JP2010017167A - Multi-stage steamer for producing noodle - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multi-stage steamer for producing noodles, wherein high-quality noodle products can be produced though with high thermal efficiency. <P>SOLUTION: A noodle strip group 1 transported from the former step, and assuming a constant wavy form is transported in a horizontal part of a main transporting conveyor 3 forming a lower stage, further passed through a transferring rotation wheel part composed of a rotating drum 5, a steam float chute 7 etc., transported from the lower stage to the middle stage while holding the wavy form, and also subjected to the transportation from the middle stage to the upper stage in the same manner. During the period, the noodle strip group 1 is steamed while utilizing calories still held by steam with the highest calories jetted from a steam jetting pipe 18 in the lower stage even after steaming the noodle strip group in the lower stage for supplying the calories in the middle stage and the upper stage. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a continuous production apparatus for noodle products, and in a multi-stage steamer that is a steaming process, a group of noodle strings that form a constant wave shape that is continuously conveyed from the previous process, and maintains the same shape. The present invention also relates to a multi-stage steamer for producing noodles, which can be stably transported from the lower stage to the upper stage of the multi-stage steamer and efficiently cooked to produce a high-quality noodle product with high thermal efficiency.

Conventionally, in a multi-stage steamer, it is common to perform steaming for a certain period of time while transporting a group of noodle strings having a certain wave shape, which are continuously transported from the previous process, from the upper stage to the lower stage. The following are known.

  FIG. 4 shows a three-stage steamer having the most examples among the multi-stage steamers. The steam box 2, the main transport conveyor 3, the intermediate transport conveyor 4, the upper steam spray pipe 14, the middle steam spray pipe 15, The lower steam injection pipe 16 is formed. The main conveyor 3 is an endless net conveyor which is pulled by conveyor chains carried at both ends in the width direction of the conveyor and includes a sprocket 5, an inner ring sprocket 6, an outer ring guide 7 and a sprocket 8. The intermediate transfer conveyor 4 is also an endless net conveyor, and includes a sprocket 9, an outer ring guide 10, an inner ring sprocket 11, and sprockets 12 and 13. The main transfer conveyor 3 and the intermediate transfer conveyor 4 are operated at the same transfer speed. ing.

  In FIG. 4, the noodle string group 1 having a certain wave shape that is continuously conveyed from the previous process is transferred to the main conveyor 3, is loaded into the steam box 2, passes through the upward inclined portion, and is steamed into the steam box. 2 is transported to the horizontal portion of the main transport conveyor 3 in the upper stage. From the upper stage to the middle stage, each rotating wheel portion draws a semicircular arc following the trajectory of the inner ring sprocket 6 carried on the main conveyor 3 and the outer ring guide 10 carried on the intermediate conveyor 4. The conveyor net becomes an inner ring zone and an outer ring zone, and a semicircular gap is formed. The noodle strings 1 are conveyed to the horizontal portion of the intermediate conveyance conveyor 4 forming the middle stage through the same gap. The transfer from the middle stage to the horizontal part of the main conveyor 3 that forms the lower stage is also performed in the same manner, and is carried out of the steam box 2 through the downward inclined part and conveyed to the next process. During this time, the noodle strings 1 are cooked with steam injected from the upper steam injection pipe 14, the middle steam injection pipe 15, and the lower steam injection pipe 16.

Problems to be solved by the invention

  By the way, the noodle string group 1 conveyed continuously from the previous step of the multi-stage steamer appropriately maintains a certain wave shape in order to improve the steaming efficiency and prevent the binding between the noodle strings. . For a multi-stage steamer, the noodle string group 1 can be stably conveyed while maintaining the same wave shape. Of course, there is no variation in the steaming condition in the cooking process, and the subsequent noodle string group 1 is cut to a weight per serving. This is an indispensable requirement for preventing various problems related to the quality and production efficiency of noodle products, such as variations in the weight of the noodle products in the process. Moreover, the wave shape of the noodle strings 1 is very unstable before cooking, and gradually increases its holding power with elasticity as the degree of cooking increases. Therefore, especially in the first half of the steaming, it is necessary to transport the noodle strings 1 so that the wave shape is not disturbed by an external force or the like.

