JPH09299029A - Tea-manufacturing method, tea-manufacturing machine and granule-loosening device used therein - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a new tea-manufacturing process, a tea manufacturing machine and a tea leave granules-loosening device used therein in which, when granulation of tea leaves occurs in the tea leave rubbing and twisting process, these granules are loosened, then sent to the following process whereby tea leaves of high quality are produced. SOLUTION: After completion of the tea leave-rubbing and-twisting step, in this tea-manufacturing process, the tea leave granules A2 formed in the former step are separated from the ordinarily rubbed and twisted tea leaves. The ordinarily processed tea leaves are sent to the following rubbing and twisting step, while the tea leave grains A2 are loosened with the loosening device 10 to almost the same state as that of the ordinarily processed tea leaves as the loosened tea leaves A3 in the loosening step. Then, the loosened tea leaves are decided whether they are fed back to the former rubbing and twisting step or to the latter processing step and fed back to the decided step.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tea manufacturing method, a tea manufacturing apparatus, and a disaggregation used for the tea manufacturing method, by which tea leaf agglomerates produced in a green tea manufacturing process are unraveled and processed to obtain high quality product tea. It relates to the device.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the process of making green tea, a rubbing process is almost continuous after a steaming process of raw tea leaves, during which tea leaves are dried and molded. In these processes, especially in the middle kneading process using the rotary drum type middle kneader, a part of the tea leaves has a diameter of 1 to 3 due to the relationship between the movement of the rotating kneading hand and the rotating kneading drum.
A tea leaf agglomerate that is solidified into granules of about cm may occur. Conventionally, this tea leaf agglomerate is only a part compared to the steady kneading leaves as a whole, and if this is supplied to the rectification process, many are loosened to the same state as the steady kneading leaves. Since it would return, there was no particular awareness of measures against the tea leaf agglomerates in the green tea manufacturing process.

However, the agglomerates of tea leaves are apt to be produced in the freshly harvested tea leaves from which high quality product tea can be obtained, and among them, the tea bud portions having a good flavor are
In the past, as a result, the process was carried out with imperfect processing, and as a result there was room for obtaining higher quality products, but sufficient measures were not taken. That is, such a tea leaf agglomerate is intertwined with each other as compared with a regular kneaded leaf and is granular, and as a result, the drying is not sufficiently promoted, and it is assumed that the moisture is removed to a certain moisture value. When it is sent to the next process with, the processing will proceed with the properties different from those of other regular kneading leaves, and the quality of the whole as a whole will be improved despite the fact that higher quality product tea would be obtained. It had lowered.

[0004]

[Technical Items Tried to Develop] The present invention has been made in view of such a background. When tea leaf agglomerates are formed in the rubbing process, the tea leaves are loosened and the subsequent processing is performed. In this way, an attempt was made to develop a new tea manufacturing method and tea manufacturing apparatus that can manufacture high-quality product tea, and a granulating apparatus used therefor.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, in the tea making method according to claim 1, after completion of the kneading step in the tea making step, the tea leaf agglomerates generated in the preceding step in the sorting step are separated from the steady kneading leaf, and the constant kneading leaf is obtained. Send to the next kneading process, while the tea leaf agglomerates are unraveled to the same state as the regular kneading leaves in the crushing process to make crushed tea leaves, and either returned to the previous rubbing process or supplied to the next rubbing process. Is determined and then sent to the determined kneading process. According to the present invention, the subsequent processing is performed in a state where the tea leaf agglomerates are unraveled, so that finally, the tea buds of a high quality part can be used without changing from the regular kneading leaves.

In addition to the above requirements, the tea making method according to a second aspect of the invention is characterized in that the decision as to which step is to be sent is made according to the water content of the disintegrated tea leaves. According to the present invention, it is determined whether to repeat the previous step or to send it to the next step as it is, depending on the amount of water, and it is possible to achieve more practical manufacturing.

Further, in addition to the above requirements, the tea making method according to a third aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the separating step and the smashing step are provided before the refining step.
According to the present invention, such a disintegration step is performed before the refining step, whereby high-quality product tea can be obtained in the refining step, which is the final step of rough tea finishing.

