JPH0641B2 - Hardness adjusting device for frozen dessert manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial field of application] The present invention provides a so-called frozen dessert such as soft ice cream, ice cream, and shake by providing a stirrer for stirring raw materials in a cylinder cooled by a freezing device. The present invention relates to a device for adjusting the hardness of the device.

[Prior art] As a method for adjusting the hardness of frozen desserts such as soft serve ice cream,
Conventionally, a temperature type and a torque type have been used.

In many temperature formulas, the temperature of a frozen dessert is indirectly detected by utilizing the fact that the hardness of the frozen dessert depends on the temperature by detecting the temperature of the cooling cylinder to control the hardness of the frozen dessert.

On the other hand, the torque method is a method of adjusting the hardness by utilizing the fact that the load applied to the agitator increases as the frozen dessert becomes harder, and these methods include the following methods.

(1) A method that uses the reversal torque of the stirring motor and activates the remic switch when the torque value exceeds the spring force.

(2) As seen in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 57-14060, an agitator for agitating frozen desserts pushes it backward as the hardness increases, and the limit switch is actuated by axial movement. The way I was allowed to.

(3) Furthermore, based on the current value, power supply voltage, and characteristics of the stirring motor that the applicant recently proposed,
A method in which the output torque is calculated and cooling is stopped when the output torque of this motor reaches a specified value.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

In the conventional method described above, the set value is fixed in both the temperature formula and the torque formula, so that the hardness is controlled to a constant hardness or a constant temperature. In such a method, when it is sold all the time, this method is sufficient, but if it is cooled intermittently for a long time even if it is intermittent, the frozen dessert will continue to be stirred, The longer the time is spent, the more it cools down, and even if the torque value is the same, it gradually weakens, so-called "fatigue".
Since the phenomenon comes to appear, it has a problem that it does not look good when it is placed on a cup or the like and cannot be a product.

[Means for solving problems]

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus for producing a frozen dessert by stirring a frozen dessert or a raw material thereof with an agitator in a cylindrical cylinder cooled by a cooler.
When the cooling movement is repeated without taking out the frozen dessert, the hardness of the frozen dessert is gradually increased. When the frozen dessert is taken out, the hardness of the frozen dessert is gradually softened. It is composed.

[Action]

By providing the adjusting means as described above, it is possible to prevent "sagging" because the frozen dessert is gradually hardened when it is not taken out and cooling is repeated, and at the same time when taking out is performed. It is possible to produce a good frozen dessert without making it unnecessarily hard.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS.

1 is a cylinder for producing soft ice cream, 2 is a stirrer for stirring soft ice cream, 3 is a cooler fixed to the outer periphery of the cylinder 1, 4 is a lid for taking out soft ice cream in the cylinder 1, 5 is It is pressed downward by the spring 7,
A plunger that opens the outlet 4a of the lid 4 when the lever 6 is raised,
8 is a precooler for storing and cooling the liquid raw material such as soft ice cream, 9 is the liquid source is supplied from the precooler 8 into the cylinder 1, and the height of the soft ice cream in the cylinder 1 is set to the lower end. Carburetor tube for keeping, 10 is shaft 2f
Pulley 11 fixed to 11, stirring electric motor 12, reference numeral 12 is a pulley fixed to the output shaft of the stirring electric motor 11, 13 is a V belt for rotation transmission, and 15 is the plunger 5 moving upwards to take out the soft serve cream, etc. A cup switch that sometimes closes contacts,
16 is a refrigerant compressor, 17 is a refrigerant discharge pipe, 18 is a refrigerant condenser, 19
Is a blower fan for the condenser, 20 is a solenoid valve that is normally closed and opens when electricity is applied, 21 is a capillary tube that connects the condenser 18 to the precooling pipe 22 connected to the precooler 8, 23
Is a capillary tube connecting the solenoid valve 20 to the cooler 3, 24 is a suction pipe connecting the cooler 3 and the compressor 16, 25
Is a capillary tube connecting the precooling pipe 22 and the suction pipe 24.

