JP2002238457A - Method and apparatus for pulverizing tea leaf - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and an apparatus for pulverizing a plant material such as tea leaves satisfying the following conditions: massively producing hygienic homogeneous high-quality fine powder of a plant material such as tea leaves; free from the generation of dusts which damage the environment, due to processing; energy saving; and less expensive. SOLUTION: The first process: a plant material to be pulverized is placed together with spherical minerals having surface roughness which is not lustrous into an airtight container, and the container is rotated and oscillated, or internally stirred by a power device. The alternative process: a plant material to be pulverized is placed in a cylindrical airtight container together with spherical minerals, the container is rotated around a rotational center axis is at a distance (revolution), and simultaneously the cylinder itself is rotated around its own center axis (rotation) by a power device. The interacting motion of the spherical minerals and the plant leaves to be pulverized generates a strong shearing force (friction) to pulverized the plant material. This brings an extremely higher efficiency than the case of the conventional spherical minerals having smooth surfaces, and pulverization for fine powder having desired particle sizes is completed evenly in a short time. This process has small energy consumption and little heat generation, and it can widely reduce an apparatus cost, a power cost and a cooling cost.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of pulverizing a plant to produce a fine powder thereof, and more particularly to a method of pulverizing dried tea leaves to efficiently and sanitarily produce powdered green tea powder having a small particle size. A method and an apparatus therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method and an apparatus for producing a powder of a plant having a small particle size such as matcha, a stone mill or a steel ball having a smooth surface (surface roughness Ry value is 1 μmm or less) is used. A method is known in which a piece is placed in a closed container together with a piece and stirred vigorously or vigorously with a stirring rod having a special shape. The former can produce good-quality plant flour by a method known from ancient times, but it is inefficient and moreover, since the powder comes out of the device in a spilling manner, if the plant is a food, there is a problem in hygiene and nervous to management. It has the drawback that it must be used and that the workplace environment is damaged by dust. On the other hand, the latter is a mechanized method, which does not cause problems of hygiene and dust because it can be hermetically sealed, but requires strong or prolonged stirring to produce good-quality plant powder, and furthermore, the equipment can generate heat. There is a risk that the properties of the material to be crushed may change due to generation, and it is necessary to use a special cooling device to prevent this, and there was a disadvantage that the device itself was large-scale, expensive and energy-efficient. .

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a simple device which does not require a large accessory such as a cooling device.
Without hygiene or dust problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus capable of efficiently producing plant powder such as tea leaves in a short time.

In order to achieve the above object, a method and apparatus for pulverizing tea leaves and the like according to the first aspect of the present invention provide a method for crushing tea leaves and the like, comprising: Using a power device for rotating, rocking or stirring the contents of the closed container, the object to be ground is placed in the closed container together with the ball-shaped mineral, and the closed container is rotated or rocked with the contents by the power device. By moving or stirring, the ball-shaped mineral and the side wall of the closed container and the object to be ground are rubbed or collided with each other to obtain a powder of the object to be ground.

Further, in the method and apparatus for pulverizing plants such as tea leaves according to the second aspect, the non-glossy ball-shaped mineral according to the first aspect has a surface roughness of JIS B060.
The Ry value defined in No. 1 is measured by a measurement method specified in JIS B651, and a value between 2.0 μmm and 15.0 μmm is used.

In the method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to claim 3, steel balls having a diameter of 3 to 20 mm are used as the non-glossy ball-like mineral according to claim 1.

In the method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the fourth aspect, steel balls having an HRC hardness of 30 or more are used as the ball-shaped mineral according to the first to third aspects.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method and apparatus for pulverizing a plant such as tea leaves, wherein the hermetically sealed mineral has a side wall and is rotatably held by the container rotating shaft connected to the container rotating shaft. Using a container and a power unit having a rotation center axis arranged in a horizontal direction, the object to be ground is put into the closed container together with the ball-shaped mineral, and the power unit sets the container rotation axis to the rotation center axis. The container is rotated (revolved) around the rotation center axis while keeping a certain distance from each other in parallel, and the sealed container is rotated (rotated) about the container rotation axis as an axis. The materials to be ground are rubbed or collided with each other to obtain a powder of the material to be ground.

In the method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to claim 6, the power device according to claim 5 causes the closed vessel to orbit (revolve) around a rotation center axis;
The closed container is configured so that the directions of rotation (rotation) around the center axis of the container are opposite to each other.

