JP6726051B2 - Rice ball manufacturing method and its manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a rice ball manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus for forming rice balls that have a plump and pleasant texture without pressing and hardening the rice when molding the rice wrapped with the ingredients, for example.

As a rice ball making machine, one half block and the other half block of the two-fold rice cooker sandwiching the ingredients are continuous through the folded part where the cooked rice is bound together. It is known to mold onigiri rice balls. The rice ball making machine is a two-plate method in which ingredients are folded into a plate-shaped cooked rice lump, and the ingredients are placed on a plate-shaped cooked rice lump, and the plate-shaped cooked rice lump is folded in two. It is equipped with a cooked rice folding device that encloses the ingredients in cooked rice and a molding device that inserts the folded cooked rice mass into a molding frame to mold it into a predetermined shape (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

2. Description of the Related Art As a rice ball manufacturing apparatus, there is known a rice ball manufacturing apparatus configured such that a pressing portion on the surface of a cooked rice block having a predetermined shape is pressed while being pressed and the pressing portion is displaced a plurality of times during press shaping. The rice ball manufacturing apparatus includes a fixed-quantity rice-rice conveying unit, a template on which a partial contour of a rice ball is formed, and a pressing plate that is arranged to move forward and backward at a position opposite to the template, and a developed shape simulating the developed shape of a rice ball. A rice ball type expansion forming unit that forms a cooked rice lump, an expansion shape cooked rice formed by the rice ball type expansion molding unit, and an expansion shape cooked rice formed by the rice ball type expansion molding unit A fold forming part for folding both side mold parts on both sides of the central forming part of the lump into the central forming part to form a folded rice lump of a predetermined shape, and a folded rice rice lump of a predetermined shape folded and formed a predetermined number of times. It has a rolling pressing portion that presses the surface while rolling and shapes it into a rice ball shape (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

As a rice ball forming device, there is known one that forms a fluffy rice ball from a sheet of cooked rice. The rice ball forming device is a three-plate type in which ingredients are folded into sheet-like cooked rice, and the plates are bent to fold both sides of the sheet-like cooked rice to wrap the ingredients in the sheet-like cooked rice. The folding plate to be folded and formed, the folding port closing device that closes both ends of the folding plate, and the reciprocating movement between the cooked rice transport mechanism and the folding plate, hold the sheet-shaped cooked rice inside the frame and move it to the folding plate side. At the same time as mounting, a pushing die attached to the outside of the frame is provided with a substantially U-shaped folding insertion frame that allows the sheet-shaped cooked rice to be inserted into the rice ball forming hole of the forming table. (For example, refer to Patent Document 3).

Further, as a rice ball forming apparatus, there is known an apparatus for forming rice balls from a rectangular sheet of cooked rice. The rice ball forming device includes a conveyor for conveying cooked rice in a rectangular sheet, a folding plate unit for folding both sides of the cooked rice in a rectangular sheet conveyed to the conveyor so as to form a mating portion. A forming table which is a rotating body having a forming hole into which the cooked rice folded by the folding plate unit is inserted from the upper side to the lower side, and the cooked rice is folded with the folding plate unit facing upward. It has an insertion unit that is inserted into the forming hole, a compression mold that vertically compresses the cooked rice that is inserted into the forming hole to form a rice ball, and a take-out mold that takes out the formed rice ball from the forming hole ( See, for example, Patent Document 4).

Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2009-89619. JP, 2016-7174, A. JP, 2011-62106, A. JP 2012-217417 A.

However, in the conventional rice ball manufacturing apparatus, when the ingredients are folded into the plate-shaped cooked rice lump, the ingredients are placed on one half-lump of the plate-shaped cooked rice lump and the other half-lump is bent. Since the ingredients are contained in the plate-shaped cooked rice lump, the cooked rice in the bent portion is pressed, and the fluffiness of the cooked rice is impaired. In addition, some consumers who value the texture of rice balls want the ingredients to be evenly distributed in the rice balls, and when the ingredients get into the mouth from the first mouth. The texture is more satisfied, but the ingredients are not evenly distributed in the rice balls, and if the rice balls are skewed, the ingredients will not get into the mouth from the first eye, or the ingredients will stick out or ooze out of the rice balls. However, not only the texture but also the quality of the rice ball deteriorates and becomes a problem.