  In FIG. 4, the main transport conveyor 3 forms an upper stage and a lower stage, and the intermediate transport conveyor 4 forms a middle stage, which are operated at the same transport speed. Accordingly, there is no relative speed difference between the conveyors in the upper, middle, and lower inclined portions and the horizontal straight portion, so that no external force that disturbs the wave shape of the noodle strings 1 is applied. In the rotating wheel section from the upper stage to the middle stage, as described above, the noodle band group 1 is formed with the conveyor nets of the main conveyor 3 and the intermediate conveyor 4 being the inner ring zone and the outer ring zone. It is conveyed from the upper stage to the middle stage through a semicircular gap. The conveyance from the middle stage to the lower stage is similarly performed. At that time, if an appropriate difference between the inner and outer ring speeds of the inner ring zone and the outer ring band can be obtained, the gap is set to an appropriate gap less than the height of the noodle strings 1 and steamed to some extent. Thus, the noodle string group 1 having elasticity and holding the wave shape can be sandwiched in the same gap and conveyed while holding the wave shape. However, since the main transfer conveyor 3 and the intermediate transfer conveyor 4 are operated at the same transfer speed, unless the length of the transfer conveyor itself can be partially expanded and contracted in the transfer rotation wheel part, It is impossible to obtain the inner and outer peripheral speed difference in the gap. Therefore, the clearance at the transfer rotating wheel portion is set to a clearance with a margin greater than the height of the noodle string group 1, and an external force is applied to the noodle string group 1 by the conveyor net forming the inner and outer ring zones of the same noodle string group 1 and the wave shape is disturbed. There must be no. In such a situation where the wave shape cannot be maintained with a forcing force such as pinching, the transport of the noodle strings 1 in the transfer rotating wheel part is caused by steaming to some extent, and the elasticity of the noodle strings themselves It is necessary to leave a delicate balance due to an unstable factor such as the holding power of the wave shape accompanied by the adhesive force, the adhesive force generated between the noodle string group 1 and the upper conveyor net, and the mass of the noodle string group 1. In practice, it is very difficult to achieve such a delicate balance. Therefore, in the conventional multi-stage steamer, it is unavoidable that the wave shape of the noodle strings 1 is disturbed to some extent. As a result, the noodle product has a texture and weight variation, which adversely affects the quality and production cost of the noodle product.

  In general, when steaming noodles, due to the characteristics of the noodles, the steam in the noodle band group 1 in the transport direction generally requires higher calorie steam, and the steam is generally lower in the downstream direction. Therefore, the upper-stage steam injection pipe 14 injects high-calorie steam, and the lower-stage calorie steam is injected toward the downstream with the middle-stage steam injection pipe 15 and the lower-stage steam injection pipe 16. The injected steam consumes calories at each stage, and then collects the steam in the steam box 2 as much as possible to increase the heat efficiency. Therefore, the steam is injected into each of the entrances and exits of the main conveyor 3 at the lowest position of the steam box 2. The inlet exhaust hood 17 and the outlet exhaust hood 18 that are arranged are attracted and exhausted. By the way, the jetted steam flows in principle from a high temperature part to a low temperature part and from a low position to a high position. In the structure in which the noodle string group 1 is transported from the upper stage to the lower stage as in the three-stage steamer shown in FIG. 4, the upper noodle string group is jetted by injecting the highest calorie steam from the upper steam jet pipe 14 at the highest position. Although steaming 1 is still not possible, steam that still retains calories after steaming cannot be fully utilized for steaming in the lower and middle noodle strings, resulting in heat loss.

  The problem to be solved by the present invention is to solve such problems of thermal efficiency and quality of noodle products existing in conventional multi-stage steamers, and to produce high-quality noodle products while having high heat efficiency. Is to provide.

