JPH04316472A - Device for producing food - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the title miniaturized device wherein powder is mixed with water and formed, the formed material is heated, a raw material can be preserved in the form of powder for a long period of time and qualities of food are not dropped even if production of food is stopped because cooking can be carried out at any period of time. CONSTITUTION:First, power fed from a hopper 2 to a mixing chamber 3 is incorporated with water, stirred, the mixture of the power and water is extruded from an extrusion hole 4 communicated with the mixing chamber 3 and formed. Then, the formed mixture is heated by a heating means 6. The heating is preferably constituted in such a way that the mixture is put in a storage tank 18 having a heated liquid, heated by the heated liquid, taken out upward by a raking member 20 and discharged by a delivering member 21.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food manufacturing apparatus that can be suitably used for manufacturing foods such as French fries.

0002

[Prior Art] Conventionally, in order to produce foods such as French fries, there has been a method for cutting potatoes into thin pieces to form thin slices, and a method for placing the thin slices on a conveyor and heating them to a predetermined temperature. An apparatus is used that includes a means for frying the heated edible oil while conveying it through a storage tank in which the edible oil is stored.

0003

[Problem to be Solved by the Invention] Such prior art is configured to process fresh foods such as potatoes, so if the equipment is stopped for a long period of time, the freshness of the potatoes will decrease and the production will be interrupted. The quality of the food will deteriorate. In addition, since the thin slices are placed on a conveyor and transported through the storage tank, a relatively long conveyance path is required in order to sufficiently heat the thin slices.
This has the problem of increasing the size of the device.

[0004] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a food manufacturing apparatus that is miniaturized and that can produce food without deteriorating its quality even if food production is stopped for a long period of time. It is to be.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention adds water to powder supplied from a hopper to a mixing chamber, stirs the powder, and extrudes the mixture of powder and water from an extrusion hole communicating with the mixing chamber. The food manufacturing apparatus is characterized in that it includes a molding means for molding the food product, and a heating means for heating the molded mixture extruded from the molding means.

The present invention also provides that the forming means includes a cylindrical casing having the mixing chamber and opening facing downward, and directing the powder introduced into the casing from the hopper toward the mixing chamber. A screw conveyor for conveying, a blade member that is driven to rotate in the forward/reverse direction around the rotational axis in the mixing chamber and moves up and down along the rotational axis, and a water supply hole for supplying water into the mixing chamber when water is added. a water supply part formed therein; and an extrusion part that is continuous with the water supply part and has the extrusion hole formed therein, a first position where the water supply hole faces the mixing chamber, and a second position where the extrusion hole faces the mixing chamber. a shutter member displaceable between the first and second shutter members;
Displacement driving means for driving displacement between positions.

Further, the present invention provides that the heating means includes a storage tank in which a liquid such as water or oil is stored, and a temperature adjustment means for heating the liquid in the storage tank and maintaining it at a predetermined temperature. a raking member that is provided in the storage tank so as to be able to appear and disappear from the surface of the liquid in the storage tank and that has a gap smaller than that of the mixture immersed in the liquid; and a raking member that is disposed at an upper limit position above the liquid surface. and a dispensing member that is driven to reciprocate in a predetermined direction along the upper surface of the raking member.

[0008]

[Operation] According to the present invention as set forth in claim 1, the powder in the hopper is supplied to the mixing chamber, water is supplied to the powder in the mixing chamber and stirred, and a mixture of the powder and water is extruded. The mixture is extruded through the holes and molded, and the molded mixture is heated by a heating means to produce a food product.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the powder from the hopper is supplied to a casing and conveyed into the mixing chamber by a screw conveyor provided within the casing. In this state where the powder is supplied into the mixing chamber by the screw conveyor, the shutter member is placed at the first position, and therefore water is supplied to the powder in the mixing chamber from the water supply hole of the water supply section. The blade member in the mixing chamber reciprocates up and down while being rotated in forward and reverse directions around the rotation axis, thus stirring and mixing the powder and water in the mixing chamber. Thereafter, the shutter member is driven to be displaced from the first position to the second position by the displacement drive means, and the extrusion hole of the extrusion part faces the mixing chamber, and the screw conveyor further moves the powder led from the hopper. By conveying the mixture toward the mixing chamber, the mixture mixed within the mixing chamber is extruded through the extrusion hole. By rotating the screw conveyor in this manner, the mixture can be extruded from the extrusion hole to produce a molded product.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, a liquid such as water or oil is stored in the storage tank, and the temperature of the liquid is maintained at a predetermined temperature by the temperature adjusting means. This storage tank is provided with a raking member that can freely appear and retract from the liquid level, and after heating the mixture supplied into the storage tank, the raking member is moved to the upper limit position above the liquid level. The heated mixture on the raking member is discharged by displacing the dispensing member in a predetermined direction and displacing the mixture in the storage tank.

