JPH0451595Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] <Purpose of the invention><Industrial Ueno field of application> This invention combines so-called medium heat tea that has been processed by a medium rolling machine with powdered tea separated during the medium rolling process as necessary. This relates to a medium-heat tea mixing and sorting machine for remixing or separating and sorting into leaves and stems.

<Conventional technology> Tea is made several times a year at intervals, but tea made from the new leaves that sprout between April and May has a good aroma and taste, and is highly traded. Tea produced during this period is called Shincha or Ichibancha, but the tea made from the leaves that sprout further after harvesting are called Nibancha and Sanbancha to distinguish between them.

In the case of Ichibancha, the stems mixed in are also young and soft, green in color, and have a deep flavor, so there is no need to separate them from the leaves.

However, when it comes to second and third tea, the stems are thick and branch-like, and stand out like red sticks among the green leaves, making them look unsightly and have a bland taste. For this reason, when trading second and third tea, etc.
You can get a higher price by separating the stem from the leaf as much as possible and trading leaves for leaves and stems for stems.

In view of these circumstances, the present applicant has previously published Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 61-209547, Japanese Utility Model Application No. 61-150089, and Japanese Utility Model Application No. 61-150089.
−155081, Utility Model No. 159080 (1987)
49346) developed a medium-heat tea sorting machine. These devices aim to separate the leaves from the stems by blowing air at the tea leaves falling from the delivery end of the conveyor.

On the other hand, during the rolling process, some of the tea leaves are crushed to produce powdered tea, which is discharged outside the machine along with the exhaust.If left as is, it not only pollutes the atmosphere and impairs the working environment. Dust collectors are used to collect the waste, as this reduces yield and impairs profits.
The collected powdered tea is then traded as powdered tea alone or mixed with real tea (tea starting from the leaf and stem). By the way, in the case of powdered tea, even if it is mixed with real tea, the unit price does not drop that much, and the profit increases by increasing the quantity. However, when it comes to second and third teas, the drop in unit price is greater than the increase in quantity, so it is better to deal with real tea and powdered tea separately. Therefore, in the past, collected powdered tea was returned to the transporter for medium-heat tea after the medium-rolling process, if necessary, as in the case of first-class tea.

<Problem that the invention aims to solve> However, simply returning the collected powdered tea to the transportation machine does not allow uniform mixing of powdered tea and real tea, and in the subsequent fine rolling process, raw materials are This results in a difference in quality, which is very inconvenient for the molding process of tea leaves. However, it is a heavy burden for small and medium-sized tea factories to incorporate a device for mixing real tea and powdered tea into a tea manufacturing line together with the medium-heat tea sorting machine described above.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a device that can perform both the work of mixing medium-heated tea and powdered tea and the work of separating and sorting the leaves and stems, if necessary. .

《Structure of the invention》 〈Means for achieving the purpose〉 That is, the medium-heat tea mixing and sorting machine of the present invention has a mixing section for mixing medium-heat tea and tea leaves, and a leaf section and stem connected to this for mixing into the tea leaves. In the device, the mixing section has an endless conveyor that has a discharging end on the sorting section side and a mixing end on the opposite side, which can freely rotate in the forward and reverse directions, and The sorting section has a structure that is inclined beyond the angle of repose of the tea leaves, and the sorting section has a separating tube that receives the tea leaves in which the leaves and stems are mixed and takes out both from separate guide tubes. In order to supply wind from a fan, the light leaves are moved to the upper part of the separating tube, while the heavy stems are allowed to fall as they are, going against the falling direction of the tea leaves. This is characterized by having a structure in which a damper for switching the blowing state of the air is provided in the separation cylinder, thereby achieving the above-mentioned object.

<Operation of the invention> This device performs the mixing operation and the sorting operation as separate operations. First, in the mixing operation, medium-heat tea (including powdered tea and real tea) is placed on the conveyor, and the conveyor is rotated toward the mixing end. Then, the medium-heated tea moves with the conveyor to some extent, but along the way it slides down like an avalanche due to the slope exceeding the angle of repose, and by repeating this process, it is mixed uniformly.

On the other hand, in the sorting process, air is used to separate heavier stems closer together and lighter leaves further away, as in the past.

The mixing operation and the sorting operation are selected separately, and it is possible to select whether to perform both operations, perform the action of one of them, or not perform both operations at the same time.

<Embodiment> The drawing shows a medium-heat tea sorting and mixing machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. For convenience, this machine is divided into a mixing section 1 and a sorting section 2, and this sorting section 2 is shown in a sectional view. In line with the flow of medium heat tea in this machine, the left side of the drawing is defined as the front side of the machine, the right side is defined as the rear side of the machine, and the left and right sides of the machine are defined as viewed from the front side of the machine. shall be.

