JPH0722912B2 - Ultrasonic food cutting device and cleaning method of blade part in ultrasonic food cutting device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ultrasonic food cutting device and an ultrasonic food cutting device for cutting a block-shaped food product such as cake, castella, and cooked rice with an ultrasonically vibrating blade. The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a blade in a sonic food cutting device.

"Prior Art" Conventionally, in such an ultrasonic food cutting device, an ultrasonically vibrating blade is applied to a block-shaped food to cut the food into a predetermined size. Dirt such as sugar, honey, and oil adheres to the blade that cut the food, and the sharpness gradually deteriorates.Therefore, you may drip alcohol diluted liquid on the blade or stop the machine from time to time to let the operator clean the blade. I was trying to wipe off the dirt.

"Problems to be solved by the invention" However, by instilling or wiping an alcohol diluent, it is not possible to completely remove stains on the blade,
There is a drawback that the sharpness of the food becomes rough and the commercial value of the food decreases as the cutting quality becomes poor.

Further, in an attempt to remove stains on the blade portion by drip of the alcohol diluting liquid, a large amount of the alcohol diluting liquid is consumed, which has a drawback of high running cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, it is possible to completely remove the dirt of the blade portion, the ultrasonic food cutting device and the blade in the ultrasonic food cutting device that can reduce the running cost An object of the present invention is to provide a method for cleaning a part.

"Means for Solving the Problem" The ultrasonic food cutting device of the present invention is an ultrasonic food cutting device for cutting a food by applying a blade portion vibrated by ultrasonic waves to a block-shaped food, wherein the blade is A cleaning tank in which a cleaning liquid is stored is attached vertically below the portion, and an up-and-down mechanism for immersing the blade portion used for cutting in the cleaning liquid under ultrasonic vibration is attached.

The cleaning method of the blade in the ultrasonic food cutting device of the present invention, the blade portion vibrated by ultrasonic waves is applied to the block-shaped food to cut the food, and the cleaning liquid is stored in the blade portion used for the cutting. It is characterized in that the blade portion is washed by immersing it in a cleaning tank under ultrasonic vibration.

[Operation] According to the present invention, the blade portion, which is cut from food and is contaminated with sugar, honey, oil, etc., is immersed in the cleaning tank in which the cleaning liquid is stored, and the blade is oscillated by ultrasonic vibration of the blade. Part stains are completely removed. Therefore, the sharpness when the food is cut again can be kept good, so that the cut surface of the food becomes fine and the commercial value is improved.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In the food cutting device of the present embodiment, a conveyor device 10 that conveys food, a vertical cutting device 20 that cuts the food conveyed by the conveyor device 10 in the conveying direction, and a lateral direction that cuts the food in the lateral direction. A cutting device 40 is provided.

The conveyor device 10 includes four conveyors supported by a gantry 11.
It is composed of 12,13,14,15. The conveyors 12 and 13 are driven continuously, and the conveyors 14 and 15 are driven intermittently. In addition, adjacent conveyors 12, 13,
A gap is formed between 14 and 15.

The structure of the vertical cutting device 20 is as follows. That is, the support plate 21 is provided on the top of the gantry 11 substantially vertically. Two rails 22 that are parallel to each other are attached to the support plate 21, and a movable plate 23 is attached to the rail 22 so as to freely move back and forth along the rail 22. Two rails 24 that are parallel to each other are attached to the movable plate 23.
An ultrasonic cutter holding member 25 is reciprocally attached. A motor 26 is attached to the movable plate 23, and a disc 27 is fixed to the rotation shaft of the motor 26. Then, the eccentric position of the disk 27 and the upper part of the ultrasonic cutter holding member 25 are connected by a connecting bar 28, and when the motor 26 is rotated, the rotational movement of the motor 26 is the ultrasonic cutter holding member. It is designed to be converted into 25 reciprocating motions.

A slider 30 having a motor 29 coupled to the movable plate 23
Is fixed to the slider 30.
It meshes with a threaded rod 31 that is vertically attached to 21,
When the motor 29 is rotated, the movable plate 23 moves in the vertical direction.