Therefore, the applicant newly made a detailed analysis of the behavior of a person who holds a rice ball with a rice ball making device, and after putting a predetermined ingredient on the cooked rice, wrap the ingredient in cooked rice. As described above, regarding the movement when the cooked rice is folded and the movement of the molding die when the cooked rice is molded into a predetermined shape to mold a rice ball, it is possible to make it feel like handmade by making it as close as possible to the movement of a human hand. We developed an apparatus for manufacturing rice balls and applied for a patent first (see Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-083983). The rice ball manufacturing apparatus is such that the ingredients placed on the sheet-like cooked rice that is uniformly disassembled do not move while maintaining the placement position, and the ingredients are evenly folded inside the rice ball. When the rice ball ingredients are folded, the thickness of the bent portion of the rice ball is maintained as it is, and the folded rice sheet does not press the folded portion locally, and it is as if a person grasped it by hand. It can be folded into a fluffy rice ball with the material evenly filled. However, in the above-mentioned rice ball manufacturing apparatus, when the ingredients are placed on the sheet-shaped cooked rice and the sheet-shaped cooked rice is bent, the mating surface when bent to the outer surface of the rice ball is too conspicuous, and the appearance becomes unfavorable. there were.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems, and to further develop the forming apparatus in the rice ball manufacturing apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-083983, which is used in stores such as convenience stores and supermarkets. For rice balls with ingredients such as dried plums, salmon, kelp, and bonito flakes sold on the market, the ingredients placed on the sheet-shaped cooked rice are placed on the sheet-shaped cooked rice that is disintegrated uniformly during molding The material does not move while maintaining the resting position, in other words, there is no misalignment of the ingredients, and the ingredients of the rice ball make the rice balls that can be eaten together from the beginning, In addition, when the ingredients of the rice ball are folded, the thickness of the bent portion of the rice ball is maintained as it is, and the sheet-shaped cooked rice is not pressed locally by the folding, and the sheet-shaped cooked rice is folded to fold the ingredients. In particular, the rice ball made in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-083983 is further formed by using two types of finishing forming devices so that the mating surface of the cooked rice, which is generated when the ingredients are folded into the sheet-like cooked rice, is not conspicuous, Ingredients fold rice to form rice balls with a mating surface that is not conspicuous and has a beautiful texture, and the rice balls can be formed into a desired shape with a desired shape, and the rice balls can be stabilized. It is an object of the present invention to provide a rice ball manufacturing method and a rice ball manufacturing method, which enable high-efficiency manufacturing, mass production, and cost reduction of rice ball manufacturing.

According to the present invention, the cooked rice fed from the cooked rice supply unit is sequentially supplied as a predetermined amount of sheet rice for one rice ball on a conveyor, and the prescribed ingredients are placed on the sheet cooked rice on the conveyor to form the sheet. In a rice ball manufacturing method, which comprises wrapping it in cooked rice to form cooked rice with ingredients and molding the cooked rice with ingredients into a predetermined shape and sending it out,
The ingredient-cooked cooked rice is moved to the primary molding unit, and the ingredient-cooked cooked rice is sandwiched between the molding front die and the molding rear surface die. The primary forming rice ball is formed by contacting the upper mold with the upper surface of the ingredient-folded cooked rice to form a primary forming rice ball, and then moving the primary forming rice ball to a secondary forming unit to remove the primary forming rice ball. The sheet-shaped cooked rice is fed into the molding hole of the secondary molding box, pressed by the receiving mold and the pressing mold to spread the primary molding rice ball in the molding hole, and the sheet-shaped cooked rice produced when the cooked rice is folded. The present invention relates to a rice ball manufacturing method characterized by finishing a rice ball without a surface.

Further, in the primary molding unit, the ingredient-folded cooked rice is abutted and sandwiched by a pair of the molding side molds, and is pressed by the molding upper mold to mold the primary molding rice ball. Further, in the secondary forming unit, the primary forming rice ball is sent to the receiving die that has risen to the upper surface of the forming hole of the secondary forming box, and the pressing die descends to reach the upper surface of the primary forming rice ball. The receiving die is moved down synchronously, and the primary forming rice ball is pushed and expanded by the receiving die and the pressing die in the forming hole to eliminate the folding surface existing in the ingredient-folded cooked rice. Is.

Further, the present invention distributes the cooked rice fed from the cooked rice supplying section to the main cooked rice supplying section and the supplemented cooked rice supplying section by the cooked rice distributing section, and solves a predetermined amount of cooked rice into one sheet of cooked rice. Sheet-like cooked rice production apparatus for sequentially supplying the sheet-like cooked rice to a conveyor, a topping station for placing a predetermined ingredient on the sheet-like cooked rice sent from the sheet-like cooked rice to make a sheet-like cooked rice, and the topping station A unit for wrapping the ingredient in the sheet-shaped cooked rice on which the ingredient is placed and shaping the ingredient-cooked cooked rice, and a molding device for shaping the ingredient-cooked cooked rice into a predetermined shape; In a rice ball manufacturing device consisting of a carry-out conveyor that sends out rice balls molded by the device,
The molding device is a pair of molding side molds formed by abutting both sides of the ingredient-folded cooked rice in a state where the ingredient-folded cooked rice fed from the folding unit is sandwiched by a molding front die and a molding rear surface die. A primary molding unit for molding the ingredient-folded cooked rice into a primary-molded rice ball, and the primary-molding. A secondary forming box having a forming hole for receiving the primary forming rice ball sent from the unit, a receiving die for supporting the primary forming rice ball in the forming hole, and a receiving die that moves in association with the receiving die A rice ball manufacturing method characterized in that it comprises a secondary molding unit that has a pressing die that presses and spreads the primary molded rice ball supported by Regarding the device.

