JP2014077609A - Rice cooling method and rice cooling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice cooling method and a rice cooling device capable of cooling rice stored in a lunch container having a deep bottom part to a prescribed temperature in an efficient manner.SOLUTION: This invention relates to a rice cooling device 11 comprising rice containers 13 having a plurality of protrusions 12 and storing rice, a turntable 15 having the plurality of rice containers 13 arranged thereon and transferring them while rotating them, an air blower device 17 for supplying a cooling air to the protrusions 12 within the rice containers 13, a belt conveyor 14 for transferring rice and transferring means 16 for transferring rice between the turntable 15 and the belt conveyor 14. That is, the rice cooling device 11 is operated such that a cooling air is blown to the plurality of rice containers to discharge hot air to cool the rice, while the protrusions 12 are being abutted against the rice bottom portions stored in each of the rice containers 13 and while the plurality of rice containers 13 storing the rice are being transferred by the turntable 15.

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a method for cooling cooked rice used for a lunch box for sale and a rice cooker used in this method.

  It is necessary to rapidly cool the cooked rice sold at convenience stores and supermarkets so that it passes as quickly as possible through a temperature range where carnivorous toxins are likely to occur after cooking.

  Examples of a method for rapidly cooling such cooked rice include a vacuum cooling method and a cooling air cooling method. The vacuum cooling method uses the fact that the evaporation temperature is lowered by placing the rice in a reduced-pressure environment, and that the water contained in the rice becomes steam (vaporized water) and takes away latent heat from the rice and evaporates. It is used for cooling. On the other hand, the cooling air cooling method cools cooked rice with the cooling air generated by the air blowing means. As a cooling air cooling method, for example, a method disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a method for cooling cooked rice in which cooling air (cooling air) is blown out and cooled on cooked rice packed in a lunch box container. That is, a method of cooling the cooked rice stored in the lunch box by piercing the cooked rice packed in the lunch box from above with an air nozzle and supplying cooling air from the air injection port provided in the air nozzle into the cooked rice is disclosed. Has been.

JP 2003-210120 A

  However, in the cooling air cooling method described in Patent Document 1, the cooling capacity is low only by the cooling air coming into contact with the upper surface of the cooked rice. Therefore, the cooked rice stored in the lunch box having a deep bottom is not sufficiently cooled. That is, the injection direction of the air nozzle is only at the lower end, the injection direction is only in a specific direction, and the entire cooked rice cannot be injected evenly. Moreover, since the air nozzle is pierced on the surface, the pierced trace remains on the surface of the cooked rice, which may be inferior as the commercial value of the cooked rice for lunch.

  This invention is made in order to solve the said subject, and provides the cooked rice cooling method and cooked rice cooling device which can cool the cooked rice stored in the container for lunch of a deep bottom to predetermined temperature efficiently. It is an object.

  The present invention described in claim 1 is a cooked rice cooling device provided with a cooling means for cooling the cooked rice put in the cooked rice container while blowing cooling air, the cooling means being above the surface of the bottom plate constituting the cooked rice container. A rice rice cooling apparatus comprising a plurality of protruding protrusions, the protrusions having air blowing holes for contacting cooling air to the cooked rice from the bottom side.

  The present invention as set forth in claim 2 comprises a cooked rice container provided with the plurality of protrusions and containing cooked rice, a turntable for arranging a plurality of cooked rice containers and conveying them while rotating them, and cooling air for the cooked rice containers. 2. The cooked rice according to claim 1, further comprising: an air blower that blows air to the protrusions inside the belt, a belt conveyor that transports the cooked rice, and a transfer unit that transports the cooked rice between the turntable and the belt conveyor. It is a cooling device.

  A third aspect of the present invention is the cooked rice cooling apparatus according to the first or second aspect, wherein the air blowing holes are disposed on the upper surface and side surfaces of the protrusion.

  The present invention according to claim 4 is characterized in that the air blowing holes provided on the side surfaces of the protrusions have a slit shape in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, or a plurality of round holes. The cooked rice cooling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

  The present invention according to claim 5 is a method for cooling cooked rice in which the cooked rice is cooled by cooling means while blowing cooling air, and the cooling means projects above the bottom plate constituting the cooked rice container. A plurality of cooked rice containers that contain cooked rice are conveyed by a turntable, and the projections are brought into contact with the bottom of the cooked rice stored in each cooked rice container and cooling air is blown. In this method, the rice is cooled by discharging heat outside the cooked rice.

