Cantonese style sausage drying equipment and method thereof

Abstract

The invention relates to the field of Cantonese style sausage drying equipment, and discloses Cantonese style sausage drying equipment which comprises a drying box, a humidifying mechanism and a flow regulating valve, a rotating support used for hanging sausages is rotationally connected into the drying box, a pipeline is connected between the drying box and the humidifying mechanism, the flow regulating valve is connected to the pipeline, and the rotating support is connected with the humidifying mechanism. The drying box is provided with an air inlet pipe to receive external hot air, and the flow adjusting valve gradually reduces the flow of the pipeline in unit time based on the amount of the hot air received by the air inlet pipe. Periodic inflation operation of the piston type inflator is achieved, energy is saved, efficiency is high, the air flow of the pipeline is controlled through inflation of the air bag, then humidity adjustment is achieved, the release speed of water vapor or moisture is indirectly controlled by adjusting the inflation degree of the air bag, and surface hardening or cracking of sausages caused by excessive dryness in the drying process is effectively prevented.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of Cantonese sausage drying equipment, and in particular to a Cantonese sausage drying equipment and method. Background Art

[0002] The drying process of Cantonese sausage is usually divided into two stages: the first stage is a high-temperature and high-humidity environment, with the temperature controlled at 25-30°C and the relative humidity maintained at 70%-80%, to promote the fermentation and metabolism of microorganisms such as lactic acid bacteria and yeasts, and enhance the flavor and internal structure of the sausage; the second stage is the temperature and humidity reduction stage, with the temperature reduced to 20-25°C and the humidity reduced to 50%-60%, aiming to inhibit the excessive reproduction of microorganisms, and instead promote enzymatic reactions such as protease and lipase, further enhancing the flavor stability of the product and preventing the meat from spoiling. Therefore, the dynamic change of humidity must be strictly controlled during the drying process.

[0003] In the prior art, moisture is mainly removed quickly by hot air. To improve the adaptability of the Cantonese sausage drying equipment, humidifying mechanisms (such as steam humidifiers, ultrasonic humidifiers, etc.) are generally directly connected to the drying chamber to achieve appropriate moisture supplementation. However, most of these methods are based on simple "on / off" control based on a fixed threshold, that is, when the humidity is lower than the set value, the humidifier is turned on, and when it is higher than the set value, it is turned off. Although this method can adjust the humidity to a certain extent, for the complex and multi-stage drying process of Cantonese sausage, this rough control can no longer meet the requirements. Its main problems are: it is impossible to more precisely adjust the humidity change in each stage, that is, the humidity cannot be matched with the hot air volume, and it is difficult to meet the dynamic control requirements of the alternating process of fermentation and drying; therefore, there is an urgent need for a device that can control the amount of moisture input and adjust the humidity change rate according to different stages during the drying process. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a Cantonese sausage drying equipment and method to solve the problem that the existing humidifying mechanism is simply connected to the drying chamber. Although a structure similar to a valve can be used to achieve simple "on / off" control, it is impossible to more precisely adjust the humidity change in each stage, that is, the humidity cannot be matched with the hot air volume, and it is difficult to meet the dynamic control requirements of the alternating process of fermentation and drying. The specific technical solutions are as follows:

[0005] A Cantonese sausage drying equipment, comprising a drying box, a humidifying mechanism and a flow regulating valve. A rotating bracket for hanging the sausage is rotatably connected inside the drying box. A pipeline is connected between the drying box and the humidifying mechanism, and the flow regulating valve is connected to the pipeline. The drying box is provided with an air inlet pipe to receive external hot air, and the flow regulating valve gradually reduces the flow rate of the pipeline per unit time based on the amount of hot air received by the air inlet pipe.

[0006] As one of the improvements to the above technical solution, a turbofan assembly is connected to the top of the rotary bracket, a turntable is connected to the bottom of the rotary bracket, and a crank drive mechanism is connected between the turntable and the flow regulating valve.

