JP3926770B2 - Wash-free rice rinsing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus used for rinsing rinse-free rice in a large-scale rice cooking facility used when cooking a large amount of cooked rice in a lunch center, a bento restaurant, a cooked rice food factory, or the like.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In recent years, so-called non-washed rice, which does not require washing or soaking prior to cooking, has come to be used generally for its convenience. Wash-free rice has been processed to remove rice cakes and garbage, so there is no need for washing rice.However, in establishments that cook large quantities of rice, such as lunch centers, bento restaurants, and rice food factories, Rinse unwashed rice lightly with water before cooking. By the way, in the lunch center, bento shop, and cooked rice food factories, the operations such as the rice washing process, the dipping process, the hydration process, and the rice cooking process are automated. This is often performed using a rice washing apparatus used for rice washing operations. As the rice washing apparatus, for example, a rice washing blade fixed to a rotating shaft is arranged inside the rice washing tank, and the rotating shaft is rotated by a motor while supplying water into the rice washing tank into which fresh rice has been charged, An apparatus is used in which fresh rice is stirred with water by a blade and washed. And when rinse-free rice is performed, the device of shortening the drive time of a motor or rotating a motor at low speed is devised (for example, refer to patent documents 1).
[0003]
[Patent Document 1]
JP 2002-233454 A (page 2-3, FIG. 1)
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in the method of rinsing non-washed rice using a rice washing device, the fresh rice is stirred by the washed rice blades, so that there is a possibility that part of the fresh rice will be crushed. Moreover, since rinsing is performed in a state where water is stored in the rice washing tank, there is a problem that the amount of water used for rinsing increases. Furthermore, since the rice washing apparatus has a drive unit, maintenance and inspection work is required, and power is consumed to drive the motor.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above. When rinsing non-washed rice, there is no concern that raw rice will be crushed, the amount of water used is small, and there is a drive unit. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus that requires almost no maintenance and inspection work and does not consume power.
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The invention according to claim 1 is a raw rice metering method in which rinsed rice is rinsed by supplying water to rinse the unwashed rice, and the unwashed rice is sequentially weighed and dispensed into a single pot. A buffer tank that has a rice discharge port at the bottom, stores a predetermined amount of unwashed rice discharged from the raw rice meter, and discharges it little by little from the rice discharge port, and a water outlet on the peripheral wall Is formed, has a rice outlet at the bottom, rinses the washing-free rice with water while spouting the washing-free rice from the water outlet to the washing-free rice that is discharged little by little from the buffer tank And a rinsing tank for allowing the unwashed rice to flow out of the rice outlet with water.
[0007]
The invention according to claim 2 is the rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the water outlet is a slit extending in the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of slits are provided in the circumferential direction of the peripheral wall portion of the rinse tank. An outer peripheral wall portion is provided on the outer side of the peripheral wall portion so as to surround the peripheral wall portion, and a water supply passage is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion and the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall portion. A water supply port connected to the water supply passage and connected to the water supply source is formed in the peripheral wall portion.
[0008]
The invention according to claim 3 is the rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the wash-free rice having a conical shape and discharged from the rice discharge port is provided immediately below the rice discharge port of the buffer tank. A rice receiving member is provided that receives and disperses, and causes the unwashed rice to flow in the radial direction along the conical slope.
[0009]
The invention according to claim 4 is the rinse-free rice rinse apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the flow rate of the wash-free rice flowing out from the rice outlet is changed by changing the interval between the rice outlet of the buffer tank and the rice receiving member. A rice flow rate adjusting means for adjusting is provided.
[0010]
In the rinse-free rice rinse apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the unwashed rice is sequentially weighed and separated by a predetermined amount by the raw rice meter, and the predetermined amount of unwashed rice discharged from the raw rice meter is the buffer tank. It is thrown in. Wash-free rice put into the buffer tank is once stored in the buffer tank and discharged little by little from the lower rice outlet. Wash-free rice discharged from the buffer tank little by little flows into the rinse tank in sequence, and water spouted from the water outlet of the peripheral wall in the rinse tank is sprayed onto the wash-free rice, and the wash power is swirled by the hydraulic force. While flowing down. In this process, rinsing of unwashed rice proceeds, and the unwashed rice that has been rinsed flows out of the lower rice outlet with water. In this way, the non-washed rice simply flows down while being swung by hydraulic power, so there is no concern that raw rice will be crushed. In addition, since the rinsing water is only ejected from the water ejection port and sprayed onto the non-washed rice, the amount of water used can be reduced. And the rinse of unwashed rice is performed without having a drive part.
