CN210809173U - Popcorn production device and popcorn - Google Patents

Abstract

The application relates to food production manufacturing field provides a puffed rice preparation equipment and puffed rice, and wherein, puffed rice preparation equipment includes: the pot body is used for placing corn seeds and ingredients; a heater for heating the contents of the pan body; a stirrer for stirring the contents of the pot body; and the sensing device is used for monitoring whether one or more of a plurality of parameters in the pot body reach a burst parameter or not and sending a signal for stopping heating to the heater when the burst parameter is reached. The embodiment of this application can be so that the preparation of puffed rice automatic shutdown when reaching the requirement with the help of monitoring parameter, consequently need not artifical on duty, has reduced the cost of labor in the puffed rice preparation process.

Description

Popcorn production device and popcorn

Technical Field

The application relates to the field of food production and manufacturing, in particular to a popcorn making device and popcorn.

Background

Popcorn is a puffed food, is commonly used in movie theaters, street sides, supermarkets and other places, tastes delicious, and is popular among people. Popcorn makers are special machines used to make popcorn. In the prior art, various popcorn maker apparatuses are disclosed.

For example, in the chinese utility model patent with application No. 201620008798.9 entitled heating system of electromagnetic popcorn device and electromagnetic popcorn device, an apparatus for making popcorn based on electromagnetic heating technology is disclosed. In the equipment, the temperature of the material container is controlled by the temperature detector, so that the automation efficiency of the heater in the use process is improved.

However, prior art popcorn making devices still require human attendance, so that labor costs are still high.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

In order to solve the above problems or at least partially solve the above technical problems, in one embodiment of the present application, there is provided a popcorn making method, including the steps of:

adding corn seeds and ingredients into the pot body to obtain a mixed raw material;

stirring and heating the mixed raw materials;

monitoring whether one or more of a plurality of parameters in the pan body reach a burst parameter, and stopping heating when the burst parameter is reached.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a popcorn making apparatus, comprising:

the pot body is used for placing corn seeds and ingredients;

a heater for heating the content of the pan body;

a stirrer for stirring the contents of the pot body;

and the sensing device is in communication connection with the heater and is used for monitoring whether one or more of a plurality of parameters in the pot body reach the burst parameter or not and sending a signal for stopping heating to the heater when the burst parameter is reached.

Embodiments of the present application also provide a popcorn product, which is made by the aforementioned popcorn making method or popcorn making apparatus.

Compare in prior art, the embodiment of this application can make the preparation of puffed rice automatic shutdown when reaching the requirement with the help of monitoring parameter, consequently need not artifical on duty, has reduced the cost of labor in the puffed rice preparation process.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments or the prior art will be briefly described below. It should be clear that the drawings in the following description are only intended to illustrate some embodiments of the present application, and that for a person skilled in the art, it is possible to derive from these drawings, without inventive effort, technical features, connections or even method steps not mentioned in the other drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the popcorn making apparatus of the embodiment of the present application, wherein parts such as a cabinet door that may obstruct the view are treated in perspective for convenience of illustration;

FIG. 2 is an exploded schematic view of a pot of the popcorn making apparatus according to the embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic flow diagram of a method of making popcorn according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 4 is a block diagram of a popcorn making apparatus according to an embodiment of the present application.

Description of the reference numerals

1-a pot body; 11-an inner container; 12-outer container; 13-pot cover;

2-a heater;

3-a stirrer;

4-a frame;

51-oil supply barrel; 52-oil supply lines; 53-sugar supply barrel; 54-a sugar supply conduit;

6-turnover mechanism.

Detailed Description

In order to make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present application clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application, and it is obvious that the described embodiments are some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

Implementation mode one

The application provides a popcorn production method, a popcorn production device and a popcorn product produced by means of the two.

The inventors of the present application have found that in the prior art, all popcorn making equipment requires careful manual intervention. This undoubtedly increases the investment of labor costs.

Take the largest domestic popcorn sale scene at present-cinema as an example. During the peak theater period, an average movie may take up to 100-300 persons. The workers who are busy in ticket changing and ticket selling are difficult to be distracted from the manufacture of the popcorn, so the investment of the workers is increased. And embarrassing situation is that too many people easily cause redundant personnel when being idle, and the cinema cost is increased and the management is inconvenient.

To solve the above problems, a first embodiment of the present application provides a popcorn making method and a popcorn making apparatus.

Referring to fig. 1 and 2, the popcorn making apparatus includes:

the pot body 1 is used for placing corn seeds and ingredients;

a heater 2 for heating the content of the pot body 1;

a stirrer 3 for stirring the contents of the pot body 1;

and the sensing device is in communication connection with the heater 2 and is used for monitoring whether one or more of a plurality of parameters in the pot body 1 reach the burst parameter or not and sending a signal for stopping heating to the heater 2 when the burst parameter is reached.

To better explain the operation principle and the work flow of the popcorn making apparatus of the present application, the detailed structure of the popcorn making apparatus will be exemplarily explained next according to the drawings. It is to be noted that the structures mentioned hereinafter are not necessarily the structures necessary for achieving the technical objects of the present application. The structure can be modified by those skilled in the art according to the requirement to meet the actual production requirement.

