JP2000342225A - Dehydrated sponge for production of laver and dehydration using the same sponge - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a dehydrated sponge without requiring a net, having good dehydrating performance and free from clogging in sponge itself when pressing laver in dehydrating step in production of laver by constituting a sponge of open cell structure having partition wall, and limiting pore diameter having the above structure and the hardness within specific ranges. SOLUTION: This dehydrated sponge is constituted of an open cell structure having a partition wall and the pore diameter of the above structure is specified to 100-400 μm, preferably 150-300 μm and the hardness defined by 50% compressive load value is specified to 130-450 gw/cm2. The material of the sponge is preferably a rubber such as natural rubber. An antimicrobial agent is preferably formulated into the sponge. The sponge is obtained by keeping, e.g. a raw material resin (preferably having 45-70% resin solid content) in a disperse state, mixing the raw material resin with gas in the presence of a surfactant to form foam and solidifying the foam. At this time, it is preferable that a time required from mixing of gas to solidification is kept to 1-7 min and expansion ratio is kept to 9-4.5 times.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dewatering sponge used in laver production and a dewatering method using the sponge.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Nori is conventionally produced by laminating nori leaves on a nori mat and then performing both dehydration and drying processes. The dehydration step is a step of dehydrating the nori still containing water after it is made, keeps the temperature of the subsequent drying step low, and contributes to drying in a short time, This is an essential and important step in producing good quality seaweed.

[0003]

The dehydration step is performed by pressing together the laver mat between hydrophilic sponges such as polyvinyl formal (PVF) and then slowly peeling the sponge. In order to exhibit the capillary action, the pore diameter is reduced to 40 to 100 μm, the sponge surface is smooth, and the hardness is hard. For this reason, when the sponge is pressed directly against the laver surface, the laver adheres to the sponge surface, and tends to lift the laver surface when peeled off, and the laver surface does not finish smoothly, is not glossy, and degrades the laver quality. In addition, a "shape loss" phenomenon occurs in which the edge of the laver is pushed and stretched and is not linear but irregular. In order to prevent this, there is a method of pressing the laver side through a net having an opening of about 400 μm, but the sponge cannot sufficiently exhibit water absorption because of the net. Therefore, twice,
Means such as pressing three times or pressing with a sponge after sufficient dehydration by suction or the like are taken. Further, since the sponge has small pores, diatoms and the like contained in the stock solution for forming the laver leaf are easily clogged, and it is necessary to frequently wash the laver during the production of the laver. At this time, the net was removed to remove impurities from the sponge surface.

[0004] On the other hand, there has been proposed a water-absorbing sponge in which the pore diameter of the sponge is increased or the surface of the sponge is made uneven so that a net is not required. However,
If the pore diameter of the sponge is large enough to prevent the floating of the laver, the dehydration ability is reduced and high-quality laver cannot be produced. Further, if the surface of the sponge is made uneven, the pattern of the unevenness remains on the seaweed, which is not preferable, and special unevenness processing is required also in manufacturing.

Further, as described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 59-124493, the above-mentioned PVF sponge loses flexibility and shrinks and cracks in a dry state, so that water must be contained even during storage. Moreover, the PVF sponge uses polyvinyl alcohol and starch as raw materials, and fungi such as mold easily proliferate in a water-containing state. For this reason, a preservative and a special packaging and storage device for suppressing the propagation of bacteria and sealing are required, and there have been problems with toxicological safety and complexity of work. In addition, various microorganisms are present in the undiluted solution from which the seaweed leaves are produced, and among them, there is a problem that those which are not preferable in terms of hygiene are propagated.

[0006] Separately, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 6-38586.
As described in the above publication, there is a proposal to improve the durability of a PVF dehydration pad by repeated compression by using a polyurethane foam having a three-dimensional network structure, and this point has also been improved. However, this network structure cannot be expected to absorb water due to the capillary action and the pumping action.
It is inferior to F sponge and is not used for producing high quality laver. In addition, the cut surface of the three-dimensional net-like cell structure has a sharp cell structure, and requires the intervention of a net in order to catch seaweed and make it stand up.

Accordingly, the present invention relates to a dehydrated sponge for laver production and a sponge for laver production, which do not require a net when the laver is pressed in the dehydration step in laver production, have good dehydration performance, and have no clogging of the sponge itself. An object of the present invention is to provide a dehydration method and solve the above-mentioned problem.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an open-cell structure having a partition, wherein the open-cell structure has a pore diameter of 100 to 400 μm and is defined by a 50% compressive load value. A dehydrated sponge having a hardness of 130 to 450 gw / cm ² for laver production was used.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the dehydrated sponge for laver production according to the first aspect, wherein the material of the sponge is rubber.

