JPS62115236A - Apparatus for producing semi-fermented tea - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To produce semi-fermented tea independently of weather, by passing a small amount of hot air through thinly spread raw tea leaves while irradiating the leaves with far-infrared ray, collecting a prescribed amount of withered and fermented tea leaves, agitating under rotation and carrying out the roasting, rolling and forming of the tea leaves. CONSTITUTION:A small amount of hot air is passed through thinly spread raw tea leaves in a withering apparatus A while irradiating the leaves with far-infrared ray to keep the temperature of the leaves at about 30-50 deg.C. Withering and fermentation of tea leaves rapidly take place by this procedure. A prescribed amount of the treated tea leaves are collected in a metering pool B, agitated under rotating in a fermentation apparatus C and further fermented under light beating action applied to the leaves. The leaves are transferred to a roasting apparatus D, a rolling apparatus E and a forming apparatus F in batch and the treatment is terminated when the fermentation degree of the tea leaves reaches about 50% to obtain semi-fermented tea leaves having tightly wound form.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION a. Field of Industrial Application This invention relates to a semi-fermented tea manufacturing apparatus that can automatically produce semi-fermented tea of good quality.

b. Prior Art Semi-fermented tea is between fully fermented black tea and completely unfermented green tea, and there are many types of tea depending on the degree of fermentation, but it is usually produced in the following order.

1) Expose the fresh tea leaves directly to sunlight and let them wilt in the sun, turning them over from time to time. 2) Take them indoors and spread them out in a place where there is no strong ventilation, and sometimes turn them over and let them wilt indoors. 3. ) When the edges of the green tea leaves turn reddish-brown, they are placed in a high-heat pot and roasted for several minutes to solve the problems 1) and 2) of the above-mentioned manufacturing methods. Wilting is done manually for a long time, with the degree of wilting adjusted depending on the weather. Therefore, it does not suit the reality of the Japanese tea industry, which aims to process large quantities with a small number of people, and the degree of withering and fermentation is greatly affected by the weather that day, making it difficult to produce tea of uniform quality.

In addition, the operations 3), 4), and 5) require the operator to adjust the heating while watching the condition of the tea leaves, and also to carry out the operations from loading and unloading to transporting the tea leaves, which reduces the burden on the operator. Although it is large, uniform operation cannot be expected.

・The aim is to improve the quality of semi-fermented tea, eliminate the burden on workers, and enable mass production of semi-fermented tea by automatically taking out and transporting it.

Means for solving the d0 problem In order to achieve the above object, this invention provides appropriate ventilation to
The fresh tea leaves are transported while being spread thinly in a space maintained at about 65°C, and the green tea leaves are heated by a far-infrared heater to promote withering and fermentation of the green tea leaves, and are continuously taken out from the withering machine. a pool in which tea leaves are retained until a predetermined amount is reached; a fermenter equipped with a rotary barrel that accommodates a predetermined amount of tea leaves; a fermenter that rotates and stirs the tea leaves to further ferment;
There is a tea leaf roasting machine that roasts leaves on a metal pot heated to about 00 degrees Celsius, a rolling machine that can thoroughly roll the roasted tea leaves, and a mountain-shaped sun inside the rotary body to dry and round the tea leaves. A molding machine that shapes the mold, a dryer that thoroughly dries the tea 4J,
It consists of each conveying means connected between each of the above-mentioned machines.

80 Operation FIG. 1 shows an outline of a manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This invention allows fresh tea leaves to be harvested in a well-ventilated area according to its quality.
In the room of the withering machine maintained at about 5 to 65 degrees Celsius, the tea leaves are transferred in a thin layer onto the transfer means, and water is gradually absorbed into the far infrared heater, which is designed to radiate as evenly as possible to the surface of the green tea leaves. However, due to good ventilation, it does not become stuffy, and since the far-infrared heater heats the stems and leaves evenly, they quickly wilt, similar to when exposed to strong sunlight. Go. Stems contain more moisture than leaves and have a smaller surface area, so even when exposed to hot air, they are less prone to drying out than stems, but far-infrared rays are absorbed by areas with more moisture, so
In the end, both the stem and the sweet part of the tea leaves will wither evenly.

