JP2016116497A - Food production system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food production system for reproducing conscientiously flavor of food from which a database is compiled.SOLUTION: A food production system includes: a tasting part for detecting flavor of flavored food; and a control part for adjusting flavor based on flavor data, and on a difference between data of the flavor of the flavored food detected by the tasting part and flavor data read out from a data storage part. Therefor, the flavor data in the data storage part approximately agrees with the flavor data of the flavored food. As a result, the flavor of food from which a database is compiled can be reproduced conscientiously.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a food production system.

  3D printers that create objects by stacking materials based on 3D model data are widely used. In recent years, there has been an increasing interest in food manufacturing apparatuses that apply 3D printers to food materials.

For example, Patent Document 1 proposes an apparatus in which food materials are stacked based on a cross-sectional view of CAD data, and food materials including flavor are added thereto.

US Patent Application Publication No. 2014/154378

  However, although the technology of Patent Document 1 manufactures foods based on data-based foodstuffs and flavors, there is a problem that a problem that the flavors differ between the data and the manufactured foods may occur.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a food production system for faithfully reproducing the flavor of food that has been converted into data.

In order to solve the above problems, a food production system according to the present invention is a food production system for producing food based on data, a data storage unit for storing food shape data and flavor data, and a food flavor. A flavor storage unit for storing the ingredients, a food component part for storing the ingredients, a seasoning part for generating a flavored ingredient by imparting the flavor extracted from the flavor storage part to the ingredients, and a tasting part for detecting the flavor of the flavored ingredients, A control unit having a flavor adjustment function of reading data from the data storage unit and outputting a flavor from the flavor storage unit to the seasoning unit based on the difference between the read data and the flavor data detected by the taste unit. Prepare.

According to the present invention, the taste storage unit for detecting the flavor of the flavored food, the flavor data, the flavor data of the flavored food detected by the taste part, and the difference between the flavor data read from the data storage unit and the flavor storage unit The control part which performs the flavor adjustment instruction | indication which outputs a flavor to a seasoning part is provided. As a result, the flavor data in the data storage unit and the flavor data of the seasoned food are almost the same. As a result, it is possible to faithfully reproduce the flavor of the food that has been converted into data.

Preferably, the flavor adjustment instruction is even better if it is lighter than the flavor data stored in the data storage unit.
As a result, the flavor adjustment instruction becomes lighter than the flavor data stored in the data storage unit, so that the taste does not become darker than the flavor data.
Therefore, since it can be adjusted to add flavor, it is not necessary to discard the ingredients because the seasoning is too deep, or to wash the ingredients to reset the taste, and can efficiently season .

Preferably, the data storage unit further stores the food texture data of the food, further includes a food texture detection unit that detects the food texture data of the ingredients supplied to the seasoning unit, and read the data from the data storage unit A control unit further having a texture adjustment function for giving a texture adjustment instruction to output food from the food part to the seasoning unit based on the difference between the texture data and the texture data detected by the texture detection unit, May be further provided.
As a result, not only the taste but also the texture can be faithfully reproduced.

Preferably, the texture adjustment instruction is even better when the texture is softer than the texture data stored in the data storage unit.
The softer the food, the better the dispersibility. Therefore, the time for adjusting the texture can be shortened by making the soft ingredients harder than by dispersing and softening the ingredients once hardened.

  Preferably, a data input unit for inputting desired flavor data to the data storage unit may be further provided. As a result, when the food created based on the data does not have a favorite taste, it can be adjusted to the user's favorite taste.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the foodstuff manufacturing system for reproducing the flavor of the food-ized food faithfully can be provided.

It is a block diagram of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a block diagram of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the processing operation of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Embodiments (embodiments) for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. The constituent elements described below include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art and those that are substantially the same. Furthermore, the constituent elements described below can be appropriately combined. In addition, various omissions, substitutions, or changes of components can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. In the description, the same reference numerals are used for the same elements or elements having the same function, and redundant description is omitted.

(Embodiment 1)
The configuration and processing operation of the food production system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a food production system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. The food manufacturing system includes a data storage unit 1, a control unit 2, a flavor storage unit 3, a seasoning unit 4, a food material unit 5, a taste unit 6, and an output unit 7. Here, the configuration of each functional block will be mainly described. Specific processing contents will be described in detail after the description of the configuration.

