JPH0686663A - Food molding equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] To provide a food molding device that automatically molds food into a desired shape, which can be downsized and has a low cost with a simple configuration. [Structure] The hopper 2 is arranged downstream of the conveying belt 13 in the moving direction and supplies the cooked rice 41 to the conveying belt 13, and the hopper 2 is arranged upstream of the conveying belt 13 in the moving direction and separably arranged so that the cooked rice 41 is formed. A pair of side edge forming die members 27 and 28, and a plurality of press dies 21 that are attached to the conveyor belt 13 at intervals and that push out the cooked rice 41 from the hopper 2 in the moving direction of the conveyor belt 13. The cam plates 32 and 33 that interlock with the edge forming die members 27 and 28, and the cam shaft 24 provided on the pressing die 21 interlock the side edge forming die members 27 and 28 in conjunction with the movement of the pressing die 21. The cooked rice 41 is shaped into a rice ball 42.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food forming apparatus for forming food into an arbitrary shape, and more particularly, it is a small-sized and simple-structured food which is particularly effective for making rice balls and sushi balls from cooked cooked rice. The present invention relates to a molding device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, various food forming apparatuses for continuously supplying cooked cooked rice supplied into a hopper to form rice balls and rice balls have been provided for commercial use. In such a conventional food forming apparatus, the cooked rice from the hopper is supplied from a supply passage which is a tub into a top, and is supplied onto a turntable arranged below the cooked rice. The turntable is installed so that its rotary shaft is upright, and inside the turntable, a plurality of openings cut out in a desired shape are provided at appropriate intervals in the vicinity of the circumference of the circle. When the rice from the supply passage is sequentially supplied to these openings by a predetermined amount, the turntable rotates by a predetermined angle and is press-molded by the pressing member descending from above, and after the pressing member is raised again. When rotated, the bottom plate member located at the lower part of the opening from the rice feed portion to the pressure forming step of the pressing member is removed and discharged to the opening of the turntable.

[0003]

As described above, the conventional food forming apparatus has a complicated structure, which makes the apparatus large and expensive. Therefore, it is a great advantage to install it at a large store or a supplier of a franchise chain store that needs to process a large amount of rice balls and balls, but the convenience is recognized at a store with a small sales volume. The current situation is that it cannot be installed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is that it can be provided in a small size with a simple structure and can be provided at a low cost, and can automatically form a food into a desired shape as in the conventional large-sized commercial food forming apparatus. A food forming apparatus is provided.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a food forming apparatus capable of adjusting the tension of the conveying means and easily exchanging the conveying means.

[0006]

According to the present invention, there is provided a food forming apparatus, wherein an endless conveying means is provided to be moved by a pair of rollers arranged at intervals, and a conveying means is provided downstream of the conveying means. A supply means for arranging the food to be formed into the conveying means and a pair of means for forming the food to be formed by moving in the contacting direction upstream of the moving direction of the conveying means and in the width direction of the conveying means. A plurality of molding die members and a plurality of extruding members that are attached to the conveying means at intervals and that extrude the food to be formed from the supply means in the moving direction of the conveying means, and the food to be formed is sent to the forming die member by the extruding member. When the mold is opened, these mold members are opened, the food to be molded is positioned between them, and the mold is closed. To have.

In this case, one of the pair of rollers is supported so that the distance between the other roller and the other roller can be adjusted, and a link mechanism that movably supports the one roller and an adjusting means that adjusts the angle of the link mechanism. Further has.

Further, the control mechanism may be constituted by a cam plate provided on the molding die member and a cam shaft provided on the pushing member, and may be operated by engaging them.

[0009]

With this configuration, the food to be molded supplied from the supply means is supplied onto the moving conveying means and sent to the forming die member by the pushing member. The molding die member is held in an open state by the control mechanism, and the food to be molded delivered by the pushing member is located between the molding die members. After the food to be molded is positioned between the molding die members, the control mechanism controls the molding die member to be closed, and the food to be molded is molded into a shape following the molding die member. The molded food product is opened again by the control mechanism to allow the molded food product to pass.

Since one of the pair of rollers supporting the conveying means is supported so that the distance between the other roller and the other roller can be adjusted, the tension of the conveying means can be easily adjusted by adjusting the adjusting means. In addition to adjusting the tension, the transfer means can be replaced very easily.