[0010] In the method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to claim 7, a plurality of hermetically sealed containers are provided independently of each other, and these are arranged around one rotation center axis. Are located.

In the method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to claim 8, the side wall of the closed container according to claim 5 is cylindrical.

In the method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the ninth aspect, the generatrix of the side wall of the closed container according to the fifth and eighth aspects is parallel to the central axis of the container.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially broken front view, a cross-sectional view, and a partially broken side view of an apparatus used in the method for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a frame 1 forms a skeleton of the entire apparatus, and is mounted so that a rotation center axis 2 can rotate while keeping the axis in a horizontal direction. A pulley 3 is attached to the rotating shaft 2.
Is a motor 5 fixed to the frame 1 via the belt 4
, So that when the motor 5 rotates, the rotation center shaft 2 rotates. Disks 6 are also fixed to the rotation center shaft 2 so as to be fixed to each other so as to be orthogonal to the rotation center shaft 2. The disk 6 rotates with the rotation of the rotation center shaft 2. In the example shown in the figure, two disks 6 are arranged in parallel to maintain strength.

A rotating shaft, hereinafter referred to as a container rotating shaft 8, is mounted on the disk 6 so as to be orthogonal to the surface of the disk 6 and rotatable. A plurality of container rotation shafts 8 are provided at equal pitches on a circle concentric with the rotation center shaft 2. Each of the plurality of container rotating shafts 8 has a small pulley 9 of the same size mounted on the same plane. A rotation control belt 10 is installed around a plurality of small pulleys 9, and the rotation control belt 10 is always given a certain degree of tension by a tensioner 12 connected to the frame 1 via a spring 11. The tensioner 12 also has a function of locking the rotation control belt 10 so that the rotation control belt 10 does not go around in the extending direction.

When the motor 5 is rotated in the above configuration, the disk 6 is rotated. The rotation of the container rotating shaft 8 implanted on the disk 6 is restricted by the action of the small pulley 9, the rotation control belt 10, and the tensioner 12. As a result, a rotation is given such that the disk 6 rotates on the disk 6 in a direction opposite to the rotation of the disk 6 about the rotation center axis 2. In the figure, reference numeral 13 denotes an auxiliary idle pulley for hanging the rotation control belt 10 obtained in order to perform the above operation smoothly.

The above-mentioned frame 1 to auxiliary pulley 1
The three mechanisms are referred to as a power unit 100.

Each of the container rotating shafts 8 has a closed container 20.
Is attached. Each of the sealed containers 20 is a cylindrical container made of stainless steel, etc.
Each closed container 20 is detachable from the container rotating shaft 8 and at least a part is made openable so that the contents of the closed container 20 can be taken in and out when necessary. It should be noted that details of the structure are omitted in FIG. At least at the time of operation, the closed container 20 is fixed to the closed container 20 so that the center line of the cylindrical shape coincides with the container rotation axis 8. Therefore, the container rotating shaft 8 is
, The closed container 20 also rotates with respect to the disk 6. The size of each closed container 20 is, for example, 15 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length by its internal method.

An object to be ground 30 such as tea leaves to be ground is placed in the closed container 20, which has been sufficiently dried beforehand. The material to be crushed 30 is put in a volume that satisfies 1/30 of the volume of the closed container 20.

In the closed container 20, a large number of beads 2
3 is entered. The beaded mineral is rounded as a whole without sharp corners, and has a surface roughness such that its surface does not show luster. The beaded mineral 23 is, for example, a baked steel ball having a diameter of 5.5 mm and a surface roughness of JI.
The Ry value defined in SB0601 is defined in JIS B651.
6.0 μmm per reference length 0.25 mm (in practice, +/− 1.5 μmm
Surface roughness). Jade mineral 2
3 is used in such an amount that it occupies 1/4 to 1/3 of the closed container 20 by volume.

