JP5784065B2 - Noodle dryer - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a noodle dryer that creates an instant noodle mass by applying dry air to a predetermined amount of steamed noodle mass.

  An instant noodle continuous production plant that continuously produces a predetermined amount of instant noodle chunks when a predetermined amount of noodle raw material is charged is well known.

  The instant noodle continuous production plant kneads a predetermined amount of noodle raw material and produces a dough that is a lump of a predetermined amount of noodle dough, and a predetermined amount of dough is supplied and supplied from the noodle raw material kneader. It is equipped with a noodle dough stretcher that stretches a certain amount of dough to a desired thickness and creates a noodle dough strip.

  The instant noodle continuous production plant further cuts the noodle dough strip supplied with the noodle dough strip from the noodle dough spreader into a plurality of strip-shaped noodles with a predetermined width to form the raw noodle making machine, A steamed noodle making machine for steaming steamed noodles from the steamed noodle making machine and a steamed noodle making machine for shaping steamed noodles from the steamed noodle making machine into steamed noodles having a predetermined shape are provided.

  The instant noodle continuous production plant is equipped with a noodle dryer that dries steamed noodle mass from the noodle mass making machine into hot instant noodle mass, and a noodle mass heat remover that removes heat from the instant noodle mass created by the noodle dryer ing.

  Instant noodle continuous production plants are usually combined with a noodle lump packaging machine for packaging instant noodles that have been heat-removed by a noodle lump heat-removing machine in a market distribution bag or cup-shaped container for easy distribution to the market. Has been. In the noodle mass wrapping machine, the noodle soup source containing a predetermined amount of noodle soup that was manufactured by a production plant different from the instant noodle continuous production plant, together with the instant noodles that had been removed by the noodle mass heat removal device Packs, spice packs, noodle attachment packs containing various noodle attachments attached to noodles returned from instant noodles by consumers, etc. are put in a market distribution bag or cup-shaped container and packaged.

  In recent years, the continuous production plant for instant noodles has increased in size in order to improve the production efficiency of noodles with the improvement of production technology, and the production plant for continuous production of instant noodles with a roller width of 1000 mm or more indicating the scale has appeared. ing.

  In the instant noodle continuous production plant, various processes from dough to instant noodle mass during the various processes from instant dough mass to instant noodle mass packaging in noodle mass packaging machines in market distribution bags or cup-shaped containers. From the noodle form of the stage (dough, noodle dough strip, raw noodles, steamed noodle lump, and instant noodle lump), the noodle raw material powder and peeled pieces of noodle form in various stages fall.

  Therefore, in the instant noodle continuous production plant, regular cleaning is necessary to remove the fallen noodle raw material powder and stripped pieces of noodle form at various stages from the instant noodle continuous production plant. Moreover, in recent years, careful cleaning of the instant noodle continuous production plant is indispensable for preventing allergen contamination, and the latter cleaning requires much more time than the former cleaning.

  During the cleaning described above, the operation of the instant noodle continuous production plant must be stopped. And the operation efficiency of an instant noodle continuous manufacturing plant falls, so that the time which stops operation | movement of an instant noodle continuous manufacturing plant becomes long. Moreover, as the width of the instant noodle continuous production plant increases, the time required for the cleaning becomes longer.

  In a conventional noodle dryer using hot air, steamed noodle masses produced by the noodle mass creator are horizontally moved by a horizontal transfer conveyor or a horizontal transfer retainer (holding container), and hot air is applied to instant noodle masses. ing. The hot air blowing structure for sending hot air to the entire horizontal moving conveyor or horizontal moving retainer (holding container) or horizontal moving conveyor or horizontal moving retainer (holding container) is on the floor of the building where the instant noodle continuous production plant is housed. A large installation area is required. Therefore, the time required for the cleaning described above is inevitably increased. Moreover, setting the entire installation area to a desired drying temperature tends to increase the variation in temperature in the whole as the installation area increases, and quality control is difficult.

  Further, in the conventional noodle dryer using hot air, the horizontal movement guide means for guiding the horizontal movement of the horizontal movement conveyor or the horizontal movement retainer (holding container) has a large area as a whole. It took a lot of time to clean the horizontal movement support surface having a large surface as described above.

