JPH0414933B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] ≪Object of the invention≫ ≫ <Industrial application field> The present invention is assembled into a tea manufacturing device such as a medium rolling machine or a rough rolling machine, and extracts a portion of the tea leaves during tea manufacturing to obtain a predetermined property, for example, tea leaves. This relates to a sampling device for processed tea leaves that measures the moisture content of tea leaves and, if necessary, returns the measured tea leaves to the tea manufacturing device, and in particular a transfer section that takes the sampled tea leaves in and out of the tea manufacturing device. It is related to the structure.

<Background of the Invention> Monitoring the moisture content of tea leaves is an extremely important task in the management of the tea manufacturing process, but conventionally this type of task has been judged based on the tactile feel of the hands of a skilled worker.
However, as the number of skilled workers decreases, and as the management of the tea manufacturing process becomes automated in order to further improve productivity and equalize products, moisture measurement becomes mechanized or automated. There is a tendency to However, in reality, it is difficult to accurately measure the moisture content of a relatively bulky aggregate of tea leaves, and even when sampling tea leaves, for example, the kneading hands are rotating inside the tea manufacturing equipment, making it difficult to install the sampling equipment. However, there are limits to where space can be taken. In addition, the tea leaves in the tea manufacturing device contain a lot of moisture and tend to be sticky and form nodules, which causes the problem of adhesion to the sampling device. In addition, in the rough rolling machine, some tea stems are up to 10 cm long, so they can get caught at the tea leaf outlet, etc., and block other tea leaves (hereinafter referred to as bridging phenomenon). There was also the problem that it was easy to cause Furthermore, in the case of a medium rolling machine, which requires the tea manufacturing equipment to be kept in a certain closed space, it is extremely difficult to continuously take out the tea leaves outside for sampling. existed. In other words, in the case of machines such as medium-rolling machines, where the processing chamber is almost sealed and processing is carried out by sucking dry hot air with a fan, the pressure inside the processing chamber is low, and the processing chamber is communicated with the outside. If such an opening is provided, cold air will flow into the processing chamber from the outside, impairing the quality of tea production. Furthermore, even if an attempt is made to sample tea leaves from the opening, a headwind occurs, which pushes the tea leaves back, making sampling extremely difficult. On the other hand, in the case of a rough rolling machine, a considerable amount of dry hot air is sent into the processing chamber, so if there is an opening, turbulence will naturally occur there, and dried tea leaves with a low tea leaf density will easily be affected by this flow. and is blown outside.
Conversely, when the sampled tea leaves are returned to the processing chamber, the tea leaves are pushed back due to the wind blowing from the processing chamber. Due to these problems, there has been almost no implementation of a sampling device for tea leaves in the process of processing in this type of tea manufacturing device.

<Technical matters for which the development was attempted> The present invention was developed in view of the above background, and it provides a method for continuously taking out or returning sampled tea leaves from a tea manufacturing device such as a medium rolling machine or a coarse rolling machine. , an attempt was made to develop a structure for the transfer part of the sampled tea leaves in a new tea making machine that facilitates the transfer of the sampled tea leaves and does not impair the processing conditions within the processing chamber.

<<Structure of the Invention>><Means for Achieving the Object> That is, the first invention of the structure of the sampling tea leaf transfer section in the tea making machine of the present application provides a sample intake port at an appropriate location of the tea making machine, and A device for taking out a portion of tea leaves during processing and measuring predetermined properties, characterized in that the sample intake port is provided with a rotary type shutter valve having rotating scraping blades.

In addition, the second invention of the present application provides a sample intake port and a sample return port at appropriate locations in the tea manufacturing device, and after taking out a portion of the tea leaves in the middle of processing from the sample intake port and measuring the predetermined properties. , an apparatus for returning tea leaves to a tea manufacturing apparatus through a sample return port, characterized in that the sample return port is provided with a rotary type shutter valve having rotating scraping blades.

Furthermore, the third invention of the present application is to provide a sample intake port and a sample return port at appropriate locations in the tea manufacturing device, take out a portion of the tea leaves in the middle of processing from the sample intake port, and measure predetermined properties. Later, in the device that returns the tea leaves to the tea manufacturing device from the sample return port,
The sample intake port and the sample return port are provided with rotary type shutter valves having rotating scraping blades.

These inventions attempt to achieve the above object.

<Function of the invention> In the present invention, a rotary type shutter valve having rotating scraping blades is provided in the sampling opening provided in the tea making apparatus, thereby keeping the transfer port mostly closed at all times. To scrape out or scrape back tea leaves and perform sampling of tea leaves without disturbing the atmosphere in a processing room.

