Food processing device and food processing method

Abstract

SOLUTION: There is provided a food processing device comprising: a batch-type food processing chamber for blanching a water-containing food with steam and subsequently drying the food with hot air; a food holder having a holding surface of an inverted truncated cone-shape with an inner diameter decreasing in the downward gravity direction to hold the water-containing food on the holding surface in the food processing chamber, and including a plurality of holes allowing steam and hot air to pass therethrough; an agitator agitating the water-containing food held by the food holder; a steam feeder feeding steam into the food processing chamber with the food holder being in a state of holding the water-containing food; and a hot air feeder feeding hot air into the food processing chamber with the food holder being in a state of holding the water-containing food.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a food processing apparatus and a food processing method.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes that "dry air blows up from the opening 16 around the auger 10 for discharging sawdust" (0022). Patent Document 2 describes that "the object to be processed first falls to the bottom of the container 1 and is stirred by the stirring blades 14 of the agitator 15... (especially the second and third stirring blades 14B..., 14C...), and is crushed and finely divided by the crushing blades 19... of the second chopper 16, and is further dried by a drying gas such as hot air ejected from the dispersion plate 9 through the pressure chamber 10 from the supply pipe 11." (0025). [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents] [Patent Document 1] JP-A-2008-145048 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent No. 3084026

Summary of the Invention

[0003] In a first aspect of the present invention, a food processing apparatus is provided. The food processing apparatus includes a batch-type food processing chamber for blanching a water-containing food with steam and then drying it with hot air, a food holding portion having an inverted frustum-shaped holding surface whose inner diameter decreases downward in the direction of gravity, and holding the water-containing food on the holding surface in the food processing chamber, the holding surface including a plurality of holes that allow the passage of steam and hot air, a stirring portion for stirring the water-containing food held by the food holding portion, a steam supply portion for supplying steam into the food processing chamber while the food holding portion holds the water-containing food, and a hot air supply portion for supplying hot air into the food processing chamber while the food holding portion holds the water-containing food.

[0004] After supplying steam to the steam supply unit, the above food processing apparatus may further include a control unit that stops the supply of steam and then supplies hot air to the hot air supply unit while stirring the water-containing food with the stirring unit.

[0005] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the stirring unit may include a central body that rotates around a rotation axis and a plurality of stirring blades that extend radially from the central body. The central body may have a frustum-shaped outer shape whose outer diameter increases toward the lower side in the direction of gravity.

[0006] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the central body may be inclined at 60 degrees or more with respect to the horizontal.

[0007] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the holding surface of the food holding unit and the central body of the stirring unit may form a V-shaped groove between each other.

[0008] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the plurality of stirring blades may stir the water-containing food deposited in the V-shaped groove as the central body rotates.

[0009] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the food holding unit may have an openable and closable discharge port at the lower end for discharging the water-containing food dried by hot air. The plurality of stirring blades may include the lowermost stirring blade that can discharge the water-containing food dried by hot air deposited in the V-shaped groove from the discharge port as the central body rotates.

[0010] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the food holding unit may be arranged such that hot air is directly blown onto the lower end side of the back surface of the holding surface by the hot air supply unit.

[0011] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the plurality of stirring blades are arranged such that their positions are shifted from each other in the rotation axis direction and the rotation direction of the central body, and they may not overlap each other in the rotation axis direction.

[0012] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the plurality of stirring blades may be adjustable with respect to the central body in at least either the position in the rotational axis direction of the central body or the position in the rotational direction.

[0013] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the stirring unit may have a first structure body and a second structure body that are mutually replaceable with respect to the food processing chamber. The second structure body is for water-containing foods with a relatively high bulk density, and may be capable of stirring a lower portion of the water-containing foods held in the food holding unit as compared with the first structure body.

[0014] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the food holding unit may have a punching plate in which the plurality of holes are formed over the entire surface.

[0015] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the steam supply unit may supply saturated steam or superheated steam at 90°C or higher and 150°C or lower into the food processing chamber.

[0016] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the steam supply unit may supply saturated steam or superheated steam at 110°C or higher and 130°C or lower into the food processing chamber.

[0017] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the hot air supply unit may supply hot air at 130°C or lower into the food processing chamber.

[0018] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the hot air supply unit may supply hot air at 110°C or higher and 130°C or lower into the food processing chamber.

[0019] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the control unit may hot air dry the water-containing foods in the food processing chamber with a thermal efficiency of 50% or higher.

[0020] Any of the above food processing apparatuses may further include an intake pipe for the hot air supply unit to take in outside air. Any of the above food processing apparatuses may further include an exhaust pipe for discharging at least hot air from the food processing chamber. Any of the above food processing apparatuses may further include an openable and closable adjustment valve disposed between the intake pipe and the exhaust pipe. In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the control unit may adjust the amount of hot air discharged from the food processing chamber and circulated to the hot air supply unit by adjusting the opening amount of the adjustment valve.

[0021] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the hot air supply unit and the steam supply unit may have a flow path connected to the food processing chamber below the food holding unit so that steam or hot air is supplied from below to above through the plurality of holes of the food holding unit to the water-containing food held by the food holding unit.

[0022] In any of the above food processing apparatuses, the steam supply unit may eject steam into the food processing chamber from a plurality of ejection ports of an annular pipe along the inner wall of the food processing chamber disposed below the food holding unit. The plurality of ejection ports may be arranged so that steam is not directly blown onto the food holding unit.

