KR20020004789A - Method and apparatus for collecting and delivering products in a assorted food plant - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To improve the quality assurance level, to shorten a shipping work time and to achieve the improvement of the product quality by measuring a received product, receiving the product in a container to store the same on occasion, washing and storing the vacant container after unloading to re-use, and using an automated storage and retrieval system for the storage of the container. CONSTITUTION: The configuration that a vacant container is washed and stored to be used for the reception of a product, and the configuration that the vacant container is washed to be used for the reception of the product are desirable from a standpoint of the sanitary management. An automated storage and retrieval system 30 for storing plural containers 11, an inlet side transfer line 12 capable of transferring the containers 11 from a receiving position to an inlet of the automated storage and retrieval system, and an outlet side transfer line 13 capable of transferring the container 11 from an outlet of the automated storage and retrieval system to a shipping position are provided. A meter 2 measures a received product and supplies the same to the container 11 standby at the receiving position, an inlet and outlet on-line transfer line 14 can transfer the container 11 from the shipping position to the receiving position, and a washing machine 15 can wash the vacant container 11 from the inlet and outlet on-line transfer line 14.

Description

Product collection method and apparatus of compound food plant {METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR COLLECTING AND DELIVERING PRODUCTS IN A ASSORTED FOOD PLANT}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product collection method and apparatus for temporarily storing a product in a compounded food (compound feed, compounded food) plant and shipping it on an order among the stored products, in particular, hygiene management, quality assurance, The present invention relates to a product collection method and apparatus for a compound food plant having excellent performance in terms of shipping time and product quality.

3, the schematic diagram of a compound feed plant is shown as a representative example of a compound food plant. In general, in the conventional food plant, the production collection method shown in Fig. 3 is adopted. In Fig. 3, reference numeral 1 denotes a raw material tank, reference numeral 2 denotes a meter, reference numeral 3 denotes a buffer tank before mixing, reference numeral 4 denotes a mixer, reference numeral 5 denotes an adder, Reference numeral 6 denotes a product tank, reference numeral 7 denotes a vehicle for shipment only, reference numeral 8 denotes a buffer tank before heat treatment, reference numeral 9 denotes a heat treatment device, and reference numeral 10 denotes a dryer cooler.

In many raw material tanks 1, various kinds of raw materials (corn, soybean, etc.) to be blended are stored one by one in one tank. According to the product variety, a raw material tank corresponding to the constituent raw material species of the cultivar is selected, and a limited amount of raw material equivalent to the compounding quantity is discharged from the raw material tank. This limited discharge discharges the raw material to the meter 2 using a raw material discharging means such as a screw conveyor (not shown) provided in the lower part of the raw material tank 1, for example, to measure the meter 2. When the value reaches the equivalent of the compounding amount, the discharge is stopped.

In this way, the limited discharged heterogeneous raw materials are collectively stored in the buffer tank 3 before mixing, and further mixed with the mixer 4, and then the subsidiary materials (molasses, etc.) are added with the adder 5 to produce a raw product. .

In addition, regarding the thing which needs heat processing, heat processing and dry cooling are sequentially performed through the buffer tank 8, the heat processing apparatus 9, and the dryer cooler 10 before heat processing, and a heat processing product is manufactured. . This is the manufacturing process.

The product (raw product, heat treated product) is transferred to a collection process (product collection process). A collection process is a process of storing a received product and shipping the product of the order type according to the order of shipment. The product tank 6 is used for the storage of the product. Each product variety is filled and stored in each product tank 6.

Product filling into the product tank is carried out by conveying the product to the upper part of the product tank by a conveyor or the like and dropping the weight into the product tank. In order to secure the shipment stock amount, each product tank is designed with a large capacity (about 50m ³ to 100m ³ ). Since more than one product tank is needed for each product variety, there are usually more than 100 installation tanks.

In shipment, the product is discharged from the product tank 6 by the meter 2 according to the order contents (type and quantity). The restricted discharged product is conveyed by a conveyer (not shown), for example, loaded into a vehicle 7 exclusively for shipment, or filled into another container (a bag made of cloth, a bag made of paper, etc.). In addition, a screw conveyor (not shown) is provided in the lower part of the product tank as a product discharge means, for example.

In this manner, as a conventional blended food plant, a product tank is used for temporary storage of a product in a collection step, which is a post-process of the manufacturing process. According to the order of shipment, the method of limiting the discharge of the product from the product tank, weighing the product, and passing it through the conveyer is stored in a dedicated vehicle or other container. Production, 3rd edition (published by Chicsan Publishing Co., June 20, 1984) Chapter 10].

