Food dough dividing device

Abstract

The present invention provides a dividing device that can appropriately divide food dough according to setting conditions of the food dough, including at least the water content of the food dough. [Solution] The dividing device has a slide head in which a space for dividing food dough is formed. A partition member is arranged in the dividing space to divide the space and form a plurality of dividing pockets. The partition member can be arbitrarily set to a fixed state or a movable state. In the fixed state, the partition member is fixed within the dividing space and divides the space, while in the movable state, the partition member slides within the dividing pocket. A piston is arranged in the dividing pocket that slides within the dividing pocket when the food dough is pushed into the dividing space, allowing the dividing pocket to be set to an open state where it can accept the food dough, and to a closed state where it cannot accept the food dough.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a dividing device that receives food dough such as kneaded bread dough from a hopper and divides and supplies it in a predetermined amount.

Background Art

[0002] In the bread-making process, a large amount of kneaded bread dough is divided into a predetermined amount of dough balls, and then the process proceeds to intermediate fermentation before the baking process. A dividing device is used as a device for mass-producing a plurality of dough balls from the bread dough (for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] The dividing device of Patent Document 1 has a cylinder that receives food dough from a hopper provided at the upper part of the device body, and a knife and a main ram are arranged in the cylinder. A slide head that is held vertically movably with respect to the device body is provided at one end of the device body. The food dough in the cylinder is pressed by the main ram toward the slide head and pushed into a plurality of dividing pockets provided in the slide head. As a result, the food dough is divided into a plurality of dough balls having a size corresponding to the capacity of each dividing pocket. The dough balls in each dividing pocket are discharged to the outside after the slide head descends and are conveyed by a belt conveyor.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in the bread-making process, the hydration rate (the percentage of water added to flour, such as wheat flour) varies depending on the type of flour used and the type of bread being made. Generally, the hydration rate for bread is said to be 60% to 65% of 100% wheat flour. When the hydration rate is high, the gluten membrane that forms when the dough is kneaded becomes softer, resulting in baked bread that is elastic and moist, and has the characteristic of retaining its flavor for a longer time.

[0006] On the other hand, dough with a high water content tends to become sticky due to its high moisture content, which presents challenges in the dough dividing process and subsequent shaping. Therefore, dough with a high water content cannot be processed in the same way as dough with a normal water content, and it has been difficult to produce dough balls with conventional dividing equipment. Furthermore, while it is conceivable to prepare a dedicated machine for dividing dough with a high water content in addition to the regular dividing equipment, there are problems in terms of the funds and installation space required for such a dedicated machine. Against this backdrop, the division of dough with a high water content is currently done manually, and there has been a need for a dividing device that can divide the dough into appropriate portions according to the characteristics of the dough, such as the water content, type of dough, and size of the dough balls. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of these problems, and its object is to provide a dividing device that can appropriately divide food dough according to setting conditions of the food dough, including at least the water content of the food dough.

