Noodle strip cutting device

Abstract

To develop a novel method for cutting a noodle strip used in production of an instant noodle or the like.SOLUTION: A robot arm is used for cutting a noodle strip. A cutter part is attached to a hand part of the robot arm so as to be able to cut the noodle strip conveyed on a conveyor as necessary. It is preferable that the noodle strip cutting device is installed between a composite noodle machine and a continuous pressure roll noodle device in production of the noodle strip.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique that can be used in the process of producing noodle strings, and particularly to a technique for automatically cutting the noodle strips in the event of a problem with instant noodles, which is useful for preventing waste and discarding in subsequent steps such as the production of noodle strings. [Background technology]

[0002] The manufacturing process for instant noodles and raw noodles involves the steps of mixing the ingredients, compounding, rolling, and cutting out the noodle strands. First, wheat flour and other ingredients are mixed with water (kneading process), and the resulting noodle dough is called dough, which is then made into two noodle sheets (coarse noodle sheets), which are then stacked and rolled together (compounding process) to produce a noodle sheet. This noodle sheet is then rolled by several sets of continuous rolling rolls to gradually reduce its thickness and into a noodle sheet of a specified thickness (rolling process).Then, after rolling, the noodle sheet is passed through cutting blade rolls to form noodle strings (noodle string slitting process).

[0003] On the other hand, in order to obtain a noodle sheet of a specified thickness, the roll gap of each rolling machine is often finely adjusted mainly in the rolling process to obtain a noodle sheet of the desired thickness. Furthermore, when attempting to promote automation of the preparation process (each step) from kneading the above-mentioned ingredients to slitting the noodle strings, the present inventors have found as a result of various studies that it is important to confirm the uniformity of the thickness of the noodle band conveyed from the combining step to the noodle string slitting step (that the thickness does not vary from place to place on the noodle band).

[0004] They also discovered that if the thickness is a certain amount thicker or thinner than the target value, there is a risk of the production of noodle lumps with excessive or unexpected weights, and it is therefore important to remove such lumps from the production line in advance. In such a case, providing a mechanism for cutting the noodle sheet is advantageous in terms of production.

[0005] In addition to cases where the noodle thickness is poor, there are also cases where it is necessary to stop supplying the noodle sheet due to problems with the production line. In addition, when promoting automation of the production line, it is preferable to provide a mechanism that can automatically cut even when an operator is not present, so that the production line can be unmanned or the number of operators can be reduced. In particular, there is a strong demand for automation of production lines and reduction in the number of workers in the instant noodle manufacturing process. On the other hand, there is little prior art directly related to this field. For example, as an example of cutting a noodle band, the only prior art disclosed is the following prior art for producing noodle strings. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent Publication 2018-126100 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] Therefore, the inventors of the present application set out to develop a new method for cutting the noodle sheet. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] After examining various methods for cutting the noodle sheet, the inventors of the present application discovered that the above-mentioned problems could be addressed by using a robot arm to cut the noodle sheet and attaching a cutter section to the hand part of the robot arm so that the noodle sheet transported on the conveyor can be cut as necessary, which led to the completion of the present invention.

[0009] That is, the first invention of the present application is A conveyor that transports the noodle strips, a robot arm having a hand unit whose position can be changed above a predetermined position of the conveyor; A cutter unit attached to the hand unit "A noodle sheet cutting device equipped with a cutting mechanism for cutting a noodle sheet."

[0010] Furthermore, when cutting the noodle sheet, it is preferable for the device to be installed between the composite noodle machine and the continuous rolling roll noodle machine in the production of noodle sheets. That is, the second invention of the present application is "The noodle sheet cutting device as described in claim 1, which is installed between a composite noodle machine and a continuous rolling roll noodle machine in the production of noodle sheets."

[0011] Next, it is preferable that the cutting of the noodle sheet can be performed even on the noodle sheet being transported by the conveyor. That is, the third invention of the present application is "The noodle sheet cutting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the noodle sheet cutting device is capable of cutting the noodle sheet while it is being conveyed by the conveyor."

[0012] Next, the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention preferably further includes a mechanism for measuring the thickness of the noodle sheet. That is, the fourth invention of the present application is "The noodle sheet cutting device according to claim 1 or 2 further comprises a mechanism for measuring the thickness of the noodle sheet."