Means to solve the problem

  In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is that, in the transfer rotating wheel portion of the multistage steamer, the noodle strings are not transported from the upper stage to the lower stage as in the conventional multistage steamer. The noodle strings are kept in the shape of the waves while ensuring the heat efficiency, which has not been achieved with conventional multi-stage steamers, and the quality of the noodle products such as texture and weight accuracy. It is. Transfer between each stage of the multi-stage steamer Conveying the noodle strings from the lower stage to the upper stage in the rotating wheel section, draws a semicircular arc following the locus of the outer ring sprocket carried on the lower stage conveyor, and becomes the outer ring zone Set the semicircular gap formed by the net and the outer ring sprocket and the rotating drum of the same rotation speed to be equal to or less than the height of the noodle string group. Hold securely while holding the wave shape. Further, the noodle string group conveyed to the upper stage is transferred by a steam float chute between the rotary drum and a valley formed by a transfer sprocket or the like carried on the upper conveyor, and is conveyed to the horizontal part of the upper conveyor. . The steam float chute is a steam box with a shape along the transfer valley, and there are steam injection holes on the upper surface, which is the conveying surface of the noodle strings group, from there in an appropriate injection direction with an appropriate injection pressure. Steam is injected to slightly lift the noodle strings, and the noodle strings are conveyed while maintaining the wave shape. In addition, in the transfer portion of the front end portion of the steam float chute, it is possible to form a knife edge-shaped clearance-free transfer portion that also adheres to the rotating drum and also functions as a scraper, and the rear end portion also has a knife edge shape. A transfer portion with a minimum gap of noodle strings can be formed, and the traveling direction of the upper conveyor is not the direction in which the noodle strings are wound around the gap of the transfer portion. The group can be transported stably.

The invention's effect

  The multi-stage steamer according to the present invention can transport and steam the noodle strings by the above-described means while firmly holding the wave shape of the noodle strings. Maintaining the wave shape of the noodle strings in the steaming process should be said to be the lifeline of noodle production. When the wave shape is disturbed, the variation in steaming conditions in the steaming process is, of course, the subsequent noodle strings per serving. It induces various problems related to quality and production efficiency of noodle products, such as variations in the weight of noodle products in the process of cutting into weight. The present invention solves these problems and produces a high-quality and inexpensive noodle product.

  In addition, conveying the noodle strings from the lower stage to the upper stage is important for increasing the thermal efficiency of the multi-stage steamer. That is, as described above, the steaming of the noodle strings group is performed in such a manner that the lower steam injection pipes upstream of the noodle strings group in the transport direction inject high-calorie steam and become lower as the middle, upper and downstream steam injection pipes. This is done by spraying calorie vapor. In principle, the injected steam flows from the high temperature part to the low temperature part and from the low position to the high position. The multi-stage steamer of the present invention injects the highest calorie steam from the lower steam injection pipe at the lowest position to steam the lower noodle strings, but the steam still having calories after cooking is high. Since it is inevitably performed to steam the middle and upper noodle strings in the position, it is extremely easy to increase the thermal efficiency ideally without waste.

  As described above, the present invention can improve the quality of noodle products by keeping the wave shape of the noodle strings firmly and steaming, and can also save energy with high thermal efficiency by conveying the noodle strings from the bottom to the top. A type multi-stage steamer is realized. In the noodle manufacturing industry, although such a multi-stage steamer is eagerly desired, there are no examples yet, and the present invention meets the craving.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 of the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a three-stage steamer according to the present invention, FIG. 2 shows details of a transfer rotating wheel portion carried by the three-stage steamer, and FIG. 3 shows a transfer rotating wheel portion of the present invention and a conventional apparatus. It shows a comparison of the wave shape of the noodle strings.

    FIG. 1 shows an example of a three-stage steamer having the most demand among the multi-stage steamers according to the present invention. The steam box 2, the main transport conveyor 3, the intermediate transport conveyor 4, the rotating drums 5 and 6, and the steam float chute 7. , 8, and a lower steam injection pipe 18, a middle steam injection pipe 19, and an upper steam injection pipe 20. The main conveyor 3 is an endless net conveyor that is pulled by conveyor chains carried at both ends in the width direction of the conveyor and includes a sprocket 9, an outer ring sprocket 10, a transfer sprocket 11, and a sprocket 12. The intermediate conveyor 4 is also an endless net conveyor, and includes a sprocket 13, a transfer sprocket 14, an outer ring sprocket 15, and sprockets 16, 17. The main conveyor 3 and the intermediate conveyor 4 have the same conveyance speed. Driven.