By forming the control mechanism with the cam plate and the cam shaft, for example, the cam plate is made to interlock with the molding die member, and the cam shaft is provided at the extruding member so that the extruding member is interlocked with the molding. The mold members can be brought into and out of contact with each other, and the mechanism can be easily configured.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention shown in the drawings will be described below. In this embodiment, cooked cooked rice is shaped into a rice ball whose side edges are substantially triangular. Further, the front end and the rear end refer to the case along the traveling direction of the rice ball. The food forming apparatus 1 includes a hopper 2 for supplying a predetermined amount of cooked rice, a feeding section 3 for taking out a predetermined amount of cooked rice from the hopper 2, and a molding section for molding and discharging the cooked rice from the feeding section 3 into a triangular rice ball. 4 and. The hopper 2 provided on the feeding unit 3 may be the one conventionally used in a rice ball or ball forming machine for business use, and thus a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The feeding part 3 and the forming part 4 are attached to a rectangular casing 5 extending in the traveling direction of the rice ball. The housing 5 has an upper plate 6 and left and right (upper and lower in the drawing) side plates 7, and the inside is hollow. A table 8 that is one step lower is provided on one side of the housing 5, and a switch, a controller and the like for turning on / off the power of the food forming apparatus 1 and adjusting the forming speed are formed on the table 8. A control panel 9 is attached.

The feeding unit 3 is provided with a tension roller 11 provided on the rear side below the dropping port 10 of the hopper 2,
The tension roller 11 and a drive roller 12 arranged in front of the casing 5 with a space in the longitudinal direction, and an endless conveyor belt 13 passed between the tension roller 11 and the drive roller 12 to rotate. Have Each shaft 14, 15 of the tension roller 11 and the drive roller 12
Both ends of are supported by both side plates 7 so as to be rotatable. The outer peripheral surface of one end of the drive roller 12 in the axial direction has a gear shape, and this portion meshes with an intermediate gear 19 that meshes with a gear 18 of a drive shaft 17 of a drive motor 16 provided in the housing 5. 1 and rotates clockwise in FIG. The conveyor belt 13 is coated with a synthetic resin having a small friction coefficient such as tetrafluoroethylene resin on its surface so that cooked rice does not stick to it. A plurality of pressing dies 21 each having a surface thereof coated with a synthetic resin having a small friction coefficient such as tetrafluoroethylene resin are fixed to the transport belt 13 at appropriate intervals with bolts 22 or the like. . Push mold 21
Has a thickness approximately equal to the thickness of the rice ball,
An arcuate portion 23 having substantially the same shape as one side edge of a triangular rice ball is formed at the front end portion thereof, and an inclined surface is formed at the rear end portion so that the apex is located at the center portion in the width direction. Two bolts 22 are provided at intervals in the width direction of the conveyor belt 13, and the lower ends of the bolts 22 are arranged on the conveyor belt 13.
Of the cam shaft 2 which is a cylindrical part that projects to the lower surface of the
It is 4.

The molding section 4 is provided in front of a support section 25 for supporting the dropping port 10 of the hopper 2 on the upper portion of the conveyor belt 13 on the tension roller 11 side, and the lower surface thereof is slightly above the upper surface of the pressing die 21. An upper surface forming plate member 26 for forming an upper surface of a triangular rice ball and an arc surface 30 for forming two side edges of the triangular rice ball so as to cover the conveyor belt 13 so as to be positioned with a certain gap. Has a pair of side edge forming die members 27, 28 respectively formed therein. A leveling roller 20, which smoothes the upper portion of the cooked rice dropped from the drop opening 10 of the hopper 2, is rotatably supported by the support portion 25. Similar to the pressing die 21, the upper surface molding plate member 26 and the side edge molding die members 27 and 28 are coated with a synthetic resin having a small friction coefficient such as tetrafluoroethylene resin. Side edge molding die member 2
Each of the rear end portions of the reference numerals 7 and 28 is rotatably supported by a support pin 29, and the front end portions thereof are elastically biased so as to be in contact with each other by a spring 31 as shown by a dotted line in FIG. . The spring 31 is provided so as not to hinder the running of the cam shaft 24 of the push die 21. The lower end of the support pin 29 fixes the rotatable cam plates 32 and 33, respectively, and is rotatably supported by the support portion 34 provided on the upper plate 6 of the housing 1. Therefore, the cam plates 32, 33
Rotates with the side edge mold members 27, 28. In addition,
If the pins that support the ends of the springs 31 are fixed to the side edge molding die members 27 and 28 from the cam plates 32 or 33, the positioning of the cam plates 32 and 33 will be more reliable.

