JPH06263103A - Loose food supply device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To supply in a later process a fixed amount of loose food, such as small pieces of sweetened, boiled beans, which is apt to harden into a block, or shrimps or corn, that exhibits a bridge phenomenon caused when water around it freezes right after thawing. CONSTITUTION:This device is comprised of : a hopper 1 which has an inclined surface la and stores loose food; a lifting member 2 which ascends/descends along the inclined surface; and a storage member 3 which has a flat surface 3a connected with the upper end of the inclined surface la, and a storage part 3b in the specific position. Above the flat surface 3a are return member 4 for returning the loose food to the hopper l and an extrusion member 5. The bottom of the storage part 3b has an opening/closing member 6 for opening/closing the bottom.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for quantitatively feeding loose foods, and more particularly to quantitatively feeding loose foods such as sweetened boiled red beans or freshly-thawed shrimps and corn which are not easy to separate. It relates to the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An apparatus for supplying easily separable loose foods such as fruits such as pineapples cut into a predetermined size is provided with a member having a storage portion at a bottom for storing a fixed quantity of the loose foods. In addition, a hopper is generally provided on the upper part of the member. In this device, a large amount of bulk foods supplied to the hopper can be reliably supplied in a fixed amount to the subsequent process.

Recently, frozen desserts such as ice cream and shaved ice to which sweetened boiled red beans are added, or frozen gratin and frozen pizza to which bacon or cheese is added to the base are commercially available. For such frozen desserts and frozen foods, a certain amount of boiled red beans is supplied to a container filled with ice cream, shrimp immediately after thawing or bacon, cheese and corn cut into a substantially constant size are supplied. It is necessary to.

The above-mentioned boiled azuki beans exhibit viscosity due to the soaked sugar content, and when some force is applied, they stick to each other to form a block, which deteriorates separability despite being a bulk food. is there. In addition, in loose foods such as shrimp immediately after thawing, there is a problem that the food itself is kept in a low temperature range and the surrounding water keeps a thin ice state, so that the bridge phenomenon is exhibited and the separability is poor. is there.

[0005]

When the above-mentioned conventional feeding device is used when feeding the loose food product having the above-mentioned difficult separation property, when a large amount of the loose food product is fed to the hopper, the bottom portion of the hopper is fed. There is a problem that the weight of the upper part of a certain bulk food acts to block it or keep the state in which the bridge phenomenon occurs, and the food is not stored in the storage part and cannot be reliably supplied to the subsequent process. . Therefore, it is the current situation that the worker supplies loose food to the hopper while loosening the loose food little by little to prevent blocking or destroy the bridge phenomenon.

[0006] If the loose foods are supplied to the hopper little by little as described above, the worker cannot leave the site while the apparatus is operating, resulting in poor work efficiency and a cost increase factor. .

An object of the present invention is to provide a supply device that can reliably supply a loose food product having a difficult separation property to a subsequent process.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a supply device for loose food according to the present invention includes a hopper for accommodating loose food, at least one of which is constituted by an inclined surface, and an inclination of the hopper. A push-up member having a push-up surface that is moved up and down along a surface and pushes up bulk foods along the inclined surface at the tip, and has a flat surface connected to the upper end of the inclined surface of the hopper and is pushed up by the push-up member. A storage member that forms a storage portion that stores the bulk food, a return member that moves along the plane of the storage member and returns the bulk food that has been pushed up onto the plane to the hopper, and the storage member formed on the storage member. The storage unit is configured to be closed and the bulk food is stored, and the storage unit is opened to include an opening / closing member that supplies the stored bulk food to a subsequent process.

In the above-mentioned supply device for bulk foods, it is preferable to provide an extruding member which faces the storage part formed in the storage member and pushes out the bulk food stored in the storage part.

[0010]

According to the above-mentioned bulk food supply device (hereinafter simply referred to as "supply device"), the bulk food is blocked due to its own viscosity and the separability is deteriorated, or the bridge phenomenon is maintained by the low temperature immediately after thawing. As a result, even loose food whose separability is deteriorated can be reliably supplied to the subsequent process.

