JPH05196352A - Grain drying and storing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a grain drying and storing device which can both dry and store rice with a single device keeping good taste and quality of the rice. CONSTITUTION:This grain drying and storing device 10 is provided with a box-shaped device body 12 and its interior space is partitioned by a funnel 14 in the vertical direction. In a grain tank 13A on the upper side, an upright screw conveyor 32 is arranged to transfer grains from a lower part to the upper part. To the lower part of the conveyor 32, a grain introducing path 26 and a putting hopper 28 are connected, and to the upper part of the conveyor 32, a grain discharging conduit 34 is connected. In an air conditioning chamber 13B below the funnel 14, a heat pump unit 46 is housed to generate drying air or cooling air. Accordingly, both the drying and storing are possible by a single device without degrading taste and quality of the rice.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to grain drying and storage equipment used to dry and store grain.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to maintain good taste and quality of grains such as rice, it is necessary to satisfy the following conditions in the drying and storing steps. The condition for drying is that the paddy is slowly dried in a state close to natural drying, because if the paddy is dried too fast, cracked rice increases and vitamins in the rice are destroyed. The storage condition is that if the paddy is stored in an environment of high temperature and high humidity, the components will be consumed by the respiratory action of the paddy and the quality of the paddy itself will be deteriorated by the oxygen action (oxidation, etc.) (in this case, during storage. Neutral fat is decomposed to produce free fatty acid, which acts on starch to prevent lake formation and promotes old rice production), and the paddy is stored under an environment of low temperature and appropriate humidity.

In the past, since it was not possible to perform both drying and storage in the same device, separate devices were used to satisfy the above conditions. That is, paddy is dried by feeding dehumidified room temperature air into the grain tank using a heat pump, and the paddy is stored using a separate storage device such as a freezer.

[0004]

However, according to the above-mentioned conventional method, both a device for drying such as a heat pump and a device for storing such as a freezer are required.
There is a problem that an installation space for the drying device and an installation space for the storage device are required independently of each other and the cost is increased.

In view of the above facts, the object of the present invention is to obtain a grain drying and storing apparatus capable of both drying and storing with one apparatus while keeping the taste and quality of rice in good condition. is there.

[0006]

A grain drying and storage device according to the present invention includes a box-shaped device main body, an air-permeable material disposed inside the device main body, and the inside of the device main body. A funnel body that partitions the space in the height direction into a grain tank on the upper side of the internal space and an air conditioning room on the lower side of the internal space, a heat pump that is housed in the air conditioning room and generates dry air and cooling air, and the inside of the grain tank Is arranged along the height direction of the main body of the apparatus, a conveying means for conveying the grain from the lower part to the upper part of the funnel body, and a connecting means connected to the lower part of the conveying means for sticking the grain, And a discharging unit that is connected to an upper portion of the conveying unit and discharges the grain out of the apparatus main body as needed.

[0007]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, the funnel body having air permeability is arranged in the box-shaped apparatus body, and the inner space of the apparatus body is partitioned by the height direction.
Then, the upper side of the internal space partitioned by the funnel body serves as a grain tank, and the lower side of the internal space partitioned by the funnel body serves as an air conditioning room.

A heat pump is housed in this air-conditioning chamber, which produces dry air and cooling air. Further, a conveying means is arranged in the grain tank along the height direction of the main body of the apparatus, a extending means is connected to a lower portion of the conveying means, and a discharging means is connected to an upper portion of the conveying means. ..

Therefore, according to the present invention, the grain is first staken by the staking means. The stuck grain is conveyed from the lower part of the funnel body to the upper part by the conveying means and is accommodated in the grain tank. At this point, the discharging means is in a state in which grain is not discharged.

The grain stored in the grain tank flows down to the lower portion along the inclined surface of the funnel body. In the process of flowing down, the dry air (for example, dehumidifying room temperature air) generated by the heat pump housed in the air conditioning chamber passes through the funnel body having air permeability to dry the grain. The grain flowing down to the lower part of the funnel body is again conveyed to the upper part of the funnel body by the conveying means, and the drying operation is performed until the moisture value of the grain reaches a predetermined value.

When the water content of the grain reaches a predetermined value,
The storage operation is performed by circulating the cooling air (for example, dehumidifying low-temperature air) generated by the heat pump in the apparatus main body in a state where the cereals are stored in the grain tank. As a result, the grain is stored in an environment of low temperature and appropriate humidity.

When the grain is taken out after the drying process, the grain is discharged to the outside of the apparatus main body by the discharging means.