[0011]
In the rinsing device of the invention according to claim 2, the water supplied from the water supply source to the water supply port of the rinsing tank passes through the water supply port into the water supply passage between the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion and the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall portion. The water that flows in and fills the inside of the water supply passage is ejected into the rinsing tank through a plurality of slits equally distributed in the circumferential direction of the peripheral wall portion. Accordingly, water is evenly ejected with respect to the unwashed rice.
[0012]
In the rinsing device of the invention according to claim 3, the non-washed rice discharged through the rice discharge port of the buffer tank flows down on the rice receiving member, and the non-washed rice is dispersed on the rice receiving member and is formed on the conical slope. The wash-free rice flows into the rinsing tank in a state of being scattered in the entire circumferential direction from the lower end periphery of the rice receiving member. Therefore, the water spouted from the water spout of the rinsing tank is evenly sprayed on all the unwashed rice.
[0013]
In the rinsing device of the invention according to claim 4, by changing the distance between the rice outlet of the buffer tank and the rice receiving member by the rice flow rate adjusting means, the gap between the periphery of the rice outlet and the upper surface of the rice receiving member is increased. The flow rate of unwashed rice flowing out from the rice outlet through is adjusted. Therefore, it is possible to most effectively rinse the non-washed rice by adjusting the flow rate of the non-washed rice in accordance with the flow rate and water pressure of the water ejected from the water outlet of the rinse tank.
[0014]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[0015]
1 to 3 show an example of an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the configuration of the main part of a rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line II-II in FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the arrow, and FIG. 3 is a front view showing an overall configuration of a rinse-free rice rinse apparatus.
[0016]
As shown in FIG. 3, this rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus includes a rice storage tank 12 in which unwashed rice (raw rice) fed by a conveyor 10 is fed from a rice transfer tank (not shown) and stores the unwashed rice. Unwashed rice in the storage rice tank 12 is weighed in order according to the amount to be put into one cooking pot, and the raw rice meter 14 for washing the predetermined amount of unwashed rice discharged from the raw rice meter 14. There are provided a buffer tank 16 for temporarily storing and discharging little by little, a rinsing tank 18 for supplying water to the unwashed rice discharged from the buffer tank 16 and rinsing. A shutter 22 is inserted in the communication pipe 20 that connects the lower opening of the rice storage tank 12 and the upper opening of the fresh rice meter 14. Although detailed explanation and illustration of the detailed structure of the raw rice meter 14 are omitted, the open / close operation of the shutter 22 is intermittently controlled by a signal from a weight measuring device provided in the raw rice meter 14, thereby A predetermined amount of unwashed rice is sequentially dispensed into the rice meter 14. A predetermined amount of non-washed rice dispensed into the raw rice meter 14 passes through a communication pipe 24 that connects an opening provided on the lower side surface of the raw rice meter 14 and an upper opening of the buffer tank 16 to the buffer tank. 16 is inserted.
[0017]
As shown in FIG. 1, the buffer tank 16 forms a container body having an upper half portion formed in a cylindrical shape and a lower half portion formed in a funnel shape and having a rice discharge port 26 at a lower end portion. The buffer tank 16 is held by a holding cylinder 28 fixed to the apparatus fixing portion, and a rinsing tank 18 is integrally attached to a lower end portion of the holding cylinder 28. A rice receiving member 38 having a conical shape is disposed immediately below the rice discharge port 26 of the buffer tank 16 with a slight gap from the rice discharge port 26, and the rice receiving member 38 extends vertically in the buffer tank 16. It is fixed to the lower end portion of the operating rod 40 arranged at the axial center portion of the buffer tank 16 so as to be inserted. The rice receiving member 38 has a function of receiving and dispersing the unwashed rice discharged from the rice discharge port 26 and causing the unwashed rice to flow in the radial direction along the conical slope. An upper end portion of the operation rod 40 connected to the rice receiving member 38 is screwed and supported by a nut member 44 fixed to the upper lid portion 42 of the buffer tank 16, and an operation handle 46 is provided at the upper end of the operation rod 40. It is fixed.
