JPH0795015B2 - How to install the sampling device in the crumpling machine - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Purpose of the Invention><Industrial field of application> The present invention is directed to the positions of a sample intake port and a sample return port when a sampling tea leaf is taken out from a middle kneading machine and returned to the middle kneading machine again. The present invention relates to a method of mounting a sampling device mainly for setting.

<Background of the Invention> Monitoring of the water content of a tea leaf in a kneading machine is an extremely important work in controlling the tea making process, but conventionally, this kind of work is judged by the tactile sensation of a skilled worker. However, as the number of skilled workers decreases, and with the aim of further improving productivity or homogenizing products, the management of a series of tea making processes has become automated, the moisture measurement has become mechanized or automated. Tend to However, in order to sample tea leaves automatically and continuously from the inside kneader with the rotating drum rotating and to return them back into the inside kneader, the movement of the tea leaves inside the inside kneader should be taken into consideration. The location of the inlet and sample return must be determined. That is, the sampling mechanism may be complicated depending on the positions of the sample intake port and the sample return port. Therefore, the position of the sample intake port and the return port of the central kneading machine has been a subject to be developed when considering automatic sampling.

Furthermore, when the tea leaves are continuously taken out from the central kneading machine to the outside by sampling with the above opening,
There is a very difficult problem of having to keep a constant closed space inside the processing chamber.

<Technical Items Attempted to Develop> The present invention has been made in view of such a background,
In addition to keeping the processing conditions in the processing chamber,
Considering the movement of the tea leaves being processed in the rotary drum in the middle kneader, it is possible to continuously sample the tea leaves and to install a rational sampling device that does not affect other auxiliary machines. This is an attempt to develop a method.

<Structure of the Invention><Means for Achieving the Object> That is, the method for mounting the sampling device in the middle kneading machine of the present invention is a sampling device in which tea leaves are sampled from the middle kneading machine, the predetermined properties are measured and the tea leaves are returned to the middle kneading machine. When installing, with respect to the end plate provided so as to close one end of the rotary drum in the central kneading machine, a sample intake port and a sample return port are provided above and below in the scratched region of the rotary drum. The sample intake port and the sample return port are each provided with a rotary type shutter valve having rotating scraping blades, and the present invention aims to achieve the above object.

<Operation of the Invention> In the present invention, tea leaves falling after being scraped up by the rotation of the kneading hands, the rotating drum, etc. by opening the sample intake port in the upper region of the rotating drum. The trough intake section receives the sampled tea leaves, and the sampling tea leaves can be taken out as they are by a transfer conveyor or the like. Further, by providing a sample return port in the scraping region of the end plate on the same side as the sample intake port, which is particularly complicated after measuring the predetermined properties of the tea leaves sampled from the sample intake port. It is possible to return tea leaves from the sample return port to the inside of the kneader without the need for a transport mechanism through a return guide chute or the like.

