JP2015167490A - Food dough cutting method and food dough cutting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a food dough cutting method and a food dough cutting device capable of reliably cutting food without causing tear or damage to a conveyor belt by a cutter of the food dough cutting device.SOLUTION: A non-contact part 17 is provided inside a conveyor belt 9, in a direction orthogonal to a conveying direction R of the conveyor belt 9. When causing a cutter 33 provided so as to freely approach or separate from the non-contact part 17 to approach the outside of the belt conveyor 9 for cutting the food dough C, the conveyor belt 9 is held in a non-contact state with respect to the bottom 18 of the non-contact part 17 and the food dough C is cut.

Description

The present invention relates to a cutting method and apparatus for cutting food dough conveyed on a belt conveyor, and more particularly, a cutting method for food dough that can reliably cut food without damaging the conveyor belt by a cutting blade of the cutting apparatus. And an apparatus for the same.

A conventional food dough cutting apparatus includes a cutting blade (cutter) that moves up and down in order to cut continuous bread dough conveyed by a conveyor belt into a required weight. Since this cutting blade cuts bread dough by applying a strong impact to the conveyor belt, a rubber plate is provided on the lower surface of the corresponding conveyor belt to absorb the impact. (Patent Document 1).

Another food dough cutting apparatus cuts continuous bread dough conveyed by a conveyor belt into a certain length, and includes a composite blade that seals the upper and lower surfaces so that the cut surfaces are not exposed. Yes. In this composite cutter, a pressing member having an inclined portion is matched from both sides, and a cutter is provided on the matched ridge line portion so as to be slidable up and down. Further, when the cutter is lowered, it comes into contact with a receiving member which is on the lower surface of the conveyor belt and has a recess. (Patent Document 2).

There is also an ultrasonic cutting device that vibrates a cutting blade (cutter) ultrasonically. The ultrasonic cutting device cuts food in a state where the cutting edge of the cutter is provided with a slight gap with respect to the upper surface of the conveyor belt or is slightly in contact with the upper surface. Patent document 3 can be illustrated as a food dough cutting apparatus provided with the ultrasonic cutter.

JP-A-60-110237 JP-A-63-192338 German Patent Application Publication No. 10200804696

Conventionally, in the food dough cutting apparatus described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the cutter is strongly pressed against the conveyor belt to completely cut the food dough without causing uncut portions. However, there is a problem that the cutter blade edge damages the surface of the conveyor belt. Further, when the surface of the conveyor belt is damaged, there are hygiene problems such as adhesion of dirt and propagation of various germs.

In the ultrasonic cutting apparatus, the cutting edge of the ultrasonic cutter (cutting blade) is provided with a slight gap with respect to the upper surface of the conveyor belt, or is relatively soft food such as pastries and cakes while being in slight contact with the upper surface. The dough was being cut. However, when cutting dried fruits such as raisins and dried plums, processed meat such as salami, or rolled yuba, etc., there is a problem that very thin uncut portions are generated and the food cannot be completely cut. If the blade edge of the ultrasonic cutter is strongly pressed against the upper surface of the conveyor belt in order to solve the problem, there is a problem that the cutter damages the surface of the conveyor belt. Further, when an ultrasonic vibration cutter is used, there is a problem that damage to the conveyor belt occurs early and easily as compared with a case where vibration is not applied to the cutter. Furthermore, there is a sanitary problem as described above.

The present invention is for solving the above-described problems, and is a method for cutting food dough conveyed by an endless conveyor belt, which is orthogonal to the conveying direction of the conveyor belt inside the conveyor belt. When the food dough is cut by approaching a cutter that is provided with a non-contact portion in the direction and is close to and away from the non-contact portion on the outside of the conveyor belt, the conveyor belt is bent in the non-contact portion. The food dough is cut by generating a reaction force on the cutter from the conveyor belt.

Further, the food dough is cut while vibrating the cutter.

