JP4646313B2 - Bread ear opener - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an ear picking apparatus that automatically cuts the baked raw bread into slices and then automatically removes the four sides of the cut slice pieces. For example, a sandwich is made from the raw bread (usually three breads). It is suitable to be applied to cases.

The term “raw wood bread” as used herein refers to a rod-shaped bread or a large French bread having a square or round cross section.
Conventionally, the operation of cutting a baked raw wood bread into slices and making a sandwich or the like from the sliced slices is almost done manually. In addition, it is difficult to cut the raw bread immediately after being baked, and it is naturally left to cool for 12 to 24 hours after baking, or it is processed by cutting the forcedly cooled bread in a container at 10 to 15 ° C. for about 4 hours. However, bread tends to be less delicious as time passes after baking, and it is desired that bread be processed within 2 to 8 hours after baking.

In a production line where sliced bread is sliced and packed automatically, or sandwich bread is automatically produced, a reciprocating type bread cutting device using a band saw or the like is used. However, in this case, it is necessary for an operator to sort each by hand in the next process, which is labor-saving and hygienic. In addition, the reciprocating type cutting device was unpopular due to the large amount of bread chips.
For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-294896) discloses a reciprocating type bread cutting apparatus using such a band saw.

Recently, a device using a round blade cutting machine with a small amount of chips has also appeared. When cutting raw bread (usually a lump of 3 pieces) into slices, it is usually easy to handle, so after cutting the raw bread into slices to a predetermined thickness, cut the slice pieces one by one 4 side hard skins (ears) are cut.
On the other hand, in order to simplify the cutting process, the bread slicer disclosed in Patent Document 2 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-28527) first cuts the skin on the four sides with a skin excision device while the bread is in a lump shape, and then A bread slicer employing a process of cutting into slices is disclosed.

  When such a cutting process is adopted, the bread from which the skin on the four circumferential surfaces has been removed (the skin remains only on both end surfaces) is only a soft part. For this reason, in Patent Document 2, the use of a round blade cutter having a diameter equal to or greater than a predetermined ratio (diameter / bread height) relative to the bread height enables the bread to be cut cleanly and at high speed. Yes.

  Further, Patent Document 3 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-74597) discloses a cutting device that cuts off the ear portion from a relatively soft raw wood pan after a short time after baking. This apparatus is fixed by a pedestal on which a slice piece obtained by slicing raw bread is placed, a fixture that presses and fixes the slice piece placed on the pedestal from above, and the fixture. And a disk cutter that cuts the sliced piece in a state of being cut.

JP-A-8-294896 JP 2005-28527 A JP 2005-74597 A

However, the bread slicer of Patent Document 2 has a structure including a skin (ear) excision device and a slicer that cuts the lump bread after the skin resection into slices. The transfer of bread to the slicer, installation and the like are performed manually, and the cutting and cutting of the bulk bread are not automated.
When the cutting process of patent document 2 is employ | adopted, handling of the lump bread after skin excision is difficult, and automation of a cutting process is difficult.

  In addition, the ear-clipping device disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a process in which the size of the device is increased, and the slice pieces that have just been baked are pressed with a fixture, so that the slice pieces are easily crushed, and the slice pieces are pressed and fixed one by one. For this reason, there is a problem that it is difficult to increase the speed or efficiency of the ear picking process.

  In view of the problems of the prior art, the present invention is capable of automating the ear picking process when cutting the raw bread into slices and then performing the ear picking process with a simplified configuration. An object of the present invention is to realize an ear picking apparatus that can achieve high speed and can obtain a clean cut surface.

The ear picking device of the present invention achieves such an object,
In a bread cutting device for cutting a raw bread into slices and cutting off the four sides around the sliced piece,
A pair of round blade cutters arranged at positions where the ears of at least two sides parallel to the conveying direction of the slice pieces on the conveyor on which the slice pieces are conveyed;
A mechanism for rotationally driving the round blade cutter;
A mechanism for supporting the round blade cutter and its mounting base so as to be movable up and down;
The mechanism for rotationally driving the round blade cutter is:
A drive motor provided below the conveyor surface;
The rotation mechanism is connected to a rotary shaft of the round blade cutter to transmit the rotation of the drive motor, and includes a transmission mechanism that is detachable from the rotary shaft .

In the ear picking device of the present invention, the round blade cutter is positioned parallel to the conveying direction at a position where two sides of the slice piece pass on the conveyor on which the slice piece obtained by cutting the raw bread into slices is conveyed, It is configured to cut the ears on two sides. In this case, the ears on the two sides need to be conveyed on the conveyor parallel to the conveying direction. Therefore, the slice pieces are preferably aligned on the upstream side of the conveyor of the ear removing device.
In the present invention, the cutting speed of the ear can be adjusted by adjusting the transport speed of the conveyor that transports the slice pieces. Further, by allowing the rotary drive mechanism of the round blade cutter to be raised and lowered, maintenance and inspection of the conveyor surface near the slice piece can be easily performed.

In the device of the present invention, the mechanism for rotationally driving the round blade cutter is:
A drive motor provided below the conveyor surface;
Connected to the rotary shaft of the round blade cutter to transmit the rotation of the drive motor,
And a transmission mechanism that is detachable from the rotating shaft .
By installing the drive motor below the conveyor surface on which the sliced pieces are conveyed, no sanitary problems are caused. Further, since the mechanism for transmitting the rotational torque of the drive motor is configured to be detachable from the rotary shaft of the round blade cutter, the round blade cutter can be easily lifted and lowered, and installed after inspection.

In the apparatus of the present invention, preferably, the transmission mechanism is
A first gear to which the rotation of the drive motor is transmitted at the tip, and an arm that is movable up and down the conveyor surface across the conveyor surface;
A second gear attached to the rotary shaft of the round blade cutter;
The first gear is configured to be screwed or disengaged with respect to the second gear.
With this configuration, the rotational torque of the drive motor can be transmitted to the round blade cutter or the rotational torque can be interrupted simply by rotating the arm up and down.

