JP2013000884A - Bread loaf feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a bread loaf feeding device capable of efficient slicing operation while keeping a thickness of a slice of bread constant.SOLUTION: A plurality of protrusions 21b are formed in a grid pattern on bread loaf holding surfaces 21a of feed belts 21. The protrusions 21b are pushed against surfaces of a loaf of bread 100 to prevent the loaf of bread 100 from slipping down and such to keep the thickness of the slice of bread constant. The bread loaf holding surfaces 21a of the feed belts 21 may hold any two facing surfaces among four side faces of the loaf of bread 100.

Description

  The present invention relates to a bread lump feeding device that holds a block-shaped bread lump and sends it to a rotary slicer, and is used for a commercial bread slicing apparatus that slices a lump-shaped bread into a plurality of bread pieces having a predetermined slice thickness.

  Patent Document 1 describes a supply device (bread loaf feeding device) that feeds a horizontal bread loaf placed on a transfer table to a round blade that rotates about a horizontal axis, but a pusher that presses the rear end surface of the bread loaf. In addition, excessive or insufficient pressing force is likely to occur, and the slice thickness of the bread pieces may vary.

JP 2008-290160 A

  The subject of this invention is providing the bread lump feeder which can perform a slice operation | work efficiently, maintaining the slice thickness of a bread piece constant.

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides:
In order to slice into a plurality of bread pieces having a predetermined slice thickness with a rotary slicer, a bread block feeding device that holds a vertical block-shaped bread block in a pseudo rectangular parallelepiped shape and feeds it downward from above the rotary slicer There,
A pair of feed belts that are respectively provided corresponding to two opposite side surfaces of the four side surfaces of the bread loaf and sandwich the bread loaf;
A drive device that synchronizes the pair of feed belts and intermittently sends them downwards;
A plurality of protrusions protrude from the surface of each feed belt facing the bread loaf, and the pair of feed belts push the bread loaf on both sides by pressing the side surfaces of the bread loaf with the tips of the plurality of protrusions pressing the side surfaces of the bread loaf. And is sent to the rotary slicer.

  The bread lump feeding device includes a feed belt provided to face the bread lump and a drive device that intermittently feeds the feed belt. By sandwiching the bread chunks with a pair of feed belts arranged opposite to each other and feeding them intermittently, the slice operation can be efficiently performed while maintaining the slice thickness of the bread pieces constant. In addition, since a protrusion is formed on the bread loaf clamping surface (surface facing the bread loaf) of the feed belt, pressing the protrusion against the surface of the bread loaf prevents the loaf of the bread loaf and reduces the slice thickness of the bread piece. It becomes easy to keep it constant.

  The direction of feeding the bread block may be set to a direction that intersects the reciprocating drive path of the rotary slicer, and includes a case where the direction is perpendicular to the transport surface (for example, the vertical direction).

  When the holding member that holds the lower end portion of the bread loaf in a state where the slice thickness to be sliced next is maintained when the feed belt is stopped by feeding the bread loave below the bread loaf feeder, By supporting the bread block from below with the holding member, uneven slice thickness of the bread pieces can be prevented. In addition, when a plurality of bread pieces are sliced from the bread loaf and the end bread piece remaining at the end is less than a predetermined slice thickness, even if the feeding belt cannot feed or hold the end bread pieces, Can be held.

  When the holding member described above has a support portion that supports the lower end portion of the bread loaf from below and a window hole that allows the sliced bread pieces to pass through, and moves together with the rotary slicer, The bread loaf that has been fed is supported by the support during the feeding operation of the bread loaf by the feeding device, and held with the bread loaf feeding device and the rotary slicer so that the sliced bread pieces pass through the window hole during the slicing operation by the rotary slicer. The member can be operated in cooperation.

The schematic front view which shows one Example of the bread slice apparatus containing the bread lump feeder which concerns on this invention. The front view and bottom view which show schematic structure of the principal part of a bread slice apparatus. The bottom view of the principal part at the time of a slice operation | movement. Explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement which slices a bread piece from a bread lump. The front view which shows schematic structure of the bread lump feeder which concerns on this invention. The top view which shows the conveyance state of the sliced bread piece. The top view which shows the conveyance state following FIG. The front view and side view which show schematic structure of an ear drop apparatus. Explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement which drops ears from a bread piece. Explanatory drawing which shows the modification of the operation | movement which slices a bread piece from a bread lump.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to examples shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an embodiment of a bread slicing apparatus including a bread lump feeder according to the present invention. A bread slicing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is used to slice a bread lump 100 baked in a block shape in an oven (not shown) into a plurality of bread pieces 101 having a slice thickness α suitable for sandwiches, for example. The block-shaped bread loaf 100 generally has a shape similar to a rectangular parallelepiped, and its slice surface has a pseudo-rectangular shape. However, in the following description, the bread loaf 100 has a regular quadrangular prism shape and its slice surface. May be treated as a square.

