JP7788137B2 - Stirring method and device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a stirring method and device that coats solid materials with an adhesive material and stirs them to break down the solid materials.

Conventional stirring processing devices include those described in Patent Document 1. This stirring processing device coats solid materials such as nut kernels with a sticky material such as caramel, and then stirs the kernels to break them apart, producing caramel-coated roasted nuts and other products.

This stirring device is a vertical, rotation-and-revolution type stirring device equipped with blade-shaped stirring elements and rod-shaped stirring elements, and is configured so that the blade-shaped stirring elements and rod-shaped stirring elements rotate and revolve laterally (e.g., horizontally) relative to the stirring vessel as the stirring drive shaft rotates and revolves.

As an example, roasting of granulated nuts placed in a stirring vessel and caramelization of granulated sugar are carried out by heating the stirring vessel and stirring by the rotation and revolution of the blade-shaped stirring bar and rod-shaped stirring bar.

Next, the caramel is solidified while the stirring vessel is cooled, while stirring is performed by rotating and revolving the blade-shaped stirring bar and rod-shaped stirring bar. If the caramel solidifies and particles bond together, large lumps will form, so cooling is carried out within the speed range determined experimentally.

The result is roasted nuts that are individually broken down and coated with caramel.

However, because such agitation treatment equipment achieves cooling by spraying cooling mist onto the bottom of the agitation vessel, heat transfer for solidification is mainly to the part that comes into contact with the bottom of the agitation vessel.

As a result, it was difficult to thoroughly cool the entire grain in the mixing vessel and the entire surface of each grain, which required time for the caramel coating to solidify, resulting in increased production time.

On the other hand, if the cooling of the bottom is strengthened to shorten the cooling time, the overall cooling rate is likely to become uneven, and the solid adhesive material on the bottom side, especially that in contact with the bottom, solidifies early. Furthermore, the solidification is uneven across the entire surface of the particles that have already begun to solidify, making it difficult to achieve a state where each particle is loosened.

This problem is not limited to granules, but can occur with any granular or chunky solid material that requires a coating of adhesive material.

Patent No. 6633299

The problem we were trying to solve was that increasing the cooling speed of the bottom in order to shorten the cooling time could easily lead to uneven cooling and solidification speeds throughout the product, while slowing down the cooling could result in longer cooling and solidification times, which resulted in increased production time from the perspective of cooling and solidification.

The present invention is a stirring method in which granular or lumpy solids having an adhesive material attached to their surface are stirred by scraping the bottom of a stirring vessel accompanied by cooling, to obtain a processed product in which the adhesive material is solidified and coated, and the processed product is broken down into particles or lumps. The cooling is carried out by blowing air onto the granular or lumpy solids having the adhesive material attached while cooling the bottom of the stirring vessel , and the air is blown obliquely from above outside the stirring vessel, sloping downward from one side toward the upper opening of the stirring vessel , so that any bias in the distribution of the surface temperature of the granular or lumpy solids having the adhesive material attached that are being broken down by the stirring process is suppressed by cooling the bottom of the stirring vessel.

The present invention, with its configuration described above, can efficiently produce a processed product in which the granular or lumpy solid material with the adhesive attached is broken down into particles or lumps while being coated with solidified adhesive by blowing air onto the solidified granular or lumpy solid material and stirring it.

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an agitation treatment device according to a first embodiment. 1 is a schematic front view of an agitation treatment device according to a first embodiment. 1 is a schematic side view of an agitation treatment device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view of an agitation processing device according to a second embodiment, the agitation processing device including first and second agitation processing sections. FIG. 10 is a schematic rear view of the agitation treatment device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic plan view of a second agitation processing unit according to a second embodiment, illustrating the blowing out of cooling air. FIG. 10 is a schematic front view of the second agitation processing unit according to the second embodiment, illustrating the blowing out of cooling air.

The present invention achieves the objective of minimizing increases in manufacturing time from the perspective of cooling and solidifying in the following ways:

This is a stirring and processing method in which granular or lumpy solid matter with an adhesive material attached thereto is stirred and cooled in a stirring vessel, yielding a processed product in which the adhesive material is solidified and coated, breaking down into particles or lumps. The cooling is achieved by blowing air onto the granular or lumpy solid matter with the adhesive material attached thereto.

The granular or chunky solid material can be anything that can be coated with the adhesive, such as nuts, popcorn, or natto. The adhesive material can be anything that can be coated onto a solid by stirring, cooling, and solidifying, such as caramel, chocolate, or candy.

However, the solid material and adhesive material may be any material that can be coated with the adhesive, and this can be applied to other foods that can be coated, and even to coatings of medicines, quasi-drugs, herbal medicines, and various other materials.

The processed material that has been broken down into chunks can also be realized as chunks of multiple particles.

The stirring process accompanied by heating and the stirring process accompanied by cooling can be performed in the same device, or in separate devices.

The air can be blown onto the solid material to which the adhesive material is attached from a fixed position relative to the mixing vessel. However, the cooling air can also be blown while moving relative to the mixing vessel. This movement can be achieved by blowing along one side of the opening of the mixing vessel or along the entire circumference.

The temperature, humidity, flow rate, and flow velocity of the air can be constant or variable.

The cooling can also be achieved by cooling the bottom of the stirring vessel.

Cooling of the bottom can be achieved using cooling mist, cooling water, etc.

