JP7604353B2 - mixer - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a mixer for mixing objects. In particular, it relates to a mixer suitable for mixing dough by adding water to flour, starch, etc.

Mixers that mix raw materials are widely used in various industrial fields, including the food industry. In particular, in the food industry, raw materials such as wheat flour, buckwheat flour, and starch are used, and water and various salts are added and kneaded to produce what is known as dough, which is then used to make noodles or bread. In this case, it is necessary to use a mixer for the kneading operation.

In most cases, the mixer has a configuration in which a rotating shaft 500 is attached to a predetermined frame 20 as shown in FIG.
In this type of mixer, raw materials such as flour and water are charged into the frame 20, and the rotating shaft 500 positioned in a substantially horizontal direction is rotated to knead the raw materials with a stirring member such as a stirring rod 24 protruding from the rotating shaft 500 to form dough.

In this mixer, the problem lies in the structure of how the rotating shaft 500 is attached to the frame 20. In the past, as shown in FIG. 5, a fixing member 550 for attaching an annular gland packing 510 to the hole 22 in the side portion 202 of the frame 20 was provided, and the rotating shaft (shaft) 500 was attached while pressing the inner surface of the annular fixing member 550 via the gland packing 510 that circumferentially covers a portion of the rotating shaft 500, and the rotating shaft 500 was rotated by a specified drive device.

In this case, when the rotating shaft 500 rotates, the rotating shaft 500 slides against the inner peripheral surface of the gland packing 510. In this case, if the rotating shaft (shaft) 500 wears out over a long period of use, or if the sealing structure becomes insufficient and the inside of the frame 20 is highly moist, there may be a problem with airtightness, such as a slight leakage of moisture from the sliding surface between the rotating shaft (shaft) 500 and the gland packing 510.
As prior art for improving such problems, the following has been disclosed as related prior art.

The method disclosed in JP 2010-35505 A can improve the sealing efficiency of the gland packing under reduced pressure. However, since the sealing method still relies on the gland packing, other methods may be considered.

The inventors therefore set out to develop a new method for preventing wear on the rotating shaft caused by long-term use and the slight leakage of moisture from the sliding surfaces of the packing in a mixer having the above-mentioned frame.

As a result of various investigations by the inventors, it was found that a more effective method than the above-mentioned conventional packing method is to fix and attach an annular member that rotates together with the rotating shaft around the rotating shaft, and make the sliding surface the outside of the annular member, a flat surface (surrounding surface) that is perpendicular to the rotating shaft.
That is, the first invention of the present application is
"A mixer that mixes objects contained in a specified frame by rotating a rotating shaft positioned in a substantially horizontal state,
1) A rotating shaft equipped with an agitating member for mixing objects;
2) a substantially rectangular parallelepiped frame having a pair of holes having a diameter larger than that of the rotating shaft through which the rotating shaft is inserted;
3) an annular fixing member that is fixedly attached to a hole in the frame and through which the rotating shaft is inserted;
4) a pair of annular rotating members having a sliding surface perpendicular to the fixed member and the rotating shaft, the rotating members being inserted through and fixed to the rotating shaft, and rotating integrally with the rotating shaft;
5) a driving means for rotating the rotating shaft,
A mixer equipped with

Furthermore, it is preferable that the annular fixing member has a side surface shape at one end thereof that matches the shape of the hole in the frame and fits into it.
That is, the second invention of the present application is
"The mixer according to claim 1, wherein the annular fixing member is a fixing member having a side shape at an end thereof that is shaped to fit into a hole in the frame."

Next, it is preferable that the annular fixing member has a generally tapered inner surface shape in which the diameter decreases in an inward direction.
That is, the third invention of the present application is
"The mixer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the annular fixing member has a generally tapered inner surface shape in which the diameter decreases from the inside of the mixer toward the outside."

By using the mixer of the present invention, it is possible to prevent wear on the rotating shaft caused by long-term use and the slight leakage of moisture from the sliding surface of the packing.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a main configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an annular rotating member, an annular fixed member, and a frame body as viewed from the outside of the frame body in a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of a main configuration in a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main configuration in a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional configuration for mounting a rotating shaft to a frame body.

