JP6710834B2 - Cutting device and processing method for viscous food - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a cutting processing apparatus and processing method for viscous foods.

Various proposals have heretofore been made regarding cutting devices and processing methods for viscous foods. For example, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, lattice-shaped vertical and horizontal grooves are formed at the top of viscous foods such as margarine and pie dough, and notches are not formed at the bottom of the viscous foods, but they are connected to one piece. It makes it possible to produce viscous foods that have

The cutting device for viscous foods of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 has a vertical groove processing section in which a plurality of vertical blades are arranged in the width direction for the viscous food discharged in a belt shape on the transfer surface, A horizontal groove processing section disposed in front of the vertical groove processing section, wherein the horizontal groove processing section includes a horizontal blade support member in which a plurality of horizontal blades are arranged in the longitudinal direction, and a lifting device for the horizontal blade support member. In the flute processing portion, the vertical blade is arranged above the viscous food, and a gap is formed between the lower end of the vertical blade and the lower surface of the viscous food, thereby the viscous food. The vertical groove is formed on the upper part of the vertical blade, and a connecting portion of the viscous food is formed between the vertical groove and the lower surface of the viscous food. When the horizontal blade support member is moved by the device to form a horizontal groove by the horizontal blade on the upper portion of the viscous food, by forming a gap between the lower end of the horizontal blade and the lower surface of the viscous food, the horizontal groove A connecting part is formed between the viscous food and the bottom surface of the viscous food, whereby a grid-like vertical and horizontal groove is formed at the top of the viscous food, and notches are not formed at the bottom of the viscous food. It is characterized by producing a viscous food that is connected to one sheet.

And in the cutting processing device of the viscous food of patent document 1 or patent document 2, the said horizontal blade support member is equipped with several horizontal blades and a cutting blade, and the said cutting blade protrudes long downward below the said horizontal blade. And the viscous food is cut back and forth by the cutting blade.
Particularly, in the cutting processing device for viscous foods of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a plurality of horizontal blades are arranged in the longitudinal direction along with the cutting blades on the horizontal blade support member, and each horizontal blade is in the discharge direction of the viscous substance. It is shown that the cutting blades are arranged at the rear of the cutting blades with the cutting blades at the front and with a space therebetween.

On the other hand, the viscous material cutting device disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a transfer means (100), a cutting blade elevating means (110), a cutting blade (120), and a rocking prevention member (130), and transfers the same. The means (100) is a device such as a belt conveyor capable of placing and transferring a viscous material, and the cutting blade elevating means (110) holds the cutting blade (120) and cuts the cutting blade (120). ) Is swung down to the transfer means (100) to sequentially cut the viscous material being transferred into a predetermined length.The cutting blade (120) has its rear end moved to the cutting blade lifting means (110). The cutting edge (120) of the cutting blade (120) is viscous on the transfer means (100), and the tip side is swingable back and forth along the transfer direction of the transfer means (100). While swinging down onto the material, it regulates an appropriate position of the cutting blade (120) to prevent the swinging, and after the cutting blade (120) is pulled up to the cutting blade lifting means (110), It has a swingable blade characterized in that the cutting blade (120) is opened to enable the swinging (claim 1).

In addition, the viscous material cutting device disclosed in Patent Document 3 has a transfer means (100), a cutting blade elevating means (110), a front cutting blade (121), a rear cutting blade (122), and a swing restraint. The transfer means (100) is a device such as a belt conveyor that has a member (130) and is capable of placing and transferring a viscous material, and the cutting blade elevating means (110) is used for both of the above cutting operations. Hold the blades (121) (122) and swing both cutting blades (121) (122) down to the transfer means (100) to remove the viscous material during transfer by the distance between the both cutting blades (121) (122). It is a device capable of sequentially cutting, and the front cutting blade (121) is a device which is swung down together with the rear cutting blade (122) to cut off the tip of the viscous material being transferred. ) Is the one that is swung down together with the front cutting blade (121) and cuts out the rear end of the viscous material that is being transferred. It is stopped and its tip side can swing back and forth with respect to the transfer direction of the transfer means (100), and the rocking restraining member (130) causes the rear cutting blade (122) to move to the viscous material on the transfer means (100). While swinging down, it regulates an appropriate position of the rear cutting blade (122) to prevent the swinging, and after cutting, while the rear cutting blade (122) is pulled up to the cutting blade lifting means (110), The rear cutting blade (122) is opened to enable the swing (claim 2).

The background of the creation of the invention shown in Patent Document 3 will be briefly described. The transfer means sets the transfer speed of the second conveyor arranged on the downstream side of the first conveyor to be higher than the transfer speed of the first conveyor, and provides a gap between the cut mucus and the subsequent mucus. To cause it. In addition, the operating path of the cutting blade is such that the path from the operation start position to the lowermost position is a straight line that is uniform in speed with the transfer speed of the first conveyor in the horizontal direction. In the return path for returning to, the blade is pulled forward while pulling out at the time of its rising. This operation is possible because the above-mentioned speed setting of the conveyor allows an appropriate gap to be provided between the preceding viscous substance and the subsequent viscous substance.
However, there may be a case where the feed timing is slightly shifted, or the preceding cut mucilage may not be fed quickly, and therefore the cutting blade may cut the rear end of the cut second mucilage of the conveyor. This resulted in pressing, which caused the preceding viscous substance to lose its shape.

In the invention of Patent Document 3, as described above, while the rear cutting blade (122) is being swung down to the sticky substance on the transfer means (100), the rear cutting blade (122) is regulated at an appropriate position to prevent swinging. After cutting, while the rear cutting blade (122) is being pulled up to the cutting blade lifting means (110), the rear cutting blade (122) is opened to allow swinging, thereby cutting the viscous material to be transferred. It is possible to cut a certain amount of the sticky material without causing the shape of the sticky material to be deformed.

However, when the inventor of the present application has made extensive studies, when the only cutting blade used for cutting in the device shown in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2 is projected downward longer than the horizontal blade, When cutting the viscous food with vertical and horizontal grooves into predetermined units, it is said that the viscous food is pulled and torn off by the second conveyor, which has a faster transfer speed than the first conveyor, before reaching the lowest point. There was something.
The swinging down cutting blade reaches the bottom of the viscous food, and the viscous food is separated back and forth by being torn off by a thickness of at least 0.5 mm.
On the other hand, when the inventor of the present invention has earnestly studied, as for the only cutting blade used for cutting in the device shown in Patent Document 1 or Patent Document 2, as with the cutting blade shown in Patent Document 3 described above, Even if the cutting blade is not shaken when it is swung down on food and the cutting blade is shaken when it is pulled out, the above-mentioned problem of tearing is not directly solved.

Although the exact mechanism of the above problems has not been clarified, the present inventor thinks as follows in the present situation.
In the device shown in Patent Document 3 (FIGS. 2 and 6), two cutting blades are provided on the front and rear sides to cut viscous foods in predetermined units. The cutting blades are swung forward (downstream in the discharge direction). Simultaneously with the lowering, the cutting blade on the rear side (upstream side in the discharge direction) is performed. Therefore, when the viscous food that has been cut to a predetermined front-back width is transferred to the front (downstream side of the discharge direction) conveyor, the viscous food has a cutting blade inserted in the front and back as described above. Even if the transfer speed of the downstream conveyor is faster than the transfer speed of the upstream conveyor, even if the viscous food is pulled forward (downstream side), the degree of freedom of the viscous food with respect to the pulling direction is one cutting. It is higher than a blade that cuts one place, and it is easy to follow the movement of the conveyor on which the viscous food to be cut is transferred. Therefore, in the device of Patent Document 3, the problem of tearing is unlikely to occur.
Therefore, in the device of Patent Document 3, it suffices to ensure the swinging of the cutting blade on the downstream side when the cutting blade on the downstream side is pulled out, considering only the deformation of the rear end of the viscous food that has been cut and preceded.

However, the device of Patent Document 2 sequentially cuts one portion of the viscous food in the flow direction of the viscous food with one cutting blade, and cuts the front and rear two places with one cutting to obtain a viscous substance having a predetermined width. It does not cut the food, but the viscous food upstream of the cutting blade during cutting remains connected from discharge without being cut, and pulling forward (downstream of discharge) due to transfer of the above high-speed conveyor The displacement in the ejection direction is extremely limited.
Therefore, securing the swing of the cutting blade at the time of pulling out is not a direct solution to the problem of tearing.
Further, in the device shown in Patent Documents 1 and 2, even if a groove is formed by a horizontal blade or a vertical blade, the lower part of the viscous food upstream of the cutting blade in which the groove is formed is connected by a connecting portion, The above problem of tearing occurs.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2-17314 JP, 2013-179886, A Japanese Patent No. 2590052 Japanese Patent No. 4701058

A first object of the present invention is to provide a cutting processing apparatus and a processing method for viscous foods that can suppress the above-mentioned tearing caused by a speed difference between conveyors by reversing the idea.

