JPH0795014B2 - Sampling device for processed tea leaves - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Purpose of the Invention><Industrial field of application> The present invention is assembled in a tea making device such as a middle kneader or a rough kneader,
The present invention relates to a processed tea leaf sampling device in which a part of tea leaves in tea making is taken out and a predetermined property, for example, the water content of the tea leaves is measured, and then the measured tea leaves are returned to the tea making device again.

<Background of the Invention> Monitoring of the water content of tea leaves is an extremely important work in controlling the tea making process, but conventionally, this kind of work is judged by the tactile sensation of a skilled worker. However, as the number of skilled workers decreases, and when the management of a series of tea making processes is automated with the aim of further improving productivity or homogenizing products, the moisture measurement accompanying this is mechanized or automated. Tend to However, in reality, it is difficult to accurately measure the water content with a tea leaf aggregate having a relatively high bulkiness, and even if tea leaves are sampled, for example, a kneading hand or the like is rotating in the tea making device, and it is attempted to install the sampling device. However, the space available is limited.
Further, since the tea leaves in the tea making device contain a large amount of water and are easily sticky and easily form nodules, there is a problem that they may adhere to the sampling device. In addition, in the rough kneader, the length of the tea stalk includes about 10 cm, so
Phenomenon that catches at the outlet of tea leaves and blocks other tea leaves (hereinafter referred to as the bridge phenomenon)
There was also a problem that it is easy to cause. Furthermore, in the case of a central kneading machine where the tea making device must be kept in a certain closed space, it is extremely difficult to continuously take out the tea leaves and sample them. Existed.

<Technical Items Attempted to Develop> The present invention has been made in view of such a background,
Smoothly and continuously take out a part of the tea leaves from the tea making device such as a middle kneading machine or a rough kneading machine without impairing the processing conditions in the processing chamber, measure the specified properties, and then return it to the tea making device again. This is an attempt to develop a sampling device that can perform rational and accurate measurements.

<Structure of the Invention><Means for Achieving the Object> That is, the first invention of the processing tea leaf sampling device of the present application is to provide a sample intake port in a part of the tea making device, and to connect to the sample intake port for processing. In a device that partially removes tea leaves in the middle and measures the predetermined properties with a non-contact type sensor, and then returns the tea leaves to the tea making device, the sample intake port is provided with a rotary type shutter valve having rotating scraping blades. Further, a vibrating conveyor is used as a conveyor for transferring the tea leaves taken out from the shutter valve.

In addition to the above requirements, the second invention of the present application is characterized in that the transfer conveyor is a transfer conveyor for extraction that is connected to the sample intake port, and a transfer conveyor for a measurement unit that is arranged subsequent to the transfer conveyor. And a non-contact type sensor is provided in the middle of the transfer conveyor for the measuring section.

Furthermore, in addition to the above requirements, the third invention of the present application is characterized in that the non-contact sensor provided for performing the measurement is a non-contact moisture sensor including a microwave transmitter and a receiver. It consists of

Furthermore, the fourth invention of the present application is characterized in that, in addition to the above requirements, the transfer conveyor for the measuring section is also used as a transfer conveyor for returning tea leaves to the tea making apparatus.

The above objects are intended to be achieved by these inventions.

<Operation of the Invention> In the present invention, since the rotary type shutter valve having the scraping blade that rotates to take out the tea leaves from the sample taking-in port is provided, the working atmosphere in the tea making apparatus may be disturbed. No, do it in a shielded state.

Further, when tea leaves are scraped out by this rotary type shutter valve, the tea leaves are partially taken out in a lump shape, and when the measurement is performed with the non-contact type sensor as it is, an error may occur in the measured value. However, in the present invention, since the transfer of tea leaves is carried out by a transfer conveyor to which a vibration conveyor is applied, the thickness and apparent density of the tea leaves are averaged during that time, and a sampling action that becomes a more suitable condition for measurement is performed. Done.