As described above, according to the present invention, the grain can be dried and stored by one unit, and the rice can be naturally dried by storing the paddy required for one year as home-grown rice in the farm. It can be dried without difficulty in a state close to, and the grain can be preferably stored after drying. Therefore, it is possible to eat delicious rice without quality deterioration throughout the year.

Further, since the elements necessary for drying and storing the grain, such as the funnel body, the grain tank, the air-conditioning room, the heat pump, the conveying means, and the staking means, are all provided in the box-shaped apparatus body. The device main body can be made compact and can be easily installed even in a small barn, for example.

[0015]

1 to 3, there is shown a grain drying and storage apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the grain drying and storage device 10 includes a box-shaped device body 12. A funnel body 14 formed by assembling a plate material 14A in a quadrangular pyramid shape is provided in an intermediate portion of the device body 12 in the height direction.
The interior space of is divided by its height. Funnel body 1
The upper part of the internal space of the apparatus main body 12 partitioned by 4 is a grain tank 13A, and grains 16 are accumulated (see FIG. 2). A plurality of small holes 1 are formed in the plate material 14A of the funnel body 14.
8 is formed for inflow of dehumidifying room temperature air or dehumidifying low temperature air described later. Further, an air conditioning chamber 13B is formed below the internal space of the apparatus main body 12 partitioned by the funnel body 14, and a heat pump unit 46 described later is stored therein.

Further, in the funnel body 14, a cylindrical tube body 20 which is long in the height direction of the grain drying and storage device 10 is arranged. A notch 22 is formed in the axially intermediate portion of the tubular body 20 and communicates with the lower space of the funnel body 14. The lower end of the tubular body 20 is closed by a pedestal 24. Further, a part of the peripheral surface of the lower end portion of the tubular body 20 is opened and communicates with the grain guiding path 26 disposed adjacent to the tubular body 20. An extension hopper 28 is attached to the upper end of the grain guiding path 26 so as to be openable and closable. FIG. 1 shows an open state of the tension hopper 28, and in this state, the grain 1
6 is thrown in. In addition, a vertical screw conveyor 32 that operates by receiving the driving force of a motor 30 (see FIG. 3) arranged in the lower portion of the apparatus main body 12 is arranged at the axial center of the tubular body 20. The cylindrical body 20 and the vertical screw conveyor 32 correspond to the conveying means in the present invention, and the grain guiding path 26 and the stake hopper 28 correspond to the staking means in the present invention.

To the upper end of the tubular body 20, an inclined upper end of a substantially box-shaped discharge gutter 34 as a discharging means is connected. The inclined lower end portion of the discharge trough 34 projects to the outside of the device body 12, and the grain 16 can be discharged to the outside of the device body 12. A discharge valve 36 that can be opened and closed is provided at the boundary between the upper end of the tubular body 20 and the inclined upper end of the discharge gutter 34.
In the opened state of the discharge valve 36 (the state indicated by the chain double-dashed line in FIG. 2), the grain 16 conveyed by the vertical screw conveyor 32 is guided into the discharge gutter 34, and the discharge valve 36 is discharged.
In the closed state, the grain 16 is discharged into the funnel body 14 again.

An exhaust port 3 is provided on the ceiling wall 12A of the apparatus body 12.
7 is provided, and an exhaust damper 38 that can be opened and closed is provided in the exhaust port 37. When the exhaust damper 38 is opened (the state shown in FIG. 1), the inside air of the device body 12 is exhausted, and when the exhaust damper 38 is closed, the inside air of the device body 12 is not exhausted. The opening / closing of the exhaust damper 38 is controlled by a controller (not shown).

Further, a temperature sensor 40, a humidity sensor 42 and a moisture meter 44 are arranged on one side wall 12B of the apparatus main body 12. The temperature sensor 40, the humidity sensor 42, and the moisture meter 44 are all provided near the upper end of the funnel body 14. The temperature sensor 40 detects the temperature inside and outside the apparatus body 12 and the temperature of the grain 16. The humidity sensor 42 detects the humidity inside and outside the apparatus body 12. The moisture meter 44 is of a non-crushing type and measures the moisture value of the grain 16 in the funnel body 14 every predetermined time. The detected values and measured values of the temperature sensor 40, the humidity sensor 42 and the moisture meter 44 are output to a control device (not shown). The moisture meter 44 may be a simple moisture meter instead of an automatic moisture meter.

A heat pump unit 46 is housed in the air conditioning room 13B. The heat pump unit 46 includes a driving unit (not shown), and is operated by this driving unit. The heat pump unit 46 also includes a fan, a condenser, and an evaporator, which are not shown, and can generate dehumidified room temperature air or dehumidified low temperature air as necessary. The heat pump unit 46 is entirely housed in the air conditioning chamber 13B, but at least about half of the heat pump unit 46 may be housed.

