Tea leaf striping and drying integrated machine

Abstract

The application discloses a tea leaf striping and drying integrated machine, which comprises a rack, a striping kettle body, a kettle body heating device and a drying mechanism. The kettle body heating device comprises a heating disc arranged at the bottom of the striping kettle body and a hot air fixation mechanism arranged above the striping kettle body in the front cover area of the kettle body. A central part of the heating disc is provided with an air extraction mechanism for extracting hot air in the center of the heating disc and supplying the hot air to the drying mechanism. The hot air fixation mechanism comprises adjustable air nozzles arranged in an array in the front cover area of the striping kettle body. The adjustable air nozzles have three optional air directions, which correspond to the hot air directions required for fixation, auxiliary discharging and complete discharging one by one. The machine further comprises a tail material blowing-out mechanism, which comprises a row of tail material air nozzles corresponding to a plurality of kettle grooves one by one. The row of tail material air nozzles can move along the length direction of the striping kettle body, so as to blow the tail material of the tea leaves in the kettle grooves towards the outlet of the kettle grooves. The application solves the problems of uneven kettle body temperature and poor tail material discharge.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of tea processing machinery, and in particular to an integrated tea processing and drying machine that combines tea leaf shaping, fixation, and drying. Background Technology

[0002] The integrated tea shaping and drying machine is a tea processing equipment that integrates the processes of shaping, fixing, and drying in tea processing.

[0003] Existing integrated tea leaf shaping and drying machines still have a series of problems that urgently need to be solved:

[0004] 1. The pot body is composed of several pot grooves arranged side by side, and the bottom is a heating plate with heating wires evenly arranged on the heating plate. During use, the temperature in the central area is higher, and the uneven temperature of the heating plate at the bottom of the pot body leads to inconsistent tea-killing quality.

[0005] 2. Hot air is used for blanching in the front cover area of ​​the pot body, and a cover plate is used to cover it to maintain the blanching temperature. At this time, the hot air for blanching is blown vertically relative to the pot trough. However, this wind direction is not conducive to the discharge of tail material residue to the downward flow side and the space is small and inconvenient to intervene.

[0006] 3. After the initial processing, there is residual material in the pot trough at the back of the pot, which requires manual cleaning, thus increasing the labor cost of tea production. Summary of the Invention

[0007] The purpose of this invention is to provide an integrated tea leaf shaping and drying machine to improve the problems of uneven pot temperature and poor discharge of waste material.

[0008] To address this, the present invention provides an integrated tea shaping and drying machine, comprising a frame, a shaping pot, a pot heating device, and a drying mechanism. The pot heating device includes a heating plate disposed at the bottom of the shaping pot and a hot air fixation mechanism located above the shaping pot in the front cover area of ​​the pot. An exhaust mechanism is provided in the middle of the heating plate to extract hot air from the center of the heating plate and supply it to the drying mechanism. The hot air fixation mechanism includes adjustable air nozzles arranged in an array in the front cover area of ​​the shaping pot. The adjustable air nozzles have three selectable air directions to correspond one-to-one with the hot air directions required for fixation, auxiliary feeding, and thorough cleaning. The machine also includes a tail material blowing mechanism, comprising a row of tail material air nozzles corresponding one-to-one with several pot troughs. The row of tail material air nozzles can move along the length of the shaping pot to blow the tea tail material in the pot troughs toward the pot trough outlet.

[0009] Compared with the prior art, the outstanding advantages and beneficial effects of the present invention are as follows:

[0010] 1. It fundamentally solves the problem of uneven heat field with "high center temperature and low edge temperature" in the bottom heating plate of traditional tea leaf rolling machine, so that the tea leaves in the pot are highly uniform in their fixation degree.

[0011] 2. The heat from the overheated area of ​​the heating plate is actively extracted and introduced into the lower drying machine, realizing the "cascade utilization" of heat energy. This avoids the waste of heat loss of tea leaves after sorting in the traditional process. The overall energy consumption can be reduced by 25% to 40% compared with traditional split equipment.

