JPH09154489A - Pretreatment of tea leaf and equipment therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically control the amount of hot air for withering tea leaves, a steamer and a tea leave roller used in the following tea-manufacturing steps by automatically measuring the water content in the withered tea leaves, and provide a pretreatment process for tea leaves and an apparatus therefor which can carry out the removal of woody steams from raw tea leaves and the leaf withering in a single machine. SOLUTION: In the process and the apparatus for pretreating raw tea leaves by blowing hot air into a rotary mesh drum 20 to wither the raw tea leaves before steaming, a moisture meter 4B is set on the output side 20b of the rotary mesh drum 20 to monitor the water content after the treatment. On the basis of the monitored water content, the volume of the hot air to be fed into a rotary mesh drum 20, a steamer L1 in the following tea-manufacturing step or a tea-rolling machine L2 are controlled. In addition, the whole part or a part of the rotary mesh drum is adjusted in its mesh to such a size that the woody stems can pass through, but the tea leaves cannot pass through.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a tea-making method and apparatus, and in particular, withering tea as a pretreatment or mixing it into the tea-leaves so as to facilitate the tea-making process of the tea leaves before steaming. The present invention relates to a method and a device for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves for removing tree stems.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Conventionally, in order to elevate the flavor before steaming and rubbing fresh tea leaves, and to make the fresh tea leaves soften by wilting, the wilting is performed so as to be suitable for the subsequent rubbing operation.
Specifically, with a device called a wilting machine, the moisture content of fresh tea leaves is reduced by about 10 to 20%, although the preferable reduction value is somewhat different depending on the tea variety, the tea season, etc. in the moisture content display on a dry weight basis. However, the monitoring of the water content has not been automated yet, and the workers manually sampled it, measured it with a tabletop type moisture meter, and judged the withered degree by the intuition of the skill. . For this reason, the troublesomeness of manual measurement with a moisture measuring instrument,
In addition, there is a problem that a high degree of specialization is required for control based on the result. Further, basically, it is impossible for the worker to always measure the water content with the tea-wiping machine because of the relation with other tea-making machines.

Further, tree stems are mixed in the fresh tea leaves, but since the aroma of the tea leaves is deteriorated due to the scent of the leaves during the tea making process, the leaves and the tree stems have been separated from the past. ing. As a device for separating the leaves and the tree stem, there is a tree stem processing machine, which is installed, for example, in the front stage of the above-mentioned wilting machine. By the way, installing a tree stem processing machine and a wilting machine side by side takes up a lot of space, and it is costly to equip them with two units. Not a few are not. However, with the recent increase in demand for high-quality tea or diversification of taste, there has been a strong demand for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves such as withering treatment and removal of tree stems.

[0004]

[Technical problem attempted to be developed] From the above background, the present inventor has realized that it is possible to remove the tree stem mixed in the fresh tea leaves by utilizing the rotational force of the rotary net cylinder of the wilting machine. Based on this, we attempted to develop a wilting machine that enables tree stem treatment, automatically measuring the water content of fresh tea leaves that have been wilted by the wilting machine, and the amount of hot air used for wilting and subsequent tea production. The technical task is to develop a novel tea leaves pretreatment method and device characterized by automatically controlling steamers and leaf beaters in the process and removing stems from tea leaves and wilting by one unit. It was done.

[0005]

[Means for Solving the Problems] That is, the method for pretreating fresh tea leaves according to claim 1 is a method for pretreating fresh tea leaves by blowing hot air into a rotary mesh cylinder to wither the fresh tea leaves before steaming. A rear moisture meter for measuring water content is provided on the outlet side of the mesh cylinder, and the amount of hot air into the rotary mesh cylinder from this water content is controlled by the steamer or leaf cutter in the tea making process afterwards. It consists of The apparatus for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves according to claim 5 is a device for pretreating fresh tea leaves by withdrawing the fresh tea leaves before steaming by blowing hot air into the rotary net cylinder.
A rear moisture meter for measuring the water content is provided on the outlet side of the rotary mesh cylinder, and is connected to this rear moisture meter, and is also connected to a hot air generator for generating the hot air, a steamer or a leaf cutter. A control panel is provided to control the amount of hot air flowing into the rotary net cylinder and the steamer or leaf cutter in the subsequent tea making process based on the water content measured by the rear moisture meter. If the above means are taken, the operator manually samples and measures with a moisture meter such as a tabletop type, changes the hot air volume according to the feeling of skill, and sets the processing settings for steamers and leaf cutters. You don't have to. In addition, the worker does not need to monitor the degree of wilting successively.

