JP6528205B2 - Water removal device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a dewatering apparatus that blows off moisture attached to a vacuum pack with compressed air, for example, in a transport process of transporting a vacuum pack in which food is sealed by a net conveyor.

Although the water removal apparatus described in the prior art document 1 as this kind of thing is conventionally known, this conventional apparatus is shown as FIGS. 6-8 of this application.
As shown in FIGS. 6-8, the net conveyor 2 is provided on the base 1 so as to be movable in a predetermined direction, and a first ejection unit for ejecting compressed air from below the net conveyor 2 to the base 1 3 has been incorporated.
Note that a plurality of lower nozzles 4 in FIG. 7 constitute a part of the first ejection unit 3. The lower nozzles 4 are aligned in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the net conveyor 2.

The base 1 configured as described above is provided with a second jet unit 5 that can be opened and closed with respect to the base 1. Then, when the second ejection unit 5 is closed to the base 1, a plurality of upper sides for ejecting compressed air from above the net conveyor 2 on the ceiling surface of the second ejection unit 5 facing the net conveyor 2. A nozzle 6 is provided. The plurality of upper nozzles 6 are vertically opposed to the lower nozzle 4.
Moreover, although the horizontal direction nozzle 7 different from the upper side nozzle 6 is provided in the said ceiling surface, this horizontal direction nozzle 7 is attached substantially parallel to the net conveyor 2. As shown in FIG.

On the other hand, although the food 11 sealed in the vacuum pack 8 varies from gel-like to solid-like ones such as beans, in any case, the vacuum pack 8 is vacuumed after the food 11 is bagged. Be drawn.
Therefore, in the state where the food 11 is enclosed in the vacuum pack 8, the shape of the vacuum pack 8 is determined by the shape of the mass of the food 11 when vacuumed. In other words, in the state where the food 11 is enclosed in the vacuum pack 8, the shape and the surface irregularities of the food 11 change in a complicated manner according to the characteristics of the food 11 and the bagging state.

  However, when the food 11 is bagged, the food 11 is brought close to the bottom 10 side, and when the opening 9 is opened, the food 11 is prevented from spilling carelessly. Therefore, in the state where the food 11 is enclosed, the bottom 10 side is the thickest and becomes thinner gradually toward the opening 9. Further, at the opening 9, the films constituting the vacuum pack 8 are in a state of two sheets being stacked.

Then, the vacuum pack 8 which is a water removal object is mounted on the net conveyor 2 and conveyed, but in the conveyance process, the lower nozzle 4, the upper nozzle 6, the horizontal nozzle from all directions of the vacuum pack 8. The compressed air injected from 7 is made to hit. Therefore, each of the nozzles 4, 6 and 7, when the compressed air is supplied, and utilizing swirl nozzle rotate the opening automatically.

Further, although the second injection unit 5 is provided with the pressing rollers 12 and 13 arranged in a large number in a row of two columns in the conveyance direction of the net conveyor 2, each pressing roller 12 and 13 is as follows It is supported.
That is, a pair of roller support plates 14 and 15 extending in the transport direction of the net conveyor 2 is provided on the ceiling surface of the second ejection unit 5, and the roller support plates 14 and 15 have the same number as the pressing rollers 12 and 13. Leaf springs 16 and 17 are provided. Further, bearing pieces 18 and 19 are provided on the plate springs 16 and 17, and the pressing rollers 12 and 13 are rotatably supported by the bearing pieces 18 and 19.

The pressing rollers 12 and 13 as described above move relative to the vacuum pack 8 conveyed on the net conveyor 2 by the action of the spring force of the plate springs 16 and 17, and in the process of the relative movement, the vacuum pack 8 is pressed against the net conveyor 2, but with this pressing force, displacement of the vacuum pack 8 relative to the net conveyor 2 is prevented.
In the figure, reference numeral 20 denotes a guide member disposed substantially in parallel to the conveying direction of the net conveyor 2. As shown in FIG. 7, when the vacuum pack 8 is conveyed, the opening 9 is applied to the guide member 20. It is like that.

