dough feeding device

Abstract

[Topic] A dough feeding device (2) comprising a hopper (10) and a dough feeding mechanism (20). The hopper comprises: a pair of side walls (11), a bottom (12), an outlet channel (13), and a guide portion (30) extending between the pair of side walls. The guide portion has an inclined surface (31) having a lower edge (33) and an upper edge (34), and is inclined upstream (14) from the lower edge toward the upper edge. The horizontal cross-section of the inclined surface has a horizontal profile (41, 42, 43, 44), and the horizontal profile of the side portion (35) of the inclined surface is configured to approach the horizontal guide line (L1, L2, L3, L4) from the lower edge toward the upper edge.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] This invention relates to a dough feeding device for stuffing machines, etc. [Previous Technology]

[0002] In stuffing machines and the like, dough feeding devices equipped with hoppers are known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior Art Documents] [Patent Documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 61-105486 [Summary of the Invention]

[0004] [Problem to be solved by the invention] The dough feeding device disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses a rotating drum to prevent the dough fed into the hopper from sticking to the inner surface of the hopper and causing bridging. Since the rotating drum is equipped with a sliding plate that repeatedly protrudes and retracts, the structure of the rotating drum is relatively complex.

[0005] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a dough feeding device that can prevent dough bridging and has a simple structure. [Technical Means for Solving the Problem]

[0006] To achieve the above objective, the dough supply device of the present invention includes a hopper and a dough supply mechanism. The hopper includes a pair of sidewalls, a bottom located between the pair of sidewalls, and an outlet channel disposed at the bottom. The dough supply mechanism is configured to supply dough from an upstream portion to a downstream portion within the hopper and discharge it from the outlet channel. The hopper further includes a guide portion extending between the pair of sidewalls of the downstream portion. The guide portion includes an inclined surface facing the upstream portion and being recessed. The inclined surface includes a lower edge, an upper edge, and a side portion. In a horizontal cross-section, the inclined surface defines a concave horizontal profile and a virtual horizontal guide line passing through a guide reference portion located at the downstream end of the horizontal profile. The inclined surface is inclined towards the upstream portion from the lower edge to the upper edge. The side portion of the inclined surface is configured to make the horizontal profile approach the horizontal guide line from the lower edge to the upper edge.

[0007] In this dough feeding device, the dough fed into the hopper is supplied to the outlet channel by a dough feeding mechanism. Dough not filling the outlet channel is pushed upwards and guided to the upstream section by an inclined surface that slopes upwards. In a horizontal cross-section, the inclined surface defines a concave horizontal profile and a virtual horizontal guide line passing through a guide reference section located at the downstream end of the horizontal profile. The side of the inclined surface is configured such that the concave horizontal profile approaches the horizontal guide line from the lower edge to the upper edge, and the dough being pushed upwards tends to maintain the shape of the horizontal profile near the lower edge, thus being pulled away from the inclined surface at its side. This reduces the contact area between the dough and the sidewalls and the inclined surface, preventing the dough from sticking to the sidewalls and the inclined surface. Furthermore, the guide section has no moving parts and the structure is simple.

[0008] In the dough feeding device of the present invention, it is preferable that the dough feeding mechanism includes a screw. More preferably, a plurality of screws are arranged in parallel, and correspondingly, a plurality of inclined surfaces are arranged in parallel. More preferably, the guide reference portion is composed of points, and the guide reference lines connecting the guide reference portions are arranged parallel to each other or close to each other in adjacent inclined surfaces.

[0009] In the dough feeding device of the present invention, preferably, the guide reference part is composed of points, and the guide reference line connecting the guide reference part is a straight line or a curved line that slopes from the lower edge to the upper edge and towards the upstream part.

[0010] In the dough feeding device of the present invention, preferably, the horizontal contour includes an arc, and the side of the inclined surface is configured such that the radius of the arc of the horizontal contour increases from the lower edge to the upper edge.

Implementation Method

[0012] Referring to Figures 1 to 12, an embodiment of the dough feeding device of the present invention is described.

[0013] As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the dough supply device 2 is assembled in the filling machine 1, which wraps the filling material with the outer skin. The filling machine 1 includes: a pair of dough supply devices 2 for the dough (filling material and outer skin) D; a pair of volumetric supply pumps 3 connected to the outlet channels 13 of the pair of dough supply devices 2; overlapping nozzles 4 connected to the pair of supply pumps 3 and forming a cylindrical double structure to combine the filling material and the outer skin; a guillotine-type cutting device 5 for wrapping and cutting the filling material and outer skin discharged downward from the overlapping nozzles 4; and a conveyor belt 6 for transporting the wrapped and cut product.