[0007] As one of the improvements to the above technical solution, the rotary bracket includes an air delivery cylinder and a rotating rod. The rotating rod is arranged inside the air delivery cylinder. A support rod is connected between the rotating rod and the inner wall of the air delivery cylinder. A plurality of air outlet holes are provided on the air delivery cylinder. The turbofan assembly includes a central shaft and a plurality of fan blades connected to the outside of the central shaft. The central shaft is coaxially connected to the rotating rod, and the air delivery cylinder is rotatably connected to the intake pipe.

[0008] As one of the improvements to the above technical solution, the plurality of air outlet holes are distributed along the length direction of the air delivery cylinder. The air delivery cylinder is arranged vertically, and the apertures of the plurality of air outlet holes gradually increase from top to bottom.

[0009] As one of the improvements to the above technical solution, the flow regulating valve includes a storage box, an airbag and a piston type air pump. The storage box is connected to the pipeline. Part of the airbag is embedded in the inner wall of the pipeline, and the other part of the airbag protrudes outside the pipeline and is received in the storage box. The bottom of the storage box is provided with a first opening and a second opening. The air outlet end of the piston type air pump is connected with an air delivery pipe. The air delivery pipe passes through the first opening and is connected with the airbag. An air outlet is provided at the bottom of the airbag, and the air outlet is arranged in the second opening. The flow rate output by the air delivery pipe is greater than the flow rate of the air outlet.

[0010] As one of the improvements to the above technical solution, the crank drive mechanism includes a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod that are hinged to each other. The end of the first connecting rod is hinged to the edge of the end face of the turntable. The second connecting rod is hinged to the piston assembly of the piston type air pump. A guide pipe is connected to the outside of the drying box. The second connecting rod passes through the guide pipe and is slidably matched with the guide pipe.

[0011] As one of the improvements to the above technical solution, the piston type air pump is further provided with an air inlet. An air outlet pipe communicating with the outside is provided on the top of the drying box. An air extraction pipe is connected between the air inlet and the air outlet pipe.

[0012] As one of the improvements to the above technical solution, a plurality of hanging assemblies distributed along the length direction of the air delivery cylinder are connected to the side surface of the air delivery cylinder. The hanging assemblies include a plurality of hooks, and the plurality of hooks are annularly and equidistantly distributed.

[0013] A method for drying Cantonese-style sausages, which is applied to the above-mentioned Cantonese-style sausage drying equipment, includes the following steps:

[0014] S1. Inject high-temperature gas into the intake pipe and start the humidifying mechanism at the same time. The humidifying mechanism conveys steam to the drying box through a pipeline;

[0015] S2. When the gas flows through the turbine assembly, it drives the turbofan assembly to rotate. The turbofan assembly drives the rotating bracket to rotate, and the rotating bracket drives the turntable to rotate. The turntable drives the piston air pump to reciprocate through a crank transmission mechanism to inflate the airbag;

[0016] S3. As the airbag expands, the amount of steam passing through the pipeline gradually decreases.

[0017] As an improvement of the above technical solution, it is defined that Cantonese sausage has a first drying stage and a second drying stage in the drying box. In the first drying stage, the gas flow rate of the intake pipe is V1. In the first drying stage, the output flow rate of the air delivery pipe is greater than the flow rate of the air outlet. In the second drying stage, the gas flow rate of the intake pipe is V2. In the second drying stage, the output flow rate of the air delivery pipe is equal to the flow rate of the air outlet.

[0018] The beneficial effects of the present invention: By setting the rotating bracket and the turbofan assembly, and utilizing the directivity and rotation drive of the air flow, the uniform heating of the sausage during the drying process is realized. The sausage rotates with the bracket, avoiding problems such as uneven heating, local drying or deformation existing in traditional fixed drying, and improving the product quality.

[0019] The turntable drives the crank transmission mechanism to drive the piston air pump to form a linkage structure, which not only ensures the stability of the rotational movement, but also realizes the periodic air pumping operation of the piston air pump without additional power input, energy-saving and efficient. Through the cooperation of the piston air pump and the airbag, the airbag can be inflated, and the gas flow rate of the pipeline can be controlled by the expansion of the airbag, thereby realizing humidity adjustment. By adjusting the inflation degree of the airbag, the release speed of water vapor or moisture can be indirectly controlled, effectively preventing the surface of the sausage from hardening or cracking due to excessive drying during the drying process.