Next, a process for blowing off the moisture adhering to the vacuum pack 8 will be described.
First, the net conveyor 2 is transported at a predetermined speed, and the vacuum pack 8 rinsed with water is placed on the net conveyor 2. At this time, the leading end of the opening 9 of the vacuum pack 8 is introduced into the net conveyor 2 along the guide member 20.

The vacuum pack 8 introduced into the net conveyor 2 is pressed by the pressing rollers 12 and 13, so it is conveyed while maintaining its introduction posture, and is ejected from the nozzles 4, 6, 7 in the conveyance process. The compressed air blows off the moisture adhering to the surroundings.
At this time, if the transport posture of the vacuum pack 8 varies, the compressed air ejected from the nozzles 4, 6, 7 will not hit the vacuum pack 8 evenly. If compressed air does not hit evenly, moisture may remain in the non-hit area.

On the other hand, the vacuum pack 8 from which the moisture has been blown is transferred to the next step via the net conveyor 2. As the next step, for example, in the case of food, a metal detector (not shown) or the like is used to check whether or not metal-based foreign matter is mixed in the food 11. At this time, if the transport posture of the vacuum pack 8 varies, the metal detector does not function properly, and it becomes impossible to detect the entry of foreign matter.
In any case, the vacuum pack 8 transported by the net conveyor 2 is required to keep the transport posture constant throughout the process.

Patent No. 4208899

  In the conventional water removal apparatus as described above, the pressing rollers 12 and 13 relatively move while rolling on the surface of the vacuum pack 8. However, as described above, the shape and unevenness of the surface of the food 11 change in a complicated manner according to the characteristics of the food 11 and the bagging state, so the vacuum pack 8 is It pushes too much and sinks there, or bounces according to the unevenness of the vacuum pack surface.

If the pressing rollers 12 and 13 push the vacuum pack 8 too much, the contents may be crushed or damaged.
In addition, when the pressing rollers 12 and 13 bounce on the surface of the vacuum pack 8, the pressing force is momentarily weakened, and the transport posture of the vacuum pack 8 can not be kept constant. In particular, since compressed air is always blown to the vacuum pack 8 from the respective nozzles 4, 6, 7, the position of the vacuum pack 8 shifts even if the pressing force of the pressing rollers 12, 13 is weakened momentarily. It will

If the position of the vacuum pack 8 is displaced, compressed air is not uniformly applied to the vacuum pack 8 as described above, and moisture may remain around the vacuum pack 8.
In addition, the positional deviation of the vacuum pack 8 adversely affects the subsequent steps such as the metal inspection described above.
An object of the present invention is to provide a water removal apparatus capable of always keeping the transport posture of a water removal target such as a vacuum pack transported by a conveyor constant.

This invention is to transport the water removal object comprising a food vacuum packs sealed by a conveyor, in the conveying process by spraying compressed air to the water removal object, blowing off water attached to the dewatering object It assumes water removal equipment .

Then, a first elastic belt and a second elastic belt moving integrally in synchronization with the conveyor are provided, and the vicinity of the opening of the vacuum pack is pressed against the conveyor by the first elastic belt and the second elastic belt The bottom side of the vacuum pack is pressed against the conveyor, and the first and second elastic belts and the conveyor sandwich the object of water removal.

The water removal target of the present invention comprises a vacuum pack in which food is enclosed and vacuumed. In such a vacuum pack, when the food is bagged, the food is brought close to the bottom of the vacuum pack, and when the opening is opened, the food is prevented from being inadvertently spilled out.

Therefore, in the state where the food is enclosed, the bottom side is the thickest, and becomes thinner gradually toward the opening. In addition, on the opening side, two sheets of film constituting the vacuum pack are stacked.

The opening side of the vacuum pack as described above is held down by the first elastic belt, the other area is held by the second elastic belt, and the vacuum pack is held between the first and second elastic belts and the conveyor. I try to hold it down.

Therefore, the holding force between the first elastic belt and the conveyor, and the second elastic belt and the conveyor can be separately adjusted, and the holding force between the thin opening side and the thick bottom side can be maintained in an optimal state.