However, the above-described conventional methods have problems described below in terms of hygiene control, quality assurance, shipping operation time, and product quality.

(1) Problems in hygiene management: Dew may form on the ceiling or side plates inside the product tank, or dust may adhere to it. Periodic cleaning of the product tanks is required for hygiene control. However, since the product tank is large in number and large in number, it takes enormous time and cost to clean it. In addition, the product remains inside an ejector (for example, a screw conveyor) used for loading the product from the product tank to a vehicle dedicated to shipment. It takes a great deal of time and money to clean this residue regularly between shipping operations.

In relation to hygiene management, food poisoning caused by pathogens (especially Salmonella), which has entered eggs, has become a problem recently. Therefore, "Japanese Egg HACCP Accreditation Body" was started by hygiene experts and others. The organization adopts the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) from the NASA's space food development and tests it to the world's most stringent standards. Investigate the presence of Salmonella in all processes from the body of the laying chicken to the feeding of the chickens, to the egg cleaning process and to the egg release process. If Salmonella is not found and it is confirmed that the management system satisfies the criteria, a certificate is issued (Asahi Shimbun, May 9, 1999).

With this increasingly stringent hygiene management standard, the hygiene management cannot be sufficiently performed by the conventional collection method that performs the limited discharge of the product from the large-capacity product tank.

(2) Problems in terms of quality assurance: Since the products are sequentially supplied from the upper direction to the product tanks, the products in the product tanks are stacked from the lower part to the upper part in the order of oldest manufacturing date. Restriction The exact date of manufacture of the discharged product (shipped product) is not clear. Therefore, for example, enormous time is required to trace back various kinds of historical information in the past with respect to the point of quality defect from a customer, and it is difficult to find the cause.

(3) Problems of shipment work time: enormous time from standby to loading in order to perform the limited discharge of the product from the product tank, that is, discharge, weighing and conveyance work at the time when the vehicle for shipment waits at the shipping position 18. This is necessary. In addition, it takes more time when a bridge phenomenon occurs in the product tank. In addition, the bridge phenomenon refers to a phenomenon that the product is prevented from falling because the product is arched in the tank.

(4) Problems in terms of product quality: Since the product filling into the product tank 6 is carried out by the weight drop, many of the blended raw materials tend to be separated from each other by the difference in specific gravity, and thus the product tank height direction As a result, a large gap occurs in the blending ratio. Since the products to be shipped are sequentially discharged from the lower side of the product tank, the quality (combination rate) gap between the products and between the products also increases.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art, to cope with stringent hygiene management standards, and also to improve the quality assurance level, shorten the shipping time, product delivery method of the compound food plant that can achieve product quality improvement And to provide an apparatus.

The present invention measures the received products in the container and stores them at any time, and at the time of shipment, the products are discharged from the container containing the product suitable for the order to the shipping container, and the empty container after discharge is washed at any time, It is a product collection method of a compound food plant characterized by using an automated warehouse for storage, reuse, and storage of containers.

In addition, the present invention provides an automatic warehouse for storing a large number of containers, an inlet-side transfer line for transferring the containers from the arrival position 17 to the automatic warehouse entrance, and an outlet side for transferring the containers from the automatic warehouse outlet to the shipment position 18. A transfer line, a meter for weighing and supplying the goods received in the container waiting at the arrival position 17, a shipment shipment position direct transfer line for transferring the container from the shipment position 18 to the arrival position 17, and the arrival shipment position It is a product delivery apparatus of the compounded food plant characterized by having the washing | cleaning machine which wash | cleans the empty container conveyed by a direct transfer line.

In the apparatus of the present invention, the automatic warehouse entrance and the automatic warehouse exit may be the same place. A standby position of an empty container may be formed outside the automatic warehouse, and the standby position may be connected to each of the automatic warehouse outlet, the shipment position 18, and the arrival position 17 by a container transfer line. . Bypass lines for transferring empty containers from the automated warehouse exit to the arrival location 17 and / or from the shipping location 18 to the automated warehouse entrance may be provided.

