JPS6131980B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a rough rolling method in the tea manufacturing process, in which the amount of heat supplied to the tea leaves is gradually reduced almost continuously, and the degree of pressure applied to the tea leaves is gradually increased almost continuously. By doing so, the evaporation rate of the surface moisture of the tea leaves and the transfer rate of the internal moisture of the tea leaves to the surface are balanced, and the rough rolling process is performed while maintaining the tea leaf temperature approximately constant.

Conventionally, as a method of dividing the rough-rolling process, there is a method of switching one rough-rolling process into three stages, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-39159, but this method has the following drawbacks.

In other words, as shown in Fig. 1, since the hot air temperature a and the hot air volume b are simultaneously reduced in three stages, the amount of heat supplied is shown by the thick line no matter how much the reduction in both is made. As shown in A, it suddenly changes into three stages.

On the other hand, since the rotational speed of the main shaft on which the kneading hands that press the leaves and the dredges that promote agitation are set up is also reduced in three stages, the pressing intensity applied to the leaves also suddenly changes to the third stage c.

The relationship between this rotation and the degree of pressure is explained in Fig. 2.If the rotation is fast, the leaf cluster inside the body is dispersed greatly as shown by arrow A, and the time it takes to stay in the air is longer, and the time it takes to fall to the bottom of the body is shortened. As a result, the amount of tea leaves that stay at the bottom of the body is reduced, and there is less pressure from rolling the tea leaves.
As the rotation speed decreases, the leaf cluster gradually moves like a rohani, and the amount of tea leaves that stays at the bottom of the body increases, and the pressure exerted by the kneading hands increases.

This pressing effect is important because it forces the moisture inside the leaf to move to the surface.
On the other hand, hot air evaporates and removes surface moisture.

Therefore, when changing the tea manufacturing conditions into three stages as shown in Figure 1, the amount of heat supplied and the degree of pressure remain constant for a considerable period of time at each stage, so the surface moisture due to hot air gradually decreases. The ability to remove moisture exceeds the ability to transfer internal moisture to the surface by pressing. In other words, the moisture content of the tea leaves decreases in a slope in three stages as shown in the double line B in the figure, but the amount of heat supplied is constant as shown in the double line A, and at each stage,
This is not accompanied by the decreasing water content. In other words, this is no longer a so-called constant rate drying state. In other words, constant rate drying cannot be achieved unless hot air is supplied in accordance with the moisture content of the tea, and this most important condition in the tea drying process cannot be satisfied. As a result, the leaf accumulates the supplied heat internally, so the temperature of the leaf is the dotted line C.
As shown in the figure, the temperature rises markedly from the middle of each stage onward, and when switching between stages, the supplied heat quantity suddenly decreases step by step, resulting in a fluctuation in which the temperature conversely drops significantly as shown in the figure.

This is the result of abruptly changing the amount of heat A into three stages, and simultaneously changing the air volume and rotational speed of the spindle into three stages. This is the result of doing this without fully understanding the situation.

The important point in the tea processing operation is to constantly maintain the temperature of the leaves at around 36℃ under constant rate drying, which is impossible with such methods. This will impede various subtle aspects of tea manufacturing quality, such as aroma, light color, and shape.

The method of the present invention was developed in view of these drawbacks, and the first invention is to change the hot air temperature from approximately 110°C to 75°C in multiple stages through one rough rolling process, and to The amount is approximately ^160m3
70 m ³ , the temperature of the hot air is continuously changed in several tens of steps with a downward curve corresponding to the above-mentioned downward trend of the hot air temperature,
The amount of heat supplied was gradually reduced almost continuously, and at the same time, the spindle rotation speed was increased from approximately 40 rpm to 34 rpm.
The degree of pressure of the kneading hands on the tea leaves is gradually increased by changing the descending curve corresponding to the decreasing trend of the hot air temperature in several tens of steps, thereby increasing the evaporation rate of the water on the surface of the tea leaves and the rate of water inside the tea leaves reaching the surface. This is to balance the transfer speed and maintain the tea leaf temperature approximately constant.

