KR100398311B1 - Automatic puffing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides an automatic puffing device that can control the operation properly by using the internal pressure of the pot as a control factor in cooking a large amount of grain at a very large internal volume and a very high puffing pressure.

The puffing device of the present invention is cooked in the cooker 410 for inputting and cooking grains, the burner 420 for supplying a heat source for heating the cooker 410 in the lower portion of the cooker 410, and the cooker 410 A charging unit 430 for charging the foodstuff to be, a rotating unit 440 for rotating the pot 410 around the central axis with respect to the burner 420 while the heat source is supplied, and the pot 410 for charging and discharging the foodstuff It includes a swinging portion 450 for adjusting the posture), an opening and closing portion 460 for opening and closing the lid 411 of the pot 410, and a PLC (470) (Programmable Logic Controller) for controlling the entire process of the work.

Description

Automatic puffing apparatus

The present invention relates to a puffing device, and more particularly to an automatic puffing device configured to automatically perform the whole process of cooking.

The method of injecting grain together with air in a closed static space to boost it, and then opening the outlet and expanding it in one step is one of the widely used traditional recipes.

In order to perform such an inflatable cooking, a pot having a lid having a predetermined volume of cooking space and withstanding a high pressure formed therein is used.

Facilities for mass production of inflatable cooked foods include multiple pots, most of which are mechanized, including the heating process, but some operations, including opening the lid in the expansion process, require manual intervention by operators. I am doing it.

Since the manual work requires a lot of manpower, it can increase the operating cost, but there are various problems such as poor product quality as well as low production per unit time due to the inability to timely work.

In order to solve these problems, various studies have been made to automate the process. One of them is Korean Patent Registration No. 1994-0004523, "Automatic Grain Expansion Device" granted to Yoon Chun-hyun. The apparatus is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in which grain is fed and being heated, and in FIG. 2, the lid is opened to feed grain.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the apparatus installs a hopper 3 installed on the upper part of the base 2, and installs a movable grain insertion tube 4 at the bottom of the hopper 3, and inserts the grain. The tube 4 is provided with a switch (6) integrally with the shaft (7) operated by the cylinder (5), and is provided with a grain insertion rotary tube (8) rotated around the shaft (7), A rear end spring 9 is provided to elastically support the grain insertion rotary tube 8, and a rotary part rotated by the fuel supply unit 9 and the drive shaft 12 provided with the air nozzle 10. 11 is provided integrally with the heating unit 13 and the driving unit 14, the lid case 22 of the rotary heating furnace 17 is composed of a sealing lid 23 and the fixed lid 24, and the frame ( The long shaft 45 supported by 36 is fixed to the rotary bar 53, and the clamp 54 is rotatably installed at the front end of the rotary bar 53, and the jaw on one side of the rotary bar 53 is provided. Lock 56 However, the engaging bar (57) is coupled to the clamp (54), with the spring (58) between the clamp (54) and the jaw (56), the operating bar (59) arranged in parallel with the long axis (45) ), A trigger 61 interlocked with the cylinder 60 is installed, a roller 35 of the lid opening and closing rotary table 32 is provided, and a spring 58a is provided at the lower end of the operation bar 59.

In this grain expansion device, all the operations from grain input to expansion are controlled by the time factor, and all the operations are performed by mechanical mechanisms. The temporal control is an empirical control, which leaves no room for the actual situation in each process. That is, for any reason, even if the cooking temperature or cooking pressure of the grain has not reached the proper value, the cooking time will be stopped and the lid will open, and thus the cooking in the process will fail.

Lid opening and closing is also accomplished by a mechanical mechanism, which means that the sealing force of the lid depends only on the spring and the bushing. This sealing force does not adequately cope with the high and low pressure. That is, when the internal pressure exceeds the design pressure, the internal pressure will leak, and if the design pressure is excessively increased, very large force will be required when the lid is closed, or the structure will be complicated.

As another one for automating the puffing process, Korean Patent Application No. 1999-0079239 filed by Jung Hyeong-seop describes a "food automatic puffing device", which is shown in FIG.

