Cake pressing device for fructus forsythiae tea processing

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of tea processing, and particularly discloses a cake pressing device for fructus forsythiae tea processing, which comprises a plurality of hollow column die sleeves, linear guide rails positioned on one sides of the hollow column die sleeves, and pressure applying assemblies positioned above the hollow column die sleeves, the chain driving assembly is arranged on the material steaming and spreading assembly; the material blocking and unloading assembly is positioned below the hollow column die sleeve; the travel control assemblies are positioned on two sides of the travel range of the material steaming and spreading assembly; the linear guide rail comprises a fixedly-arranged bearing guide piece and a moving piece capable of horizontally moving on the bearing guide piece in a reciprocating mode. And the material steaming and spreading assembly reciprocates above the hollow column die sleeve through the moving part. According to the invention, the belt is adopted to bear tea leaves to form a thin layer, so that the tea leaves are softened uniformly and equivalently through a steam environment in a moving process, a steam process and a mold entering process are integrated into one module, and the softened tea leaves are synchronously and uniformly laid into a pressing mold cavity layer by layer, so that the softening uniformity and the pressing smoothness are realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of tea processing, and in particular relates to a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea. Background Art

[0002] Forsythia leaves, a resource with both medicinal and drinking value, have been increasingly developed into forsythia tea in recent years. To facilitate long-term storage, transportation, and metered consumption, as well as to promote post-fermentation transformation of its contents under optimal conditions and enhance product value and flavor, the leaves are often pressed into compressed tea forms such as tea cakes, tea bricks, or tea tuo (powdered tea) of specific shapes and weights after undergoing primary processing (such as withering, rolling, and drying).

[0003] In the conventional process of tea cake pressing, key preparatory steps before pressing and molding typically include steam softening and mold placement. The purpose of steam softening is to use high-temperature, high-humidity steam to soften the dried tea leaves (including Forsythia suspensa leaves), increasing their toughness and plasticity for subsequent pressing and molding. It also helps activate some enzymes within the tea leaves. Molding involves placing the softened tea leaves into a cake pressing mold in preparation for final pressing and molding. However, the existing technology for performing these steam softening and mold placement processes generally suffers from the following technical drawbacks: In the prior art, steam softening typically uses a batch process, where a certain amount of dried tea leaves are stacked in a steamer, a steaming barrel, or a container equipped with a steam nozzle for overall steam treatment. Because the tea leaves are steamed in a stacked state, the tea leaves within the stack often struggle to fully and evenly access the high-temperature, high-humidity steam. This treatment method results in varying degrees of softening of the tea leaves overall. Some tea leaves may remain dry and lack flexibility, easily breaking during subsequent pressing, resulting in a rough cake surface. Other tea leaves may have excessively high moisture content, making them prone to "frozen" or loosely sticking together during pressing. This ultimately affects the density uniformity, appearance quality, and flavor consistency of the finished tea cake.

[0004] After being softened by steam, tea leaves are usually poured into a cylindrical cake-pressing mold sleeve manually or by simple mechanical means. However, the one-time pouring or stacking method can easily cause the initial distribution of tea leaves in the mold cavity to be uneven, which is usually manifested as different stacking heights of tea leaves in the mold cavity. This initial uneven distribution directly leads to significant differences in the actual pressures borne by tea leaves at different positions in the mold cavity during the subsequent pressing process. Obviously, tea leaves with higher stacks are subjected to greater pressure and are more easily damaged and crushed, resulting in uneven density of the pressed tea cakes, which seriously affects the internal air permeability and subsequent storage and conversion effects, and reduces the overall quality of the product and user experience. In order to ensure the structural stability of the pressing system, the durability of the mold, and the accuracy of repeated positioning, the mold sleeve of the cake-pressing mold and the pressing member that performs the pressing usually need to maintain a stable and relatively fixed positional relationship. This makes it difficult and impractical to try to compensate for the defect of uneven mold entry by using methods such as vibrating the mold for tamping and spreading, which require frequent changes in the mold sleeve position. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In response to the above situation, the present invention provides a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea, which uses a belt to carry the tea to form a thin layer, so that it can be softened evenly and evenly through a steam environment during movement, and integrates the steaming process and the mold-entering process into one module, so that the softened tea leaves are synchronously, layer by layer, and evenly laid into the pressing mold cavity below, thereby significantly improving the uniformity and sufficiency of the steam softening of the tea leaves, and ensuring that the distribution of the tea leaves in the pressing mold cavity is highly uniform and flat.