[0008] In other words, the present invention comprises a device body, a hopper provided on the device body for containing food dough, a cylinder provided on the device body for receiving the food dough from the hopper through a dough inlet provided at the lower end of the hopper, a slider head positioned at one end of the device body and having a divided space capable of receiving food dough from the cylinder, and being vertically movable between a first position for receiving food dough from the cylinder into the divided space and a second position for discharging a plurality of divided doughs formed by dividing the food dough from the divided space, one or more partition members that divide the divided space to form a plurality of divided pockets, and each divided pocket capable of simultaneously receiving food dough pushed out from the cylinder, and a mechanism that reciprocates within the cylinder and provides the food dough received in the cylinder to the first position The device comprises a main ram that pushes toward the divided pockets of a fixed slide head, a knife that reciprocates parallel to the main ram between the hopper and the cylinder to open and close the dough inlet, and a piston housed in each divided pocket, which slides within the divided pocket to allow the divided pocket to accept the food dough when the food dough is pushed into the divided space, and a piston that is fixed within the divided pocket to allow the divided pocket to accept the food dough, and a piston that is fixed within the divided pocket to allow the divided pocket to accept the food dough, and can be arbitrarily set to a fixed state and a movable state, wherein the partition member can be arbitrarily set to a fixed state and a movable state, in the fixed state the partition member is fixed within the divided space and divides the divided space, while in the movable state the partition member slides within the divided pocket together with the piston in the divided pocket which is set to the open state. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] The dividing device of the present invention allows for the arbitrary setting of open and closed states of the dividing pockets arranged on the slide head by a piston, as well as the arbitrary setting of fixed and movable states of the partition members. Therefore, by combining these settings, the dividing device can configure the dividing pockets according to setting conditions such as the weight of the divided dough, the number of divided dough pieces produced per unit time, and the water content of the food dough, and can divide the food dough in a manner suitable for the setting conditions. As a result, the dividing device can mechanically produce divided dough with high shaping accuracy, even for food dough with different water content. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This figure shows one embodiment of a dividing device to which the present invention is applied. [Figure 2] This is a schematic diagram showing a dough divider with the dough inlet open. [Figure 3] This is a perspective view showing the mounting relationship between the main body of the device and the slide head. [Figure 4] This is a front view of the slide head. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram showing a food dough divider with the food dough pressed into the slide head. [Figure 6] This is a perspective view showing a food dough divider with the food dough pressed into the slide head. [Figure 7] This is a top view showing a food dough divider with the food dough pressed into the slide head. [Figure 8] This is a schematic diagram showing a food dough dispensing device from a sliding head. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] The dividing device of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings.

[0012] Figure 1 shows an example of an embodiment of a dividing device 100 to which the present invention is applied. The dividing device 100 is an automated machine used in the bread-making process to divide bread dough, which is a food dough, into predetermined amounts of dough balls. In the bread-making process, after dividing the bread dough into multiple dough balls using the dividing device 100, the process proceeds to the intermediate fermentation before the baking process. After performing predetermined processing on the received bread dough, the dividing device 100 sequentially discharges the dough balls from the belt conveyor 110. Setting conditions for the bread dough, such as the weight of the dough balls, the number of units produced per unit time, and the water content of the bread dough, can be input from the operation panel 120 to the control unit (not shown). In this embodiment, high-water-content bread dough is used as an example of food dough, but various other types of dough can be used, such as dough for cookies, noodles, and fried foods.

[0013] The dividing device 100 has a device frame 130, and a device body 200 is housed within the device frame 130. A hopper 140 for holding bread dough is provided at the top of the device body 200. The hopper 140 communicates with a cylinder 210 provided on the device body 200 via a dough inlet 141 located at the lower end of the hopper 140. The cylinder 210 can receive bread dough that hangs down from the hopper 140 by its own weight through the dough inlet 141.

[0014] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram showing the positional relationships of the components of the dividing device 100. The dividing device 100 includes a knife 220 that reciprocates along the longitudinal direction within the cylinder 210, and a main ram 230 that reciprocates parallel to the knife 220 within the cylinder 210. Since the knife 220 and the main ram 230 are each driven by independent electric actuators, the control unit can individually set the operation of the knife 220 and the main ram 230. This allows the control unit to move the knife 220 and the main ram 230 forward or backward within the cylinder 210. The operation of the knife 220 and the main ram 230 is determined based on the dough setting conditions input to the control unit. The electric actuator connected to the main ram 230 has a torque sensor for measuring the torque applied to the motor.

[0015] As the knife 220 reciprocates within the cylinder 210, it can close or open the dough inlet 141 relative to the cylinder 210. In other words, the knife 220 can open and close the dough inlet 141. Figure 2 shows the state in which the dough inlet 141 is open. In this open state, the bread dough in the hopper 140 hangs down into the cylinder 210 through the dough inlet 141 due to its own weight. On the other hand, the tip of the knife 220 has a pointed blade, and when the knife 220 moves forward within the cylinder 210 and closes the dough inlet 141, the knife 220 cuts the bread dough hanging down into the cylinder 210 from the dough inlet 141. Furthermore, the control unit can set the knife 220 to partially close the dough inlet 141, leaving a small gap between it and the dough inlet 141. In this case, the dough hanging inside the cylinder 210 is not cut, and the dough in the hopper 140 and the dough in the cylinder 210 are integrated.

