JP2596683Y2 - Automatic edible film sticking device for food - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic edible film sticking apparatus for sticking an edible film on the surface of food such as buns or bread.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A natural edible colorant (ink) extracted from vegetables and fruits is applied on a surface of an edible film made of, for example, gel-like konjac so as to draw a certain motif. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-27354 discloses an edible film which is printed and the film is laminated and adhered to the surface of a relatively thick transparent base film in order to improve operability. This edible film can draw various motifs delicately with edible colorant,
When this is attached to the surface of a food such as a bun or a bread, which has little change, there is a great effect that a food having an unprecedented design or luxury can be obtained. However, when attaching the film coated with edible ink to food, particularly to the surface of buns or breads, conventionally, the edible film portion coated with edible ink is peeled from the base film described above. Because it is necessary to hold the edible film in hand and heat it with a suitable heating device,
The film portion on which the edible ink was applied was removed from the base film by heat shrinkage, and the film was manually attached to the surface of the food.

[0003]

Conventionally, as described above, an automated device has been used to apply an edible film coated with edible ink to the surface of food such as buns or bread. As a result, the entire process had to be manually processed. Therefore, it was extremely inefficient. In view of the above, the present invention provides a device for automatically attaching an edible film coated with edible ink to the surface of food such as a bun or a bread, thereby solving the problems associated with the conventional manual operation. It is intended to do so.

[0004]

The structure of the present invention for achieving the above object is described in detail.
An automatic attaching device for attaching an edible film formed by applying edible ink to a food surface such as a bun or a bread, comprising a film stocker for filling the edible film, a heating device, and a food mounting table. A work table arranged side by side, a horizontal axis actuator erected above the work table, an elevating cylinder movable laterally along the horizontal axis actuator, and a lower end of a rod of the elevating cylinder It is an automatic edible film sticking apparatus for food characterized by comprising an edible film suction means fixed through a plate and a film suppressor made of an elastic material such as a sponge, The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that the suction means comprises a suction pipe using a vacuum having a trumpet-shaped suction portion at a lower end, and the suction pipe is used. The outer peripheral portion disposed coils spring is edible automatic film sticking apparatus for food according to claim 1, wherein is urged downwardly at all times. Further, the invention according to claim 3 is the automatic edible film sticking apparatus for food according to claim 1 or 2, wherein an annular film press is provided around the suction portion.

[0005]

As described above, on the work table, a film stocker filled with an edible film, a heating plate forming a heating device for the edible film, and a food table are arranged. Then, the lifting cylinder is lowered, and one edible film is adsorbed by the suction means. Next, raise the lifting cylinder,
The elevating cylinder is moved to the upper part of the heating plate along the horizontal axis actuator, and at this position, the elevating cylinder is lowered to bring the edible film sucked by the suction means into contact with the heating plate for a short time. By this heat treatment, the edible film portion on which the edible ink has been applied in the edible film is brought into a state just before peeling off from the base film due to slight heat shrinkage.

After the heat treatment is completed, the lifting cylinder is raised while the edible film is adsorbed by the suction means, and the lifting cylinder is moved to the upper portion of the food table along the horizontal axis actuator. The elevating cylinder is lowered, and the edible film is brought into contact with the surface of a food such as a bun placed at a predetermined position on the food placing table. Then, the edible film on which the edible ink is printed is on the verge of being peeled off from the base film by the heat treatment, so that it is well fixed on the food surface.
The edible film portion can be more completely separated from the base film by providing a ring-shaped film holder made of a wire around the horn-shaped suction portion serving as the suction means. is there. After the application of the film to the food is completed, the suction unit that has absorbed only the base film separates from the food as the lifting cylinder moves upward. Next, by moving the elevating cylinder along the horizontal axis actuator, a film suppressor made of an elastic material such as a sponge is positioned above the food table,
The lifting cylinder is lowered to make the edible film more completely adhered to the food by the film holder. Thereafter, the elevating cylinder is raised, the elevating cylinder is moved by a predetermined distance along the horizontal axis actuator, and the base sheet adsorbed by the suction part is blown off by flowing back air from the suction part. Then, the lifting cylinder is laterally moved and stopped at a position above the film stocker, thereby completing one process.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the automatic sticking apparatus according to the present invention when the lifting cylinder is located above the film stocker, and FIG. 2 is an embodiment in which the lifting cylinder is located above the heating device in the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 3 is a front view when the rod of the lifting cylinder is lowered, FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state where the edible film is attached to the surface of the food by the lowering of the lifting cylinder, and FIG. And FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing one embodiment of an edible film when an edible film is separated from a base film which cannot be eaten by an annular film holder attached to the edible film.