<Examples> The present invention will be specifically described below based on illustrated examples. First, the structure of the sampling tea leaf transfer section according to the present invention is applied to, for example, a medium rolling machine, which is one type of tea manufacturing machine, and an embodiment thereof will be described below. Reference numeral 1 denotes a sampling device, which is attached to the medium rolling machine 2, and measures the moisture content, for example, while continuously sampling the tea leaves A during the medium rolling process from the transfer section having the structure of the present invention. Of course, in addition to measuring the moisture content, it is also possible to measure the temperature of the tea leaves A, or measure the color, shape, composition, dryness, etc. The point is to disclose a sampling method for performing various measurements. The sensor main body 3 is placed in the middle of the sampling device 1. First, prior to explaining the sampling device 1, the medium kneading machine 2 to which the sampling device 1 is assembled will be briefly explained. This device rotatably supports a rotary drum 6 for storing tea leaves A through a support roller 7 on a machine frame 5 made of a suitable metal square. A take-out lid 8 for taking out the rotary drum 6 is formed in a part of the body, and oak wood 9 is stretched over the entire inside of the rotary drum 6 including the take-out lid 8. The input side end of this rotary barrel 6 is closed by the input side end plate 10, and the other end is provided with a wire mesh 11.
Furthermore, a fan 11a is provided on the outside of the wire mesh 11. The fan 11a functions to draw outside air heated by a gas furnace 15, which will be described later, into the rotary drum 6, and to discharge collected dust from a dust collection tube 11b provided above the fan 11a. A large number of scraping pieces 12 are provided on the inner circumferential surface of the rotary barrel 6 near the end plate 10 on the input side. As an example, this scraping piece 12 is a combination of pieces having different set angles in several stages. The scraping piece 12 is provided to assist in taking out the tea leaves A, but may not be provided if a sufficient amount of tea leaves A are taken out for sampling. Furthermore, a kneading hand 13 is provided in the rotary drum 6 to directly perform the kneading action, and this kneading hand 13 is independent of the rotary drum 6 and at least
The kneading shaft 1 rotates in the same direction at a faster speed.
It can be attached to 4. On the other hand, a gas furnace 15 is provided externally on the side of the input end plate 10, and a duct for supplying hot air is configured to communicate from the input side end plate 10 into the rotary shell 6. In addition, the input side head plate 1
A tea leaf feeding chute 16 is connected to the upper part of the container 0, and the tea leaves that have undergone the previous process are fed into the tea leaf chute 16. Furthermore, although not shown, the feeding chute 16
A damper is provided inside, and this damper is closed to prevent outside air from entering the rotary cylinder 6 during processing. The input side end plate 10 to which such a gas furnace 15 or the feed chute 16 is attached is further provided with a sampling device 1 in the remaining space, and a sampling inlet 17 for taking out sampled tea leaves is connected to the input side end plate 10. A sample return port is opened in an area above the vertical center position of the rotary drum 6 and on the scraping side (left side of the center in FIG. 3), and on the other hand, a sample return port for returning the tea leaves A into the medium rolling machine 2. 18 is provided below the vertical center position of the input end plate 10 and in an area on the upper side of the rotary drum 6. Further, the medium rolling machine 2 is provided with a conveyor 19 below the rotary drum 6 for sending the processed medium crushed leaves to the next process. It should be noted that the medium kneading machine 2 is naturally provided with a control device or a drive device for these members, but a conventionally known mechanism is applied to these as appropriate, and a detailed explanation will be omitted. Next, the sampling device 1 attached to such a medium kneading machine 2 will be described in detail below. This sampling device 1 is supported by a subframe 20 that constitutes a part of the machine frame 5, and this subframe 20 has an upper conveyor support frame 21 and a measuring section support frame 22 provided below the upper conveyor support frame 21. In addition, the measuring part support frame 22 can also be provided separately from the main body of the medium kneading machine 2,
In this case, the rotating drum 6 is less susceptible to vibrations, and an improvement in measurement accuracy can be expected. First, a transfer conveyor 23 for taking out is supported by an upper conveyor support frame 21, and a vibrating conveyor is used as an example. In this transfer conveyor 23 for taking out, a trough 24 directly responsible for the transfer action is attached in a floating state to the upper conveyor support frame 21 via a plate spring 25, and the trough 24 is attached to the tip side of the upper conveyor support frame 21. A gear unit 26 driven by a provided motor _M1 is used as a driving source to apply vibrations to transfer the tea leaves. That is, the gear unit 26 directly forms eccentric output shafts 27 on its left and right sides,
An end of a connecting plate 28 is pivotally connected to the eccentric output shaft 27, and one end thereof is connected to an end of the trough 24. This trough 24 forms an intake part 29 from the sample intake port 17 to a position where it passes through the input side end plate 10 and enters the processing chamber of the rotary barrel 6, and on the other hand, a relay inlet 30 is formed below on the gear unit 26 side. It is opened and a relay chute 31 extending downward is connected thereto. Furthermore, the structure of the sampling tea leaf transfer section of the present invention is applied to the area around the sample intake port 17. That is, a shutter valve 33 for intake, which is a main component of the transfer section structure, is provided at the sample intake port 17, and this valve is designed to guide tea leaves A falling and accumulating on the intake section side of the trough 24 to the outside. At the same time, it also functions to close the sample intake port 17 so that it is not always open. Specifically, the intake shutter valve 33 is of a so-called rotary type, and is attached to a drive shaft 34 that is supported substantially horizontally on the outer surface of the input end plate 10 by a bearing. A plurality of sheets radially to the roller 35 (12 sheets as an example in this embodiment)
It is formed by attaching a scraping blade 36. In addition, the code M ₂ is the shutter valve 33 for intake.
This is a motor for driving. Further, a hood 37 is formed on the input side end plate 10 so as to cover the shutter valve 33 for intake. Of course, the present invention is not limited to such a portion where the sampled tea leaves are taken out, but can also be applied to the return side, as will be described later. Furthermore, in this embodiment, when the tea leaves A to be taken out as a sample from the inside of the medium rolling machine 2 are transferred, there is a conveyor 23 for taking out the previous one, and a measuring section installed below it so as to be almost parallel to the conveyor 23 for taking out the tea leaves A. A series of transfer conveyors constituted by a transfer conveyor 39 and a transfer conveyor 39. Of course, it is also possible to return the tea leaves A using a chute or the like and perform the measurement with the sensor main body 3 facing halfway along one transfer conveyor. First, the transfer conveyor 39 for the measurement section is also a vibration conveyor, and the entire conveyor, including its drive mechanism, is supported in a floating state with respect to the measurement section support frame 22 by a load cell 40. Ru. That is, the load cell 40 directly supports the measurement section floating frame 41, and also supports the measurement section floating frame 4.
1, a trough 42, which is a main member of the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring section, is supported via a leaf spring 43. Although this trough 42 will be described later, in order to make the measured value of the sensor body 3 more accurate, the bottom plate 4 of the trough 42 is
4 is desirably formed of polystyrene foam, which has less absorption and reflection of microwaves. The drive source for this trough 42 is an eccentric output shaft 46 of a gear unit 45 driven by a motor _M3 , similar to the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out. are connected by a connecting plate 47. The trough 42 has a receiving section 49 at the position where the relay chute 31 faces, and a sending section 50 at the part of the input end plate 10 near the sample return port 18.
The structure of the sampling tea leaf transfer section according to the present invention is applied here. That is, the sending back section 5
On the 0 side, the return part guide chute 51 is connected to the input side end plate 1.
A return shutter valve 52, which is one of the main components of the present invention, is installed in the sample return port 18 that is attached to the sample return port 18 and opens at that position. It is configured to be flexible and to close the sample return port 18 as much as possible. This drive shaft 53 is arranged approximately horizontally inside the input end plate 10.
The core body 5 is attached to a round rod-shaped core body 54.
For example, a plurality of scraping blades 55 (four in this embodiment) are formed radially for each shutter valve 5 by welding.
It is rotationally driven by the drive motor _M4 of No.2.
The scraping blade 55 has a tip flap 56 formed of a sufficiently flexible rubber plate or the like on its tip side. Furthermore, the sensor main body 3 is provided so as to sandwich the trough 42, which is the main component of the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring section, from above and below, and specifically, a microwave transmitting antenna 57 and a receiving antenna 58 are provided.
It is composed of

