HK1114747B - Method and device for spreading food dough and disk-like food dough obtained by the method - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and a device for uniformly spreading a lump of food dough without occurrence of a slippage between the food dough and a spreading roller and without occurrence of shrinkage of the food dough when the food dough is spread in a flat shape, and a disk-like food dough obtained by the method. In the method of spreading the lump of the food dough (3) placed on a loading table (7) in the flat shape, the conical spreading roller revolvable and rotatable relative to the loading table is installed on a lifting frame vertically movable relative to the loading table, and when the food dough is spread by pressing the spreading roller against the food dough, the spreading roller is drivingly rotated at a speed higher than that when the spreading roller is revolved and rotated in a driven manner to spread the food dough. The pressing spread of the spreading roller relative to the food dough is lowered at the end time more than that at the beginning time.

Description

Method and device for spreading food dough, and disc-shaped food dough obtained by the method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for spreading (stretching) a lump (one) food dough such as a pie dough, a bread dough, a stuffed pie dough, and a bread dough, which is made of a stuffing such as a pizza dough wrapped with cheese, for example, in a flat shape, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for spreading a food dough, which can uniformly spread a food dough without causing slippage between the food dough and a spreading roller for spreading, and without causing large shrinkage of the food dough after the spreading is completed. Further, it relates to a method of shaping food dough pieces into a disc shape by spreading.

Background

When a suitable food dough such as a pie dough, a pizza dough, a bread dough, etc. is flatly spread, the food dough is formed into one piece having an appropriate shape and the piece of food dough is flatly spread so that the shape that the food dough assumes when it is flatly spread from a substantially spherical shape, a rectangular shape, a thick-walled disk shape, etc. is a thin disk shape, an elliptical shape, a quadrangular shape, etc. (see patent documents 1, 2, 3).

In addition, as an apparatus for forming a food dough into a disc-like shape, an apparatus for automatically forming a dough base material is provided with a conveyor belt, a reciprocating punching die having a shape conforming to a desired peripheral shape of a dough material is provided above the conveyor belt, a rotary disc is provided below the conveyor belt, a plurality of small rollers are arranged on the upper surface of the rotary disc in a spiral shape, and the rollers press the back side of the conveyor belt when the punching die is lowered (see patent document 4).

As a food dough with a built-in filler, there is provided a pizza in which cream cheese or oily sauce as an oily layer is filled into a bread dough, and as such a molding method, after a dough piece in which an oily substance is filled into a bread dough like a steamed stuffed bun is obtained, it is pressed into an oval-shaped pancake by a roller press composed of a pair of vertical rollers, and the oval-shaped pancake is rotated by 90 degrees and then rolled again to obtain a disc-shaped pancake (see patent document 5).

Patent document 1: japanese patent publication No. 32-3040

Patent document 2: japanese patent publication No. 58-32847

Patent document 3: japanese patent laid-open publication No. 57-129634

Patent document 4: japanese unexamined patent publication No. Hei 4-293447

Patent document 5: japanese unexamined patent publication No. 11-32660

Disclosure of Invention

The apparatus described in patent document 1 has a configuration in which: a conical spreading roller for spreading the food dough is rotatably mounted on a roller support member which is vertically and freely movable and is horizontally and freely rotatably provided above a placing table for placing the food dough around a vertical axis.

The apparatus described in patent document 2 has a structure in which: a roller support member is provided vertically movably above a placing table on which food dough is freely placed and which is freely rotatable horizontally, and the roller support member is provided rotatably with a conical stretching roller for stretching the food dough.

In the configurations described in patent documents 1 and 2, the spreading rollers descend against the food dough on the placement table to press the food dough, and revolve around while rotating freely to spread the food dough.

In the above configuration, the extending rollers are rotated by the driven manner by revolving the extending rollers. As a result, sliding occurs between the food dough and the spreading rollers, which may cause damage to the food dough. Further, there are problems that: for example, when a ridge-like ridge is formed on the front side in the running direction of the spreading rollers in the direction of the spreading rollers, the spreading rollers tend to move the ridge while pressing it forward, and the time required for spreading the food dough to a uniform thickness is prolonged.

In addition, stretching is more difficult because the blank is less stretchable when it is harder.

The same problem as described above occurs in patent document 3.

In patent document 4, since the spreading and pressing are performed by the conveyor belt using a plurality of small rollers, the effect is not preferable.

In patent document 5, it is necessary to change the direction of the elongated material at least 2 times, and therefore, the efficiency is not high. In addition, there is a problem that the shape of the elongated blank is not circular.

In addition, in the structures described in patent documents 1 and 2, after the food dough is supplied to the placing table and spread in a flat shape, it is necessary to remove the spread food dough from the placing table, which has a problem that it is difficult to improve the operation efficiency.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and as a first aspect thereof, there is provided a method of spreading a food dough placed on a placing table by a spreading roller rotating on the placing table, the method comprising: the food dough is spread by rotating the spreading rollers at a speed higher than a rotation speed at which the spreading rollers are rotated while being rotated in a driven manner.

Further, the present invention provides a device for spreading food dough placed on a placing table by a spreading roller rotating on the placing table, comprising: the apparatus is provided with a motor as a 1 st driving device for revolving the extension rollers and a motor as a 2 nd driving device for rotating the extension rollers, and a control device for controlling the motor as the 2 nd driving device so that the extension rollers are rotated at a higher speed than a rotation speed at the time of driven rotation by revolving the extension rollers.

Furthermore, the method of flatly extending a lump-shaped food dough placed on a placing table is characterized in that: the food dough spreading device is characterized in that a conical spreading roller capable of revolving and rotating relative to the placing table is arranged on a lifting table capable of vertically moving relative to the placing table, and when the spreading roller presses the food dough to spread the food dough, the spreading roller is driven to rotate at a higher speed than the speed when the spreading roller revolves and rotates.

Further, in the food dough spreading method, the method may further include: the relative pressing speed of the spreading roller to the food dough is reduced at a predetermined deceleration so that the final pressing speed is lower than the initial pressing speed.

Further, in the food dough spreading method, the method may further include: the initial pressing speed is substantially constant for a predetermined time or until the food dough reaches a predetermined thickness.

Further, in the food dough spreading method, the method may further include: the final compression rate is gradually or stepwise decelerated.

Further, a food dough spreading device for spreading a lump of food dough placed on a placing table in a flat shape, characterized in that: the apparatus is provided with a lifting table vertically movable with respect to the placing table, a conical extension roller supported on the lifting table and capable of revolving and rotating with respect to the placing table, and a rotation motor for driving the extension roller to rotate.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: a plurality of extension rollers are arranged, and rotation motors are respectively arranged corresponding to the extension rollers.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: the number of rotation motors driving the extension rollers to rotate is less than that of the extension rollers, and the rotation motors are connected with the extension rollers in a linkage mode through power transmission mechanisms.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: a revolution motor for revolving the extension roller relatively to the placing table is provided, and a motor rotation control device for controlling the rotation of the rotation motor so that the rotation speed of the extension roller revolving by the driving of the revolution motor is maintained at a higher speed than the rotation speed of the extension roller revolving and driven to rotate.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: a vertical movement actuator for vertically moving the extension roller relative to the placing table and a drive mode control device for controlling the drive mode of the vertical movement actuator are provided.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: the placing table is provided with a food dough conveying device which enables the food dough to freely move from the food dough extending device to the output position through the extending operation position.

Further, a food dough spreading device for spreading a lump of food dough placed on a placing table in a flat shape, characterized in that: a conical extension roller is rotatably arranged above the placing table and is capable of revolving and rotating relative to the placing table, a pinion is integrally arranged with the extension roller, and a ring-shaped guide gear is meshed with the pinion.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: the number of teeth of the pinion and the guide gear is set so that the rotation speed of the extension roller revolving by the driving of the revolution motor is maintained at a higher speed than the rotation speed of the extension roller revolving for rotation.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: a vertical movement actuator for vertically moving the extension roller relative to the placing table and a drive mode control device for controlling a drive mode of the vertical movement actuator are provided.

In addition, as a 2 nd aspect of the present invention, when the substantially spherical food dough placed on the placement table is formed into a disk shape by the spreading rollers that revolve and rotate around the placement table while being spaced from the placement table, the gap between the spreading rollers and the placement table is gradually reduced, the top portions of the spreading rollers are brought into contact with the central portion of the food dough to press and flatten the food dough, and the contact area between the spreading rollers and the dough is increased as the gap is reduced, so that the food dough is gradually spread in the radial direction from the center thereof to form a disk shape.