[0014] The dough D is, for example, a food material that is slowly deformable and has fluidity. The filling is, for example, red bean paste, cream, or fillings for Chinese steamed buns. The outer dough is, for example, dough for steamed buns, bread, or Chinese steamed buns.

[0015] The dough feeding device 2 includes a hopper 10 into which dough D is fed and a slender dough feeding mechanism 20.

[0016] The hopper 10 includes: a pair of side walls 11, a bottom 12 located between the pair of side walls 11, and an outlet channel 13 disposed on the bottom 12. The pair of side walls 11 extend generally parallel to the vertical direction (up and down direction).

[0017] The dough feeding mechanism 20 includes: two elongated screws 21 arranged side by side, and a drive unit 22 that drives the two screws from the outside of the hopper 10. The screws 21 are disposed at the bottom 12 of the hopper 10 and extend from an upstream portion 14 to a downstream portion 15 within the hopper 10, and are aligned with an outlet channel 13. The screws 21 include helical blades 23 and are rotatable about an axis 24. Thereby, the screws 21 are configured to supply the dough D fed into the hopper 10 from the upstream portion 14 to the downstream portion 15 and discharge it from the outlet channel 13. The outlet channel 13 is connected to the feed pump 3.

[0018] The hopper 10 further includes a guide portion 30 extending between one pair of sidewalls 11 of the downstream portion 15. The guide portion 30 is located above the screw 21 and is detachably mounted to the pair of sidewalls 11. The guide portion 30 is mounted to the pair of sidewalls 11 by, for example, aligning a screw hole 36 provided in the guide portion 30 with a hole 16 provided in the sidewall 11 and engaging a bolt 37 with a knob.

[0019] As shown in Figures 5 to 7, the guide portion 30 includes an inclined surface 31 facing the upstream portion 14 and a bottom surface 32. The two inclined surfaces 31 and the two bottom surfaces 32 are arranged side by side corresponding to the two screws 21. The bottom surface 32 has an arc-shaped concave surface along the screw 21 and forms part of the outlet channel 13.

[0020] The inclined surface 31 is concave in the opposite direction to the upstream portion 14 and includes a lower edge 33 and an upper edge 34. The horizontal cross-sections of the inclined surface 31 at points C1 to C4 shown in FIG. 6 are shown in FIG. 9 to FIG. 12. The inclined surface 31 forms, in the horizontal cross-sections of points C1 to C4 shown in FIG. 6, concave horizontal contours 41 to 44 and virtual horizontal guide lines L1 to L4, which pass through guide reference portions 51 to 54 located at the downstream end of the horizontal contours 41 to 44 and extend in the lateral direction (from one side wall 11 to the other side wall, which is perpendicular to axis 24 in the top view). The guide reference portions 51 to 54 are composed of points.

[0021] The inclined surface 31 slopes upstream from the lower edge 33 toward the upper edge 34 to the upstream portion 14. Therefore, the guide reference portions 51-54 are displaced upstream from the lower edge 33 toward the upper edge 34 to the upstream portion 14 (see Figure 7). Furthermore, the guide reference line 50 connecting the guide reference portions 51-54 forms a straight line that slopes upstream from the lower edge 33 toward the upper edge 34 to the upstream portion 14. In the top view, the two inclined surfaces 31 are configured such that the two guide reference lines 50 are parallel to each other and parallel to the axis 24.

[0022] The inclined surface 31 further includes side portions 35 located at both ends in the transverse direction. The side portions 35 of the inclined surface 31 are configured such that the horizontal contours 41-44 approach the horizontal guiding lines L1-L4 from the lower edge 33 toward the upper edge 34. In other words, the inclined surface 31 is configured such that when the shape of the horizontal contour 41 of the dough D is pushed upward in view from above, a space S2-S4 is formed between the dough D and the inclined surface 31 that increases from the lower edge 33 toward the upper edge 34 (refer to Figures 9-12). For example, the horizontal contours 41-44 include arcs, and the side portions 35 of the inclined surface 31 are configured such that the radius of the arc of the horizontal contours 41-44 increases from the lower edge 33 toward the upper edge 34.

[0023] Next, the operation of the dough feeding device of the present invention will be described.

[0024] The dough D fed into the hopper 10 enters between the blades 23 of the screw 21 at the upstream section 14. The screw 21 supplies the dough D to the downstream section 15. To ensure that the volumetric feed pump 3 is filled with dough D, the feed rate of the screw 21 is designed to be greater than the feed rate of the feed pump 3. After the feed pump 3 is filled with dough D, the outlet channel 13 is then filled with dough D.