Specifically, referring to fig. 2, the pot body 1 selected by the present application may have a composite structure, that is, an outer liner 12 with an inner liner 11 wrapped outside the inner liner 11 is included. A pot cover 13 can be arranged on the outer liner 12 to lock heat and moisture. And a heater 2 may be disposed between the inner container 11 and the outer container 12 to heat the inner container 11. In addition, the inner container 11 can be heated by electromagnetic heating, that is, the heater 2 can be an electromagnetic coil. The corn seeds can be heated more uniformly by utilizing electromagnetic heating. Compared with a resistance wire coil, the electromagnetic coil does not have excessive heat energy after heating is stopped, so that popcorn can be prevented from being burnt. It is worth mentioning that, the inner bag 11 that the pot body 1 of this application chooseed for use, its bottom can be the hemisphere, and the hemisphere inner bag 11 cooperation electromagnetic heating technique can further improve the degree of consistency that is heated of maize seed.

Of course, the use of more conventional pans or single layer pans, as well as resistive heating techniques, does not affect the achievement of the technical objectives of the present application.

Meanwhile, the stirrer 3 may be provided on the pot cover 13 to stir the mixed materials in the inner container 11. The stirrer 3 can be scraped and stirred tightly against the inner wall of the inner container 11 to prevent the popcorn from being burnt.

It is worth mentioning that in the popcorn making device of the application, a turnover mechanism 6 can be further provided, and the turnover mechanism 6 is connected with the pot body 1. When the popcorn is made to approach the tail, the turning mechanism 6 is activated and turns the pot body 1 over, so that the made popcorn is poured out. Of course, the inversion can also be performed manually.

The ingredients used in the embodiment of the present application may include sugar powder, edible oil, syrup, and other auxiliary seasonings added according to actual taste requirements. In the process of mixing the raw materials, the stirrer 3 may be turned on alone without heating, and the raw materials may be sufficiently mixed by the stirrer 3 and then the heating may be turned on. Of course, heating and stirring may be performed simultaneously to improve efficiency.

As can be appreciated, referring to fig. 3, the first embodiment of the present application also provides a popcorn making method, comprising the steps of:

adding corn seeds and ingredients into the pot body 1 to obtain a mixed raw material;

stirring and heating the mixed raw materials;

monitoring whether one or more of several parameters in the pan body 1 reach the burst parameter, and stopping heating when the burst parameter is reached.

Wherein, the action sequence of stirring and heating can be in order, also can open simultaneously. Preferably, the mixture is stirred and then heated. It should be noted that when the burst parameter is reached, the heater 2 may be automatically stopped by the signal control of the sensing device, or the heater may be manually stopped by sending a prompt. In the embodiment of the present application, the heating is preferably automatically stopped.

In the present embodiment, the step of adding corn seeds and ingredients to pan body 1 to obtain the mixed raw material is performed in various manners, such as solid ingredients and liquid ingredients.

In the prior art popcorn making process, different ingredients need to be put into the pot body 1 at different making stages. For example, hot oil may be added to pan 1 during the initial corn seed heating stage, and powdered sugar may be added to pan 1 when the popcorn is popped.

In contrast, in the embodiments of the present application, all of the mixed raw materials can be added to the pot body at an initial stage.

Accordingly, as a further preference herein, the furnish comprises a solid furnish and a liquid furnish;

the preparation method of the popcorn also comprises the following steps: adding corn seeds and ingredients into the pot body to obtain a mixed raw material, wherein the step comprises the following steps:

pouring corn seeds and solid ingredients into a pot body;

stirring and mixing the corn seeds and the solid ingredients;

and injecting liquid ingredients into the pot body to obtain the mixed raw material.

Accordingly, as a further preferable aspect of the embodiment of the present application, the popcorn making apparatus further includes:

the liquid storage component, the liquid supply pump component and the liquid supply pipeline group;

the liquid supply pump assembly is used for drawing liquid ingredients from the liquid storage assembly and injecting the liquid ingredients into the pot body through the liquid supply pipeline set to be mixed with the solid ingredients.

Wherein, the corn seeds and the solid ingredients can be added in sequence or can be added after the corn seeds and the solid ingredients are mixed in advance. The injection of the liquid formulation may be automated by the liquid supply pump assembly.

In this way, no matter how the corn seeds and the solid ingredients are poured into the pot, the operator can prepare the required materials in advance before starting heating and stirring, and the extra attention cost for adding the ingredients in the process of frying the popcorn is avoided, so that the popcorn can be made in a one-click manner.

In addition, optionally, after the step of stopping heating when the burst parameter is reached, the method further comprises the following steps:

stirring is continued to wrap the sugar around the surface of the popped popcorn.

By continuing to stir, the surface of the popcorn is evenly coated with sugar, thereby significantly increasing the crispness and sweetness of the popcorn.

Generally, it is desirable to obtain more crispy popcorn. In the prior art, crispness is often improved by increasing the proportion of powdered sugar, but the increase in powdered sugar will significantly improve the sweetness of the popcorn. Popcorn with too high a sweetness is easily greasy to the human body and is not good for health.

Since maltose has a sweetness of only one-half that of white sugar and one-third that of sucrose, in the embodiment of the present application, maltose may be used instead of sugar powder. Compared with the traditional popcorn making method, the maltose syrup reduces the sweetness of the popcorn, improves the crispness of the popcorn, enables the appearance of the popcorn to be brighter and also enables the popcorn to be healthier.