In addition, an endless conveyor belt that conveys the food dough, a guide support member that guides and supports the conveyor belt, and a non-contact that is provided in the guide support member and that is provided in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the conveyor belt And a cutter that is disposed at a position opposite to the non-contact portion so as to be able to approach and separate from the non-contact portion in order to cut the food dough, and the food dough approaches the conveyor belt when the cutter approaches the conveyor belt When cutting the cutter belt, the cutting edge of the cutter enters the non-contact portion so that a reaction force is generated from the conveyor belt against the cutter, and the conveyor belt is bent into the non-contact portion. It is characterized by that.

Further, the lowering position of the cutter with respect to the non-contact portion is provided to be adjustable.

The cutter is a vibration cutter in which vibration is applied to the cutter.

According to the present invention, since the food dough can be reliably cut without being cut by the reaction force from the conveyor belt against the cutter of the food dough cutting device, the above-described conventional problems can be solved.

Further, since the cutter can lightly contact the conveyor belt to cut the food dough, the conveyor belt can be prevented from being damaged, and the conventional problems described above can be solved because it becomes hygienic.

It is front explanatory drawing which shows the food dough cutting device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is front explanatory drawing which shows the principal part of the food dough cutting device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is front explanatory drawing which shows operation | movement of the principal part of the food dough cutting device which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

A food dough cutting apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The food dough cutting apparatus 1 includes a carry-in conveyor 5, a carry-out conveyor 6, and an ultrasonic cutter unit 7 on the front surface (front side in FIG. 1) of the main body frame 3. In addition, the food dough C is illustrated and described as a rod-shaped rolled yuba obtained by rolling up a sheet-shaped yuba.

The carry-in conveyor 5 is a belt conveyor in which an endless conveyor belt 9 is wound around a plurality of rollers such as a driving roller 11 and a conveyor frame 13, and the conveyor belt 11 is driven by a motor M <b> 1 linked to the driving roller 11. It is something to control.

The carry-in conveyor 5 includes a plate 15 disposed on the leading end side (left side in FIG. 1) on the inner side of the conveyor belt 9 along the longitudinal direction of the carry-in conveyor 5 in the width direction (direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction R). ing. The plate 15 includes a non-contact portion 17 by forming a hollow recess 18 on the upper surface along the longitudinal direction. The plate 15 is detachably fitted on an upper portion of a support member 19 attached to the front surface of the main body frame 3. Further, the plate 15 is supported at the tip end (upper side in FIG. 2) of the screw member 21 screwed to the support member 19, and is provided such that the height can be adjusted by the rotation of the screw member 21. Two screw members 21 are provided on both sides of the conveyor belt 9 (the front side and the back side in FIG. 1). The conveyor belt 9 is wound around the plate 15 and the support member 19. The plate 15, the support member 19, and the screw member 21 constitute a guide support member 22.

The guide support member 22 is not limited to the front end side of the carry-in conveyor 5, and can be provided in the middle of the conveyance path of the carry-in conveyor 5. Moreover, the non-contact part 17 can also be formed by arranging the longitudinal direction on the upper surface portion of the conveyor plate along the width direction of the carry-in conveyor 5. Further, the non-contact portion 17 is not limited to the bottomed portion such as the hollow concave portion 18 and may be substantially free from the bottom portion.

The carry-out conveyor 6 is a belt conveyor in which an endless conveyor belt 23 is wound around a plurality of rollers such as a drive roller 25 and a conveyor frame 27, and the conveyor belt 11 is driven by a motor M2 linked to the drive roller 25. It is something to control.

The ultrasonic cutter unit 7 includes a cutter (cutting blade) 31 that vibrates ultrasonically. The ultrasonic cutter unit 7 is disposed above the carry-in conveyor 5 and is provided so as to be movable up and down and back and forth by a drive mechanism 41 attached to the inside of the main body frame 3. More specifically, the ultrasonic cutter unit 7 is pivotally attached to the lift base 43 of the drive mechanism 41. The elevating base 43 is connected to a direct acting actuator 47 (for example, a drive mechanism having a ball screw linked to a servo motor) attached to a longitudinally moving plate 45, and a guide member (not shown) such as a linear rail. ) And can be moved up and down. The forward / backward movement plate 45 is connected to a direct acting actuator 49 attached to the main body frame 3 and is provided such that it can be moved back and forth by a guide member (not shown) such as a linear rail.

