JPH11309076A - Cold insulation rice bin device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a cold insulation rice bin device capable of preserving rice stored in a rice bin in a low temperature state and preventing the degradation of quality. SOLUTION: By providing a rice housing container 102 and a cooling unit 106 for cooling and dehumidifying air inside a case body 101, connecting the rice housing container 102 and the cooling unit 106 by a circulation route, cooling and dehumidifying the air inside the rice housing container 102 by the cooling unit 106 and circulating it, the rice housed in the rice housing container 102 is cooled. Thus, the activation of the rice is suppressed, the quality is maintained and the generation of molds is prevented.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for preserving cereals such as rice (including brown rice) in ordinary households and restaurants where the cereals are cooled to a low temperature and stored in good quality for a long period of time. A possible insulated rice bin device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In Japan, rice is harvested basically once a year, and rice harvested in the fall must be preserved at least until the fall of the following year. During this storage period, rice (including brown rice) must be stored with high quality so that the taste of rice does not deteriorate. It is known that ambient temperature and humidity are related as natural factors affecting rice quality deterioration. It is said that the optimal storage environment for rice is a temperature of 10 to 15 ° C. and an environmental humidity of 70 to 75%. If the temperature and humidity are maintained under the above conditions, the water content of rice becomes 13 to
It can be maintained at about 15%, suppresses the activation of rice, reduces the respiratory function of rice itself, and suppresses the degradation of proteins, starches, enzymes, etc., which rice itself has, and the self-depletion of various vitamins. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of mold and the like, thereby suppressing a decrease in taste.

In some agricultural cooperatives that collect rice from farmers, large quantities of rice are stored at low temperatures in large low-temperature warehouses. Therefore, the producers already control the quality of rice. However, rice distribution channels and end consumers, especially households and restaurants that consume large amounts of rice, such as sushi restaurants, cafeterias, and the food service industry, have no means of storing rice at low temperatures and have purchased rice. Rice is exposed to the temperature and humidity of the outside air and is left in a degrading environment.

[0004] Therefore, it is important to control the temperature and humidity in a rice bin in order to maintain the quality of rice in ordinary households and restaurants that consume a large amount of rice. For this reason, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-96626 and
In 203575, etc., a cooling means is installed in a rice bin,
There has been proposed an insulated rice bin device in which rice is kept at a low temperature by this cooling means.

[0005]

However, when the rice in the rice bin is cooled with cold air, excess moisture in the air condenses on the inner wall surface of the rice bin and the surface of the rice grains, which causes the generation of mold and microorganisms. Or the quality of the rice is reduced due to increased water content of the rice. JP-A-57-9662 described above
No. 6 does not disclose the consideration of dew condensation countermeasures, and in the insulated rice bottle apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-203575, a dehumidifying means is provided on a side wall portion of a rice storage container. Therefore, effective dehumidification cannot be expected.

[0006] On the other hand, when rice is stored in a rice bottle, bran and crushed rice or the like adhering to the surface of rice grains adhere to the rice bottle and remain in the rice bottle. Bran is a good food for pests infested on rice, and the remaining bran alters the bran, and the altered bran induces normal rice grain quality deterioration. Therefore, it is desirable that the rice bottles are periodically cleaned and kept clean. For this purpose, it is desirable that the rice bottles have a removable structure.

The present invention has been made based on the above-mentioned circumstances, and supplies cold air previously dehumidified into a rice bottle to forcibly circulate the rice, thereby maintaining the quality of the stored rice for a long period of time and improving the taste of the rice. An object of the present invention is to provide an insulated rice bin device capable of suppressing the decrease.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a rice container for storing rice in a housing, a weighing means for weighing out a predetermined amount of rice in the rice container, and cooling and air. Cooling and dehumidifying means for dehumidifying air, and means for circulating cold air dehumidified by the cooling and dehumidifying means between the cooling and dehumidifying means and the rice storage container. is there. In the present invention, the cooling and dehumidifying means may use a refrigerator provided with a refrigeration cycle including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator, or may use a thermoelectric conversion element (Peltier element).

