JP5859293B2 - Granular food transport equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a granular solid food transport apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus for pneumatically transporting a granular solid food.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in the field of food and the like, a transport device that transports powdered or granular solid food along a transport pipe with air pressure is widely known.
For example, in the transportation device proposed in Patent Document 1, air is blown from the proximal end of the transportation pipe toward the distal end to transport granular solid food such as rice or wheat supplied to the proximal end of the transportation pipe. Pneumatically transports to the end of the tube.

JP 2005-231753 A

According to such a transport apparatus, the granular solid food can be pneumatically transported to the tip side of the transport pipe.
However, when the granular solid food such as macaroni having a complicated shape is pneumatically transported, a part thereof may be easily crushed by contact with the inner wall of the transport pipe. For example, a penne or the like has an elongated shape, and is easily crushed at both ends thereof. Particularly, at the curved portion of the transport pipe, many of the granular solid foods that are transported by air collide with the inner wall, so that many of them are crushed.

  This invention was made in order to solve such a conventional problem, and it aims at providing the granular solid food transport apparatus which can carry out pneumatic transport in the inside of a transport pipe | tube, suppressing the crushing of granular solid food. And

The granular solid food transport device according to the present invention includes an ejector-type food supply unit that delivers pressurized solid food using pressurized air, a circular cross-section and a vertical central axis, and an upper end and a lower end, respectively. A receiver that has an open cylindrical shape and that discharges the granular solid food supplied to the inside from the opening at the lower end by gravity, and an inner wall portion that smoothly continues from the base end to the end, and the base end is the food supply unit The inner end of the terminal is smoothly connected to the inner peripheral surface of the receiver by connecting the terminal in a tangential direction with respect to the receiver, and the granular solid food delivered from the food supply unit until said receiver is sliding while in contact with the inner wall portion and a transport pipe for air transport, said granular solid food sent from the food supply unit by pressurized air, the front of the transport pipe Skate in contact with the inner wall, is intended to be supplied to the receiver along the inner peripheral surface of the receiver.

Here, it is preferable that the receiver includes a cylindrical portion having an opening at an upper end and a hopper portion connected to a lower end of the cylindrical portion and having an inverted conical shape and having an opening at a lower end. In addition, the cylindrical part is a connection formed at the connection part between the end of the transport pipe and the cylindrical part when the granular solid food that has entered from the transport pipe makes one round of the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical part. A spiral guide wall that is positioned at the lower end of the connection opening at the time of one round from the upper end of the connection opening may be provided inside the cylindrical portion so as not to reach the opening.
In addition, the transport pipe is curved immediately before being connected to the receiver so that a centrifugal force is generated so that the granular solid food to be transported by air contacts the inner part at the end of the transport pipe, and The center of curvature of the curve is preferably on the same side as the central axis of the receiver with respect to a vertical plane extending in the tangential direction of the receiver at the point where the transport pipe connects to the receiver.

The receiver is arranged above the food supply unit, and the final section from when the transport pipe is vertically upward to being connected to the receiver is a cylinder whose central axis is inclined by 45 degrees with respect to a horizontal plane. It is preferable that the spiral portion is curved in a spiral shape that moves 180 degrees from the start point to the end point along the cylindrical surface while maintaining an inclination of 45 degrees with respect to the central axis of the surface.
Moreover, the said transport pipe can be connected with the internal peripheral surface of the said receiver by the receiver introducing | transducing part which has a circular cross section and the inner side part is deform | transformed into planar shape gradually. The transport pipe has a cross section including at least one straight portion, and the straight portion is always perpendicular to a normal passing through the straight portion of the virtual cylindrical surface from the start point to the end point of the spiral portion. It can also be formed to face the direction. The cross section including at least one straight portion is preferably rectangular.

In addition, the food supply section is disposed so as to be inclined such that the distal end opening is positioned below the proximal end opening, and the food guide pipe into which the granular solid food is introduced from the proximal end opening, respectively An upper air outlet and a lower air outlet for opening the air to the top and bottom surfaces of the food guiding pipe and for ejecting pressurized air in a flat plate shape toward the tip of the food guiding pipe along the ceiling and bottom surfaces; , A pressurized air supply unit for accelerating the granular solid food in the food guide pipe and delivering it from the tip opening by jetting pressurized air into the food guide pipe from the upper air jet and the lower air jet It is preferable to have.
Further, the lower air outlet is located closer to the tip opening than the upper air outlet, and further accelerates the granular solid food that has been pre-accelerated by the pressurized air ejected from the upper air outlet. Of pressurized air can be ejected.

  In the present invention, “granular solid food” includes various foods that can be regarded as almost granular, such as short bar-shaped macaroni and shell-shaped macaroni.

