JPH04342501A - Production of dry flower or dried plant capable of retaining original color and shape, and producing device used therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a method for producing dry flower or dried plant capable of drying in a short time and carrying out cost down by mass produciton, and a producing device used therefor. CONSTITUTION:Living flower or plant is embedded in a ceramic vesel with a granular or powdery drying agent and warmed by irradiating it with far- infrared ray in a lid opened state, and then the lid is closed and the flower or plant is dried to produce the objective dry flower or dried plant. The objective producing device 1 used therefore is composed of a drying apparatus 10 consisting of an atmospheric furnace and far-infrared ray heater arranged in the atmospheric furnace, a molded vessel 20 in which living flower or plant is put and consisting of a ceramic having the freely attachable and detachable lid, and further a granular or powdery drying agent 30 for embedding living flower or plant.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Field of Industrial Application] This invention relates to a method for producing dried flowers or dried plants, and a production apparatus used in the method.
More specifically, the present invention relates to a method for producing dried flowers or dried plants that uses far infrared rays and a powder desiccant, maintains the original color shape, and can be produced in a short time, and a production apparatus used in the method.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art Traditionally, fresh flowers or plants have been dried and enjoyed as dried flowers or plants. Dried flowers are used for indoor decoration because they do not require much maintenance and can be enjoyed regardless of the season. Conventional methods for producing dried flowers mainly include:
Three methods are known: a drying method by natural drying, a drying method by using a desiccant, and a drying method by freeze drying.

[0003] The first drying method by natural drying is the most primitive method in which fresh flowers are hung in a well-ventilated place and dried naturally to produce dried flowers. The second drying method using a desiccant is a method in which fresh flowers are buried in a highly airtight plastic container with a desiccant, sealed, and left to dry. In addition, the drying method by freeze-drying is a method in which the material is instantly frozen at an extremely low temperature and then dried using a freeze dryer.

0004

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Each of the methods for producing dried flowers and the like has the following problems. That is, in the first natural drying method, not only does it take a long time to dry, but the color becomes brown or brown due to the decomposition and discoloration of the pigment, which is far from the natural color. Another problem is that because the material is hung to dry, it deforms during drying and cannot maintain its natural shape. Although the drying method using the second desiccant has a considerably shorter drying time than natural drying, it still takes several days to several weeks. For this reason, mass production was not possible. Furthermore, although the third freeze-drying method can maintain a relatively natural color, it causes color unevenness and is weak against shock and will break if grasped with a little force. There was a problem that it could not be arranged.

[0005] This invention was made in view of the current situation, and it is possible to mass-produce by significantly shortening the drying time, and to produce dried flowers or dried plants that maintain their primary colors and shapes, with the aim of popularizing dried flowers and reducing costs. Method,
The object of the present invention is to provide a manufacturing apparatus for use in the method.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Therefore, in order to achieve the above object, the present invention is constructed as follows. That is, in the method for producing dried flowers of the present invention, first, fresh flowers or plants are buried in a ceramic container using a granular or powdered desiccant agent, heated by irradiation with far infrared rays with the lid open, and then the ceramic container is heated. It is characterized by drying with the lid closed. The manufacturing device used in the manufacturing method includes a drying device including an atmospheric furnace and a far-infrared heater disposed in the atmospheric furnace, and a molded container made of a ceramic container that has a removable lid and holds fresh flowers or plants. and a granular or powder desiccant for embedding fresh flowers or plants.

[0007]

[Action] Dried flowers or plants can be obtained in a short time by the combination of the inside of the ceramic container and the irradiation of far infrared rays. Far-infrared heaters have a high heat retention effect because they are installed in an atmospheric furnace, and they directly irradiate far-infrared rays with fresh flowers and plants buried in a container with a desiccant agent, so they can decompose water molecules contained in fresh flowers or plants. It can increase atomic amplitude activity and promote water evaporation in a short time due to high energy due to low temperature action.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Examples of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a dry flower or plant manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention. The manufacturing device 1 includes a drying device 10, a molded container 20 for fresh flowers or plants, and a desiccant 30 in which the fresh flowers or plants are buried. The drying device 10 includes an atmospheric furnace 11 and a far-infrared heater 13 provided within the atmospheric furnace 11. On the other hand, the molded container 20 is a ceramic container 17 having a removable lid.
It is made up of.

