JP2012120460A - Method and apparatus for automatically forming bread dough, and forming tool - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automate a step for forming a twisted shape of bread dough by using a relatively simplified and low-cost apparatus.SOLUTION: A portion 1 on either side of a slit in cuboid-shaped bread dough Pis held by upper half-divided tools 52 and 54, and a slit end-side portion 2 is fixed by a fixing surface 84 of a fixing table 82 and a presser plate 28. By rotating the upper and lower half-divided tools 52 and 54 in this state in the direction of an arrow, a twisted shape is formed in portions 3 and 4 on both sides of the slit of the bread dough P. The rotation of the upper and lower half-divided tools 52 and 54 transmits the rotation of a main gear 72 to the upper and lower half-divided tools 52 and 54 via auxiliary gears 62 and 64 and an idling gear 66. The motion of conveying the bread dough Pheld by work holding hands 26a and 26b to a discharge conveyor 34 by a work presser/discharge table 20 after the forming step is automated by a controller 80.

Description

  The present invention relates to an automatic molding method and apparatus for molding flat bread dough such as confectionery bread into two rows of twisted shapes, and a molding jig incorporated in the automatic molding apparatus.

  Molding of bread dough, such as confectionery bread, was very difficult to mechanize because the dough itself was soft and sticky and the molding shape was complicated. However, with the development of control technology, a technology for automating the formation of bread dough has been developed for a confectionery bread having a relatively simple shape.

For example, Patent Document 1, a method and apparatus for automatically molding a pastry dough P _2, called play Chelmsford shown in FIG. 10 is disclosed. Further, Patent Document 2, automatically entered into a dough bar-like, automatic molding method and apparatus for molding the dough P ₃ concluding shape as shown in FIG. 11 is disclosed.

Special Publication No. 7-500018 Publication Gazette JP 2006-55012 A

Although the bread dough P ₂ or P ₃ shown in FIG. 10 or 11 has a relatively simple shape, these automatic molding apparatuses disclosed in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 are complicated and expensive. It is a costly structure.
On the other hand, there is a bread whose dough is called twisted shape. The Danish even dough P ₁ is first molded into a rectangular parallelepiped shape as shown in Figure 12 (a). In FIG. 12A, the length L is usually 200 to 240 mm, the width W is about 80 mm, and the height T is about 25 mm. Then, slits S penetrating on both sides in the longitudinal direction in the central portion of the dough P ₁ is formed.

Molding process to impart a twisted shape to the dough P _1, as shown in FIG. 13 (a), manually, the slit end portions 1 and 2 the arrows a, bent in the direction b, by putting around the slit S A twisted shape was formed. That is, first, as shown in FIG. 13B, the right slit end side portion 1 is bent clockwise (in the direction of arrow a in FIG. 13A) and wound into the slit S. The state after the winding is shown in FIG. Next, the slit end side portion 2 on the left side is bent clockwise (in the direction of arrow b in FIG. 13A) and wound into the slit S. The state after the winding is shown in FIG. Through this manual operation, twisted shapes were formed in the slit side portions 3 and 4.

  Until now, such a molding operation involves complicated operations, and thus it has been difficult to automate with a machine. Moreover, in order to automate, it was thought that complicated control was required and it was necessary to be a complicated and expensive device.

  An object of the present invention is to make it possible to automate the process of forming a twisted shape as described above on bread dough using a relatively simple and low-cost apparatus.

  In order to achieve this object, the bread dough automatic molding method of the present invention has a rectangular parallelepiped shape, and a slit end side portion of bread dough having a slit formed in the longitudinal direction in the center is bent and passed through the slit, and both sides of the slit are formed. In the automatic dough forming method for forming dough in a twisted shape, one side of the slit end side of the dough is sandwiched between a pair of half cracked jigs and the other end of the slit end side is fixed in the vicinity of the forming jig. It consists of a pre-positioning step for fixing with a device, and a molding step for rotating the molding jig to bend the slit end-side part sandwiched by the molding jig and passing it through the slit, and molding both sides of the slit into a twisted shape. It is.

  In addition, in this specification, “rectangular shape” means not only a rectangular shape in a literal sense, but also a rectangular parallelepiped shape as a whole even if the four corners of the rectangular parallelepiped have an arc shape. Including shapes applicable to molding.

