Hull peeling device

Abstract

To provide a hulling device capable of suppressing abrasion of a fixed roll and a movable roll.SOLUTION: This hulling device comprises a torque sensor for detecting load torque of a displacement motor 51. When the load torque detected by the torque sensor exceeds a prescribed threshold value, contact between a fixed roll 20a and a movable roll 20b is determined. Thus, when such contact is determined, the conventional necessity of contacting between the fixed roll 20a and the movable roll 20b in a rotational state can be eliminated. Even when operation is repeated at the initial interval between the roles, abrasion of the fixed roll 20a and the movable roll 20b can be suppressed.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a rice hulling device, and more particularly to a rice hulling device capable of suppressing wear of a fixed roll and a movable roll.

Background Art

[0002] There is known a rice hulling device that passes paddy between a fixed roll and a movable roll to perform rice hulling (hulling). In this type of rice hulling device, there is a technique for adjusting the roll gap by relatively displacing the movable roll with respect to the fixed roll by the driving force of a displacement motor. As such a rice hulling device, for example, Patent Document 1 describes a technique for detecting the drive current or load torque of a rotary drive motor 13 that rotates a fixed roll and a movable roll, and setting an initial gap between the rolls based on the detection result.

[0003] Specifically, in the technique of Patent Document 1, first, the movable roll is rotated by the driving force of the rotary drive motor 13, and the movable roll in the rotating state is brought into contact with the fixed roll by the driving force of the moving motor 64. Since a load (resistance) is generated in the rotation of the fixed roll and the movable roll due to this contact, the values of the drive current and load torque of the rotary drive motor 13 that rotates each roll increase. The position where this value has risen to a predetermined value is set as a reference point where the rolls are in contact, and the initial gap is set by separating the rolls from each other by a predetermined amount from this reference point. According to this technique, for example, even when the fixed roll or the movable roll is worn, rice hulling can always be started with an appropriate initial gap.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in the above-described conventional technology, since it is necessary to bring the rotating rolls into contact with each other every time the initial interval between the rolls is set, there is a problem that the fixed roll and the movable roll are easily worn out.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a rice hulling device capable of suppressing wear of a fixed roll and a movable roll.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] To achieve this object, the rice hulling device of the present invention includes a fixed roll, a movable roll that is relatively displaced with respect to the fixed roll, a displacement motor that displaces the movable roll, displacement means that displaces the movable roll in a direction approaching the fixed roll by the driving force of the displacement motor, determination means that determines whether or not the movable roll displaced by the displacement means has come into contact with the fixed roll, and setting means that sets an initial interval between the rolls by separating the movable roll from the fixed roll by a predetermined amount when it is determined by the determination means that the contact has occurred. The rice hulling device includes a torque sensor that detects a load torque of the displacement motor, and the determination means determines that the contact has occurred when the load torque detected by the torque sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value. The rice hulling device includes a chute for supplying paddy to the fixed roll and the movable roll, a rotating body that rotates when paddy is supplied to the chute, a sensor that is provided separately from the rotating body and faces the lower flow surface of the chute to detect whether paddy is flowing down on the lower flow surface of the chute, a throughput estimation means for estimating the throughput of paddy by the fixed roll and the movable roll after the initial interval is set by the setting means based on the period during which the rotating body rotates and the sensor detects the flow of paddy, a wear amount estimation means for estimating the wear amounts of the fixed roll and the movable roll from the throughput estimated by the throughput estimation means, and an adjustment means for adjusting the roll interval during rice hulling by displacing the movable roll in a direction approaching the fixed roll according to the wear amount estimated by the wear amount estimation means. It is.

Effects of the Invention

[0008] According to the rice hulling device described in claim 1, since it includes a torque sensor that detects the load torque of the displacement motor and determines that the fixed roll and the movable roll are in contact when the load torque detected by the torque sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value, it is possible to eliminate the need to bring the rotating rolls into contact with each other when determining such contact. Therefore, even if the initial interval between the rolls is repeatedly set, there is an effect that wear of the fixed roll and the movable roll can be suppressed.

