JP2593544Y2 - Tofu making machine - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to an apparatus for producing tofu, in particular, silken tofu in a container, that is, a large amount of tofu obtained by putting a mixture of soymilk and a coagulant into a container without dehydration molding without coagulation. It relates to the equipment to produce.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As this kind of tofu making machine, for example, as disclosed in JP-A-3-94648, a filling device for filling a coagulation bucket with a mixture of soymilk and a coagulant, and Heating means for heating the mixture so as to be coagulated into tofu; means for placing the tofu receiving member on the tofu in the bucket without dehydrating the tofu in the bucket; and placing the receiving member on the tofu. Bucket inverting means for inverting the bucket and the receiving member, a take-out device for pulling down the inverted receiving member to take out the tofu from the bucket in a state where the tofu is received by the receiving member, and And a reversing means for reversing the container upside down are known.

[0003]

In the above-mentioned tofu manufacturing machine, when the tofu is received from the bucket by the receiving member and taken out, unlike the cotton tofu, the silky tofu is very soft and easily deformed and easily broken. However, the extracted tofu is easily deformed. When a container is put on the deformed tofu, a part of the tofu may be cut off by the container. If so, the product will be defective, but its occurrence rate is usually 7 to 10
% And was never low.

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of preventing defective products from being generated and efficiently producing silken tofu in a container.

[0005]

A tofu manufacturing machine according to the present invention comprises a filling device for filling a coagulation bucket with a mixture of soymilk and a coagulant, and a heating device for heating the mixture so that the mixture is coagulated into tofu. Heating means, a covering device for covering the upper end opening of the bucket by covering the bucket with an upside down container without dehydrating the tofu in the bucket, and a reversing device for reversing the bucket and the container while the container is covered on the bucket. And a take-out device for pulling out the tofu from the bucket by pulling down the inverted container.

Further, the bucket is attached to an endless chain so as to swing freely so that the opening is directed upward by its own weight, and is connected to an upper path, a lower path, and a reversing path connecting the end of the upper path and the start of the lower path. It is preferable that a chain is arranged so that the bucket moves along the bucket, a bucket swing prevention guide is arranged inside the reversing path, and a container fall prevention guide is arranged outside the reversing path.

[0007]

The tofu manufacturing machine according to the present invention includes a filling device for filling a coagulation bucket with a mixture of soymilk and a coagulant, a heating means for heating the mixture so that the mixture is coagulated into tofu, A covering device that covers the upper end opening of the bucket by covering the bucket with an upside-down container without dehydrating the tofu in the bucket, a reversing device that reverses the bucket and the container while the container is covered on the bucket, And a take-out device for pulling out the tofu from the bucket by pulling down the container, so that the tofu solidified in the bucket is directly transferred to the container without being taken out of the bucket.

The bucket is swingably attached to the endless chain so that the opening is directed upward by its own weight, and the upper path, the lower path, and the reversing path connecting the end of the upper path and the start end of the lower path. When the chain is arranged so that the bucket moves along the bucket, the bucket swing prevention guide is arranged inside the reversing path, and the container drop prevention guide is arranged outside the reversing path, the bucket and the container are reversed. In this case, the guides are guided by separate guides, and no excessive force is applied to the bucket and the container.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the front and rear refer to the right side of FIG. 1 as a reference and the opposite side to the rear with respect to FIG. 1, and the left and right refer to the left and right sides of the front toward the front.

[0010] As shown in FIG.
A lower chamber 13 having an upwardly projecting chamber 11 at the front end of the top wall and having an upward communication port 12 at a portion near the rear end of the top wall;
An upper chamber 15 having a downward communication port 14 on the bottom wall connected to the upward communication port 12, and a bucket conveyor 16 disposed over the lower chamber 13 and the upper chamber 15 via both communication ports 12, 14. I have.

The lower chamber 13 and the upper chamber 15
Both are sealed. In the lower chamber 13,
Sterile air is supplied to keep this at a positive pressure.
Steam is supplied into the upper chamber 15 so as to keep it at a high temperature of about 95 ° C. A container inlet 17 is provided on the top wall of the overhang chamber 11. Lower chamber 13
A container outlet 18 is provided at the front end of the bottom wall.

