JP2020162578A - Cooked rice feeding device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a cooked rice feeding device capable of displaying a remaining amount of cooked rice in a hopper.SOLUTION: A cooked rice feeding device includes: a hopper 20 for storing cooked rice therein; an opening/closing cup 23 and a weighing machine 24 that supply a preset weight of cooked rice to a container; device weight measuring means for measuring the weight of the device, consisting of a plurality of strain gauge units which are provided in a plurality of legs 29, respectively, attached to a bottom surface of the device, and include respective strain gauges connected to each other; remaining amount measuring means for measuring a remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 by subtracting the weight of the device in a state where cooked rice is not stored in the hopper 20 from a measured value of the device weight measuring means; and a display part 16 that displays the remaining amount of cooked rice measured by the remaining amount measuring means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a cooked rice supply device, and more particularly to a detection of the remaining amount of cooked rice stored in a storage portion of the cooked rice supply device.

When making a lunch box or a bowl, a cooked rice supply device for supplying cooked rice (ingredients) to a container such as a lunch box or a bowl is known. This cooked rice supply device automatically supplies a certain amount of cooked rice to a container by storing cooked rice in a hopper (storage unit), transporting an appropriate amount of cooked rice from there by a transport screw (transporting means) and weighing it. It is a device to do.

In the cooked rice supply device, a predetermined amount is weighed and placed in a container to make a lunch box, a bowl, etc., so that the cooked rice stored in the hopper gradually decreases.

At this time, since the conventional cooked rice supply device is not provided with a means for displaying the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper, it is necessary to open the upper lid and directly visually check the inside of the hopper.

Regarding the technique for detecting the remaining amount, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for detecting the remaining amount of liquid in the container.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-0099939

In the cooked rice supply device as described above, the upper lid is opened to visually check the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper. Therefore, when the upper lid is opened, the steam in the hopper leaks to the outside and the temperature drops, the temperature of the cooked rice near the stored surface drops, and the water evaporates and becomes slightly dry. Then, the higher the frequency of opening and closing the upper lid, the stronger the tendency.

The present invention has been made from the above-mentioned technical background, and an object of the present invention is to provide a cooked rice supply device capable of displaying the remaining amount of cooked rice in a storage unit.

In order to solve the above problems, the cooked rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 1 includes a storage unit for storing cooked rice, a metering supply means for supplying a preset weight of cooked rice to a receiving member, and a bottom surface of the cooked rice. A device weight measuring means for measuring the weight of a device, which comprises a plurality of legs attached to the rice paddle and a plurality of strain gauge units provided on the legs and provided with strain gauges connected to each other, and the device weight measuring means. The remaining amount measuring means for measuring the remaining amount of cooked rice in the storage part by subtracting the weight of the device in the state where the cooked rice is not stored in the storage part from the measured value of the device weight measuring means, and the remaining amount measuring means for measuring. It is characterized by having a display means for displaying the remaining amount of cooked rice.

The cooked rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 2 does not store cooked rice in the storage portion and the regular self-weight value which is the regular device weight of the cooked rice supply device stored in advance in the invention according to claim 1. When the measured self-weight value, which is the measured value of the device weight measuring means in the state, matches, the operation of the cooked rice supply device is permitted, and when the normal self-weight value and the measured self-weight value do not match, the cooked rice is allowed to operate. It is characterized by further having an operation permit / denial means for executing a control for disallowing the operation of the supply device.

The cooked rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein when the operation permission / denial means does not permit the operation of the cooked rice supply device, the notification means notifies the fact. It is characterized by that.

The rice rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the strain gauge unit is a strain generating body in which a device load is applied in a bending direction, and the raising. It is characterized by including the strain gauge adhered to the strain body and a stopper for preventing bending deformation of the strain generating body beyond a predetermined value.

In the invention of claim 4, the rice rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 5 is attached to the leg portion, a case portion that holds the outer periphery of the leg portion main body, and the case portion. The leg body and the case portion have a base plate that forms a space for accommodating the strain gauge unit, the strain-causing body is pressed against the leg body, and the stopper is attached to the base plate. It is characterized by being attached.

In the cooked rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 6, in the invention according to claim 5, the stopper is screwed to the base plate so that the distance from the strain-causing body can be adjusted. It is characterized by.

According to the invention of claim 5 or 6, the cooked rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 7 is provided with a seal member between the outer periphery of the leg body and the case. It is a feature.

The cooked rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 8 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the display means displays the remaining amount of cooked rice numerically or conceptually. It is characterized by that.