[0009] Also, Claim 1 According to the rice hulling device described , ro After the initial interval between the rolls is set, the amount of paddy processed by the fixed roll and the movable roll is estimated, and the amount of wear of the fixed roll and the movable roll is estimated from the estimated processing amount. By displacing the movable roll in the direction approaching the fixed roll according to the amount of wear, the interval between the rolls during paddy rubbing is adjusted. Therefore, even when the fixed roll and the movable roll are worn during paddy rubbing, paddy rubbing can always be performed at an appropriate interval. Thus, there is an effect that the hulling rate of paddy can be improved.

[0010] Also, Claim 1 According to the paddy rubbing device described in , so a chute for supplying paddy to the fixed roll and the movable roll, and the chute faces the lower flow surface and on the lower flow surface detects whether or not paddy is flowing down sensor and is provided with. sensor Since the amount of paddy processed is estimated based on the period during which the flow of paddy is detected, the amount of paddy supplied to the fixed roll and the movable roll via the chute (i.e., the amount of paddy processed) can be accurately estimated. As a result, the amount of wear of the fixed roll and the movable roll can also be accurately estimated, so that the interval between the rolls during paddy rubbing can be set to a more appropriate interval. Thus, there is an effect that the hulling rate of paddy can be improved.

[0011] Also, Claim 1 According to the paddy rubbing device described in , sh is provided with a rotating body that rotates when paddy is supplied to the chute, The sensor is provided separately from the rotating body. the rotating body rotates, and sensor since the amount of paddy processed is estimated based on the period during which the flow of paddy is detected, the amount of paddy supplied to the fixed roll and the movable roll can be estimated more accurately than when estimating the amount of paddy processed only from, for example, the rotation speed of the rotating body. As a result, the amount of wear of the fixed roll and the movable roll can also be estimated more accurately, so that the interval between the rolls during paddy rubbing can be set to an even more appropriate interval. Thus, there is an effect that the hulling rate of paddy can be improved.

[0012] Claim 2 According to the paddy rubbing device described in claim 1In addition to the effects of the described rice folding device, since the rotating body has a plurality of blades arranged around its rotation axis and is a feed roller that quantitatively supplies paddy to the chute, it is possible to endow the feed roller with a function for estimating the processing amount of paddy and a function for quantitatively supplying paddy to the chute. As a result, there is an effect that it is not necessary to separately provide a rotating body for estimating the processing amount of paddy in addition to the feed roller.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0013]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0014] Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, with reference to FIG. 1, the overall configuration of the rice folding device 1 will be described. FIG. 1(a) is a cross-sectional schematic view schematically showing a cross-section of the rice folding device 1 in one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1(b) is a cross-sectional schematic view of the rice folding device 1 taken along line Ib-Ib of FIG. 1(a). In FIG. 1(b), the illustration of the chute 14 (see FIG. 1(a)) is omitted.

[0015] The rice folding device 1 includes a fixed roll 20a and a movable roll 20b housed in its housing 10, and is a device that passes paddy through the rice folding area A between the rolls of the fixed roll 20a and the movable roll 20b to perform rice folding (hulling). In the following description, when the fixed roll 20a and the movable roll 20b are described together, they will be described as each roll 20a, 20b.

[0016] At the upper end of the housing 10 (the upper side in FIG. 1(a)), a receiving port 11 for receiving paddy supplied from a feeding hopper (not shown) is formed. An inclined plate 12 extends downward from the edge of the receiving port 11 (the left end in FIG. 1(a)), and a feeding roller 30 is disposed at a position close to the lower end of the inclined plate 12.

[0017] The feeding roller 30 is a rotary valve having a plurality of blades 32 arranged around its rotation axis 31 (circumferentially). Since a known configuration can be adopted for this feeding roller 30, the illustration of its detailed configuration is omitted. As a known configuration, the rotary valve 130 in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2017-064660 is exemplified.

[0018] A plurality of disk-shaped partition plates 33 are provided side by side on the feeding roller 30 in the axial direction of the rotation axis 31 (the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 1(a)). The partition plates 33 and the blades 32 partition a space 34 for feeding paddy quantitatively.