  The present invention has been made under the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a noodle dryer capable of reducing the area required for installation, shortening the time required for cleaning, and further suppressing temperature variations. is there.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the present invention, a noodle dryer according to the present invention is a noodle dryer that dries steamed noodle mass supplied from an inlet opening by applying a drying air and discharges instant noodle mass from the outlet opening. A housing having an inlet opening and an outlet opening; drying air supply means for supplying drying air to the interior space of the housing; symmetrically on both sides of the housing from the inlet opening to the outlet opening A pair of flexible endless elongate members disposed; a pair of flexible endless elongate members that move in a vertical manner in synchronism with each other on both sides of the pair of flexible endless elongate members and circulate; A pair of flexible endless members disposed at a plurality of positions spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction of the pair of flexible endless elongated members, supporting the steamed noodle mass received at the inlet opening of the housing. Elongated member And a, a noodle masses support means to create instant noodle masses are dried by the drying wind to蒸麺mass while being more moved to the outlet opening of the housing.
Then, the internal space of the housing, each other of said inlet opening and is divided into a plurality of compartments between said outlet opening, said drying air supply means, the plurality of compartments of the inner space of the housing Are alternately arranged at the lower end or the upper end in the section adjacent to each other, and the drying air is ejected in different directions upward or downward from the drying wind supply means in the vertical direction in each of the plurality of sections. An exhaust port connected to the outside air inlet of the dry air supply means in an adjacent section is formed at the separated upper end portion or lower end portion, and the dry air supply means It is possible to arbitrarily change the amount and the amount of dry air introduced from the exhaust port of the adjacent section .

  In the noodle dryer according to the present invention configured as described above, the noodle mass support means that receives the steamed noodle mass at the inlet opening of the housing has a pair of flexible members from the inlet opening to the outlet opening in the housing. The noodle mass is dried by the dry air supplied to the internal space of the housing by the dry air supply means while being moved while meandering vertically by the combination of the endless elongated member and the guide drive mechanism. Creating.

  Therefore, compared with the conventional noodle dryer in which the hot noodles are applied to the instant noodle mass while the steamed noodle mass produced by the noodle mass producing machine is horizontally moved by the horizontal movement conveyor or horizontal movement retainer (holding container). Thus, the area required for installing the noodle dryer can be reduced, the time required for cleaning can be shortened, and the temperature variation can be suppressed.

  In addition, the noodle clump that is supported and moved by the noodle clump support means from the inlet opening to the outlet opening of the housing in the internal space of the housing is sufficiently secured so that the noodle clump can be sufficiently dried.

  In addition, the above-described conventional noodle dryer has a horizontal movement support surface facing upward, which has a large area as a whole as the horizontal movement guide means for guiding the horizontal movement of the horizontal movement conveyor or horizontal movement retainer (holding container). Compared to the above, the noodle dryer according to the present invention, which is configured as described above, does not have a horizontally moving support surface facing upward in a large area. It doesn't require much time to clean as it did.

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically showing an overall configuration of an instant noodle continuous production plant including a noodle dryer according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the noodle dryer shown in FIG.

  First, an overall configuration of an instant noodle continuous production plant 12 including a noodle dryer 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be schematically described with reference to FIG.

  The instant noodle continuous production plant 12 includes a noodle raw material kneading machine 14 that kneads a predetermined amount of noodle raw material and creates a dough A that is a lump of a predetermined amount of noodle dough.

  The instant noodle continuous production plant 12 is configured to create a noodle dough strip C having a predetermined thickness by extending the dough A supplied with the dough A from the noodle material kneader 14 to a predetermined thickness. A dough stretcher 16 is provided. The noodle dough spreader 16 of this embodiment is configured to further extend the noodle dough strip C to a desired thickness.