More specifically, the shape and size of the atmospheric furnace 11 constituting the drying device 10 are not particularly limited. The atmosphere furnace 11 has a heat insulating structure as a whole, and has a door 12 attached to the front surface, and a ventilation hole 14 and a ventilation door 17 in the peripheral wall to prevent an excessive rise in temperature. Furthermore, a far-infrared heater 13 serving as a heating device is installed inside the atmospheric furnace 11. The far-infrared heater 13 may be any conventionally known far-infrared radiation source having a wavelength band of 3 to 30 microns, such as a nichrome wire that applies current to a high-resistance wire such as a nichrome wire and applies the thermal energy to the far-infrared radiation material. It does not matter whether it is a heater-type far-infrared radiation source or a semiconductor-ceramic heater-type radiation source in which a current is passed through a semiconductor ceramic to cause it to emit far-infrared rays. Furthermore, the far infrared heater 13
A reflecting plate 15 is provided on the upper part of the reflector plate 15 to improve thermal efficiency.

Although not shown in the drawings, the atmospheric furnace 11 is provided with a temperature display section, a sensor, a temperature control device, and the like.

The ceramic container 21 constituting the molded container 20 consists of a container body 21a having a depth sufficient to bury fresh flowers or plants, and a removable lid 21b. The ceramic container 21 includes not only containers made of composite ceramics but also containers coated with composite ceramics. That is, for example, the container may be fired and sintered with a composite ceramic made of an inorganic element, and the composite ceramic may be made of polypropylene,
It may be a container formed by kneading with plastic such as polyethylene or polyester, or it may be a container formed by coating the composite ceramic on a metal or plastic container. Ceramic container 21
Since this material enhances the warming effect by applying gentle temperature heating to fresh flowers or plants, it may be any material that has far-infrared radiation characteristics. The wavelength range of the far infrared rays is in the range of 3 to 30 microns.

A far-infrared heater 2 is installed on the silicon rubber heater 22 on the inner surface of the bottom of the ceramic container 21.
3 are arranged. This far-infrared heater 23 can have the same structure as the far-infrared heater 13 disposed in the atmospheric furnace 11, but is preferably a plate-shaped ceramic heater. The size, shape, etc. may be appropriately determined depending on the size of the ceramic container 21. In this way, when the silicone rubber heater 22 and the far-infrared heater 23 are also arranged inside the ceramic container 21, it becomes possible to uniformly and efficiently keep fresh flowers or plants warm from above and below. In particular, ceramic container 2
By irradiating and heating the fresh flowers stored in 1 from below with a far-infrared heater, it is possible to obtain a uniform drying effect on the stems, calyxes, buds, etc. in the same manner as on the petals. The silicon rubber heater 22 and the far-infrared heater 23 may be provided on the outer surface of the bottom of the ceramic container 21, or may be omitted as appropriate.

The desiccant 30 may be any conventional granular or powdery water-absorbing desiccant; for example, one or more of silica gel, aluminum oxide, zeolite, common salt, etc. can be used. In addition, these desiccants may be used alone, but Al2O3, CaCO2, ZrO2, Na2
It may also be one in which an inorganic element such as Al2Si2O10 is pulverized and mixed. In this way, when an inorganic element is mixed into the desiccant, the evaporation of water can be further promoted and the drying time can be shortened. The granular or powder desiccant 30 not only enhances the drying effect of fresh flowers due to its water absorption effect, but also has a shape-retaining effect that prevents fresh flowers from losing their shape while retaining their natural shape, and furthermore, they can be easily removed after drying. It is necessary to be able to do so.

Next, a method for manufacturing dried flowers using the manufacturing apparatus 1 having the above configuration will be explained. first,
A fresh flower S is placed inside the ceramic container body 21a, which has a silicone rubber heater 22 and a far-infrared heater 23 at the bottom.
Bury the flower with the petals facing upward. Flowers with large petals or thick flowers can be used for fresh flowers S, including small flowers such as gypsophila and statice, as well as cattleya and large flowers that could not be made into dried flowers using conventional methods. It can also be used for runs etc. Desiccant 30
Fill the flowers little by little so that they retain their natural shape.
Finally, it will be completely buried.

