JP2017213166A - Heat treatment device - Google Patents

Abstract

SOLUTION: A heat treatment device 1 includes a box 2 provided with multiple heating nozzles 5, a conveyor 3 for conveying foodstuffs 4, a water tank 12 formed in the box 2 and having a conveyance path of the lower side of the conveyor 3 immersed therein, and a washing nozzle 16 for injecting a washing solution 17 to the conveyor 3, where the foodstuffs 4 conveyed by the conveyor 3 are carried out from an outlet 2B after the completion of heat treatment in the box 2 and are removed from the top of the conveyor 3, alternatively, the conveyor 3 is immersed in washing water 11 in the water tank 12 after being turned over in the end 3B of the downstream, and after that, the washing solution 17 is injected from the washing nozzle 16.EFFECT: The foodstuffs 4 deposited on the conveyor 3 are made to fall off or are swelled up while the conveyor 3 is immersed in the washing water 11 of the water tank 12. After that, a washing solution 17 is injected from the washing nozzle 16 to the conveyor 3, and therefore the foodstuffs 4 deposited on the conveyor 3 are all cleanly washed away.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a heat treatment apparatus, and more particularly to a heat treatment apparatus configured to heat-treat foods being conveyed by a conveyor using a heating medium such as heated air or superheated steam.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a heat treatment apparatus that heats food on a conveyor with superheated steam while carrying the food in a box by a conveyor (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
In such a heat treatment apparatus, for example, when food such as hamburger or fish is heat-treated, a part of the heated food adheres to the placing surface of the conveyor. Need to be removed. Here, the fact that the fish of the food material adheres to the conveyor means that the fish body is peeled off, and when the fish to be heated next is placed with the part of the body attached to the conveyor, the fish May adhere to the conveyor and damage the body, resulting in defective products. Therefore, in the conventional heat treatment apparatus, cleaning water is sprayed onto the conveyor in the cleaning region for cleaning.

JP 2008-271883 A

  By the way, in the heat processing apparatus of the said patent document 1, a conveyor is made by injecting washing water to a conveyor in the conveyance path | route (return conveyance path | route) used as the downward side after a conveyor is reversed by the edge part of a downstream side. I try to wash it. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to wash away all the food materials adhering to the conveyor in the cleaning method in which cleaning water is simply jetted in this way.

In view of the above-described circumstances, the present invention circulates through a box having heating means disposed therein, an upper conveyance path and a lower conveyance path, and places food on the upper conveyance path. In a heat treatment apparatus that includes a conveyor that conveys the inside of the box, and that heats the food that the conveyor conveys,
Forming a water storage tank that stores wash water below the box, and configured to immerse the lower transport path of the conveyor in the wash water of the water tank,
Further, a cleaning nozzle is provided for injecting cleaning liquid toward the conveyor in the lower conveyance path after coming out of the water storage tank.

  According to such a structure, the conveyor used as the conveyance path of the lower side is immersed in the washing water of a water storage tank, and the foodstuff adhering to a conveyor falls in a water storage tank or will be in the state where it was swelled. And since a washing | cleaning liquid is jetted from a washing nozzle toward a conveyor after that, all the food materials adhering to a conveyor can be washed away.

The front view which shows one Example of this invention. The enlarged view of the principal part of FIG. The top view of the principal part of FIG. The front view which shows 2nd Example of this invention.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the illustrated embodiment. In FIG. 1, a heat treatment apparatus 1 is arranged with a box 2 having an inlet 2A and an outlet 2B, and an outlet 2B penetrating from the inlet 2A of the box 2. And a conveyor 3 that circulates in the direction of the arrow. And the foodstuff 4 such as fish and chicken is carried into the inside of the box 2 from the entrance 2A of the box 2 by the conveyor 3, and the inside of the box 2 is conveyed. Heat treatment is performed by jetting superheated steam from a plurality of heating nozzles 5, and the heat is discharged from the outlet 2 </ b> B of the box 2 to the outside by the conveyor 3.

The box 2 is partitioned into four chambers in total in the transport direction by three partition walls 2C. That is, the inlet chamber 6, the two adjacent heating chambers 7A and 7B, and the outlet chamber 8 are formed from the upstream side to the downstream side in the conveyance direction of the food material 4.
The lower end 2Ca of the partition wall 2C that divides the two heating chambers 7A and 7B is spaced from the bottom wall 2D of the box 2 and is positioned at a predetermined height, whereby the inlet chamber 6 and the heating chamber 7A. 7B and the space below the outlet chamber 8 communicate with each other. In this embodiment, a space communicating with the upper part adjacent to the bottom wall 2 </ b> D, which is a lower part in the box 2, serves as a water storage tank 12 for storing the cleaning water 11. The wash water 11 is stored in the water storage tank 12 through a supply source and a supply passage (not shown) to a position slightly lower than the lower end 2Ca of the partition wall 2C. Note that clean water is used as the cleaning water 11.
Each partition wall 2C is formed with an opening 2E in accordance with the height and size of the inlet 2A and the outlet 2B, whereby the conveyor 3 penetrates the inlet 2A, each opening 2E and the outlet 2B. Are arranged.

