Food-heating device

Abstract

To make it possible to shorten the heating time for a pair of hot plates and to continuously heat a plurality of foods to be heated.SOLUTION: A food-heating device 10 includes a transport conveyor 20. Fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d are provided below the transport conveyor 20, and movable hot plates 13b, 13c, 13d are provided above the transport conveyor 20.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a food heating device that heats heated food such as hamburger patties, and in particular to a food heating device that can automatically heat a large number of heated foods in restaurants and the like, thereby improving the production efficiency of heated foods. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in restaurants such as hamburger shops, a hamburger patty (food to be heated) made by solidifying ground meat into a thin circle is heated, and then the hamburger patty, vegetables, etc. are sandwiched between two slices of bread to produce a hamburger.

[0003] Among these, a known device for heating a hamburger patty is one that has a pair of heating plates and compresses and heats the hamburger patty between the pair of heating plates multiple times. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-142129 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the heating device described above requires the hamburger patty to be repeatedly compressed and heated multiple times using a pair of hot plates, and also requires an operator to place the hamburger patty between the pair of hot plates and remove it after heating, making it unsuitable for heating multiple hamburger patties consecutively.

[0006] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of these points, and aims to provide a food heating device that can shorten the heating time of a pair of heating plates when heating food to be heated, and can heat multiple food items continuously, thereby improving the production efficiency of the food to be heated. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present disclosure relates to a food heating device comprising: a conveyor for placing and transporting food to be heated; a plurality of fixed heat plates arranged below the conveyor in the direction of conveyance of the conveyor; a plurality of movable heat plates arranged above the conveyor in the direction of conveyance of the conveyor and movable in the vertical direction; a conveyor drive unit for driving the conveyor; a movable heat plate drive unit for driving each movable heat plate; and a control unit for controlling the conveyor drive unit and the movable heat plate drive unit, wherein the plurality of fixed heat plates include compression fixed heat plates that compress and heat the food to be heated on the conveyor between themselves and the corresponding movable heat plates.

[0008] The present disclosure relates to a food heating device, wherein the plurality of fixed heat plates include a non-compressive fixed heat plate that does not compress and heat the food to be heated on the transport conveyor between itself and the movable heat plate.

[0009] The present disclosure relates to a food heating device, wherein the non-compressed fixed hot plate is provided upstream of the compressed fixed hot plate in the conveying direction of the transport conveyor.

[0010] The present disclosure relates to a food heating device in which the heat source output of the non-compressed fixed heat plate and at least the movable heat plate located at the most upstream side in the conveying direction of the conveying conveyor is greater than the heat source output of the other movable heat plates and compressed fixed heat plates.

[0011] In this food heating device, the gap between the movable hot platen and the fixed hot platen during compression heating gradually increases from the upstream side to the downstream side along the conveying direction of the conveyor. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present disclosure, when heating food items, the heating time of the pair of heating plates can be shortened, and multiple food items can be heated continuously. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a food heating device according to the present disclosure. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the food heating device. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a side view showing the food heating device. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a front view showing the movable hot plate drive unit of the food heating device. [Figure 5] Figure 5 shows a hamburger patty being compressed and heated by a fixed heating plate and a movable heating plate. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows the arrangement of rod heaters attached to a fixed hot plate. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 shows the gap between the fixed and movable hot plates. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] An embodiment of a food heating device according to the present disclosure will now be described with reference to Figures 1 to 7. Here, Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a food heating device according to the present disclosure, Figure 2 is a plan view showing a food heating device according to the present disclosure, Figure 3 is a side view showing a food heating device according to the present disclosure, and Figure 4 is a front view showing a movable hot plate drive unit of a food heating device according to the present disclosure. Also, Figure 5 is a diagram showing a hamburger patty compressed and heated by a fixed hot plate and a movable hot plate, Figure 6 is a diagram showing the arrangement of rod-shaped heaters attached to the fixed hot plate, and Figure 7 is a diagram showing the gap between the fixed hot plate and the movable hot plate.

