JPH0323138B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field] The present invention relates to a forming machine for food products such as sushi.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, rice fed into a chute is pushed out by a drive mechanism through a food passage connected to the chute and narrowed at the tip from the chute side, and the food delivered from this food passage is conveyed by a belt conveyor and molded at a predetermined location. Automatic food forming machines are known that use a mechanism to form food into sushi or rice ball shapes.

However, in such food forming machines,
The problem was that the mechanism was complex, large, and expensive.

[Problem that the invention seeks to solve]

The problems to be solved by the present invention are that the structure is simple and can be miniaturized, the cost is low and it can be easily eaten at home, etc., and foods such as rice balls can be formed and automatically arranged on a plate. The point is to make it so.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention has the following configuration in order to solve the above problems. That is, it consists of two parallel axes that are provided in the housing and the bracket so as to be able to approach and separate from each other, a biasing means that biases the two parallel axes in a direction toward each other, and a substantially polygonal prism of the same shape and size. It has a concave part for molding food on the side surface, and an arcuate surface is formed at the apex corner where each of the side surfaces of the outer periphery intersect. a pair of rotors whose center portions are attached to the two parallel axes so as to be able to rotate synchronously with each other; a rotation drive mechanism that is connected to the pair of rotors and rotates the pair of rotors synchronously; A turntable is provided which is horizontally rotatable in conjunction with the rotation of the turntable.

[Operation] When a plurality of paired rotors are rotated and food is supplied by the food supply means between two adjacent concave portions with widening mutual intervals, the food is fed by one rotor rotating toward the other rotor. Therefore, as the two recesses of the plurality of rotors approach the opposed state, they are compressed and molded into the desired molded shape, and as the one rotor rotates away from the other rotor, the two recesses move away from each other. As time passes, they are discharged from between the two recesses below the rotor onto a turntable that rotates in conjunction with the rotor, and are arranged on the turntable in the circumferential direction.

〔Effect of the invention〕

By rotating a pair of rotors by a rotational drive mechanism, the distance between two parallel axes at the centers of the pair of rotors is shortened until the arcuate surfaces of the pair of rotors face each other, and the side surfaces of the pair of rotors face each other. The food supplied between the concave portions of a pair of rotors that are brought close to each other is moderately compressed, and when the circular arc surfaces of the pair of rotors face each other, the distance between the two parallel axes is widened so that the circular arc surfaces circumscribe each other, and the distance between the concave portions is increased. The compressed food can be allowed to fall from between these recesses under its own weight, and the fallen food can be arranged circumferentially on the turntable, which simplifies the structure and makes it more compact. This machine is inexpensive and can be widely used as a household food molding machine.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described based on FIGS. 1 to 5. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 is a base, and a large pulley 3 is rotatably provided on the base 1 via a shaft 2. The base 1 consists of a bottom plate 4, a middle plate 5, and a top plate 6. A circular hole 7 is formed in the middle plate 5, and the large pulley 3 is fitted into the circular hole 7. The large pulley 3 is attached to the shaft 2, which is rotatably attached to the bottom plate 4 and the top plate 6, so as to be able to rotate integrally with the shaft 2.

In addition, the base 1 includes a housing 8 and a bracket 9.
has been erected. The housing 8 consists of four surrounding walls: a rear wall 8a, side walls 8b, 8b, and a front cover wall 8c. The bracket 9 is provided parallel to the rear wall 8a.

A pair of rollers 10 and 11 are rotatably provided in the housing 8 with their outer peripheral surfaces facing each other via horizontal shafts 12 and 13. Further, within the housing 8, a roller 14 is provided above the roller 10 so as to be freely rotatable via a horizontal shaft 15. The roller 14 is moved slightly to the outside (left side in FIG. 1) than the roller 10. roller 10,1
A belt 16 is wound around 4. roller 11
A guide plate 17 is provided above. The upper end of the guide plate 17 is tilted toward the outside (to the right in FIG. 1) from the vertical position, and a slight gap is provided between the lower end of the guide plate 17 and the outer periphery of the roller 11.

Further, within the housing 8, rotors 18 and 19 are located below the rollers 10 and 11, and horizontal shafts 20 and 19 are mounted.
It is rotatably provided via 21. The rotors 18 and 19 are substantially pentagonal prisms, each having a concave portion 22 of the same shape formed on the side surface of the outer circumference 5, and an arcuate surface 23 formed at the intersection of the side surface of the outer circumference 5. The recess 22 of the rotor 18 and the recess 22 of the rotor 19 face each other when the rotors 18, 19 rotate, and the sushi rice is placed between the recesses 22, 22 and the rear wall 8a and front lid wall 8c of the housing 8. A cavity corresponding to the outer shape is formed. Horizontal axis 12, 13, 15, 21
is supported by the rear wall 8a and the bracket 9, and the horizontal shaft 20 is fitted into long holes 8d and 9b formed in the rear wall 8a and the bracket 9, and is supported by the rear wall 8a and the bracket 9 so as to be movable within a predetermined range. has been done. Further, the horizontal shaft 20 is connected to the horizontal shaft 21 by a spring 24, and is biased toward the rotor 19 by the spring 24.