[0025] The dough D2 that is not filled into the outlet channel 13 accumulates on the screw 21 and is pushed upward along the guide portion 30. At this time, viewed from the upstream portion 14 towards the downstream portion 15 in the supply direction of the dough D, the dough D2 cut off at the lower edge 33 tends to be pushed upward in a shape approximately equal to the lower edge 33 (see Figure 8). Moreover, viewed from above, the dough D2 cut off at the lower edge 33 is pushed upward in a shape approximately equal to the horizontal outline 41. As shown in Figures 9 to 12, as the side portion 35 of the inclined surface 31 approaches the horizontal guide lines L1 to L4 from the lower edge 33 towards the upper edge 34, the dough D2 is pulled away from the side portion 35 of the inclined surface 31. As a result, the area of ​​the dough D2 in contact with the side wall 11 adjacent to the side portion 35 is reduced. Furthermore, between adjacent inclined surfaces 31, the area of ​​the dough D2 in contact with the inclined surface 31 is reduced. As a result, the dough D2 is prevented from sticking to the sidewall 11 and the inclined surface 31, thus preventing the bridging phenomenon of the dough D2.

[0026] After that, the dough D2 moves away from the inclined surface 31 and towards the upstream part 14 by its own gravity, etc.

[0027] Furthermore, since the guide part 30 is mounted to the side wall 11 only by means of a bolt 37 with a knob, there are no movable parts, thus reducing the number of parts. As a result, the guide part 30 has a simple structure and is easy to clean. Moreover, since there are no movable parts, the risk of crushing solids is reduced when feeding dough containing solids such as chocolate chips or beans.

[0028] Although embodiments of the dough feeding device of the present invention have been described, the scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments. That is, various modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention.

[0029] For example, in the modified example 1 shown in FIG13, the symbol "a" is added to the constituent elements corresponding to the above embodiment. As shown in FIG13, the guide portion 30a may include only one inclined surface 31a for the two screws 21. Furthermore, if the dough D2 does not stick to the inclined surface 31a, the horizontal contours 41a to 44a may also include guide reference portions 51a to 54a composed of lines.

[0030] Furthermore, in the modified example 2 shown in FIG14, the symbol "b" is added to the constituent elements corresponding to the above embodiment. As shown in FIG14, in adjacent inclined surfaces 31b, the guide reference lines 50b connecting the guide reference parts 51b to 54b can be configured to move closer to each other from the lower edge 33 toward the upper edge 34 when viewed from above. In this case, the dough D2 can be guided between the two screws 21, further preventing the dough D2 from sticking to the sidewall 11.

[0031] Furthermore, in the modified example 3 shown in FIG15, in the modified example 2 described above, the central inclined surface 60 is formed at the lower end between the two inclined surfaces 31 of the guide portion 30. The central inclined surface 60 is approximately triangular when viewed from the upstream portion 14 toward the downstream portion 15, and like the inclined surface 31, it is concave in the opposite direction to the upstream portion 14. The height of the central inclined surface 60 is less than that of the inclined surface 31. In the modified example 3, the dough D2 that moves upward and returns along the central inclined surface 60 will be pushed downward toward the screw 21 at the lower end of the inclined surface 31 by the two dough D2 that move upward and return along the inclined surface 31 on both sides. As a result, a space is created between the two dough D2 that move upward along the inclined surface 31. In this way, the two dough D2 are pushed toward the center, and a gap is created between the dough D2 and the side wall 11 of the hopper 10. In this way, the effect of preventing bridging can be improved. In the top view, the two inclined surfaces 31 may be configured such that their two guide reference lines 50 are close to each other as they move from the lower edge 33 toward the upper edge 34, or the two guide reference lines 50 may be configured to be parallel to each other and parallel to the axis 24.

[0032] In addition to the above-described variations 1 and 2, the guide part 30 may not be detachably mounted on the pair of sidewalls 11, but may be integrally formed with the pair of sidewalls 11.

[0033] Furthermore, the guide baseline 50 is not limited to a straight line, but can be a curve that bends from the lower edge 33 toward the upper edge 34 and upwards toward the upper part 14, for example, it can be formed by an arc.

[0034] Furthermore, the horizontal contours 41-44 of the side portion 35 are not limited to curves; they may also be straight lines. In this case, the horizontal contours 41-44 may be triangular shapes formed by the intersection of two straight lines.