[0016] The main ram 230 can move forward in the cylinder 210 toward the slide head 240 disposed at one end of the apparatus main body 200. Thereby, the bread dough in the cylinder 210 is extruded toward the slide head 240. The bread dough extruded by the main ram 230 is pushed into the divided space 250 provided in the slide head 240. The divided space 250 is partitioned into a plurality of divided pockets 241 by a partitioning member 251 described later.

[0017] The control unit can arbitrarily set the moving speed of the main ram 230. Thereby, the dividing apparatus 100 can set the number of dough balls produced per unit time. Therefore, the moving speed of the main ram 230 is set according to the number of dough balls produced per unit time input to the control unit via the operation panel 120 in the dividing apparatus 100.

[0018] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the mounting relationship between the apparatus main body 200 and the slide head 240, and the hopper 140 provided on the upper part of the apparatus main body 200 is omitted. The slide head 240 is held vertically movably with respect to the apparatus main body 200 by a pair of support portions 201 provided at one end of the apparatus main body 200. Therefore, the slide head 240 can move vertically between a first position where one end of the divided space 250 faces the cylinder 210 to receive bread dough and a second position where the bread dough is discharged from the divided space 250. In FIG. 2, the position of the slide head 240 shown by the solid line is the first position, and the position of the slide head 240 shown by the broken line is the second position.

[0019] Figure 4 is a front view of the slide head 240. The divided space 250 communicates with the cylinder 210 at the first position of the slide head 240. The divided space 250 is formed to penetrate from one end to the other end of the slide head 240. One or more partition members 251 are arranged in the divided space 250. The partition member 251 can partition the inside of the divided space 250 into a plurality of divided pockets 241. In the slide head 240 of the present embodiment, three partition members 251 are arranged at equal intervals along the width direction of the divided space 250. Therefore, the slide head 240 has four divided pockets 241 in a horizontal row. The partition member 251 can be arbitrarily set to a fixed state and a movable state. In the fixed state, the partition member 251 is fixed in the divided space 250. On the other hand, in the movable state, the fixing of the partition member 251 to the divided space 250 is released, and the partition member 251 can slide in the divided space 250 along the longitudinal direction of the divided pocket 241. In the present embodiment, all the partition members 251 are set to the fixed state.

[0020] A piston 243 is accommodated in the divided pocket 241. The piston 243 is formed to have substantially the same size as the cross-sectional area of the divided pocket 241. The piston 243 can slide in the divided pocket 241 along the longitudinal direction of the divided pocket 241. Therefore, when the bread dough is pushed in by the main ram 230, the piston 243 accommodated in the divided pocket 241 slides in the divided pocket 241, and the bread dough is pushed in from one end of the divided pocket 241. This state is referred to as an open state in which the divided pocket 241 can receive the bread dough.

[0021] On the other hand, the piston 243 can be fixed in the divided pocket 241 by a fixing pin 244. The fixing pin 244 passes through a hole (not shown) formed in the upper part of the divided space 250 and is inserted into a recess 245 provided on the upper part of the piston 243. As a result, the piston 243 fixed in the divided pocket 241 does not slide when the dough is pushed towards the divided pocket 241 by the main ram 230, and functions as a lid that closes the divided pocket 241. This state is called the closed state in which the divided pocket 241 cannot accept dough. As a result, the piston 243 can be arbitrarily set to an open state and a closed state for each of the multiple divided pockets 241 provided in the slide head 240.

[0022] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram showing the state in which bread dough is pushed into the divided pocket 241. In this state, a portion of the bread dough 300 hanging from the hopper 140 is cut by the knife 220, and the dough inlet 141 is closed. The slide head 240 is set to a first position in which one end of the divided pocket 241 faces the cylinder 210. The bread dough 300 inside the cylinder 210 is pushed towards the divided pocket 241 as the main ram 230 moves forward, and a portion of the bread dough 300 is pushed into the open divided pocket 241. In this case, if all the divided pockets 241 are open, a portion of the bread dough 300 is pushed into all of the divided pockets 241. On the other hand, if some of the divided pockets 241 are set to a closed state, a portion of the bread dough 300 is pushed only into the divided pockets 241 other than the closed divided pockets 241.

