JP2587998Y2 - Hardness tester - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hardness meter suitable for measuring the hardness of foods, particularly relatively soft foods such as tofu, Japanese and Western confectionery, and tofu.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been no practical example of a hardness tester for measuring the hardness of a soft food such as tofu. Therefore, conventionally, the hardness of a soft food such as tofu is determined by, for example, pressing the surface of the tofu with a fingertip to make the food soft (or hard).
Have judged.

[0003]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] When judging the softness (or hardness) by pressing the surface of food with a fingertip, the judgment results differ from person to person, and the same result is always obtained even for the same person. Not necessarily.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a movable shaft is provided in a housing, and both ends of the movable shaft are slidably projected from a peripheral wall of the housing, and an axial displacement of the movable shaft is converted into a rotation angle. A transmission device for transmitting a braking force to the movable shaft, a spring device for applying a braking force to the movable shaft, a guide tube attached to a peripheral wall of the housing, and a lower end of the movable shaft slidably inserted therethrough; A pressure receiving plate provided at the lower end of the shaft and pressed against the measured object, a movable cylinder slidably provided in an axial direction of the guide cylinder on the outer periphery of the guide cylinder, and a lower end of the movable cylinder. Provided, a ring-shaped pressure receiving plate pressed against the measured object,
An indicator light that is lit when the movable cylinder is retracted and moved up to the maximum, and a pressure receiver provided at a lower end portion of the movable shaft when the movable shaft and the movable cylinder are moved forward and down to the maximum. The lower surfaces of the plate and the ring-shaped pressure receiving plate provided at the lower end of the movable cylinder coincide with the same plane, and the length of displacement of the movable shaft required to rotate the pointer once and the sliding of the movable cylinder in the axial direction. An attempt is made to eliminate the disadvantages of the prior art by realizing a hardness tester having the same length as the range.

[0005]

1 (a) is a plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1 (b) is a front view, FIG. 1 (c) is a bottom view, FIG. 2 is a side view, and FIG. In each of the figures, reference numeral 1 denotes a rectangular housing, 2 denotes a ring-shaped housing, 3 denotes a support for the scale plate 4, which is formed of a ring-shaped frame, and is provided at the front end of the ring-shaped housing 2. It is rotatably mounted. Reference numeral 5 denotes a pointer, 6 denotes a rotating shaft of the pointer 5, 7 denotes a transparent plate for protecting the scale plate 4 and the pointer 5, 8 denotes a movable cylinder, and a ring-shaped pressure receiving member as shown in FIG. The plate 9 is attached integrally. Reference numeral 10 denotes a movable shaft, and a disc-shaped pressure receiving plate 11 as shown in FIG.
Is attached. FIG. 1C illustrates a case where each of the ring-shaped pressure receiving plates 9 and the pressure receiving plate 11 has a circular outline, but each of the outlines may have a square shape. When the movable cylinder 8 and the movable shaft 10 are respectively advanced and lowered to the maximum, the ring-shaped pressure receiving plates 9 and 11
Are formed so that the lower surfaces thereof coincide with the same plane. 12
Is a guide cylinder, and a ring-shaped housing 2 is interposed through a cylindrical support 13.
It is attached to the lower peripheral wall. Reference numeral 14 denotes an anti-rotation rod for preventing the movable cylinder 8 from rotating around an axis without hindering sliding in the axial direction, and protrudes around the upper end surface of the movable cylinder 8.

FIG. 4 is a view showing the internal configuration of the ring-shaped housing 2 by removing the rectangular housing 1 from the back surface of the ring-shaped housing 2, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a view showing a longitudinal section of the movable cylinder 8, the movable shaft 10, the guide cylinder 12, and the cylindrical support 13 part, omitting the interior parts of FIG. 2, and as shown in FIG. It is slidably mounted in the vertical direction through the cylindrical support 13, the peripheral wall of the ring-shaped housing 2 and the bearing 15. Reference numeral 16 denotes a set screw. The movable shaft length range of the movable shaft 10 is limited by a step formed between the set screw 16 and the upper end of the movable shaft 10 and a step formed below the movable shaft 10. Is done. The movable cylinder 8 is capable of retreating and rising until its upper end surface abuts against the lower side wall of the rectangular casing 1, and the step provided on the inner peripheral surface of the movable cylinder 8 has a flange provided at the lower end of the guide cylinder 12. It is possible to move forward and downward until it hits the projection in the shape of a circle.