  First, the data storage unit 1 will be described. Data relating to the shape of food and data relating to the flavor of food are recorded in the data storage unit 1. The shape data of the food is specifically two-dimensional data related to the shape of each cross section of the food to be manufactured. For example, the coordinate data of the food corresponds to this. This two-dimensional data is composed of one or a plurality of cells, and an aggregate of the two-dimensional data becomes a three-dimensional model of food. Specifically, the flavor data of food stores five basic tastes of sweetness, bitterness, sourness, salty taste, and umami as basic elements of taste as numerical data. For example, the amount of sugar is stored for sweetness, the amount of nitrogen and polyphenols for bitterness, the amount of citric acid for sourness, the amount of amino acid for umami, the amount of amino acid for saltiness, and the amount of salt. The data storage unit 1 is not particularly limited as long as it can record and store data, and examples thereof include a recording medium such as a hard disk. The installation location of the data storage unit 1 may be, for example, on a cloud network or a network server.

  The control unit 2 can be realized by an element such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) of a computer in hardware, and realized by a program having a data transmission / reception function in software.

  The control unit 2 reads out the coordinate data of the food that the user wants to manufacture and the flavor data of the food from the data storage unit 1. The read flavor data is set as a reference value and used for comparison with the data sampled by the tasting unit 6. A flavor to be output to the flavor storage unit 3 based on a difference between a reference value that is an example of flavor data read from the data storage unit 1 and sampling data that is an example of flavor data detected by the taste unit 6. And the amount of flavor.

  For example, when imparting a flavor to the food so as not to discard the food as much as possible, it is possible to first add a flavor that is thinner than the flavor data read from the data storage unit 1 and add the flavor.

Specifically, when the flavor data of the food to be manufactured is sugar content (sweetness) = 50 mg, the flavor adjustment instruction instructed from the control unit 2 to the flavor storage unit 3 is a value less than 50 mg (for example, 45 mg). Send instructions. Thus, the flavor adjustment instruction is smaller than the flavor data in the data storage unit 1.

When the sampling data satisfies the reference value, the control unit 2 instructs the seasoning unit 4 to send the seasoned food to the output unit 7.

The control unit 2 sends the output coordinate data to the output unit 7 based on the read coordinate data. When all the output of the read coordinates is completed, an output stop instruction is sent to the output unit 7.

  The flavor storage unit 3 stores five basic tastes of sweetness, bitterness, acidity, salty taste, and umami in a powder or liquid form and is stored in a plurality of containers. Upon receiving the instruction, the flavoring unit 4 sends the specified amount of flavor.

  The seasoning part 4 combines the flavor sent from the flavor storage part 3 with the foodstuff of the foodstuff part 5, and stirs it. Thereby, it becomes possible to add a flavor to foodstuffs uniformly.

  The food material part 5 is stored in a container in a state where food materials having different hardnesses such as agar, konjac, jelly and the like are cut into pieces like powder. In addition to the above, the food part 5 may be a powder such as sugar.

  The tasting unit 6 samples a part of the seasoned food seasoned from the seasoning unit 4, applies a taste sensor to the surface of the sampled food material, senses it, and sends the sensed data to the control unit 2.

  The output unit 7 outputs the flavored food sent from the seasoning unit 4 to the designated coordinates in accordance with the coordinate data sent from the control unit 2.

Then, with reference to FIG. 4, the processing operation of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the food production system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

  First, the control unit 2 reads the flavor data and the coordinate data of the three-dimensional model of the food from the data storage unit 1. The read flavor data is set as a flavor reference value. (S100)

Subsequently, the control unit 2 calculates the volume of the food from the three-dimensional model of the food, and calculates the amount of food necessary. After calculating the amount of food, the control unit 2 sends a food preparation instruction to the food unit 5. The food preparation instruction includes the amount of food to be output. The food part 5 outputs the instructed amount to the seasoning part. (S101)

Subsequently, the tasting unit 6 samples the ingredients of the seasoning unit 4. The control unit 2 reads the sampling value of the taste sensor of the tasting unit 6. (S102)

Subsequently, the control unit 2 compares the read sampling value with the flavor reference value, and determines whether the flavor reference value is satisfied. (S103)

When the flavor reference value is not satisfied, the control unit 2 sends a flavor adjustment instruction according to the difference to the flavor storage unit 3. The flavor storage unit 3 outputs the instructed flavor to the seasoning unit 4. (S104)

  The seasoning part 4 mixes the foodstuff sent from the foodstuff part 5 and the flavor sent from the flavor adjustment part 3. At this time, stir the ingredients so that the flavor is even. (S105)

  S102, S103, S104, and S105 are repeatedly executed until the flavored food material satisfies the flavor reference value in the flavor data comparison of S103.