[0010] The invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that an antibacterial agent is blended,
A dehydrated sponge for producing laver according to claim 1 or 2.

[0011] The invention of claim 4 provides the above-mentioned claim 1 and 2
Item 3 or 3. In the laver production, the dehydrated sponge for laver production according to any one of the items 3 or 3 is pressed directly or through a laver mat to release the dehydrated sponge so as to compress about 30% to about 60% of its thickness. A dehydration method was used.

[0012]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The dehydrated sponge for laver production of the present invention has a pore diameter of 100 to 400.
μm. By making the pore diameter 100 μm or more, the surface of the laver does not rise even when pressed directly on the laver, no net is required, and the laver and the dehydrating sponge come in direct contact, improving the water absorption performance and also eliminating clogging at the same time. did. If the pore diameter is smaller than 100 μm, the surface of the laver is likely to float due to the pores, and glossy laver cannot be obtained. If it exceeds 400 μm, the texture of the sponge surface is undesirably reflected on the laver surface. Also, in particular, when the pore diameter is 150 μm or more and 3
When the thickness is not more than 00 μm, there is no clogging and the dewatering performance is good, which is more preferable.

In the present invention, the pores are formed by the partition walls, and the pores have an open-cell structure in which the pores communicate with each other through small holes opened in the partition walls. This has sufficient dehydration performance despite the relatively large pores. In this method, when the dewatering sponge is pressed, compressed, and then released, water is absorbed by a pumping action due to compression / expansion of the holes. It is preferable that the dewatering sponge used has a high rebound resilience, so that the pumping response is quick and a large amount of water can be absorbed while the laver and the dehydrating sponge are separated. In order to achieve a pumping effect, it is preferable that the dewatering sponge be compressed after being compressed by 30 to 60% of its thickness, and if the compression ratio is lower than this, sufficient dehydration power is not exerted. Such pressing increases the shape of the laver, and the laver sticks to the laver, which is not preferable. The rebound resilience is 40%
It is preferable that there is the above.

Further, by setting the hardness represented by the 50% compression load value to 130 to 450 gw / cm ² , the pressure at the time of pressing is 110
From 350 gf / cm ^2, and can be pressed so as to flatten the surface of the paper laver. If the hardness is lower than this, sufficient pressure is not generated and the laver does not finish flat. Also, if the hardness is greater than this, the pressing will be too large, the shape of the laver will be deformed, the laver sticks to the laver,
Not preferred. Various combinations of the hardness of the dewatering sponge and the compression ratio during dewatering are possible, but the high compression of a relatively soft sponge is good for both the dewatering performance and the degree of deformation. Such a combination has a hardness of 130 to 35.
At 0 gw / cm ² , the compression ratio is 45 to 60%.

As a material of such a dehydrated sponge, flexible resins such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, polyvinyl acetal, polyurethane, rubber, and cellulose are preferable, and polyurethane and rubber are particularly preferable. It is more preferable because it has elasticity and flexibility even in a dry state. Further, unlike polyurethane, rubber is more preferable because it has no hydrolyzability and can be used for a long time in a water-containing state. As this rubber, natural rubber (N
R, DPNR), NBR, SBR, IR and other synthetic rubbers can be used. Among them, natural rubber and SBR having good rebound resilience are preferable. Also, rubber is suitable because it has little propagation of bacteria such as mold even when it contains water. Further, by adding an antibacterial agent to these resins, antibacterial properties can be enhanced. In particular, among these, hydrophobic resins such as rubber can enhance antibacterial properties without fear of elution and migration during dehydration of seaweed by adding a poorly water-soluble antibacterial agent. Examples of such antibacterial agents include organic ones such as trichlorocarbanilide, halocarban, 2- (4-thiazolyl) benzimidazole, N- (fluorodichloromethylthio) phthalimide, and silver supported on zeolite. Things are raised.

These dewatered sponges are obtained by various known methods, and the raw resin is melted or dispersed.
Uses a mechanical foaming method in which gas is mixed into a foam and then solidifies, a chemical foaming method in which foaming is carried out with a foaming agent, and an elution method in which raw resin is mixed with elutable particles having the size of pores and eluted. it can.