  According to invention of Claim 1 and Claim 5, while making a protrusion contact | abut from the bottom part to the cooked rice accommodated in the cooked rice container, cooling air is blown out to the cooked rice from this contact body, and hot air is taken out of cooked rice. By discharging, the cooked rice can be cooled to a predetermined temperature. Therefore, cooked rice with a good texture stored in the cooked rice container can be efficiently produced. And since it is set as the structure which can cool simultaneously with respect to several cooked rice containers as a cooling device, a lot of cooked rice for lunch can be cooled in a short time.

  That is, while the upper end has a tapered shape and protrudes upward, the protrusion is disposed so as to contact the bottom of the formed cooked rice, while cooling air is blown out from the protrusion to discharge hot air to the outside of the cooked rice. Therefore, it can be set as the structure which can cool the whole cooked rice in a cooked rice container uniformly. Furthermore, since the protrusion is configured to abut from the bottom of the cooked rice, the abutted trace does not appear on the surface of the cooked rice, and thus does not affect the appearance of the product.

  According to invention of Claim 2, it is provided with the cooked rice container, the turntable, the conveyance belt, and the air blower, and is rotated by the turntable that rotates cooling of cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container. However, the cooling air generated by the air blowing device is cooled by blowing it to the cooked rice through the protrusions provided in the cooked rice container, so that it can be efficiently cooled to a predetermined temperature while having an extremely compact configuration. The cooked rice with a good texture stored in the cooked rice container can be efficiently produced. That is, it can be set as a compact structure without taking up the space which transfers the rice container to cool by setting it as the structure cooled by ventilation air blowing, rotating with a turntable and transferring rice. Moreover, it can be set as the structure which can cool a lot of cooked rice containers simultaneously on a turntable.

  According to invention of Claim 3, since the air blowing hole which blows off cooling air to the cooked rice is arrange | positioned in the front-end | tip part and a surrounding surface in the said protrusion, the cooked rice and surrounding surface above a protrusion are provided. The cooling air can be blown out evenly and evenly with respect to the cooked rice, and the cooked rice can be efficiently cooled.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the air blowing holes disposed on the side surface of the front protrusion are those having a slit shape in the vertical direction or the horizontal direction, or round holes. By arranging two or more on the side, the air can be blown vertically (laterally) with respect to the whole height of the cooked rice, and the cooling air is blown evenly and evenly over the cooked rice in the cooked rice container. By discharging out of the cooked rice, the cooked rice can be efficiently cooled. Thereby, especially the cooked rice accommodated in the lunch box container which has a deep bottom can be cooled efficiently.

It is a perspective view which shows the whole structure of the cooked rice cooling device which concerns on this invention. It is a front view which shows the whole structure of the cooked rice cooling device which concerns on this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the internal structure of the cooked rice cooling device which concerns on this invention. It is a front view which shows the internal structure of the cooked rice cooling device which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which shows the internal structure of the cooked rice cooling device which concerns on this invention. It is explanatory drawing by the perspective of the principal part of the same rice cooling part. It is explanatory drawing which decomposed | disassembled the component which comprises the same cooked rice cooling part. It is explanatory drawing which showed the cross-section of the component which comprises the same cooked rice cooling part. It is a top view which shows the transfer means of the cooked rice cooling device which concerns on this invention. It is a top view which shows the transfer means of the cooked rice cooling device in a different state from FIG. It is explanatory drawing which decomposed | disassembled the component which comprises the same cooked rice cooling part.