[0011]

[Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the overall structure of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows the external appearance of the embodiment. FIG. Basically, the food manufacturing apparatus 1 adds water to powder supplied from a hopper 2 to a mixing chamber 3, stirs it, and extrudes the mixture of this powder and water from an extrusion hole 4 communicating with the mixing chamber 3. It includes a molding means 5 for molding, and a heating means 6 for heating the molded mixture extruded from the molding means 5. These forming means 5
and the heating means 6 are housed within the housing 7. The powder is, for example, crushed and dried potato.

The forming means 5 has a cylindrical casing 8 facing downward and is rotated at about 20 rpm, for example, to direct the powder introduced into the casing 8 from the hopper 2 toward the mixing chamber 3. Conveying screw conveyor 9
and forward/reverse direction A1 around the rotation axis within the mixing chamber 3.
A blade member 10 that is rotationally driven at, for example, about 50 rpm and moves up and down in the direction of arrow A2 along the rotational axis, and a water supply hole 11 for supplying water into the mixing chamber 3 when adding water are formed. A shutter member 14 made of synthetic resin having a water supply part 12 and an extrusion part 13 connected to the water supply part 12 and in which the extrusion hole 4 is formed, and the shutter member 14 is placed at a first position where the water supply hole 11 faces the mixing chamber 3 (Fig. 1) and
It includes a motor 15 which is a displacement driving means for driving displacement between the mixing chamber 3 and a second position where the extrusion hole 11 faces.

The heating means 6 also includes a storage tank 18 in which liquid edible oil is stored, and a temperature adjustment device for heating the edible oil in the storage tank 18 and maintaining it at a predetermined temperature, for example, about 180°C. Temperature regulator 19 and storage tank 18
A net-like raking member 20 is provided so as to be able to appear and retract from the liquid level of the cooking oil, and has a gap smaller than that of the mixture extruded from the extrusion hole 4. It includes a dispensing member 21 that displaces and dispenses the mixture pulled upward in a predetermined direction A3.

The housing 7 includes a housing body 23
and a door 25 provided on the housing body 23 so as to be openable and closable by a hinge 24. Door 25 has that door 2
5 is provided with a control panel 26 that can be opened and closed, and the control panel 26 is provided with a money slot 27 for inserting coins or the like. Further, the door 25 is formed with an outlet 28 for taking out the processed food below the control panel 26, and after the user of this device 1 inserts money into the input opening 27, a container is prepared in advance. 29 can be disposed within the outlet 28 to accommodate the food dispensed by the dispensing member 21.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the forming means 5, and FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of FIG. 4 viewed from above. A first gear 31 is fixed coaxially to the rotating shaft 30 of the screw conveyor 9, and a second gear 33 is fixed to a rotating shaft 32 that passes through the rotating shaft 30 so as to be freely displaceable in the axial direction. A third gear 35 fixed to the output shaft 34 of the motor M1 meshes with the first gear 31. Further, a fourth gear 37 fixed to the output shaft 36 of the motor M2 meshes with the second gear 33. The blade member 10 is attached to the lower end of the rotating shaft 32.
is provided, and is configured to be inserted into the second gear 33 so as to be freely displaceable in the axial direction inside the rotating shaft 32, and to transmit only the rotational force from the second gear 33.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along section line VI--VI in FIG. A plurality of blade members 10 (in this embodiment, two) are provided at different positions in the axial direction, and the blade members 10 attached to the rotating shaft 34 move in the forward direction A while moving up and down in the axial direction.
1a, the lower blade member 10a guides the mixture in the mixing chamber 3 radially inward, and the upper blade member 10b guides the mixture radially outward, and when rotating in the opposite direction A1b, the lower blade member 10a guides the mixture radially outward. The blade member 10a is configured to direct the mixture radially outward and the upper blade member 10b guide the mixture radially inward for stirring.

