KR20230149498A - Agricultural Products Processing System - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an agricultural product processing system, and more specifically, to an agricultural product processing system that can remove foreign substances attached to the surface of harvested agricultural products as well as provide a cleaning effect and prevent spoilage.
In addition, the present invention cleanses harmful substances on the surface of agricultural products, removes microorganisms and bacteria on the surface of agricultural products, increases safety, minimizes consumers' ingestion of harmful substances when eating agricultural products, and allows safe consumption of agricultural products that are beneficial to the human body. It is about an agricultural product processing system that allows

Description

Agricultural Products Processing System

The present invention relates to an agricultural product processing system, and more specifically, to an agricultural product processing system that can remove foreign substances attached to the surface of harvested agricultural products as well as provide a cleaning effect and prevent spoilage.

In general, various types of agricultural products such as vegetables, fruits, grains, etc. are either consumed as they are harvested at the farm or difficult to store for a long period of time, so the agricultural products are pre-processed to increase farm income by increasing the added value of the agricultural products and to enable easy consumption and long-term storage. and shipped.

The pre-processing of these agricultural products is basically carried out in the order of processing tasks such as washing, drying, and sorting of the harvested agricultural products, and the agricultural products are processed sequentially while moving them according to the work order.

At this time, agricultural products are mainly produced by farms and supplied to consumers. Recently, the demand for the development of various foods using agricultural products continues to increase, and the development of technology for processing agricultural products that can produce a stable and large quantity of various agricultural products is being developed. It is being demanded.

As a prior art disclosed in relation to the pre-processing of agricultural products as described above, Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 1825163 (January 29, 2018) describes a food processing method for providing dried powder of agricultural products, wherein washed agricultural products are placed in a vacuum atmosphere. immersing in liquid nitrogen and rapidly freezing; Producing shredded food by crushing the quick-frozen agricultural products in a frozen state so that they can be easily dried; Rapidly thawing the food shreds by irradiating a microwave; A drying step of drying the food shreds by irradiating the light of the LED and spraying air heated by the LED, sterilizing the dried food shreds by irradiating ultraviolet rays, and performing the drying and sterilization treatment in a dryer; and grinding the dried and sterilized food shreds to produce food powder, thereby maintaining the flavor of the food through rapid freezing and shortening the drying time to improve productivity. It is known.

However, in the above-described prior art, the overall work in each process, such as quick freezing after washing, shredding, rapid thawing, drying, and sterilization, is all carried out separately from specific facilities, and food products (agricultural products) are transported to each process. And since the input work is carried out manually by the operator, there is a problem that not only does it take a lot of work time due to manual work, but also a large number of workers are used, and the productivity of the processed product is very low due to low work efficiency.

In addition, although a large amount of water is used in the washing step, there is a problem in that the product is not cleaned efficiently, so it is determined to be a defective product at the time of shipment and cannot be sold, and even if it is not determined to be defective, there is a problem that consumers experience inconvenience when using the product.

Republic of Korea Patent Publication No. 1825163

The present invention was invented to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to provide an agricultural product processing system that can not only remove foreign substances attached to the surface of harvested agricultural products, but also provide a cleaning effect and prevent spoilage.

The present invention for achieving the above-described technical problem is a hopper 110 for inserting harvested agricultural products, a transfer conveyor 120 for transferring agricultural products input into the hopper 110, and A drying unit 130 for drying agricultural products, a sorting unit 140 for sorting agricultural products dried through the drying unit 130, and a packaging unit 150 for packaging agricultural products determined to be good quality through the sorting unit 140. ), wherein the hopper 110 is provided with an internal hopper 1110 inside the hopper 1110, and the internal hopper 1110 is formed of a plurality of holes or mesh and can be rotated on its inner wall. A plurality of blocking members 111, which are tightly coupled and have a concave cross-sectional shape when rotated inside the internal hopper 1110, are combined in two or more stages to allow the input agricultural products to stay for a certain period of time, and While it does not fall to the bottom due to the blocking member 111 and stays there, water is sprayed through a plurality of ultrasonic water sprayers 112 provided inside the hopper 110 to serve to loosen foreign substances on the outer surface of the agricultural product. The transfer conveyor 120 allows agricultural products discharged from the hopper 110 to be sterilized and washed as they are moved, and first has a sterilizing unit 121 through which washing water consisting of 20 to 30 ppm chlorine dioxide is sprayed. A water washing unit 122 through which water is sprayed to remove sterilizing substances from the surface of the sterilized agricultural products, and air to remove moisture from the surface through the water washing unit 122. It is characterized in that a washing unit 123 is provided.