The substantially spherical food dough is formed into a disc-like shape from a food dough containing a filler.

In addition, the edible granular material is spread on the placing table, so that the edible granular material is attached to the bottom surface of the placed food dough.

Further, when the food dough is spread, the placing table on which the food dough is placed forms a gap at a peripheral position with respect to the center.

Further, it relates to a disc-shaped food dough shaped by the method of the invention.

In addition, the 3 rd aspect of the present invention relates to a food dough spreading method for spreading food dough by an edible dough spreading device which is provided with a horizontally freely rotatable rotating table and a spreading roller which is provided above the rotating table in a freely rotatable manner and in which at least one of the placing table and the spreading roller is provided in a freely vertically movable manner, wherein the food dough spreading device is driven to rotate so that a rotation speed of the spreading roller becomes slightly higher than a rotation speed at which the rotating table and the spreading roller are brought into contact and the spreading roller is driven to rotate.

Further, the food dough spreading method is characterized in that: the rotating table is kept in a stopped state or a low-speed rotation state before the food dough comes into contact with the spreading rollers, and after the food dough comes into contact with the spreading rollers, the rotating table is rotated at a predetermined high speed so that the rotating table and the spreading rollers are relatively close to each other to spread the food dough.

Further, the food dough spreading method is characterized in that: and controlling the rotation speed of the spreading roller to be low at the end of the spreading operation of the food dough.

Further, the food dough spreading method is characterized in that: at the end of the food dough spreading operation, the rotation of the spreading roller and the rotary table is stopped, and then the reverse rotation is controlled.

Further, the food dough spreading method is characterized in that: the pressing speed of the spreading roller against the food dough is reduced at a predetermined deceleration, and the final pressing speed is made smaller than the initial pressing speed.

Further, the food dough spreading method is characterized in that: the initial pressing speed is substantially the same for a predetermined time or until the food dough reaches a predetermined thickness.

Further, the food dough spreading method is characterized in that: the final compression rate is gradually or stepwise decreased.

Further, a food dough spreading device for spreading a food dough in a lump shape flatly, characterized in that: a rotary table on which the food dough is placed and which is rotated by a motor and an extension roller which is rotated above the rotary table by a motor are provided, and at least one of the rotary table and the extension roller is vertically movably provided.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: a vertical movement actuator for vertically moving the extension roller relative to the placing table is provided, and a drive mode control device for controlling a drive mode of the vertical movement actuator is provided.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: the rotating table is provided with a positioning mechanism which can position the bracket for placing the food blank.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: the control device is provided with a mode memory for storing the deceleration mode of the spreading rollers at the end of the food dough spreading operation.

Further, the food dough spreading device is characterized in that: an operating device is provided for freely operating the forward rotation and reverse rotation of the rotary table and the extension roller.

According to aspects 1 and 3 of the present invention, the food dough can be efficiently and uniformly spread by effectively improving the spreading effect of the food dough while suppressing the slip between the food dough and the spreading rollers.

In addition, according to the invention of claim 2, the stretching rollers can uniformly stretch the pinched food dough in the radial direction (radial direction) by forcibly revolving and rotating the stretching rollers, and the thickness of the dough can be made uniform.

In the spreading of the dough, first, the top of the spreading roller is pressed flat against the central portion of the food dough, and the gap is further narrowed, so that the food dough is spread in the radial direction as the contact area between the spreading roller and the dough increases.

Further, by spreading the spherical food dough containing the filling material therein, a layer portion in which the filling material spreads uniformly in the dough and a disc-shaped dough formed only by the peripheral portion of the dough can be formed. When the disc-shaped material is baked, the layer portion and the peripheral portion are different in the penetration of the fire power, and a product in which the layer portion is thin and the peripheral portion is raised is formed.

In addition, since the edible granular material is spread by being adhered to the bottom surface of the food dough, the process can be simplified by adhering and decorating the granular material and the placement surface simultaneously with spreading the food dough.

In addition, when the food dough is spread, if a gap is provided at a peripheral position of the placement table on which the food dough is placed with respect to the center, the spread food dough can have a shape in which the peripheral portion is thicker than the inner side.

Further, according to the method of the invention of the 2 nd aspect, food dough having various composite shapes can be easily obtained as compared with the conventional method.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a front explanatory view conceptually and schematically showing main parts of a food dough spreading device according to an embodiment of the present invention 1 st aspect.

Fig. 2 is a plan explanatory view conceptually and schematically showing main parts of the food dough spreading device in the embodiment according to the first aspect of the present invention 1.

Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an operation of spreading the food dough.

Fig. 4 is a schematic front explanatory view showing a main part of a food dough spreading device according to embodiment 2 of the 1 st aspect of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic front explanatory view showing a main part of a food dough spreading device according to embodiment 3 of the 1 st aspect of the present invention.

Fig. 6 shows an enlarged view of the extension roller portion of the food dough extension device according to embodiment 3 of point 1 of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is an explanatory view showing changes in the lowering speed of the stretching roller with respect to the food dough, the interval between the stretching roller and the conveyor belt, the stretching area of the food dough, and the average radius when the food dough is stretched.

Fig. 8 is an explanatory view showing the lowering speed of the stretching roller with respect to the food dough when the food dough is stretched, the interval between the stretching roller and the conveyor belt, the stretching area of the food dough, and the change in the average radius.

Fig. 9 is an explanatory view showing the lowering speed of the stretching roller with respect to the food dough when the food dough is stretched, the interval between the stretching roller and the conveyor belt, the stretching area of the food dough, and the change in the average radius.

Fig. 10 is an explanatory view showing changes in the lowering speed of the stretching roller with respect to the food dough, the interval between the stretching roller and the conveyor belt, the stretching area of the food dough, and the average radius when the food dough is stretched.

Fig. 11 is an explanatory view showing the lowering speed of the stretching roller with respect to the food dough when the food dough is stretched, the interval between the stretching roller and the conveyor belt, the stretching area of the food dough, and the change in the average radius.

Fig. 12 is a functional block diagram showing a main configuration in the control device.

Fig. 13 is an explanatory view showing a food product containing a filling in an embodiment according to the 2 nd aspect of the present invention.

Fig. 14 shows an example of a food dough produced by the embodiment of the 2 nd aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view showing the operation of spreading granules to spread food in the embodiment of the point 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 16 is a view showing a gap provided on the placing table in the embodiment of the 2 nd aspect of the present invention.

Fig. 17 is an explanatory view of the operation of the gap formed by the pedestal-like projections on the conveyor belt in the embodiment of viewpoint 2 of the present invention.

Fig. 18 is a front explanatory view conceptually and schematically showing main parts of the food dough spreading device according to the embodiment of the 3 rd aspect of the present invention.

Fig. 19 is a functional block diagram showing a main structure of a control device in an embodiment of viewpoint 3 of the present invention.

Fig. 20 is a diagram illustrating the operation of spreading food dough in the embodiment according to the 3 rd aspect of the present invention.

Fig. 21 is a diagram illustrating the operation of spreading food dough in the embodiment according to the 3 rd aspect of the present invention.

Fig. 22 is a front explanatory view schematically showing a main part of a food dough spreading device in another embodiment.

Detailed Description

As shown conceptually and schematically in fig. 1 and 2, in the food dough spreading device 1 according to the embodiment of the first aspect of the present invention 1, a rack 5 is provided as an example of a stage on which a lump-shaped food dough 3 having an appropriate shape is placed, and a conveyor belt 7 serving as a food dough conveying device for conveying the food dough 3 is provided on the rack 5. The conveyor belt 7 functions to sequentially convey food dough 3 from the supply position 9A to the discharge position 9C via the extension work position 9B. Although the example shown in the figure shows an example in which the conveyor belt 7 is continuously configured, a configuration may be adopted in which the conveyor belt is divided into the supply position 9A, the extension work position 9B, and the delivery position 9C.

In the extended work position 9B, an upper frame (detailed structure is omitted) 11 is provided on an upper portion of the stand 5, and a vertically movable elevating stand 15 is mounted on and supported by a vertical guide 13 provided on the upper frame 11 so as to be vertically movable with respect to the stand 5. The vertical movement of the lifting table 15 can be realized by the operation of a vertical movement device (not shown) as an appropriate actuator for vertical movement such as a screw mechanism driven to rotate by a hydraulic cylinder or a servo motor.