The stirrer 2 includes a shaft 2f, a back plate 2e that is integral with the shaft 2f, and a back plate.
The rigid shaft 2d, the blade 2a, and the spiral 2 that are respectively integrated with 2e
b, and a feed propeller 2c that is rotatably held by a shaft 4b that is integral with the lid 4 and that is integral with the blade 2a, the spiral 2b, and the rigid shaft 2d. The shaft 2f is rotatably held by the bearing portion 1a of the cylinder 1.

Reference numeral 26 indicates a liquid raw material, and 27 indicates a liquid raw material in the cylinder 1 or soft ice cream produced by cooling.

Around the cooler 3 and the precooler 8, a heat insulating material (not shown) is provided in order to reduce heat invasion.

Reference numeral 30 is a power source, and 31 is a control device for controlling the operation of the soft serve ice cream freezer. The control device 31 includes a voltage detection device 32 for detecting the voltage supplied to the device, a frequency detection device 33 for detecting the frequency of the power supply, a motor data storage device 34 for storing the characteristics of the stirring electric motor 11, A current detector for detecting the current flowing through the stirring electric motor 11.
35, the voltage and frequency of the power supply, the current value flowing in the stirring electric motor 11, and the motor data, the arithmetic unit 36 for calculating the output torque of the stirring electric motor 11, the calculated torque value, and the adjusted Comparator 3 for comparing with torque value
7. A timer for restarting cooling when a predetermined time has elapsed after the predetermined torque was reached and cooling was stopped.
38, an output control device 39 for instructing the start and stop of the cooling device and the stirring electric motor 11, and a torque adjusting device 41 for adjusting the set torque value in response to a sales operation by a cup switch and a recooling command of the timer 38. , A torque value storage device 42 for storing the adjusted torque value. 40 is a setter that allows the torque value to be set from the outside in order to adjust the hardness.

In the above configuration, when the liquid raw material 26 is put in from the precooler 8, the liquid raw material 26 flows into the cylinder 1 from the carburetor tube 9, and when the liquid raw material 26 reaches the lower end of the carburetor tube 9, the flow of the liquid raw material 26 stops and the liquid raw material 26 becomes constant in the cylinder 1. Maintained at height.

When the power supply 30 is turned on, the output control device 39 causes the compressor 16,
The operation of the blower fan 19 for the condenser is instructed, the solenoid valve 20 is opened, and the operation of the stirring electric motor 11 is instructed. The compressor 16 and the stirring electric motor 11 may be started at the same time, but they are often started at some intervals to avoid an excessive starting current.

The refrigerant compressed by the compressor 16 passes through the refrigerant discharge pipe 17 and condenses in the condenser 18 to become liquid, passes through the solenoid valve 20, is decompressed by the capillary tube 23, flows into the cooler 3 and evaporates, and becomes liquid. The raw material 27 is cooled and returned to the pressure leg machine 16 through the suction pipe 24.

Part of the refrigerant is decompressed through the capillary tube 21, evaporated in the pre-cooling pipe 22, cools the liquid raw material 26, passes through the capillary tube 25, and returns to the suction pipe 24.

When the liquid raw material 27 reaches an appropriate hardness such as soft serve ice cream, the current flowing through the stirring electric motor 11 gradually increases.
This current value is detected by the current detector 35, and the voltage detector
Using the power supply voltage detected by 32 and the power supply frequency detected by the frequency detector 33, the calculation device 36 performs comparison calculation with the motor data stored in the storage device 34 to calculate the output torque value. . This output torque value is compared with the torque value stored in the torque storage device 42 and adjusted by the torque adjustment device 41 set in the setting device 40 in the comparator 37. If the output torque exceeds the adjusted torque value, the output control device A signal is sent to 39. Output controller 39
When a signal is sent from the comparator 37, the command instructs the compressor 16, the condenser blower fan 19, and the stirring electric motor 11 to stop, and closes the solenoid valve 20. At the same time, a signal is sent to the timer 38 and the timer 38 starts counting.