In FIG. 4, reference numeral 17 denotes a first drive gear, and a pinion provided integrally and coaxially with the first drive gear.
The first drive gear 17 is connected to the movable shaft 10 via a threaded connection between 18 and a rack provided on the side surface of the movable shaft 10. 19 is the second
The driving gear is screwed with the first driving gear 17 and is connected to the rotating shaft 6 of the pointer 5. Reference numeral 20 denotes a braking gear, reference numeral 21 denotes a braking spring, the inner end of which is fixed to the rotating shaft of the braking gear 20, and the outer end of which is fixed to an appropriate portion of the ring-shaped housing 2. Among the bearings of the first drive gear 17, the pinion 18, the second drive gear 19, and the braking gear 20, the lower bearing is formed by a concave portion provided on the wall surface of the ring-shaped housing 2, and the upper bearing The bearing is formed by a concave portion provided in a plate (not shown) attached so as to cover each gear. Reference numeral 22 denotes a rotation preventing rod for the movable shaft 10, a base of which is fixed to the movable shaft 10 and mounted so as to protrude to the side, and a guide groove formed in an outer end of a part of a peripheral wall of the ring-shaped housing 2. To prevent the movable shaft 10 from rotating around the axis without hindering the movable shaft 10 from sliding in the axial direction. Reference numeral 23 denotes a pressing rod whose base is fixed to the movable shaft 10 and is provided so as to protrude upward perpendicular to the drawing, and the upper end thereof is bored in a part of the wall surface of the rectangular casing 1 (29 in FIG. 6). ) Is formed so as to penetrate to an appropriate height (height capable of contacting with a leaf spring 31 described later) in the rectangular casing 1 through the bracket. Reference numeral 24 denotes a screw hole for coupling the ring-shaped housing 2 and the rectangular housing 1.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the internal structure of the rectangular casing 1 with the back cover removed, and 25 is a block for forming a guide groove.
A groove is formed from the lower surface to an appropriate depth, and an anti-rotation rod 14 is inserted into the groove. Reference numeral 26 denotes an open / close switch which is always open when the length of the rotation preventing rod 14 is appropriately selected and the movable cylinder 8 is retracted to the maximum, that is, when the upper end surface of the movable cylinder 8 is the lower part of the rectangular casing 1. When the ascending rod 14 is retracted until it hits the side wall, the tip of the rotation prevention rod 14 is
The switch 26 is closed by pressing the movable piece. Reference numeral 27 denotes an indicator light and reference numeral 28 denotes a DC power supply (for example, a button type battery). The wiring is not shown in the figure, but the indicator light 27 is connected to the DC power supply 28 via a normally open type open / close switch 26. Reference numerals 30 and 31 denote leaf springs for braking and restoring, which are arranged in parallel with each other, and which are connected to spacers 32 and 33 via leaf springs 30 and 31.
Are joined together. 34 is a support screw, 35 is a fixed screw,
Reference numeral 36 denotes a set screw. A set screw 36 is inserted from below the leaf spring 30 into a hole formed in the center of the upper leaf spring 30 and screwed into a screw hole provided below the support screw 34. Thus, the leaf spring 30 is attached to the lower end of the support screw 34, and the support screw 34 is rotated forward or backward to move the support screw 34 forward or backward, so that the leaf springs 30 and 31, the spacers 32 and 33 is held at a required position, that is, at a position where the pressing rod 23 contacts the central lower surface of the lower leaf spring 31 with an appropriate pressure when the movable shaft 10 is advanced and lowered to the maximum. In addition, a suitable material is selected and combined as the leaf springs 30 and 31, and the contact pressure between the lower leaf spring 31 and the pressing rod 23 is appropriately adjusted by rotating the support screw 34 in the forward or reverse direction as described above. Thus, the magnitude of the pressure applied to the pressure receiving plate 11 provided at the lower end of the movable shaft 10 and the rotation angle of the pointer 5 are formed so as to maintain a proportional relationship.
In addition, the length of displacement of the movable shaft 10 until the pointer 5 makes one rotation in response to the upward movement of the movable shaft 10 and reaches the zero scale again matches the length of the movable range of the movable cylinder 8 in the axial direction. It is formed so that. Reference numeral 37 denotes an insertion hole for a screw for connecting the ring-shaped housing 2 and the rectangular housing 1.

