JP7689711B2 - 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 application head;
An ingredient supplying device for supplying ingredients to the ingredient application head;
A conveying device that conveys the object to which the ingredient is to be applied below the ingredient application head;
Equipped with
The ingredient application head includes a hollow cylindrical barrel portion vertically arranged,
A shutter member that opens and closes an opening on a lower end side of the barrel portion is disposed below the barrel portion,
A push-down member that slides up and down within the barrel portion is disposed above the barrel portion,
A metered chamber having a predetermined volume is formed between the shutter member, which closes the opening at the lower end of the barrel portion, and the push-down member, which is at the upper limit of movement.
When the ingredient is supplied from the ingredient supply device to the metering chamber and the amount is determined, the shutter member is driven to open the opening at the lower end of the barrel portion, and the pushing member moves downward to push down the metered amount of the ingredient, thereby dropping the ingredient toward the object to be dispensed.
2. The ingredient applicator according to 1, wherein the downward movement speed of the push-down member is 0.5 to 2 m/s.
3. The ingredient application device according to 1 or 2, wherein the ingredient is a flaky solid food.
4. The ingredient applying device according to any one of 1 to 3, wherein the object to be applied is a food product.
5. The ingredient applying device according to 4, wherein the food is rice balls or sheet-like cooked rice before being shaped into rice balls.
6. The ingredient application device according to any one of 1 to 5, wherein the ingredient supply 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 . FIG. 2 is a diagram conceptually illustrating an ingredient applying head included in the ingredient applying device of FIG. 1 . 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the operation of the ingredient applying head. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the operation of the ingredient applying head. 11A and 11B are diagrams illustrating the operation of the ingredient applying head.

The ingredient application device of the present invention is described in detail below.

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, the ingredient 2 is a flaky solid food. Particularly suitable flaky solid foods include salmon flakes and tuna flakes.

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 provided within the housing 10. The screw feeder 3 also includes a hopper 12 that supplies ingredients 2 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 a discharge port that opens at the end of the ingredient supply pipe 13 via an ingredient supply pipe 13 that has an inlet on 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 transport conveyor 5 is configured to transport the rice balls 4, with the main surface 6 on which the ingredient grooves 9 are formed, facing upward, successively to below the ingredient application head 1. The transport conveyor 5 is also configured to temporarily stop transport when the ingredient grooves 9 of the rice balls 4 reach directly below the ingredient application head 1. During this stop period, ingredients 2 are applied from the ingredient application head 1 to the ingredient grooves 9. After the ingredient 2 is applied, the transport conveyor 5 resumes transport and transports the next rice ball 4 (a rice ball 4 to which no ingredient 2 has been applied) to below the ingredient application head 1.

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 conceptual diagram illustrating the ingredient application head 1 provided in the ingredient application device of Figure 1.

In this embodiment, the ingredient application head 1 includes a hollow cylindrical barrel portion 14 that is vertically erected, and a shutter member 15 that opens and closes the opening at the lower end of the barrel portion 14 is disposed below the barrel portion 14. In addition, a pressing member 16 that slides up and down within the barrel portion 14 is disposed above the barrel portion 14. The shutter member 15 can be configured to be connected to any driving mechanism, such as an air cylinder, and to open and close the opening at the lower end of the barrel portion 14 by sliding in a direction perpendicular to the vertical. The pressing member 16 can be configured to be connected to any driving mechanism, such as an air cylinder, and to slide up and down within the barrel portion 14 by vertically raising and lowering between an upper limit and a lower limit.

A metered volume chamber 17 is formed between the shutter member 15, which closes the opening at the lower end of the barrel portion 14, and the push-down member 16, which is at the upper limit of movement. An ingredient application head 1 is connected to the end of the ingredient supply pipe 13 so that the outlet of the ingredient supply pipe 13 opens flush with the inner surface of the barrel portion 14 and ejects the ingredient 2 into the metered volume chamber 17. This allows the ingredient 2 to be supplied from the screw feeder 3 to the metered volume chamber 17, making it possible to measure the amount of ingredient 2.

Here, the volume of the metered quantity chamber 17 can be adjusted appropriately according to the volume of the ingredient 2 to be measured so that the ingredient 2 can be measured by filling the metered quantity chamber 17 with the ingredient 2.

Next, the operation of the ingredient application head 1 will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 5.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, the push-down member 16 is positioned at the upper limit of its movement. In this state, the opening on the lower end side of the barrel portion 14 is closed by the shutter member 15.

The transport conveyor 5 also transports the rice balls 4 (rice balls 4 to which no ingredients 2 have been added) below the ingredient application head 1, and temporarily stops transporting at this position.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the ingredient 2 supplied from the screw feeder 3 is discharged from the outlet of the ingredient supply pipe 13 into the metering chamber 17.

At this time, it is preferable that the ingredient 2 is controlled so as to be discharged at a predetermined discharge amount from the discharge port of the ingredient supply pipe 13. 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.

When the metered chamber 17 is filled with the ingredient 2 and the amount is determined, as shown in FIG. 5, the shutter member 15 is driven to open the opening at the lower end of the barrel portion 14, and at the same time, or by moving it back and forth as appropriate, the pressing member 16 is moved downward to press down the metered amount of ingredient 2.

