JP6014379B2 - Automatic unraveling device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an automatic loosening device that automatically “freezes” flaky food in a biased state in a container so that the flaky food is widely and uniformly dispersed in the container.
“Flake food” refers to animal food (eg, seafood, meat, eggs, etc.), vegetable food (eg, seaweed, cereals, vegetables, fruits), and other processed foods (eg, miso or natto) For fermented foods, etc.), it refers to those processed into thin pieces (peeled pieces).
The “biased state in the container” is a state in which the flaky food contained in the container is concentrated on one side (for example, the corner, the lower part, etc.) and is thus concentrated in the container. The bulk (bulk) of the whole food is reduced, and the space where the flaky food is not present in the container is unnecessarily widened.

  Conventionally, various techniques are known for the production of flaky food (see, for example, Patent Document 1). As an example, assuming the case of producing cocoon flakes that are processed from animal food “鮭” into thin pieces (peeled pieces), the cocoon flakes are stored in a predetermined container (for example, a bottle with a cylindrical lid). In the process of steaming, then sterilizing, and then cooling, the soot flakes in the container gather together on one side (eg, corners, lower part, etc.) May end up.

  Then, the bulk of the cocoon flakes in the container is reduced, and the space in which the cocoon flakes are not present in the container is unnecessarily widened, which may result in an unsightly impression. . Therefore, conventionally, in order to eliminate such a state, a method has been employed in which the container is vibrated by hand to loosen and disperse the concentrated flake flakes gathered on one side.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-167023

  However, the manual unwinding method has variations in timing and size (ie, frequency and amplitude) of vibrating the container. In addition to being unable to disperse widely and evenly at this time, when the magnitude (amplitude) of vibrating the container is excessive or the vibration time is prolonged, moisture is separated from the soot flakes. The inside may liquefy. If it becomes so, it will become difficult to improve the reliability of the quality of the cocoon flake itself as a flaky food. Furthermore, in the manual unraveling method, depending on the level of the work of vibrating the container over many years, the worker may become tendonitis, which is not preferable in terms of work safety and humanitarian problems.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to automatically “unravel” the flaky food in a biased state in the container in a short time efficiently. An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic loosening device that can disperse the food in a wide and uniform manner in the container and can drastically improve the reliability of the quality of the flake food itself.

In order to achieve such an object, the first aspect of the present invention is to vibrate simultaneously while rotating the container between receiving and discharging the container containing the flaky food in a biased state. An automatic loosening device that automatically loosens the flaky food and disperses it widely and uniformly in the container, communicates from the receiving side of the container toward the discharge side, and passes the container along the inside. A hollow passage structure capable of rotating, a rotation mechanism for rotating the container while passing the container along the inside of the passage structure, and a passage structure while rotating the container by the rotation mechanism A vibration mechanism that vibrates the body and vibrates the container by following the vibration, and the rotation mechanism includes a moving member that is movably provided along the inside of the passage structure, and a passage structure. Along the inside of A container received by the passage structure from the receiving side in a state where the container is sandwiched between the moving member and the guide member. The automatic unraveling device is characterized in that it travels toward the discharge side to follow the traveling operation of the moving member and is sent to the discharge side while rotating between the moving member and the guide member. It is.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the vibration mechanism includes a spring structure that elastically supports the passage structure and elastically deforms the spring structure to expand and contract, thereby It is an automatic loosening device characterized by vibrating the body.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect of the present invention, the vibration mechanism includes a vibration generation source attached to the passage structure, and vibration generated from the vibration generation source is transferred from the passage structure to the spring structure. The automatic unraveling device is characterized in that the passage structure is vibrated according to the stretched state by elastically deforming and expanding and contracting the spring structure.

  According to the present invention, the flake food in a biased state in the container is automatically “unraveled” in a short time efficiently, so that the flake food is widely and uniformly dispersed in the container. It is possible to realize an automatic loosening device that makes it possible to dramatically improve the reliability of the quality of the food product itself.

(a) is a side view showing a partially enlarged main configuration of an automatic unwinding device according to an embodiment of the present invention, (b) is a main view of the automatic unwinding device shown in FIG. The perspective view of a structure.

Hereinafter, an automatic unwinding device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described.
The automatic loosening device of the present embodiment is configured to be incorporated into a series of processing steps (for example, between the pretreatment step and the posttreatment step), and the flaky food is biased by the pretreatment step. By rotating the container at the same time from receiving the contained container until it is discharged for the post-treatment process, the flaky food is automatically loosened and uniformly spread in the container. It is configured so that it can be dispersed.

  In the present embodiment, as an example of a flake-shaped food product, an example of a flake product obtained by processing a “food cake”, which is an animal food product, into a thin (peeled) shape, and as an example of a container, a cylindrical lidded bottle is used. Assuming that the jar flakes are accommodated (binned) in the lidded bin, a pre-treatment process is performed, whereby the jar flakes are placed on one side of the lidded bottle (for example, corner, lower part, etc.). Assume that they are gathered together.