[0018]
In the above-described mechanism, the operation handle 46 is rotated and the operation rod 40 is rotated about the axis in the forward / reverse direction with respect to the nut member 44, thereby moving the rice receiving member 38 in the vertical direction and the buffer tank. The interval between the 16 rice outlets 26 and the rice receiving member 38 can be changed. The flow rate of the non-washed rice flowing out from the rice discharge port 26 through the gap between the peripheral edge of the rice discharge port 26 and the upper surface of the rice receiving member 38 can be adjusted. That is, when the rice receiving member 38 is moved upward to approach the rice discharge port 26 of the buffer tank 16, the flow rate of unwashed rice flowing out from the rice discharge port 26 is reduced, and the rice receiving member 38 is moved downward. If it is made to separate from the rice discharge port 26 of the buffer tank 16, the flow rate of unwashed rice flowing out from the rice discharge port 26 will increase. Reference numeral 48 in FIG. 1 is a ring plate for fixing the operating rod 40 to the nut member 44.
[0019]
The rinsing tank 18 includes a short cylindrical portion 50 having a double wall structure, and a funnel portion 52 extending downward from the edge at the lower end of the short cylindrical portion 50, and a rice outlet 54 is provided at the lower end portion of the funnel portion 52. have. As shown in FIG. 2, the short cylindrical portion 50 closes the inner peripheral wall portion 56 and the outer peripheral wall portion 58 that are provided concentrically, and the space formed between the inner peripheral wall portion 56 and the outer peripheral wall portion 58. An annular upper wall portion 60 and an annular lower wall portion 62 are formed. A space surrounded by the outer peripheral surface of the inner peripheral wall portion 56, the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall portion 58, the lower surface of the annular upper wall portion 60, and the upper surface of the annular lower wall portion 62 is a water supply passage 64. A water supply port 66 communicating with the water supply passage 64 is formed in the outer peripheral wall portion 58. As shown in FIG. 3, the water supply port 66 is connected to a water supply pipe 68 that is connected to the water supply source in a flow path. An air operation valve 70 and a flow meter 72 for adjusting the flow rate of water supplied into the rinsing tank 18 are inserted in the water supply pipe 68.
[0020]
As shown in FIG. 2, the inner peripheral wall portion 56 has a structure in which four arc-shaped plates 74 are arranged in a circle in this embodiment. The arcuate plates 74 are connected to each other so that a slight vertical gap is formed between the ends. The vertical gap serves as a slit-like spout 76 from which water filling the water supply passage 64 is spouted into the inner space of the rinsing tank 18. Four slit-like spouts 76 are provided in the circumferential direction so as to be uniformly ejected with respect to the unwashed rice. The slit-like spout 76 is formed such that water ejected therefrom diffuses along the inner peripheral surface of the inner peripheral wall portion 56 without being directed to the center of the rinsing tank 18. Rinsing with water is performed while swirling the non-washed rice discharged from the buffer tank 16 little by little by the force of the water ejected from the four slit-shaped ejection ports 76. The rinse-free rice after rinsing flows out from the rice outlet 54 of the rinsing tank 18 together with water.
[0021]
The water-free washed rice discharged from the rinsing tank 18 flows down into the hopper 78 and falls onto the upper surface of the inclined belt conveyor 80. The hopper 78 has a cylindrical shape and is arranged close to the lower end along the upper surface of the belt conveyor 80.
[0022]
In the rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus having the above-described configuration, the wash-free rice stored in the rice storage tank 12 is sequentially weighed by the raw rice measuring instrument 14 by the amount to be put into one pot. Then, a predetermined amount of non-washed rice discharged from the raw rice meter 14 is put into the buffer tank 16. The unwashed rice put into the buffer tank 16 is once stored in the buffer tank 16 and discharged from the lower rice outlet 26 little by little. Wash-free rice discharged from the buffer tank 16 little by little flows into the rinsing tank 18 in sequence. And in the rinse tank 18, the water spouted from the four slit-shaped spouts 76 is sprayed to the non-washed rice, and the non-washed rice flows down while being swirled by the hydraulic force, and the rinse of the non-washed rice proceeds in this process. . At this time, the unwashed rice that has flowed from the buffer tank 16 into the rinsing tank 18 flows down onto the rice receiving member 38, is dispersed on the rice receiving member 38, and flows in the radial direction along the conical slope. For this reason, the unwashed rice will fall into the rinsing tank 18 in a state scattered from the lower end periphery of the rice receiving member 38 to the entire circumferential direction, and the water spouted from the slit-like spout 76 will not be unevenly distributed to all the unwashed rice. It is sprayed and rinse-free rice is effectively rinsed. The rinse-free rice after rinsing flows out from the rice outlet 54 of the rinsing tank 18 together with water, flows down into the hopper 78, and falls onto the belt conveyor 80.
