JP3253348B2 - Fermentation equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a fermentation apparatus for fermenting foods such as donuts and dough.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of fermentation apparatus is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No.
As shown in 13/00), food such as bread dough is stored in a refrigerator, and is conditioned by an air conditioner including a heater and a humidifier, and circulates air at a temperature and humidity suitable for fermentation. To promote the fermentation of the dough. At this time, if the temperature and humidity are deviated in the refrigerator, excessive fermentation or insufficiently fermented dough is generated depending on the storage position, so that it is necessary to make the entire refrigerator uniform temperature and humidity. By reversing the air flow in a fixed cycle, the air is circulated evenly in the refrigerator.

[0003]

However, the flow rate of the circulating air in the refrigerator increases as it approaches the fan motor. Particularly, when the fan motor is disposed below the partition wall at the bottom of the refrigerator as described in the above publication, the influence is relatively small, but when the fan motor is disposed corresponding to the suction duct formed adjacent to the refrigerator, As the position is closer to the fan motor, the amount of circulating air increases, and as a result, the distribution of temperature and humidity in the refrigerator varies, and the fermentation state of the dough becomes uneven depending on the storage position.

[0004] The present invention solves such a conventional technical problem,
An object of the present invention is to provide a fermentation apparatus capable of providing a uniform fermentation environment in a storage room for storing food to be fermented.

[0005]

The fermentation apparatus 1 according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises a storage room 40 for storing food, a suction duct plate 36 constituting a suction duct 38 adjacent to the storage room 40, and Air conditioner (heating heater 17, humidifier 1
3) and the storage chamber 4 provided in correspondence with the suction duct 38.
In addition to sucking the air in the storage chamber 4, the air conditioned by the air conditioner (heating heater 17, humidifier 13) is stored in the storage room 4.
The storage duct 40 is provided with a storage chamber 40 and a suction duct 38.
And a plurality of suction ports 37 are formed so as to communicate with each other, and the suction ports 37 are arranged so as to be opposed to each other so that the number of suction ports 37 at a position close to the internal circulation fan 12 is smaller than at other positions.

The fermentation apparatus 1 according to the second aspect of the present invention includes a storage room 40 for storing food, a suction duct plate 36 constituting a suction duct 38 adjacent to the storage room 40, and an air conditioner (heating unit). The heater 17 and the humidifier 13) are provided corresponding to the suction duct 38, and the air in the storage chamber 40 is sucked and adjusted by the air conditioner (the heater 17 and the humidifier 13). An air circulation fan 12 for supplying air into the storage room 40;
6, a plurality of suction ports 37 that communicate the storage chamber 40 and the suction duct 38 are formed, and the size of the suction port 37 at a position close to the internal circulation fan 12 is smaller than other positions.
It is characterized by being opposed to each other.

[0007]

[Action] Air conditioner (heating heater 17, humidifier 1)
The air whose temperature and humidity have been adjusted according to 3) is supplied to the storage room 40 by the internal circulation fan 12, and the storage room 40
The air inside is sucked from the suction port 37, flows into the suction duct 38, and circulates back to the internal circulation fan 12. At this time, the air in the storage chamber 40 is most strongly sucked from the suction port 37 close to the internal circulation fan 12, but in the invention of claim 1, the number of the suction ports 37 close to the internal circulation fan 12 is small, According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the size of the suction port 37 close to the internal circulation fan 12 is reduced and air is less likely to flow in than at other positions, the air sucked from the suction port 37 is The volume is equalized across the suction duct plate 36.

[0008]

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of the fermentation apparatus 1 of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the fermentation apparatus 1, FIG. 3 is a vertical front view of the fermentation apparatus 1, and FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the suction duct plate 36. In each figure,
The fermentation apparatus 1 includes an insulating box 2 made of a heat insulating material such as foamed polyurethane.
The inside is vertically divided by a partition wall 3. The front opening of the heat-insulating box 2 partitioned by the partition wall 3 is openably and closably closed by two doors 4 provided with glass G. The inside of the heat insulating box 2 above and below the partition wall 3 has the same structure, and the heat insulating box 2 above and below the partition wall 3 has the same structure.
An inner box 6 which is opened forward with an interval from the inner wall surface is housed and arranged, and an upper duct member 7 constituting an upper duct 8 is mounted above the inner box 6. The upper duct 8 and the inside of the inner box 6 communicate with an opening 9 on the right side of the inner box 6 and a discharge duct inlet 11 on the upper left shoulder of the inner box 6.