<Example> Hereinafter, the present invention will be specifically described based on illustrated examples. First, an embodiment in which the sampling device of the present invention is applied to a middle kneader which is one of tea making machines will be described. Code 1
Is a sampling device, which is attached to the middle kneading machine 2 and measures the water content as an example while continuously moving the tea leaves A that are undergoing the middle kneading process. Of course, in addition to moisture measurement, tea leaves A
It is also possible to measure the temperature of, or the color, shape, composition, and dryness. The point is to disclose one sampling method for performing various measurements. Then, in the middle of this sampling device 1, the tea leaves A
The sensor body 3 of the non-contact type sensor that measures the water content is exposed. First, prior to the description of the sampling device 1, the middle kneading machine 2 in which the sampling device 1 is assembled will be briefly described. This is a machine frame 5 made of an appropriate metal square or the like, which rotatably supports a rotary drum 6 for storing tea leaves A via bearing rollers 7. After processing the rotary drum 6, tea leaves are A take-out lid 8 for taking out is formed on a part of the body portion, and the inside of the rotary barrel 6 including the take-out lid 8 is entirely covered with a duck tree 9
Extend. The end of the rotary drum 6 on the closing side is closed by a closing end plate 10, the other end is provided with a wire net 11, and the outside of the wire net 11 is provided with a fan 11a. The fan 11a sucks the outside air heated by the gas furnace 15 described later into the rotary drum 6,
It serves to discharge the dust from the dust collecting cylinder 11b provided above the a. A large number of scraping pieces 12 are provided on the inner peripheral surface of the rotating drum 6 near the closing-side end plate 10. As an example, the scraping pieces 12 are combined with ones having different set angles. The scraping pieces 12 are provided to assist the extraction of the tea leaves A, but may be omitted if the tea leaves A are taken in a sufficient amount for sampling. The rotary drum 6 is provided with a kneading hand 13 for directly performing a kneading action, which is independent of the rotary drum 6 and rotates at least at a faster speed than the rotary drum 6 in the same direction. It is attached to the hand shaft 14.
On the other hand, a gas furnace 15 is provided on the outside of the input side end plate 10, and a duct for supplying hot air from the gas furnace 15 is configured to communicate with the inside of the rotary drum 6 from the input side end plate 10. Furthermore, the input side end plate 10
A tea leaf feeding chute 16 is connected to the upper part of the above, and the tea leaf which has undergone the previous step is introduced. Although not shown, a damper is provided in the feeding chute 16 and is closed so that outside air does not enter the rotary drum 6 during processing. The sampling device 1 is further provided in the remaining space on the input side end plate 10 to which such a gas furnace 15 or the feeding chute 16 is attached, and the input side end plate 10 has a sample intake port 17 for sampling tea leaves. A sample return port for opening tea leaves A in the middle kneading machine 2 above the upper and lower center positions of the rotating drum 6 and on the upper side of the rotation of the rotary drum 6 (left side from the center in FIG. 3). 18 is provided below the vertical center of the throw-in end plate 10 and in the region above the rotary drum 6 on the upper side of the scratch. Further, the intermediate kneading machine 2 is provided below the rotary drum 6 with a conveyor 19 for sending the processed intermediate kneading machine to the next step. Incidentally, the central kneading machine 2 is naturally provided with a control device, a driving device, or the like for these members, but a conventionally known mechanism is appropriately applied to these and detailed description thereof will be omitted. Next, the sampling device 1 attached to such a central kneading machine 2 will be described in detail below. The sampling device 1 is supported by a sub-frame 20 forming a part of the machine frame 5, and the sub-frame 20 has an upper conveyor support frame 21 and a measuring section support frame 22 provided below the upper conveyor support frame 21. In addition, the measuring unit support frame 22 is the middle kneading machine 2
It is also possible to provide it separately from the main body. In this case, it becomes difficult to receive vibrations in the rotary drum 6, and improvement in measurement accuracy can be expected. First, the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out is supported with respect to the upper conveyor support frame 21,
This applies a vibration conveyor. The transfer conveyor 23 for taking out is such that a trough 24 that directly bears the transfer action is mounted in a floating state on the upper conveyor support frame 21 via a leaf spring 25, and the trough 24 is provided on the tip side of the upper conveyor support frame 21. The gear unit 26 driven by the provided motor M ₁ is used as a drive source and is vibrated to transfer the tea leaves. That is, the gear unit 26 directly forms eccentric output shafts 27 on the left and right sides thereof, the end portion of the connecting plate 28 is pivotally attached to the eccentric output shaft 27, and one end thereof is connected to the end portion of the trough 24. This trough 24 is formed with an intake part 29 from the sample intake port 17 to a position where it penetrates the input side end plate 10 and enters the processing chamber of the rotary cylinder 6, while the gear unit 26 side has a relay input port 30 below it. Is opened, and a relay chute 31 extending downward is connected thereto. Further, a shutter valve 33 for taking in is provided at the sample taking-in port 17, which acts so as to guide the tea leaves A dropped and accumulated on the taking-in side of the trough 24 to the outside, and at the same time, taking a sample. This has the effect of closing the inlet 17 so that it is not always open. Specifically, a so-called rotary type shutter valve 33 is applied, and a roller attached to a drive shaft 34 supported in a substantially horizontal direction by a bearing on the outer surface of the closing side end plate 10. 35, a plurality of blades (12 in this embodiment, as an example) are attached to the blade 35 in a radial manner. Reference numeral M ₂ is a motor for driving the shutter valve 33 for taking in. In addition, the hood should cover the shutter valve 33 for taking in.
37 is formed on the input side end plate 10. Further, in this embodiment, when the tea leaves A to be taken out as a sample from the inside kneading machine 2 are transferred, a transfer conveyor 23 for taking out the tea leaves,
Further, a series of transfer conveyors constituted by a transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring section, which is provided below the transfer conveyors in a substantially parallel manner. Of course, the tea leaves A may be returned by a chute or the like, and the sensor main body 3 may be faced in the middle of one transfer conveyor to perform the measurement. First, the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring unit also applies a vibration conveyor, and this one, including its driving mechanism, is supported by the load cell 40 in a floating state with respect to the measuring unit support frame 22. That is, load cell 40
Directly supports the measuring unit floating frame 41, and a transfer conveyor for the measuring unit with respect to the measuring unit floating frame 41.
A trough 42, which is a main member of 39, is supported via a leaf spring 43. Although this trough 42 will be described later, in order to make the measurement value of the sensor body 3 more accurate, it is desirable that the bottom plate 44 be formed of styrofoam, which absorbs and reflects microwaves less. The drive of the trough 42 is performed by using the eccentric output shaft 46 of the gear unit 45 driven by the motor M ₃ as a drive source similarly to the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out the eccentric output shaft 46 and the trough 42. The connecting plates 47 are connected to each other. The trough 42 has a receiving portion 49 at a position where the relay chute 31 faces and a throw-in end plate.
A portion of 10 near the sample return port 18 is referred to as a sending-back unit 50. A return guide chute 51 is attached to the feeding-back end plate 10 on the sending-back unit 50 side, and a returning shutter valve 52 is provided at the sample return port 18 opening at that position.
By this, the tea leaf A can be taken in freely and the sample return port 18 is closed as much as possible. In this device, a round bar-shaped core body 54 is attached to a drive shaft 53 arranged in a substantially horizontal direction inside the input side end plate 10, and a plurality of core bodies 54 (in this embodiment, 4
The (single) scraping blades 55 are radially formed by welding as an example, and these are driven to rotate by a motor M ₄ for driving the returning shutter valve 52. The scraping blade 55 has a tip flap 56 formed on the tip side by a sufficiently flexible rubber plate or the like. Further, the sensor main body 3 is provided so as to sandwich the trough 42, which is a main member of the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring unit, from above and below, and specifically, the microwave transmitting antenna 57 and the receiving antenna 58 are used. Composed.