The cooked rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 9 is arranged in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction and can set the temperature independently of each other in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 8. A control means in which a plurality of heaters are provided and a heat retaining means for accommodating the storage unit and a control means for individually changing the temperature of the plurality of heaters according to the remaining amount of cooked rice measured by the remaining amount measuring means. It is characterized by further having and.

In the invention of claim 9, the cooked rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 10 has the control means such that the heater at the height position where the cooked rice is present is set to the first temperature and the cooked rice is not present. The heater in position is characterized by a second temperature below the first temperature or shutdown.

The cooked rice supply device of the present invention according to claim 11 is the transport means for transporting the cooked rice in the storage unit while rotating to the metering supply means in the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 10. It is characterized in that it further has a control means for executing control that the rotation speed of the transport means becomes faster when the remaining amount of cooked rice measured by the remaining amount measuring means is smaller than when the remaining amount is large.

According to the present invention, the device weight measuring means is composed of a set of strain gauge units provided on a plurality of legs, and the cooked rice is not stored in the storage section based on the measured values of the device weight measuring means. A remaining amount measuring means for measuring the remaining amount of cooked rice in the storage unit by subtracting the weight of the device is provided. Then, since the remaining amount of cooked rice measured by the remaining amount measuring means is displayed by the display means, it is possible to display the remaining amount of cooked rice in the storage unit.

It is a perspective view which shows the cooked rice supply apparatus which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the upper part of the cooked rice supply apparatus of FIG. 1 with the upper lid open. It is sectional drawing of the cooked rice supply apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the upper hopper of the cooked rice supply apparatus of this embodiment and its peripheral mechanism extracted from diagonally above. It is a perspective view which shows the hopper of the cooked rice supply apparatus of this embodiment and its peripheral mechanism extracted from diagonally below. It is a perspective view which shows the heat insulation container which accommodates a hopper in the cooked rice supply apparatus of this embodiment. It is sectional drawing which conceptually shows the hopper and the heat insulation container in this embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the cooked rice supply device of FIG. 1 from diagonally below. It is a perspective view which shows the leg part attached to the bottom surface of the apparatus from diagonally below. It is a top view of the leg part of FIG. It is sectional drawing along the XI-XI line of FIG. It is a front view which shows the strain gauge unit provided in the leg part. It is a front view which shows the strain gauge unit of FIG. 12 from a different direction by 90 °. It is a top view of the strain gauge unit of FIG. It is a bottom view of the strain gauge unit of FIG. It is a block diagram of the cooked rice supply apparatus which is one Embodiment of this invention. (A) is an explanatory diagram showing the temperature control pattern of the heater when the cooked rice in the hopper is up to the height position of the upper heater, and (b) is when the cooked rice in the hopper is reduced to the height position of the lower heater. It is explanatory drawing which shows the temperature control pattern of the heater of. It is a flowchart which shows the process before the start of operation of the cooked rice supply apparatus which is one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments as an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, in the drawing for demonstrating the embodiment, the same constituent elements are in principle given the same reference numerals, and the repeated description thereof will be omitted.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a cooked rice supply device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the upper portion of the cooked rice supply device of FIG. 1 with the upper lid open, and FIG. 3 is a cooked rice supply of FIG. A cross-sectional view of the apparatus, FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the upper hopper of the cooked rice supply device of the present embodiment and its peripheral mechanism extracted from diagonally above, and FIG. 5 is a hopper of the cooked rice supply device of the present embodiment and its periphery. A perspective view showing the mechanism extracted from diagonally below, FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a heat insulating container for accommodating the hopper in the cooked rice supply device of the present embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a concept of the hopper and the heat insulating container in the present embodiment. FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the cooked rice supply device of FIG. 1 from diagonally below.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cooked rice supply device A of the present embodiment includes a front plate 10 and a back plate 11 located on the back surface of the front plate 10, and on both sides of the front plate 10 and the back plate 11. It has a main body portion 1 having a side plate 12 located and having an opening 13 formed upward. Further, an upper lid 14 for opening and closing the opening 13 is attached to the main body 1 via a hinge unit 15. The upper lid 14 is composed of an outer lid portion 14-1 located on the outer side and an inner lid portion 14-2 located on the inner side when the opening 13 is closed.

As shown in the figure, the front plate 10 is provided with a touch panel type display unit (display means / notification means) 16. The display unit 16 is a screen for inputting an operation command or displaying information such as the remaining amount of cooked rice, which will be described later, and is composed of, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). On the back side of the main body 1, a substrate on which various electronic components such as a control unit (control means, remaining amount measuring means, operating permission / denial means: FIG. 16) 30 for controlling the operation of the cooked rice supply device A are mounted. 17 (Fig. 3) is installed.

