JPH06331257A - Spiral conveyer device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a spiral conveyor device which is capable of refrigerating an article with higher efficiency and in a shorter time. CONSTITUTION:A space in which a spiral running part 8 of an endless conveyor 5 in a main body case 1 is partitioned with a housing 9 and a cover board 11 which covers the outer surface of a rotary drum 4 while cooling air from two coolers 7 is introduced into the spiral running part 8 by way of a cooling air duct 12 and arranged to be circulated, which makes it possible to cool the spiral running part 8 of the endless conveyer 5 in a concentrated fashion. It is, therefore, possible to refrigerate articles loaded one after another on the endless conveyer 5 and brought in the main body case 1 efficiently and in a shorter time. What is more, it is not necessary to install a large-sized cooler having a large cooling capacity in the main body case 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention conveys articles such as loose foods by using an endless conveyor and a cooler which run while spirally rotating along the outer circumference of a rotary drum in a main body case. The present invention relates to a spiral conveyor device for freezing.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional spiral conveyor device of this type, a cage-shaped rotary drum is erected in a main body case having a conveyor inlet and a conveyor outlet, and an endless conveyor having elasticity is provided. The rotary drum is wound around the outer periphery of the rotary drum in a spiral shape and is stretched from the conveyor inlet to the conveyor outlet, and one cooler is arranged in the main body case.

Then, by rotating the rotary drum with a drive motor, the endless conveyor is caused to travel between the conveyor inlet and the conveyor outlet while rotating spirally along the rotary drum. At the same time,
The cooler is activated to direct cooling air from the cooler toward the spiral run of the endless conveyor along the outer circumference of the rotating drum. As a result, while the articles such as bulk food and the like placed on the endless conveyor outside the conveyor introduction port of the main body case and carried into the main body case are conveyed to the conveyor outlet by the endless conveyor, especially the spiral traveling part Freeze during transport. In other words, the article carried into the main body case is transported through the spiral traveling section for a time required for freezing the article.

[0004]

As described above, in the configuration of the conventional spiral conveyor device, the cooling air from the cooler is sent toward the spiral traveling portion of the endless conveyor, but in reality, The cooling air is spread all over the inside of the main body case. In other words, the single cooler arranged in the main body case cools the entire main body case including the inside of the cage-type rotary drum.

Therefore, the articles carried into the main body case cannot be efficiently frozen, and as a result, the time (conveying time) required for freezing the articles becomes long, and the cooling capacity is required to shorten the time. There was a problem that a large-sized large-sized cooler had to be arranged in the main body case.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a spiral conveyor device capable of efficiently freezing articles in a shorter time.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A spiral conveyor device according to the present invention comprises a housing (9) surrounding a spiral running portion (8) of an endless conveyor (5) in a main case (1), and a rotary drum (4). ) A cover plate (1
1) and cooling air from the cooler (7) are introduced into the spiral running portion of the endless conveyor arranged between the housing and the cover plate and circulated between the cooling air and the cooler. And a path (12).

[0008]

In the spiral conveyor device according to the present invention described above, the space in which the spiral traveling portion (8) of the endless conveyor (5) is arranged is the housing (9) and the rotating drum (4).
In addition to partitioning with the cover plate (11), the cooling air from each cooler (7) is introduced into the spiral running portion through the cooling air passage (12) and is circulated.

Therefore, it is possible to intensively cool the spiral running portion of the endless conveyor, which is the main part for freezing articles, in the main body case (1). And for that,
The articles placed on the endless conveyor and successively carried into the main body case can be efficiently frozen in the spiral traveling section in a shorter time than before. Moreover, it is not necessary to dispose a large-sized cooler having a large cooling capacity in the main body case.

The reference numerals in the above parentheses are for comparison with the drawings and do not limit the structure of the present invention.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a spiral conveyor device according to the present invention, showing the internal structure of a main body case. FIG. 2 is a front view of this spiral conveyor device, similarly showing the internal structure of the main body case.

As shown in the figure, this spiral conveyor device comprises a rectangular parallelepiped main body case 1, and the main body case 1
Is provided with a conveyor inlet 2 on the upper right side of the right end face and a conveyor outlet 3 on the lower left side of the left end face.

