JP2010246494A - Food-sterilizing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food-sterilizing apparatus which can uniformly sterilize foods. <P>SOLUTION: This food-sterilizing apparatus 1 for sterilizing a vegetable A with overheated steam includes a sterilization chamber 20 into which the overheated steam is supplied, and an upper conveyer 13 and a lower conveyer 14 used for conveying the food and provided at different heights in the sterilization chamber 20, wherein the upper conveyer 13 and the lower conveyer 14 are turned in reverse directions, respectively, and a middle part of the lower conveyer 14 is disposed below a downstream end 13b of the upper conveyer 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sterilizer for foods such as vegetables and fruits.

  As the food sterilization apparatus described above, a device configured to sterilize food by carrying food through a conveyor into a tunnel in which superheated steam is jetted and passing through the tunnel is known ( For example, see Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-41098 A

  However, in the technique of the above-mentioned patent document, since the sterilization is performed while being placed on the conveyor, the situation in which the upper portion and the lower portion of the food on the conveyor are in contact with superheated steam is different, and the sterilization state is not uniform. There was a risk of becoming.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a food sterilization apparatus capable of performing sterilization uniformly.

  A food sterilization apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is a food sterilization apparatus for sterilizing food with superheated steam, a sterilization chamber into which the superheated steam is supplied, and a height position in the sterilization chamber. A plurality of conveyors for food conveyance provided differently, and among the plurality of conveyors, two conveyors adjacent in the height direction rotate in directions opposite to each other, and the higher conveyor It arrange | positions so that the middle of the lower conveyor may be located under the downstream end.

  A food sterilization apparatus according to claim 2 of the present invention is the food sterilization apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of conveyors has a food agitation fin around a rotation axis. A member is provided.

  The food sterilization apparatus according to claim 3 of the present invention is the food sterilization apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the fin has a base end portion protruding outward from the outer periphery of the rotating shaft, At the tip of the base end portion, a scooping portion that scoops up and stirs the food on the conveyor along with the rotation of the rotating shaft is provided so as to protrude sideways from the base end portion. To do.

  The food sterilization apparatus according to claim 4 of the present invention is characterized in that, in the food sterilization apparatus according to claim 3, the raised portion is formed in a curved state.

  A food sterilization apparatus according to claim 5 of the present invention is the food sterilization apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the food sterilization apparatus is provided separately from the sterilization chamber and has a food conveying conveyor inside. And a cooling chamber for cooling the food conveyed by the conveyor.

  According to the present invention, when food falls from the downstream end of the higher conveyor, the food moves from the higher conveyor to the lower conveyor and the food is agitated. Therefore, sterilization can be performed uniformly.

  In the case of claim 2, in addition, the agitating member agitates the food, so that sterilization can be performed more uniformly. In particular, the sterilization uniformity can be further improved by adopting a structure in which the food raising unit stirs the food on the conveyor as the rotary shaft rotates as in the third aspect. At this time, when the raised portion is formed in a curved state as in claim 4, the moving direction of the food to be stirred can be gradually changed, and thereby the food can be prevented from being damaged or damaged. .

  According to the fifth aspect, since the food heated to a high temperature in the sterilization chamber is cooled in the cooling chamber, the post-treatment of the sterilized food can be performed quickly.

It is a front view which shows the sterilizer of the foodstuff which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the sterilizer of the foodstuff of FIG. It is a left view which shows the sterilizer of the foodstuff of FIG. It is a front view which shows the sterilization chamber with which the food sterilizer of FIG. 1 was equipped. It is a figure for demonstrating the supply state of the superheated steam in the sterilization chamber of FIG. It is explanatory drawing of the stirring means in the sterilization chamber of FIG. It is a graph which shows the relationship when sterilizing wormwood according to this invention, the number of general bacteria, and processing temperature. It is a perspective view which shows a part of stirring apparatus with which the sterilizer of the foodstuff of FIG. 1 was equipped. It is a perspective view which shows the other example of the stirring apparatus with which the sterilizer of the foodstuff which concerns on other embodiment of this invention is equipped, and is a figure corresponding to the location C of FIG.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below.

  FIG. 1 is a front view showing a food sterilizing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the sterilizing apparatus, FIG. 3 is a left side view showing the sterilizing apparatus, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the supply state of superheated steam in the sterilization chamber of FIG. 4, and FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the stirring means in the sterilization chamber of FIG. 4.

  The food sterilization apparatus 1 includes a superheated steam / cold air generation chamber 10, a sterilization chamber 20, and a cooling chamber 30. The sterilization chamber 20 and the cooling chamber 30 are disposed with the sterilization chamber 20 on the upper side and the cooling chamber 30 on the lower side, respectively. The superheated steam / cold air generating chamber 10 is disposed on the side of the sterilization chamber 20 and the cooling chamber 30. It is arranged.

