JP3103661B2 - Food dividing apparatus and method for continuously dividing food using the same - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food dividing device for cutting fats and oils such as cheese, chocolate, butter, margarine and rice cake and starch-containing products into thin slices of approximately equal thickness in the production stage. The present invention relates to a method for continuously dividing food using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device used for cutting cheese, a cheese cutting device (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 62-92192) in which a plurality of piano wires are stretched in a predetermined frame is used instead of the piano wire. 2. Description of the Related Art A cutting device using a thin plate-shaped cutting blade made of stainless steel is known. All of these cutters are configured to cut so that the cut surface is flat, so when cutting strong adhesive cheese, they are bonded to each other if the cheese cuts are left overlaid after cutting. There were drawbacks. In order to remedy this drawback, there is a piano wire in which an uneven portion is provided or the peelability is improved by using a twisted piano wire (Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 3-40098).

[0003] In each of the above-mentioned inventions, the cheese is cut with a piano wire, but in the case of a piano wire, bending occurs due to cutting stress during cutting. When tension is applied to the cut piano wire to prevent this, even when the piano wire is formed into a specific shape as in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 3-40098, phenomena such as elongation during cutting occur, and the fixed formability and In addition to the poor quantitative property, there is a problem that the problem of adhesion between cheeses cannot be completely solved. In addition, even when using a corrugated cutter using a torsion formed by stretching a piano wire devised to facilitate the peelability in the above-described invention around a cylindrical rod and stretching it, the cheese is continuously used for a long time. If the cheese wire is cut, the twisted portion of the piano wire expands and approaches a straight line as much as possible, so that it is difficult to always make the cut surface of the cheese into a constant corrugated shape. Further, since two corrugations constituting the cross section of the piano wire when the piano wire is provided with the concave and convex portions have the same shape, if the cheeses cut using such a piano wire are overlapped, the contact between the two is made. Since the area becomes large (when a convex portion is provided on the piano wire), peeling failure occurs, and in some cases, the cut cheeses contact each other with small convex portions (a concave portion is provided on the piano wire). Therefore, there is a problem in that the projections are crushed and flattened during the overlapping, and the contact area between the two is eventually increased to cause peeling failure. When the cut surface is corrugated, it is conceivable that both surfaces of the stainless steel thin blade are corrugated. According to this, the chips of the cheese are hard to come out, and the cut surface is extremely clean, but if the shape of the stainless steel sheet-shaped cutting blade is simply corrugated, the adjacent cut surface becomes a complementary shape, and the cut surface becomes Since the whole cheese is bonded, there is a problem that the bonding between cut cheeses is remarkable.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has the advantage that even if the food is divided into thin pieces of approximately equal thickness in advance and then overlapped, they do not adhere to each other on the divided surface and can be easily separated. An object of the present invention is to provide an obtained food dividing device and a method for continuously and efficiently producing food using the same.

[0005]

The object of the present invention is to provide a blade for dividing a food into thin slices having substantially the same thickness by using a thin plate-shaped corrugated cutting blade having a different shape on one side from the other side. It has been made based on the finding that the above problem can be solved efficiently by cutting and dividing the food softened by heating continuously by using the thin plate-shaped cutting blade. That is, the present invention comprises a plurality of thin plate-shaped cutting blades arranged in a divided frame along a direction in which food is passed at predetermined intervals, and the food is sliced by passing the food through the divided frame. A food dividing device adapted to cut in a shape, wherein each of the cutting blades, on one surface, is formed with a continuous uneven curved surface in a direction in which food is passed, and the other surface is a flat surface. Alternatively, there is provided a food dividing device, wherein a curved surface is formed so as not to be complementary to the curved surface of the one surface. The present invention also provides a method for dividing food, comprising continuously extruding food softened by heating from the above-mentioned food dividing apparatus, and then cooling the food.

