HK1188543B - Apparatus and method for cutting noodle - Google Patents

Description

Noodle cutting device and method thereof

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a noodle strand cutting device, a rotary cutter, and a cutting method of noodle strands for manufacturing instant noodles, and more particularly to a device and a method for cutting gelatinized noodle strands.

Background

Many instant noodles have a length of about 20-70 cm. However, in recent years, since consumer tastes have become diversified, a noodle bundle having a shorter length of about 1 to 10cm has been required.

Generally, during the processing of instant noodles, the following steps are carried out in sequence: forming a dough by mixing flour, starch, water and other raw materials; rolling; cutting into noodle bundles; steaming or boiling; drawing; cutting and drying. In the cutting process, a rotary cutter having one or two blades is generally used in a state where the noodle bundle sags (for example, PTL 1).

However, when someone tries to cut the sagging gelatinized noodles into noodle bundles having a shorter length of about 1 to 10cm, the noodle bundles are sometimes scattered at the time of cutting. The reason may be that, in order to shorten the length of the noodle strand, if the rotation speed of the rotary cutter is increased, the cut noodle strand is applied with larger kinetic energy than before; since the stickiness of the gelatinized noodle bundles is high, the noodle bundles may be attached to the blade edge blade; since the length of the noodle strand is short, the weight of the cut noodle strand is small. If the cut noodle strands are scattered, it may become difficult to dispense the same amount.

On the other hand, there is also a device in the prior art which conveys the noodle pieces on a conveyor in a horizontal direction and cuts the noodle pieces on the conveyor with a rotary cutter from above before making a noodle bundle (for example, PTL 2).

However, the device disclosed in PTL2 is for cutting a noodle piece before making a noodle strand, rather than cutting the noodle strand. Also, the noodle pieces cut by the PLT2 apparatus were not gelatinized. In addition, the rotary cutter has only one blade, and thus, when cutting into short noodle strands of about 1 to 10cm in length, the rotation speed should be increased as described above, and thus it is difficult to suppress the scattering of the noodle strands after cutting.

PTL3 discloses an apparatus for making spaghetti, particularly cuttlefish noodles. PTL4 discloses an instant noodle and a method for producing the same.

The present invention is directed to solving one or more problems inherent in the conventional art.

CITATION LIST

Patent document

PTL 1: japanese Utility model laid-open No. H07-5386 (1995)

PTL 2: japanese patent laid-open No. S52-128277 (1977)

PTL 3: european patent application publication No. 2005829A1

PTL 4: U.S. Pat. No. 4988528

Disclosure of Invention

A first aspect of the present invention is to provide a noodle strand cutting device for cutting a gelatinized noodle strand used in the manufacture of instant noodles, the noodle strand cutting device comprising:

a conveyor for conveying at least one gelatinized noodle strand; and a rotary cutter provided on the conveyor to cut at least one gelatinized noodle strand conveyed on the conveyor in a substantially horizontal direction into a predetermined length, wherein the rotary cutter includes a plurality of blades which are juxtaposed to the rotation shaft and extend in a radial direction around the rotation shaft, and the plurality of blades are spaced from each other in a circumferential direction by a predetermined interval.

Preferably, the rotary cutter further comprises a control surface extending between a pair of blades adjacent to each other for controlling the bounce of the strands after cutting.

Preferably, the rotary cutter has four or more blades in the circumferential direction.

Preferably, the distance from the control surface to the tip of the blade is equal to or less than 6 cm.

Preferably, the apparatus further comprises a driving unit driving the conveyor and the rotary cutter such that the speeds of the tips of the plurality of blades of the rotary cutter and the upper surface of the conveyor are substantially equal to each other.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a rotary cutter for cutting at least one gelatinized noodle strand conveyed on a conveyor in a substantially horizontal direction into a predetermined length, the cutter including blades juxtaposed to a rotary shaft and extending in a radial direction around the rotary shaft, the blades being spaced from each other in a circumferential direction by a predetermined interval.

