JP3266866B2 - Food molding equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to, for example, conveying sushi rice by a screw conveyor, extruding a compression molded sushi rice having a predetermined cross-sectional shape through a forming hole of a forming block, and forming the same into a predetermined amount (length). The present invention relates to an automated food molding apparatus for cutting a sushi ball or the like having a predetermined size and shape.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When a material having viscosity, such as sushi rice, is compressed and conveyed to a forming hole of a forming block by a screw conveyor, the material is extruded through the forming hole by being twisted by being twisted. The product has a problem in that the compression density (sushi rice density) and the hardness vary, or a defective portion is formed, and it is difficult to obtain a uniform product of high compression density and hardness and good quality.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and a material to be formed, which is compressed and conveyed while being twisted by a screw conveyor, is formed of a molding block. A plurality of grooves for guiding a material to be molded are formed in the inner wall surface of the molding hole so as to be linearly extruded in the extrusion direction of the material to be extruded linearly through the molding hole. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a food molding apparatus capable of forming a high-quality molded product having a uniform compression density and hardness, good shape, and good yield.

[0004]

In order to achieve the above object, a food molding apparatus of the present invention compresses and conveys a material to be molded such as sushi rice by a screw conveyor and compresses the material into a predetermined shape through a molding hole of a molding block. In a food molding apparatus that extrudes a molding material and cuts the compression molding material to form a molded product into a predetermined size and shape, a plurality of molding materials are formed on the inner wall surface of the molding block in the molding material extrusion direction. It is characterized in that a concave groove for guiding a material to be molded is provided.

[0005]

When the switch is turned on, a drive source such as a motor is started, the screw conveyor is rotated in a predetermined direction, and the material to be molded (such as sushi rice) in the hopper is conveyed while being compressed toward the molding block. The material to be molded is compressed and conveyed while being twisted by the screw conveyor, and is pushed into the molding hole of the molding block. When a part of the molding material is on the inner wall surface of the molding hole, the length of the molding hole is reduced. By cutting into a plurality of grooves provided linearly in the direction, the torsion of the molding material is suppressed.

[0006] The material to be pressed into the forming hole is pressed and conveyed by the subsequent material to be compressed and conveyed by the screw conveyor, so that the shape of the forming hole is linearly formed along the groove and the shape of the forming hole. Extruded into the same shape. Therefore, since the compression density and hardness of the extruded compression molding material become uniform, by cutting this into a certain length, it is possible to produce a good-shaped molded product with a certain compression density and hardness. Can be.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment showing a sushi ball forming apparatus for nigiri sushi according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a longitudinal sectional front view of the same device, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional side view of the same device, FIG. 3 is a partially sectional front view of the same device, FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a molding block, a pair of guide blocks, and a pair of shutters in the same device. 2 shows a perspective view of a sushi ball manufactured by the above device.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a main body 2 having a sushi rice hopper 3 from the center to the rear is fixedly arranged on a flat box-shaped pedestal 1. The front part of the main body 2 is formed in a thick part 2a,
The thick portion 2a is formed with a bottomed vertically long circular hole 4 whose lower part is communicated with one lower side in the hopper 3 by a horizontal hole 5.

In the hopper 3, a horizontal screw conveyor 6 is provided at the lower center thereof, and a rear portion of the conveyor shaft 6a is supported through a rear wall 2b of the main body 2 with a bearing 7 interposed therebetween. It is inserted in the horizontal hole 5 and is rotatably supported in a longitudinal direction (right and left direction in FIG. 2) and is rotatably supported. , 8 (only one is shown in FIG. 2) are rotatably and horizontally juxtaposed with a thick portion 2 a, which is a front wall of the main body 2, and a rear wall 2 b via a bearing.

The screw conveyor shaft 6a and the shafts 8a, 8a of the sushi rice support and stirring blades 8, 8 (only one is shown)
Is linked with a motor shaft of a motor (not shown) by a gear transmission mechanism in a gear case 9 shown in FIG. 2, and the screw conveyor 6, the sushi rice support and stirring blades 8, 8 are rotated at an appropriate speed in a predetermined direction, The sushi rice a in the hopper 3 is conveyed to the lower part of the vertically long circular hole 4 through the horizontal hole 5 described above.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a screw conveyor 10 is supported in the elongated hole 4 and a lower portion of the conveyor shaft 10a is supported on a bottom wall 4a of the elongated hole 4 with a bearing 11 interposed therebetween. It is arranged to be rotatable. Conveyor shaft 10
a of the motor 12 disposed in the pedestal 1 is linked to the motor shaft 12a of the motor 12 by a gear transmission mechanism 13 and rotated in a predetermined direction. Sushi rice a conveyed from inside to the vertically long circular hole 4 is compressed and conveyed from the lower part to the upper part.