  The superheated steam / cold air generating chamber 10 includes a water softener 2, an electric boiler 3, and a superheated steam generator 4, which generates superheated steam, and the generated superheated steam is supplied to the sterilization chamber 20 via a pipe 5. Supply. The superheated steam / cold air generation chamber 10 includes a cooler unit 6, a cooling water tank 7, and an exhaust cooling unit 8, and generates cool air and supplies the cool air to the cooling chamber 30. .

  The sterilization chamber 20 includes a hopper 11, a carry-in conveyor 12, an upper conveyor 13, a lower conveyor 14, a sterilization container 16, a spraying device 17, and a stirring device 18, and spans the sterilization chamber 20 and the cooling chamber 30. A shooter 15 is provided.

  Vegetables as food fed into the hopper 11 are fed to the upstream side 13a of the upper conveyor 13 via the carry-in conveyor 12, fallen from the downstream end 13b of the upper conveyor 13 that rotates clockwise, It is received by the lower conveyor 14 provided below. The lower conveyor 14 rotates counterclockwise in the direction opposite to that of the upper conveyor 13. When the lower conveyor 14 reaches the downstream end 14 b, the lower conveyor 14 falls from the downstream end 14 b and is supplied to the cooling chamber 30 by the shooter 15.

  On the upper side of the upper conveyor 13 and the upper side of the lower conveyor 14, stirring devices 18 are respectively arranged. These stirring devices 18 are the same, and are configured such that a plurality of, for example, four fins 18b are provided around the rotation shaft 18a at each of four locations along the rotation shaft 18a. As shown in FIG. 8, each fin 18b has a base end portion 18c that protrudes outward from the outer periphery of the rotating shaft 18a, and a raised portion 18d is provided at the front end side of the base end portion 18c. It is provided so as to be bent with respect to 18c and protrude laterally from the base end portion 18c. As the rotary shaft 18a rotates, the sowing section 18d scoops up the vegetables A on the conveyors 13 and 14 and stirs them. In this embodiment, the rotating shaft 18a is disposed so as to coincide with the width direction of the conveyors 13 and 14. However, the arrangement direction of the rotating shaft 18a may not coincide with the width direction of the conveyors 13 and 14.

  The vegetable A put into the hopper 11 is obtained by pre-drying what has been roughly crushed to a predetermined size, for example, about 2 mm square. In addition, as a dimension of rough crushing, it adjusts suitably according to the kind of vegetables (in the case of foodstuffs other than vegetables, the kind of foodstuff).

  The upper conveyor 13 and the lower conveyor 14 are accommodated in the sterilization container 16 with the vicinity of the upstream side 13a of the upper conveyor 13 and the vicinity of the downstream end 14b of the lower conveyor 14 being exposed to the outside. The sterilization container 16 has an entrance shutter 16a and an exit shutter 16b. The entrance shutter 16 a is provided corresponding to the upstream side 13 a of the upper conveyor 13, and the exit shutter 16 b is provided corresponding to the downstream end 14 b of the lower conveyor 14. A guide plate 13c that guides the vegetables falling from the downstream end 13b is provided at a location away from the downstream end 13b of the upper conveyor 13, and the vegetables are guided to a predetermined location above the lower conveyor 14 by the guide plate 13c. Is done.

  The shooter 15 is provided below the downstream end 14 b of the lower conveyor 14. The shooter 15 supplies vegetables falling from the downstream end 14b of the lower conveyor 14 to the cooling chamber 30, and in the illustrated example, has an upper shooter 15a and a lower shooter 15b that reverse the feeding direction.

  The spray device 17 is connected to the pipe 5 and is connected to the upper and lower horizontal portions 17a and 17b, the branch portion 17c branched from the upper horizontal portion 17a, and the branch branched from the lower horizontal portion 17b. Part 17d. The horizontal portion 17a extends along the upper conveyor 13, and the branch portion 17c extends in the width direction above the upper conveyor 13. The horizontal portion 17b extends along the lower conveyor 14, and the branch portion 17d extends in the width direction above the lower conveyor 14. Each branch portion 17c, 17d is provided with a nozzle for spraying the superheated steam B downward, the superheated steam B from the branch portion 17c is sprayed toward the upper conveyor 13, and the superheated steam B from the branch portion 17d is Spray toward the lower conveyor 14.

  The cooling chamber 30 is provided with a plurality of cooling zones 31, 32, 33 in the illustrated example, and in each cooling zone 31, 32, 33, cold air generated from the superheated steam / cooling air generation chamber 10 is provided. Supplied. Further, a vegetable transporting conveyor 34 is disposed so as to pass through the inside of each of these cooling zones 31, 32, 33. The lower shooter 15 b is disposed on the upstream side 34 a of the conveyor 34, while a discharge conveyor 35 is provided on the downstream end 34 b of the conveyor 34, and is discharged from the cooling chamber 30 by the discharge conveyor 35. The processed vegetables A are stored in a storage container 36 disposed below the downstream end 35a of the discharge conveyor 35, and the vegetables are taken out from the storage container 36 at a predetermined timing, for example, packed and stored, or later Processing such as sending to the process and crushing into powder is performed.