The temperature, strength, and range of the cooling mist, as well as the temperature, flow rate, and flow velocity of the cooling water, can be constant or variable.

The stirring treatment device used in the stirring treatment method can be realized by including an agitation vessel that contains the granular or lumpy solid material to which the adhesive material is attached and the adhesive material; an agitation unit that rotates the agitation vessel to stir and treat the granular or lumpy solid material to which the adhesive material is attached; and an air blowing unit that blows air onto the granular or lumpy solid material to which the adhesive material is attached, thereby cooling it.

The agitation processing device can be realized as a vertical type in which the rotation axis that rotates the agitation unit is arranged vertically relative to the agitation vessel, a horizontal type in which the rotation axis is arranged horizontally, or an oblique-axis type in which the rotation axis is arranged diagonally.

The stirring unit can be realized by including a scraping blade. The stirring unit can be realized by including a scraping blade and a rod-shaped stirrer.

The air blowing unit can be fixed to the agitating vessel or movable. This movement can be achieved by moving it along one side of the opening of the agitating vessel or along the entire circumference. The air blowing unit can also be detachable.

The air blowing unit can also be provided in multiple locations to blow air onto the stirring vessel.

The stirring vessel is equipped with a fluid jacket covering the bottom or a mist nozzle facing the bottom, and this can be achieved by supplying cooling water to the fluid jacket or spraying mist for cooling from the mist nozzle.

The temperature, flow rate, and flow velocity of the cooling water, as well as the temperature, strength, and range of the cooling mist, can be constant or variable.

[Agitation treatment method and agitation treatment device]
1 is a schematic plan view of the agitation processing device, FIG 2 is a schematic front view of the agitation processing device, and FIG 3 is a schematic side view of the agitation processing device.

The stirring processing device 1 in Figures 1 and 2 produces a processed product in which granular or lumpy solid material is coated with an adhesive and then broken down into granules or lumps. The granular or lumpy solid material can be anything that can be coated with an adhesive, such as nuts, popcorn, or natto. The adhesive can be anything that can coat the solid material through stirring, cooling, and solidification, such as caramel.

The stirring processing device 1 includes a stirring vessel 3. The stirring vessel 3 contains granular or lumpy solid material with an adhesive material attached thereto, and stirs the material using a stirring unit 5. The stirring vessel 3 is made of iron, stainless steel, copper, or the like, and has a curved bottom at the bottom. A spout 6 is provided on one side of the top of the stirring vessel 3.

The stirring vessel 3 is supported on the base frame 7 by support shafts 9 and 11 so that it can be tilted. The base frame 7 is equipped with a tilting operation handle 13. The tilting operation handle 13 is configured to be linked to the stirring vessel 3 by gear meshing or the like. By operating the tilting operation handle 13, the stirring vessel 3 can be rotated around the support shafts 9 and 11, allowing it to be tilted up to approximately 90° toward the spout 6.

The stirring vessel 3 is provided with a gas heating device 15 that heats the bottom. The bottom of the stirring vessel 3 can be heated by the gas heating device 15 under the control of a control box 17. The gas heating device 15 has an array of gas nozzles (not shown) that heat the bottom of the stirring vessel 3.

In this Example 1, multiple mist nozzles (not shown) are arranged around the gas nozzle at predetermined intervals in the circumferential direction. The mist nozzles are arranged facing the bottom of the stirring vessel 3. The mist nozzles spray mist with a particle size of, for example, 170 μm to 200 μm in a conical shape. The shortest distance between the mist nozzle and the stirring vessel 3 is approximately 100 mm, the spray surface diameter is φ140 (spray angle approximately 70°), and the nozzle water pressure is 0.15 MPa. The mist nozzle sprays water slightly tilted toward the center of the gas heating device 15.

The settings for these mist nozzles are not particularly limited and can be set in various ways for cooling purposes. The number of mist nozzles can also be set according to the cooling specifications.

The stirring unit 5 has the function of rotating and stirring the stirring vessel 3 to obtain a processed product in which the granular or lumpy solid material with the adhesive attached is broken down into particles or lumps in a coated state by solidifying the adhesive through a stirring process accompanied by cooling.

The agitator unit 5 has a structure similar to that described in Japanese Patent No. 6633299, and is equipped with an agitator drive shaft 21 on a revolution box 19. The revolution box 19 is driven to rotate by the main agitator drive shaft. The agitator drive shaft 21 is linked to the main agitator drive shaft via a gear and rotates relative to the revolution box 19. A scraping blade and rod-shaped agitator are supported on the agitator drive shaft 21. A side scraping shaft 23 is supported on the revolution box 19, which in turn supports a side scraping blade. These scraping blades and other elements scrape the bottom and side walls of the agitator vessel 3 while elastically contacting them due to spring bias, thereby agitating the material being agitated.

The main agitation drive shaft is supported at the tip of the agitation head 29 mounted on the top of the agitation vessel 3. The main agitation drive shaft is rotated and driven by a geared motor, which is the drive unit inside the agitation head 29, via a chain, and is configured to rotate on its own axis. The geared motor is driven and controlled by the control box 17.

As the revolution box 19 rotates, the scraping blades revolve via the side scraping shaft 23, scraping solid matter adhering to the side walls of the agitator vessel 3 with the adhesive material toward the bottom. At the same time, the rotation and revolution of the agitator drive shaft 21 causes the scraping blades and other components to revolve, scraping the bottom. In this way, solid matter and adhesive material can be effectively scraped, stirred, and mixed throughout the entire agitator vessel 3.