[0012] 3. The adjustable nozzles and independent tail material blowing mechanism work together to quickly and thoroughly discharge tea leaves into the drying mechanism, greatly shortening the process interval time and improving equipment utilization.

[0013] In addition to the objectives, features, and advantages described above, the present invention has other objectives, features, and advantages. The invention will now be described in further detail with reference to the figures. Attached Figure Description

[0014] The accompanying drawings, which form part of this application, are used to provide a further understanding of the invention. The illustrative embodiments of the invention and their descriptions are used to explain the invention and do not constitute an undue limitation of the invention. In the drawings:

[0015] Figure 1 This is a three-dimensional structural diagram of the overall structure of the present invention;

[0016] Figure 2 yes Figure 1 Schematic diagram of the hot air blanching device;

[0017] Figure 3 yes Figure 2 A partial enlarged view of the hot air blanching device;

[0018] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the tail material blowing mechanism;

[0019] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram of the tilt adjustment mechanism of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram of the bottom heating plate temperature equalization and waste heat recovery system of the present invention.

[0021] Explanation of reference numerals in the attached figures

[0022] 1. Frame; 2. Shaping mechanism; 3. Shaping pan body; 4. Drying mechanism; 5. Incline adjustment mechanism; 6. Hot air blanching device; 7. Tail material blowing mechanism; 8. Fan; 9. Heater; 10. Air inlet duct; 11. Primary air distribution duct; 12. Secondary air distribution duct; 13. Adjustable air nozzle; 14. Air nozzle angle linkage adjustment mechanism; 15. Fixed air duct; 16. Hinge shaft; 17. Air guide duct; 18. Tail material fan; 19. Tail material distribution duct; 20. Tail material sliding bearing; 21. Tail material walking motor; 22. Tail material air nozzle; 23. Elevator; 24. Horizontal connecting rod; 25. Bevel gear; 26. Hand crank; 27. Exhaust vent; 28. Exhaust duct; 29. ​​Exhaust fan; 30. Drying air inlet. Detailed Implementation

[0023] The present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

[0024] See Figures 1 to 6 The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine of the present invention includes a frame 1, a shaping mechanism 2, a drying mechanism 4, and a tailing material blowing mechanism 7. The shaping mechanism 2 is disposed above the drying mechanism 4. The shaping mechanism 2 includes a shaping pot 3 and a pot heating device for providing heat to the shaping pot 3. The drying mechanism 4 is configured to receive and utilize the heat from the shaping mechanism 2 to dry the tea leaves.

[0025] The sizing pan body 3 includes several pan grooves arranged side by side, such as 12-18 grooves; the length of a single sizing pan groove is 1.5 meters to 3.5 meters, and the width of the groove opening is 60 millimeters to 150 millimeters.

[0026] The pot body heating device includes a heating plate disposed at the bottom of the slab pot body 3 (see...). Figure 6 ) and the hot air blanching device 6 located above the pan body 3 in the front cover area of ​​the pan body.

[0027] The heating plate 31 includes a rectangular plate, a heat radiation reflective film laid on the rectangular plate, and several quartz heating tubes arranged in parallel. The heating plate is equipped with an exhaust mechanism. Specifically, one or two exhaust holes 27 are located in the center of the heating plate. The exhaust holes 27 extend from the side of the heating plate, converge into the exhaust duct 28, and then connect to the exhaust fan 29.

[0028] Before the exhaust vents were installed, the heat distribution of the pot above the heating plate was such that the temperature in the middle was higher than the temperature around the edges. After the exhaust vents were installed to remove the hot air, the temperature distribution of the heating plate became more uniform.

[0029] The hot air blanching device 6 includes a fan 8, a heater 9, an air inlet pipe 10, a primary air distribution pipe 11, a secondary air distribution pipe 12, an adjustable air nozzle 13, and an air nozzle angle linkage adjustment mechanism 14.

[0030] The adjustable nozzles 13 of the hot air blanching device 6 are arranged in an array on the pot body in the front cover area of ​​the pot body, and are arranged at equal intervals along the length of each pot groove and aligned in the width direction of the pot body.

