JP3246434U - Fermentation tank - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a fermenter that effectively seals the internal space to shut out outside air and improve work efficiency. [Solution] A fermenter 100 includes a storage tank 10 and a tank lid 20. The storage tank includes a tank body 11 having a tank mouth on the upper side for putting objects in. The tank lid is placed on the tank mouth of the tank body, and includes a lid body 21 that covers the tank mouth and an engagement part 22 that is provided along the edge of the lid body so as to surround it, the lid body seals the tank mouth in the vertical direction, and the engagement part seals both the inside and outside of the tank mouth in the horizontal direction. [Selected Figure] Figure 1

Description

This invention relates to a fermentation tank, and in particular to a fermentation tank that can effectively seal the internal space to block outside air.

The pure grain solid fermentation method is one of the most common traditional wine-making techniques. For example, the brewing process of sorghum wine can be roughly divided into three major steps: making koji, brewing, and packaging. The brewing process further includes soaking, steaming, cooling, mixing koji, fermenting, distilling, cooling, mixing koji again, re-fermenting, and re-distilling.

Whether it is brewed or distilled alcohol, moromi making and fermentation are important processes. It mainly involves putting the right proportions of koji, ingredients, and water into a fermentation tank and mixing them to make moromi. After moromi is made, the koji enzymes hydrolyze the starch to produce sugar, and at the same time, the yeast converts the sugar into alcohol. The moromi is then fermented in a low-temperature environment for several days to several tens of days.

Traditionally, fermentation takes place in earth, cement, or red brick vats, but in Taiwan, cement vats are commonly used. Bacteria can attach to the inner walls, and each fermentation vat has a different species of bacteria and the amount of bacteria that attaches, resulting in different flavors for the liquor produced. At the same time, the long use of these fermentation vessels allows the various species of bacteria to multiply, giving the liquor an old vat flavor, which can then be named "old vat", making it more attractive for sales.

In the conventional fermentation process in a fermentation pond (or fermentation tank/fermenter/fermenter device, etc.), it is necessary to cover the fermentation pond with a vinyl sheet to isolate it from the outside air, which prevents oxygen from entering and destroying the anaerobic fermentation environment, leading to production failure.

However, in solid-state fermentation, the total solid volume of the raw material gradually decreases over time, and the gas space and gas content in the fermentation tank gradually increase. However, in the above-mentioned method of covering with a vinyl sheet, although the vinyl sheet can be made to sink as the raw material volume decreases, there are many fermentation tanks, perhaps dozens, hundreds, or even more, and the task of manually covering the fermentation tanks with vinyl sheets obviously consumes time and energy and increases labor costs, so it does not meet the needs for speed and efficiency required in modern industrialized society.

In light of the many shortcomings that need improvement as described above, the inventors felt it necessary to come up with a solution to the labor-intensive and inefficient problems of conventional methods by devising a fermentation tank that can effectively seal the internal space to keep out outside air.

To achieve the above-mentioned object, the fermentation tank provided by the present invention includes a storage tank and a tank lid. The storage tank includes a tank body having a tank mouth on the upper side for putting objects in. The tank lid is placed on the tank mouth of the tank body, and the tank lid includes a lid body that covers the tank mouth and an engagement portion that is provided to surround the edge of the lid body, the lid body seals the tank mouth in the vertical direction, and the engagement portion seals both the inside and outside of the tank mouth in the horizontal direction.

Furthermore, the engagement portion includes an inner clamp piece erected on the edge of the lid body, a connection edge erected so as to extend outward from the top end of the inner clamp piece, and an outer clamp edge erected on the edge of the connection piece so as to face the inner clamp piece, and the inner clamp piece, the connection piece, and the outer clamp piece together form a groove for inserting the tank mouth on the upper side of the tank body.

Furthermore, the cross-sectional direction of the engagement portion is U-shaped.

Furthermore, the engagement portion is joined to the lid body by an integral molding method or a welding method.

In addition, the tank lid is made of stainless steel.

In addition, a handle is installed on the top side of the lid body.

Furthermore, the tank body and/or the lid body are equipped with a gas backflow prevention valve that exhausts gas in one direction to the outside.

In addition, the tank body is equipped with a liquid backflow prevention valve that discharges the liquid in one direction to the outside.

Furthermore, the cross-sectional direction of one side of the tank body is U-shaped.

In addition, the tank body is made of stainless steel.

In this invention, the tank lid seals the fermentation tank, effectively controlling the amount of oxygen inside the tank, providing an ideal fermentation environment and blocking external contamination. Not only does it solve the problem of the poor covering efficiency of the vinyl sheets used in the past, but this invention also eliminates the need for processes such as adding rice husks or digging up the mash during the fermentation process, improving efficiency while also ensuring and improving the flavor and quality of the final fermentation.