The present invention has the specific mechanisms described above, and operates as follows. First of all, in the middle kneading machine 2, the tea leaves A fed into the rotary drum 6 from the feeding chute 16 according to a conventional method.
In a state where a certain amount of is stored, the rotary drum 6 and the kneading hand 13 are rotated in the same direction by different drive sources with different speeds. As a result, the tea leaves A in the rotary drum 6 are rubbed 13
While being pressed between the duck tree 9 and the duck tree 9, it moves and has a kneading and kneading action. The tea leaves A are sampled in such an operating state. First, the tea leaves A are moved upward during the processing along with the rotation of the kneading hands 13 and the rotary drum 6, or by the scraping pieces 12 provided on the rotary drum 6. While being scraped up by the slab, it is scraped up to a certain height and then falls downward, part of which is the intake part 29 of the trough 24 that is the main member of the transfer conveyor 23 for unloading.
It will fall on top. Since the trough 24 itself has a vibrating state, it has a tendency to move the tea leaves to the outside, but in reality the fan 11a is inside the rotary drum 6.
There is a case where a negative pressure state is caused by the suction and the outside air flows into the rotary drum 6, and the tea leaves A are not always drawn out smoothly. In such a situation, in the present apparatus, the scraping blade 36 of the intake shutter valve 33 positively and smoothly discharges the tea leaves A to the outside. While this shutter valve 33 is always operating, it substantially closes the sample intake port 17 to prevent the inflow of outside air and prevent the processing conditions in the rotary drum 6 from changing. The tea leaves A thus sent out are transferred to the trough 24 of the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out.
Of the tea leaves A, while gradually averaging the layers of the tea leaves A, drops from inside the relay chute 31 from the relay feeding port 30 and drops onto the receiving portion 49 of the trough 42 in the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring unit. Go on. And at this time, the trough 42 is also the motor M ₃
Vibration is always generated by the action of the connecting plate 47 connected to the eccentric output shaft 46 of the gear unit 45 driven by, and in the illustrated embodiment, the vibration gradually moves toward the closing side end plate 10. At this time, at least the total weight of the tea leaves A moving on the trough 42 is continuously detected by the load cell 40 and stored as predetermined data, for example, as data encoded by a microcomputer. In the middle of this, microwave is transmitted from the microwave transmitting antenna 57, which is the sensor body 3, to the receiving antenna 58, and at this time, the microwave output value after being partially absorbed by the tea leaves A is converted into an appropriate microprocessor or the like. Is supplied as encoded signal data. It should be noted that the opening of the receiving antenna 58 may be provided with a filter 59 using styrofoam or the like so that the chips of the tea leaves A as a sample do not enter the inside of the receiving antenna 58. Here, the measurement of the water content by the microwave will be briefly described. The measurement is performed by the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when the measurement is started, first, the process proceeds from the start step 101 to step 102, and various data is initialized in this step. At this time, the detected weight of the load cell 40 and the average value of the detected voltage of the microwave when the tea leaves A are not present on the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring unit are stored as reference values w ₀ and m ₀ , respectively. And then step
At 103, sample weight and microwave attenuation data are accumulated. Incidentally, this accumulation means that data processing is performed several times to several tens of times per second, and an average value is calculated in a state where the data processing is accumulated for about 1 minute. First, in step 103, sample weight data is accumulated. At this time, if the sample weight is W, W = W + (wi−w ₀ ) is set (wi is the weight detected by the load cell at each measurement). Next, in step 104, microwave attenuation data is accumulated. This processing formula uses M = M + (m ₀ -mi) where M is the microwave attenuation amount (mi is the microwave detection voltage at each measurement).

