JPH0334910B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (a) Industrial Application Field This invention is for automatically and continuously serving rice in fixed amounts in pre-prepared lunch boxes. This invention relates to an automatic rice serving machine that is compact in size.

(b) Conventional technology and its problems Each grain of cooked rice is soft.
In addition, although each grain has the property of being extremely easy to adhere to, each grain must be handled without deforming its shape as much as possible, and handling is considered to be extremely difficult. was left to manual work. However, boxed lunch businesses or food service businesses must perform the work of serving large quantities of rice in lunch boxes in a short period of time, and mechanization for this purpose is desired. Conventionally, this type of rice serving machine has been developed and provided, but it has not yet been provided as a small and efficient automatic serving machine.

(c) Technical Problems of the Present Invention Therefore, the present invention was made in response to the above-mentioned demands, and is capable of transporting cooked rice while loosening it appropriately without applying excessive external force to the cooked rice. In addition, each mechanism is configured so that the bento boxes brought to the serving position can be placed in fixed quantities without any difficulty, and the entire device is miniaturized.The organic combination of these mechanisms improves work efficiency. The purpose of the present invention is to provide an automatic rice serving machine that achieves the following.

(d) Technical Means of the Invention In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention specifically provides a bento box with a preset capacity size (L ₁ ×W ₂ ×D). , the preset amount inside the lunch box (L ₁ × W ₂ ×
t) is an automatic rice serving machine for serving cooked rice, comprising: a machine frame having a cooked rice supply section on one end side and a rice serving section on the other end; and a cooked rice supply section side of the machine frame. a cooked rice feeding mechanism provided in the machine frame; a cooked rice feeding mechanism that continuously supplies cooked rice from the cooked rice supply section to the cooked rice serving section; a lunch box transport mechanism that sequentially and intermittently transports the lunch boxes toward the bento box; and a lunch box discharge mechanism that discharges the lunch box from the serving section toward the lunch box take-out section; , a hopper having a rice inlet and a rice droplet, a pair of loosening rotor members provided facing the rice droplet side of the hopper, and a starting end portion located so as to overlap with a lower part of the rice droplet in the hopper. a belt conveyor for conveying cooked rice, the terminal end of which is located above the rice serving part through a rice dropping space and is inclined upward from the starting end to the terminal end; A drop-in casing forming a drop-in passage in the rice drop space, and a drop-in casing that guides the cooked rice supplied into the drop-in casing toward a lunch box in the serving section, and guides the rice to a capacity size L ₁ of the lunch box. x W ₁ , and a guide molding member that individually opens and closes along two horizontal planes perpendicular to the drop-in passage in the drop-in casing, and serves to spread the cooked rice to a serving thickness t relative to the depth size D of the bento box. a shutter mechanism including first and second shutters for forming the grain, and a plated amount adjustment mechanism that adjusts the distance between the first and second shutters to set the plated thickness t, An automatic cooked rice serving machine is provided with a timing control mechanism that controls the timing of a lunch box supply mechanism, a shutter mechanism, and a lunch box discharge mechanism.

(e) Embodiments of the present invention The automatic cooked rice serving machine according to the present invention will be described in detail below based on specific embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.