The present invention has the specific mechanisms described above, and operates as follows. First, the medium rolling machine 2 is set in a state in which a certain amount of tea leaves A fed from the feeding chute is stored in the rotary barrel 6 according to a conventional method, and the rotary barrel 6 and the rolling hands 13 are set at different speeds using an appropriate drive source. Rotate them in the same direction. As a result, the tea leaves A in the rotary barrel 6 are rubbed by the hands 13.
The material is pressed between the material and the oak tree, and as it moves, a kneading action is performed. The tea leaves A are sampled under such operating conditions. First, during processing, the tea leaves A are rotated by the kneading hands 13 and the rotating drum 6.
Or, it is scraped up by the scraping piece 12 provided on the rotary drum 6, and falls downward after being scraped up to a certain height, and a part of it falls into the trough which is the main component of the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out. 24
It comes to fall onto the intake part 29 of the. Since this trough 24 itself is in a vibrating state, it has a tendency to move the tea leaves to the outside, but in reality, the inside of the rotating barrel 6 is in a negative pressure state due to the suction of the fan 11a. Therefore, outside air may flow into the rotary drum 6, and the tea leaves A may not be drawn out smoothly. In such a situation, according to the present invention, the intake shutter valve 33 is actively
The scraping blades 36 smoothly send out the tea leaves A to the outside. The shutter valve 33 substantially closes the sample intake port 17 while operating at all times, preventing the inflow of outside air and preventing changes in processing conditions within the rotary drum 6. The tea leaves A sent out in this manner gradually advance under the vibration of the trough 24 on the transfer conveyor 23 for taking out, and fall through the relay chute 31 from the relay inlet 30 while sequentially averaging the layers of the tea leaves A. Then, it falls onto the receiving part 49 of the trough 42 in the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring part. At this time as well, the trough 42 is constantly vibrating due to the action of the connection plate 47 connected to the eccentric output shaft 46 of the gear unit 45 driven by the motor _M3 , and in the illustrated embodiment, the trough 42 moves toward the input side end plate 10. They move sequentially like this. At this time, the total weight of the tea leaves A moving at least on the trough 42 is continuously detected by the load cell 40 and stored as predetermined data, for example, data coded by a microcomputer. During this process, microwaves are transmitted from the microwave transmission antenna 57, which is the sensor body 3, to the reception antenna 58, and at this time, the output value of the microwaves after being partially absorbed by the tea leaves A is measured by an appropriate microwave. It is supplied to a processor etc. as coded signal data. Note that a filter 59 made of styrene foam or the like may be provided at the opening of the receiving antenna 58 to prevent pieces of tea leaves A, which are the samples, from entering the receiving antenna 58. Here, to briefly describe the measurement of moisture content using microwaves, the measurement is performed by a process as shown in the flowchart of FIG. That is, when measurement starts, the process goes from start step 101 to step 102.
In this step, various data are initialized. At this point, the average values of the weight detected by the load cell 40 and the voltage detected by the microwave when there is no tea leaf A on the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring section are stored as reference values w ₀ and m ₀ , respectively. Then, in steps 103 and 104, data on sample weight and microwave attenuation are accumulated. Note that this accumulation means that data processing is performed several times to several tens of times per second, and the average value is calculated after accumulating the data for about one minute. First, in step 103, data on sample weight is accumulated. At this time, when the sample weight is W, it is set as W=W+(wi-wo) (wi is the weight detected by the load cell at each measurement time). Next, in step 104, data on microwave attenuation is accumulated. This processing formula uses M=M+(mo-mi), where M is the amount of microwave attenuation (mi is the microwave detection voltage at each measurement time).