[0013] Next, it is preferable that the conveyor for transporting the noodle sheet is provided with an expandable auxiliary conveyor at its terminal end. That is, the fifth invention of the present application is "The noodle strip cutting device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an extendable auxiliary conveyor at the end of the conveyor."

[0014] Next, the noodle band cutting device of the present invention can be suitably used in an instant noodle production line. That is, the sixth invention of the present application is "The noodle sheet cutting device according to claim 1 or 2, which is installed in an instant noodle production line." Effect of the Invention

[0015] By using the noodle strip cutting device of the present invention, defective noodle strips can be smoothly removed from the production line when production starts up. In addition, even if a problem occurs on the production line, the subsequent process can be quickly stopped by cutting the noodle strip. Furthermore, the automation of the production line can be promoted. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a noodle strip cutting device of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of installation of the noodle strip cutting device of the present invention. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing an example of installation of the noodle strip cutting device of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a conveyor transport end portion of the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention and a continuous rolling roll noodle machine. [Diagram 5] 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the function of an auxiliary conveyor when used in combination with the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of removing unnecessary noodle strips in the noodle strip cutting device of the present invention. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a robot arm used in the noodle strip cutting device of the present invention. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a schematic perspective view showing another example of a robot arm used in the noodle strip cutting device of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of cutting a noodle sheet using the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention. [Figure 10] 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a robot arm used in the noodle strip cutting device of the present invention having only a cutting unit. FIG. [Figure 11] 1 is a schematic plan view showing an example of cutting a noodle sheet using the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 12]11 is a schematic plan view showing another example of cutting a noodle sheet using the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 13] 1 is a schematic side view illustrating the principle of an example of a method for measuring a noodle sheet thickness in the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 14] FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing an example of a control flow in the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention (also using a noodle sheet thickness measuring mechanism). [Figure 15] 1 is a schematic perspective view of the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention when a robot arm for measuring the thickness of a noodle sheet and a robot arm for cutting a noodle sheet are used in combination. FIG. [Explanation of symbols]

[0017] 1 Cutter section 3. Robot Arm 5 Conveyor device 7 Robot arm hand 9. Distance Sensor 11 Continuous rolling noodle machine 13 Composite noodle machine 15 Auxiliary Conveyor 17 Robot arm for measuring noodle thickness only 19 Robot arm for cutting noodle strips MT Noodles DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] The present invention will be described below with reference to specific embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. As an example of the configuration of the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention, in a first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in the block diagram of Figure 1, a robot arm 3 holding a cutter unit 1 is used to cut the noodle sheet on the conveyor using the cutter unit 1.

[0019] In the first embodiment of the present invention, the hand unit 7 of the robot arm 3 is configured to include not only the cutter unit 1 but also a distance sensor 9 capable of measuring the thickness of the noodle sheet MT. In addition, in the first embodiment of the present invention, thickness information of the noodle sheet MT based on the measurement results of the distance sensor 9 is also input, and after a predetermined judgment process, a control program is prepared which, if necessary, determines the portion of the noodle sheet to be cut and then instructs the cutting. In addition, when the production line is started up or when a problem occurs, information instructing the production line to cut the noodle sheet MT is input from an external device as appropriate.

[0020] Next, FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, in which a noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention is installed so that the noodle sheet can be cut when transferring from the combining process to the rolling process. In the first embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 2, the noodle sheet transport conveyor 5 is disposed so as to face upward at an angle of approximately 5 degrees from the combining process side to the rolling process side. In most cases, the number of continuous rolling noodle machines 11 installed is approximately 4 to 7 units. Next, FIG. 3 shows a plan view from the composite noodle machine to the continuous rolling roll noodle machine 11.

[0021] Next, Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing the conveying end of the conveyor and the continuous rolling roll noodle machine 11. As shown in the first embodiment, the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention has a conveyor 5 that conveys the noodle sheet MT and is equipped with a hand unit 7 of a robot arm 3 that is position-changeable above the conveyor, and the hand unit 7 has a cutter unit 1 so as to cut the noodle sheet.