Further, below the front plate 10, a container installation portion 18 on which a container (receptive member) for serving cooked rice is installed is provided, and a predetermined depth and a predetermined depth are provided between the front plate 10 and the container installation portion 18. A recessed space 19 having a height is formed. The recessed space 19 is a space sufficient for accommodating the container, and cooked rice falls from above and is supplied to the container.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a hopper (storage unit) 20 for storing cooked rice charged from the opening 13 is installed in the above-mentioned opening 13. Further, as shown in FIG. 3, a transport screw (transport means) 21 for transporting cooked rice (in FIG. 3, from the right side of the drawing to the diagonally upper left side) and the inside of the hopper 20 are provided near the bottom surface of the hopper 20. A stirring blade (stirring means) 25 for sending the cooked rice to the transport screw 21 while stirring is provided.

On the downstream side of the transport screw 21 in the transport direction of the cooked rice, a drum-type solution in which the cooked rice transported in the hopper 20 is torn down and dropped by the rotation of the transport screw 21 and a large number of claws 22a are provided on the outer circumference. A screw roller (unraveling means) 22 is arranged. Further, directly below the unwinding roller 22, a pair of opening / closing cups (a part of the measuring supply means) 23 for opening and closing the falling path of the cooked rice dropped from the unraveling roller 22 are provided.

The rotation axis of the unraveling roller 22 is in a positional relationship orthogonal to the rotation axis of the transfer screw 21. As a result, the cooked rice stored in the hopper 20 is unraveled by the rotation of the transport screw 21 provided in the hopper 20 and transported to the roller 22. Then, the cooked rice conveyed to the unraveling roller 22 falls while being unraveled by the action of the claws 22a accompanying the rotation of the unraveling roller 22.

Further, the opening / closing cup 23 is located on the falling path of the cooked rice dropped by the unraveling roller 22 described above. The opening / closing cup 23 has a shape that bulges downward so that cooked rice can be stored, and is formed of a pair of members that can be opened and closed downward. Then, when the cooked rice is supplied to the container, the opening / closing cup 23 is opened, and when the supply is stopped, the cooked rice is closed to perform the supply operation and the supply stop operation of the cooked rice to the container.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, the hopper 20 is composed of an upper hopper 20a having an open upper end and a lower end, and a lower hopper 20b fitted into the opening at the lower end of the upper hopper 20a to form a bottom surface of the hopper 20. ing.

The upper hopper 20a is gradually narrowed from the upper side to the lower side, so that the upper end is a wide-mouthed opening and the lower end is a narrow-mouthed opening.

In FIGS. 3 to 5, the above-mentioned transport screw 21 is installed in the substantially semicircular accommodating groove 20b-1 formed in the lower hopper 20b. The transport screw 21 is composed of a transport shaft 21a extending along the transport direction of cooked rice and a spiral screw 21b provided around the transport shaft 21a to unravel the cooked rice in the hopper 20 and transport the cooked rice to the roller 22. Has been done. Then, one end of the transport shaft 21a (the end opposite to the unraveling roller 22) protrudes to the outside of the lower hopper 20b, and a gear 26a constituting the speed reducer 26 is attached to the protruding end. There is.

The above-mentioned stirring blade 25 is installed in parallel with the transport screw 21. The stirring blades 25 include a shaft 25a arranged along the rice transporting direction by the transport screw 21, and a plurality of stirring rods 25b extending in a direction intersecting the rotation direction of the shaft 25a and provided at intervals from each other. It is composed of. Then, one end of the shaft 25a (the end opposite to the unraveling roller 22) also protrudes to the outside of the lower hopper 20b, and similarly, a gear 27a constituting the speed reducer 27 is attached to the protruding end. ing. The structure of the stirring blade 25 is not limited to that shown in the present embodiment. Further, the stirring blade 25 may not be provided.

The speed reducer 26 including the gear 26a attached to the transport shaft 21a and the speed reducer 27 including the gear 27a attached to the shaft 25a are both housed in the housing 28. Further, on the back side of the housing 28, a transport motor M1 for rotationally driving the transport screw 21 and a stirring motor M2 for rotationally driving the stirring blade 25 are fixed. A gear 26b constituting the speed reducer 26 is attached to the output shaft of the transport motor M1, and a gear 27b constituting the speed reducer 27 is attached to the output shaft of the stirring motor M2. As a result, the rotational force of the transfer motor M1 is transmitted from the gear 26b to the gear 26a via the relay gear 26c to rotate the transfer screw 21. Further, the rotational force of the stirring motor M2 is transmitted from the gear 27b to the gear 27a via the relay gear 27c to rotate the stirring blade 25.

The front surface of the housing 28 is covered with a housing cover 28a for protecting the speed reducers 26 and 27 and supporting the rotation shafts of the speed reducers 26 and 27.

