Food ingredient strainer

Abstract

To provide a sieving machine capable of preventing degradation of the quality of ingredient paste due to excessive pressure when sieving the ingredient paste from steamed food ingredients such as chestnuts or sweet potatoes, while improving the efficiency of collecting high-quality ingredient paste.SOLUTION: A sieving drum having numerous through-holes on its outer peripheral surface for sieving ingredient paste is provided with an internal screw composed of a first screw portion and a second screw portion of different shapes. The upstream side of the sieving drum is closed, and the other end being the downstream side is detachably or openably closed. On the upstream side of the transfer within the sieving drum, the first screw portion, which is helically formed, and the second screw portion, which is helically formed and continuously downstream of the first screw portion, are rotatably provided. The transfer flow rate of the food ingredient in the first screw portion is set to be greater than that in the second screw portion. In addition, the upstream slope of the transfer path in the second screw portion is made gentle so that the food ingredient is pressed outward through the through-holes and converted into the ingredient paste.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

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[0001] This invention relates to a lining machine for food raw materials, which manufactures a real paste by lining steamed chestnuts, sweet potatoes and other food raw materials.

Background Art

[0002] Food raw materials such as chestnuts and sweet potatoes are widely used in Japanese confectionery, Western confectionery and others after being lined into a paste shape by a lining machine. As a machine similar to the machine for lining food raw materials, the "manufacturing device for refined okara" described in Japanese Patent No. 4202410 is known. The "manufacturing device for refined okara" described in this publication is provided with a supply part 10 serving as an okara inlet at one end of a filtration cylinder body 6 equipped with a spiral screw 9, and discharges fine okara components crushed by the action of the screw 9 and the scraper 20 through the filtration holes 7 during the transfer in the filtration cylinder body 6. (Patent Document 1)

[0003] The invention described in Patent Document 1 is a device that refines "okara" while transferring it in the filtration cylinder body 6 with a screw 9 and discharges it through the filtration holes 7 formed in the filtration cylinder body 6. The shape of the spiral blades in the screw 9 is a general configuration, and it is said to function to crush and refine okara particles by rubbing against the filtration holes 7.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The apparatus described in Patent Document 1, "Method for producing refined okara and refined okara," has a structure in which unrefined "okara" fed into the supply unit 10 is pressurized by the helical blades of the screw 9 and discharged as "refined okara" through the filtration holes 7, as shown in the figure. Unrefined okara is subjected to agitation and crushing during transport, as well as cutting, undergoing a micronization process, and a kind of kneading promotes further particle miniaturization. As is clear from the diagram, the screw 9 housed inside the filter cylinder 6 has a typical spiral shape, and the outer surface of the scraper 20 sandwiched between the screw 9 is formed parallel to the inner surface of the filter cylinder 6. Therefore, although it is highly effective in transporting okara from upstream to downstream, it cannot be expected to have a significant effect in discharging it from the filter holes 7 perpendicular or oblique to the transport direction. When attempting to obtain a paste from chestnuts or sweet potatoes using this device, the discharge efficiency of the paste from the filtration holes 7 is low. If the discharge efficiency is increased, the pressure becomes too high during transfer from upstream to downstream, and it is likely that more will be discharged from the waste passage holes 24 than from the filtration holes 7. If the material is stirred and crushed under excessively high pressure, heat will be generated due to friction, and the material will become sticky, potentially degrading the flavor of the food.

