JP7689710B2 - Ingredient application device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an ingredient application device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a method of manufacturing rice balls filled with ingredients by adding ingredients to a sheet of cooked rice, folding the sheet of cooked rice so that the ingredients are sandwiched inside, and shaping the rice. Here, the ingredients are added manually.

On the other hand, Patent Document 2 discloses a fluid discharge device equipped with a silicone rubber nozzle that includes a cylinder and a valve element that is evenly arranged at the tip of the cylinder and is configured to open and close according to the internal pressure of the cylinder.

Publication No. 2016-202022 Publication No. 2015-131682

Instead of applying ingredients to onigiri by hand as in Patent Document 1, it is conceivable to use a fluid discharge device as disclosed in Patent Document 2. However, conventional devices such as Patent Document 2 have room for further improvement in terms of applying ingredients to onigiri with good positional accuracy, especially when the ingredients are solid foods.

One of the objectives of the present invention is to provide an ingredient application device that can apply ingredients with high positional accuracy.

According to the present invention, the following ingredient application device can be provided.
1. An ingredient supplying device that supplies ingredients;
A discharge port that opens on a vertical surface and discharges the ingredients supplied from the ingredient supply device;
A cutter that descends along the vertical surface of the discharge port to cut the ingredient discharged from the discharge port along the vertical surface and strikes it downward;
A conveying device that conveys the object to which the ingredient is applied below the cutter;
An ingredient application device comprising:
2. The cutter has a cutting end for cutting the ingredient and a striking surface for striking the ingredient downward behind the cutting end;
2. The ingredient application device according to 1, wherein the beating surface includes a horizontal region or a region that is at an angle of 40° or less with respect to the horizontal.
3. The ingredient application device according to 1 or 2, wherein the cutter has a cutting end for cutting the ingredient and extending portions extending downward from the cutting end on both sides of the cutting end.
4. The ingredient applying device according to 1 or 2, wherein the descent speed of the cutter is 0.5 to 2 m/s.
5. The ingredient application device according to any one of 1 to 4, wherein the ingredient is a solid food.
6. The ingredient applying device according to 5, wherein the solid food is at least one selected from the group consisting of flake-like food and shredded food.
7. The device for applying a ingredient according to any one of 1 to 6, wherein the object to be applied is a food product.
8. The ingredient applying device according to 7, wherein the food is rice balls or sheet-like cooked rice before being shaped into rice balls.
9. The ingredient application device according to any one of 1 to 8, wherein the ingredient supplying device is a screw feeder.

The present invention provides an ingredient application device that can apply ingredients with high positional accuracy.

FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an ingredient application device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a rice ball to be fed to the ingredient application device of FIG. 1 . 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing an ingredient application head provided in the ingredient application device of FIG. 1, in which (a) is a front view, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line bb in (a), and (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along line cc in (a). 4 is a schematic diagram showing a cutter provided in the ingredient application head of FIG. 3, (a) being a front view, (b) being a cross-sectional view taken along line bb in (a), and (c) being a perspective view. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the operation of the ingredient applying head. FIG. 11 is a front view illustrating another example of a cutter. FIG. 11 is a front view illustrating another example of a cutter. FIG. 11 is a front view illustrating another example of a cutter. FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating another example of a cutter.

The ingredient applying head and the ingredient applying device of the present invention will be described in detail below.
In the following description, the configuration described in one embodiment can be appropriately combined with the configuration described in another embodiment.

Figure 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an ingredient application device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the ingredient application device includes an ingredient application head 1, a screw feeder (ingredient supply device) 3 that supplies ingredients 2 to the ingredient application head 1, and a transport conveyor (transport device) 5 that transports rice balls (objects to be applied) 4 to which the ingredients 2 will be applied from the ingredient application head 1.

In this embodiment, ingredient 2 is a solid food.

The solid food is not particularly limited, and is preferably at least one selected from the group consisting of flake food and shredded food.

Examples of flake foods include salmon flakes and tuna flakes.

An example of a shredded food is shredded kelp. The shredded kelp may be mixed with sesame seeds.