  In the method of the present invention, one side of the slit end side of the bread dough is sandwiched between the molding jigs, and the both sides of the slits can be formed in a twisted shape by rotating the molding jig with the other slit end side part fixed. . As described above, in the automated method of the present invention using the above-mentioned forming jig, the forming jig itself may be light in weight and the operation of the forming jig may be a simple operation. It can be simplified and the cost can be reduced.

  In the method of the present invention, during the molding process of molding the slits on both sides of the slit, the fixing device is moved in the direction away from the molding jig along with the rotation of the molding jig, and the bread dough is stretched to adjust the density of the bread dough. Good. Thus, by adjusting the density of the bread dough, the texture of the twisted bread after baking can be improved.

  In the method of the present invention, after the molding step is finished, an automatic carry-out step of carrying out the dough to the carry-out conveyor while holding the dough by the fixing device may be provided. As a result, the carry-out of the dough after molding can be automated, and the fixing device can also be used as the carry-out device, so that the carry-out device can be simplified and reduced in cost.

  The bread dough automatic molding apparatus of the present invention that can be directly used for the implementation of the method of the present invention is a rectangular parallelepiped shape and a slit end side portion of the bread dough having a slit formed in the longitudinal direction at the center is bent and passed through the slit, In an automatic bread dough forming apparatus that forms both sides of the slit into a twisted shape, a forming jig composed of a pair of half-cracked jigs that can be rotated on separate support bases and can be approached or separated from each other, and the pair of jigs When one of the first drive device for moving the half-cracked jigs closer to or away from each other, the second drive device for rotating the molding jig, and the slit end side portion of the bread dough is sandwiched between the pair of half-cracked jigs, A fixing device for fixing the other of the slit end side portions, a third driving device for driving the fixing device, a first driving device, a second driving device, and a third driving device are controlled. A controller, fixing the other of the slit end side portions with the fixing device, rotating the molding jig while sandwiching one of the slit end side portions with the molding jig, and bending one of the slit end side portions to be a slit The slit is formed in a twisted shape on both sides of the slit.

  In the apparatus of the present invention, one side of the slit end of the bread dough is sandwiched by the molding jig and the other side of the slit is twisted by rotating the molding jig while the other slit end side is fixed by the fixing device. It can be formed into a shape. In addition, since the main devices necessary to make this possible are only a light and small forming jig that can be configured in a small size and its driving device, control device, and fixing device, the driving device and control device can be relatively simplified. . Therefore, the cost of the entire automatic molding apparatus can be reduced.

  In the apparatus of the present invention, it is preferable to provide a stretching mechanism for stretching the bread dough by moving the fixing device in a direction away from the molding jig while the molding jig is rotating. During the molding process, the bread dough is stretched by this stretching mechanism, whereby the density of the bread dough can be adjusted and the texture of the bread after baking can be improved.

  In the apparatus of the present invention, the fixing device may include a gripping hand for gripping the bread dough, and an automatic carry-out device for carrying the bread dough to the carry-out conveyor while holding the bread dough with the gripping hand. As a result, not only the bread dough can be molded, but also the carry-out of the dough after molding can be automated, and the fixing device can also be used as the bread dough carry-out device, so that the carry-out device can be simplified and reduced in cost.

  Further, the molding jig of the present invention is incorporated into the automatic molding apparatus of the present invention, and is composed of a pair of half-cracked jigs that are rotatable on separate support bases and supported so as to be able to approach or separate from each other. While fixing the other of the end side parts, by sandwiching and rotating one of the slit end side parts with the pair of half-cracked jigs, the sandwiched slit end side part is bent and passed through the slit, and the slit end side part is It is formed into a twisted shape.

  By using the molding jig of the present invention, the twisted shape of bread dough can be automated, the molding jig can be reduced in size and weight, and no complicated operation other than rotation is required. Such a configuration can be simplified and reduced in cost.

  In the molding jig of the present invention, each of the pair of half-cracked jigs has a semi-cylindrical shape, rotation transmission gear teeth are formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and the opposing sandwiching sandwiching the bread dough between the pair of half-cracked jigs It is preferable that a part is provided, and a convex part for positioning the bread dough is formed in one of the sandwiched parts and inserted into the slit of the bread dough, and a concave part that fits the convex part is formed in the other of the sandwiched parts.