[0023] In a second aspect of the present invention, a food processing method is provided. The food processing method includes holding the water-containing food on a holding surface in a batch-type food processing chamber for blanching the water-containing food with steam and then drying it with hot air, the holding surface being in the shape of an inverted frustum of a cone with a smaller inner diameter toward the lower side in the gravitational direction and including a plurality of holes allowing the passage of steam and hot air; supplying steam into the food processing chamber while holding the water-containing food on the holding surface; and after supplying steam into the food processing chamber, supplying hot air into the food processing chamber while stirring the water-containing food while holding the water-containing food on the holding surface.

[0024] Note that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all the features of the present invention. Also, sub-combinations of these feature groups can also be inventions.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0025]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0026] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Also, not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solution means of the invention.

[0027] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a food processing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view of the food processing apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 as viewed from the opposite side. In FIG. 1, the right direction facing the paper surface is defined as the positive X-axis direction, the depth direction facing the paper surface is defined as the positive Y-axis direction, and the upward direction facing the paper surface is defined as the positive Z-axis direction. In each of the figures after FIG. 2, the XYZ axes corresponding to the XYZ axes in FIG. 1 are shown, and duplicate explanations are omitted. In the following description, the positive Z-axis side may be simply referred to as up, upper side, upper direction, or upper side in the gravity direction, and the negative Z-axis side may be simply referred to as down, lower side, lower direction, or lower side in the gravity direction.

[0028] The food processing apparatus 10 mainly has a composite function of blanching water-containing foods such as vegetables, fruits, fish, and meat with steam and then continuously drying them with hot air. In the following description, blanching a water-containing food with steam may be referred to as cooking or steaming the water-containing food. Note that blanching a water-containing food may refer to subjecting the water-containing food to heat treatment, sterilization, and enzyme inactivation treatment by boiling or steaming the water-containing food for a short time, for example, from several tens of minutes to several minutes.

[0029] The water-containing food to be processed by the food processing apparatus 10 is, as an example, a solid or semi-solid food having a weight moisture content of around 90%. The water-containing food input into the food processing apparatus 10 is, as an example, subjected to preliminary treatment, washing / sterilization treatment, and cutting treatment. The preliminary treatment may include, for example, manually trimming the top and bottom parts of root vegetables, the roots of leafy vegetables, chips, cracks, etc. The washing / sterilization treatment may include, for example, sterilizing with a chemical such as hypochlorous acid water or electrolyzed water and washing off the chemical. The cutting treatment may include, for example, dice-cutting root vegetables to about several millimeters to several tens of millimeters, cutting leafy vegetables to a length of, for example, about 20 millimeters or less, etc.

[0030] The food processing device 10 has a batch operation mode, and as an example, it may be capable of processing about 25 kg of leafy vegetables or about 50 kg of root vegetables per batch. The food processing device 10 may have, for example, the processing ability to blanch 50 kg of vegetables with a weight moisture content of 90% and dry them to a weight moisture content of 50% in one hour.

[0031] The food processing device 10 may be used, for example, as a pretreatment device for the "dry pulverizer" disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 6544672. The food processing device 10 may be used, for example, as a device for producing dried chips of water-containing food. In this case, the food processing device 10 may be capable of producing, for example, dried vegetable chips with a weight moisture content of 10% or less.

[0032] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the food processing device 10 according to this embodiment includes a main body 100, a steam supply unit 140, a hot air supply unit 150, an intake pipe 161, an exhaust pipe 163, adjustment valves 170-1, 170-2, and a control unit 180.

[0033] The main body 100 may be placed on a cart 51 with casters and a frame and be transportable. The main body 100 may be removably fixed on the cart 51. The hot air supply unit 150, the intake pipe 161, the exhaust pipe 163, the adjustment valves 170, and the control unit 180 may be placed on a cart 52 with casters and a frame and be transportable. These hot air supply unit 150, etc. may be removably fixed on the cart 52.

[0034] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the main body 100 has a food processing chamber 110. The main body 100 further has, as a configuration not shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a food holding unit 120 and a stirring unit 130 shown in FIGS. 3 and subsequent figures inside the food processing chamber 110. In other words, the food processing device 10 further includes a food holding unit 120 and a stirring unit 130. Details of the food holding unit 120 and the stirring unit 130 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3 and subsequent figures.

[0035] The food processing chamber 110 is a processing chamber having an internal space, and is a batch-type processing chamber for blanching a water-containing food with steam and then drying it with hot air. The food processing chamber 110 may be a processing chamber partially cylindrical as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

[0036] The food processing chamber 110 according to the present embodiment has an upper chamber 111 and a lower chamber 116. The upper chamber 111 and the lower chamber 116 are each a cylindrical housing with one side open to the external space, and the open sides of the upper chamber 111 and the lower chamber 116 face each other and are connected so that the upper chamber 111 is located on the positive Z-axis side of the lower chamber 116, forming the above-described internal space. More specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the upper chamber 111 and the lower chamber 116 are connected to each other by being fastened with bolts through corresponding through holes formed in flanges provided on their respective open sides.

[0037] On the upper side of the upper chamber 111, that is, the surface on the opposite side to the lower chamber 116 side, a raw material inlet 112 for the user to input the water-containing food into the food processing chamber 110 is provided. In each figure, the input direction of the water-containing food is indicated by a white arrow as appropriate.

