JP2002209526A - Apparatus for dishing up semisolid food - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for dishing up a semisolid food, with which even if an automatically dishing up mechanism is applied to an apparatus for producing a semisolid food represented by a soft ice cream, etc., where at least one from broadness of kinds of semisolid foods and diversity of dishing up is not reduced. SOLUTION: An extrusion condition and dishing up conditions to be preset in a control part 5a are changed by a set panel 8c. The amount of a frozen dessert food extruded may be cited as the extrusion condition. Movement states such as vertical movement, eccentric rotary movement, rotation movement and temporary stop of a dishing up container may be cited as the dishing up conditions. In the operation, when the action of a dishing up mechanism 4 is controlled by a control part 5a so as to temporarily stop the movement of the dishing up container at the final stage of dishing up, a dishing up having more excellent beautiful view can be actualized. The apparatus may be further provided with a movement means for moving the dishing up mechanism 4.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a soft ice cream,
The present invention relates to a semi-solid food dispensing apparatus for automatically dispensing semi-solid foods such as semi-solid frozen desserts such as whipped cream, mousse, and bavarois, and a control method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, semi-solid frozen desserts such as soft ice cream, whipped cream, mousse, and bavarois,
In recent years, the demand has been great because it matches the taste of recent years that prefers the taste of soft touch. Here, the above-mentioned frozen desserts, such as soft ice creams, which are sold at the store, generally rely on humans for the work of serving.

[0003] The above soft ice cream will be specifically described by way of example. Most of the ice cream dessert manufacturing apparatuses used for serving ice cream at a store are intended for large-volume sales of ice cream, so the emphasis is placed on the soft ice cream manufacturing function. On the other hand, operations related to the sale of soft ice cream in particular, such as extruding soft ice cream into a serving container of corn, laying out the extruded soft ice cream, and replenishment of ingredients to frozen dessert production equipment, are mostly performed manually by sales staff. The reality is what is being done.

[0004] Here, skill is required for the work of serving soft ice cream. In other words, in the case of, for example, "corn winding" on a cone and a well-shaped fixed amount of soft ice cream, it is difficult to make the shape constant. In addition, in order to sell a large number of products, it is not necessary to take a long time to serve a single product. Is required.

[0005] However, depending on the circumstances of the store, the salesperson may be covered by a short-term work force such as a part-time job. In this case, it is not possible to expect all the sales staff to have a sufficient level of skill in the operation of serving frozen desserts, which causes a problem that the soft ice cream cannot be sold efficiently. In addition, even if the sales clerk has a certain level of skill, if the number is a specified number, the rotation of the sales clerk, including the laying-up work, cannot be adjusted sufficiently, making it difficult for the sales clerk to change members. Could be. In addition, if a highly skilled salesperson retires, it takes time to train similarly skilled salespersons, and it is still not possible to sell soft ice cream efficiently enough. Invite.

[0006] Therefore, in the case of a frozen dessert such as a soft ice cream which requires a certain level of skill in the serving operation, there arises a problem that sales personnel who can expect a certain level of skill cannot always be secured in the sale.

In view of the above, various attempts have been made to automate the operation of placing frozen desserts. Among them, a typical example is to pre-package frozen desserts such as ice cream in individual containers and use this as an automatic placing mechanism. By pressing the container with a pressing member and extruding the container.
There is known a technique of automatically serving frozen dessert to a corn or the like every time. In the following description, a device provided with such an automatic serving mechanism and for pushing out the frozen dessert from the individual container is referred to as a “single-shot type” frozen dessert placing device for convenience.

[0008] Specific examples of the single shot method include, for example, Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-62088 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-327608.
The device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H10-26095 is cited. Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2000-232853 and 2000-23
No. 6815, or JP-A-2000-245352.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H11-163873 discloses a technique for further improving hygiene in a single-shot type apparatus.

With such a single-shot type frozen dessert dispensing apparatus, the operation by the sales person is practically a small extruded container in which the frozen dessert is packaged (hereinafter, abbreviated as an extruded container).
Only set to the server. For this reason, there is an advantage that it is not necessary to expect the sales person to be skilled, and the frozen dessert can be easily arranged and sold. Further, since the frozen dessert is sealed in the extrusion container in advance, there is an advantage that there is no restriction on the variation of the prepared frozen dessert except for the capacity of the stocker for storing the extrusion container.

On the other hand, since frozen desserts are individually packaged in advance, frozen desserts having a standard different from that of a soft ice cream as a normal finished product, that is, a soft ice cream-like product, are used. The disadvantage is that the quality tends to be slightly inferior. Specifically, in the case of ice cream or the like as the soft ice cream analog, it is likely to be difficult to obtain a soft texture such as mellowness and smoothness, which the “real” soft ice cream has. In addition, the time for serving one frozen dessert is disadvantageous in that it takes a longer time than a salesperson skilled in the serving operation because the serving operation is almost fully automated in the single shot method.

Further, in a usual frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus, the serving becomes unstable for each salesperson, but if the salesperson is skilled, the frozen dessert can be served in various shapes and beautifully. On the other hand, with the one-shot arrangement,
The shape is constant but monotonous and not very aesthetic. In addition, as for the shape of the frozen dessert, in a normal frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus, the shape including the amount can be freely changed according to the type of the container or the like to be served, but in the single shot method, the frozen dessert extruded from the extruded container is used. Although the amount can be kept constant because of the automatic placement, the shape is monotonous and lacks versatility for the type of container.

In other words, both the normal type frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus and the single-shot type frozen dessert arrangement apparatus have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, which method is used depends on the environment of the store. However, the automatic confectionery dispensing mechanism provided in the one-shot type ice confectionery dispensing apparatus can also be installed in the normal type ice confectionery manufacturing apparatus, which requires a long time for dispensing one ice confection. In such a sales environment, it is possible to sell frozen desserts of higher quality without any skill required.

[0013]

However, even if the automatic dispensing mechanism used in the single-shot type ice confectionery applicator is applied to a normal type ice confectionery production apparatus, in practice, it is practically necessary to appropriately arrange the ice confectionery. The problem is that it is inadequate.

That is, the advantages and disadvantages of the single shot method and the normal method are summarized as follows.
The five conditions of changing the type of frozen dessert, reproducibility of serving, serving shape (including serving amount), and serving time are summarized.

[0015] In recent years, the needs of consumers have been diversified, and in particular, such a tendency has been remarkable in taste goods including frozen desserts. Therefore, in order to properly respond to this diversification of needs, it is necessary to improve the fine production ability to produce many kinds of products in small quantities rather than the mass production ability to mass produce and sell small kinds of products. There is. In the technology for manufacturing frozen desserts, of the above five conditions, the serving time condition is a condition that greatly affects the mass production property, while the remaining four conditions are conditions that greatly affect the fine production property. Therefore, in order to pursue fine production, the above-mentioned conditions are important.

The advantages and disadvantages of the above conditions are as follows:
A: one-shot type dessert arrangement device; B: normal (continuous type) dessert production device (distributed by a salesperson); C:
Table 1 below summarizes each of the configurations in which the automatic serving mechanism used in the one-shot system is applied to a normal-type frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus.

[0017]

[Table 1]

As is evident from Table 1, the two conditions of A: are excellent in the single shot method, while the two conditions of B are excellent in the continuous method. However, C:
In the configuration of the continuous system + automatic arrangement mechanism, only the two conditions of... Are excellent. In other words, in the configuration of C, the superiority of the condition, which is the characteristic of B,
This sacrifice both the advantage and the superiority of A. If all of the above four conditions are equivalent, then A
The configuration of C, which should combine the advantages of the configurations of B and B, is actually different only in the features, and A
And B are no different.

The above conditions are conditions that particularly greatly affect fine productivity. Of course, there is a tendency for consumers to seek high quality ones. Therefore, it is highly preferable that the condition of (1) be excellent at the same time in the configuration of C, but instead, at least one of and If the condition is inferior,
The significance of combining A and B is reduced.

Therefore, in order to avoid a decrease in fine production performance in the apparatus having the structure C, ideally, as shown in the bottom row of Table 1, the type of frozen dessert is changed and at least one of the shapes of the serving is arranged. More preferably, both conditions need to be improved.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object the purpose of using an automatic arrangement mechanism.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a semi-solid food placing apparatus that does not reduce at least one of the range of types of semi-solid foods and the variety of servings.

[0022]

The present inventors have previously described,
Focusing on the problem that the automatic placing mechanism used in the single-shot semi-solid placing device is not actually adequately able to cope with the extrusion of semi-solid foods, The present inventors have found a technique for detecting the state of extrusion and using it for controlling an automatic arrangement mechanism, and have solved the above-mentioned problems, and have made the automatic arrangement mechanism applicable to a continuous system.

The present inventors have conducted intensive studies to avoid the above-mentioned problem of lack of fine production when the automatic arrangement mechanism is applied to a continuous system, and as a result, completed the present invention. Was.

That is, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the semi-solid food placing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises an extruding means for automatically extruding the semi-solid food, and a predetermined placing of the extruded semi-solid food. In a semi-solid food dispensing apparatus provided with dispensing means for automatically dispensing in a container, a control means for controlling the operation of at least one of the pushing means and the dispensing means, and the control means for controlling the operation, Condition changing means for changing set extrusion conditions or setting conditions.

According to the above arrangement, at least for controlling the operation of the arrangement means, the extrusion condition or the arrangement condition preset in the control means can be changed by the condition changing means. Therefore, even when the automatic dispensing mechanism provided in the single-shot semi-solid food dispensing device is applied to the normal semi-solid food production device, the variety of the form of the semi-solid food dispensing in the sold product is reduced. It becomes possible to secure. As a result, fine production properties can be improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first aspect, the extrusion condition is an extrusion amount of the semi-solid food.

According to the above configuration, the extrusion amount is used as the extrusion condition. Therefore, since it will change the extrusion amount in the extrusion means that automatically extrudes semi-solid food,
As a result, the serving amount of the semi-solid food is changed. Therefore, it is possible to secure a variety of products for sale, and it is possible to improve fine production.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the control means can set a plurality of the extruding amounts.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that an extruding amount selecting means for selecting one from a plurality of set extruding amounts when extruding a semi-solid food is provided.

According to the above configuration, one of a plurality of set extrusion amounts is selected before the operation of serving the semi-solid food is started. Therefore, complicated settings such as changing the extrusion amount every time when serving and selling are not required, and the change of the extrusion amount can be made easier.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the semisolid food dispensing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the dispensing condition is such that the dispensing means is arranged by disposing means when disposing the semisolid food. Wherein the moving state includes at least one of vertical movement, eccentric rotational movement, rotational movement, and temporary stop of the serving container.