  According to this invention, it has the receiver which has the cylindrical shape which the upper end and the lower end each opened, and since the inner side surface of the end of a transportation pipe is smoothly connected to the inner peripheral surface of a receiver, it crushes granular solid food. It is possible to suppress the air transport in the transport pipe.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the granular solid food transport apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. 3 is a side view of a receiver used in Embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a top view of the receiver used in Embodiment 1. FIG. The spiral part of the transport pipe used for Embodiment 1 is shown, (A) is a top view of a spiral part, (B) is a side view from the Y1 direction of FIG. 4 (A). It is a figure which shows the shape of the helical part of a transport pipe. 6 is a perspective view of a receiver used in a modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a side view of a receiver used in another modification of the first embodiment. FIG. FIG. 11 is a side view of a receiver used in still another modification example of the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structure of the granular solid food transport apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. The spiral part of the transport pipe used for Embodiment 2 is shown, (A) is a top view of a spiral part, (B) is a side view from the Y2 direction of FIG. 10 (A). 6 is a cross-sectional view of a transport pipe used in Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the transport pipe which has an arc-shaped cross section. (A) is a figure which shows the cross section of the cylindrical surface and spiral part in Embodiment 2, (B) is a figure which shows the cross section of the cylindrical surface and spiral part in the modification of Embodiment 2, (C) is a figure which shows the cross section of the cylindrical surface and spiral part in the other modification of Embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing a configuration of a food supply unit used in Embodiment 3. FIG. It is AA sectional view taken on the line of FIG. It is a figure which shows notionally the operation | movement of the food supply part used in Embodiment 3. FIG.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on a preferred embodiment shown in the drawings.
Embodiment 1
In FIG. 1, the structure of the granular solid food transport apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 1 is shown. This granular solid food transport apparatus includes an ejector-type food supply unit 1 for sending granular solid food M using pressurized air, and is disposed above the food supply unit 1 and has a circular cross section and a central axis. Receiver 2 having a tube shape extending in the vertical direction, and the solid end M connected to the food supply unit 1 and the distal end connected to the receiver 2 and sent from the food supply unit 1 to the receiver 2. And a transport pipe 3 for transport.

  The food supply unit 1 includes a food guide pipe 4 that is inclined so that the distal end is located below the base end, and an air outlet 5 is formed on the inclined bottom surface of the food guide pipe 4. . A pressurized air supply unit 6 is connected to the air jet port 5, and the pressurized air is sent from the pressurized air supply unit 6 to the air jet port 5 toward the distal end of the food guiding pipe 4. Pressurized air is ejected. Further, a supply hopper 7 for supplying the granular solid food to the food guide pipe 4 is connected to the base end of the food guide pipe 4, and the base end of the transport pipe 3 is connected to the tip of the food guide pipe 4. ing.

  The receiver 2 has a cylindrical portion 8 connected to the end of the transport pipe 3 and a hopper portion 10 connected to the lower end of the cylindrical portion 8 and having an inverted truncated cone shape and having a food discharge port 9 formed at the lower end. A collection hopper 11 for collecting the granular solid food M discharged from the food discharge port 9 is disposed immediately below the receiver 2.

The transport pipe 3 has a circular cross section, and is configured by sequentially connecting a straight portion 12, a curved portion 13, a straight portion 14, a curved portion 15, and a spiral portion 16 from the proximal end to the distal end. . The straight portion 12 extends horizontally from the base end side connected to the food guiding pipe 4, and then the curved portion 13 is smoothly curved upward so as to draw an arc on the vertical surface, and the straight portion 14 is connected to the receiver 2. After being inclined and extended, the curved portion 15 is smoothly curved so as to draw an arc on the vertical plane and is vertically upward, and is curved in a spiral shape at the spiral portion 16 and its end is connected to the receiver 2. Yes.
With such a configuration, the granular solid food M that is pneumatically transported in the transport pipe 3 is brought into contact with the bottom that extends horizontally in the straight portion 12 by gravity, and the bottom that is curved upward in the curved portion 13 is gravity. And pressed by the centrifugal force, the linear portion 14 is brought into contact with the inclined bottom portion by gravity, and the curved portion 15 is pressed by the centrifugal force against the smoothly curved inner wall from the inclined bottom portion to the vertical inner portion, The spiral portion 16 slides while being pressed by a centrifugal force against the spirally curved inner wall. That is, the transport pipe 3 has a predetermined smooth and continuous inner wall portion N1 on the inner wall extending from the base end to the end for allowing the granular solid food M to slide by gravity and centrifugal force.
The bending of the bending portion 13 and the bending portion 15 is set to be 90 degrees by adding the bending angles of the two in the vertical plane. For example, when the bending portion 13 is bent by 60 degrees in the vertical plane, the bending portion 15 is bent by 30 degrees in the vertical plane. As a result, the bending portion 15 is connected to the spiral portion 16 in a state of being vertically upward.