Thus, optionally, referring to fig. 1, in the popcorn making apparatus provided by the embodiments of the present application, the ingredients include a syrup, in particular, a syrup that may include maltose;

the stock solution subassembly includes: the sugar supply barrel 53:

the fluid supply pump assembly includes a sugar supply pump (not shown);

the liquid supply conduit set includes: a sugar supply conduit 54;

the sugar supply pump is used for pumping the syrup from the sugar supply barrel 53 and injecting the syrup into the pan body 1 through the sugar supply pipe 54.

In the popcorn making method provided by the embodiment of the present application, the corn seeds and the ingredients are added into the pot body 1 to obtain the mixed raw material, which comprises the following steps:

heating the syrup;

the heated syrup is pumped by a sugar pump and is injected into the pot body 1 to be mixed with the corn seeds.

By means of the sugar supply pump and the sugar supply pipe 54, a preset amount of syrup can be one-touch pumped into the pan body 1, which improves convenience and reduces labor costs compared to adding syrup manually. Specifically, the pumping amount of the sugar supply pump can be controlled by a flow meter, and can also be controlled by calculating the working time of the sugar supply pump.

Although being in a liquid state, maltose syrup at normal temperature is too viscous, is difficult to accurately add into a pot body according to the proportioning requirement, and is difficult to stir and mix. Through heating maltose syrup raw materials, can obtain the maltose syrup that the mobility is better, show the reduction stirring degree of difficulty, also make the ratio measurement more accurate.

In addition, the liquid storage assembly may further include: oil supply barrel 51:

the fluid supply pump assembly includes a supply pump (not shown);

the liquid supply conduit set includes: an oil supply duct 52;

the oil supply pump is used for drawing oil from the oil supply barrel 51 and injecting the oil into the pot body 1 through the oil supply pipeline 52.

The specific structural position can be seen in fig. 1, in which the pan 1 can be arranged in a compartment above the frame 4 of the popcorn making device. An oil supply barrel 51 and a sugar supply barrel 53 are provided in the lower partition partitioned by the frame 4, and are connected to the upper side of the pot cover 13 of the pot body 1 through an oil supply pipe 52 and a sugar supply pipe 54, respectively, so as to be inserted into the inside of the pot. The oil supply barrel 51 may be provided with a heating function depending on the oil. The oil supply barrel 51 for heating and heat preservation can not only keep the oil in a liquid state, but also prevent the low-temperature oil and the corn seeds from being mixed in advance to influence the taste.

Still further, in the popcorn making apparatus provided in the embodiment of the present application, optionally, the apparatus further includes:

and the temperature adjusting device is used for adjusting the temperature in the sugar supply barrel 53.

In the popcorn making method provided in the embodiment of the present application, the temperature of the syrup before injection is optionally controlled to be between 35 ℃ and 100 ℃, and particularly, may be controlled to be between 35 ℃ and 55 ℃.

The temperature regulating device can comprise a heating mechanism and a temperature measuring mechanism, and the heating mechanism and the temperature measuring mechanism form a feedback circuit to control the temperature of the syrup in an interval. When the temperature of the syrup before injection is controlled between 35 ℃ and 100 ℃, good syrup fluidity can be ensured. And when the temperature is controlled between 35 ℃ and 55 ℃, the energy consumption of the popcorn maker is reduced while the fluidity is ensured.

In the present embodiment, the popping parameter refers to the parameter that can be reflected by the sensing device in the objective state of the pot under natural law during the process of corn seed to achieve the condition of popping into popcorn. The sensing devices referred to in the embodiments of the present application can be of various kinds and can be used to monitor the progress of the frying of popcorn in the pot 1 by means of the monitored parameters. That is, depending on the different behavior of the popcorn during the frying process, an accurate progress of the currently fried popcorn can be obtained by monitoring different parameters.

In the first embodiment of the present application, a temperature parameter in the pot body 1 will be described as an example. When measuring a temperature parameter inside the pot 1, the sensor may be a temperature sensor.

During the process of frying popcorn, there is a "pop point" temperature. That is, the temperature at which the corn seeds are popped into the popcorn is definite and fixed according to the composition ratio of the corn seeds and the ingredients on the premise that the heating curve of the heater 2 is fixed.

Therefore, the 'bursting point' temperature of the inner container 11 of the pan body 1 when the fixed heater 2 is used for heating under a certain common formula can be obtained through a plurality of experiments before formal frying.

Accordingly, the application also provides an application scene of the popcorn making equipment and the popcorn making method as follows:

scene one

The powdered sugar and the corn seeds are poured into the inner container 11 of the pot body 1 according to a certain ratio (for example, the ratio of 1: 2) in a one-time quantitative mode, and the recommended ratio and the added amount are generally stated in the specification of the popcorn making equipment.

Then, the oil supply barrel 51 is used to inject a pre-designed amount of hot oil into the pot 1 through the oil supply pipe 52.

The sugar supply barrel 53, the sugar supply pump (not shown) and the sugar supply pipe 54 are used to inject the syrup of the pre-designed amount into the pan body 1.

The well mixed raw materials can be obtained after fully mixing.