Further, a stepped pulley 25 is fixedly attached to the horizontal shaft 21 between the housing 8 and the bracket 9, and is located on the rear side of the bracket 9 (on the right side of the bracket 9 in FIG. 3) and has an approximately pentagonal shape. rotation transmission plates 26, 27 are fixedly attached. These rotation transmitting plates 26 and 27 are stacked and fixed to each other with their apex corners aligned. At each apex corner of the rotation transmission plates 26 and 27,
Semicircular protrusions 28 and semicircular recesses 29 are alternately formed in the circumferential direction of the rotation transmission plates 26 and 27. The radius of the projection 28 and the recess 29 are the same radius, and the recess 29 of the rotation transmission plate 27 is located at the projection 28 of the rotation transmission plate 26, and the rotation transmission plate is located at the projection 28 of the rotation transmission plate 27. 26 recesses 29
is located.

Further, rotation transmission plates 30 and 31 having the same shape and size as the rotation transmission plates 26 and 27 are fixedly attached to the horizontal shaft 20 at the rear side of the bracket 9. These rotation transmission plates 30 and 31 are also overlapped and fixed to each other with their respective apex corners aligned, and the recess 29 of the rotation transmission plate 31 is positioned at the protrusion 28 of the rotation transmission plate 30 to transmit rotation. Board 31
A concave portion 29 of the rotation transmission plate 30 is positioned at the protrusion 28 portion. When the rotors 18 and 19 rotate, the recess 29 of the rotation transmission plate 26 fits into the projection 28 of the rotation transmission plate 30, and the rotation transmission plate 3
1, or the projection 28 of the rotation transmission plate 26 fits into the recess 29 of the rotation transmission plate 30, and the projection 28 of the rotation transmission plate 31 fits into the projection 28 of the rotation transmission plate 31. The recess 29 is fitted into the recess 29 .

Further, a worm wheel 32 located on the rear side of the rotation transmission plate 27 is fixedly provided on the horizontal shaft 21 .

Further, a bearing plate 3 is provided on the rear surface 9a of the bracket 9.
3 and 33 are provided, and a rotary shaft 34 is rotatably supported by these bearing plates 33 and 33. A worm wheel 32 is provided at a predetermined location on this rotating shaft 34.
A worm 35 is formed that meshes with the worm. A handle 36 is attached to the end of the rotating shaft 34. The rotation shaft 34, the worm 35, the worm wheel 32, the rotation transmission plates 26, 27, 3
0, 31, spring 24, etc., constitute a drive mechanism that rotates the rotors 18, 19 and moves these rotors relatively close to each other.

The horizontal shafts 12 and 13 each have a housing 8,
Gears 37, 38 are positioned between brackets 9.
is installed. In addition, the horizontal axes 12 and 13
Horizontal shafts 39 and 40 are provided above and supported by the rear wall 8a of the housing 8 and the bracket 9. A small pulley 41 is fitted on the horizontal shaft 39, and the large diameter portion 2 of the small pulley 41 and the stepped pulley 25
A belt 42 is wound around 5a. Also,
A belt 43 is wound around the small diameter portion 25b of the stepped pulley 25 and the large pulley 3. This belt 43
are guide holes 44 formed in the upper plate 6 of the base 1,
44 and a recess 45 formed in the middle plate 5 and communicating with the circular hole 7 so as to be freely movable. Large pulley 3
A shaft 2 to which is attached protrudes from the upper plate 6 of the base 1, and a turntable 46 is fixed to the upper end of the shaft 2 so as to be horizontally rotatable in conjunction with the rotation of the rotors 18 and 19. Further, the horizontal shafts 39 and 40 are provided with gears 47 and 4 which are the same as the gears 37 and 38, respectively.
8 is attached. Gear 47 is gear 37,
48, and the gear 48 is meshed with the gear 38.

Further, a mounting plate 49 is fixed to the rear wall 8a of the housing 8 and the upper end of the bracket 9. The upper surface of this mounting plate 49 and the upper surface of the side wall 8b of the housing 8 are at the same height. A container 50 is placed on the housing 8 and the mounting plate 49. An outlet 51 is formed at a predetermined location of this container 50.

Next, the operation of the food molding machine configured as described above will be explained.

First, place the container 5 on the housing 8 and the mounting plate 49.
Put 0. At this time, the exit 51 is connected to the belt 16,
It is located above between the guide plates 17.

