JP7637009B2 - Hulling equipment - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a rice hulling device, and in particular to a rice hulling device that can prevent residues from adhering to the inner surface of the rice hulling roll.

A rice hulling device is known that includes a pair of hulling rolls and a housing that houses the pair of hulling rolls, and hulls rice by passing it between the pair of hulling rolls. In such a roll-type rice hulling device, rice husks and dust (hereinafter referred to as "residual matter") remaining in the housing adhere to and accumulate on the inner peripheral surface of the hulling rolls, making it unsanitary.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technology in which a removal plate is disposed at a predetermined distance from the inner peripheral surface of a husking roll (hulling roll) to prevent residues from adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the husking roll due to the airflow generated when the husking roll is rotated at high speed.

JP 2009-274033 A (for example, paragraphs 0022, 0023, 0029, 0030, FIG. 4, etc.)

However, in the technology of Patent Document 1, as described above, a certain gap is provided between the inner circumferential surface of the husking roll (hulling roll) and the removal plate, and residue adheres to the gap. Once residue adheres to the inner circumferential surface of the husking roll, it becomes difficult to remove the adhered residue using airflow.

After extensive research, the applicant came up with a configuration in which the removal plate comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the husking roll (hulling roll) (not publicly known at the time of filing this application). In this case, in the technology of Patent Document 1, a configuration in which the bracket supporting the removal plate is extended to bring the removal plate into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the husking roll is conceivable. However, because the plate-shaped bracket is configured to support the removal plate in a cantilevered state, the bracket is likely to bend, and part of the removal plate is likely to be separated from the inner peripheral surface of the husking roll. As a result, it was found that this would be insufficient to prevent the residue from adhering.

The present invention was made against the background of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a rice hulling device that can prevent residues from adhering to the inner surface of the rice hulling roll.

To achieve this objective, the rice hulling device of the present invention comprises a pair of hulling rolls and a housing that houses the pair of hulling rolls, and hulls the rice by passing it between the pair of hulling rolls. It also comprises a cylindrical member that is arranged in the housing so as to be positioned inside the hulling rolls, and a scraping member that is arranged in the cylindrical member and comes into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll.

According to the rice hulling device described in claim 1, the device is provided with a cylindrical member that is formed into a cylindrical shape and arranged in the housing so as to be positioned inside the rice hulling roll, and a scraping member that is arranged in the cylindrical member and contacts the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll, so that it is possible to prevent residue from adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll. In other words, since the cylindrical member is formed into a cylindrical shape and its rigidity is ensured, even when the cylindrical member supports the scraping member in a cantilevered state, the cylindrical member is made less likely to bend, and the entire scraping member can be easily brought into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll. As a result, it is possible to prevent residue from adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll.

According to the rice hulling device described in claim 2, in addition to the effects of the rice hulling device described in claim 1, it is provided with an opening and an opening/closing member that is detachably arranged on the housing and opens and closes the opening, the opening is formed at a position facing the axial end of the rice hulling roll, and the tubular member is arranged on the opening/closing member, so that the tubular member and the scraping member can be removed together with the opening/closing member. This improves the workability when performing maintenance on the tubular member and the scraping member.

According to the rice hulling device of claim 3, in addition to the effect of the rice hulling device of claim 2, the tubular member is arranged concentrically with the rice hulling roll, so that the diameter of the tubular member can be made larger and its rigidity can be easily ensured. This makes it difficult for the tubular member to bend, making it easier to bring the entire scraping member into contact with the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll. As a result, it is possible to prevent residue from adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll.

In addition, the opposing distance between the cylindrical member and the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll can be kept constant at any position in the circumferential direction, so when multiple scraping members are arranged on the cylindrical member, each scraping member can be constructed as the same member. This reduces the number of different parts and reduces product costs.

According to the rice hulling device described in claim 4, in addition to the effects of the rice hulling device described in claim 2 or 3, the cylindrical member has a slit extending from the end opposite the opening and closing member, and the scraping member is disposed in the slit, so that the connection between the cylindrical member and the scraping member can be strengthened.

In other words, as the hulling roll rotates, a force acts on the scraping member in the tangential direction of the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll. For example, in a configuration in which the scraping part is glued to the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member or fastened with screws, the tangential force acts as a shear force, which can easily cause the adhesive to peel off or the screws to break, making the scraping member prone to falling off the tubular member.

In contrast, by disposing the scraping member in the slit, the scraping member that receives the tangential force can be received by the entire inner edge of the slit. This makes it possible to prevent the scraping member from falling off the tubular member.

According to the rice hulling device described in claim 5, in addition to the effect of the rice hulling device described in claim 4, the slits are formed in a straight line along the axial direction of the cylindrical member, so the shape of the slits can be simplified and the cylindrical member can be easily manufactured. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the rice hulling device can be reduced.

