JP7753938B2 - Steam kettle - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a steam boiler.

Conventionally, steam cookers have been used in which a jacket is provided on the outside of an inner pot that contains food or other processed material, and high-temperature steam is introduced into the space (steam introduction space) formed between the jacket and the inner pot to indirectly heat the processed material. Patent Document 1 discloses a steam cooker equipped with an inner pot and a jacket, and an outlet is provided at the bottom of the inner pot. Food inside the inner pot can be removed by switching the opening and closing of a valve provided at the outlet.

When the outlet for the treated material is located at the bottom of the inner pot, a tubular member is placed so that it passes through the jacket from the bottom of the inner pot, ensuring space inside the tubular member for placing the treatment material removal pipe extending from the outlet. Typically, to ensure efficient removal of the treated material, the outlet is located at the lowest part of the bottom of the inner pot, and the tubular member is placed so that its peripheral wall surrounds the outlet. Furthermore, the gap between the outer surface of the tubular member and the bottom wall of the jacket is sealed by welding.

Utility Model Registration No. 2588298

Figure 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional steam boiler 1. A drain socket 54 for connecting a drain path for steam condensate is welded to the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3. In the above configuration in which the outlet for the treated material is located at the bottom 22 of the inner pot 2, it is preferable to make the distance between the drain socket 54 and the tubular member 4 as small as possible in order to efficiently drain the condensate. However, in order to ensure the strength of the jacket 3, there is a limit to how close the connection point of the drain socket 54 can be to the closing point near the outer surface of the tubular member 4.

The present invention was made in light of these circumstances, and aims to provide a steam kettle in which the outlet for the material to be treated is located at the bottom of the inner kettle, and which is capable of efficiently discharging steam condensate while maintaining the strength of the welds.

According to the present invention, there is provided a steam kettle for treating a material to be treated, comprising an inner pot, a jacket, a tubular member, and a steam chamber. The inner pot is configured to accommodate the material to be treated, and the bottom of the inner pot is provided with an outlet for removing the material to be treated. The jacket is attached to the outside of the inner pot so as to cover at least a portion of the bottom. A space is provided between the jacket and the inner pot through which steam can be introduced. The tubular member extends from the bottom of the inner pot through the bottom wall of the jacket, and the peripheral wall of the tubular member is positioned so as to surround the outlet. A gap is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member and the bottom wall of the jacket. The steam chamber is attached below the gap and communicates with the space via the gap. The steam chamber is provided with an outlet for condensed water from the steam.

In the steam boiler according to the present invention, a gap is formed between the outer surface of the tubular member and the bottom wall of the jacket, a steam chamber communicating with the steam introduction space is provided below the gap, and a condensed water outlet is provided in the steam chamber. With this configuration, condensed water can be efficiently discharged outside the steam chamber via the gap in contact with the outer surface of the tubular member and the outlet. Furthermore, when a drain socket is provided as an outlet, the welded portion of the tubular member and the welded portion of the drain socket do not need to be extremely close to each other, which prevents a decrease in the strength of the weld.

Various embodiments of the present invention will be described below as examples, and the embodiments shown below can be combined with each other.
Preferably, the outlet is provided at the bottom of the steam chest.
Preferably, the gap is formed between the bottom wall and the tubular member over the entire circumference of the outer circumferential surface of the tubular member.

1 is a front view of a steam cooker 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the steam kettle 1 as seen from below. Fig. 3A is a plan view of the steam cooker 1. Fig. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in Fig. 3A. FIG. 3C is an enlarged view of region B of FIG. 3B. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a connection between a steam boiler 1, a steam supply means 6, a cooling water circulation means 7, and a drain discharge means 8. FIG. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional steam cooker 1.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The features shown in the following embodiments can be combined with each other. Furthermore, each feature can be an independent invention.

1. Configuration of the Steam Cooker Fig. 1 is a front view of a steam cooker 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention. The steam cooker 1 is used to process an object to be processed. The steam cooker 1 of this embodiment is used to heat the object to be processed, which is food, and as shown in Figs. 1 to 3B, it comprises an inner pot 2, a jacket 3, a tubular member 4, and a steam chamber member 5. A steam introduction space 33 is provided between the jacket 3 and the inner pot 2, and a steam chamber 51 is provided between the steam chamber member 5 and the jacket 3. In the following description, the up-down and left-right directions of the steam cooker 1 are defined as shown in Fig. 1.