The mixing head 29 is rotatably supported on a head support bracket 33 on the base frame 7 side. A head operating handle 31 is attached to the head support bracket 33. The head operating handle 31 is configured to move in conjunction with the mixing head 29. Therefore, by rotating the head operating handle 31, the mixing head 29 rotates relative to the head support bracket 33, retracting it upward together with the mixing unit 5 and allowing the mixing vessel 3 to tilt.

One side of the agitator vessel 3 is equipped with an additive supply unit 36 and a water supply unit 38. An additive supply pipe 36a is attached to the additive supply unit 36, and the tip of the additive supply pipe 36a faces the opening of the agitator vessel 3. A water supply pipe 38a is attached to the water supply unit 38, and the tip of the water supply pipe 38a faces the opening of the agitator vessel 3. The additive supply unit 36 measures the flow rate per hour when the valve is open in advance. Therefore, the control box 17 controls the amount of additive added by the time the valve of the additive supply unit 36 is closed. The water supply unit 38 adds water according to the recipe described below.

The agitation processing device 1 is equipped with an air blowing unit 37. The air blowing unit 37 is provided for cooling the material being agitated. This realizes an agitation processing method in which granular or clumped solid material with an adhesive material adhering to its surface is agitated and cooled in the agitation container 3, yielding a processed material that is broken down into particles or clumps while coated with a solidified adhesive material. In addition to air cooling, in this embodiment, the cooling involves cooling with mist sprayed from the mist nozzle.

The air blowing section 37 is equipped with piping 39. The piping 39 is installed to the side of the agitator 3, and its lower end is connected to a filter-equipped air blower 41. The air blower 41 is installed on an extended portion of the base frame 7. The piping 39 extends upward from the air blower 41 and is set parallel to the agitator drive shaft 21, etc. The tip 39a of the piping 39 is bent and inclined downward toward the opening of the agitator 3. The air outlet 43 is located toward one side of the opening of the agitator 3. The air outlet 43 is also located slightly above the edge of the opening toward one side of the opening of the agitator 3. At this position, the air outlet 43 is oriented in the center of the agitator 3, approximately midway between the top and bottom of the agitator 3.

Therefore, by controlling the operation of the blower 41 using the control box 17, clean air is blown from the outlet 43 toward a position approximately midway between the top and bottom at the center of the agitator vessel 3. The air blown out from the outlet 43 diffuses somewhat before being blown toward the object being agitated.

In other words, while the material is being stirred by the stirring rotation of the stirring unit 5, cooling air is blown all over the material being stirred. The blowing conditions, such as the flow rate, volume, temperature, and humidity of the blown air, are determined in advance through experiments to ensure appropriate cooling and solidification.

In this way, the stirring process can be performed while cooling the object being stirred.

[Stirring drive of stirring processing unit, etc.]
During agitation involving heating, the agitation vessel 3 of the agitation processing device 1 is heated and controlled by a gas heating device 15 during operation. In this agitation processing device 1, a rotational drive force is transmitted to the main agitation drive shaft via the agitation head 29 of the agitator 5. When the main agitation drive shaft rotates, the revolution box 19 revolves integrally with the main agitation drive shaft around its axis. This rotation causes the agitation drive shaft 21 to revolve around the center of the agitation vessel 3, which is the axis of the main agitation drive shaft.

At the same time, rotational driving force is transmitted from the main agitator drive shaft to the agitator drive shaft 21 via the meshing of gears inside the revolution box 19. This rotational transmission drives the agitator drive shaft 21 to rotate around its axis.

That is, the agitator drive shaft 21 rotates and revolves around the axis of the main agitator drive shaft, and the scraping blades and other blades move and scrape the bottom of the agitator vessel 3 via the rotation of the revolution box 19. Furthermore, the outer scraping blades revolve together with the side scraping shaft 23, scraping and moving the side wall of the agitator vessel 3.

When performing the stirring process with cooling, the gas heating device 15 is stopped and mist is sprayed onto the bottom of the stirring vessel 3 from the mist nozzle. At the same time, the blower 41 is operated, and clean air is blown into the stirring vessel 3 from the outlet 43 via the piping 39.

This air is blown at approximately the center of the agitator vessel 3 relative to the top surface of the material being stirred inside the agitator vessel 3. By blowing air at this position, it is possible to blow air all over the material being stirred inside the agitator vessel 3.

After the adhesive material and granular or lumpy solid matter are heated and stirred, the air is blown in and the bottom is cooled with mist, which generally reduces the uneven distribution of the surface temperature of the solid matter to which the adhesive material is attached, allowing the adhesive-coated solid matter to be loosened in a short period of time.

In other words, by cooling the bottom of the mixing vessel 3 and by blowing air, the entire grain is cooled evenly without intensifying the cooling, which also prevents uneven cooling across the grain, shortening the time it takes to loosen each grain.

As shown in Figure 3, by rotating the mixing head 29 upward using the head operating handle 31, the mixing unit 5 can be retracted to one side above the mixing vessel 3.

In this retracted state, operating the tilting operation handle 13 causes the agitating container 3 to rotate around the support shafts 9 and 11. This rotation causes the agitating container 3 to tilt toward the spout 6.

[Stir-cooking]
An example of producing caramelized almond nuts using this apparatus will be described.