By the way, if fresh tea leaves are only passed through hot air but not irradiated with far infrared rays, only the surface of the tea leaves will tend to lose moisture, and in severe cases, it will be difficult for them to wither, such as withering, and it will be difficult for fermentation to occur. . On the other hand, when fresh far-infrared tea leaves are near the point where they are taken out of the withering machine, the withering aroma becomes stronger, the tip plate on the surface disappears, and the leaves become soft, gradually promoting the oxidation (fermentation) of catechins. and,
Fermentation of green tea leaves begins at the periphery and veins of the leaf, producing a fermented aroma. During this time, the green tea leaves are heated evenly by far infrared rays without being damaged, resulting in homogeneous fermentation.

By the way, the temperature of the fresh tea leaves was set at around 35°C for buds, around 40°C for ordinary tea leaves, and around 45°C for hard leaves. This is because hard confectionery has a low amount of oxidizing enzymes, making it difficult for fermentation to proceed, and the higher the product temperature to a certain extent, the easier fermentation will proceed. Therefore, in order to maintain the temperature of the raw tea leaves at the above value, the far infrared heater and hot air temperature are adjusted by means such as a voltage regulator and a heater of the hot air generator, respectively. Even a simple infrared heater can achieve similar effects.

The operation time for the withering and fermentation described above, that is, the indoor transfer time, is approximately 30 to 60 minutes, and the moisture content of the tea leaves is 15 minutes.
When the tea leaves have decreased by about 25% and the edges and veins of the tea leaves have fermented and turned brown, adjust each means or transport speed so that the tea leaves are just discharged outside.
They are sequentially transported to the pool by transport machines (50) and (51).

Next, a predetermined amount of the withered and fermented tea leaves is collected in a pool, which is then fed into a fermenter all at once, and subjected to batchwise rotational agitation. The predetermined amount is one in which the volume of the tea leaves is approximately 175 to 172 of the volume of the rotary stirring means, and varies depending on the apparent specific gravity of the green tea leaves. In addition, the predetermined weight is checked using a measuring device that supports the pool, and when the predetermined amount of tea leaves has reached the predetermined amount, the tea leaves are transported by a conveyor (52) and thrown in. ).

Each time the tea leaves in the rotary barrel of the fermenter are slowly rotated and stirred, the weight of each other as they fall gives a light pressure to each other, which promotes fermentation evenly. Since the process is easy to proceed, the process time can be as short as 30 minutes.If cold air is supplied, the process time is about 30 to 80 minutes.However, withering and fermentation In general, cold air is better than hot air. Also, if fermentation progresses too much in the previous withering and fermentation operations (in this case, shorten this process time; conversely, if it does not proceed, lengthen it).

Fermentation of tea leaves gradually spreads from the periphery and veins of the leaf to the surrounding areas, but externally, there is only a slight border between the veins in the center of the leaf, and internally, about half of the catechins are oxidized. You need to stop it. Therefore, the tea leaves are taken out from the rotary barrel that is partially opened by the opening/closing means, and
), (54) and then sent to the next roasting process.

The roasting machine is made by rolling a thick iron plate that can be heated to a temperature of about 250 to 400 degrees Celsius into a cylindrical shape, capping both ends with the same material, opening near the center of one, and using the opening as a wire mesh. A ventilation hole is provided, and the other opening is opened near the center to serve as a tea leaf inlet, and a portion of the periphery is also opened to serve as a tea leaf takeout part. A suitable sun is installed inside the cylinder so that the tea leaves roll when the cylinder rotates.
As shown below, it has a structure in which a cylinder is grilled using a burner. When the tea leaves are put into the pot, they efficiently come into contact with the high-temperature pot, and the temperature of the tea leaves rises rapidly, stopping tea fermentation there and preventing further fermentation. When the tea leaves are sufficiently moist and soft and have reached a high temperature of 70 to 80 degrees Celsius or higher, the trick step is completed, the tea leaves are taken out by the above-mentioned take-out means, and the next step is carried out by the conveyors (55) and (56). Transport it to the kneading machine and feed it into the kneading machine.

