JP3485310B2 - Food cutting mechanism - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food cutting mechanism, and more particularly to a food cutting mechanism for cutting a food material extruded into a continuous rod. 2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as an apparatus for cutting a food material extruded into a continuous rod shape with an oscillating shutter, there has been one described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-7069 by the present applicant.
As shown in FIG. 1, this apparatus pivotally supports a total of four identical shutters SS so that the leading edge of each shutter slides along the side edge of the adjacent shutter. By doing so, a cutting area a that can be opened and closed is created by enclosing a plurality of shutter side edges, and a bar-shaped food is introduced into the cutting area a and each shutter S is reciprocated to swing the cutting area a. The bar-shaped food is cut and processed by expanding and contracting. However, in this conventional cutting apparatus, since each shutter rotates at a fixed position, when cutting a bar-shaped food, each shutter simply moves in an arc, and in particular, two or more kinds of shutters are used. If a cored rod-shaped food made of food material is to be wrapped and cut by covering it with a shell without exposing the core to the cut surface, depending on the type of food material, the shell may be centered at the time of cutting. The core material was exposed on the cut surface, and it was not possible to cut the envelope cleanly. Of course, in the food industry, the thickness of the shutter and the slope of the slope of the side edge of the shutter are changed in advance to appropriately adjust the amount of the shell material drawn in when cutting the envelope. I have. However, the conventional adjustment of the retracting amount of the outer shell material has been performed by focusing on the food flow in the vertical cross-sectional direction (longitudinal direction) of the bar-shaped food, and the cross-sectional direction of the bar-shaped food (cutting surface direction). ) Did not take into account the food flow. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned disadvantages of the conventional food cutting apparatus, and has conventionally only performed an arc movement. Focusing on the shutter operation itself, to provide a food cutting mechanism capable of adjusting not only the food flow in the vertical cross-sectional direction (longitudinal direction) of the bar-shaped food but also the food flow in the horizontal cross-sectional direction (cut surface direction) of the bar-shaped food. Is a technical issue. According to the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, at least three shutters 1.1 are provided.
The leading edge 11 of each shutter is the side edge 12 of the adjacent shutter
Are slidably pivoted so as to slide, thereby creating a cutting area A which can be expanded and contracted and surrounded by the side edges 12 of the plurality of shutters, and the bar-shaped food F is introduced into the cutting area A. The cutting area A is set by reciprocating each shutter.
Is a food cutting mechanism that cuts a bar-shaped food F by expanding and contracting the same. The shaft center 10 of each shutter 1 is moved straight through the center O of the cutting area A in accordance with the closing rotation operation of the shutter.
Moving along the line to approach the center O , and forming a straight line passing through the center O according to the opening rotation of the shutter.
A technical means of moving along and moving away from the center O was adopted. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a state where a cutting area of a conventional food cutting device is opened and closed, FIG. 2 is an overall front view of a cutting device to which a food cutting mechanism according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a state where a cutting region of the food cutting mechanism according to the embodiment opens and closes. FIG. 4 is an explanatory sectional view of a side edge shape of a shutter of the food cutting mechanism. FIGS. 5 and 6 are shutters of the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 7 is a plan view of the drive mechanism, FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a shutter operation of the food cutting mechanism, FIGS. 8 to 13 are explanatory views of a food cutting process by the food cutting mechanism, and FIG. 14 is a modification of the embodiment according to the present invention. It is a top view of a food cutting mechanism. In FIG. 2, what is indicated by reference numeral 1 is a plurality of shutters 1.1 constituting the food cutting mechanism of the present embodiment.
The cored rod-shaped food F (core material f1; bean jam, which is put into the hopper 3.3 by these shutters 1.1 and extruded from the double nozzle 5 by the metering pumps 4.4
The outer skin material f2; bread dough) is cut. Then, the cut nodular food G is carried out by the belt conveyor 6. As shown in FIG. 3, the food cutting mechanism according to the present embodiment slides a total of four identical shutters 1.1 on a side edge 12 of an adjacent shutter with the leading edge 11 of each shutter. Each of the shutters is pivotally supported so as to be movable, and a cutting area A which can be expanded and contracted and enclosed by side edges 12 of these shutters is formed. Further, the axis 10 of each shutter 1 approaches the center O of the cutting area A according to the closing rotation operation of the shutter, and conversely, the center O according to the opening rotation operation of the shutter.