[0031] The hot air blanching device 6 has an adjustable air outlet direction with three selectable air directions to adapt to three different process operation requirements: 1. Blanching mode: Control the air outlet angle to the first preset angle (e.g., close to vertical) to achieve uniform blanching; 2. Assisted feeding mode: Control the air outlet angle to a larger second preset angle (e.g., 30° tilt) to make the hot air flow in the feeding direction, generating a boosting force; 3. Powerful cleaning mode: Control the air outlet angle to a larger third preset angle (e.g., close to horizontal, 60° tilt) to clean the bottom of the pan.

[0032] The adjustable air nozzle 13 includes a fixed air duct 15 and an air guide duct 17 sleeved at the air outlet end of the fixed air duct 15. The air guide duct 15 is connected to the fixed air duct 15 through a hinge shaft 16, and the air guide duct 17 can rotate around the axis of the hinge shaft 16. The air nozzle angle linkage adjustment mechanism 14 is a mechanical linkage mechanism. First, a group of air guide ducts 15 arranged aligned in the width direction of the pot body is passed through a crossbar, so that the same group of air guide ducts 15 moves synchronously. Then, the crossbars of different groups of air guide ducts are linked through a linkage. This air nozzle angle linkage adjustment mechanism 14 can be manually operated or operated by an actuator such as an electric cylinder.

[0033] The tail material blowing mechanism 7 includes a tail material fan 18, a tail material distribution pipe 19, a tail material sliding bearing 20, a sprocket and chain walking mechanism 21 driven by a walking motor 21, and a tail material nozzle 22.

[0034] The left and right ends of the frame are equipped with tail material sliding bearings 20 and tail material traveling mechanisms 21.

[0035] The left and right ends of the tail material distribution duct 19 are movably supported on the tail material sliding bearings 20. Each tail material sliding bearing 20 cooperates with the guide rod on the frame. A sprocket is installed on the output shaft of the walking motor of the tail material walking mechanism 21. The sprocket and the chain set on the frame form a meshing walking relationship.

[0036] Please note that only the beginning and end of the chain are fixed; the other parts are not fixed. The left and right ends of the tail material distribution duct 19 are movably supported on the tail material sliding bearings 20, allowing for a slight misalignment between the left and right ends of the tail material distribution duct 19. This allows the walking motors 21 at the left and right ends of the tail material distribution duct 19 to be ordinary motors of the same model, controlled by a single switch, thus enabling the tail material distribution duct 19 to move along the length of the pot body in a cost-effective manner.

[0037] Tail material air nozzle 22 is connected to tail material distribution pipe 19. Each pot trough is equipped with a tail material air nozzle 22. The air direction of the tail material air nozzle 22 is basically parallel to the pot trough and faces the discharge direction.

[0038] During the tail material discharge stage, the tail material blowing mechanism 7 moves from the middle of the pot to the tail, and uses the airflow blown out from the tail material nozzle 22 to blow out the tail material residue.

[0039] The drying unit 4 dries the food by receiving radiant heat and / or natural convection heat from the cooling unit 2.

[0040] The drying mechanism 4 includes two layers of drying conveyor belts, which are placed in the drying chamber. The chamber has a receiving opening at the discharge end of the pot trough, which is directly opposite to the starting position of the upper drying conveyor belt. The lower drying conveyor belt receives the tea leaves falling from the end of the upper drying conveyor belt. The conveying direction is exactly the opposite, and the tea leaves are finally discharged from the end position that extends out of the drying chamber.

[0041] The lower drying conveyor belt moves at a slower speed than the upper drying conveyor belt in order to extend the drying time of the tea leaves.

[0042] The drying conveyor belt consists of a ring-shaped stainless steel wire mesh and two side panels, forming an internal cavity. The upper drying conveyor belt receives the tea dust and ash produced by the pot, while the lower drying conveyor belt itself becomes brittle as the tea leaves dry. Therefore, both the upper and lower drying conveyor belts retain tea dust and ash, which contaminates the wire mesh and is not easy to clean. The longer the time, the more serious the situation becomes, affecting the color and quality of the tea.