  The instant noodle continuous production plant 12 is further supplied with the noodle dough strip C extended to a desired thickness by the noodle dough spreader 16, and the noodle dough strip C supplied with the noodle dough strip C is supplied into a plurality of elongated lines having a predetermined width. The noodle making machine 18 for cutting the noodles into the noodle shape, the steamed noodle making machine (or steamer) 20 for steaming the steamed noodles D from the steamed noodle making machine 18 into steamed noodles E, and the steamed noodle E from the steamed noodle making machine 20 A noodle lump making machine 22 for shaping a predetermined amount of steamed noodle lump F of a predetermined shape, a noodle drier 10 that is made by instantly drying hot steam dried noodle lump F produced by the noodle lump making machine 22 and an noodle drier G 10 is provided with a noodle mass heat removal machine 24 that removes heat from the instant noodle mass G created by the No. 10.

  The instant noodle continuous production plant 12 includes a noodle mass packaging machine 26 that wraps the instant noodle mass G after being removed by the noodle mass heat removal machine 24 in a market distribution bag or cup-shaped container for easy distribution to the market. It is combined. In the noodle mass wrapping machine 26, the noodle soup produced by a production plant (not shown) separate from the instant noodle continuous production plant 12 together with the instant noodle mass G after the heat is removed by the noodle mass heat remover 24. Noodle soup source pack (not shown) containing a predetermined amount of original, spice pack (not shown), and various noodle attachments attached to noodles returned from the instant noodle mass by the consumer (not shown) An attachment pack or the like is put in a market distribution bag or a cup-shaped container and packaged.

  In recent years, with the improvement of manufacturing technology, the instant noodle continuous production plant 12 has been increased in size in order to increase the production efficiency of instant noodles, and the roller width indicating the scale has appeared to be 1000 mm or more.

  In the instant noodle continuous production plant 12, the noodle raw material kneading machine 14, the noodle dough spreading machine 16, the raw noodle making machine 18, the steamed noodle making machine (or steaming machine) 20, the noodle lump making machine 22, the noodle drying machine 10, and the noodle lump removal Each of the heat machines 24 is connected to individual control units S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, and S7 for feedback control of the respective operations.

  When the dough A is supplied from the noodle material kneading machine 14 to the noodle dough spreading machine 16, the noodle dough spreading machine 16, the noodle making machine 18, the steamed noodle making machine (steaming machine) 20, and the noodle lump making machine 22 are supplied from the dough A. , The noodle dryer 10 and the noodle mass heat removal machine 24 create the noodle dough strip C, the noodle D, the steamed noodle E, the steamed noodle mass F, and the instant noodle mass G, each having a desired thickness.

  Finally, the noodle mass wrapping machine 26 that has detected that the instant noodle mass G is supplied from the noodle mass heat remover 24 is operated by the control unit S8, and the instant noodle mass G from the noodle mass heat remover 24 is As described above, a noodle soup pack (not shown) containing a predetermined amount of noodle soup and a spice pack (not shown) manufactured by a manufacturing plant (not shown) different from the instant noodle continuous manufacturing plant 12 is used. In addition, a noodle attachment pack (not shown) that stores various noodle attachments attached to the noodles returned from the instant noodles by the consumer and packed in a marketable distribution bag or cup-shaped container.

  In the meantime, the individual control units S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, and S8 include a noodle raw material kneading machine 14, a noodle dough spreading machine 16, a raw noodle making machine 18, and a steamed noodle making machine (steaming machine) 20. These operations are feedback-controlled so that the operations of the noodle lump making machine 22, the noodle dryer 10, the noodle lump heat removal machine 24, and the noodle lump wrapping machine 26 are appropriately performed.

  Next, the configuration of the noodle dryer 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

  The noodle dryer 10 is connected to an inlet opening 30a to which a predetermined amount of steamed noodle mass F from the noodle mass creator 22 shown in FIG. 1 is supplied, and to the noodle mass heat remover 24 shown in FIG. And a housing 30 having an adjacent outlet opening 30b. The housing 30 is placed and fixed at a predetermined position on the floor FL of the building where the instant noodle continuous production plant 12 is installed.

  The noodle raw material kneading machine 14, the noodle dough spreading machine 16, the raw noodle making machine 18, the steamed noodle making machine (steaming machine) 20, the noodle lump making machine 22, the housing 30 of the noodle drying machine 10, and the instant noodle continuous production plant 12 Each of the noodle mass heat removal machine 24 and the noodle mass packaging machine 26 may not be placed on the floor FL on the same floor of the building, and can be placed on floors of different floors.