An in-compartment circulating fan 12 is provided in the upper duct member 7 located at the opening 9 and a humidifying unit constituting an air conditioner is provided in the upper duct member 7 on the left side thereof. A vessel 13 is provided. The humidifier 13 includes a humidification tank 14 for storing humidification water and the humidification tank 1.
4 for heating the humidifier 4. In the upper duct member 7 above the humidifier 13, a heating heater 17 which similarly constitutes an air conditioner is provided.

A cooling chamber 21 is formed below the upper duct member 7 on the left side of the inner box 6, and a cooler 22 and a cooling fan 23 are disposed therein. Inner box 6 outside upper duct member 7
A cool air passage 26 surrounding the inner box 6 except for the front is formed between the heat insulating box 2 and the cooling chamber 21. In addition, a cool air inlet 27 is provided on the ceiling of the inner box 6 for communicating the inside of the inner box 6 with the cool air passage 26, and a quenching and dehumidifying fan 28 is provided here. Further, a damper 32 for controlling opening and closing of a discharge port (not shown) communicating the inside of the inner box 6 and the cool air passage 26 is provided at a lower left portion of the inner box 6.

At the front and rear of the inner surface of the left and right side walls of the inner box 6, four columns 33, 33, 33, 33 extending vertically are detachably attached to the inner box 6, and a pair of front and rear columns is provided. A plurality of rails 34 are detachably attached to the support 33 over the 33, 33. Further, a suction duct plate 36 constituting a suction duct 38 therein is detachably attached to the inner box 6 between the columns 33 on the left side wall of the inner box 6. It is arranged corresponding to the upper part of the suction duct 38.

On the other hand, on the inner surface of the right side wall of the inner box 6, a discharge duct plate 41 constituting a discharge duct 39 is provided. The discharge duct plate 41 is surrounded by these columns 33, the suction duct plate 36, and the discharge duct plate 41. A storage room 40 for storing the fermented food in the inner box 6 is formed. The discharge duct plate 41 is formed with a plurality of discharge ports (not shown) that communicate the adjacent discharge duct 39 and the inside of the storage chamber 40. The suction duct plate 36 is formed by bending a stainless steel plate as shown in FIG. 4, and has a plurality of long holes formed on its wall surface for communicating the adjacent suction duct 38 and the storage room 40. Are provided. In particular, as shown in FIG. 1, the number of suction ports 37 formed in the area 36A of the front upper suction duct plate 36 corresponding to the front of the internal circulation fan 12 is small, the density is low, and other A large number of suction ports 37 are densely formed in the area 36B. In the region 36A, a suction port 3 made of a round hole having a smaller opening area is provided.
7A are also mixed, so that the area 36A becomes the other area 3
Air is harder to flow than 6B.

A control panel 56 for operating a control device (not shown) is provided on the front right side of the heat insulating box 2. Behind the top grille 57 of the heat insulating box 2, there are provided compressors 58, 58 and a condenser 59, which together with the coolers 22, 22, constitute a well-known refrigeration cycle. The operation of the fermentation apparatus 1 with the above configuration will be described. The dough 63 of, for example, dough to be fermented is placed side by side on a screen 64 through which air can flow, and the screen 64 is laid on the opposing rails 34 and 34 in a plurality of stages to store the dough 63 in the storage room 40. I do.

Then, the control device first starts a preheating operation for fermenting the dough 63. In this preheating operation, the control device causes the heating heater 17 to generate heat and causes the humidification heater 16 to generate heat. And the internal circulation fan 12
Is operated to suck air in the suction duct 38 as shown by a white arrow in FIG. 3, heat the air by the heater 17 and humidify it by the humidifier 13, and then send it to the discharge duct 39 by the upper duct 8. , From the discharge port (not shown) of the discharge duct 39. During the preheating operation, the control device controls the heating heater 17 to preheat the dough 63 so that the inside temperature of the storage room 40 becomes + 28 ° C. After this preheating operation, the control device starts the fermentation operation of the dough 63 this time. In this fermentation operation, the control device is the internal circulation fan 1
The temperature inside the storage room 40 is now + 40 ° C.
The fermentation by the yeast in the dough 63 is promoted by controlling the heating heater 17 such that The fermentation operation of the dough 63 is continued for a predetermined time and ends.