After the above preparation, the motor 5 is rotated to operate the power unit 100. At this time disk 6
Rotate as indicated by arrow 31 in the figure. This means that the center axis 8 of the container and thus the closed container 20 are revolved. Then, due to this rotation and the configuration of the power unit 100 described above, the container center axis 8 and thus the closed container 20 rotate (rotate) on the disk 6 in the direction of the arrow 32. That is, the rotation direction of the disk 6 with respect to the frame 1, that is, the revolving direction of the closed container 20 and the rotation direction of the closed container 20 with respect to the disk 6 are opposite to each other. At this time, if the rotation speed of the disk 6 is appropriate, the contents (the material to be crushed 30 and the ball-shaped minerals 23) are pressed against the side wall 21 of the closed container 20 by the centrifugal force due to the revolution on the right side of the front view of FIG. A phenomenon occurs in which the crawlers 21 move along with the rotation of the crawlers 21. This situation is shown in FIG. 2A.

By the time the disk 6 rotates (revolves) and the closed container 20 comes close to the lowest point in FIG. 1, the closed container 20 itself further rotates (rotates), and this time the centrifugal force due to gravity and revolving. Exerts a force on the content that has been pressed against the side wall 21 first and lifted it up, away from the side wall 21. As a result, the content gradually collapses as shown by the arrow 33 in FIG. 2B. 21 and a kind of forced circulation occurs. In this circulation, the object 30 is crushed by friction or collision with a shear force acting between the beads 23 or between the beads 23 and the side wall 21.

The above-described method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the present invention have two major features which have not been achieved so far.

The first one is to use, as the ball-shaped mineral, a ball-shaped mineral 23 having an appropriately rough surface without a glossy surface.
As a result of studying the above-mentioned conventional example, the inventor has found that the shearing force is more efficient than the impact force in crushing this kind of plant into fine powder. The number of rotations and therefore the number of times a shear force is applied to the material to be crushed is extremely low and the efficiency is low.On the other hand, the conventional stirring method using a striking force or a compression force requires a very strong force, It was found that large amounts of energy were wasted and heat generation deteriorated quality, and that when the particles became finer to a certain degree, the material to be crushed adhered to the inner surface of the side wall, causing a reduction in efficiency and a phenomenon of uneven particle size. At the same time, as a countermeasure to this problem, if a ball-shaped mineral having an appropriate surface roughness is used, the frictional force and the collision force accompanying the shear force generated when the surfaces collide effectively work on the material to be ground, and the grinding is efficient. It has been found that the effect of sanding is also reduced and that the sticking to the side walls is reduced. As a result of further consideration from this viewpoint, it is necessary that the beaded mineral has a surface roughness of at least a degree of no surface gloss, and a surface roughness when producing a plant powder having a particle size of several microns such as matcha. Measured the Ry value defined in JIS B0601 by a measurement method specified in JIS B651, and found that about 2.0 μmm to about 15.0 μmm was suitable for a reference length of 0.25 mm.
If the surface condition is too coarse, the desired particle size cannot be obtained even if it takes a long time. If the surface condition is too fine, the same phenomenon occurs as when using a ball-like mineral having a glossy surface.

If the size of the beaded mineral 23 is too small, the frictional force accompanying a shear force per impact is small, and if it is too large, the friction or the number of collisions with a mutual shear force is reduced. In this case, the pulverizing effect is reduced. Therefore, it has been found that when steel balls are used as ball-shaped minerals, the diameter should be 3 to 20 mm. Also, in the case of steel balls, the surface condition changes due to wear during use, and so-called hardened hardness is required to prevent this.

As the ball-shaped mineral 23, minerals other than steel balls, for example, ceramics such as stainless steel and alumina can also be used. Further, it is needless to say that ceramics or the like may be used for the closed container 20.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the closed container 20 is formed in a cylindrical shape and is rotated. However, when the above-mentioned surface roughness is used as the ball-shaped mineral, the driving mode is not limited to this. For example, it is a matter of course that a method of swinging the whole closed container 20 or a method of inserting a stirring rod of a special shape and stirring as conventionally performed can be used.