[0015] First, a food heating device 10 will be outlined with reference to FIGS.

[0016] 1 to 5, food heating device 10 compresses and heats hamburger patties 1 (also referred to as food to be heated). Hamburger patties 1 are usually placed in a frozen state into food heating device 10, and are compressed and heated by food heating device 10.

[0017] After being heated, the hamburger patty 1 is sent to the next process where it is sandwiched between two slices of bread together with vegetables and the like, and thus a hamburger (not shown) is produced.

[0018] Food heating device 10 comprises a frame 15, a conveyor 20 supported by frame 15 and on which hamburger patties 1 are placed and conveyed, a plurality of fixed heating plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d supported by frame 15 and provided below conveyor 20 in the conveying direction of conveyor 20, and a plurality of movable heating plates 13b, 13c, 13d supported by frame 15 and provided above conveyor 20 in the conveying direction of conveyor 20.

[0019] Among these, a plurality of movable hot plates, for example, three movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d, are supported by a frame 15 and are all movable on the frame 15 in the vertical direction.

[0020] Furthermore, a plurality of, for example, four fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d are supported by a frame 15. Of the four fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d, fixed hot plate 12a, which is located at the most upstream position in the conveying direction D of conveyor 20, does not have a corresponding movable hot plate and is a non-compression fixed hot plate that only heats hamburger patties 1 without compressing them. The remaining three fixed hot plates 12b, 12c, and 12d are compression fixed hot plates that heat hamburger patties 1 while compressing them between themselves and the corresponding movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d.

[0021] In this embodiment, "above," "below," "upper surface," and "lower surface" refer to "above," "below," "upper surface," and "lower surface" when food heating device 10 is placed in the state shown in Figure 1.

[0022] As shown in Figures 1 to 5, the transport conveyor 20, the fixed heat plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable heat plates 13b, 13c, 13d are supported by a frame 15, which is placed on the floor G via a stand 16.

[0023] The transport conveyor 20 extends between a pair of pulleys 21 and 22 attached to the frame 15, and the pulley 22 of the pair of pulleys 21 and 22 serves as a drive pulley and is driven by a transport conveyor drive unit 25 via a belt 26 (see FIG. 3).

[0024] Each of the movable heat plates 13b, 13c, and 13d is driven in the vertical direction by a movable heat plate driving unit 14.

[0025] In addition, the conveyor driving unit 25 that drives the conveyor 20 and the movable hot plate driving unit 14 that drives the movable hot plate 13b, 13c, 13d are all connected to the control unit 40, and this control unit 40 controls the driving of the conveyor driving unit 25 and the movable hot plate driving unit 14.

[0026] Next, the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d and the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d will be described.

[0027] 5 and 6, each of the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, 13d has an aluminum hot plate body 30, and the aluminum hot plate body 30 is provided with a plurality of, for example, four rod heaters 31 and a temperature sensor (not shown) such as a thermocouple. Each of the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, 13d is set to a temperature when heating a hamburger patty 1, and the output of the rod heaters 31 of each of the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, 13d is controlled by the control unit 40 based on the measurement results of each temperature sensor so that each of the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, 13d is set to the set temperature when heating a hamburger patty 1.

[0028] As shown in Figure 5 and Figure 6, the movable hot plate 13b, 13c, 13d has the aluminum hot plate body 30, the four rod-shaped heaters 31 built in the hot plate body 30, and the fluorine resin sheet 33 that contains fluorine resin and is provided on the bottom and side of the hot plate body 30.

[0029] In this embodiment, the positions of the rod-shaped heaters 31 attached to the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d are shown in Figure 6. The rod-shaped heaters 31 attached to the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d are also attached to the same positions as the rod-shaped heaters 31 on the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d.

[0030] In this embodiment, the transport conveyor 20 is a belt conveyor containing a fluororesin. Specifically, the transport conveyor 20 has a base material made of glass fiber or aramid fiber, which has excellent heat resistance, and is obtained by impregnating this base material with a fluororesin.

