Multi-layer food manufacturing equipment

Abstract

To provide a production apparatus of a multilayer food, capable of smoothly producing a well shaped multilayer food while forming a multilayer food material on a skewer by a mechanical device.SOLUTION: A production apparatus of a multilayer food material includes: a first layer forming machine 1 for forming a food material W1 of a first layer on the surface of a skewer S; a second layer forming machine 2 for forming a food material W2 of a second layer on the food material W1 of the first layer formed on the surface of the skewer S by the first layer forming machine 1; a third layer forming machine 3 for forming a food material W3 of a third layer on the food materials W1, W2 of the first layer and the second layer formed on the surface of the skewer S by the second layer forming machine 2; and heating means 4 for heating the food materials W1, W2, W3 passing through the third layer forming machine 3 and formed on the surface of the skewer S in a layering state. The second layer forming machine 2 extrudes the food material W2 of the second layer in a layering state via a rotary pump 21 and a nozzle 22.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing multi-layered food products, for example, an apparatus for producing multi-layered food products that forms three layers of food ingredients on a skewer. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in the manufacture of chikuwa, a method is known in which a plate-shaped paste is supplied to a drum, and a skewer is transported along the outer periphery of the drum at regular intervals, and the paste is wrapped around the skewer to produce chikuwa (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0003] On the other hand, cheese-filled chikuwa is known as a food product made by layering two or more types of food ingredients. In this product, minced fish paste is formed into a rectangular sheet, semi-solid cheese is placed on top of the sheet, and the sheet is then wrapped around a skewer by hand. Although this method of manually wrapping two or more food ingredients around a skewer is popular as a handmade product, it has the problem of low manufacturing efficiency and cannot be mass-produced.

[0004] To address this problem, a multi-layer food manufacturing device has been proposed that is capable of forming three layers of food material on a skewer using a mechanical device (see Patent Documents 2 and 3). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Publication No. 4-25992 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9-322737 [Patent Document 3] JP 2017-118840 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Incidentally, the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus described in Patent Documents 2 and 3 uses a mechanical device to form three layers of food material on a skewer. However, since the first to third layers of food material are simply successively formed using the layer forming means from the same mechanism, there is a problem that, for example, when attempting to form a layer of food material on top of a layer of soft food material formed on a skewer, the layer shape is likely to collapse or become disordered, making it impossible to produce a uniformly shaped multi-layered food. In particular, when cheese is used as the food material for the second layer, such as in cheese-filled chikuwa, the thin layer of cheese tends to wrap around or adhere to the drum of the manufacturing equipment or the wire used as a cutting member, making it difficult to form the layer smoothly.

[0007] In view of the problems inherent in the conventional multi-layered food manufacturing apparatuses described above, the present invention aims to provide a multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus that allows for the formation of multi-layered food materials on a skewer using a mechanical device, while also smoothly manufacturing uniformly shaped multi-layered food. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention comprises a first layer forming means for forming a first layer of food material on the surface of a skewer, a second layer forming means for forming a second layer of food material on the first layer of food material formed on the surface of the skewer by the first layer forming means, a third layer forming means for forming a third layer of food material on the first and second layer of food material formed on the surface of the skewer by the second layer forming means, and a heating device for heating the food material formed in a layer on the surface of the skewer after passing through the third layer forming means. The multi-layered food material manufacturing apparatus includes a means for forming a second layer, and is characterized in that the second layer forming means extrudes the food material of the second layer in a layer form through a pump and a nozzle.

[0009] In this case, the pump of the second layer forming means continuously delivers a fixed amount of food material for the second layer, and the skewer rotation mechanism rotates the skewer, so that the food material for the second layer extruded in layers from the nozzle is wrapped around the surface of the food material for the first layer and cut by applying tension.

[0010] Furthermore, the pump of the second layer forming means can be rotated in the reverse direction to cut the food material of the second layer extruded in layer form to a predetermined length.

