JP7291990B2 - Food processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food processing apparatus, and more particularly to a technique effectively applied to dew condensation on the back surface of a lid member in the food processing apparatus.

2. Description of the Related Art A food processing apparatus is known for supplying cooked rice (ingredients) to a container such as a lunch box or a bowl when making a boxed lunch, a bowl of rice, or the like. This foodstuff processor stores cooked rice in a hopper, which is a storage unit, extracts the cooked rice from the hopper, and weighs the cooked rice to automatically supply a fixed amount of cooked rice to a container.

Here, in the food processing apparatus, steam is generated from the stored cooked rice, and dew condensation occurs on the back surface of the upper lid (lid member).

For example, in Patent Document 1, planar heaters are joined to the entire outer surface side of the metal material of the hopper housing, the opening/closing lid, and the cylindrical housing, and the entire outer surface side of each planar heater is covered with a heat insulating material. A technique for preventing dew condensation is disclosed.

JP 2018-14983 A

As described above, the steam from the cooked rice condenses on the back surface of the upper lid of the food processing apparatus.

When the upper lid is opened to replenish the rice, dew condensation collects from the tip of the opening of the upper lid to the fulcrum of rotation of the upper lid, and flows down from there onto the cooked rice. As a result, the food contains excessive moisture and becomes soggy, resulting in uneven texture.

Also, when the water droplets condensed on the back of the upper lid are dripped onto the cooked rice, if it drops unevenly in a specific location, the cooked rice will not be able to return to the dew condensation. It contains and becomes soggy, and the texture also varies.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned technical background. The purpose is to provide technology that can

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the food processing apparatus of the present invention according to claim 1 is provided with a storage section having an upwardly opening opening for generating steam and storing food that needs to be kept warm. and a cover member that is rotatably attached to the main body so as to cover the opening and that is opened and closed when food is put into the storage part, and the back surface of the cover member is: The wavy surface is formed by alternately forming a plurality of crests and a plurality of troughs linearly extending in parallel with the rotation axis of the lid member.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foodstuff processing apparatus according to the first aspect of the invention, wherein the waved surface is formed with a plurality of undulating grooves extending in a direction intersecting with the rotation shaft. Characterized by

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foodstuff processing apparatus according to the second aspect of the invention, characterized in that a cross section of the undulating groove in the direction along the rotation axis is formed in a curved shape. do.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a foodstuff processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, wherein the top portion and the valley portion are alternately formed with respect to the direction of the rotation shaft. characterized in that

A fifth aspect of the present invention provides a foodstuff processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects of the invention, further comprising: a conveying means for conveying the cooked rice as the foodstuff stored in the storage portion; Unraveling means for unraveling the food material conveyed to the means, weighing means for weighing the food material dropped from the unraveling means, and supply for dropping and supplying the food material weighed by the weighing means to the food material receiving section. and means.

According to the present invention, the back surface of the lid member is a wavy surface in which a plurality of crests and a plurality of troughs extending linearly in parallel with the rotation axis of the lid member are alternately formed. When the lid member is opened, water droplets condensed on any position on the back surface of the lid member gather at any top before reaching the end of the lid member on the rotating shaft side, and drip from there. will do. As a result, the water droplets condensed on the back surface of the lid member can be evenly dripped onto the food.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a perspective view which shows the foodstuff processing apparatus which is one embodiment of this invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the upper portion of the food processing apparatus of FIG. 1 with an upper cover opened; 2 is a cross-sectional view of the food processing apparatus of FIG. 1; FIG. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1; FIG. 5 is a perspective view extracting and showing a part of the cross section of FIG. 4 ; It is a perspective view which expands and shows the S section of FIG. FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing how water droplets fall when the upper lid is opened in the food processing apparatus of the present embodiment; 7(a) and (b) are explanatory diagrams showing the movement of condensed water droplets in a cross section taken along line VIII-VIII of FIG. 6. FIG. (a) is an explanatory view showing the layout of the peaks and valleys formed on the back surface of the upper lid in the food processing apparatus of FIG. It is an explanatory view showing a layout of a valley. It is explanatory drawing which shows the cross-sectional shape of the back surface of the upper cover as a modification.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment as an example of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings for describing the embodiments, in principle, the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and repeated description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a perspective view showing a food processing apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the upper portion of the food processing apparatus of FIG. 1 with the upper lid opened, and FIG. 3 is a food processing apparatus of FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the device; FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the food processing apparatus A of the present embodiment includes a front plate 10, a rear plate 11 located behind the front plate 10, and both sides of the front plate 10 and the rear plate 11. It has a main body portion 1 having side plates 12 positioned thereon and having an upwardly opening opening 13 formed therein. An upper lid (lid member) 14 that covers the opening 13 is attached to the main body 1 so as to be rotatable about a rotation axis J via a hinge unit 15 . The upper lid 14 is opened and closed when rice (ingredient) R is put into a hopper (storage section) 20, which will be described later. The upper lid 14 is composed of an outer lid portion 14-1 positioned on the outside when the opening 13 is closed, and a back lid portion 14-2 positioned on the back side.