In such a configuration, a circulation path is formed in which the cool air dehumidified by the cooling and dehumidifying means returns to the cooling and dehumidifying means via the rice storage container, so that the cool air cools the rice in the rice storage container. , Maintained at a low temperature. And
Since the moisture is removed by the cooling and dehumidifying means, the humidity in the rice storage container is reduced, and the formation of dew on the wall surface and the surface of the rice grain in the rice storage container is prevented. Therefore, the rice can be stored at a good quality level for a long period of time, and a decrease in taste can be prevented.

If the rice storage container is made detachable from the housing, the rice storage container can be taken out of the housing and cleaned outside the housing when the rice storage container becomes dirty or rice bran accumulates. Therefore, it is possible to clean the rice storage container to every corner, and no rice bran or broken rice remains, thereby preventing problems such as infestation of bran with stored pests.

[0011] Further, a heat insulating material having a shape capable of being fitted with the outer peripheral surface of the rice storage container in contact (including close contact) with the housing is fixed, and the rice storage container is detachably fitted into the heat insulating material. When the rice storage container is supported by the heat insulating material, the rice storage container is effectively insulated and the mechanical support structure of the rice storage container is simplified.

Also, if the measuring means is detachably attached to the housing, the measuring means can be easily removed and cleaned or repaired when the measuring means becomes dirty or broken down, and can be used in a clean state. .

[0013] If the housing is provided with rice polishing means for polishing rice taken out of the rice container, rice can be polished immediately before rice is cooked, and delicious rice can be cooked. In this case, if the rice polishing means is also detachably attached to the housing, cleaning and repair can be easily performed. The rice milling means preferably includes rice milling temperature control means for stabilizing the temperature of rice during rice polishing. Generally, when polishing rice, friction raises the temperature of the rice due to friction, and there is a concern that the quality will deteriorate.However, if the temperature rise of the rice is suppressed during rice polishing, deterioration of rice quality can be prevented, and delicious rice can be obtained. Can be The above-mentioned rice mill temperature control means generates cold air for cooling the rice mill means using the cooling and dehumidifying means, and the cooling means can be shared if it is configured to supply the cool air for cooling the rice mill means to the rice mill means. .

Here, the meaning of using the cooling means to generate the cool air for cooling the rice mill means that, for example, a part of the cool air for cooling the rice generated by the cooling and dehumidifying means is directly blown to the rice mill. In addition, the indirect use form such as cooling an intermediate device such as a cool storage device by cooling and dehumidifying means and extracting cold air from the intermediate device is also included. The configuration is simple if it is a direct use mode in which part of the cool air for cooling the rice generated by the cooling and dehumidifying means is blown to the rice polishing means.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First Embodiment A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of an insulated rice bin device, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control unit.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a casing which forms the exterior of a cold-insulated rice bin device, has a container shape having an open upper end, and is made of a metal panel or plastic. Reference numeral 102 denotes a rice container accommodated in the housing 101, which is made of metal or plastic. The rice storage container 102 has a hopper shape in which the upper end is open and the lower end is inclined, and the rice capacity is about 10 kg to 20 kg for general household use. The outer periphery of the rice container 102 is covered with a heat insulating material 103 and is thermally isolated from the outer periphery. The heat insulating material 103 is configured to have an inner surface shape that matches the outer shape of the rice storage container 102, and the heat insulating material 103 is fixed to the housing 101.
The rice storage container 102 has a structure in which the rice storage container 102 is detachably fitted into the heat insulating material 103, whereby the rice storage container 102 is detachable and the heat insulating material
3 is configured to receive a load.

The upper end of the casing 101 is covered with an upper lid 104 having a heat insulating structure.
It is detachably attached to or can be opened and closed. By removing or opening the upper lid 104, the rice storage container 102 can be taken out. By removing or opening the upper lid 104, rice can be put into the rice container 102 from above the housing 101. Note that 105
Is a sealing material for keeping the upper lid 104 and the heat insulating material 103 sealed.