In the device of the present invention, it is preferable to provide an ear pressing mechanism for pressing the ear from the upper part at the cutting point of the ear and preventing the ear from falling down. Ears tend to fall outward when cut,
If this is left as it is and then cut as it is, the cut surface is inclined with respect to the upper and lower surfaces of the slice piece, and the cut cross-section of the ear becomes trapezoidal and does not become a clean cut surface.
By providing such an ear-pressing mechanism, the ear does not fall outward when the ear is cut, and a clean cut surface perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the slice piece can be formed.

The ear presser mechanism is
A support member disposed in the transport direction along the conveyor surface above the conveyor surface;
It is good to comprise with two leaf | plate springs which are attached to the said supporting member, respectively, and hold | push an ear from an upper part in the center part of an ear | edge cut point and a round blade cutter.
By pressing with these two leaf springs, it is possible to press with sufficient pressing force without crushing the ear.

Furthermore, the second conveyor connected to the end of the conveyor provided with the ear clip device of such a configuration, the transport direction is 90 degrees different from the conveyor,
An apparatus for transferring slice pieces from the conveyor to the second conveyor without changing the orientation of the slice pieces;
By providing the ear-cutting device of the present invention on the second conveyor, the remaining two-side ears can be cut on the second conveyor. As a result, it is possible to automate the ear cutting process on the four sides of the slice piece on a single row of conveyors.

  According to the present invention, a pair of round blade cutters disposed at positions through which ears of at least two sides parallel to the conveying direction of the slice pieces on the conveyor on which the slice pieces are conveyed, and the circular blade cutter are rotationally driven. And a mechanism for supporting the round blade cutter and its mounting base so that it can be moved up and down, it is possible to pick up the sliced pieces on the conveyor at a high speed according to the conveying speed of the conveyor. Further, by allowing the rotary drive mechanism of the round blade cutter to be raised and lowered, maintenance and inspection of the conveyor surface near the slice piece can be easily performed.

Preferably, a mechanism for rotating the round blade cutter is connected to a drive motor provided below the conveyor surface and a rotary shaft of the round blade cutter to transmit the rotation of the drive motor, and from the rotary shaft. If comprised from the transmission mechanism provided so that it can detach | leave, since a drive motor exists in the downward direction of a slice piece conveyance conveyor, a hygiene problem is not caused.
Further, since the mechanism for transmitting the rotational torque of the drive motor is detachable from the rotary shaft of the round blade cutter, the round blade cutter can be raised and lowered, and installation after maintenance and inspection can be easily performed.

  Furthermore, the transmission mechanism is provided with a first gear to which rotation of the round blade cutter drive motor is transmitted at the tip, an arm that can move the tip across the conveyor surface and up and down the conveyor surface, and a round blade cutter. If the first gear is configured to be able to be screwed or detached with respect to the second gear, the arm is simply rotated up and down. Thus, the rotational torque of the drive motor can be transmitted to the round blade cutter, or the rotational torque can be cut off. Thus, the power transmission mechanism of the drive motor can be configured very simply.

Preferably, if an ear pressing mechanism is provided to hold the ear from the top at the ear cutting point and prevent the ear from falling down, the ear does not fall outside during the ear cutting, and is perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the slice piece. A clean cut surface can be formed.
In addition, the ear pressing mechanism is configured such that the ear is pressed from above at the support member disposed in the conveying direction along the conveyor surface above the conveyor surface, and at the ear cutting point and the central portion of the round blade cutter. If it is composed of two leaf springs, it can be pressed with a simple structure without crushing the ears and with a sufficient pressing force.

  Furthermore, the second conveyor is connected to the end of the conveyor provided with the ear-cutting device having such a configuration, and the second conveyor has a transport direction different from that of the conveyor by 90 degrees, and the second conveyor without changing the direction of the slice piece from the conveyor. Provided with a device for transferring slice pieces, and by providing the ear-cutting device of the present invention on the second conveyor, so that the remaining two-side ears are cut on the second conveyor, The four-sided ear cutting process can be automated on a single row of conveyors.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the dimensions, materials, shapes, relative arrangements, and the like of the component parts described in this embodiment are not intended to limit the present invention to that only, unless otherwise specified.
FIG. 1 is an overall plan view showing a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a bread bread cutting and aligning apparatus as a pre-process when making a sandwich, FIG. 2 is an overall elevation view, and FIG. 4 is a plan view of the raw bread supply device of the first embodiment, FIG. 5 is an elevation view of the bread slicer 20 of the first embodiment, FIG. 6 is a plan view of the bread slicer 20, and FIG. FIG. 8 is a side view of the pan slicer 20, and FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a control system of the pan slicer 20.

  9 is an operation explanatory diagram of the bread slicer 20 of the first embodiment, FIG. 10 is an operation explanatory diagram of the pushing mechanism 240 of the pan slicer 20, and FIG. 11 is an operation timing diagram of the pan slicer 20 at the time of first ear cutting. FIG. 12 is an operation timing chart at the time of cutting the raw bread, FIG. 13 is an operation timing chart at the time of cutting the second ear, FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of the raw bread cutting method, and FIG. FIG. 16 is an elevation view, FIG. 17 is a plan view of the bread slicer 20 of the first embodiment (final cutting step), and FIG. 18 is a plan view of the bread slicer 20 (second ear). FIG. 19 is an elevational view of the pan slicer 20 (when discharging the second ear M2).

  20 is an elevation view of the X-axis ear picking device 30, FIG. 21 is a side view of the same, FIG. 22 is an explanatory view when cutting the ear m1 on two sides, and FIG. 24 is a side view, FIG. 25 is a partially enlarged elevation view of the X-axis ear picking device 30 of the first embodiment, and FIG. 26 is a left-direction conversion of the first embodiment. FIG. 27 is an elevation view, FIG. 28 is a rear view, FIG. 29 is a left side view, FIG. 30 is a right side view, and FIG. 31 is a plan view of the first embodiment. It is explanatory drawing which shows the combination of the various slice pieces S which can be manufactured with an apparatus.