  The pair of half-cut jigs can rotate the half-cut jig using a drive motor and a power transmission gear, and can simplify the drive apparatus for the half-cut jig. In addition, by forming the concavo-convex portions in a pair of half-cracked jigs, positioning of the half-cut jigs is facilitated, and by positioning the convex portions in the slits of the dough, positioning of the dough relative to the half-cracked jigs Becomes easier.

  In the molding jig of the present invention, the sandwiched portion provided in the pair of half-cracked jigs includes a sandwiching area having a sandwiching surface enlarged in a direction intersecting the longitudinal direction of the bread dough, and a tapered slope inclined to the center side. It is preferable that the bread dough be sandwiched between the bread dough and the sandwiching area disposed on the end side of the bread dough.

  Accordingly, the bread dough can be easily fixed by holding the bread dough in the sandwiching area, thereby increasing the sandwiching area. Moreover, by providing the said inclination area | region, the slit passage of a clamping part can be made easy and damage to bread dough can be prevented. In addition, the clamping area | region is arrange | positioned at the edge side with respect to bread dough, and the bread dough presser can be ensured at the time of rotation by clamping the edge side of bread dough in a clamping area | region. After the bread dough is rotated once, the slit shape is considerably distorted, and the forming jig is poorly passed. On the other hand, by providing the inclined area, the passage of the slit can be improved even after one rotation.

  According to the method of the present invention, a bread dough automatic molding method in which a slit end side portion of a bread dough having a rectangular parallelepiped shape and having a slit formed in the longitudinal direction at the center is bent and passed through the slit, and both sides of the slit are formed in a twisted shape. A first positioning step in which one of the slit end side portions of the bread dough is sandwiched by a molding jig constituted by a pair of half-cracked jigs, and the other of the slit end side portions is fixed by a fixing device in the vicinity of the molding jig, It consists of a molding process that rotates the jig and passes the slit end part sandwiched between the molding jigs through the slit and molds both sides of the slit in a twisted shape, so it is twisted into the bread dough by simple and low-cost means The process of adding can be automated.

  According to the apparatus of the present invention, a bread dough automatic forming apparatus that forms a rectangular parallelepiped shape and folds the slit end side portion of the bread dough having a slit in the longitudinal direction in the center and passes it through the slit, and forms both sides of the slit in a twisted shape. 1, and a first driving device for moving the pair of half-cracked jigs closer to or apart from each other, and a molded jig composed of a pair of half-separated jigs rotatably supported on separate support bases. , And a second driving device for rotating the forming jig, and a fixing device for fixing the other of the slit end side portions when one of the slit end side portions of the bread dough is sandwiched between the pair of half crack jigs, and the fixing A third drive device for driving the device; a controller for controlling the first drive device, the second drive device, and the third drive device; and fixing the other of the slit end side portions Fix with the device, rotate the molding jig while holding one of the slit end side parts with the molding jig, fold one of the slit end side parts through the slit, and mold both sides of the slit into a twisted shape Therefore, the process of adding a twisted shape to the bread dough can be automated with simple and low-cost means.

  Further, the molding jig of the present invention is incorporated in the automatic molding apparatus of the present invention, and is composed of a pair of halved jigs that are rotatable on a support base and supported so as to be able to approach or separate from each other. While holding the other side, sandwiching and rotating one of the slit end side portions with the pair of half-cracked jigs, the sandwiched slit end side portion is bent and passed through the slit, and the slit end side portion is formed into a twisted shape. Therefore, by using the molding jig of the present invention, it is possible to automate the formation of the twisted shape of the bread dough, and to simplify and reduce the configuration of the driving device and the control device of the molding jig incorporated in the automatic molding apparatus. .