[0019] Of the outer peripheral surface of the feeding roller 30, approximately half of the outer peripheral surface on the side (the right side in FIG. 1(a)) where paddy is supplied from the inclined plate 12 is covered by a cover 13. The cover 13 extends downward from the receiving port 11 so as to form a flow path for paddy between it and the outer peripheral surface of the feeding roller 30, and the tip (lower end) of the cover 13 is disposed close to the lower end portion of the feeding roller 30. Therefore, the paddy supplied from the inclined plate 12 to the flow path between the feeding roller 30 and the cover 13 is accommodated in the space 34 of the feeding roller 30, and the paddy accommodated in the space 34 is fed out quantitatively by the plurality of blades 32 due to the rotation of the feeding roller 30 in one direction (the clockwise direction in FIG. 1(a)) and is fed out from the tip portion of the cover 13.

[0020] Below the feeding-out portion of the paddy, a plate-shaped chute 14 that slopes downward toward each of the rolls 20a and 20b is provided. Therefore, the paddy fed out from between the cover 13 and the feeding roller 30 flows down along the flow surface 14a of the chute 14 and is supplied to each of the rolls 20a and 20b. The chute 14 is rotatably supported by the housing 10 by a rotary shaft 14b, and the angle of the chute 14 due to this rotation is adjusted by a cam 67 described later.

[0021] Further, the chute 14 is provided with a capacitance sensor S for detecting the presence or absence of paddy flowing down on the flow surface 14a. The detection of the presence or absence of paddy by the capacitance sensor S is for adjusting the roll interval between the rolls 20a and 20b according to the processing amount of paddy. The adjustment of this roll interval will be described later.

[0022] Belt pulleys P1 and P2 having different outer diameters are respectively fixed to the rotary shafts 21a and 21b of each of the rolls 20a and 20b, and a drive belt (not shown) that is wound around a belt pulley (not shown) fixed to the drive shaft of the rotary motor 40 and a belt pulley P3 supported by the housing 10 is wound around these belt pulleys P1 and P2.

[0023] By transmitting the driving force of the rotary motor 40 through the drive belt, the rotary shafts 21a and 21b of each of the rolls 20a and 20b rotate at different rotational speeds in opposite directions to each other. Rim members 22a and 22b formed in a cylindrical shape using a metal material (steel) are fixed to the rotary shafts 21a and 21b, and the outer peripheral surfaces of these rim members 22a and 22b are covered by elastic rolls 23a and 23b made of an elastic material (rubber-like elastic body).

[0024] When the paddy passes through the paddy rubbing region A between the rotating elastic rolls 23a and 23b, the paddy is husked and becomes brown rice. The husks and brown rice separated after passing through the paddy rubbing region A are discharged to the outside of the housing 10 from a discharge port 15 formed at the lower end (lower side in FIG. 1(a)) of the housing 10.

[0025] When the elastic rolls 23a and 23b wear due to such rice hulling, the roll interval between the respective rolls 20a and 20b increases. Since the hulling rate (the ratio of brown rice obtained from the paddy) decreases due to this increase in the interval, the rice hulling device 1 of the present embodiment is configured to always adjust such an interval to an appropriate state. This configuration will be described below.

[0026] The rotating shaft 21a of the fixed roll 20a is rotatably supported by the housing 10, while the rotating shaft 21b of the movable roll 20b is rotatably supported by the swing arm 16. The shaft 16a of the swing arm 16 is rotatably supported by the housing 10, and a driving force for swinging (rotating) the swing arm 16 about this shaft 16a is applied from the interval adjusting mechanism 50.

[0027] The interval adjusting mechanism 50 includes a displacement motor 51, a rotating shaft 52 rotatably supported by the housing 10, and a connecting body 53 that constitutes a ball screw mechanism together with the rotating shaft 52 and is connected to the swing arm 16. A chain (not shown) is wound around between a gear 51a fixed to the drive shaft of the displacement motor 51 and a gear 52a fixed to the rotating shaft 52.