[0006] The technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows: The present invention proposes a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia tea, comprising a plurality of hollow column mold sleeves, a linear guide rail located on one side of the hollow column mold sleeve and a pressure assembly located above the hollow column mold sleeve, and also comprising a steaming material spreading assembly, a chain drive assembly arranged on the steaming material spreading assembly, a material blocking and unloading assembly located below the hollow column mold sleeve and a stroke control assembly located on both sides of the stroke range of the steaming material spreading assembly; the linear guide rail comprises a fixed supporting guide and a moving part that can move back and forth horizontally on the supporting guide; the steaming material spreading assembly moves back and forth above the hollow column mold sleeve through the moving part.

[0007] Furthermore, the steam material spreading assembly includes a hopper installed on a moving part, a vertical transition bin arranged below the hopper, a steam hood arranged directly below the vertical transition bin, two rollers rotatably arranged in the steam hood, a belt sleeved on the two rollers, a material drop opening opened at the bottom of the steam hood, and a steam hose connected to the upper wall of the steam hood, and a material feeding outlet is formed between the lower end of the vertical transition bin and the upper surface of the belt.

[0008] Furthermore, the steam material spreading assembly also includes a partition and a scraper; the partition is vertically arranged in the middle position of the lower part of the vertical transition bin, and its lower edge is close to the upper surface of the belt; the scraper is symmetrically arranged on the bottom wall of the steam hood, aligned with the inner side of the two blanking ports, and contacts the outer surface of the lower belt.

[0009] Furthermore, the chain drive assembly is used to drive the rotation of the belt, and the chain drive assembly includes a servo motor arranged on the steam hood, a first sprocket connected to the output shaft of the servo motor, a second sprocket coaxially connected to the roller, and a chain meshing and connecting the first sprocket and the second sprocket.

[0010] Furthermore, the stroke control component includes two limit rods respectively fixed on the outside of the two ends of the linear guide rail stroke, a first distance sensor and a second distance sensor provided on one of the limit rods, and a third distance sensor and a fourth distance sensor provided on the other limit rod. The first distance sensor, the second distance sensor, the third distance sensor and the fourth distance sensor are used to detect the distance between the steam hood and the limit rod.

[0011] Furthermore, the pressure assembly includes a vertical power cylinder, a pressure plate connected to the output end of the vertical power cylinder, and a plurality of compression columns connected to the lower surface of the pressure plate and corresponding one-to-one with the hollow column mold sleeve.

[0012] Furthermore, the material blocking and unloading assembly includes a horizontal power cylinder and a pressing plate connected to the horizontal power cylinder and capable of horizontally moving close to the lower end of the hollow column mold sleeve.

[0013] Furthermore, the array of hollow column mold sleeves is arranged as a whole by welding and is suspended and fixed by a suspension; the area of ​​the pressing plate is larger than the total area of ​​the lower openings of all hollow column mold sleeves.

[0014] Furthermore, it also includes a conveyor belt located below the material blocking and unloading assembly.

[0015] Furthermore, the blanking port is arranged at both ends of the bottom of the steam hood, the belt width and the blanking port length are equal to the total width of the entire hollow column mold sleeve, the two ends of the belt in the width direction are close to the inner wall of the steam hood, the partition and the roller are perpendicular to the translation direction of the steam hood, the bottom of the steam hood can cover and translate closely to the upper ends of all hollow column mold sleeves, the steam hood can pass directly above the hollow column mold sleeve and completely away from it, and the steam hose is arranged on both sides of the hopper.