1 is a schematic diagram showing the external appearance of a fermentation tank according to the present invention. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a fermentation tank according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the fermentation tank of the present invention from another perspective.

The detailed description and technical content of this invention are explained below with reference to the drawings. Please note that the proportions of the drawings in this invention are not drawn to actual proportions in order to simplify the explanation, and please understand in advance that the drawings and proportions do not limit the scope of this invention.

Please refer to Figure 1. It is a conceptual diagram of the appearance of the fermentation tank of this invention, as shown in the figure.

The present invention discloses a fermenter 100, which includes a container 10 and a lid 20. The lid 20 seals the fermenter 100 to block the outside air and prevent contamination by external impurities and dust. The fermenter 100 is used in, but is not limited to, the solid mash fermentation process in the sake brewing process, or in fermentation processes in various other technical fields. The aforementioned technical fields include, but are not limited to, the food industry (bread or powdered food production, sake brewing process, tea production, dairy product production, etc.), the bio and chemical industry (pharmaceutical industry, biopharmaceutical production, agricultural production of natural pesticides, bacterial fertilizers, and microbial herbicides, etc.).

The above-mentioned storage tank 10 includes a tank body 11 having a tank opening O at the top side for putting objects in. The material of the above-mentioned tank body 11 is stainless steel, which has the advantages of preventing the growth of bacteria, being easy to clean, and not requiring detergents. In actual use, the above-mentioned tank body 11 is used to store objects such as koji, raw materials, and water, and mix these objects to make sake mash.

The tank body 11 may be, but is not limited to, for example, approximately rectangular, cuboidal, cylindrical, U-shaped, or any other three-dimensional tank structure for accommodating the above-mentioned objects. In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the cross-sectional direction of one side of the tank body 11 is U-shaped, where "one side" refers to the narrow side of the tank body 11. In another embodiment, the cross-sectional directions of both the wide side and narrow side of the tank body 11 are U-shaped (not shown). Please understand in advance that the cross-sectional shapes of the wide side and narrow side of the tank body 11 are not limited in this invention.

For stability of installation, the bottom side of the tank body 11 is provided with a support base or legs (not shown) for firmly supporting the tank body 11. In another aspect, for mobility, the bottom side of the tank body 11 is provided with rollers or a moving base (not shown) for moving the tank body 11. Please understand in advance that the present invention is not limited to a specific embodiment of the tank body 11.

The tank body 11 is equipped with a liquid check valve Q that discharges liquid in one direction to the outside, and in order to facilitate the discharge of the internal liquid, the liquid check valve Q is installed, for example, near the bottom side of the tank body 11 (as shown in FIG. 1) or at a position on the bottom side, but is not limited thereto. In actual use, the liquid check valve Q's function of discharging liquid in one direction is utilized to discharge the liquid products produced during the fermentation process from inside the tank body 11 without opening the tank lid 20, thereby ensuring and maintaining smooth production of fermentation mash under purely solid conditions.

Please refer to Figures 2 and 3. These are cross-sectional schematic diagrams of the fermentation tank of the present invention from different perspectives, as shown in the figures.

The tank lid 20 described above is installed on the tank mouth O of the tank body 11, and includes a lid body 21 that covers the tank mouth O and an engagement portion 22 that is provided to surround the edge of the lid body 21, and the lid body 21 seals the tank mouth O in the vertical direction, and the engagement portion 22 seals both the inside and outside of the tank mouth O in the horizontal direction. Here, the "vertical direction" refers to the direction of the lid body 21 facing the tank mouth O, and the "horizontal direction" refers to the direction of the engagement portion 22 facing both the inside and outside of the tank mouth O. The material of the tank lid 20 described above is stainless steel, which has the advantages of preventing the growth of bacteria, being easy to clean, and not requiring detergents.

The above-mentioned engagement portion 22 is connected to the lid body 21 by, but is not limited to, an integral molding method, a welding method, or other methods or structures. The above-mentioned integral molding method is, but is not limited to, for example, cold forging, hot forging, pressing, cutting, or other processing methods.

To make it easier to lift the tank lid 20, a handle is provided on the upper side of the above-mentioned lid body 21, or on any outward side of the tank lid 20 (not shown), for example but not limited to, on any outward side of the engagement portion 22 (e.g., the top side, side, or bottom side, etc.).

A thermometer (not shown) is installed on the upper side of the above-mentioned lid body 21 or on any side of the tank body 11, and is inserted into the tank body 11 to measure the internal temperature of the tank body 11. In another embodiment, a seal washer (not shown) is installed between the above-mentioned thermometer and the structure (lid body 21 or tank body 11) on which it is installed to ensure a tight seal inside the tank body 11.

