JP2024063830A - Method and device for separating boiled noodles into individual servings - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] The objective of the present invention is to provide a method and device for separating boiled noodles into individual servings, which prevents the occurrence of short noodles by dividing each serving into individual servings in a new way that does not rely on the leveling method. [Solution] A pinch tube 4 is arranged at the bottom of a noodle supply tank 1, which extends toward a weighing basket 3 via an ejector nozzle 2 for removing noodle strings. The ejector nozzle 2 has the function of assisting the drawing out of noodle strings from the noodle supply outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank 1. The pinch tube 4 is equipped in the middle with a pinch valve 5 that intermittently pinches the pinch tube 4, so that the falling of the noodle strings in the pinch tube 4 is temporarily stopped when the pinch valve 5 pinches the pinch tube 4. [Selected Figure] Figure 5

Description

The present invention relates to a method and device for dividing boiled noodles into individual servings, by dividing noodles boiled in a large pot into individual servings. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and device for dividing boiled noodles into individual servings, by which a fixed amount of noodles can be taken out without cutting the noodle strings.

Generally, noodles are boiled in a large pot, cooled, and separated into individual servings by a ball-separating device, which places them in buckets at the rear and sends them to the packaging process. The ball-separating device generally uses a volumetric measuring system, which ensures a certain volume (weight) by leveling off the top of a full weighing basket. With this leveling measuring system, the noodles that protrude from the weighing basket are cut off, so it is inevitable that short noodles will be present in the product. In particular, hard noodle strands such as Japanese soba noodles are easily cut, so the occurrence of short noodles is high, which reduces the product value, and so currently they are rarely produced on a ball-separating device line.

In order to prevent the generation of short noodles that accompany the above level measurement, a method for automatically measuring boiled noodles has been disclosed (JP Patent Publication No. 2012-50425), which was invented based on the idea that it is necessary to supply the noodle strings from the noodle supply tank in small amounts. This method prevents the boiled noodles stored in the water in the noodle supply tank from becoming crowded due to settling or being scraped together by stirring in a reciprocating orbit, by coordinating the water flow with a rotating drum to generate a flow that rotates up and down, thereby enabling the noodles to be supplied in small amounts.

However, with this configuration, although the occurrence of broken noodles can be reduced, there is still a problem that it cannot be reduced to zero, and although the small amount of noodles supplied is effective in preventing clogging of the supply outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank, there is a possibility that some noodles may not reach the allowable weight, and in that case, it is time-consuming to measure them for rework. To solve this problem, a leveling measurement method has been proposed that aims to reduce the occurrence of broken noodles when measuring with a ball removing machine, not simply to improve the measuring accuracy by reducing the standard deviation, but to increase the probability that the noodles will be distributed within the allowable weight range (correct weight passing rate), to increase the correct weight passing rate when measuring 0.5 meals to make one meal, and to further increase the correct weight passing rate without reducing the processing efficiency of the ball removing machine when measuring 0.5 meals to make one meal (JP Patent Publication No. 2021-32874).

JP 2012-50425 A JP 2021-32874 A

As mentioned above, the invention of Patent Document 1 has the problem of not being able to sufficiently prevent the occurrence of short noodles caused by leveling, while the invention of Patent Document 2 has the problem of the time-consuming measurement of 0.5 servings and the correspondingly complicated system. Therefore, the objective of this invention is to provide a method and device for dividing boiled noodles into individual servings that also uses a volumetric measurement method but separates the noodles into servings in a new way that does not rely on the leveling method, thereby preventing the occurrence of short noodles.

The inventors conducted extensive research to solve the above problems, and came up with the idea that, while using the same volumetric measuring method, it would be possible to separate portions for each meal by placing a very low-pressure pinch valve on top of the measuring basket, and by using a very low pressure to pinch the noodles so that they would not break, and thus measure the noodles. This led to the creation of the present invention.

In the course of research and development, it was discovered that the number and length of noodles held by the pinch valve differs depending on the thickness of the tube used to hold the noodles, which results in a large change in the volume of noodles that enter the weighing basket at the bottom, resulting in weight errors for each meal. In order to reduce this change, an attempt was made to narrow the diameter of the tube through which the noodles pass, but this resulted in clogging of the noodles and longer weighing time, reducing the amount of noodles that could be processed. As a result of further research based on this result, it was concluded that the most effective way to solve this problem would be to use a water ejector in combination with the tube, as a method to minimize the diameter of the removal tube and shorten the removal time, and this led to the completion of this invention.