The inner pot 2 is configured to accommodate the material to be treated. As shown in Figure 3B, the inner pot 2 in this embodiment is a hollow container with a bottom and an open top, and includes a cylindrical portion 21 and a bottom portion 22 that is convex downward. A pair of shafts 23 that protrude outward in the left-right direction are provided on the sides of the inner pot 2. The shafts 23 are supported by support members (not shown). This allows the steam cooker 1 to be positioned above the floor surface on which it is installed.

The material to be treated is placed inside the inner pot 2 through the opening 24. The bottom 22 of the inner pot 2 is provided with an outlet 25 for removing the material to be treated. In this embodiment, the outlet 25 is located at the bottom of the bottom 22 of the inner pot 2 and is formed by welding a cylindrical outlet member 26 to the bottom 22 of the inner pot 2. An outlet valve (not shown) is attached to the outlet 25, and an outlet pipe (not shown) is connected to it for transferring the material to the outside. When the material to be treated is being treated, the outlet valve can be closed to close the outlet 25, and when the material is being removed, the outlet valve can be opened to open the outlet 25.

The jacket 3 is provided on the outside of the inner kettle 2 so as to cover at least a portion of the bottom 22 of the inner kettle 2. As shown in FIG. 3B, the jacket 3 of this embodiment is provided so as to cover most of the bottom 22 of the inner kettle 2, and comprises a cylindrical side wall 31 and a bottom wall 32 that is continuous with the side wall 31 and has a downwardly convex shape. The upper end of the side wall 31 is joined to the bottom 22 of the inner kettle 2 by welding.

Between the jacket 3 and the inner pot 2, there is provided a steam introduction space 33 through which steam can be introduced. In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, a supply port 34 is provided in the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3 in a portion not covered by the steam chamber member 5, and steam can be supplied from a boiler (not shown) to the steam introduction space 33 via the supply port 34 by the steam supply means 6. Note that the supply port 34 is not shown in FIGS. 1 to 3B. Specifically, the steam supply means 6 includes a steam supply path 61 connecting the boiler and the supply port 34, and the steam supply path 61 is provided with a steam supply valve 62. High-temperature steam can be supplied from the boiler to the steam introduction space 33 by opening the steam supply valve 62, and the steam supply can be stopped by closing the steam supply valve 62.

In addition, the steam introduction space 33 in this embodiment is configured to allow the introduction of cooling water. As shown in FIG. 5, the cooling water circulation means 7 supplies cooling water from a cooling source (not shown) to the steam introduction space 33, and returns the cooling water discharged from the steam introduction space 33 to the cooling source. A chiller, for example, can be used as the cooling source. Specifically, the cooling water circulation means 7 includes an inlet water passage 71 connecting the cooling source to the supply port 34 and a return water passage 72 connecting the cooling source to the cooling water outlet 35 provided in the side wall 31 of the jacket 3. Note that the cooling water outlet 35 is not shown in FIGS. 1 to 3B. A cooling water supply valve 73 is provided in the inlet water passage 71, and a cooling water outlet valve 74 is provided in the return water passage 72. The inlet water passage 71 downstream of the cooling water supply valve 73 and the steam supply passage 61 downstream of the steam supply valve 62 are connected to the supply port 34 as a common pipeline. When cooling the workpiece after heating, the supply of steam is stopped and then the cooling water supply valve 73 and cooling water discharge valve 74 are opened to circulate cooling water and indirectly cool the workpiece. Note that the manner in which the cooling water is supplied is not limited to the above example; for example, room temperature cooling water from a water supply source may be supplied to the steam introduction space 33 through the supply port 34, and the cooling water discharged from the cooling water discharge port 35 may be discharged to the outside by a drainage means.