2 and 3 show the configuration of the receiver 2. A connection opening 17 is formed in the cylindrical portion 8 of the receiver 2, and the end of the transport pipe 3 is connected to the cylindrical portion 8 in a tangential direction via the connection opening 17. By connecting the transport pipe 3 and the cylindrical portion 8 in this way, the inner side portion 18 at the end of the transport tube 3 is smoothly connected to the inner peripheral surface 19 of the cylindrical portion 8.
The cylindrical portion 8 is a guide wall 20 that spirally extends along the inner peripheral surface 19 from the connection opening 17 connected to the transport pipe 3 and a part of the air supplied from the transport pipe 3 together with the granular solid food M. And an air discharge port 21 for discharging from the upper end. The guide wall 20 extends spirally so as to be positioned at the lower end of the connection opening 17 from the upper end of the connection opening 17 along the inner peripheral surface 19 from the upper end of the connection opening 17. The granular solid food M that has entered the cylindrical portion 8 through 17 moves below the connection opening 17 without reaching the connection opening 17 when it makes one turn along the inner peripheral surface 19 of the cylindrical portion 8. I will do it.
The granular solid food M supplied from the cylindrical portion 8 to the hopper portion 10 moves spirally along the inner peripheral surface 22 of the hopper portion 10 and is discharged from the food discharge port 9.

FIGS. 4A and 4B show the spiral portion 16 of the transport pipe 3 connected to the receiver 2. The spiral portion 16 is curved so as to wind along the virtually set cylindrical surface S. Specifically, the cylindrical surface S whose central axis is inclined upward by 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane is covered with the tip edge portion of the bending portion 15 and the outer edge portion of the connection opening 17 of the receiver 2 from the outside so as to be in contact with both. Set to. The spiral portion 16 has a contact point between the cylindrical surface S and the leading edge of the curved portion 15 as a starting point A, and a contact point between the cylindrical surface S and the outer edge portion of the connection opening 17 of the receiver 2 as an end point B. It is curved from the position while contacting the inside of the cylindrical surface S and extends to the position of the end point B. The spiral portion 16 is connected at the position of the starting point A with the tip edge portion of the bending portion 15 that is vertically upward, and is connected at the position of the end point B with the outer edge portion of the connection opening 17 of the receiver 2. Constitutes the final section of the tube 3;
Further, the spiral portion 16 has a contact line T <b> 1 that extends in contact with the cylindrical surface S from the start point A to the end point B. As shown in FIG. 5, the contact line T <b> 1 is curved to draw a spiral locus that moves 180 degrees around the central axis X of the cylindrical surface S from the start point A to the end point B. On the other hand, the angles k1, k2 and k3 at the starting point A, the intermediate point C and the end point B are 45 degrees. That is, the contact line T1 is moved 180 degrees from the starting point A to the end point B while being in contact with the cylindrical surface S while maintaining an inclination of 45 degrees with respect to the central axis X of the cylindrical surface S.
When the spiral portion 16 has such a shape, the granular solid food M pneumatically transported through the spiral portion 16 generates a centrifugal force that is pressed against the contact line T1. That is, the inner wall along the contact line T1 constitutes a partial section of the continuous inner wall portion N1 that smoothly extends from the proximal end to the distal end of the transport pipe 3, and the granular solid food M is moved from the starting point A to the intermediate point C. , And transport to the inner side 18 of the end point B.

Next, operation | movement of the granular solid food transport apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is demonstrated.
First, in the food supply unit 1, the pressurized air is ejected from the air ejection port 5 toward the distal end of the food guiding pipe 4 by the pressurized air supply unit 6. In this state, when the granular solid food M made of, for example, a short bar-shaped macaroni is supplied from the supply hopper 7 to the proximal end side of the food guiding tube 4, the granular solid food M is moved forward along the inclined food guiding tube 4. And is accelerated forward by the pressurized air ejected from the air ejection port 5. In this way, the granular solid food M that is pneumatically transported is supplied from the solid food supply unit 1 to the straight portion 12 of the transport pipe 3.

The granular solid food M supplied to the straight part 12 of the transport pipe 3 is pneumatically transported while being brought into contact with the inner wall part N1 extending horizontally at the bottom of the straight part 12 by gravity, and then reaches the bending part 13 to be bent. The direction is changed according to 13 curves. Here, the curved portion 13 is smoothly curved upward by a predetermined angle from the horizontal direction, and the granular solid food M is upward while being pressed against the inner wall portion N1 smoothly curved upward along the bottom portion. Redirected to
In this way, when the transportation direction of the granular solid food M is changed from the horizontal direction to the upward direction, the granular solid food is brought into contact with the inner wall N1 that is smoothly curved upward by using centrifugal force. By sliding M, it can suppress that the granular solid food M collides with the inner wall of the transport pipe 3, and is crushed.
The granular solid food M reaches the straight portion 14 from the curved portion 13, slides while being in contact with the inner wall portion N <b> 1 extending along the bottom inclined at a predetermined angle of the straight portion 14 by gravity, and moves to the curved portion 15. To reach.