In other words, the invention described in claim 1 for solving the above problem is a method for separating boiled noodles into individual servings, characterized in that the amount of noodles falling into the measuring basket is regulated by intermittently stopping the falling of the noodles through the pinch tube by applying a slight pressure to the middle part of the pinch tube located between the noodle outlet on the bottom of the noodle supply tank and the measuring basket.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a noodle feeder, comprising the steps of: providing a pinch tube at the bottom of the noodle feed tank, the pinch tube extending toward the measuring basket via an ejector nozzle for extracting noodle strings;
The ejector nozzle has a function of assisting in drawing out the noodle strings from the noodle supply outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank, and the pinch tube is provided with a pinch valve in the middle for intermittently pinching the pinch tube, so that the falling of the noodle strings inside the pinch tube is temporarily stopped when the pinch valve pinches the pinch tube. This is an apparatus for separating boiled noodles into individual portions.

In one embodiment, the ejector nozzle includes a downward flow nozzle that ejects a downward water flow that acts to assist in drawing out the noodle strings from the noodle supply outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank, and further includes an upward flow nozzle that ejects an upward water flow that turns over the noodle strings near the noodle supply outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank to prevent noodle clogging.

In one embodiment, the downflow nozzle and the upflow nozzle are controlled to alternately spray high-pressure water.

In one embodiment, the pinch valve includes a pair of tube elements that pressurize the pinch tube, and the pair of tube elements are depressed by a vacuum operation after the pinch is completed to assist the pinch tube in restoring its original shape. In another embodiment, a measuring extension tube is disposed between the lower end of the pinch tube and the measuring basket.

As described above, the present invention uses a volumetric measuring method, but does not use a leveling method to separate portions for each meal. Instead, it uses a method in which a small amount of pressure is applied to the middle part of the pinch tube, which is located between the noodle outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank and the measuring basket, to intermittently stop the noodle strings from falling through the pinch tube, preventing the creation of short noodles and allowing the amount of noodle strings that fall into the measuring basket to be regulated and measured.

1 is a schematic diagram of a boiled noodle individual portioning device according to the present invention; 2A and 2B are a partial cross-sectional view and a cross-sectional view along line A-A of an ejector nozzle in the boiled noodle individual portioning device of the present invention. 2 is a front view and a cross-sectional view along line B-B of a pinch valve and a pinch tube portion in the boiled noodle individual portioning device of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a pinch valve and a pinch tube in a boiled noodle individual portioning device according to the present invention; FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view of a pinch valve and a pinch tube in the boiled noodle individual portioning device according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the operation of the pinch valve and the pinch tube portion in the boiled noodle individual portioning device according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing the operation of the pinch valve and the pinch tube portion in the boiled noodle individual portioning device according to the present invention. FIG.

The embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The boiled noodle individual serving ball picking method according to the present invention is characterized in that the amount of noodle strings falling into the weighing basket is regulated by applying a slight pressure to the middle part of the pinch tube, which is the noodle falling passage between the noodle supply outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank and the weighing basket, to intermittently stop the falling of the noodle strings.

The boiled noodle individual serving ball-removing device of the present invention is for carrying out the above method, and multiple ball-removing devices (usually 2 to 6) are arranged side by side at the bottom of the noodle supply tank 1, which is placed at the top of the machine frame (not shown). Each ball-removing device is composed of an ejector nozzle 2 for removing noodle strings, which is fixedly installed at the bottom of the noodle supply tank 1, a measuring unit attached to the ejector nozzle 2, and a measuring basket 3 placed below the measuring unit, and the measuring unit is composed of a pinch tube 4 and a pinch valve 5, which is placed midway through the pinch tube 4 and intermittently clamps the pinch tube 4 (Figure 1).

The ejector nozzle 2 serves to assist in drawing out the noodle strings from the noodle supply outlet 1a at the bottom of the noodle supply tank 1, and also serves to prevent the noodle supply outlet 1a from clogging with noodles. As described below, in order to perform these functions, the ejector nozzle 2 is provided with multiple (e.g., six) centripetal-shaped downward flow nozzles 14 that spray a downward water flow for drawing in the noodle strings, and upward flow nozzles 15 that spray an upward water flow for turning the noodle strings (Figure 2).