In the present embodiment, the blade surfaces 32 of the cutter 31 (surfaces inclined with respect to the blade edge 33) are formed at an acute angle, and the blade surface 32A located on the upstream side is perpendicular to the conveying surface of the conveyor belt 9. The blade surface 32 </ b> B that is disposed and located on the downstream side is disposed so as to be inclined toward the conveyance downstream side from the lower side to the upper side. Therefore, when the cutter 33 cuts the food dough C, the blade surface 32A does not push the food dough C back to the upstream side, and the blade surface 32B acts to tilt the cut food dough C to the downstream side. . Furthermore, since the blade surface 32 of the cutter 31 is inclined as in the present embodiment, it is possible to suppress damage to the surface 9A of the conveyor belt 9 as compared with the case where the cutter 31 abuts on the conveyor belt 9 vertically. It becomes possible.

The ultrasonic cutter unit 7 is pivotably attached to the lifting base 43 as described above. Therefore, the inclination of the cutter 31 is changed with respect to the longitudinal direction of the food dough C by adjusting the attachment angle of the ultrasonic cutter unit 7 to the lifting base 43. The inclination of the cutter 31 is adjusted according to the physical properties of the food dough C to be cut.

The food dough cutting apparatus 1 includes a control device 51 that controls the operation of each unit. The control device 51 commands and controls each drive device based on the value set on the operation panel 53. For example, the motors M1 and M2 are controlled to adjust the conveyance speed of the carry-in conveyor 5 and the carry-out conveyor 6, continuous drive or intermittent drive, and the like. Further, the linear actuators 47 and 49 are controlled to adjust the vertical movement position, vertical movement speed, longitudinal movement position, and longitudinal movement speed of the ultrasonic cutter unit 7.

Next, the operation of the food dough cutting apparatus 1 will be described. The carry-in conveyor 5 and the carry-out conveyor 7 convey the food dough C (rod-shaped wound tea leaves) at a preset conveyance speed. The ultrasonic cutter unit 7 moves in the transport direction R at the same speed as the transport speed and descends from the upper position at a required lowering speed. The cutting edge 33 of the cutter 31 of the ultrasonic cutter unit 7 is cut into the food dough C. Due to this cutting resistance, the conveyor belt 9 bends into the non-contact portion 17 of the plate 15 and the conveyor belt 9 is tensioned. As it occurs, a reaction force from the conveyor belt 9 against the cutting edge 33 occurs. Further, the cutting edge 33 is lowered, the cutting edge 33 comes into contact with the surface 9A of the conveyor belt 9, and the inside of the non-contact portion 17 is lowered to a preset position. Note that the lowering speed of the cutter 31 may be reduced at the end of cutting with respect to the initial cutting of the food dough C.

When the cutter 31 cuts the food dough C, the conveyor belt 9 is pushed into the non-contact portion 17 of the plate 15 and bent, and the bottom surface 9B does not contact the bottom surface of the hollow recess 18 in the non-contact portion 17. Kept in a state. That is, the conveyor belt 9 in the non-contact portion 17 is bent and supported by the upstream standing wall 15 </ b> A and the downstream standing wall 15 </ b> B of the plate 15, and the conveyor belt 9 is tensioned to generate a reaction force to the cutter 31. Occurs. And by this reaction force being produced, the food dough C is cut to the end without causing a slight uncut portion. Thereafter, the ultrasonic cutter unit 7 is changed from the descending operation to the ascending operation immediately. Then, the ultrasonic cutter unit 7 returns to the upstream side of the conveyance after the cutter 31 has been raised above the upper surface position of the food dough C, and waits at the rising stop position until the next cutting operation is started. That is, the cutter 31 performs a so-called box motion.

