JP7226967B2 - Device for cutting out noodle strings, device for producing noodles, and method for producing noodles and instant noodles - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a noodle string cutting device, a noodle manufacturing device including the noodle string cutting device, and a method for manufacturing noodles and instant noodles using the noodle string cutting device.

Machine-made noodles such as Chinese noodles, udon noodles, and pasta are made by kneading the main raw materials such as wheat flour and starch with auxiliary raw materials such as water, salt, and brine (also known as dough). ) is passed through rolling rolls to form a sheet-like coarse noodle strip, two coarse noodle strips are stacked by a multifunction machine, and passed through the next rolling roll to thin to a predetermined thickness. The method includes cutting and separating the strip into a plurality of noodle strings using a noodle band cutting device having a pair of cutting blade rolls having a plurality of annular grooves. The noodle strip is fed between a pair of cutting blade rolls and cut into a plurality of noodle strings by a plurality of annular grooves. After cutting, the noodle strings in the annular grooves are removed from the annular grooves of the respective cutting blade rolls by a scraper having a plurality of protrusions that engage the plurality of annular grooves of the cutting blade rolls. The removed noodle strings form a bundle of noodle strings removed from one (for example, the upper) cutting blade roll and a bundle of noodle strings removed from the other (for example, the lower) cutting blade roll. The noodle strings of the two bundles of noodle strings either drop directly onto a conveyor arranged directly below the noodle band cutting device, or are once received by a guide, crimped in the vertical direction while passing through the guide, and then cut into the guide. It is transferred on the conveyor from the exit. Thereafter, the noodle strings are made into noodle products through processes such as steaming, cutting into serving units, and drying.

When the noodle strings are cut into serving units, if the weight is less than the lower limit of the product specification, the product will be defective, so it is important to match the weight for each serving. For example, if the variation (standard deviation) of the weight is large, it becomes necessary to increase the median value of the product specification in order not to fall below the lower limit of the product specification, which reduces production efficiency and increases the manufacturing cost of noodle products. rises. For this reason, attempts have been made to suppress variations in weight.

Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 48-056876) discloses that "a wire mesh conveyor 6 having a transport speed slower than the cutting speed of the noodle string cutting blade rolls 4, 4 passes through the steaming box 8, A conveyor 10 for drawing out steamed noodle strings is provided following the conveyor 6, and the transport speed of the conveyor 10 is made to substantially match the above-mentioned cutting speed and the speed considering the elongation of the noodle strings 5 due to steaming. A continuous production apparatus for steamed noodles provided with a cutting device 11”.

Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 10-084896) discloses that "When producing bagged instant noodles or raw noodles, noodle strings that have undergone a steaming process are drawn out on a conveyer, and one serving of the drawn out noodle strings is used. The noodle strings are cut one at a time, thrown into the frame of the mold conveyor, loosened and shaped, and compressed air is tilted from a nozzle that rotates or swings diagonally to the left and right when stretching the noodle strings after steaming. A method for loosening the noodle strings by spraying on the noodle strings”.

JP-A-48-056876 JP-A-10-084896

However, when cutting the noodle strings into one serving unit, when the step of stretching the noodle strings as in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 is adopted for the purpose of reducing variations in the amount of one serving unit, Due to the length of the production line, there are restrictions on the layout of the production equipment. In addition, since the surface of the noodle strings that have been gelatinized in the steaming process is sticky, and the noodle strings tend to adhere to each other, a loosening liquid is usually sprayed on the noodle strings immediately before or during the stretching process of the noodle strings. be done. Therefore, from the viewpoint of production efficiency, conventionally, the bundle of noodle strings cut out from the noodle string cutting device is folded in two or stacked in two stages without adopting the stretching process. When the bundle of noodle strings is folded in two or stacked in two layers, there is still a problem that there is a large variation in the weight of the noodle strings because there is no step of stretching the noodle strings.

The present disclosure provides a noodle string cutting device and a noodle manufacturing device capable of suppressing variations in the amount of noodles when cutting the noodle strings into serving units in a method for manufacturing noodles.

The present inventor applies an external force in a predetermined direction to a portion of the noodle strings taken out from the annular groove of the cutting blade roll to change the advancing direction of the noodle strings and/or delay the advancement of the noodle strings. , found that the above problems can be solved, and completed the present invention.