At this time, the downward movement speed of the pusher 16 (the speed at which the ingredient 2 is pushed down) is preferably, for example, 0.5 to 2 m/s, and more preferably 0.7 to 1.5 m/s.

As shown in FIG. 6, the pushing member 16 moves down to its lower limit and then stops. The ingredient 2 pushed down by the pushing member 16 is dropped towards the rice ball 4 arranged below the ingredient application head 1, and lands (hits the target) in the ingredient groove 9. In this way, by dropping the ingredient 2 with force towards the rice ball 4, which is the object to be applied, the ingredient 2 is prevented from breaking apart, and preferably the ingredient 2 can be made to land in the ingredient groove 9 as a single lump with good positional accuracy.

Then, the pusher 16 is raised to its upper limit. The transport conveyor 5 is driven to transport the next rice ball 4 (a rice ball 4 to which no ingredient 2 has been added) below the ingredient application head 1. In this manner, the series of operations shown in Figures 3 to 5 is repeated.

According to this embodiment, by pushing down and dropping a measured amount of ingredient 2 with the push-down member 16, the ingredient 2 can be applied to the rice ball (object) 4 with good positional accuracy, especially even if the ingredient 2 is a flaky solid food. 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.

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 of a vertical type (the screw blades 11 are oriented vertically), but this is not limited thereto, and the screw feeder 3 may also be of a horizontal type (the screw blades 11 are 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. 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 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 limited to the above. The object to which the ingredient 2 is 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, in a sheet shape. With the ingredient application device of the present invention, the ingredient 2 can be applied to a predetermined position (target) on the sheet of cooked rice. The sheet of 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 device of the present invention, for example, even when filling one 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)
14: Barrel portion 15: Shutter member 16: Pressing member 17: Metering chamber

Claims (9)

An ingredient application head;
An ingredient supplying device for supplying ingredients to the ingredient application head;
A conveying device that conveys the object to which the ingredient is to be applied below the ingredient application head;
Equipped with
The ingredient application head includes a hollow cylindrical barrel portion vertically arranged,
A shutter member that opens and closes an opening on a lower end side of the barrel portion is disposed below the barrel portion,
A push-down member that slides up and down within the barrel portion is disposed above the barrel portion,
A metered chamber having a predetermined volume is formed between the shutter member, which closes the opening at the lower end of the barrel portion, and the push-down member, which is at the upper limit of movement.
When the ingredient is supplied from the ingredient supply device to the metering chamber and metered, the shutter member is driven to open the opening at the lower end side of the barrel portion, and the pushing member is moved downward to push down the metered ingredient, thereby dropping the ingredient toward the object to be applied.
The ingredient applying device, wherein the ingredient is a flaky solid food . The ingredient applicator according to claim 1, wherein the downward movement speed of the pressing member is 0.5 to 2 m/s. The ingredient applying device according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the object to be applied is a food product. The ingredient applying device according to claim 3 , wherein the food is rice balls or sheet-like cooked rice before being shaped into rice balls. An ingredient application head;
An ingredient supplying device for supplying ingredients to the ingredient application head;
A conveying device that conveys the object to which the ingredient is to be applied below the ingredient application head;
Equipped with
The ingredient application head includes a hollow cylindrical barrel portion vertically arranged,
A shutter member that opens and closes an opening on a lower end side of the barrel portion is disposed below the barrel portion,
A push-down member that slides up and down within the barrel portion is disposed above the barrel portion,
A metered chamber having a predetermined volume is formed between the shutter member, which closes the opening at the lower end of the barrel portion, and the push-down member, which is at the upper limit of movement.
When the ingredient is supplied from the ingredient supply device to the metering chamber and metered, the shutter member is driven to open the opening at the lower end side of the barrel portion, and the pushing member is moved downward to push down the metered ingredient, thereby dropping the ingredient toward the object to be applied.
The ingredient applying device, characterized in that the object to be applied is a food product . The ingredient applying device according to claim 5 , wherein the downward movement speed of the pushing member is 0.5 to 2 m/s. 7. The ingredient applying device according to claim 5 or 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. An ingredient application head;
An ingredient supplying device for supplying ingredients to the ingredient application head;
A conveying device that conveys the object to which the ingredient is to be applied below the ingredient application head;
Equipped with
The ingredient application head includes a hollow cylindrical barrel portion vertically arranged,
A shutter member that opens and closes an opening on a lower end side of the barrel portion is disposed below the barrel portion,
A push-down member that slides up and down within the barrel portion is disposed above the barrel portion,
A metered chamber having a predetermined volume is formed between the shutter member, which closes the opening at the lower end of the barrel portion, and the push-down member, which is at the upper limit of movement.
When the ingredient is supplied from the ingredient supply device to the metering chamber and metered, the shutter member is driven to open the opening at the lower end side of the barrel portion, and the pushing member is moved downward to push down the metered ingredient, thereby dropping the ingredient toward the object to be applied.
The ingredient applying device, characterized in that the ingredient supplying device is a screw feeder .

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