Blocking due to viscosity occurs when some force is applied to a viscous bulk food. Therefore, when a large amount of such bulk food is supplied to the hopper, the weight of the bulk acts on the bulk food at the bottom to block it, and the bulk food at the top does not block.

The bridging phenomenon occurs because the bulk food itself is in a low temperature range and the surrounding water keeps a thin ice condition. Therefore, in the loose food product exhibiting the bridge phenomenon, the separability can be improved by destroying the phenomenon once, and the separability improves as the temperature rises.

Therefore, even when a large amount of loose foods fed to the hopper is blocked or the bridge phenomenon is maintained, the push-up member is raised along the inclined surface of the hopper to allow the front surface of the push-up surface to rise. It is possible to push up the bulk food in the above-mentioned manner onto the plane of the containing member, and separate the bulk food in the hopper, which is blocked or has a bridge phenomenon, by lifting and lowering the push-up member.

The bulk foods pushed up on the flat surface of the storage member are stored in the storage portion formed on the storage member, and the surplus foods are piled up on the flat surface. Therefore, by moving the return member along the surface of the storage member, the excess bulk food on the surface can be returned to the hopper, and a certain amount of bulk food can be stored in the storage portion. .

In synchronism with the movement of the return member, that is, after the excess bulk food is returned to the hopper by the return member, the storage unit is opened by the opening / closing member, so that the bulk food stored in the storage unit is removed. Can be supplied to the process.

In the case where the pushing member is provided so as to face the holding portion, the holding member is opened by the opening / closing member, and then the loose food stored in the holding portion is forced out by the pushing member to perform the subsequent process. Can be supplied.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a feeding device will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a plan view of the supply device, FIG. 2 is a side view of the supply device, FIG. 3 is a view for explaining a relationship between a housing member and an opening / closing member of the supply device, and FIGS. 4A to 4F are operations of the supply device. It is a figure explaining. The supply device A shown in the figure is configured so that it is possible to reliably supply a loosely-divided loose food product such as boiled red beans having viscosity or shrimp immediately after thawing to the subsequent process. This supply device A is configured as one unit,
This unit can be attached to, for example, an ice cream filling device or a frozen food manufacturing device.
In the present embodiment, a case where boiled red beans are supplied as a loose food will be described.

1 and 2, a hopper 1 is formed with an inclined surface 1a, and a push-up member 2 which moves up and down along the inclined surface 1a is arranged at the bottom. Also, the inclined surface 1a
At the upper end of the container, a flat surface 3a continuous with the upper end and a housing 3b
The housing member 3 having is arranged. This housing member 3
A return member 4 that moves along the plane 3a and an extruding member 5 that is configured integrally with the member 4 are provided above. Further, an opening / closing member 6 is provided in contact with the housing member 3.

The hopper 1 is fixed to the frame 7, and its side surface is formed into an inverted triangle as shown in FIG.
The dimension in the length direction (left-right direction in FIG. 1) is set according to preset specifications of the supply device A (the number of the accommodating portions 3b, etc.). The capacity of the hopper 1 is appropriately set according to the amount of the loose food product supplied per cycle, the type of the loose food product, and the like.

At the tip of the push-up member 2, a push-up surface 2a having an area preset according to the amount and type of bulk food to be supplied.
Are formed. Therefore, by raising the push-up member 2 along the inclined surface 1a of the hopper 1 at a predetermined timing, the boiled red beans stored in the hopper 1 can be pushed up to the flat surface 3a of the storage member 3. As the push-up member 2, it is possible to use a synthetic resin plate having a predetermined thickness, a bent stainless plate, or the like. In this embodiment, a synthetic resin plate is used as the push-up member 2.

