprising the following steps; a) making a dough comprising water, flour and yeast; b) if said yeast is not a so-called “chemical” yeast, waiting until said dough rises for a certain period of time; c) baking said dough in an oven, where, according to the invention, said method comprises the foliowing further steps between step b) and step c): b1) preparing a stamp as the previous one, which is also the subject of the in- vention; b2) heating the plate of said stamp at a temperature not lower than 200°C, preferably at least at said reliefs; b3) putting said stamp in contact with said dough at least at said reliefs; b4) waiting for a period of time not exceeding twenty seconds; b5) removing said stamp from said dough so that there is no longer any contact therewith.

The reliefs of the stamping plate, when put in contact with the dough (slightly penetrating it), locally cook the dough, impressing on the latter a structurally stable visual mark which is not substantially altered when baking the dough in the oven (step c).

By implementing the method of the invention, it is advantageously possible to mark a bread product by impressing on the latter a mark which is visible by a consumer of said product and by means of which it is possible to communicate information, for example on the origin of the product or the ingredients or prop- erties thereof. In particular, by means of the method of the invention, it is advan- tageously possible to impress a visual mark on a bread product, adapted to dis- tinguish said product from other products of the same type.

Other innovative features of the present method invention are shown in the fol- lowing description and are referred to in the dependent claims.

According to an aspect of the method invention, during step b2), said plate is heated at the same temperature at which, during step c), said dough is baked in said oven.

Advantageously, according to this aspect of the invention, it is even more un~ likely that the visual mark impressed by the plate on the dough undergoes struc- tural alterations when baking the latter in the oven, during step c).

According to another aspect of the method invention, said “same temperature” at which said plate is heated up during step b2) and at which said dough is baked in said oven during step c) is 245°C.

Advantageously, according to tests carried out by the Applicant, the tempera- ture of 245°C is optima! in order to mark a bread product In a structurally stable manner, without burning it and without altering the organoleptic properties thereof.

According to another aspect of the method invention, during step b4), said stamp comes into contact with said dough so that said reliefs at least partially penetrate into said dough.

Advantageously, again according to tests carried out by the Applicant, a pene- tration of a few millimeters of the reliefs into the dough is optima! in order to mark a bread product In a structurally stable manner, without burning it and without altering the organoleptic properties thereof.

According to another aspect of the method invention, during step b4), said wait- ing period does not exceed eight seconds.

Advantageously, according to this aspect of the invention, the stamping may occur when transferring the dough from the place of the rising to the oven (which transfer usually occurs in eight seconds).

Brief description of the Drawings

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments thereof and from the ac- companying drawings, mereiy given by way of explanation and not by way of limitation, in which:

- Figure 1 shows a perspective view of a stamp according to the present in- vention to be used when implementing a method, also according to the pre- sent invention, for producing a bread product comprising at least one mark- ing;

- Figure 2 shows a front plane view of the stamp in Figure 1 ;

- Figure 3 shows a bottom plane view of the stamp in Figure 1.

Detailed description of some preferred embodiments of the invention

In the following description, a figure may also be shown with reference to ele- ments not expressly indicated in that figure but in others. The scale and propor- tions of the various elements depicted do not necessarily correspond to the real ones.

Figures 1 to 3 show a stamp 1 of the invention to be used when implementing a method of the invention for producing a bread product comprising at least one marking, i.e. a mark which can be seen by a consumer of said product. More precisely, stamp 1 is a stamp to be used during the production of a bread prod- uct and is adapted to impress a marking on said product Stamp 1 comprises a stamping plate 2 (arranged at the botom in Figures 1 and 2) including, at a face thereof, one or more reliefs 3 adapted to impress a visual mark on a dough for the production of a bread product, when put in contact with said dough. By way of explanation only, in the Figures, plate 2 is a rectangular parallelepiped and the reliefs 3 consist of a ring with isosceles triangular cross- section. Plate 2 is preferably made of AISI 304 steel, at least at the reliefs 3. Stamp 1 comprises a metal block 4 in contact with the plate 3 and to which the later is reversibly connected, preferably by means of screws 5. Preferably, block 4 is at least partially made of aluminum, more preferably of an alloy com- prising aluminum and generally known as “anticorodal”. By way of explanation only, block 4 is a rectangular parallelepiped as weil and is in contact with piate 2 at a face thereof (lower face, In Figures 1 and 2) preferably lined up with the face (upper face, in Figures 1 and 2) of the plate 2 opposite to that at which the reliefs 3 are present.

