JP7621634B2 - Seaweed wrapping device for rice balls - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a device for wrapping seaweed in rice balls.

Patent document 1 discloses a device for wrapping seaweed around rice balls.

JP 2003-116472 A

However, it was found that there is room for further improvement in conventional techniques, including that of Patent Document 1, in terms of efficiently producing nori-wrapped rice balls.

One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide a nori-rolling device for onigiri that can efficiently produce nori-rolled onigiri.

According to the present invention, the following onigiri nori wrapping device can be provided.
1. A conveying device that conveys a nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate body including a rice ball and nori having an attached portion attached to one main surface of the rice ball and an unattached portion not attached to the rice ball;
and a seaweed folding member for folding the unattached portion of the seaweed of the seaweed-wrapped rice ball intermediate body toward the other main surface of the rice ball,
This nori rolling device for rice balls is configured to fold the unattached portion of the nori of the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate body being transported by the transport device against the nori folding member, which is in a stationary state, thereby folding the unattached portion toward the other main surface of the rice ball.
2. The rice ball nori wrapping device according to 1, wherein the non-adhered portion of the nori is folded toward the other main surface of the rice ball, so that the non-adhered portion is adhered to the other main surface.
3. The nori-wrapping device for rice balls according to 1 or 2, wherein the conveying device conveys the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate body in a rotating manner.
4. The nori-wrapping device for rice balls according to any one of 1 to 3, wherein in the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate, the attached portion is formed by a central portion in the longitudinal direction of the rectangular nori, one end piece in the longitudinal direction is attached in advance to the other main surface, and the non-attached portion is formed by the other end piece in the longitudinal direction.
5. A seaweed sticking member is further provided for sticking the one end piece of the seaweed to the other main surface of the rice ball,
The nori rolling device for rice balls described in 4 is configured to move and press the nori sticking member toward one of the end pieces extending from the rice ball when not being transported by the transport means, thereby sticking the one of the end pieces to the other main surface, thereby forming the nori rolled rice ball intermediate body.
6. The onigiri nori rolling device according to 4 or 5, which is configured to press the unattached portion formed by the other end piece of the nori of the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate body being transported by the transport device against the nori folding member in a stationary state, thereby folding the unattached portion towards the other main surface of the rice ball, and partially overlapping the one end piece and the other end piece on the other main surface.

The present invention provides a nori-rolling device for onigiri that can efficiently produce nori-rolled onigiri.

1 is a schematic perspective view showing a rice ball nori wrapping device according to a first embodiment; FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view illustrating the rice ball conveying mechanism. 5A to 5C are schematic plan views illustrating the operation of the positioning device. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a seaweed conveying disk, in which (a) is a schematic plan view and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb in (a). FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the nori-wrapped portion in the first embodiment. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a nori-maki disk, in which (a) is a schematic plan view and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb in (a). 13 is a schematic plan view illustrating a seaweed folding guide and a fixed plate. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 13 is a schematic plan view illustrating a seaweed escape notch portion of the seaweed folding hole. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating a nori-wrapped rice ball discharge mechanism. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori-wrapped rice ball discharge device. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori-wrapped rice ball discharge device. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori-wrapped rice ball discharge device. FIG. 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating an inversion device, in which FIG. 1A is a schematic side view and FIG. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a nori-wrapped rice ball produced by the nori-wrap device for rice balls according to a first embodiment; 11 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a seaweed wrapping section in a second embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating the operation of the nori rolling section. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a nori-wrapped rice ball produced by a nori-wrapping device for rice balls according to a second embodiment. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of a seaweed folding hole applied to a triangular rice ball. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of a seaweed folding hole applied to a circular rice ball. FIG.

The onigiri nori wrapping device of the present invention will be described in detail below.
In the following description, the configuration described in one embodiment can be appropriately combined with the configuration described in another embodiment.

Figure 1 is a schematic plan view illustrating a rice ball nori-rolling device according to the first embodiment.

The onigiri nori-maki device is configured to wrap onigiri 1 supplied to onigiri supply section A with nori 2 supplied to nori supply section B to produce nori-maki onigiri 3. The nori-maki is made in nori-maki section C. The produced nori-maki onigiri 3 is discharged from nori-maki onigiri discharge section D.

Rice balls 1 are intermittently supplied to the rice ball supply section A from a rice ball processing device (not shown) provided upstream of the rice ball nori rolling device. The rice ball processing device provided upstream of the rice ball nori rolling device is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, one or more types selected from the group consisting of a filling application device, a rice ball forming device, and a salt sprinkling device.

Sheet-shaped nori 2 is supplied one by one to the nori supplying section B from a nori supplying device (not shown). The nori supplying device is not particularly limited and may be, for example, the nori supplying device described in JP 2004-73129 A.

The nori-wrapped rice balls 3 discharged from the nori-wrapped rice ball discharge section D are introduced into an onigiri processing device (not shown) provided downstream of the onigiri nori-wrapping device. The onigiri processing device provided downstream of the onigiri nori-wrapping device is not particularly limited and may be, for example, a packaging device.

The onigiri seaweed rolling device includes an onigiri conveying mechanism 4 that conveys onigiri 1 supplied to the onigiri supplying section A to the seaweed rolling section C, and a seaweed conveying mechanism 5 that conveys seaweed 2 supplied to the seaweed supplying section B to the seaweed rolling section C.

Figure 2 is a schematic plan view illustrating the rice ball conveying mechanism 4.

The rice ball transport mechanism 4 includes a transport conveyor 6 and a positioning device 7.

On the upstream side of the transport conveyor 6, a rice ball supply section A is formed. In this embodiment, the shape of the rice ball 1 is D-shaped. Note that the "shape of the rice ball 1" here refers to the shape given to the two parallel main surfaces of the rice ball 1 (one main surface that appears in FIG. 2 and the other main surface that does not appear in FIG. 2), and can also be referred to as the side peripheral shape of the rice ball 1.