[0016] Furthermore, the start, stop and direction of the servo motor are controlled by the detection signals of the first distance sensor, the second distance sensor, the third distance sensor and the fourth distance sensor; when the steam hood moves from the second stroke end to the first stroke end, when the third distance sensor detects that the distance between it and the steam hood is greater than the first preset value, the servo motor starts and rotates forward; then when the first distance sensor detects that the distance between it and the steam hood is less than the second preset value, the servo motor stops rotating; when the steam hood moves from the first stroke end to the second stroke end, when the second distance sensor detects that the distance between it and the steam hood is greater than the third preset value, the servo motor starts and rotates in the opposite direction; then when the fourth distance sensor detects that the distance between it and the steam hood is less than the fourth preset value, the servo motor stops rotating.

[0017] The beneficial effects achieved by the present invention using the above structure are as follows: (1) The present invention uses a steaming material spreading component to evenly spread the tea leaves in a thin layer on the belt after the hopper passes through the vertical transition bin, and is driven by a chain drive component to pass through the steam hood filled with steam at a uniform speed. This design ensures that each piece of tea leaves can fully, evenly and isochronously contact with the high-temperature and high-humidity steam during the movement, overcoming the problem of uneven softening caused by accumulation, significantly improving the uniformity and sufficiency of tea softening, and laying the foundation for the subsequent pressing of high-quality tea cakes.

[0018] (2) The present invention utilizes the precise reciprocating movement of the steaming material spreading component on the linear guide rail relative to the hollow column mold sleeve array. The tea leaves that have been evenly softened are spread synchronously, layer by layer, and evenly into the hollow column mold sleeve below through the drop-out port at the bottom of the steam hood while the steaming material spreading component moves. The start and stop of the servo motor drive belt are precisely controlled by the stroke control component to ensure the accuracy of the spreading range. This layer-by-layer, mobile spreading method fundamentally solves the problem of uneven initial stacking height of tea leaves in the mold cavity, ensures the high consistency and uniform distribution of the tea leaves entering the mold, and is conducive to the subsequent pressing of tea cakes with uniform density.

[0019] (3) The present invention cleverly integrates the steam softening process and the mold laying process into the same steaming and laying component. While the tea leaves are moving on the belt through the steam hood to complete the softening, they are already in a position to fall into the hollow column mold sleeve below. After the softening is completed, they enter the mold sleeve through the drop port almost immediately. This integrated design eliminates the intermediate steps of transporting and re-molding after softening in the existing technology. It not only reduces the equipment space and complexity, but also avoids the problems of possible damage to the tea leaves during transportation, thereby improving production efficiency and process stability.

[0020] (4) When the steam material spreading component of the present invention performs reciprocating motion on the linear guide rail, it utilizes the design of the partition and the controllable forward and reverse rotation of the servo motor (controlled by the stroke control component according to the sensor signal) to achieve effective spreading operations in both the left and right movements. This means that almost every movement of the steam material spreading component is performing the spreading task, which greatly reduces the time of the idle stroke and greatly improves the spreading amount per unit time and the processing efficiency of the overall equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0021] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the three-dimensional structure of a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea proposed by the present invention.

[0022] Figure 2 This is a side view of a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea proposed by the present invention.

[0023] Figure 3 This is a front view of a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea proposed by the present invention.

[0024] Figure 4 This is a rear view of a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea proposed by the present invention.

[0025] Figure 5 for Figure 4 Enlarged view of part A.

[0026] Figure 6 This is a structural schematic diagram of the positional relationship between the chain drive component and the steaming material spreading component of a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea proposed by the present invention.

[0027] Figure 7 This is a side view of the steaming material spreading component of the cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea proposed by the present invention.

[0028] Figure 8 for Figure 7 Middle BB cross-section view.

[0029] Figure 9 This is a structural schematic diagram of the positional relationship between a guide member and a second distance sensor of a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea leaves proposed by the present invention.

[0030] Figure 10 This is a structural schematic diagram of the positional relationship between a guide member and a third distance sensor of a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea leaves proposed by the present invention.