The operation of this embodiment will be described below. First, the operator opens the stretched hopper 28 in the closed state, and in this state, the grain 16 is put into the stretched hopper 28. The introduced grain 16 is guided to the lower end portion of the tubular body 20 through the grain guiding path 26. Guided grain 1
6 is a device main body 12 by a vertical screw conveyor 32.
Is transported to the upper part of. The grain 16 conveyed to the upper part of the device body 12 is accumulated in the funnel body 14 from the upper end of the device body 12. The grains 16 accumulated in the funnel body 14 are guided again from the lower part of the funnel body 14 into the cylinder body 20, and are similarly conveyed by the vertical screw conveyor 32.
It is conveyed toward the upper end of 0. In this way, the grain 16 is circulated within the device body 12.

In this circulation process, the drying operation is performed until the grain 16 reaches a predetermined moisture value (15 to 16 (%)). That is, the moisture meter 44, the temperature sensor 40, and the humidity sensor 42 detect the moisture value of the grain, the outside air temperature, the inside air temperature, the outside air humidity, etc., and output them to a controller (not shown). Based on this detection value, dehumidifying room temperature air (dry air) is sent from the heat pump unit 46 to the funnel body 14 side, and the grain 16 is dried. When it is not necessary to dehumidify room temperature air, only the fan may be operated and the outside air may be introduced as it is. Further, during this drying operation, in order to prevent the grain 16 from being damaged, the operation of the vertical screw conveyor 32 is rotated for about 15 minutes and then stopped for about 2 hours and 45 minutes.

On the other hand, when the moisture value of the grain 16 reaches a predetermined value, the storage operation is performed. That is, after being dehumidified low-temperature air (cooling air) by the heat pump unit 46, it is fed as it is into the grain tank 13A and circulated again. As a result, the air in the device body 12 is controlled to have a low temperature and appropriate humidity, and the grain 1
6 is stored under this environment. When it is not necessary to dehumidify the low temperature air, only the fan may be operated to circulate the inside air as it is. If it doesn't even need it, the fans are stopped. Also, during this storage operation, the operation of the vertical screw conveyor 32 is stopped.

It should be noted that, in general, the dehumidified low temperature air that has passed through the evaporator has a reduced absolute humidity, and the hot air that has passed through the condenser has a reduced relative humidity. Therefore, dehumidified air has the ability to dry grain 16 at ambient or elevated temperatures and loses its ability at low temperatures.

As a result, when the grain drying and storage device 10 is used for paddy, the conditions for improving the taste and quality of rice are satisfied.

Regarding the storage operation, the outside air may be introduced instead of the inside air circulation. As described above, in this embodiment, both the drying operation and the storage operation can be performed by the single grain drying and storage apparatus 10, so that the drying apparatus and the storage apparatus are separately provided as in the conventional case. Compared with the case, the installation space of the device can be reduced. Therefore, for example, it can be easily installed in a barn. It also leads to cost reduction.

The grain drying and storage apparatus according to the present invention is effective not only when applied to paddy, but also when applied to grains other than paddy.

[0029]

The grain drying and storage device according to the present invention is
It has an excellent effect that both drying and storage can be performed by one device while maintaining good taste and quality of rice.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a grain drying and storage device according to an embodiment.

2 is a cross-sectional side view of the grain drying and storage device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the grain drying and storage device of FIG. 1 viewed from the side of the hopper.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Grain Drying and Storage Device 12 Device Main Body 13A Grain Tank 13B Air-Conditioning Room 14 Funnel Body 16 Grain 20 Cylinder (Conveying Means) 26 Grain Guide Path (Staying Means) 28 Tightening Hopper (Sticking Means) 32 Vertical Screw Conveyor (Conveying Means) ) 34 discharge gutter (discharge means) 46 heat pump unit

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A box-shaped device main body, which is arranged inside the device main body and has breathability,
And a funnel body that partitions the internal space of the apparatus main body in the height direction and uses the internal space upper side as a grain tank and the internal space lower side as an air conditioning room, and a heat pump that is housed in the air conditioning room and generates dry air and cooling air. And a conveying means arranged in the grain tank along the height direction of the apparatus main body to convey the grain from the lower part to the upper part of the funnel body, and is connected to the lower part of the conveying means to stick the grain. A grain drying and storage device, comprising: a stake-in means for discharging the grain, and a discharging means connected to an upper part of the conveying means and discharging the grain out of the main body of the apparatus as needed.