According to the rice hulling device of claim 6, in addition to the effects of the rice hulling device of claim 4 or 5, the scraping member has an insertion portion that is inserted into the slit, an outward protruding portion and an inward protruding portion that protrude from the insertion portion toward the outer peripheral surface and inner peripheral surface of the tubular member, respectively, and an erected portion that stands up from the insertion portion and at least a part of the erected tip side is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll, so that the scraping member can be easily attached and detached from the tubular member. That is, the scraping member can be disposed in the tubular member by inserting the insertion portion from one end of the slit along the extension direction of the slit, and the scraping member can be removed from the tubular member by removing the insertion portion from the slit along the extension direction of the slit.

The outer and inner protrusions protrude from the fitting portion toward the outer and inner peripheral surfaces of the tubular member, respectively. When a force is applied to the scraping member (standing portion) from the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll as the hulling roll rotates, the outer and inner protrusions come into contact with the outer and inner peripheral surfaces of the tubular member, respectively, preventing the scraping member from falling out of the slit.

According to the rice hulling device of claim 7, in addition to the effect of the rice hulling device of claim 6, the scraping member is formed so that it can be arranged in the slit in either the first state in which one longitudinal end side is located at the terminal side of the slit, or the second state in which the other longitudinal end side is located at the terminal side of the slit, so that the directionality of the scraping member can be eliminated. This improves the workability when attaching the scraping member to the cylindrical member. Also, if the scraping member becomes worn, it can be used by reversing the attachment direction, reducing running costs.

According to the rice hulling device of claim 8, in addition to the effects of the rice hulling device of any of claims 2 to 7, the scraping surface that scrapes off the residue from the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll faces vertically upward, and the scraping surface closer to the opening and closing member is located vertically downward, and a predetermined gap is formed between the end of the scraping surface closer to the opening and closing member and the opening and closing member, so that the scraped off residue can be placed on the scraping surface and moved by its own weight to the end of the scraping surface on the opening and closing member side, and can be dropped to the bottom of the housing through the gap between the opening and closing member.

According to the hulling device of claim 9, in addition to the effect of the hulling roll of any of claims 2 to 8, the cylindrical member is open on the side opposite the opening and closing member, so that it can receive residue from the open area and hold it in the internal space of the cylindrical member. This makes it possible to prevent the scraped residue from re-adhering to the inner surface of the hulling roll. Also, by removing the opening and closing member, the residue can be easily collected.

According to the rice hulling device of claim 10, in addition to the effect of the rice hulling device of claim 3, the scraping member has a standing portion in which contact parts that contact the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll and non-contact parts that do not contact the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll are alternately formed, so that the contact pressure of the contact parts against the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll can be ensured, making it easier to scrape the residual material.

In this case, a plurality of scraping members are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction of the tubular member, and the contact portion of at least one of the plurality of scraping members is arranged out of phase with the contact portions of the other scraping members in the axial direction of the tubular member, thereby preventing the occurrence of areas with poor scraping.

According to the rice hulling device described in claim 11, in addition to the effect of the rice hulling device described in claim 3, a support means is provided for supporting the tubular member arranged inside one of the rice hulling rolls on the opening and closing member so that the tubular member can be displaced in the same direction as the one of the rice hulling rolls. Therefore, when one of the rice hulling rolls is displaced relative to the other rice hulling roll to adjust the distance between the pair of rice hulling rolls, the tubular member can be made to follow the displacement of one of the rice hulling rolls.

FIG. 1A is a front view of a rice hulling device according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a cross section of the rice hulling device taken along line Ib-Ib in FIG. FIG. 3(a) is a plan view of the scraping member, (b) is a front view of the scraping member as viewed in the direction of arrow IIIb in FIG. 3(a), and (c) is a cross-sectional view of the scraping member taken along line IIIc-IIIc in FIG. 3(b). 4(a) is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the rice hulling device, and (b) is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the rice hulling device taken along line IVb-IVb in FIG. 4(a). FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a rice hulling device in a second embodiment.

Below, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. First, the overall configuration of the rice hulling device 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1(a) is a front view of the rice hulling device 1 in the first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the cross-section of the rice hulling device 1 taken along line Ib-Ib in FIG. 1(a).

The hulling device 1 includes a housing 10, a pair of hulling rolls 21, 22 housed in the housing 10, a drive motor 31 that drives and rotates the hulling rolls 21, 22, and a gap adjustment mechanism 40 that adjusts the gap between the hulling rolls 21, 22.

The upper end of the housing 10 (upper side of Fig. 1(a)) is formed with an inlet 11 for receiving rice grains supplied from a feed hopper (not shown), and the lower end of the housing 10 (lower side of Fig. 1(a)) is formed with an outlet 12 for discharging the rice husks and brown rice separated by passing between the hulling rolls 21, 22.

Inside the housing 10, a delivery roller and a guide plate (both not shown) are arranged. The rice introduced through the receiving port 11 is delivered in fixed amounts by the rotation of the delivery roller, and is guided between the opposing hulling rolls 21, 22 by sliding along the guide plate.

