JP2020198823A - Wilting machine for tea-manufacturing - Google Patents

Abstract

To develop a wilting machine for tea-manufacturing capable of automatically stirring sufficiently tea leaves without damaging in the midst of wilting since it is important to sufficiently stir tea leaves without damaging in order to avoid wilting unevenness and spoilage which heretofore cause degradation.SOLUTION: The first means of the present invention is a wilting machine for tea-manufacturing arranged with a plurality of air-permeable endless conveying belts for placing and wilting tea leaves including a device for replacing upper leaves with bottom leaves to stir the tea leaves at a delivery end of the endless conveying belt, where the device for replacing upper leaves with bottom leaves comprises rotating shaft arranged vertically to a transfer direction of the endless conveying belt, a plurality of bars for replacing upper leaves with bottom leaves attached to the rotating shaft at equally-spaced intervals and radially by supporting members, and a driving means of the rotating shaft.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a tea-making wilting machine for wilting tea leaves when producing black tea, oolong tea, fragrant green tea, and the like.

Withering is the process of chemically reacting tea leaves picked in a tea plantation with an oxidase to change the water content, aroma, and softness of the tea leaves. This is a process that is performed especially when manufacturing black tea and oolong tea. When wilted, a refreshing scent of flowers and fruits is generated from the tea leaves.

In the past, wilting was wilting by spreading tea leaves on the ground. During the wilting, the worker stirred the tea leaves to prevent uneven wilting. This stirring is called turning upside down.

The conventional wilting machine includes a one-stage machine as in Patent Document 1 and a multi-stage machine as in Patent Document 2. The wilting machine of Patent Document 2 has nothing attached to the sending end of the endless transport zone. In that case, one to several tea leaves do not fall from the sending end of the endless transportation zone, but are entwined by the stems and leaves, sink downward due to their own weight over time, and the compacted tea leaves fall as a mass. The lump does not come loose just by falling, and it falls as it is in the vertical direction as it is (see FIG. 7). Drying and wilting progress on the outside of the mass, but neither drying nor wilting progresses on the inside of the mass, and uneven wilting occurs on the outside and inside of the mass. Not only uneven wilting, but also the inside of the mass may rot. As in Patent Document 1, there is a case in which a scraping device similar to a fresh leaf container is attached to the sending end of the endless transportation zone. This scraping device has a plurality of claws on a rotating shaft, and the claws are used to loosen a mass of tea leaves while scraping the tea leaves. With the nails of this scraping device, the lumps where the nails were not attached could not be loosened, or the nails could damage the tea leaves. If the tea leaves were damaged, they could be damaged and rot.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-289982 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-87047

In order to avoid the conventional wilting unevenness and rot, which are the causes of quality deterioration, it is important to sufficiently stir the tea leaves without damaging them. An object of the present invention is to develop a tea-making wilting machine capable of automatically performing sufficient stirring in the middle of wilting without damaging the tea leaves.

The first means of the present invention is
In a tea-making wilting machine with multiple stages of breathable endless transport zones on which tea leaves are placed and wilted.
At the delivery end of the endless transportation zone, an upside-down device for stirring tea leaves is provided, and the tea leaves are turned upside down.
The upside-down device
A rotation axis arranged perpendicular to the traveling direction of the endless transportation zone,
A plurality of upside-down rods provided by a support member at equal intervals and radially with the rotating shaft,
A tea-making wilting machine characterized by comprising the driving means of the rotating shaft.

The tea wilting machine of the present invention can stir well without damaging the tea leaves.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a wilting machine for tea making. FIG. 2 is a plan view of a wilting machine for tea making. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a wilting machine for tea making. FIG. 4 is a perspective explanatory view of the upside-down device of the wilting machine for tea making. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view showing upside down of the wilting machine for tea making. FIG. 6 is an explanatory view showing a specific example of the upside-down device of the wilting machine for tea making. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a conventional fall of tea leaves.

As an example of the present invention, a tea-making wilting machine 1 in which two endless transport zones are stacked will be described. In this embodiment, the number of stages is two, but the same applies to three or more stages. The upper endless transport zone 2 of the tea wilting machine 1 shown in FIG. 1 is arranged to transport tea leaves from the front to the back, and the lower endless transport zone 3 is arranged to transport tea leaves from the back to the front. .. These endless transport zones 2 and 3 are driven by the driving means 4 and 5, respectively. The endless transportation zones 2 and 3 are breathable, and there are wind tunnels equipped with blower fans (not shown) below the endless transportation zones 2 and 3, respectively, and the air is blown through the endless transportation zones 2 and 3.