[0031] Among them, 1. Linear guide rail, 11. Supporting and guiding parts, 12. Moving parts, 2. Steaming and spreading assembly, 21. Hopper, 22. Vertical transition bin, 23. Steam hood, 24. Partition, 25. Roller, 26. Belt, 27. Scraper, 28. Blanking port, 29. Steam hose, 3. Pressure assembly, 31. Vertical power cylinder, 32. Pressing plate, 33. Pressing column, 4. Hollow column mold sleeve, 5. Material blocking and unloading assembly, 51. Horizontal power cylinder, 52. Pressing plate, 6. Conveyor belt, 7. Chain drive assembly, 71. Servo motor, 72. First sprocket, 73. Second sprocket, 74. Chain, 8. Stroke control assembly, 81. Limit rod, 82. First distance sensor, 83. Second distance sensor, 84. Third distance sensor, 85. Fourth distance sensor.

[0032] The accompanying drawings are used to provide further understanding of the present invention and constitute a part of the specification. They are used to explain the present invention together with the embodiments of the present invention and do not constitute a limitation of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0033] The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments; based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0034] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that terms such as "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "left", "right", "top", "bottom", "inside" and "outside" indicating directions or positional relationships are based on the directions or positional relationships shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing the present invention and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific direction, be constructed and operated in a specific direction. Therefore, they should not be understood as limiting the present invention.

[0035] like Figure 1 、 Figure 2 、 Figure 3 、 Figure 4 、 Figure 5 、 Figure 6 、 Figure 7 、 Figure 8 、 Figure 9 、 Figure 10As shown, the present invention proposes a cake pressing device for processing Forsythia tea, comprising a plurality of hollow column mold sleeves 4 arranged in an array and welded together as a whole, which are suspended and fixed by a suspension; a linear guide rail 1 located on one side of the hollow column mold sleeve 4, a steaming material spreading assembly 2 that can move horizontally back and forth on the linear guide rail 1, a chain drive assembly 7 for driving the belt 26 in the steaming material spreading assembly 2 to rotate, a pressure assembly 3 located above the hollow column mold sleeve 4, a material blocking and unloading assembly 5 located below the hollow column mold sleeve 4, a conveyor belt 6 located below the material blocking and unloading assembly 5, and a travel control assembly 8 located on both sides of the travel range of the steaming material spreading assembly 2.

[0036] The linear guide rail 1 includes a fixed supporting member 11 and a moving member 12 that can move back and forth horizontally on the supporting member 11. The steaming material spreading assembly 2 is installed on the linear guide rail 1 through the moving member 12, so that it can perform precise, predetermined stroke reciprocating horizontal movement above the hollow column mold sleeve 4.

[0037] The steaming and spreading assembly 2 is a key module for achieving uniform softening and uniform spreading, and its specific structure includes: a hopper 21 installed on the moving part 12, for accommodating the dried Forsythia tea leaves to be processed; a vertical transition bin 22 provided below the hopper 21, for guiding the tea leaves to flow downward; a steam hood 23 provided just below the vertical transition bin 22, which is a core component, and has two rotatably mounted rollers 25 inside. A belt 26 is sleeved on the two rollers 25 to form a closed-loop conveyor belt, and a controllable gap is formed between the lower end of the vertical transition bin 22 and the upper surface of the belt 26 as a feeding outlet. Two drop-out ports 28 are provided at the bottom of the steam hood 23, respectively located at the two ends of the bottom of the steam hood 23, and a steam hose 29 is connected to the upper wall of the steam hood 23 and is provided on both sides of the hopper 21, for continuously introducing high-temperature and high-humidity steam into the steam hood 23 to provide a softening environment for the tea leaves on the belt 26.

[0038] In order to achieve precise control and efficient operation, the steaming material spreading component 2 also includes a partition 24 and a scraper 27. The partition 24 is vertically arranged in the middle position of the lower part of the vertical transition bin 22, and its lower edge is close to the upper surface of the belt 26, dividing the feeding outlet into two left and right areas, which is used to selectively allow the tea leaves on one side to fall onto the belt 26 and be transported out in different moving directions. The scraper 27 is symmetrically arranged on the bottom wall of the steam hood 23, and its position is aligned with the inner side of the two drop ports 28, and is in close contact with the outer surface of the lower belt 26, which is used to scrape off the tea leaves that may adhere to the belt 26 to prevent it from being brought back.