  The cooked rice cooling device 11 of this embodiment is for manufacturing commercial cooked cooked rice sold at convenience stores, supermarkets, and the like. In particular, the rice cooked in a lunch box having a deep bottom is cooled.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the cooked rice cooling device 11 of the present embodiment has a plurality of protrusions 12 serving as cooling means disposed at the bottom and a cooked rice container 13 for storing cooked rice and a plurality of cooked rice containers 13. A turntable 15 that is arranged and transported while rotating them, a belt conveyor 14 that transports cooked rice to the next process, a transfer means 16 that transports cooked rice between the turntable 15 and the belt conveyor 14, and cooling air in a cooked rice container And an air blower 17 that supplies the projections 12 in 13.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 3, the cooked rice cooling apparatus 11 of this embodiment arrange | positions the said turntable 15 and the said belt conveyor 14 in the apparatus box 18 surrounding the inside of an apparatus main body. Further, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, an air blower 17 is disposed adjacent to the device box 18.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the belt conveyor 14 is disposed along one short side surface in the apparatus box 18, and an endless conveyor belt 20 is provided between the driving roller 19a and the plurality of driven rollers 19b. It is constructed over a stretch.

  As shown in FIG. 5, temperature sensors 21 a and 21 b are provided on the upstream side and the downstream side of the belt conveyor 14. The temperature sensors 21 a and 21 b are suspended above the belt conveyor 14 from the stage S by the sensor support 22 on the side of the belt conveyor 14, and sense the temperature of the cooked rice block B flowing on the belt conveyor 14. The upstream temperature sensor 21a senses the cooked rice before cooling, and the downstream temperature sensor 21b senses the cooked rice after cooling.

  The transfer means 16 is for transferring cooked rice between the belt conveyor 14 and the turntable 15.

  The air blower 17 generates cooling air for blowing and cooling the cooked rice in the cooked rice container 13.

As shown in FIG. 5, the turntable 15 is formed of a large disk and is disposed on the center side of the belt conveyor 14. As shown in FIG. 4, the turntable 15 is configured to be rotatable by transmitting power from a drive motor M provided below through a table drive mechanism 23. And the cooked rice container 13 is attached to the outer peripheral part of the turntable 15 via the attachment body. In the cooked rice cooling device 11 in the present embodiment, 20 cooked rice containers 13 are attached to the outer peripheral portion of the turntable 15. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, a blower 24 is provided on the outer side of the rotating turntable 15 and below the rotating cooked rice container 13.
Hereinafter, the structure of the cooked rice container 13 disposed on the turntable 15 will be described in detail.

(Description of cooked rice container)
As shown in FIG. 6, the cooked rice cooling device 11 has a cooked rice container 13 attached to the outer peripheral portion of the turntable 15. Then, by rotating the cooked rice container 13 on the turntable 15, the cooling air is blown through the blower 24 provided below the turntable 15 to discharge the hot air in the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 upward. I'm trying to cool it down. The cooked rice container 13 for storing cooked rice has a bowl shape.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the cooked rice container 13 includes a U-shaped main body 25 having a U-shape in a plan view for storing cooked rice, and a closing body 26 a and a closing plate 26 b for closing the opening of the U-shaped main body 25. And the closing pins 26a and 34b for attaching the closing body 26a and the closing plate 26b to the U-shaped main body 25.

  The cooked rice container 13 includes a blower plate 29 for blowing cooling air to cooked rice in the U-shaped main body 25 and a cooked rice receiving plate 28 provided at the bottom of the U-shaped main body 25. The blower plate 29 is provided with a blower plate holder 31 for supporting it, and the cooked rice receiving plate 28 is provided with a receiver plate holder 30 for holding it from below.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the U-shaped main body 25 can be attached to the outer peripheral portion of the turntable 15 via an attachment fitting 27 disposed on the turntable 15 side. That is, the mounting bracket 27 is sandwiched between the mounting piece 27a having an L shape in side view, the mounting pressing piece 27b for pressing the mounting piece 27a from the bottom of the turntable, and the mounting piece 27a and the mounting pressing piece 27b. And a fixing pin 27c for fixing. A guide groove 33 is formed on the inner peripheral side of the left and right side plates 32 constituting the U-shaped main body 25, and the air blowing plate 29 can be fitted into and removed from the guide groove 33.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the closing pins 34 a and 34 b are configured as a pair of upper and lower at the left and right opening ends of the U-shaped main body 25. The upper closing pin 34 a is a cylindrical pin provided with a tip groove 35 on the tip peripheral surface and arranged at the left and right opening ends of the U-shaped main body 25. The lower closing pin 34b is formed by projecting a cylindrical rod-shaped body 36 having a cylindrical shape from the left and right opening ends of the U-shaped main body 25, and inside the cylindrical rod-shaped body 36 is a tip of a locking rod 37. Can be inserted. The locking rod 37 includes a rod-shaped body 37a and a head portion 37b having a diameter larger than that of the rod-shaped body 37a.