The D-shaped rice ball 1 has a side periphery that is composed of a base and a circular arc. The rice ball 1 is supplied to the rice ball supply section A so that the base is parallel to the conveying direction of the conveyor 6 (the direction indicated by the arrow in Figure 2), and is conveyed while maintaining this orientation. A positioning device 7 is provided downstream of the conveyor 6.

The positioning device 7 includes a stage 8, movable arms 9, 9, and a support part 10.

The stage 8 is located adjacent to the downstream side of the transport conveyor 6.

As shown in FIG. 3(a), when the rice ball 1 is transported downstream of the transport conveyor 6, the movable arms 9, 9 push the rice ball 1 from the rear in the transport direction, moving it onto the stage 8, and pressing it against a support part 10 fixed to the stage 8, as shown in FIG. 3(b).

The rice ball 1 is placed on the stage 8 in a predetermined orientation by the movable arms 9, 9 and the support part 10. In particular, the contact surfaces of the movable arms 9, 9 and the support part 10 that come into contact with the rice ball have shapes that correspond to the peripheral shape of the rice ball 1 that comes into contact with the contact surfaces, so that the rice ball 1 is accurately placed in the predetermined orientation.

At this time, the push-up device 11 of the nori-rolling section C, which will be described in detail later, is waiting at the center of the stage 8 (below the placed rice ball 1) at the same height as the stage 8. In other words, the positioning device 7 is configured to place the rice ball 1 on the push-up device 11 of the nori-rolling section C in a specified orientation (an orientation suitable for nori-rolling).

The seaweed conveying mechanism 5 is equipped with a seaweed conveying disk 12 shown in Figure 4. In Figure 4, (a) is a schematic plan view of the seaweed conveying disk 12, and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b in (a).

The seaweed transport disk 12 is fixed to a rotating shaft 13 and is configured to rotate intermittently in accordance with the intermittent rotation of the rotating shaft 13. In this embodiment, the rotation direction of the seaweed transport disk 12 is clockwise when viewed in a plan view, but it may also be counterclockwise.

The seaweed conveying disk 12 is provided with a seaweed storage pocket 14. In this embodiment, the seaweed 2 is rectangular, and the seaweed storage pocket 14 is formed in a rectangular shape corresponding to the rectangular seaweed 2 when the seaweed conveying disk 12 is viewed in plan. The seaweed storage pocket 14 also has a cutout portion 15 for forming a passageway for the rice ball 1 that is pushed up from the bottom to the top of the seaweed conveying disk 12 through the seaweed storage pocket 14 by the push-up device 11 of the seaweed rolling section C. Furthermore, a seaweed support portion 16 for supporting the seaweed 2 from below is provided at the bottom of the seaweed storage pocket 14. The seaweed support portion 16 is formed at a position that does not overlap with the passageway for the rice ball 1 described above.

Multiple (four in this embodiment) seaweed storage pockets 14 are provided on the outer periphery of the seaweed transport disk 12 at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the seaweed transport disk 12.

By the rotation of the seaweed conveying disk 12, the multiple seaweed storage pockets 14 are sequentially placed in the seaweed supply section B, and when the rotation of the seaweed conveying disk 12 stops, seaweed 2 is supplied inside the seaweed storage pockets 14. The seaweed storage pockets 14 with seaweed 2 supplied inside are placed in the seaweed rolling section C by the rotation of the seaweed conveying disk 12. As will be described in detail later, the seaweed storage pockets 14 placed in the seaweed rolling section C are placed above the rice balls 1 on the push-up device 11 in the standby state (lowered state) and below the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18.

Next, the nori-wrapped section C in the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line v-v in FIG. 1.

The nori rolling section C includes a push-up device 11, a pair of nori folding guides 17, 18, a nori rolling disk 19, and a fixed plate (not shown in FIG. 5). In addition, the nori rolling section C also includes a nori storage pocket 14 for the nori transport disk 12.

As described with reference to Figures 2 and 3, the push-up device 11 is provided at the center of the stage 8 of the positioning device 7 equipped in the rice ball transport mechanism 4. The push-up device 11 is configured to be able to move up and down between a predetermined low position and a predetermined high position, and is configured to be able to place the bonito ball 1 on it.

In the low position (standby state), the push-up device 11 is positioned at the same height as the stage 8 of the positioning device 7, and in this state, the rice ball 1 is placed on the push-up device 11. In the high position, the push-up device 11 is positioned close to the bottom end of the nori rolling disk 19 so that the rice ball 1 on the push-up device 11 is inserted into the nori folding hole 20 of the nori rolling disk 19, which will be described later.

Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the nori-maki disk 19. In Figure 6, (a) is a schematic plan view, and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b in (a).

The nori-maki disk 19 is fixed to the rotating shaft 21 and is configured to rotate intermittently in accordance with the intermittent rotation of the rotating shaft 21. In this embodiment, the rotation direction of the nori-maki disk 19 is counterclockwise when viewed in a plan view.

The nori-wrapping disk 19 has a nori-folding hole 20. When the nori-wrapping disk 19 is viewed in plan, the nori-folding hole 20 has a shape that corresponds to the peripheral shape of the rice ball 1. The nori-folding hole 20 also has a nori-escape cutout 22, which will be described later. Furthermore, a taper 23 is formed at the bottom of the nori-folding hole 20 to prevent damage to the rice ball 1 that is inserted into the nori-folding hole 20 from below.

Multiple (six in this embodiment) seaweed folding holes 20 are provided on the outer periphery of the seaweed rolling disk 19 at equal intervals along the circumferential direction of the seaweed rolling disk 19.