[0035] Furthermore, the dough supply mechanism 20 is not limited to a mechanism including screws 21; it can be any mechanism capable of supplying dough from the upstream section 14 to the downstream section 15. The number of screws 21 can be arbitrarily determined based on the size of the hopper 10, etc. The number of screws 21 and the number of inclined surfaces 31 can be the same or different. [Simplified Explanation of the Diagram]

[0011] [Fig. 1] Front view of a filling machine including the dough feeding device of the present invention. [Fig. 2] Left side view of the filling machine of Fig. 1, showing a cross-section of the dough feeding device. [Fig. 3] Perspective view of the dough feeding device. [Fig. 4] Cross-sectional view of the dough feeding device in the vertical and long side direction. [Fig. 5] Cross-sectional view of the dough feeding device in the vertical and transverse direction, with the screw omitted. [Fig. 6] Rear view of the guide part of the dough feeding device. [Fig. 7] Cross-sectional view of the dough feeding device in operation in the vertical and long side direction. [Fig. 8] Cross-sectional view of the dough feeding device in operation in the vertical and transverse direction, with the screw omitted. [Fig. 9] Planar cross-sectional view of the guide part in operation along line C1-C1 of Fig. 6. [Fig. 10] Planar cross-sectional view of the guide part in operation along line C2-C2 of Fig. 6. [Fig. 11] Planar cross-sectional view of the guide part in operation along line C3-C3 of Fig. 6. [Fig. 12] Plan view of the guide section in operation along line C4-C4 in Fig. 6. [Fig. 13] The guide section of the first modification example is the same as that in Fig. 12. [Fig. 14] The guide section of the second modification example is the same as that in Fig. 12. [Fig. 15] The guide section of the third modification example is the same as that in Fig. 5.

Claims

1. A dough feeding device (2) comprising a hopper (10) and a dough feeding mechanism (20), wherein the hopper (10) has: a pair of sidewalls (11), a bottom (12) located between the pair of sidewalls (11), and an outlet channel (13) disposed on the bottom (12), and the dough feeding mechanism (20) is configured to supply dough (D) from an upstream portion (14) within the hopper (10) to a downstream portion (15) and discharge it from the outlet channel (13), wherein the hopper (10) further comprises a guide portion (30) extending between the pair of sidewalls (11) of the downstream portion (15), the guide portion (30) comprising an inclined surface (31) facing the upstream portion (14) and recessed therein, the inclined surface (31) comprising: a lower edge (33), an upper edge (34), and a side portion (35). In a horizontal cross-section, the aforementioned inclined surface (31) defines: a concave horizontal profile (41, 42, 43, 44) and a virtual horizontal guide line (L1, L2, L3, L4) passing through the guide reference portion (51, 52, 53, 54) located at the downstream end of the aforementioned horizontal profile (41, 42, 43, 44). The aforementioned inclined surface (31) is inclined towards the aforementioned upstream portion (14) from the aforementioned lower edge (33) toward the aforementioned upper edge (34). The aforementioned inclined surface (31) and the aforementioned side portion (35) are configured such that the aforementioned horizontal profile (41, 42, 43, 44) approaches the aforementioned horizontal guide line (L1, L2, L3, L4) from the aforementioned lower edge (33) toward the aforementioned upper edge (34).

2. The dough feeding device (2) as described in claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned dough supply mechanism (20) includes a screw (21).

3. The dough feeding device (2) as described in claim 2, wherein, Multiple screws (21) are arranged in parallel, and correspondingly, multiple inclined surfaces (31) are arranged in parallel.

4. The dough feeding device (2) as described in claim 3, wherein, The aforementioned guide reference parts (51, 52, 53, 54) are composed of points. In the adjacent inclined surfaces (31) mentioned above, the guide reference lines (50) connecting the aforementioned guide reference parts (51, 52, 53, 54) are arranged parallel to each other or close to each other.

5. The dough feeding device (2) as described in claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned guide reference parts (51, 52, 53, 54) are composed of points. The guide reference line (50) connecting the aforementioned guide reference parts (51, 52, 53, 54) forms a straight line or a curved line that slopes from the aforementioned lower edge (33) toward the aforementioned upper edge (34) toward the aforementioned upstream part (14).

6. The dough feeding device (2) as described in claim 1, wherein, The aforementioned horizontal contours (41, 42, 43, 44) include arcs, and the aforementioned inclined surface (31) is configured such that the radius of the arcs of the aforementioned horizontal contours (41, 42, 43, 44) increases from the aforementioned lower edge (33) toward the aforementioned upper edge (34).

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