For example, when a soft serve serving as a typical example of a semi-solid food is put on a "crawling roll" at the time of sale, at least the moving state includes vertical movement and eccentric rotation of the serving container. . In the above configuration, these movement states are used as the serving conditions, and the movement of the serving means is changed by changing at least one of these movement states, thereby variously changing the serving shape of the semi-solid food. Furthermore, if the rotational movement and the temporary stop are also used as the movement state, the movement of the arrangement means becomes more diversified,
The arrangement shape can be further changed. As a result, it is possible to secure a variety of products for sale, and it is possible to improve fine production.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semi-solid food dispensing apparatus for automatically extruding a semi-solid food, and a semi-solid food extruding device while moving a predetermined dispensing container. In a semi-solid food dispensing apparatus comprising a dispensing means for automatically dispensing food, further comprising a control means for controlling the operation of at least the dispensing means of the above means, the control means, a predetermined amount of Immediately after determining that the semi-solid food has been served, the operation of the serving means is controlled so as to temporarily stop the movement of the serving container.

According to the above configuration, since the serving container is controlled so as to temporarily stop at the final stage of serving, the serving container waits until the extrusion of the semi-solid food is completed. Therefore, the serving shape of the semi-solid food can be made more excellent in aesthetic appearance, so that not only improvement in fine production properties but also higher quality products can be provided.

The semi-solid food dispensing apparatus according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, further notifies that the semi-solid food disposition has been completed. It is characterized by having a notifying means.

According to the above configuration, the completion of the serving of the semi-solid food is notified by the notification means. Therefore, in the semi-solid food serving apparatus according to the present invention in which the operation relating to the serving is substantially automated, the completion of the serving is notified to the operator. It can be surely notified. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the commodities are left after completion of the serving, and to reliably and efficiently sell the commodities.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a semi-solid food placing apparatus for automatically extruding a semi-solid food, and an extruding semi-solid food in a predetermined container. A semi-solid food dispensing apparatus having a dispensing means for automatically dispensing, further comprising disposing means moving means for displacing the dispensing means from the dispensing position based on a dispensing position for dispensing the extruded semi-solid food. It is characterized by:

According to the above configuration, when a plurality of pushing means are provided, the serving means can be moved to a serving position corresponding to each pushing means, and the serving of a plurality of types of semi-solid foods can be combined into one serving. It can be implemented by means. In addition, when the dispensing means fails while the pushing means is in a normal state, the disposing means can be moved to the retreat position completely deviated from the dispensing position, so that the operator can perform the disposition manually. Therefore, it is possible to secure a variety of products for sale with a simple configuration, improve fine production, and cope with an unexpected situation such as a failure of the arrangement means.

[0038] In the semisolid food dispensing device according to claim 8 of the present invention, in addition to the constitution according to claim 7, the dispensing means moving means has a slide member for moving the dispensing means in the left-right direction of the apparatus. It is characterized by having.

According to the above configuration, the setting means is moved by the slide member, so that the setting means can be moved to the setting position corresponding to each pushing means with a simple structure. Further, with a simple configuration, the arrangement means can be moved from the arrangement position to the retracted position.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semi-solid food placing apparatus, wherein a plurality of the pushing means are provided, and a plurality of placing positions are provided corresponding to the individual pushing means. Is set, and the arrangement means is moved by a slide member so as to correspond to each of the plurality of arrangement positions.

According to the above arrangement, a plurality of pushing means are provided so that a plurality of types of semi-solid foods can be served, and when the variety of products to be sold is further improved, the placing means moving means having the slide member is used. By preparing,
With a simple configuration, one arrangement means can be moved to an arrangement position corresponding to each extrusion means. Therefore, it is possible to secure a variety of products for sale with a simple configuration, and it is possible to improve fine production.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the seventh aspect, in addition to the configuration of the seventh aspect, the placing means moving means is provided on one side in the left-right direction from the vertical center line of the apparatus. It is characterized in that it has a shaft member disposed at a shifted position and a plating means support member rotatable around the shaft member.

Even if the serving means fails, the semi-solid food can be served manually as long as the pushing means does not fail. Therefore, according to the above configuration, by using the arrangement means moving means which can be opened and closed like a door, the arrangement means can be moved from the arrangement position to the retreat position with a simple configuration. As a result, a space sufficient for manual serving can be formed, so that the versatility of the semi-solid food serving device can be improved, and it can be applied to diversification of sales products.

[0044] According to a eleventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in any one of the first to tenth aspects, in addition to the configuration described in any one of the first to tenth aspects, the disposing means includes a container holding portion for holding the dispensing container. The container holding part has a container supporting part formed in a shape for avoiding contact with semisolid food leaking from the extruding means in a state where the dispensing means is at the dispensing position and the dispensing container is removed. It is characterized by including a member.

According to the above configuration, since the container supporting member is formed in a shape that avoids the contact of the semi-solid food leaking from the pushing means, the semi-solid food adheres to the container supporting member and poses a hygienic problem. Such a situation can be avoided.
In addition, it is possible to save labor such as cleaning for hygiene management. As a result, a more hygienic operation can be performed.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the eleventh aspect, the container holding portion further includes a tray member for receiving the semi-solid food leaking from the pushing means. It is characterized by being included.

According to the above configuration, the semi-solid food leaked from the pushing means is collected by the tray member without being scattered, so that a more hygienic operation can be performed.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the twelfth aspect, the semi-solid food placing apparatus further comprises a pushing means disposed above the placing means at the placing position, and the container support member is provided with a pushing means. It has an annular shape in which a hollow portion capable of penetrating the drop of the semi-solid food falling from the extrusion means is formed, and the serving container is supported in a state where a part of the serving container is fitted in the hollow portion. In addition, the receiving member is disposed below the container supporting member and directly below the hollow portion.

According to the above configuration, the existence of the hollow portion not only supports the serving container, but also avoids the contact of the semi-solid food falling from the pushing means located above, and furthermore, the semi-solid food is lowered by the receiving tray member located below. You can receive solid foods without fail. As a result, a more hygienic operation can be performed.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the eleventh, twelfth, or thirteenth aspect, the container holding portion is detachable from the laying means. Features.

According to the above configuration, the container supporting member and the receiving member included in the container holding portion are detachable. Therefore, even if the semi-solid food adheres to at least one of the container support member and the saucer member, the semi-solid food can be removed and washed and sterilized, so that more sanitary operation is possible. In addition, by preparing in advance a container supporting member that matches the shape of the serving container, it becomes possible to serve the semi-solid food in various serving containers. Therefore, it is possible to further expand the variety of products for sale and improve fine production.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the thirteenth or fourteenth aspect, the container holding portion further includes a container support member at a position separated from immediately below the pushing means. It is characterized in that it includes a support member moving mechanism that moves only the support member.

According to the above arrangement, by moving only the container support member, the semi-solid food is served on the serving container, so that a product having a larger volume than the original serving container can be easily removed from the container holding portion. Can be removed. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the shape of the semi-solid food is collapsed when the product is removed. As a result, it is possible to avoid deterioration in the quality of the product and to achieve both improvement in fine production and provision of a high-quality product.

[0054]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS [First Embodiment] The first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. Note that the present invention is not limited to this.

The semi-solid food dispensing apparatus according to the present invention, when an automatic dispensing mechanism provided for a single-shot semi-solid food dispensing apparatus is applied to a continuous semi-solid food producing apparatus, the fine production property is reduced. In order to avoid such a problem, the configuration of the frozen dessert production means, the configuration of the automatic arrangement mechanism, or the control of the automatic arrangement mechanism is made more preferable.

Here, the semi-solid food in the present invention is
Examples include creamy frozen desserts such as soft cream, whipped cream, mousse, and bavarois, kneaded products such as bean paste, and sweets using agar or gelatin such as mizuyokan. That is, the semi-solid food refers to a food that has a certain degree of shape retention but has a deformability that can easily change its shape by an external force.

Although the above semi-solid food is not necessarily limited to confectionery, confectionery often has a large effect on the commercial value of the confectionery.
In the present embodiment, a description will be given by taking, as an example, a soft cream or a soft cream-like frozen dessert in a semi-solid state similar to the soft cream as the semi-solid food.

Further, in the following description, a frozen dessert such as soft ice cream and the like is placed in a serving container such as corn, that is, the whole frozen dessert already placed in the serving container and sold as a commercial product is referred to as a frozen dessert product. It is distinguished from a single item or a single container.

The apparatus for placing frozen desserts (semi-solid food placing apparatus) according to the present embodiment includes an extruding means for automatically extruding ice cream desserts (hereinafter simply referred to as ice desserts as appropriate) and a predetermined dessert. A means for automatically placing in a serving container (automatic placement mechanism);
Control means for controlling at least one operation of each of these means; and, for operation control, further comprising condition changing means for changing extrusion conditions or setting conditions preset in the control means. .

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, a frozen dessert placing apparatus 1a according to the present embodiment includes a frozen dessert extruding mechanism (extruding means) 2a, a dessert extruding detecting section (extrusion detecting means) 3
a, frozen dessert production state detection section (food state detection means) 3b, container sensor (container detection means) 3c, serving mechanism (placing means) 4, control section (control means) 5a, frozen dessert production section (semi-solid food production means) 6, a sound notification unit 7a, a lighting notification unit 7b, a placement operation panel (extruding amount selection means) 8a,
It has a frozen dessert production operation panel 8b and a setting panel (condition changing means) 8c.

The above-mentioned frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a and frozen dessert production section 6
Form a soft ice cream manufacturing apparatus (continuous type frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus) 10 substantially similar to the conventional one. Therefore, the frozen dessert arrangement device 1a in the present embodiment
Is a soft ice cream manufacturing apparatus 10 and a frozen dessert extruder 3
a, the arrangement mechanism 4, the control unit 5a, and the like.

When the frozen dessert placing apparatus 1a is viewed from the front where the placing mechanism 4 is located, as shown in FIG. 2, the frozen dessert producing section 6 and the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a integrated therewith are arranged above. , A frozen dessert detection section 3a provided below the passage so as to sandwich the passage of the pushed dessert.
However, an arrangement mechanism 4 is further disposed below the arrangement. In FIG. 2, the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a is not shown except for the plunger 24.

The structure of the soft ice cream production apparatus 10
That is, the configurations of the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a and the frozen dessert production section 6 are general. That is, the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a includes a through hole connected to a cylinder and a plunger 2 that opens and closes the through hole.
4, an extrusion port, etc., and the frozen dessert production section 6 is provided with a cylinder, a mixing and stirring means, a cooling means, etc. for producing a soft ice cream dessert. The mixing and stirring means is also an extruding member having a function of stirring the soft creamy dessert and extruding it when serving. In addition,
As the configuration of the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a and the frozen dessert production unit 6, conventionally known ones can be appropriately used, and thus detailed description thereof is omitted.

The serving mechanism 4 is disposed below the ice confection pushing mechanism 2a, and includes a edible container holding table (container holding unit) 41 for holding a cone (an edging container) serving as a food container for serving the frozen dessert, and A vertical driving unit 42 for driving the container holding table 41 in the vertical direction and a rotation direction driving unit 43 for rotating the eating container holding table 41 are provided (see FIG. 1).

As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical drive unit 42 and the rotation direction drive unit 43 are integrated. Therefore, in the following description, the up-down direction drive unit 42 and the rotation direction drive unit 43 are collectively referred to as a drive unit 44 for convenience of explanation.