  In the food sterilizing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment configured as described above, the vegetable A is dropped from the downstream end 13b of the upper conveyor 13 and moved to the upper side of the lower conveyor 14, The vegetable A can be stirred during the fall, and thus sterilization can be performed uniformly. In addition, since the stirring member 18 scoops up and stirs the vegetables A (see FIG. 6), sterilization can be performed more uniformly. Furthermore, since the vegetable heated to high temperature by the sterilization chamber 20 is cooled by the cooling chamber 30, it becomes possible to perform the post-process of the sterilized vegetable rapidly.

  FIG. 7 is a graph showing the relationship between the time when the wormwood is sterilized by the food sterilization apparatus according to this embodiment, the number of general bacteria, and the processing temperature. The horizontal axis represents time (seconds), the vertical axis represents the number of generalized bacteria (cells / g), and the treatment temperature (° C) is 5 ° C, 200 ° C, 250 ° C, 310 ° C, 350 ° C, 370 ° C. Performed at one temperature.

  As understood from this figure, the general bacterial count (cells / g) can be lowered to 150 cells / g or less in a treatment time of about 40 seconds to 50 seconds.

  In addition, in embodiment mentioned above, although the structure which arrange | positioned the upper conveyor 13 and the lower conveyor 14 in the sterilization chamber 20 is taken, this invention is not restricted to this, Three or more conveyors are provided in the sterilization chamber 20. It is good also as a structure which arrange | positions and receives the vegetable which fell from the upper conveyor with the lower conveyor.

  Moreover, although the stirring apparatus 18 is set as the structure which has arrange | positioned the four fin 18b for every location in 4 places along the rotating shaft 18a in embodiment mentioned above, this invention is not restricted to this. For example, it is good also as a structure which has arrange | positioned the four fins 18b in one place or two or more (except 4) places along the rotating shaft 18a. Moreover, the number of the fins 18b for each location may not be four, but may be one or two (excluding 4).

  Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the raised portion 18d on the distal end side of the base end portion 18c is bent in the same direction, but a part thereof may be bent in the opposite side.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the raised portion 18d at the tip of the base end portion 18c is provided so as to be bent with respect to the base end portion 18c and protrude laterally from the base end portion 18c. Is not limited to this. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, the lifting portion 18e may be formed in a curved state from the proximal end portion 18c. FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to a location C including the raised portion 18d in one of the four fins 18b shown in FIG. 8, and is different from the raised portion 18d in FIG. 18e is shown.

  In the case of the fin having the raised portion 18e shown in FIG. 9, since the raised portion 18e is curved, the moving direction of the agitated food A can be gradually changed as shown by the one-dot chain line. Thus, the food A can be prevented from being damaged or damaged.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which a fin having a predetermined width is arranged around the rotation shaft is taken as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a ring-shaped fin is provided outside the rotation shaft. The fin may be provided on one side or both sides of the fin so as to protrude the food so as to protrude sideways.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, one agitation device 18 is provided for each of the upper conveyor 13 and the lower conveyor 14, but a plurality of agitation devices may be provided for each conveyor.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the case where vegetables are sterilized as an example of food is described. However, the present invention is not limited to vegetables, and other foods can be sterilized in a similar manner.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Food sterilizer 13 Upper conveyor 14 Lower conveyor 18 Stirrer 18a Rotating shaft 18b Fin 20 Sterilization chamber 30 Cooling chamber A Vegetable (an example of food)
B Superheated steam

Claims (5)

A food sterilizer for sterilizing food with superheated steam,
A sterilization chamber into which the superheated steam is supplied;
A plurality of food conveyors provided with different height positions in the sterilization chamber,
Among the plurality of conveyors, two conveyors adjacent to each other in the height direction rotate in opposite directions, and are arranged so that the middle of the lower conveyor is located below the downstream end of the higher conveyor. A food sterilizer characterized by the above. In the food sterilization apparatus according to claim 1,
At least one of the plurality of conveyors is provided with a stirring member having food stirring fins around a rotating shaft. The food sterilizer according to claim 2,
The fin has a base end portion projecting outward from the outer periphery of the rotating shaft, and the food on the conveyor is scooped up and stirred with the rotation of the rotating shaft at the tip of the base end portion. A food sterilizing apparatus, wherein a raised portion is provided so as to protrude laterally from the base end portion. In the food sterilization apparatus according to claim 3,
The food sterilizer is characterized in that the raised portion is formed in a curved state from the base end portion. The food sterilization apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A food sterilization apparatus, which is provided separately from the sterilization chamber, has a food conveyance conveyor inside, and has a cooling chamber for cooling the food conveyed by the conveyor.

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