1. Mixer
18 Annular fixing member
20 Frame
22 Frame hole
24 Stirring rod
26 Bolt hole
28 Screw hole
100 Annular rotating member
106 Spring
114 Drive pin
116 Drive Core
118 First spring fixing screw
119 Second spring fixing screw
120 Pressure plate
202 Side portion of frame
207 Sliding surface
208 Sliding members
500 Rotating shaft
510 Gland packing
550 Packing fixing parts
1001 First seal member
1002 Second seal member

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.
The mixer of the present invention comprises:
"A mixer that mixes objects contained in a specified frame by rotating a rotating shaft positioned in a substantially horizontal state,
1) A rotating shaft equipped with an agitating member for mixing objects;
2) a substantially rectangular parallelepiped frame having a pair of holes having a diameter larger than that of the rotating shaft through which the rotating shaft is inserted;
3) an annular fixing member that is fixedly attached to a hole in the frame and through which the rotating shaft is inserted;
4) a pair of annular rotating members having a sliding surface perpendicular to the fixed member and the rotating shaft, the rotating members being inserted through and fixed to the rotating shaft, and rotating integrally with the rotating shaft;
5) A mixer having a drive means for rotating the rotating shaft.

A first embodiment of the present invention will be described below. However, the present invention is not limited to the first embodiment. Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an enlarged view of the main components of a mixer according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the configuration of an annular rotating member 100, an annular fixing member 18, and a frame 20 as viewed from the outside of the frame 20 in the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the main components in the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the main components in the first embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a perspective view showing a conventional mounting structure of a rotating shaft 500. In order to show the internal structure of the mixer, each figure is a see-through view in which the inside of the frame 20 is exposed as appropriate.
The mixer of the present invention has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped frame 20 for accommodating an object, and holes 22 are provided in side surfaces 202 at both ends in the longitudinal direction of the frame 20. A rotating shaft 500 is inserted through the frame hole 22.

Furthermore, an annular fixing member 18 (described later) is inserted through the rotating shaft 500 on the outside of the frame 20, and an end of the annular fixing member 18 fits into a frame hole 22 and is fixed to the frame 20 by a screw. An annular fixing member 100, which is also inserted through the rotating shaft 500, is positioned outside the annular fixing member 18 and is fixed by being biased into contact with the rotating fixing member. The annular fixing member 100 is also fixed to the rotating shaft 500 and rotates together with the rotating shaft 500.
Although not shown, a separate drive device for applying a rotational force is provided to the rotating shaft 500. Each component will be described in further detail below.

─Mixer─
The mixer 1 of the present invention can be used to knead various objects, but is particularly suitable for food. It is also assumed that the food is kneaded with flour, water, and other additives.
Specifically, the present invention is particularly intended for use in dough as a noodle ingredient or dough as a bread ingredient, which is made by kneading wheat flour, starch, salt, kansui water, and the like, as necessary.

─Frame─
The frame 20 serves as a container for storing the raw materials to be mixed. In the first embodiment of the present invention, the frame 20 has a generally rectangular parallelepiped shape, and the bottom of the frame 20 is formed in a generally circular shape so that the movement of the stirring rod 24, which will be described later, covers the entire storage section of the frame 20.
However, the shape of the frame 20 is not particularly limited to that of the first embodiment of the present invention, and it goes without saying that various shapes are possible.
In the first embodiment of the present invention, holes 22 are provided in the left and right side surfaces 202 of the frame 20, and a rotating shaft 500, which will be described later, is inserted through the frame hole 22 in a substantially horizontal direction.
In addition, it is preferable that the frame 20 is configured so that the frame 20 itself can be turned upside down in order to discharge the contents after kneading. The structure of the frame 20 can be appropriately selected by a well-known method.
Furthermore, it goes without saying that support members for supporting the frame 20, and guides, belts, chains, etc. for transmitting power from a driving means can be appropriately arranged and used on the frame 20.
Furthermore, it is possible to increase the airtightness of the frame 20 from the outside and reduce the internal pressure to create a reduced pressure state within the frame 20, so that the frame 20 can be used as a so-called vacuum mixer.