[0031] Use of such a transport conveyor 20 can improve the heat resistance of the transport conveyor 20. Furthermore, due to the non-stick property of the fluororesin, the transport conveyor 20 makes it difficult for parts of the hamburger patties 1 to adhere to the transport conveyor 20 even when the hamburger patties 1 are heated while being compressed.

[0032] Furthermore, as described above, the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d have the fluororesin sheet 33 covering the underside and side of the hot plate body 30, and due to the non-stick property of the fluororesin, even when the hamburger patty 1 is heated while being compressed, a part of the hamburger patty 1 is unlikely to adhere to the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d.

[0033] Among fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d, fixed hot plate 12a does not have a corresponding movable hot plate, and therefore heats hamburger patty 1 by itself. Meanwhile, fixed hot plates 12b, 12c, and 12d heat hamburger patty 1 while compressing it between themselves and their corresponding movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d. Fixed hot plate 12a serves as a preliminary heating element for thawing. Furthermore, since fixed hot plate 12a does not have a corresponding movable hot plate, hamburger patty 1 can be smoothly inserted onto fixed hot plate 12a. Furthermore, since there is no corresponding movable hot plate, there is no need to provide a separate space for inserting hamburger patty 1, and the overall length of the device can be shortened. This is advantageous when installing the entire food heating device 10 in a store with limited space.

[0034] In this embodiment, the fixed hot plate (non-compressed fixed hot plate) 12a, the movable hot plate 13b located at the most upstream of the conveyor 20 in the conveying direction, and the fixed hot plate (compressed fixed hot plate) 12b corresponding to the movable hot plate 13b all have a large rated heater output, for example, 1500W. On the other hand, the other movable hot plates 13c and 13d and the fixed hot plates (compressed fixed hot plates) 12c and 12d corresponding to the movable hot plates 13c and 13d have a small rated heater output, for example, 600W.

[0035] In this way, by increasing the rated heater output of fixed heating plates 12a, 12b and movable heating plate 13b located upstream in the conveying direction D of conveyor 20, hamburger patties 1 introduced into food heating device 10 in a frozen state can be thawed quickly and reliably upstream in the conveying direction D of conveyor 20.

[0036] On the downstream side of the conveying conveyor 20 in the conveying direction D, a rod-shaped heater 31 with a small rated heater output can be used to gradually compress and heat the hamburger patty 1 between the fixed heating plates 12c, 12d and the movable heating plates 13c, 13d.

[0037] In this embodiment, the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d and the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d are arranged at the same pitch along the conveying direction D of the transfer conveyor 20 (see FIG. 1).

[0038] Next, the operation of this embodiment having such a configuration will be described.

[0039] First, in the food heating apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, when heating a hamburger patty 1, the set temperature for each of the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d and each of the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d is set to, for example, (Te°C), and the heating time for each of the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d (including the time required to move to the next fixed hot plate) is set to Ti seconds. As a result, the total heating time (cooking time) until the patty is cooked is set to Ti seconds x 4 (the number of fixed hot plates). In this state, an operator first places (introduces) a frozen hamburger patty 1 on the conveyor 20 at a position corresponding to the fixed hot plate 12a on the upstream side of the conveying direction D (left side in FIG. 1). At this time, the temperature of the fixed hot plate 12a may suddenly drop to, for example, about (Te -20°C) when the frozen hamburger patty 1 is introduced. When such a temperature drop is detected, the controller 40 controls the rod-shaped heater 31 of the fixed hot plate 12a to maximize its output so that the temperature returns to the set temperature (Te°C). In this case, the rod-shaped heater 31 with a large rated heater output is used for the fixed hot plate 12a, so the temperature can be quickly returned to the set temperature (Te°C), and the time during which the set temperature is maintained can be extended within the heating time of one fixed hot plate.

[0040] Next, the control unit 40 controls the transfer conveyor driving unit 25 to drive the transfer conveyor 20 by the transfer conveyor driving unit 25 .