[0028] The rotating shaft 52 is rotated in the forward or reverse direction by the driving force of the displacement motor 51, and the connecting body 53 is linearly moved in the extending or shortening direction with respect to the rotating shaft 52, whereby the swing arm 16 is pushed and pulled by the connecting body 53. As a result, the swing arm 16 is swung (rotated) about the shaft 16a, and the opposing interval between the respective rolls 20a and 20b is increased or decreased.

[0029] The displacement motor 51 is provided with a torque sensor (not shown), and the load torque generated in the displacement motor 51 is detected by the torque sensor. In the present embodiment, the initial value of the roll interval (hereinafter referred to as "initial interval") is set using the load torque detected by this torque sensor. The process of setting this initial interval will be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of the initial interval setting process. The initial interval setting process is executed by the control device (CPU) of the rice hulling device 1 when the power is turned on to the rice hulling device 1.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 2, in the initial interval setting process, first, the movable roll 20b is displaced from the retracted position in the direction approaching the fixed roll 20a (S1). Note that the retracted position is a position where the movable roll 20b is separated from the fixed roll 20a by a predetermined amount after the stop instruction for paddy threshing in the process of S18 (see FIG. 2) of the paddy threshing process described later.

[0031] After the process of S1, it is confirmed whether or not the value of the load torque of the displacement motor 51 detected by the torque sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value (S2). When the detected value of the torque sensor does not exceed the predetermined threshold value (S2: No), since the movable roll 20b is displaced in a state of being separated from the fixed roll 20a (or the rolls 20a and 20b are slightly in contact), the process of S2 is repeated.

[0032] On the other hand, when the detected value of the torque sensor exceeds the predetermined threshold value, that is, when the load torque generated in the displacement motor 51 becomes larger than a predetermined value (S2: Yes), since the movable roll 20b is in contact with the fixed roll 20a, the movable roll 20b is displaced in the direction away from the fixed roll 20a (S3).

[0033] After the process of S3, it is confirmed whether or not the displacement amount of the movable roll 20b in the direction away from the fixed roll 20a exceeds a predetermined threshold value (S4). The threshold value of S4 may be appropriately changed according to the initial interval to be set. When the displacement amount of the movable roll 20b in the direction away from the fixed roll 20a does not exceed the predetermined threshold value (S4: No), since the desired initial interval has not been reached, the process of S4 is repeated.

[0034] On the other hand, when the displacement amount of the movable roll 20b exceeds the predetermined threshold value (S4: Yes), since the roll interval has reached the desired initial interval, the displacement of the movable roll 20b is stopped (S5), and the initial interval setting process is terminated.

[0035] In this way, by setting the initial interval with the position where each roll 20a, 20b comes into contact as a reference point and separating the rolls from each other by a predetermined amount from that reference point, even when each roll 20a, 20b wears out, husk rubbing can always be started at an appropriate initial interval. And in this embodiment, when the load torque of the displacement motor 51 detected by the torque sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value, it is determined that each roll 20a, 20b is in contact. Thereby, it is possible to eliminate the need to rotate each roll 20a, 20b by the rotation motor 40 when determining the contact of each roll 20a, 20b as in the prior art (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-239282). Therefore, even if the setting of the initial interval between the rolls is repeated, wear of each roll 20a, 20b can be suppressed.

[0036] With such a setting of the initial interval, husk rubbing can be started at an appropriate roll interval. However, if husk rubbing is continuously performed, the roll interval will increase due to wear of each roll 20a, 20b. Therefore, in this embodiment, a process of adjusting the roll interval is also performed during husk rubbing after the initial interval is set. This process will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the husk rubbing process. The husk rubbing process is executed when an instruction to start husk rubbing is input (for example, when a switch for starting the rotation of each roll 20a, 20b is pressed).

[0037] As shown in FIG. 3, in the husk rubbing process, first, the feed roller 30 is driven (S10), and the husks are fed out quantitatively toward the chute 14. After the process of S10, it is confirmed whether the husks are flowing down on the lower flow surface 14a of the chute 14, that is, whether the capacitance sensor S is ON (S11).