In one embodiment, the blocking members 111 are alternately opened and closed so that the agricultural products can be discharged to the bottom after remaining within the hopper 110 for a certain period of time.

In one embodiment, the transfer conveyor 120 is characterized in that a plurality of through holes are formed on its surface to allow water used in the sterilizing unit 121 and the water washing unit 122 to pass through.

According to the agricultural product processing system of the present invention, not only can the harvested agricultural products be delivered in a relatively clean state when delivered to consumers, but also the overall process before shipment of the harvested agricultural products is automated to minimize the labor force and improve the speed of processing work. Together, it has the effect of improving product productivity and promoting high quality of shipped agricultural products.

In addition, since it is configured to selectively proceed with complex work processes according to various types of agricultural products, it has the effect of realizing versatility of the processing system while expanding the processing range of agricultural products.

In addition, by thoroughly cleaning harmful substances on the surface of agricultural products and removing microorganisms and bacteria on the surface of agricultural products, safety is increased and consumers minimize the ingestion of harmful substances when eating agricultural products, allowing consumers to safely consume agricultural products that are beneficial to the human body. It has a safety effect.

1 is a diagram schematically showing the agricultural product processing system of the present invention.
Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the hopper of the agricultural product processing system of the present invention.
Figure 3 is a plan view of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is an operating state diagram of Figure 2.

Hereinafter, a detailed description of preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that like elements in the drawings are represented by like symbols wherever possible. In the following description, specific details appear and are provided to aid in a more general understanding of the invention. Also, in describing the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description will be omitted.

The terms used in this specification are general terms that are currently widely used as much as possible while considering the function in the present invention, but this may vary depending on the intention or precedent of a technician working in the technical field to which the present invention belongs, the emergence of new technology, etc. there is. In addition, in certain cases, there are terms arbitrarily selected by the applicant, and in this case, the meaning will be described in detail in the relevant description of the present invention. Therefore, the terms used in this specification should be defined based on the meaning of the term and the overall content of this specification, rather than simply the name of the term.

Terms such as first or second may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The above terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another component, for example, without departing from the scope of rights according to the concept of the present invention, a first component may be named a second component and similarly a second component A component may also be named a first component.

When a component is said to be “connected” or “connected” to another component, it is understood that it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but that other components may also exist in between. It should be. On the other hand, when it is mentioned that a component is “directly connected” or “directly connected” to another component, it should be understood that there are no other components in between. Other expressions that describe the relationship between components, such as "between" and "immediately between" or "neighboring" and "directly adjacent to" should be interpreted similarly.

The terms used in this specification are only used to describe specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In this specification, terms such as “comprise” or “have” are intended to designate the presence of features, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof described in this specification, but are not intended to indicate the presence of one or more other features. It should be understood that this does not exclude in advance the possibility of the existence or addition of elements, numbers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by a person of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains. Terms as defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having meanings consistent with the meanings they have in the context of the related technology, and unless clearly defined in this specification, should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense. No.

Hereinafter, the agricultural product processing system of the present invention will be described in detail by explaining preferred embodiments of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of the agricultural product processing system of the present invention, Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view showing the configuration of the hopper of the agricultural product processing system of the present invention, Figure 3 is a top view of Figure 2, and Figure 4 is an operation of Figure 2. It is also a state.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the agricultural product processing system of the present invention includes a hopper 110 for inserting harvested agricultural products, a transfer conveyor 120 for transferring agricultural products input into the hopper 110, and the transfer conveyor 120. A drying unit 130 that dries the agricultural products transported through the drying unit 130, a sorting unit 140 that sorts the agricultural products dried through the drying unit 130, and packaging that packages agricultural products determined to be good quality through the sorting unit 140. It consists of 150 parts.

Before explaining, the agricultural products mentioned in the present invention are described for agricultural products harvested in the field, and examples include potatoes, carrots, and sweet potatoes.

Among the structures configured as above, the hopper 110 is provided with an internal hopper 1110 inside the hopper 110. The inner hopper 1110 has a plurality of through holes formed on its surface or is formed as a mesh. Although shown in the drawing as a mesh shape, holes can be formed of a size that prevents agricultural products from falling outward, and this can be appropriately adopted depending on the type of agricultural products. Here, a plurality of gap maintainers 113 are formed between the hopper 110 and the inner hopper 1110, so that the inner hopper 1110 can be stably maintained on the hopper 110.