[0022] * Noodle strip cutting device The noodle band cutting device of the present invention relates to a device that can be used in production lines for instant noodles, raw noodles, steamed noodles, etc. The manufacturing process for noodles involves the steps of mixing the ingredients → compounding → rolling → cutting out the noodle strings. First, wheat flour and other ingredients are mixed with water (kneading process), and the resulting noodle dough is called dough, which is then made into two noodle sheets (coarse noodle sheets), which are then stacked and rolled together (compounding process) to produce a noodle sheet.

[0023] This noodle sheet is then rolled by several sets of continuous rolling rolls to gradually reduce the thickness and into a noodle sheet of a specified thickness (rolling process). After rolling, the noodle sheet is passed through cutting blade rolls to form noodle strings (noodle string cutting process). The noodle string cutting device of the present invention is a device that cuts the noodle string in a noodle band state, and can be used appropriately as long as the noodle band is in a state where it is cut. However, it is particularly preferable to use the device during the transition from the combining process to the rolling process.

[0024] * Conveyor for transporting noodle sheets The conveyor 5 for conveying the noodle sheet in the present invention refers to a conveyor that conveys the above-mentioned noodle sheet MT. Various types of conveyor can be used, such as a conveyor having a pulley and a belt, or a conveyor having a sprocket and a chain.

[0025] In the first embodiment of the present invention, an auxiliary conveyor 15 is further provided at the end of the conveyor. The auxiliary conveyor 15 extends auxiliary when the noodle sheet MT is transferred to the continuous rolling roll noodle machine 11, and serves to act as a bridge to assist the noodle sheet MT in moving to the continuous rolling roll noodle machine 11. In this way, the auxiliary conveyor 15 can be extended or contracted as needed. Incidentally, the auxiliary conveyor 15 can be installed as required, and it goes without saying that a type without the auxiliary conveyor is also possible.

[0026] This auxiliary conveyor is configured so that, when a noodle sheet of the appropriate thickness is transported, it automatically extends when the noodle sheet reaches the end of conveyor 5, as shown in Figure 5. With regard to this control, when a noodle sheet is transported normally, the auxiliary conveyor extends 15 to transfer the noodle sheet to the continuous rolling roll noodle machine, but for defective noodle sheets (portions to be discarded after cutting), the auxiliary conveyor does not extend, allowing the cut defective noodle sheet portion to fall downward and be discarded, as shown in Figure 6. Furthermore, as another method, in order to quickly transport and remove defective noodle sheets to be removed, it is also possible to extend only a portion of the auxiliary conveyor 15 and increase the transport speed of the auxiliary conveyor, thereby quickly dropping the defective noodle sheets downward without supplying the noodle sheets to the rolling rolls.

[0027] Robot arm The robot arm 3 in the present invention corresponds to an industrial robot used in a factory, and for example, a six-axis type as shown in the first embodiment of the present application in FIG. 7 is exemplified. Furthermore, in the present invention, it is of course possible to use various types other than the six-axis articulated type as shown in Figures 1 and 7. For example, in addition to the vertical articulated robot as shown in Figure 1, a horizontal articulated robot (four axes) may also be used. Furthermore, a type in which rectilinear joints in a rectangular coordinate system as shown in FIG. 8 intersect to allow the cutting section to move in three dimensions is also possible, and the robot arm referred to in the present invention includes various such types.

[0028] Furthermore, the robot arm of the present invention has a hand unit that is capable of changing its position above a predetermined position of the conveyor. Here, the predetermined position of the conveyor means a predetermined position to which the noodle sheet is transported on the conveyor from the combining process to the rolling process in the first embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 1. In addition, since the robot arm is configured so that the position can be changed, the noodle sheet on the conveyor can be cut by a cutter unit attached to the hand unit.

[0029] - Cutter part attached to the hand part of the robot arm In the present invention, a cutter unit 1 is attached to a hand unit 7 of a robot arm 3. In the first embodiment of the present invention, the cutter unit 1 has a rotary blade, and is configured to be able to press the noodle sheet MT onto the surface of a conveyor and cut it, as shown in Fig. 9. The cutter section 1 is not limited to the first embodiment of the present invention, and various other types are also possible. In other words, it includes various blade sections as long as it is capable of cutting the noodle sheet on the conveyor.