The solid food may be an aggregate of food pieces (solid food pieces). Each food piece constituting the aggregate may have one or more shapes selected from the group consisting of flakes and shredded shapes, for example. The aggregate may be maintained in an aggregated state by a fluid (e.g., a viscous body) such as a seasoning interposed between the food pieces.

When a solid food contains a fluid, the amount of fluid contained may be 50% by mass or less, 40% by mass or less, 30% by mass or less, 20% by mass or less, or 10% by mass or less of the total solid food.

A collection of food pieces may be such that when one of the food pieces constituting the collection is grasped and lifted, only that one food piece is lifted. Alternatively, such a collection may be such that when one of the food pieces constituting the collection is grasped and lifted, multiple other food pieces are lifted along with the one food piece, but then the other food pieces fall due to the action of gravity.

Figure 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a rice ball 4 to be fed to the ingredient application device of Figure 1.

In this embodiment, the rice ball 4 is formed in a triangular shape. The rice ball 4 has two parallel main surfaces 6, 7 and a side periphery 8 that connects the edges of the two main surfaces 6, 7. Each of the two main surfaces 6, 7 is triangular. Note that the shape of the rice ball 4 (the shape given to the main surfaces 6, 7) is not limited to a triangular shape, and may be, for example, a D-shape, a circle, etc.

An ingredient groove 9 for filling with the ingredient 2 is formed on one main surface 6 of the rice ball 4. This ingredient groove 9 is the target when the ingredient application head 1 applies the ingredient 2. The dimensions of the ingredient groove 9 are not particularly limited. The diameter of the ingredient groove 9 is, for example, 10 to 40 mm, preferably 12 to 30 mm, and more preferably 15 to 25 mm. The depth of the ingredient groove 9 is, for example, 5 to 20 mm, and preferably 10 to 15 mm.

The screw feeder 3 includes a housing 10 and a screw blade 11 rotatably arranged within the housing 10. The screw feeder 3 also includes a hopper 12 that supplies ingredients to one end of the screw blade 11. The screw feeder 3 is configured to transport ingredients 2 supplied to one end of the screw blade 11 to the other end of the screw blade 11 by the rotation of the screw blade 11, and discharge the ingredients 2 from the outlet (discharge port 14 described later) of the ingredient supply pipe 13 via an ingredient supply pipe 13 having an inlet at the other end.

Onigiri 4 are intermittently supplied to the upstream side of the transport conveyor 5 from a processing device (not shown) provided upstream of the ingredient application device. The processing device provided upstream of the ingredient application device is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, one or more types selected from the group consisting of an onigiri forming device and a salt sprinkling device.

The conveyor 5 is configured to sequentially convey the rice balls 4 with the main surface 6 on which the ingredient grooves 9 are formed facing upward to below the cutter 15 of the ingredient application head 1, which will be described later. The conveyor 5 is also configured to temporarily stop conveying when the ingredient grooves 9 of the rice balls 4 reach directly below the cutter 15. During this stop period, ingredients 2 are applied from the ingredient application head 1 to the ingredient grooves 9. The conveyor 5 resumes conveying after the ingredient 2 is applied, and conveys the next rice ball 4 (a rice ball 4 to which no ingredient 2 has been applied) to below the cutter 15.

The rice balls 4 to which the ingredients 2 have been added are transported downstream of the transport conveyor 5 and introduced into a processing device (not shown) provided downstream of the ingredient application device. The processing device provided downstream of the ingredient application device is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, one or more types selected from the group consisting of a nori-maki device and a packaging device.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing the ingredient application head 1 provided in the ingredient application device of Figure 1, where (a) is a front view, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b in (a), and (c) is a cross-sectional view taken along line c-c in (a). Furthermore, Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing the cutter 15 provided in the ingredient application head 1 of Figure 3, where (a) is a front view, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line b-b in (a), and (c) is a perspective view.

In this embodiment, the ingredient application head 1 has an outlet 14 for ejecting the ingredient 2 and a cutter 15 for cutting the ingredient 2.