A second object of the present invention is, in particular, that a horizontal groove or a lattice-shaped vertical and horizontal groove that intersects the transfer direction is formed in the upper part of the viscous food and no cut is formed in the bottom of the viscous food. In a cutting processing apparatus and a processing method for a viscous food that produces a viscous food linked to, the problem of tearing is suppressed.

A third object of the present invention is, in addition to the achievement of the above first or second object, in a cutting processing apparatus and a processing method for a viscous food that covers and seals a viscous food conveyed in a plate shape with a sheet, It is to enable a cleaner seal.

The present invention is to cut a viscous food product back and forth by swinging down a cutting blade from above with respect to a viscous food product that is discharged in a band shape onto a transfer surface, and the transfer surface is used to transfer the viscous food product along with the cutting. In order to transfer viscous food to another transfer surface whose transfer speed is faster than the surface, a cutting blade supporting member that supports the cutting blade, and an elevating device for the cutting blade supporting member are provided. By lowering the blade supporting member, the cutting blade can be swung down, and the cutting blade has a degree of freedom capable of swinging the cutting edge along the discharge direction of the viscous food at least in the swung down. Provided is a cutting and processing device for viscous food, which is attached to the cutting blade support member.
Further, in the present invention, the cutting blade support member includes only one cutting blade in the discharge direction,
The lifting device is for lowering the cutting blade of the cutting blade supporting member so as to intersect the ejection direction of the viscous food, the blade supporting member includes a fitting portion, and the base side of the cutting blade is , A fitted portion to be fitted to the fitting portion, wherein the fitted portion is loosely fitted to the fitting portion, and the cutting device makes the cutting blade with respect to the blade support member of the viscous food. By providing a margin that can be displaced along the discharge direction, it is possible to provide a cutting and processing apparatus for viscous food that can swing the blade edge side of the cutting blade around the base side of the cutting blade in the discharge direction of the viscous food. It was
Further, in the present invention, the fitted portion is a shaft portion projecting from a base side of the cutting blade and having a discharge direction of the viscous food as an axial direction, and the blade supporting member is provided on a base side of the cutting blade. A cutting blade mounting portion that can be fitted is provided, the fitting portion is a through hole that penetrates the cutting blade mounting portion in the front-rear direction and allows the fitted portion to pass, and the fitting portion is passed through the fitting portion. The tip end side of the fitted portion projects from the fitting portion, and the tip end side of the fitted portion protruding from the fitting portion prevents the fitted portion from falling off the fitting portion. Is attached, and the inner diameter of the fitting portion is made larger than the outer diameter of the fitted portion, so that the loose fitting is performed, and the contact portion and the base side of the cutting blade. And a gap between the cutting blade mounting portion and the abutting portion due to a difference between the distance and the thickness is the margin. It was possible to provide a cutting and processing device for viscous foods.
Still further, in the present invention, the cutting blade support member is a horizontal blade support member, the horizontal blade support member is provided with a horizontal groove processing portion in which a plurality of horizontal blades are arranged in the longitudinal direction together with the cutting blade, and each horizontal blade is With respect to the discharge direction, the cutting blades are arranged at a rear side of the cutting blades at a sequential interval with the cutting blades at the top, and the elevating device elevates and lowers the lateral blade supporting member, and in the lateral groove processing section, When the horizontal blade support member is moved by the elevating device to form a horizontal groove by the horizontal blade on the upper portion of the viscous food, a gap is formed between the lower end of the horizontal blade and the lower surface of the viscous food. , A connecting portion is formed between the lateral groove and the lower surface of the viscous food, whereby a plurality of lateral grooves are formed at the top of the viscous food and a notch is formed at the bottom of the viscous food. It was possible to provide a viscous food product that was connected to one piece without having to do so, and it was possible to provide a cutting and processing apparatus for viscous food products in which the cutting blade projects longer than the horizontal blade downward.
Furthermore, in the present invention, a vertical groove processing portion in which a plurality of vertical blades are arranged in the width direction is provided, and the horizontal groove processing portion is arranged in front of the vertical groove processing portion, and in the vertical groove processing portion, The vertical blade is arranged above the food, and a gap is formed between the lower end of the vertical blade and the lower surface of the viscous food, whereby a vertical groove is formed by the vertical blade on the upper part of the viscous food. Along with the vertical groove and the lower surface of the viscous food, a connecting portion by viscous food is formed, and by the lateral groove processing portion and the vertical groove processing portion, the upper part of the viscous food is in a grid shape. It was possible to provide a viscous food cutting and processing apparatus capable of producing a viscous food in which vertical and horizontal grooves are formed and a cut is not formed at the bottom of the viscous food and which is connected to one piece.
Still further, the present invention has, in front of the other transfer surface, a transfer surface for packaging for packing the viscous food after cutting by the cutting blade, a sheet disposing portion, a seal portion, and a sheet cutting portion. A sheet is placed on the transfer surface for packaging and transferred, and the viscous food is placed on the sheet by transferring the viscous food from the other transfer surface to the transfer surface for packaging, and The sheet is a film such as a plastic sheet, and the sheet disposing portion is a part of the sheet on which the viscous food is placed or a sheet separate from the sheet, and the viscous food is placed. It is arranged above, the sealing portion is to seal the upper and lower sheets at least before and after the viscous food on the transfer surface for packaging, and the sheet cutting unit cuts the sheet. A cutting blade, and an elevating unit for swinging down the sheet cutting blade, for cutting the sheet between the viscous foods back and forth,
The seal portion, for the viscous food in which the sheets are arranged above and below in the sheet arrangement portion, a receiving portion, and a pressing portion that is pressed against the receiving portion from a position apart from the receiving portion to perform the sealing. The surface of the receiving portion is formed of an elastic member such as silicon, the surface of the pressing portion is provided with a plurality of metal projections for performing the sealing, and the pressing portion is the sheet cutting The sheet cutting blade is provided before and after the sheet cutting blade included in the section, and is swung down toward the sheet together with the sheet cutting blade in the elevating section, and the sealing section is provided to the receiving section side and the sheet cutting blade. Of the sheet cutting section, the sheet cutting section includes a receiving blade for shearing the sheet by receiving the sheet cutting blade into the blade cutting section, and the cutting edge of the sheet cutting blade is the cutting edge inserting section. It was possible to provide a cutting and processing device for viscous foods in which the pressing portion abuts on the receiving portion to perform the sealing as the shearing is performed by inserting the sticking portion into the receiving portion.
Furthermore, the present invention is to cut the viscous food back and forth by swinging down a cutting blade from above with respect to the viscous food that is discharged in a band shape onto the transfer surface, and with the cutting, from the transfer surface. The transfer speed is higher than the transfer surface is to transfer viscous food to another transfer surface, a cutting blade supporting member that supports the cutting blade, and an elevating device of the blade supporting member, and the cutting blade, At least attached to the cutting blade support member with a degree of freedom that can swing the blade edge along the discharge direction of the viscous food in the swing-down, by lowering the cutting blade support member by the elevating device, Provided is a method for cutting a viscous food by swinging down the cutting blade to perform the cutting.

The present invention, when cutting the viscous food before and after being continuously discharged, in the cutting process of the viscous food that sequentially cuts the viscous food by a cutting blade, when transferring the viscous food to a high-speed transfer surface with cutting. In addition, it is possible to prevent a situation in which the viscous food is cut off cleanly by being cut off by the transfer surface of the transfer destination during cutting.
Further, by the above means, horizontal grooves or lattice-shaped vertical and horizontal grooves intersecting the transfer direction are formed in the upper part of the viscous food, and the bottom of the viscous food is not cut and is connected to one piece. In the cutting processing of viscous foods for producing viscous foods, it has become possible to suppress the above-mentioned problem of tearing.
Further, the present invention enables a more clean seal when continuously packing the viscous food conveyed in the form of a plate from above and below with a sheet. In particular, the present invention is extremely efficient because it is possible to simultaneously seal at least one of the front and rear of the sheet and cut the sheet in the width direction.

The whole explanatory view of the cutting processing device of the viscous food concerning an embodiment of the invention. The perspective view of the vertical groove processing part and horizontal groove processing part of the same cutting device. The perspective view of the viscous food after processing of the cutting processing device. The side view of the lifting device of the lateral groove processing part with which the same cutting device is provided. FIG. 3A is a schematic side view of the lateral groove processing portion of FIG. 2, and FIG. 3B is an explanatory view of the operation of the lateral groove processing portion shown in FIG. 5A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential part of the lateral groove processed portion of FIG. 5A, and FIG. 6B is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential part showing a modified example of FIG. 5A is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an essential part showing another modification of FIG. 5A, and FIG. 5B is an exploded perspective view of an essential part of another modification of FIG. 5A. (A) And (B) is a perspective view which shows the state of the packaging of the viscous food by the packaging part shown in FIG. (A) And (B) is a perspective view which shows the state of the packaging of the viscous food by the packaging part shown in FIG. FIG. 9A is a perspective view of the vertical connecting portion 66 of FIGS. 1 and 8B, and FIG. 9B is a perspective view showing a modification of the vertical connecting portion 66 of FIG. (A) is a schematic front view of a main part of the packaging section, and (B) is a partially cutaway enlarged bottom view of the pressing section 67b shown in (A).