The configuration of the eating container holding table 41 is not particularly limited, and may be any shape that can securely hold the serving container according to the shape of the serving container.

For example, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a configuration including two members, a container support frame (container support member) 411 and a frozen dessert tray (dish member) 412, can be preferably used. . This container support frame 4
Reference numeral 11 denotes a shape capable of supporting a cone in the present embodiment, which is fixedly supported on an edge of the frozen dessert tray 412 by a container support shaft 413.

A cone generally used as a serving container generally has an inverted conical shape, and the diameter increases from the bottom to the top. For this reason, the container support frame 411 is not particularly limited as long as such a cone can be sufficiently stably supported. In the present embodiment, two large and small annular frames having a hollow portion into which a cone can be fitted are vertically stacked. The annular frame does not have to form a complete ring, but may have a cut such as the letter “C”.

The shape of the container support frame 411 is not limited to an annular frame, and it is sufficient that the container support frame 411 can hold various types of serving containers. For example,
The container support frame 411 itself may be capable of changing the size of the hollow portion so as to cope with a case where the diameter of the serving container is different. Further, the container supporting frame 411 itself may be detachable from the serving mechanism 4 (the eating container holding table 41), and the container supporting frame 411 according to the shape of the serving container may be appropriately replaced.

If the container supporting frame 411 can support various serving containers, frozen desserts can be served in various serving containers, and the variety of frozen dessert products will be expanded. Of course, as will be described later, by changing the arrangement of the frozen dessert (the present embodiment) and the type of the frozen dessert (the third embodiment), the variety of the frozen dessert can be further expanded.

The dessert tray 412 is located below the container support frame 411 and immediately below the hollow portion of the frame, and receives the dessert leaking from the dessert pushing mechanism 2a. I have. The specific shape of the frozen dessert tray 412 is not particularly limited, and may be any dish-shaped configuration that can receive leaked dessert and accumulate it to some extent.

Further, from the viewpoint of hygiene, the container supporting frame 411 is provided with the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2 even when the serving mechanism 4 is located at the serving position and the serving container is removed.
It is very preferable that the confectionery is formed in a shape that avoids contact of the frozen dessert leaking or falling from a.

For example, the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a is always arranged above the serving mechanism 4 at the serving position. Here, since the frozen dessert may adhere to the extrusion opening in the dessert extruding mechanism 2a (detailed in Embodiment 2), the adhered frozen dessert may melt and leak from the dessert extruding mechanism 2a and fall. There is. Most of this frozen dessert, for example, soft ice cream, is a dairy product. Therefore, if the frozen dessert that has leaked and falls is not properly removed and washed, there is a problem in hygiene.

For this reason, a frozen dessert tray 412 is provided below the container supporting frame 411 to receive the frozen dessert leaked from the ice dessert extruding mechanism 2a. However, the leaked frozen dessert contacts the container supporting frame 411. For example, there is no point in providing the frozen dessert tray 412. Therefore, it is very preferable that the container support frame 411 is formed in a shape that avoids contact of the frozen dessert leaking from the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a.

For example, in the present embodiment, the container support frame 411 is composed of two large and small annular frames having a hollow portion. In this case, the hollow portion forms a part of the body of the cone. In addition to supporting in the fitted state, in a state in which the cone is removed, drops of the frozen dessert falling from the ice dessert extruding mechanism 2a located above can be penetrated. Therefore, even if the frozen dessert leaks, it does not come into contact with the container supporting frame 411, and the leaked frozen dessert can be reliably received in the frozen dessert tray 412 below.

Here, it is very preferable that the above-mentioned frozen dessert tray 412 be detachable from the serving mechanism 4 (the eating container holding table 41), similarly to the container supporting frame 411. As a result, even if the leaked frozen dessert accumulates,
The frozen dessert tray 412 can be removed and washed.

Further, even if the container supporting frame 411 is formed in a shape that avoids the contact of the leaked or falling ice confection, it is difficult to completely prevent the adhesion of the ice confection.
Therefore, the container supporting frame 411 is put together with the container supporting shaft 413 and the frozen dessert tray 412,
(Eating container holding table 41) may be detachable.

Of course, the container support frame 411 and the frozen dessert tray 412 may be separately detachable.
That is, in the present embodiment, the individual members such as the container support frame 411 and the frozen dessert tray 412 included in the eating container holding table 41 may be independently detachable from the serving mechanism 4 and may be summarized. It may be detachable.

Further, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, it is preferable that a container sensor 3c for determining whether or not the cone is held is provided. Thus, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the frozen dessert is pushed out in a state where the cone is not held by the eating container holding table 41 and the dessert is wasted. Note that specific examples of the container sensor 3c are not particularly limited, and conventionally known sensors can be suitably used.

Between the ice dessert extruding mechanism 2a and the serving mechanism 4, a ice dessert extruder detecting unit 3a for detecting at least the extrusion of ice dessert is provided. A specific example of the frozen dessert detection unit 3a is not particularly limited as long as it can detect at least the start timing of the dessert extrusion and does not hinder the extruding operation and the disposing operation of the dessert. Specifically, various types of non-contact sensors are preferably used, and an infrared sensor is particularly preferably used.

The location of the frozen dessert detection section 3a is not particularly limited as long as various parameters detectable as the state of extrusion can be reliably detected. For example, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG.
A plurality (two in FIG. 2) of the confectionery extruding mechanism 2a, immediately below the edible container holding table 41 in the serving mechanism 4, and sandwiching the passage until the extruded confection reaches the cone. An infrared sensor is provided. Thus, it is possible to reliably detect the start of the extrusion of the frozen dessert extruded from the frozen dessert production section 6 without hindering the extruding operation of the dessert and the operation of putting it on the cone.

Further, for example, there is a method using three infrared sensors in which a first sensor and a second sensor are provided so as to sandwich a path through which frozen dessert is pushed out (see FIG. 2), and a third sensor is provided below the second sensor. No. In this method, the first sensor and the second sensor
The sensor detects the start of the extrusion of the frozen dessert, and then detects the frozen dessert moved from the position detected by the second sensor by the third sensor, and calculates the extrusion speed from the movement interval. Of course, the method of detecting the extrusion speed is not limited to this.

The frozen dessert production state detecting section 3b is provided for judging the finished state of the ice cream dessert in the cylinder (not shown) of the frozen dessert production section 6. That is, the frozen dessert production state detection unit 3b detects whether or not the frozen dessert produced in the frozen dessert production unit 6 is in an extrudable state and outputs this to the control unit 5a. The state of the frozen dessert detected by the frozen dessert production state detection unit 3b includes, for example, various parameters such as the temperature of the frozen dessert and the stirring torque of the stirring and extruding unit, but is not particularly limited.

In particular, according to the present invention, the extrusion speed is measured in consideration of the fact that the hardness of the soft ice cream-like frozen dessert varies to some extent. If the parameter detected by the above is within a range in which the frozen dessert is generally completed, it may be determined that the frozen dessert is ready to be extruded. Therefore, it is not necessary to strictly determine the finished state of the frozen dessert and manage the production process.
In addition, the configuration of the frozen dessert production state detection unit 3b can be appropriately selected from conventionally known ones according to the types of the parameters, and is not particularly limited.

In the present embodiment, there is further provided a sound notification unit 7a and a lighting notification unit 7b for notifying that the arrangement of the frozen dessert is completed. Each of these notification means operates under the control of the control unit 5a after the automatic arrangement by the arrangement mechanism 4 is completed. The sound notification unit 7a only needs to emit sound such as a buzzer, and the lighting notification unit 7b only needs to turn on a light such as an LED.

Of course, the notifying means according to the present invention includes:
The present invention is not limited to the audio notification unit 7a and the lighting notification unit 7b, but may be any device that can notify completion of the automatic serving. The completion of the automatic serving as referred to herein may be the time when the eating container holding table 41 which has been raised for the serving operation is lowered to the standby position (the first position where the serving container is set before the serving).

The notification by the notification means may be made when the frozen dessert being manufactured by the frozen dessert production section 6 is completed or when an error occurs in the operation, other than the completion of the automatic serving. Further, in the present embodiment, the audio notification unit 7
Both a and the lighting notification unit 7b are used, but either one may be used.

In the frozen dessert dispensing apparatus 1a according to the present invention, since almost all operations relating to the dessert dispensing are automated, the provision of the notification means as described above ensures that the dessert dispensing is completed. To the operator (such as a salesperson). As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the frozen dessert product is left after the serving is completed, and it is possible to reliably and efficiently sell the product.

As shown in FIG. 1, the control section 5a detects the start of extrusion and the extrusion speed of the ice confection as the "extruded state" by the ice confection detection section 3a, and further detects the ice confection by the ice confection production state detection section 3b. It detects whether the state is possible and uses this to control the operation of the arrangement mechanism 4. Thereby, the soft ice cream-like dessert in a sufficiently completed state as a product can be served in a food container (serving container) such as corn.

The placing operation panel 8a is an operating means for operating the placing of the frozen dessert in the frozen dessert placing apparatus 1a, that is, the pushing of the frozen dessert by the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a and the automatic placing of the frozen dessert by the placing mechanism 4. As shown in FIG. 2, an extrusion amount selection switch 81, a selection display lamp 82, and a start switch 83 are provided.

In the present embodiment, as will be described later, the control section 5a can set a plurality of extrusion amounts of the ice confection from the ice confection extrusion mechanism 2a.
Are provided. These extrusion amount selection switches 81
.. Are designed to select one from a plurality of set extrusion amounts before starting the operation of placing dessert. This eliminates the need for complicated settings such as changing the extrusion amount each time the product is sold, and makes it easier to change the extrusion amount.

The number of the above-mentioned extrusion amount selection switches 81, that is, the types of the extrusion amount that can be set simultaneously, is not particularly limited. For example, in FIG. 2, three extrusion amount selection switches 81 are provided. That is, there are three types of extrusion amounts that can be set simultaneously.

The selection display lamps 82 are provided in correspondence with the plurality of extrusion amount selection switches 81, respectively. The selection display lamp 82 is turned on when one of a plurality of (three in FIG. 2) set extrusion amounts is selected, and clearly indicates that the frozen dessert is to be served at the selected extrusion amount. ing. Although a specific example of the selection display lamp 82 is not particularly limited, for example, a light emitting diode (LED) is used.

The start switch 83 is for starting the automatic arrangement of frozen desserts, and is not for selecting conditions from a plurality of items such as the extrusion amount. Therefore, only one start switch 83 is provided on the arrangement operation panel 8a. Note that a general push button switch is used for both the start switch 83 and the extrusion amount selection switch 81, but the configuration is not particularly limited.

The ice confection production operation panel 8b is used for operating the operation of the ice confection production section 6 included in the ice confectionery placing apparatus 1a, that is, the production of soft ice cream dessert. Or change it. The configuration is not particularly limited, and those used in conventionally known frozen dessert production apparatuses can be suitably used.