[0023] Figure 6 is a perspective view showing the slide head 240 with a portion of the dough 300 pressed into the divided pocket 241. In this slide head 240, of the four divided pockets 241 arranged, the two outer divided pockets 241a are set to be open, and the inner divided pocket 241b is set to be closed. Also, all of the partition members 251 are set to be fixed. When the main ram 230 pushes the dough 300 in the cylinder 210 toward the slide head 240, the piston 243a housed in the open divided pocket 241a is pushed by the dough 300 and slides within the divided pocket 241a, pushing a portion out from the other end of the divided pocket 241a. The volume of dough 300 exposed from the other end of the divided pocket 241a is pressed into the divided pocket 241a by the piston 243a. Although the dough 300 pressed into the divided pocket 241a is integrated with the dough 300 inside the cylinder 210, Figure 7 is a diagram showing only the slide head 240, and therefore depicts a cross-section of the dough 300 inside the divided pocket 241a.

[0024] In this embodiment, the dividing device 100 closes the dough inlet 141 by the control of the knife 220, but the dough inlet 141 may be partially closed. In this case, when the bread dough 300 is pushed out into the dividing pocket 241 by the main ram 230, any excess bread dough 300 relative to the volume of the cylinder 210 is pushed back into the hopper 140 through the dough inlet 141. Therefore, setting the dough inlet 141 to partially close reduces damage to the bread dough 300, which is particularly effective for bread dough with a high water content. The control unit can set the dough inlet 141 to be closed or partially closed according to the water content of the bread dough 300.

[0025] On the other hand, when the main ram 230 pushes the dough 300 in the cylinder 210 toward the slide head 240, the piston 243b in the dividing pocket 241b functions as a lid for the dividing pocket 241b, so that the dough 300 is not pushed into the dividing pocket 241b. For this reason, the cross-section of the piston 243b is shown in the dividing pocket 241b in Figure 6. Note that the open and closed states of the multiple dividing pockets 241 do not need to be the same as the settings for the dividing device 100 in this embodiment, and can be changed as appropriate according to setting conditions such as the weight of the dough ball, the amount of dough ball produced per unit time, and the water content of the dough ball.

[0026] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram showing the state as observed from the top surface of the main body 200 of the device, with a portion of the bread dough 300 pressed into the divided pocket 241a. The piston 243a pushed out from the divided pocket 241a is received by an extrusion member 400 provided at a position opposite the other end of the divided pocket 241. This stops the piston 243a from sliding within the divided pocket 241a. In other words, the extrusion member 400 sets the furthest retracted position of the piston 243a, and the furthest retracted position of the piston 243a can be changed by changing the position of the extrusion member 400. This allows the dividing device 100 to adjust the volume of bread dough 300 filled into the divided pocket 241a. The extrusion member 400 can be moved in the sliding direction of the piston 243a by an actuator (not shown), and when the target weight of the dough ball is set on the operation panel 120, the actuator operates to set the furthest retracted position of the piston 243a.

[0027] The extrusion member 400 is provided to correspond to all of the divided pockets 241. Therefore, even when all of the divided pockets 241 are set to the open position, the extrusion member 400 can receive the piston 243a corresponding to each divided pocket 241. Furthermore, the extrusion member 400 can move up and down together with the slide head 240 between a first position and a second position. The up and down movements of the extrusion member 400 and the slide head 240 are synchronized.

[0028] The main ram 230 has an upper limit set for the pressing force applied to the dough 300, and moves forward within the cylinder 210 toward the slide head 240 until the pressing force of the main ram 230 reaches the upper limit threshold. That is, the electric actuator that drives the main ram 230 has a torque threshold set for the motor, and the electric actuator measures the torque applied to the motor using a torque sensor. Therefore, the value of the torque applied to the motor is less than the threshold until the piston 243 pushed out from the divided pocket 241 contacts the extrusion member 400, while the value gradually increases until it reaches the threshold from the time the piston 243 contacts the extrusion member 400 until the driving of the main ram 230 stops.