[0006] The present invention was made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a machine that can preserve the flavor of food by improving the discharge effect of strained fruit paste and reducing the increase in pressure during transport, thereby minimizing the generation of heat due to friction. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve the above objective, the present invention has the following configuration. 1. A cylindrical straining drum, having numerous through-holes on its outer surface, houses a screw with spiral blades for transporting food ingredients from upstream to downstream. This screw consists of a first screw section for transporting food ingredients downstream and a second screw section with a different spiral blade shape from the first screw section, for pushing food ingredients outward through the through-holes. The outer surfaces of the spiral blades of the first and second screw sections are housed within the inner surface of the straining drum, maintaining a small gap between them. 2. The first screw section is positioned upstream of the transfer, and the second screw section, whose spiral blade twist direction is aligned with that of the first screw section, is positioned downstream of the transfer. The transfer passage of the first screw section (the passage through which food ingredients are transferred) and the transfer passage of the second screw section (the passage through which food ingredients are transferred) are continuously connected, and a shaft is provided protruding from the end of each screw section. In one rotation of the screw The size of the transfer channel is set such that the transfer flow rate of food raw materials in the first screw section is several times greater than the transfer flow rate in the second screw section. In order to create a difference in the size of the transfer path during one rotation of the screw, the helical pitch of the helical blades of the first screw section is set to be larger than the helical pitch of the helical blades of the second screw section. 3. The upstream end of the sieving drum is closed by an upstream end plate, and a shaft protruding from the first screw section is supported by this upstream end plate. Furthermore, it is detachably connected to a drive shaft that is linked to the motor. The upstream end plate of the sieving drum is detachably fixed to the frame. 4. The downstream end of the sieving drum is closed by a downstream end plate that can be opened and closed, and a shaft portion that protrudes downstream of the second screw section is supported there. 5. The transfer channel of the first screw section is formed in a shape that transfers food raw materials downstream, and the transfer channel of the second screw section is formed in a shape that pushes food raw materials outward through the perforations. 6. The transfer channel formed by the helical blades of the second screw section has a roughly V-shaped cross-section, and the inclination angle of the inclined surface facing downstream of the helical blades is formed at 15° to 45° with respect to the inner surface of the sieving drum. 7. A hopper is provided at the food ingredient input port located directly above the first screw section, which is positioned on the upstream side of the straining drum. Food ingredients introduced into the hopper fall from the input port into the transfer channel formed by the spiral blades of the first screw section, which rotates inside the straining drum, and are then sequentially transferred by the spiral blades of the first screw section to the transfer channel of the second screw section downstream. The transfer flow path formed by the helical blades of the first screw section is set to be several times larger than the transfer flow path formed by the helical blades of the second screw section. Therefore, the transfer flow rate per rotation of the screw is greater for the transfer flow rate of the first screw section than for the transfer flow rate of the second screw section. The transfer flow rate becomes greater than that of the first screw section. Therefore, the transfer channel of the second screw section is quickly filled with the actual paste, and rapid straining is initiated by the spiral blades of the second screw section. 8. As the food ingredients are transported downstream, they are pressed diagonally outward by the inclined surface formed on the spiral blades of the second screw section, discharged through numerous perforations on the outer circumference of the sieving drum, and fall into a container installed below the sieving drum. is the back Since it is provided around almost the entire circumference of the second screw section housed inside on the downstream side of the drum, discharge occurs not only from the lower through-hole but also from the upper through-hole. 9. The peels (residues) mixed in with the food ingredients are larger in size than the perforations of the sieving drum, so they are not discharged through the perforations. Instead, they are transported to the end of the transfer channel and discharged through the peel discharge holes provided on the downstream end plate. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] With the above configuration, the actual paste is in the first screw section Large spiral pitch The material is transported downstream by the spiral blades to the second screw section. Quickly Supplied, the second screw section Small spiral pitch As the material is transferred downstream by the rotation of the spiral blades, it is gradually pushed out through the perforations of the straining drum and strained, and the actual paste Crushed The tighter fit and reduced heat generation due to friction improve quality. The fruit paste is efficiently extruded through the perforations and strained during downstream transport due to the shape of the inclined surface formed downstream of the spiral blades of the second screw section. As a result, stickiness is less likely to occur, and a fruit paste with a fluffy texture and excellent flavor can be efficiently obtained. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] is a cross-sectional view parallel to the axis of an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] is a plan view of FIG. 1. [Figure 3] is a left side view of FIG. 1. [Figure 4] is an enlarged front view of the screw in FIG. 1. [Figure 5] is a partially enlarged view of the second screw portion. [Figure 6] is a cross-sectional view parallel to the axis of another embodiment of the present invention.