In other words, if the hot air temperature is set to multiple stages of 4 to 6 instead of 3, the hot air temperature can be adjusted to 4 to 6.
Even if there are stages, the air volume is set in several 10 steps, especially 60 steps, with a descending curve that corresponds to the downward trend of the hot air temperature in 4 to 6 steps, and the spindle rotation speed is set in several steps, with a downward curve that corresponds to the downward trend of the hot air temperature. If you set it to 10 levels, especially 60 levels, you can achieve a balance between the gradually decreasing amount of heat supplied and the moisture that gradually leaks to the outer surface due to the gradually increasing degree of pressure.
It has been confirmed that the purpose of constant rate drying of tea leaves can be achieved, and in this case, the air volume or spindle rotation speed may not be completely stepless, or may be changed in small steps such as 100 or more steps. It has been found that the surface water evaporation rate and the surface transfer rate of tea leaf internal moisture can be balanced to this extent even without switching to the tea leaves, and the intended purpose can be practically achieved.

In addition, the second invention changes the hot air temperature in multiple stages through one rough rolling process, rotates once in one rough rolling process, and conducts electricity at each cycle time.
A cam that rotates intermittently 60 times is provided, and the time required for one rough kneading process is determined, and one cycle time is set to the same number of seconds as the number of minutes of this required time, and the cam is rotated intermittently. Using this cam, the amount of hot air and the rotational speed of the main shaft are continuously changed in 60 steps with a descending curve that corresponds to the decreasing trend of the hot air temperature, thereby increasing the evaporation rate of water on the surface of tea leaves and the surface moisture inside tea leaves. The temperature of the tea leaves is maintained approximately constant by balancing the transfer speed of the tea leaves.

The method of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG.

1 Rough rolling process was 40 minutes, and the hot air temperature was initially 110℃.
The temperature is then changed in four steps: 100℃, 90℃, and 75℃. This can be done by setting a timer in advance so that it can be switched every 10 minutes. Then, the air volume is adjusted to have a downward curve that corresponds to the decreasing trend of temperature.
It changes one after another in 60 steps starting from 160m ³ per minute and reaching 70m ³ per minute. This blower damper is 40
All you have to do is close it minutely every second (more on this 40 seconds later). Further, the spindle rotation speed is successively changed in 60 steps starting at 40 rpm and ending at 34 rpm, with a curve corresponding to the decreasing trend of the hot air temperature. This can be done by minutely reducing the diameter of the variable diameter pulley of the shaft drive motor every 40 seconds.

The hot air temperature is shown in the figure d, the air volume is e, and the amount of heat supplied by the hot air temperature and air volume is shown as D, which shows a slight step difference when switching the temperature, but overall decreases almost continuously, The pressing degree f changes in inverse proportion to the spindle rotation speed corresponding to the hot air temperature.

If the above-mentioned tea manufacturing conditions are set in this way, and the steam-treated tea leaves are put into the rough rolling barrel and the operation of the tea manufacturing conditions is started, the tea leaves will initially be exposed to high temperature and large amount of hot air and then rolled. Drying begins while being agitated by the high-speed rotation of dredges and dredges. In other words, the leaf cluster is well loosened by agitation and exposed to hot air, and the water droplets adhering to the surface are first removed and the surface gradually begins to dry.

Then, after the surface of the tea leaves begins to dry, the internal moisture of the tea leaves is sequentially pressed with the hands and transferred to the surface, where it is dried by the amount of heat supplied, but as mentioned above, the important thing here is The degree of pressure applied to the tea leaves and the amount of heat supplied must be balanced. In other words, in synchronization with the above-mentioned progress, the amount of heat supplied to the hot air is gradually decreased every 40 seconds to slightly reduce the drying ability, while the degree of pressure is gradually increased every 40 seconds to transfer internal moisture to the surface. increase the ability to In this way, it is possible to harmoniously change the tea manufacturing conditions and the progress of moisture loss in the tea leaves. Also F
It is maintained constant as follows.

Then, after 10 minutes, the temperature of the hot air temporarily drops by 10℃ due to the temperature change, so the surface moisture removal ability decreases slightly, albeit for a short period of time, and at this time the leaf temperature drops to F. As shown in _{step 1} , the temperature will drop slightly, but the balance between the two will be maintained again and the temperature will return to normal.