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Outline of cutting processing equipment)
The cutting and processing apparatus according to this embodiment is an apparatus for processing viscous food 11 such as margarine or butter, and as shown in FIG. 1, a discharge unit 1 that discharges the viscous food 11 and the discharged viscous food 11. It includes a transfer unit 5 for transferring 11, a processing/cutting unit 2 for processing and cutting the viscous food 11, and a packaging unit 6 for packaging the viscous food cut into predetermined units.

(Transfer Section 5) The transfer section 5 includes five conveyors, from the first conveyor 51 to the fifth conveyor 55, from the nozzle 10 toward the front (transfer direction). In this example, the first to fifth conveyors 51 to 55 are belt conveyors, and flat belts are used as the conveyor belts. Further, as the conveyor belt, it is possible to adopt a rubber belt generally called a black rubber conveyor belt for carrying heavy objects. In particular, as the conveyor belt, a resin conveyor belt suitable for carrying lightweight objects can be adopted. As the resin conveyor belt, urethane, vinyl chloride, fluororesin, and silicone belts can be used.
It should be noted that the transfer unit 5 is not limited to the additional conveyors other than the illustrated five conveyors.

(Discharging unit 1) The discharging unit 1 discharges the viscous food 11 onto the first conveyor 51.
That is, the cutting apparatus arranges the first conveyor 51 and the second conveyor 52 in front of the nozzle 10 of the discharge unit 1 that discharges the viscous food 11 manufactured in the manufacturing process.
(Processing/Cutting Unit 2) The cutting and processing unit 2 includes, as the processing/cutting unit 2, a vertical groove processing unit 21 arranged in front of the nozzle 10 and a lateral groove processing unit 31 arranged above the first conveyor 51. .. In the following description, the flow direction (length direction) of the viscous food 11 is a vertical direction, and the crossing direction (width direction) intersecting the flow direction is a horizontal direction unless otherwise specified. Further, the downstream side with respect to the transfer direction of each of the conveyors is defined as the front side in the flow direction.

The viscous food 11 discharged from the nozzle 10 having a rectangular discharge port is continuously sent forward in the form of a belt having a constant thickness. On this viscous food 11, a plurality of vertical grooves 12 extending in the vertical direction are formed by the vertical groove processing section 21, and then a plurality of horizontal grooves 14 extending in the horizontal direction are formed by the horizontal groove processing section 31 and at the same time. Cut to length.

(Vertical Groove Processing Unit 21) As shown in FIG. 2, the vertical groove processing unit 21 includes a plurality of vertical blades 22, and the plurality of vertical blades 22 are arranged above the viscous food 11. In this example, a plurality of vertical blades 22 are arranged laterally at predetermined intervals on a vertical blade support member 23 arranged in front of the nozzle 10 to form a vertical groove processing portion 21. This interval is appropriately set according to the application of the viscous food 11. For example, in the case of margarine or butter for restaurants, the intervals can be set to 2-3 cm, which makes it possible to create margarine or butter to be placed on a restaurant table. In addition, in this type of margarine or butter, the height of the discharge port of the nozzle 10 is set to 5 to 10 mm, but the height is not limited to this.

The vertical blade 22 extends downward from above the discharge port of the nozzle 10, but the lower end of the vertical blade 22 is at a position higher than the lower side of the discharge port. Therefore, a gap is formed between the lower surface of the viscous food 11 and the lower end of the vertical blade 22. As a result, the viscous food 11 passes through the vertical blade 22, so that the vertical groove 12 is formed on the upper portion of the viscous food 11 by the vertical blade 22, and the vertical groove 12 and the lower surface of the viscous food 11 are provided. A vertical connecting portion 13 is formed (see FIG. 3).

The viscous food 11 in which the vertical groove 12 is formed by the above vertical groove step is transferred by the first conveyor 51. As the first conveyor 51, in addition to the belt conveyor described above, a conveyor having a belt-shaped transfer surface such as a net conveyor can be preferably used, but other transfer means such as a plate conveyor can also be used. Also for the second to fifth conveyors 52 to 55, in addition to the above belt conveyor, a belt conveyor having a belt-shaped transfer surface such as a net conveyor, or another transfer means such as a plate conveyor can be used.
In addition, in this example, the vertical groove processing portion 21 is arranged immediately in front of the discharge port of the nozzle 10 and the viscous food 11 having the vertical grooves 12 is transferred by the first conveyor 51. The vertical blade 22 may be arranged on the transfer surface of 51 to process the vertical groove 12 on the viscous food 11 transferred by the first conveyor 51.

(Horizontal Groove Processing Unit 31) The horizontal groove processing unit 31 is arranged above the transfer surface of the first conveyor 51. The horizontal groove processing unit 31 moves the horizontal blade support member 33, in which the plurality of horizontal blades 32 shown in FIG. 2 are arranged in the vertical direction (front-back direction), up and down by the lifting device 37 shown in FIG. The lateral groove 14 is formed in the. In this example, the plurality of horizontal blades 32 supported by the horizontal blade support member 33 are arranged in the vertical direction at predetermined intervals. The number and intervals of the horizontal blades 32 are appropriately set according to the application of the viscous food 11 as in the case of the flute processing portion 21. For example, in the case of margarine or butter for restaurants, the intervals can be set to 2-3 cm, which makes it possible to create margarine or butter to be placed on a restaurant table.

The horizontal blade 32 is moved up and down by the lifting device 37, but at the lowest position, the lower end of the horizontal blade 32 is at a position higher than the transfer surface of the first conveyor 51. Therefore, a gap is formed between the lower surface of the viscous food 11 and the lower end of the horizontal blade 32. As a result, the horizontal blade 32 is lowered with respect to the viscous food 11, so that the horizontal groove 14 formed by the horizontal blade 32 is formed in the upper portion of the viscous food 11 and between the horizontal groove 14 and the lower surface of the viscous food 11. A lateral connecting portion 15 is formed (see FIG. 3). Further, by this, the vertical groove 12 and the horizontal groove 14 are formed in a grid pattern on the upper portion of the viscous food 11, but these grooves do not reach the bottom surface of the viscous food 11, and the lower portion of the viscous food 11 is It has no cuts and is connected in a flat plate shape. The numbers of the vertical blades 22 and the horizontal blades 32 can be appropriately changed and implemented.

(Elevating device 37) The elevating device 37 moves the horizontal blade support member 33 up and down to process the viscous food 11 by the horizontal blade 32. The viscous food 11 moves forward by the first conveyor 51. ing. Therefore, the elevating device 37 does not simply move the horizontal blade 32 up and down, but causes the horizontal blade 32 to move back and forth. Further, since a plurality of horizontal blades 32 are arranged on the front and rear of the horizontal blade support member 33, the horizontal blade support member 33 is kept horizontal so that the horizontal blades 32 move at the same height. Moved by.
Specifically, the elevating device 37 moves the horizontal blade support member 33 (and thus the horizontal blade 32) as follows.

(First movement) The horizontal blade 32 at the initial position (upper rear position) is moved downward while moving forward at substantially the same speed as the transfer speed of the first conveyor 51 (lower rear position). As a result, the vertical straight grooves 14 are formed neatly on the viscous food 11.

(Second movement) While moving forward from the lower rear position described above at a speed substantially the same as the transfer speed of the first conveyor 51, it is moved upward (lower front position). This rising distance is at least the depth of the lateral groove 14. This prevents the viscous food 11 from being unnecessarily damaged when the horizontal blade 32 is raised.

(Third movement) While moving from the above lower front position in the direction opposite to the transfer direction of the first conveyor 51 (that is, rearward), it is raised and returned to the initial position (upper rear position). The third movement may be a movement that returns the horizontal blade 32 separated from the viscous food 11 to the initial position (upper rear position). For example, first, only the vertical movement of raising it to the upper position, Next, it is possible to make an appropriate change such as only the forward/backward movement for retreating to the initial position (upward/rearward position).

The structure of the elevating device 37 is not particularly limited as long as it can realize the above movement. FIG. 4 shows an example thereof, and the oblique guide 37a installed on the first conveyor 51, the front-back direction guide 37b for guiding the oblique guide 37a back and forth, and the horizontal blade support member 33 as the oblique guide 37a. It is provided with a first driving means 37c for moving along the first driving means 37c and a second driving means 37d for moving the oblique guide 37a forward and backward along the front-back direction guide 37b. The oblique guide 37a is inclined from the rear upper side to the front lower side, and the horizontal blade 32 is moved above the first conveyor 51 by lowering the horizontal blade support member 33 in the same direction by the first driving means 37c. The above first movement is realized by moving the viscous food 11 from the front to the back while moving the viscous food 11 from the front to the back. Next, the second drive means 37d advances the oblique guide 37a to realize the second movement. The above-mentioned third movement is realized by moving the first driving means 37c and the second driving means 37d in reverse.

In addition to the device shown in FIG. 4, a dedicated device using a cam and an air cylinder described in Patent Document 1 may be used, or a multi-axis robot arm having high versatility may be used.

