JP3782620B2 - Freezing equipment for granular food - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus for freezing granular foods such as corn, beans, or chopped vegetables.
[0002]
[Prior art and its problems]
As a food freezing apparatus, there is a so-called continuous freezing apparatus in which cooling air below freezing point is blown to food conveyed in a cooling chamber by a conveyor.
[0003]
By the way, when freezing granular foods such as corn, beans or finely chopped vegetables, the granular food on the conveyor tends to freeze on the belt surface of the conveyor or the granular food tends to agglomerate. If the ice is frozen or clumped, the granular food will not be sufficiently exposed to the cooling air, the time required for freezing will increase, and the conveying distance of the granular food by the conveyor must be increased. There is a problem that energy is increased.
[0004]
Some conventional freezing devices are equipped with various agitation devices to loosen the granular food on the conveyor in order to prevent the granular food from icing or clumping onto the conveyor. Even if it is possible to prevent ice icing, the freezing device that can only loosen the granular food to a block-like small lump and can freeze each granular food in a discrete state with a stirrer Absent.
[0005]
【the purpose】
The object of the present invention is to sufficiently stir the granular food as the object to be frozen so that each grain of food can be frozen in a discrete state and cooled between the granular foods. An object of the present invention is to provide a freezing device that can sufficiently feed air and can reduce the time required for freezing.
[0006]
[Configuration of the present invention]
In order to achieve the above object, the granular food freezing apparatus according to the present invention includes a conveyor for transporting granular food, which is an object to be frozen, placed on a belt in a cooling chamber, and a granular food on the conveyor. In the freezing apparatus having a cooler for blowing cooling air, the rotation between the stirring blades is provided above the conveyor belt, and has a helical stirring blade around a rotation axis orthogonal to the running direction of the conveyor belt. At least one of a stirrer that is a rod-like vertical stirrer extending radially from the shaft to the outer circumferential direction and a stirrer parallel stirrer that is mounted between adjacent stirring blades in the axial direction of the rotation shaft and is parallel to the rotation axis It has a stirring device.
[0007]
The granular food freezing apparatus according to the present invention includes a conveyor for carrying granular food, which is an object to be frozen, on a belt and conveying the cooling food in the cooling chamber, and cooling by blowing cooling air below the freezing point from above to the granular food on the conveyor. In a freezing apparatus provided with a vessel, a helical stirring blade is provided around a rotation axis that is provided above the conveyor belt and orthogonal to the traveling direction of the conveyor belt, and is radially outward from the rotation shaft between the stirring blades. A stirrer having at least one of a stirrer that is attached to a bar-shaped vertical stirrer extending in the direction of the axis of rotation and a bar-shaped parallel stirrer that is parallel to the rotation axis. A plurality of stirring devices are arranged in the running direction of the conveyor belt.
[0008]
Furthermore, the stirring blades of the stirring device are composed of blade groups provided on the left and right with the center in the axial direction of the rotating shaft as the center, and the left and right blade groups are configured with mutually different winding directions of the blades, The stirring blades of the adjacent stirring devices are configured so that the winding directions of the blades are different from each other.
[0009]
【Example】
Embodiments of the freezing apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail below based on specific examples shown in the accompanying drawings.
An endless conveyor 2 is horizontally disposed in the front-rear direction in the cooling chamber 1, and the conveyor 2 is configured such that a conveyor belt 4 is stretched between a driving wheel 3 a and a driven wheel 3 b before and after the cooling chamber. The conveyor belt is made of, for example, a steel belt, and is sent around the cooling chamber by the rotational drive of the drive wheel 3a.
[0010]
Above the endless conveyor 2, an air blowing rectifier 5 is provided in parallel with the conveyor belt 4, and a number of slit-like outlets 6 are opened in the rectifier at an appropriate interval across the width.
[0011]
A plurality of air coolers 8 (two in FIG. 1) each provided with a blower 7 are provided above the rectifier, and the air cooler supplies cooling air at a temperature below freezing point.
[0012]
Agitator 10A for agitating the granular food 9 conveyed on the conveyor belt 4 at a plurality of locations (four locations in FIG. 1) among the locations where the cooling air from the air outlet 6 is blown on the conveyor belt 4. 10B, 10C, and 10D are arranged at substantially equal intervals.
