JPH0425219Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Field of industrial application] This invention is a method for producing confectionery or foods with excellent texture, or for decoration or topping from oil-based raw materials such as thiokolate, butter, cheese, mayonnaise, and other viscous products. This invention relates to a mixing device in an oil-based food manufacturing machine for manufacturing ingredients.

[Conventional technology]

In general, foods such as thiocolate are produced by heating oil-based raw materials to form a paste, stirring and mixing the heated and melted fluid thiocolate, and then slowly cooling it and pouring it into a mold in a semi-crystalline state, allowing it to rapidly solidify and release from the mold. It is known that it will be commercialized.

Moreover, it is important to maintain uniformity when mixing the composition of oil-based raw materials, but even if the mixture is well mixed, if the temperature is uneven, spots will form, making it impossible to pour smoothly and spoiling the appearance. Temperature fluctuations and the quality of stirring and mixing have a major impact on color tone, gloss, texture, etc., and will affect the product value.

[Problem that the invention attempts to solve]

Conventionally, oil-based raw materials are mixed in a stirring section in a mixing tank to increase their viscosity, but even if mixed raw materials are reheated to ensure smooth transfer, insufficient mixing results in temperature uniformity. There was a tendency for the mixture to become difficult to hold, causing problems in pouring into the mold, and causing spots.

The present invention eliminates the drawbacks of the conventional methods and provides an apparatus with a simple configuration and low cost that can efficiently mix and pour oil-based raw materials such as thiokolate and produce products with excellent color tone, gloss, and texture. The purpose is to

[Means for solving the problem] The present invention supplies a paste-like oil-based raw material,
In a tower main body 3 having a double inner and outer cylinder, which has a supply section 1 and a discharge section 2, an inner cylinder and an outer cylinder form a jacket between the inner and outer cylinders to heat the oil-based raw material in the tower main body 3. A stirring section 5 serving as a heating mechanism 4 and mixing the oil-based raw material heated by the heating mechanism 4 in a fluid state.
In the mixing device, the stirring section 5 is rotatably provided in the center of the tower body 3, has a passage ₆₁ , has a rotating shaft 6, is inclined with respect to the axis, and is arranged at intervals in a spiral shape. A screw blade 7, a flat plate-shaped porous blade 8 having a plurality of circular holes ₈₁ having a diameter approximately close to the blade width at intervals in the axial direction and protruding radially, and a rod-shaped blade arranged in multiple stages in the shape of a paddle. The passage ₆₁ of the rotary shaft 6 is connected to the heat medium circulation path 19 and connected to the drive device via the transmission member 10. 11. This is a mixing device for an oil-based food manufacturing machine, characterized in that it is connected to No. 11.

〔Example〕

An example in which an embodiment of the present invention has a vertical upward flow will be described with reference to the drawings.

The tower main body 3 is a bottomed cylindrical body with a discharge section 2 opened at the upper end face and a supply section 1 opened at the lower side wall, and a rotating shaft 6 extending almost the entire height inside is rotatable at the center of the tower main body 3. The outer cylinders 12 are arranged as double cylinders at intervals on the outside.

The rotating shaft 6 has its lower end protruding through the bottom wall of the tower main body 3 to the outside of the tower, and is connected to a drive device 11 via a transmission member 10 such as a pulley or belt, and its upper end is connected to the inner wall of the tower main body 3. It is supported by a protruding rib 13 having a raw material passage, and the rotating shaft 6 is further provided with a screw blade 7, a perforated blade 8, and a protruding rod 9 in this order from the bottom to form a stirring section 5 consisting of three stirring regions. However, roughly illustrating the ratio of each region to the stirring part 5 in order from the former is 2/8, 3/8, and 3/8.

The screw blades 7 are installed directly above the rotating shaft 6 facing the supply section 1, but in this example, a plurality of vanes having edges close to the inner wall of the tower body 3 are arranged with a 180° phase change. The rotating shaft 6 is rotated in a direction that pushes the raw material upward, and is inclined in the same direction of rotation by about 30 degrees on a plane perpendicular to the rotating shaft 6 and protrudes sequentially in a spiral shape. It is something. Although spiral blades can be used in place of this group of vanes, in this example, the screw blades 7 are mainly used for the stirring action, and the lifting action of the raw material is mainly performed by press-fitting. However, a group of vanes is used to provide some lifting action for the raw material, and to ensure sufficient residence and stirring time for the raw material.

Further, the porous blade 8 is formed by protruding two or more plates so as to be located on the same plane including the axis of the rotating shaft 6, and has an edge close to the inner wall of the tower body 3. However, a plurality of holes, such as circular holes 8', are vertically bored in the radial center of the tower over the entire height. The diameter of this circular hole 8' is approximately half the distance between the rotating shaft 6 and the inner wall of the column. Note that hole 8'
A plurality of positions are arranged at intervals in the vertical direction so that they coincide on both blades 8, 8, but they may be arranged alternately.