[0029] In this process, the main ram 230 moves smoothly forward until the piston 243, which is pushed out of the dividing pocket 241, contacts the extrusion member 400, and then moves slowly from the time the piston 243 contacts the extrusion member 400 until the drive of the main ram 230 stops. When the torque applied to the motor reaches the threshold, the main ram 230 stops while applying pressure to the dough 300. The threshold for the pressing force of the main ram 230, that is, the threshold for the torque applied to the motor, can be set according to the water content of the dough 300 as a setting condition. Therefore, the dividing device 100 can be configured such that the threshold for the pressing force of the main ram 230 is set according to the water content of the dough 300 input via the operation panel 120.

[0030] For example, when using dough with a high water content, the threshold pressure of the main ram 230 can be set lower compared to when using dough with a normal water content. This prevents moisture from leaking out of the dough 300 being pressed into the division pocket 241. Furthermore, if the pressure of the main ram 230 is kept constant regardless of the water content, there are concerns that the dough 300 will not be sufficiently filled into the division pocket 241, or that the dough 300 will be damaged. However, since the dividing device 100 can set the pressure of the main ram 230 according to the water content, it is possible to achieve an optimal setting that takes into account both the filling of the dough 300 into the division pocket 241 and the damage to the dough 300.

[0031] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram showing the dividing device 100 with the slide head 240 and the extrusion member 400 set to the second position. The slide head 240 and the extrusion member 400 descend after a portion of the bread dough 300 has been pushed into the dividing pocket 241. At this time, a portion of the bread dough 300 filled into the dividing pocket 241 is cut from the bread dough 300 filled in the cylinder 210 to form dough balls 500 corresponding to the volume of each dividing pocket 241. The dough balls 500 are independent divided doughs that have been cut from the bread dough 300, which is food dough. As shown in Figure 9, when the slide head 240 and the extrusion member 400 are set to the second position, the extrusion member 400 pushes back the piston 243a, which has been pushed out by the bread dough 300, toward the cylinder 210. As a result, the dough balls 500 contained in the dividing pocket 241a are discharged from one end of the dividing pocket 241a.

[0032] In this embodiment, the dividing device 100 has the dividing pockets 241a at both ends of the multiple dividing pockets 241 set to an open state, so that two dough balls 500 are discharged from each dividing pocket 241a. When the dough balls 500 are discharged from the dividing pockets 241a, they stick to the slide head 240 in a state that is slightly wider than the opening of the dividing pocket 241.

[0033] Here, since the bread dough 300 with a high water content is highly adhesive, if the dough balls 500 produced from the bread dough 300 come into contact with each other, they may stick together and merge into one. In this regard, the dividing device 100 of this embodiment sets the dividing pockets 241a at both ends to an open state, leaving a gap of two dividing pockets between the discharged dough balls 500. Therefore, even when using bread dough 300 with a high water content, contact between the discharged dough balls 500 can be prevented. On the other hand, in the case of bread dough 300 with a normal water content, since it has lower viscosity compared to high-water-content bread dough 300, even if the dough balls 500 come into contact with each other, they will not merge, and dough balls 500 can be produced without problems even if all the dividing pockets 241 are in an open state. Thus, the setting of the dividing pockets 241 to be open or closed can be arbitrarily changed according to the water content of the bread dough 300. However, when producing multiple dough balls 500 from a dough 300 with a high water content, it is preferable to set the open divider pockets 241a so that they are not adjacent to each other. In other words, it is preferable to set the divider pockets 241 such that one or more closed divider pockets 241b are sandwiched between open divider pockets 241a. As a result, the dough balls 500 discharged from the divider pockets 241a are spaced at least one divider pocket apart and are attached to the slide head 240.