In the preheating and fermentation operation, the controller controls the heat generation of the humidifying heater 16 to humidify the storage chamber 40, and controls the operation of the compressor 58, the cooling fan 23, and the quenching and dehumidifying fan 28. In addition, the humidity in the storage room 40 is maintained at, for example, 60% by controlling the opening and closing of the damper 32 and introducing the cool air into the storage room 40 to dehumidify.

As described above, during the preheating and fermentation operation, the air in the storage chamber 40 is sucked into the suction duct 38 from the suction port 37 of the suction duct plate 36 by the operation of the internal circulation fan 12. Opposite area 36 of internal circulation fan 12
The suction ports 37, 37A present in A are the internal circulation fan 1
2, the suction port 373 of the area 36A.
7A is most strongly sucked. However, in the present invention, the number of the suction ports 37 (37A) in the area 36A is smaller than that in the other area 36B, so that the air easily flows into the suction duct 38 from the area 36B, and From the area 36A facing the fan 12, the suction duct 38
As it is difficult for air to flow into the
The amount of air sucked from 6A and 36B is made uniform. Thereby, the air volume of the air circulating left and right on each screen 64 becomes substantially equal, and the dough 63
Preheating and fermentation are performed uniformly.

Further, since the suction duct plate 36 can be formed by bending and punching a steel plate such as stainless steel, it is inexpensive. Furthermore, the suction duct plate 36 conceals and protects the internal circulation fan 12 and the damper 32, and is provided in the inner box 6 so as to be detachable. The maintenance and inspection of the damper 12 and the damper 32 are also facilitated.

FIG. 5 shows another configuration of the suction duct plate 36. In this case, the suction duct plate 36 is divided into a region 36C closest to the internal circulation fan 12 and a next closest region 36D and a farthest region 36E.
Although the number of suction ports 37 in 6C, 36D, and 36E is the same and the density is the same, the opening area, which is the size of the suction port 37, is small, the suction port 37C in the area 36C is small, and the suction port 37D in the area 36D is medium. Thus, the suction port 37E of the region 36E is the largest. In other words, the suction port 37 is larger as it is farther from the internal circulation fan 12, and the air easily flows in. The air inlet 37 becomes smaller as it gets closer, making it harder for the air to flow in. As a result, the amount of air sucked from the regions 36C, 36D, and 36E is made uniform as described above, so that the amount of air circulating left and right on each screen 64 is made substantially equal to each other in each stage in the storage chamber 40. The dough 63 is preheated and fermented uniformly.

[0019]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, the amount of air in the storage room which is sucked from the suction port by the internal circulation fan and flows into the suction duct is adjusted with respect to the position of the internal circulation fan. Regardless of the relationship, it can be made substantially uniform over the entire area of the suction duct plate. As a result, it is possible to prevent the fermentation state of the food in the storage chamber from being biased, and to achieve uniform fermentation.

In particular, since this can be achieved by adjusting the number or size of the suction ports formed in the suction duct plate, the structure is simple and the cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional side view of a fermentation apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a fermentation apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional front view of the fermentation apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a suction duct plate.

FIG. 5 is a front view of another suction duct plate.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Fermenter 12 Circulation fan in a warehouse 13 Humidifier 17 Heating heater 36 Suction duct plate 37 Suction port 40 Storage room

Continuation of the front page (72) Minoru Tanaka 2-18-18 Keihanhondori, Moriguchi-shi, Osaka Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-3-280824 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A21C 13/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A storage room for storing food, a suction duct plate constituting a suction duct adjacent to the storage room, an air conditioner, and an air conditioner are provided corresponding to the suction duct, and air in the storage room is provided. A fermentation apparatus comprising: a suction fan and a fan for circulating in the refrigerator that supplies the air adjusted by the air conditioner into the storage chamber.In the suction duct plate, the storage chamber and the suction duct are provided. A plurality of suction ports communicating with each other are formed, and the suction ports are arranged so as to face each other so that the number of suction ports at a position close to the internal circulation fan is smaller than at other positions.
A fermentation apparatus characterized in that: 2. A storage room for storing foods, a suction duct plate forming a suction duct adjacent to the storage room, an air conditioner, and a storage device provided corresponding to the suction duct, wherein air in the storage room is provided. A fermentation apparatus comprising: a suction fan and a fan for circulating in the refrigerator that supplies the air adjusted by the air conditioner into the storage chamber.In the suction duct plate, the storage chamber and the suction duct are provided. A plurality of suction ports communicating with each other are formed, and opposed so that the size of the suction port at a position close to the internal circulation fan is smaller than at other positions.
A fermentation apparatus characterized by having been made .