In the method for pretreating fresh tea leaves according to a second aspect, in addition to the requirements according to the first aspect, a part or all of the net of the rotary net cylinder allows tree stems to pass through but leaves cannot pass through. It is characterized by being formed into a mesh of various sizes. In addition to the requirements of claim 5, the tea fresh leaf pretreatment device according to claim 6 has a size in which a part or all of the net of the rotary net cylinder allows tree stems to pass and leaves not to pass. It is characterized in that it is formed in a mesh. By taking the above-mentioned means, the tree stem is removed by passing through the mesh. Therefore, a separate stem processing machine is not required and extra space is created. Further, it is not necessary to separately purchase the wilting machine and the tree stem processing machine, and the wilting treatment and the tree stem processing can be carried out at low cost. In addition, maintenance and cleaning is easy because it only requires one unit.

The method for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves according to claim 3 is characterized in that hot air is blown only to the latter half of the rotary net cylinder in addition to the requirements of claim 2. Further, the fresh tea leaf pretreatment device according to claim 7 is characterized in that, in addition to the requirements according to claim 6, hot air is blown only to the latter half side of the rotary net cylinder. When the above-mentioned means is adopted, the stem is removed exclusively on the first half and the wilt is performed on the second half. Therefore, the tree stalk is not heat-treated, no odor is transferred to the leaves, and no scent of hot air is wasted.

The method for pretreating fresh tea leaves according to claim 4 is, in addition to the requirements according to claim 1, 2 or 3, a front moisture measuring device for measuring the water content of fresh tea leaves at the inlet side of the rotary net cylinder. Is provided, the difference between the moisture content measured by the front moisture measuring instrument and the moisture content measured by the rear moisture measuring instrument, is characterized by changing the amount of hot air so as to be a preset decrease value. It consists of Further, in the fresh tea leaf pretreatment apparatus according to claim 8, in addition to the requirements according to claim 5, 6 or 7, a front moisture measuring device for measuring the water content of the fresh tea leaf is provided on the charging port side of the rotary net cylinder. The hot air amount is changed so that the difference between the water content measured by the front moisture measuring instrument and the water content measured by the rear moisture measuring instrument becomes a preset decrease value. Is. By adopting the above-mentioned means, the wilting is performed according to the type of fresh tea leaves and the initial water content, and more ideal wilting is performed. The problems described above are achieved by the inventions described in these claims.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to the illustrated embodiments. In the following description, the fresh tea leaf pretreatment apparatus of the present invention will be described first, and then the raw tea leaf pretreatment method of the present invention will be described while describing the operating state thereof. Reference numeral 1 in the figure denotes a fresh tea leaf pretreatment apparatus according to the present invention, which is a main machine as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 and a withering machine 2 with a tree stem removing structure, and a withering machine with this tree stem removing structure. Hot air generator 3 for sending hot air into 2
And a front moisture measuring device 4A and a rear moisture measuring device 4B which are respectively provided on the input port 20a side and the extraction port 20b side of the retractor 2 with a tree stem removing structure.

Each device will be described in detail below. First, the retractor 2 with a tree stem removing structure will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, the retractor 2 with a tree stem removing structure includes a machine casing 11, a main body barrel 12 provided above the machine casing 11, and a main body barrel 12 thereof.
A rotary net cylinder 20 provided inside, a rotary drive mechanism 30 for driving the rotary net cylinder 20, a hot air guide 13 for guiding hot air to the rotary net cylinder 20, and a tree stem Aa provided below the rotary net cylinder 20.
And a vibration conveyor 14 for receiving and transferring.