It is a front view (AA arrow line view in FIG. 2) of the automatic molding apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention method and apparatus. It is a right view of the automatic molding apparatus. It is a left view of the automatic molding apparatus. It is a block diagram of the control apparatus of the said automatic molding apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the shaping | molding jig of the said automatic shaping | molding apparatus. It is an operation | movement figure at the time of the front | former stage positioning process of the said automatic shaping | molding apparatus (the AA arrow line view in FIG. 2). It is a partially expanded view of the automatic molding apparatus. It is a perspective view which shows operation | movement of the shaping | molding jig of the said automatic shaping | molding apparatus, (a) is before rotation, (b) is during rotation, (c) shows after rotation. It is an operation | movement figure at the time of carrying out after the shaping | molding process of the said automatic shaping | molding apparatus (AA arrow directional view in FIG. 2). It is a front view which shows an example of the shape | molded dough outside the scope of the present invention. It is a front view which shows another example of the dough molded outside the scope of the present invention. It is a perspective view of the bread dough of this invention object, (a) is the state before shaping | molding, (b) is the state in the middle of shaping | molding, (c) shows the state after shaping | molding. It is sectional drawing of the bread dough of this invention object, (a) is the state before shaping | molding, (b) is the state in the middle of shaping | molding, (c) shows the state after shaping | molding.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the component parts described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention to that unless otherwise specified.

  An embodiment of the method and apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, in the automatic molding apparatus 10 according to the present embodiment, each component device is attached to a support plate 12. An air cylinder 14 is attached to the upper left side of the support plate 12 in the horizontal direction. A housing 16 b of another air cylinder 16 is attached to the piston 14 a of the air cylinder 14. The piston 16a of the air cylinder 16 is directed vertically, and the housing 16b slides on a pair of guide rails 18a and 18b fixed to the support plate 12 in the horizontal direction.

At the tip of the piston 16a of the air cylinder 16, a work presser carry-out stand 20 is attached. An air cylinder 22 (see FIG. 3) for gripping a workpiece and an air cylinder 24 for pressing the workpiece are attached to the workpiece pressing / carrying table 20. A pair of workpiece gripping hands 26 a and 26 b are attached to both ends of the piston 22 a of the air cylinder 22. The work gripping hands 26a and 26b have support portions 27a and 27b whose lower ends are bent inward. Work gripping hand 26a, 26b may be actuated by one another closer or away in the direction of the arrow in the air cylinder 22, gripping the dough P ₁ or release.

An L-shaped presser plate 28 is attached to the piston 24 a of the air cylinder 24. The lower surface of the pressing plate 28, retainer 30 to secure the fixed dough P ₁ projects downward is mounted. In addition, the opening part 32 is provided in the center of the support plate 12, and the carrying-out conveyor 34 is provided in the horizontal direction through the opening part 32.

  An air cylinder 38 is disposed above and below the right side region of the support plate 12 with the support plate 36 interposed therebetween. The piston 38a of the air cylinder 38 moves forward and backward. At the tip of the piston 16a, an L-shaped support plate 40 and a support plate 42 having a rectangular surface arranged in the vertical direction are mounted. A pair of guide rails 44 a and 44 b are attached to the support plate 12 in the vertical direction. The support plates 40 and 42 are slidably supported by the guide rails 44 a and 44 b via the slide member 43.

  In the support plate 40, an auxiliary motor 46 and a stopper 48 are attached to the support plate 42 via a support base 47. The auxiliary gear 56 is rotatably mounted on the support plate 42, the output shaft of the motor 46 is connected to the auxiliary gear 56, and the auxiliary gear 56 is rotationally driven by the auxiliary motor 46. A half-cracked jig 52 is disposed below the support plate 42. The half-cracked jig 52 is provided with a hole 524 into which the tip of the stopper 48 is inserted. By inserting the tip of the stopper 48 into the hole 524, the half-cracked jig 52 is fixed to the support plate 42. It has become. The auxiliary gear 56 and a gear tooth 520 (described later) provided on the outer peripheral surface of the upper and lower half crack jig 52 mesh with each other. The upper half-breaking jig 52 is supplementarily rotated by the auxiliary motor 46.

  A support plate 58 having a square surface is fixed to the support plate 12 via a support base 60 below the air cylinder 38. A half-cracked jig 54 is rotatably disposed above the support plate 58, and below the half-cracked jig 54, auxiliary gears 62 and 64 and an idle gear 66 disposed between the auxiliary gears 62 and 64 are supported. The plate 58 is rotatably mounted. A motor 68 is attached to the support plate 12 via a support base 70 below the support plate 58. Below the auxiliary gear 62, a main gear 72 connected to the output shaft 68a of the main motor 68 is provided.