The water supply section 12 of the shutter member 14 faces below such blade members 10, and before the stirring operation by each blade member 10 is started,
For example, tap water is supplied from the water supply hole 11.

When the powder and water are stirred and mixed in this way, the motor M3 is energized and the pinion 39 fixed to the output shaft 38 is driven to rotate around the rotation axis, and the rack 40 with which this pinion 39 meshes is driven. moves, and the shutter member 14 is displaced in the direction of arrow A3a and placed from the first position to the second position. In this state, the extrusion portion 13 faces the internal space of the casing 8.

The extrusion hole 4 of the extrusion part 13 has a rectangular cross section perpendicular to the axis, and is formed so that the flat inner surface and the corner portion which are adjacent to each other are close to each other. This can prevent the mixture extruded through the extrusion holes 14 from adhering to mixtures extruded adjacent to each other. This extrusion part 12 is made of synthetic resin, for example, and the extrusion hole 4 can be formed into any shape other than a rectangle. Therefore, it is detachably attached to the substrate 41 of the shutter member 14 using screws or the like. It is detected by the magnetic sensor S1 that the shutter member 14 is disposed at the first position where the water supply section 12 faces the mixing chamber 3, and the shutter member 14 is at the second position where the extrusion section 13 faces the mixing chamber 3. is detected by magnetic sensor S2. When the shutter member 14 is displaced in the direction of the arrow A3a and detected by the magnetic sensor S2, the screw conveyor 9 is rotationally driven to supply powder from above toward the mixing chamber 3, and due to the pressing force of this powder, The mixture mixed in the mixing chamber 3 is extruded downward through the extrusion hole 4 and hangs down. When the shutter member 14 is displaced and driven in the direction of the arrow A3b by the motor M3 from this state, the mixture hangs down from the extrusion hole 4 by the cutting blade 43 (see FIG. 4) that resiliently contacts the lower surface of the shutter member 14. The hanging part is cut off. The molded mixture thus cut falls into the storage tank 18 of the heating means 6.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the heating means 6, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the section line VIII-VIII in FIG. A heating pipe 46 realized by a heating wire or the like is provided on one side of the storage tank 18 . For example, 1 kW of power is supplied to the heating pipe 46 from the temperature regulator 19 at predetermined intervals based on the temperature detected by the temperature detector 47, thereby controlling the temperature of the oil stored in the storage tank 18. It is configured to keep it almost constant. The raking member 20 is provided in the storage tank 18 so as to be angularly displaceable around the axis of the support shaft 48 . A bevel gear 49 is fixed to one end in the axial direction of the support shaft 48, and a bevel gear 51 fixed to the output shaft 50 of the motor M4 meshes with the bevel gear 49. Further, the storage tank 18 is provided with an oil level detector 52 realized by a thermistor or the like. This detector 52 can detect that the oil level has decreased and the amount of oil has decreased.

