JPH07102092B2 - Food manufacturing equipment - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food production apparatus which can be preferably used for producing food such as french fries.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for producing food such as french fries, a means for slicing jaguar potatoes to form a sliced piece, and the sliced piece is placed on a conveyor to a predetermined temperature. There is used a device including means for frying while conveying the inside of a storage tank in which the heated cooking oil is stored.

[0003]

In such a prior art, since the fresh food such as potatoes is processed, if the apparatus is stopped for a long period of time, the freshness of the potatoes will be deteriorated and they will be produced. The quality of the food is reduced. Further, since it is configured to carry the sliced pieces on the conveyor and convey the inside of the storage tank, a relatively long conveyance path is required to sufficiently heat the sliced pieces,
There is a problem that the device becomes large.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a food production apparatus which can be downsized and can be produced without deteriorating the quality of the food even if the production of the food is stopped for a long period of time. It is to be.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a hopper for storing food material powder, an agitation molding means, a cylindrical casing which opens downward and is supplied to the casing from the inside of the hopper. A food material powder conveyed by the screw conveyor, which has a screw conveyor for conveying the food material powder and a blade member which is driven in the forward / reverse directions around the rotation axis and moves up and down along the rotation axis. A mixing chamber for mixing the body, a water supply part in which a water supply hole for supplying water into the mixing chamber is formed at the time of water addition, and an extrusion hole for forming and extruding the food material mixture in the mixing chamber in connection with the water supply part And a shutter member that is provided so as to be displaceable between a first position where the water supply hole faces the mixing chamber and a second position where the extrusion hole faces the mixing chamber, and the shutter member. , First and A food product, comprising: an agitation molding unit including a displacement drive unit for displacing the second position between the second positions; and a heating unit configured to heat a food material mixture after molding extruded from the agitation molding unit. It is a device.
Further, the present invention is characterized in that the heating means stores a liquid for heating and processing a food material, a temperature control means for heating the liquid in the storage tank to maintain a predetermined temperature, and the storage tank. A scooping member provided so as to be retractable from the liquid surface of the liquid therein, having a gap smaller than that of the molded food material mixture immersed in the liquid, and arranged at an upper limit position above the liquid surface, and scraped. And a payout member that is driven to reciprocate in a predetermined direction along the upper surface of the frying member.

[0006]

[0007]

[0008]

[0009]

According to the present invention, the food material powder from the hopper is supplied to the casing and conveyed into the mixing chamber by the screw conveyor provided in the casing. In this state where the powder is supplied to the mixing chamber by the screw conveyor, the shutter member is arranged at the first position, and therefore water is supplied to the powder in the mixing chamber from the water supply hole of the water supply unit. The blade member in this mixing chamber is
It reciprocates up and down while rotating in the forward / reverse directions about the axis of rotation, and thus the powder and water are agitated and mixed in the mixing chamber. After that, the shutter member is displaced from the first position to the second position by the displacement driving means, the extrusion hole of the extrusion unit faces the mixing chamber, and the screw conveyor further disperses the powder guided from the hopper. By being conveyed toward the mixing chamber, the mixture mixed in the mixing chamber is extruded through the extrusion hole. By rotating the screw conveyor in this way, the mixture can be extruded from the extrusion hole to be molded, and the molded product can be heated by the heating means to produce a food product.

Further, according to the present invention, a liquid such as water or oil is stored in the storage tank, and the temperature of the liquid is maintained at a predetermined temperature by the temperature adjusting means. In this storage tank, a scooping member is provided so as to be retractable from the liquid surface of the liquid, and after the mixture supplied to the storage tank is heated by the liquid, the scooping member above the liquid surface is provided. It is placed at the upper limit position to scoop up the mixture in the storage tank, and the dispensing member is displaced in a predetermined direction to dispense the heated mixture on the scooping member, that is, the food.

[0011]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the overall construction of an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a system diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows the appearance of the embodiment. It is a perspective view. The food manufacturing device 1 basically adds water to the powder supplied from the hopper 2 to the mixing chamber 3 and stirs the mixture, and extrudes a mixture of the powder and water from the extrusion hole 4 communicating with the mixing chamber 3. It includes a molding unit 5 for molding and a heating unit 6 for heating the mixture after molding extruded from the molding unit 5. These molding means 5
The heating means 6 is housed in the housing 7. The powder is, for example, crushed potatoes and dried.

The molding means 5 is rotatably driven at, for example, about 20 rpm with a cylindrical casing 8 facing downward and opening, and the powder introduced from the hopper 2 into the casing 8 is directed to the mixing chamber 3. Screw conveyor 9 to convey
And in the mixing chamber 3 in the forward / reverse direction A1 about the rotation axis.
Is formed with a blade member 10 that is driven to rotate at about 50 rpm and moves up and down in the direction of arrow A2 along the rotation axis, and a water supply hole 11 for supplying water into the mixing chamber 3 during water addition. A shutter member 14 made of synthetic resin having a water supply portion 12 and a push-out portion 13 which is continuous with the water feed portion 12 and in which the push-out hole 4 is formed, and a first position where the water feed hole 11 faces the shutter member 14 in the mixing chamber 3 (FIG. 1). State) and a second position where the extrusion hole 11 faces the mixing chamber 3 and a motor 15 which is a displacement driving means.

