JPS6178345A - Tea leaf rolling under reduced pressure and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:Air at room temperature is introduced into the crude rolling chamber which is tightly sealed under reduced pressure, according to the humidity in the chamber, to complete crude rolling with a reduced amount of air at relatively low temperatures in a shortened film. CONSTITUTION:Hot air which evaporates the moisture in tea leaves and is repeatedly circulated is detected in its humidity with humidity regulator 15 to control the valve opening of the valve mechanism 17 for air inlet 18 with a motor. Ventilation air flow in the closed and evacuated leaf-rolling chamber is controlled to effect drying as the humidity of the hot-air flow circulating in the crude rolling chamber is kept to the prescribed value which is set with the humidity regulator. Thus, tea leaves of high-quality are obtained with reduced consumption of energy.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] Regarding the tea synergizer.

In the tea manufacturing process, the tea leaves steamed with steam from the previous process are brought into contact with a stream of heated hot air in a tea manufacturing machine under soft pressure or agitation, gradually removing moisture and shaping while drying. In order to obtain high-quality tea, it is important to maintain the temperature of the tea leaves at around 32 to 37 degrees Celsius during the Waju process, suppress the progress of drying from the surface of the tea leaves, and perform efficient drying. The synergistic process ends when the moisture content is about 50%.

Accordingly, the present invention improves the release of water contained in tea leaves by creating a reduced pressure state in the sealed soft-softening chamber, compared to the conventional Japanese soft-softening machine which is open and under atmospheric pressure. In addition, the heating action of the hot air on the tea leaves promotes the dissipation of free moisture, resulting in a highly efficient synergistic effect, and the amount of hot air exhausted to the outside of the soft-softening chamber, i.e., the amount of external air drawn into the soft-softening chamber. Since the humidity inside the soft-softening chamber is measured and controlled by a humidity controller, in the early stages of the soft-softening process, there is a lot of moisture released on the surface of the tea leaves, and evaporation is also active, so the humidity inside the rough-softening chamber rises quickly. The valve mechanism controlled by the humidity regulator is opened, and a large amount of outside air is sucked in, which accelerates drying and quickly removes evaporated water to prevent tea leaves from becoming stuffy. As the synergistic process progresses, the amount of evaporation from the tea leaves decreases, and the humidity inside the soft-softening chamber also decreases.The opening degree of the l-me valve mechanism is reduced, which reduces the amount of outside air sucked in and prevents drying from only the surface of the tea leaves. Therefore, more efficient drying is possible.

Therefore, the amount of room-temperature air that is drawn into the drying chamber from the outside in a sealed, reduced-pressure condition is the amount of air necessary to discharge the water that evaporates from the surface of the tea leaves (ζ) to the outside of the drying chamber. The amount of air is much smaller than before because it is detected by a humidity controller and increases or decreases accordingly according to its instructions.
Furthermore, it is possible to complete the synergistic process at a much lower temperature and in a shorter period of time, significantly reducing energy consumption and reducing the loss of aroma and color (high quality tea can be obtained).

The present invention will be explained in detail below.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a reduced pressure Japanese soft-softening machine which is a tea making machine, and 2 its frame.On the frame 2, a body 3 of a Japanese soft-softening chamber 12 and a drive unit 4 such as a motor are provided.

The barrel 3 has a gutter-like shape with both ends closed by side plates 5, and an outlet 6 is provided at the lower front of the barrel 3 for taking out the tea leaves after the completion of the synergistic process. 7 is a provision.

A main shaft 8 driven by the drive section 4 is horizontally mounted in the center of the body 3, and the shaft 8 is provided with a large number of twisters 9 and wipers 10, and the shaft 8 and the body 3 A shaft sealing device 11 is installed on the bearing that passes through the side plate 5, and the structure is such that the outside air does not enter into the reduced pressure chamber.