The present invention includes the following embodiments [1] to [8].
[1]
a pair of cutting blade rolls having a plurality of annular grooves arranged in parallel so as to face and engage with each other;
A scraper having a plate-like portion extending along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade roll, and a plurality of protrusions extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the long side of the plate-like portion, wherein the plurality of protrusions are provided. a scraper each configured to engage a corresponding one of the plurality of annular grooves of the blade roll to strip the noodle strings in the plurality of annular grooves from the blade roll;
A comb plate having a plurality of protrusions arranged so as to be aligned with the centers of the plurality of annular grooves along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade roll, wherein the plurality of protrusions correspond to the plurality of protrusions of the cutting blade roll. and arranged so that the noodle strings contact the noodle strings at positions where the noodle strings do not contact the plurality of protrusions of the cutting blade roll and the scraper. A device for cutting out noodle strings, comprising a comb plate.
[2]
The plurality of protrusions of the comb plate apply force to the noodle strings in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the noodle strings separated from the cutting blade roll and the scraper and the width direction of the noodle strings. The noodle string cutting device according to [1], which has a raised shape.
[3]
The comb plate has a plate-like portion extending along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade roll, and a plurality of protrusions extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the long side of the plate-like portion. The device for cutting out noodle strings according to either [1] or [2], wherein the plate-like portion of the comb plate is placed on top of the plate-like portion of the scraper.
[4]
The noodle string cutting device according to any one of [1] to [3], further comprising a guide for receiving the cut out noodle strings.
[5]
An apparatus for producing noodles, including the apparatus for cutting out noodle strings according to any one of [1] to [4].
[6]
A method for producing noodles, comprising cutting a noodle band formed from dough into a plurality of noodle strings using the noodle band cutting device according to any one of [1] to [4].
[7]
The method according to [6], further comprising cutting the plurality of noodle strings that have been cut into one-meal units, and folding the plurality of noodle strings that have been cut into one-meal units or stacking them in two layers. A method for producing noodles.
[8]
Cutting a noodle band formed from dough into a plurality of noodle strings using the noodle band cutting device according to any one of [1] to [4];
steaming the noodle strings to gelatinize them;
cutting the noodle strings into serving units;
A method for producing instant noodles, comprising folding the noodle strings in two or stacking the noodle strings in two layers, and drying the noodle strings.

Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, in a method for producing noodles, it is possible to suppress variation in weight when cutting noodle strings into serving units.

The above description should not be considered to disclose all embodiments of the invention or all advantages associated with the invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the noodle strings cutting device of one embodiment, viewed from the axial direction of the cutting blade roll. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining how a comb plate changes the advancing direction of noodle strings separated from a cutting blade roll. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a comb plate and scraper of one embodiment; FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of the noodle strip cutting device of one embodiment, viewed from the front on the side from which the noodle strips are taken out; FIG. It is a schematic sectional drawing explaining the cutting-out process of the noodle strings using the noodle-string cutting-out apparatus of one Embodiment.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings for the purpose of illustrating representative embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. With respect to drawing reference numbers, like-numbered elements in different drawings indicate similar or corresponding elements.

“Noodles” in the present disclosure includes wheat flour, starch, rice flour, buckwheat flour, bean flour, etc. as main raw materials, is processed into a linear shape, boiled, simmered, fried, poured with hot water, or Means food that can be eaten by cooking, such as heating in a microwave oven. Examples of noodles include udon, kishimen, Chinese noodles, soba, and pasta. Examples of the state of noodles before cooking include raw noodles, dried noodles, steamed noodles, boiled noodles, frozen noodles, and instant noodles.

The term “instant noodles” in the present disclosure refers to raw noodles, steamed noodles, or boiled noodles among noodles that are heat-dried, and the moisture contained in the noodles is reduced to about 2 to 10% by mass in the case of fried tofu drying, and about 2 to 10% by mass in the case of hot air drying. It means a food that can be stored for a long time by removing it to about 6 to 14.5% by mass. "Dried noodles" are noodles that do not include a gelatinization step in the manufacturing process and are dried at room temperature or low temperature for a long time. In the present disclosure, dried noodles are distinguished from and excluded from instant noodles.

