JPH01187061A - Continuous cereal grain swelling machine - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To continuously and efficiently obtain swollen cereal grain fluid of good quality in a short time without compression breakage of the grains, by constituting the blades of screw conveyers for transferring the cereal grains in a grain-swelling machine for beans or cereals. CONSTITUTION:Grains of, e.g., beans or cereal are charged from the feeder 8 and sent through the first trough 2 by the first screw conveyer 5, then transferred by the first transfer means 9 to the second trough 3, then transferred to the third trough 4 in the same manner. At the same time, the solution is fed through pipes 12, 13 to swell the grains, the solution is drained from the drain outlet 14, when needed. In the meantime, the swollen grains were transferred through the third grain transfer 11 to the grain cutting-out mechanism 17. The blades W of the first through third screw conveyers 5-7 are made of porous plates W1 having such pores as the solution can pass through, but the grains cannot. The blade pitch in the first conveyer 5 is set gradually large toward the moving direction until the maximum at the midway of the conveyer, and kept constant since then. The blade pitch of the second conveyer 6 is made gradually larger in the conveying direction until at the midway, then kept at the maximum, and the third conveyer is kept constant at the maximum of the second conveyer 6.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] (Industrial application field) The present invention relates to a device for soaking and swelling beans and grains.

(Prior art) In the process of processing legumes such as soybeans and adzuki beans, and grains such as rice and wheat, beans and grains (hereinafter referred to as granules) are immersed in a liquid such as water, soaked in this liquid, and then processed into the next process. There is a swelling process in preparation for grinding and crushing.

The soybean swelling device used in the tofu manufacturing process will be described below as an example.

Conventionally, soybeans for tofu are thoroughly washed with water, transferred to a container, soaked in water, and left for a long time. Even if the temperature of the immersion water is raised, the above immersion time takes 4 to 5 hours, making it difficult to increase production.

As an improved technique for this, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-26295
A device shown in Publication No. 9 has been proposed. This improved technology is a processing technology in which soybean pieces that have been previously dehulled and divided are placed in a trough filled with water or warm water, and then moved using a screw feeder.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, even with the processing equipment that is moved by the above-mentioned screw feeder, the effect of shortening the swelling time on unhulled and undivided soybeans is small.

Therefore, there is a strong need for a device that can efficiently treat the skin regardless of the presence or absence of the epidermis.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to meet such demands, the present invention includes a screw conveyor that horizontally transports granules, and the blades of this screw conveyor are made of perforated plates that allow liquid to pass through, but not granules. Form.

(Function) The liquid flows in the axial direction of the conveyor and comes into contact with the particles, promoting the swelling effect.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a continuous swelling device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the blades of a screw conveyor according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a view taken along arrow A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. A view taken along the line C-C, and FIG. 5 is a view taken along the line C-C.

The continuous swelling device 1 includes a second trough 3 beside a first trough 2 having a U-shaped cross section, and a third trough 4 on an extension of the first trough.
are arranged as shown in FIG. A granule supply mechanism 8 for dropping the granules B faces above the right end of the first trough 2 as shown in the figure.
A first granule transfer mechanism 9 is provided between the trough 2 outlet and the second trough 3 population, and a second granule transfer mechanism is provided between the second trough 3 outlet and the third trough 4 population. 1o, and a third granule transfer mechanism 11 is provided at the outlet of the third trough 4.

Near the inlet of the first trough 2 and near the outlet of the third trough, a liquid supply pipe 12.13 for dropping the liquid faces, and a drain port 14 is located at the corner of the second trough 3 (upper left direction in Fig. 1). It is attached.

The shaft 5a of the first screw conveyor 5 also serves as the shaft of the third screw conveyor 7. This shaft 5a passes through the first trough 2 and the third trough 4, is supported at both ends by bearings 2a and 4a provided with watertight seals, and is axially coupled to a rotating device 15 such as an electric motor with a reduction gear at one end. ing.

