Rolled omelette making device and rolled omelette making method

Abstract

To provide a rolled omelette making device capable of suppressing inclusion of burnt pieces, and rolled omelette making method.SOLUTION: A rolled omelette making device includes a plurality of baking containers 10 to which an egg liquid is supplied, heating means 30 for heating and baking the egg liquid supplied to the baking containers 10, holding means 40 for sucking and holding a baked omelette, and control means for controlling the holding means 40 to suck and hold an omelette whose lower and upper sides have been baked in a prescribed baking container 10, moving the holding means 40 above an omelette whose lower side has been baked in another baking container 10, and then moving the holding means 40 downward and releasing the suction by the holding means 40.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing an omelette and a method for manufacturing an omelette, and more particularly to an apparatus for manufacturing an omelette and a method for manufacturing an omelette that can suppress the mixing of burnt portions.

Background Art

[0002] An omelette is a side dish made by baking an egg liquid into a rectangular parallelepiped shape or the like, and is a staple of home cooking. And an omelette with a certain thickness is manufactured by stacking thinly baked omelettes.

[0003] The method of stacking these thinly baked omelettes is a common cooking method, and even when mass-producing omelettes, they are manufactured by the same method. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a rectangular egg case for spreading an egg liquid in a sheet shape, a heating device capable of heating the egg case, a spatula for scooping up the omelette spread in a sheet shape on the egg case from the upper surface of the egg case, a driving device for moving the spatula in the stacking direction of the sheet-shaped omelette on the egg case and inverting the spatula on the egg case, and a control device for controlling the driving of the driving device. After inserting the spatula between the sheet-shaped omelette and the upper surface of the egg case, the driving of the driving device is controlled by the control device so that the sheet-shaped omelette riding on the spatula is stacked on an adjacent sheet-shaped omelette by inverting the spatula. An omelette manufacturing apparatus is disclosed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] In conventional egg roll manufacturing devices, in many cases, a "reverse stacking method" is adopted, such as in Patent Document 1, where the thinly baked egg roll is inverted and stacked on another thinly baked egg roll. When the present inventor conducted a detailed examination of this "reverse stacking method", the following problems to be solved were found.

[0006] First, FIGS. 1A and 1B show an example of a conventional egg roll manufacturing device (manufacturing method) using the reverse stacking method. As shown in FIG. 1A, when the thinly baked egg roll E2a is inverted and stacked on another thinly baked egg roll E1a, the upper side (surface portion) of the egg roll E1a is not in a completely solid state but in a liquid state (or a state where liquid and solid are mixed). This is to appropriately bond (adhere) the egg roll E1a and the egg roll E2a. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 1B, when trying to stack the egg roll E2a on the egg roll E1a by the reverse stacking method, due to the impact when the two collide, the egg liquid on the surface portion of the egg roll E1a scatters, and the egg liquid may remain as an attachment F on the inner wall surface of the baking container or the like. And if this attachment F, which is the egg liquid, is left unattended, it will burn and char in the baking container and may be mixed into the final product, the egg roll, as a charred piece.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an egg roll manufacturing device and an egg roll manufacturing method capable of suppressing the mixing of charred pieces.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] The above problems can be solved by the following means. (1) A plurality of baking containers to which egg liquid is supplied, heating means for heating and baking the egg liquid supplied to the baking containers, holding means for sucking and holding the baked omelette, and a predetermined baking container. The omelette baked on the lower and upper sides is sucked and held by the holding means, and after moving the holding means above the omelette baked on the lower side in another baking container, the holding means is moved downward, and the control means for controlling to release the suction by the holding means. An omelette manufacturing apparatus comprising: (2) The egg roll manufacturing apparatus according to (1) above, wherein the control means stops the downward movement of the holding means at the timing when the lower surface of the egg roll sucked by the holding means abuts on the upper surface of the egg roll baked on the lower side in the other baking container, and controls to release the suction by the holding means. (3) A baking step of heating egg liquid to bake a plurality of omelettes, a holding step of sucking and holding the omelette baked on the lower and upper sides in the baking step, and the omelette sucked and held in the holding step. An omelette manufacturing method including a stacking step of moving above the omelette baked on the lower side, then moving downward, releasing suction, and stacking the omelettes. (4) In the stacking step, the downward movement of the omelette sucked and held in the holding step is stopped at the timing when the lower surface of the omelette sucked and held in the holding step abuts on the upper surface of the omelette baked on the lower side, and the suction is released. The omelette manufacturing method according to (3) above.

Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the omelette manufacturing apparatus and the omelette manufacturing method according to the present invention, the mixing of scorched pieces can be suppressed.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1A

Figure 1B

Figure 2

Figure 3A

Figure 3B

Figure 3C

Figure 3D

Figure 3E

Figure 3F

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out an omelette manufacturing apparatus and an omelette manufacturing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that up, down, left, right, front, and back in this specification are the directions as shown in the drawings. In addition, the drawings referred to in the following description schematically show the configuration of the present embodiment, and there are cases where the scale, interval, positional relationship, etc. of each member are exaggerated or a part of the member is omitted.

[0012] [Omelette Manufacturing Apparatus] The omelette manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment is an apparatus for manufacturing an omelette having a predetermined thickness by overlapping thin omelettes E1 and E2 as shown in FIG. 2. And, as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3F, the omelette manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment includes a baking container 10, an egg liquid supply means 20, a heating means 30, and a holding means 40.

[0013] (Baked container) The baked container 10 is a container into which the egg liquid is supplied. As shown in FIG. 2, the upper surface is open, and the inner space has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape. And, as shown in FIG. 3B, the baked container 10 is composed of a first baked container 11 that holds the baked tamagoyaki E1 with the lower side baked inside, and a second baked container 12 that holds the baked tamagoyaki E2 with the lower side and the upper side baked inside.

[0014] (Egg liquid supply means) The egg liquid supply means 20 is means for supplying egg liquid to the baked container 10. And, as shown in FIG. 3A, at the timing when the baked container 10 is positioned below the egg liquid supply means 20, the egg liquid supply means 20 supplies a predetermined amount of egg liquid e1, e2 to the first baked container 11 and the second baked container 12.

[0015] (Heating means) The heating means 30 is means for heating and baking the egg liquid supplied to the baked container 10. And, as shown in FIG. 3B, the heating means 30 is composed of lower heating means 31, 32 that heat from below the baked container 10, and upper heating means 33 that heat from above the baked container 10. Specifically, the lower heating means 31 heats the egg liquid e1 supplied to the first baked container 11, so that the baked tamagoyaki E1 has the lower side baked, but the upper side is in a liquid state (or a state where liquid and solid are mixed). On the other hand, the lower heating means 32 and the upper heating means 33 heat the egg liquid e2 supplied to the second baked container 12, so that the baked tamagoyaki E2 has both the lower side and the upper side baked. Note that the heating means 30 is not particularly limited as long as it is configured to apply heat to the egg liquid to be heated, and examples include electric heating, gas heating, steam heating, and the like.

[0016] (Holding means) The holding means 40 is a means for sucking and holding the upper surface of the baked omelette E2. Specifically, the holding means 40 generates a negative pressure inside the suction pad 41 to adsorb the target omelette E2. And as shown in FIGS. 3C to 3F, the holding means 40 can hold the omelette E2 without deforming its shape, and since it transfers the omelette E2 onto the upper surface of the omelette E1, the impact during the collision between the omelettes E1 and E2 can be reduced (almost to zero). Therefore, according to the holding means 40, when the omelettes E1 and E2 are stacked, they can be neatly maintained without deforming their shapes. Furthermore, according to the holding means 40, by suppressing the impact during the collision between the omelettes E1 and E2, it is possible to prevent a situation where the egg liquid on the surface portion of the omelette E1 scatters and finally burnt pieces are mixed into the product.