The “dough” in the present disclosure means a kneaded product of the main raw material and auxiliary raw materials such as water, salt and brine. A kneader, a planetary mixer, or the like can be used for kneading the main raw material and the auxiliary raw material. The shape of the dough is generally irregular, but it may be formed into a cylindrical shape, a square tube shape, or the like using an extruder or the like after kneading.

The “noodle strip” in the present disclosure means a dough processed into a sheet having a thickness suitable for cutting out noodle strings. As a method of processing, two or three rough noodle strips, which are intermediates formed during rolling, are piled up by a multifunction machine, and then further rolled by the next rolling roll. Another method of processing includes extruding the dough directly into a sheet through an extruder.

“Noodle strings” in the present disclosure mean noodles mechanically cut out from a noodle band by a noodle band cutting device. The cross-sectional shape of the noodle strings may be circular, elliptical, square, rectangular, a combination of some of these shapes, or a shape having an outline formed by a combination of the same shapes with different thicknesses, and the corners thereof are chamfered. may have been

A “bundle of noodle strings” in the present disclosure means a group of a plurality of noodle strings taken out from one cutting blade roll having a plurality of annular grooves arranged in parallel. When a noodle string cutting device having a pair of cutting blade rolls is used, a bundle of noodle strings is taken out from each of the cutting blade rolls. These two bundles of noodle strings are usually piled up and processed in subsequent steps.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view seen from the axial direction of a cutting blade roll of a device for cutting out noodle strings according to one embodiment. The noodle string cutting device 100 includes a pair of cutting blade rolls 10a and 10b having a plurality of annular grooves 12a and 12b arranged in parallel so as to face and engage with each other, and a pair of cutting blade rolls 10a and 10b along the longitudinal direction. scrapers 20a and 20b having plate-shaped portions 24a and 24b extending along the length of the plate-shaped portions 24a and 24b, and a plurality of protrusions 22a and 22b extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the long sides of the plate-shaped portions 24a and 24b, The protrusions 22a and 22b are engaged with corresponding ones of the plurality of annular grooves 12a and 12b of the cutting blade rolls 10a and 10b, respectively, so that the noodle strings in the plurality of annular grooves 12a and 12b are removed from the cutting blade rolls 10a and 10b. Scrapers 20a, 20b configured to peel and a plurality of projections 32a, 32b aligned with the centers of the plurality of annular grooves 12a, 12b along the length of the cutting rolls 10a, 10b. , wherein the plurality of projections 32a, 32b are positioned so that the noodle strings are not in contact with the plurality of projections 22a, 22b of the cutting blade rolls 10a, 10b and the scrapers 20a, 20b. Comb plates 30a, 30b configured to contact the wire. Although not shown in FIG. 1, the plurality of protrusions 32a, 32b of the comb plates 30a, 30b are arranged alternately with respect to the plurality of annular grooves 12a, 12b of the cutting blade rolls 10a, 10b. . In the present disclosure, “arranged so as to be aligned with the center” means a center line passing through the center in the width direction of the annular groove and perpendicular to the width direction, and a center line passing through the center in the width direction of the protrusion of the comb plate and the width thereof It means that the center line perpendicular to the direction is aligned so as to overlap.

In FIG. 1, the plurality of protrusions 32a and 32b of the comb plate are arranged along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade rolls 10a and 10b so as to be aligned with the centers of the plurality of annular grooves 12a and 12b. The projections may be arranged off-center of the annular groove along the length of the cutting roll. The protruding portion of the comb plate may be shifted to the right or left from the center of the annular groove. Each of the plurality of protrusions of the comb plate may be offset from the center of the corresponding annular groove of the plurality of annular grooves to an irregular side, may be offset by an irregular distance, or a combination thereof. may be

The noodle strip cutting device may further include a guide for receiving the cut out noodle strips, if necessary. Guides are sometimes called conduits, guide tubes, or "waveboxes." The cutting blade rolls, scrapers, comb plates, and optional guides may be attached to a frame-shaped housing made of stainless steel, iron, or the like.

As a pair of cutting blade rolls, known rolls used in a device for cutting out noodle strings can be used. The pair of cutting blade rolls has a plurality of annular grooves arranged in parallel so as to face each other and engage with each other. Projections are present between the plurality of annular grooves of the cutting edge roll. Each cutting blade roll is connected to a driving device such as a motor through a gear, and the noodle strip is passed between the pair of cutting blade rolls while rotating the pair of cutting blade rolls in mutually opposite directions, so that the protrusion of one of the cutting blade rolls is formed. The noodle strip is cut into noodle strips by the annular groove of the part and the other cutting edge roll. The noodle strings formed by cutting the noodle strip enter the annular groove of the cutting blade roll.