  The noodle dryer 10 applies a drying air to the predetermined amount of steamed noodle mass F supplied from the noodle mass creator 22 shown in FIG. G is prepared, and the instant noodle mass G is supplied to the noodle mass packaging machine 26 from the outlet opening 30 b of the housing 30.

  The noodle dryer 10 includes drying air supply means 32 that supplies drying air to the internal space of the housing 30. In this embodiment, the inner space of the housing 30 has a plurality of sections between the inlet opening 30a and the outlet opening 30b along the front-rear direction (left-right direction in FIG. 2) extending between the inlet opening 30a and the outlet opening 30b. (In this embodiment, it is divided into six sections K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6), and the drying air supply means 32 is divided into a plurality of sections (in this embodiment, six sections K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6). ) Are alternately arranged at the upper end portion or the lower end portion.

  In each of the plurality of sections, an exhaust port 33a is formed at an upper end portion or a lower end portion away from the drying air supply means 32 in the vertical direction. The exhaust port 33a of each section is connected to the outside air introduction port of the drying air supply means 32 of the adjacent section via a duct 33b outside the housing 30.

  A plurality of partitions in the inner space of the housing 30 are partitioned by a plurality of partition walls P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5 attached at positions spaced apart by a predetermined distance in the front-rear direction on the inner surface of the housing 30.

  The individual drying air supply means 32 is indicated by dotted arrows in FIG. 2 via the duct 33b from the outside air introduced from the outside air introduction port outside the housing 30 and the exhaust port 33a of the section adjacent to the outside air introduction port. The heated air is heated by a known heating means and then blown out as a dry air toward the space below or above the corresponding section. Means 32 are known.

  Control of the operation of the individual drying air supply means 32 is controlled by an individual control unit S6 for the noodle dryer 10 shown in FIG.

  The above-described outside air inlet of the dry air supply means 32 arranged alternately at the upper end or the lower end of the plurality of compartments (6 compartments K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6 in this embodiment) As well as heating air as dry air after being used to dry the steamed noodle block F in the adjacent section as shown by the dotted arrow in FIG. 2 from the exhaust port 33a of the adjacent section through the duct 33b. Is introduced. That is, in a plurality of sections of the internal space of the housing 30, heated air as dry air is circulated by the dry air supply means 32 disposed at the upper end or the lower end. The partition walls P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5 serve to prevent the heated air in the individual compartments from mixing with the heated air in the adjacent compartments as much as possible, and control the temperature of the heated air in the individual compartments. This makes it easy to manage the humidity and air flow.

  That is, the temperature and humidity of the heated air as the dry air in the plurality of compartments can be made different from each other, and the blowing amount of the heated air as the dry air can be made different from each other.

  Each of the plurality of drying air supply means 32 does not suck the air in the external space, and the drying air introduced by the dotted arrows in FIG. 2 from the exhaust port 33a of the section adjacent to the outside air introduction port through the duct 33b. Only air may be jetted toward the space below or above the corresponding compartment after being heated by a known heating means.

  Each of the plurality of drying air supply means 32 can also be configured such that the amount of air sucked from the external space and the amount of drying air from the adjacent compartment can be arbitrarily changed.

  Further, each of the plurality of drying air supply means 32 is indicated by a dotted arrow in FIG. 2 through the duct 33b from the air in the external space introduced into the outside air introduction port or from the exhaust port 33a in the section adjacent to the outside air introduction port. The introduced dry air may be ejected toward the space below or above the corresponding compartment without heating.

  The method of circulating the dry air in the internal space of the housing 30 is not limited to the above-described example, and various changes may be made so as to achieve a desired optimum drying depending on the material, shape, weight, etc. of the steamed noodle mass F dried in the noodle dryer 10. Is possible.

  In the internal space of the housing 30, a pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 are disposed symmetrically on both sides from the inlet opening 30 a to the outlet opening 30 b in the housing 30, and the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 are arranged. Are moved in a meandering manner in the vertical direction in synchronism with each other by the guide drive mechanism 35 and circulated on both sides. In FIG. 2, only the flexible endless elongated member 34 and the guide drive mechanism 35 on one side are shown for easy understanding of the drawing.

