JP2011152089A - Leaf vegetable frozen product producing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique with respect to a frozen product producing apparatus freezing leaf vegetables such as spinach or a kind of Japanese mustard spinach after heat treatment and water removing processing. <P>SOLUTION: The frozen product producing apparatus is configured such that a water removing device 2 for removing water adhering to leaf vegetables after heat treatment with steam or hot water at 90°C or more, includes an air circulating chamber 4, a water removing transportation device 6 for placing leaf vegetables set in the air circulating chamber 4 followed by transporting, and an air blowing device 7 blowing warm air having a temperature of 50-80°C and a relative humidity of not more than 50% to the leaf vegetables, and water adhering to the leaf vegetables is removed by warm air circulating in the air circulating chamber 4. As a result of this, a frozen product of the leaf vegetables having less damage, less outflow of tasty components, and excellent quality is produced. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables such as spinach and komatsuna, and in particular, as a water removing apparatus for removing water adhering to leafy vegetables after heat treatment with steam or warm water of 90 ° C. or higher, Air that circulates in the air circulation chamber, comprising a distribution chamber, a water removal conveyance device that places and conveys leafy vegetables provided in the air circulation chamber, and an air blowing device that blows air onto the leafy vegetables This is a technique related to a frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables that removes water attached to the leafy vegetables.

Conventionally, as a method of freezing leafy vegetables such as spinach and komatsuna, the raw material vegetables that have been crushed are immersed in boiling water for a short period of time, then immediately immersed in cold water for a short period of time, and then centrifuged. It is known that centrifugal dehydration treatment is performed using a machine and quick freezing treatment is performed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
A centrifugal dehydrator for centrifugally dehydrating vegetables is well known (for example, see Patent Document 2).

Furthermore, as an example of a conventional manufacturing apparatus, a frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables such as spinach and komatsuna shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 has been put to practical use.
In FIG. 8, the left end of the drawing is the primary cleaning and root cutting process 50.
In this primary cleaning root cutting step 50, the worker 51 takes the spinach 52 from the shelf 53 on which the stocked spinach 52 is placed, and in the primary cleaning tank 54, the soil and the like attached to the spinach 52 is cleaned and transported for root cutting. The device 55 is charged.

When the operator 51 puts the spinach 52 into the root cutting transport device 55, the root cutting position of the spinach 52 matches the position where the blade of the root cutting machine 56 moves up and down.
The spinach 52 transported by the root cutting transport device 55 is rooted by a root cutting machine 56.

The spinach 52 that has undergone the primary cleaning and root cutting process 50 is conveyed to the primary trimming process 60 by the transfer apparatus 57 for relay.
In the primary trimming step 60, the worker 61 performs primary trimming such as dead leaves of the spinach 52 transferred from the relay transport device 57 to the primary trimming transport device 62.

The primary cleaning and root cutting process 50 has two systems due to restrictions on the installation of the root cutting machine 56, and the primary trimming process 60 has two systems in the first half and one system in the latter half.
The spinach 52 that has undergone the primary trimming process 60 is conveyed to the final cleaning process 70 through a secondary cleaning process 65.

In the secondary cleaning step 65, the spinach 52 transported by the secondary cleaning transport device 66 is subjected to secondary cleaning by the shower cleaning device 67.
In the final cleaning step 70, the spinach 52 transported by the final cleaning transport device 71 is finally cleaned by a bubbling cleaning device 72 having a foamed water tank.

The spinach 52 that has undergone the final cleaning step 70 is conveyed to the secondary trimming step 75 by the relay conveying device 73.
In the secondary trimming step 75, the worker 76 performs secondary trimming such as dead leaves of spinach 52 transferred from the relay transport device 73 to the secondary trimming transport device 77 and prepares for the next cutting step 80. The spinach 52 is dispersed on the secondary trimming conveyance device 77.