A rotary drum 4 is erected in the center of the main body case 1, and an elastic endless conveyor 5 is spirally wound around the outer circumference of the rotary drum 4. The endless conveyor 5 is stretched from the conveyor inlet 2 to the conveyor outlet 3 and in a state of protruding outward from the inlet 2 and outlet 3, and is arranged outside the main body case 1. By rotating the rotary drum 4 in a predetermined direction by the driven motor 6, the conveyor inlet 2 and the conveyor outlet 3 are rotated along the outer periphery of the rotary drum 4, for example, spirally from top to bottom. Drive between and.

In the body case 1, a cooler 7 is provided.
Is provided. Particularly in this embodiment, two coolers 7 are provided.
However, one unit is provided on each side of the rotary drum 4. These coolers 7 are supplied with a refrigerant from a refrigerator (not shown) arranged outside the main body case 1,
The air in the body case 1 is cooled.

As a feature of the spiral conveyor device according to the present invention, the endless conveyor 5 inside the main body case 1 is provided.
A housing 9 is provided so as to surround the spiral traveling portion 8 along the outer circumference of the rotary drum 4. The housing 9 has, for example, an octagonal shape, and four faces corresponding to the four corners of the eight faces are provided with openings 10 for forming a cooling air passage described later. Although not shown, the rear two surfaces out of the four surfaces provided with the opening 10 are necessary for passing the endless conveyor 5 and articles placed on the conveyor 5 and conveyed. A minimum size hole is provided. Doors 9a are provided on four surfaces other than the four surfaces on which the opening 10 is provided so that the doors 9a can be opened for inspection or the like. The housing 9 may be cylindrical.

The rotary drum 4 is axially supported by the top plate portion of the housing 9 and the floor plate portion of the main body case 1, and the outer surface of the rotary drum 4, that is, the outer peripheral surface and the upper and lower surfaces is a cover plate. It is covered with 11.

Inside the main body case 1, the respective coolers 7 are provided.
Cooling air is introduced into the spiral traveling portion 8 of the endless conveyor 5 arranged between the housing 9 and the cover plate 11 of the rotary drum 4, and is directed in a constant direction between the spiral traveling portion 8 and each of the coolers 7. The cooling air passage 12 is formed so as to circulate. In order to form the cooling air passage 12, the blow-out duct 13 and the blow-in duct 13 are provided in the corresponding openings 10 of the housing 9 on the blow-out side and the suction side of the cooler 7, respectively.
And the suction duct 14 are connected to each other. Moreover, in this embodiment, in order to improve the circulation efficiency of the cooling air, the blower fan 15 is attached inside the blowout duct 13 connected to the blowout side of each of the coolers 7, and the suction of each of the coolers 7 is increased. Inside the suction duct 14 connected to the side, a current plate 14a is provided so as to partition the suction duct 14 into an outer side and an inner side.

Further, a damper 16 is attached to each opening 10 of the housing 9 to which the blowout duct 13 and the suction duct 14 are connected. This damper 16
Is for shutting off the cooling air passage 12 between a selected one of the two coolers 7 and the spiral traveling portion 8 of the endless conveyor 5. That is, these dampers 16 are selectively closed by the two damper opening / closing motors 17 provided outside the main body case 1 corresponding to each cooler 7, thereby shutting off the cooling air passage 12 for each cooler 7. be able to.

As another structure in this embodiment,
A warm air inflow prevention chamber 19 containing an air blowing device 18 is attached to the outside of the conveyor introduction port 2 of the main body case 1, and a cold air outflow prevention chamber 20 is attached to the inside of the conveyor outlet port 3. .
A conveyor cleaning device 21 is provided outside the conveyor outlet 3.

As described above, in the spiral conveyor device according to the present invention, the spiral traveling section 8 of the endless conveyor 5 is provided.
The space in which is arranged is partitioned by the housing 9 and the cover plate 11 of the rotary drum 4, and the spiral traveling portion 8 is formed.
In addition, the cooling air from each cooling device 7 is introduced through the cooling air passage 12 and circulated.

Therefore, the spiral running portion 8 of the endless conveyor 5, which is the main part for freezing the articles, in the main body case 1.
Can be cooled intensively. And for that,
At the conveyor introduction port 2 of the main body case 1, the articles placed on the endless conveyor 5 from an external conveyor (not shown) and successively carried into the case 1 are efficiently conveyed by the spiral traveling section 8 in a shorter time than before. It becomes possible to freeze. Moreover, it is not necessary to dispose a large-sized cooler having a large cooling capacity in the main body case 1. The articles thus frozen are successively carried out from the conveyor outlet 3 of the main body case 1.