The discharge port 14 opens at the end of the ingredient supply pipe 13 so as to discharge the ingredient 2 supplied from the screw feeder 3 via the ingredient supply pipe 13 .
The ejection port 14 opens on a vertical surface. Here, "the ejection port opens on a vertical surface" means that when the ejection port 14 is blocked by a virtual plane, the plane is oriented along the vertical, and the "vertical surface" does not necessarily have to actually exist.

A flange 16 is provided around the discharge port 14 (the end of the ingredient supply pipe 13).

The cutter 15 is attached to a lifting device 17 and is configured to be able to be raised and lowered between a predetermined upper position and a predetermined lower position by the lifting device 17. The lifting device 17 is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, an air cylinder.

The rise and fall of the cutter 15 is guided by guide members 18 provided on both sides of the cutter 15. Both sides of the cutter 15 are formed to engage with guide grooves 19 of the guide members 18. Here, thin-walled sections 20 that are thinner than the center are formed on both sides (left and right sides when viewed from the front) of the plate-shaped cutter, and the thin-walled sections 20 engage with the guide grooves 19. Here, the thin-walled sections 20 are formed by cutting out the surface of the cutter 15 opposite the surface on the discharge port 14 side. The guide members 18 guide the cutter 15 from both sides and also from the front and back (front and back in the direction in which the ingredient 2 is discharged from the discharge port 14).

A cutting end 21 is formed at the lower end of the surface of the cutter 15 facing the discharge port 14 for cutting the ingredient 2 discharged from the discharge port 14.

When the cutter 15 is in the lower position as shown in FIG. 3, the cutting end 21 of the cutter 15 is positioned at the same height as the lower end of the discharge port 14 or at a lower position than the lower end of the discharge port 14. When the cutter 15 is in the upper position, the cutting end 21 of the cutter 15 is positioned at the same height as the upper end of the discharge port 14 or at a higher position than the upper end of the discharge port 14.

The cutter 15 can descend from the upper position to the lower position described above along a plane that is perpendicular to the outlet 14. During this process of descent, the surface of the cutter 15 facing the outlet 14 remains parallel to the plane that is perpendicular to the outlet 14.

It is preferable that the cutter 15 has a cutting end 21 that cuts the ingredient 2, and a striking surface 22 behind the cutting end 21 (downstream of the direction in which the ingredient 2 is discharged from the discharge port 14) that strikes the ingredient 2 downward.
The beating surface 22 is preferably formed above the cut end 21. This allows cutting of the ingredient 2 to be started prior to beating of the ingredient 2, thereby enabling more reliable cutting and beating.
The striking surface 22 preferably includes a horizontal region or a region whose angle with respect to the horizontal is preferably within 40°, more preferably within 30°, and particularly preferably within 20°. This makes it possible to strike the ingredient 2 downward more reliably.

The operation of the ingredient application head 1 will be explained with reference to Figure 5.

First, as shown in FIG. 5(a), the cutter 15 is placed in the upper position. In this state, the discharge port 14 is open.

Although not shown, the transport conveyor 5 transports the rice balls 4 (rice balls 4 without ingredients 2) below the cutter 15 and temporarily stops transporting at this position.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5(b), the ingredient 2 is ejected from the ejection port 14.

At this time, it is preferable that the ingredient 2 is controlled so as to be discharged from the discharge port 14 at a predetermined discharge amount. The control method is not particularly limited, and a method known per se can be used. In this embodiment, in which the screw feeder 3 is used as the ingredient supply device, the discharge amount can be controlled, for example, by setting the rotation speed and rotation time of the screw blade 11.

In addition, since the discharge outlet 14 opens on a vertical surface, the ingredient 2 discharged from the discharge outlet 14 is supported from below by the lower end of the discharge outlet 14 and is prevented from falling downward due to its own weight. This makes it easier for the ingredient 2 to maintain a state protruding from the discharge outlet 14 compared to, for example, a case in which the discharge outlet opens downward on a horizontal surface.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5(c), the cutter 15 is lowered. As a result, the ingredient 2 protruding from the discharge port 14 is cut along the discharge port 14 (along a vertical plane). At the same time, the cut ingredient 2 is struck downward by the descending cutter 15.

