JPH0815891B2 - Automatic tofu packing method and device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a method for automatically packing tofu cut into regular shapes.

[Conventional technology and its problems]

After soaking the soybeans and boiling them, a coagulant is injected and mixed into the soybean milk from which the okara has been separated, and the soybean milk is soaked to produce fine soybean curd, so-called silk strain tofu. Depending on the method of producing tofu, it is divided into filled tofu and cut tofu. Filled tofu is obtained by cooling the soybean milk once, mixing it with a coagulant, and injecting and sealing it in a box-shaped or bento-box-shaped pack having the size and shape of one tofu, and then solidifying it. When soy milk is filled and sealed in the pack in this filled tofu, the air mixed in the soy milk becomes bubbles when the soy milk is heated or after filling and soars to the surface of the soy milk in the pack. When solidified in this state, a foaming shape is formed on the tofu surface. This bubbling shape reduces the commercial value.

Cut tofu has a larger shape than filled tofu, is solidified in a coagulation box having a size of at least several tofus, and is cut into a predetermined size, that is, a size of one tofu. . In this cut tofu, when soy milk is injected into the coagulation box, the air bubbles mixed therein escape to some extent before the soy milk is coagulated, so that the foaming shape described above is rarely formed.

Furthermore, coarse-textured tofu, so-called cotton tofu, is obtained by crushing once solidified tofu, filling the crushed tofu pieces into a mold box, and pressing and dehydrating this tofu Tofu is made by mixing soymilk with a coagulant and coagulating in that state.

Furthermore, since cut tofu is soft and very fragile, it is impossible to carry out this operation in the air when packing a single piece of silken tofu manufactured into a predetermined shape. For this reason, the conventional method of packing tofu is to immerse the silken tofu in water, and be careful not to break it one by one by the operator, fried it by hand from the water and put it in the pack with the other hand. After that, the tofu-containing pack is packaged in a thin film such as a polyethylene film and then shipped by being supplied to an automatic packaging machine through a conveyer such as a conveyor or directly by hand. This packaging of tofu is a necessary and indispensable task for manufacturers who produce large quantities and wholesale to supermarkets and retail stores. However, as mentioned above, the silk strainer is soft and very fragile, so that it is impossible to automatically or mechanically wrap or pack it. For this reason, since the tofu is soaked in water and the workers are careful not to break it, the tofu is fried and packed in a pack, which is inefficient and requires a lot of manpower in the manufacturing process.

Furthermore, since the operator uses hot water or water that can be extracted by hand, sterilization easily adheres to the tofu, which may propagate after hermetically sealed, resulting in poor shelf life.

[Means for solving problems]

The present invention is made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and is provided with a pack floating prevention mechanism, and provided with a water tank for aligning and transporting tofu in water on a conveyor capable of transporting and ascending and descending the pack, and packs on the conveyor. After feeding, the pack is submerged in the water, then the tofu is pushed into the pack from the water above and to the side of the pack, and then the conveyor is raised to raise the pack above the water surface, The characteristic feature is that the tofu can be packed naturally and surely in the pack without crushing the tofu due to its own weight.

[Work]

The tofu is transported in water and pushed into the pack submerged in the water from the side of the pack, the pack is floated up, and the tofu is accurately inserted into the pack due to its own weight, and the tofu is not crushed. Also, packing can be automated, which improves hygiene and production efficiency.

〔Example〕

The automatic tofu packing method of the present invention will be described below based on the illustrated embodiment.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes a water tank, and the water tank 1 is filled with hot water for keeping dead bacteria temperature or cold water having a temperature for suppressing the growth of various bacteria up to a predetermined water level. The water tank 1 is provided with an aligning plate 2 and a transfer means 3 in which the tofu cut into a regular shape is aligned and conveyed so as to facilitate packing.

The aligning plates 2 are arranged at required intervals so that the regular tofu can be separated and sent. This alignment plate 2
At the end position of the packing conveyor 4, the packing conveyor 4 is vertically movable in the direction intersecting the direction in which the tofu is transferred between the alignment plates by the transfer means 3 such as a bar conveyor.