A generally rectangular opening (not shown) is formed in the front of the housing 10 (the surface facing the page in Fig. 1(a)), and an opening/closing member 13 that opens and closes the opening is fastened and detachable by multiple bolts (four in this embodiment). The opening/closing member 13 is disposed in a position facing the axial end faces (the lower surface in Fig. 1(b)) of the hulling rolls 21, 22. Therefore, when the opening/closing member 13 is removed, the axial end faces of the hulling rolls 21, 22 are exposed through the opening.

Cylindrical members 51 and 52 are arranged on the back surface of the opening/closing member 13 (the upper surface in Fig. 1 (b)). When the opening/closing member 13 is attached to the housing 10, the cylindrical member 51 is positioned inside the hulling roll 21, and the cylindrical member 52 is positioned inside the hulling roll 22. The cylindrical members 51 and 52 are arranged in such a manner that their axes are parallel to the axes 21a and 22a of the hulling rolls 21 and 22.

The cylindrical members 51, 52 are provided with a scraping member 60 (see FIG. 2) that contacts the inner peripheral surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22, and can prevent residues (husks and dust) from adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22. The detailed configuration of the cylindrical members 51, 52 and the scraping member 60 will be described later.

The opening and closing member 13 is provided with a window 13a made of a light-transmitting material (acrylic plate), and through the window 13a, the space between the inner circumferential surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22 and the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical members 51, 52 can be seen from the outside.

The shaft 21a of the hulling roll 21 is rotatably supported by the housing 10, and the shaft 22a of the hulling roll 22 is rotatably supported by the swing arm 14. The shaft 14a of the swing arm 14 is rotatably supported by the housing 10, and the swing arm 14 is swung (rotated) around the shaft 14a, thereby changing the distance between the hulling rolls 21 and 22.

Belt pulleys P1 and P2 with different outer diameters are fixed to the shafts 21a and 22a, respectively, and a drive belt (not shown) is passed around the belt pulleys P1 and P2, which are passed around a belt pulley (not shown) fixed to the drive shaft of the drive motor 31 and a belt pulley P3 journaled on the housing 10. The hulling rolls 21 and 22 are rotated in opposite directions at different rotational speeds by the drive force of the drive motor 31 being transmitted through the drive belt.

The gap adjustment mechanism 40 comprises a drive motor 41, a rotating shaft 42 rotatably supported on the housing 10, and a connecting body 43 which, together with the rotating shaft 42, forms a ball screw mechanism, and a chain (not shown) is looped between a gear 41a fixed to the drive shaft of the drive motor 41 and a gear 42a fixed to the rotating shaft 42.

The driving force of the drive motor 41 rotates the rotating shaft 42 in the forward or reverse direction, and the connecting body 43 moves linearly in the extending or shortening direction relative to the rotating shaft 42, pushing and pulling the swinging arm 14 by the connecting body 43. This causes the swinging arm 14 to swing (rotate) around the shaft 14a, increasing or decreasing the distance between the hulling rolls 21 and 22.

Next, referring to Figures 2 and 3, we will explain the configuration for preventing residues from adhering to the inner circumferential surfaces of the hulling rolls 21 and 22.

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of the opening/closing member 13. The cylindrical members 51 and 52 are members for supporting the scraping member 60 (see Figure 4) and are formed into a cylindrical shape from a metal material (aluminum alloy).

Slits 51a, 52a are formed in multiple locations (four locations at equal circumferential intervals in this embodiment) in the cylindrical members 51, 52. In this embodiment, the slits 51a, 52a are formed linearly along the axial direction from the tip side (the other axial end side) of the cylindrical member 51. This simplifies the shape of the slits 51a, 52a, making it easier to manufacture the cylindrical members 51, 52. As a result, the manufacturing cost of the rice hulling device 1 can be reduced.

The base end (one axial end) of the cylindrical member 51 is fixed to the back surface of the opening/closing member 13. When the opening/closing member 13 is attached to the housing 10, the cylindrical member 51 is arranged concentrically with the hulling roll 21 (see FIG. 4(a)).

On the other hand, a bracket 53 is fixed to the base end side (one axial end side) of the cylindrical member 52, and the shaft 53a of the bracket 53 is rotatably supported by the opening/closing member 13. As a result, the cylindrical member 52 is disposed on the back surface of the opening/closing member 13 in a state in which it can swing (rotate) around the shaft 53a of the bracket 53.

The distance from the axis 53a of the bracket 53 to the axis of the tubular member 52 is set to be the same as the distance from the axis 14a of the swing arm 14 to the axis 22a of the hulling roll 22 (see FIG. 1(a)). When the opening/closing member 13 is attached to the housing 10, the axis 53a of the bracket 53 and the axis 14a of the swing arm 14 are arranged concentrically. Therefore, when the distance between the opposing hulling rolls 21, 22 is increased or decreased, the tubular member 52 can follow the oscillation (rotation) of the hulling roll 22 around the axis 14a of the swing arm 14.