As shown in FIG. 7, the main gear 72 and the auxiliary gear 62 are engaged with each other, and the auxiliary gear 62 and gear teeth 540 and an idle gear 66 described later provided on the outer peripheral surface of the lower half-cracked jig 54 are engaged with each other. . Further, the auxiliary gear 64 is engaged with the gear teeth 540 and the idle gear 66.
Accordingly, when the main gear 72 is rotated in the arrow direction by the main motor 68, the half-cracked jig 54 is rotated in the arrow direction via each gear. A disk 74 is mounted coaxially with the auxiliary gear 62, and the rotation of the disk 74 is transmitted to the encoder 78 via the transmission belt 76. Thereby, the total rotation angle of the half-cracked jig 54 can be detected by the encoder 78.

The detection value of the encoder 78 is sent to the controller 80 shown in FIG. Near the half crack jig 54, the fixing base 82 having a fixing surface 84 for mounting the slit end portion 2 of the dough P ₁ is provided. The fixing surface 84 is disposed slightly below the clamping surface of the half-cracked jig 54 on which the slit end side portion 1 is placed.

  FIG. 4 shows a control device of the automatic molding apparatus 10. In FIG. 4, the controller 80 controls the air supply / discharge mechanism 86 of the air cylinders 14, 16, 22, 24 and 38 to operate each air cylinder. As a result, the work holder / carrying table 20 is moved, and the upper half crack jig 52 is moved closer to or away from the lower half crack jig 54.

  The controller 80 controls the driving device 88 of the stopper 48. That is, when the upper half-cracked jig 52 is separated from the lower half-cracked jig 54, the stopper 48 is fitted into the hole 524 of the upper half-cracked jig 52, and the upper half-cracked jig 52 is attached to the support plate 42 (see FIG. 1). Fix it. When the upper half-cracked jig 52 is in contact with the lower half-cracked jig 54, the stopper 48 is pulled out from the hole, and the upper half-cracked jig 52 is separated from the support plate 42 so that it can rotate following the rotation of the lower half-cracked jig 54. To.

  In addition, the controller 80 controls the auxiliary motor 46 and the main motor 68 to control the rotation timing or stop timing of the upper half crack jig 52 and the lower half crack jig 54.

  FIG. 5 shows a configuration of a molding jig 50 composed of an upper half crack jig 52 and a lower half crack jig 54. In FIG. 5, the upper and lower half crack jigs 52 and 54 each have a semi-cylindrical shape, and two rows of gear teeth 520 and 540 are provided on the outer peripheral surface. A semicircular recess is formed at the lower end of the support plate 42, and the upper half crack jig 52 has a groove 522 engraved between the two rows of gear teeth 520 into which the end of the semicircular recess fits. . A hole 524 into which the tip of the stopper 48 is fitted is formed in the side surface.

  The upper half-cracked jig 52 is formed with a clamping portion 526 extending in a direction orthogonal to the radial direction of the half-cylindrical half-cracked jig main body (hereinafter referred to as “width direction of the half-cracked jig main body”). The clamping part 526 is formed with a clamping surface 528 in the horizontal direction. On both sides of the clamping part 526, concave parts 534a and 534b into which convex parts 552a and 552b of a lower half-cracked jig 54 described later are fitted are engraved. Yes. The clamping part 526 includes a clamping region 530 having an enlarged clamping surface 528 and an inclined region 532 that is tapered to facilitate passage of the slit S.

  The lower half crack jig 54 is provided with a groove 542 into which the end of a semicircular recess provided at the upper end of the support plate 58 is inserted between the two rows of gear teeth 540 and is opposed to the clamping part 526. In addition, a clamping part 544 extending in the width direction of the half-cracked jig body is provided. The clamping part 544 is formed with a clamping surface 546 in the horizontal direction, and on both sides of the clamping part 544, convex parts 552a and 552b that fit into the concave parts 534a and 534b of the upper half crack jig 52 are provided. The clamping part 544 includes a clamping region 548 having a clamping surface 546 that is enlarged in the width direction of the half-cracked jig body, and an inclined region 550 that inclines toward the center so as to taper and facilitates passage of the slit S. Become.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 7, the holding surface 528 of the upper half-cracked jig 52 is provided with three convex portions 536 extending in the width direction of the half-cracked jig body, while the lower half-cracked jig 54 is provided. The sandwiching portion 544 includes two convex portions 554 extending in the width direction of the half-cracked jig body. The convex portions 536 and the convex portions 554 are alternately arranged, and the holding force of the bread dough P ₁ can be increased by sandwiching the bread dough P ₁ from both sides with these convex portions.