Moreover, since the sampling type tea leaves are taken out using a rotary type shutter valve having a rotating scraping blade, the tea leaves are sampled without disturbing the atmosphere in the processing chamber by almost always closing the sample taking-in port. be able to.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described based on illustrated examples. First, a middle kneader to which the sampling device according to the present invention is applied will be described. Reference numeral 1 is a sampling device, which measures the water content as an example while continuously moving the tea leaves A that are being subjected to the centrally kneading process. Of course, in addition to the water content measurement, the temperature measurement of the tea leaf A or the color, shape, composition, dryness, etc. can be performed. The point is to disclose one sampling method for performing various measurements. Then, the sensor main body 3 is exposed in the middle of the sampling device 1. First, prior to the description of the sampling device 1, the middle kneading machine 2 in which the sampling device 1 is assembled will be briefly described. This is one which rotatably supports a rotary drum 6 for storing tea leaves A via a support roller 7 on a machine frame 5 made of an appropriate metal square or the like.
A take-out lid 8 for taking out tea leaves is formed in a part of the body portion, and a duck tree 9 is stretched over the entire surface of the rotary drum 6 including the take-out lid 8. The end of the rotary drum 6 on the closing side is closed by a closing end plate 10, the other end is provided with a wire net 11, and the outside of the wire net 11 is provided with a fan 11a. The fan 11a has a function of sucking outside air heated by a gas furnace 15 described later into the rotary drum 6 and discharging dust from a dust collecting cylinder 11b provided above the fan 11a. A large number of scraping pieces 12 are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the rotating drum 6 near the closing-side end plate 10. As an example, the scraping pieces 12 are combined with ones having different set angles. The scraping pieces 12 are provided to assist the extraction of the tea leaves A, but may be omitted if the tea leaves A are taken in a sufficient amount for sampling. Furthermore, this rotary cylinder 6
A kneading hand 13 that directly takes a kneading action is provided inside the kneading hand shaft, which is independent of the rotating drum 6 and rotates in the same direction at least at a faster speed than the rotating drum 6.
Mounted on 14. On the other hand, a gas furnace 15 is provided on the outside of the input side end plate 10, and a duct for supplying hot air from the gas furnace 15 is configured to communicate with the inside of the rotary drum 6 from the input side end plate 10. Furthermore, above the loading side end plate 10, a tea leaf feeding chute 16
Are connected and the tea leaves for which the previous process has been completed are introduced. Although not shown, a damper is provided in the feeding chute 16 and is closed so that outside air does not enter the rotary drum 6 during processing. The sampling device 1 is further provided in the remaining space on the input side end plate 10 to which the gas furnace 15 or the feeding chute 16 is attached, and the installation of the sampling device according to the present invention mainly for setting the position thereof. The method applies.
That is, the sample intake port 17 through which the sampling tea leaves are taken out is opened above the upper and lower central positions of the loading side end plate 10 and on the upper side of the rotary drum 6 (left side from the center in FIG. 3). A sample return port 18 for returning the tea leaves A to the inside of the kneading machine 2 is provided in a region below the vertical center position of the loading side end plate 10 and above the rotary drum 6 on the upper side of the scraping. Further, the intermediate kneading machine 2 is provided below the rotary drum 6 with a conveyor 19 for sending the processed intermediate kneading machine to the next step. Of course, the sample intake port 17 and the sample return port 18 need to have a positional relationship in the up-down direction, but as long as they are in the scratched region, they do not have to be vertically separated from the vertical center position as in the embodiment. Incidentally, the central kneading machine 2 is naturally provided with a control device, a driving device, or the like for these members, but a conventionally known mechanism is appropriately applied to these and detailed description thereof will be omitted. Next, the sampling device 1 attached to such a central kneading machine 2 will be described in detail below. The sampling device 1 is supported by a sub-frame 20 forming a part of the machine frame 5, and the sub-frame 20 has an upper conveyor support frame 21 and a measuring section support frame 22 provided below the upper conveyor support frame 21. The measuring unit support frame 22
Can be provided separately from the main kneading machine 2, and in this case, it becomes difficult to receive vibrations in the rotary drum 6, and improvement in measurement accuracy can be expected. First, a transfer conveyor 23 for taking out is supported on the upper conveyor support frame 21, and this one uses a vibration conveyor as an example. In this take-out transfer conveyor 23, a trough 24 that directly carries the transfer action is provided with an upper conveyor support frame via a leaf spring 25.
21 to be mounted in a floating state on the trough
24 is fed with vibration by a gear unit 26 driven by a motor M ₁ provided on the tip side of the upper conveyor support frame 21 as a driving source to transfer tea leaves. That is, the gear unit 26 directly forms eccentric output shafts 27 on the left and right sides thereof, the end portion of the connecting plate 28 is pivotally attached to the eccentric output shaft 27, and one end thereof is connected to the end portion of the trough 24. This trough 24 has an intake 29
From the sample intake port 17 through the loading side end plate 10
Is formed up to the position where it enters the processing chamber, and on the other hand, a relay feeding port 30 is opened below the gear unit 26 side, and a relay chute 31 extending downward is connected thereto. Further, a shutter valve 33 for taking in is provided at the sample taking-in port 17, which acts so as to guide the tea leaves A dropped and accumulated on the taking-in side of the trough 24 to the outside, and at the same time, taking a sample. This has the effect of closing the inlet 17 so that it is not always open. Specifically, a so-called rotary type shutter valve 33 is applied, and a roller attached to a drive shaft 34 supported in a substantially horizontal direction by a bearing on the outer surface of the closing side end plate 10. 35, a plurality of blades (12 in this embodiment, as an example) are attached to the blade 35 in a radial manner. Reference numeral M ₂ is a motor for driving the shutter valve 33 for taking in. Further, a hood 37 is formed on the closing side end plate 10 so as to cover the part of the shutter valve 33 for taking in. Further, in this embodiment, when the tea leaves A to be taken out as a sample from the inside kneading machine 2 are transferred, the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out the tea leaves is provided, and further below the transfer conveyor 23 for the measuring portion provided substantially in parallel therewith. This is done by a series of transfer conveyors constituted by the transfer conveyor 39. Of course, the tea leaves A may be returned by a chute or the like, and the sensor main body 3 may be faced in the middle of one transfer conveyor to perform the measurement. First, the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring section is also a vibration conveyor as an example, and the entire one including the drive mechanism is supported by the load cell 40 in a floating state with respect to the measuring section supporting frame 22. That is, the load cell 40 is a measuring unit floating frame.
The measurement unit floating frame 41
On the other hand, the trough 42, which is a main member of the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring section, is supported via a leaf spring 43. Although this trough 42 will be described later, in order to make the measurement value of the sensor body 3 more accurate, it is desirable that the bottom plate 44 be formed of styrofoam, which absorbs and reflects microwaves less.
And the drive of this trough 42 is the transfer conveyor for the previous take-out.
Gear unit 45 driven by motor M ₃ as well as 23
The eccentric output shaft 46 is used as a drive source.
The connection plate 47 connects the 46 and the trough 42. The trough 42 has a receiving portion 49 at a position facing the relay chute 31, and a sending / returning portion 50 at a portion of the input side end plate 10 near the sample return port 18. And send-back section 50
A return guide chute 51 is attached to the loading side end plate 10 on the side, and a shutter valve 52 for returning is provided at the sample return port 18 opening at that position, whereby the tea leaves A are collected. It is configured so that it can be inserted and the sample return port 18 is closed as much as possible. In this device, a round rod-shaped core body 54 is attached to a drive shaft 53 which is arranged in a substantially horizontal direction inside the input side end plate 10, and the core body 54 is
On the other hand, a plurality of (four in this embodiment) scraping blades 55 are radially formed by welding as an example, and these are rotationally driven by a motor M ₄ for driving the returning shutter valve 52. It The scraping blade 55 has a tip flap 56 formed on the tip side by a sufficiently flexible rubber plate or the like. Further, the sensor main body 3 is provided so as to sandwich the trough 42, which is a main member of the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring unit, from above and below, and specifically, the microwave transmitting antenna 57 and the receiving antenna 58 are used. Composed.