The packing conveyor 4 is supported by a main body frame F installed on the water tank 1. The lifting frame 6 such as a cylinder provided on the main body frame F suspends the lifting frame 6 so that it can be lifted and lowered, and the lifting rod 6 is provided with a guide rod 7 so that the lifting and lowering of the frame 6 can be accurately suppressed at a predetermined position. The guide rod 7 is projected and held by a guide roller 8 provided on the main body frame side, whereby the elevating frame is restricted in the horizontal position and can be slid or lifted only in the ascending direction. Then, the frame 41 of the packing conveyor is fixed to the lower part of the elevating frame 6 or the lower part of the guide rod 7, and the sprocket wheels (or drums) are provided at both ends of the conveyor frame 41 having a concave central part.
42, 42 are rotatably supported, and a conveyor 43 is stretched between the wheels 42, 42. The conveyor 43 has a lower central portion along the shape of the conveyor frame 41, and both end portions have a high arc shape so that the wheel portion is always located above the water surface. It is driven by a driving device 44 provided in the above to intermittently rotate the conveyor. Since the central portion of the conveyor 43 is lowered together with the conveyor frame 41, the lifting and lowering of the conveyor 43 by the lifting machine 5 does not cause the wheel 42 to be submerged in the central portion.
Makes it easy to go up and down in the water. Also, the packs P are placed on the conveyor 43 at regular intervals, and the pack stoppers 45, 45, ...
Is projected over the entire length of the conveyor 43 according to the width of the pack. The conveyor frame 41 has a central portion lower than both end portions, but the central portion of the conveyor frame has a length at which all rows of tofu transferred in a plurality of rows can be packed at the same time, that is, the length of the entire aligned plate width. It should be at least horizontal, and two upper and lower guide rails 4 should be installed on the upper part of both sides of the conveyor frame along substantially the entire length of the frame.
It is equipped with a pack floating prevention mechanism in which 6 and 47 are arranged, and the ears Pa of the pack P are sandwiched between the upper and lower guide rails 46 and 47 to prevent the pack from floating even when the conveyor frame is lowered below the water surface. To prevent.

A pack feeder 9 is provided above one end of the packing conveyor 4, and a pack stopper 45 of the conveyor 43 is provided by synchronizing the drive speed of the conveyor 43 and the pack supply speed.
The packs P are supplied and placed between 45 so that the packs P are continuously arranged and supplied.

Further, a guide device 10 is provided to be movable up and down at a position above the tofu supply section which is the center of the packing conveyor 4. This guide device 10 suspends and supports a guide frame 12 on a lifting machine 11 such as a cylinder provided on an elevating frame 6, and adjusts the pitch of packs arranged on a conveyor on the lower surface of a lower horizontal bar of the guide frame 12. Multiple guides in U-shape
Project 13,13 ... The guides 13 are U-shaped in a plan view and arranged so as to open toward the aligning plate, and the gap between the opposite sides is formed to be a little wider than the width of the tofu and the recess width of the pack, and placed on the conveyor. The guide P abuts on the upper part of the pack only when the packed P is submerged in water together with the conveyor and the tofu is supplied into the pack, so that the tofu can be surely guided into the pack from between the alignment plates.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a tofu supply means, which is disposed above the end of the aligning plate and is vertically driven by a supply cylinder 21 which is provided in the main body frame F and is driven in the horizontal direction, specifically in the supply direction of the tofu to the pack. A cylinder 22 is vertically installed, and a frame 23 is horizontally arranged at the lower end of the rod of the lifting cylinder 22 and parallel to the conveyor.
24, 24 ... Can be inserted between the respective alignment plates and project.

Therefore, a packing method using the apparatus configured as described above will be described below.