After the dosage and the mixture ratio of the selected raw materials are selected on the control interface of the popcorn making equipment, the making key is pressed, and the popcorn making equipment finishes the automatic frying of the popcorn by one key according to a preset program. It should be noted that all subsequent steps, after the introduction of the solid ingredients such as sugar powder and corn seeds, can be carried out automatically by the popcorn-making device without manual intervention. Therefore, it is also possible to automatically feed sugar in a preset amount through the oil feed line 52 and the sugar feed line 54 after pressing the make key.

Specifically, the popcorn making apparatus starts the heater 2 and the stirrer 3 to stir and heat the mixed raw materials in the pot body 1 according to a preset program.

Meanwhile, the temperature sensor monitors the temperature in the pot body 1 and waits for the continuous rise of the temperature. When the temperature reaches the "pop" temperature, the corn seeds have mostly popped into popcorn. At this time, the temperature sensor sends a stop signal to the heater 2, forcing the heater 2 to stop heating.

After the heating is stopped, the residual heat in the pot body 1 can still enable the residual trace corn seeds to continuously crack into the popcorn. The continuous stirring can ensure that the waste heat absorbed by the corn seeds is more uniform, and the corn popcorn can be uniformly wrapped with sugar, so that the taste of the corn popcorn is further improved.

After the sugar wrapping is finished, the popcorn manufacturing equipment can send out a prompt tone to remind workers that the popcorn is manufactured, and the popcorn finished product can be poured out through the turnover mechanism 6 so as to be sold.

Of course, the parameters monitored by the embodiments of the present application are in no way limited to only the temperature parameter within the pan body 1. Specifically, the monitored parameters include one or any combination of the following parameters:

the temperature parameter in the pot body 1, the sound parameter in the pot body 1, the heat energy parameter output by the heater 2 and the heating duration parameter of the heater 2.

Correspondingly, the adopted sensing device comprises one or any combination of the following sensors:

the temperature sensor is used for monitoring the temperature in the pot body 1;

the sound collector is used for collecting the sound emitted from the pot body 1;

the power collector is used for acquiring the output power of the heater 2 and calculating the total energy output by the heater 2 according to the acquired output power;

and a timer for counting the heating time of the heater 2.

The sensing device according to the embodiment of the present application may further include a controller connected to the sensors, in addition to the sensors, to analyze the basic signals emitted from the sensors and convert the signals into heating stop signals recognizable by the heater 2. Of course, this controller may also be separate from the sensing means, i.e. the sensing means may be communicatively connected to the heater 2 via the controller. Or the controller may be integrally disposed within the heater.

Figure 4 illustrates a block diagram of a typical popcorn making apparatus. As a sensing means, typically, a temperature sensor can be arranged in the interlayer between the inner container 11 and the outer container 12 of the pan body 1, while a sound collector can be arranged at any position as close as possible to the pan body 1, while a power collector can be arranged on the power supply line of the heater, while a timer can be a timing module which is usually self-contained in the controller. Obviously, in practice, the layout of each module differs according to the difference of functions, and therefore, the specific setting position and setting mode of the controller do not affect the achievement of the technical purpose of the application.

The working principle and the influence of different parameters are specifically selected and explained in the following embodiments.

Obviously, the embodiment of the application can automatically control the downtime of the popcorn making equipment after monitoring various parameters in the pot by utilizing the sensing device. Therefore, people are not required to be kept in front of the popcorn making equipment in the making process, and errors possibly caused by manpower are reduced.

Because the heating time of the popcorn does not need to be memorized manually, the popcorn can be made more standardized, and the taste is improved. And the manual intervention is removed, so that the labor cost is obviously reduced, the training cost is reduced, and the automation level of management is improved.

Second embodiment

A second embodiment of the present application provides a method for making popcorn, which is substantially the same as the method for making popcorn of the first embodiment, and is mainly different in that, in the first embodiment of the present application, a parameter monitored by a sensor is explained, taking a temperature parameter in the pot body 1 as an example; in the second embodiment of the present application, the time parameter of the duration of heating by the heater 2 will be described as an example.

In particular, when it is a temperature parameter inside the pan 1 that is measured, the sensor can be a timer.

In the process of frying the popcorn, under the premise that the heating curve of the heater 2 is fixed, the time taken for the corn seeds to pop into the popcorn is basically definite and fixed according to the component proportion of different corn seeds and ingredients. That is, there is one "pop" time.

Therefore, the 'explosion point' time of the inner container 11 of the pan body 1 when the fixed heater 2 is used for heating under a certain common formula can be obtained through a plurality of experiments before formal frying.

Accordingly, the application also provides an application scene of the popcorn making equipment and the popcorn making method as follows:

scene two

The powdered sugar and the corn seeds are quantitatively poured into the inner container 11 of the pot body 1 according to a certain ratio (for example, the ratio of 1: 1.8), and the recommended ratio and the added amount are generally stated in the specification of the popcorn making equipment.

After the dosage and the mixture ratio of the selected raw materials are selected on the control interface of the popcorn making equipment, the making key is pressed, and the popcorn making equipment finishes the automatic frying of the popcorn by one key according to a preset program.

Specifically, the popcorn making apparatus will utilize the oil supply drum 51 to inject a predetermined amount of hot oil into the pot through the oil supply pipe 52.