The granular solid food M that has reached the curved portion 15 is smooth while being pressed by the centrifugal force against the inner wall portion N1 that is smoothly curved from the sloped bottom connected to the straight portion 14 to the inner side facing the vertical direction. Is turned upward and is transported vertically upward by the bending portion 15.
Subsequently, the granular solid food M reaches the spiral portion 16 from the curved portion 15 and is transported along the spiral portion 16 as shown in FIGS. 4 (A) and (B). That is, the granular solid food M is transported in a spiral trajectory while forming a partial section of the inner wall N1 and being pressed by the centrifugal force against the contact line T1 that spirals into the spiral 16. The direction is changed from the direction to the horizontal direction. Thus, the granular solid food M pneumatically transported through the transport pipe 3 is removed from the transport pipe 3 along the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2 smoothly connected to the end of the inner wall N1 of the transport pipe 3. It is supplied to the connection opening 17 of the receiver 2.

  In this way, the granular solid food M is transported by sliding the granular solid food M while making contact with the inner wall N1 that smoothly continues from the base end to the end of the transport pipe 3 using gravity and centrifugal force. It is possible to suppress crushing by colliding with the inner wall of the tube 3. Further, since the center of curvature of the curved spiral portion 16 is on the same side as the central axis of the receiver 2 with respect to the vertical plane extending in the tangential direction of the receiver 2 at the end point B, the granular solid food M is formed at the end of the transport pipe 3. Can be generated such that a centrifugal force is pressed against the inner portion 18, and the inner portion 18 and the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2 are smoothly connected, so that the granular solid food M can be removed from the inner periphery of the receiver 2. Supplying along the surface 19 makes it possible to prevent the granular solid food M from colliding with the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2.

The granular solid food M supplied into the receiver 2 from the transport pipe 3 through the connection opening 17 is guided by the guide wall 20 as shown in FIGS. Move while drawing a spiral trajectory. In this way, the granular solid food M supplied from the connection opening 17 into the receiver 2 is guided to the lower side of the connection opening 17 while making one round of the inner peripheral surface 19, so that the preceding granular solid food It is possible to avoid collision between M and the subsequent granular solid food M at the connection opening 17.
The granular solid food M that has reached the hopper portion 10 while drawing a spiral trajectory from the cylindrical portion 8 is guided to the food outlet 9 by gravity while reducing the diameter of the spiral trajectory along the inner circumferential surface 22 of the inverted conical shape. It is discharged from the discharge port 9 to the collection hopper 11. Here, while the granular solid food M is moving in the receiver 2, a part of the air supplied together with the granular solid food M from the transport pipe 3 is discharged from the air outlet 21 formed at the upper end of the receiver 2. Thus, it is possible to reduce the particulate solid food M from being vigorously discharged from the food discharge port 9 due to the excess air used for pneumatic transportation. Therefore, the granular solid food M can be prevented from being crushed and the granular solid food M can be discharged into the collection hopper 11 in an orderly manner without being scattered.
In this way, the granular solid food M is pneumatically transported from the food supply unit 1 to the collection hopper 11.

  According to this embodiment, the granular solid food M is pneumatically transported while abutting the granular solid food M against the smooth inner wall portion N1 continuous from the base end to the end of the transport pipe 3, so that the granular solid food M is not crushed. It can be transported from the supply unit 1 to the recovery hopper 11. Moreover, since the inner wall part N1 of the transport pipe 3 and the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2 are smoothly connected, the granular solid food M can be supplied from the transport pipe 3 to the receiver 2 without being crushed.

Note that the end of the transport pipe 3 only needs to have the inner wall portion N1 smoothly connected to the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2, and the cross-sectional shape is not limited to a circular shape. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the transport pipe 3 may be connected to the receiver 2 via a receiver introduction part 31 whose cross-sectional shape is gradually deformed from a circular shape to a rectangular shape, and thereby the inner wall portion N1. The inner side of the arc shape including the inner surface 32 is gradually deformed into a planar shape, so that the inner surface 32 and the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2 can be smoothly connected.
In this way, by using the receiver introduction part 31 whose inner part is gradually deformed into a flat shape, a portion that is smoothly connected to the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2 is expanded, and the receiver introduction part 31 is changed to the receiver 2. The crushing at the time of supplying the granular solid food M can be further suppressed.

The shape of the receiver 2 is not limited to the shape in which the cylindrical portion 8 and the hopper portion 10 are connected as long as the receiver 2 has a tube shape with a circular cross section and a central axis extending in the vertical direction. For example, as shown in FIG. 7, a receiver 33 having an overall cylindrical shape can be used. The inner peripheral surface of the receiver 33 is smoothly connected to the inner wall N1 of the transport pipe 3, and the granular solid food M supplied from the transport pipe 3 to the receiver 33 descends while drawing a spiral trajectory along the inner peripheral surface of the receiver 33. Then, the food is discharged from a food outlet 34 formed at the lower end of the receiver 2. Further, as shown in FIG. 8, a receiver 35 having an inverted conical shape as a whole can be used. The inner peripheral surface of the receiver 35 is smoothly connected to the inner wall N1 of the transport pipe 3, and the granular solid food M supplied from the transport pipe 3 to the receiver 35 descends while drawing a spiral trajectory along the inner peripheral surface of the receiver 35. Then, it is discharged from the food discharge port 36 formed at the lower end of the receiver 35.
Thus, by smoothly connecting the inner wall N1 and the inner peripheral surface of the receiver, the granular solid food M can be prevented from being crushed and supplied from the transport pipe 3 to the receiver.