When the cutter 31 cuts the food dough C, a non-contact portion 17 is provided below the conveyor belt 9 corresponding to the position where the cutting edge 33 of the cutter 31 contacts, and there is a member that contacts the bottom surface 9B of the conveyor belt 9. Therefore, the conveyor belt 9 is not sandwiched between the blade 31 of the cutter 31 and the opposing member, and the surface 9A of the conveyor belt 9 is prevented from being damaged by the blade 33 of the cutter 31.

Moreover, although physical properties, such as the hardness of the food dough C and the presence or absence of a skin, differ for every material, according to the damage prevention of the conveyor belt 9 and the certainty of the cutting | disconnection of the food dough C, according to the physical property of these food dough C It is necessary to adjust the degree of contact between the cutting edge 33 and the conveyor belt. For this reason, the food dough cutting apparatus 1 is provided with a mechanism for adjusting the strength of the reaction force of the conveyor belt 9 generated when the cutter 31 cuts the food dough C. That is, the tension generated in the conveyor belt 9 can be adjusted by adjusting the descending position of the cutting edge 33 of the cutter 31 with respect to the non-contact portion 17.

As a configuration for adjusting the descending depth of the cutting edge 33 of the cutter 31 relative to the non-contact portion 17, the operating position of the direct acting actuator 47 can be controlled to change the descending stop position of the ascending / descending base 43 (FIG. 3 ( a) and FIG. 3 (b)). Further, by rotating the screw member 21 attached to the plate 15, the tip position of the screw member 21 is changed and the support position of the plate 15 is moved up and down to relatively move the cutter 31 into the non-contact portion 17. It is also possible to adjust the lowered position of the blade edge 33. Thus, by adjusting the descending depth of the cutting edge 33 of the cutter 31 relative to the non-contact portion 17, the conveyor belt 9 wound around the carry-in conveyor 5 is between the upstream standing wall 15A and the downstream standing wall 15B of the plate 15. The amount of bending at this time changes, and the tension generated on the conveyor belt 9 varies, so that the reaction force to the cutter 31 can be adjusted.

Further, as a configuration for adjusting the lowering position of the cutter 31 with respect to the conveying direction R of the plate 15 when the cutter 31 reaches the lowering stop position, the forward / backward movement position of the forward / backward movement base 45 is controlled by controlling the linear actuator 49. Can vary. For example, even when the descending depth of the cutting edge 33 of the cutter 31 with respect to the non-contact portion 17 is the same, when the cutting edge 33 of the cutter 31 is lowered to the central portion along the transport direction R of the non-contact portion 17 ( (See FIG. 3B) and the case where the cutting edge 33 of the cutter 31 is lowered to a position close to the downstream side in the transport direction R of the non-contact portion 17, that is, to a position close to the downstream standing wall 15B (FIG. 3). 3 (c)), the tension generated in the conveyor belt 9 varies and the reaction force to the cutter 31 can be adjusted.

Further, a bending stress is generated when the conveyor belt 9 is bent into the non-contact portion 17, so that a reaction force to the cutter 31 is generated. In particular, by providing the plate 15 at the front end (downstream end) of the carry-in conveyor 5, the conveyor belt 9 is bent at an acute angle with the downstream side standing wall 15B of the plate 15 as a bending point. When the part 17 is provided, the bending stress generated in the conveyor belt 9 is larger than that in which the conveyor belt 9 is bent at an obtuse angle.