  The blocking plate 26b has through holes 39a and 39b on the left and right and up and down. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, a pair of left and right upper through-holes 39a are formed on the upper side of the closing plate 26b, and a pair of left and right oblong holes 39b are formed on the lower side of the closing plate 26b. Has been drilled.

  In attaching the closing body 26a and the closing plate 26b to the U-shaped body 25, first, the lower hole portion of the upper through hole is inserted into the upper closing pin 34a, and the tip groove 35 of the upper closing pin 34a is inserted. The upper end of the upper portion of the upper through hole 39a of the closing plate 26b is locked to the upper end of the upper hole. Next, the rod-shaped body 37a of the locking rod 37 is fitted into the cylindrical rod-shaped body 36 constituting the lower blocking pin 34b, so that the closed body 26a and the blocking plate 26b are attached to the U-shaped main body 25. ing.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the cooked rice receiving plate 28 forms a bottom portion in the cooked rice container 13 and has a plate shape so that the cooked rice in the cooked rice container 13 is received by the entire bottom portion.

  The cooked rice receiving plate 28 is provided with a plurality of internal fitting holes 38 into which the protrusions 12 of the blower plate 29 disposed below are fitted. The protrusion 12 on the blower plate 29 is configured to be fitted into the inner fitting hole 38 of the cooked rice receiving plate 28 and to protrude upward from the cooked rice receiving plate 28.

  The cooked rice receiving plate 28 is held by the receiving plate holding body 30 and disposed in the cooked rice container 13. The receiving plate holder 30 has a substantially cubic shape with the flat plates 40 vertically opposed to each other, and a holding plate 41 connected to the lower portion between the flat plates 40. A slide groove 42 through which the cooked rice receiving plate 28 is slid is disposed at the upper part between the opposed flat plates 40. In addition, four guide rollers 43 are provided on the lower outer portions of both flat plates 40 on the front, rear, left and right sides.

  The blower plate 29 is disposed below the cooked rice receiving plate 28 and includes a plurality of protrusions 12 projecting upward from the surface of the plate-like main body 28a. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of protrusions 12 are formed on the surface side of the blower plate 29.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the protrusion 12 has a substantially truncated cone shape whose diameter is narrowed toward the upper end side, and is disposed so as to protrude upward. This makes it easier to push the cooked rice from the bottom. In addition, the cooked rice is projected from the bottom with the protrusion 12 and the mark does not come out on the surface, so that the commercial value is not lost.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the protrusion 12 has a hollow cooling air passage T through which cooling air passes, and the cooling air passage T includes a first air outlet hole 46 provided in the protrusion 12 and The slit-shaped second air blowing hole 47 communicates. That is, the protrusion 12 is provided with a first air blowing hole 46 on its upper surface and a second air blowing hole 47 on its peripheral surface (side surface). Four second air blowing holes 47 are provided on the peripheral surface of the protrusion 12 at 90 ° intervals.

  In the present embodiment, the four second air blowing holes 47 arranged in the protrusion 12 are arranged at intervals of 90 ° as described above, but may be eight at intervals of 45 °. The number is not limited. Further, the shape of the protrusion 12 is not limited, and is a substantially truncated cone in the present embodiment, but may be a cylindrical body or a square pillar. Furthermore, the height of the protrusion 12 is also appropriately determined according to the depth of the cooked rice in the container for lunch.

  The first air blowing hole 46 is a round hole formed in the upper surface of the protrusion 12. The first air blowing holes 46 cool the cooked rice by blowing cooling air to the cooked rice above the protrusion 12.

  The second air blowing hole 47 has a slit shape on the peripheral surface of the protrusion 12 and is formed to be elongated in the height direction (vertical direction). Thus, since the 2nd air blowing hole 47 is formed along the depth direction of cooked rice, cooling air is blown with respect to the whole cooked rice which has a predetermined depth, and the heat | fever in cooked rice is heated. 13 By discharging upward, the cooked rice is cooled evenly. That is, the cooling air is blown perpendicularly (laterally) to the entire height direction of the cooked rice. In the present embodiment, the second air blowing hole 47 is elongated in the vertical direction and has a slit shape. However, it is assumed that the second air blowing hole 47 has a slit shape in the horizontal direction, and a plurality of these are formed in the height direction. You may install in parallel. Alternatively, a plurality of round holes may be formed.