By the way, in FIG. 3, the cooked rice supply device A measures the cooked rice accumulated in the opening / closing cup 23 (that is, the cooked rice to be supplied to the container placed on the container installation portion 18) (measuring). (Part of the supply means) 24 is provided.

A load cell that converts a load into an electric signal is used in the measuring instrument 24. Then, just before the measured value of cooked rice (measured value by the measuring instrument 24) accumulated in the opening / closing cup 23 at the closed position reaches the target measured value, the rotational operation of the transport screw 21 and the unwinding roller 22 is stopped, and finally. When the target weighing value is reached, the opening / closing cup 23 is in the open position and the cooked rice is dropped and supplied to the container.

Here, the hopper 20 is housed in the heat insulating container (heat insulating means) 32 shown in FIG. Further, the heat insulating container 32 includes a container main body 32a and a heater 32b attached to the container main body 32a. As shown in the figure, the heater 32b is composed of two stages in the vertical direction of the upper heater 32b-1 and the lower heater 32b-2, and the temperature can be set independently of each other.

The hopper 20 and the heat insulating container 32 in the present embodiment are conceptually shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the upper heater 32b-1 is arranged around the container body 32a, while the lower heater 32b-2 is arranged around the container body 32a and on the bottom surface.

In the case shown in FIG. 6, the upper heater 32b-1 is divided into a plurality of parts in the vertical and horizontal directions and arranged in the container body 32a. However, since these are set to the same temperature, the upper heater 32b-1 It is treated as one as -1. The lower heater 32b-2 is also divided in the same manner, but since they are also set to the same temperature, they are also treated as one as the lower heater 32b-2. That is, the upper heater 32b-1 and the lower heater 32b-2 may be integrated with each other, but may be divided as in the present embodiment.

In the present embodiment, the heater 32b is composed of the upper heater 32b-1 and the lower heater 32b-2, but the heaters 32b are arranged in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction so that the temperatures can be set independently of each other. It suffices, and it may be three or more steps.

As shown in FIG. 8, leg portions 29 are attached to four locations on the bottom surface of the device. Hereinafter, the structure of the legs will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 15. 9 is a perspective view showing the legs attached to the bottom surface of the device from diagonally below, FIG. 10 is a plan view of the legs of FIG. 9, FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along the line XI-XI of FIG. A front view showing a strain gauge unit provided in a leg, FIG. 13 is a front view showing the strain gauge unit of FIG. 12 from a 90 ° different direction, FIG. 14 is a plan view of the strain gauge unit of FIG. 12, and FIG. 15 is a view. It is a bottom view of 12 strain gauge units.

As shown in FIGS. 9 to 11, the leg portion 29 includes a substantially columnar leg portion main body 29a, a case portion 29b that holds the outer circumference of the leg portion main body 29a, and a base plate 29c to which the case portion 29b is attached. I have. The case portion 29b is fixed to the base plate 29c by a screw 29e via a spacer 29d, and therefore, there is a gap between the case portion 29b and the base plate 29c.

The case portion 29b is formed with a hole 29ba in which the lower portion of the leg portion main body 29a protrudes, and the inner circumference of the hole 29ba is engaged with a step 29ab formed in the leg portion main body 29a to engage with the leg portion main body. A flange 29bb is formed to prevent the 29a from falling off. Further, a sealing member 29f such as an O-ring is provided between the outer circumference of the leg body 29a and the case 29b to prevent the intrusion of moisture and the like from the outside.

In the present embodiment, the case portion 29b is separate from the base plate 29c, but may be integrally formed.

A space for accommodating the strain gauge unit 33 is formed by the leg body 29a, the case 29b, and the base plate 29c.

As shown in FIGS. 11 to 15, the strain gauge unit 33 includes a strain plate (distortion body) 33a in which the load of the cooked rice supply device A is applied in the bending direction, and a strain gauge 33b bonded to the strain plate 33a. In order to prevent the strain-causing plate 33a from being plastically deformed and damaged due to an unexpected overload, it is provided with a stopper 33c that prevents the strain-causing plate 33a from being bent and deformed more than a predetermined value. Further, the strain generating plate 33a is pressed against the leg body 29a via a transmission plate 33d for transmitting a device load to the strain generating plate 33a. A protrusion 33da is formed at the center of the transmission plate 33d, and the protrusion 33da is pressed from the leg body 29a.

The stopper 33c is attached to the base plate 29c. The stopper 33c is screwed to the base plate 29c so that the distance from the strain generating plate 33a can be adjusted. Therefore, since the maximum amount of deformation of the strain-causing plate 33a can be adjusted by adjusting the interval, the amount of deformation can be adjusted according to the type of the strain-causing plate 33a. The distance between the stopper 33c and the strain generating plate 33a does not have to be adjustable.