When the molded mixture falls from the molding means 5, the scraping member 20 is buried below the oil level of the storage tank 18, as indicated by reference numeral 53, and a predetermined time has elapsed. After that, the motor M4 is energized and the scraping member 20 is placed above the oil level 55 as shown by the imaginary line 54. In this state, motor M
5 is energized with electric power and fixed to the output shaft 56.
7 is rotationally driven, thereby displacing and driving the dispensing member 21 to which the rack 58 is fixed in the direction of arrow A3a, and the heated mixture on the raking member 20 is transferred to the chute 59.
and is accommodated in a container 29 placed within the outlet 28. At this time, the container detector 60 detects whether the container 29 is placed directly below the chute 59 or not. Such a container detector 60 is constituted by, for example, a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and when the light emitted from the light emitting element is blocked by the container 29, the outlet 2
It may be determined that the container 29 is not present in the outlet 28 when it is determined that the container 29 is placed in the outlet 8 and the light emitted from the light emitting element is received by the light receiving element. In this way, when the container detector 60 detects that the container 29 is not present in the outlet 28, the dispensing member 21 may not be driven and may be maintained in a stopped state.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the dried powder obtained by crushing potatoes is stored in the hopper 2. However, in another embodiment of the present invention, wheat flour is stored as a powder in the mixing chamber 3. In this case, a plurality of extrusion holes 4 having a circular cross section perpendicular to the axis are formed in the extrusion portion 13 of the shutter member 14 to extrude the elongated mixture. Water may be stored in the storage tank 18 and heated to, for example, 90° C. or higher to boil the mixture formed into the noodles.

[0023]

According to the present invention, the powder contained in the hopper and water are mixed and molded, and the molded mixture is heated by the heating means, so that the powder can be used for a long period of time. Therefore, the mixture can be shaped and heated at a desired time, and can be cooked at any time, making the food manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention suitable for so-called vending machines. This allows food to be prepared immediately after cooking at a desired time.

Further, according to the present invention, powder and water are supplied to a mixing chamber in the casing and stirred by a blade member to produce a mixture, and the mixture is passed through an extrusion hole provided facing the mixing chamber. I decided to extrude and mold it, so
The device can be miniaturized, so it does not require a large space, and the food manufacturing device of the present invention can be widely used as a so-called vending machine.

Further, according to the present invention, the mixture is heated by the liquid maintained at a predetermined temperature by the temperature regulating means, and the heated mixture is taken out above the liquid level by the scraping member and dispensed. Since the member is configured to dispense in a predetermined direction, there is no need to provide a conveyor or the like that is immersed in the liquid in the storage tank, as described in connection with the prior art, and this also makes the device can be made smaller.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the overall configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a simplified system diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the food manufacturing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a specific configuration of the forming means 5. FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of FIG. 4 seen from above.

6 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along section line VI-VI in FIG. 4; FIG.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the heating means 6.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along section line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7;

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Food manufacturing equipment 2 Hopper 3 Mixing chamber 4 Extrusion hole 5 Molding means 6 Heating means 8 Casing 9 Screw conveyor 10 Blade member 11 Water supply hole 12 Water supply section 13 Extrusion section 14 Shutter member 15 Double acting hydraulic cylinder 18 Storage tank 19 Temperature controller 20 Raking member 21 Dispensing member

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. Molding means for adding water to and stirring powder supplied from a hopper to a mixing chamber, and extruding and molding the mixture of the powder and water from an extrusion hole communicating with the mixing chamber;
A food manufacturing apparatus comprising: heating means for heating the molded mixture extruded from the molding means. 2. The shaping means has the mixing chamber,
A cylindrical casing that opens facing downward, a screw conveyor that conveys the powder guided into the casing from the hopper toward a mixing chamber, and a screw conveyor that rotates in the forward/reverse direction around the rotation axis in the mixing chamber. a blade member that is driven and moves up and down along the rotational axis; a water supply section in which a water supply hole is formed for supplying water into the mixing chamber when water is added; and an extrusion section that is connected to the water supply section and in which the extrusion hole is formed. a shutter member that is displaceable between a first position where the water supply hole faces the mixing chamber and a second position where the extrusion hole faces the mixing chamber; 2. The food manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a displacement driving means for driving displacement between two positions. 3. The heating means comprises: a storage tank in which a liquid such as water or oil is stored; a temperature control means for heating the liquid in the storage tank to maintain it at a predetermined temperature; , provided so as to be able to appear and disappear from the liquid level in the storage tank,
A raking member having a gap smaller than that of the mixture immersed in the liquid and a raking member disposed at an upper limit position above the liquid level are reciprocated and driven in a predetermined direction along the upper surface of the raking member. The food manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a dispensing member.