  1-3 which shows the whole structure of 1st Example, a present Example cut | disconnected the rectangular parallelepiped shaped bread | bread (raw wood bread; normally 3 bread | crumb bread) P which passed 2 to 8 hours after baking. Later, it cuts off the ears of the four sides, arranges the slice pieces from which the ears have been cut off, arranges the sliced pieces and conveys them to the next process, for example, the sandwich manufacturing process. is there. Since the left and right cutting and aligning apparatus has the same configuration, the configuration of the left cutting and aligning apparatus will be mainly described.

The raw wood bread P is first supplied from the left and right raw wood bread supply devices 10 and 60 to the left and right bread slicers 20 and 70. The configuration of the left and right log bread supply devices 10 and 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 4 (the left log bread supply device 10 will be described as a representative).
In FIG. 4, the supply conveyor 11 is installed so that the conveyance start end side can be raised and lowered by an elevating cylinder 215 attached to the main frame 216 of this apparatus, and a partition plate 11 a is spaced in the width direction by the width of the raw bread. Projected. A pusher 15 is provided above the terminal end 11 b of the supply conveyor 11, and when the raw wood bread placed along the partition plate 11 a of the supply conveyor 11 is transferred to the terminal end 11 b, the raw wood bread is moved along the handrail 12. Push into the chuck position of the raw wood pan chucker 13.

  Reference numeral 14 denotes a traversing device that traverses the chucker 13 in order to feed raw bread into a pan stocker, which will be described later. The chucker 13 that has pushed the log bread into the chucker position moves while chucking the log bread and moves the log bread into the pan stocker. The right raw log bread supply device 60 also has the same configuration as the left raw log bread supply device 10.

  Next, the configuration of the left pan slicer 20 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, the gantry 203 includes a gantry 201 that accommodates the control panel 202 and the like, and a pan stocker 210, a round blade cutter 220, a contact plate 230, and the like are installed on the upper surface of the gantry 201. The contact plate 230 is arranged to be movable separately from the pan stocker in the vertical direction on one end side of the pan stocker 210. In addition, a round blade cutter 220 is disposed adjacent to the contact plate 230 in parallel to the contact plate 230 and in the vertical direction. The rotary shaft 220a of the round blade cutter 220 is connected to the motor shaft 222a of the drive motor 222 by a chain 229, and is rotated by the drive motor 222 in the direction of arrow a (FIG. 7).

  Reference numeral 223 denotes an insulating plate in which a heating coil 224 (electromagnetic induction heating means) is attached to the opposing surface on the round blade cutter side, and the heating coil 224 is disposed at a non-contact position close to the round blade cutter 220. The heating coil 224 has an outer diameter larger than the outer periphery of the round blade cutter 220 and is arranged to heat at least the blade edge. Reference numeral 225 denotes a temperature sensor disposed in a non-contact manner on the surface opposite to the heating coil 224 with respect to the round blade cutter 220. Reference numeral 226 denotes a support base for supporting the temperature sensor 225, which is rotatably attached to the fixed portion. As shown in FIG. 8, a limit switch 227 is attached to the support base 226 as a safety measure. When the temperature sensor 225 is separated from the round blade cutter 220 by rotating the H.226, the controller 228 stops the rotation of the round blade cutter 220.

Reference numeral 211 denotes a pan stocker traverse device, two rows of rails 212 attached to the upper surface of the gantry 201, and a guide member 213 attached to the outer bottom surface of the pan stocker 210 and slidably fitted to the rails 211. The servo motor 214 is attached to the gantry 201, and the ball screw 215 is screwed into the female screw portion 216 of the servo motor 214.
With this configuration, the pan stocker 210 reciprocates along the rail 212 in the direction of arrow b (FIG. 6) by forward and reverse rotation of the servo motor 214.

  Reference numeral 231 denotes a servo motor whose rotational shaft 231a is interlocked with the contact plate 230 and moves the contact plate 230 in a direction of an arrow c (FIG. 6) in parallel with the round blade cutter 220. The cutting thickness of the raw wood bread is determined by the displacement of the position of the contact plate 230 with respect to the round blade cutter 220. By making the relative position of the contact plate 230 relative to the round blade cutter 220 adjustable, the cutting thickness of the raw bread can be adjusted, and at the final stage of the cutting process, the contact plate 230 protrudes forward to make a pan stocker. A gap is formed between the second ears of the rear end face of the raw bread and the last ear of the raw bread is left in the gap. Reference numeral 232 denotes a fixed guide bar that guides the advancement and retraction of the contact plate 203.

Reference numeral 240 denotes an extruding mechanism for extruding the raw wood bread P put into the pan stocker 210 toward the contact plate 230, and a pan pushing servo bar 242 disposed in the longitudinal direction of the pan stocker 210 by a pan pushing servo motor 241. Is rotated forward and backward, and the support base 243 screwed to the servo rod 242 is slid.
A first push plate 244 is attached to the support base 243, and the first push plate 244 includes a pair of first air cylinders 245 arranged symmetrically with respect to the first push plate 244 and a first central portion. A two air cylinder 246 is attached.
The pistons of these air cylinders are attached with a second push plate 247 disposed on the front side of the first push plate 244, and the second push plate 247 is composed of the first and second air cylinders 245 and 246. By being operated, the first push plate 244 is configured to be movable in the direction of the arrow c so as to be movable back and forth.

  In FIG. 7, reference numeral 217 denotes a roller disposed on one side and bottom of the pan stocker 210 and guides the movement of the raw wood bread P toward the backing plate 230. 7 and 9, reference numeral 218 denotes a positioning plate provided in the longitudinal direction on the side surface of the pan stocker 210 where the roller 217 is not disposed. The positioning plate 218 is advanced and retracted in the direction of arrow b by the air cylinder 219 and is inserted into the pan stocker 210. It has a role to position the raw wood bread P. Reference numeral 248 denotes a plurality of needles projecting from the front surface of the first push plate 244. The second push plate 247 is perforated at a position where it hits the needle 248, and the needle 248 is attached to the second push plate 247. On the other hand, it is slidable.