Stainless steel, iron, or the like can be used as the material of the cutting edge roll.

In one embodiment, the pair of cutting blade rolls are arranged horizontally side by side, and the noodle strings separated by the scraper move (fall) in the vertical direction. In another embodiment, the pair of cutting blade rolls are arranged side by side in a direction forming an angle of more than 0 degrees and 90 degrees or less from the horizontal direction, and the noodle strings separated by the scraper fall while moving obliquely downward. do.

The cross-section of the annular groove may be semi-circular, semi-elliptical, square, rectangular, triangular, or a combination of some of these shapes, or a shape having an outline formed by a combination of identical shapes with different depths of the annular groove. may be chamfered. The protrusions between the annular grooves can be planar, curved, a combination of two or more planar surfaces, or a curved surface and one or more planar surfaces.

In one embodiment, the width of the annular groove is 0.75 mm or greater, 1.0 mm or greater, 1.07 mm or greater, 1.15 mm or greater, 1.25 mm or greater, 1.36 mm or greater, 1.5 mm or greater, or 1.68 mm. Above, it is 3.0 mm or less, 2.5 mm or less, or 2.0 mm or less. For example, the width of the annular groove can be 0.75 mm to 3.0 mm, 1.0 mm to 2.5 mm, or 1.07 mm to 2.0 mm. The present invention is more effective for noodle strings cut out from an annular groove having a width commonly used in the manufacture of such ramen noodles.

A known scraper that is used in a noodle strip cutting device can be used as the scraper. The scraper has a plate-like portion extending along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade roll, and a plurality of protrusions extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the long side of the plate-like portion. Each of the plurality of protrusions engages a corresponding one of the plurality of annular grooves of the cutting blade roll to separate the noodle strings in the plurality of annular grooves from the cutting blade roll. The noodle strings separated from one cutting blade roll form a bundle of noodle strings composed of a group of a plurality of noodle strings arranged along the axial direction of the cutting blade roll, and move vertically or obliquely downward. do. Therefore, two bundles of noodle strings are formed from a pair of cutting blade rolls. A scraper is sometimes called a scraper. In rare cases, the dregs of the noodle strings may remain on the cutting edge roll. In order to remove the dregs of the noodle strings from the cutting blade roll, the scraper may be provided with a plurality of projections that contact one of the projections between the corresponding plurality of annular grooves.

The plate-shaped portion of the scraper functions as a support member that holds the plurality of protrusions at predetermined positions, and can also absorb the stress applied to the plurality of protrusions. The plate-like portion of the scraper can be used to fix the scraper to the housing with bolts or the like.

The multiple projections of the scraper may be straight or may include bends or curves. Corners of the plurality of protrusions may be chamfered.

The scraper can be obtained by making comb-like cuts on one side of a single plate to form a plurality of protrusions. The plate may be bent to have one or more obtuse angles, the portion corresponding to the plurality of protrusions, the portion corresponding to the boundary between the plurality of protrusions and the plate-like portion, or both. may be bent or curved. Brass, phosphor bronze, stainless steel, etc. can be used as the material of the scraper. Brass and phosphor bronze are easy to process, and stainless steel is highly durable.

In FIG. 2, the traveling direction of the noodle strips separated from the cutting blade roll (the direction of the velocity vector of the noodle strips immediately before and after the noodle strips contact the projections of the comb plate) is changed by the comb plate. The schematic sectional drawing explaining a situation is shown. In FIG. 2, the noodle strings 52a in the annular groove 12a of one of the cutting blade rolls 10a are separated from the cutting blade roll by the protrusions 22a of the scraper 20a engaged with the annular groove 12a and moved obliquely downward. The projections 32a of the comb plate 30a contact the noodle strings 52a at positions where the noodle strings 52a do not contact the cutting blade roll 10a and the projections 22a of the scraper 20a. At this time, the noodle strings 52a receive an external force from the protrusions 32a, and the moving direction of the noodle strings 52a separated from the cutting blade roll 10a is changed as indicated by the curved arrow in FIG. .