[0034] The dough balls 500 that are stuck to the slide head 240 are scraped off the slide head 240 by the downward swing of an electric flicker 600 equipped with a scraper at its tip, and fall onto the belt conveyor 110. The timing of the downward swing of the electric flicker 600 can be changed according to the weight of the dough balls and the number of dough balls produced per unit time, which are input to the control unit. In addition, the downward movement speed of the electric flicker 600 can be changed according to the water content of the bread dough 300, which is input to the control unit. In this embodiment, the dividing device 100 produces dough balls 500 using high-water-content bread dough 300, so the bread dough 500 that are stuck to the slide head 240 are highly fluid and tend to sag downward due to gravity, easily losing their shape. For this reason, it is necessary to quickly scrape the dough balls 500 discharged from the slide head 240 onto the belt conveyor 110, and the movement speed of the electric flicker 600 is set faster than when producing bread dough 300 with a normal water content.

[0035] Next, the knife 220 and the main ram 230 each retract to their furthest retracted positions within the cylinder 210. When the knife 220 retracts, the dough inlet 141 of the cylinder 210 is fully opened, and the dough in the hopper 140 flows into the cylinder 210. At this time, there is a slight negative pressure inside the cylinder 210, so the dough in the hopper 140 is sucked into the cylinder 210 as the main ram 230 retracts. This allows the dough in the hopper 140 to flow quickly and be filled into the cylinder 210 from the dough inlet 141. After that, the main ram 230 pushes the dough 300 into the dividing pocket 241, and the process of discharging the dough from the dividing pocket 241 and dropping it onto the belt conveyor 110 is repeated, thereby producing a predetermined amount of dough balls 500.

[0036] As described above, the dividing device 100 allows the partition members 251 to be set to either a fixed or movable state, thus enabling a wide range of adjustment for the weight of the dough balls and allowing the spacing between the dough balls discharged from the slide head 240 to be set arbitrarily. In the dividing device 100 of this embodiment, all partition members 251 are set to a fixed state and the central dividing pocket 241 is set to a closed state, but this is just one example of the settings for the dividing device 100 using high-hydration bread dough 300. For example, when using bread dough 300 with a normal hydration rate, the central partition member 251a can be set to a fixed state, the partition members 251b at both ends can be set to a movable state, and all dividing pockets 241 can be set to an open state (see Figure 4). In this case, when the bread dough 300 is pushed in from the cylinder 210, the partition members 251b other than the central partition member 251a and all the pistons 243 slide and are pushed out from the other end of the dividing space 250. Therefore, each of the dough balls 300 pushed in on either side of the partition member 251a becomes the size of two division pockets 241. Thus, the dividing device 100 can adjust the amount of dough balls pushed into the division pockets 241 by setting the piston's furthest retracted position, and the weight of the dough balls can also be adjusted by the partition member 251. When increasing the weight of the dough balls, one can also adjust the piston's furthest retracted position, but rather than pushing the dough to a deep position in the division pockets 241, which have a smaller cross-section, it is more effective to reduce dough damage by merging adjacent division pockets 241 to reduce the amount of dough pushed in.

[0037] Furthermore, the dividing device 100 can arbitrarily set the open and closed states of the dividing pockets 241 arranged by the piston 243. Therefore, it is possible to set the device appropriately for both the case of using bread dough 300 with a normal water content and the case of using bread dough 300 with a high water content. For example, in the case of high-water-content bread dough 300, by configuring the dividing device 100 of this embodiment so that one or more closed dividing pockets 241b are sandwiched between open dividing pockets 241a, it is possible to mechanically mass-produce high-water-content dough balls while improving the shaping accuracy of the dough balls. On the other hand, in the case of bread dough 300 with a normal water content, it is possible to set all dividing pockets 241 to the open state to perform mass production that prioritizes production efficiency. In addition to the water content, the open and closed states of the dividing pockets 241 can also be changed according to setting conditions such as the weight of the dough balls and the number of dough balls produced per unit time. Therefore, the dividing device 100 can appropriately divide food dough according to the setting conditions.

[0038] Furthermore, the dividing device 100 can arbitrarily set the settings of the partition member 251 and the dividing pocket 241 by the piston 243, and combine these settings. This allows the dividing device 100 to make appropriate settings according to the water content, weight, and number of units produced per unit time of the bread dough used.