By the way, although the tea leaf roasting machine is of a batch type as described above, it may be of a continuous type that uses a cylindrical pot and roasts the tea leaves while transferring them from one side to the other. In that case,
The homogeneity of the tea leaves is slightly inferior.

The rolling machine may be the same as the rolling machine for green tea, but the pressure when rolling the tea leaves is increased and the rolling is done for a long time. Once the tea leaves have been homogenized by compensating for the non-uniformity of water content that occurred in the previous roasting process, they are taken out and conveyed to the next molding machine by conveyors (57) and (58), and then fed into the tea leaves.

The molding machine consists of a rotating body equipped with a mountain-shaped sun and a hot air generating means that supplies hot air into the rotating body, and rotates and stirs the tea leaves while drying them. Inside the rotary drum, there is a mountain-shaped sun on its circumference, so the rotating tea leaves are repeatedly collected along the slope of the sun and then fall, gradually becoming more round. It is better to make the volume of the tea leaves larger than usual compared to the volume of the rotating barrel, so that the tea leaves will have a better round shape.

When the drying of the tea leaves progresses and you start to hear the sound of the tea leaves rubbing against the circumferential surface of the rotary cylinder, the process is finished, the tea leaves are taken out, and transported to the next drying process by the conveyors (59) and (60). throw into.

In the dryer, hot air of about 80 to 100 degrees Celsius is supplied.
In a room kept at a temperature of around 0°C, the tea leaves are spread thinly and transferred, while the tea leaves come into contact with hot air and are allowed to pass through, drying the tea leaves. The tea leaves are slowly transferred and dried thoroughly until the moisture content of the tea leaves reaches about 5% on a dry weight basis.

Then, a single-shot 6γ tea that can be brewed and drunk is completed.

By the way, if a control device M is provided to control the inputting and taking out of tea leaves in each of the above machines and the operation of each conveying means, the batch type fermenter, leaf roasting machine, rolling machine, and molding machine of each machine are The process time is controlled, and when the preset time for each tea leaf input is reached, the tea leaves are inputted while waiting for the tea leaves to be removed by each extraction means. Among the machines, if the transfer speed of the continuous withering machine and dryer is set in advance according to the tea leaves, there is no need to change it much during tea production, so it is only necessary to adjust it for each machine.

f. Embodiment Figure 2.3 shows an embodiment of the present invention, which includes a withering machine A, a weighing boule B, a fermenting machine C, a leaf roasting machine, a rolling machine E, a forming machine F, and a drying machine G. FIG.

Therefore, explanation will be given according to the drawings.

Wilting machine A blows hot air at about 80°C onto a four-stage caterpillar-shaped endless transport belt (1) with a width of about 1 m and the first and third endless transport belts (1) at a total of 10 blows per hour. (4) which can supply hot air for about 1 minute, and these (1), (2), (3)
), (4), and an exhaust fan (6) for ventilation inside the fuselage (5). As shown in Figure 2, each endless transport belt (1) has a structure in which the caterpillar at the other end is vertical and drops the green tea leaves placed thereunder. transported to the stage.

In addition, if the heating device M (3) is simply arranged with far infrared heaters (2), the green tea leaves that are spread thinly and transferred will not be evenly heated, and it is difficult to expect good withering and fermentation. There are reflectors (
7) and (8) are arranged so that the far infrared rays are evenly irradiated on both sides of the green tea leaves.

(9) and (10) are a tea leaf inlet and an outlet, respectively. (62) spreads green tea leaves in the inlet (9).
This is the input conveyor that inputs C. (49), (50),
(51) F and J are conveyors that transport the tea leaves taken out from the outlet (1o) to the weighing pool B, and only the conveyor (51) stops when the weighing pool B becomes full.

The weighing boule B is equipped with a weighing mechanism capable of weighing 30 to 60 to 9 tea leaves. (52) is a conveyor that feeds the tea leaves from the measuring boule B into the next fermenter C.