[0020] The additional aspects and advantages of the present invention will be partially given in the following description, partially will become obvious from the following description, or will be understood through the practice of the present invention. Of course, it is not necessary for any product or method implementing the present application to achieve all the above-mentioned advantages at the same time. Description of the Drawings

[0021] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention or the prior art, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required for the description of the embodiments or the prior art. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative efforts.

[0022] Figure 1 It is a schematic structural diagram of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 2 It is a schematic structural diagram of the crank drive mechanism of the present invention.

[0024] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of the air delivery cylinder of the present invention.

[0025] Figure 4 It is a schematic structural diagram of the airbag of the present invention.

[0026] Figure 5 It is another schematic structural diagram of the airbag of the present invention.

[0027] In the figure: 1, drying oven; 2, humidifying mechanism; 3, flow regulating valve; 4, crank drive mechanism; 5, guiding tube; 11, air inlet pipe; 12, turbofan assembly; 13, turntable; 14, air delivery cylinder; 15, rotating rod; 16, air outlet pipe; 31, storage box; 32, airbag; 33, piston air pump; 41, first connecting rod; 42, second connecting rod. Specific Embodiments

[0028] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all of them. All other embodiments obtained by those of ordinary skill in the art based on the embodiments of the present invention without creative efforts shall fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0029] Based on the fact that the existing humidifying mechanism is only simply connected to the drying cavity, although a structure similar to a valve can be used to achieve simple "on / off" control, it is impossible to adjust the humidity change in each stage more precisely, that is, the humidity cannot be matched with the hot air volume, and it is difficult to meet the dynamic control requirements in the process of alternating fermentation and drying. Please refer to Figures 1-5 , the present invention provides some embodiments to solve the above problems, specifically including a drying oven 1, a humidifying mechanism 2 and a flow regulating valve 3. A rotating bracket for hanging sausages is rotatably connected in the drying oven 1. A pipeline is connected between the drying oven 1 and the humidifying mechanism 2. The flow regulating valve 3 is connected to the pipeline. The drying oven 1 is provided with an air inlet pipe 11 to receive external hot air. The flow regulating valve 3 gradually reduces the flow rate per unit time of the pipeline based on the hot air volume received by the air inlet pipe 11, automatically adjusting the humidifying flow rate per unit time in the pipeline, so that the humidity output is dynamically matched with the hot air volume, thereby meeting the requirements for precise control of temperature and humidity in different drying stages;

[0030] In addition, considering that traditional humidifying devices are generally equipped with electric valves, which are automatically opened and closed by a temperature and humidity controller or a PLC system, although this system can achieve automatic control, there are the following problems: The electric valve, the electronic control unit, and the communication cable form a relatively complex control system, increasing the overall cost and maintenance difficulty of the equipment. It relies on external energy and software logic: continuous power supply, software programming support, and debugging of hardware interfaces are required, and it is not suitable for small and medium-sized processing plants with high requirements for environmental stability or limited control conditions.

[0031] To address the above deficiencies, if a humidifying solution that does not rely on an electrical control system and realizes humidity adjustment only through a mechanical structure can be designed, it will greatly improve the stability and applicability of the equipment. Especially in industrial actual production, using a mechanical linkage structure for humidification control can not only reduce the system complexity and the number of failure points but also avoid the problem of humidity control failure caused by electrical faults. Specifically:

[0032] The top of the rotating bracket is connected to the vortex fan assembly 12, the bottom of the rotating bracket is connected to the turntable 13, and a crank transmission mechanism 4 is connected between the turntable 13 and the flow regulating valve 3. The rotating bracket includes an air delivery cylinder 14 and a rotating rod 15. The rotating rod 15 is arranged inside the air delivery cylinder 14. A support rod is connected between the rotating rod 15 and the inner wall of the air delivery cylinder 14. The air delivery cylinder 14 is provided with a plurality of air outlet holes. The vortex fan assembly 12 includes a central shaft and a plurality of fan blades connected to the outside of the central shaft. The central shaft is coaxially connected to the rotating rod 15. The air delivery cylinder 14 is rotatably connected to the air inlet pipe 11. By designing the vortex fan assembly 12, the gas flowing in from the air inlet pipe 11 will drive the vortex fan assembly 12 to rotate when passing through the vortex fan assembly 12.