The present invention has the specific mechanisms described above, and operates as follows. First, the middle kneading machine 2 is in accordance with a conventional method, in a state in which a certain amount of the tea leaves A introduced from the feeding chute 16 are stored in the rotating drum 6 by an appropriate drive source.
And kneading hands 13 are rotated in the same direction with different speeds. As a result, the tea leaves A in the rotary drum 6 are massaged.
While being pressed between 13 and the duck tree 9, it moves and has a rolling and kneading action. The tea leaves A are sampled in such an operating state. First, the tea leaves A are moved upward during the processing along with the rotation of the kneading hands 13 and the rotary drum 6, or by the scraping pieces 12 provided on the rotary drum 6. It is scraped up to a certain height and then dropped downwards, and a part of it drops into the trough 24, which is the main member of the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out.
It will fall on 29. Incidentally, this position is a rational position where the sampled tea leaves can be reliably taken out and does not interfere with other auxiliaries. And this trough 24
Has a tendency to move the tea leaves to the outside because it has obtained a vibration state by itself, but in reality, the inside of the rotary drum 6 is in a negative pressure state due to the suction of the fan 11a, and the outside air is The tea leaves A may flow into the rotary drum 6 and may not be smoothly drawn out. In such a situation, in the present device, the take-in blade of the shutter valve 33 for taking in is positive.
36 discharges the tea leaves A to the outside, and sends them out smoothly. While this shutter valve 33 is always operating, it substantially closes the sample intake port 17 to prevent the inflow of outside air and prevent the processing conditions in the rotary drum 6 from changing. The tea leaves A thus sent out gradually due to the vibration of the trough 24 in the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out, and fall in the relay chute 31 from the relay feeding port 30 while sequentially averaging the layers of the tea leaves A. Then, it falls on the receiving part 49 of the trough 42 in the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring part. And at this time also trough 42
Has occurred is always vibrated by the action of the connection plate 47 connected to the eccentric output shaft 46 of the gear unit 45 driven by a motor M _3, sequentially moves toward the closing side end plate 10 side in the embodiment shown Go on. And at this time at least the trough
The total weight of the tea leaves A moving on 42 is continuously detected by the load cell 40 and stored as predetermined data, for example, as data encoded by a microcomputer. In the middle of this, microwave is transmitted from the microwave transmitting antenna 57, which is the sensor body 3, to the receiving antenna 58, and at this time, the microwave output value after being partially absorbed by the tea leaves A is converted into an appropriate microprocessor or the like. Is supplied as encoded signal data.
It should be noted that a filter 59 using styrene foam or the like may be provided in the opening of the receiving antenna 58 so that chips or the like of the tea leaves A as a sample do not enter the inside of the receiving antenna 58. Here, the measurement of the water content by the microwave will be briefly described. The measurement is performed by the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when the measurement is started, first, the process proceeds from the start step 101 to step 102, and various data is initialized in this step. At this time, the detected weight of the load cell 40 and the average value of the detected voltage of the microwave when the tea leaves A are not present on the transfer conveyer 39 for the measuring unit are stored as reference values w ₀ and m ₀ , respectively. Then, in steps 103 and 104, the sample weight and microwave attenuation data are accumulated. Incidentally, this accumulation means that data processing is performed several times to several tens of times per second, and an average value is calculated in a state where the data processing is accumulated for about 1 minute. First, in step 103, sample weight data is accumulated. At this time, assuming that the sample weight is W, W = W + (wi−w ₀ ) is set (wi is the load cell detection weight at the time of measurement). Next, in step 104, microwave attenuation data is accumulated. This processing formula uses M = M + (m ₀ -mi) where M is the microwave attenuation amount (mi is the microwave detection voltage at the time of angle measurement).