A molding block 14 having a molding hole 15 formed at the center thereof is formed in the upper part of the vertically long circular hole 4 so as to penetrate in a vertical direction. The protruding fixing pins 16, 16... Are detachably fixed by fitting into a plurality of not-shown concave holes formed in the upper surface of the thick portion 2a.

The molding block 14 has a cylindrical portion 14a integrally projecting downward at the center of the rear surface thereof, and is closely fitted into the enlarged hole 4b at the upper portion of the elongated hole 4. The cylindrical part 14a
A taper hole 17 is formed at the center of which has a lower end which is the same as the inner diameter of the above-described elongated hole 4 and an upper end which is substantially the same as the biaxial dimension of the forming hole 15 and gradually decreases from the lower end. The sushi rice a conveyed from the lower part to the upper part by the above screw conveyor 10 is compressed and conveyed to the upper part while being compressed in the tapered hole 17, and is extruded upward through the forming hole 15. a is the forming hole 1
Compression molded into 5 shapes compression molding sushi rice a ₁ is configured to obtain.

As shown in FIG. 4, the forming hole 15 is formed in a substantially oval shape in a plane, and is formed to be long in one axis direction. In the example shown, four sushi rice guide grooves 18 and 1
8 are arranged in a straight line in the pushing direction of the sushi rice a, that is, in the illustrated example, in the vertical direction.

In the illustrated example, the opposed inner wall surfaces are recessed in a substantially circular arc shape in cross section to form the plurality of recessed grooves 18, 18,. Ridge 1
A plurality of notches 8a, 18a,... Are formed, but a plurality of notches (not shown) are vertically arranged at a pair of intervals from the opposing inner wall surface to form a plurality of grooves 18 between the respective notches. You may do so.

The sushi rice a conveyed from the lower part to the upper part by the above-mentioned screw conveyor 10 has the above-mentioned tapered hole 1.
When the sushi rice a is forcibly compressed and pressed into the forming hole 15, the sushi rice a is twisted by the rotation of the screw conveyor 10. Of the sushi rice a is suppressed by being cut into the grooves 18, 18... Of the sushi rice a, and the sushi rice a is linearly extruded upward by being guided by the grooves 18, 18. sushi rice a ₁ is molded.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a pair of two shutter guide blocks 1 are provided on the upper surface of the molding block 14 and on both upper and lower sides of the molding hole 15.
A plurality of fixing pins 21, 21, 22, 22 protruding downward from the back surfaces of the blocks 19, 20 are formed with concave holes 23, 23, 24, recessed in the upper surface of the molding block 14.
24, and are fixed in parallel at a fixed interval so as to be detachable and attachable.
Between 9 and 20, a pair of two shutters 25, 2 for cutting compression-molded sushi rice a ₁
6 is arranged so as to be freely opened and closed by its drive mechanism 27.

Driving mechanism 27 for shutters 25 and 26
Is configured as follows. As shown in FIG. 1, a shaft whose lower end is rotatably supported on a bottom plate 1a of the above-mentioned pedestal 1 via a bearing, and whose upper part is formed vertically penetrating both left and right sides of the above-mentioned molded block 14 is formed. Insert through holes 28 and 29,
A disk 30 having an eccentric pin 31 on the upper surface is fixed to the upper end, and the disk 30 is rotatably fitted in a concave hole 32 on the upper surface of the forming block 14 and a pair of left and right rotating shafts 33,
34, and a drive source 35 such as a reversible motor. One of the pair of rotation shafts 33 and 34, in the illustrated example, a drive source (not shown) of the rotation shaft 34 and the drive source 35 is transmitted to the gear transmission mechanism 36. And a pair of rotating shafts 3
The gears 3 and 34 are driven by the gear transmission mechanism 37 so that
0 and 30 are interlockingly connected so as to be rotated in opposite directions.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, on the back surfaces of the pair of shutters 25 and 26, a guide hole 38 is formed so as to be long downward in the left-right direction (the front-rear direction in FIGS. 1 and 3). The above-mentioned eccentric pin 31 is slidably engaged with each of the guide holes 38, so that the above-mentioned two discs 30,
Sushi but by rotating in opposite directions, such as a pair of shutters 25 and 26 a compression molding sushi rice a ₁ opposite closing as shown in FIG. 3 is cut into a predetermined length, as shown in FIG. 5 molding the ball a _2, also in the opening motion symmetrically as shown in FIG. 1, to allow extrusion upward from the molding hole 15 of the compression molding sushi rice a _1.