The descent speed of the cutter 15 (the descent speed when cutting the ingredients) is, for example, preferably 0.5 to 2 m/s, and more preferably 0.7 to 1.5 m/s.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5(d), the cutter 15 is lowered to a lower position and then stopped. The ingredients 2 cut and beaten by the cutter 15 are thrown downward with force, and land (hit the target) in the ingredient groove 9 of the rice ball 4 (not shown) placed below the cutter 15. By throwing the ingredients 2 downward with force in this way, it is possible to prevent the ingredients 2 from falling apart, and preferably to allow the ingredients 2 to land as a single lump in the ingredient groove 9 with good positional accuracy.

Next, the cutter 15 is raised to the upper position. The transport conveyor 5 is driven to transport the next rice ball 4 (a rice ball 4 without a filling 2) below the cutter 15. In this manner, the series of operations shown in Figures 5(a) to (d) is repeated.

According to this embodiment, the cutter 15 descends along the vertical surface of the discharge port 14, cutting the ingredient 2 discharged from the discharge port 14 along the vertical surface and striking it downward, so that even if the ingredient 2 is a solid food, the ingredient 2 can be applied to the rice ball (object) 4 below with good positional accuracy. In addition, the amount of ingredient 2 applied can be made uniform.

It is difficult to achieve such an effect with the device of Patent Document 2 mentioned above. That is, with the device of Patent Document 2 mentioned above, the ingredients are likely to get caught in the valve after being ejected, and there is a risk that the caught ingredients will fall at an unexpected timing. Furthermore, ingredients caught in the valve can cause a decrease in positional accuracy and uneven application amount when the next ingredient is ejected.

By using the ingredient application device according to this embodiment, it is possible to automate the process of applying ingredients 2 to rice balls 4, which previously had to be done manually. This also makes it possible to efficiently manufacture high-quality rice balls 4 with ingredients 2 applied in the intended positions.

Next, we will explain other examples of cutter 15.

The cutter 15 shown in FIG. 6 has a cutting end 21 that cuts the ingredient 2, and extensions 23 on both sides of the cutting end 21 that extend downward from the cutting end 21. As a result, even if the ingredient 2 scatters when cutting the ingredient 2, it can be covered by the extensions 23, reducing the area of the scattering.

The cutter 15 shown in FIG. 7 has a contour of the cut end 21 when viewed in a plan view that is inclined relative to a direction perpendicular to the ascending and descending direction of the cutter 15 (the up and down direction in the figure). This reduces the load when cutting the ingredient 2 and prevents the ingredient 2 from scattering, compared to when the contour of the cut end 21 when viewed in a plan view is aligned along a direction perpendicular to the ascending and descending direction of the cutter 15.

The cutter 15 shown in FIG. 8 has a cut end 21 with a concave contour facing upward when viewed from above. This reduces the load when cutting the ingredient 2 and prevents the ingredient 2 from scattering, compared to when the cut end 21 has a straight contour when viewed from above. Examples of concave shapes include an arc shape, a parabolic shape, a U-shape, a V-shape, etc.

The cutter 15 shown in FIG. 9 has a contour of the tip (lower end of the cutter 15) in a cross section along the thickness direction of the cutter 15 and the ascending and descending direction of the cutter 15, which forms a concave shape toward the upper part of the cutter 15. Here, one end of the concave contour forms the cutting end 21, and the other end of the concave contour can cover the scattering of ingredients. In addition, by forming the center (rear part) of the concave contour horizontally, a striking surface 22 including a horizontal area can be formed. Examples of concave shapes include an arc shape, a parabolic shape, a U-shape, a V-shape, etc.

The cutter 15 may have two or more of the configurations described for the cutter 15 exemplified above.