Although not shown in FIG. 2, the setting panel 8c is a setting means for setting various conditions relating to the operation of serving the frozen dessert. In particular, in the present embodiment, it functions as a condition changing means for setting and changing the extruding condition and the serving condition of the frozen dessert described later. The specific configuration of the setting panel 8c is not particularly limited, and it is sufficient that the setting panel 8c has a key group that can set and change the above-described extrusion conditions and arrangement conditions.

Since the serving operation panel 8a and the frozen dessert production operation panel 8b are both operating means for operating the frozen dessert placing apparatus 1a according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. It is arranged at a position such as the upper side where an operator such as a salesperson can easily operate. On the other hand, the setting panel 8c is a means for setting and changing conditions and is not operated frequently like the operation means, and therefore may be arranged on the side of the apparatus or the like. It is not necessary to arrange in such a position.

Next, control of the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a and the placing mechanism 4 by the control unit 5a, that is, control of the automatic placing operation will be described.

First, in the manufacture of soft serve ice cream, since the time-dependent state of the manufactured frozen dessert is different, even if the conditions relating to the extrusion are kept as constant as possible, the extrusion speed of each time is appropriately changed to always maintain a constant speed. It is difficult to do. However, since the state of the frozen dessert does not change drastically after the extrusion is started in one extrusion operation of the dessert, even if the extrusion speed is considered to be constant from the start to the end of the extrusion. Almost no problem.

Therefore, control is performed such that the extrusion speed of one frozen dessert is assumed to be constant and the speed of the serving operation is changed to correspond to the extrusion speed of each time. by this,
Since the extrusion speed of the frozen dessert can be considered to be constant from the start of extrusion to the end of extrusion, only the drive speed of the vertical drive unit 42 and the rotation direction drive unit 43 is changed according to the extrusion speed at the start of extrusion. Behavior can be changed.

In the frozen dessert placing apparatus 1a according to the present embodiment, both the "extrusion start" and the "extrusion speed" are detected as the extruded state by the frozen dessert detection section 3a. Alternatively, only one of the pushing states may be detected and used for controlling the serving operation.

Here, since the ice cream dessert is continuously extruded from the ice dessert production section 6 via the ice dessert extruding mechanism 2a, it is very important to judge that the dessert is to be provided at a constant rate.

In other words, in the arrangement of soft ice cream desserts and the like, even if the volume and the weight are constant, if the irregularity occurs in the shape of the arrangement, from the viewpoint of the purchaser, the appearance of the arranged ice dessert also varies. Is determined to have occurred. Therefore, in the arrangement, it is necessary to prioritize constant appearance in comparison with quantitative constant.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the serving amount of the frozen dessert is determined based on the length (extrusion length) of the frozen dessert to be extruded into a substantially bar shape, and the serving amount of the frozen dessert is set in advance by the control unit 5a as a predetermined amount. Then, at the time when the frozen dessert is extruded at the above-mentioned predetermined amount, control for ending the extruding operation is performed.

[0105] Specifically, when the ice cream-like dessert is served in a "tongue roll" with respect to the corn, the number of rolls is set to be constant, and the shape in which the frozen dessert is served is always constant. When the predetermined number of windings is reached, the operation of the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a and the arrangement mechanism 4 is controlled in conjunction with each other so that the arrangement is completed and one arrangement operation is terminated (stopped).

In the above control, after detecting the start of the extrusion of the frozen dessert, it is determined that a predetermined amount of the frozen dessert has been served when the extrusion operation is continued for a predetermined time based on the start of the extrusion. . Thus, by detecting the time after the start of extrusion, it is possible to indirectly detect the length (extrusion length) of the soft ice cream extruded in a substantially rod shape from the extrusion opening (not shown) to the cone, that is, the amount of serving. As a result, it is possible to set the number of rolls of the frozen dessert to be served in the "tongue roll" to be constant.

The number of windings is not particularly limited, and is appropriately set according to the size of the corn to be served or the type of the product on which the frozen dessert is served. In addition, the arrangement of the frozen dessert is not limited to the above-mentioned "Tuna roll".

In the control of the serving by the control unit 5a, the frozen dessert is served at least by detecting the pushing state of the frozen dessert. However, in the present invention, in order to provide the serving with diversity, the serving in the control unit 5a is related. The control conditions are changed. Specifically, for at least the operation control of the arrangement mechanism 4, the extrusion condition or the arrangement condition preset in the control unit 5a can be changed by the arrangement operation panel 8a or the setting panel 8c.

The extrusion conditions are not particularly limited, but in order to ensure a variety of arrangements,
For example, the extruded amount of frozen dessert is mentioned. That is, when only a soft ice cream-like dessert is served on a general corn to make a frozen dessert product of only a soft ice cream, the amount of the frozen dessert is relatively large. In the case of a frozen dessert product that combines fruits and toppings, the amount of the frozen dessert is relatively small. Further, even for a frozen dessert product containing only soft serve, depending on the consumer, a smaller serving amount may be sufficient, or a larger serving amount may be preferable.

Therefore, the setting panel 8c can be used to change or set a plurality of extruded amounts of the frozen dessert, and a plurality of extruded amounts can be selected by the extruded amount selection switches 81. Diversity can be secured. As a result, the variety of frozen dessert products in which frozen desserts are served in a serving container can be secured.

Next, although there is no particular limitation on the above-mentioned arrangement condition, for example, in this embodiment,
Since the frozen desserts are served in "toguro rolls," the number of rolls is an important factor in the variety of servings. Since the control of the number of windings is related to the operation control of the arrangement mechanism 4,
The serving condition includes a state of movement of a serving container such as a cone by the serving mechanism 4 when serving the frozen dessert.

The above-mentioned movement state includes at least one, preferably both, of the vertical movement and the eccentric rotation movement of the serving container, and more preferably, the rotation movement and the temporary stop. By changing these movement states, it is possible to change the arrangement shape of the frozen dessert including the number of windings, and as a result, it is possible to secure a variety of frozen dessert products. Of course, when the placing mechanism 4 can move the placing container in a movement state other than these, the movement state can be included.

The movement state as the serving condition will be described based on the operation of the serving mechanism 4 when serving the soft creamy dessert in a "corn roll" for the cone. In the following description, the automatic arrangement of the frozen dessert by the arrangement mechanism 4 is referred to as “automatic” or simply “automatic”, and the manual preparation of the frozen dessert by the salesperson is referred to as “manual” or simply “manual”.

In the preparation of frozen desserts manually, the salesperson grasps the corn (placing container) and then extrudes the frozen dessert from the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a into a "tongue roll".
Serve. Here, looking at the movement of the cone during this manual serving, as shown in FIG.
The cone 9a itself does not rotate ("rotate"), but gradually descends while performing a large circular motion such as "revolution of a planet". Therefore, when expressed as the eccentric rotation of the "Koten", movement of the cone 9a forms a trajectory M ₀ a substantially helical moving downward while eccentrically rotating movement from above.

[0115] Therefore, to the auto dished moving cone 9a to form the trajectory M _0, as shown in FIG. 4 (b), the vertical movement by the vertical drive unit 42 included in the drive 44 ( At least two kinds of movements, an arrow M ₁ ) and an eccentric rotation movement (an arrow M ₂ ) by the rotation direction driving unit 43 are required.

Therefore, the above-mentioned vertical movement and eccentric rotation movement are used as a motion state, and at least one of them is used.
Preferably, both settings can be changed on the setting panel 8c, so that the arrangement of the frozen dessert can be easily changed.

The vertical movement M ₁ and the eccentric rotation movement M ₂ are changed by changing the configuration of the arrangement mechanism 4.
In addition, the rotational movement M that causes the cone 9a to "rotate"
₃ may be added. For example, the container support frame 411, if it so around around a position offset from the center of the hollow portion serving as the center axis, the rotational movement M ₃ together with the eccentric rotating movement M ₂ by the rotation direction driving portion 43 Can also be realized. As a result, the cone 9a itself rotates, so that it is possible to realize "clog winding" in a state different from the manual arrangement.

[0118] In the Serve mechanism 4, without using the eccentric rotation movement M _2, may move the cone 9a by using only vertical movement M _1. In this case, by stopping the eccentric rotational movement and performing only the vertical movement, for example, intermittently, it is possible to serve the frozen dessert in a substantially mountain shape with a step without making it into a “rolling roll”. This intermittent up-down movement actually means that the serving container (eating container holding table 41) repeats up-down movement and temporary stop.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as the above-mentioned movement state, the vertical movement M ₁ and the eccentric rotation movement M ₂
In addition to the rotational movement M ₃ and once it can include a stop. Thereby, the variety of arrangement shapes of the frozen dessert can be further expanded.

Further, in each of the above-mentioned movement states, the movement state is changed by appropriately changing the movement speed, the stop time, and the like. At this time, the movement speed, the stop time, and the like are appropriately adjusted. Alternatively, a plurality of types of fixed values may be registered in advance and any one of them may be appropriately selected.

In addition, the fixed values of each of the above motion states are combined.
Also, register a plurality of “arrangement shape setting conditions” in advance.
May be kept. For example, vertical movement M₁And eccentric rotation
Dynamic M _TwoMove the combination of
Changed the speed to set multiple "Tuna winding conditions"
Move up and down M₁The combination of the stop and "stop"
Conditions) and change the moving speed and stop time to
Set the number of “mountain arrangement conditions” and set these
The information is stored in a storage unit (not shown) included in 5a.
And the sales clerk is one of the above
Select, for example, only three types, and arrange the operation panel
8a is better than practical
No.

Next, control of the extruding operation and the placing operation in the frozen dessert placing apparatus 1a by the control unit 5a according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, in S101, the control unit 5a determines whether or not the finished state of the soft ice cream-like dessert is within a range of a predetermined condition. For this determination, the detection result obtained by the frozen dessert production state detection unit 3b is used. If it is not within the range of the predetermined condition (NO in the figure), it is determined that the frozen dessert is not in the extrudable state, and S101 is repeatedly repeated. On the other hand, if it is within the range of the predetermined condition (YES), the process proceeds to S102.

Next, in S102, it is determined whether or not the extrusion amount is determined on the arrangement operation panel 8a. That is, it is determined whether or not any one of the plurality of (three as described above, in the present embodiment) extrusion amount selection switches 81 on the arrangement operation panel 8a is operated to determine the extrusion amount. judge. If the extrusion amount is determined (YES in the figure), the process proceeds to S103. If the extrusion amount is not determined (NO in the diagram), S10 is performed until it is determined.
Repeat 2.

It is preferable that the above-mentioned extrusion amount is set as the extrusion length of the frozen dessert extruded in a substantially bar shape as described above. Further, in practice, the extrusion amount of the frozen dessert does not need to be determined every time, and the previous extrusion amount can be used as it is. That is, if any one of the extrusion amount selection switches 81 is operated in advance, the extrusion amount has already been determined. Therefore, in S102, it may be determined whether or not the extrusion amount has been changed.

Next, at S103, the control unit 5a determines whether or not the cone 9a is placed on the eating container holding table 41 based on the detection result of the container sensor 3c. If not mounted (NO in the figure), S1 is set until the cone 9a is mounted.
Repeat 03. On the other hand, if it is mounted (YE in the figure)
S) Go to S104.