  In addition, a plurality of second air blowing holes 47 having a slit shape together with the first air blowing holes 46 at the upper end portion are used to disperse the wind and cool the cooked rice. Thereby, it has the effect which can cool the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 uniformly.

  The blower plate 29 is held by a blower plate holder 31 as shown in FIG. The blower plate holder 31 includes a plate support cylinder 48 and a support plate 49 each having a polygonal cylindrical shape. The plate support cylinder 48 is configured such that the lower opening area is narrowed compared to the upper opening area, and the upper part is configured as a substantially quadrangular cylinder and the lower part as a substantially octagonal cylinder. The support plate 49 is formed with a substantially octagonal insertion hole 50 into which the skirt of the plate support cylinder 48 is inserted.

  The blower plate holding body 31 is assembled by inserting the skirt portion of the plate support tube 48 into the insertion hole 50 of the support plate 49 and mounting the blower plate 29 on the upper end portion of the plate support tube 48 to assemble the plate. Through the inside of the support cylinder 48, the cooling air is blown to the blower plate 29 from the blower 24 disposed below.

  Guide grooves 33 are formed in the inner peripheral portion of the U-shaped main body 25 of the cooked rice container 13, and the left and right ends of the blower plate 29 can be inserted into the guide grooves 33. Therefore, the rice can be stored by inserting the blower plate 29 into the U-shaped main body 25 and placing the cooked rice receiving plate 28 above the blower plate 29.

(Transport means)
Next, the transfer means 16 for transferring cooked rice between the belt conveyor 14 and the turntable 15 will be described.
As shown in FIG. 9, the transfer means 16 includes a feeding means 51 that feeds the cooked rice being conveyed on the upstream side of the belt conveyor 14 into the cooked rice container 13 on the turntable 15, and the cooked rice on the turntable 15 of the belt conveyor 14. Discharging means 52 for discharging to the downstream side.

  The loading means 51 is configured to reciprocate a loading side sliding arm 53 having an L shape in plan view between the belt conveyor 14 and the turntable 15.

  The discharge means 52 is configured to reciprocate a discharge side sliding arm 54 having a U shape in plan view between the turntable 15 and the belt conveyor 14.

  As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the arm drive mechanism 55 for driving the input side slide arm 53 and the discharge side slide arm 54 is disposed in a casing 56 provided above the belt conveyor 14. ing. That is, the arm drive mechanism 55 has a closing side arm attachment in which a belt body (not shown) is wound around a pair of left and right pulleys (not shown) in a housing 56 and a closing side sliding arm 53 is attached to the lower end side. An upper end side of a discharge side arm attachment body 60 which is fixed to one side portion of a belt body (not shown) wound around the upper end side of the body 59 and has a discharge side sliding arm 54 attached to the lower end thereof is shown in FIG. It is attached to the other side (not shown). The arm drive mechanism 55 rotates the left and right pulleys (not shown) to reciprocate the closing side sliding arm 53 and the discharging side sliding arm 54. The closing side sliding arm 53 and the discharging side sliding arm 54 are alternately moved closer to and away from the turntable 15.

  Further, the arm driving mechanism 55 is suspended and supported via a support column 61a and a horizontal body 61b that are suspended from the stage S on the downstream side of the belt conveyor 14. In addition, the arm drive mechanism 55 is rotatable around the vertical axis with the support column 61a as an axis. As shown in FIG. 9, the arm drive mechanism 55 can be disposed on the belt conveyor 14 when hot forming is performed. As shown in FIG. 10, the arm drive mechanism 55 is counterclockwise in plan view when not hot forming. By rotating around, it can be arranged at a position away from the belt conveyor 14.