In this rice ball manufacturing apparatus, the size of the rice ball forming hole formed in the secondary forming box of the secondary forming unit is formed to be larger than the size of the primary forming rice ball formed by the primary forming unit. Is what

The folding unit receives the sheet-shaped cooked rice on which the ingredients conveyed by the supply conveyor are placed, and bends the ingredients at right angles to the receiving plate to place the ingredients. And a folding plate that bends the ingredient-free portion on which the ingredient is not placed on the sheet-shaped cooked rice at a right angle to the ingredient placement portion, and a bent plate that is interlocked with the folding plate at a right angle The sheet-shaped cooked rice at the tip portion of the ingredient-free portion is composed of a folding plate that is placed on the ingredient-placing portion.

Further, in the topping station, the ingredient-loaded sheet-shaped cooked rice in which the ingredient is placed on one side of the sheet-shaped cooked rice on the conveyor is formed.

Since this rice ball manufacturing method and its manufacturing apparatus are configured as described above, the plate of the folding forming tool bends the portion of the sheet-shaped cooked rice on which the ingredients are not placed at a right angle, and also the folding plate. Is bent at a right angle, the tip side of the ingredient-free portion is further bent at about 90° and folded on the ingredient-placing portion, so that the thickness of the bent portion of the sheet-shaped cooked rice is folded. It can be secured by a plate, and the sheet-shaped cooked rice in the bent portion becomes fluffy without being pressed by folding, and the sheet-shaped cooked rice at the tip is piled up on the ingredient placement part to make it plump. It can be formed into a hand-made texture, and the ingredients in the rice ball do not slip in and slip off, and the ingredients do not stick out, and the ingredients are evenly distributed in the sheet rice. Enter the rice ball and the ingredients will go into the mouth with the cooked rice from the first mouth of the rice ball, and the satisfaction of the texture will be improved. In particular, after folding the sheet rice, the ingredients will be folded into the rice ball. The streak, which is the mating surface, can be made invisible by the finishing molding device including the first molding unit and the second molding unit, and an extremely nice-looking rice ball can be produced. Specifically, the finish forming device forms the cooked rice with ingredients in two stages by the first forming unit and then the second forming unit, so that the cooked rice is not crushed and the fluffy texture is maintained. In order to form a good rice ball, the cooked rice cooked into the primary molding unit is located between the front mold and the rear mold. The side surface of the rice ball is smaller and higher than that of the finished rice ball by contacting the rice ball only once to form the side surface of the rice ball so as not to impair the fluffiness, and then contacting the upper mold with the upper surface of the ingredient-containing rice. Form a rice ball for a primary molded product with a high dimension. Then, the rice ball of the primary molded product is fed into the molding hole of the secondary molding box fixed to the pedestal 19, where the rice ball of the primary molded product is supported by the receiving mold located in the molding hole, and then the rice ball Is pressed by interlocking the vertically moving receiving die and push die, and the rice ball of the primary molded product is pushed in the height direction and spreads out to the side, so that the folding surface that was visible on the onigiri disappears. ，Molded onigiri of finished products. Therefore, according to this rice ball manufacturing method and its manufacturing device, the sheet rice cooks the ingredients properly and evenly, and the mating surface of the sheet rice cooked with the rice balls disappears, so that the finished rice ball It doesn't lose its "puffy" texture, and it looks nice onigiri. This rice ball making device is a work in which the prescribed ingredients are simply placed on the fed sheet-like cooked rice at the topping station, which facilitates the task of supplying the ingredients to the sheet-like cooked rice and reduces the burden on the operator. Can be reduced. In addition, when the sheet-shaped cooked rice is formed into a triangular rice ball, the sheet-shaped cooked rice may be formed into a diamond shape, and when the sheet-shaped cooked rice is formed into a round shape or a dondon-like shape, the sheet-shaped cooked rice may be shaped in accordance with the shape. It should be formed.