The fermenter C has a cylindrical shape with a diameter of about 1.2 m and a length of about 1.2 m, and has a plate-shaped sun (25) with a height of about 15 cm inside. 22)
Then, the drive section (23) that rotates the rotary cylinder (20) and the exhaust vane (22) roars. (53) and (54) are
A thick iron plate that can hold the tea leaves removed from the rotary barrel (20) is rolled into a cylindrical pot (30), a lid made of the same material is placed on both ends, an opening is made near the center of one of the pots, and the opening is covered with a wire mesh. At the end, a ventilation hole (31) is provided, and the other side is opened near the center to serve as a tea leaf inlet (32), and a part of the periphery is also opened to serve as a tea leaf outlet (33). . Cylindrical pot (3
0) A suitable sun is installed inside so that the tea leaves roll when the cylindrical pot (30) rotates, and a burner (34) is used from the bottom to roast the cylindrical pot (30). Sometimes, the structure is such that the tea leaves can be taken out by turning it upside down. At the take-out port (33), there is a take-out conveyor (55)! Arrange.

The rolling machine E has a rolling board 37 on which many leeches are applied.
The pot 38 is rotated while applying pressure to the tea leaves housed in the pot 38 with a lid 39, which is conventionally used for producing green tea. However, it is better to make the weight 3d a little heavier and apply strong rubbing pressure. The take-out door 40 is provided at the center of the rubbing board 37 and is opened and closed by an actuator 41 such as an air cylinder. A take-out conveyor 57 is located under the take-out door 40.
Place it.

The molding machine `` was the same as the fermentation machine C except for the inscribed sun 42. As shown in Fig. 5, the molding machine 42 has a plate on the inner peripheral surface of the rotary drum 43 with ridges that spread in the direction of rotation. It is fixed upright and is effective in shaping tea leaves into a round shape.

The extraction of tea leaves is also the same as in the fermenter C, with a part of the circumferential surface serving as an extraction door 44, which is opened and closed by an actuator 45. A tea leaf take-out conveyor 59 is provided below the rotary cylinder 43.

The dryer G is substantially the same as the withering machine A, does not have a far-infrared heater (although it may be provided), and increases the temperature of the hot air supplied from the hot air generator 47 to about 60 to 100°C. code 6
Reference numeral 1 denotes an input conveyor that spreads green tea leaves thinly and inputs them onto an endless transport belt 48 below the tea leaf input opening.

70.71.72.731F! : Relay 74, 75, 76 that similarly turns ON/OFF the actuator for opening/closing the take-out door of each machine and the take-out door of the weighing boule.
．． 77.78 (in the case of a fruit roasting machine, a cylindrical pot 30
Furthermore, each conveyor 49 to 62 is operated continuously, or each machine, each conveyor, and each actuator are operated as shown in the appropriate chart after each machine is taken out.

Therefore, a case will be described in which green tea leaves are produced in early August. Fresh tea leaves around this time are more difficult to ferment than those from around May and June, but are much easier to ferment than those from September onwards.

The thickness of the green tea leaves was adjusted to 25 mm, and the room temperature was adjusted to 45 to 50°C. As a result, the temperature of the fresh tea leaves was maintained at about 40° C. immediately after being added until they were taken out, and withering and fermentation progressed well. The weight loss at the time of removal was 25%, the edges and veins of the tea leaves turned brown, and withered and fermented aromas were produced.

The tea leaves that are successively taken out little by little from the withering container mA are stored in the measuring boule B until they reach 38 to 91, or
During this period of standing, the withering and fermentation scents become stronger than others.

Fermenter C processes 38 to 9 tea leaves at one time. The combustion of the gas furnace is adjusted so that the exhaust gas temperature is about 30 to 35°C while the tea leaves are being added. The number of rotations of the rotating drum (20) is 1
The speed was set to 4 rpm. The tea leaves were processed for 20 to 30 minutes.

As a result, the tea leaves further withered and fermented, and their aroma became stronger. The weight of the tea leaves when taken out is 35% less than that of fresh tea leaves.
% reduction, progressing to the extent that a slight green color remained between the veins in the center of the leaf. Withering and fermentation progressed homogeneously, and soft tea leaves of good quality were obtained.