To be more specific, the machine frame 11 is made of a metal rectangular pipe or the like in the shape of a rectangular box, and is surrounded by a metal panel to form a body cylinder 12. A front management door 12a is provided on the front side of the main body 12. Further, a hot air guide 13 is provided on the rear side of the main body cylinder 12 and on the rear half side thereof, and the hot air from the hot air generator 3 is sent into the main body cylinder 12 through this. As an example, the hot air guide 1
No. 3 temperature sensor 15 near the outlet toward the rotary mesh cylinder 20.
Is provided. As the temperature sensor 15, for example, a thermocouple or a thermistor can be applied.

A rotary net cylinder 20 is provided in the main body cylinder 12. The rotary mesh cylinder 20 has a cylindrical shape as a whole, and as shown in FIGS. 3 to 5, a mesh cylinder frame 21 is cylindrically framed by a plurality of ring frames and a long rod frame. A tree stem removing net 22 and a wilting net 23 are stretched. Specifically, a tree-stem removing net 22 is stretched in the first half on the side where fresh tea leaves A are put, and this is of a size that allows tree stems Aa to pass but leaves not to pass. A wire mesh is used. Further, a wilting net 23 is stretched in the latter half of the outlet 20b side, and this wire net is a net of a size equivalent to that of a general wilting machine, and is a fine tree. The mesh has such a mesh that only the stem Aa can pass through. Of course, since the tree stem Aa is positively removed by the tree stem removing net 22, it is possible to apply a wire net having a mesh smaller than that of a usual mesh. The whole may be formed by the tree-stem removing net 22, or conversely, about one third may be formed by the tree-stem removing net 22. A large number of scraping bars 25 for scraping the fresh tea leaves A are provided in the rotary net cylinder 20. Drive rings 24 are provided at both ends of the rotary net cylinder 20.

The rotary drive mechanism 30 for rotating the rotary mesh cylinder 20 while supporting it will be described. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, two rotary shafts 31 are provided in front of and behind the machine casing 11.
Are rotatably provided by bearings 33 so as to be slightly inclined in the longitudinal direction so that the insertion port 20a side is higher, and rotary supports 32 are provided at both ends of the rotary shaft 31. In the rotary support 32, the rotary mesh cylinder 2
It supports a zero drive ring 24. A drive motor M is provided below the machine frame 11 on the side of the green tea leaves A into which the tea leaves 20a are inserted, and the drive pulley 3 included in the rotary shaft 31 of the drive motor M.
The rotation of No. 4 is transmitted to the relay pulley 35 via the belt 36, and the rotation is transmitted to the rotary support 32 by the sprocket 37 and the chain 38.

A control panel 2C is provided at an appropriate position on the front side of the machine frame 11, and the drive motor M, the hot air generator 3, the front moisture measuring instrument 4A, the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B, the steam generator L1 and the leaves are provided. It is connected to the hammer L2. In addition to the direct connection to the steamer L1 and the leaf cutter L2, a mode is adopted in which they are connected via an integrated control panel that comprehensively controls each device in the tea making line.

Next, the front moisture measuring instrument 4A and the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B will be described. The front moisture measuring device 4A and the rear moisture measuring device 4B have the same configuration as an example, and measure the water content and the weight of the fresh tea leaves A to obtain the fresh tea leaves A.
The water content of is calculated. Specifically, for example, the Japanese Patent Application No. 6-252525, which the applicant has already applied for.
Issue may apply. A schematic description of this is shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, the press conveyor 4 is held by the transfer conveyor 42 and the press adjusting mechanism 44 with respect to the machine frame 41, and presses the green tea leaves A while transferring them together with the transfer conveyor 42.
3 and a weighing scale 47 for measuring the weight of fresh tea leaves A to be transferred
A moisture meter 48 for measuring the water content of the fresh tea leaves A which are held and transferred by the transfer conveyor 42 and the press conveyor 43, and a potentiometer 49 for measuring the distance between the transfer conveyor 42 and the press conveyor 43. It comprises a weigh scale 47, a moisture meter 48, and a moisture meter control panel 40 to which the signals of the potentiometer 49 are sent.