By rotating the nori rolling disk 19, the multiple nori folding holes 20 are sequentially positioned above the push-up device 11 in the nori rolling section C.

Figure 7 is a schematic plan view illustrating the seaweed folding guides 17, 18 and the fixed plate 24.

A pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18 are provided facing each other on both sides below a seaweed folding hole 20 of a seaweed rolling disk 19 in the seaweed rolling section C.
A pair of nori folding guides 17, 18 each consist of a horizontally oriented plate-shaped member and are configured to be slidable inward (toward the center of the nori folding hole 20) and outward (away from the center of the nori folding hole 20).

The ends of each of the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18 facing the seaweed folding hole 20 have a shape that corresponds to the peripheral shape of the rice ball.

As shown in FIG. 5, one of the seaweed folding guides 17 is positioned higher than the other seaweed folding guide 18. This makes it possible to prevent the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18 from coming into contact with each other. Here, the seaweed folding guide 17 located upstream in the rotation direction of the seaweed rolling disk 19 (left side in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7) is positioned higher than the seaweed folding guide 18 located downstream in the rotation direction of the seaweed rolling disk 19 (right side in FIG. 5 and FIG. 7).

The fixing plate 24 is provided below the nori rolling disk 19 in an area where the pair of nori folding guides 17, 18 are not provided. The fixing plate 24 is provided close to the lower end of the nori rolling disk 19 so as to prevent the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 in the nori folding hole 20 of the nori rolling disk 19 from falling due to its own weight.

The fixed plate 24 has a discharge hole 25 for discharging the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 downward from inside the nori-folding hole 20 of the nori-wrapped disk 19. The shape of the discharge hole 25 is not particularly limited as long as the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 can pass through it. In another embodiment, instead of the discharge hole 25, a notch through which the rice ball can pass may be provided in the corresponding portion of the fixed plate 24.

The fixed plate 24 has an insertion hole 26 for inserting the rotating shaft 21 that rotates the nori-maki disk 19, but the fixed plate 24 is not fixed to the rotating shaft 21 and is always stationary.

The operation of the nori-maki section C in the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 8 to 13. Note that Figs. 8 to 13 show cross sections cut along the same cutting plane as Fig. 5 from the same perspective as Fig. 5.

First, as shown in FIG. 8, the rice ball 1 is placed on the push-up device 11. The seaweed 2 supported in the seaweed storage pocket 14 of the seaweed conveying disk 12 is placed in the seaweed rolling section C.

Next, as shown in FIG. 9, the push-up device 11 pushes the rice ball 1 placed on the push-up device 11 upward. During this pushing-up operation, first, the center of the seaweed 2 in the seaweed storage pocket 14 is attached to one main surface of the rice ball 1 (the top surface in the figure).

Next, as shown in FIG. 10, the rice ball 1 with the center (attached portion) of the nori 2 attached to one of its main surfaces is inserted into the nori folding hole 20 of the nori rolling disk 19. As a result, both end pieces of the nori that are not attached to the rice ball 1 are folded downward at the periphery of one of its main surfaces. The folded end pieces of the nori are positioned below the nori folding hole 20.

At this stage, the pushing-up operation of the pushing-up device 11 is stopped. The pushing-up device 11 supports the rice ball 1 inside the seaweed folding hole 20 from below.

Next, as shown in FIG. 11, the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18 slide inward toward each other by a predetermined amount and stop. At this time, each of the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18 slides to a position where it is slightly below the rice ball 1, within a range where it may or may not come into contact with the push-up device 11 supporting the rice ball 1. This allows the rice ball 1 to be supported from below by the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18. At this time, the rice ball 1 does not necessarily have to be supported by both of the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18, and may be supported by one of the seaweed folding guides 17 (the left side) as shown in the figure.

As the seaweed folding guides 17, 18 slide as described above, both end pieces of the seaweed 2 tilt toward the other main surface of the rice ball 1 (the bottom surface in the figure), but at this stage, because the push-up device 11 is abutting against the other main surface of the rice ball 1, both end pieces of the seaweed 2 come into contact with the push-up device 11 and do not reach the other surface of the rice ball 1.

Next, as shown in FIG. 12, the push-up device 11 descends and one (left) nori folding guide 17 slides further inward to attach one (left) end piece of the nori 2 to the other main surface of the rice ball 1. At this time, the other nori folding guide 18 remains stopped (stationary). The push-up device 11 descends to the original position shown in FIG. 8.

Next, as shown in FIG. 13, the nori-rolling disk 19 rotates to the right (the direction of the arrow in the figure, counterclockwise), and the other (right-side) end piece (unattached portion) of the nori 2 is pressed against the other stationary nori folding guide 18, folding it toward the other main surface of the rice ball 1 and attaching it to the other main surface.

Then, each element returns to the state shown in FIG. 8. Specifically, the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18 slide outward and return to the original position shown in FIG. 8 (a position where they do not overlap vertically with the seaweed folding hole 20). Furthermore, the rotation of the seaweed rolling disk 19 transports the empty seaweed folding hole 20 to the seaweed rolling section C. Furthermore, the rotation of the seaweed transport disk 12 transports the seaweed storage pocket 14 with the seaweed 2 placed on it to the seaweed rolling section C. Furthermore, the next rice ball 1 is placed on the push-up device 11. In this manner, the operations described with reference to FIG. 8 to FIG. 13 are repeated.

As described above (particularly with reference to FIG. 10), the onigiri nori wrapping device according to this embodiment has a nori folding hole 20 that has a shape that corresponds to the peripheral shape of the onigiri 1.

The push-up device 11 provided in the onigiri nori-rolling device according to this embodiment functions as an "insertion device" that inserts an intermediate onigiri-rolled body (including onigiri 1 and nori 2 having an attached portion attached to one main surface of the onigiri 1 and an unattached portion not attached to the onigiri 1) in the middle of the nori-rolling process into the nori-folding hole 20 from one main surface side, and folds the unattached portion around the periphery of one main surface.

