JP3948672B2 - Sheet food discharge method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a discharge method and apparatus capable of arbitrarily changing the shape of a discharge port for discharging food material during the discharge step in a means for discharging food material into a sheet, and more particularly, a communication hole through which the food material passes and A discharge port is formed by overlapping the slit, and the shape of the discharge port can be changed by relative movement of the communication hole and the slit.

As a discharge device that can arbitrarily change the width of the discharge port for discharging the food material during the discharge process, for example, a rotary valve is connected to the lower outlet of the hopper that stores the discharge material, and the rotor accommodated in this rotary valve has a width There is a discharge device provided so that a discharge port of varying dimensions is formed, and a material discharge width from the rotary valve can be adjusted by rotating the rotor. (See Patent Document 1).

However, since the conventional discharge device uses a rotary valve mechanism, the entire device is complicated, and it is complicated to control the rotational position of the rotor for adjusting the discharge width. Further, there is a problem that the flow path in the rotor is long, the wall surface resistance in the flow path does not immediately respond to the change in the discharge width, and the desired shape cannot be formed.
Japanese Patent No. 2913246

The problem to be solved is that the entire apparatus is complicated in a discharge apparatus that discharges food material in a sheet form. In addition, the food material cannot be stably discharged into a desired shape.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention according to claim 1 discharges a sheet-like food by sliding a sliding plate linearly on a housing having an upstream flow path through which food material passes. In the method, the slit provided in either the housing or the sliding plate and the communication hole having a shape in which the width of the opening provided in the other of the housing or the sliding plate is appropriately changed are overlapped to form the discharge port. A sheet-shaped food discharge method that changes the width of the discharge port for discharging the food material into a sheet shape by controlling the slit and the communication hole to move relative to each other during the discharge process in which the food material is discharged. is there.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a housing having an upstream flow path through which a food material passes , a sliding plate that linearly slides on the housing, a driving unit that reciprocates the sliding plate, A control section for controlling the operation, and either a housing or a sliding plate is provided with a slit, and either the housing or the sliding plate is provided with a communication hole, and the communication hole has a shape in which the width of the opening is appropriately changed. A food material discharge port is formed by superimposing the slit and the communication hole, and the sliding plate is moved linearly based on a command from the control unit, and the slit and the communication hole move relatively accordingly. Thus, the sheet-shaped food discharge device is provided so that the width shape of the discharge port for discharging the food material in a sheet shape can be changed during the discharge process in which the food material is discharged .

According to a third aspect of the present invention, the sliding plate is provided so as to be slidably fitted into the housing, and is provided so that it can be inserted and removed from the housing portion by releasing the coupling with the driving portion. This is a sheet-like food discharge device.

The invention according to claim 4 is provided so as to be controllable so that the moving speed of the sliding plate is changed during the discharge of the sheet-like food and / or the movement / stop is repeated intermittently. It is a discharge apparatus of the sheet-like food of description.

The invention according to claim 5 is provided so as to be controllable so that the reciprocating motion of the sliding plate is repeated a plurality of times in a state where the discharge port is formed. Device.

The discharge device of the present invention can change the shape of the discharge port with a simple structure, and further, the responsiveness of the food material discharged to the change in the discharge port shape is good, and the sheet shape is stably formed into a desired shape. Food can be discharged.

Hereinafter, the Example of the discharge apparatus 1 of the sheet-like foodstuff which concerns on embodiment of this invention is described using drawing.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory top view illustrating an outline of the ejection device 1. FIG. 2 is a front explanatory view taken along the line S-S in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory side view taken along the line TT in FIG.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the discharge device 1 includes a housing part 2, a drive part 8, and a control part 9. The discharge device 1 is fixed above the transport device 6 via a bracket 7 so that the height can be adjusted.

The housing portion 2 communicates with a food material supply device (not shown), and forms the food material 13 pumped from the supply device into a desired shape and discharges it into a sheet shape. The upstream housing 3 and the downstream housing 4 and a sliding plate 5. The upstream housing 3 includes an upstream flow path 33 that communicates with the transport pipe of the supply device. The downstream housing 4 includes a concave slide groove 43 into which the slide plate 5 is slidably fitted, and an oblong slit 45 opened on the bottom surface of the slide groove 43. The sliding plate 5 includes a communication hole 53 that is opened in a substantially semicircular shape. Then, the discharge port 21 is formed by overlapping the slit 45 and the communication hole 53. Moreover, the sliding plate 5 is provided so that it can be inserted and removed from the sliding groove 43 of the housing part 2 by releasing the coupling with the drive part 8 described later. In addition, the supply apparatus of the food material 13 is comprised, for example with a screw conveyor, a vane pump, etc., The well-known pumping means driven so that those mechanisms can be controlled with control actuators, such as a motor, may be sufficient.