1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. It is a perspective view which shows the sheet-shaped cooked rice manufacturing apparatus in the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the rice distribution part in the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the main rice supply part in the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows the sheet-shaped cooked rice sending-out mechanism in the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows one Example of the shaping|molding apparatus in the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG. The folding unit in the forming device of the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 1 is shown, (A) shows the state at the time of receiving sheet-shaped cooked rice of three plates, (B) shows the plate-shaped cooked rice in three plates. The state is shown, and (C) is an explanatory view showing a state in which the sheet-shaped cooked rice is folded in three plates. It is a perspective view which shows one Example of the primary shaping|molding unit in the shaping|molding apparatus of the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG. FIG. 9 is a front view showing a step of forming a rice ball with a pair of front and rear molding dies in the primary molding unit of FIG. 8. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process of forming a rice ball with a pair of shaping side die in the primary shaping|molding unit of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process of forming a rice ball with a pair of shaping side die and upper shaping|molding die in the primary shaping|molding unit of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows one Example of the secondary shaping|molding unit in the shaping|molding apparatus of the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 12A and 12B show a process of forming a rice ball by the secondary forming unit of FIG. 12, and FIG. 12A is an explanatory view showing a process of supporting a rice ball sent above a forming hole of a secondary forming box with a die, FIG. Is an explanatory view showing a process in which the receiving die descends in the forming hole and the pressing die presses from the upper surface of the rice ball, and (C) shows that the pressing die separates from the rice ball and the receiving die rises in the forming hole. It is explanatory drawing which shows the process of pressing and finishing the rice ball on the upper surface of the secondary molding box. It is a perspective view which shows another Example of the primary shaping|molding unit in the shaping|molding apparatus of the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG. It is a perspective view which shows another Example of the secondary shaping|molding unit in the shaping|molding apparatus of the rice ball manufacturing apparatus of FIG.

Embodiments of a rice ball manufacturing method and a rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the method for producing rice balls according to the present invention, mainly the rice 58 sent from the rice supplying section 2 is sequentially supplied as a predetermined amount of sheet rice 30 for one rice ball onto the measuring conveyor 6 which is a belt conveyor, and then the intermittent conveyor 7 is used. And the sheet-shaped cooked rice supply conveyor 9 are sequentially conveyed, and predetermined ingredients are placed on the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 on the sheet-shaped cooked rice supply conveyor 9 and wrapped in the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 to form the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33, It consists of forming the material-folded cooked rice 33 into a predetermined shape and sending it out. The ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 is moved to the primary molding unit 16, and a pair of molding side molds 47 are respectively formed on both sides of the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33. The primary forming rice ball 52 is moved to the secondary forming unit 20 by abutting the forming upper die 44 on the upper surface of the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 to form the primary forming rice ball 52, and then moving the primary forming rice ball 52 to the secondary forming unit 20. Then, the primary forming rice ball 52 is fed into the secondary forming box 40 having the triangular forming holes 48, and the primary forming rice ball 52 in the rice forming hole 48 is pressed and expanded by the receiving mold 51 and the pressing mold 50, It is characterized in that a rice ball 54 is produced in which the folded mating surface 56 of the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 formed when the cooked rice 33 is folded.

Further, according to this rice ball manufacturing method, in the primary forming unit 16, the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 is abutted and sandwiched by the pair of forming side molds 47 only once and pressed by the upper forming mold 44 to form the primary forming rice ball 52. Is. Further, according to this rice ball manufacturing method, in the secondary molding unit 20, the primary molding rice ball 52 is fed to the receiving mold 51 that has risen to the upper surface of the rice ball molding hole 48 of the secondary molding box 40, and the pressing mold 50 descends to perform the primary molding. Receiving die 51 descends to reach the upper surface of rice ball 52, and primary forming rice ball 52 is expanded by receiving die 51 and pressing die 50 in rice ball forming hole 48 to form rice ball 53 without folding surface 56. Is.

An embodiment of a rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this rice ball making apparatus, generally, the cooked rice 58 sent from the cooked rice lifter 1 to the cooked rice supplying section 2 is sent from the cooked rice supplying section 2 to the cooked rice distributing section 3 through the hopper 24, and the cooked rice distributing section 3 communicates with the main cooked rice supplying section 4. A pedestal 18 that is distributed to the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5 and sequentially supplies a predetermined amount of cooked rice 58 for one rice ball to the conveyors 6 and 7 through the feed rollers 64 of the cooked rice disassembling mechanisms 27 and 27S. The sheet-shaped cooked rice producing apparatus 12 which is a fixed quantity cooked rice producing apparatus installed in the sheet-like cooked rice, and the sheet-like cooked rice 30 placed on the ingredient supply conveyor 8 installed on the gantry 18 fed from the sheet-like cooked rice producing apparatus 12 Topping station 13 on which ingredient 32 is placed to make ingredient-like sheet-like cooked rice 30, and stand 19 for molding ingredient-stuffed sheet-like cooked rice 30 into ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 having a predetermined shape And a unloading conveyor 17 that sends out a rice ball 34 of cooked rice 33.