(Cutting Blade 38) As shown in FIG. 5A, the lateral groove processing section 31 is provided with a cutting blade 38 together with the lateral blade 32. The cutting blade 38 is provided in parallel with the horizontal blade 32, and projects downward below the horizontal blade 32.
This protrusion length may be substantially the same as the above-mentioned gap (in other words, the thickness of the lateral connecting portion 15). Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the horizontal blade supporting member 33 is lowered by the lifting device 37, a gap is not formed between the lower end of the cutting blade 38 and the lower surface of the viscous food 11, The viscous food 11 is cut back and forth by the cutting blade 38. In this example, the horizontal blade support member 33 also serves as a cutting blade support member that supports the cutting blade 38 so that the cutting blade 38 can be moved up and down by the lifting device 37.

The cutting blade 38 may be provided at any position of the horizontal blade support member 33 in the front-rear direction. In this example, it is provided at the front end of the horizontal blade support member 33. In other words, the plurality of horizontal blades 32 are arranged from the rear side to the front side, and the cutting blade 38 is further arranged in front of the side blades 32. The distance between the frontmost horizontal blade 32 and the cutting blade 38 may be substantially the same as the distance between the horizontal blades 32, but may be different.

The cutting blade 38 is attached to the horizontal blade support member 33 with a degree of freedom that allows the blade tip to swing along the discharge direction of the viscous food at least in the swinging down. By lowering the horizontal blade support member 33, the lifting device 37 swings down the cutting blade 38 together with the horizontal blade 32 so as to intersect the discharge direction of the viscous food 11.
The attachment of the cutting blade 38 will be described in more detail.
As shown in FIGS. 5A and 6A, the horizontal blade support member 33 includes a fitting portion 71. The base 38b side of the cutting blade 38 is provided with a fitted portion 72 fitted into the fitting portion 71.

The fitted portion 72 is loosely fitted to the fitting portion 71, and the cutting device is provided with a margin that allows the cutting blade 38 to be displaced with respect to the horizontal blade support member 33 along the discharge direction of the viscous food 11. With respect to the discharge direction of 11, the blade tip 38a side of the cutting blade 38 can be swung about the base portion 38b side of the cutting blade 38.
In this example, as shown in FIG. 6A, the fitted portion 72 is a shaft portion that projects from the base portion 38b side of the cutting blade 38. The shaft portion extends along the discharge direction with the discharge direction of the viscous food 11 as the axial direction. In order to avoid complexity of the drawing, hatching to be attached to the cutting blade 38 is omitted in FIG. 6(A).

The horizontal blade support member 33 includes a cutting blade attachment portion 70 to which the cutting blade 38 is attached.
As shown in FIG. 6(A), the cutting blade attachment portion 70 is a rising portion that rises up from the tip of the horizontal blade support member 33 and extends upward at a substantially right angle.
By the above-mentioned attachment of the cutting blade 38, the rear surface of the cutting blade 38 on the base portion 38b side extends along the front surface of the cutting blade attachment portion 70.
As shown in FIG. 6A, the fitting portion 71 is a through hole that penetrates the cutting blade attachment portion 70 in the front-rear direction and allows the fitted portion 72 to pass therethrough. The tip end side of the fitted portion 72 passed through the fitting portion 71, which is a through hole, projects from the fitting portion 71 to the rear of the cutting blade attachment portion 70.
An abutting portion 73a is provided on the tip side of the fitted portion 72 protruding from the fitting portion 71. The contact portion 73a is a portion that prevents the fitted portion 72 from falling off the fitting portion 71. In this example, the shaft portion formed by the fitted portion 72 is a screw shaft provided with a male screw. The screw shaft may be provided on the cutting blade 38 so as to project rearward of the cutting blade mounting portion 70 through the fitting portion 71. In the example shown in FIGS. 5 and 6(A), a screw hole 74 having a female screw is provided on the base portion 38b side of the cutting blade 38, and the bolt is screwed into the screw hole 74, whereby the bolt is attached to the cutting blade 38. The bolt shaft is used as the screw shaft, and the head surface 73 of the bolt is used as the contact portion 73a.

Two or more fitting portions 71 are provided in the cutting blade attachment portion 70 at intervals in the left-right lateral direction that crosses the flow direction, and the fitting portion 71 is provided at a position corresponding to the fitting portion 71 on the base portion 38b side of the cutting blade 38. Two or more fitting portions 72 may be provided and implemented.
By adopting the bolts and nuts that provide the shaft portion and the contact portion 73a as the attachment means of the cutting blade 38, the cutting blade 38 can be detachably attached to the horizontal blade support member 33, and the size of the viscous food 11 can be measured. It can be easily replaced with an appropriate cutting blade 38 according to the hardness and hardness.
However, the abutting portion 73a is not limited to the seat surface of the nut, and if the abutting portion 73a can be provided by being fixed to the shaft portion that is the fitted portion 72, It may be formed by attaching a member other than the nut.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the loose fitting is performed by making the inner diameter W2 of the through hole which is the fitting portion 71 larger than the outer diameter W3 of the shaft portion which is the fitted portion 72. It
In addition, by setting the interval between the contact portion 73a and the cutting blade 38 base portion 38b side to be larger than the thickness of the cutting blade attachment portion 70 in the front and rear, as the above-mentioned margin necessary for the swing motion of the cutting blade 38, A gap W4 between the cutting blade mounting portion 70 and the abutting portion 73a due to the difference between the distance and the thickness is secured. An elastic member 75 is interposed between the gap W4, that is, between the cutting blade mounting portion 70 and the contact portion 73a. The elastic member 75 is a push spring in this example, and extends spirally around the shaft portion.
In this example, as shown in FIG. 6A, the cutting width 38 of the cutting blade 38 protruding downward from the cutting blade supporting member, that is, the horizontal blade supporting member 33 is set to 25 to 50 mm. It is preferable that the protruding width W1 of the cutting blade 38 be the above and the outer diameter W3 of the fitted portion 72 be 80 to 90% of the inner diameter W2 of the fitting portion 71. Further, it is preferable that the clearance W4 serving as a margin can be varied within a range of 2 mm to 5 mm by expanding and contracting the elastic member 75 which is a pressing spring.
The protruding width W1 of the cutting blade 38 is particularly preferably 32 to 35 mm.
In addition, by virtue of the above-mentioned respective dimension settings, the cutting blade 38 can be swung at least at the time of swinging down, so that the viscous food can be cut cleanly. However, the cutting blade 38 can swing to cut the viscous food cleanly. If possible, it is possible to implement the above-mentioned dimensions outside the range of the above numerical values.
Normally, the length of the horizontal blade 32 fixed to the horizontal blade support member 33 cannot be changed. Therefore, in order to change the thickness of viscous food such as margarine, the length of the cutting blade 38 is changed to change the protruding width W1. Correspond. Therefore, the loose fitting and the setting of the margin may be adjusted so as to ensure proper swinging by the protruding width W1 of the cutting blade 38.

In order to open the space between the viscous foods 11 before and after being cut by the cutting blade 38, a second conveyor 52 is provided in front of the first conveyor 51, and the transfer speed of the transfer surface of the second conveyor 52 is set higher than that of the first conveyor 51. Also make it faster. By vibrating the cutting blade 38 as described above at least when swinging down, it is possible to prevent the viscous food 11 during cutting from being torn off even if the transfer speed of the second conveyor 52 is higher than that of the first conveyor 51.
In this example, the transfer surface of the second conveyor 52 corresponds to "another transfer surface" in the claims. However, without providing the second conveyor 52, the transfer surface of the third conveyor 53 which is a part of the transfer surface for packaging described later is "another transfer surface" faster than the first conveyor 51 which is a "transfer surface". You may carry out as.
Further, a separate conveyor having a higher transfer speed than the second conveyor 52 is arranged between the second conveyor 52 and the third conveyor 53 to further widen the interval between the preceding viscous food 11 and the subsequent viscous food 11. It may be one.

It is also desirable that the horizontal blade 32 and the cutting blade 38 are provided with a heating means to facilitate the cutting of the viscous food 11. As the heating means, the horizontal blade 32 and the cutting blade 38 may be made of metal and may be energized to heat the blade itself, and a separate heating device is provided on the vertical blade support member 23 or the like. The horizontal blade 32 and the cutting blade 38 may be heated by.
Not only for cutting the viscous food, but also by allowing the cutting blade 38 to be free, that is, swingable without being completely fixed to the horizontal blade supporting portion 33, the cutting blade 38 is heated by the heating means as described above. In this case, there is also an advantage of preventing the surface of the conveyor from being damaged by the heat of the cutting blade 38.

It is also preferable to dispose the disinfecting nozzle 40 for applying a disinfecting liquid such as ethanol, isopropyl alcohol, or sodium hypochlorite on the transfer surfaces of the first conveyor 51 and the second conveyor 52. The disinfection nozzle 40 is preferably provided upstream of a belt or the like that constitutes the transfer surface of the first and second conveyors 51 and 52, but may be disposed at any other appropriate position on the outward path or the return path (Fig. 1). In addition to disinfecting the viscous food 11, the disinfectant solution also acts to prevent the viscous food 11 from adhering to the transfer surface such as the first conveyor 51.