As shown in FIGS. 5 to 8, the cam plates 32 and 33 have cam shafts 24 of the pressing die 21 at the side edges facing each other.
Cam surfaces that engage with each other are formed, and the arc-shaped first cam surfaces 35 that perform intended engagement with the cam shaft 24 are formed at their rear end portions.
And extends substantially linearly from the tip of the first cam surface 35,
A second cam surface 36 for expanding the tip portions of the side edge forming die members 27, 28 so as not to hinder the passage of the pressing die 21, and a rear end connected to the tip of the second cam surface 36. It is composed of a linear third surface 37 that abuts each other when the tips of the members 27 and 28 abut. It should be noted that one push die 21 is disengaged from the cam plates 32 and 33,
In addition, when the engagement with the side edge forming die members 27, 28 is released, the interval between the pressing dies 21 is adjusted in advance so that the next pressing die 21 engages with the side edge forming die members 27, 28. Keep it.

Next, the operation of the food forming apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, cooked rice 41 in the hopper 2.
And the power switch of the control panel 9 is turned on to drive the drive motor 16. As a result, the drive roller 12 rotates and the conveyor belt 13 is also fed in the clockwise direction in FIG. The cooked rice 41 dropped from the dropping opening 10 of the hopper 2 and positioned on the conveyor belt 13 is pushed forward by the arc portion 23 of the pressing die 21b passing under the dropping opening 10 as shown in FIG. The upper surface of 41 is leveled by the leveling roller 20 to some extent. At this time, the cam shaft 24 of the pressing die 21a located in front of the pressing die 21 is located at the tip of the second cam surface 36 of the cam plates 32 and 33, and the side edge forming die members 27 and 28 are opened. Hold on. As the conveyor belt 13 further advances, the cam shaft 24 of the front pressing die 21 a moves the third cam surface 3 of the cam plates 32 and 33.
The side edge forming die members 27 and 28 try to be closed by the spring 31 by releasing the engagement with the cam plates 32 and 33 through the spring 7, but at this time, as shown in FIG.
Since the tips of 7, 28 are engaged with the side portions of the pressing die 21a, the side edge forming die members 27, 28 are held in an open state and are pushed out by the pressing die 21b located behind them. The cooked rice 41 can be located between the side edge forming mold members 27 and 28. When the front pressing die 21a and the side edge forming die members 27 and 28 are disengaged, the side edge forming die member 2
7, 28 are closed, but at this time, the rear pressing mold 21b is located at the rear end of the side edge forming mold members 27, 28 as shown in FIG. 7, and the cooked rice 41 extruded by the rear pressing mold 21b is on the side. The edge forming die members 27 and 28 form two sides of the side edges. The remaining one side edge advances because the cam shaft 24 of the rear pressing die 21b is located on each first cam surface 35 of the cam plates 32 and 33 and the side edge forming die members 27 and 28 are closed. , Is formed by the arcuate surface 23 of the pressing die 21b. At this time, since the upper surface molding plate member 26 is located on the upper surface, the upper surface of the cooked rice 41 is also molded and the triangular rice ball 42 is completed.

Further, the forward movement of the conveyor belt 13 causes the cam shaft 24 of the rear pressing die 21b to move to the second side of the cam plates 32 and 33.
Since the front end portions of the side edge forming die members 27, 28 are opened by engaging with the cam surface 36, the diaper 42 does not interfere with the side edge forming die members 27, 28 as shown in FIG. Go forward with 13. Therefore, a container for receiving the diaper 42 may be installed at the leading end of the conveyor belt 13 to accommodate the completed diaper 42 therein, or a conveying means such as a roller may be installed to send the diaper 42 to the outside. The state shown in FIG. 8 is the same as that of FIG. 5, and the pressing die 21c on the rear side further falls from the dropping port 10 of the hopper 2 to move the cooked rice 41 between the side edge forming die members 27, 28. Thereafter, by the same operation, the cooked rice 41 sent by the rearward pressing die 21c is further formed into the rice ball 42.