Further, in the tea making method according to claim 4, in addition to the above requirements, the granulating step is performed by a granulating device,
This granulating device comprises a hollow outer rotating cylinder and an inner rotating body that rotates in the outer rotating cylinder. One end of the outer rotating cylinder serves as an input port, the other end serves as an outlet, and The inner peripheral surface of the rotating drum is provided with receiving ribs for the tea leaf agglomerates, while the inner rotating body is provided with deflocculating pieces facing the receiving ribs. . According to the present invention, the tea leaf agglomerates are effectively disintegrated by the interaction between the outer rotating cylinder and the inner rotating body, and the method is rationalized.

Further, in the tea making apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a tea leaf agglomerate and a steady kneading are provided in each of a plurality of kneading apparatuses preceding the kneading machine which constitutes a part of the tea making process or in the latter part of the kneading apparatus. It is characterized by comprising a separating device for separating leaves and a disintegrating device for disentangling tea leaf agglomerates into substantially the same state as the regular kneaded leaves. According to the present invention, by providing such a sorting device and a disintegration device, it is possible to automatically select the steady kneaded leaves and tea leaf agglomerates generated in the kneading step, and to automatically disintegrate them. , More reasonable tea-making work can be done.

Further, the tea making apparatus according to claim 6 is characterized in that, in addition to the requirements of claim 5, the separating device and the granulating device are provided in the preceding stage of the kneading machine. . According to the present invention, disaggregation of the tea leaf agglomerate is performed before entering the refining step, and a high-quality product tea is obtained in the final step of rough tea finishing.

Furthermore, the granulating apparatus according to claim 7 comprises a hollow outer rotating cylinder and an inner rotating body that rotates in the outer rotating cylinder, and one end of the outer rotating cylinder serves as a charging port. , The other end is an outlet, and a receiving rib for the tea leaf agglomerate is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the outer rotating drum, while a deflocculating piece facing the receiving rib is provided on the inner rotating body. It is characterized by. According to the present invention, the tea leaf agglomerates are effectively disintegrated by the interaction between the outer rotating cylinder and the inner rotating body, and the method is rationalized.

Further, in the granulating apparatus according to claim 8, in addition to the requirement according to claim 7, the outer rotating cylinder and the inner rotating body rotate in the same direction with different rotational speeds. It is characterized by that. According to the present invention, the tea leaf agglomerates which are supported by the outer rotating drum side and rotate are gradually unraveled by the disintegrating pieces of the inner rotating body which rotate in the same direction, so that the tea leaves are not crushed Is done.

Furthermore, in the tea making apparatus according to claim 9, in addition to the requirements of claim 5 or 6, the granulating apparatus according to claim 7 or 8 is applied to the granulating apparatus in the tea making apparatus. It is characterized by that. According to the present invention, the tea leaf agglomerates are effectively disintegrated by the interaction between the outer rotating cylinder and the inner rotating body, and the method is rationalized.

[0014]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION The present invention will be specifically described below based on the illustrated embodiments. FIG. 1 is an example of the layout of a tea making apparatus 1 for carrying out the tea making method of the present invention, and the basic configuration of these apparatuses has a conventionally known form. That is, a steamer 2 for steaming tea leaves is provided at the frontmost stage, and further, a kneading device is provided subsequently to it. When the tea leaves themselves are generically referred to by the symbol A, the kneading leaves in the steady state described later are referred to as steady kneading leaves A _1, and the tea leaves in the form of agglomerates having a diameter of 1 to 3 cm are referred to as tea leaf agglomerates A. _2, and the one in which the tea leaf agglomerate A ₂ is unraveled to be in a state substantially close to the steady kneading leaf A ₁ is referred to as a defibrated tea leaf A ₃ (see FIGS. 4 and 5).

The tea leaves A steamed by the steamer 2 are first sent to the leaf beater 3, and further passed through a rough kneading machine 4, a kneading machine 5, a middle kneading machine 6, a middle kneading machine 7 and a fine kneading machine 8 to reach a rough tea stage. Processed, of course, to improve the quality of the product tea leaves,
For example, with respect to the rough kneading machine, the first kneading machine and the second kneading machine are provided in multiple stages, and after the kneading machine, the middle kneading machine 6 having substantially the same structure as the kneading machine is installed. It goes without saying that the steps can be changed appropriately.
Note that the kneading step referred to in the present specification means a leaf hitting step, a rough kneading step, a kneading step, a middle kneading step, a middle kneading step, a middle kneading step performed by each kneading device from a leaf hitting machine to a kneading machine. Say Then, the disintegration device 10 which is the object of the present invention is provided together with the sorting device 40 between the middle kneading machine 7 and the fine kneading machine 8 as shown in this embodiment. The steps performed by these devices are referred to as a smashing step and a sorting step, respectively.