Reference numeral 106 denotes a cooling unit corresponding to a cooling and dehumidifying means, which is a lower portion inside the housing 101 and is provided outside the internal rice container 102. The cooling unit 106 of this embodiment includes a refrigerator 107, a dehumidifier 108, and a fan 109. As is well known, the refrigerator 107 has a refrigerating cycle including a compressor, a condenser, an expansion valve, and an evaporator (not shown), and has a structure in which air is cooled by the refrigerating cycle. The dehumidifier 108 removes the moisture of the air to be cooled, and may substantially serve also as the evaporator of the refrigerator 107. The dehumidifier 108 has a large surface area such as a fin to guide the refrigerant. This surface area is cooled. When air comes into contact with this cold surface area, the moisture contained in the air adheres and dew forms on this surface. The condensed water is dropped on a drain pan (not shown) and received by the drain pan. The water that accumulates in the drain pan is either directly removed to the outside or evaporated by the exhaust heat of the refrigerator 107. The exhaust heat of the refrigerator and the vapor evaporated by the drain pan are discharged to the outside through a discharge port 110 formed on the back surface of the housing 104.

The fan 109 includes the refrigerator 107 and the dehumidifier 1
At 08, the cooled and dehumidified air (cold air) is sent out.
The cooling unit 106 is communicated with the upper portion of the rice container 102 via an air supply pipe 111, whereby the air cooled and dehumidified by the refrigerator 107 and the dehumidifier 108 is sent to the rice container 102. It has become. The cold air is dried because the moisture is removed by the dehumidifier 108, and thus the rice storage container 10
Dry cold air is sent into 2.

The cooling unit 106 and the lower part of the rice container 102 are connected by a return pipe 112. Therefore, the cooling unit 106, the air supply pipe 111, the rice storage container 102, and the return pipe 112 constitute a circulation path for cool air. At the opening of the return pipe 112 on the side of the rice container, a mesh-shaped partition plate 113 is provided, which allows air to pass therethrough but prevents rice grains from entering.

A temperature sensor 114 is detachably attached to a lower portion of the rice container 102, and detects the temperature of the rice stored in the rice container 102.

The rice outlet 11 is provided at the lower end of the rice container 102.
5, and a rice measuring unit 120 is provided below the rice outlet 115. The rice weighing unit 120 includes a pulse motor (not shown) and a rotary weighing device 121 rotated by the motor. ing. When the open side of the measuring box 122 is in the upward state, it faces the rice outlet 115 and rice flows in from the rice outlet 115. When the rotary measuring device 121 is rotated by the pulse motor, the measuring box 122 rotates and moves.
When communication with the rice outlet 115 is stopped, the rotary meter 121 closes the rice outlet 115 to prevent outflow of rice. When the rotation further proceeds and the open side of the measuring box 122 faces downward, the rice accommodated in the rotating box 122 falls. The dropped rice is supplied to a rice receptacle 124 via a chute 123. The rice receptacle 124 can be pulled out through an outlet 125 formed in the lower part of the front surface of the housing 101.

The capacity of the rotating section 122 is, for example, 0.1.
5 is set, so that if the rotary weighing device 121 makes one rotation, 0.5 meter of rice is measured and supplied. The measurement of rice can be performed by controlling the rotation speed of the rotation measuring unit 121, and thus the rotation speed of the pulse motor can be controlled and measured. Although not shown in detail, the rice weighing unit 120 is detached from the housing 101, taken out, and can be cleaned and repaired outside.

Reference numeral 130 denotes a control unit, which is installed at the upper front of the housing 101. The control unit 130 has operation means such as a power switch, a cooling temperature setting switch, and a weighing setting switch (not shown), and is electrically connected to the temperature sensor 114, the cooling unit 106, and the weighing unit 120, respectively. When the cooling temperature of the rice is designated by the cooling temperature setting switch, the temperature of the rice detected by the temperature sensor 114 is taken into the control unit 130, and the operation of the cooling unit 106 is controlled by comparing the measured temperature with the set temperature. For example, when it is desired to maintain the temperature of rice at 15 ° C., if the cooling temperature setting switch selects 15 ° C., the operation of the cooling unit 106 is controlled so that the rice in the rice container 102 is maintained at 15 ° C. When the user operates the weighing setting switch to specify the amount of rice to be taken out, a signal is sent to the weighing unit 120, and the pulse motor rotates by the specified number of revolutions. The rice is automatically dropped into the rice receptacle 124.