Steps for discriminating when such data is accumulated
At 105, it is determined whether the calculation time has come. Specifically, it is determined whether or not, for example, one minute has passed since the accumulated data was cleared. By the way, the setting of 1 minute is usually meaningless even if extremely small control is performed due to the heat storage load in the tea leaf manufacturing process of this kind.
It is selected as the time when the control can be effectively performed and more precise control can be performed. Of course, the cumulative time of the cumulative data is not limited to this one minute, and it goes without saying that an appropriate time can be selected. When the calculation time is reached, the water content G is calculated in the next step 106, and this water content G is experimentally obtained under the same conditions as those of the present apparatus. The water content G is obtained from Of course, this water content G is stored as predetermined data of the microcomputer, and the amount of outside air flowed in by suction of the fan 11a, which sets the processing conditions of the tea kneading machine 2 and the temperature, etc., the rotation speed of the rotating drum 6, etc. ,
It is used for selection of various other control elements. Then, after such a calculation of the water content is performed, step 108 is performed.
At, the accumulated data is cleared and M = 0 and W = 0. As a result of determining the calculation time in step 105, if the calculation time has not come yet, a loop
After 109, the process proceeds to step 110, where it is determined whether the initialization is necessary. If the initialization is not required yet, the process returns to the step 103 of accumulating the sample weight data via the loop 111 again. Of course, if initialization is necessary, loop 112 again.
After that, the process proceeds to step 102 for performing initialization. In general, when the tea manufacturing apparatus is of a batch processing type, the initialization is performed after the tea leaves A are taken out and before the next tea leaves A are charged. In this way, the moisture content of the tea leaves A transferred by the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring unit is automatically measured,
Thereafter, while being guided from the sending-back section 50 which is the terminal end of the trough 42 through the returning-section guide chute 51 to the returning shutter valve 52, the sample-returning port 18 is again passed through the rotary drum 6 of the central kneading machine 2.
Returned inside. That is, the scraping blade 55 of the rotary type return shutter valve 52 positively sends the tea leaves A back to the inside, and the sample return port 18 thereof is provided.
By making the state of substantially closed, it is possible to smoothly put the sample back in and stabilize the internal processing environment. Further, the shutter valve 52 prevents the tea leaves A on the trough 42 from being blown off by the inflow of outside air, and
The wind pressure due to the inflow of outside air is prevented from pushing up or pushing down the trough 42, and the accuracy of detecting the sample weight by the load cell 40 is improved.