As shown in FIG. 14, the seaweed folding hole 20 has seaweed relief notches 22 at positions corresponding to one or more end points P of the fold K of the seaweed 2 formed on the periphery of one main surface of the rice ball 1 (the surface shown in FIG. 14), thereby allowing the stress acting on the seaweed 2 during folding to be relieved. This has the effect of preventing the seaweed 2 from breaking when it is wrapped around the rice ball 1.

In this embodiment, four end points P of the fold K of the nori are formed on the periphery of one main surface of the rice ball 1 by fitting the nori into the nori folding hole 20, and nori escape notches 22 are formed at positions corresponding to two of these end points P. In this way, it is not necessarily necessary to form nori escape notches 22 at positions corresponding to all end points P, and nori escape notches 22 can be formed at positions corresponding to one or more, preferably two or more, of the multiple end points P.

It is preferable that the seaweed folding hole 20 has a seaweed escape notch 22 at a position corresponding to at least one end point P on the width direction (up and down direction in the figure) of the rectangular seaweed 2. In this embodiment, the seaweed escape notch 22 is formed at a position corresponding to the two end points P on the upper side in the figure. In this case, it is preferable that the condition a≦b is satisfied when the length of the side of the seaweed 2 arranged on one main surface on one side in the width direction of the rectangular seaweed 2 (the side where the seaweed escape notch 22 is formed) is a and the length of the side of the seaweed 2 arranged on one main surface on the other side in the width direction of the seaweed 2 is b. In this embodiment, a<b, and the above condition is satisfied.

When the lengths a, b of the two sides are different, the seaweed is likely to break at the positions corresponding to the two end points P formed at the end of the shorter side, so it is preferable to form the seaweed escape notch 22 at least at this position. When the lengths of the two sides a, b are equal (for example, in the case of the example shown in Figure 30 described later), the seaweed escape notch 22 can be formed at least at positions corresponding to the two end points P formed at the end of one side, preferably at positions corresponding to a total of four end points P formed at the ends of both sides.

When forming seaweed escape notches 22 at positions corresponding to multiple end points P, the seaweed escape notches 22 may be formed individually for each end point P, or a common seaweed escape notch 22 may be formed for multiple end points P. In this embodiment, a common seaweed escape notch 22 is formed for two end points P.

The seaweed escape notch 22 is formed parallel to the depth direction of the seaweed folding hole 20, from the bottom surface to the top surface of the seaweed rolling disk 19.

In the technology described in Patent Document 1, a cutout is provided in the nori folding hole for the purpose of fitting a nori-roll forming pusher (a member for folding the nori downward) from above, but the onigiri nori rolling device according to this embodiment does not have a nori-roll forming pusher. The nori escape cutout 22 in this embodiment is used to prevent the nori 2 from breaking, and does not necessarily need to be used to fit the nori-roll forming pusher from above.

As explained above (particularly as explained with reference to Figures 12 and 13), in the onigiri nori-maki device according to this embodiment, the nori-maki disk 19 constitutes a "conveying device" that conveys the intermediate nori-maki onigiri (including the onigiri 1 and the nori 2 having an attached portion attached to one main surface of the onigiri 1 and an unattached portion not attached to the onigiri 1) that is in the middle of the nori-maki process.

In addition, the other seaweed folding guide 18 provided in the onigiri seaweed rolling device according to this embodiment constitutes a "seaweed folding member" that folds the unattached portion of the seaweed 2 of the seaweed-wrapped onigiri intermediate body toward the other main surface of the onigiri.

The onigiri nori-rolling device according to this embodiment is configured to fold the unattached portion of the nori 2 of the onigiri intermediate body being transported by the transport device toward the stationary nori folding member, thereby folding the unattached portion toward the other main surface of the onigiri 1.

The rice ball nori wrapping device according to this embodiment transports the intermediate rice ball wrapped in nori, and this transport operation can be used to fold the unattached portion of the nori 2 toward the other main surface of the rice ball 1. There is also no need to wait until the folding of the unattached portion is complete before starting the transport operation, shortening the processing time. This provides the effect of efficiently producing the nori-wrapped rice balls 3.

The onigiri nori wrapping device is preferably configured to fold the unattached portion of the nori 2 toward the other main surface of the onigiri 1 as described above, thereby attaching the unattached portion of the nori 2 to the other main surface.

In this embodiment, the adhesive portion is formed by the longitudinal center of the rectangular nori seaweed 2 in the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate, and one longitudinal end piece (the left side in FIG. 12) is pre-adhered to the other main surface, and the other longitudinal end piece forms the unadhered portion.

Here, it is preferable that the onigiri nori rolling device further includes a nori sticking member that sticks one end piece of nori 2 to the other main surface of the onigiri 1. In this embodiment, one of the nori folding guides 17 constitutes this nori sticking member.

As shown in FIG. 12, the onigiri nori wrapping device according to this embodiment is configured to first move and press a nori sticking member against one end piece of nori 2 extending from onigiri 1 that is not being transported by the transport means, thereby sticking one end piece to the other main surface to form a nori-wrapped onigiri intermediate.

In the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 produced by the nori-wrapping device for rice balls, the unattached portion does not necessarily have to be entirely attached to the other main surface, but at least a portion of it may be attached to the other main surface. In the nori-wrapped rice ball 3, the other portion of the unattached portion (the portion not attached to the rice ball) may, for example, overlap an end piece of nori 2 that has been previously attached to the other main surface by the above-mentioned nori-attaching member, or may protrude from the other main surface.

