JPS6219075A - Method of extrusion processing of food and extruder therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve processing properties of food, by passing an ingredient which is fluidized under heating through fractionating passageways of a self- heating element before the ingredient is extruded from a die so that the ingredient is rapidly heated to a desired processing temperature by direct heating. CONSTITUTION:A food ingredient which is made into a molten state by an extrusion mechanism 4 is fed to a temperature controlling mechanism 7, sent to the plural passageways 18 of a self-heating element 12 and rapidly heated at high temperature by a large amount of heat by direct heating to a desired processing temperature. The high-temperature ingredient having passed through the heating element 12 is directly extruded from a die 8 or sent to the plural flow channels 27 of a cooling member 17, cooled to a proper temperature and extruded from the die 8.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a food extrusion processing method and an extruder used therein.

(Prior Art) As extruders used for processing pet food, feed, snack foods, etc., single-screw or twin-screw extruders used for molding or kneading plastics, etc. are used. This is because the functions of kneading, shearing, pressurizing, and other processes while heating the material and extruding the molten material from the die in fixed quantities are almost the same.

By the way, unlike plastic materials which are substantially water-free, food materials contain a lot of water, and because of their high water content, a large amount of heat is required to heat them. However, when using a conventional plastic extruder, it is difficult to rapidly heat to high temperatures, the temperature is insufficiently raised, and the processing time and distance in the extruder must be lengthened.

These problems can be solved to some extent by applying the technology for plastic processing disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 59-187830.

That is, there is a technique in which a heating body having a plurality of material passages is provided between a molten material extrusion mechanism and a die for molding the extruded material, and the heating body controls the temperature of the material passing through the passage.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) However, although rapid heating to some extent is possible with the improved conventional technology, the heating element itself does not generate heat, and the outer shell that houses the heating element Since it is an indirect heating type that receives conduction heat from the body, it is difficult to expect to improve thermal efficiency and temperature control accuracy, and it is especially difficult to heat the inside of a heating body with multiple flow paths such as a porous body.

Additionally, as a feature of food processing, when extruding molten materials through a die, it is necessary to maintain and improve the formability and quality of the food by approaching the temperature specific to the food, which is lower than the maximum temperature required for processing. However, in the improved prior art described above, it was difficult to bring food materials to optimal processing and extrusion temperatures.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In view of the problems of the prior art and the characteristics of food processing, the present invention has been developed by bringing food materials into a heated fluid state and then passing them through the segmented passages of a self-heating element. A temperature control mechanism having a heating body and a cooling body is provided between the extrusion mechanism and the die, and a temperature control mechanism having a heating body and a cooling body is provided between the extrusion mechanism and the die to perform rapid heating to the required processing temperature by direct heating. The body is made of a self-heating element.

That is, the specific features of the problem-solving means in the method of the present invention include the first step of heating and kneading the food material *Mi1 to bring it into a heated fluid state; a second step of rapid heating to the required processing temperature by direct heating through the subdivided passages of a self-heating element before extrusion;
The apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that a heating element having a plurality of material paths is provided between the extruder Ii for food materials and the die for molding the extruded material. In the extruder, the heating element is formed of a self-heating element, and a cooling element is provided between the heating element and the die to cool down the extruded material.

(Function) The food material heated and kneaded into a molten state by the extrusion mechanism 4 is supplied to the temperature control mechanism 7 and flows into the plurality of passages 18 of the self-heating heating element 12. By entering the passage 18, the material is broken down into small pieces and rapidly heated by direct heating at a high temperature and large amount of heat to the required processing temperature specific to the food product.

The high-temperature material after passing through the heating element 12 is extruded as it is from the die 8, or is fed into the plurality of channels 27 of the cooling element 13, where the heat is absorbed, making it ideal for extrusion from the die 8. It is rapidly cooled to the required temperature and rectified.

(Example) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 to 3, 1 is an extruder for food processing, and a barrel 2 has a twin screw screw 3 (or a single screw screw may be used).

) A feeder 5 and a hopper 6 are arranged at the starting end of the extrusion mechanism 4, and a temperature control mechanism 7 and a die 8 are arranged at the terminal end.
is located.

The extrusion mechanism 4 has a feed zone from its starting end to its terminal end,
Mixing, crosstalk, shoe king zone, shoe king zone, etc. are formed, and the shape of barrel 2 and screw 3 is as follows.
A shape similar to that of various known extruders for plastics can be adopted. Reference numeral 9 indicates an extrusion mechanism frame supporting the barrel 2, and reference numeral 10 indicates a heater on the outer periphery of the barrel 2.