<Air blowing unit specifications>
Blower: 0-5 m³/min adjustable. Diameter of outlet 43: inner diameter 85 mm
Position of the blowing outlet 43: The air is blown down at an angle of 45 degrees from the horizontal at a distance of about 1 m toward the center of the surface of the product at the center of the stirring kettle 3, which is the stirring vessel 3.

<Specifications of the mixing vessel>
Diameter of mixing kettle: 850 mm
Mixing kettle capacity: 265 L (full)
Gas heating and mist cooling function from outside the bottom of the pot

<Recipe>
・12 kg of nuts (room temperature: 20°C)
・Granulated sugar・Water・Additives

<Procedure>
(1) Add granulated sugar and water to the stirring vessel 3.
(2) Ignition of the gas heating device and start of stirring by driving the main stirring drive shaft.
The mixture is stirred by the stirring unit 5 to dissolve and loosen the granulated sugar and boil it down.
(3) Add solid nuts to the stirring vessel 3.
(4) The wall temperature of the stirring vessel 3 is adjusted by adjusting the heat to roast the nuts and caramelize the sugar.
(5) Extinguishing (The intermediate product is slowly cooled and the caramel gradually solidifies.)
(6) Spray cooling mist repeatedly onto the rear surface of the stirring vessel 3 for a short period of time to slowly lower the temperature of the caramel and the wall temperature of the stirring vessel 3. (If the wall temperature is lowered too much, the caramel will solidify on the wall surface. Or, even if it does not solidify, if it is lowered too quickly, the particles will stick together and form large lumps.) The degree of slowness was determined in advance by experiment.
At the same time, clean air (at the temperature of the outside air) is blown in from above the mixing vessel 3 at a downward angle of 45° from the horizontal, aiming toward the center of the top surface of the material to be mixed (the product, which is an intermediate processing material) inside the mixing vessel 3. The distance between the blowing point and the product is about 1 m.
The amount of injection is initially a very small amount, and is gradually increased while checking the flow condition.
(7) Additives are appropriately added to the stirring vessel 3 (while cooling with mist from the bottom and blown-in air).
(8) Mist cooling completed, air cooling completed.
(9) The stirring unit 5 is raised together with the stirring head 29, the stirring vessel 3 is tilted, and the caramel nuts are removed.

This process resulted in roasted nuts that were mostly granular and coated with caramel.

The cooling time was completed in about 15 minutes.

As a comparative example, the mixture was stirred under the same conditions without blowing in air. In this case, the cooling time required to obtain roasted nuts was approximately 25 minutes.

Furthermore, when the charge amount was 24 kg, the cooling time was approximately 25 minutes when air cooling was also used.

It is also possible to process the material using only air blowing, without mist cooling from the bottom. In this case, cooling took approximately 30 minutes under the same conditions. However, the effect of overall suppressing deviations in the surface temperature distribution of adhesive-coated solid materials is greater than with bottom mist cooling, and it is possible to shorten the time by changing the conditions for air blowing. Furthermore, if the mist cooling equipment is omitted, the gas heating device 15 can be simplified.

Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of an agitation processing device equipped with first and second agitation processing units. Figure 5 is a schematic rear view of the agitation processing device. Figure 6 is a schematic plan view of the second agitation processing unit showing the blowing of cooling air. Figure 7 is a schematic front view of the second agitation processing unit showing the blowing of cooling air.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the stirring processing device 51 is equipped with first and second stirring processing sections 53 and 55. The first stirring processing section 53 is composed of a vertical heating stirring device, and the second stirring processing section 55 is composed of a horizontal stirring device.

The first and second stirring processing sections 53, 55 are arranged adjacent to each other. The first stirring processing section 53 is configured so that a first stirring section (not shown) provided on a stirring head 59 is inserted from above into a first stirring vessel 57 and rotates laterally (e.g., horizontally). The second stirring processing section 55 is configured so that a second stirring section 63 rotates up and down (vertically) relative to a second stirring vessel 61.

In the first agitation vessel 57, the granular or lumped solid material and adhesive material are agitated with heating in the first agitation unit to produce an intermediate processed product. The intermediate processed product is transferred from the first agitation vessel 57 to the second agitation vessel 61, where it is agitated in the vertical direction with cooling in the second agitation unit 63. This agitation process produces a processed product in the subsequent stage, in which the granular or lumped solid material is coated with the adhesive material and is substantially broken down into particles or lumps. To perform the agitation process with cooling in the second agitation unit 63, an air blowing unit 37 is provided, as in Example 1.

The first agitator vessel 57 can be tilted to a transfer mode toward the second agitator vessel 61. In the transfer mode of the first agitator vessel 57, the inclination of the first agitator vessel 57 is used to transfer intermediate processed products from the previous agitation process to the second agitator vessel 61, and in the cleaning mode of the first agitator vessel 57, the cleaning water inside the first agitator vessel 57 can be discharged.

[Vertical heating and stirring device]
As shown in FIG. 4, the first stirring processing unit 53 produces an intermediate processed product by a first stirring process that involves heating granular or lumpy solids, such as nuts, to roast them and sugar to caramelize them.

The first stirring vessel 57 of the first stirring processing unit 53 is made of iron, stainless steel, copper, or other material and is kettle-shaped, with a spherical bottom at the bottom.