In this way, as shown in FIG. 9, when the arm drive mechanism 55 is arranged on the belt conveyor 14, the cooked rice transporting the belt conveyor 14 is put into each cooked rice container 13 on the turntable 15. To hot mold.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 10, when the arm drive mechanism 55 is not disposed on the belt conveyor 14, the cooked rice transporting the belt conveyor 14 is not put into each cooked rice container 13 on the turntable 15. It is conveyed as it is.
Here, the hot molding in the present embodiment refers to molding into a shape that can be stored in a lunch box container by adding cooked rice that is cooked in the cooked rice container 13 and kept warm.

(Rising and lowering mechanism of the rice receiving plate)
Next, the raising / lowering mechanism 62 of the cooked rice receiving plate 28 will be described. The lifting mechanism 62 is a mechanism that lifts the cooked rice receiving plate 28 of the cooked rice container 13 above the cooked rice container 13 when the cooked rice is transferred from the cooked rice container 13 on the turntable 15 to the belt conveyor 14.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the elevating mechanism 62 of the cooked rice receiving plate 28 is provided with a pair of left and right guide rails 63 below the downstream side outer periphery of the turntable 15, and as shown in FIG. A rail support bar 64 is suspended from the lower part, and a cam mechanism 65 (shown in FIG. 4) is connected to the rail support bar 64. The cam mechanism 65 is connected to the drive motor M.

  As described above, the elevating mechanism 62 is driven by the cam mechanism 65 in response to the power from the drive motor M, and the cam mechanism 65 pushes up the rail support bar 64 to raise the U-shaped guide rail 63. It is composed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 11A, the guide roller 43 sliding on the guide rail 63 is raised, the receiving plate holder 30 holding the guide roller 43 is raised, and the cooked rice receiving plate 28 is raised. I try to let them.

  And as shown in FIG.11 (b), the rice in the cooked rice container 13 is located above a container by raising the cooked rice receiving plate 28 by the raising / lowering mechanism 62. As shown in FIG. And the rice block B can be transferred on the belt conveyor 14 from the cooked rice container 13 by moving the discharge side sliding arm 54 backward.

  The lifting mechanism 62 is disposed on the upstream side of the turntable 15 as a mechanism for lifting and lowering the cooked rice receiving plate 28 in order to loosen cooked rice and remove coarse heat. Moreover, the pressing mechanism 66 which presses against the cooked rice container 13 which loosens cooked rice by the raising / lowering of the cooked rice receiving plate 28 is arrange | positioned.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the pressing mechanism 66 includes a substantially rectangular parallelepiped pressing plate 67, a supporting arm 68 that supports and presses the pressing plate 67 from above at one end, and the other end of the supporting arm 68. It comprises a pressing plate support column 69 suspended on the stage S so as to support the part. The pressing plate 67 is suspended by the pressing mechanism 66 on the cooked rice container 13 on the upstream side of the turntable 15.

  Further, a cam mechanism 71 is connected to the support column of the pressing mechanism 66. The cam mechanism 71 is connected to the drive motor M. The pressing mechanism 66 receives the power from the drive motor M, and the cam mechanism 71 is driven. The cam mechanism 71 moves the pressing plate support column 69 up and down to move the pressing plate 67 up and down to the cooked rice container 13 that loosens the cooked rice. On the other hand, it is configured to press from above.

(Description of the air blower 24)
Next, the structure of the ventilation part 24 is demonstrated.
The air blower 24 is provided on the outer side in a plan view of the turntable 15 and at a lower position in the side view of the cooked rice container 13. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the air blower 24 includes a fan-shaped plate 72 arranged horizontally, and a blower cylinder 73 formed of a cylindrical body fitted in and attached to the fan-shaped plate 72 in the vertical direction. A plurality of 72 (16 in this embodiment) are connected to each other below the turntable 15 to form a substantially annular shape.

  And the ventilation part 24 is comprised so that the cooling air supplied from the air blowing apparatus 17 may be ventilated through each blowing cylinder 73 in the cooked rice container 13 rotated by the turntable 15.

(Description of air blower)
Next, the air blower 17 will be described.
In the present embodiment, the air blower 17 is provided on the outer side of the device box 18, and a blower 76 that generates cooling air is disposed in the device. In the air blower 17, for example, five blowers 76 are arranged, and are connected to the blower cylinder 73 provided below the turntable 15 through the blower hose 74. And the cooling air close | similar to room temperature is generated with the air blower 76, and it blows on the protrusion 12 in the cooked rice container 13. FIG. In the present embodiment, the air blower 17 is provided adjacent to the outside of the device box 18, but is not limited to this position.