In the above explanation, the screw feeder 3 used as the ingredient supplying device that supplies the ingredient 2 to the ingredient application head 1 is vertical (the screw blade 11 is oriented vertically), but this is not limited, and the screw feeder 3 may be horizontal (the screw blade 11 is oriented horizontally). Furthermore, the ingredient supplying device is not limited to the screw feeder 3, and may be any ingredient supplying device known per se as long as it is capable of discharging the ingredient 2 from the discharge port 14 that opens on a vertical surface. For example, the ingredient supplying device may be a rotary pump type ingredient supplying device.

In the above explanation, the case where the transportation of the rice ball 4 by the transport conveyor 5 is stopped (the rice ball 4 is stopped) when the ingredient 2 is applied from the ingredient application head 1 to the rice ball 4 has been mainly described, but this is not limited to the above. For example, when the transport speed of the transport conveyor 5 is sufficiently slow, the ingredient 2 can be applied to the rice ball 4 being transported while the transport by the transport conveyor 5 continues (without stopping).

In the above explanation, the transport device that transports the rice balls 4 is mainly a transport conveyor 5, but this is not limited to this. The transport device may be any transport device known in the art as long as it can transport objects such as rice balls 4.

In the above explanation, the ingredient 2 is mainly a solid food, but the present invention is not limited to this. The ingredient 2 may be a food other than a solid food. Examples of foods other than solid foods include liquid foods. Examples of liquid foods include viscous foods. Examples of viscous foods include foods mainly made of mayonnaise. Examples of foods mainly made of mayonnaise include mentaiko mayonnaise and tuna mayonnaise.

In the above explanation, the object to which the ingredient 2 is to be applied is mainly a rice ball 4 (particularly a shaped rice ball 4), but this is not limiting. The object to be applied may also be an unshaped rice ball. An unshaped rice ball is made of cooked rice, and its shape is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, sheet-like. With the ingredient application head and ingredient application device of the present invention, the ingredient 2 can be applied to a predetermined position (target) on the sheet-like cooked rice. The sheet-like cooked rice is then folded so as to sandwich the ingredient 2 inside, and shaped to obtain an onigiri filled with the ingredient 2 inside.

The object to be coated may be various foods other than rice balls 4 or rice balls before being formed. Furthermore, the object to be coated is not limited to food and may be something other than food. Examples of objects to be coated other than food include food trays. According to the ingredient coating head and ingredient coating device of the present invention, for example, when filling a section of a food tray with ingredients, the ingredients can be filled with high positional accuracy.

1: Ingredient application head 2: Ingredient 3: Screw feeder (ingredient supply device)
4: Rice ball (object to be granted)
5: Transport conveyor (transport device)
6, 7: Main surface 8: Side periphery 9: Ingredient groove 10: Housing 11: Screw blade 12: Hopper 13: Ingredient supply pipe 14: Discharge port 15: Cutter 16: Flange 17: Lifting device 18: Guide member 19: Guide groove 20: Thin portion 21: Cutting end 22: Hitting surface 23: Extension portion

Claims (8)

An ingredient supplying device for supplying ingredients;
A discharge port that opens on a vertical surface and discharges the ingredients supplied from the ingredient supply device;
A cutter that descends along the vertical surface of the discharge port to cut the ingredient discharged from the discharge port along the vertical surface and strikes it downward;
A conveying device that conveys the object to which the ingredient is applied below the cutter;
Equipped with
The cutter has a cutting end for cutting the ingredient and a striking surface for striking the ingredient downwardly behind the cutting end,
The striking surface includes a horizontal region or a region that is at an angle of 40° or less with respect to the horizontal.
Ingredient application device. The ingredient application device according to claim 1 , wherein the cutter has a cutting end for cutting the ingredient, and extensions extending downward from the cutting end on both sides of the cutting end. The ingredient application device according to claim 1 , wherein the descent speed of the cutter is 0.5 to 2 m/s. The ingredient applying device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the ingredient is a solid food. The ingredient applying device according to claim 4 , wherein the solid food is at least one type selected from the group consisting of flake-like food and shredded food. The ingredient applying device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the object to be applied is a food product. The ingredient applying device according to claim 6 , wherein the food is rice balls or sheet-like cooked rice before being shaped into rice balls. The ingredient applying device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 , wherein the ingredient supplying device is a screw feeder.

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