[0011] The first layer forming means may form a circumferential depression in the center of the first layer of food material formed on the surface of the skewer, the second layer forming means may extrude the second layer of food material into the circumferential depression in the center of the first layer of food material and wrap the extruded food material around the circumferential depression, and the third layer forming means may form the third layer of food material on top of the first and second layer of food materials. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the second layer forming means extrudes the second layer food material in a layer form through a rotary pump and a nozzle. This makes it possible to form a thin layer of cheese when cheese is used as the second layer food material, such as in cheese-filled chikuwa, and allows for the smooth production of uniformly shaped multi-layered foods while allowing the mechanical device to form multiple layers of food material on the skewer.

[0013] Furthermore, the pump of the second layer forming means continuously delivers a fixed amount of food material for the second layer, and the skewer rotation mechanism rotates the skewer, causing the food material for the second layer extruded in layers from the nozzle to wrap around the surface of the food material for the first layer and to be cut by applying tension, thereby preventing the food material for the second layer from wrapping around or adhering to the manufacturing device and allowing the second layer to be accurately formed.

[0014] Furthermore, by rotating the pump of the second layer forming means in the reverse direction, the food material of the second layer extruded in a layer form is cut to a predetermined length, so that the food material of the second layer does not wrap around or adhere to the manufacturing device, and the second layer can be formed accurately.

[0015] Furthermore, the first layer forming means forms a circular depression in the center of the first layer of food material formed on the surface of the skewer, the second layer forming means extrudes the second layer of food material into the circular depression in the center of the first layer of food material and wraps it around, and the third layer forming means forms the third layer of food material on top of the first and second layer of food materials, thereby enabling the reliable and smooth production of uniformly shaped multi-layered food products. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of a multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 3 is a front view showing a second layer forming device (second layer forming means) of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus. [Figure 3] 2. FIG. 3 shows a second layer forming device (second layer forming means) of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus, where (a) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2, and (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a nozzle of a second layer forming device (second layer forming means) of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a process of forming a first layer of food material on the surface of a skewer by a first layer forming device (first layer forming means) of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a process of forming a second layer of food material on the surface of a skewer using a second layer forming device (second layer forming means) of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing a process of forming a third layer of food material on the surface of a skewer using a third layer forming device (third layer forming means) of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus. [Figure 8]1A, 1B, and 1C show a second layer forming device (second layer forming means) of a modified embodiment of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a plan view, FIG. 1B is a front view, and FIG. 1C is a side view. [Figure 9] 1A and 1B show a second layer forming device (second layer forming means) of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus, where (a) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the main part, and (b) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the pump. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0018] 1 to 4 show an embodiment of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention. This multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus includes a first layer forming machine (first layer forming means) 1 that forms a first layer of food material W1 on the surface of the skewer S, a second layer forming machine (second layer forming means) 2 that forms a second layer of food material W2 on the first layer of food material W1 formed on the surface of the skewer S by the first layer forming machine 1, a third layer forming machine (third layer forming means) 3 that forms a third layer of food material W3 on the first and second layer food materials W1, W2 formed on the surface of the skewer S by the second layer forming machine 2, and a heating means 4 that heats the food materials W1, W2, W3 that have been formed in layers on the surface of the skewer S after passing through the third layer forming machine 3, and the second layer forming machine (second layer forming means) 2 extrudes the second layer of food material W2 in a layer form via a rotary pump 21 and a nozzle 22.

[0019] In this embodiment, the first layer forming machine 1 and the third layer forming machine 3, which constitute the first and third layer forming means, are both of the same conventionally widely used mechanism, specifically, the food material is cut into plates from a hopper storing the food material by rotating a food material cutting drum, the cut food material is supplied to the circumferential surface of the forming drum, and is wrapped around a skewer S transported around the forming drum, thereby forming the first and third layers of food material W1, W3.

[0020] The second layer forming machine 2, which constitutes the second layer forming means, extrudes the second layer food material W2 in a layer form from a hopper storing the second layer food material W2 via a rotary pump 21 and a nozzle 22 through a nozzle opening 22a.