A shaft 6a of the second screw conveyor 6 is supported by watertight bearings 3a, 3a parallel to the shaft 5a, and a chain 15a.
1 sprocket 15b so as to rotate in the same direction and at the same speed as the shaft 5a.

As shown in FIG. 2, blades W are spirally wound and fixed around the shafts 5a and 6a.

The pitch of the blades W of the first screw conveyor 5 is
The pitch of the blades W of the second screw conveyor 6 is gradually increased in the moving direction of The pitch is kept constant according to the maximum value of the second screw conveyor 6.

The blades W of the first, second, and third screw conveyors are formed of a perforated plate W1 in which a large number of small holes for liquid passage are bored in a thin plate.

The diameter of the small hole is determined so that the target particles B cannot pass through it. For example, for soybeans of 7 to 12++ ua, the diameter of the pores should be 4 to 5 ■■.

The porosity of the perforated plate W1 is expressed as (sum of area of small holes per unit area)/(unit area).

The aperture ratio of this device is selected from the range of 0.1 to 0.5, and is set small for particles with good liquid absorption and large for particles with poor liquid absorption.

In this embodiment, as shown in the figure, the two screw conveyor shafts 5a and 6a are arranged in parallel, and the granules B are made to go around the sides of the rectangle, reducing the length of the device by half, and the granules supplying mechanism 8 One of the features is that the granule cutting mechanism 17 and the granule cutting mechanism 17 can be arranged side by side substantially in the center of the device.

For this purpose, first and second granule transfer mechanisms 9 and 10 are provided which sequentially connect the first, second and third troughs 2, 3.4. These configurations will be explained in detail below.

FIG. 3 is a view along arrow A-A in FIG. 1, and a scraping plate 9a curved like the back of a spoon is fixed to the shaft 5a of the first screw conveyor in parallel to the shaft 5a. At both ends of this scraping plate 9a, side plates 9b, 9b are erected in the rotationally forward direction. Further, a flapper 9C that fits between the side plates 9b and 9b and slides in contact with the scraping plate 9a is pin-locked to the locking portion 3b of the second trough 3 so as to be able to swing freely.

In this way, the first granule transfer mechanism 9 is composed of the scraping plate 9a, the side plates 9b, 9b, and the flapper 9C.

FIG. 4 is a view along the line B-B in FIG. 1, in which a scraping plate 10a is fixedly installed on the shaft 6a of the second screw conveyor, and the scraping plate 10a4-side plate 10b.

This is a scraping board similar to that shown in FIG.

The flapper 10c that comes into sliding contact with the scraping plate 10a is curved as shown in the figure, and is pin-locked to the locking portion 3C of the second trough 3 so as to be swingable.

In this way, the second granule transfer mechanism 10 uses the scraping plate 10
a, side plates 10b, 10b, and a flapper 10c.

FIG. 5, which is a view taken along the line C-C in FIG. It consists of side plates flb, llb and flapper llc.

A grain cutting mechanism 17 is connected to the third grain transfer mechanism 11 .

To explain the granule cutting mechanism 1F in FIG. The receiver for receiving water is a slope 17b, a rotary valve 17c is arranged at the lower end of the hopper 17a, a mesh plate 17d inclined downwardly of the rotary valve 1C, and a drainage gutter 17e are arranged.

In the figure, 17f is a lower chute that hangs down surrounding the mesh plate 17d, and 17g is a push bar that slides on the mesh plate 17d. The push bar 17g moves forward and backward under the action of the cylinder unit 17h.

The operation of the continuous swelling device having the above configuration will be explained below.

The granules B dropped from the granule supply mechanism 8 in FIG.
The particles continuously advance through the first trough 2 under the action of the first screw conveyor 5 and reach the first granule transfer mechanism 9 .