Referring to FIG. 2 in addition to FIG. 1, the bucket conveyor 16 includes a pair of left and right endless chains 21 circulating in the lower chamber 13 and the upper chamber 15, and a number of endless chains which are interposed between the chains 21 at predetermined intervals. A holder 22, a plurality of buckets 23 attached to the holder 22, and a dew-water receiver 24 covering the lower surface of the bucket 23 are provided.

A chain 21 includes an intermittent drive sprocket 31 disposed at the front inside the lower chamber 13 and the two chambers 1.
The bucket 23 is wound around a plurality of driven sprockets 32 arranged at required places in the lower chamber 15 and the lower chamber 23.
The upper path 33 extends generally forward in the inside of the lower part 13, the lower path 34 extends rearward below the upper path 33, the upper path 33 and the lower path.
The path is turned upward from the middle of the reversing path 35 and the upper path 33 communicating with the front end of the upper 34, and is introduced into the upper chamber 15, extends upward while meandering back and forth in the upper chamber 15, and then downwards It moves along the meandering path 36 that has been guided and returned to the upper path 33.

A filling device 41 is arranged at the rear end of the top wall of the lower chamber 13. The filling device 41 has a filling nozzle 42 located near the rear end of the upper passage 33 and penetrating the rear end of the top wall of the lower chamber 13. A bucket preheating device 43 is disposed slightly behind the filling device 41. The bucket preheating device has a steam nozzle 44 that is directly behind the filling nozzle 42 and faces the upper passage 33 from below.

A coating device 45 is arranged in the overhang chamber 11 so as to be located at the front end of the upper passage 33. Coating equipment
Numeral 45 denotes a number of upward containers C arranged at the edge of the container inlet 17.
Magazine 46 in which magazines are stored in a stacked state, and a magazine 46
There is provided a vacuum cup 47 which is disposed between 46 and the upper path 33 immediately below it and which can be raised and lowered and which can be inverted by 180 degrees. A peeling device 48 is disposed slightly behind the coating device 45.

A take-out device 49 is arranged at the front end of the lower passage 34, and a washing device 51 is arranged slightly behind it. The cleaning device 51 has an upward cleaning liquid injection nozzle 52 facing the lower path 34 from below. The washing liquid is, for example, sterile water. Further, a container discharge conveyor 53 is arranged so as to extend in the left-right direction just before the take-out device 49.

The holder 22 comprises a horizontal band-shaped holder plate 61 extending in the left-right direction, and a tapered skirt 62 provided on both edges thereof. Referring to FIG. 4, bearings 65 supporting horizontal pins 64 attached to the chain 21 are provided at both ends of the holder plate 61, respectively.
The holder plate 61 is provided with a plurality of bucket holding holes 66 into which the buckets 23 are inserted one by one, at intervals in the length direction of the holder plate. A strip-shaped reinforcing material 67 is fixed to both ends and the center of the skirt 62.

The bucket 23 is made of plastic and is formed in a box shape having a rectangular shape in a plan view.
(Approximately 0 cc). The reason why the bucket 23 is made of plastic is to reduce manufacturing costs. However, if priority is given to heat transfer and durability, the bucket 23 is made of plastic.
May be formed of stainless steel.

The condensed water receiver 24 is opposed to a bottom wall 71 inserted in a space between the skirts 62 of the holder 22 at a predetermined angle with respect to the outer surface of the rising skirt 62 from both edges of the bottom wall 71. It consists of both side walls 72. At both ends of the bottom wall 71, obliquely upward projecting hooks 73 hooked to the skirt both end reinforcing members 67 are provided, respectively. Also, the bottom wall 71
A slit 74 in which the reinforcing material 67 at both ends of the skirt is inserted is provided at the center of the slit, and a bent portion 75 received by the reinforcing material 67 is provided at an edge of the slit 74 (see FIG. 5). ). Further, from one end to the other end of the bottom wall 71, a plurality of drainage ports 76 are provided so as to be located just below the middle between the buckets 23.

As shown in detail in FIG. 6, both ends of the drain port 76 do not reach both edges of the bottom wall 71, and are at a level slightly lower than the upper end of the side wall 72. As a result, a drain groove 77 having a V-shaped cross section is formed in the dew condensation water receiver 24 by both edges of the bottom wall 71 and both side walls 72.