In addition, inside the internal hopper 1110, a plurality of blocking members 111 are composed of two or more stages, and the blocking members 111 include a first blocking member 1111 located at the upper portion, and a first blocking member 1111. ) may be composed of a second blocking member 1112 located at the lower part of the. In the drawing, the blocking member 111 is shown as a two-story multi-tier, but it can be configured with three or more layers depending on the size of the hopper, the degree of agricultural product yield, and the scale of the overall system.

These blocking members 1111 and 1112 are rotatably coupled to the inner wall of the inner hopper 1110, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, and when rotated inside the inner hopper 1110, the cross section of the The shape is configured to be concave. Here, on the other hand, the hopper 110 and the inner hopper 1110 are formed in the shape of a square pillar, and according to the shape, the blocking members 1111 and 1112 are formed in a triangular shape and are connected to each side by a hinge 1114. It is met.

Meanwhile, a plurality of ultrasonic water sprayers ( 112), water is sprayed and serves to loosen foreign substances on the outer surface of agricultural products. Of course, after harvesting agricultural products, cleaning and removing foreign substances are carried out, but even so, foreign substances such as mud stuck to the surface of agricultural products are stuck and do not easily come off. However, as in the present invention, if water is sprayed through the ultrasonic water sprayer 112 while remaining inside the hopper for a certain period of time, foreign substances attached to the surface of the agricultural product are blown. In addition, since the work of blowing away foreign substances attached to the surface of agricultural products is not completed once, but is carried out over two or more times, it is possible to completely remove foreign substances attached to the surface of agricultural products in the washing process to be described later. Here, the ultrasonic water sprayer 112 is preferably disposed in all directions to evenly spray water on the agricultural products accommodated in the internal hopper 1110.

Meanwhile, it is preferable that the above-mentioned blocking members 1111 and 1112 are configured to open and close by alternating sides. Therefore, when the first blocking member 1111 in the upper part is closed, the second blocking member 1112 in the lower part is opened and discharged to the lower part, and the agricultural products trapped by the first blocking member 1111 are sent to the ultrasonic water sprayer 112. The water sprayed by is sprayed toward the agricultural products. When water is sprayed for a certain period of time, the first blocking member 1111 opens, the second blocking member closes, and the agricultural products are moved downward.

In other words, before the first agricultural product is put into the internal hopper, the first blocking member 1111 and the second blocking member 1112 are maintained in a closed state. Afterwards, when a predetermined amount of agricultural products are input only to the upper part of the internal hopper 1110, water begins to be sprayed by the ultrasonic water sprayer 112. After a certain period of time has elapsed, the first blocking member 1111 is opened, and the agricultural products initially soaked with moisture flow into the lower part of the internal hopper 1110 and are supported by the second blocking member 1112. Afterwards, the first blocking member 1111 is closed again and agricultural products are introduced into it. In this way, when a predetermined amount of agricultural products are input to both the upper and lower parts, the ultrasonic water sprayer 112 is activated to spray water toward the agricultural products. When a certain period of time has elapsed and the agricultural products are saturated with moisture, the second blocking member 1112 at the bottom is opened and the agricultural products discharged are seated on the transfer conveyor 120 and moved to proceed with the next process. Afterwards, the second blocking member 1112 is closed, and the upper agricultural products are moved to the lower part, and the first blocking member 1111 is closed, and the agricultural products are input into the upper part of the internal hopper 1110. In this way, since it is moistened with moisture twice or more while passing through the upper and lower parts of the internal hopper 1110, the agricultural products are moistened with moisture enough to remove foreign substances. Therefore, the blocking members are controlled to open and close alternately.

Meanwhile, the blocking members 1111 and 1112 and the hydraulic cylinder that controls the rotation of the blocking members are configured to be rotated by a separate control means, and the configuration of this control means is a general control system, and detailed description will be omitted.

Meanwhile, agricultural products soaked in water more than twice in the hopper 110 as described above are discharged and transported to the transfer conveyor 120, and the agricultural products are sterilized and washed while being transported. First, sterilization is performed through the sterilization unit 121, where washing water containing 20 to 30 ppm chlorine dioxide is sprayed. The chlorine dioxide water has excellent sterilization effect and can minimize the number of aerobic bacteria and molds. Since it is harmless to the human body, agricultural products can be washed cleanly.