The ultrasonic cutter holding member 25 holds six ultrasonic cutters 32 in parallel with each other. This ultrasonic cutter 32
Is provided with an ultrasonic transducer 33 at the base end, and is provided with a blade portion 34 that is connected to this ultrasonic transducer 33 and that vibrates the ultrasonic transducer 33 and vibrates slightly. There is. This blade
34 is a single-edged blade having a blade formed at one edge along the longitudinal direction. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, an ultrasonic oscillator 36 is connected to the ultrasonic oscillator 33 of the ultrasonic cutter 32 so as to generate ultrasonic vibration.

A cleaning tank 35, in which water, warm water, or an alcohol diluting solution obtained by diluting alcohol with water, is stored is attached below the blade 34 in the vertical direction. In this cleaning tank 35,
As will be described later, the blade portion 34 of the ultrasonic cutter 32 that cuts the food
Is to be immersed.

Next, the configuration of the lateral cutting device will be described. Stand 11
A U-shaped support frame 41 is fixed on the upper side so as to straddle the conveyor 14. The two opposite sides of this support frame 41
Two rails 42 that are parallel to each other are bridged between the two sides. A movable plate 43 is supported on the rail 42 so as to be movable along the rail 42. On the back side of the support frame 41, a screw rod 45 is attached so as to span the horizontal direction, and the rotating shaft of the motor 44 is connected to the tip of the screw rod 45. The movable plate 43 is connected to the screw rod 45 via a connecting member 46, and the motor 44
When is rotated, the movable plate 43 is moved in the vertical plane in conjunction with this.

Two rails 47 are attached to the movable plate 43 in parallel with each other in the vertical direction, and a movable plate 48 is attached to the rail 47 so as to be movable in the vertical direction.
Two rails 49 parallel to each other are attached to the movable plate 48, and an ultrasonic cutter holding member 50 is supported on the rail 49 so as to be capable of reciprocating in the vertical direction. A motor 51 is attached to the movable plate 48, and a disc 52 is fixed to the rotation shaft of the motor 51. The eccentric position of the disk 52 and the upper portion of the ultrasonic cutter holding member 50 are connected by a connecting bar 53, and the rotational movement of the motor 51 is converted into the reciprocating movement of the ultrasonic cutter holding member 50. A slider 55 to which a motor 54 is connected is attached to the movable plate 48. The slider 55 meshes with a screw rod 56 mounted vertically on the movable plate 43, and the movable plate 48 can be moved vertically by rotating the motor 54.

An ultrasonic cutter 57 is held on the ultrasonic cutter holding member 50. The ultrasonic cutter 57 is provided with an ultrasonic vibrator 58 at the base end, and is connected to the ultrasonic vibrator 58 so that the vibration of the ultrasonic vibrator 58 is transmitted and the blade part vibrates slightly. 59 are provided. The blade portion 59 is a double-edged blade having two edge portions along the longitudinal direction. Here, as shown in FIG. 4, an ultrasonic oscillator 61 is connected to the ultrasonic oscillator 58 of the ultrasonic cutter 57 to generate ultrasonic vibration.

A cleaning tank 60 in which water, warm water, or an alcohol diluting solution obtained by diluting alcohol with water is stored is attached below the blade 59 in the vertical direction. In this cleaning tank 60,
The blade portion 59 of the ultrasonic cutter 57 that cuts food as described later
Is to be immersed.

Next, the operation of the food cutting device of this embodiment will be described.

Block-shaped food (castella here) K is conveyor 12
When it is conveyed by, the ultrasonic cutter 32 is driven to slightly vibrate the blade portion 34 by ultrasonic vibration, and
By rotationally driving the motor 26, the ultrasonic cutter holding member 25 is reciprocally moved to reciprocate the blade portion 34 of the ultrasonic cutter 32 in the vertical direction, and the blade portion 34 is applied to the conveyed food K and the food K is conveyed. Is cut vertically into 7 blocks. Here, the motor 29 is rotationally driven to move the movable plate 23 vertically downward, and the ultrasonic cutter 32 is gradually lowered vertically as the food K is conveyed, so that the food K is constantly soiled. The blade portion 34, which has no edge, is pressed against it. As a result, the food K can be cut with a finely cut surface.