  With such a configuration, according to the cooked rice cooling device 11 according to the present embodiment, while the cooked rice is conveyed in the cooked rice container 13 on the turntable 15, cooling air is blown through the blower unit 24 below the turntable 15 and the cooked rice inside It is possible to efficiently cool the cooked rice in the cooked rice container 13 by discharging the heat of the cooked rice to the upper portion of the cooked rice container 13.

  By the way, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.6 and FIG.7, many protrusions 12 are formed in the surface of the ventilation plate 29. FIG. Therefore, the protrusion 12 formed on the surface of the blower plate 29 bites into the cooked rice when the cooked rice is conveyed in the cooked rice container 13. Therefore, the 1st air blowing hole 46 formed in the front-end | tip of each projection body 12 will blow cooling air directly to cooked rice, and will discharge | emit heat out of cooked rice, and can perform cooked rice more efficiently. it can.

  According to this cooked rice cooling device 11, since the mechanism for cooling the cooked rice is performed on the rotating turntable 15, the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 is efficiently cooled to a predetermined temperature without drying. Thus, cooked rice with a good texture stored in the cooked rice container 13 can be produced efficiently. Moreover, air can be contained in the cooked rice, and the texture can be improved.

(Description of rice cooling method)
Here, the process by which the cooked rice in the lunch box is cooled by the cooked rice cooling device 11 according to the present embodiment will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 9, the cooked rice block B divided while being measured to a predetermined amount by the cooked rice measuring unit is transferred to the belt conveyor 14. That is, the cooked rice block B measured to a predetermined amount is sent to the belt conveyor 14. At this time, the cooked rice block B is at a high temperature (for example, about 40 to 50 ° C.), and each cooked rice block B is sent one by one at regular intervals.

  Next, on the upstream side of the belt conveyor 14, the temperature of the cooked rice block B before cooling is measured by the upstream temperature sensor 21 a.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 9, the cooked rice block B transferred to the vicinity of the center of the belt conveyor 14 is transferred into the cooked rice container 13. That is, by the forward movement of the loading side sliding arm 53, the cooked rice block B is loaded into the cooked rice container 13 while sliding perpendicularly to the direction of flow on the belt conveyor 14.

  A high-temperature cooked rice block B is supplied to the cooked rice container 13 to loosen the cooked rice supplied on the upstream side of the turntable 15 and remove coarse heat. That is, the cooked rice in the cooked rice container 13 is loosened by moving the cooked rice receiving plate 28 in the cooked rice container 13 up and down by the lifting mechanism 62. At the same time, the rice in the loose cooked rice container 13 is formed by pressing with the pressing plate 67 by the pressing mechanism 66.

  As shown in FIG. 9, the cooked rice container 13 into which the cooked rice has been put is conveyed while rotating the turntable 15 by rotation. Cooling air supplied from the air blower 17 through the blower hose 74 is supplied from the blower 24 provided below the turntable 15 during the conveyance.

  The cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 while being conveyed by the turntable 15 is efficiently cooled by discharging the heat in the cooked rice to the outside of the cooked rice container 13 by the blown cooling air. In the present embodiment, cooling is performed to about 25 ° C., for example.

  That is, the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 is conveyed while rotating on the turntable 15. At this time, the protrusion 12 of the blower plate 29 is stuck into the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13. Since the first air blowing hole 46 is formed at the tip of the protrusion 12, the cooling air is blown into the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 through the first air blowing hole 46.

  Since the surface of the protrusion 12 has a plurality of slit-like second air blowing holes 47 in addition to the first air blowing holes 46 on the upper end side, as described above, it is stored in the cooked rice container 13. Cooled air is blown into the cooked rice from the first air blowing hole 46 and the second air blowing hole 47.

  Thereby, the hot air in cooked rice is discharged | emitted out of the cooked rice container 13, and the cooked rice accommodated in the container for lunch which has a deep bottom can be cooled efficiently uniformly.