The mixing section 1 consists of a side plate 4 stretched over the left and right sides of the machine frame 3, an endless type conveyor 5 that extends in a substantially concave shape between the left and right side plates 4, and a motor 6 that rotates the conveyor in the forward and reverse directions. Become.

A drive shaft 7 and a driven shaft 8 are supported on the front and rear of the left and right side plates 4, respectively, and a drive sprocket 9 and a driven sprocket 10 are supported on the left and right of each shaft.
A chain 11 is stretched between the drive sprocket 9 and the driven sprocket 10, and a number of buckets (not shown) made by machining a plate material into a concave shape are connected between the left and right chains 11, forming the conveyor 5. Numeral 12 denotes a number of sprockets rotatably arranged inside the left and right side plates 4 to hold the conveyor 5 in a concave shape, and press the chain 11 in a predetermined direction. Sprockets 1
Further inside 2, a plywood board (not shown) is arranged in line with the path of the chain 9 to prevent medium-cooked tea from spilling over onto the chain 11 side.

As shown in the drawing, the mixing end 5B side of the conveyor 5, which is the end opposite to the delivery end 5A, is almost vertical. The purpose is to make the medium-heated tea slide downward, and as long as the angle of repose is higher than that, it doesn't have to be vertical. Needless to say, the slope on the side of the delivery end 5A is kept below the angle of repose for medium-heat tea.

A pulley 13 is attached to one end of the drive shaft 7, and is connected by a rubber belt 15 to a pulley 14 attached to the output shaft of a motor 6 attached to the machine frame 3. A pulley 16 is attached to one end of the driven shaft 8, and is located above the delivery end 5A side of the conveyor 5.
Scraping shaft 1 rotatably held between left and right side plates 4
It is connected by a pulley 18 attached to one end of 7 and a rubber belt 19. A large number of scraping hands 20 are radially attached to the scraping shaft 17.

Next, since the sorting section 2 has almost the same structure as the apparatus described in Utility Model Application No. 61-150089, a brief explanation will be given below.

Below the conveyor 5, a blower tube 22 with a fan 21 connected to its lower end is arranged, and the upper end of the blower tube 22, merging end 22A, is oriented so as to blow up the tea leaves falling from the delivery end 5A of the conveyor 5 forward and upward. Ru.
Reference numeral 23 denotes a sorting hood that largely covers the front upper part of the delivery end 5A of the conveyor 5. At the bottom of this hood, for example, a separation cylinder 26 which is branched into two cylinders is integrally formed, and at the left, right and front parts of the upper part. Wire mesh 24
is set up. Below the opening of the sorting hood 23,
A transport machine 25 for the next process is provided. The separation cylinder 26 includes a stationary guide cylinder 26A and a light guide cylinder 26.
The upper part of the stationary guide cylinder 26A is used as a separation action part 26C, and one side thereof is used as a separation wall 26D. The merging end 22A of the blast tube 22 is connected to the separation tube 26.
Steady guide cylinder 26A and separation action section 26C in
It is formed so that it merges near the border with. Further, the delivery end 5A of the conveyor 5 in the mixing section 1 faces substantially above the separation action section 26C. Reference numeral 27 denotes a damper, which is positioned by a solenoid (not shown) to block the merging end 22A as shown by the two-dot chain line when not being sorted, so as to prevent air from being blown by the fan or to prevent the product from being heated to medium heat. The switch is made so that the tea does not fall onto the blower tube 22 side. Reference numeral 28 is a removable receiving box, and reference numeral 29 is a switchable chute. During sorting, the receiving box 28 is placed as shown in the figure, and the chute 29 is
On the other hand, when not sorting, the receiving box 28 is removed and the separating cylinder 26 and the transporter 25 are connected through a chute 29 as shown by the two-dot chain line.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a control panel, which controls forward and reverse rotation of the motor 6, operation of the fan 21, and switching of the damper 27. Reference numeral 31 is a machine for feeding medium-heat tea after the medium-rolling process. As for the configuration of the sorting section 2, in addition to this embodiment, for example, a device as described in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 61-159080 may be applied.

Next, a method for uniformly mixing powdered tea and real tea and a method for separating leaves and stems using this apparatus will be explained separately. First, in order to uniformly mix powdered tea and real tea, the feeder 31 is operated to feed medium-heated tea in which the powdered tea and powdered tea are unevenly mixed onto the conveyor 5. Of course, the real tea and powdered tea may be added separately. Thereafter, when a command for mixing is given to the control panel 30, the motor 6 is reversed by the circuit setting by the control panel 30, and the conveyor 5 rotates in the direction of arrow A in the figure. Then, the tea leaves on the conveyor are moved toward the mixing end 5B as the conveyor 5 moves, but since the mixing end 5B is inclined beyond the angle of repose, they slide down like an avalanche on the way. At this time, the scraping shaft 17 is rotating, but it is idle because there is no medium-heat tea in this part. Of course, this mixing operation may be performed while adding medium-heat tea. After sufficient mixing, the control panel 30
When a command to finish mixing is given to the motor 6, the motor 6 rotates in the normal direction.
The conveyor 5 rotates in the direction of arrow B in the figure. Then, the medium-heat tea on the conveyor is scraped back by the scraping hand 20, which rotates as the conveyor 5 moves, and is discharged downward from the delivery end 5A at a constant rate. Note that the command to end the mixing may be configured to be automatically issued after a certain period of time using a timer or the like.