Condensed water that is condensed and drops on the surfaces of the holder 22 and the bucket 23 is received by a condensed water receiver 24. The condensed water received is collected in a drain 77,
It flows through 77 to both ends and falls from there. Drain 77
Is likely to overflow, the condensed water that is about to overflow will drain from the drain 76. The condensed water that has fallen from the drain port 76 falls between the buckets 23 of the holder 22 that moves below the condensed water.
There is no danger of getting inside.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, the peeling device 48 includes an elevating body 81 and the same number of peeling members 82 as the number of bucket rows arranged corresponding to each bucket row.

The elevating body 81 includes a vertical elevating rod 83, a horizontal suspending plate 84 attached to the lower end of the elevating rod 83 and arranged so as to cross over all the bucket rows, and each of the buckets below the suspending plate 84. Mounting plates 85 of the same number as the bucket rows arranged corresponding to the rows, and a pair of the mounting plates 85 are arranged for each mounting plate 85, the upper end is fixed to the suspension plate 84, and the lower end is slidably penetrated through the mounting plate 85. A plurality of pairs of vertical guide rods 86, and stoppers 87 fixed to the lower protruding ends of the guide rods 86.
, And a compression coil spring 89 interposed between the spring retainer 88 and the mounting plate 85 and fitted to the guide rod 86.

Referring to FIG. 1, the upper end of the lifting rod 83 is connected to one end of a lever 92 via a rod 91. The other end of the lever 92 is connected to a piston rod of a two-stage stroke fluid pressure cylinder 93 for operating the lifting body.

A pair of vertical support rods 94 are provided on the upper surface of the mounting plate 85, and a horizontal support plate 95 is held between the two support rods 94, and a separating member operating fluid pressure cylinder 96 is mounted downward. ing. A peeling member pressing piece 97 is attached to a piston rod of the fluid pressure cylinder 96.
The pressing piece 97 is of a horizontal disk shape and has a spring insertion groove on the outer peripheral surface.
97a. On the outer periphery of the mounting plate 85, bearing portions 98 projecting in four directions are provided at intervals of 90 degrees. The bearing portion 98 is provided with a horizontal bearing hole 99 in a penetrating manner.

The peeling member 82 includes four divided pieces 102 mounted on four bearings 98 via brackets 101, respectively.
Consisting of The bracket 101 is composed of a gate-shaped upper member 111 and a block-shaped lower member 11 having a pentagonal horizontal cross section integrated therewith.
2 Pin holes 113 are formed concentrically on both side walls of the upper member 111. The lower member 112 has a mounting surface 114 composed of two outwardly orthogonal surfaces. Screw holes 115 are formed one by one on two surfaces of the mounting surface 114. 4 split pieces
Each of the members 102 is made of a plate having an L-shaped horizontal section. Two long holes 116 are provided at the corners of the upper end of each divided piece 102. The upper member 111 is straddled over the bearing part 98 so that the two pin holes 113 coincide with the bearing hole 99, and the bearing hole 99
The support pins 117 are inserted into the two pin holes 113, whereby the bracket 101 is swingably attached to the bearing 98. Split piece 1 into screw hole 115 on lower member mounting surface 114
The lower piece 112 is divided into two pieces 102 so that the long holes 116
And the bolt 118 is screwed through the slot 116
Into the bracket 101,
2 is installed. In this state, adjacent divided pieces 102
A gap that allows the divided piece 102 to swing is formed between the and the divided piece 102. When the four divided pieces 102 are in the vertical posture, the outer surfaces of the four divided pieces 102 coincide with the inner surface of the bucket 23 except for the gap.

A leaf spring 119 is mounted on the top surface of the upper member 111 so that the tip of the leaf spring 119 is inserted into the spring insertion groove 97a. On the other hand, the horizontal portion of the L-shaped stopper 121 is
A stopper 121 is attached to the bearing 98 with the vertical portion thereof being passed through the inside of the first member 1 and the vertical portion thereof facing the top of the upper member 111. A clearance adjustment screw is provided at the upper end of the vertical portion of the stopper 121.
122 are pierced.

When the lifting / lowering body actuating two-stage stroke hydraulic cylinder 93 is operated, the lifting / lowering body 81 is raised / lowered in two steps through the lever 92, and the peeling member 82 is moved up / down together with the lifting / lowering body 81.

