JP2002320558A - Automatically cooking system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an automatically cooking system which enables not only substantial expansion of cooking areas but also effective draining of meat juices from food materials in the transfer back operation. SOLUTION: In the automatically cooking system in which food material housing bodies 10 are transferred in circulation along a specified loop-like track R within a vertical plane while a cooking part 12c is provided at a part of a transfer path of the food material housing bodies 10, a food material housing body upright attitude holding means 6 is provided to shift the food material housing bodies 10 transferred back via the cooking part 12c to upright attitudes. Thus, for example, even flat fried foods M can be turned and kept in upright attitudes to enable draining of oil sufficiently on both sides of the fried foods thereby helping extract taste and relishing favorably.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an automatic cooker applied to fried cooking, grilled cooking and the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, for example, in an automatic deep-frying machine, a food-transporting conveyor is arranged in an oil tank filled with oil, and the food (cooking material) on a conveyor that has passed through a downward slope on the upstream side of the oil tank. The food is drained while the material is lifted while infiltrating the oil and then lifted to a position corresponding to the uphill slope downstream of the oil tank.

[0003] However, in the above-mentioned method in which food is moved in a horizontal direction by a conveyor, cooking is carried out in a horizontal direction, because it is necessary to secure an area for draining the fried food on the downstream side of the oil tank. There is a restriction on the effective cooking space in the space.

[0004] Under such circumstances, conventionally, a food container formed of a net basket or the like is circulated and transferred along a predetermined loop-like locus in a vertical plane, and a cooking unit is provided on a part of a transfer path of the food container. Provisions have been made.

[0005]

By the way, in deep-fried cooking, whether or not the fried food is sufficiently drained greatly influences the taste and texture.

[0006] As described above, in the food container in which the food container is circulated and moved in a vertical plane, the effective length of the installation space can be almost secured for heating and cooking, and oil is drained while the food container is returned and transferred. However, there is no guarantee that this oil draining will be sufficient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides an automatic cooking machine which can not only enlarge a substantial cooking area but also perform sufficient drainage at the time of return transfer. The purpose is.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of the present invention is to provide a food container in which a food container is circulated and transferred along a predetermined loop locus in a vertical plane, and a cooking section is provided on a part of a transfer path of the food container. Automatic cooking machine, wherein a food container vertical posture holding means for converting and holding a food container returned and transferred through the cooking section in a horizontal posture to a vertical posture is provided. Solved by the cooker.

According to the present invention, since the food container circulates along the predetermined loop locus via the cooking section, a substantial cooking area in a limited space is sufficiently ensured. In addition, since the food container that has passed through the cooking unit is converted and held in the vertical position, for example, when flat food is stored in the food container, the food container is converted to the vertical position. The food material is also in a vertical position, and unnecessary oil on the entire surface of the food material falls by its own weight, so that the oil is cut off effectively, and the cooking of the food material is finished in a preferable state.

[0010] The food container vertical posture holding means may include:
A suspension arm that is connected to the endless cord that rotates along the circulation locus and pivotally supports a central portion of the food container, and is attached to a state where the bottom surface side of the food container is heavier around the pivot portion; If the included traveling wheels are included,
Even if a special vertical posture conversion mechanism is not introduced, the food container that has passed through the cooking unit in the horizontal posture is displaced to the vertical posture by its own weight, and the oil drainage is effectively performed.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an automatic frying machine as an embodiment of the automatic cooking machine according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view showing the same automatic frying machine.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic frying machine is
Generally, an oil tank 11, a food container 10, a circulating transfer unit 3 for the food container 10, a heating source unit 4 for heating and cooking the food M with the fried oil W, a food container reversing mechanism 5, a food container vertical posture holding unit 6. , An oil receiving part 7 and a fried food collecting part 8.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a fry machine main body. The fry machine main body 1 includes an oil tank base 11 and an oil tank 12 provided above the oil tank base 11. On the rear side of the main body 1, a drive unit case 2 equipped with a circulating transfer unit 3 for circulating and transferring a food container 10 described below in a vertical plane above an oil tank 12 is arranged.