In the above embodiment, the granular solid food M made of short bar-shaped macaroni has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be widely applied to shell-shaped macaroni and other granular solid foods.
When producing a granular solid food made of macaroni or the like, in general, it is often shipped through a number of processes such as a manufacturing process, an inspection process, and a packing process. A food transport device can be used. That is, the granular solid food processed in the previous process is supplied to the supply hopper 7 and transported upward via the transport pipe 3 by the air ejected from the pressurized air supply unit 6, and the food outlet of the receiver 2 What is necessary is just to supply to 9 to the next process. Thus, when supplying the granular solid food processed in the previous process to the next process located above, it can be transported upward without crushing the granular solid food using pneumatic transportation. Moreover, since the air discharge port 21 is formed in the upper part of the receiver 2, it can supply to the next process from the food discharge port 9 of the receiver 2 in an orderly state without scattering granular solid food.

  Further, the transport pipe 3 may exclude the straight portions 12 and 14 in accordance with the positional relationship between the food supply unit 1 and the collection hopper 11, and may be configured such that the bending portion 13 and the bending portion 15 are directly connected. it can.

Embodiment 2
In FIG. 9, the structure of the granular solid food transport apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2 is shown. This granular solid food transport apparatus is the same as the granular solid food transport apparatus according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 except that the transport pipe 41 having a rectangular cross section is used instead of the transport pipe 3 for the food supply unit 1 and the receiver 2. Are connected in between.
Similarly to the first embodiment, the transport pipe 41 is configured by sequentially connecting a straight portion 42, a curved portion 43, a straight portion 44, a curved portion 45, and a spiral portion 46 from the base end to the distal end. With such a configuration, the granular solid food M that is pneumatically transported through the transport pipe 41 is brought into contact with the bottom surface that extends horizontally in the straight portion 42 by gravity, and the curved portion 43 has the gravity and the bottom surface curved upward. It is pressed by centrifugal force, is brought into contact with the inclined bottom surface by the linear portion 44 by gravity, and is bent by the centrifugal force to the inner wall surface smoothly curved from the inclined bottom surface to the vertical inner surface at the bending portion 45, The spiral portion 16 slides while being pressed by the centrifugal force against the spirally curved inner wall surface. That is, the transport pipe 41 has a predetermined smooth and continuous inner wall surface N2 on which the granular solid food M abuts and slides on the inner wall surface extending from the proximal end to the distal end by gravity and centrifugal force.

FIGS. 10A and 10B show the spiral portion 46 of the transport pipe 41 having a rectangular cross section connected to the receiver 2. The spiral portion 46 has a cylindrical surface S similar to that of the first embodiment, and has a contact point between the cylindrical surface S and the edge of the curved portion 45 as a starting point A, and the connection opening 17 between the cylindrical surface S and the receiver 2. When the end point B is a contact point with the outer edge of the curved surface 45, the curved surface extends from the position of the starting point A while contacting the inside of the cylindrical surface S to the position of the ending point B, and is connected to the leading edge of the curved portion 45 at the position of the starting point A. At the end point B, it is connected to the outer edge of the connection opening 17 of the receiver 2.
For this reason, the spiral portion 46 has a contact surface T2 extending in contact with the cylindrical surface S from the start point A to the end point B, and the center axis X of the cylindrical surface S from the start point A to the end point B together with the contact surface T2. It is curved with a spiral trajectory of 180 degrees around. That is, the spiral portion 46 is a cylindrical surface from the starting point A to the ending point B in which one linear portion L located on the outermost side with respect to the central axis X of the cylindrical surface S among the four linear portions constituting the rectangular cross section. The straight portion L is curved so as to be in contact with S, and the straight line portion L is included on the contact surface T2 in any cross section from the start point A to the end point B. As a result, the spiral portion 46 always faces the direction perpendicular to the normal of the cylindrical surface S passing through the center point of the straight portion L in the cross section at any point from the start point A to the end point B. Formed.
When the spiral portion 46 has such a shape, a centrifugal force that is pressed against the contact surface T2 is generated in the granular solid food M that is pneumatically transported through the spiral portion 46. That is, the inner wall surface along the contact surface T2 constitutes a partial section of a continuous inner wall surface N2 that smoothly extends from the proximal end to the distal end of the transport pipe 3, and is granular solid from the starting point A to the inner side surface 47 of the ending point B. Transport food M.