The operation of the elevating device 37 may be performed by a timer or the like, but the viscous food 11 may be detected by the sensor 39 (processing sensor 39) and the elevating device 37 may start descending based on this detection. .. The processing sensor 39 may be provided at an appropriate position. However, when the sensor 39 for processing is arranged on the second conveyor 52 rather than the first conveyor 51, the cut blocks of the viscous food 11 are spaced apart from each other, so that a sensing error may occur. It is difficult to occur and advantageous.
As described above, the vertical groove 12 and the horizontal groove 14 are formed in the viscous food 11, and the block is shipped after being cut into blocks of a size that is easy to carry and package.

(Packing unit 6) As described above, the first and second conveyors 51 and 52 provide a transfer surface for processing and cutting the viscous food 11. The transfer surfaces of the third to fifth conveyors 53 to 55 arranged in front of the first and second conveyors 51 and 52 are the transfer surfaces for packaging the viscous food 11 after being cut by the cutting blade 38. Constitute.
The block of the viscous food 11 after cutting (hereinafter, the cut viscous food 11 in block units is simply referred to as viscous food 11) is packaged in a packaging sheet.
The wrapping unit 6 for wrapping includes a sheet arranging unit 60, a sealing unit 65, and a sheet cutting unit 68. A packaging sheet 61 (hereinafter, simply referred to as a sheet 61 if necessary) is placed on the packaging transfer surface and transported, and the viscous food 11 is transferred from the processing/cutting transport surface to the packaging transport surface. The viscous food 11 is placed on the sheet 61 (FIG. 1).

As the sheet 61, a soft film such as a plastic sheet or a film such as sulfuric acid paper can be used. In this example, sulfuric acid paper called perch paper is used as the sheet 61. As the parchment paper, it is preferable to use the parchment paper obtained by parchmenting (sulfuric acid) and binding the cellulose to each other. However, as long as it is a packaging sheet suitable for packaging the viscous food 11 with this apparatus, a sheet formed of a material other than the exemplified one may be adopted.

(Sheet Arranging Unit 60) The sheet arranging unit 60 further disposes a part of the sheet 61 on which the viscous food 11 is placed or a sub-sheet 63 that is a separate body from the sheet 61 on the placed viscous food 11. .. In this example, the sub-sheet 63, which is separate from the sheet 61, is placed on the viscous food 11.
A film made of the same material as the sheet 61 may be used as the packaging sheet for the sub-sheet 63. However, the sub-sheet 63 may be made of a material different from that of the sheet 61 as long as the sheet 61 can be appropriately sealed.

The sheet placement unit 60 will be described in more detail.
As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet placement unit 60 includes a lower sheet supply unit 60a, an upper sheet supply unit 60b, and a guide unit 60c.
The lower sheet supply unit 60a supplies the sheet 61 on which the viscous food 11 is placed, that is, which is laid under the viscous food 11.
The upper sheet supply unit 60b supplies the sub-sheet 63 that is placed on the viscous food 11 and covers the upper surface of the viscous food 11.
In this example, the lower sheet supply unit 60 a is a support shaft that supports the roll 62 of the sheet 61. The upper sheet supply unit 60b is a support shaft that supports the roll 62 of the sub sheet 63.

Along with the movement of the viscous food 11 placed on the transporting surface for packaging together with the sheet 61, the sheet 61 is continuously pulled out from the roll 62 supported by the lower sheet supply unit 60a, and from the roll 62 supported by the upper sheet supply unit 60b. The sub-sheet 63 is continuously pulled out.
In this example, the withdrawal of the sheet 61 and the sub-sheet 63 is performed by the rotation of the lower roller 66a of the vertical connecting portion 66, which will be described later, but a separately rotating roller may be provided.
The guide portion 60c is composed of a plurality of guide rollers for guiding the withdrawal of the sheets 61 and 63 from the rolls 62 supported by the lower sheet feeding portion 60a and the upper sheet feeding portion 60b. In order to avoid complexity of the drawing, FIG. 1 shows only some guide rollers.
The guide portion 60c guides the sheet 61 and the sub-sheet 63 to the upper and lower sides of the viscous food 11 and positions the viscous food 11 around the viscous food 11 so that the sheet 61 and the sub-sheet 63 overlap each other.

The guide portion 60c includes a pressing roller 60d as one of the guide rollers (FIGS. 1 and 8A).
The pressing roller 60d is a movable roller that is axially fixed to the tip of a rotatable arm and can be displaced by the rotation of the arm. The base end side of the arm can be pivoted by being axially locked by a cutting device (not shown).
By the displacement, the pressing roller 60d presses the sub-sheet 63 pulled out from the roll 62 held by the upper sheet supply unit 60, onto the upper surface of the viscous food 11.
Specifically, the pressing roller 60d hangs downward by its own weight and the weight of the arm and presses the sub sheet 63 onto the viscous food 11. The pressing roller 60d rotates following the movement of the sub-sheet 63 and the viscous food 11.

(Seal Part 65) The seal part 65 includes a vertical direction connection part 66 and a horizontal direction connection part 67.
(Vertical Direction Connection Portion 66) The vertical direction connection portion 66 vertically seals the left and right positions of the viscous food 11 in the sheet 61 and the sub-sheet 63 along the flow direction. The lateral direction connecting portion 67 laterally seals the front and rear positions of the viscous food 11 with respect to the sheet 61 and the sub-sheet 63 along a direction intersecting the flow direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the third conveyer 53 and the fourth conveyer 54 are arranged with a space in front and back in the flow direction, and the vertical connecting portion is provided between the third conveyer 53 and the fourth conveyer 54. 66 is arranged.
As shown in detail in FIGS. 1, 8B and 10A, the vertical connecting portion 66 includes a lower roller 66a arranged below the sheet 61 and an upper roller arranged above the sub-sheet 63. 66b.

The lower roller 66a is rotated by being supplied with power from a power source such as an electric motor.
As shown in FIG. 10A, the lower roller 66a has a plurality of metal projections 66c on its surface. In this example, the lower roller 66a is a metal mold roller whose outer peripheral surface is diamond-cut. In the diamond cutting process here, by providing a plurality of parallel circumferential grooves extending in the circumferential direction of the lower roller 66a and a plurality of lateral grooves intersecting with the grooves, both the circumferential direction and the lateral direction are formed. This is a process for dividing the surface of the lower roller 66a into a plurality of rectangular regions by the groove. Each of the rectangular regions projects as a protrusion 66c in the radial outward direction of the lower roller 66a relative to the groove. The groove is a space having a V-shaped cross section, and each of the protrusions 66c is a quadrangular pyramid or a truncated quadrangular pyramid provided with the rectangular top portion.
Although not shown, in addition to this, the diamond cutting process is performed by forming a plurality of parallel grooves extending obliquely with respect to the circumferential direction of the lower roller 66a and a plurality of grooves intersecting with the grooves so that the lower roller 66a has a lower groove. The surface of the roller 66a may be divided into a plurality of rhombic regions. Strictly speaking, extending obliquely with respect to the circumferential direction of the lower roller 66a means extending obliquely in a state where the outer peripheral surface of the lower roller 66a is developed into a plane, and the outer periphery of the cylindrical lower roller 66a. This means that the surface extends spirally around the axis of the lower roller 66a. In this case, each of the rhombic regions projects as a protrusion 66c in the radial outward direction of the lower roller 66a relative to the groove, and the groove is a space having a V-shaped cross section. Each of the protrusions 66c is a quadrangular pyramid or a truncated quadrangular pyramid having the above-mentioned diamond-shaped top.
In the example shown in FIG. 10(A), the diamond cutting process is applied to the entire outer peripheral surface of the lower roller 66a, but only in the outer peripheral surface of the lower roller 66a, which is in contact with the outer peripheral surface of the upper roller 66b. It may be subjected to diamond cutting.

As shown in FIG. 10A, the upper rollers 66b are a pair of rollers fixed to one shaft, and the axial width of each upper roller 66b is smaller than the axial width of the lower roller.
A space is provided between one upper roller 66b and the other upper roller 66b to allow the viscous food to pass therethrough.
At least the outer peripheral surface of the upper roller 66b is formed of silicon.

The upper roller 66b is arranged close to the lower roller 66a. The sheet 61 and the sub-sheet 63 located to the left and right of the viscous food 11 are passed between the lower roller 66a and the upper roller 66b, and both sheets 61 and 63 are sandwiched between the lower roller 66a and the upper roller 66b. A vertical seal is made (FIG. 8(B)). At this time, the sheets 61 and 63 are fed by the rotation of the lower roller 66a, and pass between the upper roller 66b and the lower roller 66a while the above-mentioned sealing is performed. The upper roller 66b rotates following the movement of the sheets 61 and 63 passing between the upper roller 66b and the lower roller 66a. The left and right of the viscous food 11 are sealed by the above-mentioned seal by the vertical connecting portion 66.
In addition to performing the sealing at room temperature, the mold roller of the vertical connecting portion 66 may be heated to perform the sealing. The heating can be carried out by providing a well-known heating means such as a heating wire that generates heat when energized to the mold roller.