The oil tank base 11 is formed in a rectangular box shape from a clad steel plate or the like coated with stainless steel or the like, and an oil tank 12 made of stainless steel is fitted into an upper opening thereof. The oil tank 12 is filled with an appropriate amount of oil W. The oil tank 12 is a part of a transfer path through which the food container 10 is circulated and transferred, and is located on the upstream side (FIG. 2).
From the left) of the food material M, the stagnation region 12b, the heating region 12c, and the oil discharge hopper 1
2d are arranged in this order.

The bottom of the molding region 12a is higher (shallow) than other parts so that the clothes of the introduced food material M do not collapse due to the wave of the oil W. Retention area 1
Reference numeral 2b denotes a portion for temporarily suspending the food M before being transferred to the heating region 12c, and the heating region 12c is a portion for sufficiently immersing the food M in the frying oil W and cooking the fried food.

The hopper 12d is used for circulating and filtering the oil W during cooking and for recovering the oil W after cooking.
A discharge pipe 14 provided with an on-off valve 13 is connected.

The stagnation region 12b and the heating region 12c
In the oil tank 12 located at the boundary between the two, a blind-shaped partition 12f made of a chain or the like for restricting the free movement of the food material M is provided, and the food material M slightly molded in the molding region 12a is provided. Until the cook forcibly moves using the chopsticks or the like, the stay area 12b is temporarily made to stand by.

The oil tank table 11 is provided corresponding to the hopper section 12d.
As shown in FIG. 3, a cart 15 is retractably stored in the lower space of the car, and an oil can 16 for recovering oil is placed on the cart 15. When fried scum and the like increase in the oil W in the oil tank 12 or when cooking is completed, the on-off valve 13 is opened so that the oil W in the oil tank 12 flows down through the discharge pipe 14 and the oil can 16 And the oil W can be replaced. If a filter for oil lifting is disposed between the discharge pipe 14 and the oil can 16, the oil W can be filtered and reused.

As shown in FIG. 4, the oil tank 12 is located below the upstream bottom wall of the oil tank 12 and serves as a heating source for raising the oil W in the oil tank 12 to a temperature suitable for cooking. For example, a plurality of burners 41 are arranged, and the cross-sectional area of the heat transfer path 42 reaches the downstream side so that the heat transfer distribution of the combustion heat by each burner 41 is equalized from the upstream side to the downstream side. As it gradually decreases.
The heating source section 4 is constituted by the burners 41, 41, the heat transfer path 42, and the like.

A temperature sensor (not shown) is disposed in the oil tank 12, for example, in the vicinity of the stagnation area 12b, and the combustion temperature of the burner 41 is controlled by using a detection signal. The temperature of the oil W is kept constant.

The circulating transfer unit 3 is mounted on the drive unit case 2 and moves the food container 10 above the oil tank 12 to a predetermined position in a vertical plane which is the surface of the front panel 2 a of the drive unit case 2. An endless cord 21 for circulating and transferring along the loop trajectory R, and an endless cord driving mechanism 22 are provided. The trajectory R is, for example, a horizontal feed portion Ra,
Ascending return portion Rb, horizontal return portion Rc, and descending return portion Rd
Is a continuous square in this order. of course,
The shape of the circulation trajectory R can be set arbitrarily according to other elements.

The endless cable 21 is, for example, an endless belt or two parallel endless chains as in this example. As shown in FIG. 2, a plurality of sprockets 23A to 23A to 23C are provided at predetermined plural places. 23D, and is configured to be rotatable counterclockwise along the locus R.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the foodstuff container 10 is made of a stainless steel rectangular net cage with an open left side in the length direction (the left-right direction in FIG. 2). The food container 10 has an L-shaped suspension arm 1 attached to a support shaft 17 provided at a central position in the longitudinal direction of the rear side surface 10c.
By pivotally supporting the food container 10 at the distal end portion 18 a of the suspension arm 8, the distal end portion 18 a of the suspension arm 18 is rotatably supported.

Also, the front and rear sides 10 of the foodstuff container 10
As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, small wheels 19 and 19 are rotatably provided at b and 10c, respectively, near upper and lower corners on the right side (bottom) 10d side. .