As illustrated, the front plate 10 is provided with a touch panel type display section 16 . The display unit 16 is a screen for inputting operation commands and displaying messages and the like, and is configured by, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). A substrate 17 (FIG. 3) on which various electronic components such as a CPU (not shown) for controlling the operation of the food processing apparatus A are mounted is installed on the back side of the main body 1 .

In addition, below the front plate 10, a container installation portion 18 is provided in which a container (food material receiving portion) for serving the cooked rice R is installed. A recessed space 19 having depth and height is formed. This recessed space 19 is a space sufficient to accommodate the container, and the cooked rice R drops from above and is supplied to the container.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 , a hopper (storage section) 20 for storing the cooked rice R introduced from the opening 13 is installed in the opening 13 described above. Moreover, as shown in FIG. 3, near the bottom surface of the hopper 20 forming a part of the main body 1, there is a helical structure for conveying the cooked rice R (in FIG. 3, conveying it from the right side of the drawing to the upper left side). A conveying screw (conveying means) 21 is provided. On the downstream side of the conveying screw 21 in the conveying direction of the cooked rice R, a large number of claws 22a are provided on the outer periphery of the drum type for breaking down and dropping the cooked rice R conveyed in the hopper 20 by the rotation of the conveying screw 21. An unraveling roller (unraveling means) 22 is arranged. Furthermore, directly below the unraveling roller 22, a pair of shutters (supplying means) 23 for opening and closing the falling path of the cooked rice R dropped from the unraveling roller 22 is provided.

The rotation axis of the unwinding roller 22 is positioned perpendicular to the rotation axis of the conveying screw 21 . As a result, the cooked rice R stored in the hopper 20 is conveyed to the loosening rollers 22 by the rotation of the conveying screw 21 provided in the hopper 20 . Then, the cooked rice R conveyed to the unraveling roller 22 falls while being unraveled by the action of the claws 22a accompanying the rotation of the unraveling roller 22.例文帳に追加

Further, the shutter 23 is positioned on the drop path of the cooked rice R dropped by the unraveling roller 22 described above. The shutter 23 has a shape that bulges downward so that the cooked rice R can be accumulated, and is formed of a pair of members that can be opened and closed downward. When the cooked rice R is supplied to the container, the shutter 23 is opened, and when the supply is stopped, the shutter 23 is closed, whereby the operation of supplying the cooked rice R to the container and the operation of stopping the supply are performed.

Further, the food material processing apparatus A includes a load cell (weighing unit) which is weighing means for weighing the cooked rice R accumulated in the shutter 23 (that is, the cooked rice R to be supplied to the container placed on the container setting section 18). means) 24.

The load cell 24 is a load transducer that uses, for example, a strain gauge as a detection element and converts strain due to a load into an electrical signal. Immediately before the weighed value of the cooked rice R accumulated in the shutter 23 at the closed position (the weighed value by the load cell 24) reaches the target weighed value, the conveying screw 21 and the unwinding roller 22 stop rotating, and finally When the target weighing value is reached, the shutter 23 is opened and the cooked rice R is dropped and supplied to the container.