Even if the compressor 16 is stopped, the refrigerant in the condenser 18 flows through the capillary tube 21 into the precooling pipe 22 to cool the liquid raw material 26 in the precooler 8 and keep it at 4 ° C to 10 ° C.

When a predetermined time has elapsed, the timer 38 sends a signal to the output control device 39, and the output control device 39 commands the compressor 16 and other operations again.

In this way, the soft serve ice cream 27 is maintained at the predetermined hardness set by the setting device 40.

When taking out the soft serve ice cream 27, when the lever 6 is raised, the plunger 5 goes up and the take-out port 4a is opened.
The upper end of the switch pushes the cup switch 15 to open the contact, close the circuit, and emit a signal.

While the plunger 5 is pressing the cup switch 15, the output control device 39 continues the operation command. Therefore, the agitating motor 11 is rotating, the agitator 2 is rotating, and the soft serve ice cream 27 is sent out from the outlet 4a and the precooler 8 is supplied.
The liquid raw material 26 is supplemented with the soft ice cream 27 sent out and flows into the cylinder 1 from the carburetor tube 9.

The plunger 5 for lowering the lever 6 descends, the outlet 4a is closed, and the contact point of the cup switch 15 is opened from the closed state to emit a signal. During this time, in the torque adjusting device 41, the torque value set by the torque setting device 40 is adjusted according to the sales situation. An example of this adjustment procedure will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

First, in the case where a command for recooling is issued by the operation of the timer 38 without selling the soft serve ice cream,
The command from 38 is transmitted to the torque adjustment device 41, and the torque adjustment device 41 uses the previous torque adjustment value T stored in the torque value storage device 42 and the set value Ts set by the torque setting device 40. To set a new adjustment value T _N. This T _N
The setting of may be performed by an arithmetic expression, an example of which is shown by the following expression (1).

T _N = 0.06T _S + 0.95T (1) This newly adjusted torque value is stored in the torque storage device 42. When there is no previous torque value, such as immediately after turning on the power, the torque storage device 42 stores the set torque value.
T _S is set.

FIG. 2 shows the torque adjustment value for each start / stop count when the initial set value is 1. That is, the first time is 1
The torque adjustment value was 1.01 at the time of recooling by the timer 38, and will be gradually increased to 1.0195 the next time. In equation (1), the upper limit is set to 1.2 in order to avoid the adjusted torque value from becoming excessive. Conversely, a new torque adjustment value is set even when the soft serve ice cream is sold. That is, when the cup switch 15 is operated by performing the selling operation, a signal is transmitted to the torque adjusting device 41, and in the torque adjusting device 41, the set value T _S set in the torque setting device 40 is set. , Torque value storage device 42
A new torque adjustment value T _S is set using the torque adjustment value T stored in. The adjustment value for each selling operation may be calculated by an arithmetic expression, one example of which is the following expression (2).

T _S = 0.1Ts + 0.9T (2) This value is also newly stored in the torque storage device 42.

FIG. 3 shows the torque adjustment value for each selling operation when the initial setting value is 1.2. That is, the first time
The torque adjustment value, which was 1.2, becomes 1.18 during the first cooling operation during the sales operation and becomes 1.162 during the second operation, which gradually decreases. In equation (2), the lower limit is set to 1 to avoid the adjusted torque value becoming too small.
It is supposed to be.

The upper and lower limits of the torque value are 1.2 and 1.0,
It goes without saying that the value is not necessarily limited to this value.

In the above, if the torque value T stored in the torque storage device 42 at a certain time is 1.1 Ts and the selling operation is performed at this time, the torque at the time when the cooling after the selling operation is stopped is stopped. The value T _N is T _N = 0.1Ts + 0.9 × 1.1Ts = 1.09Ts from Eq. (2).

At this point, when the recooling is performed without the selling operation, the torque value T _N when the recooling is stopped
From equation (1), T _N = 0.06Ts + 0.95 × 1.1Ts = 1.105Ts.