An upside-down device 10 is provided at the delivery end of the endless transport zone 2. The top-bottom turning device 10 is provided with a rotating shaft 12 provided with a driving means 11, and a top-bottom turning rod 14 is provided at positions equidistant from the rotating shaft 12 by a support member 13, and the rotating shaft 12 rotates to turn the top and bottom. The rod 14 revolves around the rotation shaft 12. A plurality of top-bottom return rods 14 are provided radially around the rotation shaft 12. The rotation shaft 12 is provided perpendicular to the traveling direction of the tea leaves T, the top-bottom return rod 14 is provided so as to cover the entire width of the endless transport zones 2 and 3, and the top-bottom return rod 14 slightly hits the tea leaves on the endless transport zones 2 and 3. To be provided. The upside-down bar 14 is preferably a cylinder, and there is no problem with a prism, but it is desirable that the angle is not raised. The rotation shaft 12 rotates in the direction in which the top-bottom return rod 14 hits the tea leaf T from the bottom to the top.

In FIG. 5, (a) two top-bottom return rods, (b) three top-bottom return rods, (c) four top-bottom return rods, and (d) five top-bottom return rods. An example of is shown. The number may be 6 or more. In each case, the stacking height of the tea leaves, the speed of the endless transport zone, the rotation speed of the rotating shaft, etc. are adjusted so that the tea leaves are well agitated. Three or more of the rotating top-and-bottom return rods 14 are good for scraping up the tea leaves, and it is better not too many for the tea leaves to fall between the top-and-bottom return rods 14.

Next, wilting will be described. The tea leaves are put into one end of the upper endless transport zone 2 by a conveyor 7. The tea leaves move to the sending end of the endless transport zone 2 over several hours, depending on the total time and the number of times the tea leaves are turned upside down. During this period, good wilting is performed while blowing air from the lower part of the endless transportation zone 2 and heating as necessary. By the time the tea leaves move to the sending end of the endless transport zone 2, the tea leaves increase in bulk density only in the lower part due to their own weight and the decrease in water content in the lower part, and gradually become lumps. The lumped tea leaves hit the top and bottom bar 14 and are scraped up. The top-bottom return rod 14 has substantially the same length as the width of the endless transport zone 2, and when the top-bottom return rod 14 passes by, all the tea leaves T in the width direction of the delivery end of the endless transport zone 2 are scraped up. When there are many tea leaves on the endless transport zone 2, the thrown tea leaves enter between the rotation shafts 12 of the top-bottom return rod 14, hit the top-bottom return rod 14 and the rotation shaft 12, and are thrown up again. The tea leaves are loosened. When the tea leaves are loosened, the tea leaves fall from between the top-bottom return rod 14 and the top-bottom return rod 14. Every time the top-bottom return rod 14 passes, the tea leaf T is scraped up, loosened little by little, and falls onto the lower endless transportation zone 3. Although it depends on the moving speed of the endless transportation zone 2, the rotation shaft 12 is good at about 60 rotations / minute. In this way, turning upside down is not to turn the top and bottom upside down, but to loosen the lumps including the inside and turn them all over.

Although the top-bottom turning device 10 is not provided at the sending end of the endless transport zone 3 at the lower stage of the tea-making wilting machine 1 of this embodiment, the top-bottom turning device 10 may be provided if necessary.

The three-stage wilting machine for tea making has a total of two upside-down devices 10 including a delivery end from the upper endless transportation zone to the middle endless transportation zone and a delivery end from the middle endless transportation zone to the lower endless transportation zone. There is. In this case as well, the top-bottom turning device 10 may be attached to the sending end of the lower endless transport zone.

1 Withering machine for tea making 2 Endless transportation zone 3 Endless transportation zone 4 Driving means 5 Driving means 6 Side wall 7 Conveyor 8 Conveyor 10 Top and bottom return device 11 Driving means 12 Top and bottom return bar 13 Support member 14 Top and bottom return bar 20 Endless transportation zone T Tea leaves

Claims (1)

In a tea-making wilting machine with multiple stages of breathable endless transport zones on which tea leaves are placed and wilted.
At the delivery end of the endless transportation zone, an upside-down device for stirring tea leaves is provided, and the tea leaves are turned upside down.
The upside-down device
A rotation axis arranged perpendicular to the traveling direction of the endless transportation zone,
A plurality of upside-down rods provided by a support member at equal intervals and radially with the rotating shaft,
A tea-making wilting machine characterized by comprising the driving means of the rotating shaft.

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