The cutting operation of the raw wood bread P in the bread slicer 20 having such a configuration will be described.
First, after setting the contact plate 230 to a set position so that the cutting thickness of the raw wood bread P (thickness of the slice piece) becomes the set thickness, the raw wood bread P is placed on the conveyor 11 of the raw wood bread supply device 10. . When the raw bread pan P moves on the conveyor 11 and reaches the terminal end 11 b, it is pushed by the pusher 15 toward the raw wood pan chucker 13 and reaches the chuck position of the raw wood pan chucker 13 along the handrail 12. Thereafter, the raw wood bread P is chucked by the raw wood bread chuck 13 and dropped into the pan stocker 210.

  When the raw bread P is dropped on the pan stocker 210, the positioning plate 218 is pushed out to the raw bread side to position the raw bread P in the pan stocker 210. Next, the pan pressing servo motor 241 is operated to move the support base 243 toward the log pan P, press the log pan P against the backing plate 230, and then the pan stocker 210 is driven by the servo motor 214 by the round blade cutter. The cutting process is started by reciprocating in the 220 side (arrow b direction).

  In this case, when the electric wire of the heating coil 224 is energized, it is excited, a magnetic field is formed in a direction orthogonal to the surface of the heating coil 224, and the blade surface of the round blade cutter 220 in the magnetic field range is heated including the blade edge. As shown in FIG. 8, the heating temperature of the blade edge of the round blade cutter 220 is detected by the temperature sensor 225, and the controller 228 controls the energization amount of the heating coil 224 based on the detected value, and holds it at the set temperature. In this embodiment, since the temperature sensor 225 is set immediately upstream of the pan cutting position and the heating coil 224 is installed downstream of the cutting position, the heating temperature at the cutting position can be accurately measured. Therefore, the temperature at the bread cutting position can be accurately maintained at the set temperature.

The cutting process starts with cutting the first ear of the front end surface of the raw bread. The operation timing of the pan slicer 20 at this time is shown in FIG. 11, and the operation is shown in FIG.
After the raw wood bread P is positioned in the pan stocker 210, the contact plate 230 moves away from the pan stocker 210 by the thickness of the first ear M1 (for example, 12 mm). At the same time, the position of the second push plate 247 up to the contact plate 230 is brought closer to a position closer to 20 mm than the length of the raw wood bread, and then returned 20 mm to the interval of the raw wood bread length. Next, the pan stocker 210 is reciprocated to cut the first ear M1. By operating in this way, cutting can be performed in a state where the first ear is reliably in contact with the contact plate 230.
As shown in FIG. 16, the cut first ear M1 falls on the aligning conveyor 311 disposed below the bread slicer 20, and the aligning conveyor 311 then transports the cut slice pieces to the next process. The first ear M1 is discharged from the ear discharge shooter 313.

  The operation state of the first and second push plates 244 and 247 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 10, (a) shows the origin position, and (b) shows the position at the time of cutting the first ear M1 and at the time of cutting the raw bread. In the state of (b), in order to fix the log bread P to the front surface of the second push plate 247, the needle 248 is slightly protruded in front of the second push plate 244. (C) shows the operation at the time of discharging the second ear M2 on the rear end surface of the raw wood bread. At this time, as shown in FIG. 18, the second air cylinder 246 is operated to project the second push plate 247 forward. Then, the second ear M2 is flipped forward, and the second ear M2 is dropped downward from the gap between the contact plate 230 and the front end of the pan stocker 210.

  Next, an operation of cutting the raw bread P into slices is started. The operation timing of the pan slicer 20 at this time is shown in FIG. At this time, the abutting plate 230 moves so that the relative position with respect to the round blade cutter 220 is only the cutting thickness (for example, 10 to 14 mm). Further, the second pressing plate 247 is moved to a position closer to the cutting plate by 1 mm than the cutting plate 230, and then moved back by 1 mm. By this operation, the front end surface of the raw wood bread P is surely brought into contact with the contact plate 230 by the cushioning force of the raw wood bread itself. Next, the pan stocker 210 is moved to the round blade cutter 220 side to cut the raw bread. As shown in FIG. 12, a pair of first air cylinders 245 are operated to apply air pressure to the raw wood pan from the time when the contact plate 230 is moved to the time when the pan stocker 210 is moved forward to the round blade cutter side. .

The moving speed of the pan stocker 210 during cutting with respect to the round blade cutter 220 is set in the following two stages. In FIG. 14, that is, when the round blade cutter 220 cuts the ears m of the four sides of the raw bread pan P, the moving speed v1 (that is, the approach speed of the round blade cutter) is slowed, and the inner core part softer than the ear part is removed. When cutting, the moving speed v2 is made faster (v1 <v2) than when cutting the ear part.
When cutting hard ears, a large force is applied to the raw bread, so the raw bread is easy to dent. Therefore, by slowing down the movement speed of the raw bread when entering the ear part, it is possible to prevent the depression of the raw bread, and when cutting the soft core, the cutting speed is increased to improve the cutting efficiency. Can be made.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the pan stocker 210 accommodates the raw wood bread P in a vertical posture without tilting. As shown in FIG. 14, the raw wood pan P is brought close to the round blade cutter 220 without being inclined, and is not cut from the corner portion, but the round blade cutter 220 enters from the center portion of the ear side. It is good to position so that. Thus, a large pressing force is not applied to the raw bread P at the time of cutting the ear.

17-19, when this operation is repeated and the number of slices cut exceeds the set value with respect to the raw bread length, that is, only the second ear M2 on the rear end face of the raw bread is left at the end of the cutting process. At this time, it is determined that the discharge time of the second ear M2 is reached, and the discharge operation of the second ear M2 is started. FIG. 13 shows the operation timing at this time. That is, a gap d for discharging the second ear M2 is formed between the contact plate 230 and the pan stocker 201 in front of 25 to 30 mm. The first push plates 244 and 247 are placed at the position of “log bread length + α”. The positional relationship at this time is such that the contact plate 230 is located in the forefront, the round blade cutter 220 is located behind 25 to 30 mm, and the second push plate is located behind the round blade cutter 220 by α (for example, 5 mm). 247 is located.
After that, as shown in FIG. 19, the second air cylinder 246 is activated and the second push plate 247 is activated to repel the second ear M <b> 2 and from the gap d between the contact plate 230 and the pan stocker 210. It discharges to 313.