  This bread slicing device 1 includes a bread loaf feeding device 2 that intermittently feeds the loaf loaf 100 downward, and a disk-shaped rotary slicer 3 that slices the lower end portion of the bread loaf 100 fed by the bread loaf feeding device 2. A slicer reciprocating drive device 4 that reciprocates the rotary slicer 3 and a conveyor 5 that sequentially conveys a plurality of bread pieces 101 sliced by the rotary slicer 3 downstream. The conveyor 5 includes a first belt conveyor 51 positioned below the rotary slicer 3, a second belt conveyor 52 positioned downstream thereof, a third belt conveyor 53 positioned further downstream thereof, and a further downstream side. And a fourth belt conveyor 54 for the sandwich process.

  The second belt conveyor 52 is provided with an ear drop device 6 for cutting the ear portion 102 of the bread piece 101. The ear portion 102 is crushed across the terminal end (downstream end) of the second belt conveyor 52 (upstream conveyor) and the start end (upstream end) of the third belt conveyor 53 (downstream conveyor). A crushing device 7 for crushing to 104 and a wind-powered conveying device 8 for conveying the bread crumbs 104 to a predetermined position by wind force are provided. The bread slicing device 1 includes a bread lump supply device 91 that supplies the bread lump 100 to the bread lump feeding device 2 one by one, and the bread pieces 101 on the first belt conveyor 51 before the ear drop device 6 drops the ears. An aligning device 92 for aligning the positions in a certain state, and a removing device 93 for removing the end bread pieces 105 (see FIG. 6) sliced first and last from one bread loaf 100 from the first belt conveyor 51 are also provided. Is provided.

  Further, the third belt conveyor 53 is provided with a butter coating device 94, which temporarily coats the surface of the transfer roller 94b rotating the butter (for example, mustard butter) stored in the hopper 94a, and cuts off the ear portion 102. The butter is applied to the sliced surface of the obtained earless bread piece 103 (takes a kind of transfer form). The auxiliary roller 94c is opposed to the transfer roller 94b in order to keep the amount of downward bending of the earless bread piece 103 and the third belt conveyor 53 due to the pressing of the transfer roller 94b within a predetermined range. In contact with the lower surface. The transfer roller 94b is rotationally driven by a motor or the like, but the auxiliary roller 94c may be in a non-driven idle state.

  The disc-shaped rotary slicer 3 has an acute angle (θ = 5 ° to 30 °) with respect to the conveyance surface 51a (horizontal plane) of the first belt conveyor 51 so that the plate surface becomes higher toward the slice start side. Grade). The slicer reciprocating drive device 4 drives the rotary slicer 3 to reciprocate in an acute inclination direction parallel to the inclined posture. The slicer reciprocating drive device 4 causes the rotary slicer 3 to perform a slicing operation with a forward stroke that is obliquely downward, and to perform a retreat operation with a backward stroke that is obliquely upward. The bread lump feeding device 2 intermittently feeds the bread lump 100 from above at a distance corresponding to the slice thickness α in a direction intersecting with the reciprocating drive trajectory of the rotary slicer 3 (direction orthogonal in the figure). Since the direction in which the bread lump 100 is sent and the inclined orbit of the rotary slicer 3 are orthogonal to each other in this way, the bread slice 100 is sliced into right-angled bread pieces 101. Further, the feed direction of the bread loaf feeder 2 has an inclination of an inclination angle θ with respect to a direction perpendicular to the transport surface 51 a of the first belt conveyor 51.

  The bread lump supply device 91 includes a vertical conveyor 91a that is connected by a plurality of vertical frames 91b and is guided by a fixed guide frame 91c to move around. When a rectangular parallelepiped-shaped or square prism-shaped bread loaf 100 is inserted one by one between the vertical frames 91b and the vertical conveyor 91a is circulated, the top bread loom 100 is obliquely positioned above the bread loaf feeder 2 by the guide frame 91c ( The posture is changed to an inclination angle θ), and it is dropped and supplied to the bread lump feeder 2.