[0043] The drying chamber contains a heater, which generates natural convection heat within the chamber. At the same time, hot air from the exhaust system is distributed to the inner cavity of the drying conveyor belt. The hot air escapes outward through the dense mesh of the drying conveyor belt, with the non-working surface of the belt being the main escape area (the top surface of the belt is the working surface, and the bottom surface is the non-working surface). This hot air participates in the energy utilization process of hot air drying of tea leaves, while also achieving the effect of timely removal of tea fragments and tea dust from the belt.

[0044] The tea-processing mechanism 2 is mounted on the frame 1 via an angle adjustment mechanism 5, used to adjust the tilt angle of the tea-processing pot 3. The tea-processing pot 3 is driven by a crank-connecting rod mechanism to achieve the tea-frying motion in the pot trough. Simultaneously, the tea leaves flow downwards in the tilted state of the pot trough, achieving the effect of simultaneously frying and conveying the tea leaves forward. The frying time of the tea leaves in the pot trough is determined by the tilt angle of the pot.

[0045] The tilt adjustment mechanism 5 includes a hand crank 26, a reversing transmission gear set 25, a pair of lifting mechanisms 23, and a linkage rod 24.

[0046] The hand crank 26 is placed vertically for easy operation. When the hand crank 26 is rotated, the direction-changing transmission gear set 25 drives the transmission in a different direction. A pair of hoists 23 are connected in series by the linkage rod 24 to form a linkage.

[0047] The hoist includes a worm gear mechanism and a screw and nut mechanism. The worm drives the worm gear to rotate at a reduced speed. The worm gear and the nut are coaxially connected. The rotation of the nut drives the screw to move up and down. A mounting seat for the feed mechanism is provided on the top of the screw.

[0048] The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine of the present invention has an intelligent control mode and a semi-automatic control mode.

[0049] Intelligent control mode: The system uses a PLC controller, and a voltage regulating module is connected in series on the heating circuit of the heating device; the PLC is configured to receive signals from the temperature sensor and output signals to the voltage regulating module through a control algorithm. In intelligent control mode, the voltage regulating module is a solid-state relay; the control system is configured to achieve closed-loop temperature control through a PID control algorithm.

[0050] Semi-automatic control mode: The system uses a temperature controller and a rotary switch, and an AC contactor is connected in series on the heating circuit of the heating device; the temperature controller is configured to control the on and off of the AC contactor based on feedback from the temperature sensor.

[0051] In one embodiment, the single-unit tea leaf shaping and drying center of the present invention has a frame 1 welded from structural steel. The shaping mechanism 2 is mounted on the bottom of the heating plate via an angle adjustment mechanism 5. The shaping mechanism 2 includes 12 U-shaped shaping pans 21 arranged side by side, each pan being 3 meters long and 85 mm wide. The bottom of the pan 3 is a heating mechanism with an exhaust hole 27 in the center, connected to an exhaust fan 29. The air duct 17 of the hot air fixing device 6 is connected to the fixed air duct 15 via a hinge shaft 16 and is driven to swing and deflect by an adjustment handle 14.

[0052] The control system is based on a PLC. The heating plate is connected to the first and second pressure regulating modules, the heater of the hot air blanching device 6 is connected to the third pressure regulating module, and the heater of the drying mechanism 4 is connected to the fourth pressure regulating module. Temperature sensors are installed inside the forming pan 3, at the hot air outlet, and in the drying chamber. The PLC receives the sensor signals, performs PID calculations, and then controls each pressure regulating module to achieve precise temperature control.

[0053] Working process: After the leaves are added, the leaf-forming mechanism 2 starts, and the heating device heats the tea leaves according to the process curve for leaf shaping and fixation. At the same time, the exhaust fan 29 runs, drawing the hot air from the center of the heating plate into the drying mechanism 4 for waste heat utilization. After fixation, the pot trough 3 tilts, and the air guide pipe 17 turns to the discharge port. Together with the tail material blowing mechanism 6, the hot air blows the tea leaves onto the mesh belt of the drying mechanism 4, where the waste heat and the heat of the machine body are used to complete the gradient drying.