The overall structure of the automatic cooked rice serving machine according to the present invention is shown in a side view in FIG. 1, a front view in FIG. 2, and a plan view in FIG. 3 together with a drive system. In this invention, the bento box LB, which is prepared to serve cooked rice, consists of a box whose top is completely open, and its external size is L x W.
×H, and the capacitance size is L ₁ ×W ₁ ×D.
On the other hand, the automatic serving machine 1 has a body frame 2. The fuselage frame 2 consists of a frame body 3 with height-adjustable legs 4. The body frame 2 includes a cooked rice supply section 6 on one end side 5 and a cooked rice serving section 8 on the other end side 7. The detection supply section 6 in the body frame 2 is provided with a cooked rice feeding mechanism 9 for feeding cooked rice into a hopper in a cooked rice feeding mechanism 11, which will be described later. The cooked rice feeding mechanism 9, which is an example, is constituted by an elevator mechanism equipped with a bucket 10 as shown in the figure. The cooked rice feeding mechanism 9 may have a structure in which a bucket is provided at the end of a rotating arm without using an elevator mechanism. On the other hand, the machine frame 2 is provided with a cooked rice supply mechanism 11 that continuously supplies cooked rice from the cooked rice supply section 6 to the cooked rice serving section 8 . The cooked rice supply mechanism 11 has a hopper 14 having a cooked rice inlet 12 and a cooked rice outlet 13. Inside the hopper, there is provided a partition 14' made up of plates combined in a grid pattern. A pair of loosening rotor members 1 are provided on the rice droplet 13 side of the hopper 14.
5 and 16 are provided. The pair of loosening rotor members 15 and 16 include a rotating shaft 17 mechanically connected to a drive source, and a large number of rotary members attached to extend in a radial direction at predetermined angular intervals around the rotating shaft 17. It is formed by a loosening rod row 18. The loosening rotor members 15 and 16 are arranged in such a manner that one row of loosening rods 18 enters into the other row of loosening rods 18 during rotation. The pair of loosening rotor members 15 and 16
are controlled by a drive source to rotate in directions facing each other. The pair of loosening rotor members 15 and 16 are designed to have different rotational speeds by means of a combination of gears and the like. On the other hand, the cooked rice supply hopper 1
A belt conveyor 19 for conveying cooked rice is provided below the drop opening 13 of No. 4 to receive the cooked rice discharged from the hopper 14 and convey it toward the serving section 8. The belt conveyor 19 includes a pair of belt conveyor drive rollers 20, 21, a belt 22 stretched between the rollers, and a power source 23 mechanically connected to one of the rollers. . The belt plater 19 has a starting end side 24.
It is formed so as to be inclined upwardly toward the terminal end side 25. The starting end side 24 of the belt conveyor 19 is positioned so as to overlap the lower part of the cooked rice outlet 13 in the hopper 14. A loosening rotor member 26 having the same form as the loosening rotor member is attached on the upper surface side of the belt conveyor 19 so as to be in contact with the belt 22. The loosening rotor member 26 is a single member, is mechanically connected to the drive source 23 of the belt conveyor, and rotates in relation to the drive of the belt conveyor. A drop-in casing 28 forming a drop-in passage 27 is arranged on the terminal end side 25 of the belt conveyor 19 . Dropping passage 27 in the dropping casing 28
is formed with a rectangular cross section, and its long side is equal to or slightly longer than the full width of the bento box (in the case of a double box, the sum of the widths of the two bento boxes), which will be described later.
Its short side is approximately equal to the capacity size L of the lunch box. The dropping passage 27 is provided with a guide forming means 29 along the passage direction. The guide forming means 29 is composed of a partition wall 30 that partitions the drop passage 27 in its long side direction, and the partition wall 30 divides the drop passage 27 into a volume size L ₁ ×W ₁ of the lunch box. partition into. A partition plate 31 is provided at the end of the belt conveyor 19 to distribute the cooked rice in the width direction of the belt conveyor. A plurality of partition plates 31 are provided, each of which is assembled so as to be movable in the width direction of the belt conveyor. A portion of the partition plate 31 extends into the drop casing 28 . A level switch 32 is provided inside and above the drop casing 28 to detect the amount of cooked rice supplied. The level switch 32 detects excessive supply of cooked rice into the dropping casing 28, and controls the belt conveyor 1 based on the detection output signal.
The power source 23 of 9 is stopped.
A shutter mechanism 33 is attached to the discharge port side of the drop passage 27 in the drop casing 28 . The shutter piece mechanism 33 has first and second shutters 3 that individually open and close along two horizontal planes that intersect perpendicularly to the drop passage 27.
It has 4,35. Each shutter has the same mechanism and is formed to be able to advance and retreat along the short side direction of the drop passage 27, and the guide rail 36, It is assembled in a state where it is supported by 37. The horizontal distance between each shutter piece in the first and second shutters 34 and 35 is a factor that determines the serving thickness t of cooked rice, and is related to the depth size D of the bento box LB to be prepared. This is set in advance. The shutter mechanism 33 includes a pair of upper and lower shutter drive mechanisms 39, 39, which are the same mechanism and are attached to one common fulcrum 38. The shutter drive mechanism 39 has an arm member 40 rotatably attached around the common fulcrum 38. A cylinder 41 is pivotally connected to one end of the arm member 40.
On both sides of the common fulcrum 38 at
2,43 are provided. Said pivot connection points 42, 4
3 are pivotally connected to link bars 44 and 45, respectively. Connection bars 46 and 47 are pivotally connected to the free ends of the link bars 44 and 45, respectively. The connecting bars 46 and 47 are provided with fulcrums 48 and 49 at desired intermediate portions, respectively, and are pivotally connected to the shutter 34 at their respective other ends. The first and second shutters 3
4 and 35 are provided with a serving amount adjustment mechanism 50 for adjusting the serving thickness t of cooked rice. The serving amount adjustment mechanism 50, as shown in FIG.
It has a rotating shaft 52 with an adjustment knob 51 at one end. The rotating shaft 52 has a left-hand threaded portion 53 and a right-hand threaded portion 54 from the center toward each end.
It is equipped with Each threaded portion 53, 54 of the rotary shaft 52 has a tilting bar 55, 56 that tilts each nut 57, 58 toward or away from each other by rotating the rotary shaft 52. They are connected by screws. Tilting ends 59, 60 of the tilting bars 55, 56
is provided with rollers 61 and 62, and the rollers 6
1 and 62, the flange portion F of the component 28 including the first shutter 34 is supported. In other words, the serving amount adjustment mechanism 50 is configured such that the component members including the first shutter 34 can be vertically displaced via the rotating shaft, the tilting bar, and the rollers by rotating the knob. , thereby adjusting and setting the distance between the first and second shutters. In this configuration, the first shutter 3
4 is connected to pins 63 and 64 provided at the connection points at the connection points with the connection bars 46 and 47 so as to be movable in the axial direction thereof.