  FIG. 5 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of the bread lump feeder according to the present invention. The bread lump feeder 2 synchronizes the pair of feed belts 21 provided with the bread lump clamping surfaces 21a for holding the bread lump 100 facing each other and the pair of feed belts 21 in a downward direction intermittently. Gear transmission device 23 (drive device). In order to transmit the rotation of the feed motor 22 to the feed belts 21 at the same time, the gear transmission 23 has three sets of gears (bevel gears in the figure) arranged on one drive shaft 24. A timing belt is used. In addition, a plurality of protrusions 21b are formed in a grid pattern on the bread lump sandwiching surface 21a of the feed belt 21, and the protrusions 21b are pressed against the surface of the bread lump 100 to prevent the bread lump 100 from slipping off. The slice thickness α of 101 is kept constant. In addition, the bread lump clamping surface 21 a of the feed belt 21 may be any one of the two facing surfaces of the four side surfaces of the bread lump 100.

  FIG. 2 is a front view and a bottom view showing a schematic configuration of a main part (mainly a rotary slicer and a slicer reciprocating drive device) of the bread slicer. The rotary slicer 3 is supported by the reciprocating frame 31 (slider) in a posture (tilt angle θ) inclined at an acute angle with respect to the first belt conveyor 51 (conveying surface 51a) so as to become higher toward the slice start side, and reciprocally moves The slicer motor 32 fixed to the frame 31 is rotationally driven via a slicer rotating belt 33. The reciprocating frame 31 is guided by a fixed frame 41 (guide frame) whose position is fixed so that the reciprocating frame 31 reciprocates along an acutely inclined direction inclined at an acute angle with respect to the first belt conveyor 51 so as to become higher toward the slice start side. Is done. The slicer reciprocating drive device 4 is connected to the reciprocating frame 31 and the fixed frame 41, and causes the rotary slicer 3 and the slicer motor 32 to be guided together with the reciprocating frame 31 to the fixed frame 41 in the acute inclination direction. While reciprocating.

  Specifically, the rotation of the reciprocating drive motor 42 fixed to the fixed frame 41 is transmitted by the belt 43 to the drive shaft 44 rotatably supported by the fixed frame 41 and the rotation arm 45 integral with the drive shaft 44. Is done. Two arm holding rails 31b are fixed to the reciprocating frame 31 in the front-rear direction (a direction orthogonal to the traveling direction of the first belt conveyor 51), and the tip 45a of the rotating arm 45 is between the arm holding rails 31b and 31b. (That is, the groove) is slidably inserted in the front-rear direction. Two linear rails 31 a are fixed to the reciprocating frame 31 in parallel in the left-right direction (advancing direction of the first belt conveyor 51), and these linear rails 31 a are fixed in parallel to the fixed frame 41 in the left-right direction. Each is guided by a straight guide 41a. Although the linear guide member (commonly called linear guide) is formed by the linear rail 31a on the moving side and the linear guide 41a on the fixed side, the fixed side may be a rail and the moving side may be a guide.

  Therefore, when the rotary arm 45 rotates 180 ° from the position of FIG. 2B to the position of FIG. 3, the tip 45a of the rotary arm 45 slides between the arm holding rails 31b and 31b in the front-rear direction, The reciprocating frame 31 moves linearly in the left-right direction with respect to the fixed frame 41 by the sliding guide between the linear rail 31a and the linear guide 41a. As described above, the rotary slicer 3 and the slicer motor 32 are integrally guided by the fixed frame 41 to reciprocate, whereby the rotation of the rotary slicer 3 during slicing and the reciprocation in the acute inclination direction (acute inclination trajectory). Is stable, and the sliced surface of the bread piece 101 is also visually beautiful. The rotary arm 45 and the arm holding rails 31b and 31b constitute a reciprocating slider crank mechanism. However, when the gap between the arm holding rails 31b and 31b is considered as a cam groove, the tip of the rotary arm 45 is provided. 45a can also be regarded as a cam follower.