As shown in Fig. 3, the apparatus is provided with a table 110, a center block 140 fixed to a predetermined height of the table, and having a plurality of through holes formed thereon, and face-mounted at an upper position of the center block, and a predetermined lifting means. It is installed so as to be elevated by the upper block 130 having a plurality of first pressure sheets that can be inserted into each through hole, and face to face at the lower position of the center block, is supported by the center block to move up and down, Raw material puffed to the chamber formed by the lower block 150 having a plurality of second pressure sheets insertable in each through hole, a heating heater rod for heating the upper block and the lower block, and each through hole and each second pressure sheet. It has a supply means for supplying.

This device is a device for puffing a small amount of food items using a mold having a small volume, and the puffing pressure formed inside the mold is also relatively low. That is, the technique proposed in the Republic of Korea Patent Application No. 1999-0079239 above is very large as the present invention and the puffing pressure is also very high and can not be applied to a device for cooking a large amount of grain at once.

As another one for automating the puffing process, FIG. 4 shows a "grain puffing device" of Korean Patent No. 0137369 issued to Kraft Hoods Incorporated.

The device 221 is a surge hopper 222 for supplying grain material into the puffing device 231 and an expansion or explosion to receive the grain material after the grain material has been processed in the puffing device 221. Has a yarn 223. It also includes a preheater 225, a through-pipe 224, a compression chamber 226, and a nozzle 227. It has an open steam injector 228 on top of the compression chamber 226, which has a separate inlet 231 and an outlet 232.

The Republic of Korea Patent No. 0137369 does not describe a means for automatically performing most tasks, including opening a discharge valve installed at the outlet 232 of the device.

As another one for automating the puffing process, Figure 5 shows the "auto-expansion cookie manufacturing apparatus" of Republic of Korea Utility Model Registration No. 0163171 granted to the distributor.

The device receives the power of the frame 300 and the electric motor 310 installed on one side of the frame 300 by the V-belt 311 to convert the cam shaft 320 to a low speed to rotate the cam shaft 320 at a low speed. Chain 372 to transmit rotational force to the reduction gear 312, the main shaft cam block 321 and the supply cam block 323 and the sprocket 325 (supply member 380) that is fixed to the cam shaft 320 and rotates simultaneously Driving the main shaft 333 in the up and down directions by the power transmission member and the main shaft cam block 321 of the power transmission member to open the upper heating plate 341 of the heating expansion part 340. A feed lever 350 and a bottom operated by the main spindle lever 330 and the supply cam block 323 to operate the supply case 355 through the supply links 353 and 354. An operating member made of a bottom plate operating lever 360 for operating the bottom plate 365 through the plate links 363 and 364, and grains as materials. Distributor for dispensing a predetermined amount of grain periodically installed at the lower end of the connection pipe A (371) and the connection pipe A (371) connected from the grain supply hopper 370 and the grain supply hopper to supply ( 380, the supply member, and the supply case 355 and the bottom plate 365 for receiving a predetermined amount of grains supplied from the distributor 380 of the supply member is heated in the horizontal direction by the operating member Consists of a transfer member for supplying between the upper upper heating plate (341) and the lower heating plate (342), and a heating expansion unit (340) for expanding and processing the instantaneous heating of the material supplied from the conveying member.

This device is also a device for puffing a small amount of foodstuff using a small-volume mold, and thus, as in the present invention, the internal volume is very large and the puffing pressure is very high, and it is not applicable to an apparatus for cooking a large amount of grain at one time.

From this, the present invention can automatically perform the whole process of cooking in puffing foodstuffs, such as grains by using a pot having a lid capable of withstanding the pressure formed therein to form a constant volume of space as described above Is to provide a device.

In addition, the present invention makes it possible to properly control the operation by using the pressure which directly affects the cooking state in the puffing device for cooking a large amount of grain at a time, the internal volume is relatively large and the puffing pressure is very high. The aim is to provide a hydromechanical mechanism that can seal the lid with a force proportional to the puffing pressure in the process.

1 and 2 show the configuration of a conventional automatic puffing device,

Figure 3 shows the configuration of another conventional automatic puffing device,

Figure 4 shows the configuration of another conventional automatic puffing device,

Figure 5 shows the configuration of another conventional automatic puffing device,

6 is a functional block diagram for explaining the operation relationship of the main functional elements of the automatic puffing device according to an embodiment of the present invention,

7 is a top view of two puffing devices fixed to one base frame according to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a rear view of the two puffing devices shown in FIG. 7,

9 is a side view of the two puffing devices shown in FIG. 7,

FIG. 10 is an enlarged top view of one of the two puffing devices shown in FIG. 7.