In the longitudinal direction of the endless chains 21, 21, a plurality of food containers 10 are arranged at appropriate intervals, and each base portion 18b of the hanging arm 18 is fixed for each food container 10. The members 24 are connected and fixed to the endless chains 21 and 21 respectively.

The front panel 2 of the drive unit case 2
In FIG. 3A, a square-shaped slit 25 is formed which penetrates the base end portion 18b of the suspension arm 18 and does not hinder the movement of the suspension arm 18 due to the rotation of the endless chains 21, 21.

For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the endless cable drive mechanism 22 reduces the rotational force of the motor 26 and the rotational force of the motor 26 and transmits it to any one of the rotating shafts 27 of the sprockets 23A to 23D. And a chain transmission 28. Of course, any configuration can be adopted for the drive mechanism 22 as long as it can drive the endless chain 21.

By driving the motor 26, the sprocket 2
By rotating the endless chains 21 and 21 via 3A to 23D, a plurality of foodstuff containers 10 are circulated and transferred in the counterclockwise direction along the trajectory R via the hanging arms 13 respectively. . That is, the food container 10
Drives the endless chains 21, 21 to sequentially move the horizontal feed portion Ra, the upward return portion Rb, the horizontal return portion Rc, and the downward return portion Rd in the square-shaped locus R from the food supply standby position in the oil tank 12 in this order. Circulates through.

As described above, since the food container 10 is circulated in the vertical plane, the effective length of the heating area 12c can be increased, in other words, the installation area in the horizontal direction can be reduced.

The food container 10 is set in a horizontal position in which the opening 10a faces the upstream side at the food input standby position.

The bottom surface of the heating area 12c in the oil tank 12 has a cross-sectional shape on the bottom surface of the food container 10, which is transferred in a horizontal position, in order to turn the food container 10 toward the downstream side and invert it.
For example, a mountain-shaped protrusion 51 is formed so as to cross the food transport direction. On the other hand, in correspondence with the protrusion 51, the drive part case 2 is configured such that a horizontal portion of the endless chain 21 corresponding to the horizontal feed portion Ra of the circulation trajectory R follows the cross-sectional shape of the protrusion 51. Three detour sprockets 23E, 23F, and 23G are provided, and a lower horizontal portion of the endless chain 21 has an uphill portion 21 between the sprockets 23E and 23F as shown in FIG.
a between the sprockets 23F and 23G is a downward slope 21b.

The food container reversing section 5 includes upper and lower wheels 19, 19 of the food container 10, a suspension arm 18,
When the lower wheel 19 of the foodstuff container 11 which is transported in the lateral posture is constituted by the protrusion 51, an upward slope 21 a and a downward slope 21 b in the endless chain 21, and hits the protrusion 51. 7A, the hanging arm 18 moves along the upwardly sloped portion 21a of the endless chain 21 to move the food container 10 clockwise about the lower wheel 19 as shown in FIG. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7 (b), the suspension arm 18 is erected on the protrusion 51, and subsequently, the hanging arm 18 moves along the downward slope 20b of the endless chain 21, and as shown in FIG. The food container 10 is further displaced clockwise with the tip of
Invert.

As described above, in the heating area 12c,
Since the food container 10 is turned 180 °, the food in the heated state is also turned 180 °.

The food container vertical posture holding section 6 is composed of, for example, a support shaft 17, a suspension arm 18, wheels 19, and the like. That is, since the wheel 19 is provided on the right end side of the food container 10, the food container 1
0 is heavier on the opposite side (right end side) than on the opening 10a side (left end side) around the support shaft 17 of the suspension arm 18. For this reason, when the foodstuff container 10 is pulled up through the heating area 12c and enters the return step,
As shown in FIG. 8, the wheel 19 is displaced and held in a vertical posture in which the wheel 19 side is a lower side due to its own weight.

The food container vertical posture holding section 6
Although any configuration can be adopted, as described above,
In the case of a configuration in which a vertical posture is caused by acting as a weight, the structure can be simplified.