At S101, the production state of the frozen dessert is confirmed.
The extrusion amount is determined in 102, and the placement of the cone 9a is confirmed in S103, and the preparation for extrusion is completed. Thus, in S104, it is determined whether or not the start switch 83 has been operated. If operated (YE in the figure)
S), the process proceeds to S105, but if no operation has been performed (N in the figure)
O), repeat S104 until operated.

Thereafter, in S105, the control unit 5a causes the vertical drive unit 42 of the placing mechanism 4 to start the operation of raising the eating container holding table 41. When the eating container holding table 41 is raised to the serving start position, S1 is reached.
As 06, the extrusion of the frozen dessert from the cylinder of the frozen dessert production section 6 is started.

Next, in step S107, the timing at which the frozen dessert is actually extruded from the extrusion opening (not shown) by the operation of the plunger 24, that is, the timing of the start of extrusion, is detected by the ice dessert detection section 3a, and the ice dessert extrusion speed is also determined. Detect. Then, as S108, the control unit 5a
Based on the detection result (extrusion start / extrusion speed) by the frozen dessert detection section 3a, the setting operation by the setting mechanism 4 is started and the setting operation is adjusted. The arrangement operation at this time is based on each motion state, as described above.

Then, in S109, the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a
When the automatic extruding of the frozen dessert is completed, it means that the frozen dessert has been placed in a predetermined amount, so that in S110, the placing operation by the placing mechanism 4 and the pushing operation by the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a are terminated. At this time, it is preferable that the eating container holder 41 moved through the above steps is automatically returned to the standby position at the initial stage. Thus, a series of operations for serving frozen desserts is completed.

It is needless to say that in the control of the pushing operation and the setting operation, steps can be omitted or added as appropriate. For example, determination of the finished state of the frozen dessert by the frozen dessert production state detection unit 3b (S1)
01) and the step of determining the setting of the cone 9a by the container sensor 3c (S103) can be omitted. Alternatively, when the eating container holding table 41 returns to the standby position, it is preferable that the notifying unit notifies that the arrangement of the frozen dessert has been completed. Therefore, such a notifying step can be added after S110.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the extrusion condition or the serving condition used for the control for serving the frozen dessert is appropriately changed. Thereby, even when the automatic serving mechanism is applied to a normal-type frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus,
It is possible to ensure diversity in the condition of the shape of the frozen dessert. As a result, the fine production performance of the frozen dessert arrangement device can be improved.

[Second Embodiment] The second embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as members used in the first embodiment are given the same numbers, and explanations thereof are omitted. Further, the present invention is not limited to this.

In the first embodiment, up and down movement, eccentric rotation movement, rotation movement, and temporary stop are used as the movement state of the placement container, which is one of the specific examples of the placement conditions. In the embodiment, by utilizing the temporary stop more effectively, not only can the variety of arrangement of the frozen dessert be expanded, but also the appearance of the arrangement shape of the frozen dessert is improved, and the quality of the frozen dessert product is improved. .

More specifically, the frozen dessert arrangement device 1a according to the present embodiment has exactly the same configuration as that of the first embodiment, and the basic control is also the same, so a detailed description thereof will be omitted. .

As described above, if the stoppage is used as the moving state of the serving container, which is one of the serving conditions, the variety of the serving shape of the frozen dessert can be expanded. Immediately after determining that a predetermined amount of frozen dessert has been served, the operation of the serving mechanism 4 is controlled so as to temporarily stop the movement of the serving container.

The control for temporarily stopping the movement of the serving container in the final stage of serving the frozen dessert will be described in detail below.

[0138] Looking at the operation when the manufactured frozen dessert is manually placed on the "tongue roll", the salesperson turns on the cone 9a and turns on the cone 9a.
The movement of a is stopped, and the extrusion operation of the frozen dessert is stopped almost simultaneously with the stop of the cone 9a. This is to ensure that the extruded frozen dessert is served to the end and to improve the beauty of the served frozen dessert.

For example, when the frozen dessert is arranged in a “tongue roll” shape, the appearance shape which is more excellent in aesthetic appearance is, as shown in FIG.
The top portion of the frozen dessert 9b placed on the top a is slightly curved by its own weight from the pointed top end. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), a typical serving shape that impairs the aesthetic appearance is that the tip of the serving frozen dessert 9b is “falled down”.
Shape. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of such a plunging shape in which the tip has fallen by temporarily stopping at the final stage of the plunging.

Therefore, in the automatic dessert dispensing apparatus 1a according to the present invention, similarly to the manual dispensing, the movement of the cone 9a is temporarily stopped at the final stage, and the ice dessert extruding operation is stopped almost simultaneously with the stop of the cone 9a. The operation of the arrangement mechanism 4 is controlled by the control unit 5a so as to perform the operation. Specifically, the temporary stop as the serving condition set for the control unit 5a is set to the final stage of serving the frozen dessert.

The temporary stop of the serving container at the final stage of the automatic serving will be described more specifically.

As shown in FIG. 7, the frozen dessert extruding means having the general configuration includes a cylinder 6a of the dessert producing section 6 and an extrusion port 23.
Is provided with a plunger 24. The plunger 24 can be moved up and down in the extrusion tube portion 22. The extrusion port 23 is formed at the lowermost end of the extrusion tube portion 22, and a through hole 6 b connected to the cylinder 6 a is provided on a side surface of the extrusion tube portion 22 on the cylinder 6 a side.

When the frozen dessert is not taken out, the plunger 24 is lowered to close the through hole 6b and the extrusion port 23 as shown by the solid line. On the other hand, in the configuration of the present invention, when the operation of placing the frozen dessert by the operation of the start switch 83 and the like is started, the plunger 24 is raised as shown by the broken line under the control of the control unit 5a.
Both b and the extrusion port 23 are opened. Therefore, cylinder 6
The frozen dessert is made to pass through hole 6 by the pushing function of the mixing and stirring means in a
It is extruded from the extrusion port 23 through b.

According to the structure of the present invention, the control unit 5
If it is determined by the control of a that the serving by the serving mechanism 4 has been completed, the plunger 24 immediately descends to close the through hole 6b and the extrusion port 23, and stops pushing out the frozen dessert. Thereafter, the placing mechanism 4 lowers the placing container such as the cone 9a to the standby position.

Here, the appearance shape excellent in aesthetic appearance (FIG. 6)
(See (a)) can be easily realized by lowering the cone 9a after completely stopping the extrusion of the frozen dessert by lowering the plunger 24. That is, if the operation of the serving mechanism 4 is temporarily stopped in the final stage of serving, the frozen dessert extruded in the final stage can be stably received above the frozen dessert that has been served up to that time.

More specifically, by lowering the cone 9a in the final stage, the frozen dessert continuously extruded from the extrusion port 23 is separated from the extrusion port 23 so as to "cut". Immediately after the separation by the descending, the upper end of the served frozen dessert 9b becomes a substantially conical “conical end”. An aesthetically pleasing arrangement means that the shape of the "conical end" is hardly distorted. To this end, a portion corresponding to the bottom of the "conical end" has a certain degree of height so that the height of the "conical end" can be maintained. It must have an area.

If the operation of the serving mechanism 4 is temporarily stopped in the final stage, the pushed frozen dessert is reliably received, and as a result, the frozen dessert is slightly pressed down at the upper end of the served frozen dessert 9b. When such a slight pressing occurs, the bottom surface area of the “conical end” is sufficiently ensured. Therefore, it is possible to stabilize the frozen dessert extruded in the final stage above the serving frozen dessert 9b.

However, if the stop is not performed once or the stop time is too short, the timing at which the plunger 24 descends to stop pushing the frozen dessert and the serving mechanism 4
There is a possibility that the timing of lowering of the cone 9a due to the above may be slightly shifted. In this case, for example, as shown in FIG. 8A, it is impossible to avoid a situation in which the cone 9a is lowered while the frozen dessert is still being pushed (arrow in the figure). As a result, the falling timing of the cone 9a is too early to make it possible to stably receive the lastly extruded frozen dessert at the upper end of the frozen dessert 9b.
Is not sufficiently secured. For this reason, the tip of the served frozen dessert 9b falls significantly under its own weight (see FIG. 6B).

If the serving container is controlled to be temporarily stopped at the final stage as described above, the movement of the cone 9a is temporarily stopped at the final stage of the serving of the frozen dessert.
Waits without descending until the frozen dessert is completely extruded.
Therefore, it is possible to realize an excellent appearance.

Therefore, the above-mentioned temporary stop means that the movement of the eating container holding table 41 is stopped at least for the time required to completely lower the plunger 24 and complete the pushing of the frozen dessert. Therefore, the specific time for stopping the movement of the eating container holding table 41 may be equal to or longer than the time for lowering the plunger 24 to the lowest position, as long as the efficiency of serving is not hindered. It should be noted that the time for lowering the plunger 24 to the lowermost position is not particularly limited because it differs depending on the configuration of the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a.

Further, the above-mentioned shape in which the tip falls down easily occurs even when the interval between the extrusion port 23 and the cone 9a is too large. In other words, the most important point for making the above-mentioned tip “cleanly sharp” is to stabilize the lastly extruded frozen dessert at the upper end of the arranged frozen dessert 9b as described above.

However, as shown in FIG. 8 (b), if the interval between the extrusion port 23 and the cone 9a is too large, even if the cone 9a is lowered in a state in which the extruding of the frozen dessert is completely stopped, the served dessert 9b At the upper end of the ice cream, there is almost no suppression of the frozen dessert in the final stage, and the bottom surface area of the “conical end” is not sufficiently ensured. As a result, frozen dessert cannot be received sufficiently stably. Therefore, the tip of the served frozen dessert 9b falls down significantly by its own weight.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, the cone 9a
It is very preferable to set the distance between the feeding port 23 and the extruding port 23 (referred to as the serving interval) appropriately so that the tip of the served frozen dessert 9b does not fall down. In addition, the above serving interval,
It is set appropriately according to various conditions such as the size of the frozen dessert arrangement device 1a and the difference of the arrangement container, and is not particularly limited.

Next, an example of control of the pushing operation and the setting operation by the control unit 5a in the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 9 and FIGS. 10 to 12.

First, steps S201 to S205 are the same as steps S101 to S105 in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. Here, in S205, the edible container holding table 41 is raised from the standby position (the position where the cone 9a is set) to the serving start position by the vertical drive unit 42.
As shown in “starting the arrangement” in FIG. 10, at the arrangement start position, the center of the cone 9a is shifted from the center of the extrusion opening 23 (not shown in FIGS. 10 to 12). Therefore, the frozen dessert extruded from the extrusion opening 23 is served at a position eccentric from the center of the uppermost part of the cone 9a.

The serving start position is the top dead center where the cone 9a waits until the extruding of the dessert starts. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, the interval a from the standby position to the serving start position is the maximum of the cone 9a. It becomes a stroke. The serving start position is the frozen dessert detection section 3a.
Is slightly lower than the detection position of the extruded frozen dessert. This is because the detection of the frozen dessert by the frozen dessert detection unit 3a is not hindered by the cone 9a.