The conveying device 6 is a known belt conveyor in which an endless belt 61 is wound around a rotating member such as a driving roller, and the driving roller is connected to a control actuator such as a motor so as to be controlled. The conveying device 6 conveys bread dough balls, a top plate, and the like on which the sheet-like food 15 discharged from the discharge port 21 is placed in the direction of arrow R.

The drive unit 8 reciprocates the sliding plate 5 and includes a control actuator 81 provided to be controllable. The rod 83 of the control actuator 81 is provided so as to be extendable and contractible in the longitudinal direction. A joint 85 is fixed to the tip of the rod 83 and is connected to the sliding plate 5 with a pin 87 as a coupling member. The control actuator 81 shown in the present embodiment employs a known cylinder type linear actuator capable of sensing the expansion / contraction position of the rod 83 and controlling the expansion / contraction speed to be changeable.

The control unit 9 controls the drive unit 8, the transport device 6, and each control actuator of the food material supply device. The control unit 9 is a known device that constitutes an inverter, a sequencer, and the like, and includes, for example, an operation panel having a start / stop switch for each unit and a volume for adjusting the drive speed of each control actuator. Each control actuator is driven based on a program command input to a sequencer or the like. Further, by adjusting each volume of the operation panel, the drive speed of each control actuator can be increased or decreased, and the shape of the sheet-like food 15 discharged from the discharge device 1 can be adjusted.

Next, the process in which the sheet-like food 15 is discharged from the discharge device 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 8 are conceptual diagrams showing the process of discharging the sheet-like food 15 over time. Moreover, the figure (a) of each figure corresponds to the U-U cross-sectional arrow view in the figure (b) of each figure, the figure (b) corresponds to the SS cross-sectional arrow view in FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the discharge device 1. FIG. 4 to 8, in order to show the shape of the discharged sheet-like food 15 in an easy-to-understand manner, the conveying device 6 is omitted, and the sheet-like food 15 is suspended from the discharge port 21.

FIG. 4 shows the initial position. At this time, the rod 83 of the control actuator 81 of the drive unit 8 is in the most contracted state, the communication hole 53 of the sliding plate 5 and the slit 45 of the downstream housing 4 do not overlap with each other, and the discharge port 21 is not formed. . From this state, first, the food material supply device is driven to start feeding the food material 13 under pressure. Immediately after that, when the control actuator 81 is driven and the rod 83 extends at a set constant speed, the sliding plate 5 moves in the direction of arrow X (leftward in the drawing). Then, the sheet-like food 15 is discharged from the discharge port 21 beginning to overlap the slit 45 from the top 53A of the substantially semicircular communication hole 53 formed in the plate 5.

FIG. 5 shows a state in which the sliding plate 5 further moves in the X direction and overlaps with the slit 45 at a substantially intermediate position between the top 53A and the bottom 53B of the communication hole 53. FIG. 6 shows a state in which the bottom portion 53 </ b> B of the communication hole 53 overlaps the slit 45. As can be understood from the above description, when the communication hole 53 moves on the upper surface of the slit 45 from the top 53A to the bottom 53B of the communication hole 53, the shape of the discharge port 21 is a communication hole opened in a substantially semicircular shape. As the number 53 changes, the width gradually changes. In addition, the sheet-like food 15 discharged from the discharge port 21 is formed into a substantially semicircular shape according to the change in the width of the discharge port 21 (see FIGS. 4A to 6A).

7 and 8 show the state in which the rod 83 is contracted at a set constant speed from the state shown in FIG. 6 and the sliding plate 5 has moved in the direction of arrow Y (rightward in the drawing) over time. It is a thing. In this step, the width of the discharge port 21 is gradually reduced, and finally the discharge port 21 is closed. The sheet-like food 15 discharged from the discharge port 21 through these series of steps is formed into a substantially circular shape (see FIGS. 4A to 8A). Further, when the discharge port 21 is closed, the discharge width is gradually narrowed, so that it is easy to separate the discharged sheet-like food 15.