The oil receiving portion 7 is provided between the food container 10 and the oil tank 12 at a position corresponding to the horizontal return portion Rc on the circulation locus R.

The oil receiving portion 7 extends, for example, along a horizontal return portion Rc of the trajectory R, and is formed of a stainless steel hollow plate-shaped oil attached to the front panel 2 a of the driving portion case 2. It has a juice receiving body 71 and an oil collecting passage 72 for guiding the oil collected in the oil receiving body 71 to a predetermined location.

As shown in FIG. 4, the oil receiving body 71 has a far-infrared radiating layer 73 such as Teflon (registered trademark) formed on the upper surface thereof, while the waste heat (combustion gas) Before exhausting the g from the exhaust port 2b formed on the upper surface of the drive case 2, a passage 74 for circulating the g inside is formed, and the far-infrared radiation layer 73 accompanying the circulation of the waste heat g is formed. The food M in the return step is kept warm by the radiant heat.

On the front surface of the drive unit case 2, a shelf member 82 on which a fried food collecting car 81 is placed is fixed above the forming area 12a in the oil tank 3 and is fixed near the fried food collecting car 81. Is provided with a delivery plate 83 for sliding down the food (fried food) M from the food container 10 to the fried food collection basket 81.

Located near the end of the horizontal return portion Rc in the circulation locus R, on the front surface of the drive unit case 2,
For example, an obstruction member 84 is provided as a tilting unit with respect to the food container 10. The baffle member 84 lifts up the lower part of the food container 10 that is returned and transferred in the vertical posture by relative displacement, thereby moving the food container 10 around the support shaft 17 of the suspension arm 18 as shown in FIG. It is tilted clockwise, and together with the above-mentioned fried food collection basket 81, the delivery plate 83, etc., constitutes the fried food collection unit 8.

Next, the overall operation of the above configuration will be briefly described.

Before the food container 10 circulated and transferred by the endless chain 21 along the square-shaped trajectory R returns to the food input standby position after passing through the stagnation area 12b of the oil tank 12, the cooker can, for example, be in a flat shape. When the food material M is thrown into the heating area 12a in the oil tank 12, the lower portion of the food material M is slightly burned by the oil-lifting W and is formed without shape collapse. The formed food material M is dropped into the stagnation region 12b, and is waited for full-scale heating.

When the foodstuff container 10 returns to the foodstuff input standby position, the foodstuff container 10 has the opening 10a facing upstream and is in a horizontal position. If the foodstuffs M inside are pushed out to the downstream side, the mat-shaped partitioning member 12f is pushed out and the foodstuffs M is stored in the foodstuff container 10.
Is accommodated. In this embodiment, two flat food materials M are accommodated in the oil tank 12 in the width direction. Since the food container 10 is cantilevered on the hanging arm 18 on the rear surface 10c side, the operation of feeding the food M can be smoothly performed without being hindered by the hanging arm 18.

While the food container 10 in which the food material M is stored is transferred by the endless chain 21 to the heating area 12c, the food material M is heated by the oil filing W and fried. Further, during the transportation in the heating area 12c, the foodstuff container 10
Since the foodstuff M is inverted by 80 °, the foodstuff M inside is also in an inverted state, and when the foodstuff container 10 passes through the heating area 12c, the foodstuff M is evenly fried up and down.

The food container 1 that has passed through the heating area 12c
When 0 is transferred along the ascending return portion Rb on the trajectory R, the wheel 19 becomes a weight and the food container 10
As shown in (1), it is transferred from the horizontal posture to the vertical posture with the opening 10a facing upward.

As described above, since the foodstuff container 10 that has passed through the heating area 12c in the horizontal posture is held in the vertical posture in the return process, the fried material M itself becomes the vertical posture in addition to the posture changing operation. Thereby, the oil drops of the fried food M in the foodstuff container 10 accompany each other, and the self-weight drop is promoted. In particular, when the foodstuff M is flat as shown in the figure, when the foodstuff container 10 is returned and transported in the horizontal posture, unnecessary oil on the lower surface and side surfaces of the foodstuff M stored in the prone state is reduced by its own weight. Although falling, the unnecessary oil on the upper surface side of the food material M remains without being drained as it is. In this regard, as described above, when the food container 10 is converted to the vertical posture, the flat food material M is also displaced to the vertical posture as shown in FIG. Is slid down by its own weight along each surface, so that oil draining is effectively performed. Therefore, a unique taste and texture as fried food is guaranteed.