In the sheet-shaped cooked rice producing apparatus 12, the cooked rice 58 supplied to the cooked rice supply unit 2 fried by the cooked rice lifter 1 is fed by the cooked rice conveyer 23 and is fed by the unwinding blades at the tip. After being unraveled to some extent by the unraveling mechanism 27, it is sent through the hopper to the cooked rice distributing section 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the cooked rice distributing unit 3 has a chute 25 for guiding cooked rice 58, a switching damper 35, and a distributing roller 26 in a space 62 surrounded by a front plate 59, a back plate 60, and a pair of side plates 61. It is installed in. The cooked rice 58 sent to the cooked rice distributing unit 3 is guided by the chute 25 and distributed and supplied to the main cooked rice supply unit 4 and the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5 by the distribution roller 26 and the switching damper 35. As shown in FIG. 4, the main cooked rice supply unit 4 is provided with a pair of feed rollers 64 in a space 66 surrounded by a back plate 63, a front plate, and a pair of side plates 65, and a hopper 36 is arranged below the feed rollers 64. The unwinding roller 37 is provided, and the feeding roller 38 is installed opposite to the unwinding roller 37. A level sensor (first level sensor) is installed at a predetermined position in the space 66 of the main cooked rice supply unit 4, and the level sensor has a function of limiting the amount of cooked rice 58 supplied to the main cooked rice supply unit 4. Have Similarly, the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5 has a hopper disposed below the space surrounded by the back plate, the front plate, and the pair of side plates, and has the same unwinding roller and unwinding mechanism as the main cooked rice supply unit 4. A feed roller is installed facing the roller. A level sensor is installed at a predetermined position in the space of the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5, and the level sensor has a function of limiting the amount of cooked rice 58 supplied to the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5.

Each of the cooked rice 58 of the main cooked rice supply unit 4 and the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5 collects a predetermined amount of cooked rice in the main cooked rice supply unit 4 and the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5, for example, 3 to 4 rice balls. When the conditions are met, operation will start. Further, in the main cooked rice supply unit 4 and the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5, the unwinding mechanism 27 is directly connected to the inlet of each feeding mechanism, so that the cooked rice 58 can be untwisted favorably. The cooked rice 58 distributed to the main cooked rice supply unit 4 is fed to the sheet-shaped cooked rice feeding mechanism 28 while the whole is uniformly broken by the feed roller 38 and the peeling roller 37 of the peeling mechanism 27. Similarly, the cooked rice 58 distributed to the supplemented cooked rice supplying section 5 is supplied to the supplemented cooked rice feeding mechanism 28S while being uniformly unwound by the feeding roller 38 and the unwinding roller 37 of the unwinding mechanism 27. Immediately after the cooked rice 58 has passed through the unwinding mechanism 27, the whole of the cooked rice 58 is unraveled well by the unwinding roller 37, so that the density of the cooked rice 58 becomes constant when passing through the feed roller 38. ing. Therefore, when the cooked rice 58 is cut by the knife 29, the weight of the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 becomes extremely stable and becomes the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30. After weighing the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30, it is possible to instruct the amount of compensation, and the weight of the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 becomes stable. For example, one sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 is set to 95 gr in advance, for example, and the allowable range of weight. Is ±3 gr, the required amount of the sheet-shaped supplemented cooked rice 30S to be supplemented is extremely small, the chance of supplementing the sheet-shaped supplemented cooked rice 30 to the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 is reduced, and the supplementation of the cooked rice 58 can be simplified. it can. The cooked rice 58 supplied to the sheet-like cooked rice feeding mechanism 28 becomes a sheet-like cooked rice 30 by a pair of feed rollers arranged in the preceding stage and a pair of feed rollers arranged in the latter stage below the cooked rice. Sent out. In order to form the cooked cooked rice 58 into the cooked cooked rice 58 having a predetermined thickness, the sheet-shaped cooked rice feeding mechanism 28 has a pair of facing feed rollers arranged in at least two stages, and the distance between the feed rollers is The pre-stage feed roller is set to be larger than the post-stage feed roller, and the cooked cooked rice 58 passing between the feed rollers is successively formed into a thin sheet-like cooked rice 30 having a predetermined thickness. As shown in FIG. 5, the sheet-shaped cooked-rice feeding mechanism 28 has a space 70 surrounded by a back plate 67, a pair of side plates 68, and a front plate (not shown), and the cooked cooked rice from the main cooked rice supply unit 4 is discharged. 58 are supplied.