The push-up member 2 is constructed so that it can be driven up and down along the slope 1a by being driven by the push-up cylinder 8 attached to the frame 7. That is, a pair of racks 9a is arranged on both sides in the longitudinal direction of the hopper 1 so as to be slidable in parallel with the inclined surface 1a, and the push-up member 2 and the rod 8a of the push-up cylinder 8 are connected to the racks 9a. Further, pinions 9b are meshed with the racks 9a, respectively.

Therefore, when the push-up cylinder 8 is driven, the rack 9a connected to the rod 8a moves in the same direction as the moving direction of the rod 8a, and at the same time the pinion 9b rotates. Therefore, each of the pair of racks 9a has a pinion 9b.
The driving force is transmitted through the rack 9a.
The push-up member 2 connected to the push-up member 2 can be smoothly moved up and down along the inclined surface 1a without backlash in the longitudinal direction.

The housing member 3 is composed of a plate-shaped member. A flat surface 3a connected to the upper end of the inclined surface 1a of the hopper 1 is formed on the upper surface of the housing member 3, and a preset number of through holes are formed at preset positions. A housing portion 3b is formed.
The accommodating portion 3b needs to be formed with a capacity equal to the capacity to be supplied to the subsequent process. Therefore, the accommodating member 3 has a width and a thickness that can realize the capacity.

A pair of rails 10 is provided at a predetermined position above the housing member 3. Moving cylinder 11 on rail 10
A bracket 12 driven by is movably mounted, and a return member 4 and an extruding member 5 having a predetermined distance from the member 4 are attached to the bracket 12.
Therefore, by driving the moving cylinder 11, the return member 4
And the pushing member 5 are moved at the same time, and along with this movement, the returning member 4 can return the boiled red beans on the flat surface 3a of the holding member 3 to the hopper 1 and arrange the pushing member 5 above the holding portion 3b. Is.

The returning member 4 has a function of moving so as to sweep the flat surface 3a of the accommodating member 3 and returning the boiled red beans on the flat surface 3a to the hopper 1. Therefore, the return member 4 may be any one that can exhibit the above function. In this embodiment, a stainless steel plate is used as the return member 4.

The extruding member 5 is provided when the boiled red beans stored in the storage portion 3b are supplied to the subsequent process by operating the opening / closing member 6.
It has a function of penetrating the inside of the storage portion 3b and discharging the boiled azuki beans that are securely stored. Therefore, when the bulk food to be supplied has a sufficient separability, it is not always necessary to provide the supply device A with the extrusion member 5.

The extruding member 5 is composed of a cup-shaped member 5a arranged so as to face each of the accommodating portions 3b, a connecting member 5b for connecting the cup-shaped member 5a, and an extruding cylinder 13 for driving the connecting member 5b. Has been done. Therefore, when the pushing cylinder 13 is driven, the plurality of cup-shaped members 5a connected by the connecting member 5b simultaneously move up and down. Then, by lowering the cup-shaped member 5a, the storage portion 3b
It is possible to extrude the red beans stored in the container and feed them to the subsequent process through the nozzle.

As shown in FIG. 3, the opening / closing member 6 is arranged below the housing member 3, and the bottom portion of the housing portion 3b is closed so that the red beans are boiled in the housing portion and the bottom portion is opened. It has the function of supplying the boiled red beans to the subsequent process. The opening / closing member 6 is composed of a plate-shaped member,
The holes 6a are formed at the same pitch and in the same number as the accommodating portions 3b formed in. Then, the housing member 3 or the opening / closing member 6 is relatively moved by the opening / closing cylinder 15 so that the housing portion 3b and the hole 6a face each other, so that the bottom portion of the housing portion 3b can be opened / closed.

The operation of feeding the red beans boiled by the feeding device A constructed as described above will be described with reference to FIG. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, a predetermined amount of boiled red beans is supplied to the hopper 1. At this time, the return member 4 and the push-out member 5 are retracted in a direction separated from the connecting portion of the flat surface 3a of the housing member 3 with the inclined surface 1a, and the opening / closing member 6 closes the bottom of the housing portion 3b. It is in the state of having done.