Yet another aspect of the present invention is to provide a method for cutting gelatinized noodle strands in the manufacture of instant noodles, the method comprising the steps of: providing a noodle strand cutting device, wherein the noodle strand cutting device comprises

A conveyor for conveying at least one gelatinized dough strand, and

a rotary cutter disposed above the conveyor;

the rotary cutter is provided with a plurality of blades which are juxtaposed to the rotary shaft and extend in a radial direction around the rotary shaft, the plurality of blades being spaced from each other at a predetermined interval in a circumferential direction, and at least one of the plurality of blades of the rotary cutter is pressed against at least one of the gelatinized noodle strands conveyed on the conveyor in a substantially horizontal direction.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a noodle strand cutting apparatus in one embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 shows a perspective view of a main part of the noodle strand cutting apparatus in a state of use;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a rotary cutter;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the rotary cutter;

fig. 5 is a sectional view of the noodle strand cutting apparatus in a state of use;

fig. 6 is an enlarged view showing a main part of the relationship between the rotary cutter and the noodle strand in the use state;

fig. 7 shows a state of use of the noodle strand cutting device and perspective views of the front and rear of the device.

Detailed Description

The preferred embodiments in this specification can be best understood by referring to the drawings. As shown and exemplified in the figures of the present specification, it will be readily understood that the components of the present specification could be arranged and designed in a wide variety of different configurations. The following detailed description is not intended to limit the scope of the claims, but is merely representative of presently preferred embodiments.

Fig. 1 shows a noodle strand cutting apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The noodle strand cutting device 10 is provided with a rotary cutter 1 and a conveyor 2 for conveying the noodle strands. The rotary cutter 1 is provided such that both ends of a rotary shaft 13 thereof (see fig. 2) are supported by the cutter supporting member 3, and the noodle strand N can be cut off while rotating. The left and right cutter support members 3 are fixed to a frame 5.

The conveyor 2 is used to convey the gelatinized noodle strands. The conveyor 2 is a typical belt conveyor, and has a conveyor belt 21 and front and rear rollers 22. The conveyor 2 is arranged so that its upper surface is substantially horizontal, however, the upper surface may be inclined to such an extent that the strands do not move after cutting. The material for manufacturing the conveyor belt 21 may be selected from various materials such as rubber and plastic, and is not particularly limited.

Inside the conveyor 2, there are provided a support roller 23 (see fig. 2) and two inner rollers 24, the support roller 23 facing the rotary cutter 1 sandwiching the conveyor belt 21 at a position where the tip of the rotary cutter 1 contacts the conveyor belt 21.

The frame 5 has a driving member 4 (see fig. 1) fixed thereto. The drive 4 is configured to include a motor, a plurality of pulleys, a belt, and a plurality of gears, not shown, so that the power of the motor is transmitted through the plurality of pulleys, the belt, and the plurality of gears, and distributed to the rotary cutter 1 and the support roller 23. The drive 4 can drive the rotary cutter 1 and the conveyor 2 synchronously with each other. The support roller 23 is driven by electric power of a motor to provide a transmission force to the transmission belt 21. The support roller 23 suppresses the downward movement of the conveyor belt 21 (or the backward movement from the rotary cutter 1), so that the noodle strand N can be stably cut.

As shown in fig. 3, the rotary cutter 1 has a main body 12 having a substantially cylindrical shape, the main body 12 being integrally formed with a plurality of blades 11. The rotation shaft 13 is fixed along the axis, i.e., the rotation center of the body 12. The rotation shaft 13 is connected to the motor of the driver 4 to obtain a predetermined rotation force.