The first agitating vessel 57 is supported by a base frame 67 so that it can rotate and tilt. The base frame 67 is constructed in a roughly rectangular shape and has legs at its four corners. The base frame 67 is provided with left and right rotation support members 69 on the side of the second agitating processing unit 55. The rotation support members 69 are formed including ball bearings and the like. The rotation support members 69 are rotatably supported on the base frame 67 by a rotation shaft. The first agitating vessel 57 rises and rotates around the rotation support members 69 under the control of a hydraulic cylinder (not shown) by a control box 71. This rotation causes the first agitating vessel 57 to rotate and tilt toward the second agitating vessel 61.

A gas heating device (not shown) is provided on the base frame 67 and is positioned below the first stirring vessel 57. The bottom of the first stirring vessel 57 can be heated by the gas heating device under the control of a control box 71.

The mixing head 59 is rotatably supported on the base frame 67. The mixing head 59 is retracted upward together with the first mixing unit by driving a hydraulic cylinder device controlled by the control box 71, allowing the first mixing vessel 57 to tilt.

[Horizontal mixer]
5 and 6, the second agitation processing section 55 is configured with a horizontal agitation device, and the intermediate processed product is transferred from the first agitation processing section 53 to the second agitation processing section 55, and is cooled and subjected to a subsequent agitation process in the vertical direction by the second agitation processing section 55. By this subsequent agitation process, a processed product is obtained in which the nuts are coated with caramel and the nuts are loosened almost individually.

The second agitation vessel 61 of the second agitation processing section 55 receives intermediately processed material from the first agitation vessel 57 and is made of iron, stainless steel, copper, or the like. The second agitation vessel 61 has a hopper section 75 integrally attached to the top of a horizontally placed cylindrical section 73. The hopper section 75 forms the top opening of the second agitation vessel 61. This second agitation vessel 61 is supported by a base frame 77 so that it can tilt back and forth around its axis relative to the first agitation vessel 57. This tilting movement is performed by controlling a hydraulic cylinder using a control box 91, for example.

The rotary shaft 79 of the second agitator 63 is positioned laterally and rotatably supported at the axial center of the cylindrical portion 73. The agitation process accompanied by cooling in the second agitator 63 produces a processed product in which the granular or lumpy solid material is coated with an adhesive material and is substantially broken down into individual grains or lumps.

The rotating shaft 79 is rotated by a drive motor on the control box 91 side. Agitating arms 81 are attached to the rotating shaft 79 at predetermined intervals, and a scraping blade 83 is attached to the tip of each agitating arm 81. A rod-shaped loosening element 85 is also attached to the rotating shaft 79.

An open/close grate 87 is attached to the opening of the hopper section 75 of the second agitator vessel 61 in an openable and closable manner. The open/close grate 87 is supported on the control box 91 side by an open/close drive mechanism 89, which is hydraulically controlled or the like.

The cylindrical portion 73 of the second agitator vessel 61 is equipped with a cooling fluid jacket 93 on the lower outer periphery. The fluid jacket 93 is connected to a water supply unit via a water supply pipe 95, and the supply of cooling water from the water supply unit to the fluid jacket 93 can be controlled by the control box 91. The temperature of the cooling water can be changed by controlling the control box 91.

As shown in Figures 4 and 5, the agitation processing device 51 is equipped with an air blowing unit 37. The air blowing unit 37 is provided for cooling the material being agitated. This agitation processing method involves agitating granular or lumpy solid material with a sticky material attached to its surface in the agitation vessel 61 while cooling it, thereby obtaining a processed material that is broken down into particles or chunks and coated with a solidified sticky material. In this embodiment, the cooling involves cooling the bottom by controlling the supply of cooling water to the fluid jacket 93.

The air blowing section 37 is equipped with a pipe 39. The pipe 39 is installed to the side of the second agitating vessel 61. The lower end of the pipe 39 is connected to a filter-equipped blower 41. The blower 41 is installed on the base frame 67 side. The pipe 39 extends upward from the blower 41 and is set parallel to the rotation shaft 79. The tip 39a of the pipe 39 is formed to slope downward. The air outlet 43 is located toward one side of the bottom of the second agitating vessel 61 in the direction of the rotation radius of the rotation shaft 79. This position is the part where the agitating blade 83 leaves the bottom and rotates upward when rotated by the rotation shaft 79. The air outlet 43 is also located toward one side of the opening of the hopper section 75 in the axial direction of the rotation shaft 79, and is located slightly above the edge of the opening.

Therefore, clean air is blown into the second agitating vessel 61 from the outlet 43 by controlling the operation of the blower 41 using the control box 71. The range of the blowing is the shaded area extending from the outlet 43 in Figures 6 and 7. The air blown out from the outlet 43 is directed in the shaded area, but it diffuses somewhat across this shaded area before being blown onto the object being agitated.

In other words, when the material to be stirred is contained up to approximately the height of the rotating shaft 79 and the stirring blade 83 is rotating on the rotating shaft 79, the stirring blade 83 comes out from the bottom and rotates upward, stirring the material while air is primarily blown toward this area.

In this way, the material to be stirred can be cooled by the cooling water at the bottom of the second stirring vessel 61 and by air blown from the top of the second stirring vessel 61. In the stirring processing device 51, the second stirring processing section 55 is equipped with a running rail 97.

The running rail 97 supports the second mixing processing unit 55 so that it can move relative to the stationary first mixing processing unit 53. The base frame 77 of the second mixing processing unit 55 is equipped with pulleys 98a and 98b, which are mounted on the running rail 97. Support by this running rail 97 allows the first and second mixing processing units 53, 55 to move toward and away from each other. Movement of the second mixing processing unit 55 on the running rail 97 is controlled by a hydraulic cylinder (not shown).