First, the granular solid food M supplied from the food supply unit 1 to the linear portion 42 of the transport pipe 41 slides while the linear portion 42 abuts against the inner wall surface N2 formed of a horizontally extending bottom surface by gravity, and then the curved portion 43. It slides while being pressed by gravity and centrifugal force on the inner wall surface N2 consisting of the bottom curved upward. Subsequently, the particulate solid food M has reached the straight portion 44, slides while in contact with the inner wall surface N2 comprising a straight portion 44 from the tilted bottom by gravity, a vertical from subsequently tilted bottom curved portion 45 After sliding while being pushed by the centrifugal force against the inner wall surface N2 smoothly curved toward the inner side, the spiral portion 46 is pushed by the centrifugal force against the inner wall surface N2 that is helically curved and twisted around the central axis. While gliding.

Thus, the granular solid food M pneumatically transported through the transport pipe 41 is along the inner peripheral surface 19 of the cylindrical portion 8 of the receiver 2 smoothly connected to the end of the inner wall surface N2 of the transport pipe 41. It is supplied from the transport pipe 41 to the receiver 2.
In this way, the granular solid food M collides with other inner wall surfaces and is crushed by air transporting the granular solid food M in contact with the smooth inner wall surface N2 continuous from the base end to the end of the transport pipe 41. Can be suppressed. Moreover, since the inner wall surface N2 of the transport pipe 41 smoothly connected to the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2 has a margin in width with respect to the granular solid food M, the granular solid food M having a deviation in the transport direction is used. Even if it exists, it can supply along the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2. Furthermore, since the transport pipe 41 has a rectangular cross section, the granular solid food M to be transported by air can be brought into close contact with the inner wall surface N2, as shown in FIG. The solid solid food M can be transported stably compared to the inner wall made of the cross section.

In the second embodiment, the spiral portion 46 is formed such that one straight line portion L in a rectangular cross section always faces a normal direction to the normal line of the cylindrical surface S passing through the center point of the straight line portion L. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as the granular solid food M can be pneumatically transported while contacting the contact surface T2. For example, the spiral portion 46 only needs to be formed so as to contact the granular solid food M within the range of the contact surface T2, and the straight line portion L passes from any point on the straight line portion L from the starting point A to the end point B. You may form so that it may face a perpendicular direction with respect to the normal line of the cylindrical surface S all the time. However, in order to prevent the granular solid food M from coming into contact with the side surface of the spiral portion 46, the spiral portion 46 always faces a normal direction with respect to the normal line of the cylindrical surface S through which the straight portion L passes the center point. It is preferable to form it.
Further, in the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13A, the helical portion 46 is located on the outermost side with respect to the central axis X of the cylindrical surface S among the four straight portions constituting the transverse section. The straight portion L is curved from the starting point A to the end point B while being in contact with the cylindrical surface S. However, the present invention is not limited to this as long as a similar curve for bringing the granular solid food M into contact with the contact surface T2 can be formed. For example, a straight line portion parallel to the straight line portion L can be curved while being in contact with the cylindrical surface S from the start point A to the end point B. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 13B, the linear portion P that is located on the innermost side with respect to the central axis of the cylindrical surface S among the four linear portions constituting the cross section of the spiral portion 46 is a cylinder. It can be curved from the starting point A to the ending point B while in contact with the surface S. Further, as shown in FIG. 13 (C), in the cross section of the spiral portion 46, an imaginary straight line portion Q passing through the intersection of the diagonal lines of the rectangle and parallel to the straight line portion L is in contact with the cylindrical surface S to the end point B. Can also be curved.

In the second embodiment, the transport pipe 41 having a rectangular cross section is used. However, it is sufficient that the transport pipe 41 has a cross section including at least one straight portion, for example, a polygonal cross section such as a triangle. Alternatively, a transport pipe having a so-called saddle-shaped cross section can be used. When the cross section of the transport pipe is triangular, it has three straight portions, and when it has a saddle shape, it has one straight portion, and in the spiral portion, one of the straight portions is the straight line. It is formed so as to always face a perpendicular direction from the starting point A to the ending point B with respect to the normal line of the cylindrical surface S passing through any point on the part.
Further, in the first and second embodiments, the contact line T1 and the contact surface T2 are in contact with the cylindrical surface S whose central axis X is inclined 45 degrees upward with respect to the horizontal plane, and are in contact with the central axis X of the cylindrical surface S. On the other hand, it is formed so that the end facing in the horizontal direction is connected to the receiver 2 by moving 180 degrees from the start point A to the end point B while maintaining the inclination of 45 degrees, but the ends of the spiral portions 16 and 46 are connected. What is necessary is just to be smoothly connected to the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2. That is, the contact line T1 and the contact surface T2 can be formed so as to contact the cylindrical surface S in which the inclination of the central axis X with respect to the horizontal plane is approximately 45 degrees. Further, the contact line T1 and the contact surface T2 can be formed so as to move while maintaining an inclination of about 45 degrees with respect to the central axis X of the cylindrical surface S, and further about 180 degrees from the start point A to the end point B. It can also be formed to move. Thereby, the granular solid food M is supplied to the receiver 2 by being inclined at a slight angle from the spiral portions 16 and 46, but the ends of the spiral portions 16 and 46 and the inner peripheral surface 19 of the receiver 2 are smoothly connected. Therefore, the crushing can be suppressed.