<< Effects of the Invention >> The present invention has a tea leaf intake port on an orbit in which scraped tea leaves fall while maintaining a certain degree of cohesion, and the tea leaves are easily sampled through the intake unit 29. Can be taken out of the room. Further, the position of the sample return port 18 according to the present invention, after measuring the predetermined properties of the tea leaves sampled from the sample intake port 17, facilitates the tea leaves via a guide chute or the like without requiring a particularly complicated transport mechanism. Can be returned to the processing room. Further, in the present invention, the sampling device can be attached without interfering with other auxiliary machines.

In addition, when taking out the sampling tea leaves, a rotary type shutter valve having a rotating blade 55
Since 33 is used, it is possible to almost always close the sample intake port 17 and perform the tea leaf sampling operation without disturbing the atmosphere in the processing chamber.

Incidentally, when the sampled tea leaves are taken out, the tea leaves are often taken out after the tea leaves are accumulated in the receiving member for taking out, and the sample intake port 17 may be opened during this waiting time, which is a problem. In the present invention, at least the sample intake port 17 has the rotary type shutter valve 33, and this inconvenience is solved. Moreover, the sample can be returned or returned at any time by returning it from a small door of the one-sided open type, etc. Since such inconvenience on the intake side has not become apparent, it is not always necessary to use the rotary type shutter valve 33. . Of course, if the rotary type shutter valve 33 is provided on the returning side, the effect is more remarkable.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a centering machine equipped with a sampling device, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same, FIG. 3 is a left side view showing the same skeleton as above, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the sampling device. 5 is a perspective view seen from another direction of the same as above, FIG. 6 is a side view of the same as above, FIG. 7 is a side view, a plan view and a side view showing a transfer conveyor for a measuring unit and a mechanism inside a gear unit. FIG. 8A is an end view taken along the line CC of FIG. 8A, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the throw-in end plate viewed from the inside of the rotating drum, and FIG. 1; Sampling device 2; Crushing machine 3; Sensor body 5; Machine frame 6; Rotating barrel 7; Support roller 8; Ejection lid 9; Duck wood 10; Input side end plate 11; Wire mesh 11a; Fan 11b; Dust collection tube 12; Scraping piece 13; Rubber 14; Rubber shaft 15; Gas furnace 16; Feed chute 17; Sample inlet 18; Sample return port 19; Discharge conveyor 20; Subframe 21; Upper conveyor support frame 22; Measuring section Support frame 23; Transfer conveyor 24 for taking out; Trough 25; Leaf spring 26; Gear unit 27; Eccentric output shaft 28; Connecting plate 29; Intake part 30; Relay feeding port 31; Relay chute 33; (For taking in ) Shutter valve 34; Drive shaft 35; Roller 36; Scraping blade 37; Hood 39; Transfer conveyor 40 for measuring unit 40; Load cell 41; Floating frame for measuring unit 42; Trough 43; Leaf spring 44; Bottom plate 45; Gear unit 46 Eccentric output shaft 47; connection plate 49; receiving part 50; sending / returning part 51; return guide chute 52; shutter valve 53 (for returning) drive shaft 54; core 55; scraping blade 56; End flaps 57; transmitting antenna 58; receive antenna 59; filter A; tea _{M 1, M 2, M 3} , M 4; motor

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When a tea leaf is sampled from a middle kneading machine and a predetermined property is measured and then a sampling device for returning the tea leaf to the middle kneading machine is attached, one side end of a rotary drum of the middle kneading machine is closed. With respect to the end plate provided, a sample intake port and a sample return port are provided above and below in the upper side region of the rotary drum, and the sample intake port and the sample return port have rotating scratching blades. A method for mounting a sampling device in a central kneading machine, which is provided with a rotary type shutter valve.