It is constituted so that it may separate from. The bar-shaped food F extruded from the nozzle 5 is guided into the cutting area A, and the shutters 1 are closed and rotated to reduce the cutting area A and cut the bar-shaped food F. As shown in FIG. 4, the side edge portion 12 of the shutter 1 according to the present embodiment is formed by dividing the axis C of the shutter 1 into four equal parts around a circumference C having a center O radius R. It is supported on the fulcrum P1 and the leading edge 11 of the shutter 1 is centered on O
And the distance between adjacent fulcrums is k, and the point X is formed on the basis of the point X at a distance k from the center O and a radius R from the fulcrum P1.
That is, the side edge 12 extending from the front edge 11 to the rear end of the shutter 1 has a constant increase in the inter-fulcrum distance k as the distance h from the point X goes from the front edge 11 to the rear end. In addition, it is formed in a spiral curve shape that increases. As shown in FIG. 3, the second side edge 13 extending from the leading edge 11 of the shutter 1 to the other side is adjacent when the shutter 1 is completely closed and the leading edge 11 is located at the center O. The shutter is formed in a shape that matches the side edge 12 of the shutter without a gap. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the drive mechanism of each shutter according to the present embodiment has an axial center of the shutter 1. As shown in FIG.
First lever 21 for moving 10 toward and away from center O
And the second lever 23, the approaching / separating operation of the axis 10 concerned,
It comprises a guide member 20 for regulating movement along a straight line passing through the center O, and a fan-shaped pinion 25 and a rack 26 for giving a rotational movement to the axis 10 according to the reciprocating linear movement. The shaft center 10 of the shutter 1 is fixed to a pinion 25 and is rotatably supported at the base end of a first lever 21 via a bearing via a bearing. The pivoting end of the second lever 23 is pivotally connected to a shaft 22, and the base end 24 of the second lever 23 is supported by a housing (not shown). The second levers 23, 23... Are synchronously oscillated at the same angle by a link mechanism and a motor (not shown), and as shown in FIG. Heart 10 is cutting area A
While the shutters 1 open clockwise and rotate, the axis 10 moves toward the center O.
It is departed from. With this configuration, as shown in FIG. 7, in the food cutting mechanism of the present embodiment, the swinging operation of the shutter can be a combined movement M of an arc movement and a linear movement, and the cored rod-shaped food can be obtained. It is possible to increase the pulling action of the outer skin material in the cross-sectional direction (cutting surface direction) of F, and it is possible to draw more outer skin material to the center as compared with the conventional shutter S that simply moves in an arc. This makes it possible to cut any food material neatly and roundly. Next, a cutting process by the food cutting mechanism of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 13 are a partial perspective view and a vertical sectional view showing the state in which the shutter 1 closes and rotates counterclockwise to close the cutting area A in six stages. One of the shutters on the side is particularly omitted. The shutter 1 of the present embodiment is capable of cutting a cored food bar F made of two or more food materials without exposing the core material to the cut surface by two different cutting operations described below. It is possible to cleanly cut the envelope without leaving small projections. The first-stage cutting action is a closing action performed between FIGS. 8 to 11, and the second-stage cutting action is a shearing action performed between FIGS. 11 to 13. FIG. 8 shows a state in which the cutting area A is maximally opened.
At this time, as shown in the vertical sectional view, the cored bar-shaped food F is extruded and supplied from above into the opened cutting area A. Between the state shown in FIG. 8 and the state shown in FIG. 11, the leading edge 11 of each shutter slides on the side edge 12 of the adjacent shutter, and the shutters simultaneously cut counterclockwise to cut. The area A gradually shrinks. In the process of reducing the cutting area A, the side edge portion 12 of each shutter 1 presses the bar-shaped food F on its vertical surface, so that the periphery of the bar-shaped food F is crushed from all sides. It goes. As described above, in the shutter 1 of the present embodiment, since the vertical surface of the side edge portion 12 presses the cored bar-shaped food F, the core of the bar-shaped food F is exposed without being exposed to the surface. Can be Further, in this first stage, the side edge portion
Along with the tightening operation by the vertical surface of the twelve surface 12, the rubbing and shaping operation by the slope of the side edge portion 12 is also performed. In other words, the part constricted on the vertical plane is shaped by rubbing and rubbing the slope. This slope is indicated by reference numerals T1 to T4 in FIGS.