[0013]
These stirring devices 10A,..., 10D are provided with a spiral stirring blade 12 around a rotation shaft 11 orthogonal to the traveling direction of the conveyor belt, and the stirring blade is left and right about the center in the axial direction of the rotation shaft. The provided blade groups 12A and 12B are configured, and the left and right blade groups 12A and 12B have different winding directions.
[0014]
Thus, in the adjacent agitating devices, the rotation direction of the rotating shaft 11 is the same, but the winding directions of the agitating blades 12 are opposite to each other. Specifically, in the agitating device 10A as shown in FIG. The winding direction of the stirring blade 12 is set in a direction in which the granular food on the conveyor belt 4 is moved toward the center of the conveyor belt by driving the rotation shaft, and the stirring device 10B adjacent to this stirring device 10A is shown in FIG. Thus, the winding direction of the stirring blade 12 is set in a direction in which the granular food on the conveyor belt 4 is spread to the left and right sides of the conveyor belt by driving the rotation shaft.
The stirring device 10C is set in the same winding direction as the stirring device 10A, and the stirring device 10D is set in the same winding direction as the stirring device 10B.
[0015]
Further, the stirring devices 10A,..., 10D are provided with a bar-shaped vertical stirring body 13 that radially extends from the rotating shaft 11 toward the outer circumference, and the diameter and length of the bar-shaped vertical stirring body 13 and the number and interval of the bars. Is appropriately set depending on conditions such as the nature and shape of the granular food 9.
Furthermore, spread prevention blades 14 are provided at the left and right ends of the rotating shaft 11 in each stirring device to prevent the conveyance width of the granular food from spreading too much and dropping off from the conveyor belt.
Therefore, the spread prevention blade 14 may be a spiral shape having a winding direction different from that of the left and right blade groups 12A and 12B, or may be simply a disk shape.
[0016]
Next, the operation of the freezing apparatus according to the present invention configured as described above will be described.
The granular food 9 placed on the conveyor belt 4 is sprayed with cooling air having a temperature below the freezing point supplied onto the conveyor belt from the air cooler 8 through the outlet 6 of the rectifier 5, and the conveyor belt 4 travels. At the same time, it is frozen while being stirred by the stirring devices 10A,..., 10D.
[0017]
In the agitator, the granular food 9 is moved in a direction perpendicular to the running direction of the conveyor belt by driving the agitating blades 12, and this movement prevents icing of the granular food on the upper surface of the conveyor belt, and stirring. The granular food 9 between the blades 12 is loosened by the rod-shaped vertical stirring body 13 and cooling air is sufficiently fed between the granular foods, so that it freezes quickly, and the granular food does not freeze into block-like lumps. They are frozen in a state where they are loose.
[0018]
Further, the stirring devices 10A,..., 10D are driven by the stirring blades so that the stirring devices 10A and 10C bring the granular food 9 on the conveyor belt toward the center of the belt, while the stirring devices 10B and 10D are the conveyor belt. Since the agitation blades are driven so as to spread the granular food 9 on the left and right sides of the belt, as shown in FIG. 5, the granular food 9 on the conveyor belt has an agitating device having a conveyance width as the conveyor belt runs. The conveyance width is narrowed by 10A, and then the conveyance width is expanded by the stirring device 10B. Thereafter, the conveyance width is similarly narrowed or expanded in the stirring devices 10C and 10D.
[0019]
Therefore, the granular food 9 on the conveyor belt is not collected and sent to either the central portion or the left and right sides of the conveyor belt, and cooling air is evenly sprayed to prevent uneven cooling and freezing.
[0020]
The result of the freezing test performed by the freezing apparatus of the present invention configured as described above is indicated by a thick line in the graph of FIG.
In this freezing test, corn is used as a granular food, the temperature in the cooling chamber is set to -35 ° C., the corn having a product temperature of 30 ° C. is cooled before freezing, and the time until the product temperature reaches −18 ° C. Was measured as freezing time.
As a comparative example, a similar freezing test was performed on a stirrer not provided with a bar-shaped vertical stirrer, that is, a freezing device having only a spiral stirrer around the rotation axis, and is indicated by a broken line in the graph of FIG. .
[0021]
As a result of the freezing test, the freezing time was 10.0 minutes in the comparative example, whereas the freezing time in the freezing apparatus of the present invention was 7.8 minutes. Therefore, the stirrer is provided with the rod-shaped vertical stirring body 13. It was found that the freezing time can be shortened by 22%.