When the food container 10 is transferred along the horizontal return portion Rc on the locus R, the food material M
From the oil dripping. Since the oil receiving body 71 is disposed below the food container 10 in the return transfer process, the oil is received by the oil receiving body 71 before falling down to the heating area 12c. . Therefore, it is possible to prevent the frying oil W from being quickly deteriorated by the unnecessary oil due to the oil drainage, and to eliminate the fear that the falling oil will interfere with the cooking operation.

The oil on the oil receiving body 71 is automatically collected at a predetermined location through the oil collecting path 72, so that a special collecting operation is not required.

The shape and structure of the oil receiving body 71 are arbitrary as long as the oil receiving body 71 can receive oil.
In this example, the upper surface of the oil receiving body 71 is coated with the far-infrared ray radiating layer 73 and the waste heat g is circulated in the oil receiving member 71, so that the oil receiving body 71 itself is heated by the waste heat g. You. Thereby, the radiant heat from the far-infrared radiation layer 73 on the upper surface of the oil receiver 71 warms the food M which is fried and returned and keeps the fried material M in the fried state, and also maintains the waste heat. g can be effectively used.

It is also possible to provide a dedicated heat retaining member for the food material M which is fried and transferred. However, as in this example, the far-infrared radiation layer 73 is connected to the oil receiving member 71.
If the upper surface is coated, the number of parts can be reduced and the device can be manufactured at low cost.

When the food container 10 shifts from the horizontal return portion Rc to the descending return portion Rd on the locus R, the obstruction member 84 fixed to the drive case 2 side is positioned below the food container 10 in the vertical posture. And the food container 10 is moved relative to the support arm 1 of the suspension arm 18.
7 is tilted counterclockwise in FIG. As a result, the food M in the food container 10 moves out and is transferred to the delivery plate 8.
3 and is automatically collected in the fried food collection basket 81.

In the above embodiment, the automatic fryer has been described as an example. However, the present invention can be applied to other cooking machines, for example, a roasting machine.
This can help to drop excess dripping from the pottery over the required amount.

[0054]

As described above, the present invention has a configuration in which the food container circulates along the predetermined loop locus through the cooking section, so that a substantial cooking area in a limited space can be sufficiently provided. In addition to the fact that the food container that has passed through the cooking unit is returned and transported, it is converted to a vertical position. As a result, the oil-cutting action of the food material is effectively performed, and the food can be finished in a preferable cooking state.

In the case where the food container is displaced to the vertical position by its own weight using the weight of the traveling wheels provided on the food container, a special posture changing means is provided. It is not necessary, and the configuration can be simplified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an automatic frying machine to which an automatic cooking machine according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a partially cutaway front view showing the automatic frying machine.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line III-III in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway side view showing the same automatic frying machine.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of a support structure of a food container.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a food container in an oil tank.

FIG. 7 is an operation explanatory view of the food container reversing mechanism.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a vertical posture conversion state by a food container vertical posture holding unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 6 food container vertical posture holding means 10 food container 12c cooking unit 17 pivot unit (Central part) 18 ··························································· Foodstuff R ..... Predetermined loop locus

Claims (2)

[Claims] An automatic cooking machine in which a food container is circulated and transferred along a predetermined loop trajectory in a vertical plane and a cooking section is provided in a part of a transfer path of the food container. An automatic cooking machine further comprising a food container vertical posture holding means for converting and holding a food container returned and transported through the cooking section in a vertical posture to a vertical posture. 2. The food container vertical posture holding means includes a hanging arm connected to an endless cord that rotates along the circulation locus and pivotally supporting a central portion of the food container. 2. The automatic cooking machine according to claim 1, further comprising: a traveling wheel mounted so as to make the bottom surface side of the foodstuff container heavy around the center.