  FIG. 2 also shows a mechanism 46 for adjusting the inclination angle θ by a long hole and a screw. The adjusting mechanism 46 adjusts the inclination angle θ of the rotary slicer 3 and the slicer reciprocating drive device 4 within a range of about ± 5 °, for example, to make the bread loaf 100 and the size of the bread piece 101 (especially the slice thickness α). The falling posture of the bread piece 101 can be finely adjusted according to the above.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a plate-like bread piece guide 34 (guide member) is fixed to the tip of the reciprocating frame 31 (on the bread lump feeder 2 side), and is synchronized with the reciprocating motion of the rotary slicer 3. Move together. The tip of the bread piece guide 34 is located immediately after and immediately below the cutting edge of the rotary slicer 3 cut into the bread lump 100. The bread piece guide 34 guides the bread piece 101 so that the bread piece 101 sliced by the rotary slicer 3 at the time of slicing falls on the first belt conveyor 51 in an oblique posture, and is positioned on the lower surface side of the rotary slicer 3. The slicer rotating belt 33, the pulley 33a, the rotating shaft 33b and the like are covered so as not to interfere with the pan piece 101. The bread piece guide 34 is disposed so as to intersect and form a guide angle δ which is an elevation angle with respect to the inclined track of the rotary slicer 3 (δ = about 10 ° to 60 °).

  Here, since the guide angle δ (for example, δ≈30 °) of the pan piece guide 34 is set larger than the inclination angle θ (for example, θ≈15 °) of the inclined track, the bread sliced by the rotary slicer 3 is used. The piece 101 can be guided in an oblique posture so as to be directed downward toward the slice start side (downstream side in the transport direction of the first belt conveyor 51) (see FIG. 4A). In this way, the bread piece 101 can be guided in an oblique posture by the bread piece guide 34 and the landing side can be determined first, so that the falling posture of the bread piece 101 is stabilized and the disturbance of the dropping position can be reduced. .

  Further, a plate-like bread lump stopper 35 (holding member) is also extended at the tip of the reciprocating frame 31 and moves integrally with the rotary slicer 3. The bread loaf stopper 35 includes a support portion 35a that supports the lower end portion of the bread loaf 100 from below, and a rectangular window hole 35b through which the bread piece 101 sliced by the rotary slicer 3 passes. By supporting the bread loaf 100 from below with the support portion 35a, for example, the feed force of the feed belt 21 can be adjusted so that the bread piece 101 is not compressed more than necessary in the thickness direction, and the slice thickness of the bread piece 101 is increased. It is possible to prevent the irregularity of α. However, if the slice thickness α of the bread piece 101 can be secured by intermittent feeding and holding of the bread loaf 100 by the bread loaf feeding device 2, the support portion 35a may not be provided.

  The window hole 35 b is disposed below the rotary slicer 3 so as to face the bread piece guide 34. By the opposing arrangement of the window hole 35b and the bread piece guide 34, the bread piece 101 sliced by the rotary slicer 3 is obliquely tilted by the bread piece guide 34 while protecting it from interference with the pulley 33a, the rotary shaft 33b, etc. of the rotary slicer 3. It is easy to guide downward and guide to the window hole 35b.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, when the slice surface of the bread lump 100 is considered as a square having a length LS of one side, the slicer diameter DM required for cutting is:
DM> 2 ^1/2 × LS
It is expressed. The moving stroke ST of the rotary slicer 3 necessary for cutting (that is, the turning diameter of the rotary arm 45) is
ST> 2 ^1/2 × LS
It is expressed. Thus, in this embodiment, since the bread piece guide 34 is provided, the slicer diameter DM should be larger than 2 ^1/2 ≈1.41 times the length LS of one side, and the moving stroke ST is equal to the slicer diameter DM. Equal to or greater than

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation of slicing a bread piece from the bread loaf. With the bread lump feeder 2 stopped by feeding the bread lump 100 by the slice thickness α, the rotary slicer 3 slices the bread piece 101 from the lower end of the bread lump 100 by the forward stroke along the acute inclined trajectory (FIG. 4). (A)). During the slicing operation of the rotary slicer 3, the window hole 35b passes (falls) the bread piece 101 sliced by the rotary slicer 3 and guided by the bread piece guide 34, and the support portion 35a does not disturb the slicing operation. It is retracted beyond the bread lump feeder 2.