[0039] To ensure that the entire array of hollow column mold sleeves 4 is covered, the width of the belt 26 and the length of the blanking port 28 are designed to be equal to the total width of the entire array of hollow column mold sleeves 4. The two ends of the belt 26 in the width direction are close to the inner wall of the steam hood 23 to prevent side leakage of tea and excessive escape of steam. The axes of the partition 24 and the roller 25 are perpendicular to the translation direction of the steam hood 23. The bottom of the steam hood 23 is designed to cover and close to the upper openings of all hollow column mold sleeves 4 during its translation process to ensure that the tea leaves fall accurately into the hollow column mold sleeves 4. At the same time, its stroke design allows the steam hood 23 to pass directly above the hollow column mold sleeve 4 and completely away from it to facilitate the subsequent pressing process.

[0040] The chain drive assembly 7 is used to accurately control the rotation of the belt 26. It includes a servo motor 71 installed on the steam hood 23. The output shaft of the servo motor 71 is connected to the first sprocket 72. The second sprocket 73 is coaxially connected to the two rollers 25. The chain 74 is engaged and connected with the first sprocket 72 and the second sprocket 73. The conveying direction and start and stop timing of the belt 26 can be accurately controlled by the forward and reverse rotation and start and stop of the servo motor 71.

[0041] The stroke control component 8 is used to accurately control the start and stop of the servo motor 71. It includes two limit rods 81 fixedly arranged on the outside of the two ends of the stroke of the linear guide rail 1. One of the limit rods 81 is provided with a first distance sensor 82 and a second distance sensor 83, and the other limit rod 81 is provided with a third distance sensor 84 and a fourth distance sensor 85. These distance sensors (which can be laser ranging sensors) are used to detect the distance between the steam hood 23 and the limit rod 81 in real time, and feed back the detection signal to the control system to trigger the corresponding action of the servo motor 71.

[0042] The pressure-applying assembly 3 is used to press and shape the hollow column mold sleeve 4 filled with tea leaves. It includes a vertical power cylinder 31 (such as a hydraulic cylinder or a pneumatic cylinder), whose output end is connected to a pressure plate 32, and the lower surface of the pressure plate 32 is connected to a plurality of pressing columns 33. The number and position of these pressing columns 33 correspond one-to-one to the hollow column mold sleeve 4, and their shape matches the inner cavity of the hollow column mold sleeve 4, and is used to extend into and apply pressure to the tea leaves.

[0043] The material blocking and unloading assembly 5 is used to block the lower opening of the hollow column mold sleeve 4 during material laying and pressing, and to unload the tea cake after pressing is completed. It includes a horizontal power cylinder 51 (such as a hydraulic cylinder or an air cylinder), and its output end is connected to the pressing plate 52. The pressing plate 52 can be driven by the horizontal power cylinder 51 to move horizontally close to the lower end surface of the hollow column mold sleeve 4 array. Its area is designed to be larger than the total area of ​​the lower openings of all hollow column mold sleeves 4 to ensure that all lower openings can be completely blocked when in the pressing position and can withstand the pressure during the pressing process. The front of the pressing plate 52 can be designed with a snap-fit ​​structure to enhance its stability in the pressing station.

[0044] The conveyor belt 6 is located directly below the material blocking and unloading assembly 5 and is used to receive and transport the pressed tea cakes and scattered tea leaves.

[0045] The specific working process is as follows: Preparation stage: Start the device, the horizontal power cylinder 51 drives the pressing plate 52 to move to the bottom of all hollow column mold sleeves 4, completely blocking their lower openings, and ensuring that the front end of the pressing plate 52 is engaged with the additionally provided locking parts, which is sufficient to withstand the subsequent pressing force. The steaming material spreading assembly 2 is initially located at one end of the stroke, for example, the right side (the second stroke end), and the hopper 21 is filled with pre-treated Forsythia suspensa tea leaves.