[0030] Furthermore, it is preferable that the noodle sheet MT be cut from above while it is being transported on the conveyor, which allows the noodle sheet to be cut without stopping the production line, and also allows for quick removal of the noodle strings after cutting, for example.

[0031] 1 and 7, a type is shown that is equipped with a sensor unit that measures the thickness of the noodle sheet in addition to the cutter unit. By installing both the distance sensor and the cutter unit in this way, there is an advantage that the number of robot arms used can be consolidated into one. However, in the present invention, it goes without saying that a type as shown in FIG. 10 which does not include a sensor portion may also be used.

[0032] The need to cut the noodle strip (method of cutting the noodle strip) The noodle strip cutting device of the present invention can be used in a production line according to various conditions. First, there are cases when production starts up or when there is a production problem. When production starts up, the thickness of the leading end of the noodle sheet often falls outside the specified thickness range (upper or lower limit). For this reason, it may become necessary to remove the leading end region with an unstable noodle sheet thickness from the production line.

[0033] In such cases, the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention can be used. When a portion having a thickness exceeding the upper or lower limit of the noodle sheet thickness occurs during start-up of the production line, that portion can be cut and removed. The method for cutting the noodle strip MT is not particularly limited, and various methods can be used. For example, it is possible to cut in a straight line or polygonal shape, or it is also possible to cut in a curved shape.

[0034] It is also possible to configure the cut noodle strip so that if the thickness of the cut noodle strip exceeds the upper or lower limit, that portion is cut, or a method is available in which a wide area is cut including that portion, or a method is available in which the portion exceeding the upper or lower limit is cut while remaining. For example, an example of a method for cutting the leading end of the noodle sheet is shown in Fig. 11. As shown in Fig. 11(A), when a defective noodle sheet occurs at the leading end of the noodle sheet MT at the start of the production line, there are various possible methods for removing this.

[0035] Specifically, for defects such as uneven thickness at the leading edge of the noodle sheet, a robot arm is used to first cut off that area, and then the leading edge of the normal noodle sheet can be temporarily held down by the robot arm to stop it from being transported on the conveyor. This makes it possible to move only the defective noodle sheet at the top first, leaving a gap between it and the normal noodle sheets, so that only the defective noodle sheets fall below the end of the conveyor.

[0036] As another method, in order to remove the defective noodle sheets as described above, the auxiliary conveyor is extended only partially, and the conveying speed of the auxiliary conveyor is increased, thereby quickly conveying the defective noodle sheets and widening the gap between them and the leading edge of the normal noodle sheets, allowing them to fall downward. Furthermore, it is of course possible to combine the temporary pressing of the noodle sheet by the robot arm and the transportation by the auxiliary conveyor.

[0037] As another method, the conveyor can be stopped at the point where the defective noodle sheet at the front falls first, allowing the defective noodle sheet to fall downward first, and then conveyance can be restarted. Then, after the defective noodle sheet is removed, a normal noodle sheet can be transported so as to be supplied to the rolling noodle machine, as shown in FIG. 11(B). Thus, various methods are possible.

[0038] Next, Fig. 12 illustrates an example of a method for cutting noodle strings during production. If a problem occurs somewhere downstream in the production line, it may be necessary to stop the production line in the middle of producing noodle strings from the noodle sheet on the upstream side. In such cases, there is a method in which the transport of the noodle sheet is stopped after the noodle sheet is cut between the composite noodle machine and the continuous rolling roll noodle machine, as shown in Figures 12(A) and (B). In this case, the noodle sheet on the downstream side is transported as the rolling process by the continuous rolling rolls progresses, so it can be collected and discarded or reused.

[0039] It is also preferable to use a noodle thickness measuring mechanism together with the device of the present invention. It is preferable to use the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention in combination with an automatic noodle sheet thickness measuring mechanism. For example, in the first embodiment of the present application shown in Fig. 1, an example is shown in which one robot hand unit is equipped with both an automatic noodle sheet thickness measurement mechanism and a cutting unit. The automatic thickness measurement mechanism can utilize equipment such as a distance sensor.