Next, in order to sort leaves and stems, a sorting command is given to the control panel 30, the receiving box 28 is placed at a predetermined position, and the chute 29 is set at the position shown by the solid line in the figure. The control panel 30 operates the fan 21 and uses a solenoid to move the damper 27 to the position shown by the solid line in the figure. If the medium-heat tea is discharged from the delivery end 5A of the conveyor 5 in this state, the medium-heat tea will enter the separation action section 26C in the separation tube 26, but the medium-heat tea will be blown out from the blower tube 22 by the fan 21.
The light leaves are blown forward and upward by the wind, and after passing over the upper end of the separation wall 26D and reaching above the sorting hood, they pass through the guide tube 26B for light objects and fall onto the transporter 25 below. On the other hand, the heavy stems fall as they are and the stationary guide tube 26 in the separation tube 26
A and then stored in the receiving box 28. Therefore, the transporter 25 transports only the medium-heat tea from which the stems have been removed to the next process.

On the other hand, if leaves and stems are not to be sorted, a non-sorting command is given to the control panel 30 and the receiving box 28
, move the chute 29 to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure, and remove the stationary guide cylinder 26 in the separation cylinder 26.
Communicate between A and the transport aircraft 25. On the other hand, the control panel 30
The fan 21 is not operated, and the damper 27 is switched to the position shown by the two-dot chain line in the figure using the solenoid, thereby blocking the merging end 22A of the blower tube 22. If medium-heat tea is discharged from the delivery end 5A of the conveyor 5 in this state,
For medium heat tea, the separation action section 26C in the separation tube 26,
All of them fall onto the transporter 25 via the stationary guide cylinder 26A and chute 29. Therefore, the transporter 25 transports the medium-heated tea whose leaves and stems are not separated to the next process.

In general, only the mixing work is performed for the first tea, and only the sorting work is performed for the second and subsequent teas.

<<Effects of the invention>> According to the apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to mix and sort medium-heat tea with a single apparatus, so it is possible to generate large profits with a small investment in equipment.

That is, the present invention focuses on the conveyor 5, which serves as a mere transportation route when not sorting, in a medium-heat tea sorting machine that blows air on tea leaves falling from the delivery end 5A of the conveyor 5 to separate the leaves and stems. The mixing is performed in this part, and compared to the case where a separate dedicated machine for mixing is prepared, the economical effect and the effect of reducing the installation space are obvious.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawing is a partially cutaway side view of an embodiment of the present invention. 1...Mixing section, 2...Sorting section, 3...Machine frame, 4
... Side plate, 5 ... Conveyor, 5A ... Delivery end, 5
B... Mixing action part, 6... Motor, 7... Drive shaft, 8... Driven shaft, 9... Drive sprocket, 1
0...Driver sprocket, 11...Chain, 1
2... Sprocket, 13... Pulley, 14...
Pulley, 15...Rubber belt, 16...Pulley,
17... Scraping shaft, 18... Pulley, 19... Rubber belt, 20... Scraping hand, 21... Fan, 22
...Blower tube, 22A...Merge end, 23...Sorting hood, 24...Wire mesh, 25...Transporter, 26...
Separation tube, 26A... Guide tube (steady), 26B...
...Guide tube (lightweight), 26C...Separation action part,
26D... Separation wall, 27... Damper, 28... Receiving box, 29... Shoot, 30... Control panel, 31...
...Feeding machine.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In an apparatus comprising a mixing section that mixes medium-heat tea and tea leaves, and a sorting section connected to the mixing section that sorts out leaf parts and stem parts to be mixed into the tea leaves, the mixing part sends out the sorting part side. It is equipped with an endless conveyor that can freely rotate in forward and reverse directions, with the opposite end as a mixing end and the opposite end as a mixing end.
The mixing end has a structure that is inclined beyond the angle of repose of the tea leaves, and the sorting part receives the tea leaves in which the leaf part and the stem part are mixed, and has a separation cylinder for taking out both from separate guide cylinders. A blower tube is connected to the separation tube in order to supply wind from a fan that runs counter to the falling direction of the tea leaves, allowing the lighter leaves to move to the upper part of the separation tube and allowing the heavier stems to fall as they are. , and a medium-heat tea mixing and sorting machine characterized by having a structure in which a damper for switching the air blowing state from the fan is provided in the separating tube.