The strain-causing plate 33a includes a strain-causing portion 33aa that is distorted by a load applied via the transmission plate 33d and a fixing portion 33ab that is formed on both sides of the strain-causing portion 33aa and is fixed to the leg portion 29. The gauge 33b is adhered to the strain generating portion 33aa. Then, the load applied to the strain plate 33a is obtained by converting the change in the resistance value of the strain gauge 33b due to the deformation of the strain plate 33a into the change in the voltage value via the Wheatstone bridge circuit.

In the present embodiment, the strain gauge 33b uses a half-bridge type, but a full-bridge type or a quarter-bridge type may be used.

Here, the strain gauges 33b provided on the four legs 29 on the bottom surface of the device are connected to each other. Therefore, the total weight of the cooked rice supply device A is measured by summing the loads applied to each strain generating plate 33a measured by each strain gauge 33b. Therefore, the device weight measuring means S33 (FIG. 16) for measuring the device weight is configured by the set of the four strain gauge units 33 provided on the four legs 29.

If the device weight in a state where cooked rice is not stored in the hopper 20 is registered in advance, the control unit 30 can obtain the total of the device weight and the four strain gauge units 33 which are the device weight measuring means. By obtaining the difference from the weight of the cooked rice (the weight of the cooked rice in the state where the cooked rice is stored in the hopper 20), the weight of the cooked rice in the hopper 20, that is, the remaining amount of cooked rice is measured. Therefore, the control unit 30 functions as a remaining amount measuring means for measuring the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20. Then, the measured remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 is displayed on the display unit 16 described above.

In the present embodiment, the remaining amount of cooked rice is displayed as a specific number (weight of cooked rice or remaining percentage), but it may be displayed conceptually. For example, it is conceivable to display the remaining amount in color, and display it in blue when the remaining amount is sufficient, yellow when the remaining amount is about half, and red when the remaining amount is almost exhausted. Alternatively, it may be displayed with a scale or an icon (the remaining amount corresponds to the number of icons).

A block diagram of the cooked rice supply device A having the above configuration is shown in FIG.

As shown in the figure, the rice rice supply device A of the present embodiment includes a control unit 30 that controls the operation of the device, and is composed of the display unit 16, the measuring instrument 24, and the four strain gauge units 33 described above. In addition to the device weight measuring means S33, the upper heater 32b-1, the lower heater 32b-2, the transport motor M1, and the stirring motor M2, the unraveling motor M3 for rotationally driving the unraveling roller 22 and the opening / closing cup. It is equipped with a cup motor M4 for opening and closing the 23.

Then, the control unit 30 controls to individually change the temperature of the heater 32b (that is, the upper heater 32b-1 and the lower heater 32b-2) according to the remaining amount of cooked rice measured by the remaining amount measuring means. It has become.

An example of such control is shown in FIG. Here, FIG. 17 (a) is an explanatory diagram showing a pattern of heater temperature control when the cooked rice in the hopper is up to the height position of the upper heater, and FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the pattern of the temperature control of a heater when it decreases to a vertical position.

In FIG. 17A, when the cooked rice in the hopper 20 exists up to the height of the upper heater 32b-1, both the upper heater 32b-1 and the lower heater 32b-2 are set to the first temperature. Here, the first temperature is, for example, 85 ° C.

In FIG. 17B, when the rice in the hopper 20 does not exist at the height position of the upper heater 32b-1 and exists only at the height position of the lower heater 32b-2, the height at which the rice is present. Whether the setting of the lower heater 32b-2 at the vertical position is left at the first temperature and the upper heater 32b-1 at the height position where no rice is present is set at a second temperature lower than the first temperature. , Stop operation. Here, the second temperature is, for example, 70 ° C. Further, stopping the operation of the upper heater 32b-1 means stopping the power supply to the upper heater 32b-1 so as not to generate heat.

Further, the control unit 30 of the transfer motor M1 so that the rotation speed of the transfer screw 21 becomes faster when the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 measured by the remaining amount measuring means is smaller than when the remaining amount is large. It is designed to control the rotation.

Next, the outline of the cooked rice supply operation in the cooked rice supply device A of the present embodiment will be described.

First, the top lid 14 is opened, and the cooked cooked rice is put into the hopper 20. The input amount at this time is up to the height position of the upper heater 32b-1. After that, when the upper lid 14 is closed and the power is turned on, the upper heater 32b-1 and the lower heater 32b-2 are supplied with power to reach the first temperature, and the cooked rice in the hopper 20 housed in the heat insulating container 32 is warmed.