[0033] The flow regulating valve 3 includes a storage box 31, an airbag 32, and a piston type air pump 33. The storage box 31 is connected to the pipeline. Part of the airbag 32 is embedded in the inner wall of the pipeline, and the other part of the airbag 32 protrudes outside the pipeline and is accommodated in the storage box 31. The bottom of the storage box 31 is provided with a first opening and a second opening. The air outlet end of the piston type air pump 33 is connected to an air delivery pipe, and the air delivery pipe passes through the first opening and is connected to the airbag 32. The bottom of the airbag 32 is provided with an air outlet, and the air outlet is arranged in the second opening. The flow output by the air delivery pipe is greater than the flow of the air outlet. The crank transmission mechanism 4 includes a first connecting rod 41 and a second connecting rod 42 that are hinged to each other. The end of the first connecting rod 41 is hinged to the edge of the end face of the turntable 13, and the second connecting rod 42 is hinged to the piston assembly of the piston type air pump 33. A guide pipe 5 is connected to the outside of the drying box 1, and the second connecting rod 42 passes through the guide pipe 5 and is slidably matched with the guide pipe 5.

[0034] Operating principle:

[0035] The drying oven 1 receives high-temperature gas through the air inlet pipe 11. When the gas flows through the vortex fan assembly 12, it drives the vortex fan assembly 12 to rotate. The vortex fan assembly 12 synchronously drives the rotating bracket and the turntable 13 to move. Since the rotating bracket is used to hang Cantonese-style sausages, through rotation, numerous Cantonese-style sausages can be evenly heated during the drying process. Since the turntable 13 is hinged to the first connecting rod 41, the turntable 13 will pull the first connecting rod 41 during rotation, and the first connecting rod 41 drives the second connecting rod 42 (under the limit of the guiding tube 5) to perform reciprocating motion back and forth, and the second connecting rod 42 drives the piston air pump 33 to inflate the airbag 32;

[0036] In industrial production, since drying devices usually process a large number of sausages at one time, if a humidity adjustment mechanism, such as a humidifying nozzle or a steam generator, is simply connected into the cavity, due to the large cavity structure and complex hot air flow, the moisture is extremely likely to be unevenly distributed. Maybe only some sausages can fully contact the moisture, resulting in different fermentation degrees of sausages in different regions, and the product consistency is still difficult to guarantee. Therefore, the rotating rotating bracket can also stir the air flow in the drying oven 1 to avoid the above situation;

[0037] Preferably, several air outlet holes are distributed along the length direction of the air delivery cylinder 14. The air delivery cylinder 14 is vertically arranged, and the apertures of several air outlet holes gradually increase from top to bottom. It can be understood that since the gas enters the air delivery cylinder 14 from top to bottom, the gas usually flows out from the air outlet holes near the upper end of the air delivery cylinder 14 first. Therefore, by optimizing the apertures of the air outlet holes, the gas can flow out from each air outlet hole with different aperture sizes more evenly.

[0038] In some embodiments, the piston air pump 33 is also provided with an air inlet. The top of the drying oven 1 is provided with an air outlet pipe 16 communicating with the outside. A suction pipe is connected between the air inlet and the air outlet pipe 16. Preferably, the suction pipe is connected to the middle section of the air outlet pipe 16. The suction pipe designed as above can improve the air flow direction in the drying oven 1.

[0039] The side of the air delivery cylinder 14 is connected with several hanging components distributed along the length direction of the air delivery cylinder 14. The hanging components include several hooks. The several hooks are annularly and equidistantly distributed. The hooks are annularly distributed, making full use of the 360° space around the air delivery cylinder 14, which can greatly increase the number of sausages suspended per unit area and make the space utilization of the drying equipment more efficient. The equidistant distribution of the hooks can ensure sufficient spacing between the sausages, effectively preventing adhesion, deformation or uneven drying caused by contact. It is especially suitable for products like Cantonese-style sausages that require the skin to be completely air-dried. The hooks arranged around it help the hot air to evenly surround the sausages from all around, achieving a more uniform and rapid dehydration and drying effect, and avoiding local moisture or over-drying.