─Rotation axis─
The rotating shaft 500 is a shaft for stirring raw materials such as flour housed in the frame 20. In the first embodiment of the present invention, stirring rods 24 are attached around the rotating shaft 500 as stirring members for stirring an object. A plurality of stirring rods 24 are attached at predetermined intervals perpendicular to the extension direction of the rotating shaft 500. The number, length and arrangement of these stirring rods 24 can be appropriately set according to the object.
In the first embodiment of the present invention, a straight rod-shaped member is shown as the stirring rod 24, but this is not limited to this, and various shapes are possible, for example, a spoon-shaped member rather than a rod-shaped member, or a curved rod-shaped member.

The diameter of the rotating shaft 500 can be selected from various sizes, as long as the hole 22 provided in the frame 20 can accommodate the rotating shaft 500. Therefore, by making the hole 22 in the frame 20 larger, rotating rods of various diameters can be used.
In other words, in this case, by manufacturing the annular fixing member 18 and the annular rotating member 100 described below with adjusted apertures (sizes), it becomes possible to attach rotating shafts 500 of various diameters without machining the size of the hole 22 in the frame body 20.
In particular, when a mixer using a conventional gland packing 510 as shown in Fig. 5 already exists, it can be modified to the mixer configuration of the present invention by adjusting the sizes of the annular fixing member 18 and the annular rotating member 100 described below while still using the hole 22 of the frame 20 of the mixer. This makes it possible to prevent water leakage and the like, resulting in a mixer with excellent airtightness.

Furthermore, there is no particular limitation on the relationship between the diameter of the rotating shaft 500 and the aperture of the hole 22 in the frame body 20. However, depending on the size of the diameter of the rotating shaft 500, it is sufficient for the hole 22 in the frame body 20 to have a diameter of approximately 1.2 to 3 times the diameter of the rotating shaft 500.
In the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in Fig. 1, a single-shaft mixer having one rotating shaft 500 in the frame 20 is disclosed, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it goes without saying that a double-shaft mixer may be used. In this case, two rotating shafts 500 are attached to the frame 20.

─Annular fixing member─
The annular fixing member 18 is inserted onto the rotating shaft 500 and fixedly attached to the hole 22 in the side surface portion 202 of the frame body 20 from the outside of the frame body 20 .
The annular fixing member 18, together with the annular rotating member 100 described later, plays a role in maintaining airtightness between the outside and the rotating shaft 500 inside the frame body 20. In addition, when rotating shafts 500 of various diameters are selected, the annular fixing member 18 also plays a role in making it possible to mount the rotating shafts 500 by adjusting the sizes of the annular fixing member 18 and the annular rotating member 100 described later, regardless of the shape of the hole 22 provided in the frame body 20.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the annular fixing member 18 of this first embodiment has a circular protrusion shape on one side that is attached to the side portion 202 of the frame body 20, which matches the shape of the hole portion 22, and is attached and fixed to the side portion 202 of the frame body 20 by a fixing bolt inserted through the provided bolt hole portion 26 with the circular protrusion fitted into the hole portion 22 of the frame body 20.

As shown in FIG. 4 , a ring-shaped first seal member 1001 made of an elastic material is provided on the contact surface with the frame body 20, and is configured to maintain airtightness with the outside of the frame body 20 when the annular fixing member 18 is fixed to the frame body 20 by a fixing bolt.
As described above, the annular fixing member 18 of the first embodiment has a circular convex portion in its cross section having an outer diameter that matches the size of the frame hole 22, as shown in FIG. 4, and is configured so that the circular convex portion fits into the frame hole 22, but the inner surface portion of the circular convex portion has a shape such that the diameter of its opening decreases in an approximately tapered shape from the inside of the mixer (inside the frame 20) toward the outside.
Furthermore, the surface of the annular fixing member 18 that is on the outer side of the frame 20 has a sliding surface 207 that is perpendicular to the rotation axis and that slides between the annular fixing member 100 described below.

─Annular rotating member─
The annular rotating member 100 in this first embodiment is a member that is inserted into a rotating shaft 500 and fixedly attached to the rotating shaft 500 to rotate together with the rotating shaft 500. As shown in Figures 2 and 4, in this first embodiment, the annular fixing member 100 has a portion of the drive core 116 that is attached and fixed to the rotating shaft 500, an annular sliding member 208, and a pressing plate 120 that has the same shape as the annular sliding member 208.
In the first embodiment, the drive core 116 is attached to the rotating shaft 500 and is configured to be completely fixed by being screwed into the shaft. As a result, when the rotating shaft 500 rotates, the drive core 116 also rotates at the same time.