Next, when the handle 36 is turned, the rotation shaft 34 is rotated, and the rotation transmission plates 26 and 27 are rotated via the worm 35, the worm wheel 32, and the horizontal shaft 21.
Along with this, the rotation transmission plates 30 and 31 rotate. The rotation transmission plates 30 and 31 are urged toward the rotation transmission plates 26 and 27 by the spring 24, and rotate because they come into contact with these rotation transmission plates 26 and 27. At the same time, the rotors 18, 19 and stepped pulley 25 rotate. When the stepped pulley 25 rotates, the belt 4
2. The gear 37 rotates via the small pulley 41 and the gear 47, and the gears 48, 38 also rotate, which causes the rollers 10, 11 to rotate, the roller 14 also rotates via the belt 16, and the The large pulley 3 also rotates in conjunction with the rotation of the rotor 19.

Therefore, in the state shown in FIG. 4 in which the concave portion 22 of the rotor 18 and the concave portion 22 of the rotor 19 are separated on the rollers 10 and 11 side, cooked rice is put into the container 50, and the rice is poured from the outlet 51 into the housing 8. It is dropped between the belt 16 and the guide plate 17. When the handle 36 is further turned, the rotation of the roller 11 and the belt 16 causes the rice to move to the rotor 18.
is forcibly sent between the recess 22 of the rotor 19, the rear wall 8a of the housing 8, and the front cover wall 8c, and is compressed as these recesses 22, 22 move toward the opposed state. , 22 facing each other as shown in FIG. 5, it is most compressed and formed into a sushi-shape. When the handle 36 is further turned, the recesses 22, 22 are separated on the turntable 46 side, and the compression-molded sushi rice is discharged from between these recesses 22, 22 onto the rotating turntable. When this operation is repeated with the plate placed on the turntable 46, the compression-molded sushi rice is sequentially arranged on the plate in the circumferential direction of the plate.

According to this embodiment, it does not require power such as a motor and has a simple structure, so it can be miniaturized, and it can be easily used at home by forming food such as sushi or rice balls and placing the circumference on a plate. The food can be automatically arranged sequentially in the direction of the food, and the food can be placed on the table as it is without having to transfer the food to another dish.
If the food on this plate is sushi, the sushi can be placed on top of the sushi and the food can be picked up from the plate and eaten.

In addition, in the embodiment, the rotors 18, 1
The rice is supplied between the recesses 22 and 22 of 9 by roller 1.
This is carried out by the cooperative action of a conveyor formed by winding a belt 16 around 0 and 14 and the roller 11 below the guide plate 17, but the invention is not limited to this, and instead of the roller 11 and the guide plate 17. A conveyor consisting of another roller 10, 14 and a belt 16 may be used, or only the roller 11 may be used, or only the rollers 10, 11 may be used without the roller 14, belt 16, and guide plate 17.

Further, in the embodiment, the rotors 18, 1
The drive mechanism for these rotors 18 and 19 is composed of a rotating shaft 34, a worm 35, a worm wheel 32, approximately pentagonal rotation transmission plates 26, 27, 30, 31, a spring 24, etc. However, without being limited to this, if the outlines of the rotors 18 and 19 and the outlines of the rotation transmission plates 26, 27, 30, and 31 are the same shape (similar shapes), these rotors,
The rotation transmission plate may have another polygonal shape or a circle.

Further, in the embodiment, the rotors 18, 19
Although the shape of the recessed portion 22 formed in the sushi is made into a shape for forming sushi, the shape is not limited to this, and when making rice balls, the shape may be a shape that matches the shape of the food to be manufactured, such as a rice ball shape. Good too.

Further, in the above embodiment, the rotor 19 is fixed in position and the rotor 18 is moved close to and separated from the rotor 19. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The rotor 19 may be arranged close to and separated from each other, or the rotors 18 and 19 may be arranged near to each other and separated from each other.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figures 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the present invention, in which Figure 1 is a front view showing the inside of the housing with the front cover wall removed, Figure 2 is a rear view, and Figure 3 is a front view of the housing. FIG. 4 is a partial schematic front view showing a state in which rice is being supplied between each concave portion of a pair of rotors;
FIG. 5 is a schematic front view of a portion of a pair of rotors showing a state in which the rice between each recess is compressed. 8...Housing, 9...Bracket, 18,
19... Rotor, 22... Concavity, 23... Arc surface, 24... Spring, 26, 27, 30, 31...
Rotation transmission plate, 32... Worm wheel, 34...
...rotating axis, 35...worm, 46...turntable.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Consisting of two parallel axes provided in the housing and the bracket so as to be able to approach and separate from each other, a biasing means for biasing the two parallel axes in a direction toward each other, and a substantially polygonal column of the same shape and size, each side surface of the outer periphery It has a concave part for molding the food, and an arcuate surface is formed at the apex corner where each of the side surfaces of the outer periphery intersect, and the outer periphery side surfaces are circumscribed so that the arcuate surfaces can be brought close to each other and the side surfaces can be moved close to each other. a pair of rotors whose center portions are attached to the two parallel axes so as to be able to rotate synchronously; a rotation drive mechanism that is connected to the pair of rotors and rotates the pair of rotors synchronously; A food forming machine characterized by comprising a turntable that is horizontally rotatable in conjunction with rotation.