In the first granule transfer mechanism 9 (see FIG. 3), the granules B are placed on a scraping plate 9a and gradually ascend. The flapper 9C slides into contact with and moves from the base of the scraping plate 9a toward the tip, scooping up the grains B, and as a result, as shown in the figure, the grains B move along the slope of the flapper 9C into the second trough 3. fall to At this time, the side plates 9b prevent the grains B from spilling in the direction of the axis 5a. Furthermore, since the upper limit of the flapper 9C is at the D position device, it will not fall down toward the second trough 3 side.

The grains B thus sieved to the second trough 3 are moved forward (toward the right in FIG. 1) by the action of the second screw conveyor 6.
The particles are transferred to the third trough 4 by the second granule transfer mechanism 10, and moved inside the third trough 4 by the action of the third screw conveyor 7 (
Move forward (toward the left in Figure 1).

On the other hand, this device 1 constantly supplies a fixed amount of liquid from liquid supply pipes 12 and 13 provided at the input and extraction portions of the granules B, respectively. The liquid from the liquid supply pipe 12 wraps the particles B in the first trough 2, passes through the small holes h of the vanes W, advances approximately parallel to the axis 5a, and transfers the particles to the first trough 2. It moves from the mechanism 9 portion to the second trough 3 and reaches the drain port 14.

In addition, the liquid from the liquid supply pipe 13 flows in the order of the third trough 4 - the second granule transfer mechanism 10 - the second trough 3 and reaches the liquid drain port 14 while flowing against the granules B. .

That is, in this example, the swelling process is divided into the first half and the second half,
First trough 2 in the first half, second and third trough 3.4 in the second half
I'm having it done.

In the early stage, the swelling of the granules B is active, and at the same time, the extraction of extracts is also active, and these must be removed promptly, and the granules B must be purified in the latter stage.

Therefore, the parallel flow in the early stage promotes swelling, and the counter flow in the latter stage allows the granules B to come into contact with a liquid containing less extractables and be purified as they move forward.

In addition, the pitch of the blades W of the screw conveyor gradually increases until the middle of the process, so the space occupied by the granules B expands, and this prevents an increase in the pressing force between the granules B, thereby preventing compressive fracture of the granules B. is spared.

The granules B that have completed the swelling step in this manner are transferred from the third trough 11 to the granule cutting mechanism 17 by the action of the third granule transfer mechanism 11 . The granules B slide down the slope 17b of the hopper, but the rotary valve 17c, which rotates intermittently, traps air in its empty chamber and releases this air when it faces the hopper 17a, causing these air bubbles to flow into the hopper 1st floor. Since the inside of a is stirred, the particles B are appropriately dispersed.

The particles B falling together with water from the rotary valve 17c are placed on the net plate 17d, and only the water falls into the drainage gutter 17e below.

The cylinder unit 17h is operated and the push bar 17g causes the particles B on the mesh plate 17d to fall into the lower chute 17f.

In this embodiment, the screw conveyor is constructed with two or three threads, but the invention is not limited to this, and the device may be formed with only one thread or three or more threads.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, according to the present invention, the screw conveyor allows for continuous swelling (swelling), and the liquid flow in the axial direction of the conveyor shortens the swelling action time, and the pitch of the blades of the conveyor can be reduced. Since the granules are gradually enlarged to prevent compressive destruction of the granules, it is possible to efficiently and continuously produce high-quality swollen granules.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a continuous swelling device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the blades of a screw conveyor according to the present invention, FIG. 3 is a view taken along arrow A-A in FIG. 1, and FIG. FIG. 5 is a view taken along the line C--C, and FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the granule cutting mechanism. In addition, in the drawing, 1 is a continuous swelling device, 5, 6.7 is a first. Second. In the third screw conveyor, B is a granule, W is a screw conveyor blade, and Wl is a perforated plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] In a swelling device that swells granules such as beans by immersing them in a liquid, the swelling device includes a screw conveyor that horizontally transports the granules, and the blades of this screw conveyor allow the liquid to pass through and swell the granules. A continuous swelling device characterized in that it is formed of a perforated plate that does not allow water to pass through.