As can be understood from the above description, when the cutter 33 descends and cuts the food dough C, the amount of downward deflection of the conveyor belt 9 due to the cutting resistance when the food dough C is cut by the cutter 33 is reduced. The food dough C is regulated by adjusting the tension of the conveyor belt 9 while keeping the conveyor belt 9 in a non-contact state with respect to the bottom of the hollow recess 18 forming the non-contact portion 17. In order to cut, the lowering position of the cutter 33 is adjustable. Therefore, when the cutter 33 cuts the food dough C, the food dough C can be cut to the end without being left uncut. In other words, the tension of the conveyor belt 9 is restricted to the amount of downward deflection of the conveyor belt 9 caused by the cutting resistance when the food dough C is cut by the cutter 31 to the depth of the non-contact portion 17 or less. The tension is set.

The description of the food conveyance cutting apparatus 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is generally as described above. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. For example, although the cutter has been described as an ultrasonic cutter, it may be a cutter that gives periodic fine vibration to the cutter, or may be a cutter (cutting blade) that is not given vibration. Depending on the physical properties of the food dough to be cut, it can be appropriately selected in consideration of economy.

Moreover, although the conveyance direction R of the carry-in conveyor 5 was demonstrated as a horizontal direction, it is not restricted to this, The conveyance direction is provided with the carry-in conveyor which becomes inclined or becomes perpendicular | vertical, and the cutter 33 is conveyer from the direction facing the conveyance surface. The belt 9 may be reciprocated so as to approach and separate from the belt 9. Regardless of which cutter is used, the non-contact portion 17 is provided inside the conveyor belt 9 facing the cutter 31, and the cutting edge 33 of the cutter 31 deflects the conveyor belt 9 into the non-contact portion 17. It is possible to cut the food dough C by controlling the amount of flexure to be equal to or less than the depth of the hollow recess 18 forming the non-contact portion 17 and holding the conveyor belt 9 in a non-contact state with respect to the bottom of the hollow recess 18. It is.

Moreover, the conveyance of the carry-in conveyor 5 can be driven intermittently, and the food dough C can be cut in a stopped state. In this case, it is not necessary to move the cutter unit 7 in accordance with the conveyance speed, and continuous cutting is possible by setting the lowered position with respect to the non-contact portion 17. Further, the drive means for moving the cutter unit 7 toward and away from the conveyor belt 9 and reciprocating in the conveying direction is not limited to a direct acting actuator, and a rotating mechanism is converted into a linear motion using a crank mechanism or the like. Also good. For example, the lowering stop position of the cutter 31 in such a case can be moved by adjusting the length of the crank arm or by adjusting the attachment position of the cutter unit with respect to the lifting base 43.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Food dough cutting device 3 Main body frame 5 Carry-in conveyor 6 Carry-out conveyor 7 Ultrasonic cutter unit 9 Conveyor belt 15 Plate 17 Non-contact part 18 Hollow recessed part 31 Cutter (cutting blade)
33 Cutting edge C Food dough R Transport direction

Claims (5)

A method for cutting food dough conveyed by an endless conveyor belt, comprising a non-contact portion in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveyor belt inside the conveyor belt, and the non-contact portion outside the conveyor belt. When the food dough is cut by approaching a cutter provided so as to be able to approach and separate from the contact portion, the conveyor belt is bent in the non-contact portion, and a reaction force is generated from the conveyor belt to the cutter. A method for cutting food dough, comprising cutting the food dough. The food dough cutting method according to claim 1, wherein the food dough is cut while vibrating the cutter. An endless conveyor belt that conveys the food dough, a guide support member that guides and supports the conveyor belt, a non-contact portion that is provided in the guide support member and that is provided in a direction perpendicular to the conveyance direction of the conveyor belt, A cutter disposed at a position opposite to the non-contact portion so as to be able to approach and leave the non-contact portion in order to cut the food dough, and the cutter approaches a conveyor belt to cut the food dough The cutting edge of the cutter enters the non-contact portion so that a reaction force is generated from the conveyor belt against the cutter, and the conveyor belt can be bent into the non-contact portion. Food dough cutting device characterized by. 4. The food dough cutting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the lowering position of the cutter with respect to the non-contact portion is adjustable. The food dough cutting device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the cutter is a vibration cutter that applies vibration to the cutter.