[0022]
In the embodiment described above, the rod-like vertical agitator 13 is provided on the rotating shaft 11 of the agitator 10A,..., 10D, but as shown in FIG. A body 15 may be provided.
[0023]
This bar-shaped parallel stirrer 15 is provided between the outer peripheral portions of the stirring blades adjacent to each other in the axial direction of the rotation shaft in parallel with the rotation shaft, and loosens the granular food 9 between the stirring blades 12 like the bar-shaped vertical stirring body 13. The granular food is prevented from freezing into block-like lumps.
In addition, the diameter, arrangement | positioning space | interval, and distance with a rotating shaft of the rod-shaped parallel stirring body 15 are suitably set according to conditions, such as the property of the granular food 9, a shape.
[0024]
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 8, both the rod-shaped vertical stirring body 13 and the rod-shaped parallel stirring body 15 may be provided.
[0025]
Furthermore, in the embodiment described above, the stirring blade 12 is a continuous spiral blade, but it may be a discontinuous spiral stirring blade.
[0026]
[Operation and effect of the invention]
Since the freezing apparatus according to the present invention includes a stirring device having a spiral stirring blade and a rod-like vertical or parallel stirring body, the granular food conveyed to the conveyor in the cooling chamber is moved on the conveyor surface by the stirring blade. This prevents ice from adhering to the conveyor surface, and is sufficiently loosened by the vertical or parallel stirrer, thus preventing the granular food from becoming block-like lumps, so that each granular food is broken apart. It can be frozen.
[0027]
Further, the granular food is loosened by the stirring device, so that the cooling air is sufficiently sent between the granular foods, and the time required for freezing can be shortened.
Therefore, it is possible to reduce the conveying distance of the freezing device and to reduce the size of the device, and to save energy.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal front view showing an embodiment of a freezing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view showing a main part of FIG.
FIG. 3 is a view taken along the line III-III in FIG.
4 is a view taken along the line IV-IV in FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a plan view of a conveyor.
FIG. 6 is a graph showing the results of a freezing test using the freezing apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a side view showing another example of a stirring device.
FIG. 8 is a side view showing still another example of the stirring device.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cooling chamber 2 Endless conveyor 3a Drive wheel 3b Driven wheel 4 Conveyor belt 5 Rectifier 6 Outlet 7 Air blower 8 Air cooler 9 Granular food 10A, 10B, 10C, 10D Stirrer 11 Rotating shaft 12 Stirrer blades 12A, 12B Blade group 13 Bar-shaped vertical stirring body 14 Spread prevention blade 15 Bar-shaped parallel stirring body

Claims (4)

Provided above the conveyor belt in a freezing apparatus comprising a conveyor for transporting granular food, which is to be frozen, on the belt, and a cooler that blows cooling air below the freezing point to the granular food on the conveyor in the cooling chamber. A rod-shaped vertical stirring body having a spiral stirring blade around a rotation axis perpendicular to the running direction of the conveyor belt and extending radially from the rotation shaft to the outer periphery between the stirring blades, and an axial direction of the rotation shaft An apparatus for freezing granular food comprising a stirrer having at least one of a bar-shaped parallel stirrer that is attached between adjacent stirring blades and is parallel to the rotation axis. Provided above the conveyor belt in a freezing apparatus comprising a conveyor for transporting granular food, which is to be frozen, on the belt, and a cooler that blows cooling air below the freezing point to the granular food on the conveyor in the cooling chamber. A rod-shaped vertical stirring body having a spiral stirring blade around a rotation axis perpendicular to the running direction of the conveyor belt and extending radially from the rotation shaft to the outer periphery between the stirring blades, and an axial direction of the rotation shaft Are installed between the stirring blades adjacent to each other and have a stirring device having at least one of a bar-shaped parallel stirring body parallel to the rotation axis, and a plurality of stirring devices are arranged in the running direction of the conveyor belt. A freezing device for granular food. The stirring blade of the stirring device is composed of blade groups provided on the left and right with the center in the axial direction of the rotating shaft as the center, and the blade groups on the left and right are configured with different blade winding directions. 2. The apparatus for freezing granular food according to 2. The said stirring apparatus is the freezing apparatus of the granular food of Claim 2 comprised by the stirring blade of an adjacent stirring apparatus being what mutually differs in the winding direction of a blade | wing.

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