At the time when such data has been accumulated, it is determined in step 105 for determination whether or not calculation time has come. Specifically, it is determined whether one minute has elapsed since the cumulative data was cleared. Incidentally, this setting of 1 minute is normally used to obtain effective control and more precise control, since it is meaningless to perform extremely small control due to the influence of heat storage load etc. in this type of tea leaf manufacturing process. was selected as a possible time. Of course, it goes without saying that the cumulative time of this cumulative data is not limited to this one minute, but any suitable time can be selected. If the calculation time is reached, the moisture content G is calculated in the next step 106.
The moisture content G is calculated from G=103.016*M/W+0.049, which was experimentally obtained under the same conditions as the present device. Of course, this moisture content G is saved as predetermined data in the microcomputer, and is used to set the processing conditions of the tea milling machine 2, such as the inflow amount of outside air by the suction of the fan 11a, the temperature, etc., and the rotation speed of the rotary drum 6, etc. , and other various control elements. After the moisture content has been calculated, the cumulative data is cleared in step 108, and M=0 and W=0. As a result of determining the computation time in step 105, if the computation time has not yet come, the process goes through loop 109 to step 110, where it is determined whether initialization is necessary, and if initialization is not necessary yet, The process goes through the loop 111 again and returns to step 103 for accumulating sample weight data. Of course, if initialization is necessary, go through loop 112 again,
The step advances to step 102 where initialization is performed.
In general, when the tea manufacturing apparatus is of a batch processing type, the initialization is performed after the tea leaves A are taken out and before the next tea leaves A are input. In this way, the moisture content of the tea leaves A transferred by the transfer conveyor 39 for the measuring section is automatically measured, and then the trough 42
While being guided from the return section 50, which is the terminal end of the sample, through the return section guide chute 51 and the return shutter valve 52, the sample is returned from the sample return port 18 to the medium kneading machine 2.
is returned into the rotary cylinder 6. That is, in the present invention, the scraping blade 55 of the rotary type return shutter valve 52 is configured to actively send the tea leaves A back into the interior, and the sample return port 18 is substantially closed. This enables smooth sample return and stabilization of the internal processing environment. Furthermore, this shutter valve 52 causes the tea leaves A on the trough 42 to flow in due to the inflow of outside air.
This prevents the trough 42 from being blown away, and also prevents the wind pressure caused by the inflow of outside air from pushing up or pushing down the trough 42, thereby improving the detection accuracy of the sample weight by the load cell 40.