The temperature control mechanism 7 has a heating body 12 and a cooling body 13 arranged between the extrusion mechanism 4 and the die 8.

A heating block 14 supporting the heating body 12 is fixed to the end of the barrel 2 via a heat insulating body 15, and a heater 16 is provided on the outer periphery of the heating block 14.

The heating element 12 is formed of, for example, a semiconducting ceramic resistance heating element having a self-heating function, and is connected to an external power source via a lead wire 17. This ceramic resistance heating element is made of a material having so-called PTC characteristics, such as ferroelectric barium titanate (BaTi03), in which the specific resistance rapidly increases at a certain desired temperature.

A plurality of passages 18 parallel to the axis are formed in the heating body 12, and the molten material fed from the extrusion mechanism 4 is divided into pieces and flows in the passages 1B. As shown in FIG. 3, the surface of the heating body 12, including the surface of this passage 18, is coated with a coating 19 of electrically insulating ceramic nox or the like.

Since the heating element 12 is a self-heating element, the heat generated by itself is directly applied to the material, and the material passes through the inside of the heating element in small cross-sectional areas, increasing the heat transfer area of the heating element 12. Therefore, a large amount of heat can be applied rapidly and uniformly to the material. Furthermore, forming the heating body 12 with ceramics improves the heat resistance, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, etc. of the heating body itself, and has good formability, so it can be processed into a desired shape. . - Figures 4 to 6 show three examples of the shape of the passage 18 of the heating body 12. The first example shown in Fig. 4 is a cylindrical body with a hole having a circular cross section parallel to the axis, and the second example shown in Fig.
An example is one in which concentric shoulder walls are formed in multiple layers within a cylindrical body, and each shoulder wall is connected by integrally molding one or more spiders at appropriate locations to maintain the gap between each layer, as shown in Figure 6. In the third example, holes having a rectangular cross section (quadrangular or hexagonal) are arranged in a lattice pattern in a cylindrical body.

The heating body 12 is not limited to the ceramics, but may be formed of other materials having a self-heating function, and its outer shape is not limited to a circular shape, and various numbers and cross-sectional shapes of the passages 18 can be adopted. .

As shown in FIG. 7, the heating body 12 is made of ceramics or metal and is integrally molded with resistance heating wires 20 embedded therein as densely as possible, and the cylindrical body is heated by the resistance heating wires 20. It may be configured as follows.

This heating body 12 also has an electrically insulating layer formed on its surface that comes into contact with the material.

23 is a cooling block fixed to the tip side of the heating block 14 via a heat insulating material 24, and the cooling body 13 is installed inside the cooling block.
is supported, and a heater 25 is attached to the outside thereof,
Further, a cooling jacket 26 is formed inside the block. A heat medium such as heat medium oil, cold water, or hot water can be supplied to the cooling jacket 26 from the outside, and the cooling block 2 is heated by the heat medium itself and/or the heater 26.
The temperature of 3 can be adjusted arbitrarily.

Similar to the heating element 12, the cooling element 13 is formed with a plurality of flow passages 27 parallel to the axis, and the specific shape of the flow passages 27 is similar to that of the heating element 12 shown in Fig. 4.5. The temperature of the cooling block 23 is approximately the same as that of the cooling block 23 due to heat conduction. This temperature is lower than the temperature of the material after passing through the heating body 12, so that when the molten material passes through the cooling body 13, its heat is absorbed and the material is cooled to lI temperature.

8 to 10 show modified examples of the cooling body 13, and the first modified example shown in FIG. 8 has two cooling medium passages for temperature adjustment buried inside the concentric multilayer material passage partition The second modification shown in Fig. 10 is formed by closing both ends of the cylinder with a plate and providing a large number of parallel pipes 29 passing through the plate to form a flow path 27. The empty field 30 serves as a cooling jacket through which a heat medium can flow.

Reference numeral 32 denotes an adapter that attaches the die 8 to the cooling block 23, and collects the material that has passed through the cooling body 13 in the center and guides it to the die 8. 33 is a heater provided around the adapter 32 and the die 8.

Note that some food materials may be extruded at high temperatures, and others may be extruded at high temperatures for post-processing. In such cases, as shown in FIG. It is sufficient to attach the adapter 32 directly.

Next, a method of processing and extruding food using the extruder 1 described above will be explained.