  The cut slice pieces S fall on the alignment conveyor 311. At this time, the slice pieces S first fall on a pair of receiving plates 312 disposed above the alignment conveyor 310, as shown in FIG. . The receiving plate 312 is arranged in the horizontal direction, and the slice piece S dropped thereon is restored to a horizontal posture, and then the receiving plate 312 is rotated 90 degrees downward to fall onto the alignment conveyor 311. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 251 denotes a trumpet tube having a triangular shape arranged so that the slice piece S cut by the round blade cutter 220 is removed from the interference of the round blade cutter 220.

  The slice pieces S that have fallen on the alignment conveyor 311 are aligned while being conveyed on the alignment conveyor 311. In FIG. 15, the alignment conveyor 311 forms a conveyance surface by the roller conveyor 314, but the roller conveyor of the portion where the slice piece S falls is composed of a pair of divided rollers 314 a and 314 b divided into right and left, The rotation speed (conveyance speed) of 314a is set to be higher than the conveyance speed of the left roller 314b, and a guide plate 315 whose start end is curved outward is installed on the left split roller 314b.

  When the slice piece S falls on the aligning conveyor 311 having such a configuration, the right roller 314a is conveyed at a high speed, so that the slice piece S is conveyed so as to be pressed against the guide plate 315, and one side of the slice piece S exactly fits the guide plate 315. It will be in the state contacted. As a result, the slice pieces S are arranged along the guide plate 315, are aligned in one row in the transport direction facing the same direction, and are transported in a state where one side is parallel to the transport direction. Reference numeral 316 denotes a drive motor for the roller conveyors 314, 314a, and 314b.

The slice pieces S aligned in one row are conveyed on the left X-axis ear picking conveyor 310 and reach the left X-axis ear picking device 30.
20 and 21, the left X-axis ear picker 30 has a control panel 302 accommodated therein, and a support frame 305 is erected on a gantry 301 having a pedestal 303 and a moving caster 304 at a lower portion thereof. The base is configured. 320 is a belt conveyor provided on the support frame 306 fixed to the support frame 305 and conveys the slice piece S, and 322 is provided on a fixed frame of the belt conveyor 320 and adjusts the degree of tension of the belt 321 of the belt conveyor 320. The air cylinder 323 is a motor that is provided on the base 301 below the belt conveyor surface and drives the belt 321. The chain 324 is mounted on the pulley 325 at the belt conveyor start end to drive the pulley 325.

  Reference numeral 330 denotes a pair of round blade cutters for cutting two parallel ears m1 of the slice piece S. The slice piece S arranged on the belt conveyor 320 by the alignment conveyor 311 in a direction parallel to the conveying direction. It is arranged parallel to the conveying direction at the cutting position of the ears m1 on the two sides. Reference numeral 331 denotes a spring support member disposed outside the round blade cutter 330 in parallel with the round blade cutter 330, and reference numerals 332 and 333 denote a central leaf spring and a cut point leaf spring attached to the lower surface of the spring support member 331. is there. The leaf springs 332 and 333 are configured so that one end thereof is connected to the spring support member 331 so as to press the ears m1 on the two sides of the slice piece S with elasticity, and the ears m1 are pressed at one point of the other part. Yes. The center leaf spring 332 presses the ear m1 at the center of the round blade cutter 330, and the cut point leaf spring 333 is arranged at a position where the round blade cutter 330 presses with the ear m1 at the first cut point of the ear m1. Yes.

  In FIGS. 23 and 24, the support mechanism 334 of the round blade cutter 330 is configured to be movable up and down by manually turning a handle 335. The structure of the support mechanism 334 will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 25, the screw shaft 342 supported in the vertical direction by the support frame 341 is rotated (forward and reverse) in conjunction with the handle 335. A base 343 screwed to the screw shaft 342 by turning to the screw shaft 342 and a pair of columns 344 and 344 connected to both ends of the base 343 move up and down.

A pulley 347 and idlers 348 and 349 are mounted on both ends of a presser conveyor base 345 installed in parallel with a slight gap on the transport surface of the slice piece S, and a presser belt 346 is wound around these. The slice piece S is configured to be pressed during cutting. Reference numeral 350 denotes a belt rail that horizontally positions the holding belt 346 that presses the slice piece S.
The holding conveyor base 345 is connected to the column 344 and moves up and down together with the column 344. Further, when the collar 351 is fitted to the column 344 and the column 344 is raised, the upper end of the collar 351 hits the fixed collar 353 fixed to the lower surface of the base 352, and then the base 352 rises together with the column 344. At both ends of the base 352, there are holes (not shown) that are loosely fitted to the support columns 354, and the base 352 is guided by the support columns 354 through the holes and moves up and down.

Since the support frame 355 to which the rotary shaft 330 a of the round blade cutter 330 is rotatably attached is connected to the base 352, the round blade cutter 330 also moves up and down together with the base 352.
The lifting mechanism includes a function of adjusting the height direction position of the pressing belt 346 with respect to the conveying surface of the slice piece S formed by the belt surface 321 according to the thickness of the slice piece S, and the round blade cutter 330 and the pressing member during maintenance. And a function of raising the conveyor base 345. The height of the holding belt 346 can be adjusted according to the thickness of the slice piece S cut to an arbitrary thickness, and can be reliably pressed from above so that the slice piece S does not bend when cutting the ear.

In addition, a space required for maintenance can be secured by raising the round blade cutter 330, the press conveyor base 345, and the like during maintenance.
As described above, since the round blade cutter 530 can be easily raised when the operation is stopped, the maintenance is facilitated. Reference numeral 336 denotes a drive motor for a round blade cutter 330 disposed below the conveying surface of the belt conveyor 320. A gear 338 is attached to the rotation shaft 336a via an arm 337, and the arm 337 is rotated upward to be round. The rotational force of the drive motor 336 is transmitted to the round blade cutter 330 by screwing with a gear 339 attached to the rotation shaft of the blade cutter 330.
Therefore, at the time of maintenance, the arm 337 is rotated downward to disengage the gears 338 and 339, and the handle 335 is moved to raise the support mechanism 334 of the round blade cutter 330. As a result, maintenance and inspection can be easily performed.