Next, the lunch box transport mechanism 65 for transporting the lunch box LB to the rice serving section 8 will be explained. In this invention, the conveyance path 66 in the lunch box conveyance mechanism 65 is intersected with the cooked rice supply line in the body frame 2. The lunch box conveyance path 66 includes a starting end chain pulley 67, a terminal end chain pulley 68,
It is formed by a lunch box conveying chain 69 stretched between both chain pulleys. One of the chain pulleys 67
A freewheel mechanism 71 is provided on the rotating shaft 70 of the rotary shaft 70, which includes a pair of sprockets 72, 73 and a chain 7 stretched between the sprockets 72, 73.
4 to a rotary actuator 75. In the embodiment shown in the figure, the rotary actuator 75 outputs rotation of 270 degrees in forward and reverse directions according to input from a timing control mechanism to be described later, and rotates the rotation shaft 70 of the pulley 67.
to communicate. In this case, since the rotary shaft 70 is provided with a freewheel mechanism 71, the forward rotation output of the rotary actuator 75 is transmitted to the lunch box conveying belt 69 via the freewheel mechanism 71, the rotary shaft 70, and the pulley 67. The bento box LB is carried into the rice serving section 8 by driving in the direction of the arrow. The lunch box LB is set by a stopper 76 provided at the front in the direction of travel. In this case, a proximity switch S is provided on the lunch box conveyance path for the purpose of detecting whether a predetermined lunch box has been carried into a predetermined location. On the other hand, the reverse rotation output of the rotary actuator 75 is not transmitted to the pulley 67 by the freewheel mechanism 71 and idles, thereby stopping the belt drive.

Next, the lunch box discharge mechanism 77 will be explained. The lunch box discharge mechanism 77 is formed by a cylinder 78 that is operated by input from a timing control mechanism to be described later, a pusher 79 provided at the output end of the cylinder 78, and a lunch box discharge path 80. .

Next, the timing control mechanism 81 for controlling the timing of each of the above mechanisms will be described in detail. First, in the present invention, the timing control mechanism 81 has a timing adjustment setting device 82 . The timing adjustment setter 82 is
It consists of five timing output cams 85 attached to one rotating shaft 84 rotated by a motor 83, and a timing detection element 86 that outputs a timing signal from each timing output cam. The timing output cam 85 is assembled from two cam plates each having a cam surface on the circumference, and the timing output can be finely adjusted by setting the phase of the two cam plates. It's becoming like that. The timing detection element 86 is a micro switch equipped with a detector that comes into contact with the circumferential surface of the timing output cam, and depending on the circumferential shape of the timing output cam, activates, deactivates, and controls each mechanism to be controlled. The operating time is output as an electrical signal. Furthermore, the timing control mechanism 80
is a solenoid valve 87 operated by a timing signal from the timing detection element 86;
and a hydraulic circuit network 88 for transmitting the output of each solenoid valve to each mechanism to be controlled. In this invention, the five elements controlled by the timing control mechanism 81 are the lunch box supply timing, the opening/closing timing of the first and second shutters, the lunch box discharge timing, and the cleaning water spray timing.

The automatic rice serving machine of the present invention configured as described above operates as follows. First, the bento box LB is
The bento box is set in the supply path, and cooked rice is supplied to the cooked rice supply mechanism via the cooked rice input mechanism. In this state, the rotary actuator 75 is operated to transport the two bento boxes LB to the rice serving section 8. On the other hand, in the shutter mechanism of the cooked rice supply mechanism, the first shutter 34 opens while the second shutter 35 is closed, and the cooked rice is introduced onto the second shutter. At this stage, by closing the first shutter, the cooked rice is divided into serving thicknesses t. Next, by opening the second shutter, the cooked rice is supplied into the lunch box positioned in the serving section 8. When cooked rice is placed in the lunch box, the lunch box discharge mechanism is activated to discharge the lunch box through the discharge path. During this operation period, water for the purpose of cleaning is sprayed onto the shutter mechanism, and the spray cycle is repeated in the above-mentioned five steps.
The timing is controlled by one of two timing control elements.