[0017] (Control means) The control means (not shown) is a means for controlling the supply of the egg liquid from the egg liquid supply means 20, the transfer of the baking container 10, the transfer of the holding means 40, etc. The control method by this control means will be described in detail in the following method for manufacturing an omelette. Note that the control means is realized by the execution processing of a program by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a dedicated circuit or the like.

[0018] [Omelette, Egg Liquid] Next, the "omelette" manufactured by the omelette manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment and the "egg liquid" as a raw material will be described. The omelette is manufactured by stacking thin omelettes. Although the number of stacked omelettes is not particularly limited, for example, it is 3 to 5. Also, the rectangular parallelepiped size of the omelette is not particularly limited, and depending on the baking container used (shown in the following modification example), the shape is not particularly limited either. The egg liquid as a raw material may be composed only of liquid eggs (whole eggs, egg whites, egg yolks, each alone or a mixture of these in any ratio), but may appropriately contain seasonings, flavorings, coloring agents, preservatives, auxiliary materials, water, etc. Incidentally, the seasonings, spices, coloring agents, preservatives, and auxiliary materials are not particularly limited as long as they are those used in general Japanese omelets.

[0019] [Method for manufacturing Japanese omelet] The method for manufacturing a Japanese omelet according to this embodiment includes an egg liquid supply step, a baking step, a holding step, and a stacking step.

[0020] (Egg liquid supply step) The egg liquid supply step is a step of supplying egg liquid to a baking container. As shown in FIG. 3A, in the egg liquid supply step, at the timing when the baking container 10 is positioned below the egg liquid supply means 20, the egg liquid supply means 20 supplies a predetermined amount of egg liquid e1, e2 to the first baking container 11 and the second baking container 12. Incidentally, after the egg liquid supply step, the baking containers 11, 12 are transferred in the left - right direction from the installation location of the egg liquid supply means 20 to the installation location of the heating means 31, 32, 33.

[0021] (Baking step) The baking step is a step of heating and baking the egg liquid supplied to the baking container. As shown in FIG. 3B, in the baking step, the egg liquid e1 supplied to the first baking container 11 is heated by the lower heating means 31 and baked. The baked Japanese omelet E1 has its lower side baked, but its upper side is in a liquid state (or a state where liquid and solid are mixed). Also, in the baking step, the egg liquid e2 supplied to the second baking container 12 is heated by the lower heating means 32 and the upper heating means 33, and the baked Japanese omelet E2 is in a state where not only the lower side but also the upper side is baked. Incidentally, after the baking step, the baking containers 11, 12 are transferred in the left - right direction from the installation location of the heating means 31, 32, 33 to the installation location of the holding means 40.

[0022] (Holding step) The holding step is a step of sucking and holding the Japanese omelet baked on both the lower side and the upper side. As shown in FIG. 3C, in the holding step, when the second baking container 12 (tamagoyaki E2) is positioned below the holding means 40, the holding means 40 moves downward. Then, suction is performed while the holding means 40 is in contact with the upper surface of the tamagoyaki E2, and the inside of the suction pad 41 becomes a negative pressure, so that the holding means 40 holds the tamagoyaki E2.

[0023] (Lamination step) The lamination step is a step of moving the tamagoyaki sucked and held in the holding step above the tamagoyaki whose lower surface has been baked, and then releasing the suction to laminate the tamagoyakis. As shown in FIG. 3D, in the lamination step, first, the holding means 40 moves upward while holding the tamagoyaki E2. Next, as shown in FIG. 3E, the holding means 40 moves leftward while holding the tamagoyaki E2 until it is positioned above the first baking container 11 (tamagoyaki E1). Next, as shown in FIG. 3F, the holding means 40 moves downward until the lower surface of the tamagoyaki E2 comes into contact with the upper surface of the tamagoyaki E1. Then, at the timing shown in FIG. 3F, that is, when the lower surface of the tamagoyaki E2 comes into contact with the upper surface of the tamagoyaki E1, the downward movement of the holding means 40 stops and the suction is released to separate the tamagoyaki E2 from the holding means 40. Then, by the lamination step, a tamagoyaki E1+E2 (lower side: tamagoyaki E1, upper side: tamagoyaki E2) in which the tamagoyaki E1 and the tamagoyaki E2 are bonded is manufactured.