  Next, the rotary slicer 3 retreats from the bread loaf 100 by the reverse stroke, and the bread loaf feeding device 2 feeds the bread loaf 100 by the next slice thickness α (FIG. 4B). When the rotary slicer 3 is retracted, the support portion 35a is positioned below the bread lump feeding device 2, holds the lower end portion of the bread lump 100 while maintaining the slice thickness α to be sliced next, and also supports the window hole 35b and the bread slice. The piece guide 34 is retracted together with the rotary slicer 3.

  With the bread lump feeder 2 stopped, the rotary slicer 3 again moves the forward stroke along the acute inclined trajectory to slice the next bread piece 101 from the lower end of the bread lump 100 (FIG. 4C). . In this way, by performing the feeding operation of the bread loaf 100 by the bread lump feeding device 2 and the slicing operation by the rotary slicer 3 in a coordinated manner, the slicing operation can be performed efficiently. If the end bread piece 105 (see FIG. 6) remaining last after slicing a plurality of bread pieces 101 from the bread lump 100 is less than the predetermined slice thickness α, it cannot be fed or held by the feed belt 21. Even in this case, the end pan piece 105 can be supported by the support portion 35a. At this time, the end bread piece 105 cannot be sliced by the forward stroke movement of the rotary slicer 3, but the end bread piece 105 is guided by the bread piece guide 34 and passes through the window hole 35 b, and then on the first belt conveyor 51. Fall into.

  Then, the bread pieces 101 sliced by the rotary slicer 3 fall on the first belt conveyor 51 in a posture inclined at an acute angle with respect to the conveyance surface 51a (for example, an oblique posture of about 10 ° to 30 °) and held in parallel. Then it is transported downstream. Specifically, the bread piece 101 to be sliced by the rotary slicer 3 is guided by the bread piece guide 34 in an oblique posture so as to be directed downward toward the slice start side (downstream side in the transport direction of the first belt conveyor 51). (FIG. 4 (A)). The bread pieces 101 falling in an oblique posture land on the conveyance surface 51a (the conveyance downstream side) of the first belt conveyor 51 at the lower end portion 101a in the oblique direction (FIG. 4B), and the landed lower side The upper end 101b pivots downward with the end 101a as a fulcrum and lands on the transport surface 51a (on the upstream side of transport), whereby the entire slice surface is smoothly held on the transport surface 51a (FIG. 4 ( C)).

  Thus, when the bread piece 101 falls with respect to the conveyance surface 51a, the bread piece 101 is guided in an oblique posture by the bread piece guide 34, and the whole bread piece 101 is not bent and bent or the end portion hangs down. It falls in a stable oblique posture. That is, since the lower end portion (lower end portion 101a) of the slanted posture lands on the conveyance surface 51a and immediately the higher end portion (upper end portion 101b) also lands, the drop posture is not easily disturbed. Positional disturbance is also reduced.

  FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a transport state of sliced bread pieces. As described above, when the bread piece 101 falls in an oblique posture with respect to the transport surface 51a of the first belt conveyor 51, the dropping posture of the bread piece 101 particularly in a front view is stabilized. However, even in this case, the dropping position (falling posture) in plan view may be slightly deviated from the traveling direction of the first belt conveyor 51 (not parallel). Therefore, an alignment device 92 is provided to align the position of the bread piece 101 on the first belt conveyor 51 in a state parallel to the traveling direction of the first belt conveyor 51 before performing the ear drop processing.

  Specifically, the alignment device 92 shown in FIG. 6 includes an alignment plate 92a disposed on each of the left and right sides of the bread piece 101 in the traveling direction of the first belt conveyor 51, and an air cylinder 92c that advances and retracts each alignment plate 92a. And have. In the aligning device 92 shown in FIG. 6, the left and right aligning plates 92 a come into contact with the left and right side surfaces of the pan piece 101 in synchronization, so that the pan piece 101 can be quickly aligned in a straight state with respect to the traveling direction.

  Returning to FIG. 6, an end pan piece 105 removing device 93 is provided on the downstream side of the aligning device 92 in the transport direction. Specifically, the removing device 93 includes a push plate 93a that pushes the end pan piece 105 from one side in the traveling direction, and an air cylinder 93b that moves the push plate 93a back and forth. Since the generation time (arrival time to the removal device 93) of the end bread piece 105 is known in advance from the size (height) of the bread lump 100 and the slice thickness of the bread piece 101 (or arrival can be detected by a sensor). If the air cylinder 93b is extended at a predetermined timing, the end pan piece 105 can be pushed out by the push plate 93a and taken out into the end pan piece collection container 93c.

  FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a conveying state following FIG. The bread pieces 101 whose postures are adjusted by the aligning device 92 shown in FIG. 6 are transferred from the first belt conveyor 51 (conveying surface 51a) to the subsequent second belt conveyor 52 (conveying surface 52a). In the middle of the second belt conveyor 52, an ear drop device 6 for cutting the ear portion of the bread piece 101 on the transport surface 52a is provided. The ear drop device 6 includes an ear drop blade 62 disposed on the upper side of the second belt conveyor 52 and an elastic member 67 disposed on the lower side of the second belt conveyor 52 in a region where the ear drop blade 62 hits. As shown in FIG. 7, the elastic member 67 has a larger area than the slice surface of the bread piece 101.

  The ear drop blades 62 are arranged in a rectangular (substantially square in the figure) frame shape. Specifically, four blade bodies 62a, 62b, 62c, and 62d are arranged in a cross beam shape, and two opposing sides (two pieces of 62a and 62c in the figure) are arranged on the outer edge of the bread piece 101. It is formed long until it reaches or exceeds the outer edge. In the state where the second belt conveyor 52 is stopped, the blades 62a, 62b, 62c and 62d constituting the ear drop blade 62 are simultaneously pressed against the stationary bread piece 101 so that the four edge portions 102 are separated from each other. Disconnected at the same time. The elastic member 67 is fixedly disposed on a conveyor guide (not shown) of the second belt conveyor 52, and a rubber plate, a urethane sheet, or the like can be used.

  FIG. 8 is a front view and a side view showing a schematic configuration of the ear drop device. The elevating frame 61 that integrally supports the ear drop blade 62 via the vibration isolation member 61b is guided by a fixed frame 66 that is fixed in position so as to reciprocate in the vertical direction.

  Specifically, the rotation of the ear drop motor 63 fixed to the fixed frame 66 is transmitted to a circular rotary plate 64 directly connected to the motor 63. The rotating plate 64 and the lifting frame 61 are connected by the swing arm 65. One end (lower end) of the swing arm 65 is connected to the lift frame 61 so as to be swingable. The other end (upper end) of the swing arm 65 is rotatably connected to the rotating plate 64 at a position eccentric from the center of the rotating plate 64. Two linear rails 61 a are fixed to the elevating frame 61 in parallel in the vertical direction, and these linear rails 61 a are respectively guided by two vertical guides 66 a in the vertical direction fixed in parallel to the fixed frame 66. Although the linear guide member (commonly called linear guide) is formed by the linear rail 61a on the moving side and the linear guide 66a on the fixed side, the fixed side may be a rail and the moving side may be a guide.

  Therefore, when the rotating plate 64 is rotated halfway (either forward or reverse) from the state of the solid line in FIG. 8, the lifting frame 61 is lowered with respect to the fixed frame 66 by the sliding guide between the linear rail 61 a and the linear guide 66 a ( Move straight to the position of the virtual line. Further, when half rotation is performed (either forward or reverse), the elevating frame 61 linearly moves upward (original solid line position) with respect to the fixed frame 66 by the sliding guide between the linear rail 61a and the linear guide 66a.

  Furthermore, FIG. 9 is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement which drops ears from a bread piece. In a state where the ear drop blade 62 stands by above the second belt conveyor 52, the next bread piece 101 is carried by the second belt conveyor 52 (FIG. 9A). When the bread piece 101 reaches the region where the elastic member 67 is provided, the second belt conveyor 52 is stopped, and the ear drop motor 62 is driven to lower the ear drop blade 62 (FIG. 9B). At the lower limit stroke position of the ear drop blade 62, the elastic member 67 elastically supports the force with which the ear drop blade 62 presses the bread piece 101 while allowing the second belt conveyor 52 to sink, thereby the ear drop blade 62. Is lowered until it slightly touches the conveying surface 52a of the second belt conveyor 52, and only the ear portion 102 of the bread piece 101 is cut (FIG. 9C). The ear drop motor 62 is driven to raise the ear drop blade 62, and the conveyance by the second belt conveyor 52 is resumed (FIG. 9D). As described above, the elastic member 67 can elastically support the ear drop blade 62 so as not to bite into the second belt conveyor 52, so that it is safe and hygienic, and the durability of the second belt conveyor 52 is also impaired. Absent.