(f) Effects of the present invention The automatic cooked rice serving machine of the present invention having the above configuration is effective as a device for automatically serving cooked rice in fixed amounts in pre-prepared lunch boxes. be. In other words, the automatic serving machine of the present invention can be used as a device for automatically processing cooked foods that are difficult to handle, by loosening the cooked foods appropriately without applying excessive external force, and weighing the cooked foods to the capacity size of the bento box to be prepared. It serves as an extremely effective automation device when a large amount of food needs to be served in a short period of time.

Furthermore, the automatic cooked rice serving machine according to the present invention further includes a bento box supply mechanism, a shutter mechanism, a serving amount adjustment mechanism,
The lunch box ejection mechanism and the timing control mechanism for controlling their timing are each designed to reduce the size of the entire device, and together they make it possible to reduce the installation floor space. It can be said that it is highly effective in that respect as well.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway schematic side view showing the overall configuration of the automatic cooked rice serving machine according to the present invention, and FIG.
The figure is a schematic front view thereof, FIG. 3 is a schematic plan view showing the drive system of the device, and FIG. 4 is a front view showing a specific example of the serving amount adjustment mechanism. 1...Automatic serving machine, 2...Machine frame, 6...
...Rice supply unit, 8...Rice serving unit, 9...Rice feeding mechanism, 11...Rice supply mechanism, 14...Hotspa, 15, 16... Loosening rotor member, 19...
Belt conveyor for conveying cooked rice, 27... Dropping passage, 28... Dropping casing, 29... Guide forming means, 33... Shutter mechanism, 34... First shutter, 35... Second shutter, 39 …
...shutter drive mechanism, 50...plating amount adjustment mechanism,
65... Lunch box transport mechanism, 66... Transport path, 71
... Freewheel mechanism, 75 ... Rotary actuator, 76 ... Stopper, 77 ... Lunch box discharge mechanism, 81 ... Timing control mechanism, LB
……lunch box.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Preset capacity size (L ₁ × W ₂
×D) An automatic cooked rice serving machine for serving a preset amount (L ₁ × W ₂ × t) of rice inside the bento box, wherein rice is placed on one end side. a machine frame including a supply section and a rice serving section on the other end; a cooked rice feeding mechanism provided on the rice supply section side of the machine frame; a bento box transport mechanism that intersects with the machine frame and sequentially and intermittently transports the lunch boxes toward a cooked rice serving section in the machine frame; a bento box discharge mechanism that discharges the bento box from the serving section toward the bento box take-out section; A pair of loosening rotor members provided facing each other, a starting end portion is located overlapping the lower part of the rice drop opening in the hopper, a terminal end portion is located above the rice serving portion via the rice dropping space, and a starting end portion is located above the rice serving portion through the rice dropping space. A belt conveyor for conveying cooked rice that is sloped upward from one side to the other end, a dropped casing that forms a drop passage into the rice drop space at the end portion of the belt conveyor, and a drop casing that is supplied into the dropped casing. a guide forming member that guides cooked rice toward the lunch box in the serving section and forms the cooked rice to the capacity size L ₁ × W ₁ of the lunch box; a shutter mechanism comprising first and second shutters that individually open and close along two horizontal planes to form the cooked rice into a serving thickness t relative to the depth size D of the lunch box; a serving amount adjustment mechanism that adjusts the distance between two shutters to set the serving thickness t, and a timing control mechanism that controls the timing of the lunch box supply mechanism, the shutter mechanism, and the lunch box discharge mechanism, respectively. This automatic rice serving machine is characterized by the following features: 2. The shutter mechanism is comprised of a pair of upper and lower shutter drive mechanisms attached to one common fulcrum, and each shutter drive mechanism includes an arm member rotatably attached around the common fulcrum; A cylinder pivotally supported at one end of the arm member and a pivot connection point provided on both sides of a common fulcrum in the arm member are pivotally connected via a pair of link bars and a pair of connecting bars each having a fulcrum. and a pair of shutter pieces, wherein the front edge of the shutter piece is formed so as to come into contact on a central transverse line of the drop passage when the cylinder is operated. The automatic rice serving machine described in paragraph 1. 3. The timing control mechanism is operated by a plurality of timing output cams attached to one rotating shaft, a timing detection element that outputs a timing signal from each of the timing output cams, and a timing signal from the timing detection element. The automatic cooked rice serving machine according to claim 1, comprising a solenoid valve and a fluid pressure cylinder connected to each of the solenoid valves via a fluid pressure circuit.