JPH0138468B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a skewer feeding device for aligning and feeding stick-shaped foods such as sausages to an automatic skewering device when skewering the foods.

(Prior art) In recent years, food products made by frying skewered sausages have become popular and eaten mainly by young people. It is customary for sausages to be shipped to retail stores, etc., and therefore sausage makers and the like perform the work of threading the sausages on skewers.

However, this operation requires a supply conveyor in which a large number of grooves extending in the width direction are formed at regular intervals on the conveyor surface, and sausages that are fed and held in each groove of the conveyor are fed in a longitudinal direction. It is customary to use an automatic skewering machine, which consists of a skewering machine that threads the skewers in sequence. However, in reality, the work of feeding the sausages into each groove of the supply conveyor in this automatic skewering machine is done manually by the operator, and this improves the efficiency of this type of skewering work. It is preventing this.

(Object of the Invention) The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances when feeding stick-shaped foods such as sausages to an automatic skewering device. The purpose of the present invention is to realize a device that can automatically feed food, thereby saving labor and improving efficiency in skewering food such as sausages.

(Structure of the Invention) That is, the feeding device for skewering stick-shaped food according to the present invention includes a charge hopper that discharges the stick-shaped food fed from a device such as a bucket conveyor in the required amount, and a charge hopper that discharges the food discharged from the charge hopper into a circular shape. A rotary feeder that receives the food in a container and feeds it out in a tangential direction while rotating it in a horizontal plane, a timing hopper that temporarily stores the bar-shaped food fed out from the rotary feeder, and a timing hopper that rotates it in a vertical plane and feeds it out in the tangential direction. It has a drum feeder that receives bar-shaped foods discharged from the hopper one by one into a plurality of notched grooves formed around the circumference at regular intervals in a direction perpendicular to the circumferential direction, and from within each notched groove of the drum feeder. The automatic skewering device is configured to feed bar-shaped food into each groove of a supply conveyor. In this case, the rotary feeder rotates the bar-shaped food placed in the circular container and feeds it out in the tangential direction, so the food is sequentially discharged with its longitudinal direction facing the feeding direction. Therefore, in the timing hopper that temporarily stores the food discharged from the rotary feeder, each food is stored in the same position. Then, by feeding the bar-shaped foods whose postures are aligned in this way to the drum feeder, each bar-shaped food is accommodated in a predetermined posture in each notch groove formed on the circumferential surface of the drum feeder. become. Therefore,
When the bar-shaped foods held in the notched grooves are further fed into the concave grooves of the supply conveyor by rotation of the drum feeder, each bar-shaped food is accommodated one by one in a predetermined posture in the notched grooves of the drum feeder. Therefore, it is ensured that the material is thrown into the groove of the conveyor in the predetermined direction.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above, according to the feeding device for skewering stick-shaped foods according to the present invention, stick-shaped foods such as sausages are automatically and aligned in a predetermined posture and fed to the feeding conveyor in the automatic skewering device. becomes possible. This eliminates the trouble of manually feeding bar-shaped foods one by one into the grooves of the supply conveyor, which was the case in the past, and saves labor and improves efficiency when skewering sausages, etc. will be realized.

(Example) Examples of the present invention will be described below.

First, the overall structure of the skewering feeding device will be explained with reference to FIGS. In addition, a bucket conveyor 4 is arranged behind the supply section 2 (on the right side in the drawing), and both the alignment sections 3, 3 are integrally provided with the automatic skewering devices 5, 5. .

Here, to explain the general configuration of this automatic skewering device 5, this device 5 runs on the upper part of a pedestal 6 from the right side to the left side in the drawing, and has a large number of concave grooves 7a extending in the width direction on the conveying surface at regular intervals. It is composed of a supply conveyor 7 and a skewering machine 8 disposed on the downstream side of the conveyor 7.
When bar-shaped foods X... The skewers are inserted in the longitudinal direction.