[0023]
Next, with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG. 6, a transport device for transporting unwashed rice (rinse rice) containing water after finishing the rinsing process to the pot and putting it into the pot will be described. FIG. 4 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of the main part of the transfer device for rinsed rice together with an automatic weighing device on which a pot is placed, and FIG. 5 shows a water separator attached to the transfer device, FIG. 6 is a schematic front view partially showing a cross section, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of a suction box which is one of the components of the transport device.
[0024]
As shown in FIG. 4, the belt conveyor 80 is inclined so as to have an upward slope toward the front end. An automatic weighing device 82 is disposed below the front end of the belt conveyor 80, and a pot 84 is placed on the automatic weighing device 82. Although not shown, a water adding device for injecting a predetermined amount of cooked water into the pot 84 is disposed adjacent to the automatic weighing device 82. In the belt conveyor 80, a mesh belt 92 having a mesh that does not allow permeation of rice grains is wound around a driving pulley 86, a rear end side driven pulley 88, and a front end side driven pulley 90 that are rotationally driven by a driving motor (not shown). Configured. Directly below the belt conveyor 80, an eaves 94 inclined along the longitudinal direction and along the belt conveyor 80 is disposed, and further, one end extends to the vicinity of the front end of the belt conveyor 80 and the other end has an eave 94. A liquid introduction plate 96 inserted therein is disposed. The lower end of the flange 94 is arranged so as to face the inside of the drainage bat 98.
[0025]
A suction box 100 is disposed on the back side of the mesh belt 92 on the upper traveling side of the belt conveyor 80. As shown in FIG. 6, the suction box 100 has a shape of a sealed container, and a plurality of suction ports 102 are formed on the upper surface plate, and these suction ports 102 are brought close to or in contact with the back surface of the belt 92. Placed in. The suction box 100 is provided with an exhaust port 104 on the side surface, and the exhaust port 104 is, as shown in FIG. 5, the suction port 108 of the moisture separator 106 installed at a position slightly away from the belt conveyor 80. Are connected to each other through a suction pipe 110.
[0026]
The moisture separation device 106 includes a moisture separation casing 118 in which the suction port 108 is connected to the exhaust port 104 of the suction box 100 through the suction pipe 110 and the discharge port 112 is connected to the vacuum pump 116 through the pipe 114. A plurality of baffle plates 120 arranged in parallel are provided inside the moisture separation casing 118 in order to condense moisture contained in the air or form water droplets to separate the moisture from the air. An upper end portion of a long water conduit 122 is connected to the bottom of the water separation casing 118, and the water conduit 122 is supported vertically, and the lower end is inserted into the dish-shaped container 124. ing. The dish-shaped container 124 is disposed inside the drain bat 126 so that the water overflowing from the dish-shaped container 124 flows into the drain bat 126 and is drained from the drain bat 126. It has become.
[0027]
In the transport device having the above-described configuration, the rinsed rice that has dropped from the hopper 78 to the rear end position on the belt conveyor 80 is transported to the front end portion from the rear end portion of the belt conveyor 80 while water adhering thereto. Dripping through the mesh of the mesh belt 92. In this way, the rinse rice is drained naturally. The water dripped from the mesh belt 92 falls into the basin 94, flows down in the basin 94, flows into the drainage bat 98 from the basin 94, and is discharged.
[0028]
Further, when the rinse rice placed on the mesh belt 92 of the belt conveyor 80 passes through the position immediately above the suction box 100, the water adhering thereto is sucked into the suction box 100 by the vacuum suction force of the vacuum pump 116. The air is sucked into the suction box 100 together with air through the mouth 102. In this way, the rinsed rice is further forcibly drained, and the attached water is almost eliminated. Therefore, the state of draining the rinse rice is always constant.
