JP2002066355A - Rice washer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve the durability of brushes of a rice washer for removing the bran on the surface of milled rice by making the brushes hardly crackable. SOLUTION: A rice washing process step is started by feeding a prescribed amount of the milled rice 1 into a rice storage container 5 and driving rotary vanes 31 which are freely rotatably disposed in the rice storage container 5 by a drive means 33. In the rice washing process step, the rice washing parts 25 of the rotary vanes 21 press the milled rice 1 to the sidewall of the rice storage container 5 to cause the rice 1 to repeat the circulation of ascending while rotating on the sidewall of the rice storage container 5 and moving to the approximate center of the rice storage container 5. The brushes 26 are disposed at the rice washing parts 25 of the rotary vanes 21 and are composed to incline in the rotating direction of the rotary vanes 21.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rice sharpener used for cooking rice.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 6, a white rice 1 is composed of starch cells 2 and a starch layer 3 covering the starch cells 2.

In order to cook white rice 1, it is necessary to remove the size layer 3, but a step of removing the size layer 3, that is, a rice washing machine that automates the rice washing step of washing the white rice 1 and saves labor. Have been developed in the past. As a typical example, there are a method in which water and white rice 1 are stirred using mechanical force, and a method in which white rice 1 is rubbed with running water under water pressure. There is also non-washed rice sold without the paste layer 3. The aleurone layer 3 separated from the white rice 1 is referred to as bran.

There is also a rice mill 4 having a configuration as shown in FIG. 7 (Japanese Patent Application No. 10-5989). Here, the configuration of the rice polishing machine 4 shown in FIG. 7 will be described.

[0007] As shown in FIG. 7, the rice polishing machine 4 is provided with a rice storage container 5 for storing brown rice 12 therein. Further, the rice storage container 5 is provided with a hole 6 for selectively preventing the brown rice 12 from passing therethrough, and has a rotating blade 7 inside. A driving means 8 for driving the rotating blades 7 is provided on the lower surface of the rice container 5. The control device 9 is configured to control the rice polishing process. Reference numeral 10 denotes a rice milling lid, and reference numeral 11 denotes an operation start button.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. A user puts a predetermined amount of brown rice 12 into the rice storage container 5, attaches the rice milling lid 10 to the rice milling machine 4, and then starts the operation start button 11.
When the operation is started by pressing, the control device 9 operates the driving means 8 according to the milling process program.

When the driving means 8 operates, the rotating blades 7 rotate, so that the brown rice 12 stored in the rice storage container 5 is
Will be agitated as shown in FIG.

[0008] The brown rice 12 stirred by the rotating blades 7
The rice is pressed against the side wall of the rice container 5 by the pressing force and the centrifugal force of the rotating blades 7.

The brown rice 12 pressed against the side wall is rubbed against the hole 6 constituting the side wall of the rice storage container 5 or
Since the two collide with each other, the pericarp and the aleurone layer 3 constituting the surface of the brown rice 12 are scraped off. Then, the peeled pericarp and the aleurone layer 3 become the bran 13 and are discharged out of the rice storage container 5 through the holes 6 constituting the side wall of the rice storage container 5 together with trash and insects mixed in the brown rice 12.

Further, the brown rice 12 in the rice container 5 is successively pressed against the side wall of the rice container 5 by the rotating blades 7, so that the brown rice 12 pressed against the side wall is, as shown in FIG. Going up.

The brown rice 12 rising on the side wall rises to a predetermined height of the rice container 5 due to the balance between the increasing component of the force applied to the brown rice 12 and the weight of the brown rice 12. And
When the rice is raised to a predetermined height, the own weight of the brown rice 12 becomes larger than the increasing component of the force given to the brown rice 12, and therefore, as shown in FIG. It will fall towards it.

Then, the brown rice 12 is pressed against the side wall of the rice storage container 5 by the rotating blades 7 to separate the pericarp, the paste layer 3, garbage, insects, etc., and further rises the side wall of the rice storage container 5 Then, the circulation is repeated such that the rice falls back to the center of the bottom of the rice container 5 again. Then, the brown rice 12 is uniformly polished.

After a predetermined time has elapsed, the control device 9 stops the driving means 8 and ends the operation.

[0014]

The conventional rice washer and rice mill 4 having the above-described structure has the following problems.

A device in which water and white rice 1 are stirred using mechanical force easily damages white rice 1, and water mixed with bran 13 cannot be quickly separated from white rice 1 and water having a bran odor is removed by white rice 1. Absorbed and cooked rice becomes rice with a bran odor, and furthermore, the fatty acids contained in the bran 13 are oxidized to increase the heat retention odor.

[0016] In addition, rubbing white rice 1 with running water under running water requires a large amount of water.