Each blade 11 is generally wedge-shaped, any blade 11 being arranged to extend in a radial direction around the axis of rotation 13. In the present specification, "extending in the radial direction" means that a center line or center plane C (see fig. 6) of the insert 11 is inclined in a thickness direction thereof in a side view so as to be directed in a radial direction compared to a tangential direction passing through a surface of the body 12 of the base of the insert 11. The center line or center plane C of the insert 11 in the thickness direction may correspond to the radial direction of the body 12 and fall in a rotational direction within a predetermined range of less than ± 90 ° from the radial direction, more preferably within a range of ± 10 °, most preferably within a range of ± 5 °. The shape of the blade 11 and the angle formed by the blade 11 with respect to the radial direction of the body 12 may be designed according to the viscosity of the noodle strand N used. The blade 11 may be a helical blade in which the circumferential direction of the body 12 varies with position above its longitudinal direction. The blade 11 may be divided into a plurality of pieces in the axial direction of the body 12, and their rotational positions or phases may be mutually moved in the axial direction.

The material of the blade 11 may be selected from any material, such as stainless steel or other metals, with plastic being preferred as the material. The blade 11 is secured to the body 12 after the body 12 is formed, and the body 12 may be hollow or solid. The rotary cutter 1 can be manufactured by combining a plurality of mutually different materials, for example by combining metal and plastic. A portion or all of at least one surface of the blade 11 and the body 12 may be covered with a layer of material having a frangible property or an adhesion inhibiting property, such as a polytetrafluoroethylene layer.

As shown in fig. 4, the plurality of blades 11 of the rotary cutter 1 are arranged at regular angular intervals in the circumferential direction of the main body 12. The rotary cutter 1 is driven by a drive 4 so as to rotate at a circumferential speed substantially equal to the speed of conveyance of the gelatinized noodle strands N. The spacing between the tips of two blades 11 adjacent to each other corresponds substantially to the length of the cut short noodle strand. Assuming that the length of the cut short noodle strand SN has a constant value, as the number of blades 11 decreases, the radius r of rotation of the tip of the blade 11 shortens, and the angular velocity ω of rotation increases. However, as the number of the blades 11 is reduced, an upward velocity component SX (see fig. 5) of the tip of the blade 11 after cutting the noodle bundle N increases, and thus the short noodle bundle SN may be scattered after cutting. Therefore, in order to suppress the short noodle bundles SN from being dispersed, it is necessary to arrange a plurality of blades 11. If the number of the blades 11 is three or more, two or more blades 11 can simultaneously contact one noodle strand N, thereby better suppressing the cut short noodle strands SN from being scattered. According to the experiments conducted by the present inventors, it is particularly preferable to set the number of the blades 11 to 4 or more, and 6 to 30 are more preferable. Most preferably, the number of blades 11 is 10 to 25. Note that in this embodiment, a case of 20 blades is shown in fig. 4.

The distance from the rotation center of the rotary cutter 1 to the tip (i.e., the radius of rotation of the tip) is not particularly limited, but is preferably about 3-25 cm. The radius of rotation r may vary depending on the scale of production.

Just above the short strand SN after cutting, the control surface 15 of the surface of the body 12 of the rotary cutter 1 approaches. Just after cutting, the control surface 15 and the pair of blades 11 sandwiching the control surface 15 form a substantially closed or semi-closed space in the rotational direction so that the short strip bundle SN does not come out of the space. For this reason, the cut short noodle bundles SN are unlikely to bounce upward, and also for this reason, the dispersion of the short noodle bundles SN is suppressed. Typically, the thickness (height) of the bundle B (see fig. 7) of the noodle bundles N conveyed on the conveyor 2 is generally equal to or less than 6 cm. For this reason, the distance D from the control surface 15 of the body 12 to the tip of the blade 11 is preferably equal to or less than 6cm, corresponding to the thickness of the bundle B of noodle bundles N. Therefore, the dispersion of the short-face bundle SN just after cutting can be suppressed by the control face 15 near the top of the short-face bundle SN just after cutting.