When a predetermined amount of the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 is fed from the sheet-shaped cooked rice feeding mechanism 28, the knife 29 arranged below the pair of feed rollers 38 is actuated to cut into the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30, and the cut sheet is cut. The cooked rice 30 falls onto the weighing conveyor 6. The sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 dropped on the weighing conveyor 6 is weighed while being conveyed. The sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 moves from the metering conveyor 6 to the intermittent drive conveyor 7, and the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5 is arranged above the intermittent drive conveyor 7 so that the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 has a predetermined amount. If there is a shortage, a command is issued to the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5, and the insufficient amount of cooked rice is activated by the shutter-shaped knife 29S installed below the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5, and The supplemented cooked rice is placed and supplemented on the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 when the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 on the intermittent drive conveyor 7 passes through the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5. At this time, the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 having an allowable weight with respect to a predetermined amount or the over-cut sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 is set to pass through the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5. The supplemented cooked rice uses the unwinding mechanism 27 and the sheet-shaped supplemented cooked-rice feeding mechanism 28S that are configured in the same mechanism as the unwinding mechanism 27 and the sheet-shaped cooked-rice feeding mechanism 28 of the main cooked rice supply unit 4, and uses a knife according to a command. 29S operates and the shortage is cut off from the cooked rice in the supplemented cooked rice supply unit 5 and placed on the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30. Further, the intermittent drive conveyor 7 is provided with a sheet-shaped cooked rice aligning mechanism 22 that aligns the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 while molding. The sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 is formed in the sheet-shaped cooked rice arranging mechanism 22, aligned, and sent to the ingredient supply conveyor 8. In the ingredient supply conveyor 8, a predetermined ingredient 32 is placed on the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30. That is, in this rice ball manufacturing apparatus, the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 adjusted to a predetermined amount is formed, passes through the sheet-shaped cooked rice aligning device 22, and the posture or direction of the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 is one direction. And is sent to the ingredient supply conveyor 8 in the topping space 13. In the topping space 13, various ingredients 32 such as umeboshi, salmon, kelp, and tarako are manually placed on the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 at the placement site. Next, the material 32 is sent to the molding device 14 on which the material 32 is placed.

In the topping station 13, the ingredient 32 is placed on one side of the sheet-like cooked rice 30 on the ingredient supply conveyor 8, for example, about one-third part, to form the ingredient-placed sheet-like cooked rice. The sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 formed by the sheet-shaped cooked rice producing device 12 which is a quantitative cooked rice supply device is formed into a triangular rice ball 34 containing ingredients. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 on which the ingredients 32 on the sheet-shaped cooked rice supply conveyor are placed is sent to the folding unit 11 by the feeder 10. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, the folding plates 42 forming the folding unit 11 are. The folding plate 43 is bent at about 90° with respect to the receiving plate 41, and the folding plate 43 is bent at about 180° with respect to the receiving plate 41 to be parallel to the receiving plate 41 and placed on the folding plate 43. The rhombic sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 can be stacked on the rhombus sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 on which the ingredients 32 placed on the receiving plate 41 are placed.

The rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is, in particular, a primary molding unit 16 in which the molding apparatus 14 creates the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 into the primary molded rice ball 52, and a secondary rice ball 54 in which the folding surface 56 is removed from the primary molded rice ball 52. It is characterized in that it is composed of the molding unit 20. In the folding unit 11, the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 is sent onto the belt conveyor 39 by the feeder 57, the circular table 31 and the feeder 15. As shown in FIG. 8, the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 is fed to the vicinity of the center of the primary molding unit 16 by the belt conveyor 39. As shown in FIG. 8, the primary molding unit 16 was gripped by a pair of molding side molds 47 and a pair of molding side molds 47 that are molded by abutting on both sides of the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 fed in from the folding unit. It has a forming upper die 44 that abuts against the upper surface of the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 to form a shape. As shown in FIGS. 8 to 11, first, the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 is formed by moving the front mold 45 and the rear mold 46 back and forth in an arc shape as shown by an arrow (FIG. 9). Then, a pair of molding side molds 47 abut the left and right sides of the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 only once to form the left and right sides, and then the upper molding die 44 descends and abuts on the upper surface of the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33. The upper part will be molded. As described above, in the primary molding unit 16, the front side mold 45 and the rear mold side 46 of the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 hold the front and rear sides of the cooked rice 33, and the pair of side molds 47 come into small contact with each other. Since it is molded, it is molded to a suitable hardness.

