JPS6213497Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Technical Field This invention relates to a coagulant injection device in a tofu manufacturing apparatus.

Background Art In general, tofu is produced by first soaking raw soybeans in water for a predetermined period of time, then adding water and pulverizing this to make goji soup, separating it into soy milk and okara, and sterilizing the separated soy milk by boiling. , and then solidified and molded, followed by die cutting. Therefore, if we were to automate such a process using a single device, we would be able to automatically add the required amount of coagulant to the boiling sterilized soy milk in a timely manner when it cools to a predetermined coagulation temperature. It is necessary to make it possible to invest in

By the way, in the conventionally proposed coagulant injection device, the coagulant is dissolved in water to form an aqueous solution, which is stored in a container provided in the device, and when the tofu has been cooled to the coagulant injection temperature. The structure was such that the coagulant solution in the container was poured into soy milk.
However, according to this, for example, as a coagulant,
When GDL (glyconodelta-lactone) is used, it must be stored as an aqueous solution, so the coagulation ability of GDL itself stored in a container may decrease during the process of adding a coagulant. Therefore, GDL, which is generally widely used as a coagulant, cannot be used, and the usable coagulants are extremely limited.

Disclosure of the invention This invention was created in view of the above points, and the water and coagulant are stored separately, and when the coagulant is added, the two are mixed for the first time and added to the soymilk. It is possible to exhibit sufficient coagulation performance without causing a decrease in coagulation ability even when using a coagulant, and to ensure that the coagulant can be added reliably, and to be easy to install and remove.
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a coagulant injection mechanism that has a simple structure and can be manufactured at low cost.

The purpose of this is to provide a removable coagulant storage container on the top of an agitator support cylinder to which a tofu-shaped container is removably attached, and to be able to tilt it up and down using one end as a fulcrum, and to attach the container to the container by a partition wall. A first chamber for accommodating partitioned water and a second chamber for accommodating a coagulant are connected to each other, a passage is formed in the partition wall to communicate the two chambers, and the tilting operation causes the first chamber to open. water flows into the second chamber through the passage, and the coagulant is forced toward the outlet provided on one side of the bottom, mixed, and flows into the mold container. This can be achieved by configuring.

In this invention, water and a coagulant are stored separately in a first chamber and a second chamber of a container, and when the soymilk in the mold container is sterilized by boiling and cooled to the coagulation temperature,
By tilting the container, the two are mixed to form a coagulant solution, which is then poured into the mold container. Therefore, unlike the conventional method in which a coagulant is mixed with water in advance and stored in a container as a solution, there is no phenomenon where the coagulant's coagulation ability decreases in water during storage. The inherent performance of the coagulant can be fully and reliably exhibited. In addition, the coagulant in the second chamber is swept away toward the discharge port by the inflow force of the water in the first chamber flowing into the second chamber, and in the process, the coagulant is mixed with the water and becomes a solution. Since the coagulant is designed to flow out from the outlet, the coagulant easily dissolves in water and can also easily flow out from the discharge port. Therefore, the coagulant can be added more reliably and smoothly.

Furthermore, the container containing the coagulant is separated into a first chamber and a second chamber.
The container is divided into two chambers, and when the coagulant is added, the coagulant is mixed with water by simply tilting the chamber. Furthermore, the container can be easily formed by integral molding, making the coagulant injection mechanism simple and simple. can be converted into
It can be constructed at low cost. Moreover, since it can be easily attached and detached, cleaning and setting after use are also extremely easy.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Hereinafter, one embodiment of the invention will be described in detail based on the drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 show the overall configuration of the coagulant feeding device according to this invention, which has a rectangular box shape that constitutes a soymilk stirring and coagulating mechanism at a predetermined position inside the casing (not shown) of the tofu manufacturing device. Stirring body support cylinder 10
is installed. The support tube 10 is open at the top and bottom, and a lid 11 is removably attached to the top of the support tube 10. A stirring body 12 for stirring soybean milk is pivotally mounted inside the support cylinder 10 by a shaft 13 so as to be able to swing back and forth. The stirring body 12 is reciprocated by a drive mechanism (not shown). A packing 14 is attached along the lower periphery of the support tube 10, and a tofu-shaped container 15 fed from a soymilk storage position is fitted through the packing 14. A heating table 16 equipped with a sheathed heater 17 is attached to the lower part of the mold container 15 so as to be removable. The soymilk in the mold container 15 is first sterilized by boiling by the heating action of the heating table 16 while being stirred by the agitator 12, then cooled to a predetermined coagulation temperature, and then coagulated by adding a coagulant. Molded.