Next, the disintegration device 10, which is the core component of the present invention, will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, a movable machine frame 12 is rotatably provided at a rotation fulcrum 13 with respect to a machine frame 11 formed by combining appropriate metal materials as shown in FIG. By attaching the tilt adjusting device 14, the tilt angle of the movable machine frame 12 can be adjusted freely. By the way, this configuration itself is, for example, the steamer 2
Etc., the configuration similar to the configuration appropriately applied in the above.

An outer rotating cylinder 15 is rotatably supported on the movable machine frame 12. This one has both ends open, and one end serves as an inlet 16 and the other end serves as an outlet 17. The outer rotating cylinder 15 is provided with a ring gear 18 on the outer peripheral portion on the side of the inlet 16 to connect power from an appropriate driving means described later, and a carrier roller attached to the movable machine frame 12 on the side of the outlet 17. It is rotatably supported by 19. On the other hand, a large number of receiving ribs 20 having a substantially triangular cross section are formed on the inner peripheral portion of the outer rotating cylinder 15 over the entire length thereof as shown in an enlarged view in FIG.

A charging casing 21 is provided on the charging port 16 side of the outer rotating cylinder 15, and this charging casing 21 is a hollow member, and is substantially a bearing-shaped member of the outer rotating cylinder 15. It not only plays a role of a support member, but also acts as a bearing member of the inner rotor 25 described later. A charging hopper 22 is provided above the charging casing 21, and the bearing 23 of the inner rotating body 25 described above is provided on one end surface thereof.

Next, the inner rotor 25 will be described.
This is in the form of a rotating shaft which is supported by a bearing 23 on the side of the input casing 21 and the other end is rotatably supported by a bearing 26 attached to the movable machine frame 12. The inner rotating body 25 is provided with, for example, a wing piece-shaped deagglomeration piece 27, and a screw-shaped tea leaf agglomerate A is provided in a portion facing the charging casing 21.
_A feeding piece 28 for feeding ₂ is formed.

Next, the drive device 30 for driving the outer rotating body 15 and the inner rotating body 25 will be described. This one uses an appropriate motor M as a drive source, and a detailed configuration thereof will be omitted. In short, the output of the motor M is branched and transmitted to the outer rotary cylinder drive shaft 31, and this outer rotary cylinder drive shaft 31 is transmitted. The pinion 32 provided on the gear meshes with the ring gear 18 of the outer rotary drum 15 to drive the ring gear 18 to rotate. The inner rotating body drive shaft 33 branched to another system is provided with a drive sprocket 34 therethrough, and from this drive sprocket 34 to a driven sprocket 35 provided near the end of the inner rotating body 25 via a chain M and a motor M.
It transmits the rotation of. Incidentally, these rotational speeds are, for example, about 100 to 500 rotations for the inner rotating body 25 and about 20 to 40 rotations for the outer rotating body 15, and rotate in the same direction. Of course, these rotational speeds and rotational directions may be out of this range.

Next, a sorting device 40 and the like for feeding the tea leaf agglomerates A ₂ to the disintegration device 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. Reference numeral 41 is a sorting trough which is a substantial component of the sorting apparatus 40, which comprises a sizing mesh 42 at a part of its bottom and both sides thereof supported by elastic stays 43. The sorting trough 41 receives an eccentric rotary motion from a drive motor or the like (not shown) and takes a so-called vibration conveyor-like operation mode. A stationary transfer conveyor 45 extends from the sorting device 40 to the next step, and a pulverizing conveyor 46 serves as the sorting trough 4.
The tea leaf agglomerate A ₂ is sent from the delivery end of No. 1 to the disintegrator 10. Further, the return conveyor 47 returns the deflocculated tea leaves A ₃ output from the outlet 17 of the deflocculation device 10 to the previous step, and the feed conveyor 48 sends the tea leaf lumps A ₂ output from the defibration apparatus 10 to the next step. It is provided in. Needless to say, the embodiments of these transfer paths are shown in order to explain the principle of operation in a skeletal manner, and actual design modes are not limited to these.