A second aspect of the method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the present invention is that the closed container 20 is driven so that the material to be crushed and the ball-shaped minerals are efficiently rubbed in the closed container. In form. An apparatus called a ball mill has been known as a general pulverization method in which an object to be pulverized and a ball-shaped mineral are put in an airtight container and the airtight container is moved. This device simply rotates a cylindrical closed container around a center line of the cylinder. According to this method, the contents of the closed container rises up the side wall of the container and reaches a certain height, and rolls down along the side wall due to gravity (therefore, the crushing effect is small and the crushing effect is not often used as a plant crushing device). On the other hand, in the method and apparatus of the present invention as shown in the examples, a large number of beaded minerals are forcedly circulated while rubbing and colliding with each other so as to vigorously flow off the side wall by the combined force of gravity and centrifugal force, and are simultaneously mixed. Therefore, the pulverizing effect is significantly improved. Further, in the conventional ball mill, if the rotation of the closed container is made too fast, the ball-like minerals stick to the side wall of the closed container due to the centrifugal force, so that mutual collision is extremely reduced, and the pulverizing effect is rather reduced. On the other hand, the closed container 20 according to the present invention is provided with a rotation combining rotation and revolution, so that even if a relatively high rotation speed is given, a large number of beaded minerals 23 constantly circulate away from the side wall 21 and are efficiently rubbed. As a result, they are mixed at the same time, so that the crushing effect does not decrease.

The form of driving the closed container 20 need not be limited to the one shown in the figure. If the rotation of the disk 6 with respect to the frame 1 is referred to as revolution, and the rotation of the sealed container 20 with respect to the disk 6 is referred to as rotation, an optimum value for the rotation and the speed of rotation depends on the size and contents of the sealed container 20. is there. Such adjustment can be made to some extent by changing the number of revolutions of the motor 5 and the size of the small pulley 9, but in some cases, a dedicated drive device for rotation can be provided to have its function. For example, the tensioner 12 is composed of a motor and a pulley different from the motor 5, and the rotation control belt 10
May be actively circulated, and the rotation may be controlled separately from the rotation (revolution) of the disk 6.

[0029]

According to the first feature of the method for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the present invention described above, the crushed plant is placed in a closed container together with a ball-shaped mineral having a certain surface roughness and crushed. According to the second feature, the power unit keeps the closed container at a fixed distance from the rotation center axis and orbits (revolves) the rotation center axis around the shaft, and at the same time the closed container is its own shaft. Rotate around container center axis (rotation)
It is said that grinding is efficiently performed by a grinding device with a simple structure, and that the object to be ground is not exposed or scattered as dust, so that there is no problem of hygiene and environment. effective.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially broken front view, a sectional view, and a partially broken side view of a crusher according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an operation state of the contents of the closed container according to the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Frame 2 Rotation center axis 3 Pulley 4 Belt 5 Motor 6 Disk 8 Container rotation axis 9 Small pulley 10 Rotation control belt 11 Spring 12 Tensioner 13 Auxiliary pulley 20 Closed vessel 21 Side wall 22 End face 23 Bead mineral 30 Object to be ground 31 Arrow (indicating the direction of rotation) 32 Arrow (indicating the direction of rotation) 33 Arrow (indicating the direction of movement) 100 Power unit

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] September 20, 2001 (2001.9.2)
0)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Name of invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

Title: Method and apparatus for crushing tea leaves

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Detailed description of the invention

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of pulverizing a plant to produce a fine powder thereof, and more particularly to a method of pulverizing dried tea leaves to efficiently and sanitarily produce powdered green tea powder having a small particle size. A method and an apparatus therefor.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method and an apparatus for producing plant powder having a small particle size such as matcha, a stone mill is used or a steel ball having a smooth surface (surface roughness Ry value is 1 μm or less).
A method is known in which the plant is placed in a closed container together with the plant pieces and the mixture is vigorously or vigorously stirred with a stirring rod having a special shape. The former can produce good-quality plant flour by a method known from ancient times, but it is inefficient and moreover, since the powder comes out of the device in a spilling manner, if the plant is a food, there is a problem in hygiene and nervous to management. It has the drawback that it must be used and that the workplace environment is damaged by dust. On the other hand, the latter is a mechanized method, which does not cause problems of hygiene and dust because it can be hermetically sealed, but requires strong or prolonged stirring to produce good-quality plant powder, and furthermore, the equipment can generate heat. There is a risk that the properties of the material to be crushed may change due to generation, and it is necessary to use a special cooling device to prevent this, and there was a disadvantage that the device itself was large-scale, expensive and energy-efficient. .

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is a simple device which does not require a large accessory such as a cooling device.
Without hygiene or dust problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus capable of efficiently producing plant powder such as tea leaves in a short time.