Embodiment 3
14 and 15 show the configuration of the food supply unit 51 used in the granular solid food transport device according to the third embodiment. The food supply unit 51 includes a guide tube 52 having a rectangular cross-sectional shape. The guide tube 52 has a proximal end opening 53 and a distal end opening 54, and is disposed so as to be inclined so that the distal end opening 54 is positioned below the proximal end opening 53. In addition, slit-like upper air outlet 55 and lower air outlet 56 are formed on the inclined ceiling surface and bottom surface of the guide pipe 52, respectively. The upper air outlet 55 and the lower air outlet 56 are opened on the ceiling surface and the bottom surface of the guide pipe 52 so as to face the distal direction of the guide pipe 52, respectively.

  A substantially rectangular parallelepiped casing 57 is formed integrally with the guide tube 52 so as to cover most of the guide tube 52. The guide tube 52 that is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane passes through the inside of the housing 57, so that the inside of the housing 57 is placed below the guide tube 52 and the sealed upper air chamber R <b> 1 positioned above the guide tube 52. The upper air outlet 55 communicates with the upper air chamber R1 and the lower air outlet 56 communicates with the lower air chamber R2.

In addition, an upper air supply port 58 is opened in the upper air chamber R1 and a lower air supply port 59 is opened in the lower air chamber R2, and the upper air chamber R1 and the lower air supply port 59 are connected via the upper air supply port 58 and the lower air supply port 59. A common air supply pipe 60 is connected to each of the air chambers R2. Further, the pressurized air supply unit 6 is connected to the air supply pipe 60.
By sending pressurized air from the pressurized air supply unit 6 to the air supply pipe 60, pressurized air is supplied to the upper air chamber R1 and the lower air chamber R2 via the upper air supply port 58 and the lower air supply port 59. The compressed air is ejected in a flat plate shape from the slit-shaped upper air outlet 55 and the lower air outlet 56 toward the distal end of the guide tube 52.

A supply hopper 7 for supplying granular solid food to the guide pipe 52 is connected to the proximal end opening 53 of the guide pipe 52.
On the other hand, the transport pipe 3 is connected to the distal end opening 54 of the guide pipe 52 via a delivery chute 61. The delivery chute 61 smoothly connects the cross-sectional shape of the distal end opening 54 of the guide tube 52 and the cross-sectional shape of the transport tube 3.

Next, the operation of the granular solid food transport device according to Embodiment 3 will be described.
First, pressurized air is supplied from the upper air supply port 58 and the lower air supply port 59 to the upper air chamber R1 and the lower air chamber R2 through the air supply pipe 60 by the pressurized air supply unit 6. As a result, pressurized air is ejected in a flat plate shape from the slit-shaped upper air outlet 55 of the guide tube 52 along the ceiling surface of the guide tube 1 toward the tip opening 54, and the slit-shaped lower air jet is ejected. Pressurized air is ejected in a flat plate shape from the outlet 59 along the bottom surface of the guide tube 52 toward the tip opening 54.

  In this state, when the granular solid food M made of, for example, a short bar-shaped macaroni is supplied from the supply hopper 7 through the proximal end opening 53 into the guide pipe 52, the granular solid food M is inclined as shown in FIG. It slides down to the tip opening 54 along the bottom surface 52a of the guiding pipe 52, but is preliminarily accelerated forward by the pressurized air ejected from the upper air outlet 55 in a flat plate shape, and then the lower air jet It is further accelerated forward by the pressurized air ejected from the outlet 59 in a flat plate shape. That is, the granular solid food M is accelerated stepwise by the flat pressurized air from above and below.

For this reason, the granular solid food M is sent forward from the tip opening 54 together with the pressurized air while maintaining the posture when sliding down the bottom surface 52a of the guide tube 52 without substantially rotating. Since it is accelerated stepwise from above and below by the pressurized air ejected in a flat plate shape, in particular, rotation of the granular solid food M in the vertical plane is avoided in advance. In this manner, the granular solid food M can be sent out from the tip opening 54 of the guide tube 52 without being crushed.
The granular solid food M delivered from the distal end opening 54 of the guide pipe 52 passes through the delivery chute 61 and enters the transport pipe 3, and is guided to the transport pipe 3 and transported to the receiver 2.

  Similarly, when a large number of granular solid foods M are supplied from the supply hopper 7 into the guide pipe 52, the large numbers of the granular solid foods M slide down the bottom surface 52a of the guide pipe 52 in order, and the upper air jet nozzles. 55 and the lower air jet port 56 are accelerated stepwise by pressurized air ejected in a flat plate shape, respectively, forwarded from the front end opening 54 through the delivery chute 61 into the transport pipe 3, and transport pipe 3 is transported.