The present invention comprises each of the concrete constituent elements described above, and tea is produced as follows.
First, in accordance with a conventional method, the supplied tea leaves A pass through the steamer 2, leaf beater 3, rough kneading machine 4, kneading machine 5, middle kneading machine 6 and middle kneading machine 7.
Then, it is further processed into a rough tea state through the refiner 8.
These tea-making methods can basically be conventional methods or appropriate manufacturing methods that will be improved thereafter. Then, as an example, when the tea leaves A containing the tea leaf agglomerates A ₂ are taken out from the middle kneading machine 7 in a state where the middle kneading process by the middle kneading machine 7 in which the tea leaf agglomerates A ₂ are most likely to occur is taken out,
This product is first supplied so as to fall into a sorting device 40 that constitutes a sorting process. This sorting device 40 gradually feeds the tea leaves A by vibrating the sorting trough 41,
The steady kneading leaf A ₁ drops downward from the sizing mesh 42 and is sent by the steady transfer conveyor 45 to the scouring machine 8 which constitutes the subsequent scouring process.

On the other hand, the tea leaf agglomerate A ₂ is the sizing mesh 4
Since it cannot pass through No. 2, it is further transferred to the take-out side of the sorting trough 41, is received by the granulating conveyor 46, and is sent to the granulating apparatus 10. In the disintegrator 10, first, the tea leaf agglomerates A ₂ are charged into the charging casing 21 from the charging hopper 22 in the charging casing 21. Then, due to the screw action of the feeding piece 28 in the inner rotor 25 rotating at this portion, the tea leaf agglomerate A
₂ is sequentially sent into the outer rotary cylinder 15. The tea leaf agglomerate A ₂ thus fed is rotated together with the outer rotary drum 15 while rotating in a state of being locked to the receiving rib 20 of the outer rotary drum 15 as shown in FIG.

In this state, the inner rotating body 25 rotates faster than the outer rotating drum 15 as shown by an outline arrow in FIG. 4 to scrape off a part of the disintegrated tea leaves A ₃ . The tea leaves are disentangled to obtain disintegrated tea leaves A ₃ . While this process is continued, the tea leaf agglomerates A ₂ all become deflocculated tea leaves A ₃ in a state almost similar to the steady kneading leaf A ₁ . And this movement is, for example, the tilt adjusting device 1.
By setting the angle of the movable machine frame 12 to the front downward state by 4, the deflocculated tea leaves A ₃ are automatically taken out from the take-out port 17. By the way, at this time, since the tea leaf agglomerates A ₂ are different in the state of receiving dry air due to being agglomerates, the dry state may be different from that of the other regular kneaded leaves A ₁ . For this reason, for example, when it is appropriate to go through the middle kneading process again according to the moisture value, the returning conveyor 47 is used to supply this to the middle kneading machine 7. On the other hand, when the water is removed to some extent, the water may be sent by the feed conveyor 48 to the scouring machine 8 which constitutes the scouring step as the next step. In this way, it is determined which of the following steps should be sent to with reference to the water content of the disintegrated tea leaves A ₃ .

[0025]

Other Embodiments The present invention exemplifies the embodiments described above, but can be modified as appropriate. That is, the present invention is a tea manufacturing method characterized by undergoing a separating step and a granulating step, and specific separating means and granulating means are not limited to those in the above embodiment. The classifying device or the classifying process can be configured by using an appropriate particle classifying device, classifying device, sieving device, or the like.
Further, the disintegrator 10 is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and may have an action of beating the tea leaf agglomerate A ₂ by a rotating rotor or the like. Also, in the disintegration device 10 itself,
It is also possible to combine a step of supplying warm hot air to some extent and also removing water of the tea leaf agglomerate A ₂ where removal of water has not been relatively promoted. Further, the disintegrator 10 is used for the cleaning inspection after the work as shown in FIG.
It is also possible to make part of the panel 5 removable as the panel 15A. Further, although the disintegration step and the sorting step are arranged in the latter stage of the intermediate kneading machine 7 in the above-mentioned embodiment, they are selectively installed in all or a part of the latter stage of each kneading step from the leaf cutter 3 to the intermediate kneading machine 5. It is also possible.