Further, the projecting rods 9 are round rods, that is, rods having a circular cross section, which are provided in a plurality of paddle shapes protruding from the rotating shaft 6 in the radial direction of the tower, and their tips have a length close to the inner wall of the tower. As for the arrangement of the protruding rods 9, a set of protruding rods 9 and 9 are provided at the same height but with a phase difference of 180 degrees, and each set is protruded at equal intervals with the phase changed by 90 degrees and the heights are successively changed. However, the gap between the protrusions 9, 9 in the same phase is set to be equal to or slightly smaller than the diameter of the protrusion 9 to enhance the stirring function.

The outer cylinder 12 forms a jacket part between it and the outer wall of the tower for passing and retaining the heated fluid, and serves as the heating mechanism 4, and is provided to substantially coincide with the outer periphery of the stirring part 5. It is connected to a circulation system for heating fluid such as gas or liquid. Further, the inside of the rotating shaft 6 is incorporated into a part of the heating fluid circulation system of the heating mechanism 4 as a heating fluid passage ₆₁ .

In the figure, 14 is a seal ring, 15 is a bearing, 16 is a frame, 17 is a drain outlet, 18 is a heat medium transfer source, 19 is a heat medium circulation path, 20 is a raw material dissolution tank, 21 is a tempering section, and 22 is a It is a communication pipe.

The screw blades 7 of the stirring section 5 are supplied with a fluid having a high viscosity such as a thiokolate raw material from the tempering section 21 through the supply section 1 into the column main body 3, and are rotated by the rotating shaft 6 within the column main body 3; It is transferred to the discharge section 2 side while being repeatedly kneaded by the perforated blades 8 and the protruding rods 9.

That is, at the initial stage of introduction into the tower body 3, the raw materials are kneaded while giving a swirling flow to the raw materials using the screw blades 7, and then are mixed by a dispersion vortex flow while being rotated by the porous blades 8 and passed through the holes 8'. The mixed raw materials are transferred repeatedly through shear mixing, and this mixed raw material is heated by a heating mechanism 4 provided in the tower body 3 to maintain fluidity at appropriate temperatures and is heated to a homogeneous mixture at a uniform temperature using different blades. The material is then taken out from the discharge section 2 and transported to the next process, such as a molding process.

[Effect of idea]

The present invention consists of a rotary shaft that is rotatably installed in the center of the tower body and has a passage, and screw blades that are inclined with respect to the axis and arranged at intervals in a spiral pattern, and have a diameter that is approximately close to the width of the blade. A flat plate-shaped porous vane having a plurality of circular holes spaced apart in the axial direction and protruding radially, and rod-shaped protrusions arranged in multiple stages in a paddle shape are sequentially provided from the raw material supply section side to the discharge section side. By connecting the passage of the rotating shaft with the heat medium circulation path, the flow that transports the highly viscous raw material within the column body is heated from the periphery and center of the column body. It is possible to repeatedly mix the raw materials in a stirring section with different blades while maintaining good properties, and in particular, by changing the mixing flow in a complex manner, evenly mixing and stirring can produce homogeneous raw materials, and the temperature conditions are uniformly the same without being biased. The stirring efficiency is good, the mixing operation of highly viscous raw materials in the stirring section is smooth, and the driving force is not large, making it an economical device.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1 is a longitudinal sectional view, FIG. 2 is a plan view cut along the line in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view cut along the line in FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a side view showing the device in use. 1... Supply section, 2... Discharge section, 3... Tower main body,
4... Warming mechanism, 5... Stirring section, 6... Rotating shaft,
7...Screw blade, 8...Porous blade, 9...Protrusion rod, 10...Transmission member, 11...Driving device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The tower main body 3 has a supply section 1 and a discharge section 2 for supplying and discharging pasty oil-based raw materials, and has an inner and outer cylinder, and a jacket is formed between the inner and outer cylinders to form a tower. In a mixing device provided with a heating mechanism 4 that heats the oil-based raw material in the main body 3 and a stirring section 5 that mixes the oil-based raw material heated by the heating mechanism 4 in a fluid state, the stirring section 5 is rotatably provided in the center of the tower body 3 and has a passage 6 _1. Screw blades 7 are inclined with respect to the axis line and arranged at intervals in a spiral manner, and screw blades 7 having a diameter approximately close to the width of the blades are provided. A flat plate-shaped porous blade ₈ having a plurality of circular holes 81 spaced apart in the axial direction and protruding radially, and rod-shaped protrusions 9 arranged in multiple stages in a paddle shape are attached to the raw material supply section 1 side. The passage 6 ₁ of the rotary shaft 6 is connected to the heat medium circulation path 19 through the transmission member 10 to the drive device 1 .
1. A mixing device in an oil-based food manufacturing machine, characterized by the above.