Further, when the re-cooling is performed at this point without performing the selling operation, and the selling operation is performed before the re-cooling is stopped, when the cooling after the selling operation is stopped, The torque value T _N is T _N = 0.1Ts + 0.9 × (0.06Ts + 0.95 × 1.1Ts) = 1.0945Ts.

Furthermore, the sales operation is performed, and the cooling operation after the sales operation is completed.
When the sales operation is performed again before the roll is stopped
If so, cooling is stopped after this second sales operation.
Torque value T_NIs T N = 0.1Ts + 0.9 x (0.1Ts + 0.9 x 1.1Ts) = 1.081Ts.

As mentioned above, the torque value T _N is further reduced when the vending operation is repeated without stopping the cooling.

That is, while the output control device 39 is issuing the operation command by the command of the timer 38 or the command by the operation of the cup switch 15, the output torque value calculated by the arithmetic device 36 is described in the torque storage device 42. The output control device 39 continues the operation command while the torque value is below the
At the time when the calculated output torque value exceeds the torque value stored in the torque storage device 42, the comparator 37 sends a signal to the output control device 39, and the output control device issues an operation stop command.

By repeating the above, if the recooling is repeated without being sold, a firmer cream will be made gradually, and if the selling operation is performed and a new mix flows in, it will be more than before. A soft cream will be made.

In the present embodiment, the frequency detection device 33 is used to detect the power supply frequency, but the frequency is determined by the installation place of the soft serve ice cream freezer and the like, so a simple changeover switch may be used. . Further, although the timer 38 is used for returning the cooling operation, this can be performed by detecting the temperature of the cooler 3. In addition, the stirring motor 11
It is possible to eliminate the trouble of detecting the motor output during startup by not detecting the current immediately after the start of operation.

Further, when it is premised that the power supply voltage hardly changes, the voltage detection device 32 is unnecessary, and the frequency detection device 33 is also unnecessary depending on the characteristics of the stirring motor 11, and further, the torque setting It is also possible to cover the difference in frequency by widening the adjustment range of the device 40. In such a case, the rotor data storage device 34 and the arithmetic device 36 are unnecessary, and the torque value described above is All current values will be substituted.

In the above, an example of adjusting the hardness based on the current value flowing in the agitating motor among the three methods described in the section of the prior art has been described. It is also applicable to the torque formula of.

That is, for example, in the case of the temperature type, the set value can be adjusted, and in the case of the torque type by the axial movement, the hardness is adjusted by the strength of the axial movement using a load cell or the like. By doing so, it is possible to adjust the setting.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when the frozen dessert is re-cooled without being taken out, the frozen dessert is gradually hardened, so that a so-called "sag" may occur. , It is possible to prevent the appearance from being bad when it is placed on a cup, etc., and because the sales operation is performed and when new raw material flows into the cylinder, it is softly cooled. It is always possible to have a good arrangement without making a hard frozen dessert.

It should be noted that the hardness is set to a certain limit value without making it unnecessarily hard even if correction is made for each operation, so it is possible to prevent the stirring motor from being overloaded. In addition, since the limit value is set without making it unnecessarily soft, it is possible to make the hardness constant when the selling operation is frequently performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are explanatory diagrams showing an example of a procedure for adjusting a hardness adjustment value. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cylindrical cylinder, 2 ... Stirrer, 3 ... Cooler, 11 ... Stirring electric motor, 30 ... Power supply, 31 ... Control device, 32 ... Voltage detection device, 33 ... Frequency detection device, 34 ... Motor data storage device,
35 ... Current detection device, 36 ... Arithmetic device, 37 ... Comparator, 38 ... Timer, 39 ... Output control device, 40 ... Setting device, 41 ... Torque value adjusting device, 42 ... Torque value storage device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus for producing frozen dessert by stirring a frozen dessert or its raw material with an agitator in a cylindrical cylinder cooled by a cooler, the cooling operation is repeated without taking out the frozen dessert. A hardness adjusting device in a frozen dessert manufacturing apparatus, characterized in that it is provided with an adjusting means for gradually making the frozen dessert harder and gradually softening it when the frozen dessert is taken out.