[0038] When the capacitance sensor S is ON (S11: Yes), since the husks are being supplied to each roll 20a, 20b via the chute 14, the number of rotations of the feed roller 30 is calculated from the time during which the capacitance sensor S is ON and the rotation speed of the feed roller 30 (S12). That is, the integrated number of rotations of the feed roller 30 during the period when the capacitance sensor S is ON is calculated.

[0039] After the process of S12, the amount of paddy processed is estimated from the calculated rotational speed of the delivery roller 30 (S13). This estimation of the processing amount is performed by referring to the processing amount data stored in the paddy rubbing device 1, which is the processing amount data obtained by previously measuring the relationship between the rotational speed of the delivery roller 30 and the amount of paddy fed out from the delivery roller 30 at that rotational speed.

[0040] After the process of S13, referring to the data programmed in advance that shows the correlation between the amount of paddy processed and the wear amount of each of the rollers 20a, 20b, the wear amount of each of the rollers 20a, 20b is estimated from the amount of paddy processed estimated in S13 (S14).

[0041] After estimating the wear amount of each of the rollers 20a, 20b in the process of S14, the movable roller 20b is displaced in the direction approaching the fixed roller 20a by the amount of the estimated wear (S15). As a result, even when each of the rollers 20a, 20b wears during paddy rubbing after the initial interval is set, paddy rubbing can always be performed at an appropriate interval, so the husk removal rate of paddy can be improved.

[0042] Also, the estimation of the amount of paddy processed in S14 is performed based on the period (ON time) during which the flow-down of paddy is detected by the capacitance sensor S. That is, based on the period during which paddy actually flows down to each of the rollers 20a, 20b via the chute 14, the amount of paddy supplied to each of the rollers 20a, 20b is estimated, so the amount of paddy processed by each of the rollers 20a, 20b can be accurately estimated. As a result, the wear amount of each of the rollers 20a, 20b can also be accurately estimated, so the interval between the rollers during paddy rubbing can be set to a more appropriate interval.

[0043] Here, for example, it is also possible to omit the capacitance sensor S and estimate the amount of paddy processed only from the rotational speed of the delivery roller 30, for example. However, in such a configuration, for example, when the delivery roller 30 is idling, the amount of paddy processed (the wear amount of each of the rollers 20a, 20b) is estimated by including the period during which paddy is not actually supplied to each of the rollers 20a, 20b.

[0044] In contrast, in the present embodiment, the throughput of the paddy rice is estimated from the period during which the feed roller 30 rotates and the electrostatic capacitance sensor S detects the flow-down of the paddy rice (the number of rotations of the feed roller 30 during this period). Thereby, for example, compared with the case where the throughput of the paddy rice is estimated only from the number of rotations of the feed roller 30, the throughput of the paddy rice at each of the rolls 20a and 20b can be estimated with high accuracy. Therefore, the wear amount of each of the rolls 20a and 20b can also be estimated with high accuracy, so that the roll interval during paddy rice rubbing can be set to an appropriate interval.

[0045] Further, by estimating the throughput of the paddy rice from the number of rotations of the feed roller 30 that quantitatively supplies the paddy rice to the chute 14, the feed roller 30 can be provided with a function for estimating the throughput and a function for quantitatively supplying the paddy rice to the chute 14. Thereby, it is not necessary to separately provide a rotating body for estimating the throughput of the paddy rice in addition to the feed roller 30, so that the product cost of the paddy rice rubbing device 1 can be reduced.

[0046] After the process of S15 and when the electrostatic capacitance sensor S is not ON in the process of S11 (S11: No), it is confirmed whether there is an instruction to stop the paddy rice rubbing process (for example, whether a switch for ending or temporarily stopping is pressed) (S16). If there is no instruction to stop the paddy rice rubbing process (S16: No), the process returns to the process of S11.

[0047] On the other hand, when there is an instruction to stop the paddy rice rubbing process (S16: Yes), the feed roller 30 is stopped (S17), the movable roll 20b is displaced to the retracted position (S18), and a series of processes are terminated.