Next, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, the secondary molding unit 20 includes a secondary molding box 40 having a triangular molding hole 48 into which the primary molding rice ball 52 fed from the primary molding unit 16 is inserted, A receiving die 51 that supports the primary forming rice ball 52 in the hole 48, and a pressing die 50 that moves in conjunction with the receiving die 51 and presses the primary forming rice ball 52 supported by the receiving die 51 to expand in the lateral direction. Have When the primary forming rice ball 52 is carried to a predetermined position by the belt conveyor 39, the feeder 21 operates and is fed into the forming hole 48 of the secondary forming box 40. At this time, the receiving mold 51 is elevated to the upper surface of the forming hole 48 so that the primary forming rice ball 52 does not fall into the forming hole 48, and the primary forming rice ball 52 is supported on the receiving mold 51, where The pressing die 50 descends and contacts the upper surface of the primary forming rice ball 52. When the primary molded rice ball 52 is sandwiched between the receiving mold 51 and the pressing mold 50, the primary molded rice ball 52 is appropriately pressed and molded as shown in FIGS. 13(A), (B) and (C). Will be done. That is, the receiving die 51 supporting the primary forming rice ball 52 descends, and the pressing die 50 descends in conjunction with the receiving die 51, so that the side surface of the primary forming rice ball 52 is regulated along the forming hole 48. As shown in FIG. 13(B), the pressing die 50 and the receiving die 51 work together to press the primary forming rice ball 52 without impairing the bulged state of the primary forming rice ball 52 to spread it over the entire forming hole 48. The primary-molded rice ball 52 is molded into a predetermined size and then molded into a finished rice ball 54. Then, as shown in (C) of FIG. 13, the pressing die 50 and the receiving die 51 are moved up in association with each other, the lower surface of the rice ball 54 reaches the upper surface of the secondary molding box 40, and the rice ball 54 becomes the belt conveyor 39. It rises to the same position as the carry-out conveyor 17. At this point, the rice ball 54 is molded into a finished product with the folding surface 56 still remaining on the primary molding rice ball 52 disappearing. Next, the rice ball 54 is sent to the carry-out conveyor 17 by the feeder 21 and carried out. As described above, in the secondary forming unit 20, since the primary forming rice ball 52 is pressed by the pressing die 50 and the receiving die 51 in an interlocking manner while being regulated by the forming holes 48 of the secondary forming box 40. In addition to being molded to a good hardness, the folding surface 56 becomes invisible, and the shape of the triangular apex of the molding hole 48 is finished into a clean shape.

As described above, this rice ball manufacturing apparatus is configured such that the molding apparatus 14 is composed of the primary molding unit 16 and the secondary molding unit 20 in two stages as described above. When front and rear are molded by the molding front mold 45 and the molding rear mold 46, there is an escape area for stress (reaction force) to the left and right, and the pair of molding side molds 47 abut on the ingredient-folding cooked rice 33 in small steps. When the left and right are molded, there is an escape area for stress (reaction force) up and down, and finally the molding upper mold 44 descends and the ingredient-folded cooked rice 33 is pressed to an appropriate degree. It is possible to minimize damage to the ball, and it is possible to make a triangular shaped rice ball 54 with a fluffy texture of the primary molded product. Next, the onigiri 52 is formed by the secondary forming unit 20 such that the triangular vertex portions are formed and the folding surface 56 is invisible so that damage to the onigiri 54, that is, crushing or kneading, is minimized. It is possible to make a finished rice ball 54 by properly molding the rice ball 54 to the top of the rice ball 54.

In this rice ball manufacturing apparatus, the folding unit 11 is composed of a receiving plate 41, a folding plate 42, and a folding plate 43, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-083983. Specifically, the folding unit 11 swings at a right angle to the receiving plate 41 that receives the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 on which the ingredients 32 carried in by the sheet-shaped cooked rice supply conveyor 9 are placed, and the receiving plate 41. And a bending plate 42 for bending the portion 72 of the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 on which the ingredients 32 are not placed on which the ingredients 32 are not placed at a right angle to the ingredient placing portion 71 It is composed of a folding plate 43 for folding the sheet-shaped cooked rice 30 of the tip portion 73 of the ingredient-free portion 72 which is bent at a right angle in cooperation with the plate 42 onto the ingredient-placing portion 71. Specifically, the folding plate 42 has a width set to a size corresponding to the thickness of the completed rice ball 34, and the folding plate 42 can secure the length or thickness of the bent portion of the rice ball 34. It is possible to make a fluffy rice ball 34 without pressing the folded part like a thing.

Next, another embodiment of the rice ball making apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In the second embodiment, the forming hole 48 formed in the secondary forming box 40 disclosed in the first embodiment is triangular, whereas the side die 55 is formed in an arc surface and the secondary forming box 40 is formed. The molding hole 49 formed in the above is formed in a round shape. The second embodiment is the same as the one disclosed in the first embodiment except that the side die 55 has an arc surface and the forming hole 49 has a round shape. , And the description thereof is omitted. Further, in this rice ball manufacturing apparatus, the shape of the rice ball to be produced is determined by the shapes of the side mold 55 and the molding holes formed in the secondary molding box 40, so the side mold of the primary molding unit 16 and the secondary molding unit 20. By changing the shape of the forming hole of, it is possible to make other shapes such as a trapezoid.

This rice ball manufacturing method and its manufacturing apparatus are preferable, for example, when they are applied to commercial rice ball manufacturing apparatuses for mass-producing rice balls by forming the rice balls with ingredients into a fluffy state without hardening. is there.