A revolving motor 17 is attached to the elevating table 15, and a roller support member 19 is supported by an output shaft of the revolving motor 17. The roller support member 19 is provided with a plurality of support arms 21 extending downward from a boss portion attached to an output shaft of the revolving motor 17. The plurality of support arms 21 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and the intervals therebetween are increased on the lower portion side, that is, are inclined in a bell mouth shape. The conical spreading rollers 23 are rotatably attached to the lower end portions of the support arms 21, and rotation motors 25 for rotating the spreading rollers 23 are attached to the respective arms.

As shown in fig. 2, the extension rollers 23 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction during revolution, and the top of each extension roller 23 is provided at a position close to the position substantially coincident with the extension line of the axis of the output shaft of the revolution motor 17. The lowermost generatrix of each of the spreading rollers 23 is horizontal and arranged in a manner to be contiguous on the same plane.

With the above configuration, the elevating table 15 can be vertically moved by the operation of the vertical operation device (vertical movement actuator), and the extension rollers 23 can be revolved by the driving of the revolution motor 17 via the roller support member 19. In addition, each of the extension rollers 23 can be rotated by driving of each of the rotation motors 25. Therefore, the food dough 3 can be spread flat by rotating the spreading rollers 23 while revolving the food dough 3 at the spreading work position 9B and lowering the spreading rollers 23 relatively to press the food dough 3.

The food dough spreading device 1 is provided with a control device 27 for controlling the food dough spreading device 1, and a food dough detection device 29 for detecting the food dough 3 conveyed from the supply position 9A to the spreading work position 9B. The food dough detection device 29 is constituted by an optical sensor that optically detects the food dough 3 conveyed from the supply position 9A to the spreading work position 9B.

In the above configuration, after the food dough 3 supplied to the supply position 9A is conveyed to the spreading work position 9B, the revolving motor 17 is driven to revolve the spreading rollers 23 under the control of the control device 27, the spreading rollers 23 are driven to rotate by the driving of the rotating motor 25, and the food dough 3 is spread flatly by lowering the elevating table 15 and pressing the food dough 3 by the spreading rollers 23 (see fig. 3).

At this time, the extension rollers 23 are driven to rotate at a higher speed by the rotation motor 25 than the rotation speed when they are driven to rotate by the revolution caused by the driving of the revolution motor 17. That is, the rotation speed of the spreading rollers 25 is slightly higher than the rotation speed by the driven rotation (hereinafter, referred to as a driven rotation speed). More specifically, the spreading rollers 23 are driven to rotate at a speed about 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed.

Therefore, the food dough 3 can be spread without sliding between the food dough 3 and the spreading rollers 23. Further, since the spreading rollers 23 are driven to rotate at a high speed slightly higher than the driven rotation speed, if, for example, ridge-like slight projections are present on the front side in the traveling direction of the spreading rollers 23, the projections are drawn toward the lower side of the spreading rollers 23, and thus the projections can be effectively eliminated.

Further, since the circumferential speed of the spreading rollers 23 is greater at the bottom than at the top of the conical spreading rollers 23, the food dough 3 tends to be pulled from the top to the bottom (in the radial direction) of the spreading rollers 23, and the pressing action and the high-speed driving rotation action of the spreading rollers 23 are combined, whereby the upper surface of the food dough 3 can be efficiently spread in an appropriate shape such as a flat disk.

Here, the disk-shaped food dough is formed by thinning and extending the spherical food dough 3, but a rectangular plate-shaped dough can be formed if thinning and extending another shape, for example, a rectangular food dough 3.

Therefore, the food dough 3 can be efficiently spread and productivity can be improved as compared with the case where the food dough 3 is spread by rotating the spreading rollers 23 at the driven rotation speed.

Of course, the driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 23 may be 1.05 times or less the driven rotation speed. However, in this case, since the action of drawing the food dough 3 to the lower side of the spreading rollers 23 is reduced, and the time for flattening the upper surface of the food dough 3 is increased, it is desirable that the driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 23 is 1.05 times or more the driven rotation speed in order to improve the productivity.

Further, if the driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 23 is set to be about 1.4 times or more the driven rotation speed, the action of drawing the front portion of the food dough 3 in the traveling direction of the spreading rollers 23 toward the lower side of the spreading rollers 23 is strong, and stress tends to remain in the food dough 3. Therefore, when the stretching roller 23 should be separated from the food dough 3 after the stretching operation of the food dough 3 is completed, the food dough 3 tends to shrink due to the stress, which is undesirable.

As has been understood, it is desirable to set the driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 23 within a range of about 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed. It is desirable that the driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 23 be appropriately selected according to the physical properties of the food dough 3. The food dough 3 may be a food dough that has just been kneaded and formed, a food dough that has been wakened up for several tens of minutes, a food dough that has undergone a fermentation process, a pancake-like food dough that has been appropriately spread to a predetermined thickness, or the like.

As described above, the food dough 3 spread in a flat shape at the spread operation position 9B is conveyed to the carry-out position 9C by the conveyor belt 7, and is conveyed to the next process at the carry-out position 9C.

However, in the above description, only the example in which the spreading roller 23 is lowered with respect to the food dough 3 at a predetermined height position to spread the food dough 3 is given. However, the food dough 3 may be extended by raising the food dough 3 with respect to the extending rollers 23 at predetermined height positions. That is, the spreading roller 23 is lowered with respect to the food dough 3 or the food dough 3 is raised with respect to the spreading roller 23. Therefore, a structure may be adopted in which a part of the conveyor belt 7 supporting the food dough 3 is raised.

Fig. 4 conceptually and schematically shows a food dough spreading device according to embodiment 2 of point 1, and the same reference numerals are used for components having the same functions as those of the above-described embodiment, and redundant descriptions are omitted.

In this 2 nd embodiment, the above-described conveyor belts 7 are divided into individual conveyor belts 7A, 7B, 7C corresponding to the feed position 9A, the extension work position 9B, and the discharge position 9C of the food dough 3, respectively, and the conveyor belt 7B corresponding to the extension work position 9B is vertically moved with respect to the extension rollers 23 by a vertical moving device (not shown). In addition, the respective conveyor belts 7A, 7B, 7C are driven by motors (not shown) provided correspondingly, respectively.

Therefore, in embodiment 2, since the conveyor belt 7B on which the food dough 3 is placed is raised with respect to the spreading rollers 23 at a predetermined height position, the structure including the conveyor belt 7B corresponds to a placement table, and the upper frame 11 supporting the spreading rollers 23 and the like moves vertically with respect to the conveyor belt 7B and corresponds to a lifting/lowering stand.

In order to support the extension rollers 23, a roller support member 19 is provided on the lower end portion of a cylindrical rotating shaft 31 vertically and rotatably supported on the upper frame 11. In order to rotate the rotary shaft 31, a revolving motor 17 is attached to a motor bracket 33 attached to the upper frame 11, and a driven gear 35B attached to an upper portion of the rotary shaft 31 is engaged with a drive gear 35A rotated by the revolving motor 17. That is, the revolving motor 17 and the rotary shaft 31 are linked by an appropriate power transmission mechanism such as a gear train.

In order to rotate the extension rollers 23 rotatably supported by the roller support member 19, a rotation motor 25 is attached to the motor bracket 33, and the rotation motor 25 is linked to the extension rollers 23 by a suitable power transmission mechanism. More specifically, a rotary shaft 37 rotated by the rotation motor 25 is rotatably provided in the rotary shaft 31, and a gear (bevel gear) 39A provided at the lower end of the rotary shaft 37 meshes with a gear (bevel gear) 39B provided at one end of an intermediate shaft 41 rotatably supported by the roller support member 19. The gear 39C provided at the other end of the intermediate shaft 41 meshes with the gear 39D provided on the shaft of the spreading roller 23. That is, the rotation motor 25 and the extension roller 23 are linked by a power transmission mechanism including a gear train in which a plurality of gears are engaged.

The power transmission mechanism may be configured to use a timing belt instead of the gear train, and various general configurations may be adopted without being limited to the gear train.

The structure of the above-described embodiment 2 can also obtain the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment 1.

Fig. 5 and 6 conceptually and generally show the food dough spreading device according to the 3 rd embodiment from the viewpoint 1. This embodiment is a device used when food dough is placed on a stand and manually taken out and in the stand at a position below an extension roller, and the structure of the conveyor belt in embodiment 2 is omitted.