[0041] In this embodiment, the transport conveyor 20 is intermittently driven at a predetermined drive pitch that is the same as the arrangement pitch of the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d, that is, the arrangement pitch of the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d.

[0042] As described above, the hamburger patty 1 placed on the transport conveyor 20 at a position corresponding to the fixed heating plate 12a is heated by the fixed heating plate 12a having a large rated heater output, and thawed.

[0043] Next, the transfer conveyor 20 is driven at a predetermined drive pitch, and the hamburger patty 1 is sent between the fixed hot plate 12b and the movable hot plate 13b. At this time, all of the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d are simultaneously driven by the corresponding movable hot plate drive units 14 and are waiting in advance at standby positions above the transfer conveyor 20.

[0044] When the hamburger patty 1 reaches between the fixed hot plate 12b and the movable hot plate 13b, the conveyor 20 is stopped by the conveyor drive unit 25. At the same time, all the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d waiting in the upper standby positions are simultaneously driven by the movable hot plate drive unit 14 to descend.

[0045] In this way, hamburger patties 1 on the conveyor 20 are compressed and heated between the fixed and movable hot plates 12b and 13b. Even at the positions of the fixed and movable hot plates 12b and 13b downstream of the fixed and movable hot plate 12a, the temperature of the fixed and movable hot plates 12b and 13b may drop below the set temperature due to the hamburger patties 1. In particular, the temperature of the movable hot plate 13b is likely to drop because there is no movable hot plate upstream and the top side of the hamburger patty 1 is not heated. Even in such a case, in this embodiment, the fixed and movable hot plates 12b and 13b have rod-shaped heaters 31 with high rated heater output, allowing the temperatures of the fixed and movable hot plates 12b and 13b to quickly return to the set temperature (Te°C). Furthermore, the gap t1 between the fixed and movable hot plates 12b and 13b is set to a relatively small value (see FIG. 7).

[0046] As described above, both the fixed heating plate 12b and the movable heating plate 13b have large rated heater outputs, so that the frozen hamburger patty 1 placed on the transport conveyor 20 is reliably thawed and further heated between the fixed heating plate 12b and the movable heating plate 13b.

[0047] Next, all the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d are simultaneously driven by the movable hot plate driving unit 14 and raised to their upper standby positions.

[0048] Thereafter, the transport conveyor 20 is driven at a predetermined drive pitch, and the hamburger patty 1 on the transport conveyor 20 is sent to a position between the fixed heating plate 12c and the movable heating plate 13c and then stopped.

[0049] Next, all the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d waiting at the upper waiting position are simultaneously driven by the movable hot plate driving unit 14 to descend.

[0050] In this way, the hamburger patty 1 on the transport conveyor 20 is compressed and heated between the fixed heat plate 12c and the movable heat plate 13b. At this time, the gap t2 between the fixed heat plate 12c and the movable heat plate 13c is set slightly larger than the gap t1 between the fixed heat plate 12b and the movable heat plate 13b (see FIG. 7).

[0051] Both fixed hot plate 12c and movable hot plate 13c have a small rated heater output, and hamburger patties 1 on conveyor 20 are compressed and heated appropriately. On the downstream side of conveyor 20 in the conveying direction D, thawing has already been completed on the upstream side, so the temperature of fixed hot plate 12c and movable hot plate 13c does not drop significantly due to hamburger patties 1, as it does on fixed hot plate 12a and movable hot plate 13b. Therefore, fixed hot plate 12c and movable hot plate 13c can be quickly returned to the set temperature even with rod heater 31 having a small rated heater output, and hamburger patties 1 can be heated while maintaining the set temperature.

[0052] Next, all the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d are driven by the movable hot plate driving unit 14 and simultaneously raised to the upper standby position.

[0053] Thereafter, the transport conveyor 20 is driven at a predetermined drive pitch, and the hamburger patty 1 on the transport conveyor 20 is sent to a position between the fixed heating plate 12d and the movable heating plate 13d and stopped.