  Here, the pretreatment step is assumed to be a process in which flaky food (boiled flakes) is steamed and then sterilized, followed by cooling treatment. It refers to another process in which a container (a bottle with a lid) in which flaked food (boiled flakes) is contained (bottled) proceeds after completion of the “unraveling process” by the automatic unraveling device. In the following description, the bottle with lid is referred to as a cylindrical container, and the flaky food is referred to as straw flakes.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), the automatic unwinding device of this embodiment communicates from the receiving side P1 of the cylindrical container 2 toward the discharge side P2, and the cylindrical container 2 along the inside thereof. A hollow passage structure 4 through which the cylindrical container 2 can pass, and a rotating mechanism that rotates the cylindrical container 2 in the direction of arrow R while passing the cylindrical container 2 along the inside of the passage structure 4 And a vibration mechanism that vibrates the cylindrical container 2 following this by vibrating the passage structure 4 in the direction of arrow F while rotating the cylindrical container 2 by the rotation mechanism. Yes.

  The passage structure 4 is formed with an internal passage 4t that can pass along the cylindrical surface while the cylindrical container 2 is laid down. The passage structure 4 includes a main body portion 4a supported by a support frame 18 to be described later, and an outer skin portion 4b provided so as to cover the main body portion 4a. The outer skin portion 4b is slid with respect to the main body portion 4a. By (moving up and down), the width of the internal passage 4t can be increased or decreased according to the size (that is, the outline and the diameter) of the cylindrical container 2. In the drawings, as an example, an internal passage 4t having a hollow rectangular shape corresponding to the outline of the cylindrical container 2 is shown, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the type of container for containing the soot flakes and Depending on the contour or the like, the internal passage 4t can be formed in an arbitrary shape.

  The rotation mechanism includes a moving member 6 provided to be able to travel along the internal passage 4t of the passage structure 4, and a guide fixed to the moving member 6 along the internal passage 4t of the passage structure 4. And a member 8. In this case, the cylindrical container 2 received by the passage structure 4 from the receiving side P1 is sandwiched between the moving member 6 and the guide member 8, and the moving member 6 is moved from the receiving side P1 to the discharge side P2. By traveling in the direction of the arrow S toward, it follows the traveling operation of the moving member 6 and is sent to the discharge side P2 while rotating between the moving member 6 and the guide member 8.

  As the moving member 6, for example, an endless belt 6 can be used, and the belt 6 is passed along the outer skin portion 4 b side of the internal passage 4 t of the passage structure 4, and the receiving side The belt 6 is stretched over the pulleys 10 and 12 provided on the P1 and the discharge side P2 and the pulley 14 provided between the pulleys 10 and 12, and tension is applied to the belt 6 by the tension pulley 16, so that the belt 6 is It can be driven stably without fluttering. In this case, the guide member 8 may be fixed facing the moving member (belt) 6 along the main body 4a side of the internal passage 4t of the passage structure 4. Further, it is preferable that both the moving member (belt) 6 and the guide member 8 are made of materials having excellent grip properties.

  On the other hand, the vibration mechanism includes a support frame 18 that supports the passage structure 4 (specifically, the main body portion 4a) and a spring structure 20 that elastically supports the support frame 18. In the drawings, as an example, a compression coil spring is shown as the spring structure 20, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, an air spring or an oil spring using the elasticity of compressed air or oil is used. May be. In short, any type can be used as long as it can elastically support the passage structure 4.

  In this case, in consideration of the posture stability of the passage structure 4, the passage structure 4 is supported by a pair of support frames 18 provided on the receiving side P1 and the discharge side P2, and each of these support frames 18 is paired. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the support frame 18 is eliminated, and the passage structure 4 is directly supported by each spring structure 20. Also good. Each spring structure 20 can be fixed to a predetermined base 24 via a base 22 of the automatic unwinding device.

  Further, the vibration mechanism includes a vibration source 26 attached to the passage structure 4. In this case, an existing vibration generation motor can be used as the vibration generation source 26, and the vibration generation motor is configured by fixing an eccentric weight to the rotation shaft of the motor, although not particularly illustrated. . In this case, the eccentric weight rotates around the rotation axis of the motor to generate vibration, and the vibration is transmitted from the passage structure 4 to each spring structure 20 via each support frame 18, thereby By elastically deforming each spring structure 20 and expanding and contracting in the direction of arrow H, the passage structure 4 can be vibrated according to the expanded and contracted state.

  In addition, it is preferable to arrange | position the vibration generation source 26 in the site | part corresponded to the center (center of gravity) of the said channel | path structure 4 from a viewpoint of the vibration stability with respect to the channel | path structure 4. FIG. Thereby, the vibration generated from the vibration generating source 26 is evenly distributed along the passage structure 4 and transmitted to each spring structure 20 via each support frame 18. The expansion / contraction state (i.e., expansion / contraction direction, expansion / contraction amount) can be made equal to each other, and as a result, the passage structure 4 can be vibrated along the same direction at the same timing.