The ejector nozzle 2 is composed of a resin nozzle body 11 and a metal cover 12 that surrounds the nozzle body 11, and a noodle passage 13 is formed that penetrates the nozzle body 11 from top to bottom. The inner diameter of the noodle passage 13 is uniform from the top to bottom. Threaded cylinders 16, 17 are provided protruding sideways from the lower and upper halves of the ejector nozzle 2, respectively.

The lower half of the nozzle body 11 is narrowed to form an annular water passage 18 on its circumferential surface, and the screw tube 16 is installed so that it opens toward the annular water passage 18. Then, multiple downward flow nozzles 14 are drilled diagonally downward from the annular water passage 18 toward the noodle passage 13. Also, an annular water passage 19 is formed on the circumferential surface of the upper half of the nozzle body 11, and the screw tube 17 is installed so that it opens toward the annular water passage 19. Then, multiple upward flow nozzles 15 are drilled slightly diagonally upward from the annular water passage 19 toward the noodle passage 13.

A hose joint 21 for supplying high-pressure water for drawing out the noodle strings is screwed into the screw cylinder 16, and a hose joint 22 for supplying high-pressure water for turning the noodle strings is screwed into the screw cylinder 17. A high-pressure water supply mechanism that supplies high-pressure water alternately and intermittently is connected to the hose joints 21 and 22.

As shown in FIG. 1, the high-pressure water supply mechanism includes a three-way water solenoid valve 23 that receives high-pressure water supplied from a pressure storage tank, and flow control valves 24 and 25 that are connected to the three-way solenoid valve 23. One flow control valve 24 is connected to a hose joint 22 via a high-pressure water supply hose 27, and the other flow control valve 25 is connected to a hose joint 21 via a high-pressure water supply hose 28. The three-way solenoid valve 23 and the flow control valves 24 and 25 are provided for each ball removal device.

As shown in particular in Figures 3 to 5, the metering section connected to the lower side of the ejector nozzle 2 is composed of a pinch tube 4 and a pinch valve 5 that is placed midway through the pinch tube 4 and intermittently presses the pinch tube 4. The pinch tube 4 is fitted into the inlet piping ferrule 31, the upper part of which is connected to the bottom of the ejector nozzle 2, and fixed with a hose band, or, as described below, is fixed by inserting a rubber ring when attaching the connecting blocks 6, 6a to the inlet piping ferrule 31.

As shown in FIG. 4, the pinch valve 5 is composed of a pair of connecting blocks 6, 6a and a pair of valve bodies 36, 36a supported between the connecting blocks 6, 6a. The connecting blocks 6, 6a are connected by fastening the upper and lower parts with screws 7 while supporting the valve bodies 36, 36a and sandwiching the pinch tube 4. At this time, the pinch valve 5 is fixed to the inlet piping ferrule 31 by applying strong pressure to the lower part of the inlet piping ferrule 31 on which the pinch tube 4 is fitted, at the upper part of the connecting blocks 6, 6a. In addition, the outlet piping ferrule 32 is fixed to the pinch valve 5 by applying strong pressure to the upper part of the outlet piping ferrule 32 on which the pinch tube 4 is fitted, at the lower part of the connecting blocks 6, 6a.

The connecting blocks 6, 6a are provided with support holes 8, 8a arranged side by side for inserting and supporting the ends of the valve bodies 36, 36a, respectively. A low pressure air supply hole 9 is formed in one of the connecting blocks 6a.

The valve body 36, 36a of the pinch valve 5 is composed of a semicircular case 37, a core 38 with a semicircular cross section that is housed in the case 37, and a thin-walled rubber tube element 39 that is airtightly fitted around the core 38. The core 38 is formed with an air inlet/outlet hole 40 with a closed end that communicates with the low-pressure air supply hole 9 of the connecting block 6a (see FIG. 6 in particular). The air inlet/outlet hole 40 is supplied with extremely low-pressure compressed air for operation from a vacuum mechanism for the pinch valve, and air is also drawn through it. Both ends of the tube element 39 are pressed against the core 38 by the pressing ferrule 39a to keep it airtight, and a pressurized cushion rubber packing 39b is placed on the outside of the pressing ferrule 39a (see FIG. 6).