[0054] Next, all the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d waiting at the upper waiting positions are simultaneously driven by the movable hot plate driving unit 14 to descend.

[0055] In this way, the hamburger patty 1 on the transport conveyor 20 is compressed and heated between the fixed heat plate 12d and the movable heat plate 13d. At this time, the gap t3 between the fixed heat plate 12d and the movable heat plate 13d is set to a value slightly larger than the gap t2 between the fixed heat plate 12c and the movable heat plate 13c (see FIG. 7).

[0056] Both fixed hot plate 12d and movable hot plate 13d have a small rated heater output, and hamburger patties 1 on transport conveyor 20 are compressed and heated appropriately. As with fixed hot plate 12c and movable hot plate 13c, the temperature of fixed hot plate 12d and movable hot plate 13d does not drop due to hamburger patties 1. Therefore, fixed hot plate 12d and movable hot plate 13d do not require time to return to the set temperature, and hamburger patties 1 can be heated while maintaining the set temperature even with rod heater 31 having a small rated heater output.

[0057] In this way, the worker simply places the frozen hamburger patty 1 on the conveyor 20 at a position corresponding to the fixed heating plate 12a on the upstream side of the conveying direction D (left side of Figure 1), and the heated hamburger patty 1 can be obtained by the fixed heating plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable heating plates 13b, 13c, 13d.

[0058] The heated hamburger patty 1 is then sent to the next process where it is sandwiched between two slices of bread together with vegetables, thus completing the hamburger.

[0059] As described above, according to this embodiment, an operator simply places a frozen hamburger patty 1 on the conveyor 20 at a position corresponding to the fixed hot plate 12a on the upstream side of the conveying direction D (left side in FIG. 1 ). The hamburger patty 1 is then heated by the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d and the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d, resulting in a heated hamburger patty 1. Even if the temperature of the fixed hot plate 12a drops below the set temperature due to the frozen hamburger patty 1, the hamburger patty 1 is heated by the fixed hot plate 12a, which has a high rated heater output. This shortens the time required to return to the set temperature, allowing the hamburger patty 1 to be thawed. Furthermore, the hamburger patty 1 is then compressed and heated by the fixed hot plate 12b and the movable hot plate 13b, both of which have high rated heater outputs, ensuring that the hamburger patty 1 is reliably thawed and then heated. Since the fixed hot plate 12b is the second heating stage after the fixed hot plate 12a, a rod-shaped heater with a low rated heater output may be used. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, fixed heating plates 12c and 12d and movable heating plates 13c and 13d, each having a small rated heater output, can be used downstream in conveying direction D. This reduces the overall power consumption of food heating device 10, which is advantageous when installing food heating device 10 in a store.

[0060] In addition, when the gap between the fixed hot plate 12b and the movable hot plate 13b during compression heating is t1, the gap between the fixed hot plate 12c and the movable hot plate 13c during compression heating is t2, and the gap between the fixed hot plate 12d and the movable hot plate 13d during compression heating is t3, t1 <t2<t3となっている。

[0061] After being thawed, the frozen hamburger patty 1 gradually expands and increases in thickness as it is heated.

[0062] Therefore, the gaps t1, t2, t3 between the fixed heating plates 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable heating plates 13b, 13c, 13d can be gradually increased along the conveying direction D of the transport conveyor 20, and the hamburger patty 1 heated by the food heating device 10 can be heated while gradually expanding. This allows the hamburger patty 1 to be heated and cooked nicely and fluffy.

[0063] Furthermore, by simply placing a frozen hamburger patty 1 on the conveyor 20 at a position corresponding to the fixed heat plate 12a, the hamburger patty 1 on the conveyor 20 is first heated by the fixed heat plate 12a along the conveying direction D of the conveyor 20, and then gradually compressed and heated between the fixed heat plate 12b and the movable heat plate 13b, between the fixed heat plate 12c and the movable heat plate 13c, and between the fixed heat plate 12d and the movable heat plate 13d.