In this embodiment 3, the placement table 75 is a fixed device that cannot rotate, and is of a structure that can move vertically with respect to the extension rollers 73. Although the description is made in fig. 5 in such a manner that the placing table 75 moves vertically, the extension roller 73 may also move vertically.

The extension roller 73 is supported by an upper frame 78 via a rotary shaft 79 and a roller support member 76, and a revolving motor 77 for extending the roller is attached to an upper end of the rotary shaft 79. The extension roller 73 is provided with a pinion 71 integrally formed with the extension roller 73. Further, a ring guide gear 72 that meshes with the pinion gear 71 is attached to the upper frame 78. Therefore, when the extension roller 73 revolves by the revolving motor 77, the extension roller 73 rotates by the engagement of the pinion gear 71 and the guide gear 72. The ratio of the rotation speed and the revolution speed of the extension roller 73 is determined by the number of teeth of the pinion 71 and the guide gear 72.

The number of teeth of the pinion gear 71 and the guide gear 72 is set as follows: the rotation speed of the extension rollers that revolve by the driving of the revolution motor 77 can be maintained higher than the speed at which the extension rollers revolve and rotate.

Although the embodiment described here uses the pinion 71 and the guide gear 72 to rotate the extension rollers, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, even if the pinion 71 and the guide gear 72 are replaced by a friction wheel, the same effect can be obtained.

Further, the structure of embodiment 3 described herein can also obtain the same effects as those of embodiment 1 described above.

However, in the above configuration, after one food dough 3 having a predetermined volume (predetermined weight) is formed in a substantially spherical shape, in order to spread the food dough 3 to a predetermined thickness at time T2, as shown in fig. 7, the food dough 3 is spread while keeping the relative lowering speed 3V of the spreading roller 23 with respect to the conveyor belt 7(7B) serving as the placement table at a predetermined speed (speed corresponding to the pressing speed in general food dough spreading) and is stopped at a lowered position where the food dough 3 is spread to a target predetermined thickness in an emergency. In this case, the interval between the conveyor belt 7(7B) and the spreading rollers 23 is decreased in inverse proportion as shown in fig. 7(B), and the average radius of the food dough 3 is increased in a quadratic curve as shown in fig. 7 (d). As the radius increases, the expanded area of the food dough 3 rapidly expands as a quadratic function as the thickness approaches the target predetermined thickness, as shown in fig. 7 (c).

Subsequently, after the food dough 3 having the same volume (same weight) is similarly formed in a substantially spherical shape, the data of the food dough 3 in the extending operation at the time T3 1.5 times the time T2 are shown in fig. 8(b), (c), and (d) by setting the relative lowering speed 2V to 2/3 of the lowering speed 3V as shown in fig. 8. In this case, as can be seen from fig. 8(c), the area of the food dough 3 sharply increases as a quadratic function as the target predetermined thickness is approached.

As described above, if the spreading area of the food dough 3 is rapidly enlarged (the spreading ratio is large) when the food dough 3 is spread, the food dough 3 is excessively stretched, and the damage is increased.

Therefore, when the spherical food dough having substantially the same volume as that of the above-described food dough is lowered at a high speed of 3V at an initial time T1 as shown in fig. 9(a), and the lowering speed is reduced in inverse proportion after the time T1, and the food dough 3 is stopped at a lowered position where the food dough reaches a target predetermined thickness, as shown in fig. 9(c), the area expansion in the vicinity of the target predetermined thickness of the food dough 3 is reduced. Similarly, as shown in fig. 10(a), if the initial lowering speed is 3V, the lowering speed is reduced at equal intervals after time T1, and the food dough 3 is stopped at a lowered position where the food dough 3 reaches the target predetermined thickness, rapid expansion of the spread area of the food dough 3 near the target predetermined thickness can be suppressed as shown in fig. 10 (c). Further, even in the case where the lowering speed is lowered in stages as shown in fig. 11, the same result can be obtained.

That is, when the stretching roller 23 is lowered and pressed against the food dough 3 placed on the conveyor belt 7 to stretch the food dough 3, it is desirable that the pressing speed at the final stage near the target predetermined thickness be reduced even if the pressing speed (relative lowering speed) of the stretching roller 23 against the food dough 3 is high at the initial stage.

In this case, it is desirable that the pressing speed be maintained at a substantially constant speed for a predetermined initial time or until the food dough 3 reaches a predetermined initial thickness (a thickness much thicker than the target thickness).

The control device 27 for controlling the food dough spreading device 1 is constituted by a computer or the like, and its main structure is schematically shown in fig. 12. That is, the input device 43 is connected to the control device 27, and a sensor corresponding to the food dough detection device 29 is connected thereto.

The control device 27 is provided with a calculation device 45, and a rotation speed control device 47 for controlling the rotation of the revolving motor 17 and the rotation of the rotation motor 25. The rotation speed control device 47 is provided with a rotation speed calculation device 49 that can calculate the rotation speed of the rotation motor 25 based on the determined rotation speed of the revolution motor 17 when the rotation speed of the revolution motor 17 is determined. The rotational speed control device 47 is electrically connected to the revolving motor 17 and the rotating motor 25 via motor drivers 51 and 53, respectively.

The control device 27 is provided with a conveyance speed control device 57 for controlling the rotation of a conveyance motor 55 for rotating the conveyor belt 7, and the conveyance speed control device 57 is electrically connected to the conveyance motor 55 via a motor drive device 59.

The control device 27 is further provided with a drive mode control device 61 for controlling a lowering speed (pressing speed) of the spreading roller 23 with respect to the food dough 3, and the drive mode control device 61 is connected with a vertical movement device (vertical movement actuator) 62 for vertically moving the spreading roller 23 with respect to the food dough 3. The control device 27 is further provided with an operation pattern memory 63 for storing an appropriate lowering speed pattern as shown in fig. 9(a), 10(a), and 11 (a).

In the above configuration, the conveyor motor 55 is rotated at a constant speed under the control of the conveyor speed control device 57, and when the conveyor belt 7 is rotated at a constant speed, if a piece of food dough 3 having a desired size is placed and supplied on the conveyor belt 7 at the supply position 9A, it is conveyed to the extension work position 9B. When the food dough 3 is conveyed to the extension work position 9B, a detection signal of the food dough detection device (sensor) 29 is input to the calculation device 45. Then, the size of the food dough 3 in the conveying direction is calculated from the time when the food dough 3 passes the position of the sensor 29, and the center position in the conveying direction is calculated.

After the center position of the food dough 3 in the conveying direction is determined as described above, the arrival time at which the center position of the food dough 3 reaches the center position of the spreading work position 9B is calculated by the calculating device 45 from the detection of the front end of the food dough 3 in the conveying direction by the sensor 29. Thereafter, the arrival time is counted, and when the arrival time is reached, a stop signal is output to the conveying speed control device 57 to stop the rotation of the conveyor belt 7. That is, the food dough 3 is positioned at the center of the spreading work position 9B.

In addition, when the center position of the food dough 3 is calculated by detecting the rear portion of the food dough 3 by the sensor 29, the food dough 3 may be stopped after the distance traveled by the food dough 3 reaches the distance from the sensor 29 to the center position of the extended work position B minus the distance from the sensor 29 to the center position when the center position of the food dough 3 is positioned at the center position of the extended work position 9B.

When the food dough 3 is positioned at the spreading work position 9B as described above, the revolving motor 17 is driven to rotate and revolve the spreading rollers 23 under the control of the rotational speed control device 47, and the rotating motor 25 is driven to rotate and rotate the spreading rollers 23. At this time, if the rotation speed of the revolving motor 17 is determined, the rotation speed of the rotation motor 25 is calculated by the rotation speed calculation means 49 and the rotation of the rotation motor 25 is controlled by the calculation result so that the extension roller 23 rotates at a speed of about 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed of the extension roller 23 by the revolution.

The driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 23 is set to be about 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed, and the number of times can be arbitrarily selected according to the physical properties of the food dough 3, and the coefficient of the selected number of times can be input by the input device 43. Alternatively, the revolution speed and the driving rotation speed of the extension rollers 23 may be determined by searching a data memory (not shown) in which past practical data or experimental data of the relationship between the revolution speed and the driving rotation speed of the extension rollers 23 are stored in advance, and using appropriate data searched from the data memory.