2 Cooked rice supply section 3 Cooked rice distribution section 4 Main cooked rice supply section 5 Supplemented cooked rice supply section 6 Weighing conveyor 7 Intermittent drive conveyor 8 Ingredient supply conveyor 9 Sheet rice cooked conveyor 11 Folding unit 12 Sheet rice cooker 13 Topping station 14 Molding Equipment 16 Primary forming unit 17 Carry-out conveyor 20 Secondary forming unit 30 Sheet-like cooked rice 32 Ingredients 33 Ingredients Cooked rice 34,54 Rice balls 40 Secondary forming box 41 Receiving plate 42 Bending plate 43 Folding plate 44 Molding upper mold 45 Molding Front mold 46 Rear mold 47 Molding side mold 48,49 Molding hole 50 Push mold 51 Receiving mold 52,53 Onigiri 55 Side mold 56 Folding mating surface 58 Cooked rice 71 Part without material 73 Part without material 73 Tip part

Claims (7)

The cooked rice fed from the cooked rice supply unit is sequentially supplied as a predetermined amount of sheet rice for one rice ball onto a conveyor, and the prescribed ingredients are placed on the sheet rice on the conveyor and wrapped in the sheet rice. In a method for producing a rice ball, which comprises forming an ingredient-folded cooked rice, shaping the ingredient-folded cooked rice into a predetermined shape, and sending it out,
The ingredient-cooked cooked rice is moved to the primary molding unit, and the ingredient-cooked cooked rice is sandwiched between the molding front die and the molding rear surface die. The primary forming rice ball is formed by contacting the upper mold with the upper surface of the ingredient-folded cooked rice to form a primary forming rice ball, and then moving the primary forming rice ball to a secondary forming unit to remove the primary forming rice ball. The sheet-shaped cooked rice is fed into the molding hole of the secondary molding box, pressed by the receiving mold and the pressing mold to spread the primary molding rice ball in the molding hole, and the sheet-shaped cooked rice produced when the cooked rice is folded. A method for producing rice balls, characterized by finishing rice balls without any surface. The said primary molding unit WHEREIN: While the said ingredient folding cooked rice is contact|abutted and pinched by a pair of said molding side molds, it presses by the said molding upper mold|die, and it shape|molds in a primary molding rice ball, The claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Rice ball manufacturing method. In the secondary forming unit, the primary forming rice ball is sent to the receiving die that has risen to the upper surface of the forming hole of the secondary forming box, and the receiving die is reached when the pressing die descends and reaches the upper surface of the primary forming rice ball. The mold descends synchronously, and the primary forming rice ball is pressed and expanded by the receiving mold and the pressing mold in the forming hole to eliminate the folding face existing in the ingredient-folded cooked rice. The method for producing rice balls according to claim 2. The cooked rice sent from the cooked rice supply unit is distributed to the main cooked rice supply unit and the supplemented cooked rice supply unit by the cooked rice distribution unit, and a predetermined amount of cooked rice is solved to form one sheet of cooked rice, which is sequentially supplied onto the conveyor. A sheet-shaped cooked rice producing apparatus, a topping station for placing a predetermined ingredient on the sheet-shaped cooked rice sent from the sheet-shaped cooked rice to make a sheet-shaped cooked rice, and the ingredient from the topping station A folding unit that wraps the ingredients in the placed sheet-like cooked rice to form the ingredient-folded cooked rice, a molding apparatus that molds the ingredient-folded cooked rice into a predetermined shape, and a rice ball molded by the molding apparatus. In a rice ball manufacturing device consisting of a carry-out conveyor that sends out
The molding device is a pair of molding side molds formed by abutting both sides of the ingredient-folded cooked rice in a state where the ingredient-folded cooked rice fed from the folding unit is sandwiched by a molding front die and a molding rear surface die. A primary molding unit for molding the ingredient-folded cooked rice into a primary-molded rice ball, and the primary-molding. A secondary forming box having a forming hole for receiving the primary forming rice ball sent from the unit, a receiving die for supporting the primary forming rice ball in the forming hole, and a receiving die that moves in association with the receiving die A rice ball manufacturing method characterized in that it comprises a secondary molding unit that has a pressing die that presses and spreads the primary molded rice ball supported by apparatus. The size of the rice ball forming hole formed in the secondary forming box of the secondary forming unit is larger than the size of the primary forming rice ball formed by the primary forming unit. Item 4. The rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to item 4. The folding unit includes a receiving plate that receives the sheet-shaped cooked rice on which the ingredients conveyed by the supply conveyor are placed, and the ingredients that are bent at right angles to the receiving plate to place the ingredients. A folding plate that bends a portion of the sheet-shaped cooked rice on which the ingredient is not placed at a right angle with respect to the ingredient placement section, and the ingredient that is bent at a right angle in cooperation with the folding plate The rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 4 or 5, comprising a folding plate for stacking the sheet-shaped cooked rice at the tip portion of the lumberless portion on the ingredient mounting portion. 7. The topping station is formed into an ingredient-placed sheet-shaped cooked rice in which the ingredient is placed on one side of the sheet-shaped cooked rice on the conveyor. The rice ball manufacturing apparatus described in.

Images