The heating means 6 heats the storage tank 18 in which the liquid cooking oil is stored, and the temperature adjustment for heating the cooking oil in the storage tank 18 to maintain it at a predetermined temperature, for example, about 180 ° C. A temperature controller 19 as a means and a storage tank 18
And a net-like scooping member 20 provided so as to be retractable from the liquid surface of the edible oil and having a gap smaller than that of the mixture extruded from the extrusion hole 4, It includes a payout member 21 for displacing the mixture drawn upward by displacing it in a predetermined direction A3.

The housing 7 is a housing body 23.
And a door 25 provided on the housing body 23 so as to be openable and closable by a hinge 24. The door 25 has the door 2
5 is provided with a control panel 26 that can be opened and closed, and the control panel 26 is provided with a money slot 27 for coins and the like. Further, the door 25 is formed with an outlet 28 for processed food below the control panel 26, and a container prepared in advance after the user of the apparatus 1 has put money into the inlet 27. By disposing 29 in the outlet 28, the food dispensed by the dispensing member 21 can be stored.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view showing the molding means 5, and FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view seen from above in FIG.
A first gear 31 is coaxially fixed to the rotary shaft 30 of the screw conveyor 9, and a second gear 33 is fixed to the rotary shaft 32 that is inserted through the rotary shaft 30 so as to be displaceable in the axial direction. A third gear 35 fixed to the output shaft 34 of the motor M1 meshes with the first gear 31. A fourth gear 37 fixed to the output shaft 36 of the motor M2 meshes with the second gear 33. The blade member 1 is provided at the lower end of the rotary shaft 32.
0 is provided and is configured to be inserted through the second gear 33 in the rotational shaft 32 so as to be displaceable in the axial direction so as to transmit only the rotational force from the second gear 33.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along section line VI-VI in FIG. The blade member 10 attached to the rotary shaft 32 is provided in plural (2 in this embodiment) at different positions in the axial direction, and moves in the forward direction A while vertically moving in the axial direction.
When rotating 1a, the lower blade member 10a guides the mixture in the mixing chamber 3 radially inward, and by the upper blade member 10b guides the mixture radially outward, and when rotating in the reverse direction A1b, The blade member 10a guides the mixture radially outward, and the upper blade member 10b guides the mixture radially inward so that the mixture is stirred.

The water supply portion 12 of the shutter member 14 faces below the blade member 10 as described above, and before the stirring operation by each blade member 10 is started,
Tap water, for example, is supplied from the water supply hole 11.

When the powder and water are agitated and mixed in this way, the motor M3 is energized, the pinion 39 fixed to the output shaft 38 is rotationally driven around the axis of rotation, and the rack 40 with which this pinion 39 meshes. Moves, and the shutter member 14 is displaced in the arrow A3a direction to be arranged from the first position to the second position. In this state, the pushing portion 13 faces the inner space of the casing 8.

The extruding hole 4 of the extruding portion 13 has a rectangular cross section perpendicular to the axis, and is formed so that the flat inner surface adjacent to each other and the corner portion are close to each other. As a result, it is possible to prevent the mixture extruded through the extrusion holes 4 from adhering to the extruded mixture adjacent to each other. This extruded portion 13 is made of, for example, a synthetic resin, and the shape of the extruded hole 4 is not limited to a rectangular shape, and can be formed in any shape. Therefore, the shutter member 1
4 is attached to the board 41 by means of screws or the like so as to be detachable and replaceable. It is detected by the magnetic sensor S1 that the shutter member 14 is arranged at the first position where the water supply unit 12 faces the mixing chamber 3, and the pushing unit 1 is added to the mixing chamber 3.
It is detected by the magnetic sensor S2 that the third position is the second position. When the shutter member 14 is displaced in the direction of the arrow A3a and is detected by the magnetic sensor S2, the screw conveyor 9 is rotationally driven to supply the powder from above toward the mixing chamber 3, and the pressing force of the powder causes the powder to be supplied. The mixture mixed in the mixing chamber 3 is extruded downward through the extrusion hole 4 and droops. When the shutter member 14 is displaced and driven in the arrow A3b direction by the motor M3 from this state,
The cutting blade 43 (see FIG. 4) elastically abutting the lower surface of the shutter member 14 cuts the hanging portion of the mixture hanging from the extrusion hole 4. The mixture after molding thus cut falls into the storage tank 18 of the heating means 6.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the heating means 6, and FIG. 8 is a sectional view taken along the section line VIII-VIII of FIG. A heating pipe 46, which is realized by a heating wire or the like, is provided on one side of the storage tank 18. Electric power of, for example, 1 kW is supplied to the heating pipe 46 from the temperature controller 19 based on the temperature detected by the temperature detector 47 at predetermined time intervals, whereby the temperature of the oil stored in the storage tank 18 is controlled. It is configured to hold almost constant. In the storage tank 18, the scraping member 20 is provided so as to be angularly displaceable around the axis of the support shaft 48. A bevel gear 49 is fixed to one end of the support shaft 48 in the axial direction, and a bevel gear 51 fixed to an output shaft 50 of the motor M4 meshes with the bevel gear 49. Further, the storage tank 18 is provided with an oil level detector 52 realized by a thermistor or the like. The detector 52 can detect that the oil level is low and the oil is low.