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of this invention will be described based on the drawings of FIGS. 1 to 5.

Embodiment

[0011] The lining drum 1 used for lining food raw materials W consisting of steamed chestnuts, sweet potatoes, pumpkins, etc. is formed with a large number of small-diameter through-holes 2 processed by a punching machine or the like on a rectangular plate material having a thickness of about 1 to 2 mm. The diameter of the through-hole 2 is, for example, about 1 to 5 mm, and those of a size that match various conditions such as the type of food raw material W and the use of the lined fruit paste P are selected. The through-hole 2 is not formed over the entire length of the lining drum, but is formed in a portion corresponding to the length of the spiral blade 11a of the second screw portion 11 described later. The rectangular plate material formed with a large number of through-holes is rounded into a circular shape and the joint is welded to form a hollow cylindrical shape, which is the lining drum 1. The range in which the through-hole 2 is processed is the length A in FIG. 2, and the portion corresponding to the length B of the spiral blade 10a of the first screw portion is not processed.

[0012] The back drum 1 has its right end, which is the upstream side of the transfer in FIG. 1, blocked by the upstream end plate 3, and the upstream end plate 3 is held by the gantry 4. The left end of the back drum 1, which is the downstream side of the transfer, is open, but the downstream end plate 5 is detachably attached. A plurality of skin discharge holes 6 are provided in the downstream end plate 5, and the skins (residues) such as chestnuts and taro mixed in the food raw material W are discharged from the skin discharge holes 6. In FIG. 3, the skin discharge holes 6 are provided only in the lower part of the downstream end plate 5, but they may be provided on the entire surface. The downstream end plate 5 is configured to be removable to facilitate the cleaning of the inside of the back drum 1 and the screw 9 described below installed inside the back drum 1. The skin discharge holes 6 can be fully open or partially opened and closed at all times and are selected according to the situation. An inlet 7 for the food raw material W is provided above the upstream side in the transfer direction of the back drum 1, and a hopper 8 is provided integrally or detachably above the inlet 7.

[0013] A screw 9 is rotatably installed inside the back drum 1. The screw 9 is continuously formed with a first screw portion 10 located on the upstream side and a second screw portion 1 at its downstream side. The outer peripheral surfaces 10b of the spiral blades 10a of the first screw portion 10 and the outer peripheral surfaces 11b of the spiral blades 11a of the second screw portion 11 are each held in a minute gap with the inner peripheral surface 1a of the back drum 1. The first screw portion 10 is formed with a deeper valley depth than that of the second screw portion 11 so that the food raw material W can be transferred more in the downstream direction.

[0014] The bottom surface 10c of the valley of the first screw portion 10 is formed in a tapered shape at the downstream end to constitute an inclined bottom surface 10d, and the spiral transfer channel S in the first screw portion 10 is formed to communicate with the spiral transfer channel T of the second screw portion 11.

[0015] A shaft portion 10e is integrally projected from the upstream axis of the first screw portion 10, and this shaft portion 10e is rotatably supported on the upstream end plate 3. A notch portion 10f is formed at the tip of the shaft portion 10e that protrudes from the upstream end plate 3, with half of its circumference cut out. The drive shaft 12 that rotates the screw 9 has a notch portion 12a formed at half of its tip, corresponding to the shape of the notch portion 10f formed on the shaft portion 10e that protrudes from the first screw portion 10. The engagement of the respective notches 10f and notches 12a allows the screw 9 and the drive shaft 12 to rotate together. The drive shaft 12 is horizontally supported on the frame 4 by two bearings 13, and a hollow shaft type motor 14 is attached to this drive shaft 12. The rotation of this motor 14 causes the screw 9 to rotate inside the straining drum 1 to transport the food raw material W downstream. The frame of the motor 14 is fixed to the support frame 4. The shaft portion 10e of the first screw portion 10 and the drive shaft 12 may be connected using a known coupling (not shown).