At the front of the Japanese soft-softening room 12, there is provided a door 13 which can be opened and closed for introducing the tea leaves steamed in the previous process, and an exhaust fan 14 and a humidity regulator 5 are provided at the top. 1
Reference numeral 9 denotes a circulation duct, one end of which opens at the top of the Japanese-style soft-softening chamber 12, and the other end of which is connected to a hot air blowing duct 1.22 at the rear of the paddy-softening chamber 12 through a circulating air blower @20 and a heating device such as a heater 2. The hot air blowing duct 22 has a hot air blowing outlet 2 on the Japanese soft-warming room side.
3 forms a closed circulation heating circuit that is opened, and the duct is equipped with a humidity regulator 15 that is operated manually or placed in the Japanese soft-warming room 12.
An outside air intake port 18 having a valve mechanism 17 that is automatically opened and closed is provided.

24 is the fever m temperature! l"J adjustment, 25 indicates hot air flow.

As is clear from the above configuration of the present invention, the tea leaves steamed in the previous step are introduced into the Japanese soft-softening chamber 12 of the Japanese soft-softening machine by opening the loading door 13 and putting a certain amount of the tea leaves into the Japanese-softening chamber 12 of the Japanese-softening machine, and then closing the loading door 13. The inside is sealed and the exhaust fan 14, circulating fan 20, and main shaft drive unit 4 are activated to start the synergistic tea manufacturing process.

The air inside the sealed Japanese soft-softening room 12 is discharged to the outside by the exhaust fan 14, and the inside of the Japanese soft-softening room 12 is reduced to atmospheric pressure. Air is sucked from the Japanese soft-softening room 12 and heated through a circulation duct 19 and a heating device 21 such as a heater or -, and becomes hot air through a hot air outlet 23 provided in a hot air outlet duct 22.
A hot air stream 25 is blown into the Japanese soft-warming room 12.
The hot air that contacts the tea leaves that are continuously pressed and twisted against the bottom of the Japanese soft chamber body 3 by the rotating marifier 9 and is agitated upward by the picker 10, and evaporates the water content of the tea leaves due to the latent heat of evaporation. While decreasing the temperature, the humidity increases, and after being sucked into the circulation blower 20 and heated, hot air is blown out 1
] 23, repeat the circulation of blowing into the coarse softwood chamber.

Hot air circulates repeatedly while evaporating the water in the tea leaves.
In order to gradually increase the humidity, the humidity is detected by a humidity controller 15 installed in the second part of the Japanese soft room, and the opening degree of the valve mechanism 17 of the outside air intake port 18 is automatically controlled by a motor, etc., and the room is sealed and depressurized. In other words, the amount of hot air with high humidity that is discharged from the exhaust fan to the joint area of the soft-softening room is controlled by the intake of low-humidity outside air through the valve mechanism of the outside air inlet of the soft-softening room. Drying is carried out while keeping the humidity of the hot air flow circulating in the drying room at the set value of the regulator.

At the beginning of the synergistic process, the moisture in the tea leaf surface is actively evaporated by the steam, so the humidity inside the tea room is low.
The valve mechanism of the two-part outside air inlet is fully opened, so the inside of the drying room is actively ventilated, but as the drying progresses, the temperature of the tea leaves rises, and the soft pressure agitation action of the hands and the dryers causes As the tea evaporates freely on the surface of the tea leaves, the amount of evaporation per hour gradually decreases. It is in a sealed state, isolated from the outside of the aircraft.

When the valve mechanism of the outside air inlet is opened due to the rise in humidity inside the soft-softening room, outside air is sucked into the room due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside, and the pressure difference between the outside and outside of the soft-softening room decreases, so the exhaust fan is activated. The resistance on the suction side is reduced and indoor air is discharged, and the amount of discharged air increases or decreases automatically in proportion to the amount of intake air, that is, the opening degree of the valve mechanism.