[0046] Right to left material spreading stroke: the control system drives the moving part 12 of the linear guide 1 to move to the left (first stroke end), driving the steam material spreading assembly 2 to move synchronously. When the steam material spreading assembly 2 moves, the blanking port 28 on its left side is about to enter the upper range of the hollow column mold sleeve 4 array. The third distance sensor 84 located on the right limit rod 81 detects that the distance between the steam hood 23 and it is greater than the preset first threshold value (indicating that the steam hood 23 has left the right starting area far enough). The control system issues a command to start the servo motor 71 to rotate forward. The servo motor 71 drives the belt 26 to rotate through the chain drive assembly 7. At this time, the upper belt 26 The conveying direction is the same as the forward direction (to the left) of the steam hood 23. The dried tea leaves fall from the hopper 21 through the vertical transition bin 22. Due to the existence of the partition 24 and the leftward movement of the belt 26, the tea leaves mainly fall evenly on the upper surface of the belt 26 from the feeding outlet on the left side of the partition 24, forming a thin layer. The tea leaves on the right side of the partition 24 are temporarily blocked at the right outlet due to the leftward movement of the belt 26 and the obstruction of the partition 24, and will not fall. As the steaming material spreading assembly 2 continues to move to the left, the thin layer of tea leaves on the belt 26 also moves with it, and is continuously exposed to the high temperature injected by the steam hose 29 and diffused inside the steam hood 23 during the movement. In a high-humidity steam environment, the tea leaves are softened evenly and isochronously (because the transmission distance and speed are the same). When the front end of the thin layer of tea leaves reaches the left-side dropout port 28, the dropout port 28 is just moved to the top of the rightmost hollow column mold sleeve 4. The softened tea leaves begin to fall evenly and layer by layer through the dropout port 28 into the hollow column mold sleeve 4 below and are received by the pressing plate 52. Some tea leaves may fall onto the pressing plate 52 through the installation space between the hollow column mold sleeves 4. During the movement, the bottom of the steam hood 23 can slightly contact the upper edge of the hollow column mold sleeve 4, pushing the very small amount of tea leaves that may remain on the upper edge into the hollow column mold sleeve. 4, and at the same time, when the lower belt 26 passes through the scraper 27, the adhered tea leaves are scraped off and fall from the drop port 28. When the steaming material spreading component 2 continues to move to the left, its left drop port 28 is about to leave the range of the leftmost hollow column mold sleeve 4, the first distance sensor 82 located on the left limit rod 81 detects that the distance between the steam hood 23 and it is less than the preset second threshold value, and the control system issues a command to stop the rotation of the servo motor 71, the belt 26 stops conveying, and the tea leaves no longer fall to avoid waste. The steaming material spreading component 2 continues to move to the left for a distance, completely leaves the top of the hollow column mold sleeve 4 array, and then stops according to the preset stroke.

[0047] Left to right material spreading stroke: the control system drives the moving part 12 of the linear guide 1 to move to the right (second stroke end). When the steam material spreading component 2 moves to the right and the blanking port 28 on its right is about to enter the upper range of the hollow column mold sleeve 4 array, the second distance sensor 83 located on the left limit rod 81 detects that the distance between the steam hood 23 and it is greater than the preset third threshold value (indicating that the steam hood 23 has left the left starting area far enough). The control system sends a command to start the servo motor 71 to rotate in the opposite direction. The servo motor 71 drives the belt 26 to rotate in the opposite direction. At this time, the conveying direction of the upper belt 26 is the same as the forward direction (to the right) of the steam hood 23. At this time, the tea leaves fall evenly on the belt 26 from the feeding outlet on the right side of the partition 24 to form a thin layer. The left side of the partition 24 The tea leaves on the side are blocked due to the rightward movement of the belt 26 and the obstruction of the partition 24. The tea leaves move to the right on the belt 26 and are softened by steam. When the front end of the tea leaves reaches the right side drop-out port 28, the drop-out port 28 just moves to the top of the leftmost hollow column mold sleeve 4, and the softened tea leaves begin to fall into the hollow column mold sleeve 4 evenly and layer by layer through the right side drop-out port 28. When the steaming material spreading component 2 continues to move to the right and its right side drop-out port 28 is about to leave the range of the rightmost hollow column mold sleeve 4, the fourth distance sensor 85 located on the right limit rod 81 detects that the distance between the steam hood 23 and it is less than the preset fourth threshold value, and the control system stops the servo motor 71. The steaming material spreading component 2 continues to move to the right and returns to the end of the stroke on the right, completing a reciprocating spreading round.