Thereafter, when the extruding of the frozen dessert is started at S206, the timing of the start of extrusion and the extrusion speed are detected (S207), as in the first embodiment, and based on the detection result, the serving mechanism 4 operates. The arrangement operation is started and the arrangement operation is adjusted (S20).
8).

In this arrangement operation, the vertical driving unit 4
2 and the eccentric rotation operation by the rotation direction driving unit 43, as shown in FIG. 11, the frozen dessert is gradually put on the cone 9a in a "snarl roll" shape. Then, as in S209, the automatic extruding of the frozen dessert is completed as in S109.

Thereafter, in S210, the movement of the eating container holder 41 is temporarily stopped, and the operation of pushing out the frozen dessert is also stopped. In this state, “immediately after extrusion is completed” in FIG.
As shown in (1), the upper end of the cone 9a temporarily stops, and waits (temporarily stops) until the plunger 24 is completely lowered. As a result, the remaining frozen dessert is completely extruded and received so as to be stabilized above the frozen dessert served up to that time. The interval b between the temporary stop position and the placement start position is a stroke of the vertical movement of the cone 9a during the placement operation.

[0160] Thereafter, at step S211, the eating container holder 41 is lowered with the completion of the extrusion of the remaining frozen dessert. As a result, the cone 9a is lowered to the standby position in a state where the extrusion of the frozen dessert is completely stopped, so that as shown in "Plating completion" in FIG. 10 and FIG. 9c is generated, and the top end of the served frozen dessert 9b is in a "sharp and sharp" state.

Thereafter, the sharp upper end is slightly curved by its own weight, and finally has a beautiful appearance. When the cone 9a is lowered to the standby position, it is preferable to notify the completion of the serving by the notification means, as in the first embodiment. Thus, a series of operations for serving frozen desserts is completed.

The interval c between the temporary stop position and the standby position is an interval for forming the shape of the aesthetically pleasing tip in the served frozen dessert, and for providing a margin for taking out the frozen dessert product 9. This is a descending stroke in anticipation of d.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the temporary stop of the serving container included in the serving conditions used for the control for serving the frozen dessert is set at least at the final stage of the serving of the frozen dessert. Thereby, the arrangement of the frozen dessert can be made more excellent.
As a result, it is possible to not only simply improve the fine production property but also meet the consumer's need for a higher quality product.

[Embodiment 3] The following will describe a third embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIGS. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as members used in Embodiment 1 or 2 are given the same reference numerals, and explanations thereof are omitted. Further, the present invention is not limited to this.

In the first or second embodiment, the extruding condition and the serving condition can be changed to ensure variety in the serving shape of the frozen dessert. In the present embodiment, a plurality of frozen dessert production units are provided. In addition, a variety of types of frozen desserts is ensured by configuring the serving mechanism corresponding to this.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 13, the frozen dessert arrangement apparatus 1b according to the present embodiment includes a first dessert production section 61 and a second frozen dessert production section 62 as a dessert production section. , Three frozen dessert extruding mechanisms 2b
2c and a control unit 5b.
Other configurations are the same as those in the first or second embodiment.

That is, the frozen dessert dispensing apparatus 1a according to the first or second embodiment is a single machine having only one frozen dessert production unit 6, but the frozen dessert dispensing apparatus 1b according to the present embodiment is different from the one shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, a double machine having first and second frozen dessert production units 61 and 62 is controlled by the control unit 5b.

Here, the frozen dessert dispensing apparatus 1b is provided with three ice dessert extruding mechanisms 2b, 2b, and 2c because the frozen desserts produced by the first and second frozen dessert production sections 61 and 62 are directly used. Extruded frozen dessert extrusion mechanism 2b ・ 2
This is because the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2c is configured to mix and extrude the frozen desserts produced by the first and second frozen dessert production units 61 and 62, while each one b is provided. .

For example, when the first frozen dessert production section 61 produces plain soft ice cream dessert and the second frozen dessert production section 62 produces chocolate soft ice cream dessert,
If only the dessert extruding mechanisms 2b and 2b are used, only one kind of plain dessert and chocolate dessert is provided. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, since the mixed type dessert extruding mechanism 2c is provided, it is possible to extrude a soft ice cream dessert in which both the plain dessert and the chocolate dessert are spirally mixed with each other. Become.

[0170] Therefore, in the present embodiment, by providing two frozen dessert production means and three frozen dessert extruding means, a total of three kinds of frozen desserts can be served. Therefore, variety of types of frozen desserts can be secured, and as a result, variety of frozen dessert products can be further improved.

As shown in FIG. 14, the arrangement operation panel 8a and the frozen dessert production operation panel 8b described in the first embodiment correspond to a plurality of provided ice dessert production means and ice dessert extrusion means, respectively. Provided. That is, three serving operation panels 8a are provided corresponding to the three frozen dessert extruding mechanisms 2b, 2b, and 2c, and the frozen dessert production operation panel 8b is provided for each of the first and second frozen dessert production sections 61 and 62. Two are provided correspondingly. However, in FIG. 13, for convenience of explanation, the arrangement operation panel 8 a
-Only one frozen dessert production operation panel 8b is described.

Here, as in the double machine described above, a plurality of frozen dessert producing means are provided, and a single-piece type frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2b for extruding the frozen dessert produced by each of the frozen dessert producing means as a single item is provided.
In the configuration having the mixed type dessert extruding mechanism 2c that mixes and extrudes two types of desserts, if the assembling mechanism 4 is attached as it is, a total of three assembling mechanisms 4 must be provided corresponding to the respective extrusion ports 23. Must. However,
Providing a plurality of arrangement mechanisms 4 increases the size of the entire apparatus by the arrangement mechanism 4 and also increases the manufacturing cost due to an increase in the number of parts.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, only one serving mechanism 4 is provided, and further, based on the serving position for serving the frozen dessert extruded from the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2b or 2c, the serving mechanism 4 is moved from this serving position. Is provided with a placement mechanism moving means (placing means moving means).

The specific structure of the arrangement mechanism moving means is not particularly limited. For example, as shown in FIG. 14, a slide moving mechanism 46 is preferably used.

The slide moving mechanism 46 has, for example, two slide rails (slide members) for moving the placing means in the left and right direction of the apparatus. As shown in FIG. Mechanism 2b ・ 2b ・ 2
The arrangement mechanism 4 can be freely moved horizontally between the _three arrangement positions P ₁ , P _2, and P ₃ set corresponding to each of c.

The serving position P ₁ corresponds to the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2b on the left side in the front of the apparatus, and the serving position P ₂ corresponds to the mixed type dessert extruding mechanism 2c at the center in the front of the apparatus. are those, the Serve position P _3, correspond to the ice confection extruding mechanism 2b on the right side in front of the apparatus.

As shown in FIG. 14, the placing mechanism 4 is
Centering position P_TwoTwo types of cold
The confections will be mixed and served, then
If you want to serve Mino frozen dessert alone, it is shown in Fig.15.
U, the central placement position P _Two(Two-dot chain line in the figure)
For example, the placement position P on the left side₁Move the arrangement mechanism 4 to
Let it. In addition, the placement position P on the right side_ThreeFor an example of
Placing position P₁It is omitted because it is the same as.

At this time, it is preferable that the control system of the frozen dessert extruding mechanisms 2b, 2b, 2c be automatically switched with the movement of the serving mechanism 4. The switching of the control system is not particularly limited, and a switch mechanism that is integrated with the slide moving mechanism 46 and can be switched by moving the placing mechanism 4 can be suitably used.

With the slide moving mechanism 46 as described above, even if there is only one serving mechanism 4, it is possible to serve frozen desserts corresponding to each of the plurality of extrusion ports 23. Therefore, in combination with the configuration or control as in the first and second embodiments, it is possible to automatically serve a plurality of types of frozen desserts in various shapes. As a result, there are a plurality of types of frozen desserts and a plurality of shapes for the desserts. By combining these, it is possible to secure a variety of finished products after the frozen desserts are served.

Since the slide moving mechanism 46 selects one of a plurality of placement positions by moving the placement mechanism 4, it can be said that the slide movement mechanism 46 is a placement position selecting and moving means. Placing mechanism 4
It is preferable to provide a moving means as a placing mechanism retreating means for moving the to a retreat position removed from the repositioning position. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 14, a door-like moving mechanism 47 is used as a laying mechanism evacuation means.

The door-like moving mechanism 47 includes a shaft portion 471 and a mounting mechanism support portion 472. Shaft 471
As shown in FIG. 14, for example, a plate-shaped mounting mechanism support portion 472 is rotatably mounted on the main body of the apparatus along a vertical direction at a right end thereof from the front of the apparatus. ing.

Since the mounting mechanism support portion 472 is flat and rotatable about the shaft portion 471, it is actually opened and closed like a door in front of the apparatus main body. However, in a normal state, it is stopped by a decorative screw 473 at an end (left side in the figure) opposite to the shaft 471 so as not to be easily opened.

As described above, the door-like moving mechanism 47 is different from the slide moving mechanism 46 in that it moves the placing mechanism 4 to a retracted position completely deviated from the placing position. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 16, when the door-shaped placing mechanism support portion 472 is rotated so as to be opened from the front of the apparatus, the placing mechanism 4 is completely removed from the front of the apparatus, and is obliquely viewed from the front of the apparatus. It will move to the previous retreat position.

The movement of the placing mechanism 4 to the retreat position by the door-like moving mechanism 47 is to cope with a failure of the placing mechanism 4. That is, when only the serving mechanism 4 fails, the ice confectionery extruding mechanism 2b or the ice confectionery extruding mechanism 2c
Even if can be operated normally, the product can not be automatically arranged, so we have to stop selling the product. On the other hand, when the placing mechanism 4 is moved by the door-shaped moving mechanism 47 so as to be completely removed from the placing position, a sufficient space is formed at the placing position, so that the sales staff can perform manual placing. .

Even if the serving mechanism 4 fails, the frozen dessert can be served manually as long as the frozen dessert extruding mechanisms 2b and 2c do not fail. Therefore, if the dispensing mechanism 4 can be completely removed from the dispensing position like the door-shaped moving mechanism 47, the versatility of the frozen dessert dispensing device 1b can be further enhanced. In the state where the serving mechanism 4 is retracted, even if manual placing is performed, only a fixed amount of frozen dessert is automatically pushed out from the frozen dessert extruding mechanisms 2b and 2c.

In the door-like moving mechanism 47, it is preferable that the control for the automatic placing and the control for the manual placing are switched in accordance with the opening and closing of the placing mechanism support portion 472. The switching of the control system is not particularly limited as in the case of the slide moving mechanism 46, and a switch mechanism that can be switched in accordance with the opening and closing of the mounting mechanism support portion 472 can be suitably used.