Further, among the non-washed rice sold without the bran 13, the non-washed rice using water in the manufacturing process is inferior in taste and sticky because it is distributed in a dried state after using water. Unwashed rice using bran 13 has a very large system and is not easy to handle bran 13,
There is a problem that the system cannot be simply configured.

Further, the rice polishing machine 4 shown in FIGS.
Is developed for the purpose of removing pericarp from brown rice 12, and the rotating blade 7 exerts a strong force on brown rice 12. Therefore, when the white rice 1 is put into the rice mill 4 and used to remove the aleurone layer 3 on the surface of the white rice 1, the force that the system of the rice mill 4 gives to the white rice 1 is equal to the aleurone layer 3 on the white rice 1 Too strong to remove white starch 1 starch cells 2
Will hurt up to.

Therefore, the starch easily flows out during the cooking of the rice, and the cooked rice sticks to lose physical properties such as stickiness and adversely affect the taste.

Further, as shown in FIG. 8, the white rice 1 which has risen on the side wall of the rice storage container 5 falls from the side wall portion of the rice storage container 5, so that the white rice 1 moves toward the substantially bottom center of the rice storage container 5. May not fall.

Further, the white rice 1 which has risen on the side wall of the rice storage container 5 falls only by its own weight, so that it depends on the amount of the white rice 1 put into the rice storage container 5, the number of rotations of the rotating blades 7, and the like. In the case where the component of the force for raising the side wall of the white rice 1 is always larger than the weight of the white rice 1, the white rice 1 is, as shown in FIG.
While being pressed against the side wall of the rice storage container 5, the side wall does not rise, and does not drop to the substantially bottom center of the rice storage container 5. For this reason, the white rice 1 is not efficiently circulated, resulting in white rice 1 in which the starch cells 2 are damaged due to excessive rubbing or white rice 1 in which the starch layer 3 cannot be sufficiently separated. Therefore, there is also a problem that the rice washing and milling performances become uneven.

In order to solve these problems, as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, for the purpose of sharpening the white rice 1, the rice sharpening portion 14 a of the rotating blade 14 is arranged substantially parallel to the side wall of the rice container 5. The rice sharpening part 14a is provided with a brush 15 for removing the aleurone layer 3 from the surface of the white rice 1,
A rice sharpener 17 provided with a container lid 16 for sealing the rice storage container 5 is provided above the rice storage container 5.

In the rice sharpener 17, the white rice 1 rises while rotating the side wall of the rice storage container 5 by the rotation of the rotary blade 14, and falls toward the substantially center of the rotary blade 14 by the container lid 16. Operate. Then, the centrifugal force acting on the white rice 1, the force of the rice sharpening part 14 a of the rotating blade 14 pressing the white rice 1 against the side wall of the rice storage container 5, and the rice sharpening part 14 a
The size of the aleurone layer 3 attached to the surface of the white rice 1 can be removed by the action of the brush 15 provided for the white rice.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 10, the rice sharpener 17 smoothly circulates the white rice 1 and forms the starch layer 2 of the starch cells 2 and the starch layer 3 constituting the white rice 1 shown in FIG.
Only those that are removed.

However, when the rice sharpener 17 is used, as shown in FIG. 12, the tip of the brush 15 provided on the rice sharpening portion 14a of the rotating blade 14 is turned in the opposite direction to the rotating direction of the rotating blade. As a result, the paste layer 3 adhered to the surface of the white rice 1 cannot be removed or the surface of the white rice 1 cannot be finely finished. Therefore, there is a problem that predetermined rice sharpening performance cannot be obtained.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and it is an object of the present invention to improve the durability of a brush provided in a rice sharpening portion of a rotary blade.

[0027]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a rice storage container for storing rice, and a rotary blade rotatably disposed in the rice storage container and having a rice sharpening portion. ,
A brush provided in the rice sharpening part of the rotating blade, a driving means for driving the rotating blade, and a control device for controlling the rice grinding process, wherein the brush is inclined in the rotating direction of the rotating blade. .

Thus, the durability of the brush provided in the rice sharpening portion of the rotating blade can be improved.

[0029]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention according to claim 1 is a rice container for storing rice, a rotary blade rotatably disposed in the rice container and having a rice sharpening portion, and a rotary blade. A brush provided in the rice sharpening unit, a driving means for driving the rotating blades, and a control device for controlling the rice sharpening process are configured to incline the brush in the rotating direction of the rotating blades, and the brush is Even if a rice sharpener is used, the ability of the brush to remove the aleurone layer from the rice is less likely to decrease, even if a rice sharpener is used. The performance can be maintained, and the durability of the brush can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rice storage container for storing rice, a rotary blade rotatably disposed in the rice storage container and having a rice sharpening portion, and a rice sharpening portion of the rotary blade. A brush provided, driving means for driving the rotating blades, a control device for controlling the rice sharpening process, and rotation control means for controlling the driving means to change the number of rotations of the rotating blades, After performing a predetermined number of rice sharpening steps, the driving means is controlled so that the number of rotations of the rotating blades increases, and the brush falls down in the direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotating blades. Can also increase the centrifugal force applied to rice by increasing the rotation speed of the rotating blades,
Even if a rice sharpener is used, rice grinding performance can be stabilized.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, a current value detecting means for detecting a change in the current value of the driving means is provided. The load applied to the brush and the state of the brush can be detected via the driving means, and the driving means can be controlled so that the number of rotations of the rotating blades increases as needed when the load applied to the brush decreases. In addition, the rice sharpening performance can be further stabilized regardless of the state of the brush.