In the cutting step 80, the spinach 52 transported by the cutting transport device 81 is cut into an appropriate size by the cutting device 82 made of a slicer.
The spinach cut in the cutting step 80 is dispersed in a heating dispersion step 85 by the worker 86 so as to have a uniform thickness on the net-like heat dispersion transfer device 87, and is transferred to the next heat treatment step 90. The

In the heat treatment step 90, the spinach is heat-treated with steam ejected from below the spinach by the heat treatment device 92 that performs steam branching when the spinach is conveyed in the steam blanching chamber 91 by the heat dispersion conveying device 87. The
Heating in this heat treatment step 90 is performed to the extent that it can be eaten as it is without being cooked when the frozen product that has been produced is thawed. The spinach heat-treated in the heat treatment step 90 is conveyed to the cooling step 95.

In the cooling step 95, the spinach is cooled through the cooling water tank 97 by the cooling transfer device 96, temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 98 (right end in FIG. 8), and the next dehydration step 100 shown at the left end in FIG. Move on.
In the dehydration process 100, the worker 101 stores spinach temporarily stored in the temporary storage unit 98 in the centrifugal dehydrator 102 and performs centrifugal dehydration.

The spinach that has been centrifugally dehydrated by the batch process in the dehydration process 100 is processed in the freezing process 110 through the freezing dispersion process 105.
In the freezing dispersion step 105, the worker 106 disperses the spinach that has been pressed into the inner peripheral wall of the dewatering basket of the centrifugal dehydrator 102 into a uniform thickness on the freezing / dispersing transport device 107 while fuzzing. Let

The spinach transported by the freeze dispersion transport device 107 is transported to the freezing step 110.
In the freezing step 110, spinach is frozen by an IQF freezer (not shown).

The IQF freezer blows low-temperature air from the freezing device (not shown) from below into the spinach on the net-like freezing transport device 112 in the insulated freezer 111 to freeze the spinach while moving the spinach up and down. is there.
The frozen spinach frozen in the freezing step 110 is transported to the packaging step 115 by the vibration transport device 114 that transports while vibrating.

In the packaging step 115, the frozen spinach is supplied to the computer measuring device 117 by the bucket type conveying device 116, the set amount is measured by the computer measuring device 117, and is packaged by the bag feeding and packaging machine 118.
The frozen product in which the frozen spinach is packaged in a set amount in the packaging process 115 is transported to the inspection process 120 by the inspection transport device 119.

In the inspection process 120, an X-ray inspection apparatus 121 for inspecting whether or not a foreign substance is mixed in a frozen product, a metal inspection apparatus 122 for inspecting the presence or absence of metal contamination, and a weight inspection inspecting whether the weight is within a set range. The device 123 inspects all of the packed frozen products.
When the X-ray inspection apparatus 121, the metal inspection apparatus 122, and the weight inspection apparatus 123 detect foreign matter or metal mixed in the frozen product or out of the weight setting range, the frozen product is automatically transferred to the inspection transport device 119. From below or to the side.

The frozen products that have passed the inspection process 120 are sent to the turntable 130, and are packed into a shipping box 133 by the worker 131 on the work table 132 by a predetermined number.
The shipping box 133 packed with the frozen product is placed on the pallet 135 from the shipping transport device 134 and is stored in a freezer in a freezer with a forklift (not shown).

  In addition, 93 is an inspection window provided in the steam blanching chamber 91, 113 is an inspection door provided in the freezer 111, and 124 is a monitor who monitors the operation state and inspection state in the packaging process 115 and the inspection process 120. .

JP-A-8-280325 (paragraphs 0039, 0048, 0054) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-327652

In the conventional frozen product manufacturing apparatus or frozen product manufacturing method of leafy vegetables, spinach and komatsuna are washed and cut leafy vegetables are heated with boiling water or steam, cooled with cooling water, and centrifugal dehydrator After the centrifugal dehydration process, the frozen product is manufactured by freezing.
The conventional frozen product produced in this way is removed with water prior to the freezing process using a centrifugal dehydrator, causing damage such as broken leaves and crushed stems due to centrifugal force, and the leafy vegetables themselves. There is also a problem that the value of the product is lost due to the discharge of the components.

Moreover, since the leafy vegetables from which water has been removed by the centrifugal dehydrator are pressed against the inner peripheral wall of the dewatering basket of the centrifugal dehydrator, there has also been a problem that manual pricking is essential before the roses are frozen.
In addition, the leafy vegetables that have been heat-treated in order to perform hand-blowing must be cooled in cooling water, causing the umami component of the leafy vegetables to flow out and becoming unsavory.