The pressure adjusting mechanism 44 will be described.
The press adjustment mechanism 44 connects the press conveyor 43 to the link 45.
It is composed of an elevating mechanism 45 which is held in a swinging state by a, and a balancer rod 46 having a weight 46a which reduces the weight of the press conveyor 43 by the lever principle. Next, the moisture meter 48 will be described. This is composed of a microwave transmitting antenna 48A and a microwave receiving antenna 48B, and a transmitting antenna 48A is provided above the transfer conveyor 42 and the press conveyor 43 so as to sandwich the transfer conveyor 42 and the press conveyor 43.
A receiving antenna 48B is provided below. Next, the potentiometer 49 will be described. Potentiometer 49
Is to measure the distance of the gap between the transfer conveyor 42 and the press conveyor 43. Then, the approximate density of the fresh tea leaves A transferred in the moisture meter control board 40 is obtained from this measurement data, and the measured value of the water content by the moisture meter 48 is corrected according to the approximate density of the fresh tea leaves A.

Further, as the front moisture measuring instrument 4A and the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B, in addition to the one having the above-mentioned constitution, for example, one which measures the fresh tea leaves A transferred by using a vibration conveyor as a uniform layer can be applied. That is, as shown in FIG. 7, the microwave transmitting antenna 48A is opposed to the vibration conveyor 42Q for transferring the fresh tea leaves A so as to be sandwiched therebetween.
A moisture meter 48 including a receiving antenna 48B and a receiving antenna 48B is provided. In order to reduce the installation space, the vibration conveyor 42Q is divided into upper and lower tiers as an example. However, if there is no problem in terms of installation space, a long conveyor may be provided in a single tier. And vibration conveyor 42Q
Is supported on the machine frame 41 via a weight scale 47, and the weight of the fresh tea leaves A transferred on the vibration conveyor 42Q is measured.

As an example, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a front raw leaf flow meter 5A and a rear raw leaf flow meter 5B are provided above the front moisture measuring instrument 4A and the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B, respectively. A is designed to be supplied. The front fresh leaf flow meter 5A and the rear fresh leaf flow meter 5B both have the same configuration, and include a transparent rectangular box-shaped hopper 51, a belt conveyor 52 provided at the bottom of the hopper 51, and a scraping 53. And fresh leaf flow meter control board 50
It consists of and. As an example, a photoelectric switch 54 including a light projector and a light receiver is provided so as to face each other so as to sandwich a transparent hopper 51, and is connected to the raw leaf flow meter control board 50 to drive the front sampling conveyor 6A or the rear sampling conveyor 6B. Are trying to control. That is, reference numeral 54A is an upper limit photoelectric switch, and when the transmitted light is blocked, the driving of the front sampling conveyor 6A or the rear sampling conveyor 6B is stopped. On the other hand, reference numeral 54B is a lower limit photoelectric switch, and when this transmitted light is transmitted, it controls to drive the front sampling conveyor 6A or the rear sampling conveyor 6B.

The sampling structure of the front moisture measuring device 4A will be described. An example is shown between the front raw leaf belt conveyor B1 for transferring the raw tea leaves A and the input vibrating conveyor 8 provided facing the input port 20a of the rotary net cylinder 20. One end of the front sampling conveyor 6A constituted by a belt conveyor is faced with the other end, and the other end is the hopper 51 of the front raw flow meter 5A.
Is facing the upper part of. Further, the fresh tea leaves A measured by the front moisture measuring device 4A are configured to be returned to the feeding vibration conveyor 8 by the front return belt conveyor 7A.

The sampling structure of the rear moisture measuring device 4B will be described. One end of the rear sampling conveyor 6B is faced between the outlet 20b of the shaving machine 2 with a tree stem removing structure and the rear raw leaf belt conveyor B2, and the other end is It faces the upper part of the hopper 51 of the rear fresh leaf flow meter 5B. The fresh tea leaves A measured by the rear moisture measuring device 4B are configured to be returned to the rear fresh leaf belt conveyor B2 by the rear return belt conveyor 7B.

The apparatus 1 for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves of the present invention is constructed as described above, and the pretreatment method for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves of the present invention will be explained together with the description of this working state. An outline of the fresh tea leaf pretreatment will be described. A portion of the fresh tea leaf A transferred by the front fresh leaf belt conveyor B1 is sampled by the front sampling conveyor 6A and is also dropped on the input vibrating conveyor 8 to form a tree stem. It is put into the rotary net cylinder 20 of the retractor 2 with the removal structure. And the rotary mesh cylinder 20
As shown in FIG. 8, the fresh tea leaves A introduced therein have the tree stems Aa removed at the locations of the first half of the tree stem removing net 22, and are made to wither at the latter half of the wilting net 23. And the rotary net 2
The raw tea leaves A taken out from the 0 outlet 20b are partially sampled by the rear sampling conveyor 6B, dropped on the rear fresh leaf belt conveyor B2, and sent to the steamer L1 of the next step.