[0032] The invention according to claim 4 provides the above-mentioned claims 1 to
3. In the invention according to the third aspect, a brush replacement signal means is provided, and when the brush cannot obtain predetermined rice sharpening performance, the user is notified of the brush replacement time. Therefore, the user can obtain a predetermined rice sharpening performance again by replacing the brush with a new brush.

[0033]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same components as those in the conventional example are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

(Embodiment 1) The rice sharpener 20 shown in FIG.
The rice storage container 5 includes a rotating blade 21 rotatably disposed in the rice storage container 5 having a substantially cylindrical side wall, and a container lid 22 that seals an upper portion of the rice storage container 5. The driving means 23 drives the rotating blades 21, and the rotation control means 24 controls the driving means 23.

The rotary blade 21 is provided with a rice sharpening portion 25 so as to be substantially concentric with the side wall of the rice storage container 5. A brush 26 for removing the layer 3 is provided.

The brush 26 is configured so as to be inclined in the direction of rotation of the rotary blade 21 as shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 27 denotes a current value detecting means for detecting a change in the current value of the driving means 23, and reference numeral 28 denotes a brush replacement signal means for notifying a user of the replacement time of the brush 26.

The operation of the above configuration will be described. A predetermined amount of white rice 1 is put into the rice container 5 and the container lid 22 is attached. After attaching the container lid 22 to seal the white rice 1 in the rice container 5, the operation is started by pressing the operation start button 11.

When the operation is started, the control device 9 executes the rice sharpening process program. Then, the rotation control means 24
Operate the driving means 23. Then, when the driving means 23 operates, the rotating blades 21 rotate.

When the rotating blades 21 rotate, centrifugal force is generated in the white rice 1 toward the side wall of the rice container 5. At this time, the white rice 1 existing in the rice storage container 5 successively moves toward the side wall of the rice storage container 5 due to centrifugal force, so that the white rice 1 rises while rotating the side wall of the rice storage container 5 as shown in FIG. Will do.

Here, the container lid 2 is placed on top of the rice container 5.
2, the white rice 1 raised while rotating the side wall of the rice storage container 5 is moved to the container lid 2 as shown in FIG.
2, and further toward the substantially central portion of the rice container 5 along the inner surface of the container lid 22.

When the white rice 1 approaches the vicinity of the center, the white rice 1
The centrifugal force applied to the white rice 1 disappears, and the force applied to the white rice 1 is only gravity. Therefore, the white rice 1 falls from the substantially central portion of the rice container 5 toward the bottom by its own weight.

Thus, the white rice 1 is separated from the centrifugal force and the rotating blades 2.
The rice grind portion 25 rubs against the side wall of the rice storage container 5 or the white rice 1 collides with each other.
The paste layer 3 forming the surface of the surface is scraped off. The paste layer 3 that has been shaved off becomes the bran 13 and is discharged out of the rice container 5 through the hole 6.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, in the rice sharpening process, the white rice 1 rises while rotating between the rice sharpening portion 25 of the rotating blades 21 and the side wall of the rice storage container 5, so that the glue is adhered. The powder layer 3 will be removed,
The brush 26 provided in the rice sharpening unit 25 receives a large load from the white rice 1. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4, when the brush 26 is configured to be substantially perpendicular to the rice sharpening unit 25, the brush 26 rotates as shown in FIG. 5 as the rice sharpener 20 is used. It will gradually fall in the direction opposite to the direction. Therefore, the ability of the brush 26 to remove the aleurone layer 3 from the white rice 1 decreases.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, when the brush 26 is inclined in the direction of rotation of the rotary blades 21, the brush 26 is less likely to fall in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation even when receiving a load from the white rice 1. Therefore, even if you use the rice sharpener 20,
The ability of the brush 26 to remove the aleurone layer 3 from the white rice 1 is unlikely to decrease, and can maintain a predetermined rice sharpening performance. Therefore, the durability of the brush 26 can be improved.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3, even when the brush 26 is inclined in the direction of rotation of the rotating blade 21,
As shown in FIG. 4, even if it is configured to be substantially perpendicular to the rice sharpening portion 25 of the rotating blade 21, if the rice sharpener 20 is used many times, the brush 26 becomes as shown in FIG. 5. To
The rotating blade 21 will eventually fall in a direction opposite to the rotating direction.