The nori-wrapped rice ball 3, which is made by overlapping both end pieces of nori 2 on the other main surface of the rice ball 1, has the effect of preventing rice grains from sticking to the hands when eating. From the viewpoint of providing such a nori-wrapped rice ball 3, the nori-wrapping device for onigiri according to this embodiment presses the unattached portion formed by the other end piece of nori 2 of the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate body being transported by the transport device against a nori folding member in a stationary state, thereby folding the unattached portion toward the other main surface of the rice ball. Then, on the other main surface, one end piece of nori 2, which has been previously attached by the nori attachment member, is configured to partially overlap with the other end piece.

In this embodiment, the seaweed folding member is mainly the other seaweed folding guide 17, but this is not limited to this. The seaweed folding member may be any member that is stationary when the unattached portion of the seaweed 2 is pressed against it. For example, by pressing the unattached portion of the seaweed 2 against the stationary seaweed folding guide 17 and then against the stationary fixed plate 24, the unattached portion of the seaweed 2 can be folded so as to be attached to the other main surface more reliably. In this case, it is preferable that the upper surface of the fixed plate 24 is provided at the same height as the upper surface of the seaweed folding guide 17 or at a higher position (a position closer to the lower end of the seaweed rolling disk 19). When the upper surface of the fixed plate 24 is provided at a higher position than the upper surface of the seaweed folding guide 17, it is also preferable to form a taper at the end of the fixed plate 24 on the seaweed folding guide 17 side to reduce the step between these upper surfaces.

In this embodiment, the case where the conveying device, the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate body, is conveyed in a rotating manner has been mainly shown, but this is not limited to the above. The conveying device may be configured to convey the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate body in a straight line, for example. Even during such a conveying process, the unattached portion of the nori seaweed 2 can be pressed against the nori folding member, which is in a stationary state, to fold the unattached portion toward the other main surface of the rice ball 1.

In this embodiment, a stopper member (not shown) may be provided above the seaweed folding hole 20 in the seaweed wrapping section C to prevent the rice ball 1 pushed up by the push-up device 11 from flying out above the seaweed folding hole 20. It is preferable that the stopper member has a surface oriented horizontally so as to face one main surface of the rice ball 1 that is about to fly out above the seaweed folding hole 20. It is also preferable that the stopper member is supported by an elastic member or is made of an elastic member.

The nori-wrapped rice ball 3 formed by the nori-wrapped section C is discharged from the nori-wrapped rice ball fold hole 20 by the nori-wrapped rice ball discharge mechanism 27 shown in FIG. 15, and is transported to the nori-wrapped rice ball discharge section D.

Figure 15 is a schematic plan view illustrating the nori-wrapped rice ball discharge mechanism 27.

The nori-wrapped rice ball discharge mechanism 27 includes a discharge device 28, a transport conveyor 29, and an inversion device 30.

The discharge device 28 includes a discharge pusher 31, a lifting stage 32, a fixed stage 33, and an extrusion device 34.

The discharge pusher 31 is disposed above the discharge hole 25 of the fixed plate 24 and is configured to be movable up and down. The discharge pusher 31 can be lowered from above the seaweed folding hole 20 that has been rotated above the discharge hole 25 of the fixed plate 24 to the inside of the seaweed folding hole 20.

The lifting stage 32 is positioned below the discharge pusher 31 and is configured to be movable up and down.

The fixed stage 33 is formed below the discharge hole 25 of the fixed plate 24 so as to surround the lift stage 32. The height of the fixed stage 33 is the same as the height of the lift stage 32 in the lowered state.

The extrusion device 34 is configured to push the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 placed on the lifting stage 32 onto the transport conveyor 29 provided adjacent to the lifting stage 32. The contact surface of the extrusion device 34 with the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 has a shape that corresponds to the peripheral shape of the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 that comes into contact with the contact surface (substantially the same as the peripheral shape of the rice ball 1 that constitutes the nori-wrapped rice ball 3).

The operation of the discharge device 28 will be explained with reference to Figures 16 to 18.

First, as shown in FIG. 16, the nori-wrapping disk 19 rotates, and the nori-folding hole 20, which contains the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 inside, is transported above the discharge hole 25 of the fixed plate 24. At the same time, or prior to this, the lifting stage 32 rises to below the nori-wrapped rice ball 3.

Next, as shown in FIG. 17, the discharge pusher 31 descends and pushes the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 downward through the nori-folding hole 20. In conjunction with this, the lifting stage 32 also descends.

Next, as shown in FIG. 18, the discharge pusher 31 rises to its original position. The lift stage 32 descends to the same height as the fixed stage 33 (not shown in FIG. 18).

In this manner, the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 is placed on the fixed stage 33. The nori-wrapped rice ball 3 is pushed out onto the transport conveyor 29 by the pushing device 34.

The transport conveyor 29 is composed of multiple (four in this embodiment) endless belts 35.

An inversion device 30 is provided downstream of the transport conveyor 29.

Figure 19 is a diagram illustrating the inversion device 30, where (a) is a schematic side view and (b) is a schematic plan view.

The inversion device 30 is configured to be able to invert the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 from front to back. Specifically, the inversion device 30 is configured to invert the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 sent from the transport conveyor 29 with one main surface facing upward, and to place the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 with the other main surface facing upward back onto the transport conveyor 29.

The inversion device 30 includes a rotating shaft 36 that is configured to be rotatable, and a rotating body 37 that is connected to the rotating shaft 36. The rotating body 37 is configured to rotate in conjunction with the rotation of the rotating shaft 36.

The pivot shaft 36 is provided above the transport conveyor 29 (more specifically, the surface on which the nori-wrapped rice balls 3 are placed on the endless belt 35 that constitutes the transport conveyor 29). The pivot shaft 36 is perpendicular to the transport direction of the nori-wrapped rice balls 3 by the transport conveyor 29 and extends in a horizontal direction. The rotation direction of the pivot shaft 36 (and the rotating body 37) is clockwise when viewed from the perspective in which the transport direction of the nori-wrapped rice balls 3 by the transport conveyor 29 is from left to right.