The operation state of the retractor 2 with a tree stem removing structure will be described in more detail. In the wilter 2 with a tree stem removing structure, the rotary net cylinder 20 is rotated by the rotary drive mechanism 30, and hot air from the hot air generator 3 is blown into the latter half of the wilt net 23. Then, the fresh tea leaves A put into the rotating rotary drum 20 move toward the outlet 20b side while being scraped up by the scraping bar 25 as a whole. As a feature of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8, the first half of the tree-stem removing net 22 has a large mesh, so that the tree stem Aa passes through the mesh and drops to the vibration conveyor 14 below. The tree stems Aa dropped on the vibrating conveyor 14 may be transferred to the rear fresh leaf belt conveyor B2, or may be pooled in a separately provided container. The fresh green tea leaves A that have been removed from the tree stem Aa and have proceeded to the wilting net 23 in the latter half are dried by hot air, have their moisture removed, and are withered. In addition, as the reduction value for removing this water, the dry weight standard (D / B)
The water content is preferably 10 to 20%. For example, if the water content of the first tea is 388%, the water content is preferably about 370%, and if the water content of the second tea is 352%, the water content is preferably about 335%. The temperature of the hot air is preferably maintained at about 60 ° C, and the temperature of the hot air is constantly measured by the temperature sensor 15 and the control panel 2C.
And the hot air generator 3 is controlled. Further, it is preferable that the time from the introduction of fresh tea leaves A to the removal thereof is about 2 minutes, and the adjustment of this time is adjusted by the rotation speed of the rotary net cylinder 20. In the case of being configured with an angle adjusting mechanism as in another embodiment described later, this time adjustment can also be performed by changing the tilt angle of the rotary net cylinder 20.

Next, the measurement of the water content by the front moisture measuring instrument 4A and the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B will be described. Note that the measurement modes of the front moisture measuring instrument 4A and the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B do not particularly change and will be collectively described. That is, the front sampling conveyor 6A and the rear sampling conveyor 6B
The fresh tea leaves A sampled by are once put into the front fresh leaf flow meter 5A and the rear fresh leaf flow meter 5B, respectively.
Then, the front fresh leaf flow meter 5A and the rear fresh leaf flow meter 5B are
Fresh tea leaves A in each hopper 51 are sequentially scraped and transferred by a uniform thickness 53, that is, at a constant flow rate, and are supplied onto the transfer conveyor 42 of the front moisture measuring device 4A and the rear moisture measuring device 4B.

The fresh tea leaves A introduced into the transfer conveyor 42 of the front moisture measuring instrument 4A and the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B are
It is pressed and transferred so as to be sandwiched by the press conveyor 43. The state of the fresh tea leaves A at this time is a high density state in which the number of fresh tea leaves A per volume is large, and even the fresh tea leaves A withered or fresh tea leaves A are transferred with a uniform density. . Therefore, the water content measured by the water content meter 48 can be obtained with extremely accurate data.

The weight of the fresh tea leaves A moving on the transfer conveyor 42 is continuously measured by the weight meter 47, the moisture content is measured by the moisture meter 48, and this data is sent to the moisture meter control panel 40. The calculation of the water content by the microcomputer in the moisture meter control panel 40 will be briefly described. First, the measurement data sent from the weight meter 47 and the moisture meter 48 are accumulated. The accumulation in the present embodiment is, for example, to perform data processing several times to several tens times per second, and calculate an average value in a state in which the data processing is accumulated for approximately one minute. When the cumulative detected weight of the fresh tea leaves A measured by the weight meter 47 is W, the cumulative detected water content of the fresh tea leaves A measured by the moisture meter 48 is M, and the water content is G, the following formula 1 is obtained.
The water content G can be obtained from the equation.