[0048] Repeated laying: Repeat the reciprocating laying process. Each layer of tea leaves is evenly softened and laid evenly layer by layer in the hollow column mold sleeve 4 until all the hollow column mold sleeves 4 are filled with a predetermined amount of tea leaves (quantification can be achieved by controlling the number of reciprocating times or combining weighing sensors, etc.).

[0049] Pressing and molding: When all the hollow column mold sleeves 4 are filled, the steaming material spreading component 2 is moved to a position away from the top of the hollow column mold sleeve 4, the pressure component 3 is started, and the vertical power cylinder 31 drives the pressing plate 32 to descend, so that the compacting column 33 enters the corresponding hollow column mold sleeve 4, applies pressure to the softened tea leaves, and presses them into compact tea cakes. At this time, the pressing plate 52 provides stable support and reaction force at the bottom. After reaching the preset pressure or holding time, the vertical power cylinder 31 drives the pressing plate 32 and the compacting column 33 to rise and leave the hollow column mold sleeve 4.

[0050] Unloading and collection: Start the material blocking and unloading assembly 5, and the horizontal power cylinder 51 drives the pressing plate 52 to move horizontally, no longer blocking the lower opening of the hollow column mold sleeve 4. The pressed tea cakes fall from the hollow column mold sleeve 4 to the conveyor belt 6 below due to gravity. At the same time, a small amount of tea leaves scattered on the pressing plate 52 from the installation gap during the previous laying process also fall together. The operator can manually pick up qualified tea cakes at the end of the conveyor belt 6. The scattered tea leaves will run to the end with the conveyor belt 6, be recovered by the collecting device, and can be sent back to the hopper 21 for recycling.

[0051] It should be noted that, in this document, relational terms such as first and second, etc., are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that includes a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not explicitly listed, or elements inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus.

[0052] While the embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions, and alterations can be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention.

[0053] The present invention and its embodiments are described above. This description is not restrictive. The drawings show only one embodiment of the present invention, and the actual structure is not limited thereto. In short, if a person skilled in the art is inspired by this and, without departing from the purpose of the present invention, designs structures and embodiments similar to this technical solution without inventiveness, they shall fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea leaves, comprising a plurality of hollow column mold sleeves (4), a linear guide rail (1) located on one side of the hollow column mold sleeves (4), and a pressure component (3) located above the hollow column mold sleeves (4), characterized in that: It also includes a steam material spreading component (2), a chain drive component (7) provided on the steam material spreading component (2), a material blocking and unloading component (5) located below the hollow column mold sleeve (4), and a stroke control component (8) located on both sides of the stroke range of the steam material spreading component (2); The linear guide rail (1) comprises a fixed supporting member (11) and a moving member (12) capable of horizontally reciprocating movement on the supporting member (11); The steaming material spreading assembly (2) moves back and forth above the hollow column mold sleeve (4) via a moving part (12); The steam material spreading assembly (2) includes a hopper (21) mounted on a moving part (12), a vertical transition bin (22) provided below the hopper (21), a steam hood (23) provided directly below the vertical transition bin (22), two rollers (25) rotatably provided in the steam hood (23), a belt (26) sleeved on the two rollers (25), a material drop opening (28) provided at the bottom of the steam hood (23), and a steam hose (29) connected to the upper wall of the steam hood (23), wherein a material supply outlet is formed between the lower end of the vertical transition bin (22) and the upper surface of the belt (26).