[0040] A method for drying Cantonese-style sausages, applied to the above-mentioned Cantonese-style sausage drying equipment, includes the following steps:

[0041] S1. Inject high-temperature and high-pressure gas into the intake pipe 11 and start the humidifying mechanism 2 at the same time. The humidifying mechanism 2 transports steam to the drying box 1 through a pipeline.

[0042] S2. When the gas flows through the turbine assembly, it drives the turbofan assembly 12 to rotate. The turbofan assembly 12 drives the rotating bracket to rotate, and the rotating bracket drives the turntable 13 to rotate. The turntable 13 drives the piston air pump 33 to reciprocate through the crank transmission mechanism 4 to inflate the airbag 32.

[0043] S3. As the airbag 32 expands, the amount of steam passing through the pipeline gradually decreases.

[0044] It is defined that Cantonese-style sausage has a first drying stage and a second drying stage in the drying box 1. In the first drying stage, the gas flow rate of the intake pipe 11 is V1. In the first drying stage, the flow rate output by the air delivery pipe is greater than the flow rate of the air outlet. In the second drying stage, the gas flow rate of the intake pipe 11 is V2. In the second drying stage, the flow rate output by the air delivery pipe is equal to the flow rate of the air outlet.

[0045] In some embodiments, taking the inner cavity volume of the drying box 1 to be about 6.6 m 3 as an example, it is suitable for hanging or placing sausages, and can process about 150 kg of Cantonese-style sausage at one time (suitable for medium and small processing batches). The inner liner is made of 304 stainless steel and an efficient heat insulation layer is added to ensure uniform circulation of hot air in the box. At the same time, the Cantonese-style sausage is hung by the rotating bracket to achieve uniform heating of the product.

[0046] Hot air system parameters:

[0047] First drying stage (high temperature and high humidity, 3 - 5 days): Target temperature: 25 - 30 °C;

[0048] Control the wind speed: 0.5 - 1.0 m / s (generally 0.8 m / s), control the flow rate output by the air delivery pipe to be greater than the flow rate of the air outlet, and the airbag 32 will gradually expand. Exemplarily, the humidifying mechanism inputs moisture at 1.5 - 2.0 kg / h. When the wind speed remains unchanged, due to the expansion of the airbag 32, the relative humidity (RH) will drop from 80% to 60%; to avoid local drying caused by too high wind speed, and at the same time ensure that the sausage is uniformly heated during rotation and maintain the humidity environment required for microbial fermentation.

[0049] Second drying stage (temperature reduction and humidity reduction, 5 - 7 days): Target temperature: 20 - 25 °C;

[0050] Control the wind speed: 0.2 - 0.4 m / s. During this stage, since the flow rate output by the gas transmission pipe is approximately equal to the flow rate at the air outlet, the airbag 32 will stop expanding, limiting the flow rate of the pipeline within a certain range. At this time, the relative humidity (RH) is controlled at 50 - 60%, which can inhibit the excessive reproduction of microorganisms and instead promote enzymatic reactions such as protease and lipase.

[0051] For those skilled in the art, it is obvious that the present invention is not limited to the details of the above exemplary embodiments, and the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or basic characteristics of the present invention. Therefore, from any point of view, the embodiments should be regarded as exemplary and non-limiting. The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the above description. Therefore, all changes falling within the meaning and scope of the equivalent elements of the claims are intended to be encompassed within the present invention.

Claims

1. A Cantonese sausage drying device, characterized in that, It includes a drying box, a humidifying mechanism and a flow regulating valve. A rotating bracket for hanging sausages is rotatably connected inside the drying box. A pipeline is connected between the drying box and the humidifying mechanism. The flow regulating valve is connected to the pipeline. The drying box is provided with an air inlet pipe to receive external hot air. The flow regulating valve gradually reduces the flow rate of the pipeline per unit time based on the amount of hot air received by the air inlet pipe.