When it is determined OK in the flavor data comparison in S103, the control unit 2 sends coordinate data for outputting the flavored food to the output unit 7. (S106)

The control unit 2 sends a flavored ingredient output instruction to the seasoning unit 4. The seasoning unit 4 receives the flavored food material output instruction and outputs the flavored food material to the output unit 7. The output unit 7 outputs a flavored food based on the coordinate data. (S107)

The control unit 2 determines whether the output of all coordinates has been completed. (S108)

S106, S107, and S108 are repeatedly executed until a Yes determination is made in the completion determination of all coordinate output in S108.

  As described above, the food manufacturing system according to the present embodiment includes the tasting unit 6 that detects the flavor of the flavored food, the flavor data, the flavor data of the flavored food detected by the tasting unit 6, and the data storage unit 1. The control part 2 which performs the instruction | indication which adjusts flavor based on the difference of the flavor data read from is provided. For this reason, the flavor data of the data storage unit 1 and the flavor data of the seasoned food are almost the same. As a result, it is possible to faithfully reproduce the flavor of the food that has been converted into data.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the structure of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a food production system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

  Similar to the food production system according to the first embodiment, the food production system includes a data storage unit 1, a control unit 2, a flavor storage unit 3, a seasoning unit 4, a food part 5, a taste unit 6, and an output unit 7. . The food production system according to the second embodiment is different from the food production system according to the first embodiment in that the food production system according to the second embodiment further includes a data storage unit 1 that stores food texture data and a food texture detection unit 8. Here, the configuration of each functional block will be mainly described. Specific processing contents will be described in detail after the description of the configuration.

  The data storage unit 1 stores data related to food texture in addition to data related to the shape and flavor of food described in the first embodiment. The data relating to the texture is, for example, a texture index. The texture index is a measure of the texture signal when a knife probe is stabbed into a food sample using a device that uses a piezoelectric sensor. The amplitude density is the sum of the amplitudes of the texture signals contained per unit time. It is.

The data relating to the texture may not be numerical data but may be specified by ingredients.

The data storage unit 1 also stores food texture data of the food unit 5.

  The control unit 2 can be realized by hardware such as a computer CPU (Central Processing Unit), and can be realized by a program having a data transmission / reception function.

  The control unit 2 reads from the data storage unit 1 the coordinate data of the food that the user wants to manufacture, the flavor data of the food, and the data related to the texture. The read flavor data is set as a reference value and used for comparison with the data sampled by the tasting unit 6. Based on the difference between the reference value and the sampling data, the flavor output to the flavor storage unit 3 and the amount of the flavor are instructed.

When the sampling data satisfies the reference value, the control unit 2 instructs the seasoning unit 4 to send the seasoned food to the output unit 7.

  Further, the control unit 2 determines whether the read texture data is a food designation or a texture value. When the read texture data is a designation of ingredients, a designated ingredient instruction is sent to the ingredients section 5. If it is food texture value data, this is set as the food texture reference value, and the type and amount of food to be output to the food material section 5 are indicated based on the difference from the food texture data sampled by the food texture detection unit 8 To do.

  For example, in order to instruct the type and amount of ingredients to be output to the ingredient unit 5 so as not to discard the ingredients as much as possible, the ingredients are first selected so as to be softer than the texture data read from the data storage unit 1, It is also possible to send a texture adjustment instruction to 5. The softer the food, the better the dispersibility. Therefore, the time for adjusting the texture can be shortened by making the soft ingredients harder than by dispersing and softening the ingredients once hardened.

Specifically, when the food texture data of the food to be manufactured is 30N, the control unit 2 searches for the food having a value smaller than 30N (for example, 25N) from the foods read from the data storage unit 1, and searches for the food. A texture adjustment instruction is sent to the ingredients part 5 so as to output the ingredients.

  The food texture data is sensed by the food texture detection unit 8 sampling a part of the food material sent to the seasoning unit 4 and applying a probe to the sampled food material.