2. The cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea according to claim 1, characterized in that: The steam material spreading assembly (2) further includes a partition (24) and a scraper (27); the partition (24) is vertically arranged at the middle position of the lower part of the vertical transition bin (22), and its lower edge is in close contact with the upper surface of the belt (26); the scraper (27) is symmetrically arranged on the bottom wall of the steam hood (23), aligned with the inner sides of the two blanking openings (28), and contacts the outer surface of the lower belt (26).

3. The cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea according to claim 2, characterized in that: The chain drive assembly (7) is used to drive the belt (26) to rotate, and the chain drive assembly (7) includes a servo motor (71) provided on the steam hood (23), a first sprocket (72) connected to the output shaft of the servo motor (71), a second sprocket (73) coaxially connected to the roller (25), and a chain (74) meshingly connecting the first sprocket (72) and the second sprocket (73).

4. The cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea according to claim 3, characterized in that: The stroke control assembly (8) comprises two limit rods (81) respectively fixedly arranged on the outside of the two ends of the stroke of the linear guide rail (1), a first distance sensor (82) and a second distance sensor (83) arranged on one of the limit rods (81), and a third distance sensor (84) and a fourth distance sensor (85) arranged on the other limit rod (81), wherein the first distance sensor (82), the second distance sensor (83), the third distance sensor (84) and the fourth distance sensor (85) are used to detect the distance between the steam hood (23) and the limit rod (81).

5. The cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea according to claim 4, characterized in that: The pressure-applying assembly (3) comprises a vertical power cylinder (31), a pressure plate (32) connected to the output end of the vertical power cylinder (31), and a plurality of compression columns (33) connected to the lower surface of the pressure plate (32) and corresponding one-to-one with the hollow column mold sleeve (4); The material blocking and unloading assembly (5) comprises a horizontal power cylinder (51) and a pressing plate (52) connected to the horizontal power cylinder (51) and capable of horizontally moving against the lower end of the hollow column mold sleeve (4).

6. The cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea according to claim 5, characterized in that: The array of the hollow column mold sleeves (4) is formed into a whole by welding and is suspended and fixed by a suspension; the area of ​​the pressing plate (52) is larger than the total area of ​​the lower openings of all the hollow column mold sleeves (4).

7. The cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea according to claim 6, characterized in that: It also includes a conveyor belt (6) located below the material blocking and unloading assembly (5).

8. The cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea according to claim 7, characterized in that: The blanking opening (28) is arranged at both ends of the bottom of the steam hood (23); the width of the belt (26) and the length of the blanking opening (28) are equal to the total width of the entire hollow column mold sleeve (4); both ends of the belt (26) in the width direction are close to the inner wall of the steam hood (23); the partition (24) and the roller (25) are perpendicular to the translation direction of the steam hood (23); the bottom of the steam hood (23) can cover and closely follow the upper ends of all hollow column mold sleeves (4) for translation; the steam hood (23) can pass directly above the hollow column mold sleeve (4) and completely away from it; the steam hose (29) is arranged on both sides of the hopper (21).

9. The cake pressing device for processing Forsythia suspensa tea according to claim 8, characterized in that: The start, stop and direction of the servo motor (71) are controlled by the detection signals of the first distance sensor (82), the second distance sensor (83), the third distance sensor (84) and the fourth distance sensor (85); when the steam hood (23) moves from the second stroke end to the first stroke end, when the third distance sensor (84) detects that the distance between the steam hood (23) and the steam hood (23) is greater than a first preset value, the servo motor (71) starts and rotates in the forward direction; then, when the first distance sensor (82) detects that the distance between the steam hood (23) and the steam hood (23) is less than a second preset value, the servo motor (71) stops rotating; when the steam hood (23) moves from the first stroke end to the second stroke end, when the second distance sensor (83) detects that the distance between the steam hood (23) and the steam hood (23) is greater than a third preset value, the servo motor (71) starts and rotates in the reverse direction; then, when the fourth distance sensor (85) detects that the distance between the steam hood (23) and the steam hood (23) is less than a fourth preset value, the servo motor (71) stops rotating.

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