Although this transition repeats and there is a slight drop in F ₂ and F ₃ , the temperature of the leaves remains constant throughout the process, and this slight drop in tea leaf temperature at each stage has little to do with the properties of the product tea. There is no effect.

Next, FIGS. 4 and 5 will be explained.

1 is a command circuit for the rotation mechanism 2; 3 is a cam of a specific shape that is intermittently rotated by the rotation mechanism; 4 is a control mechanism 5 having an air volume adjustment damper and a main shaft transmission (both not shown); This is the control circuit. Command circuit 1 is connected to a commercial frequency power supply, and its frequency is set to 1.
It is equipped with a frequency divider 6 that converts the signal into a pulse signal once every second, and is further connected with a counter 8 to which a digital timer 7 is connected, and the counter and the motor 10 of the rotating mechanism 2 are connected by a relay 9.

The above counter counts pulses every second from the frequency divider according to the cycle time set arbitrarily in the timer 7 in seconds, for example 40 seconds, and when that time is counted, the relay is activated. The circuit is designed so that the relay contacts 9 are closed and energized, and after 3 seconds of energization, the relay contacts are opened.

On the other hand, the motor 10 of the rotating mechanism uses, for example, a synchronous motor, and a reduction gear 12 is meshed with an external gear 11 of the gear head, and a cam 3 of a specific shape is pivotally attached to this gear. The outer circumferential shape of this cam is such that it can form a downward curve corresponding to the downward tendency of the hot air temperature, and is shaped so that the distance from the axis gradually decreases against the direction of rotation. The control circuit 4 includes a movable piece 14 which is pivotally connected to the dial shaft of the variable resistor 13 on the outer periphery of the cam.
When the cam is brought into contact with the cam and the cam is rotated, the dial shaft rotates according to the shape of its outer circumference, thereby making it possible to vary the voltage. 16 and the variable resistor are connected via a balance relay 17. The lever 18 of the control motor is connected to the damper of the control mechanism 5 and the operating section of the transmission.

By the way, the cam 3 is designed to rotate once in one rough rubbing process, and the reduction ratio of the rotation mechanism is designed so that the rotation speed is 2 degrees per second.

Therefore, if the motor 10 is energized for 3 seconds,
The cam will rotate by 6 degrees, and if this 3 second energization t is carried out at intervals of a predetermined cycle time T, as shown in Fig. 5, the cam will rotate intermittently, and vice versa. If current is applied through the bypass circuit, for example, in the case of resetting, the cam will return to its original position in 3 seconds x 360'/6° = 3 minutes at the longest.

Therefore, if the cycle time T is set to 40 seconds using the digital timer 7 as shown in the figure, and the command circuit is operated, the counter 8 will count the pulses from the frequency divider 6 40 times, and at that point, the relay 9 will be activated. 3
Power on for only seconds. Then, the rotating mechanism 2 also operates for 3 seconds, rotates the cam 3 by 6 degrees, and then stops. Therefore, the variable resistor 13 also rotates the dial in a predetermined manner to change the voltage, and sends this to the balance relay 17, where it is connected to the control motor 15.
and the current position notification voltage from the potentiometer 16, and the control motor 15 is rotated by the voltage difference. Therefore, the damper opening of the blower is slightly closed by the displacement of the lever 18.
The motor pulley of the main shaft transmission is made smaller to slightly reduce the rotational speed of the main shaft. This operation is repeated 60 times every 40 seconds, and the cam reaches 1
It rotates and returns to its original position, and continues to change the amount of heat supplied and the degree of pressure in 60 steps with a descending curve that corresponds to the decreasing trend of the hot air temperature.

By the way, cam 3 rotates 6 degrees every 40 seconds, so it takes 60 rotations to complete one rotation of 360 degrees, and the required time is 40 seconds x 60 times =
2400 seconds = 40 minutes. The required time is the time required for one rough kneading process. The number 40/40 for this 1 rough rolling process and 40/40 for the cycle time 40 seconds.
The numbers match. This is based on the assumption that cam 3 is rotated 60 times in one rough kneading process.
It is clear from the above formula that the two numbers necessarily match.