1 is a flowchart showing a container operation form in the method of the present invention;

2 is a view showing an example of the apparatus of the present invention;

3 is a view showing an example of a production collection method of a conventional compound feed plant,

4 is a plan view showing an example of the apparatus of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

1: raw material tank 2: meter

3: buffer tank before mixing 4: mixer

5: adder 6: product tank

7: vehicle dedicated to shipment 8: buffer tank before heat treatment

9: heat treatment apparatus 10: dryer cooler

11 container 12 inlet transport line

13: Outlet transfer line

14: delivery line directly connected to the delivery location

14A: Direct delivery line for direct delivery (no cleaning)

14B: Delivery line directly connected to the delivery location (with washing)

15: scrubber 16: container direction changer

17: arrival position 18: shipping position

20: buffer buffer tank 30: automatic warehouse

40: import export common line 50A, 50B: bypass line

60: waiting position

In order to practice the method of the invention, it is preferable to use the apparatus shown in FIG. 2, for example. The apparatus shown in FIG. 2 includes an automatic warehouse 30 that stores a large number of containers 11, and an inlet-side transfer line 12 that transfers the containers 11 from the arrival position 17 to the entrance of the automatic warehouse 30. And supplying and receiving products to the outlet-side transfer line 13 for transferring the container 11 from the outlet of the automatic warehouse 30 to the shipping position 18 and the container 11 waiting at the arrival position 17. To be transported by a meter 2, a shipment shipment position direct transfer line 14 for transferring the container 11 from the shipment position 18 to the arrival position 17, and a shipment shipment position direct connection transfer line 14 It has a washer 15 for cleaning the empty container.

A container is a small, portable container that can receive and discharge products. In the present invention, the capacity of the container is not limited, but is usually a capacity for a product of about 1 ton or more. In addition, it is preferable that the container can be accommodated and discharged by dropping its own weight, and it is preferable that the container is provided with a product receiving port in the upper part and a product discharge port in the lower part so as to be openable and open respectively. In addition, the material of a container can employ | adopt nonmetals, such as plastics, in addition to metals, such as iron, stainless steel, and aluminum. For repeated use, it is necessary to be durable, to prevent the product from sticking to the inner surface, to easily clean and remove the residual product attached to the inner surface, and to be easy to dry after washing. In consideration of the above, a metal container is more preferable than a nonmetal material.

The required number of containers is determined by the number of varieties of the product, the required inventory and the capacity of one container. Taking a blended feed product as an example, 100 (breed) x 20 (ton / breed) ÷ 1 (ton / piece) = 2000 (piece). In other words, this example requires about 2000 containers. Therefore, the automated warehouse needs to be large enough to hold about 2000 or more containers. Since containers are inexpensive, it is possible to simply increase containers when there is room in inventory or wants to keep containers in excess of future product varieties.

The shipping container may be a vehicle dedicated to shipment, such as a track, or may be a dedicated container mounted on a vehicle dedicated to shipment, a bag made of cloth, a bag made of paper, or any other kind of container.

An automated warehouse is a warehouse having three functions as follows. ① The ability to distinguish between the charged and the stored address and to store the properties of the storage object occupying the storage address of the charged one in time. ② When bringing in, the storage object arrived at the entrance is appropriate unless specified. It has the function of automatically importing into an empty storage address. ③ When exporting, it has the function of accessing the storage address occupied by the storage object having the property according to the designated attribute and automatically exporting the storage object to the exit. In the present invention, the automatic warehouse is preferably one which is free of dust, for example, an air conditioner (air conditioner) in a sealed type.

The scrubber 15 may remove any trace of product residue adhering to the inner surface of the empty container. For example, a nozzle device capable of ejecting a dry compressed air spray or a water spray is preferable. Moreover, when spraying water spray, it is preferable to arrange | position a means for evaporating the water adhered to a container, for example, a dryer and a cooler at the nozzle apparatus outlet side.

Moreover, in the apparatus of this invention, in the case of a live product, it is preferable to arrange the measurement buffer tank 20 in the inlet side of the meter 2 so that measurement may be easy. In the case of heat treatment products, since the already installed dryer cooler 10 has a buffer function, a special metering buffer tank may not be installed.

Operation of the apparatus of the present invention is performed as follows. 1 is a flowchart showing a container operation mode in the method of the present invention. The container after filling the product (filled container) is operated according to the situation among the two types of operation modes, and the container after the product discharge (empty container) according to the situation. ① Operation type to direct the product discharge without storing the filled container, ② Operation type to return the product after storing the filled container, ③ Operation type to return the product after cleaning and storing the empty container, ④ Empty container The operating mode is to return the product to the product storage without cleaning and storing it. In addition, of course, it is preferable from the viewpoint of hygiene management that each empty container is periodically operated in the form of ③ or ④ and washed.

4 is a plan view illustrating an example of the apparatus of the present invention. 4, reference numeral 16 denotes a container direction changer. A container (not shown) is provided with the carry-in-out common line 40 which carries in from the entrance side transfer line 12 to the automated warehouse 30, and also takes out a container from the automated warehouse 30 to the exit-side transfer line 13. The example which commonizes the entrance and exit of an automatic warehouse is shown.