[0039] In addition, the dividing device 100 can control the operation of the knife 220, the main ram 230, and the electric flicker 600 by inputting setting conditions, including the water content of the bread dough 300, into the control unit. The control unit can set the dough inlet 141 to be closed, partially closed, or open by controlling the knife 220. The control unit can also set the pressing force of the main ram 230 against the food dough by controlling the electric actuator that drives the main ram 230. Furthermore, the control unit can change the movement speed of the electric flicker 600. Therefore, the dividing device 100 can integrally control the knife 220, the main ram 230, and the electric flicker 600 according to the setting conditions. For example, in the case of bread dough 300 with a water content of 120%, the knife 220 can be set to partially closed, the pressing force of the main ram 230 against the food dough can be set to low, and the downward swinging speed of the electric flicker 600 can be set to the fastest speed. On the other hand, in the case of bread dough 300 with a water content of 60%, the knife 220 can be set to closed, the pressing force of the main ram 230 can be set to high, and the downward swinging speed of the electric flicker 600 can be set to normal. In this way, by controlling the knife 220, the main ram 230, and the electric flicker 600 according to the water content of the bread dough 300, dough balls 500 with high shaping accuracy can be mechanically produced even for food doughs with different water content. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0040] 100...Dividing device, 110...Belt conveyor, 120...Operation panel, 130...Device frame, 140...Hopper, 141...Dough inlet, 200...Device body, 210...Cylinder, 220...Knife, 230...Main ram, 240...Slide head, 241...Dividing pocket, 243...Piston, 300...Bread dough, 400...Extrusion member, 500...Dough ball, 600...Electric flicker

Claims

1. The main body of the device, A hopper for containing food dough is provided on the main body of the apparatus, A cylinder provided on the main body of the apparatus and receiving the food dough from the hopper through a dough inlet provided at the lower end of the hopper, A slider head is positioned at one end of the main body of the apparatus and has a dividing space capable of receiving food dough from the cylinder, and is vertically movable between a first position for receiving food dough from the cylinder into the dividing space and a second position for discharging a plurality of divided doughs formed by dividing the food dough from the dividing space. One or more partition members that divide the partitioned space to form a plurality of partitioned pockets, and each partitioned pocket is capable of simultaneously receiving food dough extruded from the cylinder, A main ram reciprocates within the cylinder, pressing the food dough received within the cylinder and pushing it toward the divided pocket of the slide head set to the first position, A knife that reciprocates parallel to the main ram between the hopper and the cylinder, and opens and closes the dough inlet, A piston is housed within each divided pocket and, when the food dough is pushed into the divided space, slides within the divided pocket to set the divided pocket to an open state where it can accept the food dough, and fixed within the divided pocket to set the divided pocket to a closed state where it cannot accept the food dough. Equipped with, The partition member can be arbitrarily set to a fixed state or a movable state. A dividing device characterized in that, in the fixed state, the partition member is fixed within the dividing space and demarcates the dividing space, while in the movable state, the partition member slides within the dividing pocket together with a piston in the dividing pocket which is set to an open state.

2. An electric flicker for scraping off the multiple divided fabrics pushed out from the divided pocket, A control unit that can change the movement speed of the electric flicker according to setting conditions including at least the water content of the food dough, The dividing device according to claim 1, further comprising the following:

3. The splitting device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit can integrally control the main ram and the electric flicker according to the setting conditions.

4. The pressing force of the main ram against the food dough is set to a threshold value that corresponds to the water content of the food dough. The splitting device according to claim 1, characterized in that the slide head moves from the first position to the second position after the pressing force of the main ram reaches a threshold and the main ram stops.

5. The dividing device according to claim 4, characterized in that the control unit changes the threshold according to the input water addition rate.

6. The splitting device according to claim 5, wherein the control unit can integrally control the speed of the electric flicker and the pressing force of the main ram according to the setting conditions.

7. The splitting device according to claim 6, wherein the control unit can integrally control the knife, the main ram, and the electric flicker according to the setting conditions.

8. The dividing device according to claim 7, characterized in that the knife can be set to partially close the dough inlet where there is a gap.

9. The dividing device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the control unit can integrally control the opening, closing, or partial closing of the dough introduction opening by the knife, the speed of the electric flicker, and the pressing force of the main ram, according to the setting conditions.

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