[0048] Next, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, a configuration in which the chute 14 follows the displacement of the movable roll 20b will be described. FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the paddy rice rubbing device 1 taken along line IV-IV in FIG. 1(b), and FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the paddy rice rubbing device 1 showing a state in which the angle of the chute 14 has changed following the displacement of the movable roll 20b from the state of FIG. 4. In FIGS. 4 and 5, portions hidden by the partition wall 17 (see FIG. 1) that partitions the housing 10 are illustrated by broken lines.

[0049] As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, when the movable roll 20b is displaced so as to approach the fixed roll 20a in accordance with the wear of each of the rolls 20a and 20b, the rice husk folding region A between the rolls (see FIG. 4) moves in a direction approaching the fixed roll 20a as the wear of each of the rolls 20a and 20b progresses (see the rice husk folding region B in FIG. 5). The rice husk folding device 1 is provided with a link mechanism 60 for causing the chute 14 to follow the movement of the rice husk folding region A.

[0050] The link mechanism 60 includes a boss fitting 61 fixed to the swing arm 16. The boss fitting 61 is fixed to the side opposite to the shaft 16a of the swing arm 16 (the upper end portion of the swing arm 16) with the rotation shaft 21b of the movable roll 20b interposed therebetween.

[0051] A first shaft 62 extending in the same direction as the shaft 16a of the swing arm 16 (the direction perpendicular to the plane of FIG. 4) is fixed to the boss fitting 61, and one end of a first link 63 is rotatably supported by the first shaft 62.

[0052] The first link 63 extends in a substantially horizontal direction from the connection portion with the first shaft 62 toward the upper side of the rotation shaft 21a of the fixed roll 20a, and the other end of the first link 63 is rotatably supported by a second shaft 64 extending in the same direction as the first shaft 62.

[0053] The second shaft 64 is fixed to one end (the upper end) of a second link 65, and the second link 65 extends downward (toward the rotation shaft 21a of the fixed roll 20a) from the connection portion with the first link 63. A cam shaft 66 is fixed to the other end (the lower end) of the second link 65, and the cam shaft 66 is rotatably supported by a partition wall 17 (see FIG. 1) of the housing 10.

[0054] A cam 67 is attached to a portion of the cam shaft 66 on the side opposite to the second link 65 with the partition wall 17 (see FIG. 1) interposed therebetween. The cam 67 is a plate cam eccentric upward from the cam shaft 66, and the eccentric portion thereof contacts the back surface 14c on the side opposite to the flow surface 14a of the chute 14. That is, the rotation of the chute 14 due to its own weight about the rotation shaft 14b (see FIG. 1(a)) described above is supported by the cam 67.

[0055] When wear occurs on each of the rolls 20a and 20b, the movable roll 20b is brought closer to the fixed roll 20a by the oscillation (rotation) of the oscillation arm 16 around the shaft 16a. Due to the oscillation of this oscillation arm 16, the boss fitting 61 fixed to the oscillation arm 16 also rotates in a direction approaching the fixed roll 20a.

[0056] By the rotation of the boss fitting 61, while the first link 63 rotates around the first shaft 62 and the second shaft 64, it pushes the second link 65, so that the camshaft 66 fixed to the second link 65 rotates integrally with the second link 65. As the camshaft 66 rotates, the cam 67 rotates in a direction away from the back surface 14c of the chute 14, so that the chute 14 rotates around the rotation shaft 14b (see Fig. 1(a)) by its own weight. Due to this rotation of the chute 14, the tip of the chute 14 is directed toward the worn rice rubbing area B of each of the rolls 20a and 20b.

[0057] Thus, in this embodiment, the angle of the chute 14 is adjusted by the camshaft 66 that rotates with the displacement of the first link 63 and the second link 65, and the cam 67 attached to the camshaft 66. Thereby, the angle of the chute 14 can be finely adjusted by adjusting the attachment angle of the cam 67 with respect to the camshaft 66 or by adjusting the shape of the cam 67. That is, since the angle of the chute 14 can be finely adjusted to an angle at which rice is easily supplied to the rice rubbing areas A and B, the husk removal rate of the rice can be improved.