An operation mode of the left X-axis ear picking device 30 having such a configuration will be described. When the slice piece S is conveyed, the ear m1 on two sides is cut out by the round blade cutter 330. At this time, since the ear m1 is pressed by the leaf springs 332 and 333 at the center portion and the cut point portion, the ear m1 can be cut by a cut surface perpendicular to the upper and lower surfaces of the slice piece S.
That is, as shown in FIG. 22, when the ear m1 is cut, the ear m1 tends to fall in the outer side f direction. Therefore, in a state where the upper surface of the ear m1 is not pressed, the cut surface e is formed obliquely as shown in FIG.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the upper surface of the ear m1 is pressed by the leaf springs 332 and 333, the cut surface e can be formed at right angles to the upper and lower surfaces of the slice piece S. Further, since the leaf springs 332 and 333 are connected at one end to the support member 331 and press the ear m1 at another point, an appropriate elastic force can be applied to the pressing action of the ear m1.
In addition, since the conveyor drive motor 336 is disposed below the conveyor surface, it is harmless to the slice piece S conveyed on the conveyor surface, and there is no sanitary problem, and the round blade cutter 330 can be raised and lowered manually. Therefore, the maintenance is easy and the lifting mechanism is not large and can be simplified.
Further, when the round blade cutter 330 is remounted, the support mechanism 334 of the round blade cutter 330 can be enabled, and the arm 337 can be rotated upward and the gears 338 and 339 can be simply screwed together.

  Next, the slice piece S passes through the 90-degree direction changing device 360, changes the direction by 90 degrees while maintaining the same orientation, is transferred to the left Y-axis ear picking conveyor 410, and remains on the left Y-axis ear picking conveyor 410. Cut the ears m2 on the two sides. The remaining ears m2 on the two sides are arranged parallel to the transport direction by the 90-degree direction changing device 360, while the left Y-axis ear removal device 40 has the same configuration as the left X-axis ear removal device 30, and therefore The remaining two-sided ears M2 can be cut by the same operation as the left X-axis ear picker 30.

  In the left X-axis ear picker 30, when the first two ears m1 are cut, the four ears still remain, so that the ears still have rigidity, and the ears tend to fall outward when the ears are cut. Therefore, in the X-axis ear removal device, the above-described ear presser leaf springs 332 and 333 are not necessarily required, whereas in the Y-axis ear removal device, the necessity is high.

Next, the slice piece S is transferred to the left direction conversion conveyor 50 via the 90-degree direction changing device 510, and then transferred from the sending conveyor 550 to the next process via the transfer conveyor 530.
The configuration of the left-direction conversion conveyor 50 including the 90-degree conversion device 510 will be described with reference to FIGS. 26, 28, and 29, 511 is a Y-direction drive roller conveyor provided at a position continuous with the conveyance surface of the Y-axis ear-carrying conveyor 410, 512 is a motor that drives the conveyor 511, and 513 is a motor 512. The pulley is rotated and transmits the rotational force to the roller conveyor 511 via the timing belt 514.

  515 is a plurality of X direction feed rods arranged in parallel between the roller conveyors 511, 516 and 517 are X direction feed step cylinders and X direction feed rod lifting cylinders. When the roller conveyor 511 is reached, the rod 515 is raised above the conveying surface of the roller conveyor 511 and moved to the X-direction drive round belt conveyor 520 side arranged on the downstream side, and the slice piece S is moved to the round belt conveyor. It has the action of pushing out to the 520 side. Reference numeral 518 denotes a collision plate that stops the slice piece S that has been conveyed on the Y-axis ear conveyor 410, and reference numeral 519 denotes a pan detection sensor provided above the roller conveyor 511.

  Since the 90-degree direction changing device 510 has such a configuration, the slice piece S that has been conveyed on the Y-axis ear picking conveyor 410 is detected by the pan detection sensor 519 on the roller conveyor 511, hits the collision plate 518, and stops. At that time, in response to a signal from the pan detection sensor 519, the rod 515 rises above the conveying surface of the roller conveyor 511 and moves to the downstream side of the round belt conveyor 520, so the slice piece S is placed on the rod 515. In this state, it is transferred onto the round belt conveyor 520.

The 90-degree direction changing device has a plurality of narrow belt conveyors or rods that are spaced apart from each other at the end of the Y-axis ear picking conveyor 410 that has transported the slice piece S in place of the above configuration, and the narrow belt. A stop member that stops the slice piece that has been conveyed to the end of the conveyor or rod is provided, and a plurality of rollers having a conveyance direction different by 90 ° are arranged between the narrow belt conveyor or the rod, and the slice piece hits the stop member and stops. Sometimes, the narrow belt conveyor or the rod may be lowered from the conveying surface formed by the rollers, and the slice pieces may be placed on the conveyor composed of the plurality of rollers.
Note that the 90-degree direction changing device 360 provided between the left X-axis ear-taking conveyor 310 and the left Y-axis ear-taking conveyor 410 has the same configuration as the 90-degree direction changing device 510, and thus the description thereof is omitted. .

  Next, the structure of the transfer device 530 disposed on the downstream side of the round belt conveyor 520 will be described. 26, 27 and 29, reference numeral 531 denotes a Y-direction feed rod that is arranged in parallel between the X-direction drive roller conveyors 533 and is integrally connected to each other. It is arranged to be lower than the conveyance surface of 533, but when the slice piece S has been conveyed, the conveyance surface rises from the roller conveyor 533 and moves to the delivery conveyor 550 side at the raised position. It has a function of delivering the slice piece S to the delivery conveyor 550. Two sets of delivery rods 531 having such a configuration are provided side by side with a row control stopper plate 532 described later interposed therebetween.

  Reference numeral 532 denotes a row control stopper plate, which is used to distribute the slice pieces S to the two paths when the slice pieces S that have been conveyed are conveyed to the delivery conveyor 540 side. When transporting to the belt conveyor 551, the slice piece S that is transported upward from the transport surface of the roller conveyor 533 is stopped. When the stopper plate 532 does not rise above the conveying surface of the roller conveyor 533, the conveyed slice piece S passes over the stopper plate 532 and hits the frame 534 and stops.