[0038] An openable and rotatable door 113 may be provided on the side surface of the upper chamber 111 for the user to clean or maintain the food holding part 120, the stirring part 130, etc. inside the food processing chamber 110. The rotary door 113 may be rotatably held by a hinged rod 114 fixed at the upper and lower ends on the side surface of the food processing chamber 110. The rotary door 113 may be maintained in a closed state by engaging with a plurality of fasteners 115 provided on the side surface of the food processing chamber 110.

[0039] A maintenance window 118 for the user to clean or maintain the inside of the lower chamber 116 may be provided on the side surface of the lower chamber 116. The maintenance window 118 may be opened and closed by removing the lid by the user.

[0040] The steam supply unit 140 supplies steam into the food processing chamber 110. The steam supply unit 140 according to the present embodiment includes a steam flow path 143 connected to the food processing chamber 110, and a boiler 141 that generates steam and supplies the steam into the food processing chamber 110 via the steam flow path 143 in accordance with an instruction signal received from the control unit 180. The boiler 141 is connected to the control unit 180 by electrical wiring (not shown).

[0041] The steam supply unit 140 may supply saturated steam or superheated steam at 90°C or higher and 150°C or lower into the food processing chamber 110. The steam supply unit 140 may also supply saturated steam or superheated steam at 110°C or higher and 130°C or lower into the food processing chamber 110. Note that heat-resistant bacteria such as soil bacteria can also be sterilized by saturated steam or superheated steam at 120°C or higher. Note that the steam supply unit 140 may heat the saturated steam supplied from the boiler 141 to 100°C to 150°C in the steam flow path 143 to obtain superheated steam, and may have, for example, a super heater.

[0042] In each figure, for the purpose of simply clarifying the description, the steam supply unit 140 is shown in a simplified manner, and the approximate flow direction of the steam is indicated by a white arrow with the character "steam" appropriately attached. For the same purpose, in some of the following figures, the hot air supply unit 150 may be shown in a simplified manner, or the approximate flow direction of the outside air or hot air may be indicated by a black arrow with the characters "outside air" or "hot air" appropriately attached. For the same purpose, the reference numbers of the components of the food processing apparatus 10 that have been described may be omitted, or the illustration of some components of the food processing apparatus 10 may be omitted. In the following figures, duplicate descriptions will be omitted.

[0043] The hot air supply unit 150 supplies hot air into the food processing chamber 110. The hot air supply unit 150 according to the present embodiment includes a hot air flow path 153 connected to the food processing chamber 110, a burner unit 151 that sucks in and heats outside air in accordance with an instruction signal received from the control unit 180, and a hot air generator 152. The hot air supply unit 150 further includes a fan 154 that pushes the hot air heated by the burner unit 151 and the hot air generator 152 into the food processing chamber 110 via the hot air flow path 153 in accordance with an instruction signal received from the control unit 180. Note that the flow path between the burner unit 151, the hot air generator 152, and the fan 154 may also be referred to as the hot air flow path 153. The burner unit 151, the hot air generator 152, and the fan 154 are connected to the control unit 180 by electrical wiring (not shown).

[0044] As an example, the burner unit 151 may use a relatively inexpensive LPG (liquefied petroleum gas), LNG (liquefied natural gas), or the like as a heat source. Instead of this, the burner unit 151 may use a heat transfer heater as a heat source. Note that the humidity of the hot air heated by the burner unit 151 and the hot air generator 152 may be adjusted so as to be equal to or lower than a predetermined threshold value.

[0045] The hot air supply unit 150 may supply hot air of 130°C or lower into the food processing chamber 110. The hot air supply unit 150 may also supply hot air of 110°C or higher and 130°C or lower into the food processing chamber 110. Note that when a water-containing food is dried with hot air of 130°C or higher, discoloration of the water-containing food, for example, browning due to the Maillard reaction, may occur.

[0046] The intake pipe 161 is a pipe for the hot air supply unit 150 to take in outside air. One end of the intake pipe 161 is open to the external space, and the other end is connected to the hot air generator 152 of the hot air supply unit 150. Inside the intake pipe 161, an air filter for filtering dust and the like contained in the outside air may be provided as an example.

[0047] The exhaust pipe 163 is a pipeline for discharging hot air and steam from the food processing chamber 110. One end of the exhaust pipe 163 is open to the external space, and the other end is connected to the upper chamber 111 of the food processing chamber 110.

[0048] The regulating valve 170-1 is an on-off shutter valve disposed between the intake pipe 161 and the exhaust pipe 163. The regulating valve 170-2 is an on-off shutter valve disposed on the intake pipe 161. The regulating valves 170-1 and 170-2 adjust the opening amount according to the instruction signal received from the control unit 180. Note that the regulating valves 170-1 and 170-2 may, instead of or in addition to this, be manually adjustable by the user for the opening amount.

[0049] The control unit 180 is, for example, as shown in FIG. 1, a controller incorporated in the control panel, and controls each component of the food processing apparatus 10 in order according to a predetermined sequence program stored in the memory of the control panel. Instead of controlling each component of the food processing apparatus 10 in order according to the sequence program, the control unit 180 may perform feedback control on each component of the food processing apparatus 10. The control unit 180 may start controlling each component of the food processing apparatus 10 in response to the power of the control panel being switched from off to on by the user.

[0050] The control unit 180 is wired-connected to the stirring unit 130, the steam supply unit 140, the hot air supply unit 150, and the regulating valve 170 by electrical wiring (not shown) and communicates with each of these components. The control unit 180 may be wirelessly connected to at least any one of these components.

