JP-2026075602-A - Food supply device

Abstract

[Problem] To provide a food dispensing device that is compact yet can dispense a stable amount of prepared food. [Solution] A food supply device comprising: a storage section for storing food ingredients; a supply section communicating with the lower end of the storage section for supplying the food ingredients to a container; and a transport section provided in the storage space of the storage section for transporting the food ingredients stored in the storage section to the supply section, wherein the transport section has a transport screw that is spirally formed and rotatable around an axis, and the transport screw is hollow. [Selection Diagram] Figure 2

Inventors

• 鈴木 美奈子
• 田代 光男
• 松本 直之
• 杉▲崎▼ 健

Assignees

• 鈴茂器工株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260508

Application Date

20251001

Priority Date

20241022

Claims (13)

1. A storage area where food ingredients are stored, It is in communication with the lower end of the storage section and is a supply section that supplies the food ingredients to the container, A conveying unit is provided in the storage space of the storage unit and transports the food ingredients stored in the storage unit to the supply unit, Equipped with, The conveying unit has a conveying screw comprising a conveying unit body formed in a spiral shape and a conveying region surrounded by the conveying unit body, on which the food can move along the axial direction of the conveying unit body. Food supply device.
2. The aforementioned conveying screw is formed in the shape of a coil spring. The food supply device according to claim 1.
3. The storage section is formed along the axial direction of the conveying screw and has a conveying screw arrangement section that covers the lower portion of the conveying screw along the outer circumference of the conveying screw. The conveying screw arrangement section is formed in a polygonal shape when viewed from the axial direction. The food supply device according to claim 1 or 2.
4. The conveying screw arrangement section is formed in a pentagonal shape when viewed from the axial direction. The food supply device according to claim 3.
5. The conveying unit has a subscrew comprising: a shaft provided above the conveying screw along the axial direction; a reverse blade formed on the outer circumference of the shaft on the supply side for conveying food away from the supply side; and a conveying blade formed on the outer circumference of the shaft on the opposite side of the supply side for conveying food toward the conveying screw. The food supply device according to claim 1 or 2.
6. The aforementioned sub-screws are provided in pairs, spaced apart in the left-right direction perpendicular to the axial and vertical directions, and each is rotatable outward when viewed from the axial direction. The food supply device according to claim 5.
7. The portion of the shaft on which the reverse vane is formed is less than one-quarter of the total length in the axial direction. The food supply device according to claim 5.
8. The conveying unit has a roller section that causes the food material, which has been conveyed along the axial direction of the conveying screw by the conveying screw, to fall toward the supply unit. The roller portion comprises a columnar roller body and a projection extending radially outward from the outer surface of the roller body. The protruding portion has an inclined surface that slopes in a width direction perpendicular to the circumferential and radial directions as it extends circumferentially from the roller body. The food supply device according to claim 1 or 2.
9. The supply unit comprises a supply unit body formed in a cylindrical shape that penetrates vertically, and a shutter unit that opens and closes the opening at the lower end of the supply unit body. The food supply device according to claim 1 or 2.
10. The shutter section comprises a plate section that closes the opening and a swing section that moves the plate section in an arc shape. The food supply device according to claim 9.
11. The shutter portion comprises a plate portion that closes the opening and a sliding portion that slides the plate portion. The food supply device according to claim 9.
12. It is located below the supply section and further comprises a container placement section in which the container is placed, The container placement unit has a moving unit for moving the container in the vertical direction. The food supply device according to claim 9.
13. The supply unit has a guide unit that directs a portion of the food ingredients falling toward the container toward the forward direction. The food supply device according to claim 1 or 2.

Description

This invention relates to a food supply device. This application claims the benefits of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/710,040, filed on 22 October 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Traditionally, the packaging of prepared foods was generally done by hand or using a filling machine. Manually portioning prepared foods requires skill to ensure consistent portion sizes. In recent years, labor shortages have made it difficult to secure personnel for this purpose. Furthermore, variations in worker speed mean that the time required to portion the required amount of food is inconsistent. As a filling machine for plating prepared foods, for example, the robotic hand described in Patent Document 1 is known. In the robotic hand described in Patent Document 1, prepared foods are plated by controlling a robotic arm. Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-025565 This is a perspective view showing a food supply device.This is a cross-sectional view of the food supply device shown in Figure 1, along the line F2-F2.This is a cross-sectional view showing the lower part of the hopper, specifically a cross-section cut with a plane perpendicular to the front-to-back direction.This is a perspective view showing the inside of the lower part of the hopper.This is a plan view showing the inside of the hopper.This is a front view showing the loosening roller.This is a perspective view showing the supply section, viewed from diagonally below the front.This is a detailed view of the area enclosed by the dashed line D8 of the food supply device shown in Figure 2.This diagram illustrates how the ingredients are plated by the supply department.This is a diagram illustrating the method of plating ingredients, as explained by the supply department.This is a diagram illustrating the method of plating ingredients, as explained by the supply department.This is a diagram illustrating the method of plating ingredients, as explained by the supply department.This is a plan view showing a subscrew according to Modification 1.This is a front view showing the loosening roller according to modified example 2.This is a front view showing the loosening roller according to modified example 3.This is a perspective view showing the supply unit according to modified example 4, and is a view taken from diagonally below the front.This is a diagram illustrating the method of plating ingredients, as explained by the supply department.This is a diagram illustrating the method of plating ingredients, as explained by the supply department.This is a diagram illustrating the method of plating ingredients, as explained by the supply department.This is a diagram illustrating the method of plating ingredients, as explained by the supply department.This is a cross-sectional view showing the roller arrangement portion according to modified example 5, and the cross-section is shown as being cut by a plane perpendicular to the left-right direction.This is a front view of the loosening roller and guide section, seen from the front.This is a plan view showing a conveying screw according to modified example 6.This is a perspective view showing the supply unit according to modified example 7, and is a view taken from diagonally below the front. The food supply device according to this embodiment will be described below with reference to the drawings. Note that in each drawing, the scale of each component may be appropriately changed as needed to ensure that each component is clearly visible. [Food supply device 100] The food ingredient supply device 100 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 to 24. First, the food ingredient supply device 100 as a whole will be described. However, the food ingredient supply device 100 does not need to have all of the configurations described below, and some configurations may be omitted as appropriate. In this embodiment, the vertical direction in the food supply device 100 is defined as "up-down direction H," the vertically upward direction is defined as "upward H1" within the up-down direction H, and the vertically downward direction is defined as "downward H2" within the up-down direction H. Furthermore, among the horizontal directions perpendicular to the up-down direction H, the direction in which the user of the food supply device 100 primarily positions itself relative to the food supply device 100 is defined as "forward L1," the direction opposite to forward L1 is defined as "rear L2," and the direction connecting forward L1 and rear L2 is defined as the front-rear direction L. Additionally, the direction perpendicular to the up-down direction H and the front-rear direction L is defined as "left-right direction W," with one side of the left-right direction defined as "rightward W1" and the other as "leftward W2." Figure 1 is a perspective view showing the food supply device 100. Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the food supply device 100 shown in Figure 1 alon