As shown in FIG. 1, the vacuum mechanism for the pinch valve is composed of a regulator 42 that reduces the pressure of high-pressure air (0.5 MPa) that has passed through a filter 41, a micro-pressure regulator 43 that further reduces the pressure, a vacuum ejector 44, and a three-port direct-acting solenoid valve 45 for low-pressure air. A three-port direct-acting solenoid valve 45 is provided for each ball-removing device, and the vacuum ejector 44 is common to each ball-removing device. The operation timing of the three-port direct-acting solenoid valve 45 and the three-way solenoid valve 23 is controlled via a timer 24. The pinch valve 5 is used to pinch the group of noodle strings M that fall through the pinch tube 4 without cutting them, and to create a measurement division. Here, in order to avoid cutting the soft noodle strings, it is necessary to operate the pinch pressure at a very low pressure, that is, about 0.01 to 0.05 MPa, although this depends on the tube diameter.

In the case of the individual serving machine of the present invention, boiled noodles in a batch are put into the noodle supply tank 1 in units of 5 to 10 kg. In order to separate the noodle strings M into small portions, it is necessary to break up the noodle strings to a certain extent so that the concentration with the water is consistent. Otherwise, the time required for metering will not be stable. Therefore, in the present invention, a loosening mechanism is provided in the noodle supply tank 1 to turn the noodle strings M near the noodle supply outlet 1a on the bottom surface to prevent clogging. The loosening mechanism can be any of the various commonly used loosening mechanisms. The cooperation of this loosening mechanism and the upward flow nozzle 15 that ejects the upward water flow for turning the noodle strings prevents clogging of the noodle supply outlet 1a.

A metering extension tube 33 that extends to the weighing basket 3 is connected to the outlet piping ferrule 32. The metering extension tube 33 is installed to prevent the noodle strings M from protruding from the top surface of the weighing basket 3. That is, in the present invention, volumetric metering is performed, but when the weighing basket 3 becomes full of noodles and the noodles reach the outlet piping ferrule 32, the auxiliary water flow from the downward flow nozzle 14 also becomes blocked at the outlet, the flow rate decreases, and the flow of the noodle strings M from the noodle supply outlet 1a stops. The metering extension tube 33 is installed to avoid such a situation, and is, for example, about 100 mm long.

The weighing basket 3 has punched holes on its periphery and an open bottom, which opens and closes with the operation of an opening/closing plate 47 disposed below it. The opening/closing plate 47 is supported on a shaft so that it can rotate downward from a horizontal position. When in a horizontal position, it closes the bottom opening of the weighing basket 3 to store the noodle strings M, and when it rotates downward, it opens the bottom opening to allow the accumulated noodle blocks to fall under their own weight, and they fall into a bucket that circulates below and are stored therein, and are sent to the packaging process in the next step. The opening/closing plate 47 is opened and closed by an air cylinder 49 that operates intermittently under the control of a timer 48 linked to the timer 24. It is preferable that the weighing basket 3 has a sliding tube 3a that slides up and down relative to the main body attached to the bottom of the main body, and that the capacity can be changed by moving it up and down.

In the boiled noodle individual serving ball-removing device according to the present invention configured as described above, noodle blocks boiled in batches are fed into the noodle supply tank 1, which contains water, in units of 5 to 10 kg. The fed noodle blocks are turned over and loosened by the action of the loosening mechanism provided in the noodle supply tank 1, and are further loosened by the upward water flow from the upward flow nozzle 15, so that the noodle strings M do not accumulate near the noodle delivery outlet 1a and cause noodle clogging.

High-pressure water is intermittently and alternately supplied to the upward flow nozzle 15 and the downward flow nozzle 14 by the action of the three-way solenoid valve 23, and while the upward flow is being sprayed from the upward flow nozzle 15, the noodle strings M stop falling into the ejector nozzle 2, and while the downward flow is being sprayed from the downward flow nozzle 14, the noodle strings M are drawn into the ejector nozzle 2. That is, the noodle strings M that have fallen into the ejector nozzle 2 are urged downward by the action of the downward flow nozzle 14, which sprays a downward water flow for drawing in the noodle strings, and fall from the noodle passage 13 into the pinch tube 4, and further pass through the metering extension tube 33 and accumulate in the weighing basket 3.

When a predetermined amount of low-pressure air is sent to the low-pressure air supply hole 9 of the connecting block 6a after a predetermined time has elapsed, the low-pressure air is introduced into the air inlet/outlet hole 40 of the valve bodies 36, 36a that face each other across the pinch tube 4, and acts to horizontally expand the tube element 39 at the air inlet/outlet hole 40. As a result, the pinch tube 4 is compressed and crushed, and the falling noodle strings M are held down (Figure 7), and separated from the noodle strings M that fell earlier. In other words, one serving is measured.