As shown in FIG. 2B, when the push-up member 2 is raised along the inclined surface 1a, a part of the boiled red beans stored in the hopper 1 is pushed up by the push-up surface 2a and the storage member 3 of the storage member 3 is pushed up. It is supplied on the plane 3a. However, not all the boiled red beans pushed up are supplied on the flat surface 3a, but a small amount of the unblocked boiled red beans located above the hopper 1 is supplied, and the rest is accompanied by the lowering of the push-up member 2. Return to hopper 1. The boiled red beans supplied on the flat surface 3a are stored in the storage portion 3b. When the boiled red beans at the bottom of the hopper 1 are blocked, the block state of the boiled red beans is broken and broken up by raising and lowering the extrusion member 2.

As shown in FIGS. 3C and 3D, the push-up member 2 is lowered and at the same time the moving cylinder 11 is driven to move the return member 4 along the plane 3a of the accommodating member 3 toward the hopper 1 side. By this movement, the boiled red beans on the flat surface 3a are returned to the hopper 1, and the container 3b is filled with the boiled red beans in an amount equal to the capacity of the container 3b. Then, when the moving cylinder 11 reaches the stroke end and the return member 4 reaches the connecting portion between the flat surface 3a and the inclined surface 1a, the cup-shaped member 5a of the pushing member 5 faces the housing portion 3b.

As shown in FIG. 2 (e), a moving cylinder
Opening and closing cylinder with 11 reaching the stroke end
When 15 is operated, the bottom portion of the storage portion 3b is opened, and the stored boiled red beans are dropped and supplied from the nozzle 14 to the subsequent process.

In the case where the boiled red beans stored in the storage portion 3b adhere to the wall surface or are blocked and do not drop, the extrusion cylinder 13 is driven to drive the cup-shaped member 5a.
By lowering and inserting the member 5a into the accommodating portion 3b, the adsorbed boiled red beans can be reliably discharged and supplied from the nozzle 14 to the subsequent process.

[0034]

As described above in detail, in the device for feeding loose food according to the present invention, the loose food stored in the hopper is supplied little by little onto the supply member, and the storage portion formed in the member. Can be accommodated in. Therefore, even if the loose food product has viscosity or has difficult separation properties that cannot be easily separated, it is possible to improve the separation property by raising and lowering the extrusion member and surely store it in the storage portion. . Therefore, by opening the opening / closing member provided at the bottom of the housing,
The loose food stored in the storage unit can be supplied to the subsequent process.

In the case where the extruding member is provided so as to face the accommodating portion, even if the loose food contained in the accommodating portion adheres or is blocked and cannot be supplied to the subsequent process, this bulk material is not supplied. It has features such as the ability to extrude physical foods and to surely supply them to subsequent steps.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a supply device.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the supply device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a relationship between a housing member and an opening / closing member of the supply device.

4A to 4F are diagrams for explaining the operation of the supply device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A supply device 1 hopper 1a inclined surface 2 push-up member 2a push-up surface 3 storage member 3a flat surface 3b storage portion 4 return member 5 pushing member 5a cup-shaped member 6 opening / closing member 8 pushing cylinder 11 moving cylinder 13 pushing cylinder 15 opening / closing cylinder

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hopper that accommodates bulk foods, at least one of which is configured by an inclined surface, and a push surface that is lifted up and down along the sloped surface of the hopper to push up the bulk foods along the sloped surface. A pushing-up member, a holding member having a flat surface connected to the upper end of the inclined surface of the hopper and forming a holding portion for holding the bulk food pushed up by the pushing-up member, and along the flat surface of the holding member. A return member that returns the loose foodstuff that has been moved and pushed up to the plane to the hopper, and a storage portion that is formed by closing the storage member formed in the storage member to store the bulk foodstuffs and open the storage portion to store the roses that have been stored. An apparatus for supplying loose food products, comprising: an opening / closing member for supplying the food products to a post-process. 2. The bulk food supply device according to claim 1, further comprising an extruding member that faces a storage portion formed in the storage member and pushes out the bulk food stored in the storage portion. .