[0029]
On the other hand, the water sucked into the suction box 100 together with the air is sent from the exhaust port 104 of the suction box 100 to the moisture separator 106 through the suction pipe 110. Moisture sent to the water separation device 106 together with air is introduced into the water separation housing 118 from the suction port 108, separated from the air by the baffle plate 120, and drops as water droplets on the bottom of the water separation housing 118. drop down. Water droplets that have dropped onto the bottom of the water separation casing 118 flow down in the water conduit 122 and are collected in the dish-like container 124. The water that has flowed into the dish-shaped container 124 and is once stored overflows from the dish-shaped container 124, flows into the drainage bat 126, and is discharged from the drainage bat 126.
[0030]
Rinsed rice that has been completely drained while being conveyed by the belt conveyor 80 and has no moisture attached thereto is fed from the front end of the belt conveyor 80 into a pot 84 placed on the automatic weighing device 82. Only a certain amount is added. The pot 84 into which a certain amount of rinsed rice has been introduced is sent to a hydrating apparatus (not shown), and after a predetermined amount of water is added into the basin 84 by the hydrating apparatus, it is conveyed to a rice cooking apparatus.
[0031]
【The invention's effect】
When the rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus of the invention according to claim 1 is used, there is no concern that raw rice will be crushed during the rinse-free rice rinse operation, and the amount of water used is small, and the drive unit is provided. Therefore, almost no maintenance or inspection work is required, and no power is consumed.
[0032]
In the rinsing apparatus according to the second aspect of the present invention, since water is evenly ejected with respect to the unwashed rice, the unwashed rice can be reliably rinsed.
[0033]
In the rinsing apparatus according to the third aspect of the invention, the water spouted from the water outlet of the rinsing tank is sprayed evenly on all the unwashed rice, so that the unwashed rice can be rinsed reliably.
[0034]
In the rinsing apparatus of the invention according to claim 4, it is possible to rinse the washless rice most effectively.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of an embodiment of the present invention and showing a configuration of a main part of a rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line II-II in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a front view showing the overall configuration of the rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of a main part of the rinsing rice transfer device together with an automatic weighing device on which a pot is placed.
FIG. 5 is a schematic front view partially showing a cross section of a water separation device provided in the transport device shown in FIG. 4;
6 is a plan view of a suction box that is one of the components of the transport apparatus shown in FIG. 4; FIG.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Conveyor 12 Rice storage tank 14 Raw rice measuring device 16 Buffer tank 18 Rinse tank 26 Buffer tank rice discharge port 28 Holding cylinder 38 Rice receiving member 40 Operation rod 44 Nut member 46 Operation handle 54 Rinse tank rice outlet 56 Inside Peripheral wall part 58 Outer peripheral wall part 60 Annular upper wall part 62 Annular lower wall part 64 Water supply passage 66 Water supply port 68 Water supply pipe 74 Arc-shaped plate 76 Slit-like outlet 78 Hopper 80 Belt conveyor

Claims (4)

A raw rice meter that measures and dispenses unwashed rice in order for each amount put into one pot
A buffer tank that has a rice discharge port at the bottom, temporarily stores a predetermined amount of unwashed rice discharged from the raw rice meter, and discharges it little by little from the rice discharge port,
A water spout is formed in the peripheral wall, a rice outlet is formed in the lower part, water is spouted from the water spout to wash-free rice that is discharged little by little from the buffer tank, Rinse with water while swirling, and a rinsing tank for washing unwashed rice together with water from the rice outlet,
Washing-free rice rinsing apparatus characterized by comprising: The water jets are slits extending in the vertical direction, and a plurality of the water jets are equally arranged in the circumferential direction of the peripheral wall portion of the rinse tank,
An outer peripheral wall portion is provided outside the peripheral wall portion so as to surround the peripheral wall portion, a water supply passage is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion and the inner peripheral surface of the outer peripheral wall portion, The rinse-free rice rinsing device according to claim 1, wherein a water supply port communicating with the water supply passage and connected to a water supply source is formed. A rice receiving member is provided immediately below the rice discharge port of the buffer tank. 3. The rinse-free rice rinsing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The rinse-free rice rinse apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising a rice flow rate adjusting means for adjusting a flow rate of the non-washed rice flowing out from the rice discharge port by changing a distance between the rice discharge port of the buffer tank and the rice receiving member.

Images