The direction of travel of all the noodle strings in contact with the protrusions of the comb plate may be changed, or the direction of travel of some of the noodle strings in contact with the protrusions of the comb plate may be changed. The traveling direction of the rest of the noodle strings in contact does not have to be changed. The advancing direction of the noodle strings in contact with the protrusions of the comb plate may be changed in various directions, and is not limited to that indicated by the curved arrows in FIG. 2 .

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the protrusions of the comb plate are neither engaged nor inserted into the annular grooves of the cutting roll. Therefore, the comb plate does not have the function of peeling off the noodle strings in the plurality of annular grooves of the cutting blade roll.

In one embodiment, as shown in a schematic perspective view in FIG. 3 , the comb plate 30 includes a plate-like portion 34 extending along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade roll, and long sides of the plate-like portion 34 . The comb plate 30 has a plurality of projecting portions 32 extending in substantially orthogonal directions. The plate-like portion of the comb plate and the plate-like portion of the scraper may be overlapped, and the comb plate and the scraper may be fixed together to the housing with bolts or the like.

The plurality of protrusions of the comb plate may be straight or may include bends or curves. Corners of the plurality of protrusions may be chamfered.

The comb plate can be obtained by making comb-teeth-like cuts on one side of a single plate to form a plurality of protrusions. The plate may be bent at one or more obtuse angles, and the portion corresponding to the boundary between the plurality of protrusions and the plate-like portion may be bent or curved. Comb plates can also be formed using resin molding techniques such as compression molding, injection molding, and cast molding. Although the comb plate is composed of one piece in FIG. 3, the comb plate may be constructed by stacking two or more members having protrusions.

Materials for the comb plate include, for example, metal materials such as brass, phosphor bronze and stainless steel, rubber such as natural rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber (SBS) and silicone rubber, and thermoplastic resin such as acrylic resin. Brass, phosphor bronze, rubber, and plastic are easy to process, and stainless steel is highly durable. The surfaces of the plurality of protrusions may be plated with nickel or the like or coated with fluororesin or the like.

In one embodiment, the plurality of projections of the comb plate has a raised shape that applies force to the noodle strings in a direction different from the advancing direction of the noodle strings separated from the cutting blade roll and separated from the scraper. Examples of the cross section of the protruding portion along the advancing direction of the noodle strings include a hook-shaped bent shape, a semi-circular or arcuate shape, a triangular shape, a trapezoidal shape, and the like. FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show protrusions 32, 32a, and 32b having hook-shaped cross sections along the advancing direction of the noodle strings.

The width of the plurality of projections of the noodle string orientation changing member may be the same as the width of the annular groove of the cutting edge roll, or may be greater than the width of the annular groove of the cutting edge roll. may be smaller than the width of In one embodiment, the width of the plurality of projections of the noodle string orientation changing member is 50% to 150%, 50% to 120%, or 80% to 100% of the width of the annular groove of the cutting blade roll.

The plurality of protrusions of the comb plate are arranged alternately with respect to the plurality of annular grooves of the cutting edge roll. FIG. 4 shows a schematic plan view of the noodle strip cutting device of one embodiment, viewed from the front on the side from which the noodle strips are taken out. In FIG. 4, a plurality of protrusions 22a, 22b of the scraper are engaged with the plurality of annular grooves 12a, 12b of the cutting edge rolls 10a, 10b, respectively, and the plurality of annular grooves 12a, 12b of the cutting edge rolls 10a, 10b, A plurality of protrusions 32a and 32b of the comb plate are arranged alternately with respect to 12b. In this embodiment, the noodle strings in one bundle of noodle strings come into contact with the projections of the comb plate and change their advancing direction, but the adjacent noodle strings of the same bundle of noodle strings contact the projections of the comb plate. and does not change its direction of travel. As a result, between the noodle strings that are in contact with the projections of the comb plate and the noodle strings that are not in contact, there is a shift in the traveling direction of the noodle strings, or a shift in the crimp period or phase due to the delay in the advancement of the noodle strings. occurs. On the other hand, normal creases are formed in the noodle strings that do not come into contact with the protrusions of the comb plate. Therefore, the noodle strip mass per unit length of the noodle strip bundle is maintained while maintaining the crimped shape by losing the regularity of the movement direction of some of the noodle strips included in one noodle strip bundle or the period or phase of the crimp. can be made more uniform. Generally, in the production of noodle products, in the process of cutting the noodle strings into individual serving units, in consideration of manufacturing errors, etc., the mass of the noodle strings should not fall below the serving size. The noodle strings are cut with 105% of the target value. By making the mass of the noodle strings per unit length of the bundle of noodle strings more uniform, manufacturing errors to be considered in the process of cutting the noodle strings into individual serving units can be reduced. As a result, the noodle strings can be cut at a target value closer to the amount of one meal, that is, at a target value closer to 100%, and the manufacturing cost of noodle products can be effectively reduced.