2. The Cantonese sausage drying equipment according to claim 1, characterized in that: A vortex fan assembly is connected to the top of the rotating bracket, a turntable is connected to the bottom of the rotating bracket, and a crank transmission mechanism is connected between the turntable and the flow regulating valve.

3. The drying equipment for Cantonese-style sausage according to claim 2, characterized in that: The rotating bracket includes an air delivery cylinder and a rotating rod. The rotating rod is arranged inside the air delivery cylinder. A support rod is connected between the rotating rod and the inner wall of the air delivery cylinder. The air delivery cylinder is provided with a plurality of air outlet holes. The vortex fan assembly includes a central shaft and a plurality of fan blades connected to the outside of the central shaft. The central shaft is coaxially connected to the rotating rod. The air delivery cylinder is rotatably connected to the air inlet pipe.

4. A Cantonese sausage drying device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The plurality of air outlet holes are distributed along the length direction of the air delivery cylinder. The air delivery cylinder is vertically arranged, and the apertures of the plurality of air outlet holes gradually increase from top to bottom.

5. The Cantonese sausage drying equipment according to claim 2, characterized in that: The flow regulating valve includes a storage box, an airbag and a piston-type air pump. The storage box is connected to the pipeline. Part of the airbag is embedded in the inner wall of the pipeline, and the other part of the airbag protrudes outside the pipeline and is received in the storage box. The bottom of the storage box is provided with a first opening and a second opening. The air outlet end of the piston-type air pump is connected with an air delivery pipe. The air delivery pipe passes through the first opening and is connected with the airbag. An air outlet is arranged at the bottom of the airbag, and the air outlet is arranged in the second opening. The flow rate of the air delivered by the air delivery pipe is greater than the flow rate of the air outlet.

6. The drying equipment for Cantonese-style sausages according to claim 5, wherein: The crank transmission mechanism includes a first connecting rod and a second connecting rod which are hinged to each other. The end of the first connecting rod is hinged to the edge of the end face of the turntable. The second connecting rod is hinged to the piston assembly of the piston-type air pump. A guiding pipe is connected to the outside of the drying box. The second connecting rod passes through the guiding pipe and is slidably matched with the guiding pipe.

7. The drying equipment for Cantonese-style sausage according to claim 5, characterized in that: The piston-type air pump is further provided with an air inlet. An air outlet pipe communicating with the outside is arranged at the top of the drying box. An air extraction pipe is connected between the air inlet and the air outlet pipe.

8. The drying device for Cantonese-style sausage according to claim 3, wherein: A plurality of hanging components distributed along the length direction of the air delivery cylinder are connected to the side surface of the air delivery cylinder. The hanging components include a plurality of hooks, and the plurality of hooks are annularly and equidistantly distributed.

9. A method for drying Cantonese-style sausage, which is applied to the Cantonese-style sausage drying equipment as described in claim 7, is characterized in that, It includes the following steps: S1. Inject high-temperature gas into the air inlet pipe and start the humidifying mechanism at the same time. The humidifying mechanism transports steam to the drying box through the pipeline. S2. When the gas flows through the turbine assembly, it drives the vortex fan assembly to rotate. The vortex fan assembly drives the rotating bracket to rotate, and the rotating bracket drives the turntable to rotate. The turntable drives the piston-type air pump to reciprocate through the crank transmission mechanism to realize inflation of the airbag. S3. As the airbag expands, the amount of steam passing through the pipeline gradually decreases.

10. A Cantonese sausage drying device according to claim 9, characterized in that: It is defined that Cantonese-style sausage has a first drying stage and a second drying stage in the drying oven. In the first drying stage, the gas flow rate of the intake pipe is V1. In the first drying stage, the flow rate output by the delivery pipe is greater than the flow rate of the air outlet. In the second drying stage, the gas flow rate of the intake pipe is V2. In the second drying stage, the flow rate output by the delivery pipe is equal to the flow rate of the air outlet.

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