When the mixture after molding is dropped from the molding means 5, the scraping member 20 is buried below the oil level of the storage tank 18 as indicated by reference numeral 53, and a predetermined time elapses. After that, the motor M4 is energized and the scraping member 20 is arranged above the oil level 55 as shown by an imaginary line 54. In this state, the motor M
5 is pinion 5 fixed to the output shaft 56 by being energized with electric power
7 is rotationally driven, whereby the pay-out member 21 to which the rack 58 is fixed is displaced and driven in the direction of arrow A3a, and the heated mixture on the scraping member 20 is transferred to the chute 5.
9 dropped into the container 9 and placed in the outlet 28.
Housed inside. At this time, the container detector 60 detects whether or not the container 29 is arranged immediately below the chute 59. Such a container detector 60 is composed of, for example, a light emitting element and a light receiving element, and when the light emitted from the light emitting element is blocked by the container 29, it is determined that the container 29 is arranged at the outlet 28. Further, when the light emitted from the light emitting element is received by the light receiving element, it may be determined that the container 29 does not exist in the outlet 28. As described above, when the container 29 is not present in the outlet 28 by the container detector 60, the dispensing member 21 may not be driven and may be kept in a stopped state.

In the above-described embodiment, the crushed potatoes are stored in the hopper 2 to store the dried powder. However, as another embodiment of the present invention, wheat powder is stored as the powder and the mixing chamber 3 is used. Any noodle may be produced by adding water therein, and in this case, a plurality of extrusion holes 4 having a circular cross section perpendicular to the axis are formed in the extrusion portion 13 of the shutter member 14 to extrude the elongated mixture, Water may be stored in the storage tank 18 and heated to, for example, 90 ° C. or higher to boil the mixture formed into the noodles.

[0023]

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the food raw material powder contained in the hopper and water are supplied into the mixing chamber and stirred by the blade member to produce a mixture. By driving the shutter member provided facing the mixing chamber to change from the water supply section to the extrusion section, and extruding from the extrusion hole to form the heating means, it is possible to cook at any time. The device can be miniaturized. Accordingly, the food manufacturing device according to the present invention can be preferably implemented in a vending machine or the like.

Further, according to the present invention, the mixture is heated by the liquid maintained at the predetermined temperature by the temperature adjusting means, and the heated mixture is taken out above the liquid surface of the liquid and discharged. Since it is configured to be dispensed in a predetermined direction by the member, there is no need to provide a conveyor or the like that is immersed in the liquid in the storage tank, as described in connection with the above-mentioned prior art, which also results in the device. Can be miniaturized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the overall configuration of an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a simplified system diagram of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the food manufacturing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a specific configuration of a molding unit 5.

5 is a partial cross-sectional view seen from above in FIG.

6 is a partial cross-sectional view taken along section line VI-VI in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of heating means 6.

8 is a cross-sectional view taken along the section line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Food Manufacturing Equipment 2 Hopper 3 Mixing Chamber 4 Extrusion Hole 5 Forming Means 6 Heating Means 8 Casing 9 Screw Conveyor 10 Blade Member 11 Water Supply Hole 12 Water Supply Section 13 Extrusion Section 14 Shutter Member 15 Double-acting Hydraulic Cylinder 18 Storage Tank 19 Temperature Controller 20 Scooping member 21 Dispensing member

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A hopper for storing a food material powder, a stirring and forming means, a cylindrical casing opening downward, and a food material powder supplied to the casing from inside the hopper are conveyed. A screw conveyor that has a blade member that is driven in forward / reverse directions around a rotation axis and that moves up and down along the rotation axis, and a mixing chamber that mixes the food material powder conveyed by the screw conveyor, A water supply section in which a water supply hole for supplying water into the mixing chamber is formed during water addition, and an extrusion section in which an extrusion hole for forming and extruding the food material mixture in the mixing chamber which is continuous with the water supply section is formed. A shutter member that is provided so as to be displaceable between a first position where the water supply hole faces the mixing chamber and a second position where the extrusion hole faces the mixing chamber; and the shutter member between the first and second positions. Displacement drive with And a heating unit for heating the molded food material mixture extruded from the stirring and molding unit. 2. The storage unit, wherein the heating unit stores a liquid for heating and processing a food material; a temperature adjusting unit for heating the liquid in the storage unit to maintain a predetermined temperature; A scooping member provided so as to be retractable from the liquid surface of the liquid therein, having a gap smaller than that of the molded food material mixture immersed in the liquid, and arranged at an upper limit position above the liquid surface, and scraped. The food production apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a dispensing member that is driven to reciprocate in a predetermined direction along the upper surface of the frying member.