  In each of the heating chambers 7A and 7B, heating nozzles 5 are provided at the upper and lower positions of the conveyor 3, respectively, and the ingredients 4 are injected by injecting superheated steam from the upper and lower heating nozzles 5 toward the ingredients 4, respectively. Heat treatment can be performed. Each said heating nozzle 5 is equipped with many pipes (not shown) arrange | positioned in parallel in the horizontal surface, and can superheat steam from many through-holes formed in each pipe. .

The heat treatment apparatus 1 includes superheated steam supply means 13 for supplying superheated steam to each heating nozzle 5, and the superheated steam supply means 13 is a supply passage 14 branched into eight branch pipes 14 </ b> A on the downstream side. The superheated steam is supplied to the heating nozzles 5 in the two heating chambers 7A and 7B, respectively. The superheated steam supply means 13 includes an air supply means and a heating means (not shown) so that 200 to 500 ° C. superheated steam heated by the heating means can be supplied to each heating nozzle 5.
An electromagnetic on-off valve 15 is disposed in each branch pipe 14A of the supply passage 14, and superheated steam is supplied from each heating nozzle 5 when necessary by opening and closing the electromagnetic on-off valve 15 of each branch pipe 14A by control means (not shown). Is supposed to be injected. As a result, superheated steam is sprayed from the heating nozzles 5 at the upper and lower positions of the conveyor 3 onto the food material 4, and the heating chambers 7A and 7B are heated to a required temperature.

Thus, in the present embodiment, the conveyor 3 that becomes the lower conveyance path after being inverted at the downstream end 3B is immersed in the cleaning water 11 stored in the water storage tank 12, and from the water storage tank 12. It is characterized in that the food 4 adhering to the conveyor 3 is washed away by spraying the cleaning liquid 17 from the cleaning nozzle 16 onto the conveyor 3 that comes out.
The conveyor 3 includes two pairs of left and right sprockets 21 arranged at the upstream end 3A and the downstream end 3B, a pair of left and right endless chains 22 and 22 spanned between them, and a pair of left and right ends. A large number of stainless steel rods 23 are provided across the chain chains 22 and 22 at this pitch in the conveying direction (see FIGS. 1 and 3). When the sprocket 21 is rotated in conjunction with a motor (not shown), the endless chain 22, that is, the conveyor 3 is circulated in the direction of the arrow.

The upper conveying path in the conveyor 3 (endless chain 22) is maintained in a horizontal state through the inlet 2A and outlet 2B of the box 2 and the opening 2E of each partition wall 2C. The food 4 is placed and transported by the conveyor 3 in the transport path. The surface of each stainless steel rod 23, which is a substantial mounting surface, is coated with resin Teflon (registered trademark), and even if the food material 4 adheres, it is easy to drop off. Each heating nozzle 5 in the heating chambers 7 </ b> A and 7 </ b> B is arranged at the upper and lower positions of the transport path on the upper side of the conveyor 3.
On the other hand, the conveyor 3 (endless chain 22), which becomes the lower conveyance path after being turned downward at the downstream end 3B, is introduced into the outlet chamber 8 from the outlet 2B and then the bottom of the box 2 Along each wall 2D, the lower end 2Ca of each partition wall 2Ca passes through the heating chambers 7B and 7A and the inlet chamber 6, and is further drawn out of the box 2 from the inlet 2A. Further, after that, the conveyor 3 passes above the communication path 27 and is reversed upward by the sprocket 21 at the upstream end portion 3A via the inside of the collection tank 28 and returns to the upper conveyance path. It is supposed to be.
Two engagement rollers 24, 24 are rotatably provided at the same height on the lower side in the outlet chamber 8 and the inlet chamber 6, and they are pressed against the conveyor 3 in the lower conveyance path from above. Are engaged. As a result, most of the area of the conveyor 3 serving as the lower conveyance path is immersed in the wash water 11 stored in the water storage tank 12. And when a part of foodstuff 4 has adhered to each stainless steel rod 23 used as a mounting surface because the conveyor 3 is immersed in the washing water 11 of the water storage tank 12 in this way, the conveyor 3 The foodstuff 4 falls off from the stainless steel rod 23 as it travels in the cleaning water 11 or is in a state where it is easy to fall off.
The bottom wall 2 </ b> D of the box 2, i.e., the bottom of the water storage tank 12, is configured such that the depth on the center side in the transport direction of the conveyor 3 is shallower than both ends. Discharge pipes 25 and 25 are provided at two locations on the outlet 2B side and the inlet 2A side of the bottom of the water tank 12, and normally closed on-off valves 26 are provided in the respective discharge pipes 25. The operator opens the on-off valve 26 after the heat treatment operation is completed, so that the cleaning water 11 stored in the water storage tank 12 is discharged.