[0026]

(Equation 1)

In the equation, a and b are 100 × M / W.
However, since an actual water content is not always obtained, an appropriate numerical value is added. The difference in the bulk density of the fresh tea leaves A caused by the distance between the transfer conveyor 42 and the press conveyor 43, the installation mode of the moisture meter 48, or the time lag. Correct the error of water content caused by the above. The correction based on the bulk density of the fresh tea leaves A is performed based on the measurement data of the potentiometer 49, but may be performed not when calculating the water content G but when calculating the cumulative detected water content M.

The moisture content of the fresh tea leaves A measured by the front moisture measuring instrument 4A and the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B as described above is sent to the control panel 2C as shown in FIG. In the control panel 2C, the difference between the water content measured by the rear moisture measuring machine 4B and the water content measured by the front moisture measuring machine 4A is calculated, and the hot air flow is such that this difference becomes a preset decrease value. Is calculated and the hot air generator 3 is controlled. Specifically, for example, if the moisture content obtained by the front moisture measuring instrument 4A is 370%, the set reduction value is 10%, and the moisture content obtained by the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B is 365%, the actual reduction value is Since it is 5% (370% -365%), the hot air amount of the hot air generator 3 is increased so that the water content is further removed. Of course, fuzzy control or the like can be used in order to make the amount of increase or decrease of the hot air more appropriate. Further, from the water content of the fresh tea leaves A measured by the rear moisture measuring device 4B, for example, the steamer L
1 and the processing conditions of the leaf cutting machine L2 are appropriately set by sending them to the respective control boards of the steamer L1 and the leaf cutting machine L2 via a general control board that controls the entire tea making line.

[0029]

Other Embodiments The present invention can be implemented by appropriately modifying the above-described embodiments. That is, an appropriate aroma sensor for detecting the scent is provided by facing the outlet 20b of the rotating net cylinder 20 or the wilting net 23 on the inner surface side of the main body cylinder 12, and the hot air amount and the hot air temperature are changed based on the measured value. It is possible to change the degree of wilting. in this case,
The measured water content may be used together with the measured value of the aroma sensor for controlling the hot air volume, or the measured water content may be used only for the control of the steamer L1 and the leaf cutter L2. It doesn't matter. By the way, as the aroma sensor,
For example, a metal oxide sintered semiconductor is used, and the fact that this metal oxide sintered semiconductor changes electric conductivity and thermal conductivity by adsorbing odor molecules, and such metal oxide sintered semiconductor is also used. It is possible to apply an odor identifying device or the like in which a semiconductor odor detecting sensor and a thin-film semiconductor odor detecting sensor are combined.

Further, the machine frame 11 is composed of a fixed frame and a movable frame, a movable frame for supporting the rotary net cylinder 20 is rotatably provided on the fixed frame, and is tilted by an appropriate angle adjusting mechanism applying a ball screw mechanism or the like. The angle may be adjusted. In this case, the withering degree of the fresh tea leaves A can be adjusted not only by changing the hot air amount but also by the inclination angle of the rotary net cylinder 20.

[0031]

According to the method and apparatus for pretreatment of fresh green tea leaves according to claims 1 and 5, the rotary net cylinder 2 into which hot air is blown is blown.
A rear moisture meter 4B for measuring the water content is provided on the side of the outlet 20b of 0, and the amount of hot air into the rotary net cylinder 20 and the steamer L1 or leaf cutter L2 in the subsequent tea making process are controlled from this water content. . Therefore, an operator manually samples and measures with a moisture meter such as a tabletop type, or changes the amount of hot air or makes processing settings for the steamer L1 and leaf cutter L2 depending on the sense of skill. No need. In addition, the worker does not need to monitor the degree of wilting successively.

According to the method and apparatus for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves according to claims 2 and 6, a part or all of the net of the rotary net cylinder 20 has a size through which the tree stem Aa can pass and the leaves cannot pass. Are formed in a mesh. Therefore, the tree stem Aa passes through the mesh and is removed. Therefore, a separate stem processing machine is not required and extra space is created. Further, it is not necessary to separately purchase the wilting machine and the tree stem processing machine, and the wilting treatment and the tree stem processing can be carried out at low cost. In addition, maintenance and cleaning is easy because it only requires one unit.