According to the insulated rice bottle apparatus having such a configuration, the operation of the cooling unit 106 allows the rice container 10 to be stored.
2 is guided to the cooling unit 106, and the air is cooled and dehumidified by the refrigerator 107 and the dehumidifier 108 of the cooling unit 106 and sent to the rice container 102.
The temperature of the rice stored in the rice storage container 102 can be lowered and maintained at 15 ° C. or lower by the circulation of the cool air. Therefore, it can suppress the activation of rice, reduce the respiratory function of rice itself, suppress the decomposition of proteins, starch, enzymes, etc., which rice has, and suppress the self-depletion of various vitamins. Can be suppressed. Further, since the occurrence of mold and the like can be prevented, the quality of rice can be kept high for a long period of time.
In this case, since the cool air supplied to the rice storage container 102 is dehumidified in the cooling unit 106, it is possible to prevent dew condensation from occurring on the inner surface of the rice storage container 102 and on the rice grains.

Then, the rice storage container 102 is
3 and can be taken out of the housing 101 away from the heat insulating material 103, so that it can be cleaned outside the housing 101. Therefore, the inside of the rice container 102 can be easily cleaned, and even if the bran or the crushed rice remains or adheres, the rice can be cleaned externally, and the rice can be stored in a clean state. therefore,
When the rice storage container 102 is mounted in the housing 101, the rice can be stored very well, without the risk of pests infesting with rice, combined with the hermetic structure.

Further, since the weighing unit 120 also has a structure that can be removed from the housing 101, even if the weighing unit 120 becomes dirty or breaks down, it can be easily removed and cleaned and repaired outside the housing 101. Can be used in state.

[Second Embodiment] FIGS. 3 to 5 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, members that may have the same configuration as the first embodiment are assigned the same reference numerals as in the first embodiment, and description thereof will be omitted.

The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a rice milling function is added. That is, the rice polishing unit 201 is installed below the measuring unit 120. The milling unit 201 may be, for example, a friction type milling machine. The milling unit 201 rotatably accommodates a spiral milling roll 203 in a milling cylinder 202.
Is driven to rotate by a motor 204.
Such a rice mill grinds rice while rubbing the rice between a rice mill roll 203 and a rice mill cylinder 202. in this case,
Friction heat is generated in rice grains. It is said that the temperature of rice grains rises due to frictional heat, and if the temperature is too high, the loss of moisture increases, and the taste of rice decreases. In order to suppress such frictional heat of rice, in this embodiment, the rice polishing unit 20 is used.
1 is connected to a cold air introduction pipe 205, and this cold air introduction pipe 205 is connected to a cold storage unit 210.

As shown in FIG. 4, the cold storage unit 210 includes a cold storage material 212 covered with a heat insulating material 211, for example.
A large number of refrigerant passages 213 are formed in the cold storage material 212.
Although not shown, a part of the refrigerant supplied from the refrigerator 107 of the cooling unit 106 is passed through the refrigerant passage 213. Therefore, the cold storage material 212
When the refrigerator 107 is operating, it receives cold heat from the refrigerant, whereby the cold storage material 212 is kept at a low temperature. Furthermore,
A plurality of air passages 214 are formed in the cold storage material 212, one end of each of the air passages 214 is open to the inside of the housing 101, and the other end is connected to the cool air introduction pipe 205 via the collecting pipe 215. ing.

The collecting pipe 215 is provided with a fan 216, and the fan 216 directs outside air to the air passage 214.
And is sent out to the cool air introduction pipe 205. The cold storage material 212 has a temperature sensor 217.
Is attached, and the temperature of the cold storage material 212 is measured by the temperature sensor 217.

In the case of such a configuration, the cooling unit 10
6 is operating to cool the rice in the rice storage container 102, or when the temperature sensor 217 detects that the temperature of the cold storage material 212 is higher than a predetermined temperature, the refrigerant is supplied from the refrigerator 107 to the cold storage unit 210. It flows to the refrigerant passage 213 and the cold storage material 2
12 is cooled. Therefore, the temperature of the cold storage material 212 becomes low. When the milling unit 201 is operated by operating a milling setting switch (not shown) provided on the control unit 130 to select the degree of milling (the accuracy of milling), the rice weighed by the measuring unit 120 is sent to the milling unit 201. Rice is milled. Milled rice is rice receiver 12
4