    In FIG. 1, a group of noodle strings 1 having a constant wave shape conveyed continuously and continuously from the previous process is transferred to the main conveyor 3 and carried into the steaming box 2 through an upwardly inclined portion. 2 is transported along the horizontal portion of the main conveyor 3 which is the lower stage. Furthermore, in the transfer rotating wheel portion, the transfer is transferred from the lower stage to the middle stage, and is conveyed through the steam float chute 7 to the horizontal part of the intermediate conveyance conveyor 4 forming the middle stage. The transfer from the middle stage to the horizontal part of the main conveyor 3 that forms the upper stage is also performed in the same manner, and is carried out of the steam box 2 through the downward inclined part and conveyed to the next process. During this time, the noodle strings group 1 is made up of steam sprayed from a large number of minute injection holes provided in the lower steam injection pipe 18, the middle steam injection pipe 19 and the upper steam injection pipe 20 that are arranged directly under each stage conveyor. Evenly steamed. In the case of a multi-stage steamer with three or more stages, the number of stages is an odd number due to the direction of the steamer inlet / outlet, but the number of intermediate transport conveyors and steam injection pipes is increased according to the number of stages, so basically a three-stage steamer The same structure is used, and the transfer between the increased stages is performed in the same way.

  FIG. 2 shows the details of the transport of the noodle strings 1 from the lower stage to the middle stage in the transfer rotating wheel part. (A) has shown the whole. (B) has shown the A part detail of the transfer rotation wheel part, and T represents the clearance gap which pinches | interposes the noodle string group 1. FIG. (C) has shown the B section detail of the steam float chute 7. FIG. (D) has shown an example of the wave shape of the noodle strings group 1 with the fixed pitch P and height H. FIG. In the steam box 2, the lower and upper main conveyor 3 and the intermediate conveyor 4 are operated at the same conveyance speed. Both are endless net conveyors towed by conveyor chains 3a and 4a carried on both ends in the width direction of the conveyor, and the noodle strings 1 are conveyor nets 3b and 4b knitted in a pattern that takes into account steaming efficiency and retention of the wave shape. It is carried on top.

  The noodle band group 1 that has been transported along the horizontal portion of the lower main conveyor 3 is a conveyor net that forms a semicircular arc following the trajectory of the outer ring sprocket 10 carried on the main conveyor 3 and forms an outer ring. 3b and the outer ring sprocket 10 are concentric with each other and rotate at the same rotational speed to advance to a semicircular gap formed by the rotating drum 5 serving as an inner ring zone. The gap is set to an appropriate gap T equal to or lower than the wave height H of the noodle string group 1. At this point, the noodle string group 1 that is steamed to some extent and retains the wave shape with elasticity is the same. It is sandwiched firmly in the gap, and is conveyed from the lower end of the semicircular arc to the upper end as the middle stage while maintaining the wave shape. Further, the noodle string group 1 conveyed to the middle stage has a valley formed by the rotating drum 5 and the conveyor net 4b that draws an arc following the trajectory of the transfer sprocket 14 carried on the intermediate conveyance conveyor 4 constituting the middle stage. It is delivered by the steam float chute 7 and conveyed to the horizontal portion of the intermediate conveyance conveyor 4 forming the middle stage. The steam float chute 7 is a steam box having a shape along the transfer valley. A steam injection hole 7b is provided on the upper surface serving as a conveying surface of the noodle string group 1, and an appropriate injection pressure is generated from the vapor injection hole 7b. Steam n is sprayed in the direction to slightly lift the noodle string group 1 so that the noodle string group 1 can be conveyed while maintaining the wave shape. Further, at the front end portion of the steam float chute 7, it is possible to form a knife edge-shaped gap-free transfer portion that also serves as a scraper and is in close contact with the rotating drum 5. A transfer portion with a minimum clearance of 5 mm can be formed, and the traveling direction of the conveyor net 4 b is not the direction in which the noodle string group 1 is wound around the clearance of the transfer portion. The noodle strings 1 can be delivered stably. Further, similarly to the transfer from the middle stage to the upper stage, a transfer rotating wheel composed of an outer ring sprocket 15 carried on the intermediate transfer conveyor 4, a rotary drum 6, a steam float chute 8, a transfer sprocket 11 carried on the main transfer conveyor 3, and the like. Done in the department.