Stamp 1 comprises one or more resistors, preferably armored, in contact with block 4. Said resistors are preferably “immersed” into block 4 and are electrical- ly connected to means adapted to circulate electric current therein. Said resis- tors, given a circulation of electric current therein, heat up due to the Joule ef- fect and transfer heat, mainly by conduction, to block 4. Said heat is transferred, again mainly by conduction, from block 4 to piate 2, in order to propagate to the reliefs 3.

The means adapted to circulate electric current in the resistors preferably com- prise electric cables connected, by means of a control unit, to the electricity dis- tribution network. in light of the foregoing, biock 4, together with the resistors and the aforesaid means adapted to circulate electric current in said resistors, act as means adapted to heat the plate 2. Incidentally, the screws 5 act as reversible connec- tion means between plate 2 and said means adapted to heat the latter.

The resistors are selected so that plate 2 may be heated to the point of reaching a temperature not lower than 200°C, preferably at least at the reliefs 3.

Stamp 1 preferably comprises a probe for detecting the temperature of plate 2. The control unit is preferably adapted to acquire the temperature of plate 2 from the aforesaid probe. If said temperature (detected by the probe) is lower than a “stamping" temperature which may be set by a user of stamp 1 , the control unit is adapted to circulate electric current inside the resistors so that plate 2 heats up until the stamping temperature is reached and remains at said stamping temperature for a period of time which may be set by the user of stamp 1.

As previously mentioned, the invention also relates to a method for producing a bread product comprising at least one marking which may be impressed by means of stamp 1.

The first step of said method consists in making a dough comprising at least water, flour and yeast. If the yeast is not a so-called “chemical” yeast, it is nec- essary to wait for the dough to rise for a certain period of time. Incidentally, the so-called “chemical" yeast is not a iiving being. It is a substance having a rising effect following a chemical reaction which releases gas (usually carbon dioxide). “Chemical yeasts” are substantially known. Therefore, further details are not provided herein.

At the end of the rising, before putting the dough into the oven (for baking it), in order to impress on the latter a visual mark which shall remain during the baking operation in the oven, it is necessary to heat plate 2 so that the latter reaches a temperature not lower than 200°C, preferably at least at the reliefs 3. The stamp 1 with the plate 2 thus heated is then put in contact with the dough (preferably by means of a pneumatic cylinder) at least at the reliefs 3. This results in the marking of the dough. Preferably, stamp 1 is put in contact with the dough so that the reliefs 3 at least partially penetrate into the dough. After waiting for a period of time not exceeding twenty seconds, and preferably not exceeding eight seconds, stamp 1 is removed from the dough so that there is no longer any contact therewith. The dough thus marked is then baked in an oven to ob- tain a bread product.

The reliefs 3, when put in contact with the dough, locally cook the latter, im- pressing a structurally stable visual mark thereon, which is not substantially al- tered when baking the dough in the oven. The marking impressed by stamp 1 thus remains when baking the dough in the oven and is visible even after the baking operation is completed.

Plate 2, before being put in contact with the dough, is preferably heated up to the same temperature at which the dough is then baked in the oven. Preferably, said temperature at which the plate is heated and at which the dough is baked in the oven is 245°C.

According to the description provided for a preferred exemplary embodiment, it is apparent that certain changes may be introduced by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.