FIG. 11 shows the shape of a pot used in the puffing device shown in FIG. 7.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

401, 402: automatic puffing device according to an embodiment of the present invention

403: base frame 404: top frame

405: side frame 410: cooker

411: lid 412: entrance

413, 414 shaft 415 bracket

420: burner 430: charging

440: rotating portion 441: sprocket

442: electric chain 443: motor

450: pivot 451: pivot axis

452: strut 460: opening and closing portion

461: Arm 462: Hinge

463: hydraulic cylinder 464: piston rod

470: PLC

According to the present invention for solving the above technical problem, a pot for cooking by putting food, and heating means for supplying a heat source for heating the pot at the bottom of the pot, and charging the food to be cooked in the pot A charging part, a rotating part for rotating the pot around a central axis while a heat source is supplied to the pot, a turning part for adjusting the attitude of the pot for charging food, an opening and closing part for opening and closing the lid of the pot, There is provided an automatic puffing device including a control unit for controlling a work process based on a cooking pressure appropriately set according to the type of food product to be cooked.

The rotating part is preferably configured to include a sprocket fixed to the shaft protruding from the pot, and a motor for providing a rotation driving force to the sprocket.

Preferably, the opening and closing portion includes a piston rod to be moved in and out into the hydraulic cylinder, and an arm connected to the end of the piston rod hinged, the lid of the pot is connected to the end of the arm by the hinge, The arm is configured such that the lid of the pot closes the inlet of the pot when the piston rod is extended and the lid of the pot opens the inlet of the pot when the piston rod is retracted.

Preferably, the hydraulic cylinder of the opening and closing portion is a two-fluid operated hydraulic cylinder using both hydraulic oil as a forward pressure source and air as a reverse pressure source. Here, the forward direction refers to extending the piston rod to The lid refers to the direction of closing the inlet of the pot, the reverse direction refers to the direction of opening the lid to close the inlet of the pot by contracting the piston rod.

Preferably, the hydraulic circuit for supplying the hydraulic oil used as the forward pressure source to the hydraulic cylinder is composed of a two-stage circuit of a low pressure circuit and a high pressure circuit.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading the description of the automatic puffing device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

6 is a functional block diagram for explaining the operation relationship of the main functional elements of the automatic puffing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 6, the automatic puffing device according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a cooker 410 for inputting and cooking grains and a burner for supplying a heat source for heating the cooker 410 at the bottom of the cooker 410. 420, a charging unit 430 for charging food to be cooked in the cooking pot 410, a rotating part 440 rotating the cooking pot 410 around the central axis with respect to the burner 420 while the heat source is supplied; , Revolving part 450 for adjusting the posture of the pot 410 for charging and discharging the food, opening and closing part 460 for opening and closing the lid 411 of the pot 410, and according to the type of food to be cooked It includes a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) for controlling the entire process of the job based on the set cooking pressure.

FIG. 7 is a top view of two automatic puffing devices 401 and 402 fixed to one base frame 403 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. A rear view of the automatic puffing device is shown, FIG. 9 is a side view of the two automatic puffing devices shown in FIG. 7, and FIG. 10 of the two automatic puffing devices 401, 402 shown in FIG. 7. A top view of one automatic puffing device 401 is shown.

As shown in FIGS. 7 to 10, a top frame 404 is provided above the base frame 403, and a burner 420 may be accommodated between the base frame 403 and the top frame 404. A space is formed, and above the space, the pot 410 is supported by the top frame 404.

The pot 410 is only approximately shaped, as shown in FIG. 11, and the inlet 412 is somewhat constricted relative to the diameter of the body. The rear end of the pot 410, that is, the opposite side of the inlet 412, the shaft formed in two stages are protruded, of which a thrust bearing (not shown) is fitted around the shaft 413 of the first stage. The thrust bearing is fixed to the top frame 404 to support the pot 410 rotatably. The sprocket 441 is fixed to the shaft 414 of the second stage of the cooker 410, and this sprocket 441 is connected to the sprocket (not shown) fixed to the rotation shaft of the motor 443 through the electric chain 442. It is connected. That is, such a motor, a sprocket, a chain and a thrust bearing cooperate to form the rotating unit 440 described above, and the pot 410 rotates as the motor 443 rotates.