In this configuration, an automatic molding procedure by the automatic molding apparatus 10 will be described. Provided input conveyor (not shown) is, dough P ₁ of rectangular shape shown in FIG. 12 (a) is carried to a fixing table 82 by input conveyor. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6, the upper half-cracked jig 52 is located away from the lower half-cracked jig 54.

The operator picks up the dough P ₁ which is carried to the fixing stand 82, as shown in FIG. 6, as the convex portion 552a of the lower halves jig 54 is inserted into the slit S of the dough P _1, the dough P ₁ One slit end portion 1 is placed on the clamping surface 546 of the lower half-cracked jig 54. At the same time, the other slit end side portion 2 of the bread dough P ₁ is placed on the fixed surface 84 of the fixed base 82.

Then, by projecting the piston 14a of the air cylinder 14 moves the work holding and unloading platform 20 of dough P ₁ to above the slit end side portion 2. Next, the piston 16 a of the air cylinder 14 is protruded downward, the presser 30 provided on the lower surface of the presser plate 28 is pressed against the slit end side portion 2, and the slit end side portion 2 is fixed on the fixing surface 84. Next, the piston 38a of the air cylinder 38 is protruded downward, and the upper half crack jig 52 is brought into contact with the lower half crack jig 54 as shown in FIG.

Thus, a state in which in a sandwich sites 526,544 of the upper and lower halves jig 52 to sandwich the slit end portion 1 of the dough _{P 1.} At this time, the clamping portions 526 and 544, clamping regions 530,548 are disposed on the end side of the dough _{P 1} the inclined region 532,550. Next, the stopper 48 is pulled out from the hole 524 by the controller 80, and the fixing relationship between the support plate 12 and the upper half crack jig 52 is eliminated. Then, by driving the main motor 68, the molding jig 50 is rotated in the arrow direction, starting the molding process of the dough P _1. Although the upper half crack jig 52 can be rotated by the auxiliary motor 46 via the auxiliary gear 56, the auxiliary motor 46 is used as an auxiliary.

The procedure of the molding process is shown in FIG. 8A shows a state before the molding jig 50 is rotated, FIG. 8B shows a state after one rotation in the direction of the arrow, and FIG. 8C shows a state after two rotations. Thus, twisted shape is formed in the slit sides site 3,4 dough P _1. In synchronism with the rotation of the molding jig 50 actuates the air cylinder 24, is moved in the direction to separate the slit end portion 2 of the dough P ₁ from the slit end portion 1. In this operation, can adjust the density of the dough P _1, it is possible to have a crispness in texture twist bread after baking.

  The encoder 78 detects that the forming jig 50 has rotated twice, and sends a detection signal to the controller 80. When the controller 80 receives the detection signal, the controller 80 stops the motor 68. When the molding process is completed, the controller 80 causes the stopper 48 to protrude, the tip of the stopper 48 is fitted into the hole 524, and the upper half crack jig 52 is fixed to the support plate 42. Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the piston 38a of the air cylinder 38 is retracted, and the support plate 42 and the upper half crack jig 52 are pulled upward.

Then, by operating the air cylinder 22, the workpiece gripping hand 26a, to approximate 26b, gripping the dough _{P 1} from both sides. Next, the air cylinder 16 is operated, and the work presser / carrying table 20 is pulled up. Then, by operating the air cylinder 14 to move the dough P ₁ to above the unloading conveyor 34. Next, the piston 16 a of the air cylinder 16 is protruded, and the bread dough P ₁ is placed on the carry-out conveyor 34. Then, by operating the air cylinder 22, the workpiece gripping hand 26a, apart 26b, releasing the workpiece gripping hand 26a, and 26b from dough _{P 1.} Thus, dough P ₁ formed a twisted shape is carried out to place at the discharge conveyor 34 performs the following firing step.