  Thus, according to the present embodiment, the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 is cooled in a short time while being conveyed by the rotation of the turntable 15 and is sent in the direction of the belt conveyor 14. At this time, since it does not take time to cool the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13, the surface of the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 is not dried, and the belt is maintained while maintaining an appropriate moisturizing state. It is sent in the direction of the conveyor 14.

  Thereafter, when the cooked rice container 13 comes close to the belt conveyor 14, the cooked rice receiving plate 28 is raised by the lifting mechanism 62. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the cam mechanism 65 (the guide rail 63 is provided below the turntable 15 with the guide roller 43 below the cooked rice container 13 on the downstream side of the turntable 15 engaged with the guide rail 63. As shown in FIG. Then, the receiving plate holding body 30 to which the guide roller 43 is attached is raised, and the cooked rice receiving plate 28 in the receiving plate holding body 30 is also raised to the upper end portion of the cooked rice container 13. Thereby, the cooked rice block B is positioned above the upper end of the cooked rice container 13.

  Then, the formed cooked rice block B positioned above the cooked rice container 13 is transferred onto the belt conveyor 14 by the backward movement of the discharge side sliding arm 54. At the same time, with the backward movement of the discharge side slide arm 54, the input side slide arm 53 moves forward, and the next cooked rice block B before molding is put into the cooked rice container 13.

  Thereafter, the temperature of the cooked cooked rice block B is measured by the downstream temperature sensor 21b so that it can be determined whether or not it is cooled to a predetermined temperature. Finally, the cooked rice block B is transferred from the belt conveyor 14 to another container filling process and shipped.

  Thus, in the method for cooling cooked rice in the present embodiment, the protrusion 12 is pierced from the bottom side of the cooked rice stored in each cooked rice container 13 while the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 is conveyed by the turntable 15. The cooked rice is cooled by blowing cooling air to discharge the cooked rice heat outside the cooked rice container 13.

  According to such a cooling method, the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 can be efficiently cooled to a predetermined temperature without drying, and the cooked rice stored in the cooked rice container 13 can be efficiently produced. it can. Moreover, air can be contained in the cooked rice, and the texture can be improved.

  Moreover, according to this method, cooling air can be efficiently blown out from the bottom surface of the cooked rice to the vicinity of the surface while carrying the cooked rice. Moreover, according to such a method, the inside of the cooked rice can be evenly and evenly cooled in a shorter time.

  It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and belongs to the scope of the right of the present invention including those appropriately modified unless departing from the scope of the claims.

B Cooked rice block 11 Cooked rice cooling device 12 Projection body 13 Cooked rice container 14 Belt conveyor 15 Turntable 17 Air blower 24 Blower unit 28 Blower plate 29 Cooked rice receiving plate 46 First air blowout hole 47 Second air blowout hole

Claims (5)

A cooked rice cooling device provided with a cooling means for cooling the cooked rice put in the cooked rice container while blowing cooling air,
The cooling means comprises a plurality of protrusions protruding above the surface of the bottom plate constituting the cooked rice container,
A rice rice cooling device, wherein the protrusion is provided with an air blowing hole that abuts from the bottom side and blows cooling air to the rice. A cooked rice container comprising the plurality of protrusions and storing cooked rice,
A turntable that arranges a plurality of rice rice containers and conveys them while rotating them,
An air blowing device for blowing cooling air to the protrusions in the cooked rice container;
The cooked rice cooling apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a belt conveyor that conveys the cooked rice; and a transfer unit that transfers the cooked rice between the turntable and the belt conveyor.   The cooked rice cooling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the air blowing holes are arranged on an upper surface and a side surface of the protrusion.   The air blowout hole disposed on the side surface of the protrusion is one having a slit shape in a vertical direction or a horizontal direction, or a round hole, according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The rice cooker described. A method for cooling cooked rice that cools cooked rice in a cooked rice container with cooling means while blowing cooling air,
The cooling means includes a plurality of protrusions disposed so as to protrude upward from the bottom plate constituting the cooked rice container,
A plurality of cooked rice containers containing cooked rice are conveyed by a turntable, and the protrusion is brought into contact with the bottom of the cooked rice stored in each cooked rice container, and cooling air is blown to discharge the heat out of the cooked rice. A method for cooling cooked rice characterized by the above.

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