When the temperature sensor 217 detects that the temperature of the regenerator material 212 is lower than a predetermined temperature during the operation of the rice milling unit 201, the fan 216 provided in the collecting pipe 215 is rotated, and the outside air is introduced into the air introducing passage. It is sucked from 214 and sent to the cool air introduction pipe 205. In the process of passing the air through the air introduction passage 214, the air receives cold heat from the cold storage material 212 to lower the temperature and becomes cold air for cooling the rice polishing means. The cool air for cooling the milling means is supplied to the milling unit 201 through the cold air introduction pipe 205. Therefore, the rice polishing unit 201 is cooled. Therefore, an increase in the temperature of the rice grains in the polished rice is suppressed, and an excessive increase in the temperature of the rice is prevented, so that the quality of the rice can be maintained.

In the above case, if the temperature of the cold storage material 212 is not lower than the predetermined temperature, the fan 216 is stopped so as not to blow air to the rice polishing unit 201. The air may be blown even if it is not low.

In the second embodiment, the cold storage material 212 cooled by the refrigerant is used.
, A part of the cool air generated in the cooling unit 106 and sent to the rice storage container is branched into cool air for cooling the rice milling means, and the cool air for cooling the rice mill means is supplied to the rice milling unit 201 and the rice mill unit 201 is cooled. May be cooled.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the refrigerator is used as the cooling means. However, instead of the refrigerator, the air is cooled by using a thermoelectric conversion element, for example, a Peltier element.
And you may make it dehumidify.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, air is circulated between the rice storage container and the cooling and dehumidifying means to cool the air, and the cool air cools the rice stored in the rice storage container. Therefore, it can suppress the activation of rice, reduce the respiratory function of rice itself, suppress the degradation of rice protein, starch, enzymes, etc., and suppress the self-depletion of various vitamins, and generate mold etc. in rice Therefore, it is possible to eat rice with excellent taste. in this case,
Since the cool air in the rice storage container is dehumidified in the process of circulating between the cooling dehumidification means, the humidity of the air is reduced, and it is possible to prevent dew formation in the rice storage container and the rice grains.

Further, if the rice storage container is structured so that it can be taken out of the housing, it is possible to clean only the container by washing or the like, and it is possible to prevent the remaining of rice bran and broken rice. Can be kept clean. Further, if a rice milling means is provided in the housing, the rice can be milled immediately before rice is cooked, so that delicious rice can be cooked.

[0039]

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a schematic configuration of a cold-keeping rice bin device showing a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a control system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a schematic configuration of a cold-insulated rice bin device showing a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the cold storage unit of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a control system of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 ... Housing 102 ... Rice storage container 103 ... Heat insulation material 104 ... Top cover 106 ... Cooling unit 107 ... Refrigerator 108 ... Dehumidifier 109 ... Fan 111 ... Air supply pipe 112 ... Return pipe 120 ... Measuring unit 124 ... Rice receiver 130 ... Control unit 201 ... Rice polishing unit 210 ... Cooling unit 212 ... Cooling material

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A rice storage container for storing rice inside a housing,
Weighing means for measuring and taking out a predetermined amount of rice in the rice storage container; cooling dehumidification means provided outside the rice storage container to cool and dehumidify air; and cool air dehumidified by the cooling dehumidification means. A device for keeping cool rice bottles, comprising: means for circulating between the cooling and dehumidifying means and the rice storage container. 2. The insulated rice bin device according to claim 1, wherein the rice storage container is provided so as to be able to be taken out of a housing. 3. A heat insulating material having a shape such that an outer peripheral surface of the rice storage container comes into contact with and fitted into the housing, and the rice storage container is detachably fitted into the heat insulating material so that the heat insulating material is used. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the rice container is supported. 4. The insulated rice bottle device according to claim 1, wherein the weighing means is detachably attached to the housing. 5. The insulated rice bottle device according to claim 1, wherein a rice milling means for milling rice discharged from the rice container is provided in the housing. 6. The insulated rice bottle device according to claim 5, wherein the rice polishing means is detachably attached to the housing. 7. The apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said rice milling means comprises rice milling temperature control means for stabilizing the temperature of rice during rice milling. 8. The rice mill temperature control means includes means for generating cool air for cooling the rice mill using the cooling means, and supplying the cool air for cooling the rice mill to the rice mill means. The insulated rice bin device according to 1.