When the extending rollers 23 revolve and rotate as described above, the operation of the vertical movement device 62 is controlled by the drive mode control device 61, and the extending rollers 23 are lowered with respect to the food dough 3 to extend the food dough 3. At this time, it is also possible to retrieve an appropriate drive pattern from the drive pattern prestored in the operation pattern memory 63 and control the operation of the vertical motion device 62 according to the retrieved drive pattern.

Further, for example, the operation of the vertical operation device 62 may be controlled by the drive pattern control device 61 based on the result of inputting the lowering speed corresponding to each time period of 0 to T1, T1 to T2, and T2 to T3 shown in fig. 9(a) to 11(a) from the input device 43 to the input calculation device 45 or the result of calculating the lowering speed lowered at a predetermined deceleration for each time period by the calculation device 45 with respect to a predetermined lowering speed.

The mode of operation of the vertical motion device 62 when extending the food mass 3 is preferably determined based on the physical properties of the food mass 3.

After the spreading rollers 23 are lowered relative to the food dough 3 by the operation of the vertical movement device 62 to spread the food dough 3 in a flat shape, the food dough 3 is conveyed to the carry-out position 9C and conveyed to the next step.

As is understood from the above description, when the extending rollers 23 that rotate at the driving rotation speed higher than the driven rotation speed revolve and are pressed against the food dough 3 to extend the food dough 3, the final pressing speed of the extending rollers 23 against the food dough 3 is smaller than the initial pressing speed. Therefore, the food dough 3 can be efficiently spread without causing slip between the food dough 3 and the spreading rollers 23 and stress in the food dough 3, and productivity can be improved.

The pressing speed (relative lowering speed) of the spreading rollers 23 against the food dough 3 is not limited to the operation mode shown in fig. 9 to 11, and an operation mode in which the lowering is stopped (the pressing is stopped) at an appropriate pressing position (lowering position) may be employed, for example. In other words, an appropriate operation mode can be selected according to the properties of the food dough 3.

Here, as the structure of the vertical operation device 62 for vertically moving the lifting table 15 or the conveyor belt 7B, for example, a structure that operates with good command responsiveness to an operation pattern in which vertical movement is initially performed at a high speed (3V) and then performed at a reduced speed as shown in fig. 9(a), 10(a), and 11(a) may be adopted, and for example, various structures such as a servo mechanism formed by combining a servo motor and a ball screw mechanism, a hydraulic operation mechanism such as a cylinder, a cam mechanism, and the like, and an appropriate combination of these structures may be adopted. In this case, since the initial vertical movement is performed at a high speed and then the vertical movement is performed with a gradual deceleration, a combination of a hydraulic operating mechanism which is easy to achieve a high speed and a ball screw mechanism which is easy to control, or an appropriate cam mechanism including a encrusting machine, for example, may be employed. That is, a suitable desired structure can be adopted as the structure of the vertical acting device 62.

Next, an example relating to the 2 nd aspect of the present invention will be explained.

The basic configuration of the embodiment according to viewpoint 2 of the present invention is the same as that described in the embodiment according to viewpoint 1, and therefore, the description of the same configuration and function is omitted.

In the case of observing the projected cross section of the stretching roller 23 in the embodiment relating to viewpoint 2, which is an isosceles triangle having a cone vertex angle of 60 degrees, the generatrix M of the inclined surface of the stretching roller 23 (generatrix opposite to the conveying surface 7, see fig. 17) forming the hypotenuse thereof is arranged in parallel with the conveying surface of the conveyor belt 7.

Here, although the projection section of the stretching roller 23 is described as an isosceles triangle having a cone vertex angle of 60 degrees, the stretching roller 23 is not limited to this, and a cone shape having a smaller acute angle or obtuse angle may be used.

Further, by making the vertex position of the extension roller 23 substantially coincide with the center of a virtual circle C (see fig. 2) on the conveyor belt 7 around which the extension roller 23 revolves, the total length of the generatrix M of the extension roller 23 is substantially the same as the radius of the virtual circle C. The virtual circle C has a size formed by extending the food dough 3 in a disc shape by the extending roller 23.

Fig. 13 shows an embodiment in which a substantially spherical bread dough containing a filling F (stuffing) such as cream is formed into a disk shape. The food dough with the filling is transported by the conveyor belt 7, the food dough 3 being spaced from the transport surface and stopping at a position below the stretching device 11 on standby. The stop position is determined by stopping the conveyor belt 7 and positioning it by an instruction of the control device 27 based on a detection signal of a food dough detection device (sensor) 29 of the food dough 3 not placed on the placing table 5.

The spreading rollers 23 start to be driven before coming into contact with the food dough 3. Thereafter, the raising/lowering frame 15 is operated to lower the extension rollers 23 of the food dough extension device 1, and the top portions 23A of the extension rollers 23 are brought into contact with the central portion of the food dough 3. The extending rollers 23 rotate (revolve) in the clockwise direction in plan view by being forcibly driven to rotate in the revolving direction, the top portions 23A of the extending rollers 23 come into contact with the food dough 3, and the extending rollers 23 further gradually descend and perform the pinching extending operation for a predetermined time.

First, the inclined surface near the top 26A of the spreading roller 23 contacts the central portion of the food dough 3 to flatten the central upper portion of the dough (see fig. 13 (a)). Since the center position of the food dough 3 formed in a disc shape is initially pressed, the position of the food dough 3 is stabilized when the food dough 3 is spread and molded in a spherical shape. In this case, since the rotation of the spreading roller 23 is not a frictional rotation with the billet, but is forcibly revolved and rotated by the driving of the motors 17 and 25, even if the surface of the spreading roller 23 in contact with the billet is small, the billet is not wrinkled, and smooth rolling and flattening can be realized.

Further, as the extension roller 23 gradually descends, the contact surface between the extension roller 23 and the food dough 3 increases, and the food dough 3 is extended in the direction (bottom side direction) at which the peripheral speed of the extension roller 23 is faster by the contact of the extension roller 23 (see fig. 13b and 13 c).

Therefore, when the inner packing material (filler F) is present in the food dough 3 as shown in fig. 13, the food dough 3 spreads in the radial direction while spreading together with the inner packing material, and a layered food dough 3 containing the uniform disc-shaped filler F is formed.

After a predetermined time has elapsed, the spreading roller 23 rises and separates from the conveying surface, and stops at a predetermined position where it does not contact the food dough 3. The conveyor belt 7 starts to drive and delivers the disc-shaped expanded food dough 3 downstream.

The conditions such as the rotation speed, and the pinching and rolling extension time of the extension rolls 23 are determined according to the properties (e.g., hardness) of the food dough 3. Further, since the number of times of contact with the food dough 3 varies depending on the number of the spreading rollers 23 used, it is needless to say that the above conditions are changed within the scope of the claims.

In the example relating to the 2 nd aspect of the present invention, the food dough 3 is formed by spreading a cheese-filled pizza dough (fig. 14a), and when forming a disc-shaped pizza dough, a disc-shaped dough is obtained which consists of a layered portion in which the cheese filling is uniformly spread and only the peripheral portion of the dough (see fig. 14 b). When the dough is baked, a pizza pie with raised peripheral portions E can be obtained in a state where the layered portion of the cheese filling is thin (see fig. 14 c).

In the embodiment shown in fig. 15, edible granular materials S (e.g., sesame, bread crumbs, coarse cereals, etc.) are uniformly spread on the conveying surface of the conveyor belt 7, and the food dough 3 is placed thereon, and a new food dough 3 is spread in a state where the granular materials S adhere to the bottom surface of the food dough 3. For example, when the stretching process is performed from the upper surface of the food dough by the stretching roller 23 in a state where the sesame is attached to the bottom surface of the food dough, not only can the stretching of the dough and the attachment decoration of the sesame be simultaneously performed in one step, but also the sesame can be surely pressed against the bottom surface of the dough, and a new food dough 3 in which the granular material S is attached to the bottom surface of the food dough can be obtained.

Fig. 16 shows an embodiment in which a step (gap G) is provided on the conveying surface as the placement stage 5 when the food dough 3 is spread and formed. Specifically, a pedestal 60 that can be raised and lowered with respect to the conveying surface is provided at a position on the conveying surface where the food dough 3 is placed. When the food dough 3 is spread by the spreading rollers 23, the pedestal 60 raises the center of the position of the food dough 3 above the conveying surface, thereby forming a step (gap G) at the edge of the position. That is, the billet is spread in a shape in which the peripheral portion is thicker than the central portion by the gap between the spreading roller 23 and the conveying surface.