Here, the blade portion 34 moved vertically downward is the conveyors 12, 13
Into the gap and is immersed in the cleaning tank 35 provided in the lower part. Since the blade portion 34 is ultrasonically vibrated by the ultrasonic transmitter 36, stains such as sugar, dense matter, and oil content adhered to the surface of the blade portion 34 when the food K is cut are washed by the ultrasonic vibration to remove the cleaning liquid. It melts into the inside and the cleaning of the blade portion 34 is achieved. In the present embodiment, since the dirty blade portion 34 is simultaneously immersed in the cleaning tank 35 while cutting the food K, the blade portion 34 is separately provided.
Since it is not necessary to provide the cleaning step of 1, the productivity does not decrease. Needless to say, it is not prohibited to provide a separate washing step after the food K has been cut and before the next food K to be cut is sent.

The food K cut into seven pieces in the vertical direction is conveyed by the conveyors 13 and 14, and when the food K is placed on the conveyor 15 for a predetermined length, the driving of the conveyors 14 and 15 is stopped.

Thereafter, similarly to the above-described vertical cutting device, the ultrasonic cutter 57 is driven to finely vibrate the blade portion 59 by ultrasonic vibration, and the ultrasonic cutter holding member 50 is rotated by rotationally driving the motor 51. The blade portion 59 of the ultrasonic cutter 57 is reciprocated in the vertical direction to hit the food K. Here, the motor 44 is rotationally driven to move the movable plate 43 on which the ultrasonic cutter 50 is supported so as to cross the food K, and cut the food K in the horizontal direction. Further, the motor 54 is rotationally driven to move the movable plate 48 vertically downward,
The ultrasonic cutter 50 is gradually lowered in the vertical direction so that the clean blade portion 59 is constantly pressed against the food K. As a result, the food K can be cut with a finely cut surface.

Here, the blade 59 that has moved vertically downward is the conveyor 14,15.
And is immersed in the cleaning tank 60 provided in the lower part. Since the blade portion 59 is ultrasonically vibrated by the ultrasonic wave transmitter 61, stains such as sugar, dense matter and oil content attached to the surface of the blade portion 59 when the food K is cut are cleaned by the ultrasonic vibration. It melts into the inside and the cleaning of the blade portion 59 is achieved.

When the horizontal cutting of the food K is completed as described above, the conveyors 14 and 15 are driven to feed the food K on the conveyors 14 and 15 by a predetermined amount. After that, similarly to the above, the ultrasonic cutter 57 is driven to slightly vibrate the blade portion 59 to bring the food material K into contact with the blade portion 59 from the side opposite to the cutting direction. And the blade
59 is reciprocated and lowered vertically to cut the food K laterally. Even in this case, the blade portion 59 of the ultrasonic cutter 57 cuts the food K at the same time as the cleaning tank 60.
It is dipped inside and the dirt attached to the blade portion 59 is removed by ultrasonic vibration.

Incidentally, in this embodiment, after the blade portions 34, 59 of the ultrasonic cutters 32, 57 are immersed in the cleaning tanks 35, 60, the blades are simply pulled up to perform cutting again. When pulling up
A cleaning liquid wiping pad that sandwiches the blade portions 34 and 59 from both sides may be provided, and the cleaning liquid wiping pad may be used to drain the blade portions 34 and 59.

"Effects of the Invention" As described above, according to the present invention, a blade portion vibrated by ultrasonic waves is applied to a block-shaped food product to cut the food product, and a cleaning liquid is accumulated after or during the cutting. Since the blade is cleaned by immersing it in the cleaning tank with ultrasonic vibration, it is possible to completely remove the dirt on the blade and reduce the running cost. The effect of being able to do is obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 to 4 are views showing a food cutting device according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 1 is a perspective view thereof, FIG. 2 is a side view thereof, FIG. 3 is a front view thereof, and FIG. It is a perspective view showing a principle. 29,54 …… Motor, 30,55 …… Slider, 31,56 …… Screw rod, 34,59 …… Blade part, 35,60 …… Cleaning tank, K …… Food

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An ultrasonic food cutting device for cutting a food by applying a blade vibrated by ultrasonic waves to a block-shaped food, and a cleaning tank in which a cleaning liquid is stored is attached vertically below the blade. An ultrasonic food cutting device is provided with an up-and-down mechanism for immersing the blade portion, which has been used for cutting, in the cleaning liquid in an ultrasonically vibrated state. 2. A blade which is vibrated by ultrasonic waves is applied to a block-shaped food to cut the food, and the blade used for the cutting is ultrasonically vibrated in a cleaning tank in which a cleaning liquid is stored. A method for cleaning a blade portion in an ultrasonic food cutting device, comprising immersing the blade portion in the above state to clean the blade portion.