The scraping member 60 is a member for scraping residue from the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 21, and is attached to the slits 51a, 52a of the cylindrical members 51, 52. The scraping member 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 3.

Figure 3(a) is a plan view of the scraping member 60, Figure 3(b) is a front view of the scraping member 60 as viewed in the direction of the arrow IIIb in Figure 3(a), and Figure 3(c) is a cross-sectional view of the scraping member 60 along line IIIc-IIIc in Figure 3(b).

For ease of explanation, the reference characters "A" and "B" will be used to denote one longitudinal end side and the other longitudinal end side of the scraping member 60, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3, the scraping member 60 includes a fitting portion 61 formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape, a pair of upper and lower protruding portions 62, 63 that protrude in all directions from the outer surface of the fitting portion 61 and are formed into a rectangular shape in a plan view, and an erecting portion 64 that stands upright from the upper surface of the fitting portion 61 (the surface opposite the protruding portion 63). In this embodiment, the fitting portion 61, the protruding portions 62, 63, and the erecting portion 64 are integrally formed from an elastic material (rubber-like elastic body).

The fitting portion 61 is a portion that is fitted into the slits 51a and 51b of the cylindrical members 51 and 52, and the protruding portions 62 and 63 are portions that protrude toward the outer peripheral surface and inner peripheral surface of the cylindrical members 51 and 52, respectively, when the fitting portion 61 is fitted into the slits 51a and 52a of the cylindrical members 51 and 52 (see Figure 4).

The width dimension L3 of the fitting portion 61 is set to be approximately equal to or slightly smaller than the width dimension L1 (see FIG. 2) of the slits 51a, 52a of the tubular members 51, 52 (L3≦L1), and the opposing distance L4 of the protruding portions 62, 63 is set to be approximately equal to or slightly larger than the thickness dimension L2 of the tubular members 51, 52 (L2≦L4).

As a result, the scraping member 60 can be disposed (attached) to the tubular members 51, 52 by inserting the fitting portion 61 from one end of the slits 51a, 52a of the tubular members 51, 52 (the other axial end side of the tubular member 51) along the extension direction of the slits 51a, 52a, while the scraping member 60 can be removed from the tubular members 51, 52 by removing the fitting portion 61 from the slits 51a, 52a of the tubular members 51, 52 along the extension direction of the slit 51a. Therefore, the scraping member 60 can be easily attached to and detached from the tubular members 51, 52.

At the tip end side of the erected portion 64 (upper side in Fig. 3(b)), convex portions 64a and concave portions 64b are alternately formed along the longitudinal direction of the scraping member 60 (left-right direction in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b)), and the shape of the erected portion 64 when viewed from the front is a substantially rectangular wave shape.

When the scraping member 60 is attached to the cylindrical members 51, 52 (slits 51a, 52a) and the opening/closing member 13 is attached to the housing 10 (see FIG. 4), the upper surface of the convex portion 64a (the surface opposite the protruding portion 63) comes into contact with the inner surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22, and the front or back surface of the standing portion 64 (the surface facing the page or the surface facing the page in FIG. 3(b)) becomes the scraping surface (scooping surface) that scrapes residue from the inner surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22 when the hulling rolls 21, 22 are rotated (see FIG. 4).

In this way, contact parts (convex parts 64a) that come into contact with the inner circumferential surfaces of the hulling rolls 21, 22 and non-contact parts (concave parts 64b) that do not come into contact with the inner circumferential surfaces of the hulling rolls 21, 22 are alternately formed, thereby ensuring the contact pressure of the contact parts (upper surfaces of the convex parts 64a) against the inner circumferential surfaces of the hulling rolls 21, 22, making it easier to scrape up the residue.

As described above, the fitting portion 61 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape. Therefore, the scraping member 60 (fitting portion 61) can be inserted into the slits 51a, 52a of the cylindrical members 51, 52 from either one longitudinal end side A or the other longitudinal end side B (the left and right sides in FIG. 3(b)).

That is, the scraping member 60 is formed so that it can be disposed in the slits 51a, 52a of the cylindrical members 51, 52 in either a first state in which one longitudinal end side A is located at the terminal end of the slits 51a, 52a of the cylindrical members 51, 52, or a second state in which the other longitudinal end side B is located at the terminal end of the slits 51a, 52a of the cylindrical members 51, 52 (see FIG. 4(b)).

As a result, if the scraping surface (e.g., the front surface of the standing portion 64) of the scraping member 60 (standing portion 64) becomes worn, the attachment direction of the scraping member 60 can be reversed to use the scraping surface on the opposite side (the back surface of the standing portion 64). As a result, running costs can be reduced.

The erected portion 64 has a convex portion 64a positioned on one longitudinal end side A (the left end side in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b)) and a concave portion 64b positioned on the other longitudinal end side B (the right end side in Figs. 3(a) and 3(b)). The distances W1 and W2 between the convex portion 64a and the concave portion 64b at these ends and the longitudinal end of the fitting portion 61 are set to the same dimension (W1 = W2).