According to the dewatering device of this invention, the pressing member for holding the water removal objects with the conveyor, since the traveling integrally in synchronism with the conveyor, the water removal object pressing member and the conveyor and the If the water removal object is held between the ends, the object to be removed of water is maintained in the initial state of holding even during transportation.
Therefore, even if the shape of the water removal target is complicated or the surface has unevenness, the pressing force by the pressing member can be kept constant. If the pressing force is constant, the transport posture is always kept constant, so that the water adhering to the periphery of the water removal object can be reliably blown away, and the next step is not adversely affected.

Therefore, even if the shape is complicated as in the vacuum pack, or the surface is uneven, the transport posture can be kept constant, and the moisture adhering to the periphery of the vacuum pack can be reliably blown away. There is no adverse effect on the process.

It is a top view in the state where the 2nd ejection unit was removed. It is a top view of an important section. It is a perspective view of a height adjustment mechanism. FIG. 6 is a partial view showing the relationship between a pressure roller and a belt. It is a fragmentary view showing composition of a position control plate. It is a perspective view of the conventional water removal apparatus. It is a principal part enlarged view of the same conventional water removal apparatus. It is a perspective view of a vacuum pack.

  The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 is the same as the conventional water removal apparatus shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 in the following points. That is, the net conveyor 2 is provided on the base 1 provided with the first ejection unit 3, and compressed air is ejected from the lower nozzle 4 provided in the first ejection unit 3. Further, the base 1 is provided with the second jet unit 5 so as to be able to open and close, and the upper nozzle 5 and the lateral nozzle 7 are provided on the ceiling surface of the second jet unit 5.

On the other hand, this embodiment is different from the above-mentioned prior art in the structure shown in FIGS.
First, in this embodiment, installation spaces 1a and 1b substantially parallel to the net conveyor 2 are provided on both sides of the base 1, and a motor case 21 incorporating a drive motor (not shown) is provided in one installation space 1a. It is fixed. The support box 22 is fixed adjacent to the motor case 21, and the other support box 23 is fixed at a position facing the support box 22 in the transport direction of the net conveyor 2. The support boxes 22 and 23 maintain an interval corresponding to the necessary transport length of the water removal target transported by the net conveyor 2.

Also in the other installation space 1b opposed to the one installation space 1a, support boxes 24 and 25 opposed to the support boxes 22 and 23 in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the net conveyor 2 are provided.
The drive shaft 26 to which the rotational force of the drive motor is transmitted is bridged between the support boxes 22 and 24, and the driven shaft 27 is bridged between the support boxes 23 and 25.

The drive shaft 26 is linked to a drive motor via a reduction mechanism (not shown), and the drive shaft 26 is provided with a pair of rotating members 28 and 29 formed of pulleys. Therefore, when the drive motor is driven, the rotary members 28 and 29 rotate integrally with the drive shaft 26.
Further, the driven shaft 27 is also provided with a pair of rotating members 30 and 31 formed of pulleys, and these rotating members 30 and 31 are made to face the rotating members 28 and 29 of the drive shaft 26.

  A screw (not shown) is provided for each of the rotating members 28, 29 and 30, 31 as described above, and the screws can be tightened to integrally rotate the drive shaft 26, the driven shaft 27 and the rotating members 28 to 31. Alternatively, the screws can be loosened to allow the rotary members 28 to 31 to slide in the axial direction of the drive shaft 26 and the driven shaft 27.

Between the rotating members 28 and 29 of the drive shaft 26 as described above and the rotating members 30 and 31 of the driven shaft 27, the first and second elastic belts 32 and 33, which are the pressing members of the present invention, are put in parallel. There is. Therefore, when the drive motor is rotated to rotate the drive shaft 26, the first and second elastic belts 32 and 33 travel.
The first and second elastic belts 32 and 33 have circular cross sections and can be elastically deformed when they are pressed against the net conveyor 2.

The beam 34 is bridged between the support boxes 22 and 24 and the beam 35 is bridged between the support boxes 23 and 25.
Further, a support plate 36 is provided between the beams 34 and 35 along the first elastic belt 32 parallelly attached to the rotating members 28 and 30, and this support plate 36 is shown in FIG. As shown, the beams 34 and 35 are vertically and horizontally movable.