On the other hand, the top frame 404 is supported by the pivot shaft 451 fitted to the side frame 405 and the strut 452 connected to the base frame 403. Strut 452 is a fluid actuated telescopic strut including a hydraulic cylinder and a piston rod in and out of its cylinder. The strut 452 and the pivot shaft 451 cooperate to form the pivot 450 described above. That is, as the strut 452 is extended or contracted, the top frame 405 is pivoted around the pivot axis 451, thereby adjusting the angle of the pot 410 with respect to the ground.

The lid 411 blocking the inlet 412 of the pot 410 is hinged to one end of the arm 461 pivoting around the hinge 462, the other end of the arm (461) is a hydraulic cylinder ( 463 is hinged to an end of the piston rod 464 that is stretched in and out. The hydraulic cylinder 463, the piston rod 464, and the arm 461 cooperate to form the opening and closing portion 460 described above.

That is, when the piston rod 464 is extended, the arm 461 pivots around the hinge 462 to block the inlet 412 of the pot 410 with the lid 411, and when the piston rod 464 is deflated. Arm 461 pivots around hinge 462 to open lid 411 blocking inlet 412 of pot 410.

The hydraulic cylinder 463 of the opening and closing portion 460 is a two-fluid operated hydraulic cylinder that uses both a hydraulic oil as a forward pressure source and air as a reverse pressure source.

Here, the forward direction refers to a direction in which the piston rod is extended to close the inlet of the pot with the lid of the pot, and the reverse direction refers to a direction in which the piston rod is closed to open the lid closing the inlet of the pot. Refers to.

That is, the hydraulic cylinder 463 is divided into two compartments (not shown) by a disc-shaped piston (not shown), and the disc-shaped piston is a movable partition wall that moves to expand or contract the inner product of the compartment. Do it.

That is, hydraulic oil is injected into the first compartment and air is injected into the second compartment. When the hydraulic oil is injected into the first compartment with the exhaust valve of the second compartment being opened, the piston expands the first compartment. And the lid 411 is closed by extending the piston rod 464 while moving in the contracting direction of the second compartment.

On the other hand, when opening the lid 411 of the pot, when the air is injected into the second compartment while the drain valve of the first compartment is open, the piston moves in the direction to shrink the first compartment and expand the second compartment. While the piston rod 464 is retracted to open the lid 411.

Even if the hydraulic cylinder 463 is not two-fluid operated as in the embodiment of the present invention, when the drain valve of the first compartment is opened, the pressure of the inner pressure of the pot pushes the lid 411 to the piston rod 464. ), The hydraulic oil in the first compartment will be drained and recovered to the reservoir. However, in this process part of the internal pressure of the pot will be used to push the hydraulic oil out of the first compartment and the opening of the lid 411 will be hindered. As described above, quickly opening the lid 411 at once is a factor that greatly affects the quality of the cooked food. That is, a structure that does not interfere with the opening of the lid 411 of the pot is desperately required.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the hydraulic cylinder 463 configured to rapidly push out the hydraulic oil in the first compartment by injecting high pressure air into the second compartment when the lid 411 is opened. In addition to air, other fluids may be used as the medium of the reverse hydraulic pressure source injected into the second compartment. However, in view of the fact that the injection and the removal are performed quickly and may be released in the air, air is preferred to any medium.

On the other hand, the hydraulic circuit for supplying the hydraulic oil used as the forward pressure source to the hydraulic cylinder 463 is preferably composed of a two-stage circuit of a low pressure circuit and a high pressure circuit.

That is, the hydraulic circuit injects the hydraulic oil into the first compartment of the hydraulic cylinder 463 to extend the piston rod 464 until the lid 411 of the pot 410 closes the inlet of the pot and is in close contact with an appropriate force. And a second hydraulic circuit configured to properly increase the pressure of the hydraulic oil in the first compartment of the hydraulic cylinder while being controlled by the PLC 470 according to the internal pressure of the pot.

PLC 470 according to an embodiment of the present invention supplies an electrical signal for appropriately controlling the operation of each component by using the internal pressure and time of the pot 410 as a control factor.

The internal pressure of the pot 410 is collected and measured through an orifice (not shown) formed in the center of the rear shaft of the pot 410 or the center of the lid, and the measured value is converted into an electrical signal and provided to the PLC 470. do.