[0024] [Other means and steps] After the stacking process, when further stacking omelets, first, egg liquid is supplied to the emptied second baking container 12 or another baking container (not shown), and only the lower side of this egg liquid is heated to prepare an omelet baked only on the lower side (referred to as omelet E3; an omelet in the baked state like E1 in Fig. 3B). Next, the upper surface of the omelet E1+E2 bound inside the first baking container 11 is adsorbed and held by the holding means 40, and this omelet E1+E2 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the omelet E3 baked only on the lower side, and the downward movement of the holding means 40 is stopped and the adsorption is released. As a result, an omelet E1+E2+E3 (lower side: omelet E3, middle: omelet E1, upper side: omelet E2) is produced. By repeating this operation, multi-layer omelets can be manufactured.

[0025] As described above, the omelet that becomes the final product is manufactured by stacking thin omelets multiple times. For example, in the case of a four-layer omelet manufactured by three stacking operations, in at least one stacking operation, if the aspect of the present invention (a method of stacking the omelet sucked and held by the holding means on the omelet whose upper side is not baked, rather than the reverse stacking method) is applied, a certain desired effect (an effect of suppressing the mixing of burnt pieces) can be exerted. However, from the perspective of more strongly exerting the desired effect, it is preferable that the number of times the aspect of the present invention is applied is larger among the multiple stacking operations, and it is more preferable to apply it to all stacking operations.

[0026] Note that the omelet manufacturing apparatus and the omelet manufacturing method according to the present embodiment may appropriately include means and processes conventionally used in production lines. For example, as other means and processes, there are a determination means and a determination process for determining shape defects of the omelet, an alarm means and an alarm process that emit sound or light when defective products are confirmed, and an exclusion means and an exclusion process for excluding the defective products from the production line.

[0027] [Effects of the Omelet Manufacturing Apparatus and the Omelet Manufacturing Method According to the Present Embodiment] Next, the effects of the omelette manufacturing apparatus and the omelette manufacturing method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. According to the omelette manufacturing apparatus and the omelette manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3C to 3F, the omelette E2 is sucked and held by the holding means 40 and overlapped on the omelette E1, so that the impact at the time of collision between the omelettes E1 and E2 can be suppressed. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a situation in which the egg liquid generated by the conventional inversion stacking method as shown in FIG. 1B scatters and adheres as an attachment F to the inner wall surface of the baking container or the like. As a result, it is possible to reduce the possibility that the deposit F burns and chars in the baking container and the burnt pieces are mixed into the omelette which is the final product. In a production line adopting the conventional inversion stacking method, a plurality of workers were required to clean and collect the burnt pieces. However, according to the omelette manufacturing apparatus and the omelette manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, the above-described workers are not required, and a significant cost reduction of the production line can be achieved. From this viewpoint as well, it can be said that the effect of suppressing the mixing of the burnt pieces is an extremely excellent effect.

[0028] According to the omelette manufacturing apparatus and the omelette manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3C to 3F, the omelette E2 is sucked and held by the holding means 40 and overlapped on the omelette E1, so that the omelette E2 can be overlapped on the omelette E1 without deforming the shape of the omelette E2. As a result, the shape (appearance) of the finally obtained omelette can be made very beautiful.

[0029] [Modification Examples of the Omelette Manufacturing Apparatus and the Omelette Manufacturing Method According to the Present Embodiment] Next, modification examples of the omelette manufacturing apparatus and the omelette manufacturing method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings as appropriate. As shown in FIG. 2, the baking container 10 has a substantially rectangular parallelepiped internal space, but the shape of the internal space is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, cylindrical, triangular prism-shaped, or the like. When the internal space of the baking container 10 is cylindrical, the shape of the manufactured omelette will be cylindrical.