Referring again to fig. 3, at both end portions of the main body 12 in the axial direction, disc-shaped protectors 14 are provided. The radius of the guard 14 is set substantially equal to the radius of rotation r of the tip of the blade 11. By the protection device 14, the contact time of the tip of the blade 11 with the conveyor belt 21 can be shortened, and the stress of the blade 11 on the conveyor belt 21 can be suppressed. The guard 14 may be provided in the middle of the axially rotating cutter 1, or may be provided in two or more mutually different positions. In the case where the protector 14 is provided at the axial middle portion, the noodle strand N may be divided into a plurality of strands B by the protector 14. The material for the protective device 14 is arbitrary, and for example, resin is preferably used. However, whether the protection device 14 is provided or not is arbitrary. The rotary cutter 1 configured as described above can be manufactured and sold separately (i.e., without relying on the noodle strand cutting device 10).

Above the rotary cutter 1, a cover (not shown) may be provided to suppress dispersion of the short noodle bundles SN. The supporting part 3 of the cutting machine and/or the conveyor 2 are preferably provided with means enabling the relative distance between the centre of rotation of the rotary cutting machine 1 and the conveyor 2 to be adjusted.

The noodle strand cutting device of the present embodiment is used as a part of a series of processing device production lines for manufacturing instant noodles. The processing plant line is provided with a rolling device, a separating device and a steaming device, all of which are not shown. The rolling device rolls the dough to form a sheeted dough strip. The separator cuts the thin noodle pieces to produce the noodle bundles N. The steaming device heats the noodle strand N to gelatinize the noodle strand N. The plurality of bundles B of the noodle bundles N gelatinized by the steaming device are supplied to the noodle bundle cutting device 10 of the present embodiment. Instead of the steam device, a boiling device may be used, and in the gelatinization process in the steam device or boiling device, superheated steam may be used. The number of the bundles B of the noodle bundles N supplied to the noodle bundle cutting device 10 may be any number.

The noodle strand N to be cut in the present invention includes various types of noodles such as Chinese noodles, white wheat noodles (udon noodles), buckwheat noodles (buckwheat noodles) and pasta. The noodle bundle N may be wavy or straight.

The operation of the noodle strand cutting device 10 of the present embodiment configured as described above is described. As shown in fig. 7, when a plurality of bundles B of gelatinized noodle bundles N are conveyed from the steam device to the conveyor 2 of the noodle bundle cutting device through the conveyor 6, the noodle bundles N are cut into short noodle bundles SN having a length of about 1 to 10cm by the noodle bundle cutting device 10. The cut short noodle bundle SN is stored in a holder, not shown, from the conveyor 2 through the chute portion 7. The holders storing these short noodle bundles SN are subjected to a drying process such as oil heat drying or hot air drying to obtain the bundle of instant noodles.

In the noodle strand cutting device 10 of the present embodiment, the rotary cutter 1 is provided with a plurality of blades 11. Therefore, the method is particularly preferable for cutting the gelatinized noodle bundle N into short noodle bundles SN having a length of 1 to 10 cm. In other words, by arranging the plurality of blades 11, the rotation angle of the rotary cutter 1 is reduced from one cutting to another to continuously cut the noodle strand N into the short noodle strands SN at a small rotation angle. On the other hand, since the plurality of blades 11 are arranged, the upward velocity component S of the tip after the noodle strand N is cut_Z(see fig. 5) can be suppressed, thereby suppressing the dispersion of the short noodle strand SN after cutting. Further, since the plurality of blades 11 are arranged, the angular velocity ω of the rotary cutter 1 is suppressed so that the centrifugal force f = mr ω of the short noodle bundles SN acting on the blades 11 is suppressed²(m is the mass, r is the radius of rotation, and ω is the angular velocity) is reduced, and the kinetic energy applied to the short noodle bundles SN when the blade 11 is detached is suppressed to suppress the dispersion of the short noodle bundles SN.

Also, since the plurality of blades 11 extend in the radial direction around the rotation axis of the rotary cutter 1, the direction of the cutting surface of the noodle bundle N becomes close to the lateral direction of the noodle bundle N as compared with the case where the blades are arranged to extend in the direction tangential to the surface of the body 12, which can reduce the cross-sectional area of the cutting surface, suppress adhesion to the blades 11, and suppress dispersion of the short noodle bundles SN.