Therefore, the rotation control means 24 controls the rice sharpener 2
0 is used a predetermined number of times, by controlling the driving means 23 so that the number of rotations of the rotating blades 21 increases, the brush 26 falls down in the direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotating blades 21 as shown in FIG. In this case, the rotation speed of the rotating blades 21 can be increased to increase the centrifugal force applied to the white rice 1.

For this reason, the force with which the white rice 1 is rubbed against the side wall of the rice storage container 5 and the force with which the white rice 1 collides with each other can be increased.
Can compensate for the reduced force acting on the white rice 1. Further, since the rotation speed of the rotating blade 21 is increased, the brush 26 has a higher rotation speed even when the brush 26 is tilted in the direction opposite to the rotating direction of the rotating blade 21 as shown in FIG. Only the ability to sharpen the white rice 1 can be prevented from decreasing.

Therefore, the rice sharpening performance of the white rice 1 can be stabilized even if the brush 26 is tilted in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the rotating blades 21 as the rice sharpener 20 is used.

Also, as shown in FIG. 3, from the state where the brush 26 is inclined in the direction of rotation of the rotary blade 21, as shown in FIG. Thus, the load of the white rice 1 on the brush 26 is reduced. Then, since the load applied to the brush 26 is reduced, the current value of the driving means 23 for driving the rotary blade 21 is also reduced.

Therefore, as shown in FIG.
The control device 9 includes the current value detection means 27 for detecting a change in the current value of the brush 2 through the driving means 23.
6 and the state of the brush 26 can be detected. By controlling the driving means 23 so that the number of rotations of the rotary blades 21 increases as the load applied to the brush 26 decreases, rice sharpening performance can be stabilized regardless of the state of the brush 26. Further, even if the brush 26 falls down in the direction opposite to the rotation direction of the rotating blade 21 as shown in FIG. 5, the rice sharpening performance can be further stabilized.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the rice sharpener 20 is used by providing the brush replacement signal means 28 for notifying the user of the replacement time of the brush 26. As shown in the figure, when the rotary blade 21 has fallen in the direction opposite to the rotation direction and the predetermined rice sharpening performance cannot be obtained, the control device 9 informs the user via the brush exchange signal means 28. The replacement time of the brush 26 can be notified. Then, the user can replace the new brush 26 with a new one to obtain predetermined rice sharpening performance. Therefore, it is possible to easily notify the user of the replacement time of the brush 26.

[0053]

As described above, the brush according to the first aspect of the present invention makes it difficult for the brush to fall down in the direction opposite to the direction of rotation of the rotating blades, thereby improving the durability of the brush.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a rice sharpener according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a rotating blade of the rice sharpener.

FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged view of a brush configuration of the rice sharpener.

FIG. 4 is a partially enlarged view of a conventional brush configuration of the rice sharpener.

FIG. 5 is a view showing a state of a brush after using the rice sharpener a predetermined number of times.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of white rice.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a conventional rice mill.

FIG. 8 is a view showing the operation of the rice milling process of the rice mill.

FIG. 9 is a view showing the operation of the rice mill when the amount of rice is small.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of a conventional rice cutter.

FIG. 11 is a partially enlarged view of a brush configuration of the rice sharpener.

FIG. 12 is a partially enlarged view of a brush configuration after using the rice sharpener a predetermined number of times.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 20 rice sharpener 21 rotating blade 22 container lid 23 drive control means 24 rotation control means 25 rice sharpening unit 26 brush 27 current value detection means 28 brush replacement signal means

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A rice storage container for storing rice, a rotary blade rotatably disposed in the rice storage container and having a rice sharpening portion, and a brush provided in the rice sharpening portion of the rotary blade. ,
A rice sharpener comprising a driving means for driving a rotating blade and a control device for controlling a rice sharpening process, wherein the brush is inclined in a rotating direction of the rotating blade. 2. A rice container for storing rice, a rotating blade rotatably disposed in the rice container and having a rice sharpening portion, a brush provided in the rice sharpening portion of the rotating blade, Driving means for driving the blades, a control device for controlling the rice sharpening process, and rotation control means for controlling the driving means so as to change the rotation speed of the rotating blades, wherein the rotation control means comprises a predetermined number of times of rice sharpening A rice sharpener in which the driving means is controlled so that the number of rotations of the rotating blades increases after performing the process. 3. The rice sharpener according to claim 1, further comprising current value detection means for detecting a change in the current value of the driving means. 4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a brush replacement signal unit.
4. The rice sharpener according to any one of 3.