The rotating body 37 is composed of three parallel plates 38a, 38b, and 38c. The three plates 38a, 38b, and 38c are connected perpendicularly to the rotating shaft 36 at their respective centers. The three plates 38a, 38b, and 38c are arranged alternately with the four parallel endless belts 35 that constitute the transport conveyor 29. Between the adjacent plates 38a, 38b, and 38c, cylindrical spacers (not shown) are provided with the rotating shaft 36 inserted therethrough. This maintains a predetermined distance between the plates 38a, 38b, and 38c. The plates 38a, 38b, and 38c and the spacers may be constructed separately or as an integral structure.

The rotating body 37 has two storage sections 39 for storing the nori-wrapped rice balls 3. The two storage sections 39 are provided at equal intervals (180° apart) on the outer periphery of the rotating body 37.

The storage section 39 is formed by combining the cutouts provided on each of the plates 38a, 38b, and 38c. The contact surface with the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 inside the storage section 39 has a shape that corresponds to the peripheral shape of the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 that comes into contact with the contact surface (substantially the same as the peripheral shape of the rice ball 1 that constitutes the nori-wrapped rice ball 3). In addition, the inner side wall of the storage section 39 is provided with irregularities to prevent the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 from slipping.

The inversion device 30 is configured to repeat a set of a rotation period in which the rotating body 37 is rotated 180° and a stop period in which the rotation of the rotating body 37 is stopped for a predetermined period of time, and each of the two storage sections 39 goes through an introduction standby state and an ejection standby state in that order through two stop periods in the process of repeating this set twice (the rotating body 37 is rotated 360°).

In the waiting state for introduction, the storage section 39 is positioned so that it opens toward the upstream of the conveying direction (to the left in the figure) so that the nori-wrapped rice balls 3 conveyed by the conveyor 29 can be introduced into the storage section 39. In this state, the nori-wrapped rice balls 3 with one main surface facing upward are introduced from the conveyor 29 into the storage section 39 and stored therein.

In the discharge standby state, the storage section 39 is positioned so that it opens toward the downstream of the conveying direction (to the right in the figure) so that the nori-wrapped rice balls 3 can be placed on the conveyor 29. In this state, the conveyor 29 discharges the nori-wrapped rice balls 3, with their other main surface oriented upward, from the storage section 39 toward the downstream of the conveying direction.

During the rotation period, when one of the two storage sections 39 transitions from an introduction standby state to an ejection standby state, the other storage section 39 transitions from an ejection standby state to an introduction standby state.

The nori-wrapped rice balls 3 discharged from the inversion device 30 are transported by the transport conveyor 29 to the nori-wrapped rice ball discharge section D.

By using the inversion device 30 to orient the other main surface (the surface on which both end pieces of the nori 2 are present) upward, it is possible to prevent both end pieces of the nori 2 from peeling off even if friction occurs between the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 and the surface on which the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 is placed during subsequent transportation or subsequent processing by other processing equipment.

The inversion device 30 is detachably provided on the onigiri nori rolling device. For example, when it is desired to discharge the nori-wrapped onigiri 3 from the onigiri nori rolling device with one main surface facing upward, the inversion device 30 can be removed from the onigiri nori rolling device.

Figure 20 is a plan view showing a nori-wrapped rice ball 3 produced by the nori-wrap device for rice balls according to the first embodiment, and shows the other main surface of the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 (the surface on which both end pieces of the nori 2 are present) oriented so that it faces upward.

As shown in FIG. 20, it is preferable that both end pieces of the nori 2 folded back from one main surface side overlap each other on the other main surface of the nori-wrapped rice ball 3.

In this embodiment, with the bottom edge of the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 facing downward, the left end piece of the nori 2 overlaps the right end piece on the other main surface.

Next, we will explain the second embodiment of the onigiri nori rolling device.

In the onigiri nori rolling device according to the second embodiment, the configuration of one nori folding guide 17 and the other nori folding guide 18 is opposite to the configuration of one nori folding guide 17 and the other nori folding guide 18 in the onigiri nori rolling device according to the first embodiment. Also, in the onigiri nori rolling device according to the second embodiment, the rotation direction of the nori rolling disk 19 is opposite to the rotation direction of the nori rolling disk 19 in the onigiri nori rolling device according to the first embodiment. The other configurations of the onigiri nori rolling device according to the second embodiment are the same as those of the onigiri nori rolling device according to the first embodiment.

The nori-wrapped portion C in the second embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 21. Figure 21 shows a cross section cut along the same cutting plane as Figure 5 from the same perspective as Figure 5.

The nori rolling section C includes a push-up device 11, a pair of nori folding guides 17, 18, a nori rolling disk 19, and a fixed plate (not shown in FIG. 5). In addition, the nori rolling section C also includes a nori storage pocket 14 for the nori transport disk 12.

In the second embodiment, the rotation direction of the nori rolling disk 19 is changed from right to left (clockwise when viewed from above), which is the opposite of the first embodiment. The nori folding guide 17 provided on the upstream side (right side) of this rotation direction is provided at a higher position than the nori folding guide 18 provided on the downstream side (left side) of the rotation direction of the nori rolling disk.

The operation of the nori-maki section C in the first embodiment will be described with reference to Figs. 22 to 27. Note that Figs. 22 to 27 show cross sections cut along the same cutting plane as Fig. 5 from the same perspective as Fig. 5.

First, as shown in FIG. 22, the rice ball 1 is placed on the push-up device 11. The seaweed 2 supported in the seaweed storage pocket 14 of the seaweed conveying disk 12 is placed in the seaweed rolling section C.