In the hardness meter of the present invention configured as described above, prior to the hardness measurement, the hardness meter of the present invention is set so that the movable cylinder 8 is positioned below the scale plate 4 as shown in FIG. When held vertically, the movable cylinder 8 moves forward and downward to its maximum by its own weight, and the leaf spring 31
The movable shaft 10 is moved forward and downward to the maximum by the elasticity of, and the lower surfaces of the pressure receiving plates 9 and 11 are in the same plane. If the pointer 5 does not indicate the zero scale correctly in this state,
By finely rotating clockwise or counterclockwise the support 3 of the scale 4 composed of a ring-shaped frame, the scale 4 supported by the support 3 is finely rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. Then, the zero scale is matched with the stationary pointer 5 to perform zero adjustment. If the front end of the ring-shaped housing 2 and the support 3 of the scale 4 are properly and firmly fitted, there is no possibility that the support 3 and the scale 4 rotate during the hardness measurement and the zero point shifts. If necessary, a rotation preventing device as shown by a broken line only in FIG. 1B may be provided. 38 indicated by a broken line in FIG.
Is a holding plate, and 39 is a tightening screw. The tightening screw 39 is screwed into a screw hole provided on the peripheral wall of the ring-shaped housing 2 through a hole formed in a part of the holding plate 38. When the tightening screw 39 is loosened, the support 3 can be rotated. When the tightening screw 39 is tightened, the end of the holding plate 38 is pressed by the support 3 and the support 3 is rotated.
Prevent rotation of

As described above, the movable cylinder 8 and the movable shaft 10 are moved forward and downward to the maximum extent so that the lower surfaces of the pressure receiving plates 9 and 11 are kept flush with each other. When the pressure-receiving plates 9 and 11 are applied to the surface of the object and pressed gradually (when the object to be measured is extremely soft, the weight of the hardness meter of the present invention is measured by adjusting the force of the hand holding the hardness meter of the present invention. When gradually applied to the surface of the body), the pressure receiving plates 9 and 11 move backward and upward as the main body of the hardness meter moves forward and downward. Since the movable cylinder 8 can be freely slid up and down by being guided by the guide cylinder 12, if the movable cylinder 8 and the ring-shaped pressure receiving plate 9 are formed of a light synthetic resin or the like, the ring-like shape is measured during the hardness measurement. Is in contact with the surface of the measured object at a pressure corresponding to the weight of the movable cylinder 8 and the pressure receiving plate 9, and the weight of the movable cylinder 8 and the pressure receiving plate 9 is almost negligible. At the same time, since the pressure receiving plate 9 has a ring shape and a relatively large area, the height of the surface of the measured object with which the pressure receiving plate 9 contacts does not substantially change from the height before the pressure receiving plate 9 contacts,
Even if the height is lowered, it is very slight, and the pressure receiving plate 9 and the movable cylinder 8 move backward and upward as the hardness meter main body moves forward while maintaining this contact state. On the other hand, the pressure receiving plate 11 provided at the lower end of the movable shaft 10 is
According to the difference between the elasticity of the leaf springs 30 and 31 and the pressure received from the measured object, the surface of the measured object that the pressure receiving plate 11 contacts is pushed down. Accordingly, the pressure receiving plate 11 pushes down the surface of the object to be measured while moving backward and upward relative to the main body of the hardness meter which moves forward and downward, and the lower surface of the pressure receiving plate 11 gradually becomes lower with respect to the lower surface of the ring-shaped pressure receiving plate 9. And the height difference between them. The movable shaft is moved in accordance with the retraction of the pressure receiving plate 11 and the movable shaft 10 as the hardness meter body moves forward and downward.
The pinion 18 and the first pinion to be screwed into the rack provided on the side of
Drive gear 17 rotates clockwise (towards FIG. 4),
The second drive gear 19 rotates counterclockwise to rotate the pointer 5 clockwise toward FIG. 1B. At this time,
The relatively weak resilience of the spring 21 is applied to the braking gear 20 causing it to rotate clockwise (towards FIG. 4), and to allow play between the second drive gear 19 and the first drive gear 17 and Since the play between the pinion 18 and the rack provided on the movable shaft 10 is eliminated, it is possible to prevent a pointing error from occurring due to the play between the gears. When the upper end surface of the movable barrel 8 comes into contact with the lower side wall of the rectangular casing 1 as the pressing of the hardness meter with respect to the measured object proceeds, the tip of the rotation preventing rod 14 moves the open / close switch 26 which is always open. The switch is closed by pressing the piece, and the indicator light 27 is turned on. As described above, the difference in height between the lower surface of the pressure receiving plate 9 and the lower surface of the pressure receiving plate 11 caused by the forward and downward movement of the hardness meter main body corresponds to the softness (or hardness) of the measured object. As described above, the time when the indicator light 27 is turned on, that is, the time when the movable cylinder 8 is retracted to the maximum, is determined as the measurement point, and the softness (or hardness) of the measured object is determined based on the swing of the pointer 5 at this time. ), The measurement point is always constant, so that the softness (or hardness) of the measured object can be quantitatively measured with good reproducibility.