With the above configuration, the food dough 3 spread by the spreading roller 23 can be formed into a dough having a thick outer peripheral edge. By turning the formed food dough 3 upside down, a rimmed food dough 3 having a depressed center and a raised peripheral portion E as shown in fig. 16(C) can be obtained.

Further, instead of the above-described vertically moving pedestal 60, a height difference (gap G) with a pedestal-shaped convex portion may be provided on the conveying surface of the conveyor belt (see fig. 17).

Next, an example relating to the 3 rd aspect of the present invention will be explained.

Referring to fig. 18, the food dough spreading device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention in point 3 is provided with a plurality of support columns 105 erected on the base member 103, and a support frame 109 having a structure in which a support member 107 is provided to be supported on the upper portion of each of the support columns 105. The structure of the support frame 109 is not limited to the above-described structure, and for example, the upper support member 107 may be supported in a cantilevered manner and may be formed in a U-shape as a whole. In this configuration, the space between the bottom member 103 and the upper support member 107 is open in the front and left and right 3 directions. Therefore, when the food dough spreading operation is performed in the space, the degree of freedom of the food dough entering and exiting the space is large.

A rotary table 113 on which an appropriately shaped lump food dough 111 can be placed is horizontally rotatably provided in a space between the bottom member 103 and the upper support member 107. More specifically, a vertical movement actuator 115 formed of, for example, a ball screw mechanism or a suitable vertical movement actuator such as a hydraulic cylinder is attached to the base member 103, and a suitable motor M1 such as a servo motor is attached to the lifting member 117 vertically moved by the vertical movement actuator 115. The rotary table 113 is integrally attached to a rotary flange 119 horizontally driven by the motor M1.

With the above-described structure, by driving the motor M1 and moving the vertical movement actuator 115, the rotation table 113 can be vertically moved while being horizontally rotated. In addition, the control device controls the rotation of the motor M1 and the movement of the vertical movement actuator 115, thereby controlling the rotational speed and the vertical movement speed of the rotary table 113.

The upper surface of the rotary table 113 has a structure in which the holder 121 on which the food dough 111 is placed is freely placed and the holder 121 is freely positioned, so that the food dough 111 can be easily moved in and out of the rotary table 113. More specifically, the turntable 113 is provided with a positioning coupling portion that is coupled to a coupled portion of the holder 121 to position the holder 121 when the holder 121 is placed on the turntable 113. In other words, a carriage positioning mechanism that performs positioning of the carriage 121 is provided.

In this example, an example using the coupled hole 123 provided in the holder 121 is given as an example of the coupled portion of the holder 121 constituting a part of the holder positioning mechanism, and a case where an appropriate number of positioning pins 125 coupled to the coupled hole 123 are provided in the rotary table 113 as an example of the positioning and coupling portion is described. However, the relationship between the coupled portion and the positioning coupling portion is opposite to each other, and the positioning pin 125 may be provided on the holder 121 and the coupled hole 123 may be provided on the turntable 113.

The relation between the coupled portion and the positioning coupling portion may be such that the holder 121 is not displaced from the turntable 113 when the holder 121 is placed on the turntable 113. Therefore, a convex portion may be provided on one of the turntable 113 and the holder 121, a concave portion may be provided on the other, and positioning may be performed by coupling or fastening the convex portion and the concave portion. Therefore, when a magnet is used, for example, one of the N pole and the S pole corresponds to a convex portion, and the other corresponds to a concave portion. That is, when the holder 121 is placed on the turntable 113, various configurations of a positioning mechanism for positioning the holder to prevent the holder from deviating from a predetermined position may be employed.

A support bracket 127 is attached to the lower surface of the upper support member 107, a plurality of conical extension rollers 129 are rotatably supported on the support bracket 127, and the extension rollers 129 are linked to motors M2 such as servo motors attached to the support bracket 127, respectively, to drive the extension rollers 129 individually. Therefore, by driving the respective motors M2, the respective spreading rollers 129 can be driven to rotate. Further, one motor M2 may be used, and the extension rollers 129 may be linked by a transmission mechanism such as a gear train.

The spreading rollers 129 are disposed on the same horizontal circle at equal intervals, and the axial centers of the spreading rollers are inclined so that the generatrices below the spreading rollers 129 are horizontal and in contact with the same horizontal plane. The tops of the spreading rollers 129 are gathered at 1 so as to be substantially aligned on the axis extension of the rotary table 113. The extending rollers 129 are driven to rotate at a speed higher than a rotation speed (hereinafter referred to as a driven rotation speed) at which the extending rollers 129 contact the rotary table 113 and are driven to rotate by the rotation of the rotary table 113. The speed of the driving rotation (hereinafter referred to as driving rotation speed) is about 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed.

In the above configuration, the rotary table 113 is relatively moved vertically while being rotated, and the respective spreading rollers 129 are driven to rotate by the motor M2, and the food dough 111 placed on the rotary table 113 is relatively pressed by the spreading rollers 129, thereby being spread in a gradually flattened shape (see fig. 20 and 21). Fig. 21 shows the food dough 111 in which the inner wrapper 111A is wrapped in the food dough 111, and shows a structure of the holder 121 in which the convex portion 121A is provided on the upper surface of the holder 121. In the configuration in which the convex portion 121A is provided in the holder 121, the concave portion 111B is formed by transferring the convex portion 121A to the food dough 111 spread in a flat shape.

As described above, when the rotary table 113 is rotated and relatively moved vertically and the extension roller 129 is driven to rotate to extend (extend) the food dough 111, the control device 131 (see fig. 9) controls the operation of the motors M1 and M2 and the vertical movement actuator 115.

The control device 131 controls the vertical operation mode of the rotary table 113 by the vertical motion actuator 115, the rotational speed of the rotary table 113, the rotational operation mode of the extension roller 129, and the like, and is provided with an operation mode memory 133 in which a plurality of types of the vertical operation modes are stored in advance.

However, in the above configuration, after one piece of food dough 111 having a predetermined volume (predetermined weight) is formed in a substantially spherical shape, as shown in fig. 7, in order to spread the food dough 111 to a predetermined thickness with time T2, the food dough 111 is spread while maintaining the rising speed 3V of the rotary table 113 with respect to the spreading rollers 129 at a constant speed (speed corresponding to the pressing speed in general food dough spreading), and is quickly stopped at a rising position where the food dough 111 is spread to a target predetermined thickness. At this time, the interval between the rotary table 113 and the spreading roller 129 is decreased in inverse proportion as shown in fig. 7(b), and the average radius of the food dough 111 is increased in a quadratic curve as shown in fig. 7 (d). As the radius increases, the expanded area of the food dough 111 rapidly expands as a quadratic function as the thickness approaches the target predetermined thickness, as shown in fig. 7 (c).

However, after the food dough 111 having the same volume (same weight) is similarly formed in a substantially spherical shape, as shown in fig. 8, the data when the food dough 111 is spread over a time T3 which is 1.5 times the time T2 with the relative rising speed 2V set to 2/3 of the rising speed 3V are shown in fig. 8(b), (c), and (d). In this case, as can be seen from fig. 8(c), the area of the food dough 111 still sharply increases in a quadratic function as the target predetermined thickness is approached.

As described above, if the spreading area of the food dough 111 is rapidly enlarged (the spreading ratio is large) when the food dough 111 is spread, the food dough 111 is forcibly stretched, and thus, the food dough is likely to be largely damaged.

Therefore, when a spherical food dough having a volume substantially equal to that described above is used, the food dough rises at a high speed at a speed of 3V at an initial time T1 as shown in fig. 9(a), and is decelerated at an inversely proportional rate after a time T1, and stops at a rising position where the food dough 111 reaches a target predetermined thickness, as shown in fig. 9(c), the area of the food dough 111 in the vicinity of the target predetermined thickness is relatively gradually enlarged. Similarly, when the initial rising speed is set to 3V as shown in fig. 10(a), the rising speed is decreased at equal intervals after time T1, and the food dough 11 stops at a rising position where the food dough 11 reaches the target predetermined thickness, as shown in fig. 10(c), the spread area of the food dough 11 near the target predetermined thickness can be prevented from rapidly expanding. Further, as shown in fig. 11, the same result can be obtained even when the rising speed is lowered in stages.