When the piston rod of the separating member operating fluid pressure cylinder 96 is projected, the separating member pressing piece 97 is
Press down the tip of 9. Then, the four divided pieces 102 are swung about the support pins 117 so as to separate the lower ends thereof, and the peeling member 82 is opened. When the piston rod of the cylinder 96 is retracted from the opened state, the four divided pieces 102 are swung so that their lower ends approach each other, and the peeling member 82 is closed. The position of the split piece 102 at the time of closing is regulated by the bracket 101 abutting on the adjusting screw 122.

FIGS. 12 and 13 show details around the container outlet 18 of the lower chamber 13 and the driving sprocket 31 of the bucket conveyor 16.

Left and right vertical disk-shaped holder guides 142 are fixed to the drive shaft 141 to which the left and right drive sprockets 31 are attached. The outer peripheral edge of the holder guide 142 is
Through the slit (not shown) provided in the condensed water receiver 24 attached to the holder 22 that moves, and the outer peripheral surface of the holder guide 142 contacts the tip of the skirt 62 of the holder 22. Have been. On the other hand, a container guide 144 having a circular cross section is arranged along the reversing path 35. The inner surface of the container guide 144 is in contact with the bottom of the container C placed on the bucket 23 moved along the reversing path 35. In addition, the cleaning device 51
The guide rail 145 extends to the point.

The unloading device 49 includes a container receiver 151, a container receiver 151 attached to the tip end, and a container outlet 151 connected to the container outlet.
A transfer arm 152 disposed vertically swingably so as to be able to move into and out of the lower chamber 13 through 18, and a transfer arm
152 is provided with an arm operating fluid pressure cylinder 154 to which a piston rod is connected via a bracket 153.

The container receiver 151 also serves as a lid for the container outlet 18, and has a container receiver main body 161 formed so as to be loosely inserted into the container outlet 18, and a seal flange extending laterally from the lower end thereof. 162.

When cleaning the inside of the chamber or the like, the transfer arm 152 is positioned at the upper limit of the swing range, and the seal flange 162 of the container receiver 151 is attached to the packing attached to the edge of the container outlet 18.
By keeping the container 131 pressed, the container outlet 18 is sealed.

When the transfer arm 152 is located at the lower limit of its swing range, the container receiver 151 and the container discharge conveyor 53 are connected by a transfer plate 171.

Next, a procedure for producing tofu will be described.

Before filling the bucket 23 with the soymilk and the coagulant, the bucket 23 is carried into the preheating device 43. Then, steam is injected from the steam nozzle 44 to the bucket 23, and the bucket 23 is heated. This allows the bucket
23 is preheated to a temperature equal to or higher than the filling temperature of the mixed solution of soymilk and coagulant, preferably 15 to 25 ° C higher than the filling temperature. By preheating the bucket 23 in this manner, when the bucket 23 is filled with the mixed liquid, the portion of the mixed liquid that contacts the bucket 23 is rapidly solidified, and the bucket 23 is separated from the bucket 23 by water separation generated from the solidified part. When removing the tofu from the bucket 23, a water film is formed between the tofu.
Easily exfoliates from tofu. On the other hand, if the preheating temperature of the bucket 23 is lower than the above range, the water separation is small and the effect is insufficient. If the preheating temperature is higher than the above range, the water separation is too large and the commercial value is lost.

When the preheated bucket 23 reaches below the filling nozzle 42, the nozzle 42 causes the bucket 23 to
A mixture of soymilk and a coagulant corresponding to one tofu is filled. The coagulant is magnesium chloride (bittern). The mixed liquid is obtained by cooling soy milk and a coagulant to a temperature lower than the coagulation temperature, for example, 25 ° C., and mixing them immediately before filling.

The bucket 23 filled with the liquid mixture moves upward from the lower chamber 13 and is introduced into the upper chamber 15, moves in a meandering manner in the upper chamber 15, finally moves downward, and returns to the lower chamber again. Introduced within 13. During this time, the bucket 23 remains facing upward. The time required for the bucket 23 to move in the upper chamber 15 is about 40 minutes, during which time the liquid mixture in the bucket 23 solidifies to form tofu.