  That is, the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 driven and guided by the guide drive mechanism 35 in the inner space of the housing 30 are mutually connected between the inlet opening 30a and the outlet opening 30b in the inner space of the housing 30. Synchronously with this, it is moved meandering in the vertical direction and circulated. The moving direction of the pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 of this embodiment is indicated by an arrow X that is shown overlapping in the longitudinal direction of the flexible endless elongate member 34 in FIG.

  In the pair of flexible endless elongate members 34, a plurality of connecting rods 34a (in order to avoid the complexity of the drawing in FIG. 2) are disposed at a plurality of positions spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction of the pair of flexible endless elongate members 34. (Only schematically shown in one vertically extending portion of the flexible endless elongated member 34 in the first section K1) is held horizontally.

  A noodle mass support means 34b is supported on each of the plurality of connecting rods 34a. The noodle mass support means 34b receives a predetermined amount of steamed noodle mass F supplied from the noodle mass creator 22 (see FIG. 1) at the entrance opening 30a of the housing 30, and a pair of flexible endless pieces together with a plurality of connecting rods 34a. While the elongate member 34 is moved to the outlet opening 30 b of the housing 30, the steamed noodle mass F is exposed to heated air (that is, dry air) ejected from the dry air supply means 32 and dried to produce an instant noodle mass G. The instant noodle mass G is supplied from the outlet opening 30b of the housing 30 to the noodle mass heat remover 24 (see FIG. 1).

  In this embodiment, the noodle mass support means 34b is a steamed noodle mass F supported by the noodle mass support means 34b during movement by the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 and an instant noodle mass G made from the steamed noodle mass F. So that the heated air (that is, the drying air) blown from the drying air supply means 32 can be sufficiently ventilated to the inside of the supporting steamed noodle mass F. The heated air (that is, dry air) is configured to pass therethrough. Such a configuration includes a noodle block support shelf or noodle block support retainer having floors such as a mesh shape, a punching shape, a lattice shape, and a comb tooth shape.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the guide drive mechanism 35 includes a plurality of pairs of winding rollers 35 a that are vertically spaced apart from each other on both sides of the housing 30, and at least one of both sides of the housing 30. A rotation drive roller 35b to which a rotation drive force from a rotation drive source (not shown) such as a motor is input is provided.

  The winding rollers 35a spaced apart in the vertical direction of each pair are displaced in the front-rear direction extending between the inlet opening 30a and the outlet opening 30b of the housing 30. In this embodiment, the rotation drive roller 35 b is disposed in the vicinity of the lower portion of the inlet opening 30 a of the housing 30.

  As described above, the pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 connected to each other by the plurality of connecting rods 34a are wound around the plurality of pairs of winding rollers 35a on both sides of the housing 30 and meander in the vertical direction to guide. When at least one of the pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 is wound around the rotation driving roller 35b and receives the rotation driving force from the rotation driving roller 35b, the plurality of pairs of winding rollers 35a meander in the vertical direction. Moved.

  The operation of the above-described rotary drive source (not shown) such as a motor of the guide drive mechanism 35 is controlled by an individual control unit S6 for the noodle dryer 10 shown in FIG.

  The guide drive mechanism 35 of this embodiment further has a pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 wound around, and leads out of the pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 outwardly from the inlet opening 30a of the housing 30 and reverses them. A plurality of inlet opening leading and introducing guide rollers 35c for introducing a pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 into the opening 30a, and a pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 wound around the outlet opening 30b of the housing 30. A plurality of outlet opening guide guide rollers 35d for guiding the pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 toward and toward the outlet opening 30b and introducing the pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 toward the outlet opening 30b. .

  The guide drive mechanism 35 of this embodiment further includes a pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 wound around the floor FL from below the vicinity of the outlet opening 30b of the housing 30 to the rotational drive roller 35b below the inlet opening 30a. And at least a pair of return rollers 35 e on both sides of the housing 30 for guiding the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 below the housing 30.

  The rotation drive roller 35b is a free rotation guide roller, and any one of a plurality of winding rollers 35a, a plurality of inlet opening derivation introduction guide rollers 35c, a plurality of outlet opening derivation introduction guide rollers 35d, and a plurality of return rollers 35e. It can also be used as a rotation drive roller to which a rotation drive force from a rotation drive source (not shown) such as a motor is inputted.