[0058] Here, in a conventional rice rubbing device (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2008-259924), one end of the link rod 29 is simply inserted into the engagement port 281 of the regulating member 28. In such a configuration, when vibration due to the rotation of the movable roller 24 around the movable shaft 23 is transmitted to the link rod 29, the rice supply plate 27 (chute) swings due to the play of the link rod 29 within the engagement port 281. When such a swing occurs, the rice flowing down from the rice supply plate 27 falls onto the fixed roller 22 or the movable roller 24 at a position deviated from the rice rubbing area. As a result, the rice is likely to flail (bounce) due to contact with the rotating roller, so that the husk removal rate of the rice is likely to decrease.

[0059] In contrast, in the present embodiment, since one end of the first link 63 (the left end in FIGS. 4 and 5) is rotatably connected to the swing arm 16 (boss fitting 61), even if the vibration caused by the rotation of the movable roll 20b around the rotation axis 21b is transmitted to the first link 63 and the second link 65 via the swing arm 16, the relative positions of the first link 63 and the second link 65 with respect to the swing arm 16 can be kept unchanged. That is, the play of the link as in the above conventional case can be suppressed, so that the swing in which the chute 14 changes from a desired angle (the angle with the tip facing the rice folding regions A and B) can be suppressed. Therefore, the rice flowing down from the chute 14 can be easily directly supplied toward the rice folding regions A and B, so that the hulling rate of the rice can be improved.

[0060] Further, in the present embodiment, when the virtual plane V is a plane including the axes of the rotation axes 21a and 21b of the respective rolls 20a and 20b, the rolls 20a and 20b are arranged such that the virtual plane V is 20° or more and 40° or less with respect to the horizontal direction. This is to make the flow surface 14a of the chute 14 inclined with respect to the horizontal direction substantially perpendicular to the virtual plane V and to position the rice folding regions A and B on the extension line of the flow surface 14a of the chute 14. As a result, the rice aligned by flowing down on the flow surface 14a of the chute 14 can be easily directly supplied to the rice folding regions A and B while maintaining the aligned state, so that the hulling rate of the rice can be improved.

[0061] Further, since the movable roll 20b is arranged above the fixed roll 20a and the cam shaft 66 is located below the upper end of the movable roll 20b, the cam shaft 66 and the swing arm 16 that supports the rotation axis 21b of the movable roll 20b can be arranged at approximately the same height. Thereby, since the lengths of the first link 63 and the second link 65 connecting the cam shaft 66 and the swing arm 16 can be made relatively short, the arrangement space of the first link 63 and the second link 65 can be reduced.

[0062] Thus, in this embodiment, since the shoot 14 rotates following the displacement of the movable roll 20b, when setting the initial interval between the rolls as described above or adjusting the roll interval during paddy threshing, the tip of the shoot 14 can be rotated so as to face the paddy threshing regions A and B between the rolls. Furthermore, the angle of the shoot 14 can be finely adjusted by adjusting the mounting angle and shape of the cam 67 described above. Therefore, the roll interval at the start of paddy threshing and during paddy threshing can always be set appropriately, and since the paddy is easily supplied directly to the paddy threshing regions A and B between the rolls, the hulling rate of the paddy can be improved.

[0063] As described above, the present invention has been described based on the embodiments. However, it can be easily inferred that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments at all, and various improvements and modifications are possible without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0064] In the above embodiment, the case of estimating the wear amount of each of the rolls 20a and 20b from the paddy processing amount has been described. However, for example, the wear amount may be estimated from the rotation speed (cumulative rotation time) of each of the rolls 20a and 20b. In this case, for example, the wear amount may be estimated based on the rotation speed of each of the rolls 20a and 20b during the period when the feed roller 30 is rotating or during the period when the capacitance sensor S is ON.

[0065] In the above embodiment, the case of estimating the paddy processing amount from the rotation speed of the feed roller 30 during the period when the feed roller 30 is rotating and the flow-down of paddy is detected by the capacitance sensor S has been described. However, it is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the paddy processing amount may be estimated only from the ON time of the capacitance sensor S without calculating the rotation speed of the feed roller 30, or the capacitance sensor S may be omitted and the paddy processing amount may be estimated only from the rotation speed of the feed roller 30. Further, for example, in addition to the feed roller 30, a rotating body that rotates passively by the paddy supplied to the shoot 14 (or the paddy flowing down the shoot 14) may be provided separately, and the paddy processing amount may be estimated from the rotation amount of the rotating body.