In the above example, the discharged sheet-like food 15 is shown to be substantially circular. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and changes as shown in FIG. 9 are possible. For example, the discharge time is changed by increasing or decreasing the moving speed of the sliding plate 5, and the length of the sheet-like food 15 (direction perpendicular to the width) can be reduced or increased. Moreover, the length of the discharged sheet-like food 15 increases or decreases by increasing or decreasing the supply amount of the food material pumped from the supply device. By these adjustments, the shape of the sheet-like food 15 can be formed into a substantially elliptical shape (see FIG. 9A).

Further, by moving the sliding plate 5 further in the direction of the arrow X from the state shown in FIG. 6, it is possible to form a semi-circle or semi-elliptical sheet-like food 15 (FIG. 9B). reference). Alternatively, the sliding plate 5 can be formed into a designed shape by changing the moving speed during discharge and / or repeating the moving / stopping intermittently (see FIG. 9C). ).

The movement of the sliding plate 5 from t1 to t10 shown in FIG. 9C will be described. Here, the moving speed of the sliding plate 5 when forming the substantially circular sheet food 15 in the above embodiment will be described as a reference (hereinafter referred to as a reference constant speed). The sliding plate 5 starts to move in the direction of arrow X from the initial position shown in FIG. The t1 section moves slower than the reference speed, the t2 section moves at the reference speed, and the t3 section moves faster than the reference speed to the position shown in FIG. Furthermore, the sliding plate 5 starts to move in the direction of the arrow Y. The sliding plate 5 moves at a reference speed in the t4, t6, t8, and t10 sections, and is in a stopped state in the t5, t7, and t9 sections. When the period t10 has passed, the discharge port 21 is in a closed state.

When the sheet-like food 15 discharged from the discharge device 1 is, for example, cookie dough, it is placed on a bread dough ball or a top plate that is transported on the belt 61 of the transport device 6, and melon bread, cookies, etc. Can be molded. Moreover, it is also possible to apply | coat on the slice surface of the mountain type bread | pan which sliced jam, margarine, etc. as the sheet-like food 15.

Next, a second example according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10A corresponds to an SS cross-sectional arrow view in FIG. FIG. 10B is a bottom view of the discharge device 1. Further, FIG. 10C shows an example of the sheet-like food discharged from the discharge device 1. In the first embodiment, the communication hole 53 provided in the sliding plate 5 has been described in a substantially circular shape. However, the communication hole 53 can be changed to a desired shape, for example, as shown in FIG. Can be provided in a V-shape as shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 10B, the communication hole 53 is formed such that the opening width W of the two leg portions 53C gradually decreases toward the crotch portion 53D. When the upper surface of the slit 21 is moved from the leg portion 53C toward the crotch portion 53D through the communication hole 53, the two openings forming the discharge port 21 gradually approach each other so that the crotch portion 53D is united into one. Its shape changes.

The sheet food 15 is discharged to the top plate 63 conveyed to the belt 61 while reciprocating the sliding plate 5 thus provided a plurality of times (in this embodiment, three times), and then the discharge port 21 is closed. By doing so, a lattice-like sheet-like food 15 as shown in FIG. 10C can be formed.

The description of the ejection device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention is generally as described above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be implemented in other forms by making appropriate changes. For example, the sheet-like food 15 having a desired shape can be formed even if the sliding plate 5 is provided with the slit 45 and the downstream housing 4 is provided with the communication hole 53 whose opening is appropriately changed.

Further, the sliding plate 5 may be slidably provided on the lower surface of the downstream housing 4. Then, the slit 45 is provided in either the downstream housing 4 or the sliding plate 5, and the communication hole 53 is provided in either the downstream housing 4 or the sliding plate 5, whereby the sheet-like food 15 having a desired shape is obtained. It can be molded.