[0064] Therefore, compared to when thawing and heating hamburger patties 1 using only a pair of fixed and movable heating plates, the time it takes for any of fixed heating plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d and any of movable heating plates 13b, 13c, and 13d to actually heat hamburger patties 1 is significantly reduced. As a result, by simply placing frozen hamburger patties 1 upstream in the conveying direction of transport conveyor 20, multiple hamburger patties 1 can be continuously heated and grilled by fixed heating plates 12a, 12b, 12c, and 12d and movable heating plates 13b, 13c, and 13d. This improves production efficiency when heating hamburger patties 1.

[0065] Furthermore, since the transport conveyor 20 is made of a transport conveyor containing fluororesin, the non-stick properties of the fluororesin make it difficult for parts of the hamburger patties 1 to adhere to the moving transport conveyor 20.

[0066] In addition, since the fixed heat plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable heat plates 13b, 13c, 13d all include the aluminum heat plate body 30, the thermal conductivity of the fixed heat plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable heat plates 13b, 13c, 13d can be improved.

[0067] Furthermore, since movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d have fluororesin sheets 33 covering the underside and sides of hot plate main body 30, when movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d compress and heat hamburger patty 1, a portion of hamburger patty 1 is less likely to adhere to movable hot plates 13b, 13c, and 13d. While this embodiment shows a case where fixed hot plate 12a (non-compressed fixed hot plate) is located at the most upstream position in the conveying direction, the non-compressed fixed hot plate may also be located at the most downstream position in the conveying direction. In this case, hamburger patty 1 can be kept warm when sent to a process subsequent to food heating device 10 according to this embodiment. In addition, in the above embodiment, the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, 13d have the hot plate body 30 made of aluminum and the rod-shaped heater 31 installed in the hot plate body 30, but not limited to this, the hot plate body 30 of the fixed hot plates 12a, 12b, 12c, 12d and the movable hot plates 13b, 13c, 13d can be made of stainless steel instead of aluminum, and instead of the hot plate body 30 and the rod-shaped heater 31, an IH heater (made of a magnetic material such as SUS430 and a coil) can be used.In addition, in the above embodiment, the example of baking frozen hamburger patties 1 is shown, but it is also possible to bake chilled hamburger patties 1 instead of frozen. [Explanation of symbols]

[0068] 1 hamburger patty 10 Food heating equipment 12a,12b,12c,12d fixed hot plate 13b,13c,13d Movable hot plate 14 Movable hot plate drive unit 15 frames 16 Mounting stand 20 Transport conveyor 21,22 Pulley 25 Conveyor drive unit 30 Hot plate body 31 Rod heater 33 Fluorine resin sheet 40 Control Unit

Claims

1. a transport conveyor on which the food to be heated is placed and transported; a plurality of fixed hot plates provided below the conveyor along the conveying direction of the conveyor; a plurality of movable heat plates provided above the transport conveyor along the transport direction of the transport conveyor and movable in the up and down direction; a conveyor drive unit that drives the conveyor; a movable heat plate driving unit that drives each movable heat plate; a control unit for controlling the conveyor drive unit and the movable hot plate drive unit; The food heating apparatus includes a plurality of fixed hot plates which compress and heat the food on the transport conveyor between the corresponding fixed hot plates and the corresponding movable hot plates.

2. 2. The food heating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of fixed hot plates include a non-compressive fixed hot plate that does not compress and heat the food on the transport conveyor between itself and the movable hot plate.

3. 3. The food heating apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the non-compressed fixed hot plate is provided upstream of the compressed fixed hot plate in the conveying direction of the conveyor.

4. 4. The food heating device according to claim 3, wherein the heat source outputs of the non-compressed fixed heat plate and at least the movable heat plate located at the most upstream side of the conveyor in the conveying direction are greater than the heat source outputs of the other movable heat plates and compressed fixed heat plates.

5. 2. The food heating device according to claim 1, wherein the gap between the movable heating plate and the fixed heating plate during compression heating gradually increases from the upstream side to the downstream side along the conveying direction of the conveyor.

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