The sensor 39 in FIGS. 1 to 3 is to detect the extrusion length of the compression molding sushi rice a _1, 40 respectively indicate a hangiri. The sensor 39 detects the extrusion length of the compression-molded sushi rice a ₁ , and upon receiving this detection signal, the driving source 35 described above is started, stopped, and rotated forward and backward, and controlled, thereby forming a pair of shutters. 25 and 26 control the opening and closing operation and the stop time thereof in fixed time units. Reference numeral 41 denotes a lid.

In the illustrated example, an example is shown in which the above-mentioned concave grooves 18, 18,... Are formed only on the inner wall surfaces facing the forming hole 15.
On both inner wall surfaces of the forming hole 15 and the tapered hole 17 or on the opposing surfaces of the forming hole 15 and the pair of two guide blocks 19 and 20, furthermore, on both inner wall surfaces of the forming hole 15 and the tapered hole 17 and the pair of guides. It is also possible to form them on the opposing surfaces of the blocks 19 and 20, respectively.

In the illustrated example, the sushi rice a is conveyed from the lower part to the upper part by the screw conveyor 10, and the sushi rice a is formed so as to be extruded through a forming hole 15 formed through the upper part in the vertical direction. In addition, it is also possible to convey the sushi rice a in a horizontal direction or an oblique direction and to extrude it through a molding hole.

[0023]

According to the present invention, as described above, when a material to be molded such as sushi rice is conveyed by a screw conveyor and is extruded through a molding hole while being compressed, the sushi rice or the like is used. The material to be molded is gradually compressed from a vertically long circular hole containing a screw conveyor and conveyed upward by a tapered hole at an upper portion thereof, and is further pushed upward through a molding hole of a molding block, thereby forming the molding hole. Then, it can be easily formed into a predetermined length, size and shape by a pair of two shutters and sensors. Further, when the molding block is molded into a predetermined shape, the molding material bites into a plurality of grooves that are linearly recessed in the extrusion direction of the molding material on the inner wall surface of the molding hole. Since the torsion of the material to be compressed and conveyed in a state where the torsion is applied is suppressed, the material to be molded is guided by each of the grooves, and the extrusion molding by the molding holes is performed straight without being twisted. Thus, it is possible to form a high-quality molded product having a uniform compression density and hardness and a good shape with no defective portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view showing an embodiment of a food molding apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional side view showing the same device.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional side view of the compression-molded sushi rice in a cut state, showing the same device.

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view showing a molding block, a pair of guide blocks, and a pair of shutters of the above device.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a sushi ball for nigiri sushi molded by the same apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Screw conveyor 14 Molding block 15 Molding hole 18 Concave groove a Material to be molded (sushi rice etc.) a ₁ Compression molding material (compression molded sushi rice etc.) a ₂ Molded product (sushi ball etc.)

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A23L 1/10 A23L 1/325 A23P 1/00-1/16 A23C 1/00-15/04

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A material to be molded such as sushi rice is compressed and conveyed upward from below by a screw conveyor in a vertically long circular hole, and a compression molded material having a predetermined shape is extruded through a molding hole of a molding block. A food forming apparatus for forming a molded product into a predetermined size and shape by cutting a cylindrical portion having a tapered hole whose diameter gradually decreases from the lower end to the upper end at the center of the back surface of the forming block. The upper end of the tapered hole of the cylindrical portion communicates with the molding hole of the molding block, while the lower end thereof communicates with the elongated hole, and the front and rear sides of the molding hole of the molding block. On the upper surface, a pair of two shutter guide blocks are fixed in parallel at a fixed interval, and between the pair of shutter guide blocks, a pair of two shutters for cutting and molding the compression molding material are arranged in the left-right direction. Opened and closed freely arranged,
Further, a sensor for detecting the extrusion length of the compression molding material at the time of cutting by opposing closing movement of the shutter is arranged,
Further, a food molding apparatus characterized in that a plurality of molding material guiding grooves are provided on an inner wall surface of a molding hole of the molding block in a molding material pushing direction.