[0021] In addition, the second layer forming machine 2, which constitutes the second layer forming means, is equipped with a skewer rotating table 23 that transports the skewers S while rotating them, and a sensor 24 detects the position of the skewer S being transported and controls the timing of driving the rotary pump 21.

[0022] The rotary pump 21 is driven intermittently, and by controlling the driving time, the shape of the second layer of food material W2 extruded in a layer form from the nozzle opening 22a, specifically the length, is determined (the width and thickness are determined by the shape of the nozzle opening 22a). The rotary pump 21 then rotates in the reverse direction, thereby enabling the second layer of food material extruded in a layered form to be accurately cut to a predetermined length. This allows the second layer of food material W2 to be formed accurately.

[0023] The heating means 4 heats the food materials W1, W2, and W3 formed in layers on the surface of the skewer S to form a multi-layered food W, and a heating method such as steaming or baking can be adopted depending on the multi-layered food W to be produced. The heating means 4 can be a conventionally widely used mechanism.

[0024] Furthermore, this multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus is equipped with, following the heating means 4, a branding device 5, a cooling means 6, a skewer removal means 7 for separating the skewers S from the manufactured multi-layered food W, and a skewer circulation means 8 for returning the skewers S from which the manufactured multi-layered food W has been separated to the first layer forming machine 1, and the skewer circulation means 8 is equipped with a skewer cleaning means 81 for cleaning the skewers S and a skewer lubrication means 82 for applying oil to the skewers S.

[0025] 5 to 7 show an example of a multi-layered food product W that can be produced by this multi-layered food product production apparatus. This multi-layered food product W uses minced fish as food ingredients W1 and W3 and cheese as food ingredient W2, but the ingredients for food ingredients W1, W2, and W3 are not particularly limited to these and any ingredients can be used.

[0026] In producing the multi-layered food product W, a first layer forming machine (first layer forming means) 1 forms a circular depression W0 in the center of the first layer of food material W1 formed on the surface of the skewer S (Fig. 5), a second layer forming machine (second layer forming means) 2 extrudes the second layer of food material W2 into the circular depression in the center of the first layer of food material W1 and wraps it around the first layer of food material W2 (Fig. 6), and a third layer forming machine (third layer forming means) 3 forms the third layer of food material W3 on top of the first and second layer of food materials W1 and W2 (Fig. 7). This allows a multi-layered food product W with a uniform shape to be produced reliably and smoothly. In this case, in order to smoothly produce a uniformly shaped multi-layered food product W, it is preferable that the thickness of the second layer food material W2 extruded in a layer form from the nozzle opening 22a of the nozzle 22 of the second layer forming machine (second layer forming means) 2 be approximately 0.5 to 2 mm thinner than the depth of the circumferential depression W0 in the center of the first layer food material W1; this can be easily achieved by using the second layer forming machine (second layer forming means) 2 equipped with a rotary pump 21 and a nozzle 22.

[0027] 8 and 9 show a modified embodiment of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

[0028] In this multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus, the second layer forming machine 2 constituting the second layer forming means extrudes the second layer food material W2 in a layer form from a hopper storing the food material W2 for the second layer via a vane pump 25 and a nozzle 22 through a nozzle opening 22a. At this time, the vane pump 25 of the second layer forming means continuously delivers the food material W2 for the second layer in fixed amounts, and the skewer S is rotated by the rotation mechanisms 26, 27 of the skewer S, so that the food material W2 for the second layer extruded in a layer form from the nozzle 22 is wrapped around the surface of the food material W1 for the first layer and is cut by applying tension.

[0029] A delivery mechanism 28 consisting of a vertical screw driven by a motor whose rotation is controlled by an inverter is provided in the hopper storing the second layer of food material W2 to deliver the second layer of food material W2 toward the vane pump 25.

[0030] The vane pump 25 continuously delivers the second layer food material W2 delivered by the delivery mechanism 28 toward the nozzle 22 in fixed amounts, and is driven by a motor whose rotation is controlled by an inverter.