Next, another embodiment of the support mechanism for the conveyor belt 13 will be described with reference to FIGS. That is, it is necessary to adjust the drive roller 12 or replace the transport belt 13 due to abrasion or the like because the tension of the transport belt 13 is loosened due to long-term use and the driving force of the drive roller 12 is not accurately transmitted. Occurs. Therefore, in this embodiment, the tension of the conveyor belt 13 can be adjusted and the conveyor belt 13 can be easily replaced. In addition, the same reference numerals are given to the substantially same configurations as those of the above-described embodiments, and the detailed description thereof will be omitted. Further, the configuration other than the support mechanism of the conveyor belt 13 is substantially the same as that of the above-described embodiment, and therefore illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, both ends of the shafts 14 and 15 of the tension roller 11 and the drive roller 12 are rotatably supported by the support plate 51. The shaft 14 is the support plate 5
Although its position is fixed with respect to 1, the shaft 15 is fitted in the long hole 52 extending in the longitudinal direction of the support plate 51, and the shaft 1
The fixing knobs 53 provided at the both ends of 5 are tightened to fix the position. Collars 54 are respectively loosely fitted between the drive roller 12 of the shaft 15 and the support plate 51. One end of a link plate 55 is rotatably attached to each collar 54. The other end of one link plate 55 is rotatably attached to the bearing 56, and the other link plate 55 is rotatably attached to the feed screw nut 57. The bearing 56 and the feed screw nut 57 are attached to a screw shaft 58 which is supported between the support plates 51 in parallel with the shaft 15 at a distance. The bearing 56 is rotatably attached to the screw shaft 58, and the movement of the screw shaft 58 in the axial direction is restricted by a washer 59. The feed screw nut 57 is screwed onto the screw shaft 58. Has an inner peripheral screw, and the screw shaft 58 rotates with the rotation of the screw shaft 58.
It is mounted so as to reciprocate in the axial direction of. Each of the collars 54 is further rotatably attached to the other end of a link plate 61 having one end rotatably attached to the support plate 51. Feed screw nut 5 for screw shaft 58
The end portion on the 7 side projects outward from the support plate 51, and a knob 62 for adjustment is attached to the tip end portion thereof. Screw shaft 58
And the screw of the feed screw nut 57 are rotated counterclockwise so that the feed screw nut 57 moves toward the bearing 56, and when rotated clockwise, the feed screw nut 57 moves away from the bearing 56. Is set to.

Therefore, by loosening the fixing knob 53, the shaft 1
When the knob 5 is rotated in the clockwise direction after the movable plate 5 is movable in the long hole 52 of the support plate 51, the feed screw nut 57 moves in the direction away from the bearing 56. Lead screw nut 57
Is connected to the link plates 55 and 61, and the link plate 61 is supported by the support plate 51, the link plate 55
Will be applied to the right in the drawing. Further, the bearing 56 side moves upward in the drawing due to the rotation of the screw shaft 58, and accordingly, the bearing 56.
Also moves upward, and the link plate 55 on the bearing 56 side also applies a force to move it to the right in the drawing. The forces exerted by the two link plates 55 are uniform, and these forces can move the drive roller 12 in parallel to the left. In this way, tension can be applied to the conveyor belt 13 to adjust the looseness of the conveyor belt 13. Since the feed screw nut 57 is located at the apex of the isosceles triangle formed by the link plates 55 and 61, the movement amount of the feed screw nut 57 is twice as much as the end amount of the link plate 55. A large amount of movement can be obtained by rotating the simple knob 62.

On the other hand, when replacing the conveyor belt 13,
Contrary to the above, when the knob 62 is rotated counterclockwise, the feed screw nut 57 moves toward the bearing 56. As a result, the two link plates 55 move the drive roller 12 leftward in the drawing. Thereby, the tension on the conveyor belt 13 is released, and the conveyor belt 13 can be easily removed from the rollers 11 and 12.