In the drawing, reference numeral 1 denotes an example of an edible film. The edible film 1 has a relatively thick base film 4 laminated on the back surface of a film 3 having an edible ink 2 printed on the surface. It has a structure of The film 3 formed by printing the edible ink 2 is made of gel-like konjac or the like, and can be eaten naturally. However, the base film 4 is made of a heat-resistant material such as polycarbonate resin or polyethylene terephthalate resin. Since it is made of a plastic synthetic resin and cannot be eaten, it becomes unnecessary after the film 3 on which the edible ink 2 is printed is attached to food. Although a protective film (not shown) may be laminated on the back surface of the base film 4, the presence or absence of the protective film is not particularly important for the implementation of the device of the present invention.

The present invention provides an apparatus for automatically affixing only the portion of the film 3 coated with the edible ink 2 in the edible film 1 to the surface of food such as buns or bread. . In the figure, reference numeral 5 denotes a work table, on which a film stocker 6 filled with the edible film 1, a heating device 7 composed of a heating plate, and a food table 8 are arranged in parallel. Reference numeral 9 denotes a horizontal axis actuator installed above the work table 5;
Is a lifting cylinder fixed to a movable part (not shown) of the actuator 9. That is, when the ball screw provided in the horizontal axis actuator 9 is driven to rotate by the electric motor 11, the movable part of the horizontal axis actuator 9 starts to move in the horizontal direction, and the lifting cylinder 10 fixed to the movable part also moves. It moves according to this. The horizontal axis actuator is a conventionally known moving device, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 12 denotes a mounting plate fixed to the lower end of the rod 13 of the lifting cylinder 10. The mounting plate 12 has a suction means 14 for the edible film 1 and a film pressing member 15 made of an elastic material such as sponge. They are arranged at predetermined intervals. In the illustrated embodiment, the suction means 14 for the edible film 1 comprises a suction pipe 17 using a vacuum having a trumpet-shaped suction section 16 at the lower end, and is operated by a vacuum generator (not shown) through an air pipe (not shown). The air is sucked from the suction unit 16 in the shape of a circle. The suction pipe 17 is constantly urged downward by a coil spring 18 wound around the outer periphery. Reference numeral 19 denotes an annular film retainer made of a wire attached to the periphery of the suction unit 16. It can be done. In addition, film restraint 1
9 is provided at the tip of the vertical rod 20, and the vertical rod 20 is fixed to the mounting plate 12.

In addition, reference numeral 21 in the drawing denotes a bottom plate disposed in the film stocker 6, and a large number of edible films 1 are laminated on the bottom plate 21 so that the surface on which the edible ink 2 is printed is on the lower side. As the edible film 1 decreases, the stepping motor 22 disposed below the work table 5, for example, is driven to drive the bottom plate rod 23.
Rises by a predetermined amount so that the upper surface of the edible film 1 is always the same. Reference numeral 24 denotes an opening formed in the work table 5 between the heating device 7 and the food placing table 8, and immediately below the opening 24, a waste pot 2 of the base film 4 is provided.
5 are prepared. Numeral 26 denotes a bun-like food placed on the center of the food placing table 8.

Next, an operation example of the above-described device of the present invention will be described. First, the elevating cylinder 10 fixed to the movable part of the horizontal axis actuator 9 is located above the film stocker 6, and the rod 13 of the elevating cylinder 10 is lowered by the input of the operation switch to the mounting plate 12. The lower end of the trumpet-shaped suction portion 16 forming the attached suction means 14 abuts on the uppermost edible film 1 of the film stocker 6, and the uppermost edible film 1 is sucked by the operation of the vacuum generator. I do. Then, after raising the rod 13 of the lifting cylinder 10 on which the edible film 1 is adsorbed, the lifting cylinder 10 is moved along the horizontal axis actuator 9 to an upper portion of the heating plate forming the heating device 7. Next, at this position, the rod 13 of the elevating cylinder 10 is lowered to bring the edible film 1 adsorbed by the suction unit 16 into contact with the heating plate for a short time (1-2 seconds). By this heat treatment, the portion of the edible film 3 on which the edible ink 2 is printed on the edible film 1 undergoes a slight heat shrinkage, and is almost in a state of being separated from the base film 4.