In one embodiment, the device for cutting out noodle strings further includes a guide that receives the cut out noodle strings. As the guide, a known guide used in a noodle strip cutting device having a function of once receiving the noodle strips separated from the cutting blade roll by a scraper and then guiding the noodle strips onto a conveyor can be used. . The guide may further include a partition plate arranged along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade roll for dividing the bundle of noodle strings. Generally, the guide is directly below or obliquely below the pair of cutting blade rolls and is placed between the pair of cutting blade rolls and the conveyor so that the noodle strings move in the vertical direction. Placed at an angle so that the lines move.

The guide is generally gutter-shaped, plate-shaped, or tubular, and can be formed using materials such as stainless steel and plastic. The upper side of the guide may be open, and a lid that can be opened and closed and whose height is adjustable may be used on the upper side of the guide. The lid may be attached to the guide, integral with the guide, or attached to a separate part from the guide, for example, the housing to which the cutting blade roll is mounted. The guide and lid may be made of the same material or of different materials. For example, when the guide is made of stainless steel, the lid may be a soft plastic or silicone rubber sheet.

A conveyor can be arranged directly below the cutting edge roll or below the outlet of the guide. The conveyor is not particularly limited, and may be a wire mesh conveyor, a net conveyor, a belt conveyor, or the like. The cut noodle strings are transported directly onto the conveyor or through guides. Two bundles of noodle strings formed from a pair of cutting blade rolls are vertically stacked on a conveyor or a guide and transported to a post-process for processing.

The conveying speed of the conveyor arranged directly below the noodle strip cutting device is generally set lower than the rotating speed of the cutting blade roll, that is, the cutting speed of the noodle strips. When the cut noodle strings are transferred onto the conveyor or while they are moving on the guide, they are crimped due to the resistance caused by the difference between the conveying speed of the conveyor and the cutting speed of the noodle strings. Such curly noodle strings are sometimes referred to as "waves" due to their shape. When the noodle strings are guided onto the conveyor through a guide with a lid on the upper side, the noodle strings crimp in a more constrained space defined by the guide and the lid, so the degree of crimping of the noodle strings, i.e., the size of the "waves." can be made more uniform. If a guide with a lid on the upper side is not used, it is desirable to arrange the conveyor directly below the cutting edge roll in order to form crimps on the noodle strings. If the distance between the cutting blade roll and the conveyor is long, the noodle strings may not be crimped. The distance between the cutting blade roll and the conveyor at which crimps are formed in the noodle strings varies depending on the raw materials of the noodle strings, the manufacturing conditions, etc. Therefore, the conveyor should set the cutting blade rolls to such an extent that the noodle strings are crimped. It should be "directly below". In the case of crimping the noodle strings using a guide with a lid on the upper side, there are no restrictions on the placement of the conveyor and the distance between the cutting blade roll and the conveyor.

When steaming the noodle strings, a conveyor that conveys the bundle of noodle strings at a slightly higher speed than the conveyor may be arranged immediately after or in a post-process of the conveyor. During steaming, if the density of crimping is too high, the noodle strings may stick to each other due to the gelatinization of the surface of the noodle strings. However, even if an attempt is made to achieve a bundle of noodle strings with a sparse crimp density to the extent that it is possible to prevent the noodle strings from sticking to each other only with the cutting speed of the cutting blade roll and the conveying speed of the conveyor, the crimp of a suitable shape cannot be achieved. It can be difficult to come by. Therefore, on the conveyor immediately after the noodle strip cutting device, a tightly crimped bundle of noodle strings is produced, and then transferred to a conveyor that conveys the bundle of noodle strings at a slightly higher speed before steaming, so that the noodle strings do not stick together during steaming. The density of creases can be relaxed to some extent. The slightly higher conveyor speed also makes it possible to increase the production efficiency of the post-process.