That is, when the food dough 111 placed on the rotary table 113 is relatively pressed by the spreading rollers 129 to spread the food dough 111, it is desirable that the final pressing speed near the target predetermined thickness should be reduced even if the pressing speed (relative rising speed) of the food dough 111 by the spreading rollers 129 is high in the initial stage. In this case, the pressing speed is preferably kept constant for an initial predetermined time or until the food dough 111 is spread to an initial predetermined thickness (a thickness much thicker than the target thickness).

The control device 131 for controlling the operation of the food dough spreading device 101 is constituted by a computer or the like, and the control device 131 is provided with the operation pattern memory 133 in which various operation patterns of the rising speed shown in fig. 9 to 11 are stored in advance. The control device 131 is also provided with a calculation device 135 and rotation speed control devices 137 and 139 for controlling the rotation speeds of the motors M1 and M2. Motor drivers 141 and 143 for rotationally driving the motors M1 and M2 under the control of the rotational speed control devices 137 and 139 are connected to the motors, respectively.

The control device 131 is connected to an input device 145 having a start switch, a mode selection switch for selecting an operation mode according to the physical properties of the food dough 111, and the like, and is also provided with a drive mode control device 147 for controlling the relative raising operation of the rotary table 113 according to the selected operation mode.

In the above configuration, after the holder 121 having the food dough 111 placed at the center portion is set ON the rotary table 113, the operation of the food dough spreading device 1 is started by turning ON the start switch provided ON the input device 145. In the initial stage, the vertical movement actuator (vertical movement device) 115 is moved according to the initial operation mode prestored in the operation mode memory 133, and the rotary table 113 is relatively raised. The turntable 113 is stopped or rotated at a low speed under a preset initial condition. That is, the rotational speed of the rotational table 113 is kept at a low speed or less at which the food dough 111 is not positionally displaced by the centrifugal force generated by the rotation. The spreading rollers 129 are also kept in a stopped state or rotated at a low speed in accordance with the rotation of the rotary table 113.

When the rotary table 113 is raised as described above and the food dough 111 is brought into contact with the spreading rollers 129, the rotary table 113 rotates at a predetermined rotational speed set in advance. Then, the rotation speed of the spreading roller 129 is calculated by the calculating means 135 and controlled by the rotation speed controlling means 139 so that the rotation speed of the spreading roller 129 becomes 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed when the rotating table 113 is driven to rotate. Then, the raising speed of the turntable 113 is controlled by the input of the input device 145 according to the operation mode selected in advance from the operation mode memory 133.

Whether or not the food dough 111 is in contact with the spreading roller 129 can be detected in the following manner. That is, for example, the optical sensor 149 is provided so that a light beam crosses a position substantially coincident with a generatrix on the lower side of the spreading roller 129, and when the light beam is blocked, it is possible to detect that the food dough 111 is in contact with the spreading roller 129. When the rising speed of the rotary table 113 is substantially constant and the thickness of the rack 121 and the thickness of the food dough 111 are substantially constant, the rotary table 113 rises from the lowest position, and when a predetermined time has elapsed, it can be seen that the food dough 111 is in contact with the spreading rollers 129.

In addition, as a configuration in which the vertical movement position of the rotary table 113 is detected by a sensor such as a linear sensor, the position where the carriage 121 on the rotary table 113 contacts the stretching roller 129 is set at the origin position in the vertical direction. Then, when it is detected that the rotary table 113 has risen from the lowest position and has risen to a position close to the position corresponding to the thickness of the food dough 111 on the stand 121 with respect to the origin position, it is possible to detect that the food dough 111 is in contact with the spreading rollers 129.

As described above, the food dough 111 on the rotary table 113 is spread in a flat shape by raising the rotary table 113 relative to the spreading rollers 129 while rotating the rotary table 113, and driving the spreading rollers 129 to rotate by the motor M2, and at this time, the spreading rollers 129 are driven to rotate at a speed approximately 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed when the spreading rollers 129 are driven to rotate by the rotation of the rotary table 113 by the motor M2.

Therefore, the food dough 111 can be spread without sliding between the food dough 111 and the spreading rollers 129. Further, since the spreading rollers 129 are driven to rotate at a high speed slightly higher than the driven rotation speed, if ridge-like ridges are present on the front side in the traveling direction of the spreading rollers 129, for example, the ridge-like ridges are drawn toward the lower side of the spreading rollers 129, and the ridges can be effectively eliminated.

Further, since the circumferential speed of the spreading rollers 129 is greater at the bottom than at the top of the conical spreading rollers 129, the food dough 111 tends to be pulled from the top to the bottom (in the radial direction) of the spreading rollers 129, and the pressing action of the spreading rollers 129 is combined with the high-speed rotation driving action, whereby the upper surface of the food dough 111 can be efficiently spread into an appropriate shape such as a flat, flat disk shape.

That is, the food dough 111 can be more efficiently spread than when the food dough is spread by rotating the spreading rollers 129 at the driven rotation speed, and productivity can be improved.

The driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 129 may be 1.05 times or less the driven rotation speed. However, in this case, since the action of introducing the food dough 111 to the lower side of the spreading rollers 129 is reduced and the time for flattening the upper surface of the food dough 111 is prolonged, it is desirable that the driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 129 be about 1.05 times or more the driven rotation speed in order to improve productivity.

Further, if the driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 129 is about 1.4 times or more the driven rotation speed, the action of drawing the front side portions of the spreading rollers 129 in the traveling direction toward the lower sides of the spreading rollers 129 in the food dough 111 is increased, and stress tends to remain in the food dough 111. Therefore, when the stretching roller 129 is separated from the food dough 111 to terminate the stretching operation of the food dough 111, the food dough 111 tends to shrink due to the stress, which is undesirable.

As has been understood, it is desirable to set the driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 129 within a range of about 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed. It is desirable to appropriately select the driving rotation speed of the spreading rollers 129 in accordance with the physical properties of the food dough 111. As the food dough 111, for example, a food dough just kneaded and formed, a food dough standing up for several tens of minutes, a food dough after a fermentation process, a pancake-shaped food dough appropriately spread to a predetermined thickness, or the like can be used.

When the food dough 111 is spread in the above-described manner and the spreading operation of the food dough 111 is completed, the rotation of the spreading roller 129 is controlled to be low. That is, a mode in which the operation is terminated after the time T3 has elapsed since the food dough 111 was brought into contact with the spreading roller 129 is selected from the operation mode memory 133, and the operation of the vertical movement actuator 115 is controlled by the drive mode control device 147 according to the selected operation mode, and at this time, the time T (T) between the time T2 and the time T3 (see fig. 9 to 11) at which the operation mode is defined is elapsed(T2+ T3)/2), a signal of the elapsed time T is input from the drive mode control device 147 to the rotational speed control device 139. Then, the rotation speed control device 139 controls the rotation of the motor M2 at a low speed by the motor driver 43, based on a low speed mode preset in a memory (omitted from the drawing) of the motor M2.

Therefore, the food dough 111 can be prevented from being spread more than necessary at the end of the spreading operation, and the vicinity of the center of the food dough 111 is not damaged.

Further, as a configuration of the extending work final stage detecting means for detecting that the extending work of the food dough 111 has reached the final stage, the extending work reaching the final stage may be detected by a vertical position detecting means such as a linear sensor for detecting the vertical movement position of the rotary table 113, not depending on the time for limiting the operation mode, when detecting that the rotary table 113 has risen to a predetermined position set in advance.

In the above embodiment, the operation of spreading the food dough 111 is performed by placing the holder 121 on which the food dough 111 is placed on the rotary table 113, and thus the food dough 111 can be easily placed on the rotary table 113. After the food dough 111 is thinly spread, the holder 121 on which the food dough 111 is still placed may be directly taken out from the rotary table 113, and the thin food dough 111 can be easily taken out without being damaged.

In the above description, the case where the rotational speed of the stretching rollers is controlled to be low at the end of the food dough 111 stretching operation has been described. However, as a means for relieving the internal stress of the food dough 111 after spreading, the food dough 111 may be spread by temporarily stopping the rotation of the rotary table 113 and the spreading rollers 129 at the end of the spreading operation of the food dough 111 and rotating the same in the reverse direction.

At the end of the food dough 111 spreading operation, the rotation table 113 and the spreading rollers 129 are reversed in the following manner. That is, as described above, the rotation table 113 is relatively raised while being rotated in the normal direction, and the food dough 111 is spread by the spread rollers 129 that are rotated in the normal direction, and when the spread job end period detection means detects the end period of the spread job, the rotation table 113 is lowered while stopping the rotation of the rotation table 113 and the spread rollers 129, and the food dough 111 is separated from the spread rollers 129.