  The present invention intends to solve the problems of such a conventional frozen vegetable manufacturing apparatus or frozen product manufacturing method for leaves and leaves after heat treatment with steam or warm water of 90 ° C. or higher. As a water removal device for removing water adhering to vegetable vegetables, an air circulation chamber, a water removal conveying device for placing and conveying leafy vegetables provided in the air circulation chamber, and blowing air on leafy vegetables A manufacturing apparatus capable of manufacturing a frozen product of good quality leafy vegetables by removing water adhering to the leafy vegetables with air flowing through the air circulation chamber, the air spraying device; The purpose is to do.

The frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables according to claim 1 of the present invention includes a cleaning device for cleaning leafy vegetables, a cutting device for cutting leafy vegetables, and steam or 90 A heat treatment device that heat-treats with hot water of ℃ or higher, a water removal device that removes water adhering to the heat-treated leafy vegetables, and a freezing device that freezes the leafy vegetables from which water has been removed. In the frozen product manufacturing equipment for leafy vegetables,
The water removal device includes an air circulation chamber having an air intake port for taking in air and an air discharge port for discharging air, and a water removal conveyance device for placing and conveying leafy vegetables provided in the air circulation chamber. And an air spraying device that blows air onto the leafy vegetables, and water attached to the leafy vegetables is removed by the air flowing through the air circulation chamber.

The frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables of the present invention according to claim 2 includes, in addition to the configuration of the present invention according to claim 1, the transport device for water removal includes a strip portion having a number of air circulation holes,
An air spraying device for spraying air onto leafy vegetables is formed from an air spraying member having an air spraying slit in a direction intersecting the transporting direction of the water removal transporting device, and the air spraying members are arranged above and below the water removal transporting device. Provided in
The air blown onto the leafy vegetables is warm air with a relative humidity of 50% or less at 50 ° C to 80 ° C.

  In addition to the configuration of the present invention according to claim 1 or 2, the apparatus for producing frozen products of leafy vegetables according to claim 3 of the present invention includes a vibration device that vibrates the belt-like portion up and down in the water removal transfer device. It is provided.

In addition to the configuration of the present invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the heat treatment apparatus for heating a leafy vegetable that has been washed and cut is used for heating the frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables of the present invention according to claim 4. Heating with steam while transporting with a transport device,
A leaf transport vegetable that has been heat-treated by the heat treatment device is provided with a relay transport device that relays continuously to the water removal transport device without forcibly cooling.

  In addition to the configuration of the present invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables of the present invention according to claim 5 pre-cools the leafy vegetables from the water removal device. A pre-cooling section and a freezing section for freezing the leafy vegetables pre-cooled in the pre-cooling section are provided.

  In addition to the structure of the present invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, the leaf vegetable according to claim 6 of the present invention is a spinach or komatsuna.

The apparatus for producing a frozen product of leafy vegetables of the present invention according to claim 1 is an air removal device that removes water attached to leafy vegetables after being washed and cut and heated with steam or hot water of 90 ° C. or higher. Air that circulates in the air circulation chamber, comprising a distribution chamber, a water removal conveyance device that places and conveys leafy vegetables provided in the air circulation chamber, and an air blowing device that blows air onto the leafy vegetables Thus, the water adhering to the leafy vegetables is removed, and a frozen product of good quality leafy vegetables can be manufactured while saving labor.
In particular, removal of water adhering to leafy vegetables before freezing is performed by air flowing through an air circulation chamber without using a centrifugal dehydrator as in the past, In addition to preventing damage such as crushing of the stem, it was also possible to prevent the discharge of the components of the leafy vegetables themselves and to produce frozen products of good quality leafy vegetables.
In addition, it is no longer necessary to manually prick the leafy vegetables pressed against the inner peripheral wall of the dewatering basket of the centrifugal dehydrator before the roses are frozen, and the production of the frozen product can be saved.
Furthermore, the leafy vegetables are cooled in the cooling water, and the umami components of the leafy vegetables are not allowed to flow out, and a delicious frozen product can be produced.