Then, the touch panel type display unit 16 presses a predetermined filling button. When the container is installed in the container installation unit 18, a sensor (not shown) detects the installation of the container, the transfer screw 21, the stirring blade 25, and the unraveling roller 22 start rotating, and cooked rice is placed in the opening / closing cup 23 in the closed position. It will be accumulated. At this time, the weight of the cooked rice accumulated in the opening / closing cup 23 is sequentially measured by the measuring instrument 24. Then, as described above, the rotation operation of the transport screw 21, the stirring blade 25, and the unraveling roller 22 is stopped immediately before the measured value reaches the target value, and when the measured value finally reaches the target value, the opening / closing cup 23 is opened. The cooked rice is dropped and supplied to the container in the open position.

The cooked rice in the hopper 20 is dropped and supplied to the container, and the remaining amount gradually decreases. However, in the cooked rice supply device A of the present embodiment, the remaining amount of cooked rice is measured by the control unit 30 as the remaining amount measuring means. The measurement result is displayed on the display unit 16. That is, the control unit 30 is based on the difference between the device weight when the cooked rice is not stored in the hopper 20 and the device weight obtained by the device weight measuring means S33 (the device weight when the cooked rice is stored in the hopper 20). The remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 is measured and displayed on the display unit 16.

Therefore, since the operator can know the remaining amount of cooked rice on the display on the display unit 16, the upper lid is opened to check the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper for the purpose of grasping the start timing of the next cooked rice. There is no need to visually check. As a result, the frequency of opening and closing the upper lid can be reduced, so that the temperature of the cooked rice in the vicinity of the surface stored in the hopper 20 is lowered by opening and closing the upper lid, and the water does not evaporate and become slightly dry.

Here, in the cooked rice supply device A, when the cooked rice is served in the container from inside the hopper 20 and gradually decreases, the cooked rice exists at the height position of the lower heater 32b-2, but the cooked rice is present at the height position of the lower heater 32b-2. The state that does not exist at the height position of the above, that is, the state shown in FIG. 17A shifts to the state shown in FIG. At this time, if the upper heater 32b-1 is maintained at the first temperature, the space above the cooked rice in the hopper 20 is warmed at the same temperature as when the cooked rice is warmed, so that the cooked rice in the portion facing the space is warmed. Evaporation of water progresses. Then, the cooked rice in this part becomes dry and the texture deteriorates.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, when the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 measured by the remaining amount measuring means reaches the state shown in FIG. 17B, the height position where the cooked rice exists. The setting of the lower heater 32b-2 is left as it is (that is, the first temperature), and the upper heater 32b-1 at a height position where cooked rice does not exist is set to a second temperature lower than the first temperature. Or stop the operation. Therefore, the space in the hopper 20 where the cooked rice does not exist is warmed at a lower temperature than when the cooked rice is warmed, and the water content of the cooked rice in the portion facing the space is slowly evaporated.

As described above, in the cooked rice supply device A of the present embodiment, the upper heater 32b-1 and the lower heater 32b-2 are measured by the control unit 30 according to the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 measured by the remaining amount measuring means. The temperature of the heater (upper heater 32b-1 and lower heater 32b-2 in the case of FIG. 17A) is set to the first temperature by individually controlling the temperature of the cooked rice. The heater at a height position where cooked rice does not exist (in the case of FIG. 17B, the upper heater 32b-1) is set to a second temperature lower than the first temperature or to stop operation.

Therefore, the space in the hopper 20 where the cooked rice does not exist is not the temperature at which the cooked rice is warmed (that is, the first temperature), but a temperature lower than that (that is, the second temperature when set to the second temperature). When the operation is stopped, the temperature is lower than the second temperature). As a result, the evaporation of water in the portion of the cooked rice facing the space is slowed down, and the drying of the cooked rice in the portion is suppressed. Therefore, the texture of the cooked rice served in the container does not deteriorate.

When the remaining amount of cooked rice stored in the hopper 20 becomes low, the amount of cooked rice that is unraveled by the transport screw 21 and transported to the roller 22 decreases. Therefore, it takes time to transport the set amount of cooked rice with the transport screw 21, and the transport efficiency is lowered.

Regarding this point as well, in the cooked rice supply device A of the present embodiment, as described above, under the control of the control unit 30, the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 measured by the remaining amount measuring means is larger than that when the remaining amount of cooked rice is large. When the amount is small, the transfer motor M1 rotates so that the rotation speed of the transfer screw 21 becomes faster.