Steps for discriminating when such data is accumulated
At 105, it is determined whether the calculation time has come. Specifically, it is determined whether or not, for example, one minute has passed since the accumulated data was cleared. By the way, the setting of 1 minute is usually meaningless even if extremely small control is performed due to the heat storage load in the tea leaf manufacturing process of this kind.
It is selected as the time when the control can be effectively performed and more precise control can be performed. Of course, the cumulative time of the cumulative data is not limited to this one minute, and it goes without saying that an appropriate time can be selected. When the calculation time is reached, the water content G is calculated in the next step 106, and this water content G is experimentally obtained under the same conditions as those of the present apparatus. The water content G is obtained from Of course, this water content G is stored as predetermined data of the microcomputer, and the amount of outside air flowed in by suction of the fan 11a, which sets the processing conditions of the tea kneading machine 2 and the temperature, etc., the rotation speed of the rotating drum 6, etc. ,
It is used for selection of various other control elements. Then, after such a calculation of the water content is performed, step 108 is performed.
At, the accumulated data is cleared and M = 0 and W = 0. As a result of determining the calculation time in step 105, if the calculation time has not come yet, a loop
After 109, the process proceeds to step 110, where it is determined whether the initialization is necessary. If the initialization is not required yet, the process returns to the step 103 of accumulating the sample weight data via the loop 111 again. Of course, if initialization is necessary, loop 112 again.
After that, the process proceeds to step 102 for performing initialization. In general, when the tea manufacturing apparatus is of a batch processing type, the initialization is performed after the tea leaves A are taken out and before the next tea leaves A are charged. In this way, the moisture content of the tea leaves A transferred by the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring unit is automatically measured,
Thereafter, while being guided from the sending-back section 50 which is the terminal end of the trough 42 through the returning-section guide chute 51 to the returning shutter valve 52, the sample-returning port 18 is again passed through the rotary drum 6 of the central kneading machine 2.
Returned inside. That is, the scraping blade 55 of the rotary type return shutter valve 52 positively sends the tea leaves A back to the inside, and the sample return port 18 thereof is provided.
By making the state of substantially closed, it is possible to smoothly put the sample back in and stabilize the internal processing environment. Further, the shutter valve 52 prevents the tea leaves A on the trough 42 from being blown off by the inflow of outside air, and
The wind pressure due to the inflow of outside air is prevented from pushing up or pushing down the trough 42, and the accuracy of detecting the sample weight by the load cell 40 is improved.

<< Effects of the Invention >> The present invention has the configuration as described above, and is provided with the rotary-type shutter valve 33 having the scraping blade 55 that rotates to take out the tea leaves A from the sample intake port 17. Therefore, the processing atmosphere in the tea making apparatus can be performed in a shielded state without disturbing the processing atmosphere.