In addition to the effect of the present invention according to claim 1, the apparatus for producing a frozen product of leafy vegetables of the present invention according to claim 2 includes a strip-shaped portion having a plurality of air circulation holes.
An air spraying device for spraying air onto leafy vegetables is formed from an air spraying member having an air spraying slit in a direction intersecting the transporting direction of the water removal transporting device, and the air spraying members are arranged above and below the water removal transporting device. Provided in
The air blown to the leafy vegetables was warm air with a relative humidity of 50% or less at 50 ° C to 80 ° C, so the water adhering to the leafy vegetables was removed in a short time with warm air dried from the front and back of the leafy vegetables. It can be done.

  In addition to the effect of the present invention according to claim 1 or 2, the apparatus for producing a frozen product of leafy vegetables according to claim 3 of the present invention includes a vibration device that vibrates the belt-like portion up and down in the water removal transport device. Since it provided, the overlap on the water removal conveyance apparatus of leafy vegetables can be reduced, and the water adhering to leafy vegetables can be removed efficiently.

  In addition to the effect of the present invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the heat treatment apparatus for heating a leafy vegetable that has been washed and cut is used for heating the frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables of the present invention according to claim 4. Because it is equipped with a transfer device that relays heat to the water removal transfer device without forcibly cooling the leafy vegetables heat-treated with the heat treatment device while steaming while being transported by the transport device. Since the water adhering to the leafy vegetables is removed at a high temperature of the leafy vegetables, the water adhering to the leafy vegetables can be more efficiently removed.

  In addition to the effect of the present invention according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the frozen apparatus for producing a frozen product of leafy vegetables of the present invention according to claim 5 pre-cools the leafy vegetables from the water removing device. Because it has a pre-cooling section and a freezing section that freezes the leaf vegetables pre-cooled in the pre-cooling section, the operating cost of the freezing equipment for freezing the leaf vegetables can be reduced, and the production of frozen products is energy-saving Can be done.

  The frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables of the present invention according to claim 6 is handled as a frozen product because the leafy vegetables are spinach or komatsuna in addition to the effects of the present invention according to any of claims 1 to 5. Therefore, it is possible to produce a frozen product that is difficult and soft and is in high demand, while maintaining good quality.

It is a figure which shows a part of frozen product manufacturing apparatus of the leafy vegetable which concerns on embodiment of this invention, (a) is a schematic plan view, (b) It is a schematic front view. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a figure which shows the other part of the frozen product manufacturing apparatus of the leafy vegetable which concerns on embodiment of this invention, (a) is the schematic top view which made a part a cross section, (b) is the schematic front which made a part a cross section FIG. It is a plane sectional view showing the water removal device which constitutes a part of the frozen product manufacturing device of leafy vegetables concerning an embodiment of the invention. FIG. 4 is a front sectional view of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a side sectional view of FIG. 3. It is a figure which shows the vibration apparatus which comprises a part of water removal apparatus shown in FIG. 3, (a) is a top view, (b) is a front view. The modification of the air blowing member which comprises a part of water removal apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention is shown, (a) is a perspective view which shows the modification 1, (b) is a perspective view which shows the modification 2. is there. It is a figure which shows a part of conventional frozen product manufacturing apparatus of leafy vegetables, (a) is a schematic plan view, (b) is a schematic front view. It is a figure which shows the other part of the conventional frozen product manufacturing apparatus of leafy vegetables, (a) is a schematic plan view, (b) is a schematic front view.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIGS. 1-6 is drawing which concerns on embodiment of this invention, FIG. 1 is a figure which shows a part of frozen product manufacturing apparatus of leafy vegetables, and FIG. 1 (a) made the part a cross section. FIG. 1 (b) is a schematic front view with a part in cross section, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another part following the right end of FIG. 1, (a) is a schematic plan view, and (b) is a schematic front view. Fig. 3 is a plan sectional view showing a water removing device constituting a part of a frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables, Fig. 4 is a front sectional view of Fig. 3, Fig. 5 is a side sectional view of Fig. 3, and Fig. 6 These are figures which show the vibration apparatus which comprises a part of water removal apparatus shown in FIG. 3, (a) is a top view, (b) is a front view.