Next, the configuration of each part of the skewering supply device 1 will be explained. The supply section 2 includes a charge hopper 12 arranged above the rear part of the pedestal 11, and a charge hopper 12 that is guided forward from below the discharge port of the charge hopper 12. A pair of left and right first trough feeders 13, 13, and a movable chute 14 at the tip of the feeders 13, 13.
A pair of left and right second trough feeders 15, 15 are connected to each other via 14, and a pair of rotary feeders 16 are disposed at the front end of the pedestal 11 and are located below the second trough feeders 15, 15, respectively.
It consists of 16. Here, the first and second trough feeders 13 and 15 are vibrators 13a and 1, respectively.
5a and the trough 13b installed above it, 1
5b, and the food in the troughs 13b, 15b is transferred forward when the vibrators 13a, 15a are activated. Further, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 3, the rotary feeder 16 is provided with a circular container 18 made up of a bottom plate 18a and a peripheral wall 18b above the case 17, and the peripheral wall 18b.
8b is provided with two discharge ports 18c, 18c, and gates 19, 19 for opening and closing these discharge ports 18c, 18c, respectively. The bottom plate 18a of the circular container 18 is rotatable and constantly rotated in the direction a by a motor 20 housed in the case 17.
Furthermore, cylinders 21 and 21 (only one of which is shown) are housed in the case 17 to open and close the gates 19 and 19, respectively. And, as shown in Figure 2,
Two third trough feeders 22...22 extend from below the two discharge ports 18c...18c in each of the pair of rotary feeders 16, 16, that is, a total of four discharge ports 18c...18c toward the alignment parts 3, 3 located on both sides.
is provided. This third trough feeder 22
Also, each trough 22b is provided with two rows of guide grooves 22b', 22b', and the tip of each guide groove 22b', 22b' is made up of a vibrator 22a and a trough 22b. There are provided stoppers 24, 24 that move up and down as the support shaft 23 rotates (see FIG. 4).

Next, the structure of the alignment parts 3, 3 will be explained with reference to FIG. It is supported on the side surface of the main body 25 via rotating shafts 26, 26 so as to be located above, and is rotatable in a vertical plane, and has a large number of semicircular cuts on the circumferential surface in a direction perpendicular to the circumferential direction. It has a pair of front and rear drum feeders 27, 27 in which grooves 27a...27a are formed, and a pair of timing hoppers 28, 28 arranged diagonally above the drum feeders 27, 27. These timing hoppers 28, 28 are located below the tips of the third trough feeders 22, 22, and the rear surface of each hopper 28 is provided with a gate 30 that can be opened and closed by rotating the support shaft 29. Furthermore, the bottom plate 31 is also swingable within a certain range by rotation of the support shaft 32. Then, a chute 33 runs from below each timing hopper 28 toward a position close to the upper front of the corresponding drum feeder 27.
A regulating plate 34 located in front of the tip thereof, and an arcuate guide plate 35 disposed along the rear half of the drum feeder 27 are fixed to the side surface 25a of the main body 25. In addition, the above chute 33
The upper end of the side surface protrudes upward to close the side of the timing hopper 28, and the hopper 28
The front side is a fixed plate 36 fixed to the side surface 25a of the main body.
It is formed by.