A container 20 (described later) is placed on the top surface of the lid 11 of the support tube 10.
Coagulant solution inlet 18 corresponding to the outlet 29 of
is formed with an opening. Inlet port 1 on top of lid 11
A pair of fittings 19, 19 are arranged on both sides of the container 20 in the width direction, and shafts 21, 21 are provided on both sides of one end of the container 20 in an inverted L-shaped long groove 191 provided in the fittings 19, 19. are removably fitted.

The container 20 stores water and coagulant separately, and when the soymilk in the mold container is sterilized by boiling and cooled to the coagulation temperature, the two are mixed and poured into the soymilk inside the mold container. It is for the purpose of container 2
0 is supported by fixtures 19, 19 so as to be pivotable up and down about shafts 21, 21, and the other end thereof can be tilted upward at a predetermined angle from the upper surface of the lid 11. The container 20 can be assembled by pulling out the shafts 21, 21 from the long grooves 191, 191 of the fixture.
It is adapted to be easily removed from the top surface of the lid 11.

The container 20 includes a first chamber 22 containing water A;
A second chamber 23 for accommodating coagulant B and a third chamber 24 for mixing water A and coagulant B are pivoted in this order from the free end side by shafts 21, 21. It is divided into sections towards the end. Between the first chamber 22 and the second chamber 23, and between the second chamber 23
and the third chamber 24 are partition walls 25 and 26.
They are each separated by Partition wall 25, 2
6 has a convexly curved surface that rises upward from below and protrudes in an inclined manner.

Passages 27 that connect the first chamber 22 and the second chamber 23 are provided at two upper portions in the longitudinal direction of the partition wall 25;
27 is formed in a concave shape so as to cross the longitudinal direction. Further, a passage 28 that communicates the second chamber 23 and the third chamber 24 with each other is formed in a concave shape at the upper center in the longitudinal direction of the partition wall 26 so as to cross the longitudinal direction.

A coagulant solution discharge port 2 is located on one side of the bottom of the third chamber 24 and faces the input port 18 with a vertical interval therebetween.
An opening 9 is formed so as to be located on the downstream side in the outflow direction of the coagulant solution.

The container is attached to the lower surface of the free end side of the container 20 with shafts 21 and 2.
One end of an operating rod 30 is connected to the lever 30, which is tilted about 1 as a fulcrum. The operating rod 30 is reciprocated upward at a required stroke by a driving means (not shown) when a coagulant solution is introduced, which will be described later, to tilt the container 20 about the shafts 21 and 21 as fulcrums. Various configurations can be adopted as this driving means. For example, one example is one in which the rotational force of a motor is transmitted to a crank mechanism via a speed reduction mechanism and converted into linear reciprocating motion of the operating rod 30.
Furthermore, the mold container 15 is moved from the soy milk storage position to the support tube 1.
The actuating rod 30 may be driven using the operation of a moving mechanism (not shown) that moves it to the zero position. In short, when adding the coagulant solution, the container 20
Any configuration that allows the tilting operation to be performed reliably and smoothly at a constant angle may be used.

A lid 31 is removably attached to the top of the container 20.

Next, the operation of the present coagulant injection device having the above configuration will be explained.

In addition, the movement of the mold container 15 to the support cylinder 10, the boiling sterilization of the soybean milk inside the mold container by heating the heating table 16, the stirring operation of the stirring body 12, the driving of the driving means for driving the operating rod 30, etc. are automatically performed in a predetermined order and at a good timing under the control of a control circuit (not shown) consisting of a microcomputer built into the device.

First, as shown in FIG. 2, the mold container 15 containing soymilk is sent into the lower part of the support cylinder 10 and fitted into the lower part. At this time, required amounts of water A and coagulant B are stored in the first chamber 22 and second chamber 23 of the container 20, respectively.