The hydraulic cylinder is located adjacent to the running rail 97. This hydraulic cylinder operates under the control of the control box 91. The piston rod of the hydraulic cylinder is fixed to the running rail 97 side by a receiving flange, and the cylinder part of the hydraulic cylinder is fixed to the base frame 77 side.

When the hydraulic cylinder is controlled to extend, the second mixing processing unit 55 moves closer to the first mixing processing unit 53. When the hydraulic cylinder is controlled to extend, the pulleys 98a and 98b travel on the running rail 97, and the second mixing processing unit 55 moves along the running rail 97 toward the first mixing processing unit 53.

When the hydraulic cylinder is controlled to retract, the second mixing processing unit 55 moves away from the first mixing processing unit 53. When the hydraulic cylinder is controlled to retract, the pulleys 98a and 98b travel back on the running rail 97, and the second mixing processing unit 55 moves along the running rail 97 away from the first mixing processing unit 53. When the hydraulic cylinder is retracted, a damping effect is exerted at the end of the stroke, allowing the second mixing processing unit 55 to return gently to the separated position.

When the intermediate processed product is being transferred, the opening and closing lattice 87 of the second agitator vessel 61 is open.

When transporting intermediate processed materials, the first agitation processing unit 53 is moved on the traveling rail 97, bringing the first and second agitation processing units 53, 55 closer to the set position.

When the first and second agitation processing sections 53, 55 are close to each other, the first agitation vessel 57 is tilted toward the second agitation vessel 61, and at the same time, the second agitation vessel 61 is tilted toward the first agitation vessel 57. These operations position the opening of the first agitation vessel 57 above the hopper section 75 of the second agitation vessel 61. In this position, the first agitation vessel 57 is slightly tilted downward toward the second agitation vessel 61.

This downward tilt of the first agitator vessel 57 allows the high-melting-point, fluid intermediate processed material in the first agitator vessel 57 to be smoothly received from the hopper section 75 and transferred into the second agitator vessel 61.

Therefore, the adhesive coating on the solid material is cooled and solidified by the stirring process accompanied by cooling of the intermediate processed material in the second stirring processing unit 55, and a processed material broken down into particles or lumps can be obtained.

When cleaning the first agitation processing section 53, the second agitation processing section 55 is moved in the opposite direction on the running rail 97 and returned. With the first and second agitation processing sections 53, 55 separated from each other, the tilting operation utilizes the tilt of the first agitation vessel 57 to allow the cleaning water inside the first agitation vessel 57 to be drained.

Therefore, the transfer mode and the cleaning mode can be performed by tilting the first agitation vessel 57 toward the second agitation vessel 61.

[Stirring drive of first stirring processing unit]
The first stirring vessel 57 of the first stirring processing unit 53 controls heating of the stirring processing accompanied by heating by a gas heating device when the first stirring unit is operating. In the first stirring processing unit 53, the heat is transmitted to the first stirring unit at the tip of the stirring head 59.

This transmission rotates the first stirring unit, scraping and stirring the bottom and sidewall of the first stirring vessel 57.

When the stirring head 59 is rotated upward by driving the hydraulic cylinder device, the first stirring unit can be retracted to one side above the first stirring vessel 57 together with the stirring head 59.

In this retracted state, when the hydraulic cylinder device for tilting is driven, the first agitating vessel 57 is tilted toward the second agitating vessel 61 by the rotation support part.

[Stirring drive of second stirring processing unit, etc.]
When the rotation of the rotary shaft 79 is controlled, the second stirring unit 63 rotates vertically relative to the horizontally placed second stirring vessel 61. In other words, the scraping blade 83 and the like rotate vertically around the rotary shaft 79 to scrape and stir the solid matter and adhesive material that are the stirred objects in the second stirring vessel 61.

The opening and closing grate 87 of the second agitator vessel 61 is opened and closed by an opening and closing drive mechanism 89, which is hydraulically controlled or the like. When intermediate processed material is transferred from the first agitator vessel 57, the second agitator vessel 61 is tilted toward the first agitator vessel 57 by control of a hydraulic cylinder by a control box 91. When the processed material is removed, the second agitator vessel 61 is tilted toward the opposite side of the first agitator vessel 57 by control of a hydraulic cylinder or the like.

During the stirring process involving cooling, the second stirring vessel 61 of the second stirring processing unit 55 supplies temperature-controlled cooling water to the fluid jacket 93 via the water supply pipe 95 under the control of the control box 91. At the same time, the blower 41 is operated, and clean air is blown into the second stirring vessel 61 from the outlet 43 via the pipe 39.

The range of this air blowing is the shaded area extending from the outlet 43 in Figures 6 and 7. The air blown out from the outlet 43 is blown in the shaded area, but it is blown onto the object being stirred by diffusing slightly beyond this shaded area.

This air is mainly blown towards the stirring blade 83 as it rotates on the rotating shaft 79, and the stirring blade 83 comes out from the bottom and rotates upward, stirring the material while it is being stirred.

In other words, by cooling the bottom of the second stirring vessel 61 and by blowing air, the entire grain is cooled evenly without intensifying the cooling, which also prevents uneven cooling across the grain, shortening the time it takes to loosen each grain.