In the above embodiment, the case of forming a triangular rice ball has been described as an example, but the inner surface of the side edge molding die members 27, 28 may be formed in a semi-circular shape or a semi-cylindrical shape to form a cylindrical shape. It is also possible to mold cooked rice in a straw shape, and it can also be used for molding bread dough, hamburgers, croquettes, and the like. Further, when food molding is completed by the side edge molding die members 27 and 28,
The push die 21 may have a function of simply pushing out food.

[0024]

As described above, the food forming apparatus according to the present invention has an endless conveying means provided between a pair of rollers and a supplying means arranged downstream of the conveying means in the moving direction for supplying the food to be formed. And a pair of mold members that are arranged so as to be separable upstream of the moving direction of the conveying means and that move in the contacting direction to mold the food to be molded, an extruding member attached to the conveying means, and a molding die member. Since it is composed of a control mechanism for controlling contact / separation, it suffices that the height of the supply means be vertical, so that it can be made low. Further, since the food to be molded is sent out by the endless conveying means, the molding can be sent out one after another even if the length in the longitudinal direction is short, so that the longitudinal direction is fine. Therefore, it is possible to provide a food forming apparatus which is smaller in size than the conventional food forming apparatus, has a simple structure, and is easy to perform maintenance and inspection.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, one of the pair of rollers is supported so that the distance from the other roller can be adjusted, and a link mechanism for movably supporting the one roller, and this link mechanism. By providing the adjusting means for adjusting the angle of, the one of the pair of rollers supporting the conveying means is supported so that the distance between the other roller can be adjusted. Since the tension of the conveying means can be easily adjusted, not only the tension can be adjusted but also the exchanging of the conveying means can be performed very easily.

Further, as described in claim 3, the control mechanism is constituted by the cam plate and the cam shaft, for example, the cam plate is made to interlock with the molding die member, and the cam shaft is provided on the pushing member. The molding die member can be brought into and out of contact with the movement of the extruding member, and the control mechanism can be further simplified.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an embodiment of the present invention with a hopper portion removed.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing FIG. 1 in a state where an upper surface molding plate member is removed.

FIG. 3 is a side view showing the overall configuration of this embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of FIG.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view showing a state in which a portion of the first cooked rice has been dropped;

FIG. 6 is an operation explanatory view showing a state where the first cooked rice moves between the side edge forming die members, with a part thereof omitted.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view showing a state where the first cooked rice is molded by the pressing die and the side edge molding die member with a part thereof omitted.

FIG. 8 is an operation explanatory view showing a state where the first cooked rice is molded, with a part thereof omitted.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing another embodiment of a support mechanism for a conveyor belt with a part cut away.

FIG. 10 is a side view showing a part of FIG. 9 cut away.

FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a partially cut-away operation of replacing the conveyor belt.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Food Molding Equipment 2 Hopper 3 Feeding Part 4 Forming Part 5 Housing 12 Drive Roller 13 Conveyor Belt 16 Drive Motor 21 Push Mold 24 Cam Shaft 26 Top Molding Plate Member 27, 28 Side Edge Molding Mold Member 32, 33 Cam Plate 35 No. 1 Cam Surface 36 Second Cam Surface 37 Third Cam Surface 41 Cooked Rice 42 Onigiri 52 Long Hole 53, 62 Knob 55, 61 Link Plate 56 Bearing 57 Feed Screw Nut

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An endless conveying means which is passed by a pair of rollers arranged so as to move, and a food product to be formed which is arranged downstream of the conveying means in the moving direction and is fed to the conveying means. A supply means, a pair of molding dies that are arranged upstream of the moving direction of the conveying means and in a width direction of the conveying means so as to be separable from each other and move in a contact direction, and the conveying means. A plurality of extruding members that are attached at intervals to extrude the food to be molded from the supply means in the moving direction of the conveying means, and the food to be molded are sent to the molding die member by the extruding member. Occasionally, a control mechanism for controlling the molding die member such that these molding die members are opened, the food product to be molded is positioned between them and then closed, and the food product to be molded formed by opening again is passed. A food forming apparatus, comprising: 2. A link mechanism that supports one of the pair of rollers so that a distance between the roller and the other roller is adjustable, and movably supports the one roller, and an adjusting unit that adjusts an angle of the link mechanism. The food forming apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: 3. The control mechanism is operated by engaging a cam plate provided on the molding die member with a cam shaft provided on the pushing member.
The food forming apparatus described in 1.