<<Effects of the Invention>> The present invention has the configuration described above, and even when tea leaves A are taken out from a tea manufacturing device such as a medium rolling machine or a coarse rolling machine and returned thereto, there is no need to use a method for taking in or returning tea leaves. Since the shutter valves are both rotary-type shutter valves with scraping blades, the processing can be carried out in a shielded state without disturbing the processing atmosphere in the processing chamber.
Transfer of tea leaves A can also be carried out smoothly. In addition, since the present invention sends out and closes the sampled tea leaves using a rotating shutter valve that can utilize the rotational power of a motor, etc., the drive system devices can be configured simply compared to other mechanisms such as reciprocating sliding functions, etc., and unnecessary No parts required.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing the medium kneading machine equipped with a sampling device, Fig. 2 is a front view of the same as above, Fig. 3 is a left side view showing the skeleton of the same as above, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the sampling device enlarged. , FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the same as above as seen from another direction, FIG. 6 is a side view of the same as above, and FIG. 7 is a side view, plan view, and FIG. C-C of
FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the input side end plate seen from inside the rotary drum, and FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing the process of measuring moisture content using microwaves. 1; Sampling device, 2; Medium kneading machine, 3; Sensor main body, 5; Machine frame, 6; Rotating cylinder, 7; Support roller, 8; Removal lid, 9; Oak wood, 10; Input side end plate, 11; Wire mesh, 11a; fan; 11b; dust collection cylinder; 12; scraping piece; 13; kneading hands; 14; kneading hand shaft;
15; gas furnace, 16; feeding chute, 17; sample intake port, 18; sample return port, 19; conveyor, 20; subframe, 21; upper conveyor support frame, 22; measurement part support frame, 2
3; transfer conveyor for removal, 24; trough, 2
5; Leaf spring, 26; Gear unit, 27; Eccentric output shaft, 28; Connection plate, 29; Intake part, 30; Relay inlet, 31; Relay chute, 33; (for intake)
Shutter valve, 34; Drive shaft, 35; Roller,
36; scraping blade, 37; hood, 39; transfer conveyor for measuring section, 40; load cell, 41; measuring section floating frame, 42; trough, 43; leaf spring,
44; Bottom plate, 45; Gear unit, 46; Eccentric output shaft, 47; Connection plate, 49; Receiving section, 50; Sending section, 51; Return guide chute, 52; (for return)
Shutter valve, 53; Drive shaft, 54; Core body, 5
5; scraping blade, 56; tip flap, 57; transmitting antenna, 58; receiving antenna, 59; filter, A; tea leaves, M ₁ , M ₂ , M ₃ , M ₄ ; motor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In an apparatus for providing a sample intake port at an appropriate location of a tea manufacturing device, taking out a portion of tea leaves in the middle of processing from the sample intake port, and measuring a predetermined property, This is a structure of a sampling tea leaf transfer section in a tea making machine, which is characterized by being provided with a rotary type shutter valve having rotating scraping blades. 2. A sample intake port and a sample return port are provided at appropriate locations in the tea making device, a portion of the tea leaves that are being processed are taken out from the sample intake port, and after measuring the prescribed properties, the tea leaves are transferred from the sample return port into the tea making device. A structure for transferring sampled tea leaves in a tea making machine, characterized in that the sample return port is provided with a rotary type shutter valve having rotating scraping blades. 3. A sample intake port and a sample return port are provided at appropriate locations in the tea making device, and after taking out a portion of the tea leaves in the middle of processing from the sample intake port and measuring the prescribed properties, the tea leaves are transferred from the sample return port to the tea making device. A structure for transferring sampled tea leaves in a tea making machine, characterized in that the sample intake port and the sample return port are provided with rotary type shutter valves having rotating scraping blades.