As shown in Figures 2 and 3B, the tubular member 4 extends from the bottom 22 of the inner pot 2, penetrating the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3, and is positioned so that the peripheral wall of the tubular member 4 surrounds the outlet 25. In this embodiment, the tubular member 4 is cylindrical, and its upper end is welded to the bottom 22 of the inner pot 2. A take-out valve and part of the take-out pipeline are disposed in the space inside the tubular member 4. Note that in this embodiment, for convenience of arranging the take-out valve and the take-out pipeline, the central axis of the tubular member 4 is horizontally offset from the central axis of the take-out pipeline 25, as shown in Figure 3B. However, the arrangement of the tubular member 4 is not limited to this; for example, the tubular member 4 may be positioned so that the central axes are aligned. Furthermore, the tubular member 4 is not limited to a cylindrical shape and may be, for example, a rectangular tube shape.

As shown in Figures 3B and 4, a gap 9 is formed between the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member 4 and the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3. In this embodiment, the lowermost portion of the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3 is cut open to form a through-hole with an inner diameter larger than the outer diameter of the tubular member 4. The tubular member 4 is then inserted through the through-hole in the bottom wall 32, thereby creating a gap 9 around the entire outer peripheral surface of the tubular member 4 between the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member 4 and the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3. In this embodiment, at least a portion of the gap 9 is located at the lowermost portion of the bottom wall 32 in the cut-open state.

The steam chamber 51 is located below the gap 9 and communicates with the steam introduction space 33 via the gap 9. In this embodiment, a cylindrical steam chamber member 5 with a bottom is disposed outside the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3 and directly below the gap 9, covering at least a portion of the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3, and the steam chamber 51 is provided between the steam chamber member 5 and the bottom wall 32. This allows steam condensate generated in the steam introduction space 33 to move to the steam chamber 51 via the gap 9. Note that, to efficiently move the steam condensate, the size of the gap 9 along the radial direction of the tubular member 4 is preferably 5 mm to 20 mm.

The upper end of the steam chamber member 5 is joined to the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3 by welding. The tubular member 4 passes through the steam chamber 51, and the gap between the outer surface of the tubular member 4 and the bottom wall 53 of the steam chamber member 5 is sealed by welding. The steam chamber member 5 is not limited to a cylindrical shape with a bottom, and may be, for example, a rectangular tubular shape with a bottom.

As shown in FIG. 4 , the steam chamber 51 is provided with a drain outlet 52 for steam condensate (drain). In this embodiment, the drain outlet 52 is provided at the bottom of the steam chamber 51, in other words, on the bottom wall 53 of the steam chamber member 5. Specifically, the drain outlet 52 is provided by forming a through hole in the bottom wall 53 of the steam chamber member 5 and welding a drain socket 54 to the bottom wall 53 at the location where the through hole is formed. In this embodiment, the drain outlet 52 is located at the bottom of the steam chamber 51. As shown in FIG. 5 , a drain outlet 8 is connected to the drain socket 54 for discharging condensate to the outside. Specifically, the drain outlet 8 includes a drain outlet path 81, and a steam trap 82 is provided in the drain outlet path 81. When steam is supplied to the steam introduction space 33, steam flowing from the steam introduction space 33 into the steam chamber 51 is prevented from leaking to the outside by the steam trap 82. On the other hand, steam condensate can be discharged to the outside through the steam trap 82.

2. Operation of the Steam Pot 1 When heating the material to be treated, the steam supply valve 62 is opened to introduce steam from the boiler into the steam introduction space 33. The introduced steam fills the steam introduction space 33 and also fills the steam chamber 51 via the gap 9. After the steam introduction space 33 and the steam chamber 51 are brought to the set heating pressure (set heating temperature), this state is maintained to keep the material to be treated warm in the inner pot 2.

As heating progresses, condensation of the steam occurs. The condensation generated in the steam introduction space 33 moves through the gap 9 to the steam chamber 51, and is then discharged from the exhaust port 52 of the steam chamber 51.

When heating is finished, the steam supply valve 62 is closed to stop the supply of steam. When cooling after heating, the cooling water supply valve 73 and cooling water discharge valve 74 are opened to introduce cooling water from the cooling source into the steam introduction space 33. This allows cooling water to circulate between the cooling source and the steam introduction space 33.