Details of the structure of the upper lid 14 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 4 to 8. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line IV-IV of FIG. 1, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a part of the cross-section of FIG. 4, and FIG. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view showing the falling state of water droplets when the upper lid is opened in the food processing apparatus of the present embodiment, and FIGS. It is explanatory drawing which shows a motion of a water droplet.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the back surface of the top lid 14, that is, the portion corresponding to the hopper 20 of the back lid portion 14-2 constituting the top lid 14, has a plurality of linearly extending apex portions L1 and a plurality of linearly extending top portions L1. It has a wavy surface in which a plurality of extended valleys L2 are alternately formed. Moreover, the top portion L1 and the valley portion L2 are parallel to the rotation axis J of the upper lid 14 and are formed over the entire width of the hopper 20 .

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the corrugated surface of the back cover portion 14-2 is formed with a plurality of undulating grooves G extending in a direction intersecting with the rotation axis J of the upper cover 14. As shown in FIGS. As shown in detail in FIG. 6, the cross section of the undulating groove G in the direction along the rotation axis J (the cross section in the direction along line VIII--VIII in FIG. 6) is curved.

Next, an outline of the operation of supplying cooked rice R in the food processing apparatus A of the present embodiment will be described.

First, the upper lid 14 is opened, and warm cooked rice R is put into the hopper 20. - 特許庁After that, the upper lid 14 is closed and a predetermined serving button is pressed on the touch panel type display section 16 . When a container is placed on the container setting portion 18, a sensor (not shown) detects the setting of the container, and the conveying screw 21 and the loosening roller 22 start rotating, and the cooked rice R is accumulated in the shutter 23 at the closed position. go. At this time, the weight of the cooked rice R accumulated in the shutter 23 is sequentially measured by the load cell 24 . As described above, the conveying screw 21 and the unwinding roller 22 stop rotating immediately before the measured value reaches the target value, and the shutter 23 is opened when the target value is finally reached. Cooked rice R is dropped and supplied to the container.

In the food processing apparatus A having such a structure, when warm cooked rice R is thrown into the hopper 20 and the top lid 14 is closed, the steam rising from the cooked rice R condenses, and water droplets adhere to the entire surface of the back lid portion 14-2. Become W. Then, the water droplets W gradually gather on the top portion L1, and drop onto the cooked rice R when they grow to a predetermined size. At this time, since the peaks L1 extend linearly and are alternately formed with the valleys L2, the water droplets W do not drop downward from specific locations of the back cover 14-2, but rather It drips from the entire area of the part 14-2.

As a result, since the water droplets W are evenly returned to the entire cooked rice R in the hopper 20, a large amount of water droplets W drop locally on a part of the cooked rice R, and the portion that is a little dry and the portion that contains excessive moisture are removed. It is possible to prevent the problem that a soggy part is formed, and to prevent the deterioration of the texture of the cooked rice R.

Now, when the cooked rice R in the hopper 20 runs low during the operation of dropping and supplying the cooked rice R into the container in the food processing apparatus A, it is necessary to replenish the hopper 20 with new cooked rice R.

At this time, when the upper lid 14 is opened with the rotating shaft J as a fulcrum to put new cooked rice R into the hopper 20, the water droplets W condensed on the back surface of the upper lid 14 up to that point are removed from the tilted back lid portion 14. -2 and flows in the direction of the rotation axis J.

However, in the present embodiment, the back cover portion 14-2, which is the back surface of the top cover 14, includes a plurality of top portions L1 and a plurality of valley portions L2 extending linearly in parallel with the rotation axis J of the top cover 14. is a wavy surface formed alternately. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, when the top cover 14 is opened, any water droplets W condensed on any position on the back surface of the top cover 14 will reach the end of the top cover 14 on the rotation axis J side. It gathers at the top part L1 and drips from there. As a result, the water droplets W condensed on the back surface of the upper lid 14 can be evenly dripped onto the cooked rice R. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the water droplets W from gathering in the vicinity of the rotation fulcrum of the opened upper lid 14 and dripping down onto the cooked rice R, thereby preventing deterioration of the texture of the cooked rice R.例文帳に追加

Further, in the food processing apparatus A of the present embodiment, the corrugated surface of the back cover portion 14-2 is formed with a plurality of undulating grooves G extending in the direction intersecting the rotation axis J of the upper cover 14 as described above. It is As a result, the condensed water droplets W gather in the groove and become large, so that they can be dropped efficiently.