Specifically, when the maximum weight of cooked rice in the hopper 20 is 5 kg, the transport screw 21 is rotated at 60 rpm (Revolutions Per Minute) until the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 reaches, for example, 1 kg. The cooked rice is unraveled and transported to the roller 22. Then, if the remaining amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 becomes, for example, 1 kg or less, the amount of cooked rice transported to the roller 22 will be reduced if the cooked rice has been rotated at the rotation speed up to that point, so the rotation speed may be increased. Raise it and rotate it at 90 rpm to convey it.

When the remaining amount of cooked rice becomes low in this way, the rotation speed of the transport screw 21 is increased to unravel the cooked rice and transport it to the roller 22, so that the remaining amount of cooked rice stored in the hopper 20 is small. The decrease in the transport efficiency of cooked rice due to the above is prevented. As a result, even if the amount of cooked rice in the hopper 20 is reduced, the serving time of the cooked rice in the container does not become long.

In the cooked rice supply device A, parts such as the hopper 20, the transport screw 21, the unraveling roller 22, the opening / closing cup 23, and the stirring blade 25 are removable. Then, the worker removes these parts, cleans them, and assembles them as needed. Since such work is done manually, there is a possibility that the removed parts may not be assembled. Then, if the cooked rice is added as it is and the operation is started, the original operation is not executed. In addition, if an omission in assembly of parts is discovered due to a malfunction of the device, it is necessary to take out the cooked rice and remove even the assembled parts to perform the restoration work.

As a method of preventing such omission of assembly of parts, a visual judgment by an operator, a judgment of the presence or absence of each part by a sensor, or the like can be considered.

However, in the case of visual judgment, it is necessary to disassemble the assembled parts into a visible state, which is complicated. In addition, in the case of judgment by sensors, it is necessary to arrange sensors corresponding to each part, and as the number of parts increases, the number of sensors also increases, which causes problems such as sensor mounting position problems and cost increase problems. appear.

Therefore, in the cooked rice supply device A of the present embodiment, such processing is performed by performing the process shown in FIG. 18 under the control of the control unit 30 that functions as a driving permission / denial means for determining the operation permission / rejection of the cooked rice supply device A. You are solving the problem.

That is, the memory (not shown) of the cooked rice supply device A has the regular device weight of the cooked rice supply device A (the weight when all the necessary parts are assembled and the cooked rice is not charged). A certain regular weight value is stored in advance. Then, prior to the start of operation, the device weight measuring means S33 described above measures the measured self-weight value, which is the measured value of the cooked rice supply device A in a state where the cooked rice is not stored in the hopper 20 (step S1).

Next, it is determined whether or not the normal weight value and the measured weight value match (step S2).

Since all the necessary parts are assembled in the cooked rice supply device A, it is considered that the measured weight value matches the regular weight value. Therefore, if the two match in step S2, the cooked rice supply device A Driving is permitted (step S3).

On the other hand, in step S2, if the two do not match, it means that all the necessary parts are not assembled in the cooked rice supply device A, and the operation of the cooked rice supply device A is disallowed (step S4). ). At this time, it is desirable to notify (audibly or visually) to that effect by a notification means such as an alarm or the display unit 16, because the operator can immediately know that there is an omission in assembling the parts.

If the operation of the cooked rice supply device A is not permitted in step S4, the operator reassembles the parts (step S5). Then, the process returns to step S1 described above, the measured self-weight value is measured again, and steps S1, S2, S4, and S5 are repeated until the measured self-weight value matches the normal weight value.

As described above, in the process shown in FIG. 18, the control unit 30 functions as an operation permission / denial means for determining the operation permission / rejection of the cooked rice supply device A.

Then, according to such a process by the control unit 30, it is possible to easily prevent the worker from forgetting to assemble the assembled parts without re-disassembling the assembled parts to a visible state. In addition, since it is possible to prevent forgetting to assemble the parts without arranging the sensors corresponding to each part, the problem of the sensor mounting position and the problem of cost increase do not occur.

Although the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described above based on the embodiments, the embodiments disclosed in the present specification are exemplary in all respects and are limited to the disclosed techniques. It's not a thing. That is, the technical scope of the present invention is not limitedly interpreted based on the description in the above-described embodiment, but should be interpreted according to the description of the claims, and the scope of claims. All changes are included as long as they do not deviate from the description technology and the technology equivalent to the above and the gist of the claims.

In the above description, a so-called top-weighing cooked rice supply device that measures the weight of cooked rice accumulated in the opening / closing cup 23 is shown, but the weight of cooked rice that is dropped and supplied to the container placed on the container installation unit 18. It may be a so-called cooked rice supply device for under-weighing.

Further, in the present embodiment, the number of legs 29 attached to the bottom surface of the container is four, but the number of legs 29 may be three or more, and the number is not limited to four. The strain gauge unit 33 for measuring the weight of the device is provided on all the legs 29.

