JP2002253191A - Food stirrer - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food stirrer having good cleanability and maintainability of a container and capable of efficiently stirring an object of stirring in a short time. SOLUTION: This food stirrer is obtained by installing a rotation driving shaft 4 rotatably axially supported on an apparatus body 3 and a supporting means 6 having a U-shaped arm part 5 at one end of the rotation driving shaft 4, freely detachably holding the container with the arm part 5 in a cantilever state and tilting the rotation shaft line L of the rotation driving shaft 4 upwardly at a prescribed angle θ relatively to the horizontal reference plane H.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a commercial food stirrer for making sushi rice, for example, by combining sushi vinegar with rice. More specifically, the present invention can smoothly wash and maintain a container and can stir. The present invention relates to a food stirring device that can efficiently stir an object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In supermarkets and large cafeterias, sushi rice and mixed rice are made using a commercial food stirrer. FIG. 5 shows an example. The food stirrer 1 includes a container 2 formed of a hollow spherical body for accommodating an object to be stirred such as rice, and a device main body 3 rotatably supporting the container 2.

[0003] The container 2 comprises two hemispherical lids 22 and a cylindrical part 20 to which the lid 22 is detachably attached. By attaching the lids 22 to both ends of the cylindrical part 20, the container 2 is sealed inside. A space is formed.

The apparatus main body 3 is provided with a pair of columns 32a and 32b vertically provided from both ends of a base plate 31. Although not shown, the container 2 is mounted on both ends of the container 2 in the diameter direction. A rotation drive shaft rotatably supported is protruded. The respective columns 32a, 32
b, a bearing hole is provided in the opposite surface, and by fitting a rotary drive shaft into the bearing hole, the container 2
It is rotatably held so as to be sandwiched between 2a and 32b.

[0005] In the column 32a, there is provided a rotary drive means for driving a rotary drive shaft, for example, a motor or the like.
Rotate around the rotation axis L via the rotation drive shaft.

A blower for blowing air into the container 2 is provided in the apparatus main body 3. By sending air from the blower into the container 2, the sushi rice or the like can be efficiently cooled while being mixed. It has become. The support 32
A suction port 320 for sending air into the container 2 via a blowing unit is provided below the side surface of b.

[0007]

According to the food stirrer 1, a large amount of sushi rice or the like can be produced mechanically, but this has the following problems. That is, in the food stirring device 1, the container 2 is sandwiched between the columns 32a and 32b, so that it is difficult to remove the container 2. Therefore, work such as maintenance and inspection must be performed with the container 2 attached to the apparatus main body 3, and the operator may be forced to take an unreasonable posture.

When the container 2 is rotated, the rotation axis L is parallel to a reference horizontal plane (for example, a floor surface), so that the stirring target such as sushi rice tends to be rolled in the same place. Strong and not very good stirring efficiency.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has as its object to facilitate the cleaning and maintenance of a container and to efficiently stir an object to be stirred. It is another object of the present invention to provide a food agitating device.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a sealable container for accommodating food such as cooked rice therein, supporting means for rotatably supporting the container, and rotating the container via the supporting means. In a food stirrer comprising a rotary drive means and an apparatus main body including a blowing means for blowing air into the container, the supporting means comprises a hollow cylindrical pipe rotatably supported at one end. The blower is connected to the rotary drive shaft having an outlet formed at the other end for blowing air toward the container, and the arm members at both ends are parallel to the rotary drive shaft along the axis of the rotary drive shaft. A U-shaped arm section attached to the outlet side, and the container is provided with guide sections into which the arm section is inserted on opposite side surfaces on a diameter line thereof. Toshii .

According to this, since the container is inserted and held in the U-shaped arm protruding from the apparatus main body, it can be easily attached and detached, and the cleaning property and the maintainability are improved. .

Further, the object to be stirred can be more efficiently stirred by inclining the supporting means by a predetermined angle with respect to the horizontal reference plane.

[0013] That is, according to this, a more complicated rotational motion is obtained by adding an oblique rotation component in addition to the rotation direction of the rotary drive shaft, and the object to be stirred can be efficiently stirred. Here, the horizontal reference plane refers to a plane orthogonal to the vertical direction, such as a floor surface or a base plate arranged parallel to the floor surface.

Further, a communication hole communicating with the inside of the container is provided on a side of the container facing the outlet, and a discharge port for discharging air in the container is provided on a side opposite to the side. The object to be stirred can be efficiently cooled.

Furthermore, the container includes a detachable lid, one end of which is protruded into the container with respect to the lid, and the other end penetrates the lid and protrudes to the outer peripheral surface. By providing the rod, a part of the stirring rod on the other end side can be used as a handle for gripping the lid, and it is not necessary to separately provide a handle.

[0016]

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the food stirring device of the present invention, and FIGS.
It is the front view, the plan view, and the side view. Note that the same reference numerals are used for components which are the same as or are considered to be the same as those of the conventional device of FIG. 5 described above.

The food stirrer 10 includes a container 2 for storing an object to be stirred such as cooked rice, and an apparatus main body 3 rotatably supporting the container 2.

The container 2 has a cylindrical body 21 having an open upper end and a bottom with a lower end protruding in a hemispherical shape, and a hollow hemispherical shape. A locking means 2 provided on the opening end side of the container body 21, comprising a lid portion 22 which is freely attached.
By attaching the lid portion 22 to the container main body 21 via the members 3 and 23, a closed space is formed inside.

Guide portions 24, 25 into which arm members 52, 53 of the arm portion 5 of the support means 6, which will be described later, are inserted into the container main body 21 on opposite outer peripheral surfaces on the diameter line of the cylindrical body.
Is provided. In this embodiment, the guide 2
Reference numerals 4 and 25 each include a so-called hollow rectangular prism having a rectangular cross section integrally attached to the container body 21 by welding or the like, and are provided in parallel along the axis of the arm members 52 and 53.

The container body 21 is further provided with a communication port 26 and a discharge port 27 for introducing and discharging the cooling air blown from the blowing means 33 into and from the container 2.
In this embodiment, the communication port 26 and the discharge port 27
Is provided on the outer peripheral surface on a diameter line orthogonal to the diameter line connecting the guide portions 24 and 25.

In this embodiment, the communication port 26 is formed of a large-diameter hole that can be fitted to the opening diameter of the rotary drive shaft 4 also serving as a blower pipe, which will be described later,
Are formed from a group of round holes in which many small round holes are formed by press molding. The discharge port 27 may be provided with a removal filter for preventing acidic mist generated when mixing sushi rice or the like from being discharged into the room.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lid portion 22 is provided with a stirring rod 211 from the center of the inner surface toward the inside of the container body 2. In this embodiment, the stirring rod 21
In 1, two U-shaped rods are arranged in parallel.

In this embodiment, the stirring rod 211
Is protruded so that a part thereof penetrates outside of the lid portion 21, and also serves as a handle 212 when the lid portion 21 is gripped by hand.

In this embodiment, the container body 21 and the lid portion 22 are formed by press-forming a stainless steel plate having good corrosion resistance, and the object to be agitated hardly adheres to the inner surface and the surface thereof, and is easy to wash. Teflon (registered trademark) processing is performed. In addition, any material having good corrosion resistance and cleanability may be appropriately selected. In the present invention, this point is an arbitrary component.

Next, the configuration of the apparatus main body 3 will be described. The apparatus main body 3 supports a base plate 31 made of a stainless steel plate, a column 32 erected substantially vertically from the base plate 31, and the container 2, and is rotatably supported by the column 32. In this embodiment, the base plate 31 is arranged in parallel along the floor (horizontal reference plane).

The support column 32 is made of a stainless steel square column, and has a blower (blower unit) 33 for sending air into the container 2 therein, a drive motor (rotary drive unit) 34 for driving the rotary drive shaft 4 to rotate. Is provided. A suction port 322 communicating with the suction side of the blower 33 is provided on a side surface of the support post 32.
Is provided. In this embodiment, the suction port 32
2 is provided with a dust filter for removing dust in the air.

An operation panel 321 for operating the food stirrer 1 is provided on a part of the column 32. Although not specifically shown in the drawing, the operation unit 321 is provided with a pilot lamp, a drive start button, an emergency stop button, a timer, a function setting button for setting various operation modes, and the like.

In this embodiment, the support means 6 comprises a rotary drive shaft 4 which is rotationally driven by the drive motor 34.
And an arm 5 connected to the rotary drive shaft 4 and supporting the container 2.

The rotary drive shaft 4 is formed of a hollow cylindrical pipe, and one end of the rotary drive shaft 4 is rotatably supported by a bearing 41. In this embodiment, the rotary drive shaft 4
At the rear end side (left side in FIG. 4), an L-shaped joint 33
The air outlet of the blower 33 is connected via 1, and the air blown from the blower 33 passes through the inside of the rotary drive shaft 4 and is carried to the air outlet 43 on the opposite side.

The rotary drive shaft 4 is further rotatably supported in a gear box 323 protruding from the column 32. A drive gear 42 is formed on the outer periphery of the rotary drive shaft 4 in the gear box 323, and the drive gear 42
Connected to a transmission gear 341 for transmitting the driving force from the transmission gear 341.

The rear end of the rotary drive shaft 4 and its outlet 43 are exposed on the side surface of the column 32 on the side of the container 2, and in this embodiment, the dust in the air is removed from the outlet 43. A dust filter is provided.

In this embodiment, the rotary drive shaft 4 is
It is preferable that the rotation axis L is inclined upward by a predetermined angle θ with respect to the horizontal reference plane H. According to this configuration, since the object to be stirred is inclined with respect to the axis, a more complicated stirring movement is obtained, and the stirring time is shortened.

At the side of the outlet 43 of the rotary drive shaft 4, the container 2
A U-shaped arm portion 5 for supporting the arm is mounted. The arm 5 has an axis L at the end of the rotary drive shaft 4.
And beam members 52 and 53 that are bent at right angles so as to be parallel to the axis L of the rotary drive shaft 4 at both ends of the beam 51.

Resin caps 521 and 531 are provided on the distal ends of the arm members 52 and 53, that is, on the portions to be inserted into the guide portions 24 and 25 of the container 2. In this embodiment, the caps 521 and 531 are provided with regulating means for regulating the amount of movement when the container 2 is inserted, and stop at a position where the container 2 is inserted to a certain extent.

Next, the method of using the food stirrer 10 will be described with reference to the step of making sushi rice. First, freshly prepared cooked rice and sushi vinegar prepared at a predetermined ratio are quickly put into the container body 21 through the opening. After the charging, the lid 22 is put on the opening,
To fix the container body 2 and the lid 22.

Next, the container 2 is attached to the apparatus main body 3.
First, the guide members 24 and 25 are grasped and lifted from the outside by hand, and the arm members 52 and 53 are inserted along the openings of the guide portions 24 and 25. The container 2 inserted to the regulation position is cantilevered by the arm portion 5 in a state of being inclined obliquely upward along the inclination of the rotary drive shaft 4. At this time, the communication port 26 of the container body 21 is fitted along the opening 43 of the rotary drive shaft 4.

After the container 2 is mounted on the apparatus main body 3, the support 3
When a desired operation mode, a timer, and the like are set on the operation panel 321 and the start button is pressed, the blower 33 and the motor 34 housed in the column 32 are driven, and the container 2 starts rotating. .

The air blown from the blower 33 passes through the rotary drive shaft 4 and is guided from the outlet 43 to the communication port 26.
It is sent into the container 2. The air in the container 2 after the work is further discharged to the outside from the outlet 27 by the air sent by the blower 33.

On the other hand, the motor 34 transmits its rotational driving force to the rotary drive shaft 4 via the transmission gear 341 → the drive gear 42, so that the arm 5 attached to the tip rotates. The motor 34 can be rotated intermittently or reversely according to the setting mode.

When the set time of the timer comes, the motor 34
Automatically returns the container 2 to the initial position and at the same time
Is also stopped, and the stirring operation is completed. After the completion of the stirring, the container 2 is removed from the apparatus main body 3 again in the reverse order of the above-described method, and the sushi rice thus completed is taken out of the container 2 and used for desired cooking.

According to this, since the container 2 is detachable from the apparatus main body 3, the object to be stirred (in this case, rice and sushi vinegar) can be easily taken in and out, and washing and maintenance after use are performed. In this case, it can be easily performed without forcing an excessive posture.

Further, since the rotary drive shaft 4 of the apparatus main body 3 is tilted upward, the container 2 held via the arm portion 5 also rotates in a state tilted upward, and a more complicated rotational movement is performed. As a result, the object to be stirred can be surely stirred in a shorter time.

Here, the object to be agitated applied to the food agitating apparatus of the present invention is exemplified by sushi rice, but a cooking method in which a large amount of ingredients such as a mixed salad are mixed at once and uniformly is required. The stirring target is not particularly limited as long as the stirring is performed.

In the food stirrer described above, the guide portions 24 and 25 are fixed to the container body 21. If a rotating shaft having a lock mechanism is provided in this portion, the container The container 2 can be rotated with the container 2 attached. According to this, for example, a bucket or the like is placed on the base plate 31, and the object to be stirred can be taken out by rotating the container 2 as it is. Such an embodiment is also included in the present invention.

[0045]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the container is cantilevered by the U-shaped arm connected to the rotary drive shaft of the device main body, the container can be attached to and detached from the device main body, making it easy to take in and out the object to be stirred. In addition, the cleaning and maintenance of the container itself are improved.

Further, since the rotary drive shaft is arranged to be inclined upward with respect to the horizontal reference plane, the container rotates obliquely, so that the objects to be agitated can be mixed more quickly and reliably.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a food stirring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the food stirring device of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the food stirring device of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the food stirring device of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional food stirring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Food stirring apparatus 2 container 21 container main body 22 lid part 23 locking means 24, 25 guide part 26 communication port 27 discharge port 3 apparatus main body 31 base plate 32 support | pillar 33 blower 34 motor 4 rotation drive shaft 43 outlet 5 arm part 51 beam 52, 53 Arm 6 Supporting means L Rotation axis H Horizontal reference plane

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) B01F 9/06 B01F 9/06

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sealable container for accommodating food such as cooked rice therein, support means for rotatably supporting the container, rotation driving means for rotating the container via the support means, and A food stirrer comprising an apparatus main body including an air blowing means for blowing air, wherein the supporting means comprises a hollow cylindrical pipe rotatably supported, the air blowing means is connected to one end, and the other end A rotary drive shaft formed with an outlet for blowing air toward the container, and arm members at both ends attached to the outlet side of the rotary drive shaft in parallel along the axis of the rotary drive shaft. A food agitating device, comprising: a container having a U-shaped arm; and a guide part into which the arm is inserted on both sides facing each other on a diameter line of the container. 2. The food stirrer according to claim 1, wherein said support means is inclined upward by a predetermined angle with respect to a horizontal reference plane. 3. When the container is held on the arm,
The container is provided with a communication port communicating with the inside of the container on a side surface facing the air outlet, and a discharge port for discharging air in the container on a side surface opposite to the communication port. The food stirring device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an outlet is provided. 4. The container includes a detachable lid, one end of the lid protruding toward the inside of the container, and the other end protruding from the outer peripheral surface through the lid. The food stirrer according to claim 1, further comprising a stirring rod provided, wherein a part of the stirring rod on the other end is a handle for gripping the lid.