(Horizontal direction connection part 67) As shown in FIG. 1, the 4th conveyor 54 and the 5th conveyor 55 are arrange|positioned at the front-back direction with a space|interval in the said flow direction, and the 4th conveyor 54 and the 5th conveyor are arranged in the flow direction. The lateral connection portion 67 is disposed between 55.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 9(A), the lateral connecting portion 67 includes a receiving portion 67a and a pressing portion 67b.
The receiving portion 67a is arranged below the moving sheets 61 and 63 on the packaging transfer surface. The pressing portion 67b is arranged above both the sheets 61 and 63 moving on the packaging transfer surface.
In this example, the receiving portion 67a is fixed to the cutting device and does not change its position. On the other hand, the lateral direction connecting portion 67 includes an elevating portion (not shown) that supports the pressing portion 67b above the receiving portion 67a with a space therebetween.
The elevating part can move the pressing part 67b up and down to approach and separate from the receiving part 67a.
The elevating part lowers the pressing part 67b and presses the receiving part 67a. Before and after the viscous food 11, that is, between the preceding viscous food 11 and the following viscous food 11, the pressing portion 67b seals by sandwiching the sheets 61 and 63 between the pressing portion 67b and the receiving portion 67a.
The elevating part of the pressing part 67b will be described later in the description of the sheet cutting part 68.

The pressed surface (upper surface) of the receiving portion 67a that is pressed by the pressing portion 67b is a substantially flat surface made of silicon.
On the other hand, a plurality of metallic projections 67d are formed on the pressing surface (lower surface) of the pressing portion 67b that presses against the receiving portion 67a (FIG. 11B). It is preferable that a plurality of quadrangular pyramids or truncated quadrangular pyramids be provided as the protrusions of the pressing portion 67b by diamond cutting, similarly to the surface of the lower roller 66a of the vertical connecting portion 66.
In the lateral direction connecting portion 67, conversely to the above, the surface of the pressing portion 67b (pressing surface) may be silicon, and the surface of the receiving portion 67a (pressed surface) may be provided with the plurality of metal projections. It is conceivable that if the surface of the pressing portion 67b is provided with the plurality of projections made of metal and the surface of the receiving portion 67a is made of silicon, the sheets 61 and 63 are caught by the lateral connecting portion 67 and rolled up. The inventor of the present invention has confirmed that the possibility is low, and thus it is preferable that the surface of the pressing portion 67b is provided with the plurality of metal projections and the surface of the receiving portion 67a is made of silicon. ..
In addition to performing the sealing at room temperature, the horizontal connecting portion 67 may perform sealing by heating the surface of the metallic pressing portion 67b or the surface of the metallic receiving portion 67a shown in FIG. .. The heating can be performed by providing a well-known heating means such as a heating wire that generates heat when energized to the surface of the metal pressing portion 67b or the metal receiving portion 67a.

(Sheet Cutting Section 68) As shown in FIGS. 1, 9A and 11A, the sheet cutting section 68 includes a sheet cutting blade 68a and a receiving blade 68b.
In this example, the sheet cutting section 68 is provided with the pressing section 67b of the lateral connecting section 67, and the packaging section 6 cuts the sheets 61 and 63 in the lateral direction of the sheets 61 and 63. Seal it.
That is, in this example, the elevating part for elevating the sheet cutting blade 68a of the sheet cutting part 68 also serves as the elevating part of the above-mentioned pressing part 67b for elevating the pressing part 67b of the lateral direction connecting part 67, and the sheet cutting blade 68a is It moves up and down together with the pressing portion 67b.
Specifically, the elevating/lowering unit that also serves as the pressing unit 67b includes a rod having the tip (lower end) provided with the sheet cutting blade 68a, and a cylinder that accommodates the base (upper end) side of the rod. By moving the rod up and down by fluid pressure in the cylinder such as air pressure or hydraulic pressure, the sheet cutting blade 68a is moved up and down (not shown). The raising/lowering unit may perform the raising/lowering using a known mechanism such as a link mechanism or another mechanical structure.
As shown in FIG. 9(A), a pair of pressing portions 67b is provided before and after the base of the sheet cutting blade 68a that extends the blade edge in the transverse direction across the flow direction of the packaging transfer surface. A pair of front and rear receiving portions 67a are provided between the 54 and the fifth conveyor 55. A space is provided between both receiving portions 67a, and a blade edge insertion portion 67c that can insert the blade edge of the sheet cutting blade 68a is formed between both receiving portions 67a. The receiving blade 68b is provided in the blade insertion portion 67c. The receiving blade 68b is fixed at a fixed position and does not move. In this example, the receiving blade 68b is attached to one of the front and rear receiving portions 67a.
The blade edge of the sheet cutting blade 68a lowered for the above cutting is inserted into the blade edge insertion portion 67c, and the sheet is sheared between the sheet cutting blade 68a and the receiving blade 68b. In parallel with the shearing, the pressing portion 67b comes into contact with the receiving portion 67a to perform the sealing. Specifically, the upper end of the receiving blade 68b, that is, the blade edge of the receiving blade 68b is arranged below the upper surface of the receiving portion 67a in the blade tip insertion portion 67c. In this example, the height of the blade edge of the receiving blade 68b is substantially constant in the lateral direction of the sheets 61 and 63, that is, the blade crossing direction of the receiving blade 68b. As described above, while the edge of the receiving blade 68b extends substantially horizontally in the lateral direction (lateral width direction), the edge of the sheet cutting blade 68a has a right edge in the lateral direction in order to smoothly perform the shearing. The blade edge extends obliquely so that the height gradually decreases from the left side to the left side or from the left side to the right side (FIG. 11A).
The timing of the depression of the pressing portion 67b and the sheet cutting blade 68a, which are integrated, may be controlled by a timer, but the sensor 64 (packaging sensor 64) arranged on the fourth conveyor 54 causes the viscous food. 11 is sensed, and based on this sensing, the sheet cutting blade 68a cuts.
As described above, the sheet cutting unit 68 is integrated with the lateral connecting unit 68 of the sealing unit 65, and the lateral sealing and the sheet cutting are performed at once, so that the seal is separately cut after the lateral sealing. It is possible to eliminate the need to separately perform the sheet alignment for the lateral sealing and the sheet alignment for the sheet cutting in the transport direction of the feed line, and it is possible to perform the alignment once. Therefore, the device and the process are simplified, and the working time is shortened and the space is saved.

(Cut processing and packaging of viscous food) Each step of the cutting processing step of the viscous food 11 and the packaging step of the viscous food 11 after cutting using the above cutting processing device will be briefly described.
In the above cutting process, the discharging step, the vertical groove forming step, the horizontal groove forming step, and the cutting step are performed.
As shown in FIG. 1A, in this example, the viscous food product 11 manufactured in the discharging step is discharged from the discharging unit 1 onto the first conveyor 51. In the vertical groove forming step in parallel with the discharging step, the vertical groove 22 of the vertical groove processing portion 21 forms the vertical groove 12 in the viscous food 11 simultaneously with the discharging. Next, in the lateral groove forming step, the lateral groove 32 of the lateral groove processing portion 31 forms the lateral groove 14 on the viscous food 11. In the cutting step in parallel with the lateral groove forming step, the viscous food 11 is cut into a predetermined unit size by the cutting blade 38 along with the formation of the lateral groove 14 by the lateral blade 32. In the cutting step, the viscous food 11 is transferred from the first conveyor 51 to the second conveyor 52, which has a higher transfer speed than the first conveyor 51, along with the cutting of the viscous food 11. That is, with the cutting of the viscous food 11, the viscous food 11 is transferred from the first conveyor 51 to the second conveyor 52 having a transfer speed faster than that of the first conveyor 51.

In the packaging process, a sheet arranging step, a vertical direction sealing step, a sheet cutting step, and a horizontal direction sealing step are performed.
In the sheet arranging step, the viscous food 11 is transferred from the second conveyor 52 to the third conveyor 53. That is, the viscous food 11 is transferred from the second conveyor 52 to the third conveyor 53. By transferring the viscous food 11 to the third conveyor 53, the viscous food 11 is sequentially placed on the sheet 61 supplied from the lower sheet supply unit 60a and the sub-sheet 63 supplied upward from the upper sheet supply unit 60b. Go covered with.
Next, in the vertical direction sealing step, the sheets 61 and 63 are passed between the lower roller 66a and the upper roller 66b of the vertical direction connecting portion 66, so that both sheets 61 and 63 are moved in the vertical direction on the left and right of the viscous food 11. Sealed.
Next, in the sheet cutting step, the sheet cutting blade 68a of the sheet cutting unit 68 is swung down to both the sheets 61 and 63 between the preceding viscous food 11 and the subsequent viscous food 11, and both sheets 61 and 63 are cut. To cut back and forth. As the sheet cutting blade 68a is swung down in this sheet cutting step, as a lateral sealing step, the pressing portion 67b descends toward the receiving portion 67a of the lateral connecting portion 67 before and after the sheets 61, 63 to be cut. Both sheets 61 and 63 are sealed.
By the above, the packaging state as shown in FIG. 9(B) is obtained.