As a result, by mounting some (e.g., two) of the multiple (four in this embodiment) scraping members 60 mounted in the slits 51a, 52a of the tubular members 51, 52 in the first state and the remaining in the second state, the phase of the contact portion (protrusion 64a) that contacts the inner surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22 can be made different in the axial direction of the tubular members 51, 52 between the scraping members 60 mounted in the first state and the scraping members 60 mounted in the second state (see FIG. 4(b)).

As a result, as described above, even if the contact pressure of the contact portion (protrusion 64a) with the inner surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22 is ensured to make it easier to scrape up the residue, it is possible to prevent areas of poor scraping (areas that cannot be scraped up) from occurring on the inner surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22.

Next, the manner in which the residue is collected by the collecting member 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. This manner is the same for both hulling rolls 21 and 22, so the manner in which the hulling roll 21 is collected will be described as a representative example.

Figure 4(a) is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the rice hulling device 1, and Figure 4(b) is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of the rice hulling device 1 taken along line IVb-IVb in Figure 4(a). Note that Figure 4(a) corresponds to a cross section cut along an imaginary plane perpendicular to the center of rotation (axis 21a) of the rice hulling roll 21. Figure 4(b) illustrates a configuration in which the scraping member 60 is arranged in a first state and a configuration in which it is arranged in a second state.

As shown in FIG. 4, the hulling roll 21 includes a rim 21b formed into a cylindrical shape from a metal material (steel) and an elastic roll 21c arranged on the outer periphery of the rim 21b and formed from an elastic material (rubber-like elastic body).

According to the rice hulling device 1, the erected portion 64 of the scraping member 60 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll 21 (rim 21b), so that the erected portion 64 sliding along the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll 21 can scrape up the residue. This prevents the residue from adhering to the inner peripheral surface of the rice hulling roll 21.

In this case, the cylindrical member 51 is formed in a cylindrical shape and its rigidity is ensured, so that even when the cylindrical member 51 arranged in a cantilevered state on the opening/closing member 13 supports the scraping member 60, the cylindrical member 51 is less likely to bend, making it easier for each of the multiple protrusions 64a of the standing portion 64 to uniformly contact the inner surface of the hulling roll 21. In other words, it is possible to prevent the contact pressure of some of the multiple protrusions 64a from becoming weak, and to prevent some of the multiple protrusions 64a from separating from the inner surface of the hulling roll 21. As a result, it is possible to prevent residues from adhering to the inner surface of the hulling roll 21.

The cylindrical member 51 is arranged concentrically with the hulling roll 21, so the cylindrical member 51 can be made larger in diameter to ensure its rigidity. This also makes it difficult for the cylindrical member 51 to bend, making it easier for each of the multiple protrusions 64a of the erected portion 64 to uniformly contact the inner circumferential surface of the hulling roll 21.

In addition, by arranging the cylindrical member 51 concentrically with the hulling roll 21, the opposing distance between the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 51 and the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 21 can be constant at any position in the circumferential direction. As a result, when multiple scraping members 60 are arranged on the cylindrical member 51, each scraping member 60 can be configured as the same member. This reduces the number of types of parts and reduces the manufacturing cost of the rice hulling device 1.

Here, as the hulling roll 21 rotates, a force acts on the scraping member 60 in the tangential direction of the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 21 (left and right direction in FIG. 4(a)). For this reason, for example, in a structure in which the scraping member 60 is fixed to the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member 51 by gluing or fastened by screws without forming slits 51a in the tubular member 51, the above-mentioned tangential force acts as a shear force, which is likely to cause the adhesive to peel off or the screws to break, and the scraping member 60 is likely to fall off the tubular member 51.

In contrast, according to the rice hulling device 1, a slit 51a is formed in the cylindrical member 51, and the scraping member 60 is disposed in the slit 51a, so that the scraping member 60 that receives the tangential force can be received by the entire inner edge of the slit 51a. In other words, a pressure-receiving area that receives the tangential force can be secured. This makes it possible to prevent the scraping member 60 from falling off the cylindrical member 51.

In addition, as the hulling roll 21 rotates, the tangential force is applied, and when the scraping member 60 tries to tilt, the protrusions 62, 63 come into contact with the outer and inner surfaces of the cylindrical member 51, preventing the scraping member 60 from tilting. This prevents the scraping member 60 from falling out of the slit 51a.

Furthermore, since the fitting portion 61 is fitted into the slit 51a of the tubular member 51, and the protruding portions 62, 63 protrude from the fitting portion 61 to the outer peripheral surface side and the inner peripheral surface side of the tubular member 51, respectively, deformation of the tubular member 51 (for example, deformation that expands or reduces the outer diameter of the tubular member 51) can be prevented from occurring. Therefore, each of the multiple protruding portions 64a of the erected portion 64 can be easily brought into uniform contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 21.