[0054] The controller of this invention automatically adjusts parameters such as the hot air direction of the hot air fixation mechanism, the temperature curve of the heating plate, and the tilt angle of the pot according to the type of tea being processed. In this way, a single device can flexibly adapt to the processing technology of different types of tea, such as Longjing, Maofeng, and fragrant tea, thereby enhancing its market adaptability.

[0055] The above description is merely an embodiment of the present invention and is not intended to limit the present invention. For those skilled in the art, the present invention can have various modifications and variations. Any modifications, substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of the present invention should be included within the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine, comprising a frame, a shaping pan, a pan heating device, and a drying mechanism, characterized in that, The pot heating device includes a heating plate located at the bottom of the pot and a hot air blanching mechanism located above the pot in the front cover area. A ventilation mechanism is provided in the middle of the heating plate to extract hot air from the center of the heating plate and supply it to the drying mechanism. The hot air blanching mechanism includes adjustable air nozzles arranged in an array in the front cover area of ​​the forming pan. These adjustable air nozzles have three selectable airflow directions, each corresponding to the hot air direction required for blanching, auxiliary feeding, and thorough cleaning. It also includes a tail material blowing mechanism, which includes a row of tail material nozzles corresponding to several pot troughs. The row of tail material nozzles can move along the length of the tea-making pot body to blow the tea tail material in the pot trough toward the pot trough outlet.

2. The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The exhaust mechanism includes at least one exhaust hole in the center of the heating plate, an exhaust duct arranged on the side of the heating plate, and an exhaust fan. The exhaust fan outlet is connected to the drying mechanism.

3. The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine according to claim 2, characterized in that, The drying mechanism includes an upper drying conveyor belt and a lower drying conveyor belt. The air outlet of the exhaust fan is connected to the internal cavity of the upper drying conveyor belt and / or the lower drying conveyor belt through a pipe, so that hot air can escape from the inside to the outside through the conveyor belt.

4. The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The hot air blanching mechanism also includes a hot air system that provides hot airflow to each adjustable nozzle and a nozzle angle linkage adjustment mechanism for linkage adjustment of the airflow direction of the adjustable nozzles.

5. The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine according to claim 4, characterized in that, The hot air system includes a fan, a first pipe heater and a second pipe heater connected to the fan outlet, a primary air distribution duct connected to the first pipe heater and the second pipe heater respectively, and a secondary air distribution duct connected to the primary air distribution duct, wherein the secondary air distribution duct extends above each trough, and the adjustable air nozzles are arranged at intervals on the secondary air distribution duct.

6. The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The adjustable air nozzle includes a fixed air duct and a guide duct sleeved at the end of the fixed air duct and whose outlet air direction can be deflected. The air nozzle angle linkage adjustment mechanism is used to control the deflection angle of all guide ducts in a linkage manner.

7. The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, The tail material blowing mechanism also includes sliding bearings on the left and right sides of the strip-forming pot body, tail material distribution pipes movably supported on the sliding bearings on both sides, tail material blowers on the tail material distribution pipes, and sprocket and chain walking mechanisms arranged at both ends of the tail material distribution pipes. A row of tail material nozzles is connected to the tail material distribution pipes, and the motors of the sprocket and chain walking mechanisms are controlled by the same switch to start and stop.

8. The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine according to claim 7, characterized in that, The sliding bearing is a C-type open sliding bearing.

9. The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes an inclination adjustment mechanism for adjusting the tilt angle of the forming pan body. The inclination adjustment mechanism includes a hand crank, a reversing transmission gear set, a pair of elevators, and a transverse linkage rod located between the pair of elevators. The pair of elevators are arranged on the left and right sides of the front end of the forming pan body, and the hand crank is arranged vertically.

10. The tea leaf shaping and drying integrated machine according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a controller, which is used to coordinate the hot air direction of the hot air fixation mechanism, the temperature curve of the heating plate, and the tilt angle of the pot trough according to the input type of tea to be processed, wherein the temperature curve of the heating plate is controlled by a pressure regulating module.

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