A bypass line 50B for supplying an empty container from the automatic warehouse 30 to the arrival position 17 without passing through the shipping position 18 may be provided, and the empty container after shipment is referred to by the reference numeral 17 position. You may install the bypass line 50A which carries in into the automatic warehouse 30, without passing through. Moreover, you may install the waiting position 60 which made the empty container stand by outside the automatic warehouse 30.

According to the arrival, the empty container is waited at the arrival position 17, and after the product is received, the filled container is transferred to the automatic warehouse entrance by the entrance transfer line 12, and stored in the automatic warehouse 30. On the other hand, according to the shipment order, the filled container corresponding to the order is transferred from the automatic warehouse exit to the shipment position 18 from the automatic warehouse exit to the delivery-side transfer line 13, and the product is discharged to the shipment-only vehicle 7. If there is no time between shipment and shipment, the container filled after the product is accommodated is not stored in the automated warehouse 30, but directly to the shipment position 18 (corresponding to ① in Fig. 1).

If the shipment waits at the shipping position 18 for some reason, the empty container waiting at the waiting position 60 is sent to the arrival position 17, thereby eliminating the empty container waiting state at the arrival position 17. can do.

After the product is discharged, the empty container is cleaned and dried through the stock shipping position direct transfer line 14A (no cleaning) or the stock shipment position direct transfer line 14B (with the washing), and then transferred to the stock position 17 after being dried. If there is no stock, the product is accommodated (corresponding to ④ of FIG. 1). If there is no stock, the product is stored in the automatic warehouse 30 in an empty state and waited until the next turn out (corresponding to ③ of FIG. 1). In addition, in the case where the empty container supply from the automatic warehouse 30 is not timed because the product arrival is continuous, as a temporary measure, the empty container is not cleaned through the non-cleaning line 14A after the product is discharged. It goes straight to 17 (corresponds to ⑤ in Fig. 1).

In the case of only the arrival, an empty container is supplied from the automatic warehouse 30 to the arrival position 17 via the carry-in / out common line 40, the bypass line 50B, and the shipment shipment position direct transfer lines 14A and 14B. do. In the case of only shipment, the empty container is brought into the automated warehouse 30 through the delivery location direct transfer line 14A, 14B, the bypass line 50A, and the carry-in / out common line 40 after shipment from a filled container. It is also possible. Since it does not pass through the shipment position 18 and the arrival position 17, respectively, the movement time of a container can be shortened and operation efficiency improves.

As described above, according to the apparatus of the present invention, product collection work can be performed for all container operating modes of the method of the present invention.

According to the present invention, since the product does not come into contact with anything other than the container during the period from the arrival to the shipment, the hygiene management may be performed only for the container. Since the container is much smaller than the conventional product tank, it can be easily cleaned and sterilized from time to time. Since the automatic warehouse which makes it easy to keep a clean state is used for the storage, sanitary management can be more easily thoroughly compared with the large-capacity product tank or screw conveyor which are difficult to clean conventionally. It is possible to establish a production system that meets the stringent hygiene standards currently required.

By storing the containers in an automated warehouse, each container can be assigned attributes (ie, variety, date of manufacture, date of receipt, weighing history, discharge date, etc.) of each container and stored in a time series in the automated warehouse in relation to the containment address. Can be. Of course, a record of past storage history can also be stored. Therefore, when a product defect is pointed out by a customer, the storage contents of the automated warehouse can be directly investigated to accurately know the production date and time of the corresponding shipped product. Quick identification of the cause of product defects and proper response are possible. That is, the quality assurance level is improved.

Since the product is weighed and stored in the container at the time of shipment, it does not need to be weighed at the time of shipment. Since the container is small in capacity, even if it is a gravity drop filling method, the product on the lower side does not have a load enough to cause a bridge phenomenon. can do. Therefore, the shipment work time is greatly shortened.

In addition, in small-capacity containers, separation due to the specific gravity difference of the raw materials when the product falls in its own weight hardly occurs. Therefore, the component gap between the container and the container is extremely small, and the product quality can be maintained uniformly, resulting in improved product quality.

In addition, in regular product inventory, it is possible to accurately grasp the amount of inventory based on the number of containers containing the product and the weighing results of the products in each container. Compared to the method of measuring the height (depth) of the product existing therein, the inventory amount can be more accurately and quickly grasp the advantage.