[0040] Specifically, when the production line is started up, the noodle sheet thickness of the conveyed noodle sheet is first continuously measured by the noodle sheet thickness measuring mechanism, and the change over time is monitored. Depending on the results of the monitoring, if any part of the noodle sheet thickness is uneven or exceeds the upper or lower limit of the noodle sheet thickness, the cutting unit 1 can appropriately remove that part.

[0041] Various types can be selected as the distance sensor 9. In particular, it is preferable to use a laser distance sensor, which is an optical type. As the laser distance sensor, there are types such as laser reflection, laser interference, and laser phase difference, and in particular, it is preferable to use a laser reflection sensor. Furthermore, it is preferable to use a laser distance sensor (laser displacement sensor) with a built-in camera. By incorporating a camera, it is preferable to have a correction function that allows the sensor to measure height even if it is tilted relative to the target noodle sheet. Also, it is preferable to have a type in which the camera recognizes the target object by an image, and the laser measures the height and step of multiple specified points within the image range.

[0042] In the first embodiment, a distance sensor is used. When measuring the noodle sheet thickness using the distance sensor, it is preferable to use a method in which the noodle sheet thickness is determined as the distance between the conveyor surface (A) and the noodle sheet surface (B) as shown in FIG. 13. In this case, it is preferable to measure the height (A) in advance by transporting the noodle sheet on the conveyor without the noodle sheet.

[0043] FIG. 14 shows an example of a control flow in the noodle sheet cutting device (also using a noodle sheet thickness measuring mechanism) according to the first embodiment of the present application. Next, as another configuration with a noodle sheet thickness measurement mechanism, for example, as shown in FIG. 15, it is also possible to place a robot arm 17 for measuring the noodle sheet thickness on the upstream side of the conveyance, and a robot arm 19 for cutting the noodle sheet on the downstream side.

[0044] Furthermore, when both a noodle sheet thickness measurement mechanism and a noodle sheet cutting mechanism are attached to both sides of a single robot arm as shown in Figures 1 and 7, it is difficult to measure the noodle sheet thickness and cut the noodle sheet simultaneously. However, for example, when repeatedly measuring the noodle sheet thickness, if the noodle thickness is poor and cutting is given priority, it is possible to control the system so that the noodle thickness measurement is temporarily interrupted and priority is given to the cutting mechanism.

[0045] Furthermore, when the noodle thickness is repeatedly measured, if there is sufficient time between measurements, it is also possible to operate the cutting mechanism during that interval. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the decision as to whether or not to cut the noodle band can be made as appropriate, such as cutting only when the noodle thickness continues to exceed the upper or lower limit, rather than cutting in all cases when the noodle thickness temporarily exceeds the upper or lower limit.

[0046] Regarding automation of production lines By utilizing the noodle strip cutting device of the present invention, it is possible to promote automation of the production line. That is, in the conventional process of mixing ingredients → making noodle sheets → noodle strings, the noodle sheets themselves are flexible and easily torn, making them difficult to handle mechanically. Therefore, when the noodle sheets needed to be removed due to defects or when it was necessary to stop sending the noodle sheets due to problems in the later process, the noodle sheets were often cut manually.

[0047] By using the noodle sheet cutting device of the present invention, the possibility of automatically cutting the noodle sheet, which has previously been performed manually, is increased, further promoting automation in production lines. In addition, by using a noodle sheet thickness measurement mechanism in combination, it becomes possible to automatically check for defective noodle sheets, such as those with uneven thickness, that occur during operation of the production line, which also makes it possible to further promote automation in the production line.

Claims

1. A conveyor for transporting the noodle strip; a robot arm having a hand unit whose position can be changed above a predetermined position of the conveyor; A cutter unit attached to the hand unit A noodle strip cutting device equipped with the above-mentioned.

2. The noodle sheet cutting device according to claim 1, wherein the noodle sheet cutting device is installed between a composite noodle machine and a continuous rolling noodle machine in producing noodle sheets.

3. The noodle sheet cutting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the noodle sheet cutting device is capable of cutting the noodle sheet while it is being conveyed on a conveyor.

4. The noodle sheet cutting device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a mechanism for measuring a noodle sheet thickness.

5. The noodle strip cutting device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an extendable auxiliary conveyor at a terminal end of the conveyor.

6. The noodle sheet cutting device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the noodle sheet cutting device is installed in a production line for instant noodles.

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