After burying fresh flowers S to be dried flowers in the desiccant 30 in the ceramic container main body 21a, the ceramic container 21 is placed in the atmospheric furnace 11 with the lid open, and the far infrared heater 13 and the silicon rubber heater 2 are heated.
2 and far-infrared heater 23 are operated to heat the room. The temperature in the atmosphere furnace 11 during heating is 30 to 70°C, preferably 40 to 60°C. This is because if it is below 30°C, it will take too much time, and if it is above 70°C, it will discolor and it will not be possible to maintain the natural color. Adjust the heating time so that the moisture content of fresh flowers is around 10%. Usually, the heating time is 30 to 90 minutes, although it varies depending on the type of fresh flowers. When fresh flowers and plants are dried to a moisture content of around 10%, it is possible to maintain colors close to natural without destroying organic matter such as pigments, chlorophyll, and enzymes contained in fresh flowers, and to maintain elasticity. You can get dried flowers that will not break even if you bend them a little.

After a predetermined heating time has elapsed, the ceramic container body 21a is sealed with a lid 21b and left in the atmospheric furnace 11. This is to prevent the desiccant 30 from absorbing moisture in the air by sealing it with the lid 21b, thereby increasing the drying effect.

One of the features of this invention is that it uses the properties of far infrared rays together with the desiccant 30 to perform drying. In other words, far infrared rays, which have a longer wavelength than near infrared rays, are absorbed by the object from which they are emitted, and when absorbed, the frequency of a specific wavelength band of the far infrared rays resonates with the frequency of molecular motion of the object, increasing thermal energy. This takes advantage of the property that there is. Therefore, when far infrared rays are used, the water molecules contained in fresh flowers, plants, etc. cause vibrations and rotational motion due to resonance, and the primary colors are maintained in their original form within a temperature range that does not destroy the cell membranes of organic matter contained in fresh flowers, etc. This allows water to evaporate and dry while keeping the flowers dry, and the degree of dryness between the center and surface of fresh flowers can be kept relatively small.
It is possible to maintain a certain degree of suppleness without causing discoloration.

[0018]

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the following effects can be achieved. That is, since it consists of a drying device in which a far-infrared heater is disposed in an atmospheric furnace and a molded container made of a ceramic container, an extremely simple device for producing dried flowers can be obtained. In addition, the combination of the desiccant and the heating by far infrared rays makes it possible to dry in a short period of time ranging from several tens of minutes to several hours, resulting in dried flowers or dried plants that retain their primary colors and original shapes. In addition, since it dries using the properties of far infrared rays, it quickly accelerates the evaporation of water contained in fresh flowers or plants, and it does not destroy organic matter such as pigments and chlorophyll, so it does not easily fade. Flowers or dried plants can be enjoyed for many years. Furthermore, if a far-infrared heater is also installed inside the ceramic container, and it is configured to heat from the top and bottom, it is possible to dry fresh flowers and plants in a short time, which was previously impossible. The range of applications will expand. Moreover, since it can be manufactured in a short time, it can be mass-produced, and since it does not change color or fade, it can be used for specimen preparation, etc. Therefore, it is now possible to observe specimens of agricultural products such as flowers of agricultural products, flowers of fruits, wildflowers, alpine plants, etc., which could only be observed using materials such as photographs and printed materials, and this has a great effect on academic and school education.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory longitudinal sectional view showing an example of a manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Dried flower manufacturing equipment 10 Drying device 11 Atmosphere furnace 13 Far infrared heater 14 Ventilation hole 15 Reflector 20 Molded container 21 Ceramic containers 22 Silicone rubber heater 23 Far infrared heater 30 Desiccant

Claims (2)

[Claims] Claim 1: Fresh flowers or plants are buried in a ceramic container using a granular or powder desiccant, heated by irradiation with far infrared rays with the lid open, and then dried by closing the lid of the ceramic container. Features: A method for producing dried flowers or plants. 2. A drying device comprising an atmospheric furnace and a far-infrared heater disposed in the atmospheric furnace; a molded container made of a ceramic container having a removable lid and containing fresh flowers or plants; or a granular or powdered desiccant for burying the plant; and a dry flower or plant manufacturing device.