According to this embodiment, the slit side portions 3 and 4 can be easily formed into a twisted shape by sandwiching one slit end side portion 1 of the bread dough P ₁ with the forming jig 50 and rotating the forming jig 50. Further, since the forming jig 50 is small and light, and the forming jig 50 and the work presser / carrying table 20 do not require complicated operations, the driving device and the control device of the automatic forming apparatus 10 can be relatively simplified. Therefore, the entire automatic molding apparatus can be reduced in size and cost.

Further, in the molding process, simultaneously with the rotation of the molding jig 50 is moved in a direction away fixing table 82 from the molding jig 50, since to perform the density adjustment of the dough P ₁ by extending the dough P _1, the oven The texture of the later twisted bread can be improved.
Further, the workpiece gripping hand 26a provided on the work holding and unloading platform 20, the 26b and the pressing member 30, can be performed and the pressing of the dough P ₁ during the molding process, the unloading after molding process at the same time, by this, together they can be automated pressing and unloading operations of dough P _1, can these mechanisms to simplify and cost.

Further, since the upper and lower half-cracked jigs 52 and 54 constituting the molding jig 50 are lightweight, their driving is easy and their operations are not complicated. Therefore, the motors 46 and 68 and the power transmission gear can be used simply and easily. A low-cost drive mechanism can be obtained. In addition, since the concave portions 534a and 534b and the convex portions 552a and 552b that are fitted to each other are provided in the sandwiching portions 526 and 544 formed in the pair of the half jigs 52 and 54, positioning of the half jigs is facilitated. . Further, since the slit S of the dough P ₁ so as to insert the convex portion 552a of the lower halves jig 54 facilitates the positioning of the dough P _1.

Further, clamping portions 526 and 544 provided on the upper and lower halves jig 52, because it has a clamping region 530,548, which is enlarged in the width direction of the half-split jig body, it can increase the clamping force on the dough _{P 1,} the dough _{P 1} can be reliably fixed. Further, tapers inclined to the center side (slit S side of the dough P1), since having a sloped region 534,550 to facilitate the passage of the slit S, clamping portions 526,544 during rotation is caught by the dough _{P 1} it is possible to prevent the, it is possible to prevent damage to the dough P _1.

Further, the holding area 530,548 located at the end side of the inclined region 534,550 relative to dough _{P 1,} by clamping the end side of the dough _{P 1} in該挟lifting region, the pressing of the dough _{P 1} during rotation You can be sure. After the bread dough is rotated once, the shape of the slit S is considerably distorted, and the streets of the upper and lower half crack jigs 52 and 54 are deteriorated. On the other hand, by providing the inclined region, the passage of the slit S can be improved even after one rotation.

Conventionally, when molding is performed manually by an operator, at least 4 to 5 operators are required. In contrast, by performing the automatic molding of this embodiment, it requires only one operator for placing the dough P ₁ which has been conveyed to the automatic molding device clamping face 546 of the lower halves jig 54, and the molding operation Can be greatly improved.

  According to the present invention, the process of forming a twisted shape on bread dough can be automated with a simple and low-cost mechanism, the number of operators can be reduced, and work efficiency can be greatly improved.

1, 2 Slit end side part 3, 4 Slit both side part 10 Automatic molding device 12 Support plate 14, 16, 22, 24 Air cylinder (third drive device)
38 Air cylinder (first drive unit)
14a, 16a, 22a, 24a, 38a Piston 16b Air cylinder housing 18a, 18b, 44a, 44b Guide rail 20 Workpiece holding and unloading base (fixing device)
26a, 26b Workpiece gripping hand 27a, 27b Support portion 28 Presser plate (fixing device)
30 Presser (same as above)
32 Opening 34 Carry-out conveyor 36, 40, 42, 58 Support plate 43 Slide member 46 Auxiliary motor 68 Main motor (second drive device)
47, 60, 70 Support base 48 Stopper 50 Molding jig 52 Upper half crack jig 520 Gear teeth 522 Concave groove 524 Hole 526 Holding part 528 Holding surface 530 Holding area 532 Inclination area 534a, 534b, 536 Recess 54 Lower half crack jig 540 Gear Teeth 542 Concave groove 544 Clamping part 546 Clamping surface 548 Clamping area 550 Inclination area 552a, 552b, 554 Convex part 56, 62, 64 Auxiliary gear 66 Idle gear 68a Output shaft 72 Main gear 74 Disc 76 Transmission Delt 78 Encoder 80 Controller 82 Fixed Table 84 Fixed surface 86 Air supply / discharge mechanism 88 Drive device P ₁ , P ₂ , P ₃ Bread dough S Slit