Later, the popcorn making apparatus injects a pre-designed amount of syrup into the pot 1 by using the sugar supply barrel 53, the sugar supply pump (not shown), and the sugar supply pipe 54. And fully mixing to obtain the well-mixed raw materials.

Then, the popcorn making apparatus starts the heater 2 and the stirrer 3 to stir and heat the mixed raw materials in the pot body 1 according to a preset program.

At the same time, a timer begins and when the duration of the heating reaches the "pop" time, the corn kernels have mostly popped into popcorn. At this time, the timer sends a stop signal to the heater 2, forcing the heater 2 to stop heating.

After the heating is stopped, the residual heat in the pot body 1 can still enable the residual trace corn seeds to continuously crack into the popcorn. The continuous stirring can ensure that the waste heat absorbed by the corn seeds is more uniform, and the corn popcorn can be uniformly wrapped with sugar, so that the taste of the corn popcorn is further improved. The time for wrapping the sugar can also be determined by a timer.

After the sugar wrapping is finished, the popcorn manufacturing equipment can send out a prompt tone to remind workers that the popcorn is manufactured, and the popcorn finished product can be poured out through the turnover mechanism 6 so as to be sold.

It is worth mentioning that the parameters monitored by the embodiments of the present application may be composite parameters. For example, the temperature parameter in the pot 1 and the heating duration parameter of the heater 2 can be monitored simultaneously, and the heating can be stopped when either one of the two parameters reaches the "explosion point" parameter, or when both parameters reach the "explosion point" parameter.

Monitoring multiple parameters simultaneously prevents environmental factors or other factors from affecting the popcorn preparation process. For example, in an extremely cold or hot environment, monitoring both the temperature parameter inside the pan body 1 and the time parameter of the heating duration of the heater 2 can be obviously more accurate than monitoring only one of the two.

Third embodiment

A third embodiment of the present application provides a method for making popcorn, which is substantially the same as the method for making popcorn of the first or second embodiment, and is mainly different in that, in the first embodiment of the present application, a parameter monitored by a sensor is explained by taking a temperature parameter in the pot body 1 as an example; in the third embodiment of the present application, the thermal energy parameter output by the heater 2 will be described as an example.

Specifically, the parameters include at least: the thermal energy parameter output by the heater 2;

the method for making the popcorn further comprises: obtaining the total heat energy required when the corn seeds are changed into the popcorn according to the mass and the proportion of the mixed raw materials added into the pot body 1;

according to the total heat energy, the heat energy parameter required to be output by the heater 2 is obtained.

The sensor may be a power harvester when a thermal energy parameter output by the heater 2 is measured. The power collector may include a voltage measurer and a current measurer, and is provided on the power supply circuit of the heater 2. That is, the power harvester is used to acquire the output power of the heater 2, and is used to calculate the total energy output by the heater 2 from the acquired output power.

During the process of frying the popcorn, under the premise that the heating curve of the heater 2 is fixed, the total heat energy required for the corn seeds to pop into the popcorn is basically definite and fixed according to the component proportion of different corn seeds and ingredients. Because the heat energy absorbed by the corn seeds becoming popcorn is constant at the same ambient temperature, the total energy output by the heater 2 is obtained by the power harvester, and the heater 2 can be accurately sent out a stop signal when the corn seeds are popped into popcorn with the aid of the correction coefficient.

Similarly, the total energy required to be output when the inner container 11 of the pan body 1 is heated by the fixed heater 2 under a certain common formula can be obtained through a plurality of experiments before formal frying.

Accordingly, the application also provides an application scene of the popcorn making equipment and the popcorn making method as follows:

scene three

The powdered sugar and the corn seeds are quantitatively poured into the inner container 11 of the pot body 1 according to a certain ratio (for example, the ratio of 1: 2.2), and the recommended ratio and the added amount are generally stated in the specification of the popcorn making equipment.

After the dosage and the mixture ratio of the selected raw materials are selected on the control interface of the popcorn making equipment, the making key is pressed, and the popcorn making equipment finishes the automatic frying of the popcorn by one key according to a preset program.

Specifically, the popcorn making apparatus will utilize the oil supply drum 51 to inject a predetermined amount of hot oil into the pot through the oil supply pipe 52.

Later, the popcorn making apparatus injects a pre-designed amount of syrup into the pot 1 by using the sugar supply barrel 53, the sugar supply pump (not shown), and the sugar supply pipe 54. And fully mixing to obtain the well-mixed raw materials.

Then, the popcorn making apparatus starts the heater 2 and the stirrer 3 to stir and heat the mixed raw materials in the pot body 1 according to a preset program.

Meanwhile, the power collector monitors the output power of the heater 2 and calculates the total energy value output by the heater 2. When the energy output by the continuous heating reaches the expected energy, the corn seeds have mostly popped into popcorn. At this time, the power harvester sends a stop signal to the heater 2, forcing the heater 2 to stop heating.

After the heating is stopped, the residual heat in the pot body 1 can still enable the residual trace corn seeds to continuously crack into the popcorn. The continuous stirring can ensure that the waste heat absorbed by the corn seeds is more uniform, and the corn popcorn can be uniformly wrapped with sugar, so that the taste of the corn popcorn is further improved. The time for wrapping the sugar can also be determined by a timer.