The inventor of the present invention has proposed tofu having different softness (or hardness), Japanese confectionery having different softness (or hardness), Western confectionery having different softness (or hardness), and softness (or hardness).
As a result of repeated experiments with different types of sheepskin, etc., it was possible to measure various hardnesses by selecting the length of the movable range in the axial direction of the movable cylinder 8 to a maximum of 2.54 mm. When the gauge was removed, it was possible to confirm that the surface of the measured object depressed by the pressure receiving plate 11 completely returned to the original state without breaking. There is no problem with the area of the pressure receiving plate 11 when the surface of the object to be measured is uniform over a wide range, but in general, irregularities of large and small are irregular on the surface of the object to be measured. In many cases, if the area of the pressure receiving plate 11 is too large, the contact state between the surface of the measured object and the pressure receiving plate 11 varies depending on the contact location, and the reproducibility of the measurement is hindered. Become. On the other hand, if the area of the pressure receiving plate 11 is too small, the pressure receiving plate 11 breaks the surface of the measured object and enters the inside, so that the measurement cannot be performed. The present inventor performed various experiments on the measurement object as described above, and found that the area of the pressure receiving plate 11 was almost 1.5 c.
By choosing to m ^2, the pressure receiving plate 11 without entering the interior beating surface of the object to be measured, and, out of the surface of the object to be measured, constantly pressure receiving plate 11 of the object to be measured on the selected flat places It was confirmed that the measurement could be performed with high reproducibility by making extensive contact with the surface.

In the hardness meter according to the present invention, the length of displacement of the movable shaft until the pointer 5 makes one rotation in response to the retreat and rise of the movable shaft 10 and reaches the zero scale again, and the movable range of the movable cylinder 8 are determined. When the measurement object is relatively hard, the pointer 5 rotates once at the measurement point where the indicator light 27 is turned on by the retreat of the pressure receiving plates 9 and 11, so that the pointer 5 rotates to zero. A scale, that is, a case where the scale indicates the maximum scale may occur. In this case, the softness (or hardness) of the measured object corresponds to the softness (or hardness) corresponding to the maximum scale indicated by the pointer 5. ), Or it is actually a harder material, and it is impossible to determine whether it is in a state where measurement is impossible because it exceeds the measurement range of the hardness meter of the present invention. Therefore, in this case, the hardness meter of the present invention having a different measurement range, that is,
The elasticity of the leaf springs 30 and 31 is even greater, and it is necessary to measure the hardness by replacing it with a hardness meter according to the present invention provided with a scale plate 4 having a large scale unit. FIG. 1 (b) shows a case where only the scale of every 10 grams is shown at a location where the circumference of the scale 4 is divided into ten equal parts, and the gram display is omitted. The circumference is divided into 100 equal parts and the scale is set for each gram.
In the case of a measured object that cannot be measured by the hardness meter according to the present invention, as described above, the elasticity of the leaf springs 30 and 31 is further increased,
The scale display unit of the scale 4 is, for example, 10 g or 10 graduations.
The hardness can be measured by using the hardness meter of the present invention such as 0 gram.