In order to achieve the above object, a tea leaf crushing method according to claim 1 and a tea leaf crushing apparatus according to claim 2 include a plurality of closed containers having a cylindrical side wall,
A plurality of container rotation shaft which is placed parallel to these sealed container to the generatrix of the rotatably held by the side wall formed by the horizontal
Using a power unit having a rotation center axis arranged in the
3 to 20mm in diameter with leaves and JIS
The surface roughness Ry value defined in B0601 is JIS B
2.0 μm and 1
Insert a steel ball or stainless steel ball between 5.0 μm
In a closed container, the power unit raises the container rotation axis.
While maintaining a certain distance from each other in parallel with the rotation center axis,
Around the center axis of rotation and remove the closed container
The orbit around the rotation axis of the container holding each
The steel ball or stainless steel
The steel ball and the side wall of the closed container and the tea leaf rub against each other or
Collision to obtain tea leaf powder.

[0005]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a partially broken front view, a cross-sectional view, and a partially broken side view of an apparatus used in the method for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, a frame 1 forms a skeleton of the entire apparatus, and is mounted so that a rotation center axis 2 can rotate while keeping the axis in a horizontal direction. A pulley 3 is attached to the rotating shaft 2.
Is a motor 5 fixed to the frame 1 via the belt 4
, So that when the motor 5 rotates, the rotation center shaft 2 rotates. Disks 6 are also fixed to the rotation center shaft 2 so as to be fixed to each other so as to be orthogonal to the rotation center shaft 2. The disk 6 rotates with the rotation of the rotation center shaft 2. In the example shown in the figure, two disks 6 are arranged in parallel to maintain strength.

A rotating shaft, hereinafter referred to as a container rotating shaft 8, is mounted on the disk 6 so as to be orthogonal to the surface of the disk 6 and rotatable. A plurality of container rotation shafts 8 are provided at equal pitches on a circle concentric with the rotation center shaft 2. Each of the plurality of container rotating shafts 8 has a small pulley 9 of the same size mounted on the same plane. A rotation control belt 10 is installed around a plurality of small pulleys 9, and the rotation control belt 10 is always given a certain degree of tension by a tensioner 12 connected to the frame 1 via a spring 11. The tensioner 12 also has a function of locking the rotation control belt 10 so that the rotation control belt 10 does not go around in the extending direction.

When the motor 5 is rotated in the above configuration, the disk 6 rotates. The rotation of the container rotating shaft 8 implanted on the disk 6 is restricted by the small pulley 9, the rotation control belt 10, and the tensioner 12. As a result, a rotation is given such that the disk 6 rotates on the disk 6 in a direction opposite to the rotation of the disk 6 about the rotation center axis 2. In the figure, reference numeral 13 denotes an auxiliary idle pulley for hanging the rotation control belt 10 obtained in order to perform the above operation smoothly.

[0008] From the frame 1 described above to the auxiliary pulley 1
The three mechanisms are referred to as a power unit 100.

Each of the container rotating shafts 8 has a sealed container 20.
Is attached. Each of the sealed containers 20 is a cylindrical container made of stainless steel, etc.
Each closed container 20 is detachable from the container rotating shaft 8 and at least a part is made openable so that the contents of the closed container 20 can be taken in and out when necessary. It should be noted that details of the structure are omitted in FIG. At least at the time of operation, the closed container 20 is fixed to the closed container 20 so that the center line of the cylindrical shape coincides with the container rotation axis 8. Therefore, the container rotating shaft 8 is
, The closed container 20 also rotates with respect to the disk 6. The size of each closed container 20 is, for example, 15 cm in diameter and 30 cm in length by its internal method.

In the closed container 20, a material 30 to be crushed such as tea leaves to be crushed is placed, which has been sufficiently dried beforehand. The material to be crushed 30 is put in a volume that satisfies 1/30 of the volume of the closed container 20.

In the closed container 20, a large number of beads 2
3 is entered. The beaded mineral is rounded as a whole without sharp corners, and has a surface roughness such that its surface does not show luster. The beaded mineral 23 is, for example, a baked steel ball having a diameter of 5.5 mm and a surface roughness of JI.
The Ry value defined in SB0601 is defined in JIS B651.
Has a surface roughness of about 6.0 μm per 0.25 mm of reference length (actually, about ± 1.5 μm ). The ball-shaped mineral 23 is used in such an amount that it occupies １ ／ to ３ of the closed container 20 by volume.