After the sugar wrapping is finished, the popcorn manufacturing equipment can send out a prompt tone to remind workers that the popcorn is manufactured, and the popcorn finished product can be poured out through the turnover mechanism 6 so as to be sold.

It should be noted that the parameter of the output power monitored in the present embodiment may be arbitrarily combined with the temperature parameter and the time parameter mentioned in the foregoing embodiments. For example, the temperature parameter in the pot 1 and the output power parameter of the heater 2 may be monitored simultaneously and set to stop heating when both reach the "knock" parameter.

When a plurality of parameters are monitored simultaneously, the influence of environmental factors or other factors on the stir-frying of the popcorn can be prevented, and the accuracy is improved.

Embodiment IV

A fourth embodiment of the present application provides a method for making popcorn, which is substantially the same as the first, second or third embodiment, and is mainly different in that in the first embodiment of the present application, a parameter monitored by a sensing device is explained by taking a temperature parameter in a pot body 1 as an example; in the fourth embodiment of the present application, the sound parameters in the pan body 1 will be described as an example.

That is, the parameters include at least: sound parameters in the pan body 1;

the step of monitoring whether one or more of several parameters inside the pan 1 reach a burst parameter comprises:

collecting the sound emitted by the pot body 1 and converting the sound into a sound signal;

the obtained sound signal is compared with the sample signal to ascertain whether the sound parameter has reached the pop parameter.

The inventors of the present application have found that corn seeds can make a cracking noise during the process of becoming popcorn. The variation of this sound exhibits a fixed regularity. Specifically, the loudness of sound is usually from small to large and then from large to small; the frequency of the sound tends to go from low to high and then from high to low. Accordingly, whether the popcorn reaches the bursting stage or not can be obtained by monitoring the sound parameters in the pot body 1, and the popcorn making process can be monitored.

Accordingly, the sensing means may comprise a sound collector for collecting the sound emitted from the inside of the pot 1. The sound collector can be arranged near the pan body 1 and attached to the structure of the pan body 1. For example, it can be arranged on the pot cover 13 or in the gap between the inner container 11 and the outer container 12. Different comparison samples can be preset for the sound collectors arranged at different positions.

Similarly, a sample signal of the sound emitted by the pan body 1 under a certain common formula can be obtained through a plurality of experiments before the formal frying.

Accordingly, the application also provides an application scene of the popcorn making equipment and the popcorn making method as follows:

scene four

The powdered sugar and the corn seeds are quantitatively poured into the inner container 11 of the pot body 1 according to a certain ratio (for example, the ratio of 1: 2), and the recommended ratio and the added amount are generally stated in the specification of the popcorn making equipment.

After the dosage and the mixture ratio of the selected raw materials are selected on the control interface of the popcorn making equipment, the making key is pressed, and the popcorn making equipment finishes the automatic frying of the popcorn by one key according to a preset program.

Specifically, the popcorn making apparatus will utilize the oil supply drum 51 to inject a predetermined amount of hot oil into the pot through the oil supply pipe 52.

Later, the popcorn making apparatus injects a pre-designed amount of syrup into the pot 1 by using the sugar supply barrel 53, the sugar supply pump (not shown), and the sugar supply pipe 54. And fully mixing to obtain the well-mixed raw materials.

Then, the popcorn making apparatus starts the heater 2 and the stirrer 3 to stir and heat the mixed raw materials in the pot body 1 according to a preset program.

Meanwhile, the sound collector pot collects the sound emitted in the body, the obtained sound signal is sent to the controller, and the controller compares the sound signal with the sample signal, so that whether the sound parameter reaches the burst parameter is determined. The total energy output by the heater 2 is calculated. When the energy output by the continuous heating reaches the expected energy, the corn seeds have mostly popped into popcorn. At this time, the controller sends a heating stop signal to the heater 2 according to the sound signal provided by the sound collector, and forces the heater 2 to stop heating.

After the heating is stopped, the residual heat in the pot body 1 can still enable the residual trace corn seeds to continuously crack into the popcorn. The continuous stirring can ensure that the waste heat absorbed by the corn seeds is more uniform, and the corn popcorn can be uniformly wrapped with sugar, so that the taste of the corn popcorn is further improved. The time for wrapping the sugar can also be determined by a timer.

After the sugar wrapping is finished, the popcorn manufacturing equipment can send out a prompt tone to remind workers that the popcorn is manufactured, and the popcorn finished product can be poured out through the turnover mechanism 6 so as to be sold.

For the present embodiment, there are various ways to compare the sound signal with the sample signal. Most simply, there is a maximum decibel of popcorn popping sound provided in the sample signal. When the maximum amplitude of the sound signal collected by the sound collector is greater than or equal to the maximum amplitude in the sample signal, the popcorn can be determined to achieve a predetermined production effect.

Of course, depending only on the maximum amplitude, erroneous determination is likely to occur. A better way of determining may be based on the frequency of the crackling sound produced by the popcorn. In a general popcorn making environment, in addition to the sound of popcorn popping from corn seeds, there is usually no sound source that can provide a sound of a sound frequency of response, and thus a more accurate determination effect can be provided.

Still further, in the controller of the popcorn device, a signal curve may be plotted based on the sound signal, and the plotted signal curve is fit-compared with a curve of the sample signal. And a more accurate judgment result can be obtained through fitting comparison.

