JPH10104139A - Method and apparatus for tapping powder and granular material - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To keep density of powder and granular materials in a container uniform and correctly measure brightness by receiving the powder and granular materials in a housing container with at least a part formed to be transparent and tapping an outer surface of the container by a tapping member. SOLUTION: A sample of roasted coffee beans whose roasting degree is to be inspected is ground into fine powder by a coffee mill. The coffee beans to be roasted change its color from green to brown by heating. The coffee powder is put into a paste container 1 and set on a rubber 8. If a tip 2a of a tapping arm 2 has been rotated at this time, the container 1 can be easily put into a ring-like member 9. Then the tip 2a is set at the center of an upper face of the container 1. Then a start button of an input part 5 is pushed to drive the arm 2 for tapping. In this case, a control signal is output from a control part 4, a relay 3 is driven to operate a center 2c of the arm 2 against energizing force for tapping by this operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tapping method and apparatus for measuring the brightness of a granular material, for example, a technique for inspecting the degree of roasting of roasted coffee beans. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The quality of cereals such as coffee powder and meriken powder, raw materials for paints, cosmetics, and chemicals is controlled by examining the finished state of the appearance color. That is, whether or not the appearance color is finished to a predetermined color is inspected by a measuring instrument such as a lightness meter or a color difference meter.
In these measuring instruments, the above-mentioned product is inspected after it is in the state of powder and granules. Hereinafter, the prior art will be described using coffee powder as an example.

[0003] As one of the steps for producing coffee powder, green coffee beans are first roasted. By heating when roasting the coffee beans, chlorogenic acid in the coffee beans is decomposed to generate high molecular organic acids such as caffeic acid, which is a source of expressing a unique flavor. However, when the roasting is not appropriate, for example, when excessive roasting is performed, chlorogenic acid and high molecular organic acid are decomposed into low molecular organic acids with time, and as a result, the flavor of the coffee extract is significantly impaired. If the roasting is too shallow, the green smell of coffee beans will remain. For this reason, roasting has been tested to determine whether it is appropriate, and the prior art will be briefly described below.

[0004] Since it is not possible to determine whether roasting is appropriate only by looking at the color of the coffee beans, it is first made into a powdered state and put into a storage container 1 as shown in FIG. The storage container 1 includes a main body 1a, a lid 1b, and an inner container 1c, and the main body 1a has a hole 1d formed on a bottom surface thereof. The inner container 1c further fitted into the main body 1a is formed of a transparent resin. The main body 1a and the lid 1b are fastened to screw portions 1e formed respectively. Then, the storage container 1 is set such that the bottom surface of the main body 1a comes into contact with the setting portion of the color difference meter. The brightness of the coffee powder is measured by the color difference meter, and the roasting degree is determined based on the measured brightness. In order to accurately measure the brightness, the operator performs tapping (applies vibration in the vertical direction of the storage container 1) before setting the storage container 1. Thereby, the arrangement state (density) of the coffee powder on the bottom surface of the storage container 1 is kept constant, and the degree of roasting is accurately determined.

[0005]

However, in the tapping operation by the operator, there is an individual difference between the operators, and there is a measurement error therefor.
Therefore, the tapping operation by the operator is still insufficient to accurately measure the brightness of the granular material.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a technique capable of accurately measuring the brightness of a granular material.

[0007]

A feature of the roasting degree inspection method according to the present invention for achieving the above object is to store a granular material at least partially in a transparently formed storage container,
Tapping the outer surface of the storage container with a tapping member. For example, after pulverizing roasted coffee beans, at least a part of the coffee powder is stored in a transparently formed storage container, and the outer surface of the storage container is tapped by a tapping member, and after completion of tapping. The roasting degree is determined by irradiating the coffee powder stored in the storage container with light and measuring the amount of reflected light from the coffee powder.

The roasting degree inspection apparatus according to the present invention is characterized in that a storage container capable of storing a granular material and at least a part of which is transparent, and an outer surface of the storage container are provided. A tapping member for tapping and a driving device for driving the tapping member are provided. For example,
A storage container capable of storing coffee powder after pulverizing roasted coffee beans, and at least partially formed transparent, a tapping member for tapping the outer surface of the storage container, and the tapping member And a drive device for driving the storage container, and further, the storage container can be set, and the light is irradiated to the coffee powder stored in the storage container, and the amount of reflected light from the coffee powder is measured. That is to say, a measuring instrument was provided. As the measuring device, a known device such as a color difference meter or a lightness meter can be used.

According to this, since the tapping member is driven by the driving device, the same tapping operation can be always reproduced. That is, the density of the granular material in the storage container can be made uniform. Therefore, the measurement of the brightness of the granular material becomes accurate. As a result, in the case of coffee beans, the degree of roasting can be accurately determined.

It is preferable that an input unit is provided which can set the number of tappings and the tapping cycle of the tapping member. As a result, various tapping conditions can be changed, and appropriate tapping conditions can be realized. Further, the tapping member is configured as a cantilever having one end fixed and one end free, and the free end thereof is brought into contact with the upper surface of the storage container, and the output of the driving device is provided at an intermediate portion between the free end and the fixed end. Parts can be arranged. Thereby, the roasting degree inspection method and apparatus of the present invention could be realized with a simple configuration.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A schematic configuration of a roasting degree inspection apparatus, which is a preferred application example of the present invention, will be described with reference to FIGS. The paste container (storage container) 1 includes a main body 1a and a lid 1
b and an inner container 1c.
Are formed. The inner container 1c further fitted into the main body 1a is formed of a transparent resin. The main body 1a and the lid 1b are fastened by screw portions 1e formed respectively. or,
The ring-shaped member 9 is fitted to the main body 1a and supports the paste container 1.