First, the food dividing apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, taking cheese as a typical example. In the present invention, the thin plate-shaped cutting blade is not bent, stretched, deformed, and not corroded by the stress at the time of division, and is not corroded, for example, metal such as stainless steel, ceramics, hard resin and the like. The cutting blade is made of a metal whose surface is treated with ceramics or hard resin. Moreover,
The shape of the cutting blade is formed so that the left and right surfaces of the divided (cut) food, for example, the divided cheese do not have the same shape. That is, the shape of one side and the shape of the other side of the thin-plate-shaped cutting blade do not complement each other. This makes it possible to reduce the area of contact between the divided foods, and as a result, the divided surfaces of the divided foods do not easily adhere or adhere to each other, and can be easily peeled even when they are stacked. It is. Specifically, it is characterized in that the blade has a shape such that a gap can be formed between opposing divided surfaces of the divided food. For example, FIG. 1 shows a food dividing device 1 of the present invention, that is, a plurality of thin plate-shaped cutting blades 2.
FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of a structure in which a thin plate-shaped cutting blade 2 of the food dividing apparatus 1 is provided in a dividing frame 3. As shown in FIG. By shaving the convex portion 4 forming the corrugation of a certain cutting blade into a smooth surface, the two may have different shapes that are not complementary to each other. That is, it is preferable that the shape of the other surface of the blade corresponding to the back side of the wavy convex portion formed on one surface of the blade be a concave shape different from the convex shape. As described above, when the surface shapes of both sides of the blade are made different, the cut surfaces of the cheese 5 and the cheese 6 face each other in different shapes at the time of cutting, as shown in FIG. As a result, when the blades that had divided the cheese were removed, the cut cheeses approached each other by the distance of the blade thickness, and FIG.
The hatched portion 7 surrounded by the solid line indicated by the mark remains as a gap. Therefore, the contact area between the cheeses is remarkably reduced, and the releasability becomes extremely good. In particular, as schematically shown in FIG. 5, only the corrugated convex portion 8 comes into contact with the cheese 5 and the other skirt portion of the convex portion has a divided surface that does not come into contact with the cheese 5. Cutting blades are preferred.

On the other hand, both surfaces of the blade have the same surface shape and are in close contact with each other (this is a complementary relationship in the present invention).
After the cheese is divided using the blade shown in FIG. 3, the state in which the divided cheeses are overlapped is shown in FIG. 6. However, since the surfaces of the mutually contacting cheeses have the same surface shape, they are in close contact. , It is difficult to peel off. As described above, in the present invention, for example, at least one surface has a corrugated shape, and the shape of the other surface is characterized by using a thin plate-shaped cutting blade different from the corrugated shape. As shown in FIGS. 7 to 14, the cross section of the thin plate-shaped cutting blade has a wavy shape on only one side and a planar shape on the other side, and FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 17, there is a case where both surfaces of the blade have different waveform shapes that are not complementary to each other.

In the present invention, the length, width and thickness of the thin plate-shaped cutting blade can be set to any dimensions as long as they do not bend, stretch or deform due to the stress applied when dividing the food. As shown in FIG. 1, the thickness a is 0.3 to 5
mm, preferably 0.5 to 2.0 mm, and the width b is 1.0 to 30 mm, preferably 3.0 to 20 mm. The width is usually larger than the thickness. Further, the thin plate-shaped cutting blade of the present invention,
Although it can be provided at the divided frame 3, that is, at an arbitrary position in the frame 3, it is preferable that the cutting blade is attached to the front end of the frame 3. The shape of the frame 3 may be rectangular, elliptical, or circular in longitudinal section, and may be any shape. In other words, any structure can be used as long as the cheese can be continuously extruded in the direction of the cutting blade. Good. The length L of the frame 3 can also be arbitrarily set, and need not be a specific length. Although the shape of the outlet of the frame and the shape of the inlet can be the same, it is preferable to make the diameter of the outlet of the cheese narrower than the diameter of the inlet of the cheese. In FIG. 1, division frame 3
Although five cutting blades are arranged in the figure, the number of cutting blades can be arbitrary. A cheese extruder (not shown) for extruding the melted cheese and a cooling device (not shown) for keeping the melted cheese at a constant temperature can be provided behind the cheese extrusion frame mounting opening.

Next, a method for dividing food, for example, cheese using the food dividing apparatus of the present invention will be described. First, as raw materials, natural cheeses such as cheddar cheese, gouda cheese, Edam cheese, and glière, immature natural green cheese, young cheese, and various processed cheeses made therefrom are used. These cheeses are used singly or in combination of two or more so as to be a target cheese. As the raw material cheese used in the present invention, any cheese can be used irrespective of the ripeness index, and it is not necessary to adjust the raw material cheese to be used below a certain heat degree index. However, it goes without saying that good results can be obtained by using cheese with a low ripening degree (young). Also, it is not necessary to adjust the water content of the obtained cheese to a certain level or less. In the present invention, the raw material cheese is crushed and mixed, and a stabilizer and a molten salt are added as necessary. The amount of stabilizer or molten salt added is about 0.1 to 3% by weight based on the amount of cheese,
The amount to be added can be appropriately adjusted according to the type of cheese and the target product. Examples of the stabilizer used in the present invention include various thickening polysaccharides such as gelatin, guar gum, locust bean gum, xanthan gum, and carrageenan, and various starches can also be used as the stabilizer.