The above-mentioned engagement portion 22 includes an inner clamp piece 221 erected on the edge of the lid body 21, a connection edge 222 erected so as to extend outward from the top end of the inner clamp piece 221, and an outer clamp edge 223 erected on the edge of the connection piece 222 so as to face the inner clamp piece 221. The inner clamp piece 221, the connection piece 222, and the outer clamp piece 223 together form a groove for inserting the tank mouth on the upper side of the tank body 11, and in order to ensure that the tank lid 20 reliably covers the tank mouth O of the tank body, the shape and dimensions of the inside of the groove are approximately equal to the shape and dimensions of both the inside and outside of the tank mouth O on the upper side of the tank body 11, or the tolerance set according to the needs of installation is slightly larger.

In one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2, the cross-sectional direction of the above-mentioned engaging portion 22 is U-shaped. That is, the inner clamp piece 221, the connecting piece 222 and the outer clamp piece 223 are all flat plate members, and together they form a U-shaped cut surface. In another embodiment, the cross-sectional direction of the above-mentioned engaging portion 22 is inverted U-shaped (not shown). That is, the inner clamp piece 221 and the outer clamp piece 223 are all flat plate members, and the connecting piece 222 is a curved C-shaped or U-shaped plate member, and together they form an inverted U-shaped cut surface. In another embodiment, the difference from the previous two embodiments is that the above-mentioned inner clamp piece 221 and/or the outer clamp piece 223 have an acute angle sandwiched between the connecting piece 222, so that the inner and/or outer sides of the inner clamp piece 221 and/or the outer clamp piece 223 facing the tank mouth O of the tank body 11 are pressed and clamped. Please understand that the cross-sectional shape of the engagement portion 22 is not limited in this invention.

In order to prevent the tank from exploding due to accumulation of air generated during the fermentation process, the tank body 11 (as shown in FIG. 1) and/or the lid body 21 (not shown) are provided with a gas check valve A that discharges gas in one direction to the outside. That is, at least one of the tank body 11 and the lid body 21 is provided with the gas check valve A, which releases the pressure generated by the internal gas. Here, the gas check valve A is preferably provided in a position close to the tank mouth O of the tank body 11 in order to prevent the internal liquid from flowing out. In actual use, the function of the gas check valve A to discharge gas in one direction is utilized to discharge the gas generated during the fermentation process without opening the tank lid 20, thereby preventing the internal pressure of the tank body 11 from becoming too high, and at the same time, avoiding fermentation failure caused by outside air entering the inside of the tank body 11.

In summary, this invention uses a tank cover to seal the fermentation tank, effectively controlling the amount of oxygen inside the tank, providing an ideal fermentation environment and blocking external contamination. Not only does it solve the problem of the poor covering efficiency of the vinyl sheets used traditionally, but this invention also eliminates the need for processes such as adding husks or digging up the mash during the fermentation process, improving efficiency while also ensuring and improving the flavor and quality of the final fermentation.

The present invention has been described in detail above, but the above is merely a preferred embodiment of the present invention and does not limit the scope of the present invention. Any equivalent changes or modifications based on the scope of the utility model registration claims of the present invention are also within the scope of the utility model registration claims of the present invention.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 Fermenter 10 Storage tank 11 Tank body 20 Tank lid 21 Lid body 22 Engagement portion 221 Inner clamp piece 222 Connection piece 223 Outer clamp piece O Tank mouth Q Liquid backflow check valve A Gas backflow check valve

Claims (10)

A container including a container body having a container opening on an upper side for inserting an object;
A fermentation tank comprising: a tank lid, the tank lid being placed on the tank mouth of the tank body, the tank lid including a lid body covering the tank mouth and an engaging portion provided surrounding the edge of the lid body, the lid body sealing the tank mouth in a vertical direction, and the engaging portion sealing both the inner and outer sides of the tank mouth in a horizontal direction. The fermentation tank according to claim 1, wherein the engagement portion includes an inner clamp piece erected on the edge of the lid body, a connection edge erected so as to extend outward from the top end of the inner clamp piece, and an outer clamp edge erected on the edge of the connection piece so as to face the inner clamp piece, and the inner clamp piece, the connection piece, and the outer clamp piece together form a groove for inserting the tank mouth on the upper side of the tank body. The fermenter according to claim 2, wherein the cross-sectional direction of the engagement portion is U-shaped. The fermenter according to claim 3, wherein the engagement portion is connected to the lid body by an integral molding method or a welding method. The fermenter of claim 4, wherein the tank lid is made of stainless steel. The fermenter according to claim 1, wherein a handle is provided on the upper side of the lid body. The fermentation tank according to claim 1, wherein the tank body and/or the lid body are provided with a gas backflow prevention valve that discharges gas in one direction to the outside. The fermentation tank according to claim 1, wherein the tank body is equipped with a liquid check valve that discharges liquid in one direction to the outside. The fermenter of claim 1, wherein the cross-sectional direction of one side of the tank body is U-shaped. The fermentation tank according to claim 9, wherein the tank body is made of stainless steel.