The effects of the four working items of the blended feed plant of the conventional example shown in FIG. 3 and the blended feed plant incorporating the present invention shown in FIG. 2 were compared. Working conditions are as follows. There are 100 varieties of products, and the container is a stainless steel container with a capacity of 1 ton having a product opening opening (upper opening and lower opening), and the number of containers is 20 (2000 in total) for each variety. . The reception of the product into the container and the discharge of the product from the container were performed by dropping the product in its own weight. Water spray nozzles, dryers and coolers were used to clean the containers. Automated warehouses are warehouses equipped with enclosed air conditioners. On the other hand, the conventional product tank is provided with one (100 in total) for each product variety, one steel is 40 tons, the height is about 11m.

(1) Hygiene control: In the conventional example, the inside of the product tank and the screw conveyor to which the product is in contact should be cleaned regularly for hygiene control. This cleaning is performed after stopping the collection operation. It is washed at a frequency of twice / month, and two days are required for one washing. The ratio of the collection work time and the collection stop time by washing is about 15: 1. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the collection can be carried out in a separate container during container cleaning, it is not necessary to stop the collection. Therefore, productivity improved about 7% compared with the conventional example. In addition, the washing | cleaning cost per unit washing area drastically reduced to 60% or less of the conventional example.

(2) Quality Assurance: In the conventional example, the production date of the shipped product limitedly discharged from the product tank is unclear, and a large amount of time is required for retrospectively examining various historical information about the quality defect from the customer. It was. On the other hand, in the present embodiment, since the storage, discharging, storing history of each container in the automatic warehouse, and the date and time of manufacture of the product at the time of storing are stored, the manufacturing of the intellectual product centered on the discharge (shipment) date and time. Since the date and time can be known in a short time, the time required for the investigation can be greatly shortened to 10% or less of the conventional example, so that the customer can be quickly and appropriately responded.

(3) Shipment work time (time required from the arrival of the shipment position 18 of the shipment-only vehicle to the completion of the product loading): In the conventional example, because of the limited discharge from the large-capacity product tank and the poor discharge due to the bridge phenomenon in the product tank. Although the shipping work time was required, in the present embodiment, since no weighing was carried out at the time of shipping and no bridge phenomenon occurred in a small container, the shipping work time was greatly reduced to 50% of the conventional example. By providing the carry-in / out common line 40, bypass lines 50A, 50B, the standby position 60, etc. which are shown in FIG. 4, work time can be shortened further.

(4) Product quality: In the conventional example, since the separation caused by the specific gravity difference of the raw materials occurred when the product was dropped in the large-capacity product tank, the component gap is large, but in this embodiment, the product is self-weighted in the small-capacity container. Because of the drop, this separation did not occur.

In addition, although the said Example demonstrated this invention using the blended feed plant as an example, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this, The summary is applied to the blended food plant which also included the blended food plant.

As described above, according to the present invention, in the product collection step of the compounded food plant, it can meet the strict hygiene management standards, and can obtain an excellent effect on the improvement of the quality assurance level, the reduction of the shipment work time, and the improvement of the product quality. In addition, there is an effect that it is possible to accurately and quickly determine the product inventory during the regular inventory survey.

Claims (6)

In the product collection method of a compound food plant, After receiving the product, it is stored in the container and stored at any time.When it is shipped, the product is discharged directly from the container containing the product suitable for the order to the shipping container.The empty container after discharging is often cleaned, stored and reused. Characterized by using an automated warehouse for the storage of containers Product collection method of compound food plant. In the product delivery device of the compound food plant, An automatic warehouse for storing a large number of containers, an inlet transfer line for transferring the containers from the arrival position to the automatic warehouse entrance, an outlet transfer line for transferring the containers from the automatic warehouse exit to the shipment position, and a container waiting at the arrival position A meter for weighing and supplying the goods received in the air, a shipment shipment position direct transfer line for transferring a container from the shipment position to the arrival position, and a scrubber for cleaning the empty container transported by the arrival shipment position direct transfer line; Characterized Product pick-up device of compound food plant. The method of claim 2, Characterized in that the automatic warehouse entrance and the automatic warehouse exit are in the same place. Product pick-up device of compound food plant. The method of claim 2, A standby position of an empty container is formed outside the automatic warehouse, and each of the automatic warehouse exit, the shipping position, the arrival position, and the standby position are connected by a container transfer line. Product pick-up device of compound food plant. The method of claim 3, wherein A standby position of an empty container is formed outside the automatic warehouse, and each of the automatic warehouse exit, the shipping position, the arrival position, and the standby position are connected by a container transfer line. Product pick-up device of compound food plant. The method according to any one of claims 2 to 5, And a bypass line for transferring empty containers from said automated warehouse exit to said arrival location and / or from said shipping location to said automated warehouse entrance. Product pick-up device of compound food plant.