JP2654448B2 - Relaxing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a device for unraveling noodles such as udon and spaghetti.

(Prior art) In the process of producing noodles, there may be a step of steaming after supplying appropriate moisture to the raw noodles. In this case, even if the raw noodle mass is showered with water and steamed as it is, The water does not spread enough to the raw noodles, and the raw noodles stick to each other to form a block and cannot be processed effectively. In such a case, in order to make the applied water uniformly adhere to the surface of the raw noodles, the lump of raw noodles may be loosened. However, simply inserting the stirring rod into the lump of raw noodles and rotating the raw noodles causes the raw noodles to rotate around the stirring rods, making it impossible to effectively unravel them. Conventionally, a method of blowing strong air on raw noodles has also been proposed, but the effect is insufficient, and at present, the only way to loosen raw noodles is to rely on humans.

This type of problem occurs not only when water is applied to raw noodles, but also when, for example, noodles are sprinkled with powder. That is, simply sprinkling the powder on the noodles from above does not spread the powder evenly. However, there is no conventional device for sufficiently stirring in such a case, especially 100 to 200 g.
A small amount of agitation of the unit relied on hand.

(Objects and Configurations of the Invention) The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and aims to effectively loosen a noodle-like material. In order to achieve the object, a plurality of stirring rods are moved substantially in a circular motion. In addition to loosening the noodle-like material and preventing the noodle-like material and the stirring rod from rotating together, the effect is improved, focusing on the fact that the stirring rod can be swung and the direction during exercise is almost constant It was configured to keep it.

(Example) Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a part of an instant spaghetti manufacturing apparatus using the loosening apparatus according to the present invention.

This manufacturing apparatus processes and manufactures instant foods, which can be eaten as spaghetti by pouring hot water or water, one by one. The raw material is made by adding water to flour (called dough), but spaghetti dough has less moisture and is more dense than any other noodles. The spaghetti dough is housed in a dough tank 1, extruded into a long and thin line by a press 2, cut into an appropriate length by a one-portion cutter 3, and then housed in a net-shaped basket one by one to serve as a primary steamer 4.
Steamed by. The noodles are transported together with the basket by a chain conveyor, watered by a shower 5, and a loosening device 6 so that the water is evenly spread on the surface of the noodles.
It is loosened. Then, excess water is drained off by a blowing / tapping conveyor 7 and steamed by a steamer 8. Although the subsequent steps are not shown in the figure, the noodles are dried by a dryer and transported to a packaging step.

FIG. 1 is an enlarged view of the loosening device 6, in which 10 is a frame, and 11 is a gantry that moves up and down by an air cylinder 12. A motor 13 is mounted on the gantry 11, a connecting rod 14 is fixed to a rotating shaft 13a of the motor 13, and a downward shaft 15 is provided at the other end of the connecting rod 14. A square substrate 16 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 15, and a total of five stirring rods are provided at the center and each corner of the substrate 16.
17 is fixed downward. The substrate 16 and the stirring rod 17 move up and down together with the gantry 11.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the substrate 16 viewed from the motor 13 side.
A spring 18 is attached to one end of the substrate 16, the other end of the spring 18 is locked to one end of an arm 19, and the substrate 16 is constantly pulled in one direction by the spring 18.
The other end of the arm 19 is supported by an arm shaft 20 fixed to the gantry 11. Reference numeral 21 denotes a stopper for restricting the movement of the distal end of the arm 19. These springs 18, arms 19 and stoppers 21 also move up and down together with the gantry 11.

 Next, the operation will be described.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, when a basket 30 containing one serving of noodles M is carried by a chain conveyor 31 directly below a motor 13, the gantry 11 is pushed down by an air cylinder 12, and a stirring rod is provided. 17 also descends as shown by the chain line in the figure and is inserted into the noodle M. Thereafter, the motor 13 rotates, whereby the substrate 16 starts a circular motion about the rotation shaft 13a of the motor 13. That is, the substrate 16 at the position shown by the solid line in FIG. 2 rotates clockwise, moves to the position shown by the chain line, and repeats the circular motion of returning to the position shown by the solid line again. Since the substrate 16 is rotatably mounted on the shaft 15 and one end thereof is pulled by a spring 18, the substrate 16 does not rotate around the shaft 15 and performs a circular motion while maintaining substantially the same direction. . The tip of the arm 19 can move within the stopper 21, and the tip of the arm 19 is pulled by the spring 18 to move and
As one end of 18 also moves, spring 18 will pull substrate 16 in substantially the same direction.

Since the direction of the substrate 16 is not substantially changed, the noodle is stirred without rotating the stirring rod 17. Further, when the stirring rod 17 is pulled by the spring 18, the direction of the stirring rod 17 slightly changes due to the resistance of the noodles.
Therefore, the noodles are effectively loosened without being stuck to the stirring bar 17. This is the same as the action of a human pushing a finger and stirring the noodles. This makes shower 5
The splashed water can be spread evenly on the surface of the noodles.

The rotation speed of the motor 13 is 150 to 180 rpm,
After rotating 3 for several seconds, that is, after stirring about 10 to 15 times with the stirring rod 17, the motor 13 is stopped.

After that, the stirrer rod is mounted together with the gantry 11 by the air cylinder 12.
17 is lifted, and the basket 30 is carried by the chain conveyor 31 to the next draining step.

The above-described stirring was performed one basket at a time, but it is also possible to provide a plurality of stirring rods and perform stirring of the noodles in a plurality of baskets at once. Further, the number of the stirring rods and the mounting position thereof are not limited to the embodiment. Further, although the substrate 16 performs the circular motion, the substrate 16 may be configured to perform an elliptical motion or another motion effective for stirring the noodles.

In the above embodiments, spaghetti noodles have been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and is most suitable for effectively unraveling slender and elastic noodles such as udon noodles. It can also be used when dusting noodles with powder or sugar or coloring noodles.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the present invention, a plurality of stirring rods are moved in a substantially circular motion to loosen the noodle-like material, and the stirring rods can be swung during the movement and the orientation during the movement is achieved. The noodle-like material can be effectively loosened without the noodle-like material sticking to the stirring bar by being configured so that is substantially unchanged.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of one embodiment of a loosening device according to the present invention,
FIG. 2 is a partial plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a part of an instant spaghetti manufacturing apparatus using the loosening apparatus according to the present invention. 6 ... loosening device, 13 ... motor, 16 ... board, 17 ...
Stirrer rod, 18… Spring, 19… Arm

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A moving member rotatably mounted on an axis which makes a substantially circular movement on a horizontal plane, a plurality of stirring rods fixed to the moving member, and a stirring rod which moves vertically to form a noodle-like material. A driving means for inserting the stirring rod into the noodle-like material after the stirring rod is inserted into the noodle-like material, and fixing one end and connecting the other end to one end of the moving member. Means for swinging the moving member using a resilient body and maintaining a substantially constant direction during the movement.