JPH01309651A - Method and apparatus for sideways turning tofu - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable to sideways turn TOFU (bean curd) cut into a proper size in a water tank without damaging the TOFU by employing a sideways turnable basket having a specific structure. CONSTITUTION:When it is required that TOFU pieces cut into a desired size are sideways turned, for example, for packing the TOFU pieces in vessels, respectively, the TOFU pieces (a) are sent from guiding grooves 2 into sideways turnable buckets 4 in a water tank and subsequently sideways turned. Each sideways turnable bucket 4 is supported on a shaft at a position biased from the center of the bucket and has a structure where the bucket stands when a supporting member 6 moves forward and the bucket is sideways turned due to the self weight thereof when the supporting member 6 moves backward.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for turning cut tofu on its side to ensure that the cut surface thereof faces upward before packaging it.

<Prior Art> In recent years, most tofu has been put into the distribution process in the form of plastic packs.

Packing of this tofu is difficult because tofu is difficult to handle in the air, so after cutting a large block of tofu into the appropriate size required, it is placed in water and packed manually or automatically. Currently, it is packed using packing equipment. That is, when tofu is placed on a platform in the air, it cannot be easily moved and will crumble if too much force is applied to it.

Taking the recent case of silk-strained tofu as an example, the fifth
As shown in the figure, a large block of tofu A taken out of the mold is cut vertically into a plurality of pieces, and the pieces are turned over so that the cut surfaces face upward and packed. When this process from rolling over to filling a puncture is carried out underwater, even if the tofu is simply rolled over by a machine, it is difficult to maintain that state due to the buoyancy of the tofu, and if too much force is applied, the corners may collapse. There are many things that happen, and the current situation is that everything is done manually. Therefore, it is difficult to fully automate tofu production, that is, to automate the continuous process of cutting, rolling, and packing, and there are various problems such as a decrease in work efficiency and a large chance of bacterial contamination because it is done manually. be.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a tofu rolling method and method for reliably rolling tofu in a desired direction without applying excessive force to the tofu itself. The purpose is to provide such equipment.

Means for Solving the Problems> The above objects of the present invention can be achieved by the following method and apparatus. That is, the method involves intermittently moving tofu cut into appropriate sizes from the water tank into the tofu guide groove.
The tofu is pushed into an overturned bucket that is connected to the tofu guide groove and whose lower end is rotatably supported and can be raised and lowered, and the overturned bucket is raised above the water surface. A tofu tofu tipping method in which the tofu is tipped over into a water tank by the weight of the tipping bucket, using the tipping bucket as a fulcrum from the side, so that the cut surface of the tofu faces upward,
The device has the following configuration.

That is, a tofu guide plate in the form of a gutter with a bottom to which tofu cut into appropriate sizes is intermittently supplied; a tofu guide groove having a built-in tofu moving plate that intermittently moves the tofu within the guide plate; The tip of the lower end of the rolling bucket, which is bent into a cross-sectional shape for storing the tofu that has passed through the tofu guide groove, is mounted on an opening/closing hinge operating bar that can be raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism such as an interlocking arm and an air cylinder. A partition plate is pivotally connected to a pivot member such as a hinge so that it can be opened and closed, and an intermediate partition plate is erected on the pivot member, and a roll roller is provided on the side surface of the roll bucket to support the rollover of the roll bucket at all times. This is a tofu overturning device characterized in that the above-mentioned overturning bucket is arranged in a horizontally rolling roller bar, and the required number of bean Q guide grooves are arranged in parallel, and the above-mentioned overturning bucket is arranged symmetrically on the left and right sides with an intermediate partition plate as the center. By pivoting the tofu to the side, it is possible to efficiently roll over the tofu.

<Operation> The operation of the present invention using the apparatus of the present invention having the above configuration will be described in detail below.

First, tofu a cut to an appropriate size using a tofu cutting machine or the like is cut into a suitable size from inside the water tank (1) as shown in Figure 1.
The tofu is transferred through the tofu guide grooves (2), (2), ... installed in the tofu moving plate (3) and stored in the rolling bucket (4). ) will temporarily stop with an appropriate gap from the overturning bucket (4). Therefore, the overturning bucket (4) and the intermediate partition plate (5)
While storing a, rise as shown in Figures 2 to 4,
While the stored beans Qa rise into the air until they have a sufficient weight above the water surface of the water tank (1), the overturning bucket (4) is moved by the overturning roller (6) by the weight of the beans ga.
is used as a fulcrum, and the pivot member (7) is used as an axis to roll over in the water. In other words, due to the weight of the overturning bucket (4), the beans Ha are pushed into the overturning bucket (4) at the time of the start of overturning.
Because it is supported by the bottom of the bucket, it meets the necessary conditions for rollover, loses its center of gravity, and gently rolls over into the water together with the rollover bucket (4), and the rollover bucket (4) is supported by the rollover roller (6). Pause in the open state. Therefore, in this state, the tofu a that has been overturned is placed on the pair of side plates (8), (El), the front plate (9), and the tofu moving plate (3).
), and the tofu moving plate (3) returns to the next step at the same time as the rollover is completed. The front plate (9) then descends to take out the overturned tofu a, but if a packing storage device is attached to this, it will be automatically taken out from the overturned bucket (4) by an appropriate means. It can be used to fill up punctures. Therefore, when the overturned tofu a is removed, the pivot member (7) is lowered via a series of actuators, so that the overturned bucket lift (4), which was supported by the overturn rollers (6), moves the pivot member (7) down. A pair of side-by-side rollover rollers (6) serve as a fulcrum, and the rollover bucket (4) smoothly returns to its original storage position and stands by. Therefore, the entire process is completed.

<Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below.

In this embodiment, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, a water tank (1
), the bean g guide grooves (2), (2), .
A comb-shaped tofu transfer plate (3) was used to transport the tofu a. Furthermore, tofu guide grooves (2), (2), ... A pair of rolling bucket lifts (4), (4) are bent in an L shape around a pivot member (7) such as a hinge at the front. The tip is attached to the above-mentioned pivot member (forced) so that it can be rotated left and right, and the above-mentioned pivot member (
7) An intermediate partition plate (5) was erected on top.

In addition, the rollover rollers (6), (6) supporting the rollover buckets (l), (4) from the left and right sides are connected to the rollover roller connecting bar (1).
t), and the horizontal rolling roller connecting bar (11) is horizontally suspended in the water tank (1). On the other hand, the pivot support member (7) is connected to the opening/closing hinge operating bar 0, and the opening/closing hinge operating bar 0 is connected to the rollover roller connecting bar (1).
1) The operating rod 04) which is vertically movably penetrated by the bearing Qω mounted on By connecting to a series of operating mechanisms, the overturning buckets (4), (4), intermediate partition plate (5) and pivot member (7) can be vertically movable as a unit.

In addition, the above-mentioned rollover mechanism of 4 rollover buckets, in addition to the left and right pair of rollover buckets (4), (4), can be used to roll over only - buckets (4), for example, an odd number of rollover buckets. (4) may be installed, and depending on the situation, a mechanism for rolling over in pairs or singly will be adopted.

<Effects of the Invention> As described above, according to the present invention, tofu cut by a cutting machine or the like is cut with the cut surface facing upward without applying excessive force to the tofu before packing. It is possible to turn the vehicle over on its side. Therefore, the tofu is not damaged, and it is hygienic because there is no need to touch the tofu at all, and it is possible to fully automate the process of cutting, rolling over, and stuffing into bags.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIGS. 1 and 2 are overall perspective views showing an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 3 and 4 are explanatory views of each process, and FIG. 5 is a schematic cut-away view of tofu. In the figure, (1): water tank (2): tofu guide groove (3): tofu moving plate (4): to roll over (5): intermediate partition plate (6): roll over roller (7): pivot support member 00 ) ; Tofu guide plate (II) : Overturning roller connection bar θ2) Double opening/closing hinge operating bar

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Tofu cut into appropriate sizes is intermittently moved from the water tank into the tofu guide groove, and the tofu guide groove is provided in communication with the tofu guide groove, and the lower end is rotatably pivoted. The tofu is pushed into an overturned bucket that is supported and can be raised and lowered, and the overturned bucket is raised above the water surface, and due to the weight of the tofu and overturned bucket generated at that time, it is pushed into the water tank while using the overturned bucket as a fulcrum from the side. A method for turning tofu on its side, which is characterized by turning the tofu on its side so that the cut surface of the tofu faces upward. 2. A tofu guide plate in the form of a gutter with a bottom to which tofu cut into appropriate sizes is intermittently supplied, and a tofu guide groove having a built-in tofu moving plate that intermittently moves the tofu within the guide plate; The lower end of the rolling bucket, which is bent into an L-shaped cross section and which stores the tofu that has passed through the tofu guide groove, is mounted on an opening/closing hinge operation bar that can be raised and lowered by a lifting mechanism such as an interlocking arm and an air cylinder. A partition plate is pivotally connected to a pivot member such as a hinge so that it can be opened and closed, and an intermediate partition plate is erected on the pivot member, and a roll roller is provided on the side surface of the roll bucket to support the rollover of the roll bucket at all times. A tofu overturning device characterized in that a tofu overturning device is arranged on a overturning roller continuous bar. 3. The tofu overturning device according to claim 2, wherein the overturning buckets are pivotally attached to the pivot support members on the left and right sides of the intermediate partition plate so that the overturning buckets can be symmetrically rolled over.