FIG. 5 shows a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the step of cutting out noodle strings using the noodle band cutting device 100 of one embodiment. The noodle strip 50 passes between a pair of cutting edge rolls 10a and 10b rotating in opposite directions. The cutting blade rolls 10a and 10b respectively cut the noodle strip 50 into a plurality of noodle strings 52a and 52b. The noodle strings 52a, 52b that have entered the annular grooves 12a, 12b of the cutting blade rolls 10a, 10b are separated from the cutting blade rolls 10a, 10b by projections (not shown) of the scrapers 20a, 20b to form upper noodle string bundles 54a and The lower bundles of noodle strings 54b are respectively formed and advanced obliquely downward. After that, part of the noodle strings 52a and 52b come into contact with protrusions (not shown) of the comb plates 30a and 30b, and the traveling directions of the noodle strings 52a and 52b in contact are changed. A guide 40 and a lid 42 are arranged obliquely below the cutting edge rolls 10a, 10b and between the cutting edge rolls 10a, 10b and the conveyor 44. As shown in FIG. While the noodle strings 52a and 52b pass through the constrained space defined by the guide 40 and the lid 42, the difference between the conveying speed of the conveyor 44 and the rotation speed of the cutting blade rolls 10a and 10b, i.e., the cutting speed of the noodle strings. It shrinks. Inside or at the exit of the guide 40, the upper bundle of noodle strings 54a containing the noodle strings 52a and the lower bundle of noodle strings 54b containing the noodle strings 52b are superimposed and transported by the conveyor 44 to a post-process such as steaming.

A noodle manufacturing apparatus of one embodiment includes the noodle string cutting apparatus. Noodle manufacturing equipment consists of supply equipment such as hoppers for supplying main raw materials and auxiliary raw materials, kneaders for kneading the main raw materials and auxiliary raw materials, mixing equipment such as planetary mixers, extruders, rolling rolls for forming noodle strips from dough, and composite equipment. machine, conveyer for transporting bundles of noodle strings, steaming machine for gelatinizing the starch contained in noodle strings, cutting machine for cutting noodle bundles to the length of one serving, frying machine or hot air dryer, packaging machine, etc. It's okay.

A method for producing noodles according to one embodiment includes cutting a noodle band formed from dough into a plurality of noodle strings using the noodle band cutting apparatus.

The method for producing noodles of one embodiment further comprises cutting the plurality of cut noodle strings into one-meal units, and folding or stacking the plurality of noodle strings cut into one-meal units. include. Cutting into one-meal units may be performed before gelatinization of the noodle strings or after gelatinization. A plurality of noodle strings are folded in two by cutting the noodle strings at least one point in the direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the conveyor, and then cutting the noodle strings vertically (below the conveyor), and then from the side (direction perpendicular to the hanging noodle strings). It can be carried out using a method of folding the noodle strings by pushing them with a plate-shaped pushing member. The pressing member returns to the position before the pressing before the folding of the noodle strings is completed. A plurality of noodle strings may be cut into one-meal units and then folded, or may be cut into one-meal units at the same time as they are folded. A plurality of noodle strings can be stacked in two layers by stacking the noodle strings cut into serving units. A synchronizing mechanism may be provided to wait for the noodle strips in the same row in the direction of travel, or the noodle strips in parallel in the direction of travel may be superimposed.

A method for producing instant noodles according to one embodiment includes: cutting a noodle strip formed from dough into a plurality of noodle strings using the noodle string cutting apparatus; steaming and gelatinizing the cut noodle strings; and drying the gelatinized noodle strings. The instant noodles may be fried noodles or hot-air dried noodles.

A method for producing instant noodles according to one embodiment includes: cutting a noodle band formed from dough into a plurality of noodle strings using the noodle band cutting apparatus; steaming the noodle strings to gelatinize them; It includes cutting the noodle strings into single serving units, folding the noodle strings in two or stacking them in two layers, and drying the noodle strings. The instant noodles may be fried noodles or hot-air dried noodles. Pregelatinization, cutting into serving units, and folding in two or stacking in two layers may be performed in any order.