The molten salt used in the present invention does not need to be limited to a particular one. For example, disodium phosphate, trisodium phosphate, dipotassium phosphate, tripotassium phosphate,
Monophosphates and citrates such as trisodium citrate and polyphosphates such as diphosphate (pyrophosphate), triphosphate, tetraphosphate, pentaphosphate, hexaphosphate and Graham salt can be used. In the present invention, the raw material thus pulverized and mixed is then placed in a melting pot or a cooker and heated to a temperature between about 60 ° C and about 90 ° C to obtain a molten cheese. An important point in the present invention is that the melted cheese is adjusted to a certain temperature range, and in a state where the cheese shows softness, the softened cheese is continuously extruded by using the food dividing device of the present invention.

Specifically, the melted cheese is heated at 13 ° C. to 4 ° C.
Cool to near 0 ° C. Preferably, it is cooled to the range of 18 ° C to 32 ° C. The cheese in this state is supplied to an extruder provided with the food dividing device of the present invention at the outlet, and is continuously extruded. The temperature of the cheese during continuous extrusion is 12 ° C
Below this, the cheese becomes too hard and the texture becomes poor, failing to obtain a good divided cheese. On the other hand, if the temperature of the cheese exceeds 40 ° C., the temperature is too high, and the divided cheese adheres on the divided surface, and a good divided cheese cannot be obtained. Therefore, the cheese which shows softness at more than 12 ° C and less than 40 ° C is continuously extruded. The number of divided cheeses is determined according to the number of cutting blades to be attached, and a divided cheese divided by the number of blades + 1 is obtained. Divided cheese thickness (width)
Is determined by the interval between the cutting blades. The size in the direction perpendicular to the dividing direction of the divided cheese aggregate for which the number and the thickness have been determined, is determined by the side of the cheese outlet of the dividing device when the cutting blade is mounted in a vertical direction (regardless of angle). When the cutting blade is mounted in a horizontal direction (regardless of angle), it is determined by the vertical distance of the cheese outlet of the dividing device. In addition, it is preferable to arrange | position the said food dividing apparatus so that a thin plate-shaped cutting blade may peel in the direction which intersects with the feed direction of foodstuffs, for example, orthogonal direction. The spacing of the cutting blades need not all be parallel.

In the present invention, the cheese is cooled after the division is performed. The cooling can be carried out by simply taking out the divided pieces at room temperature, but also by forcibly cooling. For example, it is good to cool so that the temperature of the cheese is 13 to 40C, preferably 0 to 20C. In the present invention, the extruded strip-shaped cheese is then cut to a required length, for example, 5 cm, in a direction perpendicular to the extrusion direction, or simultaneously with cooling. This can be performed, for example, by cutting the cheese with a piano wire or the like into a certain length while moving the cheese divided by a belt (not shown) or the like connected to the frame outlet. The size of the divided cheese in the dividing direction is determined by the cutting interval at this time. In this way, the size of the aggregate of the divided cheese is determined. FIG. 18 schematically shows a divided cheese and a cutaway view thereof. Then, it is wrapped with a wrapping film or the like and further put in a carton to obtain a divided cheese to which the divided surface does not adhere. At the time of packaging, gas replacement packaging and deoxygenation packaging are performed as necessary.
The above description has been made using cheese as a representative example. However, chocolate, butter, margarine, fats and oils such as rice cakes, starch-containing products, etc. are softened when heated, and so-called thermoplastic foods which are hardened when cooled, the present invention Can be applied. However, if it is merely divided or cut, it is possible to cut cheese and other already solidified foods and the like using the cutting blade of the present invention.

[0013]

According to the present invention, the corrugated shape on one side of the thin plate-shaped cutting blade and the shape on the other side are different from each other without complementarity. As a result, the area of the contact portion between the cheeses is reduced, and a cheese having good peelability can be produced.

[0014]

[Effect] Even if the divided cheese divided by the food dividing device of the present invention is stored for a long time, it can be peeled off one by one,
Does not adhere. Moreover, since the divided cheese can be continuously produced by the dividing method of the present invention, it is very efficient. Next, the present invention will be described with reference to examples.