The whole apparatus for producing frozen products of leafy vegetables according to the embodiment of the present invention is shown in FIGS.
The frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 is different from the conventional frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables described based on FIGS. 8 and 9 in the cooling process 95 and the dehydration process 100 in the conventional apparatus. There is a difference between the freezing dispersion step 105 and the freezing step 110.

Hereinafter, the same components as those of the conventional device are denoted by the same reference numerals, description thereof will be omitted, and steps different from those of the conventional device will be described.
1 and 2, the spinach heat-treated by the heat treatment device 92 that performs steam blanching in the heat treatment step 90 is continuously forced to the water removal device 2 constituting the water removal step 1 without being cooled. It is supposed to be transported.

As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the water removal device 2 includes a water removal chamber 3, an air circulation chamber 4 provided in the water removal chamber 3, an air conditioning chamber 5, and spinach provided in the air circulation chamber 4. Is provided with a water removal transfer device 6 for transporting and transporting air, and an air spraying device 7 for blowing air onto spinach that is transferred through the air circulation chamber 4 by the water removal transfer device 6.
The spinach heat-treated by the heat treatment device 92 is transported to the water removal transport device 6 by the relay transport device 8.

The air circulation chamber 4 includes an air inlet 9 for taking in air and an air outlet 10 for discharging air.
The water removal transfer device 6 is configured to transfer spinach from the inlet 11 to the outlet 12 of the air circulation chamber 4 by placing the spinach.

The water removing transport device 6 is made of a resin such as polyethylene, and is formed of a resin belt provided with a belt-like portion 13 having a large number of air circulation holes.
The opening ratio of a large number of air circulation holes (not shown) is preferably about 20% to 45%, and is set to 30% in this embodiment.

In addition, the material of the water removal conveyance apparatus 6 can also be made into the net shape which used stainless steel.
Further, the air blowing device 7 is a tubular air provided with an air blowing slit 14 in a direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4) orthogonal to the conveying direction (left to right in FIGS. 3 and 4) of the water removal conveying device 6. The air blowing member 15 is formed above and below the water removal transfer device 6.

In this embodiment, nine air blowing members 15 are provided above and six below the water removal transfer device 6, and an end portion of each air blowing member 15 on the air conditioning chamber 5 side is opened to An air intake 9 is formed.
Further, the slit width of the air blowing slit 14 is set to 3 mm to 6 mm, and the outlet wind speed of the air blowing slit 14 is set to 20 m / sec to 60 m / sec.

The water removal transfer device 6 is provided with a vibration device 16 that vibrates the belt-like portion 13 up and down.
As shown in FIG. 6, the vibration device 16 includes a rotating shaft 17, three rotating arms 18 provided orthogonal to the rotating shaft 17, and ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene provided at both ends of each rotating arm 18. And an impact member 19 made of metal.

As shown in FIG. 3, the vibration device 16 is provided at two locations below the water removal transport device 6, and, like the air blowing member 15, the transport direction of the water removal transport device 6 (FIG. 3 and FIG. 3). 4, each rotating shaft 17 is provided in a direction orthogonal to the right (from left to right) in FIG. 4 so that each striking member 19 strikes the lower surface of the strip 13 and vibrates the strip 13 up and down. I have to.
Further, the water removal chamber 3 is provided with a partition wall 20 that divides the interior into the air circulation chamber 4 and the air conditioning chamber 5, and the air inlet 9 and the air outlet 10 are provided in the partition wall 20. .

In the air conditioning chamber 5, a cooler 21, a heater 22, a blower 23, and an electric motor 24 that drives the blower 23 are provided.
The cooler 21 cools and dehumidifies the air from the air discharge port 10 by circulating it from below to exchanging heat with groundwater.

The air whose temperature has decreased due to evaporation of water adhering to the spinach in the air circulation chamber 4 is cooled by the cooler 21 provided in the air control chamber 5 and dehumidified, so that the outlet air of the cooler 21 is removed. The absolute humidity is lowered.
In the heater 22, the air cooled and dehumidified by the cooler 21 is heated so as to obtain hot air having a relative humidity of 50% or less at 50 ° C. to 80 ° C., and the heat source of the heater 22 is the implementation of this embodiment. In form it is steam.