  According to the guide drive mechanism 35 according to this embodiment configured as described above, the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 are located on both sides of the inner space of the housing 30 in the vicinity of the inlet opening 30a of the housing 30. When the rotational driving force is transmitted by the lower rotational driving roller 35b, it is guided outward from the inlet opening 30a of the housing 30 by the plurality of inlet opening guide / introducing guide rollers 35c and reversed to be guided into the inlet opening 30a. It is done.

  A plurality of noodle mass support means 34b supported by a plurality of connecting rods 34a of a pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 led out from the inlet opening 30a of the housing 30 are shown in FIGS. As has been done, the steamed noodle mass F from the noodle mass making machine 22 can be received or supplied.

  The pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 guided into the inlet opening 30a by the plurality of inlet opening guide / introducing guide rollers 35c are spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction on both sides of the housing 30 and can be rotated. The winding rollers 35a meander and move in the vertical direction from the inlet opening 30a to the outlet opening 30b in synchronization with each other. During this time, the steamed noodle mass F supported by the plurality of noodle mass support means 34b supported by the plurality of connecting rods 34a of the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 has a plurality of compartments (in this embodiment, 6 In the sections K1, K2, K3, K4, K5, K6), the instant noodle mass G is made by being exposed to the drying air from the plurality of drying air supply means 32.

  The pair of flexible endless elongate members 34, which are moved in a vertical manner in synchronism with each other from the inlet opening 30a to the outlet opening 30b by a plurality of pairs of winding rollers 35a, are provided with a plurality of outlet opening guide / guide rollers 35d. Is led out from the outlet opening 30b of the housing 30 and is inverted and led into the outlet opening 30b.

  A plurality of noodle mass support means 34b supported by a plurality of connecting rods 34a of a pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 led out from an outlet opening 30b of the housing 30 are shown in FIGS. As shown, the instant noodle mass G can be discharged to the noodle mass heat removal machine 24.

  The pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 guided toward the outlet opening 30b by the plurality of outlet opening guide / guide rollers 35d are supported by the plurality of connecting rods 34a of the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34. Along with the plurality of noodle mass supporting means 34b, at least a pair of return rollers 35e in the vicinity of the outlet opening 30b to the floor from the vicinity of the outlet opening 30b of the housing 30 to the rotation driving roller 35b in the vicinity of the inlet opening 30a. It is guided along the FL below the housing 30.

  That is, the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 on both sides in the internal space of the housing 30 are synchronized with each other on both sides between the inlet opening 30a and the outlet opening 30b of the housing 30 by the guide drive mechanism 35. It is circulated while being meandered in the vertical direction.

  Each of the pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 can be a known endless belt, wire, chain, or the like as long as it does not generate wear powder or peeling pieces during use.

  In this embodiment, each of the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 is a chain. In this case, the plurality of connecting rods 34a held horizontally at a plurality of positions separated from each other along the longitudinal direction of the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 are respectively connected to the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34. It can be attached to a desired interval position of a plurality of retaining pins of the chain.

  Further in accordance with the gist of the present invention, the noodle dryer 10 is supported by a plurality of noodle mass support means 34b supported by a plurality of connecting rods 34a of a pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 in the internal space of the housing 30 of the noodle dryer 10. The direction in which the drying air supply means 32 applies the drying air to the vaporized surface block F is not limited to the vertical direction illustrated in FIG. 2, for example, from one side of the both sides of the housing 30 to the other. For example, a direction from one of the front and rear surfaces of the housing 30 toward the other may be used. For example, the direction in which the drying air is directed is changed at a desired interval, or the drying air is spirally formed in the internal space of the housing 30. Can be blown into. In short, the dry air blown into the internal space of the housing 30 by the dry air supply means 32 is a plurality of connecting rods 34a of the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 in the internal space of the housing 30 of the noodle dryer 10. It is only necessary that the steamed surface lump F supported by the plurality of noodle lump support means 34b supported by the noodle mass supporting means 34 can be made into the instant noodle lump G.