[0015]

【Example】

Example 1 (Processed Cheese) 25 kg of cheddar cheese and 25 kg of Gouda cheese were crushed and mixed with raw material cheese, and molten salt (sodium citrate) was added.
1.25 kg was added, and the mixture was heated and melted to 85 ° C. using a kettle melter. Next, this cheese was cooled to 20 ° C. by a thermo cylinder, and continuously extruded at room temperature from an extruder equipped with the splitting device of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 at the tip of the nozzle, and a piano wire perpendicular to the extrusion direction. At 50
The pieces were cut at an interval of mm to obtain cheeses each having a width of 6 mm. The cross-sectional shape of the thin plate-shaped cutting blade used here is that shown in FIG. 2 and has a thickness of 0.8 mm and a width of 5 m.
m, Teflon-coated stainless steel with a length of 57 mm in the vertical direction. The length L of the cutting frame is 80 mm. The peelability of the obtained product was good after 24 hours at 5 ° C and after 4 months at 5 ° C.

Example 2 (Processed Cheese) 1 kg of molten salt (sodium polyphosphate) and 0.25 kg of baking soda were added to a raw material cheese obtained by crushing and mixing 20 kg of cheddar cheese and 30 kg of Gouda cheese, and a cooker-type melter was used. The mixture was heated to 82 ° C. and melted. Next, the cheese was cooled to a thermo cylinder 18 ° C., and continuously extruded at room temperature from an extruder equipped with the tip of the nozzle with the dividing device of the present invention shown in FIG. Cut at 50mm intervals, each one is 8
A cheese divided into mm width was obtained. The sectional shape of the thin plate-shaped cutting blade used here is shown in FIG. 8, and is made of stainless steel having a thickness of 1 mm, a width of 3 mm, and a length of 55 mm. The peelability of the obtained product was good after 24 hours at 5 ° C and after 4 months at 5 ° C.

Example 3 (Natural Cheese) 0.09 kg of a stabilizer (a mixture of guar gum and locust bean gum 1: 1) was added to the raw material cheese obtained by pulverizing and mixing 30 kg of goder cheese, and the resulting mixture was cooker-type melter. The mixture was heated to 80 ° C. and melted. Next, this cheese was cooled to a thermo cylinder 22 ° C., and continuously extruded at room temperature from an extruder equipped with the splitting device of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 at the tip of the nozzle, using a piano wire in a direction perpendicular to the extrusion direction. Cut at 50mm intervals, each one is 7
A cheese divided into mm width was obtained. The cross-sectional shape of the thin cutting blade used here is shown in FIG.
It is made of stainless steel with a size of 1.5 mm, a width of 5 mm and a length of 60 mm. The peelability of the obtained product was good after 24 hours at 5 ° C and after 4 months at 5 ° C.

Example 4 (Cheese food) 20 kg of cheddar cheese and 15 kg of Gouda cheese were crushed.
5.5 kg of sodium caseinate, 3.75 kg of soy hydrogenated oil, 5.
To a mix obtained by mixing 75 kg, 1.25 kg of molten salt (sodium citrate) was added, and the mixture was heated to 85 ° C. using a kettle fusing machine.
Heated and melted. Next, this cheese was cooled to 25 ° C. by a thermo cylinder, and continuously extruded at room temperature from an extruder equipped with the dividing device of the present invention shown in FIG. At 50 mm intervals to obtain a cheese in which each piece was divided into 6 mm widths. The cross-sectional shape of the thin plate-shaped cutting blade used here is that shown in FIG. 13 and has a thickness of 2 mm and a width of 10 m.
m, made of stainless steel with a length of 50 mm. The peelability of the obtained product was good after 24 hours at 5 ° C and after 4 months at 5 ° C. COMPARATIVE EXAMPLE 1 Instead of the one shown in FIG.
The cheese was divided in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the cheeses shown in Table 1 were used. Comparative Examples 2 to 4 Instead of the blades shown in FIGS. 8, 9 and 13 as the lamellar cutting blades, the same wavy shape as that formed on one side is applied to the flat blade portion in each drawing. The cheese was divided in the same manner as in Example 2, Example 3, and Example 4 except that a cutting blade configured in a complementary relationship was used. Table 1 summarizes the releasability when the cheeses divided by the above Examples and Comparative Examples are stacked.