[0030] As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3F, the baking container 10 includes two, i.e., the first baking container 11 and the second baking container 12, but two or more may be used. For example, by providing one or more additional sets of the combination of the first baking container 11 and the second baking container 12 on the front side or the back side of FIG. 2, a plurality of tamagoyaki can be manufactured simultaneously. In this case, the egg liquid supply means 20, the heating means 30, and the holding means 40 are increased according to the increased number of sets of the first baking container 11 and the second baking container 12.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 3F, the holding means 40 stops the downward movement of the holding means 40 and releases the suction at the timing (position) when the lower surface of the tamagoyaki E2 contacts the upper surface of the tamagoyaki E1 in order to minimize the impact during the collision of both (the tamagoyaki E1 and E2) and to prevent the tamagoyaki E2 from shifting when it falls. If the downward movement of the holding means 40 is stopped and the suction is released with a gap between the two, the tamagoyaki E2 will shift when it falls and will not properly overlap the tamagoyaki E1. Therefore, it is preferable that this gap be as narrow as possible. However, since it is only necessary to be able to make the impact during the collision of both smaller than that of the conventional inversion stacking method, the downward movement of the holding means 40 may be stopped and the suction may be released with a predetermined interval (for example, within 5 cm, preferably within 3 cm, more preferably within 1 cm) between the lower surface of the tamagoyaki E2 and the upper surface of the tamagoyaki E1. In addition, as the tamagoyaki manufacturing apparatus and the tamagoyaki manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, a configuration for transferring the baking container 10 left and right after the egg liquid supply step and the baking step has been described. However, a configuration for transferring the egg liquid supply means 20 and the heating means 30 left and right may also be used.

[0032] Note that the present embodiment has been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to having all the configurations described. Also, it is possible to add, delete, or replace a part of the configuration of the present embodiment with other configurations. In addition, the mechanisms and configurations described above show those considered necessary for explanation, and not necessarily all mechanisms and configurations are shown in the product.

Explanation of Signs

[0033] 10, 11, 12 Baking containers 11 First baking container 12 Second baking container 20 Egg liquid supply means 30, 31, 32, 33 Heating means 31, 32 Lower heating means 33 Upper heating means 40 Holding means 41 Suction pad e1, e2 Egg liquid E1, E2 Japanese omelette (thin Japanese omelette)

Claims

1. A plurality of baking containers to which egg liquid is supplied; Heating means for heating and baking the egg liquid supplied to the baking containers; Holding means for sucking and holding the baked omelette; A manufacturing apparatus for an omelette, comprising: control means for sucking and holding an omelette baked on the lower side and the upper side in a predetermined baking container by the holding means, moving the holding means above an omelette baked on the lower side in another baking container, and then moving the holding means downward to release the suction by the holding means.

2. The manufacturing apparatus for an omelette according to claim 1, wherein the control means stops the downward movement of the holding means and controls to release the suction by the holding means at the timing when the lower surface of the omelette sucked by the holding means comes into contact with the upper surface of the omelette baked on the lower side in the another baking container.

3. A baking step of heating egg liquid to bake a plurality of omelettes; A holding step of sucking and holding an omelette baked on the lower side and the upper side in the baking step; An overlapping step of moving the omelette sucked and held in the holding step above an omelette baked on the lower side, then moving it downward, releasing the suction, and overlapping the omelettes. A manufacturing method for an omelette, including the above steps.

4. The manufacturing method for an omelette according to claim 3, wherein in the overlapping step, the downward movement of the omelette sucked and held in the holding step is stopped and the suction is released at the timing when the lower surface of the omelette sucked and held in the holding step comes into contact with the upper surface of the omelette baked on the lower side.

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