As described above, the shape of the communication hole 53 can be arbitrarily changed. For example, if the V-shaped communication hole 53 shown in the second embodiment is changed to a C-shaped (semi-circular arc) hole, the communication hole 53 can be continuously formed. An annular pattern sheet-like food 15 can be formed. Similarly, it is possible to provide a plurality of leg portions 53C such as an E shape or a W shape. In addition, a plurality of communication holes 53 shown in the embodiment can be provided continuously in the width direction or at intervals. For example, a zigzag hole is formed by continuously providing a plurality of V-shaped communication holes 53 shown in the second embodiment in the width direction, and a reciprocating movement of the sliding plate 5 a plurality of times makes a mesh pattern. The sheet-like food 15 can be molded. Furthermore, it is also possible to form a concavo-convex pattern on the surface of the sheet-like food 15 by providing irregularities such as corrugations at the opening of the slit 45.

As can be understood from the above description, in the discharge device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the upstream flow path 33, the communication hole 53, and the slit 45 are linearly arranged, so that the flow of the food material 13 The path can be shortened compared to the conventional rotary valve mechanism. Further, since the sliding plate 5 is also formed of a thin plate material, fluctuations in the wall resistance in the housing portion 2 can be suppressed even when the shape of the discharge port 21 changes. As a result, the discharged sheet-like food 15 can immediately respond to the change in the discharge port shape and can be formed into a desired shape.

Further, in the conventional rotary valve mechanism, since the discharge width is adjusted by rotating the rotor, it is complicated to control the rotation position of the rotor. However, in the ejection device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, a mechanism for linearly moving the sliding plate 5 is adopted as means for changing the shape of the ejection port 21. As a result, the movement position and movement speed can be accurately controlled with a simple structure, and the sheet-like food 15 can be stably discharged into a desired shape.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory top view illustrating an outline of the discharge device 1. It is front explanatory drawing by the SS cross-section arrow in FIG. It is side surface explanatory drawing by the TT cross section arrow in FIG. It is the schematic explaining the process in which the sheet-like food 15 is discharged from the discharge apparatus. It is the schematic explaining the process in which the sheet-like food 15 is discharged from the discharge apparatus. It is the schematic explaining the process in which the sheet-like food 15 is discharged from the discharge apparatus. It is the schematic explaining the process in which the sheet-like food 15 is discharged from the discharge apparatus. It is the schematic explaining the process in which the sheet-like food 15 is discharged from the discharge apparatus. It is explanatory drawing which shows the shape of the sheet-like food. It is explanatory drawing which shows a 2nd Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Discharge device 13 Food material 15 Sheet-like food 2 Housing part 21 Discharge port 3 Upstream side housing 4 Downstream side housing 45 Slit 5 Sliding plate 53 Communication hole 53A Top part 53B Bottom part 53C Leg part 53D Crotch part 6 Conveyance apparatus 7 Bracket 8 Drive Section 9 Control section R Transport direction X, Y Arrow

Claims (5)

In the method of discharging the sheet-like food by sliding the sliding plate linearly on the housing provided with the upstream flow path through which the food material passes,
A slit provided in either the housing or the sliding plate;
A communication hole having a shape in which the width of the opening provided in either the housing or the sliding plate is appropriately changed,
Overlapping to form a discharge port,
Discharging the sheet-shaped food, wherein the width of the discharge port for discharging the food material in a sheet shape is changed during the discharge process in which the food material is discharged by controlling the slit and the communication hole to move relative to each other Method. A housing with an upstream flow path through which the food material passes;
A sliding plate that slides linearly on the housing;
A drive unit for reciprocating the sliding plate;
A control unit for controlling the operation of the drive unit,
A slit is provided on either the housing or the sliding plate,
A communication hole is provided in either the housing or the sliding plate,
The communication hole is a shape in which the width of the opening changes as appropriate,
The slit and the communication hole are overlapped to form a food material discharge port,
The sliding plate is linearly moved based on a command from the control unit, which food material width shape of discharge port for discharging the food material into a sheet shape by slits and communicating hole moves relatively with the ejection An apparatus for discharging sheet-like food, which can be changed during the discharge process . 3. The sheet-like food according to claim 2, wherein the sliding plate is provided so as to be slidably fitted into the housing, and is provided so that it can be inserted and removed from the housing part by releasing the coupling with the driving part. Discharge device. The sheet according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the moving speed of the sliding plate is changed during discharge of the sheet-like food and / or controllable so as to repeat the movement / stop intermittently. A device for discharging food products. 5. The sheet-like food discharge device according to claim 2, wherein the slide plate is controlled so that the reciprocating motion of the sliding plate is repeated a plurality of times in a state where the discharge port is formed.

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