In addition, the temperature regulator installed in the hot air blowing duct adjusts the heating device such as a heater, so that even if the temperature inside the softening room changes depending on the amount of outside air intake, the hot air is always kept at the temperature set on the temperature regulator. The temperature of the tea leaves is detected by a tea leaf temperature regulator, and the temperature of the tea leaves is determined to be approximately 32 to 37 degrees Celsius, and the opening of the valve mechanism is adjusted in case of an abnormal temperature rise. Drying and shaping are carried out while keeping the temperature of the tea leaves constant by increasing the amount of ventilation air in the room and adjusting the heating device to lower the temperature of the hot air blown out from the hot air outlet.

Therefore, if the amount of hot air is increased more than necessary as in the case of conventional Japanese soft machines, the drying time will be shortened, but on the other hand, it will significantly accelerate the drying of only the surface of the tea leaves, and the surface of the tea leaves will harden. This prevents the evaporation of the tea leaves, causing a phenomenon called "over-drying," which causes the temperature of the tea leaves to rise abnormally, resulting in changes in quality such as powder, discoloration, and stuffiness, as well as deterioration of drying efficiency, which is unnecessary. There is no such thing as a situation where heat energy is wasted.

In the present invention, the moisture in the tea leaves is evaporated by circulating hot air while keeping the airtight tea room under reduced pressure, and the humidity level is reduced by continuously or intermittently drawing in outside air. The hot air is guided outside by an exhaust fan, and since the inside of the soft-softening chamber is in a reduced pressure state and the moisture in the core of the tea leaves easily moves to the surface, the synergistic process is completed with hot air at a temperature of about 40 to 60 degrees Celsius. I can do it.

Conventional Japanese soft machines have a large amount of air at a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius.
It requires hot air of ~120 degrees Celsius, which consumes a large amount of fuel, and is effective for drying tea leaves (the amount of heat thrown away without being used is approximately 65% of the total heat supplied). As shown in the experimental value (ζ, a large amount of wasted heat energy was wasted, but in the Japanese soft method using a sealed synergistic teal in a reduced pressure state according to the present invention, tea leaves J
(The temperature of the hot air should be kept low or high so that the moisture in the core of the tea leaves can easily move to the surface.) It has the characteristics of being able to significantly reduce the heat energy required for drying and also producing high quality tea.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the reduced pressure tea synergistic machine according to the present invention, and FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway view at 1110, and FIG. 2 is a curve diagram of the air volume characteristics of the exhaust fan. 1. Japanese tea making machine 2. Frame 3. Japanese soft room body 4
Main shaft drive unit 5...Side plate 6.Tea leaf removal door 7.Tea leaf removal door 8.Main shaft 9. Twisting hand 10. Wiping hand 11
・・Shaft sealing device 12 Softening chamber 13・Tea leaf input door 1
4 Exhaust fan 15... Humidity regulator 16... Tea leaf temperature regulator 17 Valve mechanism 18 Outside air intake port 19... Duct
20 Circulating blower 21 Heating device 22 Hot air blowing duct 23 Hot air outlet 24 Hot air temperature adjustment'#2
5 Hot air flow patent applicant Kuniyasu Okamura, Pa'1 Deputy agent Hideo Tsuchihashi, Tsuyoshi Eto --'' (l4 brass) ← '4#'''ffl procedural amendment (voluntary) 1986 June 13, 2011 Indication of the case Patent Application No. 59-201143 2 Name of the invention Vacuum tea making method and vacuum tea making machine 3, ?ln
Relationship with the case of the person who makes the correction Patent applicant Kuniyasu Okamura 4 Contents of the amendment subject to the agent 5 amendment The description of the amendment was first amended as follows. 1 The scope of claims from page 1, line 5 to page 2, line 17 of the specification is amended as follows: ``(1) The air inside the sealed soft-boiling chamber is continuously drawn by an exhaust fan. In order to forcibly exhaust the air to the outside, the pressure inside the soft-softening room is maintained at a reduced pressure lower than atmospheric pressure, and the duct is equipped with a heating device such as a blower and a heater in the reduced-pressure Japanese soft-softening room. By installing a closed circulation heating circuit, the air inside the soft-softening chamber is rectified and heated through the closed circulation heating circuit to become a reduced-pressure hot air flow, which is repeatedly circulated and stored inside the soft-softening chamber while being subjected to soft-softening pressure. It comes into contact with the tea leaves being stirred and evaporates the water that is freely adhering to the surface, increasing the humidity and heating the tea leaves to release the water contained inside the tea leaves.It is also attached to a closed heating circuit and communicates with the outside. A valve mechanism provided at the air inlet allows outside air to be sucked in from the coarse softening chamber or from the closed circulation heating circuit due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the coarse softening chamber,
While maintaining the depressurized state inside the soft-softening room, the air in the rough-softening room corresponding to the amount of intake air is discharged to the outside of the soft-softening room along with evaporated moisture using an exhaust fan attached to the rough-softening room, thereby creating a sealed soft-softening chamber. is always in a reduced pressure state, and evaporates the free moisture of the tea leaves, separates and evaporates the contained moisture, and discharges the evaporated moisture to the outside of the waju chamber, promoting the shaping and drying of tea leaves and making waju. Method. (2) An airtight Japanese soft-softening chamber with a tea leaf input door and a tea take-out door is installed in the frame, and the main shaft with a twister and a wiper is mounted on a horizontal bearing in the body of the soft-softener chamber. The main shaft is rotatably connected to the drive unit, and an exhaust fan and a humidity regulator are installed at the top of the Japanese soft furnishings room.Furthermore, the Japanese soft furnishing room is equipped with a circulation blower, a heating device, and a hot air temperature regulator on the rear side. This is a reduced-pressure tea-making machine that is connected to a closed circulation heating circuit of a duct equipped with a valve mechanism that allows outside air to pass through. 2. On page 3, line 12 of the specification, the phrase ``Compared to a Japanese soft machine under atmospheric pressure'' will be amended to ``Compared to a Japanese soft machine that operates under atmospheric pressure.''