Here, in a structure in which the scraping member 60 is disposed in a structure housed inside the housing 10, when performing maintenance on the scraping member 60, it is necessary to remove the opening/closing member 13 and then perform the work inside the housing 10, which makes the work less easy to do.

In contrast, according to the rice hulling device 1, as described above, the tubular member 51 is disposed on the opening/closing member 13. Therefore, the tubular member 51 and the scraping member 60 can be removed together with the opening/closing member 13, and work can be performed outside the housing 10. This improves the workability when performing maintenance on the tubular member 51 and the scraping member 60. In addition, if the opening/closing member 13 is removed, the tubular member 51 does not remain inside the rice hulling roll 21, so that the workability when replacing the rice hulling roll 21 and cleaning and inspecting the inside of the rice hulling roll 21 can also be improved.

The cylindrical member 51 is formed in a cylindrical shape, and its tip side (opposite the opening/closing member 13) is open. Therefore, the residue that has been collected by the collecting member 60 and scattered by the air current caused by the rotation of the hulling roll 21 can be received from the tip side of the cylindrical member 51 and held in the internal space. As a result, the collected residue can be prevented from re-adhering to the inner surface of the hulling roll 21. In addition, by removing the opening/closing member 13, the residue held in the internal space of the cylindrical member 51 can be easily collected.

As described above, the cylindrical member 52 is rotatably supported by the opening/closing member 13 via the bracket 53 (see FIG. 2). In this case, the cylindrical member 52 is arranged concentrically with the hulling roll 22 by the multiple scraping members 60 each being in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 22, and even if the opposing distance between the hulling rolls 21, 22 is changed (increased or decreased), the cylindrical member 52 follows the oscillation of the hulling roll 22 (rotation around the axis 14a) while maintaining the concentricity. As a result, in the hulling roll 22, as in the case of the hulling roll 21, adhesion of residues to the inner peripheral surface is suppressed.

Next, the hulling device 201 in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the hulling device 201 in the second embodiment, and corresponds to the view in the direction of the arrow V in FIG. 2. Note that the same parts as those in the first embodiment described above are given the same reference numerals, and their description will be omitted. Also, for ease of explanation, the reference numerals "C" and "D" will be given to one longitudinal end side and the other longitudinal end side of the scraping member 260, respectively, for explanation.

As shown in FIG. 2, in the second embodiment, the hulling device 201 has a tubular member 251 that is positioned inside the hulling roll 21 and is disposed on the back surface of the opening/closing member 13. The tubular member 251 is configured in the same manner as the tubular member 51 in the first embodiment, except that the slit 51a is omitted.

A scraper 260 made of an elastic material (rubber-like elastic body) is disposed on half of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 251. The scraper 260 is erected from the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical member 251 while extending in a spiral shape with a constant lead angle, and the erected height of the scraper 260 is set to a dimension that allows the upper surface of the scraper 260 to contact the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 21. As a result, as the hulling roll 21 rotates, the scraper 260 can scrape residue from the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 21.

The spiral winding direction of the scraping member 260 is the direction that approaches the opening and closing member 13 when tracing the scraping member 260 from one longitudinal end side C to the other longitudinal end side D along the rotation direction of the hulling roll 21. Therefore, in this embodiment, the surface on the upper side of Figure 5 is the scraping surface (scooping surface) that scrapes off residue from the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 21.

That is, the scraping member 260 has a scraping surface facing vertically upward (upper side in FIG. 5), and the scraping surface closer to the opening/closing member 13 is positioned vertically downward (lower side in FIG. 5). Note that a predetermined gap is formed between the end of the scraping member 260 (scraping surface) closer to the opening/closing member 13 (the other end D in the longitudinal direction) and the opening/closing member 13.

Therefore, when the scraping member 260 scrapes off the residue from the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 21, the scraped off residue is placed on the scraping surface, and the scraped off residue is moved by its own weight to the end of the scraping surface on the opening/closing member 13 side (the other longitudinal end side D), where it can fall through the gap between the opening/closing member 13 and the scraped off residue into the discharge outlet 12 of the housing 10 (see Figure 1).

The rotation direction of the hulling roll 22 is opposite to that of the hulling roll 21. Therefore, the scraping member that scrapes off the residue from the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 22 has a spiral winding direction opposite to that of the scraping member 260 described above. In addition, the cylindrical member located inside the hulling roll 22 is pivotally supported by the opening/closing member 13 so that it can swing (rotate) around the axis 53a of the bracket 53. The other configurations of these cylindrical members and scraping members are the same as those of the cylindrical member 251 and the scraping member 260, so their explanation will be omitted.

The present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, but the present invention is in no way limited to the above embodiments, and it can be easily imagined that various improvements and modifications are possible within the scope of the invention without departing from its spirit.