The agricultural products that have been washed in this way are moved to the next process, the water washing unit 122, and undergo a washing process. Here, the water washing unit 122 can be configured to selectively apply either an immersion contact method or a spray contact method of washing water. However, in the present invention, since it is transported through a transfer conveyor, water washing is performed through a spray contact method. Here, it is desirable to use electrolyzed water as the water discharged from the water washing unit 122. It is desirable to formulate the electrolyzed water with a salinity of 80 to 150 ppm to prevent quality deterioration due to osmosis during storage and distribution of agricultural products. In addition, sterilizing water containing 0.1% chlorine dioxide is diluted 300 to 500 times and applied to electrolyzed water, thereby further improving sterilizing efficiency when washing agricultural products.

Agricultural products that have been washed with water are moved to the air washing unit 123 to remove moisture, where they are washed and dried. Here, the air cleaning unit 123 is configured with a plurality of air nozzles (not shown) to spray high-pressure air.

A plurality of through holes (not shown) are formed on the surface of the transfer conveyor 120 described above. This is to prevent secondary contamination of agricultural products during the agricultural product processing process by allowing water used in the internal hopper 1110, sterilizing unit 121, water washing unit 122, etc. to be discharged to the bottom.

In other words, it is configured so that sterilization of agricultural products can be performed between the washing operation according to the washing water and the air washing operation of the air washing unit while passing through the water washing unit 122 and the air washing unit 123. Therefore, by spraying electrolyzed water on agricultural products, it serves to assist in sterilization and cleaning.

Meanwhile, agricultural products that have been partially dried while passing through the transfer conveyor 120 as described above are dried through the drying unit 130, and the dried agricultural products are sorted into various products through the sorting unit 140 that sorts them by quantity or weight. is selected.

The embodiments of the agricultural product processing system of the present invention described above are merely illustrative, and those of ordinary skill in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can easily convert it into another specific form without changing the technical idea or essential features of the present invention. You will understand that transformation is possible. Therefore, the embodiments described above should be understood in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. For example, each component described as unitary may be implemented in a distributed manner, and similarly, components described as distributed may also be implemented in a combined form.

The scope of the present invention is indicated by the claims described below rather than the detailed description above, and all changes or modified forms derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalent concepts should be construed as being included in the scope of the present invention. something to do.

110: Hopper 1110: Internal hopper
111: blocking member 1111: first blocking member
1112: second blocking member 1113: hydraulic cylinder
1114: Hinge 112: Ultrasonic water sprayer
113: gap maintainer 120: transfer conveyor
121: Sterilization unit 122: Water washing unit
123: air washing unit 130: drying unit
140: sorting unit

Claims (3)

A hopper 110 for inserting the harvested agricultural products, a transfer conveyor 120 for transferring the agricultural products put into the hopper 110, a drying unit 130 for drying the agricultural products transferred through the transfer conveyor 120, and the drying unit 130 for drying the agricultural products transferred through the transfer conveyor 120. An agricultural product processing system consisting of a sorting unit 140 that selects dried agricultural products through the unit 130 and a packaging unit 150 that packages agricultural products determined to be good products through the sorting unit 140,
The hopper 110,
An internal hopper 1110 is provided inside, and the internal hopper 1110 is formed of a plurality of holes or mesh, is rotatably coupled to the inner wall, and when rotated inside the internal hopper 1110, the internal hopper 1110 is formed of a plurality of holes or mesh. A plurality of blocking members 111 having a concave cross-sectional shape are combined in two or more stages to allow the input agricultural products to stay for a certain period of time, and the hopper ( 110) It is configured to spray water through a plurality of ultrasonic water sprayers 112 provided on the inside to loosen foreign substances on the outer surface of agricultural products,
The transfer conveyor 120,
The agricultural products discharged from the hopper 110 are sterilized and washed as they are moved. First, they are sterilized through the sterilizing unit 121, where washing water consisting of 20 to 30 ppm of chlorine dioxide is sprayed, and secondly, the sterilized agricultural products are sterilized. It is characterized in that it is provided with a water washing unit 122 through which water is sprayed to remove sterilizing substances on the surface, and an air washing unit 123 for removing moisture attached to the surface through the water washing unit 122. Agricultural product processing system using According to claim 1,
The blocking member 111 is,
An agricultural product processing system characterized in that each hopper 110 is opened and closed alternately so that the agricultural products can be discharged to the bottom after staying for a certain period of time. According to claim 1,
The transfer conveyor 120,
An agricultural product processing system characterized in that a plurality of through holes are formed on the surface to allow water used in the sterilizing unit 121 and the water washing unit 122 to pass through.