The hot air heated by the heater 22 is preferably about 70 ° C. and a relative humidity of about 30%.
The blower 23 includes an axial flow blower, and two blowers 23 are arranged side by side in FIGS. 3 and 4.

The spinach from which the water adhering in the water removal step 1 has been removed is then transported to the freezing device 26 constituting the freezing step 25 shown in FIG.
The freezing device 26 includes a freezer 27, a precooling portion 29 and a freezing portion 30 formed by partitioning the inside of the freezer 27 with a heat insulating wall 28, a freezing transport device 31, and a precooling cooler (not shown). And an IQF freezer (not shown).

In the freezer 27, the inlet side 32 of the freezing transport device 31 is provided with the precooling cooler at the precooling portion 29, and the outlet side 33 of the freezing transporting device 31 is provided with the IQF freezer at the freezing portion 30. Yes.
Spinach placed on the freezing transport device 31 and transported in the freezer 27 is pre-cooled to about 0 ° C. to 20 ° C. when transported through the pre-cooling unit 29, and minus when transported through the freezing unit 30. It is frozen at 18 ° C or lower.

The frozen spinach frozen in the freezing step 25 is shipped as a frozen product through the packaging step 115 and the inspection step 120 as in the conventional apparatus.
Reference numeral 34 denotes an inspection door provided in the freezer 27.

Next, the operation of the frozen spinach manufacturing apparatus according to the embodiment configured as described above will be described.
The spinach 52 is subjected to primary cleaning and root cutting in the primary cleaning and root cutting step 50, and then subjected to primary treming such as dead leaves in the primary treming step 60, and then to the secondary cleaning step 65 and the final cleaning step. The secondary cleaning and the final cleaning are performed in 70, and then the final tremming such as dead leaves is performed in the secondary treming process 75, and then cut into an appropriate size in the cutting process 80, and then dispersed for heating. Dispersed in step 85, then heat-treated with steam in heat treatment step 90, then water adhering to the surface in water removal step 1 is removed with warm air, and then precooled and frozen in freezing step 25 Then, it is packed in the packaging step 115, then inspected in the inspection step 120, and stored in the freezer as a frozen product that has passed the inspection.

In each of the above-described steps, particularly in the water removal step 1, the air sprayed on the spinach by the air blowing device 7 is damaged by damage to the spinach with water adhering to the front and back of the spinach with hot air having a relative humidity of 50% or less at 50 ° C to 80 ° C. It is removed in a short time without being generated, and further, the vibration device 16 reduces the overlap of the spinach on the water removal transport device 6 to more efficiently remove the water adhering to the spinach.
Moreover, the water which has been heat-treated and which has been continuously attached at a high temperature can be efficiently removed without forcibly cooling the spinach at a high temperature.

Next, based on FIG. 7, the modification of the air blowing member 15 which comprises a part of water removal apparatus 2 which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated.
FIG. 7A is a perspective view showing a first modification, and FIG. 7B is a perspective view showing a second modification.

In the above embodiment, the air blowing member 15 has a tubular shape and is provided with the air blowing slit 14 in the longitudinal direction. However, in the first and second modifications, the air blowing members 34 and 35 are formed in a duct shape, and the air A plurality of spray slits 36 and 37 are formed in parallel.
Further, the air blowing slit 36 of the first modification is provided with a funnel-shaped guide part 38, and the air blowing slit 37 of the second modification is provided with a tapered nozzle-like guide part 39.

The air blowing members 34 and 35 have three air blowing slits 36 and 37, respectively, but may be two or four or more.
Reference numerals 40 and 41 denote air intakes provided in the air blowing members 34 and 35.

In the above embodiment, the frozen product manufacturing apparatus for spinach has been described, but this frozen product manufacturing apparatus can of course produce frozen products of leafy vegetables such as komatsuna and chrysanthemums in place of spinach.
Moreover, in the above embodiment, although heat processing was performed by steam blanching, you may heat-process with 90 degreeC or more warm water containing boiling water.
In addition, in the heat treatment, steam is less likely to flow out of the components from the leafy vegetables than the warm water containing boiling water, and a frozen product with good quality can be obtained.