As shown in FIG. 5, inside the main body 25 are the gate 30 and bottom plate 31 of each timing hopper 28, a pair of stoppers 24, 24 at the tip of the third trough feeder 22, and each drum feeder 27. Two sets of drive mechanisms are provided to drive the. In other words, the bottom plate 31 of the timing hopper 28 is moved to the crank rod 38 by the motor 37.
The support shaft 32 is rotated reciprocatingly within a constant rotational angle range via the lever 39 and the shaft 39, thereby swinging in the a-a direction. 42, the support shaft 29 is opened and closed by rotating within a certain rotation angle range, and the stopper 24 at the tip of the third trough feeder 22,
24 is adapted to be moved up and down by the support shaft 23 being rotated by a cylinder 43 through a rod 44 and a lever 45 within a constant rotation angle range. Further, the drive mechanism of the drum feeder 27 includes the rotating shaft 26 supported by the support base 46.
and a ratchet wheel 47 fixed to the rotating shaft 26.
and a ratchet pawl 4 that is reciprocated by a cylinder 48 to intermittently drive the ratchet wheel 47 in direction b.
9, and a stopper 51 which is biased by a spring 50 in the direction of engagement with the ratchet wheel 48 and prevents the ratchet wheel 47 from reversing when the ratchet pawl 49 retreats. A drum feeder 27 is attached to the rotating shaft 26, so that the feeder 27 is intermittently rotated in the b direction.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a first sensor 52 for detecting the presence or absence of food on the chute 33 between the timing hopper 28 and the drum feeder 27, and a sensor inside the timing hopper 28 are used. a second sensor 5 for detecting the presence or absence of food;
3, a third sensor 54 that detects the presence or absence of food in the third trough feeder 22 between the timing hopper 28 and the rotary feeder 16, and a third sensor 54 that detects the presence or absence of food or the remaining amount of food in the rotary feeder 16. The movable chute 14 between the first and second trough feeders 13 and 15 is provided with a fourth sensor 55 and a fifth sensor 56 that detects the presence or absence of food in the charge hopper 12 or the amount remaining. When it runs out, it swings upward, and at this time the switch 57 is turned on. Then, the first sensor 52 is connected to the chute 33.
When it is detected that the food on the top is gone, the cylinder 40 shown in FIG. When this is detected, the vibrator 2 of the third trough feeder 22
2a, and also operates the cylinder 43 to close the stopper 2 at the tip of the feeder 22.
4 is moved upward, and when the third sensor 54 detects that the food in the third trough feeder 22 is gone, the cylinder 21 in the rotary feeder 16 shown in FIG. 3 is operated to open the gate 19,
When the fourth sensor 55 detects that there is no more food in the circular container 18 of the rotary feeder 16 or that the remaining amount is low, the vibrator 15a of the second trough feeder 15 is activated, and the switch 57 is activated. When turned on, that is, when there is no food on the movable chute 14 and the chute 14 swings upward, the vibrator 13a of the first trough feeder 13
Furthermore, when the fifth sensor 56 detects that the food in the charge hopper 12 has run out or the remaining amount has decreased, the bucket conveyor 4 is operated.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be explained.

First, when this apparatus 1 is started, at this point there is no food in the supply path from the charge hopper 12 in the supply section 2 to the total of four drum feeders 27...27 in the alignment sections 3, 3 on both sides. All members constituting the supply route perform a supply operation, and a large number of bar-shaped foods are thrown into the charge hopper 12 by the bucket conveyor 4, and from the hopper 12 to the first trough feeder 1.
3, 13, movable chute 14, 14, second trough feeder 15, 15, rotary feeder 16, 1
6. The bar-shaped food is fed to the upper part of the drum feeders 27...27 via the third trough feeders 22...22, the timing hoppers 28...28, and the chute 33...33. When the food is sequentially fed out by these drum feeders 27, the gate 30 of the timing hopper 28 on the upstream side opens and the food is fed again to the upper part of the drum feeder 27, and so on. When it runs out, the upstream supply member operates, and in this way, the charge hopper 12 is fed to each drum feeder 27...
Food will be continuously supplied to the upper part of No. 27 without excess or deficiency.