Moreover, in this embodiment, since the cross section of the undulating groove G in the direction along the rotation axis J is curved, the water droplets W in the undulating groove G are curved as shown in FIG. Converge into grooves smoothly along the surface. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8(b), the water droplet W can grow in a short period of time to a size at which the water droplet W falls, so that the water droplet W can be dropped quickly.

As described above, the invention made by the present inventor was specifically described based on the embodiment, but the embodiment disclosed in this specification is an example in all respects, and is limited to the technology disclosed. not a thing That is, the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed in a restrictive manner based on the description of the above embodiments, but should be construed according to the description of the scope of claims. All modifications are included as long as they do not deviate from the description technology and equivalent technology and the gist of the claims.

For example, in the above description, the food processing apparatus of the present invention is applied to a device having a structure in which stored cooked rice R is weighed and dropped into a container, but the function of keeping the cooked rice R warm is It may be a food processing device such as a specialized electronic jar.

Further, in the present embodiment, a plurality of undulating grooves G extending in a direction intersecting with the rotation axis J of the upper lid 14 are formed on the wavy surface of the back cover portion 14-2. The cross section in the direction of the arrow is curved. However, the undulating grooves G may not be formed, and even if they are formed, the cross section may be other than the curved surface.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9(a), either the linear top portion L1 or the linear valley portion L2 is assigned to one line in the direction of the rotation axis J. , as shown in FIG. By forming in this way, the region of the top portion L1 is dispersed, so that the water droplets W from the top portion L1 can be more dispersed and dripped onto the cooked rice R.

Further, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, in the present embodiment, the cross section of the apex L1 is sharp and the cross section of the valley L2 is rounded, but conversely, the cross section of the apex L1 is rounded. , the cross section of the trough portion L2 may be sharp. In other words, in the present application, the term “wavy” means that the cross section of the apex L1 and the cross section of the trough L2 may have a sharp shape or a rounded shape. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 10, both the peaks L1 and the troughs L2 may have sharp sawtooth cross-sections. In addition, it is preferable that the cross section of the top portion L1 is pointed, because the water droplets W are more likely to gather at the tip and drop more easily.

Further, in the food processing apparatus A of the embodiment described above, a so-called upper weighing structure is adopted in which the load cell 24 weighs the cooked rice R accumulated in the shutter 23. A so-called bottom weighing structure that measures the weight of the cooked rice R that is dropped and supplied to the placed container may be used.

Furthermore, in the food material processing apparatus A of the above-described embodiment, a container is shown as an example of the food material receiving part, but it is not limited to a container. It may also be a mold for forming.

In the above explanation, cooked rice is applied as an example of food, but it is not limited to this, and various food such as cut hot vegetables can be applied as long as they generate steam and require heat retention. can do.

1 main body 13 opening 14 upper lid (lid member)
14-1 Outer lid portion 14-2 Back lid portion 15 Hinge unit 20 Hopper (storage portion)
21 conveying screw (conveying means)
22 unwinding roller (unwinding means)
23 shutter (supply means)
24 load cell (weighing means)
A food processing device G undulating groove J rotation axis L1 top L2 valley R cooked rice (food)
Water drop

Claims (5)

a main body portion having an upwardly opening opening and including a storage portion that generates steam and stores food that needs to be kept warm ;
a lid member rotatably attached to the main body so as to cover the opening, and opened and closed when food is put into the storage,
The back surface of the lid member is a wavy surface in which a plurality of peaks and a plurality of troughs extending linearly parallel to the rotation axis of the lid member are alternately formed.
A food processing apparatus characterized by: A plurality of undulating grooves extending in a direction intersecting with the rotation axis are formed on the wavy surface,
The food processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: A cross section of the undulating groove in a direction along the rotation axis is formed in a curved shape,
3. The food processing apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that: The top portion and the valley portion are alternately formed with respect to the direction of the rotation axis,
The food processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that: a conveying means for conveying cooked rice, which is a food material stored in the storage unit;
a loosening means for breaking down the food material conveyed by the conveying means;
a weighing means for weighing the food material dropped from the loosening means;
supply means for dropping and supplying the foodstuff weighed by the weighing means to the foodstuff receiving portion;
further having
The food processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that:

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