The control unit 2 sends the output coordinate data to the output unit 7 based on the read coordinate data. In addition, the control unit 2 sends an output stop instruction to the output unit 7 when all the outputs of the read coordinates are completed.

  The flavor storage unit 3 stores five basic tastes of sweetness, bitterness, acidity, salty taste, and umami in a powder or liquid form and is stored in a plurality of containers. Upon receiving the instruction, the flavoring unit 4 sends the specified amount of flavor.

  The seasoning part 4 combines the flavor sent from the flavor storage part 3 with the foodstuff sent from the foodstuff part 5, and stirs it. Thereby, it becomes possible to add a flavor to foodstuffs uniformly.

  The tasting unit 6 samples a part of the seasoned food seasoned from the seasoning unit 4, applies a taste sensor to the surface of the sampled food material, senses it, and sends the sensed data to the control unit 2.

  The output unit 7 outputs the flavored food sent from the seasoning unit 4 to the designated coordinates in accordance with the coordinate data sent from the control unit 2.

Then, with reference to FIG. 5, the processing operation of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processing operation of the food production system according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention.

  First, the control unit 2 reads flavor data, coordinate data of a three-dimensional model of food, and food texture data from the data storage unit 1. The read flavor data is set as the flavor reference value, and the texture data is set as the texture reference value. (S200)

Further, the control unit 2 determines whether the read texture data is a food designation or a texture value. In the case of the designation of ingredients, the designated ingredients instruction is sent to the ingredients section 5. If no food is designated, the food with the closest texture to the read texture data is selected, and an instruction is sent to the food unit 5. The food part 5 outputs to the food texture detection unit 8 only the amount necessary to sample the instructed food. (S201)

Subsequently, the texture detecting unit 8 samples the texture data by applying a sampling probe to the sampling food sent from the food unit 5. The sampled food texture data is sent to the control unit 2. (S202)

Subsequently, the control unit 2 compares the texture data sent from the texture detection unit 8 with the texture reference value. If the comparison result is within a predetermined range, the result is OK, and a food preparation instruction is sent to the food part 5. If the comparison result is out of range, the result is NG, and a texture adjustment instruction is sent to the food part 5 based on the difference from the texture reference value.

Subsequently, the food material unit 5 sends the adjusted food material to the food texture detection unit 8 based on the food texture adjustment instruction sent from the control unit 2. At this time, the sampling ingredients already in the texture detecting unit 8 may be discarded or added to the existing sampling ingredients. (S204)

S202, S203, and S204 are repeatedly executed until the texture data sampled in S203 satisfies the texture reference value.

Subsequently, when the comparison result is OK in S203, the control unit 2 calculates the volume of the food from the three-dimensional model of the food, and calculates the necessary amount of food. After calculating the amount of food, the control unit 2 sends a food preparation instruction to the food unit 5. The food preparation instruction includes the type and amount of food to be output. The food part 5 outputs the type and amount of the specified food to the seasoning part. (S205)

Subsequently, the tasting unit 6 samples the ingredients of the seasoning unit 4. The control unit 2 reads the sampling value of the taste sensor of the tasting unit 6. (S206)

Subsequently, the control unit 2 compares the read sampling value with the flavor reference value, and determines whether the flavor reference value is satisfied. (S207)

When the flavor reference value is not satisfied, the control unit 2 sends a flavor adjustment instruction according to the difference to the flavor storage unit 3. The flavor storage unit 3 outputs the instructed flavor to the seasoning unit 4. (S208)

  The seasoning part 4 mixes the foodstuff sent from the foodstuff part 5 and the flavor sent from the flavor adjustment part 3. At this time, stir the ingredients so that the flavor is even. (S209)

  S206, S207, S208, and S209 are repeatedly executed until the flavor reference value is satisfied in the flavor data comparison in S207.

When it is determined OK in the flavor data comparison in S207, the control unit 2 sends coordinate data for outputting the flavored food to the output unit 7. (S210)

The control unit 2 sends a flavored ingredient output instruction to the seasoning unit 4. The seasoning unit 4 receives the flavored food material output instruction and outputs the flavored food material to the output unit 7. The output unit 7 outputs a flavored food based on the coordinate data. (S211)

The control unit 2 determines whether the output of all coordinates has been completed. (S212)

S210, S211, and S212 are repeatedly executed until a Yes determination is made in the completion determination of all coordinate output in S212.