In the case of a mechanical foaming method in a dispersed state, a sponge suitable for the present invention can be selectively produced from a latex of a raw material resin. By setting the resin solid content of the raw material to 45 to 70% and using a surfactant such as an alkali metal soap, an open cell structure having partition walls can be obtained, and the time from gas mixing to solidification is 1 to 7 minutes. The pore diameter can be set to 100 to 400 μm, and the 50% compression load value can be set to 130 to 450 gw / cm ² by setting the expansion ratio to 9 to 4.5 times.
However, when the expansion ratio is 6 times or less, the density of the foamed mixture is high in the ordinary mechanical foaming method, the foamed mixture becomes easy to flow, and the production becomes difficult. At this time, it is preferable to increase the viscosity by adding a thickener or a hydrophilic fibrous material.

Since the dewatered sponge of the present invention absorbs water by a pumping effect, it is not necessary that the sponge itself is hydrophilic. However, the sponge itself can be made hydrophilic, and in this case, it is more preferable because water absorption by capillary action can also be used. The rubber sponge is usually hydrophobic, but can be made hydrophilic by a hydrophilic treatment. As this method, coating or graft polymerization of a substance having a hydrophilic group such as a polyether group on the surface of the sponge skeleton after foam molding can be mentioned.

Next, a dehydration method using the dehydration sponge of the present invention in the dehydration step of laver production will be described with reference to FIG. The upper dehydrating sponge 1 is adhered to the lower surface of a substantially flat holder 3 a fixed to the lower end of the rod 2.
Exchange with a. The holder 3a has a plurality of small holes for drainage. The upper dewatering sponge 1 can be moved up and down in the direction of the arrow by a cam connected to the upper end of the rod 2 and power (neither is shown). Below the upper dehydrating sponge 1, a lower dehydrating sponge 4 is exchangeably attached to the upper surface of a holder 3b raised from the lower portion of the dehydrating apparatus main body A at a position overlapping the upper dehydrating sponge 1. The space between the upper dewatering sponge 1 and the lower dewatering sponge 4 is conveyed by a conveyor 5 onto a plurality of nori screens 6 provided in succession, and a predetermined amount of laver 7 is sequentially transferred. ing. Then, when the seaweed 7 is located slightly above the upper surface of the lower dewatering sponge 4 by the movement of the conveyor 5, the upper dewatering sponge 1 descends, whereby the seaweed 7 on the conveyor 5 is pressed from above, and the lower seawater 7 is further dewatered. The sponge 4 presses the laver 7 from below. Thereafter, the laver 7 is opened to dehydrate the laver 7, and subsequently the laver 7 is transferred to the next drying step (not shown) by moving the conveyor 5.

The upper dewatering sponge 1 and the lower dewatering sponge 4 are each in the form of a flat plate and have a thickness of about 25 to 30 mm, and are dried so as to compress 30 to 60%, more preferably 45 to 60% of the thickness. Press 7.
At this time, the pressure applied to the laver 7 is 110 to 350 gf /
cm ² . As a result, the surface of the laver 7 is flattened, there is no deformation, and the laver 7 is sufficiently dehydrated by the effect of the pumping action. For this reason, the laver 7 having a glossy surface and having a uniform shape can be dried at a low temperature in a short time, and high-quality laver 7 is produced.

In the above method, the two dehydrating sponges 1 and 4 are pressed from above and below. However, it is also possible to use only the laver 7 as the dehydrating sponge of the present invention and the laver 6 as the conventional sponge. Alternatively, dehydration can be performed by rolling the dehydration sponge in a roll shape while pressing it. Note that the dewatering sponge of the present invention can be used in a conventional dewatering method using a net. The dehydrating sponge configured as described above and the dehydrating method using the same do not require the intervention of a net, do not clog, improve the dehydrating performance, and obtain high-quality laver. Furthermore, no special consideration is required for packaging during storage and containers during storage.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the dewatering sponge of the present invention will be compared with a conventional sponge. Example 100 parts by weight of a resin solid content of a high ammonia natural rubber latex having a solid content concentration of 60% were mixed with a sulfur crosslinking agent 2.0 and a vulcanization accelerator (trade name "Sanseller EM" manufactured by Sanshin Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.).
-2 ") 2.5, zinc oxide 3.0, potassium oleate 2.0, gelling aid (manufactured by Uniroyal Co., trade name" Trimene Base ") 1.0, sodium silicofluoride 1.5, antioxidant (2,6-di-tert) -Butyl-4-methylphenol)
1.0, an antibacterial agent (manufactured by Bayer AG, trade name “Preventol A3”) 0.5, and cellulose powder 10 (all parts by weight of nonvolatile components) were blended.