  FIG. 3 is a comparison of the wave shape of the noodle strings 1 in the transfer rotating wheel portion of the present invention and the conventional device. (A) shows the transfer rotation wheel part from the lower stage to the middle stage according to the present invention shown in FIG. 1, and (b) shows the transfer rotation wheel part from the upper stage to the middle stage according to the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. As described above, in (a), the half formed by the conveyor net 3b that forms an outer ring with a semicircular arc and the rotating drum 5 that is concentric with the outer ring and forms the inner ring with the same rotation speed. Since the circumferential gap is set to an appropriate gap below the height of the noodle strings group 1, as shown in the figure, the noodle strings group 1 is firmly sandwiched in the gap and maintains the wave shape from the lower stage to the middle stage. However, in (b), as described above, the gap in the transfer rotary wheel part is set to a gap having a margin more than the height of the noodle string group, and the noodle string group produced by being steamed to some extent Noodle strings are entrusted to a delicate balance due to unstable factors such as the holding power of the wave shape with its own elasticity, the adhesive force generated between the noodle strings and the upper conveyor net, and the mass of the noodle strings. Since the group must be transported, as shown in the figure, LFO waveforms will be exhibiting the height and pitch is disturbed shape, it is very difficult to make the stable production of noodles products of quality.

  In addition, the present invention greatly improves the thermal efficiency of the multi-stage steamer by steaming the noodle string group 1 while transporting it from the lower stage to the upper stage. That is, as mentioned above, generally when steaming noodles, due to the characteristics of the noodles, the higher the steam in the transport direction of the noodle string group 1, the higher the calorie vapor is required, and the lower the calorie becomes, the lower the calorie becomes. In FIG. 1, the lower steam injection pipe 18 injects high-calorie steam, and steams the noodle strings 1 by injecting low-calorie steam as it goes downstream with the middle steam injection pipe 19 and the upper steam injection pipe 20. In principle, the injected steam flows from the high temperature part to the low temperature part and from the low position to the high position. The multi-stage steamer of the present invention injects the steam with the highest calorie from the lower steam injection pipe 18 at the lowest position to steam the lower noodle strings 1, but the steam still having calories after steaming. Since it is inevitably performed to steam the noodle strings in the middle and upper stages at a high position, it is extremely easy to increase the thermal efficiency ideally without waste. The steam sprayed in the steaming box 2 steams the noodle strings 1 at each stage and consumes enough calories, and after reaching the highest position of the steaming box 2, steam is steamed as much as possible. In order to increase the heat efficiency by covering the inside, the exhaust gas is attracted to the inlet exhaust hood 21 and the outlet exhaust hood 22 respectively disposed at the entrance and exit of the main transport conveyor 3 at the lowest position of the steam box 2 and exhausted.

  As described above, the present invention stably conveys the noodle string group 1 from the lower stage to the upper stage while keeping the wave shape of the noodle string group 1 firmly, so that a high quality noodle product can be obtained while having high thermal efficiency. A multi-stage steamer that can be produced is provided.

1 shows a schematic configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The detail of a transfer rotation wheel part in the embodiment device of the present invention is shown. A comparison between the present invention and a conventional device is shown. The outline of the other example of the conventional apparatus is shown.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Noodle string group 2 Steaming box 3 Main conveyance conveyor 3a Main conveyance conveyor chain 3b Main conveyance conveyor net 4 Intermediate conveyance conveyor 4a Intermediate conveyance conveyor chain 4b Intermediate conveyance conveyor net 5 Rotating drum 6 Rotating drum 7 Steam float chute 7a Steam 7b Steam injection Hole 8 Steam float chute 9 Sprocket 10 Outer ring sprocket 11 Transfer sprocket 12 Sprocket 13 Sprocket 14 Transfer sprocket 15 Outer ring sprocket 16 Sprocket 17 Sprocket 18 Lower steam injection pipe 19 Middle steam injection pipe 20 Upper steam injection pipe 21 Inlet exhaust hood 22 Outlet exhaust hood H Noodle line group wave height P Noodle line group wave pitch T Gap between rotating wheels

Claims (1)

    The noodle strings are sandwiched in a semicircular gap formed by the conveyor net and the rotating drum, and steam is sprayed from the transport surface of the steam float chute where the front and rear ends are knife-edge shaped to polarize the noodle strings. Provide a transfer rotating wheel part that stably lifts the noodle string group from the lower stage to the upper stage while maintaining the wave shape of the noodle string group, and conveys the noodle string group from the lower stage to the upper stage Therefore, it is inevitable that the high-calorie steam sprayed from the lower steam jet tube will fully utilize the calories that are still held after cooking the lower noodle strings group in the upper noodle strings steaming that requires less calories. The multi-stage steamer for producing noodles is characterized in that it can be performed efficiently and can increase heat efficiency ideally without waste.

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