Process for manufacturing frozen food products composed of layers of pasta and sauce

Claim 1

A process for automatically and continuously manufacturing food products, comprising the sequential steps of: mixing a plurality of ingredients into a mixer to form dough; extruding said dough from said mixer to form a continuous sheet of pasta having first (38), second (40), third (42), fourth (41), and fifth (39) adjacent longitudinal surface area rows; passing said continuous sheet of pasta under a first sauce dispenser; dispensing first sauces from said first sauce dispenser onto said second, third, and fourth adjacent surface area rows, said second, third and fourth adjacent surface area rows being between first and second outer end surface area rows which comprise said first and fifth surface area rows; first folding said respective first and fifth surface area rows by means of first and second guides (37) over said second and fourth surface area rows, respectively, said respective first and fifth surface area rows substantially covering said second and fourth surface area rows, said second and fourth area rows being spaced apart along a widthwise direction of said sheet of pasta and being on opposite sides of said third surface area row; second folding said fourth and fifth surface area rows over said third surface area row by means of a third guide (44); dispensing additional sauce over one of said first and fourth surface area rows by means of a second sauce dispenser (47); third folding said one of said first and fourth surface area rows which does not have said additional sauce dispensed thereon over said one of said first and fourth surface area rows which has said additional sauce dispensed thereon by means of a fourth guide (49), said continuous sheet of pasta continuously passing said first sauce dispenser, passed said first, second and third guides, passed said second sauce dispenser and passed said fourth guide.