Further, two drive pins 114 protrude from the drive core 116 at two circumferential locations and extend through the pressing plate 120 into the sliding member 208. This allows the sliding member 208 to rotate in synchronization with the rotation of the drive core.
Additionally, four first spring setting screws 118 that define the positions of the springs 106 are fitted into screw holes 28 that penetrate the drive core surface and attached from the drive core 116. Furthermore, a second spring setting screw 119 is also provided on the pressing plate 120 side so as to form a pair with the first spring setting screw 118 across a space. In this way, the two together define the positions of the springs 106 at four locations.
When the annular rotating member 100 is fixed to the rotating shaft 500, the fixed position of the rotating shaft 500 is adjusted and mounted so that the sliding member 208 is biased against the outer surface of the annular fixed member 18 by the spring 106 when the rotating shaft 500 is mounted on the frame 20. This allows the sliding member 208 of the annular rotating member 100 to be biased and pressed against the sliding surface 207 with the annular fixed member 18. Of course, it is preferable that the friction coefficient of the sliding member 208 at the sliding surface 207 is small. Also, it is preferable that the sliding surface 207 exists in a plane perpendicular to the rotating shaft 500.
As shown in FIG. 4 , a second annular seal member 1002 is attached to the inner surface of the annular sliding member 208 to promote close contact with the rotating shaft 500 and maintain airtightness with the outside of the frame body 20.

As the material of the sliding member 208, materials such as carbon, silicon carbide (SiC), cemented carbide, chromium oxide coating, etc. are preferably used. Also, the sliding surface 207 of the annular fixing member 18 that slides with the sliding member 208 is preferably made of stainless steel SUS316, titanium, etc.
Thus, by adopting the configuration of the present invention, leakage of moisture can be suppressed compared to the conventional gasket method, even when powdered raw materials such as wheat flour or the like are used and moisture is added to the powdered raw materials to produce dough.
Furthermore, when cleaning the sliding surface 207, the first spring setting screw 118 can be removed to remove the spring 106 without removing the drive core from the rotating shaft 500, thereby releasing the pressing force applied to the sliding member 208 by the spring 106, and the sliding surface 207 can be easily exposed and cleaned.

─Drive unit─
Although not shown in the drawings, various types of drive devices according to the present invention can be selected. For example, various configurations are possible in which the power of a drive motor is transmitted via gears, chains, or belts.
It is needless to say that various conditions can be set, such as the rotation speed of the drive of the rotating shaft 500. Furthermore, it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to both the two-shaft type and the single-shaft type, as described above.

Claims (2)

A method for preventing water leakage from a mixer that mixes noodle ingredients, which are made by adding water, various salts, etc. to ingredients such as wheat flour, buckwheat flour, and starch contained in a specified frame, by rotating a rotating shaft positioned in a substantially horizontal state, comprising:
1) A rotating shaft equipped with a stirring member for mixing noodle ingredients ;
2) a substantially rectangular parallelepiped frame having a pair of holes having a diameter larger than that of the rotating shaft through which the rotating shaft is inserted;
3) A pair of annular fixing members that are fixedly attached to the hole of the frame, through which the rotation shaft is inserted, have a side shape with an end portion that fits into the hole of the frame , and have a sliding surface on the outer side of the rotation shaft direction relative to the frame that is perpendicular to the rotation shaft ;
4) A pair of annular rotating members through which the rotating shaft is inserted and fixed, which slide against the sliding surface of the fixed member and rotate integrally with the rotating shaft;
5) a seal member attached to the inner surface of the annular rotating member and in close contact with the rotating shaft;
6) A drive means for rotating the rotating shaft,
The method for preventing water leakage from a mixer is characterized by utilizing a mixer equipped with a water supply.
The method for preventing water leakage from a mixer according to claim 1, wherein the annular fixing member has a generally tapered inner surface shape in which the diameter decreases from the inside of the mixer toward the outside.