Further, the drive system devices can be simply configured as compared with other mechanisms, for example, the reciprocating swing function and the like, and an extra member is not required.

Further, when the tea leaf A is scraped out by the rotary type shutter valve 33, the tea leaf A is partially taken out in a lump shape, and an error may occur in the measurement value when the tea leaf A is directly measured by the non-contact sensor. However, in the present invention, since the vibrating conveyor is used for transferring the tea leaves A, even when measuring the water content by transmitting microwaves which are non-contact sensors, the tea leaves A can be measured in a uniformly leveled state, and more accurate measurement values can be obtained. Is obtained. Further, since the vibrating conveyor is adopted as the transfer means for taking the tea leaves A out of the tea making apparatus, the tea leaves A do not become a nodule shape,
It can be taken out in a loosened state. In addition, it hardly adheres to the transfer surface of the conveyor, and when a belt conveyor is used, the problematic state of the tea leaf A being caught between the belt and the pulley does not occur. Further, the bridging phenomenon that occurs when a long tea stalk is caught in the sample intake port 17 is unlikely to occur.

Further, after the tea leaves A are continuously taken out from the tea making apparatus by the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out, and after predetermined measurement,
This can be put back into the rotary drum 6 which is sequentially processed, and more continuous tea leaves can be smoothly and rationally sampled.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a centering machine equipped with a sampling device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a front view of the same, FIG. 3 is a left side view showing the same skeleton of the same, and FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the sampling device. The perspective view shown in FIG. 5, FIG. 5 is the same as the perspective view seen from another direction, and FIG.
The figure is the same side view, FIG. 7 is the side view showing the transfer conveyor for the measuring section and the mechanism inside the gear unit, the plan view and the end view along the line CC of FIG. 7 (a), and FIG. FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the side end plate viewed from the inside of the rotary drum, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a process of measuring the amount of water by microwaves. 1; Sampling device 2; Crushing machine 3; Sensor body 5; Machine frame 6; Rotating barrel 7; Support roller 8; Ejection lid 9; Duck wood 10; Input side end plate 11; Wire mesh 11a; Fan 11b; Dust collection tube 12; Scraping piece 13; Rubbing hand 14; Rubbing shaft 15; Gas furnace 16; Feed chute 17; Sample intake port 18; Sample return port 19; Conveyor 20; Subframe 21; Upper conveyor support frame 22; Measuring part support Frame 23; Transfer conveyor 24 for taking out; Trough 25; Leaf spring 26; Gear unit 27; Eccentric output shaft 28; Connection plate 29; Intake part 30; Relay feeding port 31; Relay chute 33; (For taking in) Shutter valve 34; Drive shaft 35; Roller 36; Scraping blade 37; Hood 39; Transfer conveyor 40 for measuring unit; Load cell 41; Floating frame for measuring unit 42; Trough 43; Leaf spring 44; Bottom plate 45; Gear unit 46; Eccentric output shaft 47; Connection plate 49; Receiving part 50; Sending-back part 51; Return guide chute 52; Shutter valve 53 (for returning); Drive shaft 54; Core body 55; Scraping blade 56; Tip Wrap 57; transmitting antenna 58; receive antenna 59; filter A; leaf tea _{M 1, M 2, M 3} , M 4; motor

Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP-A-1-225442 (JP, A) JP-A-56-129858 (JP, A) JP-A-56-150329 (JP, A) Actual development Sho-56-135154 (JP , U) Shoko 5044 (Taisho 12) (JP, Y 1, T)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A sample intake is provided in a part of a tea making device,
Connected to this sample intake port, part of the tea leaves being processed are taken out, and after measuring the predetermined properties with a non-contact type sensor,
In the device for returning tea leaves to the tea making device, a rotary type shutter valve having rotating scraping blades is provided at the sample intake port, and a vibrating conveyor is used as a conveyor for transferring the tea leaves taken out from the shutter valve. A device for sampling processed tea leaves. 2. The transfer conveyor comprises a transfer conveyor for taking out, which is connected to the sample intake port, and a transfer conveyor for measuring section, which is arranged subsequently to the transfer conveyor. The processing apparatus for sampling processed tea leaves according to claim 1, wherein a non-contact sensor is provided in the middle of the process. 3. The processing according to claim 1, wherein the non-contact type sensor provided for performing the measurement is a non-contact type moisture sensor including a microwave transmitting device and a microwave receiving device. Tea leaf sampling device. 4. The processed tea leaf sampling device according to claim 2, wherein the transfer conveyor for the measuring unit is also used as a transfer conveyor for returning the tea leaves to the tea making device.