Next, the operation of the automatic unwinding device of this embodiment will be described.
The cylindrical container 2 accommodated in the pretreatment process with the flakes being biased is sandwiched between the moving member (belt) 6 and the guide member 8 from the receiving side P1, and the moving member (belt). 6 is conveyed along the internal passage 4t of the passage structure 4 while rotating between the moving member (belt) 6 and the guide member 8 following the traveling operation of FIG.

  Then, while the cylindrical container 2 is being conveyed along the internal passage 4t of the passage structure 4, the vibration generated from the vibration source 26 is transmitted from the passage structure 4 via the support frames 18 to each spring structure. It is transmitted to the body 20 and elastically deforms each spring structure 20 to expand and contract in the direction of arrow H, thereby vibrating the passage structure 4 in accordance with the expanded and contracted state.

  At this time, the cylindrical container 2 accommodated in a state where the soot flakes are biased is in a state of being simultaneously vibrated while being rotated, and is conveyed toward the discharge side P2 in this state, and then the post-processing step from the discharge side P2. Sent out.

  In this case, optimal rotation is achieved by controlling the rotation state (that is, the rotation number per unit time) and the vibration state (that is, the vibration frequency per unit time and the amplitude at that time) with respect to the cylindrical container 2. In the state and the vibration state, it is preferable to vibrate simultaneously while rotating the cylindrical container 2.

Here, it is preferable to set (control) the number of rotations per unit time when rotating the cylindrical container 2 so as to make one rotation per second.
Further, the vibration frequency per unit time when vibrating the cylindrical container 2 is set (controlled) so as to be 50 cycles per 2.5 seconds (or another 20 times reciprocating movement per second in another way). It is preferable to do. The amplitude (displacement) at this time is preferably set (controlled) in a range of 5.5 mm to 11 mm.

  As described above, according to the automatic loosening device of the present embodiment, the cylindrical container 2 accommodated in a state where the flaky food (boiled flakes) is biased can be vibrated at the same time while being rotated. The soot flakes can be automatically loosened and dispersed widely and uniformly in the cylindrical container 2.

  In this case, in the conventional manual unraveling method, the timing and size (ie, frequency and amplitude) of vibrating the cylindrical container 2 vary, and therefore, flaky foods that are densely packed on one side (boiled flakes) It was not possible to unravel efficiently in a short time. Moreover, since it takes a certain level of skill to vibrate the cylindrical container 2 without variation, there is also a problem that various expenses such as labor costs for training the skilled worker are involved.

  However, according to the automatic unwinding device of the present embodiment, the timing and magnitude (that is, the frequency and amplitude) of vibrating the cylindrical container 2 can be set (controlled) in an optimal state, and therefore, it is dense on one side. The flaked food (boiled flakes) can be efficiently loosened in a short time and can be dispersed widely and uniformly in the cylindrical container 2.

  As a result, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of problems such as the separation of moisture from the flaky food (boiled flakes) and the liquefaction of the inside of the cylindrical container 2. As a result, the flaky food (boiled flakes) ) The reliability of its own quality can be dramatically improved. Further, since the automatic unwinding device of the present embodiment is fully automated, it is not necessary to train skilled personnel and various expenses such as labor costs, and the economic efficiency can be made extremely good.

  Furthermore, in the manual unwinding method, there are problems in work safety and humanitarianity, such as that the worker becomes tendonitis, but according to the present embodiment, this can be completely wiped out.

2 Container 4 Passage structure 6 Moving member (belt)
8 Guide member 20 Spring structure 4t Internal passage P1 Receiving side P2 Discharging side

Claims (3)

By rotating the container at the same time while receiving the container containing the flaky food in an unbalanced state until it is discharged, the flaky food is automatically loosened and uniformly distributed in the container. An automatic unraveling device that disperses into
A hollow passage structure that communicates from the receiving side of the container toward the discharge side and that allows the container to pass along the inside thereof;
A rotating mechanism for rotating the container while passing the container along the inside of the passage structure;
While rotating the container by the rotation mechanism, the passage structure is vibrated, and the vibration mechanism that vibrates the container following this is provided.
The rotating mechanism includes a moving member provided to be able to travel along the inside of the passage structure, and a guide member fixed to face the moving member along the inside of the passage structure.
When the container received by the passage structure from the receiving side is sandwiched between the moving member and the guide member, the moving member travels from the receiving side toward the discharge side, thereby causing the traveling operation of the moving member. The automatic unwinding device is fed to the discharge side while rotating between the moving member and the guide member . The vibration mechanism includes a spring structure that elastically supports the passage structure,
The automatic unwinding device according to claim 1, wherein the passage structure is vibrated by elastically deforming and expanding and contracting the spring structure . The vibration mechanism includes a vibration generation source attached to the passage structure.
The vibration generated from the vibration generation source is transmitted from the passage structure to the spring structure, and elastically deforms and expands and contracts the spring structure to vibrate the passage structure according to the expansion / contraction state. The automatic unwinding device according to claim 2 .

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