[Production of processed material]
First, raw materials of granular or lumpy solid matter and adhesive material are charged into the first stirring vessel 57 .

When the first agitator is controlled, the scraping blades of the first agitator rotate and revolve. At the same time, the gas heating device is operated under the control of the control box 71, and the first agitator vessel 57 is heated and controlled. In this state, the first agitator is controlled and the raw materials in the first agitator vessel 57 are heated and agitated, producing an intermediate processed product.

Next, the heating control of the first stirring vessel 57 and the drive control of the first stirring unit are stopped, and the stirring head 59 is rotated to retract the first stirring unit to one side above the first stirring vessel 57.

At this time, the second mixing unit 55 is moved on the running rail 97 by extension control of the hydraulic cylinder so as to approach the first mixing unit 53, and is set in a transfer state. The opening and closing grate 87 of the second mixing vessel 61 is open.

Next, the hydraulic cylinder device is driven to tilt the first agitating vessel 57 toward the second agitating vessel 61.

At this time, in the second stirring processing section 55, the second stirring vessel 61 is tilted in advance relative to the base frame 77 so that it faces the first stirring vessel 57. This tilting is performed through coordination between the control boxes 71 and 91. However, the second stirring vessel 61 can also be tilted in advance by manual operation.

As a result of these tilting movements of the first agitating vessel 57 and the second agitating vessel 61, the opening of the first agitating vessel 57 is positioned above the hopper portion 75 of the tilted second agitating vessel 61. In this position, the first agitating vessel 57 is tilted downward toward the second agitating vessel 61.

This downward tilt of the first agitator vessel 57 allows the high-melting-point, fluid intermediate processed material in the first agitator vessel 57 to be smoothly received from the hopper section 75 and transferred into the second agitator vessel 61.

Next, the first agitator vessel 57 is tilted and the second agitator vessel 61 is returned to its original tilt, and cooling water is supplied from the water supply section to the fluid jacket 93 through the water supply pipe 95. At the same time, the blower 41 is operated, and clean air is blown into the second agitator vessel 61 from the outlet 43 via the pipe 39.

This air is blown onto the top surface of the material being stirred in the second stirring vessel 61 as shown in Figures 6 and 7, allowing air to be blown onto the entire surface of the material being stirred in the second stirring vessel 61 on the upward side of the stirring rotation.

The air blowing reduces the overall deviation in the surface temperature distribution of solid objects coated with adhesive, allowing the adhesive-coated solid objects to be loosened in a short period of time.

In other words, by cooling the bottom of the second stirring vessel 61 and by blowing air, the entire grain is cooled evenly without intensifying the cooling, which also prevents uneven cooling across the grain, shortening the time it takes to loosen each grain.

The second agitator 63 is driven, and in the second agitator vessel 61, the intermediate processed material is agitated while being cooled as a secondary agitation process.

During the agitation process in this second agitation vessel 61, the intermediate processed material is agitated and rotated vertically by the agitation rotation of the second agitation unit 63, and the adhesive material coated on the solid material is quickly solidified by cooling at the bottom and by air above, resulting in a processed material that is broken down into particles or lumps.

At this time, because the stirring rotation in the second stirring vessel 61 is in the direction of gravity rather than horizontally, the solids scraped up by the second stirring section 63 fall within the second stirring vessel 61, promoting the separation of the solids as the surface coating gradually solidifies.

When performing continuous batch production, similar operations are carried out continuously.

After production is completed, both the first and second mixing processing sections 53 and 55 are cleaned. In particular, the first mixing processing section 53 must be cleaned by removing any adhesive material or solid matter adhering to the inside of the first mixing vessel 57 or the first mixing section.

When cleaning, the adhesive material is not solidified, so it can be easily dissolved and removed in a short amount of time using hot water.

The cleaning water remaining in the first agitation vessel 57 after the cleaning is removed by moving the second agitation processing section 55. When the hydraulic cylinder is controlled to contract, the second agitation processing section 55 moves away from the first agitation processing section 53. In this state, the first agitation vessel 57 can be tilted toward the second agitation processing section 55, allowing the water to be drained without difficulty.

In the second agitation processing section 55, since the agitation process involves cooling, there is almost no adhesion or solidification of adhesive materials to the second agitation vessel 61 and second agitation section 63 after the processed material is removed, and after a simple wipe-down cleaning, they can be prepared for the next cooling and solidification process. In particular, by quickly solidifying adhesive materials attached to the granules, it is possible to significantly reduce adhesion of adhesive materials to the second agitation vessel 61, etc.

[Stir-cooking]
An example of producing caramelized almond nuts using this apparatus will be described.

<Air blowing unit specifications>
Blower: 0-13 m³/min adjustable. Diameter of outlet 43: Inner diameter 108 mm
Position of the blowing outlet 43: The air is blown down at an angle of 50 degrees from the horizontal at a distance of about 0.5 m toward the center of the product surface in the stirring kettle, which is the second stirring vessel 61.

Next, we will explain how to produce caramel nuts using almonds using the stirring method of Example 2.