Various food materials, such as meat, fish, grains, curry, spices, or chocolate, either singly or in appropriate combinations, are transferred to the hopper 6.
and fed into the extrusion mechanism 4 from the feeder 5.

In the extrusion mechanism 4, the materials are crushed, mixed, kneaded, sheared, and pressurized into a molten state (heated fluid state) by the cooperative action of the rotating screw 3 and barrel 2 and heating by the external heater IO, It is supplied to the heating body 12 of the temperature control mechanism 7 by the pushing action of the screw 3 (first step).

The finely divided material entering the passage 18 is directly heated from inside by the self-heating of the heating element 12 and is heated by the heater 1.
It also receives heat from 6, and is rapidly raised to the temperature required for reaction and processing. At this time, the material is subjected to a rectifying action by the passage 18 (second step).

The material heated to the processing temperature by the heating element 12 may be extruded from the die 8 while still at high temperature, or may be extruded after being cooled. When cooling, the high-temperature material enters the cooling body 13 and is rectified by the cooling body 13.
Heat is absorbed by the material 3 itself and the cooling jacket 26, etc., and the material is cooled down to the molding temperature. After that, the material is extruded from the die 8 with the temperature and flow uniformized (the material is extruded from the die 8 with the temperature and flow being uniform)
process).

When the heating element 12 is made of PTC type ceramics, the resistance increases rapidly when the heating body 12 generates heat above a certain temperature, and further temperature rise can be prevented, resulting in high safety and convenience in operation.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the method of the present invention described in detail above, before extruding the heated fluid material from the die, it is rapidly heated to the required processing temperature by direct heating through the subdivided passages of the self-heating element. Food products can be processed at the optimal processing temperature, and the formability and quality of foods can be maintained and improved.

Furthermore, according to the apparatus of the present invention, since the self-heating heating element having a plurality of material passages is provided in front of the extrusion mechanism, the molten material can be divided into pieces and receive heat from the heating element, and Since the body is a self-heating element, it can directly heat the material, which has higher thermal efficiency than indirect heating, allowing rapid heating of the material and highly accurate temperature control, preventing deterioration during processing and partial overheating. In addition, instead of extruding the food material at a high temperature, a cooling body can be installed in front of the die to lower the temperature of the extruded material to the required temperature. The shape, quality and stability can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figures 1 to 3 show examples of the present invention, with Figure 1 being an enlarged sectional view of the main parts, Figure 2 being a partial sectional explanatory view of the entire extruder, and Figure 3 being an enlarged sectional view of the heating element. Figures 4 to 6 are cross-sectional views showing three examples of the passage shape of the heating body, Figure 7 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a heating body using a resistance heating wire, and Figures 8 to 10 are cross-sectional views of a heating body using a resistance heating wire. Figure 8 is a sectional view of the first modification, Figure 9 is a sectional view of the second modification, Figure 1O is a view taken in the direction of the X arrow in Figure 9, and Figure 11 is a cooling diagram. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a temperature control mechanism without a body. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Extruder, 4... Extrusion mechanism, 7... Temperature control mechanism, 8... Die, 12... Heating body, 13... Cooling body, 14... Heating block, 18 ...Aisle, 23
...Cooling block, 27...Flow path. Procedural Amendment Export) September 17, 1985 1, Indication of the Case 1985 Patent Application No. 158667 2 Title of Invention ′
a 3. Relationship with the case of the person making the amendment Patent applicant: Food Industry Extra-Flation Shoes King Technology #f Gansogo 4, Agent Address: 1013 Mikuriya, Higashiosaka-shi, Osaka Telephone: Osaka (06) 782+ (38j 'Bg・Drawing 7, Contents of amendment (1) Corrections will be made according to the 411th month paper in the attached drawing.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A first step of heating and kneading the food material to bring it into a fluidized state at elevated temperature, and direct heating through the segmented passage of a self-heating element before extruding the fluidized material at elevated temperature from the die. A food extrusion processing method, comprising: a second step of rapidly heating to a required processing temperature. 2. An extruder that is provided with a heating element having a plurality of material passages between a food material extrusion mechanism and a die that molds the extruded material, the heating element being formed of a self-heating element, An extruder for food processing, characterized in that a cooling element is provided between the heating element and the die to adjust the temperature of the extruded material. 3. The extruder for food processing according to claim 2, characterized in that ceramics in which a resistance heating wire is embedded is used as the self-heating element. 4. The extruder for food processing according to claim 2, characterized in that a semiconducting ceramic resistance heating element is used as the self-heating element.