The numerical values given in the above embodiment are merely examples, and it is of course possible to adopt other numerical values. For example, the number of slits 51a, 52a may be one, or multiple (two or more). When multiple slits 51a, 52a are formed, they may be formed at positions that are equally spaced in the circumferential direction, or at positions that are unequally spaced in the circumferential direction.

The above embodiments and the modified examples shown below may be combined. For example, the slits 51a in the first embodiment may be formed in one or more locations on the cylindrical member 251 in the second embodiment, and the scraping members 60 may be disposed (attached) to the slits 51a. In other words, the scraping members 60 and 260 may each be disposed on the cylindrical member 251.

In each of the above embodiments, the material of each component can be changed as appropriate. For example, although the cylindrical members 51, 52, and 251 are described as being made of an aluminum alloy, they may be made of other metal materials (steel, stainless steel) or resin materials (ABS resin, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride resin). Also, although the scraping members 60 and 260 are described as being made of a rubber-like elastic body, they may be made of a urethane material or a resin material.

In the above embodiments, the entire scraper member 60 is described as being made of the same material, but it may be made of a combination of different materials. For example, the protruding portions 62, 63 may be made of a metal material or a resin material. The scraper members 60, 260 may be formed with a metal material or a resin material inserted inside the rubber-like elastic body. In addition, the erected tip of the erected portion 64 may be partially made of a resin material or a brush (having multiple resin bristles).

In the above first embodiment, the slits 51a and 52a are formed in a straight line, but at least a part or all of the slits 51a and 51b may be formed in a curved shape. The slits 51a and 51b may also be formed in a spiral shape. In these cases, the above-mentioned configuration in which the entire scraping member 60 is integrally formed from an elastic material (rubber-like elastic body) is particularly effective in terms of ease of insertion (attachment) into the slits 51a and 52a.

In each of the above embodiments, the cylindrical members 51, 52, and 251 are described as being formed from cylinders (tubes with a circular cross section perpendicular to the axis), but they may also be formed from square tubes (tubes with a polygonal cross section perpendicular to the axis).

In each of the above embodiments, the tubular member 52 follows the hulling roll 22 due to the swinging of the bracket 53 (rotation around the axis 53a). However, a guide groove extending along the displacement trajectory of the hulling roll 22 may be provided in the opening/closing member 13, and the tubular member 52 may follow the hulling roll 22 by being guided along the guide groove.

In the above embodiments, the cylindrical members 51, 52, 251 are described as being disposed on the opening/closing member 13. Alternatively, or in addition, the cylindrical members 51, 52, 251 may be disposed on another member of the housing 10. For example, the cylindrical members 51, 52, 251 may be disposed on the front (lower surface in FIG. 1(b)) of the partition wall 15 (see FIG. 1(b)) that partitions the space in the interior space of the housing 10 in which the hulling rolls 21, 22 are stored from the space in which the rotating shaft 42 and the connecting body 43 of the gap adjustment mechanism 40 are disposed, and that faces the axial end faces (upper surface in FIG. 1(b)) of the hulling rolls 21, 22.

In each of the above embodiments, a single tubular member 51, 52, 251 is arranged concentrically inside a single hulling roll 21, 22. However, multiple tubular members 51, 52, 251 having a smaller diameter than the tubular members 51, 52, 251 in each of the above embodiments may be arranged inside a single hulling roll 21.

In the first embodiment, unevenness (protrusions 64a and recesses 64b) is formed on the upper surface of the scraper member 60 (standing portion 64), and in the second embodiment, a case is described in which no unevenness is formed on the upper surface of the scraper member 260. However, it is also possible that no unevenness is formed on the upper surface of the scraper member 60 (standing portion 64) and unevenness is formed on the upper surface of the scraper member 260.

In addition, in a configuration in which the upper surface of the scraper member 60 (standing portion 64) is not uneven, when inserting the scraper member 60 into the slits 51a, 52a, it is not necessary to check the direction of the scraper member 60 (whether the insertion tip is on one longitudinal end side A or the other longitudinal end side B), which improves the workability when installing the scraper member 60.

In the first embodiment, the convex portion 64a and the concave portion 64b are formed to have the same dimensions in the longitudinal direction of the scraping member 60 (left-right direction in FIG. 3(b)), but they may have different dimensions. However, it is preferable that the dimensions of the convex portion 64a are larger than the dimensions of the concave portion 64b. This is because it is possible to prevent areas of poor scraping from occurring on the inner circumferential surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22.

In the first embodiment, when the upper surface of the erected portion 64 is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hulling rolls 21 and 22, the erected portion 64 is slightly compressed and deformed in the height direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4(a)). In this case, the width dimension L3 (see FIG. 3(c)) of the fitting portion 61 may be larger than the width dimension of the erected portion 64 (horizontal dimension in FIG. 3(c)) as in the first embodiment, or may be equal to or smaller than the width dimension L3 of the fitting portion 61. The pressure-receiving area of the erected portion 64 by the cylindrical members 51 and 52 can be changed according to the width dimension L3, thereby adjusting the contact pressure of the erected portion 64 (upper surface of the convex portion 64a) against the inner peripheral surface of the hulling rolls 21 and 22.