[0051] The control unit 180 transmits an instruction signal to the stirring unit 130 or the like, causes the steam supply unit 140 to supply steam, and after stopping the supply of steam, while causing the stirring unit 130 to stir the water-containing food, the hot air supply unit 150 is caused to supply hot air. As an example, the control unit 180 may hot air dry the water-containing food in the food processing chamber 110 with a thermal efficiency of 50% or more. For example, the control unit 180 supplies hot air at 120 to 130 °C to dry the water-containing food in the food processing chamber 110, and as a result of reducing the weight moisture content of the water-containing food to a predetermined value, controls each component of the food processing apparatus 10 so that the temperature of the hot air discharged from the food processing chamber 110 becomes 50 to 60 °C. For example, the control unit 180 may adjust the amount of hot air discharged from the food processing chamber 110 and circulated to the hot air supply unit 150 by adjusting the opening amount of the regulating valve 170-1, and thereby achieve a thermal efficiency of 50% or more. In this case, more specifically, the control unit 180 may reduce the amount of outside air taken in by the hot air supply unit 150 by setting the regulating valve 170-2 to about half open. At the same time, the control unit 180 may circulate the hot air discharged from the food processing chamber 110 to the hot air supply unit 150 as indicated by the dashed arrows in FIGS. 1 and 2 by setting the regulating valve 170-2 to about half open. Note that the control unit 180 may achieve a thermal efficiency of 50% or more without circulating the hot air, that is, without adjusting the opening amounts of the regulating valves 170-1 and 170-2. In this case, the food processing apparatus 10 may close the portion of the regulating valve 170-1 with a wall without including the regulating valves 170-1 and 170-2, that is, the hot air in the food processing apparatus 10 may pass through only one flow path once.

[0052] Note that the dimensions of the main components in the food processing apparatus 10 may be, for example, the diameter of the cylindrical food processing chamber 110 is 700 mm, the lateral width of the control panel is 900 mm, and the maximum height from the floor surface to the upper end of the intake pipe 161 is 2000 mm.

[0053] FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the internal structure of the main body 100 of the food processing apparatus 10 according to an embodiment. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view obliquely viewing the internal structure of the main body 100 shown in FIG. 3 from a different perspective. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the internal structure of the main body 100 shown in FIG. 4 viewed from the front. FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing details of a plurality of stirring blades 132 provided in the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110 in the main body 100 shown in FIG. 3.

[0054] The food holding part 120 holds the water-containing food in the food processing chamber 110. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the food holding part 120 has a holding surface 122 in the shape of an inverted truncated cone whose inner diameter becomes smaller toward the lower side in the direction of gravity, and holds the water-containing food on the holding surface 122. The inverted truncated cone-shaped holding surface 122 may have an inclination angle of 45 degrees or more, for example 50 degrees, with respect to the horizontal, so that the water-containing food does not stay on the holding surface 122 but falls. Note that the illustration of the water-containing food is omitted in each figure.

[0055] The holding surface 122 of the food holding part 120 includes a plurality of holes 121 that allow the passage of steam and hot air, as shown in FIG. 3. Note that the illustration of the plurality of holes 121 is omitted in the subsequent figures. In the food holding part 120, the portion where the plurality of holes 121 are formed may be a punching plate. In other words, the food holding part 120 may have a punching plate in which a plurality of holes 121 are formed over the entire surface. Note that the size of the plurality of holes 121 in the food holding part 120 is such that the water-containing food held in the food holding part 120 does not pass through. Also, the punching plate may have an opening ratio of about 40% or more in order to reduce the ventilation resistance.

[0056] The food holding part 120 is fixed inside the food processing chamber 110. For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the food holding part 120 may have a flange extending outward from a portion where a plurality of holes 121 are formed, and the food holding part 120 may be fixed inside the food processing chamber 110 by being clamped by the flanges of the upper chamber 111 and the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110. More specifically, the food holding part 120 is fixed inside the food processing chamber 110 by being fastened with bolts through the corresponding through holes together with the flanges of the upper chamber 111 and the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110. It can also be said that the food holding part 120 divides the internal space of the food processing chamber 110 into the upper chamber 111 side and the lower chamber 116 side.

[0057] For example, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the food holding part 120 may have an openable and closable discharge port 124 at the lower end for discharging the hot air-dried water-containing food. The discharge port 124 of the food holding part 120 has a passage for discharging the hot air-dried water-containing food from the inside of the food processing chamber 110 to the outside between the discharge port 124 of the food holding part 120 and the plug insertion port 117 provided in the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, the discharge port 124 may be in a closed state when the plug 101 is inserted into the passage from the plug insertion port 117 by the user, and may be in an open state when the plug 101 is removed.

[0058] The stirring part 130 stirs the water-containing food held by the food holding part 120. For example, the stirring part 130 mixes the water-containing food held by the food holding part 120. As shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the stirring part 130 may have a central body 131 that rotates around a rotation axis and a plurality of stirring blades 132 that extend radially from the central body 131. The stirring part 130 may further have a rotation driving part 136 that rotationally drives the central body 131 and the plurality of stirring blades 132 according to an instruction signal received from the control part 180. In FIGS. 3 to 6, the rotation direction R of the central body 131 and the plurality of stirring blades 132 rotationally driven by the rotation driving part 136 is indicated by an arrow.

[0059] For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the central body 131 may have a frustum-shaped outer shape with an outer diameter increasing downward in the direction of gravity. The frustum-shaped central body 131 may be inclined at 60 degrees or more with respect to the horizontal, for example. The frustum-shaped central body 131 rotates within the opening along the edge of the opening that forms the lower bottom portion of the inverted frustum-shaped holding surface 122 of the food holding portion 120 without contacting the holding surface 122. Therefore, the holding surface 122 of the food holding portion 120 and the central body 131 of the stirring portion 130 form a V-shaped valley between them.