As described above, in the food manufacturing system according to the present embodiment, the data storage unit 1 further stores the texture data, and the texture detection unit 8 detects the texture data of the ingredients supplied to the seasoning unit 4. The control unit 2 reads the food texture data from the data storage unit 1, and based on the difference between the food texture data and the food texture data detected by the food texture detection unit 8, the food material unit 5 sends the food texture data to the seasoning unit 4. A texture adjustment instruction for outputting ingredients is given. Therefore, it is possible to faithfully reproduce the food texture of the data.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the structure of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a food production system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

  Similar to the food production system according to the first embodiment, the food production system includes a data storage unit 1, a control unit 2, a flavor storage unit 3, a seasoning unit 4, a food unit 5, a taste unit 6, and an output unit 7. The food production system according to the third embodiment is different from the food production system according to the first embodiment in that it further includes a data input unit 9. Here, only the parts different from the first embodiment will be described with a focus on the configuration of each functional block.

The data input unit 9 is for changing the flavor data and texture data of the food stored in the data storage unit 1, and the user wants to change the flavor data with the touch panel or portable terminal attached to the food manufacturing system. Select the texture data and input the value to be changed.

After completing the input of the changed data, the data input unit 9 notifies the user whether to overwrite the data stored in the data storage unit 1 or create new data.

When the data storage unit 1 receives data to be changed from the data input unit 9, the data storage unit 1 changes the flavor data or the texture data stored in the data storage unit if overwriting.

If new data is to be created, all data of the selected food is copied and overwritten on the copied data.

As described above, the food production system according to this embodiment further includes the data input unit 9. Therefore, when the food created based on the data does not have a favorite taste, it can be adjusted to the user's favorite taste.

Then, with reference to FIG. 6, the processing operation | movement which changes the information of the data storage part 1 of the food manufacturing system which concerns on Embodiment 3 of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing operation for changing information in the data storage unit 1 of the food production system according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

The data storage unit 1 receives the flavor change data input by the data input unit 9. (S300)

The control unit 2 determines whether the received data is overwrite data or new data. (S301)

In the case of overwrite data, the received data is overwritten on the data area of the original food. (S302)

In the case of new data, a new data area is secured in a data area different from the data area of the original food, and all data of the original food is copied to the newly secured area (S303).

Overwrite the received data change information in the new data area. (S304)

  The present invention has been described based on the embodiments. The embodiments are exemplifications, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to combinations of the respective constituent elements and processing processes, and such modifications are within the scope of the present invention. . Accordingly, the description and drawings herein are to be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive.

  In addition, in order to detect food texture, the sample is sampled by applying a probe to the food material. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, various food texture detection modes such as detecting food texture using resonance vibration are used. Can be applied.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Data storage part, 2 ... Control part, 3 ... Flavor storage part, 4 ... Seasoning part, 5 ... Food part, 6 ... Taste part, 7 ... Output part, 8 ... Texture detection part, 9 ... Data input part.

Claims (5)

A food production system for producing food based on data,
A data storage unit for storing the food shape data and flavor data;
A flavor storage section for preserving the flavor of the food;
An ingredient section for storing ingredients;
A seasoning unit that generates a flavored food by applying the flavor extracted from the flavor storage unit to the food;
A tasting part for detecting the flavor of the flavored ingredients;
A control unit that reads out the flavor data from the data storage unit, and performs a flavor adjustment instruction to output the flavor from the flavor storage unit to the seasoning unit based on a difference between the flavor data and the flavor data detected by the taste unit; A food production system comprising: The food manufacturing system according to claim 1, wherein the flavor adjustment instruction is lighter than the flavor data stored in the data storage unit. The data storage unit further stores food texture data of the food,
A texture detecting unit for detecting texture data of the ingredients to be supplied to the seasoning unit;
The controller reads the food texture data from the data storage unit, and based on the difference between the food texture data and the food texture data detected by the food texture detection unit, the food component is added to the seasoning unit. The food production system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an instruction to adjust the texture is output. The food production system according to claim 3, wherein the texture adjustment instruction is softer than the texture data stored in the data storage unit. The food manufacturing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising a data input unit that inputs data of a desired flavor into the data storage unit.

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