(Modification) In the example shown in FIG. 6(A), a screw hole 74 is provided in the cutting blade 38 and a bolt is screwed. Although not shown in the drawings, a hole that penetrates the base portion 38b of the cutting blade 38 in the front and rear direction is provided to allow the tip of the shaft portion of the bolt to project forward of the cutting blade 38 from the hole, and a nut is screwed to the projecting portion. Alternatively, the bolt may not come off from the cutting blade 38. Further, when it is not necessary to replace the cutting blade 38, the bolt may be fixed to the cutting blade 38 by brazing.
In addition to using the screw shaft 71 as the shaft of the bolt, a screw shaft 71 having no head unlike the bolt is adopted, and a nut is screwed to the screw shaft 71 as a substitute for the head of the bolt. The seat surface may be used as the contact portion 73a.

As shown in FIG. 6(B), contrary to the example shown in FIG. 6(A), the fitting portion 71 is a shaft portion that projects forward from the front surface of the cutting blade attachment portion 70, and the fitted portion 72 is fitted. It can be implemented as a through hole that is loosely fitted in the portion 71. Also in the case of FIG. 6B, the shaft portion and the contact portion 73c can be formed by using bolts as shown in the drawing. In order to avoid complexity of the drawing, hatching to be attached to the horizontal blade support member 33 is omitted in FIG. 6(B).
7A and 7B described below including FIG. 6B, the fitting portion has the horizontal blade support member 33 as in the embodiment of FIG. 6A. The member provided on the (cutting blade support member) side does not change, and the fitted portion indicates the member provided on the cutting blade 38 side. That is, in FIG. 6(A), 72 is attached to the shaft portion of the bolt, which is the fitted portion, and 71 is attached to the through hole of the cutting blade attachment portion 70, which is the fitting portion. 7B and FIG. 7A and FIG. 7B, a bolt is provided as a configuration on the side of the horizontal blade support member 33 (cutting blade support member), and a through hole for passing the bolt is provided on the side of the cutting blade 38. Therefore, 71 is attached to the shaft portion of the bolt, and 72 is attached to the through hole of the cutting blade 38.
As shown in FIG. 7A, the mounting plate 38c may be fixed to the base 38b side of the cutting blade 38 integrally with the cutting blade 38. As shown in the figure, the mounting plate 38c extends horizontally along the upper surface of the cutting blade mounting portion 70 from the base 38b side of the cutting blade 38 toward the rear. A through hole that vertically penetrates the mounting plate 8c as the fitted portion 72, and a shaft portion that protrudes upward is provided on the upper surface of the cutting blade mounting portion 70 as the fitting portion 71 so that the fitted portion 72 is It is loosely fitted in the fitting portion 71. The attachment plate 38c may be fixed to the cutting blade 38 by a known fixing means such as brazing. Also in the case shown in FIG. 7A, the shaft portion and the contact portion 73a can be formed by using a bolt.

Although not shown, the mounting plate 38c can be fixed to the cutting blade mounting portion 70 by a known fixing means such as brazing. In this case, a through hole that penetrates the front part 71 in the front-rear direction is provided as a fitted part 72 in the front part 38d arranged in front of the cutting blade 38 of FIG. 7A, and the base part 38b side of the cutting blade 38 is formed in the front-rear direction. Make a through hole. A screw hole provided with a female screw is provided at a position corresponding to the hole on the front surface of the cutting blade mounting portion 70, and a bolt having a smaller shaft diameter than the hole is passed through the through hole and the hole from the front of the front portion 38d. The shaft of the bolt as the fitting portion 71 can be screwed into the screw hole.
In the above description, the gap may be ensured by making the front and rear thickness of the cutting blade 38 on the base portion 38b side smaller than the distance between the front portion 38d of the mounting plate 38c and the cutting blade mounting portion 70.
In the example shown in FIG. 7(A), due to the difference in diameter between the fitting portion 71 and the fitted portion 72, not only the fitting portion 71 and the fitted portion 72 are loosely fitted but also the margin in the claims. Is also secured.

As shown in FIG. 7(B), the mounting plate 38c is formed as a pair of ear pieces projecting rearward from the left and right ends of the rear surface of the cutting blade 38, and the mounting plate 38c is penetrated through the mounting plate 38c left and right. The hole may be formed as the fitted portion 72. In this case, a screw hole 74 having a female screw is provided on the left and right side surfaces of the cutting blade mounting portion 70, and the bolt having the shaft portion that serves as the fitting portion 71 and the head portion that provides the contact portion 73a is fitted into the bolt. Alternatively, the bolt 72 may be loosely fitted and the tip side of the bolt may be screwed into the screw hole 74.
6B and 7A and 7B, the elastic member 75 shown in the example of FIG. 6A is not provided. However, also in the modified examples of FIGS. 6B and 7A and 7B, the elastic member 75 similar to that of FIG. It can also be implemented as provided. Also, in the embodiment of FIG. 6A, if the cutting blade 38 can be appropriately swung by setting the dimensions of the fitting portion, the fitted portion, etc., the elastic member 75 is not provided. it can.
Also in the example shown in FIG. 7B, not only the loose fitting of the fitting portion 71 and the fitted portion 72 but also the margin referred to in the claims are caused by the diameter difference between the fitting portion 71 and the fitted portion 72. To secure.
Matters not particularly mentioned in the modified examples of FIGS. 6B and 7A and 7B are the same as those of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 and 6A.

In each of the embodiments shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the shaft portion that is the fitted portion 71 or the fitted portion 72 is not limited to the screw shaft 71. For example, instead of the bolt, a pin having no male screw on the shaft portion and having a head portion having a diameter larger than that of the shaft portion can be adopted. The shaft portion of the pin is the fitted portion 72, and the head seat surface of the pin is the contact portion. The pin may be fixed to the base 38b side of the cutting blade 38 by brazing, press fitting into the receiving hole, or other known fixing means.

The protrusion 66c of the lower roller 66a in the vertical connection portion 66 of the seal portion 6 is not limited to the shape shown in FIG. 10A, that is, the one formed by diamond cutting. It suffices for the projection 66c to be able to properly seal or seal the sheets 61 and 63 by sandwiching the sheets 61 and 63 between the lower roller 66a and the upper roller 66b and passing them. In addition to the truncated pyramid and the truncated cone other than the above-mentioned quadrangular truncated pyramid, the truncated pyramid and the cone may be used, or another shape may be adopted. The same change as the above-mentioned change of the protrusion 66c of the lower roller 66a may be performed at the pressing portion 67b of the lateral connecting portion 67.
In the example shown in FIG. 10B, the projections 66c are pyramid-shaped, that is, quadrangular pyramids, and the projections 66c are arranged along the circumferential direction and the axial direction of the lower roller 66a. Further, in the example shown in FIG. 10B, the outer peripheral surface of the upper roller 66b is made of silicon.
With respect to the upper roller 66b as well, if the sheets 61 and 63 can be appropriately sealed or sealed by sandwiching and passing the sheets 61 and 63 between the lower roller 66a and the upper roller 66b, urethane other than silicone can be used. Alternatively, another elastic material, that is, an elastic member can be used. Incidentally, the elastic member mentioned here has a property of being dented by receiving a force and being restored to the original shape by being released from the force. Further, the same change as the above change in the material of the upper roller 66b may be performed in the receiving portion 67a of the lateral connecting portion 67.

As described above, in the lateral connecting portion 67 of the seal portion 6, the projection of the receiving portion 67a is not limited to the one formed by diamond cutting like the vertical connecting portion 66 and the projection 66c of the lower roller 66a. Further, as long as lateral sealing can be appropriately performed, the projection of the receiving portion 67a may have a shape different from that of the projection 66c of the lower roller 66a shown in FIGS.

In the illustrated embodiment, the elevating part of the sheet cutting blade that elevates and lowers the sheet cutting blade 68a of the sheet cutting part 68 also serves as the elevating part of the pressing part that elevates the pressing part 67b of the lateral connection part 67, and the above-mentioned seal. The section 65 and the sheet cutting section 68 are configured to perform the lateral sealing of the sheets 61 and 63 and the cutting of the sheets 61 and 63 at a time. In addition, the elevating part of the pressing part is configured separately from the elevating part of the sheet cutting blade 68a, and separately performs the lateral sealing of the sheets 61 and 63 and the cutting of the sheets 61 and 63 as different steps. May be
When the above-mentioned sealing and sheet cutting are performed separately, a sheet cutting section 68 is provided separately from the lateral connecting section 67, and the lateral sealing position is cut after the lateral sealing by the lateral connecting device 67. Can be For example, a sub-sealing mechanism shown in FIG. 10 of Japanese Patent No. 471058 (Patent Document 4) can be adopted as the lateral connecting device 67.