These compounds were air mixed with a pin mixer and foamed. The foamed mixture solidified after being poured into a mold. The time from gas mixing to solidification was 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Thereafter, vulcanization was performed at 100 ° C. for 60 minutes. It was taken out of the mold to obtain a latex sponge having a continuous vent structure having rubber elasticity. The expansion ratio was about 6 times. When the cell structure of the cross section of this sponge is observed with an electron microscope,
As shown in (1) and (2), there are holes surrounded by partition walls,
The holes are communicated with each other by small holes opened in the partition.
The bar scale at the lower right of each photograph indicates 100 μm, and the pore diameter was 200 to 250 μm. Each surface of the sponge was cut thinly into a substantially planar shape to expose holes, thereby obtaining a dehydrated sponge having a thickness of 30 mm.

The pore size of the dewatering sponge of this embodiment is 20
The hardness was 0 to 250 μm and the hardness was 180 gw / cm ² .
In addition, using a PVF sponge as a conventional product,
The sponge has a pore diameter of 85 μm and a hardness of 450 gw / cm.
^{Was 2} . The hardness of the pore diameter is 50% compression load value (JIS
A-5750).

When the dewatered sponge of the above example was pressed against laver so as to compress it by 50% and dewatered, there was no rise or deformation of the surface. In addition, dehydration was sufficient, and when dried at 40 ° C., it could be sufficiently dried in 1 hour and 40 minutes, and could be dried at about 80% of the conventional PVF sponge. This produced high quality seaweed. In addition,
Even when the dewatering sponge of the present invention was used in a conventional dewatering method using a net, good dewatering performance was obtained.

[0026]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an open-cell structure having partition walls, and the pore diameter of the open-cell structure is 100 to 100%.
Since the thickness is 400 μm, the surface of the laver does not rise even when pressed directly on the laver, the pore diameter is not clogged, and a net is unnecessary. Furthermore, the seaweed and the dehydrated sponge are in direct contact with each other, so that they have good water absorption performance. In addition, since the hardness specified by the 50% compression load value is 130 to 450 gw / cm ² , the line at the tip of the nori is finished linearly and has no deformation. Furthermore, no special consideration is required for packaging during storage and containers during storage.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first aspect of the present invention, since the material of the dewatered sponge is made of rubber, unlike the polyurethane, it is not hydrolyzable and can be used for a long time in a water-containing state. In addition, rubber has a small proliferation of bacteria such as mold even when it contains water, and is suitable for a dehydrated sponge. According to the third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the effects of the first and second aspects of the present invention, since an antibacterial agent is added, the propagation of bacteria such as mold can be reliably prevented and sanitary.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the first to third aspects are provided.
In addition to the effects of each of the inventions, the dewatering sponge is pressed so as to compress it from 30% to 60% of its thickness. Nori does not stick.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front explanatory view showing a state in which laver is pressed by a dehydrating sponge from above and below to dehydrate it in a dehydration step of laver production in an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Upper dehydration sponge 4 Lower dehydration sponge 6 Nori 7 Nori

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ───

[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] June 8, 1999 (1999.6.8)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0023

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

These compounds were air mixed with a pin mixer and foamed. The foamed mixture solidified after being poured into a mold. The time from gas mixing to solidification was 3 minutes and 15 seconds. Thereafter, vulcanization was performed at 100 ° C. for 60 minutes. It was taken out of the mold to obtain a latex sponge having a continuous vent structure having rubber elasticity. The expansion ratio was about 6 times. The cell structure of the cross section of this sponge was observed with an electron microscope.
The photograph (2) is also magnified 375 times. Similarly, when these are observed, there are holes surrounded by partition walls, and the holes are in communication with each other through small holes opened in the partition walls. The bar scale at the lower right of each photograph indicates 100 μm, and the pore size is 2
It was 00 to 250 μm. Each surface of this sponge was cut thinly to make it substantially planar, exposing the holes, and having a thickness of 30 mm.
Dehydrated sponge.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 4B019 LT32 4F074 AA02 AA05 AA06 AC21 AC32 AD10 AG20 BA84 BB05 BB27 CB52 CC04Z CC06Z DA02 DA03 DA08 DA13 DA45 DA59

Claims (4)

[Claims] Claims: 1. An open-cell structure having a partition having a pore diameter of 100 to 400 μm, and 50%
A dehydrated sponge for laver production, wherein the hardness specified by a compression load value is 130 to 450 gw / cm ² . 2. The dehydrated sponge for laver production according to claim 1, wherein the sponge is made of rubber. 3. The dehydrated sponge for laver production according to claim 1, wherein an antibacterial agent is added. 4. The dried sponge for laver production according to any one of claims 1, 2 or 3, which is compressed to about 30% to about 60% of its thickness, directly or by laver. Characterized in that it is released by pressing through
Dehydration method in laver production.