Tapping arm 2 (tapping member)
Is provided with a tip portion 2a abutting on the upper surface of the paste container 1, a main body portion 2f fixed to the base 6, and an L-shaped plate 2d for connecting the main body portion 2f and the ring-shaped member 9. ing. The main body 2f is fixed to the base 6 by screws 7 at the fixing portion 2b. The L-shaped plate 2 d is fixed to the outer peripheral portion of the ring-shaped member 9. Tip 2a
The main body 2f is rotatable around the axis 2e.
Supported against. The tip 2a urges the upper surface of the paste container 1, and the paste container 1 is sandwiched between the tip 2a and the ring-shaped member 9. In the setting state of FIG. 1, the main body 2f of the tapping arm 2 is horizontal. Thereby, a uniform vibration force is applied to the entire bottom of the paste container 1 during tapping. The tapping arm 2 is itself a leaf spring and has a tip 2a.
Is a free end and the fixed portion 2b is also a cantilever with a fixed end.

At substantially the center 2c of the tapping arm 2,
A relay device 3 is provided. The output portion of the relay device 3 is located at a position facing the central portion 2c of the tapping arm 2, whereby the distal end portion 2a is driven to perform a vibrating operation as indicated by an arrow in FIG. The relay device 3 is shown in FIG.
Can be adjusted in the direction of arrow y. The drive of the relay device 3 is controlled by the control unit 4. An input unit 5 is connected to the drive unit 4, and the input unit 5 includes a start button and a timer for setting the number of tappings and intervals. Alternatively, a keyboard may be used. When changing the tapping conditions, the number of tappings and the interval may be input again from the input unit 5. Further, it is preferable to provide a monitor device such as a liquid crystal or a CRT for confirming the set values and the like input from the input unit 5. A rubber 8 is provided at a place where the paste container 1 is installed. Thereby, the shock at the time of the tapping operation is absorbed.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of the color difference type (lightness meter) 10. The color difference type 10 includes a colorimeter 11 for setting the paste container 1, a xenon lamp 12 for irradiating the colorimeter 11 with light, a light emitting circuit 13 for causing the xenon lamp 12 to emit light, and a power supply circuit for light emission. 14
And C controlling the light emitting circuit 13 and the light emitting power supply circuit 14.
It includes a PU 15, an optical fiber 16 for introducing light reflected from the coffee powder in the paste container 1, a condenser lens 17 disposed at the tip of the optical fiber 16, and a light receiving circuit 18.

Next, a method of inspecting the degree of roasting with the roasting degree inspection apparatus will be described. First, a roasted coffee bean sample whose roasting degree is to be inspected is ground into fine powder by a coffee mill. When roasted, the coffee beans turn from green to brown upon heating. The finely ground coffee powder is put into the paste container 1 and set on the rubber 8. At the time of setting, if the tip 2 a of the tapping arm 2 is rotated, the paste container 1 can be easily put into the ring-shaped member 9. Next, the tip portion 2a of the tapping arm 2 is
Set in the center of the upper surface of. Next, tapping is performed by pressing the start button of the input unit 5 to drive the tapping arm 2. In this case, a control signal as shown in FIG. 3 is output from the control unit 4, whereby the relay device 3 is driven, and the operation of attracting and separating the central portion 2c of the tapping arm 2 against the urging force is performed. Is repeated to perform tapping. The amplitude of the tip 2a is about 3
mm.

When the tapping is completed, the paste container 1
Is removed and set in the colorimeter 11 of the color difference meter 10 to read the displayed brightness. The degree of roasting is inspected based on the brightness. The color difference meter 10 displays a color difference from a reference color in an L * a * b * color system. In the present embodiment, the roasting degree is inspected only by the L * value.

Further, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. (1) In the present embodiment, the relay device 3 has been described as a specific example of the driving device of the tapping arm 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the cam device driven by a motor or the driving device using a link mechanism may be used. You may comprise. (2) In the present embodiment, the tapping arm 2 is a leaf spring. However, a configuration in which a biasing force is applied by separately providing a dedicated spring member may be used. (3) When measuring brightness, it is also possible to measure tristimulus values (X, Y, Z values) using a lightness meter, and determine the degree of roasting based on the Y value among them. In this case, a relationship of L * = 10√Y is established between the L * value and the Y value. (4) The paste container 1 may have a simple configuration as shown in FIG. At least the bottom surface of the main body 1a is formed transparent. Of course, the whole main body 1a may be transparent.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a roasting degree inspection device.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a paste container.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a control signal of a tapping member.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a color difference type.

FIG. 5 is another embodiment of a paste container.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Paste container 2 Tapping arm 3 Relay device 4 Control part 5 Input part 10 Color difference type (lightness meter) 11 Colorimetric part

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for tapping a powder and a granular material, wherein the powder and the granular material are stored in a storage container at least partially formed transparent, and the outer surface of the storage container is tapped by a tapping member. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the number of tappings and the tapping cycle can be arbitrarily set. 3. A storage container capable of storing a granular material and at least a part of which is transparent, a tapping member for tapping an outer surface of the storage container, and a driving device for driving the tapping member. And a tapping device for a granular material. 4. A measuring device capable of setting the storage container, irradiating light to the granular material stored in the storage container, and measuring a reflected light amount from the granular material. The tapping device for a granular material according to claim 3, wherein: 5. An apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising an input section capable of arbitrarily setting the number of tappings and the tapping cycle of the tapping member. 6. The tapping member is formed as a cantilever having one end fixed and free at one end, the free end of which is brought into contact with the upper surface of the storage container, and the driving device is provided at an intermediate portion between the free end and the fixed end. The tapping device for a granular material according to any one of claims 3 to 5, wherein the output unit is disposed.