In addition, the accuracy of signal comparison can be further improved in a machine learning mode. Accordingly, optionally, the method for making popcorn further comprises the steps of:

collecting sound signals emitted by the pot body 1 in at least one popcorn making process, and obtaining characteristic parameters of the sound signals before and after the popcorn reaches a popping state by using a machine learning mode;

the sample signal is modified using the obtained characteristic parameters.

Therefore, the sample signal can be further corrected in each popcorn making process, and the accuracy of signal comparison is improved.

Compared with the temperature parameter, the time parameter and the thermal energy parameter output by the heater 2 provided by the three previous embodiments, the parameter of the "sound signal" provided by the embodiments of the present application is not easily affected by the ambient temperature — the sound signal is consistent in both the lower temperature environment and the higher temperature environment, and therefore, the sound signal has better adaptability to the environment.

Similarly, the parameter of the sound signal monitored in the present embodiment may be arbitrarily combined with the temperature parameter, the time parameter, the thermal energy parameter output by the heater 2, and the like described in the foregoing embodiments. Monitoring multiple parameters simultaneously can provide better accuracy.

Fifth embodiment

A fifth embodiment of the present application provides a popcorn product, which can be produced by the popcorn production method and/or the popcorn production apparatus as set forth in any of the first to fourth embodiments described above.

The popcorn made by the making method or the making equipment has better consistency in product quality and better taste.

It is to be understood that the terminology used in the embodiments of the present application is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting of the application. As used in the examples of this application and the appended claims, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, and "a" and "an" typically include at least two, but do not exclude the presence of at least one.

It should be understood that the term "and/or" as used herein is merely one type of association that describes an associated object, meaning that three relationships may exist, e.g., a and/or B may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. In addition, the character "/" herein generally indicates that the former and latter related objects are in an "or" relationship.

It should be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used in the embodiments of the present application to describe certain components, these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. For example, a first certain component may also be referred to as a second certain component, and similarly, a second certain component may also be referred to as a first certain component without departing from the scope of embodiments herein.

The words "if", as used herein, may be interpreted as "at … …" or "at … …" or "in response to a determination" or "in response to a monitoring", depending on the context. Similarly, the phrase "if it is determined" or "if it is monitored (a stated condition or event)" may be interpreted as "when determining" or "in response to determining" or "when monitoring (a stated condition or event)" or "in response to monitoring (a stated condition or event)", depending on the context.

In the embodiments of the present application, "substantially equal to", "substantially perpendicular", "substantially symmetrical", and the like mean that the macroscopic size or relative positional relationship between the two features referred to is very close to the stated relationship. However, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the positional relationship of the object is difficult to be exactly constrained at small scale or even at microscopic angles due to the existence of objective factors such as errors, tolerances, etc. Therefore, even if a slight point error exists in the size and position relationship between the two, the technical effect of the present application is not greatly affected.

It is also noted that the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a good or system that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such good or system. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising an … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a commodity or system that includes the element.

In the various embodiments described above, while, for purposes of simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are shown and described as a series of acts, it is to be understood and appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that the methodologies are not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, in accordance with one or more embodiments, occur in different orders and/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and described herein or not shown and described herein, as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Those of skill in the art would understand that information, signals, and data may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits (bits), symbols, and chips that may be referenced throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or particles, optical fields or particles, or any combination thereof.

Those of skill would further appreciate that the various illustrative logical blocks, modules, units, circuits, and algorithm steps described in connection with the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or combinations of both. To clearly illustrate this interchangeability of hardware and software, various illustrative components, blocks, modules, units, circuits, and steps have been described above generally in terms of their functionality. Whether such functionality is implemented as hardware or software depends upon the particular application and design constraints imposed on the overall system. Skilled artisans may implement the described functionality in varying ways for each particular application, but such implementation decisions should not be interpreted as causing a departure from the scope of the present application.

Finally, it should be noted that those skilled in the art will appreciate that embodiments of the present application present many technical details for the purpose of enabling the reader to better understand the present application. However, the technical solutions claimed in the claims of the present application can be basically implemented without these technical details and various changes and modifications based on the above-described embodiments. Accordingly, in actual practice, various changes in form and detail may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application.

To sum up, the present application proposes:

k1, a method for making popcorn, comprising the following steps:

adding corn seeds and ingredients into the pot body to obtain a mixed raw material;

stirring and heating the mixed raw materials;

monitoring whether one or more of a plurality of parameters within the pan body reach burst parameters, and stopping heating when burst parameters are reached.

K2, method for making popcorn according to K1, the monitored parameters comprising one or any combination of the following:

the temperature parameter in the pot body, the sound parameter in the pot body, the heat energy parameter output by the heater and the heating duration parameter of the heater.

K3, method for making popcorn according to K2, the parameters comprising at least: the thermal energy parameter output by the heater;

the popcorn making method further comprises: obtaining the total heat energy required when the corn seeds are changed into the popcorn according to the mass and the proportion of the mixed raw materials added into the pot body;

and obtaining the thermal energy parameter required to be output by the heater according to the total thermal energy.

K4, method for making popcorn according to K2, the parameters comprising at least: sound parameters in the pan body;

the step of monitoring whether one or more of a plurality of parameters within the pot reach burst parameters comprises:

collecting the sound emitted by the pan body and converting the sound into a sound signal;

the obtained sound signal is compared with the sample signal to ascertain whether the sound parameter has reached a pop parameter.