[0060] For example, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, the central body 131 may be formed with holes penetrating the centers of the upper and lower bases of the frustum in the Z-axis direction, and bolts 135 may be inserted from the upper hole to the lower hole. The central body 131 may be pivotally supported by a rotation drive portion 136 with the bolt 135 as the rotation axis.

[0061] The plurality of stirring blades 132 stir the water-containing food deposited in the above-described V-shaped valley as the central body 131 rotates. Each of the plurality of stirring blades 132 has a stirring surface with an elevation angle so that it can stir while pushing up the water-containing food when rotating in the rotation direction R. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the plurality of stirring blades 132 may have a three-stage structure including a first stirring blade 132-1 in the upper stage, a second stirring blade 132-2 in the middle stage, and a third stirring blade 132-3 in the lower stage. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the plurality of stirring blades 132 are arranged with their positions shifted from each other in the rotation axis direction and the rotation direction R of the central body 131, and they may not overlap in the rotation axis direction. The third stirring blade 132-3 is an example of the lowermost stirring blade, and as shown in FIG. 6, it may be possible to discharge the hot air-dried water-containing food deposited in the V-shaped valley from the discharge port 124 of the food holding portion 120 as the central body 131 rotates. In addition to the three-stage structure, the plurality of stirring blades 132 may have a two-stage structure in the upper and lower stages, a two-stage structure in the upper and middle stages, etc. The plurality of stirring blades 132 may be integrally formed with the central body 131 or may be separately formed and fixed to the central body 131.

[0062] The rotation driving unit 136 may include a rotation shaft 137 that forms the rotation center of the central body 131 and the plurality of stirring blades 132, a turntable 138 to which the central body 131 is fixed, and a cylindrical partition plate 139 fixed to the bottom surface of the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110.

[0063] The rotation driving unit 136 may include, for example, a geared motor 136-1 having a rotation performance of up to one rotation per second, that is, a maximum of 1 rps. The rotation driving unit 136 may rotate the rotation shaft 137 by the rotational force of the geared motor 136-1, thereby rotationally driving the central body 131 and the plurality of stirring blades 132.

[0064] The rotation driving unit 136 may change the rotation speed of the geared motor 136-1 according to an instruction signal received from the control unit 180, for example, according to the weight of the water-containing food to be processed by the food processing apparatus 10. Specifically, the rotation driving unit 136 may rotate the geared motor 136-1 faster for heavier water-containing foods, and may rotate the geared motor 136-1 relatively slower for lighter water-containing foods that are relatively easy for air to escape.

[0065] In the present embodiment, the rotation shaft 137 is parallel to the Z-axis. That is, the stirring unit 130 rotates the central body 131 around the rotation shaft 137 parallel to the Z-axis, thereby rotating the plurality of stirring blades 132 around the rotation shaft 137. The rotation shaft 137 may, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3 to 6, have a thread groove formed at the end on the positive side in the Z-axis direction, and the above-described bolt 135 may be screwed into the thread groove, whereby the central body 131 may be fixed to the rotation shaft 137. The rotation shaft 137 may be rotatably held by a bearing 137-1 provided on the bottom surface of the lower chamber 116. Note that the bearing 137-1 and the like are isolated from hot air, steam, washing water, etc. by the cylindrical partition plate 139 as shown in FIG. 3.

[0066] The turntable 138 has a hole through which the rotary shaft 137 is inserted at the center of rotation. The turntable 138 rotates integrally with the rotary shaft 137 together with the central body 131. The central body 131 may be fixed to the turntable 138 by any fixing means. For example, the turntable 138 may be fixed to the rotary shaft 137 together with the central body 131 by fastening the bolt 135 to the rotary shaft 137 with at least three pins extending in the negative Z-axis direction from the lower base of the frustum of the central body 131 inserted into the corresponding holes of the turntable 138. In other words, the turntable 138 and the central body 131 may be rotatable integrally with the rotary shaft 137 by fastening the bolt 135 to the rotary shaft 137. Note that the turntable 138 rotates integrally with the rotary shaft 137 without contacting the partition plate 139 below the turntable 138.

[0067] The steam supply unit 140 and the hot air supply unit 150 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 may more specifically have flow paths connected to the food processing chamber 110 below the food holding unit 120 such that steam or hot air is supplied from below to above through the plurality of holes 121 of the food holding unit 120 to the water-containing food held by the food holding unit 120. That is, the steam flow path 143 and the hot air flow path 153 described above are connected to the side wall of the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110, and the steam and hot air blown into the lower chamber 116 through each of them may pass through the plurality of holes 121 of the food holding unit 120 from below to above as illustrated by the white arrows and the black arrows in FIG. 3. That is, the steam and hot air may be supplied from below to above the water-containing food held on the holding surface 122 of the food holding unit 120.