A method for producing instant noodles according to one embodiment includes: cutting a noodle strip formed from dough into a plurality of noodle strings using the noodle string cutting apparatus; steaming and gelatinizing the cut noodle strings; Cutting the gelatinized noodle strings into one serving units, folding the noodle strings cut into one serving units or stacking them in two layers, and drying the folded or double layered noodle strings. include. The instant noodles may be fried noodles or hot-air dried noodles.

In one embodiment of the method for producing noodles or instant noodles, when the noodle strings are cut into one-serving units, the cut noodle strings are stretched for the purpose of reducing variations in the amount of one-serving unit. Not included. For example, the method for producing noodles or instant noodles includes stretching pregelatinized noodle strings for the purpose of reducing variations in the amount of each serving when cutting the noodle strings into serving units. do not have. To stretch the noodle strings, a conveyor is provided for conveying the bundle of noodle strings at a higher speed than the conveyor immediately after the noodle strings are cut out and the conveyor that conveys the bundle of noodle strings slightly faster to reduce the density of crimps during steaming. It can be done by When the bundle of noodle strings is transferred to a high-speed conveyor, the noodle strings are stretched. Since the speed of the high-speed conveyor varies depending on the length of the line from the noodle strip cutting device to the cutting of one meal unit, etc., it can be appropriately determined so that the noodle strings are stretched when cutting one meal unit. Since the method for producing noodles or instant noodles does not involve stretching the noodle strings, the length of the line can be shortened and the application of the loosening liquid is not necessary, so that the production can be carried out efficiently.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications, additions of components, or improvements are possible within the scope of the spirit of the present invention.

100 Noodle string cutting device 10, 10a, 10b Cutting edge roll 12, 12a, 12b Annular groove 20, 20a, 20b Scraper 22, 22a, 22b Scraper protrusion 24, 24a, 24b Scraper plate-shaped part 30, 30a, 30b Comb plate 32, 32a, 32b Protrusion of comb plate 34, 34a, 34b Plate-shaped portion of comb plate 40 Guide 42 Lid 44 Conveyor 50 Noodle belt 52a, 52b Noodle strings 54a Upper side bundle of noodle strings 54b Lower side bundle of noodle strings

Claims (7)

a pair of cutting blade rolls having a plurality of annular grooves arranged in parallel so as to face and engage with each other;
A scraper having a plate-like portion extending along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade roll, and a plurality of protrusions extending in a direction substantially orthogonal to the long side of the plate-like portion, wherein the plurality of protrusions are provided. each cutting edge configured to engage a respective one of the plurality of annular grooves of the cutting edge roll to strip the noodle strings in the plurality of annular grooves from the cutting edge roll. a scraper provided on the roll ;
A comb plate having a plurality of protrusions arranged so as to be aligned with the centers of the plurality of annular grooves along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade roll, wherein the plurality of protrusions correspond to the plurality of protrusions of the cutting blade roll. and arranged so that the noodle strings contact the noodle strings at positions where the noodle strings do not contact the plurality of protrusions of the cutting blade roll and the scraper. A device for cutting out noodle strings, comprising a comb plate provided on each cutting blade roll ,
The comb plate has a plate-like portion extending along the longitudinal direction of the cutting blade roll, and a plurality of protrusions extending in a direction substantially perpendicular to the long side of the plate-like portion. and wherein the plate-like portion of the comb plate is placed on top of the plate-like portion of the scraper. The plurality of protrusions of the comb plate apply force to the noodle strings in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the noodle strings separated from the cutting blade roll and the scraper and the width direction of the noodle strings. The noodle string cutting device according to claim 1, having a raised shape. The noodle strip cutting device according to claim 1 or 2 , further comprising a guide for receiving the cut out noodle strips. A noodle manufacturing apparatus comprising the noodle string cutting device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . A method for producing noodles, comprising cutting a noodle band formed from dough into a plurality of noodle strings using the device for cutting out noodle strings according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . 6. The method according to claim 5 , further comprising cutting the plurality of noodle strings that have been cut into one-meal units, and folding the plurality of noodle strings that have been cut into one-meal units or stacking them in two layers. A method for producing noodles. Cutting a noodle band formed from dough into a plurality of noodle strings using the device for cutting out noodle strings according to any one of claims 1 to 3 ;
steaming the noodle strings to gelatinize them;
cutting the noodle strings into serving units;
A method for producing instant noodles, comprising folding the noodle strings in two or stacking the noodle strings in two layers, and drying the noodle strings.

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