[0031] The second layer of food material W2 is continuously extruded in layers in fixed amounts from the nozzle opening 22a of the nozzle 22 and is supplied toward the surface of the first layer forming machine (first layer forming means) 1 of the skewer S, which is supplied to a position below the nozzle 22 at regular time intervals.

[0032] At the position below the nozzle 22, the skewer S is rotated by the rotation mechanism 26, 27 of the skewer S. Specifically, the skewers S are subjected to a rotational action imparted by a spiral conveyor 26 that conveys the skewers S by rotating spiral members supporting both ends of the skewers S, and a rotational action imparted by a belt circulation mechanism 27 that rotates the skewers S by circulating a belt member that contacts the skewers S supported on the spiral conveyor 26, whereby the second layer of food material W2, which is continuously extruded in layers in fixed amounts from the nozzle opening 22a of the nozzle 22, is wrapped around the surface of the first layer of food material W1 and then cut by applying tension, so that a fixed amount of the second layer of food material W2 is wrapped around each skewer S.

[0033] In this multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus, the vane pump 25 of the second layer forming means continuously delivers a fixed amount of food material W2 for the second layer, and the skewer S is rotated by the rotation mechanisms 26, 27 of the skewer S, so that the food material W2 for the second layer extruded in layers from the nozzle 22 is wrapped around the surface of the food material W1 for the first layer and cut by applying tension, thereby accurately forming the second layer without the food material W2 for the second layer wrapping around or adhering to the manufacturing apparatus.

[0034] The other configurations and operations of this modified embodiment are the same as those of the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus shown in FIGS.

[0035] The above describes the multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention based on its embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the configurations described in the above embodiments, and the configuration can be changed as appropriate within the scope of the intent of the invention, such as by appropriately combining the configurations described in each embodiment. [Industrial Applicability]

[0036] The multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus of the present invention has the characteristic of being able to smoothly manufacture uniformly shaped multi-layered food while allowing multiple layers of food material to be formed on a skewer using a mechanical device, and therefore can be suitably used for manufacturing multi-layered food. [Explanation of symbols]

[0037] 1 1st layer forming machine (1st layer forming means) 2 Second layer forming machine (second layer forming means) 21 Rotary Pump 22 nozzles 22a Nozzle mouth 23 Skewer Rotating Table 24 sensors 25 Vane Pump 26 Spiral conveyor (skewer rotation mechanism) 27 Belt circulation mechanism (skewer rotation mechanism) 28 Delivery mechanism 3 Third layer forming machine (third layer forming means) 4 Heating means 5 Branding iron 6 Cooling means 7 Skewer removal method 8 Skewer circulation means 81 Skewer cleaning means 82 Skewer lubrication means S skewer W multilayer food W0 dent W1 Food ingredients for the first layer W2 Second layer food ingredients W3 Third layer food ingredients

Claims

1. 1. A multi-layer food manufacturing apparatus comprising: a first layer forming means for forming a first layer of food material on the surface of a skewer; a second layer forming means for forming a second layer of food material on the first layer of food material formed on the surface of the skewer by the first layer forming means; a third layer forming means for forming a third layer of food material on the first and second layer of food materials formed on the surface of the skewer by the second layer forming means; and a heating means for heating the food material formed in a layer on the surface of the skewer after passing through the third layer forming means.

2. The multi-layer food manufacturing apparatus is characterized in that the second layer forming means extrudes the food material for the second layer in a layer form through a pump and a nozzle, the pump of the second layer forming means continuously delivers the food material for the second layer in a fixed amount, and the skewer is rotated by a skewer rotation mechanism, so that the food material for the second layer extruded in a layer form from the nozzle is wrapped around the surface of the food material for the first layer and cut under tension.

2. 2. The multi-layered food manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first layer forming means forms a circumferential depression in the center of the first layer of food material formed on the surface of the skewer, the second layer forming means extrudes the second layer of food material into the circumferential depression in the center of the first layer of food material and wraps it around the extruded layer, and the third layer forming means forms the third layer of food material on top of the first and second layer of food materials.

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