As a structure for retracting the arrangement mechanism 4, a slide moving mechanism 46 can be used.
In the present embodiment, the case of the double machine is taken as an example. However, as shown in FIG. 17, for example, the single machine described in the first and second embodiments is provided with the slide moving mechanism 46, and the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2a The mounting mechanism 4 may be slid and removed from the mounting position corresponding to.

Although not shown, the double machine (see FIGS. 14 and 15) according to the present embodiment also does not have the door-like moving mechanism 47, but has only the sliding moving mechanism 46 to make the sliding length longer. You may keep it. In this way, the placement mechanism 4 may be positioned at each of the placement positions P _{1 to} P ₃ , and the left and right ends of the front of the apparatus may be set as the retraction positions, and the placement mechanism 4 may be movable to the retraction position.

In the present embodiment, the slide moving mechanism 46 is used for changing the mounting position, and the door-shaped moving mechanism 47 is used for retracting the mounting mechanism 4. When there are two arrangement mechanism moving means as described above, although the number of parts is slightly increased, each movement mechanism is responsible for moving a different arrangement mechanism 4, so that the operation of the apparatus by the sales staff can be easily understood. Can be.

Although the slide moving mechanism 46 and the door-shaped moving mechanism 47 are moving means for moving the entire assembling mechanism 4, in the present embodiment, a container supporting mechanism included in the eating container holding table 41 is further provided. Support frame moving means for moving only the frame 411 may be included. For example, in the present embodiment, a configuration in which the container support frame 411 is integrated with the container support shaft 413 and is rotatable with respect to the container support shaft 413 is exemplified.

The reason why only the container supporting frame 411 is moved is to make it easy to remove the frozen dessert product 9 from the eating container holding table 41.

More specifically, as shown in FIG.
When the serving mechanism 4 is at the serving position, the edible container holding table 4 is located immediately below the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2b (or may be 2c).
1 is arranged. Here, a large gap can be secured between the lower end of the frozen dessert extruding mechanism 2b (not shown, but having the extrusion port 23) and the eating container holding table 41, so that the corn 9a before being put into the eating container is placed in the eating container. It is easy to attach and hold to the holding table 41.

However, as shown in FIG. 18 (b), the confectionery of the confectionery product 9
Is completed, the distance between the lower end of the ice confectionery extruding mechanism 2b and the edible container holding table 41 does not change, but since the served ice confection 9b is located above the cone 9a, the upper end of the ice confection product 9 is relatively The distance from the lower end of the pushing mechanism 2b is very small. Therefore, it becomes difficult to remove the frozen dessert product 9 from the eating container holding table 41 so as not to disturb the serving shape.

Therefore, for example, if an elastic member such as a spring is provided on the container support shaft 413 so that only the container support frame 411 can be rotated around the container support shaft 413, the detachable frozen dessert product 9 can be removed as shown in FIG. As shown in (c), only the container support frame 411 can be easily removed from the mounting position by an external force and pulled out, for example, toward the front of the apparatus. For this reason, the frozen dessert product 9 is moved upward with the dessert pushing mechanism 2b.
Can be easily moved to a position where there is no frozen dessert product 9
Can be easily removed. In addition, after the frozen dessert product 9 is removed, the container supporting frame 411 immediately returns to the predetermined serving position by the urging by a spring or the like.

Therefore, by providing the support frame moving means, the ease of removing the frozen dessert product 9 from the eating container holding table 41 can be further improved. In addition,
The configuration of the support frame moving means is not limited to the configuration integrated with the container support shaft 413 as described above, and only the container support frame 411 can be moved in the horizontal direction. I just need.

Next, the control of the pushing operation and the setting operation by the control unit 5b in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
9 and the flowchart of FIG.

First, in S301, it is determined whether or not the automatic arrangement is performed. That is, it is determined whether or not the placing mechanism 4 is retracted to the retracted position by the door-shaped moving mechanism 47. When sheltered, the serving mechanism support portion 472
The switch mechanism (not shown) is switched by opening / closing the button, so that manual arrangement is performed (NO in the figure).
(From FIG. 19 to FIG. 20 via A). On the other hand, if the arrangement mechanism 4 has not moved to the retracted position, the switch mechanism cannot be switched, so that the automatic arrangement remains (YES in the figure), and the process proceeds to S302.

Next, in S302, any _{one of} a plurality of arrangement positions P _{1 to} P ₃ is selected. That is, the position of the serving mechanism 4 is changed by the slide moving mechanism 46,
It is determined which switching position has been selected by the switch mechanism provided in the slide moving mechanism 46.
Next, in S303, it is determined whether or not the finished state of the frozen dessert in the frozen dessert manufacturing means corresponding to the selected serving position (that is, the frozen dessert pushing means) is within the range of the predetermined condition.

[0199] Specifically, it means that if dished position P ₁ left ice confection extruding mechanism 2b is selected, determines the finished state of the ice confection in the first ice confection producing unit 61. Further, if the dished position P ₃ right ice confection extruding mechanism 2b
Is selected, the second frozen dessert production section 62 determines the finished state of the dessert. Furthermore, the arrangement position P
If it is ₂ , the central ice confectionery extruding mechanism 2c is selected, so that the first ice confectionery production section 61 and the second ice confectionery production section 6 are selected.
In both cases, the finished state of the frozen dessert is determined.

[0200] Thereafter, from S304 to S314, the same control as the series of controls from S202 to S212 described in the second embodiment is performed at the selected serving position (the frozen dessert extruding means).

Next, in and after S315, control by manual arrangement is performed. That is, after it is determined in S301 that automatic arrangement is not performed, the arrangement position is appropriately selected by the salesperson.
Similarly to 303, it is determined whether the finished state of the frozen dessert in the frozen dessert production means corresponding to the selected serving position is within the range of the predetermined condition.

Next, as S316, as in S202,
It is determined whether or not the extruded amount has been determined by the corresponding frozen dessert extruding means, and it is determined in S317 whether or not the start switch 83 has been operated, similarly to S204. Start switch 83
Is operated, the extruding operation of the frozen dessert is started in S318.

In this flow, since the manual placement is performed, the placement mechanism 4 does not operate at all. Therefore, when the automatic extruding of the frozen dessert is completed in S319, the extruding operation of the frozen dessert is stopped in S320, and a series of operations for assembling the frozen dessert ends. At this time, notification by the notification means is not particularly necessary.

In order to cope with the manual arrangement, the arrangement operation panel 8a is provided with an extrusion free switch separately from the extrusion amount selection switch 81, and when this switch is operated, the start switch 83 is turned on and off to set the frozen dessert. May be started and stopped.

As described above, in the present embodiment, only one arrangement mechanism is provided for a plurality of ice confection producing units and ice confection extrusion mechanisms, and the moving means for moving the arrangement mechanism to each arrangement position is provided. Have. As a result, not only can the variety of frozen dessert products be increased, but also a single arrangement mechanism is required, so that the device configuration can be reduced in size, simplified, and reduced in cost.

[0206] Further, when the arrangement mechanism breaks down, the arrangement mechanism can be moved to the retreat position completely deviated from the arrangement position, so that the sales person can perform the manual arrangement. Therefore, a variety of frozen dessert products can be ensured with a simple configuration, fine production can be improved, and an unexpected situation such as a failure of the serving mechanism can be dealt with.

In each of the above embodiments,
Although a continuous type dessert manufacturing apparatus is configured to be equipped with an automatic arrangement mechanism, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the arrangement shape can be changed, the appearance of the arrangement shape can be improved, and the arrangement can be improved. Needless to say, a configuration in which the mechanism is retracted can be sufficiently applied to a single-shot type frozen dessert arrangement device.

[0208]

As described above, the semi-solid food placing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention has a control means for controlling the operation of at least one of the pushing means and the placing means, and the control means for controlling the operation. And a condition changing means for changing an extrusion condition or a setting condition set in advance in the means.

Therefore, in the above configuration, at least for controlling the operation of the placing means, the extrusion condition or the placing condition preset in the control means can be changed by the condition changing means. It is possible to ensure a variety of forms for serving food.
As a result, there is an effect that the fine production performance can be improved.

[0210] The semi-solid food placing apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is configured such that, in addition to the constitution according to claim 1, the extrusion condition is an amount of extruded semi-solid food.

[0211] Therefore, in the above configuration, by changing the extrusion amount in the extrusion means, the serving amount of the semi-solid food is changed as a result. As a result, it is possible to secure a variety of products for sale, and it is possible to improve fine production.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the second aspect, the control means can set a plurality of the extruding amounts,
Further, when the semi-solid food is extruded, an extruded amount selecting means for selecting one from a plurality of set extruded amounts is provided.

[0213] Therefore, in the above configuration, one of a plurality of set extrusion amounts is selected before the operation of serving the semi-solid food is started. for that reason,
This has the effect of making it easier to change the amount of extrusion.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the semisolid food dispensing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects of the present invention, wherein the dispensing condition is such that the dispensing means is arranged by disposing means when disposing the semisolid food. The moving state includes at least one of vertical movement, eccentric rotational movement, rotational movement, and temporary stop of the serving container.

Therefore, in the above configuration, each of the above-mentioned movement states is used as the arrangement condition, and the movement of the arrangement means is changed by changing at least one of these movement states. As a result, since the serving shape of the semi-solid food can be variously changed, it is possible to secure a variety of products for sale, and it is possible to improve the fine production.

[0216] The semi-solid food placing apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention is provided with control means for controlling at least the operation of the placing means as described above. Immediately after judging that it was served,
This is a configuration in which the operation of the placing means is controlled so as to temporarily stop the movement of the placing container.

Therefore, in the above configuration, the serving container is controlled to be temporarily stopped at the final stage of serving, and
The serving container is kept on standby until the extrusion of the semi-solid food is completed. As a result, the shape of the semi-solid food can be made more excellent in aesthetic appearance, so that not only the improvement in fine production properties but also the provision of higher quality products can be achieved.

The semi-solid food placing apparatus according to claim 6 of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further notifies that the placing of the semi-solid food has been completed. This is a configuration including a notification unit.

Therefore, in the above configuration, the completion of the serving of the semi-solid food is notified by the notification means, so that the completion of the serving can be reliably notified to the operator. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the commodities are left after completion of the serving, and to achieve an effect that the commodities can be sold reliably and efficiently.

According to the semi-solid food placing apparatus of the present invention, the placing means moving means for moving the placing means from the placing position based on the placing position for placing the extruded semi-solid food as described above. It is a configuration provided.

[0221] Therefore, with the above-described configuration, the serving means can be moved to the serving positions corresponding to the plurality of extruding means, and the serving of a plurality of types of semi-solid food can be performed by one serving means. In addition, when the serving means breaks down, the serving means can be moved to the retreat position completely deviated from the serving position,
The arrangement of manual work by the operator becomes possible. As a result, it is possible to secure a variety of products for sale with a simple configuration, to improve fine production, and to cope with an unexpected situation such as failure of the arrangement means. Play.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the seventh aspect, the placing means moving means has a slide member for moving the placing means in the left-right direction of the apparatus. Configuration.