[0016] In Figures 4 and 5, a shaft portion 11e is integrally projected from the downstream axis of the second screw portion 11, and this shaft portion 11e is rotatably supported on the downstream end plate 5. As shown in Figure 4, the shape of the second screw portion 11 is formed with a pitch P2 that is narrower than the pitch P1 of the helical blades 10a in the first screw portion 10 (in the drawing, P2 is set to half the pitch of P1). The helical blades 11a of the second screw section 11 have a different shape from the helical blades 10a of the first screw section 10, and are wider than the helical blades 10a. These helical blades 11a have an outer circumferential surface 11b with a width of a, followed by a first inclined section 11c with a width of b inclined by a small angle α°, a second inclined section 11f inclined by an angle θ°, and a valley bottom surface 11d. Angle β° is the inclination angle of the inclined surface 11g facing the upstream direction, which is formed by the helical blades 11a. The inclined surface 11g with an angle β° does not directly affect the discharge of food raw materials W. The second inclined section 11f at an angle θ° primarily functions to push the food raw material W through the through-hole 2, while the first inclined section 11c at an angle α° functions to push out the food raw material W that adheres to the inner surface of the straining drum 1 and is not discharged.

[0017] A container C for receiving the paste P discharged from the through-hole 2 is installed below the downstream side of the straining drum 1, and an inclined peel discharge chute 15 is installed on the outside of the downstream end plate 5, with a residue box D installed at the outlet of the peel discharge chute 15.

[0018] In the above apparatus, when the motor 14 is started and the screw 9 is rotated in a predetermined direction, the lumpy food raw material W is sequentially fed from the hopper 8 to the input port 7, and the food raw material W falls into the straining drum 1. The first screw section 10 of the screw 9 is located inside the straining drum 1, and the food raw material that falls into the spiral transfer channel S of this first screw section 10 is transferred downstream (in the direction of arrow X) as the first screw section 10 rotates. At this time, the downstream transfer of the food raw material W is carried out by the spiral blades 10a of the first screw 10.

[0019] The food raw material W, transported downstream by the spiral blades 10a of the first screw section 10, moves to the flow path T of the second screw section 11. Since the flow path T of the second screw section 11 is formed to have a smaller volume than the flow path S of the first screw section 10, the food raw material W sent by the spiral blades 10a of the first screw section 10 is compressed from the upstream side in the flow path T of the second screw section 11. As a result, the inclined surface 11f facing downstream of the spiral blades 11a of the second screw section 11 presses it against the inner surface 1a of the straining drum 1, and it is pushed out in many rows as paste P through the through holes 2. In this embodiment, the food raw material that has been transported to near the end of the second screw section 11 is not strained into a solid paste under strong pressure in one place, but is gradually pushed out in multiple rows from the through-holes 2 by the inclined surface 11f of the second screw section 11 during transport, thus reducing the generation of viscosity and heat.

[0020] At the downstream end of the second screw section 11, the peel H mixed in with the food raw material W that has been transported without being pushed out through the through hole 2 is pushed out through the peel discharge hole 6 of the downstream end plate 5. The peel discharge hole 6 may be open at all times, but it is also possible to provide only the necessary number of holes that can be opened and closed in response to various conditions of the food raw material W (not shown). The peels H mixed into the food raw material W are larger than the diameter of the through-hole 2, and any peels larger than the through-hole 2 will not be pushed out of the through-hole 2 during transport. Therefore, the peels H are transported downstream and pushed out from the downstream end plate 5. The peels H fall through an inclined peel discharge chute 15 located close to the bottom of the downstream end plate 5 and are collected in the residue box D.

[0021] By installing a vibrating device (not shown) in the hopper 8 and subdividing the clumps of food raw materials W that are introduced, the dispersion and inflow of food raw materials W into the transfer channel S of the first screw 10 becomes easier, and the efficiency of transfer by the first screw section is improved.