  In FIG. 29, reference numeral 535 denotes a pan detection sensor provided above the roller conveyor 533. Based on the detection of the sensor 535, the stopper plate 532 is moved up and down or the stopper rod 532 is divided into two sets of left and right delivery rods 531. It is configured to determine which one of them is to be activated. A step cylinder 536 moves the delivery rod 531 to the delivery conveyor 550 side, a cylinder 537 raises and lowers the delivery rod 531, and a cylinder 538 raises and lowers the stopper plate 532. Reference numeral 541 denotes a pulley that is rotated by the X-direction drive motor 540 and transmits the rotational force via the timing belt 539.

  In the transfer device 530 having such a structure, the slice piece S being conveyed is picked up by the feeding rod 531 above the conveying surface of the roller conveyor 533, and the slice piece S is picked up in the direction of the delivery conveyor 550. In this case, the slice piece S can be transferred to the round belt conveyor 551 on the delivery conveyor 550 side. At this time, depending on whether the stopper plate 532 is raised above the conveying surface of the roller conveyor 533, the slices S Either one of the left and right passages on which the piece S sandwiches the stopper plate 532 can be selected.

Next, the structure of the delivery conveyor 550 will be described. 26, 27 and 29, reference numeral 551 denotes a delivery round belt conveyor, 560 denotes a next-stage conveyor connected to the round belt conveyor 102, 552 denotes a driving motor for driving the round belt conveyor 551, and 553 denotes a round belt conveyor. The drive gear 551 connects the drive motor 552 to the drive motor 552 and makes the conveyance speed of the round belt conveyor 552 variable in a plurality of stages.
In the delivery conveyor 550 having such a structure, the slice piece S conveyed from the transfer device 530 is received by the round belt conveyor 551 and transferred to the conveyor 560 in the next process.

As described above, according to the 90-degree direction changing device 510, it is possible to automatically change the direction of 90 degrees while keeping the slice pieces S aligned without changing the direction. In the transfer device 530, when the slice pieces S are transferred to the delivery conveyor 550, the arrangement of the slice pieces S can be automatically converted into one row or two rows and transferred.
Up to now, the configuration of the left side cutting and aligning device among the cutting and aligning devices of the raw breads P arranged in the left and right systems has been described. Omitted.

As described above, according to the apparatus of the present embodiment, the raw bread P is cut from being put into the bread slicer, the ears at both ends of the raw bread are discharged, and the four ears of the cut slice S are cut and aligned. Subsequent conveyance to the next process can be automatically performed.
Therefore, the work efficiency is greatly improved compared to the case where human beings have done manually by hand, and this can achieve a significant personnel reduction and prevent humans from touching the bread directly by hand. There is no risk of adhesion.

Further, in the cutting apparatus for the bread pan P, the positioning of the contact plate 230 with respect to the round blade cutter 220 can be adjusted, so that the thickness of the slice piece S can be adjusted, and the cutter 1 is optimally set to 60 to 150 ° C. Is provided with a non-contact electromagnetic induction heating device that heats to 80-120 ° C., so that even if sticky protein such as gluten contained in bread is attached to the cutter 1, it solidifies and peels at the next cutting. Also, it is possible to cut 8 hours after baking or 2 hours after baking, and to eat soft and delicious bread or processed foods thereof.
In the electromagnetic induction heating, only the round blade cutter 220, which is a metal, is heated and the others are not heated. Therefore, the heating efficiency is high and the surrounding temperature is not increased. Moreover, since it is non-contacting, it can attach and detach easily, without touching a round blade cutter.

Further, as shown in FIG. 14, the cutting of the raw bread can be cut cleanly and efficiently by dividing the cutting speed into two stages depending on whether the ear is cut or the soft core part is cut.
Further, the ears M1 and M2 at both ends of the raw wood bread can be automatically removed from the alignment conveyor 311 and sorted into different discharge routes.

In the aligning device for slice pieces S, the slice pieces S are temporarily received by a pair of receiving plates 312 in a horizontal state, the receiving plates 312 are dropped on the alignment conveyor 311 as they are, and the slice pieces are separated by the difference in conveying speed between the left and right rollers 314a and 314b. By deflecting S toward the guide plate 315 so that one side is in contact with the guide plate 315, the posture control and alignment of the slice pieces S can be reliably performed.
Further, the interval between the slice pieces S can be easily set to a desired interval by adjusting the time interval at which the receiving plate 312 rotates.

Further, the guide plate 315 is configured to be curved outward so as to receive the slice piece S in the vicinity where the slice piece S falls, and to be linear on the downstream side thereof, so that the slice piece S is reliably placed on the alignment conveyor 311. And can be brought into contact with the guide plate 315.
In the first embodiment, the drive motors of the roller conveyors 314a and 314b having different conveyance speeds may be provided separately, or a single drive motor is provided to drive both roller conveyors. You may make it generate two types of rotational drive force from which rotational speed differs with a transmission means.
Further, if an apparatus for correcting the interval between the slice pieces S at equal intervals is installed on the upstream side of the X-axis-side ear-cutting device 40, the alignment accuracy for laying the slice pieces S at equal intervals is further assured. be able to.

Further, the left and right X-axis ear picking devices 30 and 80 and the left and right Y-axis ear picking devices 40 and 90 can be picked up with a simple structure in which only a pair of round blade cutters 330 are provided on the conveyor that conveys the slice piece S. Further, the X-axis ear removal device 30 is provided on the upstream side of the 90-degree direction point conversion device 340, and the Y-axis ear removal device 40 is provided on the downstream side. Can be done automatically.
Furthermore, with a simple configuration in which the leaf springs 332 and 333 are provided on both sides of the round blade cutter 330, it is possible to prevent the four side ear cuts from becoming trapezoidal as shown in FIG.