In the roasting machine, tea leaves whose weight has been reduced to about 32 to 9 are roasted at once. The tea leaves were left to stand for 5 minutes in the pot 30, which had been kept at about 400°C before being put in the tea, and the tea leaves were moist and sufficiently soft before being taken out, and by the time they were taken out, the leaf temperature had reached 80°C. The weight reduction of the tea leaves was about 45% compared to when the tea leaves were fresh.

In the rolling machine F, the tea leaves were rolled for 60 minutes using a full weight of the weight. It was embossed and homogenized, and was soft and small.

For molding machine F, the exhaust temperature during tea leaf input is 35 to 40"C.
〈The tea leaves are round and firm.

In the dryer, it takes 45 minutes from the time the tea leaves are put in until they are taken out.
Adjust the transfer speed so that the temperature is about 80℃.
After adjusting the amount, the drying progressed sufficiently, and a semi-fermented tea with a strong fermented aroma and a firm, round shape was produced.

9. Effects As mentioned above, this invention is based on thinly spread green tea leaves (
While ventilating a small amount of hot air, irradiating far infrared rays,
Since the product temperature IFE is maintained at about 30 to 50° C., the stems and leaves of each green tea leaf are evenly heated without getting stuffy, and the withering and fermentation proceed rapidly like when exposed to strong sunlight.

Furthermore, since a predetermined amount of the withered and fermented tea leaves are collected and rotated at once, the tea leaves are subjected to a light pressing action due to their mutual weight, and the fermentation progresses more uniformly and rapidly.

(7) The same level of withering and fermentation can be achieved in a short time of 1/3 to 1/4 compared to conventional withering and fermentation operations that are performed manually depending on the weather, Moreover, all of these operations are performed mechanically, so there is almost no need for human hands. In addition, uniform withering and fermentation can always be performed regardless of the weather.

In addition, after the withering and fermentation operations, the tea leaves are not roasted in batches but are carried out as a whole, so there is no uneven drying, and the tea leaves are homogeneously rounded and compacted, giving a good-looking semi-finished tea leaves. Fermented tea can be produced.

Furthermore, since the machines A to G can all be connected by a conveyor and the tea leaves can be automatically loaded and conveyed, the conventional operations of loading and conveying the tea leaves are no longer required, and the burden on the operator is reduced.

In addition, since the control device 1 also controls the operation timing of the loading and unloading of tea leaves in each batch-type machine C-F and the operation of each conveying means 49 to 62, the operator Intermediate workers only need to check the quality of tea leaves from time to time, which significantly saves labor in the production of semi-fermented tea.
It is intended for mass production.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing an embodiment of the invention. Second
The figure is a detailed front view of the withering machine A, the weighing boule B, and the fermentation machine C. Figure 3: Fruit roasting machine D, rolling machine E, molding machine F,
It is a detailed front view of dryer G. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the leaf roasting machine (E-I line), and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional oblique view of the forming machine F (Ro-Ro line). FIG. 6 is a detailed diagram of the control device H. A... Wilting machine B... Measuring pool C... Fermenting machine D... Fruit roasting machine E... Rolling machine F... Molding machine G... Dryer H... Control device 2 ...Far-infrared heater 20...Rotating cylinder 30 of fermenter C...Kettle 1 of roasting machine

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) Wither the green tea leaves while spreading them thinly in a space kept at around 35-65℃ with proper ventilation, and heat the surface of the green tea leaves with a far-infrared heater to promote withering and fermentation of the green tea leaves. 250 A tea leaf roasting machine that roasts leaves on a metal pot heated to about 400 degrees Celsius, a rolling machine that can thoroughly twist the roasted tea leaves, and a mountain-shaped sun inside the rotating body to dry the tea leaves. A semi-fermented tea manufacturing device comprising a molding machine for forming a round shape, a drying machine for sufficiently drying tea leaves, and conveying means connected between the machines. (2) The semi-fermented tea manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a control device controls the loading and unloading of tea leaves in each machine and the operation of each conveying means.