As shown by the arrow, as the surface pressing on the vertical surface progresses, the gradient T
1 to T4 gradually decrease, so that the portion confined by the vertical surface is rounded while the slope is rubbed and rubbed, and the outer skin material f2 of the cored bar-shaped food F is cut in the longitudinal section direction (longitudinal) of the bar-shaped food. In the direction (1), it acts so as to be drawn into the center of the bar-shaped food and assists in encapsulation of the cored bar-shaped food F. Second stage: Shearing action When each shutter 1 is further closed and rotated counterclockwise from the state shown in FIG. 11, this time, as shown in FIG.
The hypotenuses meet and the food material is sheared at this meeting point. That is, as the oblique side of the leading edge 11 of each shutter moves in close contact with the shutters and keeps a mutually twisted positional relationship with each other while maintaining a twisted positional relationship, the food remaining in the form of a thread is sheared with sharp scissors. It is sheared off. Then, the meeting point between the hypotenuses moves up and down with the closing rotation of each shutter 1, so that a strong viscoelastic food material such as Daifuku mochi is used as a cutting target. Even in this case, the shutter 1 of the present embodiment can surely perform a clean envelope cutting. The shutter 1 of this embodiment is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 13, when the closing rotation of each shutter is stopped, a continuous plane is formed on the upper and lower end surfaces of the shutters by the four shutters 1, respectively. Therefore,
If the nodular food cut into the continuous plane is positively pressed, the shape of the cut food can be adjusted or actively shaped into various shapes. As described above, in the shutter according to the present embodiment, the cored bar-shaped food F guided into the cutting area A first has a blunt blade (side edge portion) having a certain area.
12 vertical surface) performs the closing operation, and then the sharp blade (the oblique side of the leading edge 11) performs the shearing operation, so that the core material is exposed to the surface of any cored bar-shaped food. And the cut surface can be cut cleanly. Although the food cutting mechanism of the present invention is generally configured as described above, the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims. . For example, in the above embodiment, a four-blade type in which the cutting area A is created by combining a total of four shutters is described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to this four-blade type. Any number of three or more sheets may be used. FIG. 14 shows a six-blade food cutting mechanism. As can be seen from the figure, if the number of shutters is increased, the shape of the cutting area A can be made closer to a circular shape, so that the periphery of the bar-shaped food extruded in a round bar shape is tightened from multiple directions while remaining almost in a round bar shape. It becomes possible. The optimum number may be selected according to the viscoelasticity of the food material. As described above in the embodiment, in the food cutting mechanism according to the present invention, as each shutter closes and rotates, the axis thereof approaches the center of the cutting area. Therefore, the swinging operation of the shutter can be a combined movement of the arc movement and the linear movement, and more food material on the outer side is moved to the center as compared with the conventional shutter which merely performed the arc movement. It becomes possible to pull in, and any food material can be cut neatly and roundly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which a cutting area of a conventional food cutting device opens and closes. FIG. 2 is an overall front view of a cutting device to which the food cutting mechanism according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied. FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing a state in which a cutting region of the food cutting mechanism of the present invention opens and closes. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a side edge shape of a shutter of the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 5 is a plan view of a shutter driving mechanism of the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 6 is a plan view of a shutter drive mechanism of the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a shutter operation of the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 8 is an explanatory sectional view of a food cutting process by the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram of a food cutting process by the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of a food cutting process by the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram of a food cutting process by the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of a food cutting process by the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram of a food cutting process by the food cutting mechanism. FIG. 14 is a plan view of a food cutting mechanism according to a modified example of the present invention. [Description of Signs] 1 Shutter 10 Shaft center 11 Tip edge 12 Side edge A Cutting area O Center (of cutting area) F Bar food

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-5-76268 (JP, A) JP-A-1-1122693 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) A21C 11/10 A23P 1/00 B26D 1/30

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] [Claim 1] At least three shutters 1.1
Each of the shutters is pivotally supported so as to allow the leading edge 11 of each shutter to slide along the side edge 12 of the adjacent shutter, and can be opened / closed by the plurality of shutters. A food cutting mechanism that creates an area A, introduces a bar-shaped food F into the cutting area A, and reciprocates each shutter to expand and contract the cutting area A to cut the bar-shaped food F. the axis 10 of 1, through the center O of the cutting region a in accordance with closing rotation of the shutter
Moving along a straight line to approach the center O, and passing through the center O in accordance with the opening rotation of the shutter.
A food cutting mechanism, wherein the food cutting mechanism is moved along a line so as to be separated from the center O.