Further, since the drive motor 336 of the belt conveyor 320 is installed below the conveyor surface, there is no sanitary problem with respect to the slice piece S conveyed on the conveyor surface, and the round blade cutter 330 and its drive motor 336 Since the power transmission mechanism is detachable and the support mechanism 334 of the round blade cutter 330 can be moved up and down manually, maintenance and inspection are extremely easy.
Further, as in the first embodiment, if two sets of cutting and aligning devices are arranged in two rows on the left and right sides, a combination of 2 to 2 in which the color, the thickness of the slice S or the type of bread is different in the devices on the two left and right rows. Four slice pieces S can be manufactured simultaneously. For example, as shown in FIG. 30, various combinations 2 to 4 of white bread S1 and black bread S2 can be manufactured at the same time, and they can be conveyed to the next process as a set of sandwiches.

  The present invention can realize an apparatus that fully automates the cutting of raw bread and the conveyance to the next process, and can realize an efficient method of cutting raw bread with a clean cut surface.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an overall plan view showing a first embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a bread bread cutting and aligning apparatus as a pre-process for making a sandwich. FIG. 2 is an overall elevation view of the first embodiment. It is a whole side view of the said 1st Example. It is a top view of the raw-wood bread supply apparatus 10 of the said 1st Example. It is an elevation view of the bread slicer 20 of the first embodiment. It is a top view of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is a side view of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is a block diagram which shows the control system of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is operation | movement explanatory drawing of the extrusion mechanism 240 of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is an operation | movement timing diagram at the time of the 1st ear cutting | disconnection of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is an operation | movement timing diagram at the time of the raw material bread cutting | disconnection of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is an operation | movement timing diagram at the time of the 2nd ear cutting | disconnection of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is explanatory drawing of the log bread cutting method of the said 1st Example. It is a top view of the alignment conveyor 311 of the said 1st Example. It is an elevation view of the alignment conveyor 311 of the first embodiment. It is a top view (final cutting process) of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is a top view (at the time of 2nd ear M2 discharge | emission) of the bread slicer 20 of the said 1st Example. It is an elevation view (at the time of 2nd ear M2 discharge) of the bread slicer 20 of the 1st example. It is an elevational view of the X-axis ear picking device 30 of the first embodiment. It is a side view of the X-axis ear picking device 30 of the first embodiment. It is explanatory drawing at the time of the cutting | disconnection of the ear | edge m1 of the 2 sides of the said 1st Example. It is an elevational view of the X-axis ear picking device 30 of the first embodiment. It is a side view of the X-axis ear picking device 30 of the first embodiment. It is a partially expanded elevation view of the X-axis ear picking device 30 of the first embodiment. It is a top view of the left direction conversion conveyor 50 of the said 1st Example. It is an elevation view of the left direction conversion conveyor 50 of the first embodiment. It is a rear view of the left direction conversion conveyor 50 of the said 1st Example. It is a left view of the left direction conversion conveyor 50 of the said 1st Example. It is a right view of the left direction conversion conveyor 50 of the said 1st Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the combination of the various slice pieces S which can be manufactured with the apparatus of the said 1st Example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Left log bread supply apparatus 11 Supply conveyor 11a Partition board 13 Log bread chucker 15, 62 Pusher 20 Left bread slicer 30 Left X-axis ear picking device 40 Left Y-axis ear picking apparatus 50 Left direction conversion conveyor 60 Right log bread supplying device 70 Right Pan slicer 80 Right X-axis trimming device 90 Right Y-axis trimming device 100 Right direction conversion conveyor 210 Pan stocker 217 Guide roller 218 Positioning plate 220, 330 Round blade cutter 222 Drive motor (rotation drive means)
224 Heating coil (heating device)
225 Temperature sensor 230 Contact plate 231 Servo motor (cutting thickness adjustment mechanism)
240 Extrusion Mechanism 244 First Push Plate 245 First Air Cylinder 246 Second Air Cylinder 247 Second Push Plate 310 Left X-Axis Ear Pickup Conveyor 311 Alignment Conveyor (Transport Conveyor)
410 Left Y-axis ear removal conveyor 810 Right X-axis ear removal conveyor 910 Right Y-axis ear removal conveyor d Gap M1 First ear M2 Second ear m1, m2 Four-sided ear P Log bread S Slice pieces v1, v2 Cutting speed

Claims (6)

In a bread cutting device for cutting a raw bread into slices and cutting off the four sides around the sliced piece,
A pair of round blade cutters arranged at positions where the ears of at least two sides parallel to the conveying direction of the slice pieces on the conveyor on which the slice pieces are conveyed;
A mechanism for rotationally driving the round blade cutter;
A mechanism for supporting the round blade cutter and its mounting base so as to be movable up and down;
The mechanism for rotationally driving the round blade cutter is:
A drive motor provided below the conveyor surface;
An apparatus for ear cutting of bread characterized by comprising a transmission mechanism connected to the rotary shaft of the round blade cutter to transmit the rotation of the drive motor and detachable from the rotary shaft . The transmission mechanism is
A first gear to which the rotation of the drive motor is transmitted at the tip, and an arm that can move the tip up and down the conveyor surface across the conveyor surface;
A second gear attached to the rotary shaft of the round blade cutter;
2. The bread-earing device for bread according to claim 1, wherein the first gear is configured to be screwed or disengaged with respect to the second gear.   2. The bread-ear-cutting device for bread according to claim 1, further comprising an ear-pressing mechanism that holds the ear from above and prevents the ear from falling down at an ear-cutting point. The ear presser mechanism is
A support member disposed in the transport direction along the conveyor surface above the conveyor surface;
4. The bread-cutting device for bread according to claim 3 , wherein the bread-cutting device is composed of two leaf springs which are attached to the support member and respectively press the ears from above at the cutting point of the ear and the central part of the round blade cutter. apparatus. It is connected to the end of a conveyor provided with the above-mentioned ear-cutting device, and the conveying direction is 9
A second conveyor different by 0 degrees,
An apparatus for transferring slice pieces from the conveyor to the second conveyor without changing the orientation of the slice pieces;
2. The bread ear-cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the ear-cutting device is provided on the second conveyor to cut the remaining two-side ears on the second conveyor. The ear-cleaving device for bread according to claim 5, wherein the ear-cleaving device according to claim 3 or 4 is provided in the ear-cleaving device provided on the second conveyor.

Images