Next, the soybean milk in the mold container 15 is stirred by the agitator 12 and heated by the heating table 16 to be sterilized by boiling. Thereafter, when the boiling sterilization is completed and the soybean milk is cooled to a coagulation temperature of, for example, about 70° C., the driving means is driven to move the operating rod 30 upward at a required stroke. Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the container 20 rotates about the shafts 21, 21, and the free end side tilts upward. As a result, the water A in the first chamber 22 flows into the second chamber 23 with some force through the passages 27, 27 of the partition wall 25 as shown by arrow 100. Then, the coagulant B in the second chamber 23 is swept away in the direction of the partition wall 26 by the inflow force of the water A flowing in from the passages 27, 27, as shown by the arrow 101 in FIG.
The water is further mixed with the water A through the central passage 28 and sent into the third chamber 24 together with the water A. Water A sent into this third chamber 24
The coagulant B further increases momentum along the slope of the bottom and flows down toward the discharge port 29. In this process, the coagulant B is completely mixed and stirred with the water A to become a coagulant solution C, which passes from the discharge port 29 to the inlet 18 of the lid 11 into the mold container 1 as shown by the arrow 102 in FIG.
5, a predetermined amount is poured into the tank.

After the coagulant solution C is added in this manner, the coagulant solution C is uniformly stirred and mixed into the soybean milk by the stirring action of the stirring member 12, and then coagulated and molded.

On the other hand, at the same time that the coagulant solution C is poured into the soybean milk in the mold container 15, the driving means is driven in the reverse direction, and the operating rod 30 is moved in the reverse direction. As a result, the container 20 is moved from the tilted state to the second position.
Return as shown in the figure.

Thereafter, when the tofu is molded from the mold container 15, the production of tofu is completed.

According to this embodiment, since the partition walls 25 and 26 are provided in the shape of inclined protruding curved surfaces, the water A flows from the first chamber 22 to the second chamber 23 and from the second chamber 23 to the third chamber 23. The water A and the coagulant B can flow more smoothly and efficiently into the chamber 24. Further, the water A in the first chamber 22 is squeezed by the passages 27, 27, and flows into the second chamber 23 with great force, and the water A in the first chamber 22 flows into the second chamber 23 with force.
Since the coagulant B in the third chamber 23 is swept toward the partition wall 26 and flows more forcefully into the third chamber 24 together with the water A, the coagulant solution can be added more smoothly and easily. Further, coagulant B is easily dissolved in water A during this process.

Note that passages 27 provided in the partition walls 25 and 26,
The numbers 27 and 28 are not limited to those shown in the embodiments, and can be increased or decreased as necessary. Further, the shape of the partition wall is not limited to the inclined convex curved shape shown in the embodiment, but various other shapes can be adopted. For example, it may be rectangular and flat.

On the other hand, in order to remove the container 20 for subsequent cleaning work, filling of coagulant and water, etc., the shaft 2
1 and 21 can be pulled out from the long grooves 191 of the fittings 19 and 19. This causes the container 20 to be removed. Therefore, the container 20 can be easily attached and detached. This also makes cleaning and setting easier.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the present coagulant injection device, Fig. 2 is a perspective view of its assembled state, Fig. 3 is a perspective view explaining the operation of the present invention device, and Fig. 4 is a perspective view similarly explaining the operation. , FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating the operation of the present device. 15... Model container, 10... Support tube, 20... Container, 25... Partition wall, A... Water, 22... First
chamber, B... coagulant, 23... second chamber, 27,
27... Passage, 29... Discharge port, 24... Third chamber, 26... Partition wall, 28... Passage, 19,1
9 fitting, 191... long groove, 21, 21... shaft.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claim for Utility Model Registration] (1) In a tofu manufacturing apparatus that sterilizes soybean milk in a tofu-shaped container by boiling and then adds a coagulant to coagulate and mold it, an agitator support to which the mold container is removably attached. A container for storing a coagulant is provided at the top of the cylinder in a removable manner and can be tilted up and down using one end as a fulcrum, and the container accommodates a first chamber for storing water and a coagulant separated by a partition wall. a second chamber is connected to the second chamber, a passage is formed in the partition wall to communicate the two chambers, and the tilting action causes water in the first chamber to flow into the second chamber through the passage; The coagulant injection device is configured such that the coagulant in the second chamber is swept toward a discharge port provided on one side of the bottom by the inflow force, mixed with water, and flows out into the mold container. (2) A third chamber partitioned by a partition wall is provided on the downstream side of the second chamber in the direction in which the water flows in, and the water flowing in and the coagulant pass through the passage provided in the partition wall. The coagulant injection device according to claim 1, which is configured to be mixed by being forced from the second chamber to the third chamber.