That is, if one rough kneading step is set in advance to 40 minutes, the cycle time T is 40 seconds. In other words, if you set the cycle time T to 40 seconds as shown in the figure on the digital timer 7, you can immediately read that one rough kneading process takes 40 minutes. If the cycle time is set to 30 seconds, the time required for the process will be 30 minutes, and if the cycle time is set to 45 seconds, the process will be completed in 45 minutes.

Since the method of the present invention is configured as described above, the amount of heat supplied changes smoothly in 60 steps even though the hot air temperature is changed in 4 to 6 steps, and by making such minute changes, it is possible to The water content decreases continuously in a substantially linear manner, and constant rate drying can be performed at all times. In this case, in particular, by gradually increasing the degree of pressure over 60 steps, a balance can always be maintained between the ability to remove surface moisture by the amount of heat supplied and the ability to forcibly transfer internal moisture to the surface. Therefore, the supplied heat is not accumulated in the tea leaves, and as a result, the tea leaves can always maintain a constant temperature.

Since the tea leaves are always pressed in a moderately moist state, they do not dry out, and the shape is stable without causing leaf breakage, maintaining a lush color and retaining the stuffy aroma. Therefore, it is possible to obtain a high-quality product tea that maintains the refreshing aroma and taste characteristic of tea leaves.

In addition, a cam of a specific shape is rotated once during one rough-kneading process, and this is divided into 60 times and rotated intermittently, rotating every several tens of seconds. Since the number of seconds in seconds can be directly read as the time required for a process in minutes, operators can clearly see the cycle time and rough kneading time, which not only prevents erroneous operations, but also
There is a practical advantage in that the tea processing time and the cycle time for changing conditions can be set at the same time according to the leaf quality. Therefore, if the timer in the illustrated example displays "Rough kneading time setting", this is the rough kneading time in minutes, and it acts on the counter of the command circuit as a cycle time in seconds.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a graph showing an example of a conventional roughing method, Fig. 2 is a schematic sectional view of a roughing cylinder for explaining the relationship between spindle rotation and pressing degree, and Fig. 3 is an implementation of the method of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a block circuit diagram and three-dimensional wiring diagram showing an embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention, and FIG. 5 is a process diagram of cycle time in the same apparatus. d...Hot air temperature, e...Hot air volume, f...Degree of pressure, D...Amount of heat supplied, E...Moisture reduction in tea leaves, F
...... Temperature of tea leaves, 1 ... Command circuit, 2 ... Rotation mechanism, 3 ... Cam, 4 ... Control circuit, 5 ... Control mechanism, 6 ... Frequency divider, 7 ... Timer, 8 ... Counter, 10 ... Motor, 13 ... Variable resistor, 15 ... Control motor, 17 ... Balance relay.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. During the rough rolling process, the hot air temperature is lower than approximately 110°C.
The hot air volume was varied in multiple steps up to 75℃, and the hot air volume was continuously changed in several dozen steps from approximately 160 m ³ to 70 m ³ with a downward curve corresponding to the above-mentioned downward trend in the hot air temperature. The amount of heat supplied is gradually reduced almost continuously, and at the same time, the number of spindle rotations is approximately reduced.
From 40rpm to 34rpm, the degree of pressure of the kneading hands on the tea leaves is gradually increased by changing it in several tens of steps with a downward curve corresponding to the decreasing trend of the hot air temperature, thereby increasing the evaporation rate of water on the surface of the tea leaves and the inside of the tea leaves. A tea processing method that balances the speed of water transfer to the surface and maintains the temperature of the tea leaves at a nearly constant level. 2. The tea manufacturing and roughening method according to claim 1, wherein the hot air temperature is changed in 4 to 6 steps, and the hot air volume and spindle rotation speed are both continuously changed in 60 steps. 3. The temperature of the hot air is changed in multiple stages through one rough rubbing process, and a cam is installed that rotates once in one rough rubbing process and rotates intermittently 60 times by energizing each cycle time, and the required temperature of one rough rubbing process is changed. The time and minute are determined, and the cam is rotated intermittently with the same number of seconds as the minutes of the required time as one cycle time. The temperature is continuously changed in 60 steps with a descending curve corresponding to the downward trend, and the evaporation rate of the surface moisture of the tea leaf and the transfer rate of the internal moisture of the tea leaf to the surface are balanced to maintain the tea leaf temperature almost constant. Tea manufacturing method.