When the low pressure air in the air inlet/outlet hole 40 is sucked out after a certain time has elapsed and the pinch valve 5 opens, the crushed pinch tube 4 returns to its original circular cross-sectional shape due to its elasticity, and the group of noodle strings M that were being held are released and fall under their own weight. However, since there are cases in which the pinch tube 4 cannot be completely restored within a short period of time, the present invention is provided with a function to restore the pinch tube 4 by vacuum operation so that it completely restores when the pinch valve 5 is opened to ensure a noodle passage and allow the group of noodle strings M to fall smoothly. In other words, a negative pressure is created inside the air inlet/outlet hole 40, and the tube element 39 is recessed along the air inlet/outlet hole 40 (see Figures 6 and 7).

In the present invention, in order to achieve measurement accuracy, the pinch tube 4, which is the passage for the noodle strings M, is narrowed to reduce the number of noodle strings passing through. However, to prevent the measurement speed from slowing down as a result, an auxiliary water flow (ejector water flow) is sent from the downward flow nozzle 14 to increase the falling speed of the noodle strings M to be measured.

After the metering operation is completed, a reverse flow (upward flow) is made to flow from the upward flow nozzle 15 to the noodle supply outlet 1a at the bottom of the noodle supply tank 1 so that the outlet 1a at the bottom is not clogged with noodle blocks. Also, when the metering operation is completed, the pinch valve 5 closes and the group of noodle strings M is clamped in the pinch tube 4, causing this section to become blocked. Therefore, if the upward flow nozzle 15 is formed slightly upward, the water sprayed from the upward flow nozzle 15 will reliably flow toward the noodle supply outlet 1a.

The noodle block for one serving that has been weighed and stored in the weighing basket 3 as described above falls under its own weight into the bucket that rotates below as the opening/closing plate 47 installed below the bottom opening of the weighing basket 3 is driven open by the air cylinder 49, and is then sent to the next process, the packaging process.

The present invention is as described above and uses a volumetric measuring method, but does not use a leveling method to separate the noodles into portions for each meal. Instead, it uses a method in which a small amount of pressure is applied to the middle part of the pinch tube, which is located between the noodle outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank and the measuring basket, to intermittently stop the noodle strings from falling through the pinch tube. This has the effect of preventing the creation of short noodles while regulating the amount of noodle strings that fall into the measuring basket and measuring them, and has great industrial applicability.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 noodle supply tank 2 ejector nozzle 3 measuring basket 4 pinch tube 5 pinch valve 14 downflow nozzle 15 upflow nozzle 31 inlet piping ferrule 32 outlet piping ferrule 33 metering extension tube 36, 36a valve body 39 tube element 40 air inlet/outlet hole 47 opening/closing plate

Claims (7)

A method for separating boiled noodles into individual servings, characterized in that the amount of noodles falling into the measuring basket is regulated by intermittently stopping the falling of the noodles through the pinch tube, which is placed between the noodle outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank and the measuring basket, by applying a slight pressure to the middle part of the pinch tube. A pinch tube is provided at the bottom of the noodle supply tank, and extends toward the measuring basket via an ejector nozzle for removing the noodle strings.
The ejector nozzle has a function of assisting in drawing out the noodle strings from the noodle supply outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank, and the pinch tube is provided with a pinch valve in the middle for intermittently pinching the pinch tube, so that the falling of the noodle strings inside the pinch tube is temporarily stopped when the pinch valve pinches the pinch tube. The boiled noodle individual serving ball removal device according to claim 2, wherein the ejector nozzle is equipped with a downward flow nozzle that ejects a downward water flow that acts to assist in drawing out the noodle strings from the noodle supply outlet at the bottom of the noodle supply tank. The boiled noodle individual serving ball picking device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the ejector nozzle is provided with an ascending flow nozzle that ejects an ascending water flow that turns over the noodle strings near the noodle supply outlet on the bottom of the noodle supply tank to prevent clogging. The boiled noodle individual serving ball picking device according to claim 4, wherein the downward flow nozzle and the upward flow nozzle are controlled to alternately spray high-pressure water. The boiled noodle individual portioning ball picking device according to claim 2, wherein the pinch valve is provided with a pair of tube elements that pressurize the pinch tube, and the pair of tube elements are depressed by a vacuum operation after the pinch is completed to assist the pinch tube in restoring its original shape. The boiled noodle individual portioning device according to claim 2, in which a measuring extension tube is disposed between the lower end of the pinching tube and the measuring basket.

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