In the above, the case where the hardness is measured by holding the hardness meter of the present invention by hand has been described. However, the hardness may be measured by supporting the hardness meter of the present invention on an appropriate support. As the support, for example, a mounting table for the object to be measured is provided at a lower portion, a support column is provided on the mounting table in a vertical direction, and a movable body that is guided up and down by the support column and moves up and down. A handle for moving up and down and stopping at an arbitrary position, and a supporting device attached to the movable body to support the hardness meter of the present invention and capable of finely adjusting the attitude of the hardness meter of the present invention to a vertical state or an arbitrary inclined state. Is used. Reference numeral 40 in FIG. 2 denotes a screw hole for mounting the hardness meter of the present invention on the support of the support as described above.

[0014]

[Effect of the Invention] In the hardness meter of the present invention, a movable shaft 10 for rotating a pointer through a transmission device for converting a displacement into a rotation angle.
When the pressure-receiving plate 11 provided at the lower end of the object is pressed against the surface of the object to be measured, the surface is pressed down without breaking the surface of the object to be measured, and the pressure-receiving plate 11 is provided around the pressure-receiving plate 11 and is freely provided. By setting the point at which the ring-shaped pressure receiving plate 9 which can be moved up and down as far as possible to the maximum as a measurement point, the softness (or hardness) of the measured object can be quantitatively measured with good reproducibility. For example, the effect is extremely large when used for measuring the hardness of a soft measurement object such as tofu.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1A is a plan view showing one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 1B is a front view, and FIG. 1C is a bottom view.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a rear view showing the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the housing according to the embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a partial cross-sectional view showing a configuration of a main part in one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of a housing according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rectangular housing 2 Ring-shaped housing 3 Scale plate support 4 Scale plate 5 Pointer 6 Pointer rotation axis 7 Protective transparent body 8 Movable cylinder 9 Ring-shaped pressure receiving plate 10 Moving shaft 11 Pressure receiving plate 12 Guide cylinder 13 cylindrical support 14 rotation prevention rod 15 bearing 16 set screw 17 first drive gear 18 pinion 19 second drive gear 20 braking gear 21 braking spring 22 rotation prevention rod 23 pressing rod 24 screw hole 25 guide groove Forming block 26 Normally open-type open / close switch 27 Indicator 28 DC power supply 29 Hole 30 Leaf spring 31 Leaf spring 32 Spacer 33 Spacer 34 Support screw 35 Fixing screw 36 Stop screw 37 Insertion hole for connecting screw 38 Presser Plate 39 Tightening screw 40 Screw hole

Claims (1)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A movable shaft which is provided in a housing and has both ends slidably protruding from a peripheral wall of the housing, and a transmission device which converts an axial displacement of the movable shaft into a rotation angle and transmits the rotation to a pointer. A spring device for applying a braking force to the movable shaft; a guide tube attached to a peripheral wall of the housing, and a lower end of the movable shaft slidably inserted therethrough; provided at a lower end of the movable shaft; A pressure receiving plate pressed against the measured object; a movable cylinder slidably provided in the outer periphery of the guide cylinder in an axial direction of the guide cylinder; and a movable cylinder provided at a lower end of the movable cylinder and pressed against the measured object. A ring-shaped pressure receiving plate, and an indicator light that is turned on when the movable cylinder is retracted and moved to the maximum, and when the movable shaft and the movable cylinder are advanced and lowered to the maximum, the Pressure receiving plate provided at the lower end of the movable shaft and provided at the lower end of the movable cylinder Each of the lower surfaces of the ring-shaped pressure receiving plates is flush with each other, and the length of displacement of the movable shaft required to rotate the pointer one turn is equal to the length of the sliding range of the movable cylinder in the axial direction. And a hardness tester.