Claims (9)

In a bread dough automatic forming method in which a slit end side portion of bread dough having a rectangular parallelepiped shape and having a slit formed in the longitudinal direction is bent and passed through the slit, and both sides of the slit are formed into a twisted shape,
A pre-positioning step in which one of the slit end side portions of the bread dough is sandwiched between a molding jig constituted by a pair of half-cracked jigs, and the other of the slit end side portions is fixed by a fixing device in the vicinity of the molding jig;
A method of automatically forming bread dough, comprising: a molding step of rotating the molding jig to bend the slit end side portion sandwiched between the molding jigs and passing it through the slit, and molding both sides of the slit into a twisted shape. .   2. The bread dough according to claim 1, wherein in the molding step, the fixing device is moved in a direction away from the molding jig along with the rotation of the molding jig, and the bread dough is stretched to adjust the density of the bread dough. Automatic molding method.   3. The bread dough automatic forming method according to claim 1, further comprising an automatic carry-out step of carrying out the bread dough to a carry-out conveyor while holding the bread dough by the fixing device after completion of the forming step. In a bread dough automatic molding apparatus that forms a rectangular parallelepiped shape, folds the slit end side part of the bread dough having a slit formed in the center in the longitudinal direction, passes through the slit, and forms both sides of the slit into a twisted shape,
A molded jig composed of a pair of half-cracked jigs that are rotatable on separate support bases and supported so as to approach or separate from each other;
A first driving device for approaching or separating the pair of half-cracked jigs from each other, and a second driving device for rotating the molding jig;
When one of the slit end side portions of the bread dough is sandwiched between the pair of half-cracked jigs, a fixing device for fixing the other of the slit end side portions and a third driving device for driving the fixing device;
A controller for controlling the first drive device, the second drive device, and the third drive device,
Fix the other of the slit end side parts with the fixing device, rotate the molding jig while holding one of the slit end side parts with the molding jig, bend one of the slit end side parts and pass it through the slit, An automatic bread dough forming apparatus characterized in that a part is formed into a twisted shape.   5. The bread dough automatic forming apparatus according to claim 4, further comprising a drawing mechanism that stretches the bread dough by moving the fixing device in a direction away from the forming jig during rotation of the forming jig.   6. The bread dough according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the fixing device includes a gripping hand that grips the bread dough, and an automatic carry-out device that conveys the bread dough to the carry-out conveyor while holding the bread dough with the gripping hand. Automatic molding device. In a molding jig incorporated in an automatic bread dough forming apparatus that forms a rectangular parallelepiped shape and folds the slit end side portion of the bread dough having a slit in the center in the longitudinal direction and passes it through the slit, and forms both sides of the slit into a twisted shape.
It is composed of a pair of half-cracked jigs that are rotatable on the support base and supported so as to be able to approach or separate from each other, and while fixing the other of the slit end side parts of bread dough, one of the slit end side parts with the pair of half cracked jigs A molding jig characterized in that by sandwiching and rotating, the slit end side portion sandwiched is bent and passed through the slit, and the slit end side portion is molded into a twisted shape. Each of the pair of half-cracked jigs has a semi-cylindrical shape, and rotation transmission gear teeth are formed on the outer peripheral surface thereof.
The pair of half-cracked jigs are provided with opposing sandwiching portions for sandwiching the bread dough, and a convex portion for positioning the bread dough is formed at one of the sandwiching portions and the convex portion is formed at the other of the sandwiching portions. The molding jig according to claim 7, wherein a concave portion to be fitted is formed.   The clamping part is formed by a clamping region having a clamping surface enlarged in a direction intersecting with the longitudinal direction of the bread dough, and a tapered inclined region inclined toward the center side, and the clamping region is formed on the end side of the bread dough. The forming jig according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the forming jig sandwiches bread dough.

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