Before the start of cooking, the operator sets and inputs an appropriate cooking pressure according to the type of food to be cooked, and the PLC 470 controls the whole process of cooking based on the set cooking pressure.

Hereinafter, the control logic of the PLC 470 will be briefly described. The PLC 470 operates a pump (not shown) for supplying hydraulic oil to the hydraulic cylinder of the turning part 450 to extend the hydraulic strut, thereby increasing the inlet 412 of the pot 410 in the direction in which the pot ( Turn 410.

After aligning the inlet 412 of the hopper constituting the charging unit 430 with the inlet 412 of the pot 410, the appropriate amount of foodstuff is charged into the pot 410.

The oil supply valve of the first hydraulic circuit for injecting hydraulic oil into the first compartment of the hydraulic cylinder 463 of the opening and closing portion 460 is opened.

After opening the valve (not shown) for recovering the hydraulic oil from the hydraulic cylinder of the turning part 450, the hydraulic strut is contracted and the pot 410 is pivoted in a horizontal position, and then the burner 420 is used to cook the pot ( The pot 410 is rotated by rotating the motor 443 of the rotating unit 440 while heating the 410.

While monitoring the internal pressure of the pot 410 during the heating process, the hydraulic oil is continuously injected into the first compartment of the hydraulic cylinder 463 of the opening and closing part 460 by using the second hydraulic circuit to increase and increase the pressure.

After the internal pressure of the pot 410 reaches an appropriate value and heating is performed for a time sufficient for cooking food, the drain valve for discharging the hydraulic oil from the first compartment of the hydraulic cylinder 463 of the opening and closing portion 460 is opened. At the same time as opening, air is injected into the second compartment of the hydraulic cylinder 463 to quickly retract the piston rod 464.

6 shows a line for the PLC 470 to obtain a control value and to send a control signal, a dotted line is a line for obtaining a signal according to the internal pressure of the pot 410, and a dashed-dotted line is a control signal for each component. It is a track to send.

Thrust bearings fitted around the motor 443, the hydraulic cylinder 463, and the shaft 413 of the pot 410 are fixed to the bracket 415 surrounding the pot 410, and the opening / closing part 460 A thrust bearing (not shown) for rotation is fitted between the arm 461 of the head) and the lid 411 of the pot 410.

Although the present invention has been described above by the puffing apparatus according to the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings, the illustrated embodiments are merely exemplary and are not intended to limit the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that changes, modifications, and adjustments from the illustrated embodiments can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. The scope of the appended claims is intended to comprehensively define such changes, modifications, and adjustments.

Using the puffing device according to the present invention described above it is possible to automatically carry out the entire process of food puffing. In addition, even if the inner volume of the pot is large and the puffing pressure is high, the inner pressure of the pot is used as a control factor to control the operation properly, and the cover is completely sealed by a force proportional to the puffing pressure during the operation. It is possible to maintain and, when inflated, the lid can be quickly opened to puff the food, thereby producing a large amount of high quality cooked food.

Claims (5)

A pot for cooking food by input, a heating means for supplying a heat source for heating the pot at the bottom of the pot, a charging unit for charging the food to be cooked in the pot, and while the heat source is supplied to the pot Rotating part for rotating the pot around the central axis, turning part for adjusting the attitude of the pot for charging the food, opening and closing part for opening and closing the lid of the pot, based on the cooking pressure properly set according to the type of food to be cooked Automatic puffing device comprising a control unit for controlling the work process. The method according to claim 1, And a sprocket fixed to the shaft protruding from the pot, and a motor providing a rotation driving force to the sprocket. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The opening and closing portion includes a piston rod which is moved in and out into the hydraulic cylinder, and an arm connected to the end of the piston rod hinged, the lid of the pot is connected to the end of the arm is hinged, the arm is the piston The lid of the pot closes the inlet of the pot when the rod is extended, the lid of the pot is configured to open the inlet of the pot when the piston rod is contracted. The method according to claim 3, And the hydraulic cylinder of the opening / closing unit is a two-fluid operated hydraulic cylinder using both hydraulic oil as a forward pressure source and air as a reverse pressure source. The method according to claim 4, And a hydraulic circuit for supplying the hydraulic oil used as the forward pressure source to the hydraulic cylinder comprises a two-stage circuit of a low pressure circuit and a high pressure circuit.