Thereafter, the rotary table 113 and the spreading rollers 129 are rotated in reverse in accordance with a low-speed mode preset in a memory (not shown), the rotary table 113 is relatively raised at a raising speed at the end of the spreading operation, and the food dough 111 is pressed against the spreading rollers 129 rotated in reverse at a low speed to perform the spreading operation for a short time.

In this case, the rotation speed of the spreading roller 129 in the reverse direction is substantially equal to the rotation speed in the final period of the forward rotation at the low speed, and only the rotation direction is reversed. As described above, if the rotary table 113 and the spreading rollers 129 are rotated in the reverse direction at the end of the spreading work to perform the spreading work, the stress inside the food dough 111 can be effectively relieved because the food dough 111 that is spread and has a tendency to twist when the rotary table 113 and the spreading rollers 129 are rotated in the forward direction to perform the spreading work is twisted in the reverse direction.

Fig. 22 shows another embodiment related to the 3 rd aspect of the present invention. In this embodiment, the same reference numerals are used for the components having the same functions as those of the embodiment according to the above-mentioned viewpoint 3, and therefore, redundant descriptions are omitted.

In the food dough spreading device according to the other embodiment, the reduction gear 153 is integrally provided to the motor M1 attached to the support frame 109 placed on the placing table 151, and the rotation shaft 155 is vertically and rotatably provided to the reduction gear 153. The rotary table 157 is supported on the rotary shaft 155 so as to be vertically movable only. That is, the rotary table 157 is provided to be rotatable integrally with the rotary shaft 155 by a key and to be vertically movable with respect to the rotary shaft 155.

In order to vertically move the rotary table 157, a bell crank-shaped shift lever 163 is supported by a support bracket 159 provided on the support frame 109 so as to be vertically swingable (rotatable) via a pivot 161, and a moving pin is coupled to a circumferential groove formed in a hub of the rotary table 157 at a front end of the shift lever 163 so as to be relatively rotatable. Therefore, the rotary table 157 can be vertically moved by holding the other end of the shift lever 163 by hand and vertically moving the same. The rotary table 157 is detachably provided with a holder 165 for placing the food dough 111.

In this embodiment, when the ON/OFF switch 167 provided ON the operation section attached to the support frame 109 is pressed to be ON, the motors M1, M2 rotate simultaneously. The motor M2 drives the extension roller 129 to rotate at a rotational speed about 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed at which the extension roller 129 is driven to rotate by contacting the rotary table 157.

Further, as a configuration for driving the motor M2 so that the spreading roller 129 rotates at a speed about 1.05 to 1.4 times the driven rotation speed, it is preferable that an operation unit such as an adjustment knob capable of adjusting the rotation speed of the motor M2 is provided in the operation unit.

In the food dough spreading device having the above-described structure, after the holder 165 on which the food dough 111 is placed on the rotating table 157, the relative vertical movement of the rotating table 157 can be manually performed by operating the shift lever 163 with one hand. Further, the rotation timing of the rotary table 157 and the extension roller 129 can be manually adjusted by the motors M1 and M2 by operating the ON/OFF switch 167 with the other hand.

In the above configuration, the food dough 111 can be easily spread to a desired thickness by manually adjusting the rotation timing of the rotary table 157 and the spreading rollers 129 by visually observing the vertical position of the rotary table 157. In this case, since the rotation speed of the spreading roller 129 is set to a relatively large rotation speed higher than the driven rotation speed, the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment can be obtained. Further, since the holder 165 can be detached from the rotary table 157 even in a state where the food dough 111 is placed on the holder 165, handling is facilitated even in a case where the food dough 111 is thinly spread. In addition, by the two-hand operation, the finger does not get caught between the stay 165 and the extension roller 129, thereby improving safety.

However, in the other embodiments described above, in order to visually confirm the thickness of the food dough 111 by controlling the stretching rollers 129 to a low speed at the end of the food dough 111 stretching operation, when the food dough 111 is stretched to a substantially predetermined thickness, the stretching rollers 129 are rotated at a low speed by operating an operation device such as a knob provided in the operation portion.

Further, instead of the ON/OFF switch 167 or in addition to the above, a selection switch is used, which is rotationally operated in a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction from a neutral position to control the rotational direction and rotational speed of the motors M1, M2, and when the hand is released, the rotation of the motors M1, M2 is stopped by returning to the neutral position by the action of a return spring, and the rotational direction and rotational speed of the motors M1, M2 can be controlled by operating the selection switch. With this configuration, similarly to the above-described embodiment 1, the rotation of the rotary table 157 and the spreading rollers 129 is stopped at the end of the spreading operation of the food dough 11, the food dough 111 is separated from the spreading rollers 129, and thereafter, the food dough 111 is spread again by rotating in the reverse direction at a low speed. Further, the vertical movement of the rotary table 157 when the rotation is stopped can be realized by operating the shift lever 163.

Claims (13)

1. A method for spreading a food dough for flatly spreading a lump-like food dough placed on a placing table, characterized by: a conical spreading roller capable of revolving and rotating relative to the placing table is provided on a lifting table capable of vertical movement relative to the placing table, and when the spreading roller presses the food dough to spread the food dough, the relative pressing speed of the spreading roller with respect to the food dough is reduced at a predetermined deceleration so that the final pressing speed is lower than the initial pressing speed, and the spreading roller is driven to rotate at a higher speed than the speed at which the spreading roller revolves and rotates to spread the food dough.

2. A method of extending a food dough as defined in claim 1, wherein: the initial pressing speed is constant for a predetermined time or until the food dough reaches a predetermined thickness.

3. A method of extending a food dough as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wherein: the final compression rate is gradually or stepwise decelerated.

4. A method of extending a food dough as defined in claim 1, wherein: when a lump-shaped food dough placed on a placing table is formed into a disk shape by an extending roller which is rotated while being forcibly revolved above the placing table with a space from the placing table, the food dough is pressed and flattened by gradually reducing a gap between the extending roller and the placing table by bringing the top of the extending roller into contact with the central portion of the food dough, and the food dough is gradually extended radially from the center of the food dough to form a disk shape by increasing the contact area between the extending roller and the dough as the gap is reduced.

5. A method of extending a food dough as defined in claim 4, wherein: the above-described lump-shaped food dough is a product formed by molding a food dough containing a filler in a disk shape.

6. A method of extending a food dough as defined in claim 5, wherein: the edible granular material is spread on the placing table, and thereby the edible granular material is attached to the bottom surface of the placed food dough.

7. A method of extending a food dough as defined in claim 4, wherein: when the food dough is spread, the placing table on which the food dough is placed forms a gap at a peripheral position with respect to the center.

8. A food dough spreading method for spreading food dough by a food dough spreading device provided with a horizontally freely rotatable rotating table and a spreading roller arranged above the rotating table in a freely drivable manner and at least one of the placing table and the spreading roller being arranged in a freely vertically movable manner, characterized in that:

the pressing speed of the spreading roller to the food dough is reduced at a predetermined deceleration and the final pressing speed is made smaller than the initial pressing speed,

the rotation is driven so that the rotational speed of the spreading roller becomes higher than the rotational speed when the rotating table is brought into contact with the spreading roller and the spreading roller is driven to rotate.

9. A method of extending a food dough as defined in claim 8, wherein: the rotating table is kept in a stopped state or a rotating state at a first rotational speed before the food dough comes into contact with the spreading rollers, and after the food dough comes into contact with the spreading rollers, the rotating table is relatively brought close to the spreading rollers at a second rotational speed higher than a predetermined first rotational speed to spread the food dough.

10. A method of extending a food dough as defined in claim 8, wherein: and controlling the rotation speed of the spreading roller to the first rotation speed at the end of the spreading operation of the food dough.

11. A method of extending a food dough as defined in claim 8, wherein: in the final stage of the food dough spreading operation, the rotation of the spreading roller and the rotary table is stopped, and then the reverse rotation is controlled.

12. A method of extending a food dough as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 11 wherein: the initial pressing speed is equalized at a predetermined time or before the food dough reaches a predetermined thickness.

13. A method of extending a food dough as claimed in any one of claims 8 to 11 wherein: the final compression rate is gradually or stepwise decreased.