[0066] In the above embodiment, the capacitance sensor S was exemplified as an example of the detection means for detecting the presence or absence of paddy rice flowing down the chute 14. However, it is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the detection means can adopt a known configuration such as a laser sensor or an infrared sensor.

[0067] In the above embodiment, the case where the virtual plane V including the axes of the rotation shafts 21a and 21b of the rolls 20a and 20b is 20° or more and 40° or less with respect to the horizontal direction was described. However, for example, the virtual plane V may be configured to be along the horizontal direction, or the angle of the virtual plane V may be less than 20° or more than 40° with respect to the horizontal direction.

[0068] In the above embodiment, the case where the movable roll 20b is arranged above the fixed roll 20a and the camshaft 66 is located below the upper end of the movable roll 20b was described. However, for example, the fixed roll 20a may be arranged above the movable roll 20b, or the camshaft 66 may be arranged above the movable roll 20b.

[0069] In the above embodiment, the case where the angle of the chute 14 is finely adjusted by adjusting the attachment angle of the cam 67 with respect to the camshaft 66 or by adjusting the shape of the cam 67 was described. However, it is not necessarily limited to this. For example, the first link 63 may be constituted by a known expandable and contractible member such as a ball screw, and the angle of the chute 14 may be finely adjusted by extending or shortening the first link 63.

[0070] In the above embodiment, the description of the fixing method of the cam 67 with respect to the camshaft 66 was omitted. However, as an example of the fixing method, a configuration in which the camshaft 66 is inserted into a through hole formed in the cam 67 and a set screw is screwed in from the outer surface of the cam 67 toward the camshaft 66 is exemplified. However, any other fixing method may be used as long as the cam 67 can be detachably attached to the camshaft 66.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0071] 1 Paddy Rice Rubbing Device 14 Chute 14a lower flow surface 20a Fixed roll 20b Movable roll 30 Delivery roller (rotating body) 31 Rotating shaft 32 Blade 51 Displacement motor S Capacitance sensor ( sensor ) S1 Displacement means S2 Judgment means S3 - S5 Setting means S11 - S13 Throughput estimation means S14 Wear amount estimation means S15 Adjustment means

Claims

1. A rice hulling device comprising a fixed roll, a movable roll that is relatively displaced with respect to the fixed roll, a displacement motor that displaces the movable roll, displacement means for displacing the movable roll in a direction approaching the fixed roll by the driving force of the displacement motor, determination means for determining whether or not the movable roll displaced by the displacement means has come into contact with the fixed roll, and setting means for setting an initial interval between the rolls by separating the movable roll from the fixed roll by a predetermined amount when it is determined by the determination means that the contact has occurred. In the rice hulling device, a torque sensor for detecting the load torque of the displacement motor is provided, the determination means determines that the contact has occurred when the load torque detected by the torque sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold value, the rice hulling device includes a chute for supplying paddy to the fixed roll and the movable roll, a rotating body that rotates when paddy is supplied to the chute, a sensor that is provided separately from the rotating body and faces the lower flow surface of the chute to detect whether or not paddy is flowing down on the lower flow surface of the chute, throughput estimation means for estimating the throughput of paddy by the fixed roll and the movable roll after the initial interval is set by the setting means based on the period during which the rotating body rotates and the sensor detects the flow of paddy, wear amount estimation means for estimating the wear amount of the fixed roll and the movable roll from the throughput estimated by the throughput estimation means, and adjustment means for adjusting the roll interval during rice hulling by displacing the movable roll in a direction approaching the fixed roll according to the wear amount estimated by the wear amount estimation means. The rice hulling device is characterized by comprising the above components.

2. The rice hulling device according to claim 1, wherein the rotating body has a plurality of blades arranged around its rotation axis and is a feed roller for quantitatively supplying paddy to the chute.

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