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) By continuously forcibly exhausting the air inside the sealed rough-softening chamber to the outside using an exhaust fan, the air pressure inside the soft-softening chamber is maintained at a reduced pressure state lower than atmospheric pressure, and the air inside the soft-softening chamber is kept in a reduced pressure state, which is lower than atmospheric pressure. By installing a closed circulation heating circuit consisting of a duct equipped with a heating device such as a blower and a heater, the air inside the soft-softening chamber becomes a rectified and heated reduced-pressure hot air stream through the closed circulation heating circuit and is repeatedly circulated. , comes into contact with the tea leaves stored in the rough softening chamber and stirred while being subjected to soft pressure, evaporates the moisture freely adhering to the surface, increases the humidity, and heats the tea leaves to liberate the moisture contained inside the tea leaves, A valve mechanism provided in an air intake port attached to the closed heating circuit and communicating with the outside causes outside air to be sucked in from the coarse softening chamber or from the closed circulation heating circuit due to the pressure difference between the outside and outside of the coarse softening chamber,
The rough-softening chamber is sealed by exhausting the air in the rough-softening chamber corresponding to the amount of intake air to the outside of the rough-softening chamber along with evaporated moisture using the exhaust fan attached to the rough-softening chamber while maintaining the depressurized state inside the rough-softening chamber. is always in a reduced pressure state, and efficiently evaporates the free moisture of the tea leaves and separates and evaporates the contained moisture, and discharges the evaporated moisture to the outside of the softening chamber, promoting shaping and drying of the tea leaves while softening them. Rough and soft method. (2) A rough-softening chamber with a tea leaf input door and a tea-leaf take-out door is provided on the frame, and a main shaft with a twister and a wiper is mounted on a horizontal bearing in the body of the coarse-softener chamber, and the main shaft is equipped with a horizontal bearing. is rotatably connected to the drive unit, and an exhaust fan and a humidity regulator are installed in the upper part of the roughening chamber, and furthermore, a circulation blower, a heating device, a hot air temperature regulator, and a heating device are installed on the rear side of the roughening chamber. A reduced-pressure tea processing machine equipped with a closed circulation heating circuit connected to a duct equipped with a valve mechanism that allows outside air to pass through.