Further, by disposing two coolers 7 as in this embodiment, the circulation efficiency of the cooling air can be increased and the articles can be frozen more efficiently. further,
Since the damper 16 is attached to each opening 10 of the housing 9, when the defroster or the periodic inspection of the cooler 7 is performed, or when one of the two coolers 7 fails, the defroster, the check, and the repair are performed. By closing the damper 16 on the side and shutting off the cooling air passage 12, the cooling air can be circulated without waste only between the other cooler 7 and the spiral traveling portion 8, and the spiral conveyor device can be operated. There is no need to stop.

In addition, a warm air inflow prevention chamber 19 having an air blowing device 18 is attached to the outside of the conveyor inlet 2 of the main body case 1, and a cool air outflow prevention chamber 20 is attached to the inside of the conveyor outlet 3. Conveyor outlet 3 for heavy internal cold air to be tried
And the inflow of external warm air from the conveyor introduction port 2 accompanying the outflow of the cold air inside the main body case 1
The internal temperature rise can be suppressed, and the refrigerating efficiency of the articles in the spiral traveling section 8 of the endless conveyor 5 can be kept high.

As shown in FIG. 1, deflection plates 22 are provided so as to project inside the corners of the octagonal housing 9.
If the cooling air flowing along the inner surface of the housing 9 is deflected toward the spiral traveling portion 8, the refrigerating efficiency of the articles in the spiral traveling portion 8 can be improved accordingly.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, a partition plate 23 is horizontally projected below the inner peripheral surface of the housing 9 toward the lower end of the outer periphery of the rotary drum 4, and below the spiral traveling portion 8. If the gap is closed, the cooling space is reduced and the flow of the cooling air that is going down is suppressed, so that the refrigerating efficiency of the article in the spiral traveling unit 8 can be improved.

[0027]

As described above, according to the spiral conveyor device of the present invention, it is possible to intensively cool the spiral traveling portion of the endless conveyor, which is the main part for freezing articles in the main body case. The articles placed on the endless conveyor and successively carried into the main body case can be efficiently frozen in the spiral traveling section in a shorter time than before. Moreover, it is not necessary to dispose a large-sized cooler having a large cooling capacity in the main body case.

Further, by disposing two coolers, the circulation efficiency of the cooling air can be increased and the articles can be frozen more efficiently.

Further, by disposing a damper in the housing, when defrosting or periodic inspection of the cooler is performed, or when one of the two coolers fails, the defrosting, inspection, or repair side is performed. By closing the damper on the other side and shutting off the cooling air passage, it is possible to circulate the cooling air only between the other cooler and the spiral traveling part without waste, and it is also necessary to stop the operation of the spiral conveyor device. Disappear.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a spiral conveyor device according to an embodiment of the present invention, showing an internal configuration of a main body case.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the spiral conveyor device according to the embodiment of the present invention, similarly showing the internal configuration of the main body case.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Main Body Case 2 Conveyor Inlet 3 Conveyor Outlet 4 Rotating Drum 5 Endless Conveyor 7 Cooler 8 Spiral Travel 9 Housing 11 Cover Plate 12 Cooling Air Path 16 Damper

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A main body case having a conveyor inlet and a conveyor outlet, a rotary drum erected in the main body case, and the main body case while rotating spirally along the outer periphery of the rotary drum. Of the endless conveyor, and a cooler for sending cooling air toward a spiral running portion along the outer circumference of the rotary drum of the endless conveyor. In a spiral conveyor device that freezes the placed article with cooling air from the cooler, a housing that surrounds the spiral traveling portion of the endless conveyor in the main body case, and a cover plate that closes the outer surface of the rotating drum. Cooling air from the cooler is introduced into the spiral running portion of the endless conveyor arranged between the housing and the cover plate, and A spiral conveyor device, comprising: a cooling air passage that circulates between the spiral conveyor and the cooler. 2. The spiral conveyor device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the coolers are arranged in the main body case, and cooling air from the plurality of coolers is supplied to the housing and the cover plate. And a cooling air passage which is introduced into the spiral traveling portion of the endless conveyor and circulated between the cooling device and each of the cooling devices. 3. The spiral conveyor device according to claim 2, wherein a damper that blocks the cooling air passage between a selected one of the plurality of coolers and the spiral traveling portion is provided in the housing. A spiral conveyor device characterized by being arranged.