In the vertical direction connecting portion 66, the lower roller 66a is a mold roller and the upper roller 66b is a pair of silicon rollers, but the lower roller 66a is one silicon roller and the upper roller 66b is a pair of mold rollers. May be.
Further, regarding the sealing method and the specific structure of the vertical direction connecting portion 66 and the horizontal direction connecting portion 67 by the protrusion, it is preferable to use the one described in Patent Document 4, but other methods such as heat sealing and adhesives are used. Sealing means can also be used.

In the above embodiment, the sub-sheet 63, which is separate from the sheet 61, is used to seal the four sides for packaging. Alternatively, the viscous food 11 may be broadcast by rotating a part of the sheet 61 laid under the viscous food 11 upward and bending one sheet to seal the three sides.
When the above three sides are to be sealed, instead of the upper sheet supply unit 60b and the sub-sheet 63, the lifting member of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2013-179886 (Patent Document 2) is used to fix the front end side of the sheet 61. It can also be carried out by lifting and covering the upper surface of the viscous food 11 by overlapping with the sheet 61 (paragraph number 0037 and FIG. 5 of Patent Document 2).

Further, although the vertical groove 12 and the horizontal groove 14 are formed in the viscous food 11 in the above-described embodiment, the vertical groove 12 or the horizontal groove 14 may be provided alone. It can also be implemented without providing any of the fourteen.
When only the horizontal groove 14 is not provided or when both the vertical groove 12 and the horizontal groove 14 are not provided, the above-mentioned horizontal blade support member 33 may be formed as a cutting blade support member that is not provided with the horizontal blade 14.
Further, when the lateral groove 14 is provided in the viscous food 11, the forming of the lateral groove 14 is performed by providing the cutting blade supporting member having the cutting blade 38 and the elevating device separately from the lateral blade supporting member 33 having the lateral blade 32. It is also possible to cut the viscous food 11 in a separate step.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Discharge part 2 Processing cutting part 5 Transfer part 6 Packaging part 10 Nozzle 11 Viscous food 12 Vertical groove 13 Vertical connection part 14 Horizontal groove 15 Horizontal connection part 21 Vertical groove processing part 22 Vertical blade 23 Vertical blade support member 31 Horizontal groove processing part 32 Horizontal Blade 33 Horizontal blade support member 37 Elevating device 38 Cutting blade 39 Processing sensor 40 Disinfection nozzle 51 First conveyor 52 Second conveyor 53 Third conveyor 54 Fourth conveyor 55 Fifth conveyor 60 Sheet arranging section 60a Lower sheet supplying section 60b Upper sheet supply section 60c Guide section 61 Sheet 62 Roll 63 Sub sheet 64 Packaging sensor
65 seal part 66 vertical direction connection part 66a lower roller 66b upper roller 66c protrusion 67 lateral direction connection part 67a receiving part 67b pressing part 67c cutting edge insertion part 68 sheet cutting part 68a sheet cutting blade 70 cutting blade mounting part 71 fitting part 72 covered Fitting part 73 Abutment part

Claims (7)

A viscous food product is cut back and forth by swinging down a cutting blade from above for a viscous food product that is discharged in a strip shape onto a transfer surface. It is to transfer viscous food to another transfer surface with high speed,
A cutting blade support member that supports the cutting blade, and an elevating device for the cutting blade support member,
By lowering the cutting blade support member by the lifting device, the cutting blade can be swung down,
The cutting processing device for viscous foods, wherein the cutting blades are attached to the cutting blade support member with a degree of freedom that allows the blade tip to swing along the discharge direction of the viscous foods at least in the swinging down. The cutting blade support member includes the cutting blade only at one location in the discharge direction,
The elevating device is for lowering the cutting blade of the cutting blade supporting member so as to intersect the discharge direction of the viscous food,
The blade support member includes a fitting portion,
The base side of the cutting blade includes a fitted portion that is fitted to the fitting portion,
By virtue of the fact that the fitted portion is loosely fitted to the fitting portion and the cutting device has a margin for displacing the cutting blade with respect to the blade supporting member along the ejection direction of the viscous food, The cutting apparatus for viscous foods according to claim 1, wherein the cutting edge side of the cutting blade can be swung about the base side of the cutting blade in the food discharge direction. The fitted portion is a shaft portion projecting from the base side of the cutting blade and having the discharge direction of the viscous food as the axial direction,
The blade support member includes a cutting blade mounting portion that can follow the base side of the cutting blade,
The fitting portion is a through hole that penetrates the cutting blade attachment portion in the front-rear direction and allows the fitted portion to pass,
The tip end side of the fitted portion passed through the fitting portion projects from the fitting portion,
An abutting portion that prevents the fitted portion from falling off the fitting portion is attached to the tip end side of the fitted portion protruding from the fitting portion,
By making the inner diameter of the fitting portion larger than the outer diameter of the fitted portion, the loose fitting is performed,
The distance between the contact portion and the base side of the cutting blade is set to be larger than the front and rear thickness of the cutting blade mounting portion, and the cutting blade mounting portion and the contact due to the difference between the spacing and the thickness. The cutting and processing apparatus for viscous food according to claim 2, wherein a gap between the viscous food and the portion is the margin. The cutting blade supporting member is a horizontal blade supporting member, and the horizontal blade supporting member is provided with a lateral groove processing portion in which a plurality of horizontal blades are arranged in the longitudinal direction together with the cutting blade.
Each of the horizontal blades, with respect to the discharge direction, the cutting blades are arranged at the back of the cutting blades at a sequential interval with the cutting blades at the top,
The elevating device elevates and lowers the horizontal blade support member,
In the lateral groove processing portion, when the lateral blade support member is moved by the elevating device to form a lateral groove by the lateral blade on the upper portion of the viscous food, a gap is formed between the lower end of the lateral blade and the lower surface of the viscous food. By forming the, the connecting portion is formed between the lateral groove and the lower surface of the viscous food,
Thereby, a plurality of lateral grooves are formed in the upper portion of the viscous food, and the viscous food can be produced in which the notch is not formed in the bottom of the viscous food and which is connected to one piece,
The cutting processing device for viscous food according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the cutting blade projects downward more than the horizontal blade. Equipped with a vertical groove processing part in which multiple vertical blades are arranged in the width direction,
The horizontal groove processing portion is arranged in front of the vertical groove processing portion,
In the flute processing portion, the vertical blade is arranged above the viscous food, and a gap is formed between the lower end of the vertical blade and the lower surface of the viscous food, so that the upper part of the viscous food is Along with the flutes formed by the vertical blades, a connecting portion formed by the viscous food is formed between the flutes and the lower surface of the viscous food.
The horizontal groove processing portion and the vertical groove processing portion form a lattice-shaped vertical and horizontal groove in the upper portion of the viscous food, and the viscous food is not cut at the bottom of the viscous food and is connected to one piece of viscous food. The cutting and processing apparatus for viscous foods according to claim 4, which is capable of manufacturing the. In front of the other transfer surface, a transfer surface for packaging for packaging the viscous food after cutting by the cutting blade, a sheet disposing portion, a seal portion, and a sheet cutting portion,
A sheet is placed on the transfer surface for packaging and transferred, and the viscous food is placed on the sheet by transfer of the viscous food from the other transfer surface to the transfer surface for packaging, and the sheet is , Films such as plastic sheets,
The sheet placement unit is a part of the sheet on which the viscous food is placed or a sheet separate from the sheet, and is to place the viscous food on the placed,
The seal portion is for sealing the upper and lower sheets at least before and after the viscous food on the transfer surface for packaging,
The sheet cutting unit includes a sheet cutting blade that cuts a sheet, and an elevating unit that swings down the sheet cutting blade, and cuts the sheet back and forth between the viscous foods,
The seal portion, for the viscous food in which the sheets are arranged above and below in the sheet arrangement portion, a receiving portion, and a pressing portion that is pressed against the receiving portion from a position apart from the receiving portion to perform the sealing. Equipped with
The surface of the receiving portion is formed of an elastic member such as silicon, the surface of the pressing portion is provided with a plurality of metal projections for performing the sealing,
The pressing portion is provided before and after the sheet cutting blade included in the sheet cutting portion, and is swung down toward the sheet together with the sheet cutting blade in the elevating portion,
The seal portion, on the side of the receiving portion, includes a blade tip insertion portion through which the blade tip of the sheet cutting blade is passed,
The sheet cutting unit includes a receiving blade that receives the sheet cutting blade into the blade tip insertion unit and shears the sheet,
6. The pressing portion is brought into contact with the receiving portion to perform the sealing as the blade edge of the sheet cutting blade is inserted into the blade edge insertion portion and the shearing is performed. Viscous food cutting equipment. A viscous food product is cut back and forth by swinging down a cutting blade from above for a viscous food product that is discharged in a strip shape onto a transfer surface. It is to transfer viscous food to another transfer surface with high speed,
Using a cutting blade support member that supports the cutting blade, and an elevating device of the blade support member,
The cutting blade is attached to the cutting blade support member with at least the freedom to swing the blade edge along the discharge direction of the viscous food at the time of swinging down,
A method of cutting a viscous food, wherein the cutting blade supporting member is lowered by the lifting device to swing down the cutting blade to perform the cutting.

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