The tofu solidified in the bucket 23 is then peeled off by a peeling operation described with reference to FIG. First, the peeling member 82 is kept closed at the upper limit of the stroke of the elevating body 81 (FIG. 11A). Then, the peeling member 82 is moved by the first stroke of the elevating body 81.
Release member 82 so that only the lower end of
Is lowered to stop (FIG. 11b). Next, the peeling member 82 is opened (FIG. 11c). Then, 4 of the peeling member 82
The lower ends of the two split pieces 102 are brought into contact with the inner surface of the bucket 23 and are pressed by the leaf spring 119. In this state, the lifting body 81 is caused to perform the second stroke, and the peeling member 82 is lowered so that the lower end of the peeling member 82 reaches the bottom of the bucket 23 (FIG. 11D). As a result, the peeling member 82 is inserted between the inner surface of the bucket 23 and the outer surface of the tofu, and the tofu is peeled from the bucket 23. Then, with the peeling member 82 open,
81 to perform two steps of ascent strokes continuously (FIG. 11
e). When the lifting body 81 is returned to the upper limit, the peeling member 82
Close.

Then, the tofu-peeled bucket 23
Reaches below the coating device 45, the vacuum cup 47 adsorbs the upward container C from the magazine 46, and covers the bucket 23 with the inverted container C that is turned upside down and turned downward.

Up to this point, the bucket 23 remains upward, but thereafter, while the bucket 23 moves along the reversing path 35, the holder guide 142 prevents the holder 22 from rotating, and the container guide 144 causes the bucket 22 to rotate. The rotation and fall of the container C are prevented. During this time, the bucket 23 is turned upside down with the container C overlaid,
Is erected, and the tofu moves in the bucket 23 and is received at the bottom of the container C.

When the container C containing the tofu together with the bucket 23 reaches above the container outlet 18, the container receiver 151 descends by receiving the bottom of the container C, whereby the container C is separated from the bucket 23 and the container C The container C containing the tofu is led out of the lower chamber 13 through the container outlet 18 and passed to the container discharge conveyor 53.

The bucket 23 separating the container C is then
When the cleaning liquid is ejected from the nozzle 52 to be cleaned, and the washed bucket 23 comes off the holder guide 145, the bucket 23
Rotates and turns upward again. Thus, one cycle of the manufacturing process is completed.

[0045]

According to the tofu manufacturing machine of the present invention, the tofu solidified in the bucket is directly transferred to the container without being taken out of the bucket, so that the tofu is transferred from the bucket to the container. At this time, there is no possibility that the tofu is cut off by the container, and the occurrence of defective products can be prevented.

According to the tofu manufacturing machine of the second aspect, when the bucket and the container are turned over, they are guided by separate guides, and no excessive force is applied to the bucket and the container. Can be inverted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical vertical sectional view of an entire tofu manufacturing machine according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view including a crushed cross section of a conveyor of the tofu manufacturing machine.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the conveyor.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line VV of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line VI-VI of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view including a crushed cross section of the peeling device of the tofu manufacturing machine.

FIG. 8 is a side view including a crushed cross section of the thinning device.

9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line XX of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a peeling operation.

FIG. 12 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of a container outlet of a lower chamber of the tofu manufacturing machine and a periphery of a drive sprocket of a conveyor.

FIG. 13 is a sectional view taken along line XIII-XIII in FIG. 12;

[Explanation of symbols]

 21 Chain 23 Bucket 33 Upper path 34 Lower path 35 Reverse path 41 Filling device 45 Coating device 49 Extraction device 142 Bucket swing prevention guide 144 Container fall prevention guide C Container

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) A23L 1/20

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A filling device 41 for filling a coagulated bucket 23 with a mixed liquid of soymilk and a coagulant; heating means for heating the mixed liquid so that the mixed liquid is coagulated into tofu; Bucket 23 without dewatering
A covering device 45 for covering the upper end opening of the bucket 23 by covering the container C in an upside-down manner; a reversing means for reversing the bucket 23 and the container C while the container C is covered on the bucket 23; A take-out device 49 comprising: a take-out device 49 that pulls down the tofu from the bucket 23 in a state where the tofu is put in the container C. 2. The bucket 23 is swingably attached to the endless chain 21 so that the opening is directed upward by its own weight. The bucket 23 has an upper path 33, a lower path 34, an end of the upper path 33 and a lower end of the lower path 34. The chain 21 is arranged so that the bucket 23 moves along the reversing path 35 that communicates the start end. A bucket swing prevention guide 142 is provided inside the reversing path 35, and a container drop prevention guide 144 is provided outside the reversing path 35. The tofu making machine according to claim 1, which is arranged.