<Specifications of the mixing vessel>
<Specifications of the first stirring processing section: caramelization/roasting stirring pot>
First stirring vessel: stirring vessel with gas heating function Diameter of stirring vessel: 1200 mm
Mixing kettle capacity: 350 L (full)
First stirring unit: Rotation-revolution type multi-shaft stirrer

<Specifications of the second stirring processing unit: cooling and solidifying machine>
Model: Horizontal Reokneader (Reokneader is a registered trademark) (manufactured by Kajiwara Kogyo Co., Ltd.)
Second stirring vessel: stirring vessel with cooling water jacket cooling function Body diameter: 550 mm
Internal volume of mixing tank: 300 L (full)
Second stirring section: wall scraping type horizontal shaft stirrer

<Recipe>
・40 kg of nuts (room temperature: 20°C)
・Granulated sugar・Water・Additives

<Procedure>
<Caramelization and roasting>
(1) Add granulated sugar and water to the caramelization/roasting stirring pot. (2) Ignite the gas heating device and begin stirring using the planetary-type multi-axis stirrer. Dissolve and boil the granulated sugar.
(3) Add solid nuts to the caramelization/roasting stirring pot.
(4) The heat is adjusted to increase the wall temperature of the stirring kettle, roasting the nuts and caramelizing the sugars.
(5) Turn off the heat (the residual heat will continue to caramelize and roast the nuts).
(6) Stirring is stopped, the scraping blades etc. are raised, and the stirring vessel is tilted.
(7) The intermediate processed material is transferred to a cooling and solidifying machine.

Then, while the cooling and solidification process is in progress in the latter stage, the upstream mixing kettle is cleaned, and the process returns to step (1). When cleaning the mixing kettle, hot water is poured into the mixing kettle to dissolve and remove any remaining intermediate processed material. This dissolution and removal is carried out when the caramel, etc., is not yet solidified, so the caramel, etc., inside the mixing kettle dissolves in the hot water in a short time. The cleaning water inside the mixing kettle is drained by tilting the mixing kettle, making it easy to clean.

<Cooling/solidification>
(8) In cooperation with (7), the intermediate processed material transferred is received into the cooling and solidifying machine, which is the second agitation processing unit 55.
(9) Start the agitation of the cooling and solidifying machine.
(10) Cooling water is gradually introduced into the jacket of the cooling and solidifying machine to slowly lower the temperature of the caramel and the wall temperature of the cooling and solidifying machine. (If the wall temperature is lowered too much, the caramel will solidify on the wall surface. Or, even if it does not solidify, if it is lowered too quickly, the particles will bond together and form large lumps.) The degree of slowness was determined in advance by experiment.
At the same time, clean air (at the temperature of the outside air) is blown from above the mixing tank, which is the second mixing vessel 61, at a downward angle of 50° from the horizontal onto the top surface of the material to be mixed (the intermediate processed product) in the mixing tank, as shown in Figures 6 and 7. The distance between the blowing point and the product is about 1 m.
The amount of injection is initially a very small amount, and is gradually increased while checking the flow condition.
(11) Add additives to the cooling and solidifying machine as needed (continue to supply cooling water from the jacket side and blow in cooling air).
(12) When the cooling is completed, the supply of cooling water, the blowing of air and the stirring are stopped, the cooling and solidifying machine is tilted, and the cooled caramel nuts are removed from the cooling and solidifying machine.
(13) Clean the cooling and solidifying machine. In particular, the air blowing out can quickly solidify the adhesive material adhering to the granules, greatly reducing adhesion of the adhesive material to the second agitating vessel 61, etc., making cleaning easier. However, there is little product adhesion to the walls, so the machine is ready for the next use. Since tiny solids such as fragments of the processed material (product) remain on the vessel walls and scraping blades, they are wiped and cleaned in preparation for the next cooling and solidifying operation.

This process resulted in roasted nuts that were mostly granular and coated with caramel.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Agitation processing device 3 Agitation vessel 5 Agitation section 37 Air blowing section 51 Agitation processing device 53 First agitation processing section 55 Second agitation processing section 57 First agitation vessel 61 Second agitation vessel 63 Second agitation section 93 Fluid jacket

Claims (2)

A stirring treatment method for producing a processed product in which granular or lumpy solid matter having an adhesive material attached to its surface is stirred in a stirring vessel by scraping the bottom while cooling, and the processed product is broken into particles or lumps in a coated state in which the adhesive material has solidified, comprising:
The cooling is carried out by cooling the bottom of the stirring vessel and blowing air onto the granular or lumpy solid material to which the adhesive material is attached;
The air is blown in a downward direction from one side toward the top opening of the stirring vessel and obliquely from above outside the stirring vessel so as to suppress deviations in the distribution of the surface temperature of the granular or lumpy solid matter to which the adhesive material is attached, which is being loosened by the stirring treatment, by cooling the bottom of the stirring vessel .
Stirring treatment method. 2. An agitation treatment device used in the agitation treatment method according to claim 1,
a stirring vessel containing the granular or lumpy solid material to which the adhesive material is attached;
a stirring unit that stirs and rotates the stirring vessel to scrape the bottom and stir the granular or lumpy solid matter to which the adhesive material is attached;
The stirring vessel includes a fluid jacket covering the bottom of the stirring vessel for cooling the bottom by supplying cooling water, or a mist nozzle directed to the bottom of the stirring vessel for cooling the bottom by spraying mist;
an air blowing unit that inclines downward from one side toward an upper end opening of the stirring vessel and blows air obliquely from above outside the stirring vessel to loosen the granular or lumpy solid matter to which the adhesive material is attached by the stirring treatment, so as to suppress deviation in the distribution of the surface temperature of the granular or lumpy solid matter to be loosened by the stirring treatment by cooling the bottom of the stirring vessel;
An agitation processing device comprising: