JP2007089483A - Device and method for making rice ball - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for making rice balls each enabling easy and sure performance of padding-wrapping work for closing a filling hole. <P>SOLUTION: The device for making rice balls 1 is provided with the following: a plurality of rotating circular plates 11-13 where a plurality of rice-ball molding holes 11a-11p each housing cooked rice 22 equivalent to one rice ball fed from a hopper 3; a plurality of pressing molds 21a-21h placed at positions corresponding to the rice ball molding holes 11a-11p respectively, pressure-molding the cooked rice charged in the rice ball molding holes to form the filling holes, and blowing cooling air to the rice balls to cool them. The pressure mold is provided with a filling-hole forming part 31 forming a filling hole at the cooked rice in the rice-ball forming hole, an air inducing hole inducing cooling air into the filling-hole forming part 31, a jetting opening 34 through which the cooling air is blown to the bottom surface of the filling hole of the cooked rice, and a jetting opening 35 through which the air is blown to the lower half part of the peripheral surface of the filling hole. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention produces a rice ball that can be eaten with rice from the first bite by increasing the size of the material hole, thinning the cooked rice layer around the material contained in the material hole, and starting eating rice balls. The present invention relates to an apparatus and method.

  The conventional rice ball manufacturing apparatus has formed rice balls after melting the cooked hot rice and cooling it under reduced pressure. This rice ball manufacturing apparatus evaporates the water contained in the cooked rice by keeping the cooked rice in a reduced pressure state and cools it with the latent heat of vaporization. Because the rice in this state was formed into a rice ball, the excess moisture was lost, the taste and texture were deteriorated, and the shelf life was shortened, making long-term storage difficult. It was.

Accordingly, a rice ball manufacturing apparatus has been developed in which hot cooked cooked rice is hot-molded (formed into a rice ball in a hot rice cake state), and then is removed from the mold and cooled in the shape of a rice ball. In this rice ball manufacturing apparatus, the cooked cooked rice is loosened, weighed, and filled into the molding holes of the molding disk in a state of being divided into one size. The filled cooked rice is pressed from above using a core (push mold) and pressed into a shape of rice balls. At this time, a tool hole is formed by a convex portion provided at the center of the lower surface of the core. (For example, Patent Document 1)
JP 2003-250472 A

  It has been difficult for a conventional rice ball apparatus to form a large hole, in other words, to thin the cooked rice layer around the ingredients. This is because, if a large tool hole is formed and the cooked rice layer around the tool hole is thinned, the thin cooked rice layer collapses before the ingredients are inserted into the tool hole. (If the cooked rice layer is not sufficiently cooled, the binding power of cooked rice is weak, and the cooked rice layer tends to collapse). For this reason, the rice ball produced with the above-mentioned conventional rice ball apparatus cannot make the cooked rice layer around the ingredients thin, so it does not reach the ingredients with the first bite, but for the first time with the second or third bite. In many cases, the material was reached, giving the eater something unsatisfactory.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, enlarges the ingredient hole, thins the cooked rice layer around the ingredient accommodated in the ingredient hole, begins to eat rice balls, and mixes the ingredients with the rice from the first bite. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and a method for producing an eatable rice ball.

The invention according to claim 1 is a hopper that agitates the charged hot rice with a stirring member, divides and weighs one rice ball while being loosened, and intermittently supplies the rice to the forming means side, and is supplied from the hopper. Forming means for forming one rice ball into a rice ball shape, and the forming means is provided with a plurality of rice ball forming holes for receiving one rice ball supplied from the hopper. A plurality of discs, which are arranged at positions corresponding to the rice ball forming holes of the rotating disc, and which are provided with a tool hole in the rice cooked in the rice ball forming holes, and cooled by blowing cooling air on the rice A rice ball manufacturing apparatus comprising: a pressing die; and a wrapping means for closing a tool hole into which a material is inserted on the downstream side of these pressing tools,
A tool hole forming part that is inserted into the rice in the rice ball forming hole to form a tool hole, an air introduction hole that introduces cooling air into the tool hole forming part, and the air introduction An injection port that blows cooling air introduced into the hole onto the inner surface of the cooked rice hole, and gradually reduces the diameter of the tool hole forming portion from the upstream mold to the downstream mold. While forming so that it may expand, the said injection port was formed toward the bottom part of the said tool hole.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein a plurality of the rotating disks are arranged, the rotating disks are connected to each other by a belt conveyor, and are gradually formed by an upstream rotating disk. The cooked rice with the punched holes was supplied to the downstream rotating disk by the belt conveyor, and the wrapping operation by the wrapping means was performed on the downstream rotating disk.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to the first or second aspect of the present invention, wherein the bottom side injection port for blowing cooling air toward the bottom surface of the tool hole and the tool. And a peripheral surface side injection port for blowing cooling air toward the lower part of the peripheral surface of the hole.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, a fixed plate that closes a lower end of the rice ball forming hole is disposed on the lower surface of the rotating disk, An air injection port is provided at the lower end of the tool hole, and cooling air is injected from the air injection port to cool the rice ball from the lower surface.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to the fourth aspect, the cage is produced by the pressure of the cooling air jetted from the air jet port provided on the lower surface of the rotating disk toward the cage. The gap was lifted from the fixed plate.

  The invention of claim 6 is supplied by the cooked rice supply step of stirring the charged hot cooked rice with a stirring member and dividing, weighing and intermittently supplying one cooked rice while intermittently feeding the cooked rice. Forming a rice ball of rice balls in the shape of a rice ball, the molding step being intermittently rotated at a predetermined angle at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction of the first rotating disk A process of inserting a rice ball from the hopper sequentially into a large number of rice ball forming holes formed, and inserting a push die into the rice ball forming holes of the first rotating disk into which the rice rice has been inserted, And gradually cooling the cooked rice by blowing cooling air to the cooked rice through the pressing mold, forming a tool hole with the first rotating disk, and cooling the cooked rice with a belt Second time on the conveyor It is supplied to the disc, and further increase the Guano, the step closing the upper portion of the tool bore after inserting the Guzai to this particular hole, in the configuration.

(1) The rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 is configured such that the diameters (thicknesses) of the tool hole forming portions of the plurality of pressing dies that form the tool holes in the cooked rice supplied to the rice ball forming hole are set to the upstream pressing tool. Since the diameter of the push-shaped tool hole forming part on the downstream side of the hole forming part is made larger, the tool hole is gradually made larger and larger, thereby making the cooked rice layer around the tool hole thinner. be able to. In addition, since the injection port is formed toward the bottom of the tool hole, the lower end side of the tool hole is cooled, but the upper end side of the tool hole is not cooled as much as the lower end side. Can be done efficiently.
(2) The rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 2 can gradually increase the tool hole over a plurality of rotating disks. In particular, when a rice ball that has finished work on the upstream rotating disk is supplied to the downstream rotating disk by a belt conveyor, the lower part of the cooked rice layer around the tool hole is cooled, so-called waist becomes stronger. Since it is in the state, even if it sends with a belt conveyor, collapse of the cooked rice layer around a tool hole can be prevented. On the other hand, since the upper part of the cooked rice layer around the tool hole is not cooled as much as the lower part, the wrapping work for closing the tool hole becomes easy.
(3) In the rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3, the push-type injection port is directed toward the bottom surface side injection port for blowing cooling air toward the bottom surface of the tool hole, and toward the lower part of the peripheral surface of the tool hole. And the peripheral surface side injection port that blows cooling air to prevent the upper part of the tool hole from being cooled more than necessary (when the upper part of the tool hole is cooled, the wrapping work is troublesome) It is possible to effectively cool only the lower part of the tool hole.
(4) In the rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4, a fixing plate for closing the lower end of the rice ball forming hole is disposed on the lower surface of the rotating disk, and a portion of the fixing plate positioned at the lower end of the tool hole An air injection port is provided, and cooling air is injected from the air injection port to cool the rice ball from the lower surface side.
(5) In the method for producing the rice ball of claim 5, the rice ball is lifted from the fixed plate by the wind pressure of the cooling air sprayed from the lower end side of the tool hole, and the bottom surface of the rice ball during rotation of the rotating disk Rubbing between the fixed plate can be prevented.
(6) In the method for producing the rice ball of claim 6, the tool hole can be enlarged without crushed the cooked rice by gradually increasing the tool hole. Moreover, since the temperature of the upper part of the tool hole is not lowered more than necessary, the wrapping operation for closing the tool hole can be easily performed after the tool material is inserted into the tool hole.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of a rice ball manufacturing apparatus. The rice ball manufacturing apparatus 1 divides and weighs a lift 2 and hot rice that has been lifted up by the lift 2, for example, 70 ° C. or higher with a stirring member, and breaks the rice for one rice ball while loosening. A hopper 3 that is intermittently supplied to the forming means side, and a forming means 4 that forms a rice ball of rice balls supplied from the hopper 3 into a rice ball shape.

  The forming means 4 is disposed between the first, second and third rotating disks 11, 12, 13 and between the first rotating disk 11 and the second rotating disk 12, and The first belt conveyor 14 for supplying rice balls from the first rotating disk 11 to the second rotating disk 12, and the second rotating disk 12 and the third rotating disk 13 are disposed. A second belt conveyor 15 for supplying rice balls from the second rotating disk 12 to the third rotating disk 13, and a rice ball disposed on the third rotating disk 13 and having ingredients inserted therein. Wrapping means 16 for closing the tool hole, a shaping cooling means 17 for adjusting the shape of the rice ball closed by the packing means 16 and cooling the upper surface of the rice ball, and shaping and upper face by the shaping cooling means 17 A third belt conveyor that transports the rice balls cooled on the side to the next packaging process, etc. And 18, and a.

  As shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 2, the first rotating disk 11 rotates about the shaft 10. In the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface of the first rotating disk 11, first to sixteenth rice ball forming holes 11a ... 11p are formed with a constant angular interval.

  The first rotating disk 11 is intermittently rotated by a predetermined angle, and one rice ball supplied from the hopper 3 to the first to sixteen rice ball forming holes 11a. It is designed to be accommodated.

  In the state shown in FIG. 2, first to eighth pressing dies 21 a to 21 h are arranged at positions corresponding to the first to eighth rice ball forming holes 11 a to 11 h, respectively. The first to eighth pressing dies 21a... 21h are formed in the cooked rice contained in the first to sixteen rice ball forming holes 11a. Is cooled in stages.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the first rotating disk 11 is rotatably mounted on a fixed disk 19 whose upper surface is coated with a material such as slippery Teflon (registered trademark) having a small friction coefficient. A reinforcing plate 20 such as stainless steel is attached to the lower surface of the fixed disk 19. When the first rotating disk 11 is rotated, the cooked rice 22 accommodated in the first to sixteenth rice ball forming holes 11a... 11p together with the first to sixteenth rice ball forming holes 11a. , Move on the fixed disk 19.

  The fixed disk 19 has a plurality of air injection holes 23... 23 at positions corresponding to the lower surface of the cooked rice 22 accommodated in the first to sixteen rice ball forming holes 11 a... 11 p of the first rotating disk 11. I have.

  A duct 24 is provided on the lower surface of the fixed disk 19 so as to surround the air injection holes 23. An air compressor 26 is connected to the duct 24 via an air pipe 25, and the air 27 sent out from the air compressor 26 passes through the air pipe 25, the duct 24, and the air injection holes 23. It is sprayed on the lower surface of the cooked rice 23.

  In addition, the first pressing die 21a includes a tool hole forming portion 31 that is inserted into the cooked rice 22 at the tip portion to form a tool hole 28 (see FIGS. 4 and 5). A flange portion 32 for lightly pressing the upper surface of the cooked rice 22 and an air introduction hole 33 for introducing cooling air into the tool hole forming portion 31 are provided at the upper end portion.

  The tool hole forming portion 31 is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape, and a plurality of bottom surface side injection holes 34... 34 for blowing cooling air toward the bottom surface of the tool hole 28 on the bottom surface, and the tool hole 28. The peripheral surface side injection holes 35... 35 for blowing cooling air toward the lower portion of the peripheral surface are provided. The pressing die 21 a is connected to an air supply mechanism 37 via a pipe-shaped shaft portion 36. The air supply mechanism 37 includes an air compressor, an air tank, an air dryer, an air filter, and the like. The compressed air from the air compressor is sterilized and dried, and the tool hole forming portion 31 is passed through the shaft portion 36. To supply.

  The first to eighth pressing dies 21a to 21h have different outer diameters (thicknesses) of the tool hole forming portion 31, specifically, the first pressing die 21a is the thinnest, and the second to eighth In the order of the pressing dies 21b to 21h, they are configured in substantially the same manner except that the outer diameter (thickness) of the tool hole forming portion 31 gradually increases.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the tool hole forming portion 31 of the first pressing die 21 a is inserted into the cooked rice 22, and the narrowest (small diameter) tool hole 28 is first formed in the cooked rice 22. When the tool hole forming portion 31 is inserted into the cooked rice 22, air 27 for cooling is blown from the air compressor 26 to the lower surface of the cooked rice 22 through the air pipe 25, the duct 24, and the air injection holes 23. The cooked rice 22 is cooled from the lower surface side. On the other hand, cooling air is supplied from the air supply mechanism 37 to the tool hole forming part 31 through the shaft part 36 and cooled from the bottom surface side injection holes 34 provided on the bottom surface of the tool hole forming part 31. Air is blown to the bottom surface of the tool hole 28 to cool the bottom surface of the tool hole 28, and cooling air is supplied from the peripheral surface side injection holes 35... 35 located at the lower part of the peripheral surface of the tool hole 28. After spraying the lower part of the peripheral surface of the tool hole 28 to cool the lower half of the peripheral surface of the tool hole 28, the tool hole forming part 31 of the first pressing die 21a is extracted from the cooked rice 22, As shown in FIG. 5, the first rotating disk 11 is rotated by a predetermined angle, and the cooked rice 22 having the small-diameter tool holes 28 formed by the tool hole forming part 31 of the first pressing die 21a is used as the first rice. 2 is moved below the pressing die 21b. Then, the tool hole forming portion 31 of the second pressing die 21b is inserted into the cooked rice 22 to increase the diameter of the tool hole 28 of the cooked rice 22, and the cooling air and the air supply from the air compressor 26 The cooked rice 22 is cooled by cooling air from the mechanism 37. In the same manner as described above, the diameter of the tool hole 28 of the cooked rice 22 is gradually enlarged by the third to eighth pressing dies 21c. Cool the lower half.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the cooked rice 22 having the diameter of the tool hole 28 enlarged by the eighth pressing die 21h and the lower half of the tool hole 28 cooled from the center in the height direction of the tool hole 28 is It is placed on one belt conveyor 14 and carried to the second rotating disk 15.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the second rotating disk 12 is configured to rotate around the shaft 38 as in the case of the first rotating disk 11, and the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface. Are provided with first to sixteenth rice ball forming holes 41a... 41p with a constant angular interval.

  The second rotating disk 12 is intermittently rotated by a predetermined angle, and the cooked rice 22 supplied by the first belt conveyor 14 to the first to sixteenth rice ball forming holes 41a. It is designed to be accommodated.

  In the state shown in FIG. 7, first to eighth pressing dies 42a... 42h are arranged at positions corresponding to the first to eighth rice ball forming holes 41a. The first to eighth pressing dies 42a to 42h are formed in substantially the same manner as the first to eighth pressing dies 21a to 21h of the first rotating disk 11, and the first to sixteenth pressing dies 42a to 42h are formed. The cooked rice accommodated in the rice ball forming holes 41a... 41p is formed with a tool hole 28 that gradually increases in size, and the cooked rice is cooled in stages.

  The diameter of the tool hole 28 is further enlarged by the first to eighth pressing dies 42a... 42h of the second rotating disk 12, and the thickness T of the cooked rice layer 22a around the tool hole 28 is reduced (a bite) As shown in FIG. 8, the cooked rice 22 is placed on the second belt conveyor 15 and carried to the third rotating disk 13. When the cooked rice 22 is transported by the second belt conveyor 15, the cooked rice layer 22 a around the tool hole 28 collapses if the thickness T of the cooked rice layer 22 a is thin. In order to prevent the cooked rice layer 22a from collapsing, it is considered that the cooked rice layer 22a is cooled to increase the binding force of the so-called cooked rice layer 22a. become. Therefore, the above-mentioned problems are solved by cooling the lower half of the cooked rice layer 22a around the tool hole 28 to, for example, 25 ° C. or lower and keeping the upper half at a high temperature of 32 ° C.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the third rotating disk 13 is intermittently rotated by a predetermined angle around the shaft 47, as with the first rotating disk 11. In the circumferential direction of the outer peripheral portion of the upper surface, first to sixteenth rice ball forming holes 51a.

  The third rotating disk 13 is intermittently rotated by a predetermined angle, and the cooked rice 22 supplied by the second belt conveyor 15 to the first to sixteenth rice ball forming holes 51a. It is designed to be accommodated.

  In the state shown in FIG. 9, the material is inserted into the tool hole 28 by hand or the like at the positions of the first to third rice ball forming holes 51a to 51c. Further, the wrapping means 16 is arranged at a position corresponding to the fourth and fifth rice ball forming holes 51e, 51f.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, the cooked rice 22 with the ingredients 29 inserted in the ingredient holes 28 is bent by the wrapping means 16 with the upper end portion of the cooked rice layer 22 a toward the inner peripheral side. As a result, the upper end portion of the tool hole 28 is finally closed. Although not shown, the wrapping means 16 has a plurality of plate materials such as shutter plates constituting the iris mechanism of the camera, and the upper end portion of the cooked rice layer 22a is formed by the plurality of plate materials. It is bent toward the peripheral side and finally the tool hole 28 is closed. The cooked rice 22 wrapped by the wrapping means 16 is carried to the position of the shaping cooling means 17.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the shaping / cooling means 17 presses the upper surface side of the encased cooked rice 22 at the positions of the sixth to eighth rice ball forming holes 51f to 51h to shape the upper surface. 61 is provided.

  The upper surface pressing die 61 includes a plurality of injection holes 62 for blowing cooling air toward the upper surface of the cooked rice 22 with the tool holes 28 closed. The upper surface pressing die 61 is connected to an air supply mechanism 64 through a pipe-shaped shaft 63. The air supply mechanism 64 includes an air compressor, an air tank, an air dryer, an air filter, and the like. The compressed air from the air compressor is sterilized and dried, and the upper surface pressing die 61 is connected via the shaft portion 63. Supplying to the said injection hole 62, the upper surface of the cooked rice 22 with which the said tool hole 28 was plugged is cooled.

  A lower surface pressing die 65 for shaping the lower surface side of the cooked rice 22 is disposed at the lower end of the sixth rice ball forming hole 51f so as to be movable up and down. The cooked rice 22 is sandwiched between the upper surface pressing die 61 and the lower surface pressing die 65, and the cooked rice 22 is shaped into a rice ball shape, and the upper surface of the cooked rice 22 is cooled.

Further, at the position of the seventh rice ball forming hole 51g, the upper surface pressing die 6 is used.
1, the upper surface of the cooked rice 22 is cooled. Further, the cooked rice 22 is extruded from the eighth rice ball forming hole 51h, placed on the third belt conveyor 18, and conveyed to the position of salt shaking means and packaging means not shown. Yes.

  Next, a series of operations of the rice ball manufacturing apparatus 1 according to the embodiment will be described. The hot cooked rice lifted by the lift 2 and put into the hopper 3, for example, cooked rice at 70 ° C. or higher, is stirred by the stirring member in the hopper 3, loosened, divided into one rice ball, weighed, and Supplied to the rotating disk 11. The first rotating disk 11 is rotated intermittently by about 20 °, and one rice ball supplied from the hopper 3 is sequentially fed to the first to sixteenth rice ball forming holes 11a to 11p. Receive at. When the one cooked rice has moved to the position of the first forming hole 11a shown in FIG. 2, the rotation of the first rotating disk 11 is stopped. Then, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the first pressing die 21 a is lowered, the tool hole forming portion 31 is inserted into the cooked rice 22 to form a thin tool hole 28, and the tool hole forming portion 31 Cooling air is blown from the bottom surface side injection holes 34... 34 provided on the bottom surface and the peripheral surface side injection holes 35. Cool the lower half. Further, cooling air is blown from the air injection holes 23... 23 provided on the lower surface of the fixed disk 19 to cool the lower surface of the cooked rice 22.

  When the drilling of the first pressing die 21a and the cooling operation are completed, the first pressing die 21a is raised and the first pressing die 21a is extracted from the cooked rice 22. Then, the first rotating disk 11 is rotated by approximately 20 °, and the cooked rice 22 having the narrow tool holes 28 formed by the first pressing die 21a is moved to the position of the second forming hole 11b. When it comes, the rotation of the first rotating disk 11 is stopped. Then, as in the case of the first pressing die 21a, the second pressing die 21b is lowered, the tool hole forming portion 31 is inserted into the cooked rice 22 to enlarge the thin tool hole 28, and the cooked rice 22 is cooled. .

  The same operation is performed on the fourth to eighth pressing dies 21d to 21h, the tool hole 28 is enlarged stepwise, and the cooked rice 22 is gradually cooled. Then, when the work of expanding the tool hole 28 and the cooling work by the eighth pressing die 21h are completed, the cooked rice 22 is placed on the first belt conveyor 14 and carried to the second rotating disk 12, and the second rotation. Each one is accommodated in the first to sixteenth rice ball forming holes 41 a to 41 p provided in the disk 12. Then, when the cooked rice 22 has moved to the position of the first molding hole 41a shown in FIG. 7, the first rice ball molding hole 42a provided in the vicinity of the first pressing die 21a is lowered, The tool hole forming portion 31 is inserted into the cooked rice 22 to further expand the tool hole 28 and the cooked rice 22 is cooled. The same operation is performed on the second to eighth pressing dies 42d to 42h, the tool hole 28 is enlarged stepwise, and the cooked rice 22 is gradually cooled. And while making the tool hole 28 a final diameter, the temperature of the whole cooked rice 22 except the upper half part of the cooked rice layer 22a around the tool hole 28 is lowered to about 0 degree.

  When the operation of expanding the tool hole 28 and the cooling operation by the eighth pressing die 42h arranged in the vicinity of the eighth rice ball forming hole 41h of the second rotating disk 12 are finished, the cooked rice 22 is transferred to the second belt conveyor 15. And is carried to the third rotating disk 13 and accommodated one by one in the first to sixteen rice ball forming holes 51 a to 51 p provided in the third rotating disk 13. Then, when the cooked rice 22 has moved to the positions of the first to third molding holes 51a to 51c shown in FIG.

  When the cooked rice 22 packed with the ingredients 29 comes to the positions of the first and fourth rice ball forming holes 51d, 51e, the wrapping work for closing the upper portion of the ingredient holes 28 by the wrapping means 16 is performed. The cooked rice 22 after the wrapping work by the wrapping means 16 is carried to the positions of the sixth to eighth forming holes 51f to 51h, and the shaped cooling means 17 shapes the rice 22 and performs the wrapping work. Therefore, the upper surface of the cooked rice 22 that has not been actively cooled is cooled. Then, the cooked rice 22 that has been shaped and cooled by the shaping and cooling means 17 is transported to the next packaging step or the like by the third belt conveyor 18.

  In the above embodiment, the positions corresponding to the first to eighth rice ball forming holes 11a... 11h of the first rotating disk 11 and the first to eighth rice ball forming holes of the second rotating disk 12. 41a... 41h in total 16 stages (16 places) corresponding to the position corresponding to 41h are configured to form the tool holes 28 and the cooling work on the cooked rice 22. For example, the first rotating disk 11 has seven stages, the second The rotating disk 12 may be configured to perform nine-stage tool hole forming work and cooling work. The tool hole forming operation and the cooling operation are not limited to 16 steps, and may be more or less. The number of steps for forming and cooling the first and second rotating disks 11 and 12 can be arbitrarily determined in consideration of the size of the first and second rotating disks 11 and 12. It is determined. In addition, the wrapping operation or the like is performed with the third rotating disk 13, but when the second rotating disk 12 has space, the second rotating disk 12 You may perform dredging work. In the above embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a duct 24 surrounds the air injection holes 23... 23 on the lower surface of the fixed disk 19 supporting the first and second rotating disks 11 and 12. The cooling air sent from the air compressor 26 through the duct 24 and the air pipe 25 is blown to the lower surface of the cooked rice 22, but as shown in FIG. After being introduced into the air chamber 73 provided between the fixed disk 19 and the under plate 20 disposed on the lower surface of the fixed disk 19 through the air hose 71 and the coupling 72, the air injection holes 23 ... 23 may be configured to be sprayed onto the lower surface of the cooked rice 22 through the plate 23. With this configuration, the duct 24 can be omitted, and the air sent out from the air compressor can be more effectively blown onto the lower surface of the cooked rice 22. As shown in FIGS. 14 and 15, the shape of the tool hole 28 may be trapezoidal, triangular, or the like. The shape of the tool hole 28 can be easily formed by making the cross-sectional shape of the tool hole forming portion 31 of the first to eighth pressing dies 21a.

  FIG. 16 shows a rice ball manufacturing apparatus of the second embodiment. In this embodiment, the tool hole forming operation, the cooling operation, the wrapping operation, etc., which have been performed using the first to third rotating disks in the first embodiment, are performed by a single rotating disk 101. The case where it is made to do is shown. In other words, in the second embodiment, a large number of rice ball forming holes 11a, 11b,... Are provided in a single rotating disc 101, and cooked rice serving as a rice ball is supplied from the hopper 3 to the first forming hole 11a. First to fifteenth pressing dies (not shown) similar to those shown in the first embodiment are provided at positions corresponding to the second to sixteenth molding holes 11b to 11p, respectively. And while forming the tool hole which becomes large in steps with these 1st-15th push type | molds, the cooling air led by the duct is sprayed on the lower surface side of a rice ball, and a rice ball is cooled from the lower surface side. In the 17th to 21st molding holes 11q to 11t, ingredients are inserted into the tool holes. In addition, in the 22nd to 25th molding holes 11u to 11x, a wrapping operation for wrapping the material inserted into the tool holes is performed. In the forming holes below the 26th forming hole 11y, the shaping cooling means 17 similar to that in the first embodiment performs rice ball shaping and cooling of the top side, that is, the cooked rice. Other configurations are substantially the same as those of the first embodiment, and thus redundant description is omitted.

Experimental Example Using the above-mentioned rice ball manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, cooking rice (80 ° C) ⇒ quantitative molding (100g), tool hole + lower jet cooling 24 seconds, rice cake (20 ° C) container, packaging, upper cooling ⇒ When the temperature is measured within 1 minute or 3 minutes, and using a conventional rice ball manufacturing apparatus (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-299449), rice cooking trade-in (80 ° C.) ⇒ quantitative molding (100 g), tool hole cooling 9 seconds ⇒ suction + fan cooling 24 seconds, bowl (20 ° C) container, packaging 餡 ⇒ When the temperature is measured within 1 minute, 3 minutes, and each corner of the roughly triangular rice ball 22 shown in A of FIG. The temperature after cooling in each of the upper, middle and lower portions of the rice ball 22 shown in FIG. 17B was measured and compared.

  In the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the measurement results shown in Table 1 were obtained, and in the conventional rice ball manufacturing apparatus, the measurement results shown in Table 2 were obtained.

  From the above measurement results, it was demonstrated that the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of the present invention can prevent deterioration of rice due to supercooling without variation due to location and individual variation 1 minute after production (immediately after production). In addition, it was demonstrated that the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of the present invention was cooled in A- and B- in Table 1 above, and the difference between the upper and lower sides was small, so that the cooling air could pass through.

  In addition, the moisture content of the rice balls manufactured by the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of the present invention and the conventional rice ball manufacturing apparatus was measured in each part shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B. In the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the measurement results shown in Table 3 were obtained, and in the conventional rice ball manufacturing apparatus, the measurement results shown in Table 4 were obtained.

  From the above measurement results, it was proved that the rice balls produced with the rice ball production apparatus of the present invention contain more moisture and have a so-called fresh texture.

  Also, after cooling the rice balls manufactured by the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of the present invention and the conventional rice ball manufacturing apparatus, store them in a freezer for 90 minutes, cut them in a semi-frozen state with a knife, and their specific gravity When the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of the present invention was measured, the measurement results shown in Table 5 were obtained. In the conventional rice ball manufacturing apparatus, the measurement results shown in Table 6 were obtained.

  From the above measurement results, it was demonstrated that the rice balls produced with the rice ball production apparatus of the present invention have a smaller specific gravity and plump overall.

The schematic plan view of the manufacturing apparatus of a rice ball. The enlarged plan view of a 1st rotation disc. Sectional drawing of the principal part. Sectional drawing of the state which inserted the 1st push type tool hole formation part in the cooked rice. Sectional drawing of the state which extracted the tool hole formation part from the inside of cooked rice. Sectional drawing of the state in which cooked rice is conveyed with the 1st belt conveyor. The enlarged plan view of a 1st rotation disc. Sectional drawing of the state in which cooked rice is conveyed by the 2nd belt conveyor. The enlarged plan view of a 3rd rotation disc. Sectional drawing which shows the state by which the upper end part of the cooked rice layer around a tool hole was bend | folded to the inner peripheral side by the wrapping means. Sectional drawing which shows the state by which the tool hole was block | closed by the wrapping means. Sectional drawing of a shaping cooling means part. Sectional drawing which shows the other Example of the air supply means to the bottom part of a rice ball shaping | molding hole. The top view which shows the other example of a tool hole. The top view which shows the further another example of a tool hole. The schematic plan view of another Example. A and B are explanatory views showing measurement points of rice balls. A and B are explanatory views showing measurement points of rice balls.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Rice ball manufacturing apparatus, 2 ... Lift, 3 ... Hopper, 4 ... Forming means, 11 ... 1st rotation disc, 11a-11p ... 1st-18th rice ball formation hole, 12 ... 2nd rotation circle Plate 13, third rotating disk 14, first belt conveyor 15, second belt conveyor 16 wrapping means 17, shaping and cooling means 21 a to 21 h, first to eighth pushes Mold: 22 ... Rice (rice ball), 23 ... Air injection hole, 28 ... Tool hole, 31 ... Tool hole forming part, 33 ... Air introduction hole, 34 ... Bottom side injection hole, 35 ... Side side injection hole, 36 ... Air supply mechanism.

Claims (6)

A hopper that stirs the hot rice that has been charged with a stirring member, divides and measures one rice ball while being loosened, and intermittently feeds it to the forming means side, and one rice ball supplied from the hopper Forming means for forming a rice ball into a shape of rice balls,
The forming means is disposed at a position corresponding to the rice ball forming hole of the rotating disc provided with a plurality of rice ball forming holes for containing one rice ball supplied from the hopper. A plurality of pressing dies that form a tool hole in the rice that has been put into the rice ball forming hole and that is cooled by blowing cooling air to the cooked rice, and a tool that has ingredients inserted downstream from these pressing dies An enclosing means for closing the hole,
The plurality of pressing dies include a tool hole forming portion that is inserted into the cooked rice in the rice ball forming hole to form a tool hole, an air introduction hole that introduces cooling air into the tool hole forming portion, and the air introduction An injection port for blowing cooling air introduced into the hole to the inner surface of the tool hole,
The tool hole forming portion is formed so that its diameter gradually increases as it goes from the upstream press die to the downstream press die, and the injection port is formed toward the bottom of the tool hole. Onigiri manufacturing apparatus characterized by that. In the rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1,
A plurality of the rotating disks are arranged and connected to each other by a belt conveyor, and the cooked rice which has been gradually pierced by the upstream rotating disk is rotated downstream by the belt conveyor. An apparatus for producing rice balls, which is supplied to a disk and is subjected to a wrapping operation by the wrapping means in the downstream rotating disk. In the rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,
The injection port includes a bottom surface side injection port that blows cooling air toward the bottom surface of the tool hole, and a peripheral surface side injection port that blows cooling air toward the lower part of the peripheral surface of the tool hole. A rice ball manufacturing apparatus characterized by being configured. In the rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
A fixing plate that closes the lower end of the rice ball forming hole is disposed on the lower surface of the rotating disc, and an air injection port is provided in a portion located at the lower end of the tool hole of the fixing plate, and cooling is performed from the air injection port. Onigiri manufacturing apparatus characterized by injecting air and cooling the rice balls from the bottom surface. In the rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4,
An apparatus for producing rice balls, wherein the cage is lifted from the fixed plate by the pressure of cooling air jetted from the air jetting port provided on the lower surface of the rotating disk toward the cage. Stir the hot rice that has been added with a stirring member, divide, measure and intermittently supply a rice ball for one rice ball while loosening it, and a rice ball for one rice ball supplied by the rice supply step And forming a rice ball into the shape of a rice ball,
In the molding step, rice balls for one rice ball are sequentially put into the rice ball forming holes formed at a predetermined interval in the circumferential direction of the first rotating disk that intermittently rotates at a predetermined angle. And a step of inserting a pressing die into the rice ball forming holes of the first rotating disk into which the cooked rice has been introduced, gradually increasing the tool hole, and blowing cooling air onto the cooked rice through the pressing die. Cooling the bottom of the tool hole, forming the tool hole with the first rotating disk, and supplying the cooled cooked rice to the second rotating disk with a belt conveyor, further increasing the tool hole And a packaging step of closing an upper end portion of the tool hole after inserting the tool material into the tool hole.

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