After the above preparation, the motor 5 is rotated to operate the power unit 100. At this time disk 6
Rotate as indicated by arrow 31 in the figure. This means that the center axis 8 of the container and thus the closed container 20 are revolved. Then, due to this rotation and the configuration of the power unit 100 described above, the container center axis 8 and thus the closed container 20 rotate (rotate) on the disk 6 in the direction of the arrow 32. That is, the rotation direction of the disk 6 with respect to the frame 1, that is, the revolving direction of the closed container 20 and the rotation direction of the closed container 20 with respect to the disk 6 are opposite to each other. At this time, if the rotation speed of the disk 6 is appropriate, the contents (the object to be crushed 30 and the beads 23) are pressed against the side wall 21 of the closed vessel 20 by the centrifugal force caused by the revolution on the right side of the front view of FIG. A phenomenon occurs in which the crawlers 21 move along with the rotation of the crawlers 21. This situation is shown in FIG. 2A.

By the time the disk 6 rotates (revolves) and the closed container 20 comes close to the lowest point in FIG. 1, the closed container 20 itself further rotates (rotates), and this time the centrifugal force due to gravity and revolving. Exerts a force on the content that has been pressed against the side wall 21 first and lifted it up, away from the side wall 21. As a result, the content gradually collapses as shown by the arrow 33 in FIG. 2B. 21 and a kind of forced circulation occurs. In this circulation, the object 30 is crushed by friction or collision with a shear force acting between the beads 23 or between the beads 23 and the side wall 21.

The above-described method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the present invention have two major features that have not been achieved before.

The first one is to use, as the ball-shaped mineral, a ball-shaped mineral 23 having an appropriately rough surface without a glossy surface.
As a result of studying the above-mentioned conventional example, the inventor has found that the shearing force is more efficient than the impact force in crushing this kind of plant into fine powder. The number of rotations and therefore the number of times a shear force is applied to the material to be crushed is extremely low and the efficiency is low.On the other hand, the conventional stirring method using a striking force or a compression force requires a very strong force, They found that waste of energy was large and heat generation deteriorated quality, and that when the particles were fine to some extent, the material to be crushed was stuck so as to cover the inner surface of the side wall, causing a reduction in efficiency and a phenomenon of uneven particle size. At the same time, as a countermeasure to this problem, if a ball-shaped mineral having an appropriate surface roughness is used, the frictional force and the collision force accompanying the shearing force generated when the surfaces collide effectively work on the material to be ground, and the grinding is efficient. It has been found that the effect of sanding is also reduced and that the sticking to the side walls is reduced. As a result of further consideration from this viewpoint, it is necessary that the beaded mineral has a surface roughness of at least a degree of no surface gloss, and a surface roughness when producing a plant powder having a particle size of several microns such as matcha. Measured the Ry value defined in JIS B0601 by a measurement method specified in JIS B651, and found that about 2.0 μm to about 15.0 μm was suitable for a reference length of 0.25 mm. If the surface condition is too coarse, the desired particle size cannot be obtained even if it takes a long time. If the surface condition is too fine, the same phenomenon occurs as when using a ball-like mineral having a glossy surface.

If the size of the beaded mineral 23 is too small, the frictional force accompanying a shear force per impact is small, and if it is too large, the friction or the number of collisions with a mutual shear force is reduced. In this case, the pulverizing effect is reduced. Therefore, it has been found that when steel balls are used as ball-shaped minerals, the diameter should be 3 to 20 mm. Also, in the case of steel balls, the surface condition changes due to wear during use, and so-called hardened hardness is required to prevent this.

As the ball-shaped mineral 23, minerals other than steel balls, for example, ceramics such as stainless steel and alumina can also be used. Further, it is needless to say that ceramics or the like may be used for the closed container 20.

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, the closed container 20 is formed in a cylindrical shape and is rotated. However, when the above-mentioned surface roughness is used as the ball-shaped mineral, the driving mode is not limited to this. For example, it is a matter of course that a method of swinging the whole closed container 20 or a method of inserting a stirring rod of a special shape and stirring as conventionally performed can be used.