When the rear end position of the tofu T in the front row conveyed by the transfer means 3 between the alignment plates 2 and 2 has passed the delivery plate 24 of the tofu supply means 20 in the ascending standby position, or is stopped at a fixed position. Then, the delivery plate 24 is lowered by the elevating cylinder 22 so as to enter between the aligning plates, and the delivery cylinder 24 is moved forward by the elevating cylinder 21 by the supply cylinder 21 to move the tofu T between the aligning plate 2 and the conveyor 4. It is sent out to the packing conveyor side through the space between the guide plates 25 arranged in parallel with each other. At this time, the packing conveyor 4 is lowered by the launching machine 5, and the pack floating on the conveyor is prevented by the pack floating prevention mechanism so that the packs P on the conveyor are submerged and the packs face each other between the alignment plates. In this way, the guide 13 is lowered so that the guide 13 comes to almost abut on the upper part of each pack. Therefore, the tofu T delivered by the delivery plate is guided into the pack by being guided by the U-shaped guide having the front opening.
At this time, some tofu is surely inserted into the pack, but some may tilt or float without entering the pack. For this reason, next, after the guide 13 is raised by driving the cylinder 11, the whole of the packing conveyor 4 is lifted by the launching machine 5 to a position where the upper part of the pack is at the water surface position or a position slightly higher than the water surface. The water in the pack is overflowed and it is naturally inserted into the pack. Next, drive the conveyor 43 to carry out the actual pack,
Conveyor after loading empty packs to the tofu packing position
Stop 43. When the conveyor 43 is driven, the conveyor frame is stopped at the raised position, the pack feeder 9 is driven, and the packs are sequentially placed on the conveyor 43. Then, when the empty pack is supplied onto the conveyor and reaches the tofu packing position, the conveyor is stopped, the conveyor frame is lowered by the launching machine 5, and the pack is submerged in water. At this time, the upper surface of the pack is set at a position slightly lower than the lower surface of the tofu T sent out by the transfer means and the delivery plate so that the tofu naturally enters the pack. Then, the guide 13 is lowered to come into contact with the upper part of the pack and waits for the next supply of tofu. In this way, this operation is sequentially repeated to pack the tofu in water automatically and continuously.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the present invention, the tofu that is aligned and conveyed in the water in the aquarium is pushed into the pack as it is in water, and the pack is raised above the water surface so that the tofu can be reliably stored in the pack due to its own weight. However, there is an advantage that the tofu can be packed without crushing it, and can be hygienic and efficient without requiring manpower.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 is a front view, FIG. 2 is a side view, and FIG. 3 is an embodiment for carrying out an automatic tofu packing method according to the present invention.
The figure is a plan view and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of packing. 1 is a water tank, 2 is an aligning plate, 3 is a transfer means, 4 is a packing packing conveyor, 43 is a conveyor, 46 and 47 are pack floating prevention mechanisms, 5 is a lifting machine, 6 is a lifting frame, 7 is a guide rod, 8 is a guide roller, 9 is a pack feeder, 10 is a guide device, and P is a pack.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A water tank for aligning and transporting tofu in water is provided with a conveyor whose both ends are always high and whose central portion is low and which is horizontal, and both sides of the frame of the conveyor are provided. A pack floating prevention mechanism is installed on the upper part of the package along almost the entire length of the pack, the pack is placed on the conveyor, and the pack is conveyed laterally by intermittent drive of the conveyor, and the pack is prevented from floating by operating the cylinder. It is possible to vertically move the entire conveyor together with the mechanism, when the conveyor is in the rising position, while supplying the pack at the pack supply position of this conveyor, after intermittently driving the conveyor to supply a constant, While preventing the floating of the pack by the pack floating prevention mechanism, lower the conveyor vertically to position the central part of the conveyor in the water and submerge the pack at the tofu supply position in the water. Then, the tofu from the water above the side of the pack is fed into the pack while being guided by a guide device that can move up and down, and then the conveyor on which the pack is placed is moved vertically together with the pack floating prevention mechanism and on the water surface. An automatic tofu packing method, characterized in that the tofu-filled pack is lifted up, and then the pack filled with tofu is transferred laterally by the conveyor. 2. A water tank for transporting underwater by aligning tofu cut into a regular shape, and a water tank provided in the water tank, both ends of which are always higher than the water surface of the water tank, and a central tofu supply position is low, and , A leveled conveyor, a pack floating prevention mechanism arranged along the entire length of the upper part of both sides of the conveyor frame, and a vertical movement of the entire conveyor together with the pack floating prevention mechanism by operating a cylinder. Means for moving the central part of the conveyor up and down in water and above the water, means for intermittently driving the conveyor in the lateral direction, and above the one end side of the conveyor, the pack on the conveyor in synchronization with the intermittent drive of the conveyor. A pack feeder for supplying tofu to the side of the conveyor, and a tofu supplier for supplying tofu into the pack submerged in water from above the side of the pack when the conveyor descends. And a guide device that is vertically movable in synchronization with the conveyor at the packing position to guide the tofu to each pack, and a means for moving the guide device up and down. Automatic packing device.