[0223] Therefore, in the above configuration, since the laying means is moved by the slide member, there is an effect that the laying means can be moved to the laying position corresponding to each pushing means with a simple configuration.
Also, with a simple configuration, there is an effect that the arrangement means can be moved from the arrangement position to the retracted position.

[0224] The semi-solid food placing apparatus according to the ninth aspect of the present invention is provided with a plurality of the extruding means in addition to the constitution according to the eighth aspect, and a plurality of placing positions corresponding to the individual extruding means. Is set, and the arrangement means is moved by a slide member so as to correspond to each of the plurality of arrangement positions.

[0225] Therefore, in the above configuration, by providing the arrangement means moving means having the slide member, one arrangement means can be moved to the arrangement position corresponding to the plurality of pushing means with a simple configuration. As a result, it is possible to secure a variety of products for sale with a simple configuration, and it is possible to improve the fine production.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the seventh aspect, the placing means moving means is arranged such that the placing means moving means is located on one side in the left-right direction from the vertical center line of the apparatus. This is a configuration having a shaft member disposed at a shifted position, and an embedding means supporting member rotatable around the shaft member.

Therefore, in the above configuration, by using the arrangement means moving means which can be opened and closed like a door, the arrangement means can be moved from the arrangement position to the retreat position with a simple structure. As a result, it is possible to form a sufficient space for serving by hand, which improves the versatility of the semi-solid food serving device, and has the effect of being applicable to diversification of sales products. Play.

[0228] According to the eleventh aspect of the present invention, in addition to the configuration described in any one of the first to tenth aspects, in addition to the configuration according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, the above-mentioned laying means includes a container holding section for holding a laying container. The container holding part has a container supporting part formed in a shape for avoiding contact with semisolid food leaking from the extruding means in a state where the dispensing means is at the dispensing position and the dispensing container is removed. This is a configuration including members.

Therefore, in the above configuration, since the container supporting member is formed in a shape that avoids the contact of the semi-solid food leaking from the extruding means, the semi-solid food adheres to the container supporting member and poses a problem in hygiene. Such a situation can be avoided. As a result, there is an effect that a more hygienic operation can be performed.

[0230] In the semisolid food placing apparatus according to the twelfth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure according to the eleventh aspect, the container holding portion further includes a tray member for receiving the semisolid food leaking from the pushing means. The configuration is included.

Therefore, in the above configuration, the semi-solid food leaked from the extruding means is collected by the tray member without being scattered, so that there is an effect that a more hygienic operation can be performed.

According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the twelfth aspect, the semi-solid food dispensing device further comprises a pushing means disposed above the dispensing means at the dispensing position. It has an annular shape in which a hollow portion capable of penetrating the drop of the semi-solid food falling from the extrusion means is formed, and the serving container is supported in a state where a part of the serving container is fitted in the hollow portion. In addition, the receiving tray member is arranged at a position below the container supporting member and directly below the hollow portion.

[0233] Therefore, in the above configuration, the hollow portion not only supports the serving container, but also avoids the contact of the semi-solid food falling from the extruding means on the upper side, and further prevents the semi-solid food from falling on the lower receiving member. You can receive semi-solid foods without fail. As a result, there is an effect that a more hygienic operation can be performed.

[0234] The semi-solid food placing apparatus according to claim 14 of the present invention has a configuration in which, in addition to the constitution according to claim 11, 12, or 13, the container holding portion is detachable from the placing means. is there.

Therefore, according to the above configuration, the container supporting member included in the container holding portion and the pan member can be detachably attached. Therefore, even if the semi-solid food adheres, it is possible to remove and clean and sterilize only the container supporting member and the saucer member, so that there is an effect that a more hygienic operation becomes possible. In addition, since the container supporting member can be replaced with various kinds of serving containers, it is possible to further increase the variety of products to be sold and to improve the fine production property.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in addition to the structure of the thirteenth or fourteenth aspect, the container holding portion further includes a container supporting member at a position separated from immediately below the pushing means. This is a configuration that includes a support member moving mechanism that moves only the support member.

[0237] Therefore, in the above configuration, by moving only the container support member, a product having a larger volume than the original serving container can be easily removed from the container holding portion. As a result, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the semi-solid food serving shape is collapsed when the product is removed, thereby avoiding a decrease in the quality of the product and improving both fine production and providing a high quality product. It has the effect that it can be done.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a control system of a frozen dessert arrangement device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of the frozen dessert arrangement device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of a eating container holding table provided in FIG. 2;

4A is an explanatory diagram showing a substantially spiral trajectory formed by moving a cone held by the eating container holding table shown in FIG. 3 by a driving unit, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a motion state of a cone for forming the trajectory.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of control of a control unit in the frozen dessert arrangement device illustrated in FIG. 1;

6 (a) and 6 (b) are explanatory diagrams showing the appearance of a frozen dessert product in which frozen dessert is served on a corn, wherein (a) is a state in which the appearance is excellent, and (b) is a state in which the appearance is impaired. Is shown.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining vertical movement of a plunger and pushing of frozen dessert in the dessert pushing mechanism.

8 (a) and 8 (b) are explanatory views for explaining the reason why the frozen dessert product shown in FIG. 6 (b) having an unsightly appearance is obtained, and FIG. (B) shows a case where the arrangement interval is too large.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of control of a control unit in the frozen dessert arrangement device according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a serving operation for obtaining a frozen dessert product having an excellent appearance shown in FIG. 6 (a).

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing a serving process for obtaining a frozen dessert product having an excellent appearance shown in FIG. 6 (a).

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a state immediately after the frozen dessert product having an excellent appearance shown in FIG.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing a control system of a frozen dessert arrangement device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of the frozen dessert arrangement device shown in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram showing the movement of the serving mechanism by the slide moving mechanism provided in the frozen dessert serving apparatus shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram showing the movement of the serving mechanism by the door-like moving mechanism provided in the frozen dessert serving apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing another example of the schematic configuration of the frozen dessert platter according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

18 (a) to (c) are explanatory views illustrating movement of a container support frame by a support frame moving mechanism provided in the frozen dessert arrangement device shown in FIG.

19 is a flowchart showing an example of control of a control unit in the frozen dessert arrangement device shown in FIG.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart that follows the flowchart shown in FIG. 19;

[Explanation of symbols]

1a Frozen dessert arrangement device (semi-solid food dispensing device) 1b Frozen dessert distribution device (semi-solid food disposition device) 2a Frozen dessert extruding mechanism (extruding means) 2b Frozen dessert extruding mechanism (extruding means) 2c Frozen dessert extruding mechanism (extrusion means) 4 Placing mechanism ( Placing means 5a Control section (control means) 5b Control section (control means) 8a Placing operation panel (extruding amount selecting means) 8c Setting panel (condition changing means) 7a Audio notifying section (notifying means) 7b Lighting notifying section (notifying means) 9) Frozen confectionery product 9a Cone (placing container) 9b Frozen frozen dessert (semi-solid food) 41 Eating container holding table (container holding section) 46 Slide moving mechanism (placing means moving means / slide member) 47 Door-shaped moving mechanism (transferring means moving) Means) 81 Extrusion amount selection switch (Extrusion amount selection means) 411 Container support frame (Container support member) 412 Frozen dessert tray (dish plate member) 413 Container support shaft (support member moving mechanism) 471 Shaft (shaft member) 472 Placing mechanism support portion (placing means support member)

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masahiro Tezuka 1-1-47 Unobe, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka Nissei Refrigeration Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Shinichiro Mitsumoto 1-1-47 Unobe 1-chome, Ibaraki-shi, Osaka F term in Nissei Refrigeration Co., Ltd. (reference) 4B014 GB22 GE11 GE13 GQ10 GQ17 GU08 GU24

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A semi-solid food placing apparatus comprising: an extruding means for automatically extruding a semi-solid food; and a placing means for automatically placing the extruded semi-solid food in a prescribed dispensing container. Control means for controlling the operation of at least one of the setting means and the setting means; and condition changing means for changing the extrusion conditions or the setting conditions set in advance in the control means for controlling the operation. Semi-solid food serving device. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the extrusion condition is an extrusion amount of the semi-solid food. 3. The control means is capable of setting a plurality of the extruded amounts, and further includes an extruded amount selecting means for selecting one of the set extruded amounts when extruding a semisolid food. 3. The semi-solid food serving device according to claim 2, wherein: 4. The serving condition is a state of movement of the serving container by the serving means at the time of serving the semi-solid food. The moving condition includes vertical movement, eccentric rotation movement, rotational movement, and temporary movement of the serving container. 4. A semi-solid food serving device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the stops is included. 5. A semi-solid food placing apparatus comprising: an extruding means for automatically extruding a semi-solid food; and a placing means for automatically placing the extruded semi-solid food while moving a predetermined serving container. It is provided with control means for controlling at least the operation of the serving means of the above means, and the control means stops the movement of the serving container once immediately after it is determined that a predetermined amount of semi-solid food has been served. An apparatus for placing a semi-solid food, wherein the operation of a serving means is controlled. 6. The apparatus for placing semi-solid food according to claim 1, further comprising a notifying means for reporting that the serving of semi-solid food is completed. 7. A semi-solid food placing apparatus comprising: an extruding means for automatically extruding a semi-solid food; and a placing means for automatically placing the extruded semi-solid food in a predetermined dispensing container. A semi-solid food dispensing device comprising a dispensing means moving means for moving a disposing means from a dispensing position based on a dispensing position for dispensing a semi-solid food. 8. The semi-solid food placing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said placing means moving means has a slide member for moving the placing means in the left-right direction of the apparatus. 9. A plurality of said extruding means are provided, a plurality of arrangement positions are set corresponding to each of the extruding means, and said arrangement means is arranged to correspond to each of said plurality of arrangement positions. The semi-solid food serving device according to claim 8, wherein the device is moved by a slide member. 10. The placing means moving means is arranged at a position shifted from the vertical center line of the apparatus to one side in the left-right direction, and is rotatable about the shaft member. 8. The semi-solid food placing apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a serving means supporting member. 11. The dispensing means has a container holding portion for holding a dispensing container. In the container holding portion, the dispensing means is at a disposing position and the dispensing container is detached from the pushing means. The semi-solid food placing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10, further comprising a container supporting member formed in a shape that avoids contact of the semi-solid food leaking from the container. 12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the container holding portion further includes a tray member for receiving the semi-solid food leaking from the pushing means. 13. An extruding means is disposed above a disposing means at a disposing position, and the container supporting member has an annular shape having a hollow portion through which a drop of semi-solid food falling from the extruding means can be penetrated. And the serving container is supported in a state where a part of the serving container is fitted to the hollow portion, and the saucer member is located below the container supporting member and at a position directly below the hollow portion. 13. The semi-solid food serving device according to claim 12, wherein the device is arranged. 14. The container holding section according to claim 11, wherein said container holding section is detachable from a laying means.
14. The semi-solid food serving device according to 2 or 13. 15. The container holder according to claim 1, further comprising a support member moving mechanism for moving only the container support member to a position deviated from immediately below the pushing means.
15. The semi-solid food serving device according to 3 or 14.