[0026]

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION The present invention has the constitution as described above, and tea leaves A which is a relatively high quality raw material is tea leaf agglomerates A.
_{Since 2} tends to be constituted, it is surely pulverized and sent to the next step, so that high quality product tea can be obtained.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a layout of a tea manufacturing apparatus that carries out a tea manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view showing the vicinity of the sorting device and the granulating device in an enlarged manner.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the disintegrator further enlarged.

FIG. 4 is a transverse sectional view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a skeletal cross-sectional view showing a state of a middle kneading operation in the middle kneading machine.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment in which a part of the outer rotating cylinder is detachable as a panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Tea making device 2 Steamer 3 Leaf cutter 4 Roughing machine 5 Rubbing machine 6 Middle kneading machine 7 Middle kneading machine 8 Roughing machine 10 Granulating device 11 Machine frame 12 Movable machine frame 13 Rotating fulcrum 14 Inclination adjusting device 15 Outer rotating body 15A panel 16 Input Port 17 Outlet Port 18 Ring Gear 19 Carrier Roller 20 Receiving Rib 21 Input Casing 22 Input Hopper 23 Bearing 25 Inner Rotating Body 26 Bearing 27 Granulating Piece 28 Feeding Piece 30 Drive Device 31 Outer Rotating Body Drive Shaft 32 Pinion 33 Internal Rotation Body drive shaft 34 Drive sprocket 35 Driven sprocket 36 Chain 40 Sorting device 41 Sorting trough 42 Graining mesh 43 Elastic stay 45 Steady transfer conveyor 46 Pulverizing conveyor 47 Return conveyor 48 Feeding conveyor A Tea leaf A ₁ Steady kneading leaf A ₂ Tea leaf grain Lump A ₃ Pulverized Tea Leaf M Motor

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. After the rubbing step in the tea making step, the tea leaf agglomerates generated in the previous step in the separating step are separated from the regular kneading leaves and the steady kneading leaves are sent to the next kneading step, while the tea leaf agglomerates are unraveled. In the graining process, it is unraveled to a state almost the same as the regular kneading leaf to make defibrated tea leaves, and it is decided whether to return to the previous kneading process or supply to the next kneading process, and then send to the determined kneading process. A tea-making method characterized by being used. 2. The method for producing tea according to claim 1, wherein which of the steps to send the tea is determined according to the water content of the disintegrated tea leaves. 3. The tea manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein the separating step and the smashing step are provided before the refining step. 4. The crushing step is performed by a crusher, and the crusher comprises a hollow outer rotating cylinder and an inner rotating body that rotates in the outer rotating cylinder. One end of the barrel is used as an inlet, the other end is used as an outlet, and a rib for receiving the tea leaf agglomerate is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the outer rotating drum, while the inner rotor is deflocculated near the receiving rib. The tea-making method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterized in that the tea-making method comprises a piece. 5. A sorting device that separates a tea leaf agglomerate and a steady kneading leaf from each of a plurality of kneading devices before the rectifying device that constitutes a part of the tea making process or at a latter part of the kneading device,
A tea-making device, characterized in that it is provided with a deflocculating device for crushing tea-leaf agglomerates into substantially the same state as a regular kneading leaf. 6. The tea making apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the sorting apparatus and the smashing apparatus are provided in a stage before the scouring machine. 7. A hollow outer rotating cylinder, and an inner rotating body that rotates in the outer rotating cylinder, wherein one end of the outer rotating cylinder serves as an inlet and the other end serves as an outlet, and A crushing device, characterized in that a tea rib agglomerate receiving rib is provided on the inner peripheral surface of the rotating drum, and a crushing piece facing the receiving rib is provided on the inner rotating body. 8. The granulating apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the outer rotating cylinder and the inner rotating body are rotating in the same direction with different rotational speeds. 9. The tea making apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the granulating apparatus according to claim 7 or 8 is applied to the granulating apparatus in the tea making apparatus.