[0022] Figure 6 shows another embodiment in which the length of the sieve drum 21 is shorter than in the previous embodiment, and a pipe 22 with the same inner diameter as the sieve drum 21 is connected to the upstream side. The aforementioned screw 9 is installed inside this sieve drum 21 and pipe 22. The through hole 23 formed in the sieve drum 21 is provided to correspond to the length of the helical blades 11a of the second screw portion 11 of the screw 9 shown in Figure 4, as in the previous embodiment. The length of the pipe 22 is provided to correspond to the length of the helical blades 10a of the first screw portion. The sieve drum 21 and pipe 22 are connected by a flange 24 fixed to the end of the sieve drum 21 and a flange 25 fixed to the end of the pipe. The flanges 24 and 25 are fitted and fixed so that the axes of the sieve drum 21 and pipe 22 do not shift. The upstream end plate 26 that closes the upstream end of the pipe 22 supports the shaft portion 10e that protrudes from the first screw portion 10. The upstream end plate 26 is fixed to the frame 4 with a fitting 28. The pipe 22 is supported by a support member 29 not only at the upstream end but also at the downstream end. A first screw section 10 is located inside the pipe 22, and a second screw section 11 is located inside the sieving drum 21. A downstream end plate 27 is attached to the downstream end of the sieving drum 21 to close the downstream end, and the shaft section 11e protruding downstream of the screw 9 is supported there, as in the embodiment described above. The downstream end plate 27 is provided with numerous peel discharge holes 31. In this embodiment, the sieve drum 21 can be easily separated from the pipe 22 by releasing the connection between the flange 24 on the pipe 22 side and the flange 25 on the sieve drum 21 side, making it easy to remove the sieve drum 21 and screw 9 for cleaning.

[0023] In the above embodiment, the shaft portions 10e and 11e are integrally projected from both ends of the screw 9. However, it is also possible to fix the screw by inserting a shaft through a shaft hole that penetrates the shaft center without protruding the shaft portions 10e and 11e. [Explanation of symbols]

[0024] 1. Drum strainer 2. Through-holes 3...Upstream end plate 5...Downstream end plate 6...Skin drainage hole 7...Inlet 9. Screw 10. First screw section 10a ··Spiral blade 10e·Shaft part 11. Second screw section 11a ··Spiral feather 11e·Shaft part 12... Drive shaft 21... Drum strainer 22...pipe 23...Through-hole 26...Upstream end plate 37...Downstream end plate P... Paste S...Transfer channel T...transfer channel W...Food raw materials

Claims

[Claim 1] A cylindrical straining drum, having numerous through-holes on its downstream outer surface, is rotatably housed a screw with two types of helical blades coaxially arranged for transferring food ingredients from upstream to downstream. This screw consists of a first screw section located on the upstream side for transferring food ingredients downstream, and a second screw section located downstream of the first screw section for pushing the food ingredients transferred from the first screw section outward through the numerous through-holes on the downstream outer surface of the straining drum. The upstream end of the sieving drum is closed by an upstream end plate, and the downstream end is closed by a downstream end plate that can be opened and closed, and is provided with a skin discharge hole. In a food ingredient straining machine in which the upstream shaft of the first screw section is supported by the upstream end plate of the straining drum, the downstream shaft of the second screw section is supported by the downstream end plate, the upstream shaft of the first screw section is connected to a motor which is the drive source, and a hopper is provided above the first screw section with a partial opening on the outer surface of the upstream side of the straining drum to serve as an input port for food ingredients, The pitch of the helical blades in the first screw section located upstream is larger than the pitch of the helical blades in the second screw section located downstream. Furthermore, by forming the depth of the grooves in the helical blades of the first screw section to be deeper than the depth of the grooves in the helical blades of the second screw section, the transfer flow path in the first screw section is formed to be larger than the transfer flow path in the second screw section, so that the transfer flow rate of food raw materials in the first screw section per rotation of the screw is greater than the transfer flow rate in the second screw section. The spiral blades of the second screw section have a spiral section of a predetermined width formed in a square screw shape, and the corners on the downstream side in the transport direction of the spiral section have continuously chamfered inclined surfaces that create a gentle slope, and the spiral section that is not chamfered has its outer surface attached to the inner surface of the straining drum with a minute gap between them, thus forming a food ingredient straining machine.

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