After the completion of the heat treatment, the lifting cylinder 1 is held while the edible film 1 is still adsorbed by the suction unit 16.
0 rod 13 is raised, and the horizontal axis actuator 9
The lifting cylinder 10 is moved to the upper part of the food placing table 8 along. In addition, although the edible film 3 is in a state immediately before being peeled off from the base film 4 due to the heat treatment of the edible film 1, the edible film 3 still remains attached to the base film 4. In addition, the edible film 1 adsorbed by the suction unit 16 with the movement of the lifting cylinder 10 moves to the upper part of the food placing table 8 while including the edible film 3. And, the food 2 such as a bun placed on the food placing table 8
The edible film 1 adsorbed by the suction unit 16 is positioned directly above the cylinder 6, and the rod 13 of the lifting cylinder 10 is lowered. With this lowering, the portion of the edible film 1 on which the edible ink 2 is printed comes into contact with the surface of the food 26 and is attached to the surface of the food 26. Since the edible film 3 on which the edible ink 2 has been printed is on the verge of being peeled off from the base film 4 by the heat treatment, it is fixed on the surface of the food 26 containing a relatively large amount of water. Next, the rod 13 of the lifting cylinder 10
Is slightly lowered, the suction part 16 rises slightly against the resilience of the coil spring 18, and the annular film retainer 19 provided around the suction part 16 causes the peripheral edge of the base film 4 to move. It acts to press the part downward, and promotes the separation of the base film 4 from the edible film 3.

Thus, after the edible film 3 has been attached to the food 26, the suction unit 16 that has absorbed only the base film 4 is lifted by the lifting cylinder 10
Move away from the food 26 with the rise of the food. Next, the elevating cylinder 10 is moved along the horizontal axis actuator 9, and a film holder 15 made of an elastic material such as a sponge is positioned above the food table 8, and the film holder 15 is lowered. Thus, the film 3 can be more completely stuck to the food 26. Thereafter, the rod 13 of the lifting cylinder 10 is raised, and while the lifting cylinder 10 is moved along the horizontal axis actuator 9 to return to the original position, the base film 4 adsorbed by the suction unit 16 is removed from the suction unit 16 by air. Is blown off by backflow. The base film 4 separated from the suction section 16 falls through an opening 24 provided in the work table 5 into a waste pot 25 prepared below. Although the food placing table 8 does not include a movable portion in the illustrated embodiment, for example, a portion corresponding to the food placing table is formed as a movable placing table such as a belt conveyor, and is sequentially sent through the belt conveyor. Incoming food can be stopped at a predetermined location by an optical sensor device or the like, and an edible film can be automatically attached at this stop position. The operation of the above-described device according to the present invention is performed in a sequence according to a predetermined time schedule.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the edible film can be automatically attached by a conventional manual operation. In particular, in the case of the conventional hand application, a certain skill was required to apply the edible film evenly and uniformly to a predetermined portion of the food, but according to the present invention, the food is determined. Edible film can be continuously and evenly applied very efficiently to the place where it is placed, and it is a great effect to provide foods such as buns rich in sense of quality or design. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of the automatic sticking device of the present invention when a lifting cylinder is positioned above a film stocker.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the embodiment of FIG. 1 when the lift cylinder is positioned above the heating device and the rod of the lift cylinder is lowered.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view showing a state in which an edible film is attached to the surface of food by lowering a lifting cylinder.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory view when a base film that cannot be eaten by an annular film restraint provided around a suction unit is separated from an edible film.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing one embodiment of an edible film.

[Explanation of symbols]

1: edible film 2: edible ink 3: film 4: base film 5: work table 6: film stocker 7: heating device 8: food mounting table 9: horizontal axis actuator 10: lifting cylinder 11: electric motor 12: mounting plate 13: Rod 14: Suction means 15: Film holding body 16: Suction section 17: Suction pipe 18: Coil spring 19: Film holding 20: Vertical rod 21: Bottom plate 22: Stepping motor 23: Bottom plate rod 24: Opening 25: Waste pot 26: Food

Claims (3)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. An automatic sticking apparatus for sticking an edible film coated with an edible ink to the surface of a food such as a bun or a bread, comprising: a film stocker for filling the edible film; and a heating device. And a work table in which a food placing table is juxtaposed, a horizontal axis actuator erected above the work table, an elevating cylinder movable laterally along the horizontal axis actuator, and a rod of the elevating cylinder Edible film automatic sticking apparatus for food, comprising: edible film suction means fixed to a lower end portion of the edible film via a mounting plate; and a film holder made of an elastic material such as sponge. . 2. The suction means comprises a suction pipe utilizing vacuum having a trumpet-shaped suction portion at a lower end, and the suction pipe is constantly urged downward by a coil spring disposed on an outer peripheral portion. An automatic edible film sticking apparatus for the food according to 1. 3. The automatic edible film sticking apparatus for food according to claim 1, wherein an annular film press is provided around the suction portion.