Further, a communication path 27 and a recovery tank 28 are provided continuously from the wall portion of the box 2 where the inlet 2A is formed, and the cleaning nozzle 16 is disposed in the recovery tank 28.
In the present embodiment, the food 3 adhering to the conveyor 3 is sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 16 toward the conveyor 3 coming out of the water tank 12 after being immersed in the cleaning water 11 of the water tank 12. It is designed to be washed away efficiently.
An engagement roller 31 is rotatably arranged on the lower side in the collection tank 28, and the conveyor 3 is pushed down to a predetermined depth position in the collection tank 28 by the engagement roller 31. The conveyor 3 immediately after being engaged with the vehicle is substantially vertically raised. The cleaning nozzle 16 is disposed in the collection tank 28 so that the conveyor 3 rising in the substantially vertical direction is sandwiched from both the front and rear sides.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the cleaning nozzle 16 includes a pair of pipes 16 </ b> A arranged at the same height in the width direction of the conveyor 3, and a plurality of injection ports 16 </ b> B provided at equal pitches on the pipes 16 </ b> A. The cleaning liquid 17 can be ejected from each of the ejection ports 16B through the pipe 16A from the supply source 34 of the cleaning liquid 17. At that time, since the cleaning liquid 17 sprayed from the spray port 16B spreads in a fan shape and is sprayed onto the conveyor 3, the entire area in the width direction of the conveyor 3 can be cleaned.
The communication passage 27 is formed in a bowl shape having a U-shaped cross section, and connects the side wall of the recovery tank 28 and the opening of the wall portion where the inlet 2A is formed.
When the cleaning liquid 17 is sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 16 onto the conveyor 3, the cleaned cleaning liquid 17 is recovered in the recovery tank 28, and more than a predetermined amount of the cleaning liquid 17 is accumulated in the recovery tank 28. And it flows into the water storage tank 12 through the communication path 27. Note that clean water is used as the cleaning liquid 17.
As described above, in this embodiment, the water storage tank 12 storing the cleaning water 11 is provided below the box 2, and the lower side of the conveyor 3 serving as a return side in the cleaning water 11 of the water storage tank 12. Further, the cleaning path 17 is soaked, and the cleaning liquid 17 is jetted from the cleaning nozzle 16 to the conveyor 3 after being soaked.

In the above configuration, the heat treatment of the food 4 is performed by the heat treatment apparatus 1 as follows.
First, in a state where the conveyor 3 at the start of operation is not operated, the washing water 11 is stored in the water storage tank 12 in the box 2 to a predetermined height.
Thereafter, the electromagnetic on / off valve 15 of each branch pipe 14A is opened by a control means (not shown), and then superheated steam is injected from the heating nozzle 5 of each heating chamber 7A, 7B by the superheated steam supply means 13, and inside the heating chambers 7A, 7B. Is raised to a predetermined temperature. For example, if the food 4 to be processed is a fish fillet and the temperature of the superheated steam injected from the heating nozzle 5 is 250 ° C., the food 4 is supplied and heated in advance until the conveyor 3 starts operating. The temperature of the chamber is raised to 250 ° C. Since this heating time requires about 40 minutes, the washing water 11 in the water storage tank 12 is heated to about 60 ° C. until the heating chambers 7A and 7B are heated.
When the temperature in the heating chambers 7A and 7B reaches the predetermined temperature, the conveyor 3 is operated, and the conveyor 3 is circulated in the direction of the arrow. The food 4 is placed on the conveyor 3 on the entrance 2A side by an operator or automatically. As the conveyor 3 travels in the direction of the arrow, the food material 4 on the conveyor 3 serving as the upper conveyance path is carried into the box 2 from the inlet 2A and then into the heating chambers 7A and 7B. The heating process is carried out by jetting superheated steam from above and below by the heating nozzle 5. Thereafter, as the conveyor 3 travels, the food 4 is carried out of the box 2 from the outlet 2B, and the carried food 4 is taken out of the conveyor 3 by an operator or automatically. It has become.