[0068] As shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, the steam supply unit 140 may have an annular pipe 144 along the inner wall of the food processing chamber 110, which is disposed below the food holding unit 120. The steam supply unit 140 may jet steam into the food processing chamber 110 from a plurality of jet outlets 145 of the annular pipe 144. The plurality of jet outlets 145 may be arranged so that the steam is not directly blown onto the food holding unit 120. For example, in the annular pipe 144, the plurality of jet outlets 145 may be arranged not at positions facing the back surface 123 of the food holding unit 120, but at the upper and lower sides respectively. Thereby, compared with the case where the steam is arranged to be directly blown onto the food holding unit 120, the portion of the food holding unit 120 directly blown by the steam becomes locally high in temperature, and it is possible to prevent the water-containing food adjacent to the portion from browning or deteriorating. The plurality of jet outlets 145 may also be uniformly arranged over the entire circumferential direction of the annular pipe 144 so that the steam diffuses into the entire lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110 and uniformly passes through each hole 121 of the food holding unit 120 from below to above. In FIG. 3, only some of the jet outlets 145 are typically illustrated, and the illustration is omitted in the subsequent figures.

[0069] As shown in FIG. 3, the hot air flow path 153 of the hot air supply unit 150 may be positioned on the side surface of the lower chamber 116 so that the hot air supplied into the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110 is first blown onto the minimum diameter portion of the frustum of a cone on the back surface 123 of the frustum-of-a-cone-shaped food holding unit 120. In other words, the food holding unit 120 may be arranged so that hot air is directly blown onto the lower end side of the back surface 123 of the holding surface 122 by the hot air supply unit 150. In this case, the distance from the hot air flow path 153 to the back surface 123 of the food holding unit 120 becomes the maximum, and the hot air can be efficiently distributed in the lower chamber 116. The hot air flow path 153 of the hot air supply unit 150 may also be disposed below the annular pipe 144.

[0070] In addition, in the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110, in addition to the maintenance window 118 described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a drain port 119 for washing water as shown in FIG. 3 may be provided on the bottom surface. The drain port 119 may be opened and closed by the user inserting and removing a plug. For example, the user may remove the lid of the maintenance window 118 and spray washing water from the maintenance window 118 onto each member inside the lower chamber 116 to clean each member, and may also remove the plug of the drain port 119 to drain the washing water.

[0071] According to the food processing apparatus 10 according to the embodiment described above, while the food holding unit 120 holds the water-containing food on the holding surface 122 having an inverted frustum shape, the stirring unit 130 stirs the water-containing food on the holding surface 122 and supplies steam or hot air from below the water-containing food upward through the plurality of holes 121 in the holding surface 122. That is, according to the food processing apparatus 10, it is possible to perform blanching and hot air drying of water-containing food in the same apparatus. According to the food processing apparatus 10, further, the water-containing food is deposited in the V-shaped valley between the holding surface 122 inclined in an inverted frustum shape of the food holding unit 120 and the central body 131 inclined in a frustum shape of the stirring unit 130, and by rotating the plurality of stirring blades 132 having a stirring surface with an elevation angle in the rotation direction R, the deposited water-containing food can be stirred while being pushed up. As a result, the food processing apparatus 10 can repeatedly push up and drop the water-containing food in the V-shaped valley, and can efficiently process the water-containing food.

[0072] The larger the inclination angle of the holding surface 122 of such a food holding part 120, the larger the contact area between the water-containing food and steam and hot air, so the processing efficiency increases and the water-containing food is more likely to fall, resulting in better stirring efficiency. On the other hand, the height of the device increases, the manufacturing cost of the machine rises, and the maintainability may deteriorate. The inclination angle of the holding surface 122 may be designed according to, for example, the angle of repose determined by the type, size, moisture, etc. of the water-containing food. In addition, since the water-containing food cannot be sufficiently stirred particularly on the upper side around the central body 131 of the stirring part 130, the inclination angle of the central body 131 may be close to vertical. In this case, it can be said that the inclination angle of the central body 131 with respect to the horizontal is larger than the inclination angle of the holding surface 122 with respect to the horizontal.

[0073] Also, for example, according to the food processing device 10 of the present embodiment, compared with a shelf-type food dryer, the processing time can be significantly shortened, the deterioration of functional components due to heat history can be prevented, and for example, the thermal degradation of phytochemicals with antioxidant effects, typified by polyphenols, can be sufficiently suppressed. Also, for example, according to the food processing device 10 according to the present embodiment, compared with a continuous food dryer such as a band dryer on the scale of about several tens of meters, the device can be significantly miniaturized, and the installation space can be saved.

[0074] For example, when an agricultural producer or food manufacturer outsources the production of vegetable powder from unused agricultural products to a processor having the above-described "dry pulverizer" equipment, the transportation cost of refrigerating or freezing vegetables containing about 90% moisture for transportation becomes a very big problem, so there may be a case where such outsourcing is abandoned. In this case, the utilization of unused agricultural products may not develop, and a large amount of food loss may occur. On the other hand, according to the food processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, since miniaturization has been achieved as described above, an agricultural producer or the like, or a local processing center located near the agricultural producer or the like can own the food processing apparatus 10. Thereby, an agricultural producer or the like can dry unused agricultural product vegetables to a preliminary drying state with a weight moisture content of 50% or less, for example, and then transport them to a processor after reducing the weight of the vegetables to 1 / 5 or less, so that the transportation cost can be significantly reduced. Therefore, according to the food processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the utilization of unused agricultural products can be developed and food loss can be significantly reduced.

[0075] Incidentally, the above-described "dry pulverizer" may have, for example, a processing capacity of manufacturing 1 kg of vegetable powder by drying 20 kg of vegetables with a weight moisture content of 95% to a weight moisture content of almost 0% in 1 hour. In this case, for example, if the "dry pulverizer" directly processes 100 kg of vegetables with a weight moisture content of 95% without pretreatment to produce 5 kg of vegetable powder, it will take 5 hours. However, if the vegetables are pretreated with the food processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment having the above-described processing capacity, it is possible to obtain 10 kg of dried vegetables with a weight moisture content of 50% in 2 hours, and the processing time in the "dry pulverizer" can be shortened to about only 15 minutes.