In the above description, the case where the present invention is applied to a cooked rice supply device for dropping and supplying cooked rice in a storage unit to a container is shown, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, it can be applied to various cooked rice supply devices such as a cooked rice supply device that takes out an appropriate amount of cooked rice in the storage unit and forms it into rice balls or rice balls, or forms a sheet and supplies it on plate seaweed.

Therefore, the receiving member to which cooked rice is supplied is not limited to the container, for example, a molding hole for molding a rice ball on a turntable, a molding mold for molding into a rice ball shape, a plate for rolling seaweed, and the like. There may be.

1 Main unit 16 Display unit (display means / notification means)
20 Hopper (reservoir)
20a Upper hopper 20b Lower hopper 21 Transport screw (transport means)
22 Unraveling roller (Unraveling means)
23 Opening and closing cup (part of weighing supply means)
24 Measuring instrument (part of measuring supply means)
25 Stirring blade (stirring means)
29 Leg 29a Leg body 29ab Step 29b Case 29ba Hole 29bb Flange 29c Base plate 29d Spacer 29e Screw 29f Seal member 30 Control unit (control means, remaining amount measuring means, operating permission / denial means)
32 Heat insulation container (heat insulation means)
32a Container body 32b Heater 32b-1 Upper heater 32b-2 Lower heater 33 Strain gauge unit 33a Strain generating plate (distorting body)
33aa Strain raising part 33ab Fixed part 33b Strain gauge 33c Stopper 33d Transmission plate 33da Protrusion A Rice supply device M1 Conveying motor M2 Stirring motor M3 Dissolving motor M4 Cup motor S33 Device weight measuring means

Claims (11)

A storage area where cooked rice is stored and
A measuring and supplying means for supplying a preset weight of cooked rice to the receiving member,
With multiple legs attached to the bottom of the device,
A device weight measuring means for measuring the weight of a device, which comprises a plurality of strain gauge units provided on each of the plurality of legs and provided with strain gauges connected to each other.
A remaining amount measuring means for measuring the remaining amount of cooked rice in the storage part by subtracting the weight of the device in the state where the cooked rice is not stored in the storage part from the measured value of the device weight measuring means.
A display means for displaying the remaining amount of cooked rice measured by the remaining amount measuring means, and
A cooked rice supply device characterized by having. When the regular self-weight value, which is the regular device weight of the cooked rice supply device stored in advance, and the measured self-weight value, which is the measured value of the cooked rice measuring means in the state where the cooked rice is not stored in the storage unit, match. It further has an operation permission / denial means for permitting the operation of the cooked rice supply device and executing a control for disallowing the operation of the cooked rice supply device when the normal own weight value and the measured own weight value do not match.
The cooked rice supply device according to claim 1. The driving permission / denial means is
If the operation of the cooked rice supply device is not permitted, a notification means is used to notify the fact.
The cooked rice supply device according to claim 2, characterized in that. The strain gauge unit includes a strain-causing body to which a device load is applied in a bending direction, the strain gauge adhered to the strain-causing body, and a stopper for preventing bending deformation of the strain-causing body beyond a predetermined value.
The cooked rice supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The leg portion forms a space for accommodating the strain gauge unit between the leg portion main body, the case portion that holds the outer circumference of the leg portion main body, and the leg portion main body and the case portion to which the case portion is attached. Has a base plate and
The strain-causing body is pressed against the leg body, and the stopper is attached to the base plate.
The cooked rice supply device according to claim 4, characterized in that. The stopper is screwed to the base plate so that the distance from the strain generating body can be adjusted.
The cooked rice supply device according to claim 5, characterized in that. A sealing member is provided between the outer circumference of the leg body and the case.
The cooked rice supply device according to claim 5 or 6, characterized in that. The display means displays the remaining amount of cooked rice numerically or conceptually.
The cooked rice supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that. A plurality of heaters arranged in a plurality of stages in the vertical direction and capable of setting the temperature independently of each other are provided, and a heat retaining means for accommodating the storage portion and a heat retaining means.
The remaining amount measuring means further includes a control means for executing a control of individually changing the temperature of the plurality of heaters according to the remaining amount of cooked rice measured.
The cooked rice supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that. The control means
The heater at a height position where cooked rice is present is brought to a first temperature, and the heater at a height position where cooked rice is not present is brought to a second temperature lower than the first temperature or is shut down.
9. The cooked rice supply device according to claim 9. A transport means for transporting cooked rice in the storage unit while rotating to the metering supply means,
It further has a control means for executing control that the rotation speed of the transport means becomes faster when the remaining amount of cooked rice measured by the remaining amount measuring means is smaller than when the remaining amount is large.
The cooked rice supply device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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