  The mounting structure at both ends of the support plate 36, that is, the mounting structure for the beams 34 and 35 is substantially the same except for the direction, so the mounting structure on the beam 34 side will be described based on FIG.

  In the beam 34, a plurality of alignment holes 37 are penetrated in the surface facing the other beam 35. Further, a bracket 38 is fixed to the beam 34, and the bracket 38 comprises a support plate 38a along the beam 34 and a support 38b perpendicular to the support plate 38a.

  A pair of position fine adjustment long holes 38c are formed in the above-mentioned support plate portion 38a. The position fine adjustment slot 38c has its major axis parallel to the longitudinal direction of the beam 34. Further, a pair of fixing bolts 39 are penetrated through the position fine adjustment long hole 38 c so that the tip thereof can be screwed into the position adjustment hole 37.

Therefore, the bracket 38 selects the position adjustment holes 37 in accordance with the required setting position, and while holding the position fine adjustment long holes 38c on the selected position adjustment holes 37, stops in these position fine adjustment long holes 38c. The bracket 38 can be fixed at a desired position by passing the bolt 39 and screwing the lock bolt 39 into the position adjustment hole 37.
In order to finely adjust the fixed position of the bracket 38, the set bolt 39 may be slightly loosened and the bracket 38 may be slid within the range of the fine adjustment elongated hole 38c.

On the other hand, although the support plate 36 is fixed to the support portion 38b, the height fine adjustment long hole 36a is also formed in the support plate 36. The height fine adjustment elongated hole 36a has its major axis directed vertically.
The support plate 36 can be fixed to the support portion 38b by screwing the tip of the lock bolt 40 into the height fine adjustment elongated hole 36a and screwing the tip end thereof to the support portion 38b. The bolt 40 may be slightly loosened and the support plate 36 may be slid in the range of the fine adjustment long hole 36a.
The support plate 36, the height fine adjustment long hole 36a, the bracket 38, and the guide roller 41 together constitute a height adjustment mechanism of the present invention.

  A plurality of guide rollers 41 are rotatably mounted on the support plate 36 bridged between the beams 34 and 35 as described above, maintaining a fixed distance. Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the guide roller 41 is positioned on the inner side of the first elastic belt 32 placed in parallel between the rotating members 28 and 30, and the first elastic belt is placed on the lower outer periphery of the guide roller 41. 32 is brought into contact so that the first elastic belt 32 can be pressed in the direction of the net conveyor 2.

In the figure, reference numeral 42 denotes a tension roller for the first elastic belt 32, which is rotatably supported by a bracket 48 fixed to the beam 34. This bracket 48 is the same as the bracket 38 described above. The beam 34 is movable in its longitudinal direction.
On the other hand, the tension roller 47 is also brought into contact with the second elastic belt 33 hung in parallel to the rotating members 29 and 31 so that a constant tension acts on the second elastic belt 33. The tension roller 47 can also be adjusted in position similarly to the tension roller 42.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the first elastic belt 32 as described above holds the opening 9 side of the vacuum pack 8 and the second elastic belt 33 holds the middle portion of the vacuum pack 8. However, the second elastic belt 33 holds the above-mentioned inside-and-out belly part only by the force of the tension.

  Further, a position control plate 43 is bridged between the support boxes 22 and 23 provided on one installation space 1 a side. The position restricting plate 43 is fixed between the support rods 44 provided in the support box 22 as shown in FIG. In addition, since the support mechanism of this position control plate 43 is the same at both ends, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected and demonstrated to both components.

The support rod 44 penetrates a through hole 45 formed in the support boxes 22 and 23 and has its tip protruding toward the first elastic belt 32 side. The inner diameter of the through hole 45 is made sufficiently large relative to the outer diameter of the support rod 44 so that the support rod 44 can move in the axial direction in the through hole 45. However, positioning bolts 46 are provided in the support boxes 22 and 23, and by tightening the positioning bolts 46, the relative positions of the support rods 44 and the through holes 45 can be fixed.
Further, by moving the support rod 44 to adjust the position of the position restricting plate 43, the facing distance between the position restricting plate 43 and the first elastic belt 32 can be freely adjusted.