[0076] Here, an example of the food processing method by the food processing apparatus 10 of the embodiment described above will be described. The food processing method includes a step (step S1) of holding the water-containing food on an inverted frustum-shaped holding surface 122 including a plurality of holes 121 that allow the passage of steam and hot air in a batch-type food processing chamber 110 for blanching the water-containing food with steam and then drying it with hot air. The food processing method further includes a step (step S2) of supplying steam into the food processing chamber 110 by the steam supply unit 140 while holding the water-containing food on the holding surface 122. The food processing method further includes a step (step S3) of supplying hot air into the food processing chamber 110 by the hot air supply unit 150 while stirring the water-containing food by the stirring unit 130 while holding the water-containing food on the holding surface 122 after supplying steam into the food processing chamber 110.

[0077] As a more specific example of step S2 above, the food processing apparatus 10 allows low-pressure steam at about 150°C to flow into the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110 for about 5 to 6 minutes. The temperature in the food processing chamber 110 rises from room temperature to exceed 100°C in about 2 minutes from the start of the inflow of the low-pressure steam, and sufficient blanching of the water-containing food is completed in about 3 to 4 minutes. In step S2, the food processing apparatus 10 may or may not stir the water-containing food by the stirring unit 130. In step S2, the food processing apparatus 10 may adjust the supply amount of steam into the food processing chamber 110 according to the amount of the water-containing food to be processed.

[0078] As a more specific example of the above step S3, the food processing apparatus 10 stops the inflow of steam into the lower chamber 116 of the food processing chamber 110, and while agitating the water-containing food by the agitation unit 130, only outside air is introduced into the lower chamber 116 through the intake pipe 161 and the hot air flow path 153 for about one minute, and then the burner unit 151 is activated to start the inflow of hot air at about 70 to 120°C. When the food processing apparatus 10 functions as a pretreatment apparatus for the above-described "dry pulverizer", that is, when the dried water-containing food is instantaneously dried and pulverized into powder in a subsequent process, the water-containing food is hot air dried for about 1 to 1.5 hours so that the thermal history of the water-containing food does not increase. As a result, the water-containing food containing 90% moisture is dried to a weight moisture content of about 50%. When the food processing apparatus 10 manufactures its own drying chips without being used as such a pretreatment apparatus in this way, the water-containing food may be hot air dried for a longer time. As a result, the water-containing food containing 90% moisture is dried to a weight moisture content of 10% or less. After step S3 is completed, the user gradually discharges the dried water-containing food from the plug insertion port 117 by removing the plug 101 from the plug insertion port 117 while the agitation of the water-containing food is being continued by the agitation unit 130.

[0079] As described above, the present invention has been described using the embodiments, but the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the description of the claims that forms with such changes or improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0080] For example, in the stirring unit, the plurality of stirring blades may be adjustable with respect to the central body in at least either the position in the rotation axis direction or the position in the rotation direction of the central body. For example, the central body and the stirring blades are formed separately from each other, and a plurality of fixing members for fixing the stirring blades are discretely provided on the outer surface of the central body, and the fixing position of the stirring blades may be determined by selecting the fixing member for fixing the stirring blades from among the plurality of fixing members. In this case, only the lower stirring blade that serves to flow the dried raw material into the discharge port is integrally formed with the central body, and at least any one of the other stirring blades may be detachable from the central body by a fixing member.

[0081] Also, for example, the stirring unit may have a first structure and a second structure that are mutually replaceable with respect to the food processing chamber. The second structure is for a hydrous food having a relatively high bulk density, and may be capable of stirring a lower portion of the hydrous food held in the food holding portion compared to the first structure. For example, the higher the bulk density, that is, the heavier the hydrous food such as root vegetables like carrots, the easier it is to accumulate below, and only the lower portion dries out, so the stirring blade needs to be attached below. On the other hand, the lower the bulk density of the hydrous food, the more likely it is to go upward on its own, so the stirring blade may be attached above. For example, the user may select a specific structure from among a plurality of structures in which the central body and the stirring blades are integrally formed and the fixing positions of the stirring blades with respect to the central body are different from each other. In this case, the structure is detachable on the turntable.

[0082] Also, for example, the highly diffusive steam may be configured to pass through the plurality of holes 121 of the food holding portion 120 in the reverse direction.

[0083] In the claims, the specification, and the drawings, the execution order of each process such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages in the apparatus, system, program, and method shown is not explicitly stated as "earlier" or "preceding", etc., and it should be noted that it can be realized in any order as long as the output of the previous process is not used in the subsequent process. Regarding the operation flow in the claims, the specification, and the drawings, even if it is described for convenience using "first," "next," etc., it does not mean that it is essential to be implemented in this order.

