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JP-2026074666-A - Rice ball making machine

JP2026074666AJP 2026074666 AJP2026074666 AJP 2026074666AJP-2026074666-A

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a rice ball making apparatus that can efficiently produce fluffy rice balls. [Solution] The rice ball making apparatus 100 comprises a circular turntable 10, multiple molds 20 that can be deformed between an open state and a closed state, each positioned at intervals in the circumferential direction of the turntable 10, a drive mechanism 30 that rotates the turntable 10 around a rotation center X, and a control unit 120 that controls the drive mechanism 30 and the rice supply device 110, wherein the molds 20 positioned on the turntable 10 pass below the rice supply opening of the rice supply device 110. The control unit 120 controls the drive mechanism 30 to rotate the turntable 10 continuously around the rotation center X, and controls the rice supply device 110 to feed rice onto the open mold 20 when one mold 20 is in an open state and passing below the rice supply opening. [Selection Diagram] Figure 2

Inventors

  • 神山 孝司
  • 三浦 正樹

Assignees

  • 鈴茂器工株式会社

Dates

Publication Date
20260507
Application Date
20241021

Claims (6)

  1. A rice ball manufacturing apparatus comprising a rice supply device and a rice ball unit that can be attached to the rice supply device, A circular turntable, Multiple molds, which can be freely deformed between an open state and a closed state, are arranged at intervals in the circumferential direction of the turntable. The mold placed on the turntable is positioned to pass below the rice supply port of the rice supply device, and the turntable is rotated around the rotation center by a drive mechanism, The system comprises the aforementioned drive mechanism and a control unit that controls the rice supply device, The control unit controls the drive mechanism to rotate the turntable continuously around the rotation center, and controls the rice supply device to feed rice onto the open mold when one mold is passing below the rice supply opening in an open state.
  2. The rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the molding dies are arranged at four positions set at equal angular intervals with respect to the rotation center of the turntable.
  3. When the position of the molding die as it passes below the rice supply opening in the rotational direction of the turntable is defined as the rice supply position, the position of the molding die positioned one position ahead in the rotational direction is defined as the leveling work position, the position of the molding die positioned two positions ahead in the rotational direction is defined as the molding work position, and the position of the molding die positioned three positions ahead in the rotational direction is defined as the removal work position. The leveling work position is the position where the rice that has been fed into the mold at the rice supply position is leveled by an operator. The molding position is the position in which the molding mold, which has been leveled with cooked rice at the leveling position, is deformed into a closed state to form a rice ball. The rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the removal work position is a position in which the rice balls formed at the molding work position are removed from the turntable by an operator.
  4. The system includes a rice sensor that detects the presence or absence of rice lumps placed at the aforementioned removal work position. The rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit controls the drive mechanism to stop the turntable until the rice mass is removed from the mold, when the rice sensor detects the presence of a rice mass before the mold passes the removal position.
  5. The system includes a mold sensor that detects whether or not the mold from which the rice ball was dispensed has reached the aforementioned rice supply position. The rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the control unit controls the rice supply device so that rice is supplied to the mold when the mold sensor detects that the mold from which the rice ball has been removed has reached the rice supply position.
  6. The rice ball making apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the turntable is provided in the center with a tray for placing ingredients to be added when the ingredients are added at the leveling work position.

Description

This invention relates to a rice ball manufacturing apparatus. In factories and stores, rice shaping machines are used to form cooked rice into specific shapes. Some rice shaping machines utilize a horizontally rotating turntable to reduce the burden on workers. The material supply device described in Patent Document 1 is an automated material supply device for a food molding machine used to supply cooked rice to a food molding machine for making rice balls and the like. It comprises a hopper for feeding cooked rice and a turntable that is pivotally supported on a bottom plate and rotates intermittently. Multiple triangular molds are recessed into the upper surface of the turntable. The cooked rice is fed into the molds on the turntable and compressed into a triangular shape. The rice ball forming apparatus described in Patent Document 2 comprises a filling hole forming device, a lifting drive mechanism, and a rice ball forming device. The rice ball forming device has a frame and a rotating table pivotally supported on the frame. The rotating table has multiple forming holes recessed into it, into which cooked rice is filled. The cooked rice filled in the forming holes is then punched open by a filling hole punching rod, and fillings are added to the holes. The food molding apparatus described in Patent Document 3 is for molding food ingredients such as cooked rice into a predetermined shape. It comprises a food supply unit for supplying food ingredients and a food molding unit equipped with a mold for molding the supplied food ingredients into a predetermined shape. The food molding unit includes a mold for molding the cooked rice dropped from the food supply unit into a predetermined shape, a base to which the mold is attached, and a pair of guide rails for sliding the base. As the base slides along the guide rails, the mold can move forward and backward relative to the position where the cooked rice falls. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-32711Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-229558Japanese Patent Publication No. 2016-19492 This is a perspective view of the entire rice ball manufacturing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.This is a top view of the rice ball unit.This is a plan view of the mold in its closed state.This is a side view of the mold in its closed state.This is a plan view of the mold in its open state.This is a side view of the mold in its open state.This diagram shows a magnified view of the removal work area.This is a functional block diagram showing the overall configuration of a rice ball manufacturing machine. The embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Figure 1 is a perspective view of the entire rice ball manufacturing apparatus 100 according to this embodiment, and Figure 2 is a top view of the rice ball unit 1. The rice ball making apparatus 100 comprises a rice ball unit 1 and a rice supply device 110. The rice supply device 110 is a mechanism for supplying rice to the rice ball unit 1 and includes a lid 111, a storage section 112, an input section 113, and a discharge section 114. The storage section 112 stores the rice, which is covered by the lid 111. The rice stored in the storage section 112 is discharged to the rice ball unit 1 through the discharge section 114. The input section 113 consists of a touch panel for setting the amount of rice supplied by the rice supply device 110. As shown in Figure 1, the rice ball unit 1 is detachable from the rice supply device 110. The rice ball unit 1 comprises a circuit board 2, a turntable 10, a mold 20, a drive mechanism 30, a rice sensor 51, a first mold sensor 52, and a second mold sensor 53. The turntable 10 is mounted on the circuit board 2. The turntable 10 is formed in a disc shape and rotates horizontally around the rotation center X. A driven gear 11 is provided on the outer circumference of the turntable 10. The molding die 20 is installed on the turntable 10. The molding die 20 is positioned at four locations set at equal angular intervals with respect to the rotation center X of the turntable 10. As shown in Figures 3A to 4B, the molding die 20 is composed of a pair of receivers 21 and a connecting portion 22 that connects the receivers 21. Although the connecting portion 22 of the molding die 20 is fixed to the turntable 10, it can be removed from the turntable 10. As shown in Figure 3A, the mold 20 is configured to be able to open and close (deformable) into a closed state (folded state) where the two receptors 21 face each other and stand up vertically, and an open state where the two receptors 21 open outwards from their respective lower parts, as shown in Figure 3B, opening to a horizontal position. The mold 20 molds the cooked rice supplied inside in the open state into the shape of a rice ball in the closed state. The drive mechanism 30 rotates the turntable 10. The drive mechanism 30 comprises a motor 31 and a drive gear 3