Thereafter, the conveyor 3 from which the food 4 has been taken out is reversed downward at the downstream end 3B and travels on the lower conveyance path. And the conveyor 3 used as the lower conveyance path | route is introduce | transduced in the water storage tank 12 of the box 2, and travels in the state immersed in the wash water 11 in this water storage tank 12. As shown in FIG. Accordingly, when the food 4 is attached to the stainless steel rod 23 on which the conveyor 3 is placed, the food 4 is removed from the stainless steel rod 23 while the conveyor 3 travels in the wash water 11 of the water storage tank 12. Will peel off or become dull and easily fall off.
When a predetermined time elapses after the operation of the conveyor 3 is started, the cleaning liquid 17 is sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 16 and then the cleaning liquid 17 is continuously sprayed. Therefore, the conveyor 3 that has traveled in the water storage tank 12 exits from the washing water 11 in the inlet chamber 6 into the upper space, then passes through the communication path 27 after exiting the box 2 through the inlet 2A. Then, when passing through the collection tank 28, the cleaning liquid 17 is jetted by the cleaning nozzle 16.
As described above, since the food 4 adhering to the stainless steel rod 23 of the conveyor 3 is in a state of being easily lost due to being immersed in the cleaning water 11, it is attached to each stainless steel rod 23. The food 4 is easily peeled off and completely washed away by the cleaning liquid 17 sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 16.
The cleaning liquid 17 sprayed from the cleaning nozzle 16 and the washed-out residue are collected in the recovery tank 28. When a predetermined amount or more of the cleaning liquid 17 accumulates in the recovery tank 28, the communication path 27 passes through the communication path 27. Thus, the cleaning liquid 17 flows into the water storage tank 12.

  As described above, the heat treatment apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment immerses the conveyor 3 serving as the lower conveyance path in the cleaning water 11 in the water storage tank 12, and the conveyor 3 after being immersed in the cleaning water 11. The cleaning liquid 17 is sprayed toward the head. Therefore, all the food 4 adhering to each stainless steel rod 23 which comprises the mounting surface of the conveyor 3 is peeled off easily and washed away cleanly. Therefore, according to the present Example, the heat processing apparatus 1 provided with the high washing | cleaning capability can be provided compared with the past.

Next, FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, a second cleaning nozzle 116 is provided on the lower side in the outlet chamber 8 on the premise of the configuration of the first embodiment. Since the configuration of the cleaning nozzle 116 is the same as the configuration of the cleaning nozzle 16 on the inlet 2A side described above, detailed description thereof is omitted. By spraying the cleaning liquid 17 from the second cleaning nozzle 116 toward the conveyor 3, the conveyor 3 before being immersed in the cleaning water 11 of the water storage tank 12 is preliminarily cleaned. Other configurations of the second embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same numbers as those of the first embodiment are assigned to the respective parts and members corresponding to those of the first embodiment.
In the second embodiment, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. In the second embodiment, since the second cleaning nozzle 116 having a preliminary cleaning function is provided, it is possible to obtain a higher cleaning ability than in the first embodiment.

In addition, although the conveyor 3 in the said Example becomes a structure which provided many stainless steel rods 23 over a pair of left and right endless chains 22, various forms, such as a mesh conveyor and a top chain conveyor, are employable. is there.
Moreover, in the said Example, although fresh water is used as the washing water 11 and the washing | cleaning liquid 17, the chemical | medical solution which does not contaminate the foodstuff 4 may be mixed with a fresh water, and it may be used as the washing water 17 and the washing | cleaning liquid 17.
Furthermore, in the said Example, although the foodstuff was heat-processed with superheated steam, you may use other heating media, such as heating air and a microwave, instead of superheated steam.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Heat processing apparatus 2 ... Box 3 ... Conveyor 4 ... Foodstuff 5 ... Heating nozzle 11 ... Cleaning water 13 ... Superheated steam supply means 16 ... Cleaning nozzle 17 ... Cleaning liquid

Claims (4)

A box in which heating means is arranged, and a conveyor that is circulated through the upper conveyance path and the lower conveyance path, and that conveys food within the box by placing food on the upper conveyance path. In the heat treatment device that heats the food that the conveyor conveys,
Forming a water storage tank that stores wash water below the box, and configured to immerse the lower transport path of the conveyor in the wash water of the water tank,
Furthermore, the heat processing apparatus provided with the washing | cleaning nozzle which injects a washing | cleaning liquid toward the conveyor of the conveyance path of the lower side after coming out of the said water storage tank.   The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating unit is a plurality of heating nozzles that inject superheated steam.   2. The cleaning nozzle is provided at a position downstream of the water storage tank in the transport path below the conveyor and close to the entrance of the box. Item 3. A heat treatment apparatus according to Item 2.   A second liquid spraying the cleaning liquid toward the conveyor at a position between being inverted to the lower transfer path at the downstream end of the upper transfer path of the conveyor and being immersed in the water storage tank; The heat treatment apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a cleaning nozzle.

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