  Further, the guide drive mechanism 35 for guiding the movement of the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 on both sides in the inner space of the housing 30 moves the pair of flexible endless elongated members 34 on the both sides in the inner space of the housing 30. A pair of flexible endless elongate members 34 may be provided between the inlet opening 30a and the outlet opening 30b of the housing 30 so long as they can meander and move in a vertical direction synchronously with each other and can be circulated. The circulation path is not limited to the circulation path illustrated in FIG. 2, and the circulation path can be freely set in the internal space of the housing 30.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Noodle dryer, 12 ... Instant noodle continuous manufacturing plant, 14 ... Noodle raw material kneader, 16 ... Noodle dough spreader, 18 ... Noodle making machine, 20 ... Steamed noodle making machine, 22 ... Noodle lump making machine, 24 ... Noodle Lump heat removal machine, 26 ... noodle lump wrapping machine, A ... dough, C ... noodle dough strip, D ... noodle noodle, E ... steamed noodle, F ... steamed noodle lump, G ... instant noodle lump, S1, S2, S3, S4, S5 S6, S7, S8 ... control unit, 30 ... housing, 30a ... inlet opening, 30b ... outlet opening, FL ... floor, 32 ... dry air supply means, 33a ... exhaust port, 33b ... duct, K1, K2, K3, K3 , K4, K5, K6 ... partition, P1, P2, P3, P4, P5 ... partition, 34 ... flexible endless elongated member, 34a ... connecting member, 34b ... noodle mass support means, 35 ... guide drive mechanism, 35a ... Winding roller, 35b ... Rotation drive roller, 35c ... Deriving inlet opening Input guide roller, 35d ... outlet opening derive introduction guide roller, 35e ... return rollers, X ... (flexible endless elongated member 34) movement direction.

Claims (4)

A noodle dryer that dries steamed noodles supplied from an inlet opening by drying air and discharges instant noodles from an outlet opening;
A housing having an inlet opening and an outlet opening;
Drying air supply means for supplying drying air to the internal space of the housing;
A pair of flexible endless elongated members disposed symmetrically on either side of the housing from the inlet opening to the outlet opening;
A guide drive mechanism for causing a pair of flexible endless elongate members to meander and move in a vertical direction synchronously with each other on both sides and to circulate;
The pair of flexible endless elongate members are arranged at a plurality of positions spaced apart from each other along the longitudinal direction of the pair of flexible endless elongate members, and support the steamed noodle mass received at the inlet opening of the housing, Noodle mass support means for creating an instant noodle mass by drying the steamed noodle mass with the drying air while being moved to the outlet opening of the housing by a flexible endless elongated member;
With
An internal space of the housing is divided into a plurality of compartments between the inlet opening and the outlet opening;
The drying air supply means are alternately arranged at the lower end or the upper end in the mutually adjacent compartments of the plurality of compartments of the internal space of the housing, and dry in mutually different directions toward the upper side or the lower side. air ejection,
In each of the plurality of compartments, an exhaust port connected to an outside air introduction port of the dry air supply means of an adjacent compartment is formed at an upper end portion or a lower end portion away from the dry air supply means in the vertical direction. And
The dry air supply means can arbitrarily change the amount of air sucked from the external space and the amount of dry air introduced from the exhaust port of the adjacent section.
A noodle dryer characterized by that. The guide drive mechanism includes a plurality of pairs of winding rollers that are spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction on both sides of the housing and are rotatable, and a rotation drive force input from a rotation drive source is input to at least one of both sides of the housing. Each of the pair of winding rollers spaced apart in the vertical direction is displaced in the front-rear direction extending between the inlet opening and the outlet opening,
The pair of flexible endless elongated members are wound around a plurality of pairs of winding rollers on both sides of the housing and guided by meandering in the vertical direction,
At least one of the pair of flexible endless elongate members is wound around the rotation driving roller and receives a rotational driving force from the rotation driving roller. Meandering and moving up and down with a winding roller,
The noodle dryer according to claim 1.   The noodle dryer according to claim 1, wherein the flexible endless elongated member includes a chain.   The operation of the dry air supply means is controlled by a control unit, and the dry air is circulated at different temperatures, different humidity, and different air flow rates in the plurality of sections of the internal space of the housing. The noodle dryer according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the noodle dryer is capable.

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