Next, as shown in FIG. 23, the push-up device 11 pushes the rice ball 1 placed on the push-up device 11 upward. During this pushing-up operation, first, the center of the seaweed 2 in the seaweed storage pocket 14 is attached to one main surface of the rice ball 1 (the top surface in the figure).

Next, as shown in FIG. 24, the rice ball 1 with the center (attached portion) of the nori 2 attached to one of its main surfaces is inserted into the nori folding hole 20 of the nori rolling disk 19. As a result, both end pieces of the nori that are not attached to the rice ball 1 are folded downward at the periphery of one of the main surfaces of the rice ball 1. The folded end pieces of the nori are positioned below the nori folding hole 20.

At this stage, the pushing-up operation of the pushing-up device 11 is stopped. The pushing-up device 11 supports the rice ball 1 inside the seaweed folding hole 20 from below.

Next, as shown in FIG. 25, the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18 slide inward toward each other by a predetermined amount and stop. At this time, each of the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18 slides to a position slightly below the rice ball 1, within a range where it may or may not come into contact with the push-up device 11 supporting the rice ball 1. This allows the rice ball 1 to be supported from below by the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18. At this time, the rice ball 1 does not necessarily have to be supported by both of the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18, and may be supported by one of the seaweed folding guides 17 (the right side) as shown in the figure.

As the seaweed folding guides 17, 18 slide as described above, both end pieces of the seaweed 2 tilt toward the other main surface of the rice ball 1 (the bottom surface in the figure), but at this stage, because the push-up device 11 is abutting against the other main surface of the rice ball 1, both end pieces of the seaweed 2 come into contact with the push-up device 11 and do not reach the other surface of the rice ball 1.

Next, as shown in FIG. 26, the push-up device 11 descends and one (right) seaweed folding guide 17 slides further inward to attach one (right) end piece of the seaweed 2 to the other main surface of the rice ball 1. At this time, the other seaweed folding guide 18 remains stopped (stationary). The push-up device 11 descends to the original position shown in FIG. 22.

Next, as shown in FIG. 27, the nori-rolling disk 19 rotates to the left (the direction of the arrow in the figure, clockwise), and the other (left) end piece (unattached portion) of the nori 2 is pressed against the other nori folding guide 18, which is in a stationary state, and is folded toward the other main surface of the rice ball 1, and is attached to the other main surface.

Then, each element returns to the state shown in FIG. 22. Specifically, the pair of seaweed folding guides 17, 18 slide outward and return to the original position shown in FIG. 8 (a position where they do not overlap vertically with the seaweed folding hole 20). Furthermore, the rotation of the seaweed rolling disk 19 transports the empty seaweed folding hole 20 to the seaweed rolling section C. Furthermore, the rotation of the seaweed transport disk 12 transports the seaweed storage pocket 14 with the seaweed 2 placed on it to the seaweed rolling section C. Furthermore, the next rice ball 1 is placed on the push-up device 11. In this manner, the operations described with reference to FIG. 22 to FIG. 27 are repeated.

Figure 28 is a plan view showing a nori-wrapped rice ball 3 produced by the nori-wrap device for rice balls according to the second embodiment, and shows the other main surface of the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 (the surface on which both end pieces of the nori 2 are present) oriented so that it faces upward.

As shown in Fig. 28, in the onigiri nori rolling machine according to the second embodiment, the overlapping order of both end pieces of seaweed 2 on the other main surface of the onigiri 3 is reversed from that of the onigiri 3 (see Fig. 20) produced by the onigiri nori rolling machine according to the first embodiment. That is, with the bottom side of the onigiri 3 oriented downward, the right end piece of seaweed 2 overlaps the left end piece on the other main surface.

The onigiri nori rolling device according to the first embodiment can be reconfigured to the onigiri nori rolling device according to the second embodiment with simple adjustments. Also, the onigiri nori rolling device according to the second embodiment can be reconfigured to the onigiri nori rolling device according to the first embodiment with simple adjustments. By reconfiguring in this way, the overlapping order of both end pieces of nori 2 on the other main surface of the nori-wrapped onigiri 3 can be easily changed.

When the nori-wrapped rice ball 3 produced by the nori-wrap device for rice balls is introduced and processed in an onigiri processing device (such as a packaging device) provided downstream of the nori-wrap device for rice balls, the outer end piece may be prone to peeling depending on the overlapping order of both end pieces of the nori 2 on the other main surface of the nori-wrapped rice ball 3. In such a case, by reconfiguring the nori-wrap device for rice balls described above and reversing the overlapping order of both end pieces of the nori 2 on the other main surface of the nori-wrapped rice ball 3, it is possible to prevent the outer end piece from peeling off.

In the above explanation, the rice ball 1 is mainly shown to be D-shaped, but this is not limited to this. The shape of the rice ball 1 may be, for example, triangular, circular, etc.

Figure 29 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of a seaweed folding hole 20 that is applied to a triangular rice ball 1.

The seaweed folding hole 20 shown in FIG. 29 is provided so that the upper side in FIG. 29 faces the center of the seaweed roll disk 19. This seaweed folding hole 20 has a shape that corresponds to the side peripheral shape (triangular shape) of the triangular rice ball 1.

This seaweed folding hole 20 also has a seaweed escape notch 22 at a position corresponding to the end point P of the fold K of the seaweed 2 formed on the periphery of one main surface of the rice ball 1, which prevents the seaweed 2 from breaking when folded.

In this example, when the length of the side of the rectangular nori seaweed 2 arranged on one main surface on one side in the width direction (the upper side in the figure, the side where the nori seaweed relief cutout 22 is formed) is a, and the length of the side of the nori seaweed 2 arranged on one main surface on the other side in the width direction (the lower side in the figure) is b, a<b and the condition a≦b is satisfied.