A second aspect of the method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the present invention is that the closed container 20 is driven so that the material to be crushed and the ball-shaped minerals rub against each other efficiently in the closed container. In form. An apparatus called a ball mill has been known as a general pulverization method in which an object to be pulverized and a ball-shaped mineral are put in an airtight container and the airtight container is moved. This device simply rotates a cylindrical closed container around a center line of the cylinder. According to this method, the contents of the closed container rises up the side wall of the container and reaches a certain height, and rolls down along the side wall due to gravity (therefore, the crushing effect is small and the crushing effect is not often used as a plant crushing device). On the other hand, in the method and the apparatus of the present invention as shown in the examples, a large number of beaded minerals are forcedly circulated while simultaneously rubbing and colliding with each other so as to flow vigorously off the side wall by the combined force of gravity and centrifugal force, and are simultaneously mixed. Therefore, the pulverizing effect is significantly improved. Further, in the conventional ball mill, if the rotation of the closed container is made too fast, the ball-like minerals stick to the side wall of the closed container due to the centrifugal force, so that mutual collision is extremely reduced, and the pulverizing effect is rather reduced. On the other hand, the closed container 20 according to the present invention is provided with a rotation combining rotation and revolution, so that even if a relatively high rotation speed is given, a large number of beaded minerals 23 constantly circulate away from the side wall 21 and are efficiently rubbed. As a result, they are mixed at the same time, so that the crushing effect does not decrease.

The manner of driving the closed container 20 need not be limited to the one shown in the figure. If the rotation of the disk 6 with respect to the frame 1 is referred to as revolution, and the rotation of the sealed container 20 with respect to the disk 6 is referred to as rotation, an optimum value for the rotation and the speed of rotation depends on the size and contents of the sealed container 20. is there. Such adjustment can be made to some extent by changing the number of revolutions of the motor 5 and the size of the small pulley 9, but in some cases, a dedicated drive device for rotation can be provided to have its function. For example, the tensioner 12 is composed of a motor and a pulley different from the motor 5, and the rotation control belt 10
May be actively circulated, and the rotation may be controlled separately from the rotation (revolution) of the disk 6.

[0021]

According to the first feature of the method for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to the present invention described above, the crushed plant is placed in a closed container together with a ball-shaped mineral having a certain surface roughness and crushed. According to the second feature, the power unit keeps the closed container at a fixed distance from the rotation center axis and orbits (revolves) the rotation center axis around the shaft, and at the same time the closed container is its own shaft. Rotate around container center axis (rotation)
It is said that grinding is efficiently performed by a grinding device with a simple structure, and that the object to be ground is not exposed or scattered as dust, so that there is no problem of hygiene and environment. effective.

Claims (9)

[Claims] A sealed container having a plurality of beaded minerals having a non-glossy surface on its surface, a closed container having side walls, and a power unit for rotating or rocking the closed container or stirring the contents. Using, the object to be crushed is put into the closed container together with the ball-shaped mineral, and the closed container is rotated or rocked or stirred by the power unit together with the content thereof, and the ball-shaped mineral and the closed container are sealed. A method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves, wherein a powder of a substance to be crushed is obtained by rubbing or colliding a side wall and an object to be crushed with each other. 2. The non-glossy ball-shaped mineral has a surface roughness of JIS.
The Ry value defined in B0601 is defined in JIS B0651.
2.0 μmm and 15.0
The method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to claim 1, wherein the distance is between μmm. 3. A non-glossy ball-shaped mineral having a diameter of 3 to 20 m.
2. A method and apparatus for crushing a plant such as tea leaves according to claim 1, wherein the crushed steel ball is a steel ball of m. 4. The method and apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the non-glossy ball-like mineral is a steel ball having an HRC hardness of 30 or more. 5. A sealed container having a ball-shaped mineral, a side wall, connected to a container rotating shaft and rotatably held by the container rotating shaft, and a power unit having a horizontally arranged rotation central shaft. And put the material to be crushed in the closed container together with the ball-shaped mineral, and the power unit rotates the container rotation axis around the rotation center axis while keeping a constant distance from each other in parallel with the rotation center axis. And the closed container is rotated about the container rotation axis, and the side wall of the ball-shaped mineral and the closed container are rubbed or collided with each other to obtain a powder of the material to be ground. Such as plant crushing method. 6. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the direction in which the power unit rotates the container center axis around the rotation center axis and the direction in which the closed container rotates about the container center axis are opposite to each other. Method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves 7. The method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of closed containers independent of each other are arranged around one rotation center axis. 8. The method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to claim 5, wherein the side wall of the closed vessel is cylindrical. 9. The method and apparatus for crushing plants such as tea leaves according to claim 5, wherein the generatrix of the side wall of the closed vessel is parallel to the central axis of the vessel.