K5, the method of making popcorn according to K4, further comprising the steps of:

collecting sound signals emitted by a pot body in at least one popcorn making process, and obtaining characteristic parameters of the sound signals before and after the popcorn reaches a popping state by utilizing a machine learning mode;

the sample signal is modified using the obtained characteristic parameters.

K6, method for making popcorn according to any one of K1 to K5, the ingredients comprising solid ingredients and liquid ingredients;

the step of adding corn seeds and ingredients into the pot body to obtain the mixed raw materials comprises the following steps:

pouring corn seeds and solid ingredients into a pot body;

agitating and mixing the corn seeds and solid ingredients;

and injecting liquid ingredients into the pot body to obtain the mixed raw material.

K7, method for making popcorn according to any one of K1 to K5, the ingredients comprising syrup;

the step of adding corn seeds and ingredients into the pot body to obtain the mixed raw materials comprises the following steps:

heating the syrup;

the heated syrup is pumped by a sugar pump and is injected into the pot body to be mixed with the corn seeds.

K8, method for making popcorn according to K7, the syrup being injected at a temperature controlled between 35 ℃ and 100 ℃.

K9, method for making popcorn according to K8, the syrup being injected at a temperature controlled between 35 ℃ and 55 ℃.

K10, method for making popcorn according to K1, further comprising, after said step of stopping heating when the popping parameter is reached, the steps of:

stirring is continued to wrap the sugar around the surface of the popped popcorn.

K11, a popcorn making apparatus, comprising:

the pot body is used for placing corn seeds and ingredients;

a heater for heating the contents of the pan body;

a stirrer for stirring the contents of the pot body;

and the sensing device is used for monitoring whether one or more of a plurality of parameters in the pot body reach a burst parameter or not and sending a signal for stopping heating to the heater when the burst parameter is reached.

K12, popcorn making apparatus according to K11, said sensing means comprising one or any combination of the following sensors:

the temperature sensor is used for monitoring the temperature in the pot body;

the sound collector is used for collecting the sound emitted in the pot body;

the power collector is used for acquiring the output power of the heater and calculating the total energy output by the heater according to the acquired output power;

and the timer is used for timing the heating time of the heater.

K13, popcorn making apparatus according to K11, the ingredients comprising solid ingredients and liquid ingredients;

the popcorn making apparatus further comprises:

the liquid storage component, the liquid supply pump component and the liquid supply pipeline group;

the liquid supply pump assembly is used for drawing the liquid ingredients from the liquid storage assembly and injecting the liquid ingredients into the pot body through the liquid supply pipeline set to be mixed with the solid ingredients.

K14, popcorn making apparatus according to K13, the liquid ingredient comprising syrup;

the stock solution subassembly includes: a sugar supply barrel;

the fluid supply pump assembly includes a sugar supply pump;

the liquid supply conduit set includes: a sugar supply conduit;

the sugar supply pump is used for pumping the syrup from the sugar supply barrel and injecting the syrup into the pan body through the sugar supply pipeline.

K15, popcorn making apparatus according to K14, further comprising:

and the temperature adjusting device is used for adjusting the temperature in the sugar supply barrel.

K16 popcorn made by the method of making popcorn according to any one of K1 to K10.

K17 popcorn made by means of a popcorn making device as claimed in any one of K11 to K15.

Claims (6)

1. An apparatus for making popcorn, comprising:

the pot body is used for placing corn seeds and ingredients;

a heater for heating the contents of the pan body;

a stirrer for stirring the contents of the pot body;

and the sensing device is used for monitoring whether one or more of a plurality of parameters in the pot body reach a burst parameter or not and sending a signal for stopping heating to the heater when the burst parameter is reached.

2. Popcorn making device according to claim 1, characterized in that the sensor means comprise one or any combination of the following sensors:

the temperature sensor is used for monitoring the temperature in the pot body;

the sound collector is used for collecting the sound emitted in the pot body;

the power collector is used for acquiring the output power of the heater and calculating the total energy output by the heater according to the acquired output power;

and the timer is used for timing the heating time of the heater.

3. The popcorn making apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said ingredients comprise a solid ingredient and a liquid ingredient;

the popcorn making apparatus further comprises:

the liquid storage component, the liquid supply pump component and the liquid supply pipeline group;

the liquid supply pump assembly is used for drawing the liquid ingredients from the liquid storage assembly and injecting the liquid ingredients into the pot body through the liquid supply pipeline set to be mixed with the solid ingredients.

4. The popcorn making apparatus as set forth in claim 3, wherein said liquid ingredient includes a syrup;

the stock solution subassembly includes: a sugar supply barrel;

the fluid supply pump assembly includes a sugar supply pump;

the liquid supply conduit set includes: a sugar supply conduit;

the sugar supply pump is used for pumping the syrup from the sugar supply barrel and injecting the syrup into the pan body through the sugar supply pipeline.

5. The popcorn making apparatus as set forth in claim 4, further comprising:

and the temperature adjusting device is used for adjusting the temperature in the sugar supply barrel.

6. Popcorn, characterized in that it is produced by means of a popcorn making device as claimed in any of claims 1 to 5.

Images