In each of the above embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the upper surface of the scraping member 60, 260 (standing portion 64) (cross-section cut by an imaginary plane perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the scraping member 60, 260, see FIG. 3(c)) is described as being formed in a straight line shape, but this cross-sectional shape may be an arc shape of the same diameter as the arc shape of the inner peripheral surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22, or may be an arc shape of a smaller diameter than the arc shape of the inner peripheral surface of the hulling rolls 21, 22.

In the second embodiment described above, the lead angle of the spiral is constant throughout the entire scraper member 260, but it may be configured as follows.

For example, the lead angle in a specified range from one longitudinal end side C may be made smaller than the lead angle in the remaining range. Since the cylindrical member 251 is more flexible toward the tip side (the side opposite the opening/closing member 13), the reaction force that the scraping member 260 receives when scraping up the residue can be made smaller in the specified range (i.e., the tip side of the cylindrical member 51). As a result, the entire scraping member 260 can be brought into uniform contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll 21, and the durability of the cylindrical member 251 can be ensured.

For example, the lead angle in a specified range from the other longitudinal end side D may be made smaller than the lead angle in the remaining range. This increases the downward slope of the scraping surface in the specified range, making it easier for the residue to move by its own weight to the other longitudinal end side D and drop through the gap between the opening and closing member 13.

The lead angle of the spiral may gradually change (increase or decrease) toward the longitudinal end side C or the longitudinal end side D in the entire scraper member 260, the above-mentioned specified range, or the above-mentioned remaining range.

1, 201 Rice hulling device 10 Housing 13 Opening and closing member 21, 22 Rice hulling roll 40 Spacing adjustment mechanism (adjustment means)
51, 52, 251 Cylindrical member 51a, 52a Slit 53 Bracket (supporting means)
60, 260 scraping member 61 fitting portion 62 protruding portion (outer protruding portion)
63 Extension (inner extension)
64 Standing portion 64a Convex portion (contact portion)
64b Recess (non-contact portion)
A: One end of the scraping member in the longitudinal direction B: The other end of the scraping member in the longitudinal direction D: The end of the scraping surface close to the opening/closing member

Claims (11)

A hulling device that includes a pair of hulling rolls and a housing that houses the pair of hulling rolls and hulls rice by passing rice between the pair of hulling rolls,
A cylindrical member formed in a cylindrical shape and disposed in the housing so as to be located inside the rice hulling roll;
The hulling device is characterized by comprising a scraping member arranged in the cylindrical member and contacting the inner surface of the hulling roll. the housing includes an opening and an opening/closing member that is detachably disposed and opens and closes the opening,
The opening is formed at a position opposite to an axial end of the hulling roll,
2. The rice hulling device according to claim 1, wherein the cylindrical member is disposed on the opening and closing member. The hulling device according to claim 2, characterized in that the cylindrical member is arranged concentrically with the hulling roll. the cylindrical member has a slit extending from an end opposite to the opening/closing member,
4. The rice hulling device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the scraping member is disposed in the slit. The hulling device according to claim 4, characterized in that the slits are formed in a straight line along the axial direction of the cylindrical member. The hulling device according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the scraping member comprises an insertion portion that is inserted into the slit, an outwardly extending portion and an inwardly extending portion that extend from the insertion portion toward the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface of the tubular member, respectively, and an erected portion that stands upright from the insertion portion and at least a part of the erected tip side is in contact with the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll. The hulling device according to claim 6, characterized in that the scraping member is formed so that it can be disposed in the slit in either a first state in which one longitudinal end side is located at the terminal end side of the slit, or a second state in which the other longitudinal end side is located at the terminal end side of the slit. The scraping member has a scraping surface that scrapes off residue from the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll facing upward in the vertical direction, and the scraping surface closer to the opening/closing member is located downward in the vertical direction,
A rice hulling device as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 7, characterized in that a predetermined gap is formed between the end of the scraping surface close to the opening and closing member and the opening and closing member. The hulling device according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that the cylindrical member is open on the side opposite the opening and closing member. The scraping member includes a standing portion in which a contact portion that contacts the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll and a non-contact portion that does not contact the inner peripheral surface of the hulling roll are alternately formed,
A rice hulling device as described in claim 3, characterized in that a plurality of the scraping members are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction of the tubular member, and the contact portion of at least one of the plurality of scraping members is arranged out of phase with the contact portion of the other scraping members in the axial direction of the tubular member. An adjustment means for adjusting the distance between the pair of hulling rolls by displacing one of the pair of hulling rolls relative to the other hulling roll;
A hulling device as described in claim 3, characterized in that it is provided with a support means for supporting the tubular member arranged inside the one of the hulling rolls on the opening and closing member so that the tubular member can be displaced in the same direction as the one of the hulling rolls.

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