  In the above embodiment, the upper air chamber R1 communicating with the upper air outlet 55 and the lower air chamber R2 communicating with the lower air outlet 56 are separated from each other. However, the present invention is not limited to this. A common air chamber that communicates with both the upper air outlet 55 and the lower air outlet 56 is formed, and pressurized air is supplied from the pressurized air supply unit 6 to the air chamber, so that the upper air outlet 55 and the lower air outlet 55 Flat air pressure may be ejected from the air ejection ports 56, respectively.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1,51 Food supply part, 2,33,35 Receiver, 3,41 Transport pipe, 4,52 Guide pipe, 5 Air jet, 6 Pressurized air supply part, 7 Supply hopper, 8 Cylindrical part, 9, 34, 36 Food discharge port, 10 hopper part, 11 recovery hopper, 12, 14, 42, 44 straight part, 13, 15, 43, 45 curved part, 16, 46 spiral part, 17 connection opening part, 18 inner part, 19, 22, 47 Inner peripheral surface, 20 guide wall, 21 air discharge port, 31 receiver introduction portion, 32 inner side surface, 52a bottom surface, 53 proximal end opening portion, 54 distal end opening portion, 55 upper air outlet, 56 lower air outlet , 57 housing, 58 upper air supply port, 59 lower air supply port, 60 air supply pipe, 61 delivery chute, A start point, B end point, S cylindrical surface, X cylindrical surface central axis, N1 inner wall, N2 internal Surface, T1 line of abutment, T2 abutment surface, L, P, Q straight section, R1 upper air chamber, R2 lower air chamber, M granular solid food.

Claims (9)

An ejector-type food supply unit that delivers granular solid food using pressurized air;
A receiver having a circular cross section and a vertical central axis and having a cylindrical shape with an upper end and a lower end opened, and discharging the granular solid food supplied therein from the lower end opening by gravity,
Has an inner wall portion smoothly continuous from a proximal end to a distal end, with said proximal end connected to the food supply, the inner portion of the terminal by the terminal is connected tangentially to the receiver Is smoothly connected to the inner peripheral surface of the receiver, and includes a transport pipe for sliding and air transporting the granular solid food delivered from the food supply unit to the receiver while contacting the inner wall portion , The granular solid food delivered by pressurized air from the food supply part slides in contact with the inner wall part of the transport pipe and is supplied to the receiver along the inner peripheral surface of the receiver. granular solid food transport device that.   The granular solid food transport according to claim 1, wherein the receiver has a cylindrical portion having an opening at an upper end, and a hopper portion connected to the lower end of the cylindrical portion and having an inverted conical shape and an opening at the lower end. apparatus.   The cylindrical part is a connection opening formed at a connection part between the end of the transport pipe and the cylindrical part when the granular solid food entering from the transport pipe makes one round of the inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical part. 3. The spiral guide wall according to claim 2, wherein a spiral guide wall is provided inside the cylindrical portion so as to be positioned at the lower end of the connection opening at the time of one round from the upper end of the connection opening so as not to reach. Granular solid food transport equipment.   The transport pipe is curved immediately before it is connected to the receiver so that a centrifugal force is generated so that the granular solid food to be transported by air contacts the inner part at the end of the transport pipe. 4. The granular solid according to claim 1, wherein the center of curvature is on the same side as the central axis of the receiver with respect to a vertical plane extending in a tangential direction of the receiver at a point where the transport pipe is connected to the receiver. Food transport equipment. The receiver is disposed above the food supply unit,
The final section from when the transport pipe is vertically upward until it is connected to the receiver is maintained at 45 degrees with respect to the central axis of a virtual cylindrical surface whose central axis is inclined 45 degrees with respect to the horizontal plane. The granular solid food transport device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, which is a spiral portion curved in a spiral shape that moves 180 degrees from a starting point to an end point along a virtual cylindrical surface.   The transport pipe has a cross section including at least one straight portion, and the straight portion is always perpendicular to a normal passing through the straight portion of the virtual cylindrical surface from the start point to the end point of the spiral portion. The granular solid food transport apparatus according to claim 5, which is formed so as to face.   The granular solid food transport device according to claim 6, wherein a cross section including the at least one straight portion has a rectangular shape. The food supply unit
A food guide tube in which a granular solid food is introduced from the base end opening while being arranged so as to be inclined so that the front end opening is positioned below the base end opening;
An upper air outlet and a lower air outlet for opening pressurized air in the form of a flat plate that opens to the ceiling surface and the bottom surface of the food guide tube and extends toward the tip of the food guide tube along the ceiling surface and the bottom surface, respectively. When,
A pressurized air supply unit for accelerating the granular solid food in the food guide pipe by delivering compressed air from the upper air outlet and the lower air outlet into the food guide pipe and delivering it from the tip opening; The granular solid food transport apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.   The lower air outlet is located closer to the tip opening than the upper air outlet, and is used for further accelerating the granular solid food pre-accelerated by the pressurized air ejected from the upper air outlet. The granular solid food transport apparatus according to claim 8, wherein compressed air is ejected.

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