Figure 30 is a schematic plan view illustrating an example of a seaweed folding hole 20 that is applied to a circular rice ball 1.

The seaweed folding hole 20 shown in FIG. 30 is provided so that the upper side in FIG. 30 faces the center of the seaweed roll disk 19. This seaweed folding hole 20 has a shape that corresponds to the circumferential shape (circular shape) of the circular rice ball 1.

This seaweed folding hole 20 also has a seaweed escape notch 22 at a position corresponding to the end point P of the fold K of the seaweed 2 formed on the periphery of one main surface of the rice ball 1, which prevents the seaweed 2 from breaking when folded.

In this example, four end points P of the fold K of the seaweed 2 are formed on the periphery of one main surface of the rice ball 1, and seaweed escape notches 22 are formed at positions corresponding to the four end points P.

In this example, when the length of the side of the rectangular nori seaweed 2 arranged on one main surface on one side in the width direction (upper side in the figure) is a and the length of the side of the nori seaweed 2 arranged on one main surface on the other side in the width direction (lower side in the figure) is b, a = b, satisfying the condition a ≦ b. In such a case, as described above, it is preferable that the nori seaweed escape cutouts 22 are formed at positions corresponding to the four end points P.

In this example, a total of four seaweed escape notches 22 are formed separately for the four end points P.

1: Rice ball 2: Seaweed 3: Nori-wrapped rice ball 4: Rice ball transport mechanism 5: Seaweed transport mechanism 6: Transport conveyor 7: Positioning device 8: Stage 9: Movable arm 10: Support section 11: Push-up device 12: Seaweed transport disk 13: Rotating shaft 14: Seaweed storage pocket 15: Notch 16: Seaweed support section 17, 18: Seaweed folding guide 19: Nori-wrapped disk 20: Seaweed folding hole 21: Rotating shaft 22: Seaweed escape notch 23: Taper 24: Fixed plate 25: Discharge hole 26: Insertion hole 27: Nori-wrapped rice ball discharge mechanism 28: Discharge device 29: Transport conveyor 30: Reversing device 31: Discharge pusher 32: Lifting stage 33: Fixed stage 34: Extrusion device 35: Endless belt 36: Rotating shaft 37: Rotating body 38a, 38b, 38c: Plate 39: Storage section A: Rice ball supply section B: Seaweed supply section C: Seaweed rolling section D: Seaweed-wrapped rice ball discharge section P: End point K: (Seaweed) fold

Claims (7)

a rice ball conveying mechanism that conveys the rice ball with one main surface facing upward;
A seaweed conveying mechanism that conveys seaweed to be wrapped around the rice ball;
a nori-wrapping section including a push-up device that, in a state where the nori conveyed by the nori-conveying mechanism moves the nori to below the nori, pushes up the nori from below the rice ball by the rice ball conveying mechanism, and adheres the main surface of the pushed-up rice ball to the nori to form a nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate;
a conveying device that is disposed above the nori-wrapping section, into which the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate body pushed up by the push-up device is inserted, and the nori is folded downward along the main surface to be attached to the side peripheral surface of the rice ball, and both end pieces of the nori protrude downward, the conveying device having a nori-wrapping hole that corresponds to the shape of the side peripheral surface of the rice ball, and that is capable of moving the nori-wrapping hole in a downstream direction;
a pair of seaweed folding guides disposed between the seaweed rolling section and the conveying device and facing each other below the seaweed folding hole located above the seaweed rolling section, the pair including one seaweed folding guide disposed upstream of the seaweed folding hole located above the seaweed rolling section in a moving direction by the conveying device, and the other seaweed folding guide disposed downstream, the one seaweed folding guide being movable toward the center of the seaweed folding hole, and the other seaweed folding guide being disposed downstream of the seaweed folding hole located above the seaweed rolling section;
In order to prevent the nori-wrapped rice ball intermediate body inserted into the nori folding hole by the push-up device in the nori wrapping section from falling out of the nori folding hole, the pair of nori folding guides are slid toward each other by a predetermined amount, and then, while keeping the other nori folding guide stationary, one of the end pieces protruding from the nori folding hole is moved toward the center of the nori folding hole, thereby folding and adhering one of the end pieces protruding from the nori folding hole to the other main surface of the rice ball opposite the main surface, and then, while keeping the other nori folding guide stationary, the conveying device is operated to move the nori folding hole downstream, so that the stationary other nori folding guide folds and adheres the other end piece protruding from the nori folding hole to the other main surface of the rice ball, thereby obtaining the nori-wrapped rice ball.
Seaweed wrapping device for rice balls. The one of the nori folding guides is provided at a higher position than the other of the nori folding guides.
The rice ball wrapping device according to claim 1. The seaweed folding hole has a seaweed relief notch at a position opposite to an end point of the fold of the seaweed to be folded.
The rice ball wrapping device according to claim 1 or 2. The conveying device is a nori-rolling disk that rotates intermittently, and the nori-rolling hole is formed on the outer periphery of the nori-rolling disk.
The rice ball wrapping device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A fixed plate is disposed below the conveying device in an area other than the pair of seaweed folding guides and the seaweed rolling section to prevent the seaweed-wrapped rice ball from falling.
The rice ball wrapping device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The fixed plate has a discharge hole for discharging the nori-wrapped rice ball at a position opposite to the transition path of the nori-folding hole,
a discharge device that discharges the nori-wrapped rice ball from the nori-wrap hole through the discharge hole in a state where the nori-wrap hole faces the discharge hole;
The rice ball wrapping device according to claim 5. The discharge device is disposed above the discharge hole with the conveying device in between, and includes a discharge pusher that descends from above the seaweed folding hole to push out the seaweed-wrapped rice balls in the seaweed folding hole.
The rice ball wrapping device according to claim 6.