In addition, the rotary cutter 1 is further provided with control surfaces 15, the control surfaces 15 extending between the pair of blades 11 adjacent to each other, and these control surfaces 15 control the bounce of the short noodle bundles SN after cutting, thereby suppressing the dispersion of the short noodle bundles SN.

In addition, the driving member 4 drives the conveyor 2 and the rotary cutter 1 so that the speeds of the tips of the plurality of blades 11 of the rotary cutter 1 and the upper surface of the conveyor 2 are substantially equal to each other, and therefore, the dispersion of the short noodle bundles SN caused by the interference of the blades 11 during cutting can be suppressed.

Embodiments of the present invention should be considered as representative of the principles of the present invention and it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments, but is described in the specification and illustrated embodiments of the invention. Various other embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art and can be readily made by those of ordinary skill in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

For example, the drive means may be configured such that the relative position between the rotary cutter and the conveyor 21 varies during cutting. On the surface of the backup roll 23, a groove may be formed which faces the blade 11 at the same time. In the present embodiment, the noodle strand cutting device 10 of the independent module that cuts only the noodle strands is described; however, the strand cutting device may be integrated with one or more devices that perform other processing steps, or the strand cutting device may be used as part of another device. It should be understood that even in this case, the relevant portion corresponds to the noodle strand cutting device of the present invention. The scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims (4)

1. A noodle strand cutting device (10) for cutting a gelatinized noodle strand (N) used in the manufacture of instant noodles, the noodle strand cutting device (10) comprising:

a conveyor (2) for conveying at least one bundle (B) of noodles (N) which is gelatinized by heating; and a rotary cutter (1) arranged on said conveyor (2) and intended to cut at least one gelatinized noodle strand (N) conveyed on the conveyor (2) in a substantially horizontal direction into a predetermined length of 1-10 cm,

the rotary cutter (1) comprises 6-30 blades (11) alongside the rotary shaft (13) and extending in a radial direction around the rotary shaft (13), the blades (11) being spaced from each other in a circumferential direction by a predetermined interval; wherein

The rotary cutter (1) further comprises a control surface (15), the control surface (15) extending between a pair of blades (11) adjacent to each other to control the bounce of the cut noodle strand (N), the control surface (15) and the pair of blades (11) forming a closed or semi-closed space in the direction of rotation such that the noodle strand (N) does not come out of the space.

2. Noodle bundle cutting device (10) according to claim 1, wherein the distance between the control surface (15) and the tip of the blade (11) is equal to or less than 6 cm.

3. Noodle beam cutting device (10) according to claim 1, further comprising a drive unit (4), the drive unit (4) being adapted to drive the conveyor (2) and the rotary cutter (1) such that the speeds of the tips of the plurality of blades (11) of the rotary cutter (1) and the upper surface of the conveyor (2) are substantially equal to each other.

4. A method for cutting gelatinized noodle bundles (N) in instant noodle production, the method comprising the steps of:

providing a noodle strand cutting device (10), wherein the noodle strand cutting device (10) comprises:

a conveyor (2) for conveying at least one gelatinized noodle strand (B), and

a rotary cutter (1) arranged above the conveyor (2),

the rotary cutter (1) is provided with 6-30 blades (11) which are arranged side by side with a rotating shaft (13) and extend in a radial direction around the rotating shaft (13), the blades (11) being spaced from each other by a predetermined interval in a circumferential direction; providing a bundle of noodles (N) cut longitudinally and gelatinized by heating; and

pressing at least one of a plurality of blades (11) of the rotary cutter (1) against at least one bundle (B) of gelatinized noodle bundles (N) conveyed on a conveyor (2) in a substantially horizontal direction, cutting the gelatinized noodle bundles (N) into a predetermined length of 1-10 cm, wherein

The rotary cutter (1) further comprises a control surface (15), the control surface (15) extending between a pair of blades (11) adjacent to each other to control the bounce of the cut noodle strand (N).