3. Effects and Effects FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional steam cooker 1. In the conventional steam cooker 1, the tubular member 4 extends from the bottom 22 of the inner pot 2 to penetrate the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3, and is disposed so as to surround the outlet 25 for the material to be treated. The outer peripheral surface of the tubular member 4 is welded to the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3. A drain socket 54 is welded to an outlet 52 provided in the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3, and steam condensate is discharged to the outside via the drain socket 54. In this conventional configuration, in order to more efficiently discharge condensate generated in the steam introduction space 33, it is preferable to minimize the distance between the drain socket 54 and the tubular member 4. However, in order to ensure the strength of the jacket 3, which experiences high pressure in the inner steam introduction space 33 when steam is introduced, there is a limit to how close the closing point of the tubular member 4 can be to the joining point of the drain socket 54.

In the steam kettle 1 of this embodiment, when steam condenses in the steam inlet space 33, the condensed water moves through the gap 9 into the steam chamber 51 and is discharged to the outside through the outlet 52 provided in the steam chamber 51. This allows the condensed water to be efficiently discharged outside the steam chamber 51. Furthermore, if a drain socket 54 is provided as the outlet 52, it is welded to the wall surface of the steam chamber member 5, so there is no need to bring the closing point between the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3 and the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member 4 and the connecting point of the drain socket 54 close to each other.

In addition, in this embodiment, at least a portion of the gap 9 formed between the outer peripheral surface of the tubular member 4 and the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3 is located at the bottommost part of the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3. Therefore, condensed water generated in the steam introduction space 33 can be more efficiently moved to the steam chamber 51. Furthermore, because the exhaust port 52 of the steam chamber 51 is located on the bottom wall 53 of the steam chamber member 5 and at the bottommost part of the steam chamber 51, condensed water within the steam chamber 51 can be more efficiently discharged to the outside.

4. Other Embodiments In the above embodiment, the gap 9 is formed between the tubular member 4 and the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3 along the entire circumference of the outer circumferential surface of the tubular member 4, but the configuration of the gap 9 is not limited to this. The gap 9 may be provided between the tubular member 4 and the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3 along part of the circumference of the outer circumferential surface of the tubular member 4. Alternatively, a plurality of gaps 9 may be provided between the tubular member 4 and the bottom wall 32 of the jacket 3 at predetermined intervals along the circumferential direction of the outer circumferential surface of the tubular member 4.

The above describes various embodiments of the present invention, but these are presented as examples and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments may be embodied in a variety of other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as the invention and its equivalents as set forth in the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1: Steam kettle 2: Inner kettle 3: Jacket 4: Tubular member 5: Steam chamber member 6: Steam supply means 7: Cooling water circulation means 8: Drain discharge means 9: Gap 21: Cylindrical portion 22: Bottom 23: Shaft portion 24: Opening 25: Outlet 26: Outlet member 31: Side wall 32: Bottom wall 33: Steam introduction space 34: Supply port 35: Cooling water discharge port 51: Steam chamber 52: Discharge port 53: Bottom wall 54: Drain socket 61: Steam supply passage 62: Steam supply valve 71: Forward water passage 72: Return water passage 73: Cooling water supply valve 74: Cooling water discharge valve 81: Drain discharge passage 82: Steam trap

Claims (3)

A steam boiler for treating a material to be treated,
The pot comprises an inner pot, a jacket, a tubular member, and a steam chamber.
The inner pot is configured to accommodate the object to be processed,
A take-out port for taking out the material to be treated is provided at the bottom of the inner pot,
The jacket is provided on the outside of the inner kettle so as to cover at least a part of the bottom,
A space is provided between the jacket and the inner pot to allow steam to be introduced,
the tubular member extends from the bottom of the inner pot to penetrate the bottom wall of the jacket, and the peripheral wall of the tubular member is disposed so as to surround the outlet;
a gap is formed between the outer circumferential surface of the tubular member and the bottom wall of the jacket,
The steam chamber is provided below the gap and communicates with the space through the gap,
The steam chamber is provided with an outlet for draining condensed water of the steam. The steam cooker according to claim 1,
The steam boiler, wherein the exhaust port is provided at the bottom of the steam chamber. The steam cooker according to claim 1 or 2,
The gap is formed between the tubular member and the bottom wall over the entire circumference of the outer circumferential surface of the tubular member.