  Returning to FIG. 7, the end portion (downstream end portion) of the second belt conveyor 52 and the start end portion (upstream end portion) of the third belt conveyor 53 pass through a gap β that can be transferred by the earless bread piece 103. Connected. In addition, the conveyance width (belt width) of the third belt conveyor 53 is formed to be slightly wider than the width of the earless bread piece 103, in other words, about the same as the width of the bread piece 101.

  Accordingly, the earless bread pieces 103 can be transferred from the second belt conveyor 52 to the third belt conveyor 53 by inertia. On the other hand, the ear part 102 that has already been cut by the ear drop blade 62 is separated from the earless bread piece 103 by the impact when the earless bread piece 103 is transferred to the third belt conveyor 53, and is separated into gaps β, Or it falls from both sides of the third belt conveyor 53. The dropped ear 102 is collected in the ear collection container 71 of the crushing device 7, crushed into bread crumbs 104 by the crusher 72, and then wind-carryed in the pipeline 82 by the blower 81 of the wind-carrying device 8. It is recovered in a bread crumb recovery container 83 (see FIG. 1). Further, in the third belt conveyor 53, butter is applied to the sliced surface of the earless bread piece 103 by the transfer roller 94b of the butter applying device 94, and the process proceeds to the sandwich process (see FIG. 1).

  FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a modification of the operation of slicing bread pieces from the bread loaf. In this modification, the bread lump 100 is sent in a direction (vertical direction) perpendicular to the transport surface 51 a of the first belt conveyor 51.

1 Bread slice device 2 Bread lump feed device 21 Feed belt (timing belt)
21a Bread lump clamping surface 21b Projection 22 Feeding motor 23 Gear transmission (drive device)
3 Rotating slicer 31 Reciprocating frame (slider)
32 Slicer motor 34 Bread piece guide (guide member)
35 Bread loaf stopper (holding member)
35a Supporting part 35b Window hole 4 Slicer reciprocating drive device 5 Conveyor 51 First belt conveyor 52 Second belt conveyor (upstream conveyor)
53 Third belt conveyor (downstream conveyor)
54 Fourth belt conveyor 6 Ear drop device 62 Ear drop blade 67 Elastic member 91 Bread lump supply device 100 Bread lump 101 Bread piece 102 Ear portion 103 Earless bread piece

Claims (4)

In order to slice into a plurality of bread pieces having a predetermined slice thickness with a rotary slicer, a bread block feeding device that holds a vertical block-shaped bread block in a pseudo rectangular parallelepiped shape and feeds it downward from above the rotary slicer There,
A pair of feed belts that are respectively provided corresponding to two opposite side surfaces of the four side surfaces of the bread loaf and sandwich the bread loaf;
A drive device that synchronizes the pair of feed belts and intermittently sends them downwards;
A plurality of protrusions protrude from the surface of each feed belt facing the bread loaf, and the pair of feed belts push the bread loaf on both sides by pressing the side surfaces of the bread loaf with the tips of the plurality of protrusions pressing the side surfaces of the bread loaf. A bread lump feeding device characterized in that the bread lump feeding device characterized in that the bread lump is fed to the rotary slicer.   2. Each of the feed belts faces a side surface of the bread loaf, and the plurality of protrusions protrude from the belt surface so as to have the same feed direction pitch and protrusion height, and sandwich the side surface of the bread loaf. Bread lump feeder. A feed motor that drives the drive device to feed the pair of feed belts, and a reciprocating drive motor that reciprocates the rotary slicer along a predetermined path,
The feed motor and the reciprocating drive motor are configured such that the pair of feed belts hold the bread loaf with the plurality of protrusions by driving the feed motor while the rotary slicer is retracted from the bread loaf. In the state where the feeding motor is stopped and the bread loaf is stopped, the rotary slicer slices the bread loaf into bread pieces having a predetermined slice thickness by driving the reciprocating drive motor. The bread lump feeding device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the feeding operation and the slicing operation are performed in a coordinated manner. On the upper side of the pair of feed belts, there is provided a bread loaf supply conveyor that moves while holding a plurality of bread loaves one by one in a vertically long manner between connected vertical frames,
The bread block conveyed by the bread block supply conveyor and reaching above the pair of feed belts falls between the pair of feed belts from the bread block supply conveyor, and the side surfaces are held between the plurality of protrusions. The bread lump feeding device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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