However, in the above-described operation of feeding bar-shaped foods to each drum feeder 27, the first and second trough feeders 13, 15 are fed from inside the charge hopper 12.
Until the food is put into the circular container 18 of the rotary feeder 16 via At times, each food item will be aligned. That is, in the rotary feeder 16, since the bottom plate 18a of the circular container 18 is rotating, the container 1
The food placed in step 8 is aligned by centrifugal force so that its longitudinal direction is along the inner surface of the peripheral wall 18b,
Therefore, the gate 19 of the container 18 is opened and the outlet 1 is opened.
When being fed out in the tangential direction from 8c, each food item is fed out with its longitudinal direction facing the feeding direction. The food whose posture has been aligned in this way is then transferred to the trough 22b of the third trough feeder 22 in two lines and placed into the timing hopper 28. They are thrown into the hopper 28 in a constant posture as described above. Further, in the timing hopper 28, the bottom plate 31 is connected to the motor 3.
7, the food items in the hopper 28 are vibrated from below, thereby aligning the food items in a more orderly manner. Therefore, when the gate 30 of the timing hopper 28 opens and the food slides down the chute 33 toward the drum feeder 27, each food product rolls down with its longitudinal direction facing perpendicular to the falling direction. Drum feeder 2 while maintaining that position.
It will be temporarily stored at the top of 7.

However, around the drum feeder 27, there are cutout grooves 27a...27a in a direction perpendicular to the circumferential direction, that is, in the same direction as the longitudinal direction of the food stored in the upper part of the feeder 27. Due to rotation, each notch groove 27a...2
Food items are automatically stored one by one in 7a, and in this state each food item is rotated downward while being prevented from falling off by the guide plate 35. and,
A supply conveyor 7 in the automatic skewering device 5 runs below the drum feeder 27, and grooves 7a are formed at regular intervals on the conveyance surface of the conveyor 7.
Since the grooves 7a are formed, the food held in the notched grooves 27a of the drum feeder 27 and circulated downward is sequentially fed into the grooves 7a of the supply conveyor. . Here, the rotational speed of the drum feeder 27 and the running speed of the supply conveyor 7 are the former notch grooves 27a...27.
The relationship is such that two of the latter concave grooves 7a...7a pass by while one food item a passes by, and food is fed into every other concave groove 7a...7a of the supply conveyor 7 to one drum feeder 27. Therefore, in each alignment section 3, the food is delivered from the two drum feeders 27, 27 to the supply conveyor 7, so that all the grooves 7a...7 in the downstream part of the conveyor 7
The food is placed in a.

The food thus placed into each of the grooves 7a...7a of the supply conveyor 7 is transferred to the skewering machine 8 side by the conveyor 7, and automatically sequentially sequentially in the longitudinal direction by the skewering machine 8. A skewer is pierced.

As described above, the bar-shaped foods
...X is inserted automatically and in the correct posture, which significantly improves efficiency compared to the conventional method of manually inserting it, and also saves labor for this type of skewering work. will be planned.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of the skewering feeder according to the present invention, in which Fig. 1 is an overall side view, Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the rotary feeder, and Fig. 4 is an alignment view. FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the internal structure of the alignment section. 1... Skewering supply device, 5... Automatic skewering device, 7... Supply conveyor, 7a... Concave groove, 8...
Skewering machine, 12...Charge hopper, 16...Rotary feeder, 27...Drum feeder, 27
a... Notch groove, 28... Timing hopper.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A supply conveyor in which a large number of grooves extending in the width direction are formed at regular intervals on the conveyor surface, and a skewer that sequentially skewers the bar-shaped food placed in and held in each groove of the conveyor in the longitudinal direction. A device for feeding the bar-shaped food to an automatic skewering device comprising: a charge hopper for discharging the input bar-shaped food in required amounts; and a charge hopper for receiving the bar-shaped food discharged from the charge hopper into a circular container and rotating it in a horizontal plane. A rotary feeder that discharges the food in the longitudinal direction by feeding it in the tangential direction, a timing hopper that temporarily stores the bar-shaped food discharged from the rotary feeder in the same position, and A large number of notched grooves which are rotated within the plane and perpendicular to the circumferential direction are formed on the circumferential surface, and the bar-shaped food discharged from the timing hopper is received one by one into the notched groove located at the upper part, A feeding device for skewering stick-shaped food, comprising a drum feeder that sequentially feeds the food into the concave groove of the feeding conveyor when the notched groove rotates downward.