[0019]

Table 1 (Removability) Comparative Example 1 Comparative Example 2 Comparative Example 3 Comparative Example 4 After 24 hours 46% 40% 44% 46% Control After 4 months 42% 35% 40% 43% Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4 After 24 hours 100% 100% 100% 100% The present invention after 4 months 100% 100% 100% 100% * Releasability (%)-Number of sheets peeled cleanly / 20 sheets x 100 ( %)

Example 5 70 kg of cheddar cheese was ground and mixed, and 1.75 kg of molten salt (sodium citrate) was added to this raw material cheese.
The mixture was heated and melted to a temperature of 80 ° C. while stirring at 120 rpm using a cooker type melter. Next, the melted cheese was pumped to a thermo cylinder (manufactured by Iwai Machinery Co., Ltd.) by a pumping fixed amount pump (manufactured by Crimary Package),
Cooling was performed at a stirring rotation speed of 60 rpm. In addition, the cooling water of the jacket side refrigerant temperature of a thermo cylinder was -5 degreeC. The cheese cooled to a temperature at which the shape retention can be maintained, that is, 25 ° C. to 28 ° C., was extruded at room temperature from the dividing apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. The cheese was cut by a piano wire to a length of 60 mm while being moved by a belt connected to the nozzle outlet, and then pillow-packed, and finally put in a carton and refrigerated. The sectional shape of the thin plate-shaped cutting blade used here is shown in FIG. 14, and is made of stainless steel having a thickness of 0.5 mm, a width of 20 mm, and a length of 65 mm. When the obtained product was refrigerated (5 ° C),
Even after 9 months, the flavor was favorable, and the releasability of each piece was extremely good.

Example 6 35 kg of cheddar cheese and 35 kg of green cheese type Gouda cheese are ground and mixed, and a molten salt (composite molten salt comprising 70% of sodium citrate and 30% of sodium monophosphate) is added to the raw material cheese. 75 kg was added, and the mixture was heated and melted to a temperature of 83 ° C. while stirring at 120 rpm using a kettle melter. Next, the mixture was pumped to a thermo cylinder (manufactured by Iwai Machinery Co., Ltd.) by a pumping metering pump (manufactured by Crimari Package Co., Ltd.) and cooled at a stirring speed of 60 rpm. The temperature of the jacket side refrigerant of the thermo cylinder is circulated through cooling water of −5 ° C., and the fluid cheese cooled to 20 ° C. is extruded at room temperature from the dividing device of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 in the same manner as in Example 5. And split the cheese. This was gas-replaced with a mixed gas of nitrogen and carbon dioxide, packed in a pillow, packed in cartons, and refrigerated. The cross-sectional shape of the thin plate-shaped cutting blade used here is that shown in FIG.
It is made of metal with a length of 70 mm and a touch-resistant teflock. When the obtained product was refrigerated (10 ° C.), the flavor was favorable and the releasability was extremely good even after long-term (6 months) storage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of a comparative thin plate-shaped cutting blade.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing a state in which cheese is divided using the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged sectional view showing a state after cheese has been divided using the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing a state after the cheese is divided using the thin plate-shaped cutting blade shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a thin plate-like cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an enlarged sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an enlarged sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an enlarged sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a thin plate-shaped cutting blade of another form used in the food dividing device of the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view showing a state in which cheese is divided and then laid using the food dividing device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Food division apparatus 2 Thin-plate cutting blade 3 Division frame 5, 6 Divided cheese

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Mamoru Kamijo 1-12-12 Kirigaoka, Midori-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa 1-56 (56) References Japanese Utility Model 340098 (JP, U) Japanese Utility Model 7 -50958 (JP, Y2) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B26D 3/28 B26D 3/18 A01J 27/12 A23P 1/12

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of thin plate-shaped cutting blades are arranged in a divided frame at predetermined intervals along a direction in which softened food is passed,
A softened food dividing device adapted to cut the food into flakes by passing the softened food through the dividing frame, wherein each of the cutting blades is passed through the softened food on one surface. A softened food dividing apparatus, wherein a concave and convex curved surface continuous in a direction is formed, and the other surface is a flat surface or a curved surface which does not complement the curved surface of the one surface. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the shape of the laminar cutting blade is such that a gap can be formed between opposing divided surfaces of the divided softened food. 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the food is heated and softened.
A method for dividing a softened food, comprising continuously extruding from the softened food dividing apparatus described above and then cooling. 4. The use softening food dividing device for the division method of claim 3 food according to a direction intersecting with respect to the direction of feed of the food in which thin plate cutting blade is disposed.