Explanation of Signs

[0084] 10 Food processing apparatus 51, 52 Trolley 100 Main body 101 Plug 110 Food processing chamber 111 Upper chamber 112 Raw material inlet 113 Rotating door 114 Hinged rod 115 Fastener 116 Lower chamber 117 Plug insertion port 118 Maintenance window 119 Drain outlet 120 Food holding part 121 Hole 122 Holding surface 123 Back surface 124 Discharge port 130 Stirring part 131 Central body 132 Stirring blade 132-1 First stirring blade 132-2 Second stirring blade 132-3 Third stirring blade 135 Bolt 136 Rotation drive part 136-1 Geared motor 137 Rotation shaft 137-1 Bearing 138 Turntable 139 Partition board 140 Steam supply unit 141 Boiler 143 Steam flow path 144 Annular pipe 145 Nozzle 150 Hot air supply unit 151 Burner unit 152 Hot air generator 153 Hot air flow path 154 Fan 161 Intake pipe 163 Exhaust pipe 170-1, 170-2 Control valve 180 Control unit

Claims

1. A batch-type food processing chamber for blanching a water-containing food with steam and then drying it with hot air, a food holding part having a reverse frustum-shaped holding surface whose inner diameter decreases toward the lower side in the gravity direction, and holding the water-containing food on the holding surface in the food processing chamber, wherein the holding surface includes a plurality of holes that allow the passage of steam and hot air, a stirring part for stirring the water-containing food held by the food holding part, a steam supply part for supplying steam into the food processing chamber while the food holding part holds the water-containing food, and a hot air supply part for supplying hot air into the food processing chamber while the food holding part holds the water-containing food A food processing apparatus comprising.

2. Further comprising a control part that, after supplying steam to the steam supply part, stops the supply of steam and then supplies hot air to the hot air supply part while stirring the water-containing food with the stirring part, The food processing apparatus according to Claim 1.

3. The stirring part has a central body that rotates around a rotation axis and a plurality of stirring blades that extend radially from the central body, The central body has a frustum-shaped outer shape whose outer diameter increases toward the lower side in the gravity direction, The food processing apparatus according to Claim 1.

4. The central body is inclined at 60 degrees or more with respect to the horizontal, The food processing apparatus according to Claim 3.

5. The holding surface of the food holding part and the central body of the stirring part form a V-shaped valley between them, The food processing apparatus according to Claim 3.

6. The plurality of stirring blades stir the water-containing food deposited in the V-shaped valley as the central body rotates, The food processing apparatus according to Claim 5.

7. The food holding part has an openable and closable discharge port at the lower end side for discharging the water-containing food dried with hot air, The plurality of stirring blades include a lowermost stirring blade that can discharge the water-containing food dried with hot air deposited in the V-shaped valley from the discharge port as the central body rotates, The food processing apparatus according to Claim 5.

8. The food holding part is arranged such that hot air is directly blown onto the lower end side of the back surface of the holding surface by the hot air supply part, The food processing apparatus according to Claim 5.

9. The plurality of stirring blades are arranged with their positions shifted from each other in the rotation axis direction and the rotation direction of the central body, and do not overlap each other in the rotation axis direction The food processing apparatus according to claim 3.

10. The plurality of stirring blades are adjustable with respect to the central body in at least one of the position in the rotational axis direction and the position in the rotational direction of the central body. The food processing apparatus according to claim 3.

11. The stirring unit has a first structure and a second structure that are mutually replaceable with respect to the food processing chamber. The second structure is for water-containing foods with a relatively high bulk density, and can stir a lower portion of the water-containing foods held in the food holding portion compared to the first structure. The food processing apparatus according to claim 1.

12. The food holding portion has a punching plate with the plurality of holes formed over the entire surface. The food processing apparatus according to claim 1.

13. The steam supply unit supplies saturated steam or superheated steam at 90°C or higher and 150°C or lower into the food processing chamber. The food processing apparatus according to claim 1.

14. The steam supply unit supplies saturated steam or superheated steam at 110°C or higher and 130°C or lower into the food processing chamber. The food processing apparatus according to claim 13.

15. The hot air supply unit supplies hot air at 130°C or lower into the food processing chamber. The food processing apparatus according to claim 1.

16. The hot air supply unit supplies hot air at 110°C or higher and 130°C or lower into the food processing chamber. The food processing apparatus according to claim 15.

17. The control unit hot air dries the water-containing foods in the food processing chamber with a thermal efficiency of 50% or higher. The food processing apparatus according to claim 2.

18. An intake pipe for the hot air supply unit to take in outside air, An exhaust pipe for discharging at least hot air from the food processing chamber, And an openable and closable adjustment valve arranged between the intake pipe and the exhaust pipe And further includes, The control unit adjusts the amount of hot air discharged from the food processing chamber circulated to the hot air supply unit by adjusting the opening amount of the adjustment valve. The food processing apparatus according to claim 17.

19. The hot air supply unit and the steam supply unit have a flow path connected to the food processing chamber below the food holding portion so that steam or hot air is supplied from below to above through the plurality of holes of the food holding portion to the water-containing foods held in the food holding portion. The food processing apparatus according to claim 1.

20. The steam supply unit ejects steam into the food processing chamber from a plurality of ejection ports of an annular pipe arranged along the inner wall of the food processing chamber and disposed below the food holding unit. The plurality of ejection ports are arranged such that steam is not directly blown onto the food holding unit. The food processing apparatus according to claim 1.

21. In a batch-type food processing chamber for blanching a water-containing food with steam and then drying it with hot air, holding the water-containing food on a holding surface in the shape of an inverted frustum of a cone with a smaller inner diameter toward the lower side in the gravitational direction, the holding surface including a plurality of holes that allow the passage of steam and hot air. Supplying steam into the food processing chamber while holding the water-containing food on the holding surface. After supplying steam into the food processing chamber, while holding the water-containing food on the holding surface, supplying hot air into the food processing chamber while stirring the water-containing food. A food processing method comprising the above steps.

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