  Next, the case of introducing the water-cleaned vacuum pack 8 into the net conveyor 2 will be described. When introducing the vacuum pack 8 into the net conveyor 2, the tip of the opening 9 of the vacuum pack 8 is brought into contact with the position regulating plate 43 and preset so that the first elastic belt 32 presses the vicinity of the opening 9. Keep it.

That is, the position of the position restricting plate 43 is specified, and the tip of the opening 9 of the vacuum pack 8 is brought into contact with the position restricting plate 43. When the contact state is maintained, the position of the first elastic belt 32 is determined so that the first elastic belt 32 is located near the opening 9 of the vacuum pack 8. Further, the height of the first elastic belt 32 is adjusted in advance in accordance with the thickness in the vicinity of the opening 9 which is introduced between the first elastic belt 32 and the net conveyor 2.
Further, the second elastic belt 33 is also adjusted in distance from the first elastic belt 32 so that the second elastic belt 33 can be held at an appropriate position with respect to the vacuum pack 8.

After the positions of the position restricting plate 43 and the first and second elastic belts 32 and 33 are specified as described above, the vacuum pack 8 that has been washed with water is introduced into the net conveyor 2.
The vacuum pack 8 introduced into the net conveyor 2 is nipped between the first elastic belt 32 and the net conveyor 2 in the vicinity of the opening 9. The holding force at this time is determined according to the height position of the guide roller 41.
Further, the middle part of the vacuum pack 8 is pressed by the tension force of the second elastic belt 33.

The vacuum pack 8 held as described above is conveyed integrally with the net conveyor 2 and the first and second elastic belts 32 and 33 in the conveyance direction of the net conveyor 2 and compressed air in the conveyance process. The water attached to the vacuum pack 8 is blown away.
At this time, since the first and second elastic belts 32 and 33 keep pressing the vacuum pack 8 firmly without the press rollers 12 and 13 bouncing as in the prior art, the vacuum pack 8 is displaced. I do not do it.

  In the above embodiment, when the pressing force of the first elastic belt 32 is sufficiently large and there is no risk of positional deviation of the vacuum pack 8 in the conveyance process, the second elastic belt 33 becomes unnecessary. However, rather than pressing the vacuum pack 8 with only the first elastic belt 32, the transport posture of the vacuum pack 8 can be stably maintained by pressing the two elastic bolts including the second elastic belt 33. .

Moreover, in this embodiment, the control by the computer is performed so that the drive mechanism for transporting the net conveyor 2 and the drive mechanism including the drive motor for rotating the drive shaft 26 always synchronize. The mechanism is not shown.
In the above embodiment, the vacuum pack 8 is used as the water removal object, but if it can be held by the first and second elastic members 32 and 33 as the pressing members and the net conveyor 2, the water removal object is It may be something.

Further, the conveyor is not limited to the net conveyor as long as the object can be transported and the object to be removed can be held between the conveyor and the pressing member.
Furthermore, as long as the pressing member can hold the water removal target between itself and the conveyor and can move integrally in synchronization with the conveyor, its material and shape are not limited.

  In particular, it is most suitable for removing water from vacuum packs in which food is enclosed and vacuumed.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Net conveyor, 8 Vacuum pack which is a water removal object object, 9 opening part, 28, 29 rotating member, 32, 33 1st elastic belt which is a pressing member, 43 position control plate

Claims (1)

It is a water removal apparatus that transports a water removal target object consisting of a vacuum pack in which food is sealed by a conveyor, and blows compressed air onto the water removal target object in the transfer process to blow away water adhering to the water removal target object. ,
A first elastic belt and a second elastic belt moving integrally in synchronization with the conveyor;
The first elastic belt presses the vicinity of the opening of the vacuum pack against the conveyor, and the second elastic belt presses the bottom of the vacuum pack against the conveyor, and the first and second elastic belts and the conveyor remove water. A water removal device configured to hold an object .

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