Further, in the above embodiment, a leaf material is used by using a water removal conveyance device provided with a belt-like portion having a large number of air circulation holes and an air blowing device formed from an air blowing member provided with an air blowing slit. The air blown onto the vegetables was warm air with a relative humidity of 50% or less at 50 ° C. to 80 ° C., but the non-porous water removal transfer device and the room temperature air were used in the horizontal direction or upward or downward direction of the leafy vegetables You may use the air spraying apparatus sprayed from.
Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the freezing apparatus includes the pre-cooling unit and the freezing unit, but the pre-cooling unit may be omitted and only the freezing unit may be provided.

Further, in the above embodiment, the belt-like portion of the water removal transfer device is vibrated up and down by the vibration device. However, the vibration device may be omitted, and the overlap of leafy vegetables is reduced. This mechanism, for example, a water removal transport device, is divided so that the upstream side is the upper stage, the downstream side is the lower stage, and the overlap is reduced when dropping the leafy vegetables from the upstream side to the downstream side. it can.
In the above embodiment, the primary cleaning and the root cutting process, the primary treming process, the secondary cleaning process, the final cleaning process, the secondary trimming process, the cutting process, and the heating dispersion process are performed before the heat treatment process. However, all of these steps are not essential, and the point is that the cleaning and cutting necessary to maintain the quality as a frozen product may be performed, and the order of cleaning and cutting is the first. Well, tremming can be omitted if done before the factory arrives.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Water removal apparatus 4 Air circulation chamber 6 Water removal conveyance apparatus 7 Air blowing apparatus 8 Relay conveyance apparatus 9 Air intake 10 Air discharge port 13 Band-shaped part 14 Air blowing slit 15 Air blowing member 16 Excitation apparatus 26 Freezing apparatus 29 Precooling section 30 Freezing section 35 Air blowing member 36 Air blowing member 37 Air blowing slit 38 Air blowing slit 67 Shower type cleaning device 72 Bubbling cleaning device 82 Cutting device 92 Heat treatment device

Claims (6)

Cleaning device for cleaning leafy vegetables, cutting device for cutting leafy vegetables, heat treatment device for heat-treating the washed and cut leafy vegetables with steam or hot water of 90 ° C or higher, and heat-treated leaves In a frozen product manufacturing apparatus for leafy vegetables, comprising a water removing device for removing water adhering to the vegetable and a freezing device for freezing the leafy vegetable from which water has been removed,
The water removal device includes an air circulation chamber having an air intake port for taking in air and an air discharge port for discharging air, and a water removal conveyance device for placing and conveying leafy vegetables provided in the air circulation chamber. And an air spraying device that blows air onto the leafy vegetables, and the water adhering to the leafy vegetables is removed by the air flowing through the air circulation chamber. Product manufacturing equipment. The water removal conveyance device includes a strip-shaped portion having a large number of air circulation holes,
An air spray device for blowing air onto leafy vegetables is formed from an air spray member provided with an air spray slit in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the water removal transport device, and the air spray members are arranged above and below the water removal transport device. Provided in
The apparatus for producing a frozen product of leafy vegetables according to claim 1, wherein the air blown onto the leafy vegetables is hot air having a relative humidity of 50% or less at 50 ° C to 80 ° C.   The apparatus for producing frozen products of leafy vegetables according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the water removing transport device is provided with a vibration device that vibrates the belt-like portion up and down. The heat treatment device performs the heat treatment with steam while transporting the washed and cut leafy vegetables with the heating transport device,
It has the conveyance apparatus for relay which relays the leaf vegetable heat-processed with the heat processing apparatus continuously to the conveyance apparatus for water removal, without forced cooling. The apparatus for producing frozen products of the described leafy vegetables.   The freezing apparatus includes a pre-cooling unit that cools the leafy vegetables from the water removing device with cooling air, and a freezing unit that freezes the leafy vegetables cooled in the pre-cooling unit. The frozen product manufacturing apparatus of the leafy vegetable in any one of -4.   The apparatus for producing frozen products of leafy vegetables according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the leafy vegetables are spinach or Japanese mustard spinach.

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