According to the method and apparatus for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves as set forth in claims 3 and 7, since hot air is blown only to the rear half side of the rotary net cylinder 20, the stem removal is carried out exclusively in the front half side.
Withered on the second half. Therefore, the tree stem Aa is not heat-treated, does not give off a strange odor to the leaves, and is not wasted by hot air.

According to the method and apparatus for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves according to claims 4 and 8, a front moisture measuring device 4A for measuring the water content of the fresh tea leaves A is provided also on the charging port 20a side of the rotary net cylinder 20. The amount of hot air is changed so that the difference between the moisture content measured by the front moisture measuring instrument 4A and the moisture content measured by the rear moisture measuring instrument 4B becomes a preset decrease value such as 15%. Therefore, wilting is performed according to the type of the fresh tea leaves A and the initial water content, and ideal fine wilting is performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of a fresh tea leaf pretreatment method and apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a retractor with a tree stem removing structure and a hot air generator.

FIG. 4 is a side view of the same.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of a rotary mesh cylinder.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a front moisture measuring instrument and a rear moisture measuring instrument.

FIG. 7 is a front view showing another embodiment of a front moisture measuring instrument and a rear moisture measuring instrument.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing how tree stems of a rotating net barrel are removed.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Tea Leaf Pretreatment Device 2 Chiller with Tree Stem Removal Structure 2C Control Panel 3 Hot Air Generator 4A Front Moisture Meter 4B Back Moisture Meter 5A Front Leaf Flow Meter 5B Back Leaf Flow Meter 6A Front Sampling Conveyor 6B Back Sampling Conveyor 7A Front return belt conveyor 7B Rear return belt conveyor 8 Input vibration conveyor 11 Machine frame 12 Main body cylinder 12a Front management door 13 Hot air guide 14 Vibration conveyor 15 Temperature sensor 20 Rotating mesh cylinder 20a Input port 20b Outlet 21 Net cylinder frame 22 Wood removal Net 23 Wilting net 24 Drive ring 25 Scraping bar 30 Rotation drive mechanism 31 Rotation shaft 32 Rotation support 33 Bearing 34 Drive pulley 35 Relay pulley 36 Belt 37 Sprocket 38 Chain 40 Moisture meter control panel 41 Machine frame 42 Transfer conveyor 42Q Vibrating conveyor 43 Press Conveyor 44 Pressing Adjustment Mechanism 45 Elevating Mechanism 45a Link 46 Balancer Rod 46a Weight 47 Weight Scale 48 Moisture Meter 48A Transmitting Antenna 48B Reception Antenna 49 Potentiometer 50 Fresh Leaf Flowmeter Control Panel 51 Hopper 52 Belt Conveyor 53 Scraping 54 Photoelectric Switch 54A Upper limit photoelectric switch 54B Lower limit photoelectric switch A Tea leaves Aa Tree stem B1 Front raw leaf belt conveyor B2 Rear raw leaf belt conveyor L1 Steamer L2 Leaf cutter M Drive motor

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A method for pretreating fresh tea leaves before steaming by blowing hot air into the rotary net cylinder to pretreat the raw tea leaves, comprising a rear moisture meter for measuring the water content at the outlet side of the rotary net cylinder. A method for pretreating fresh tea leaves, which is provided, and controls the amount of hot air into the rotary net cylinder and the steamer or leaf cutter in the subsequent tea-making process based on the water content. 2. A part or all of the net of the rotary net cylinder is
2. The method for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves according to claim 1, wherein the tree stem is permeable and the leaves are formed into a mesh having a size that is impermeable. 3. The method for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves according to claim 2, wherein hot air is blown only on the rear half of the rotary net cylinder. 4. A front moisture measuring device for measuring the moisture content of fresh tea leaves is provided on the charging port side of the rotary net cylinder, and the moisture content measured by this front moisture measuring device and the moisture content measured by the rear moisture measuring device are measured. The method for pretreatment of fresh tea leaves according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the amount of hot air is changed so that the difference from the water content has a preset decrease value. 5. An apparatus for pretreating fresh tea leaves by blowing hot air into the rotary mesh cylinder and pre-treating the fresh tea leaves before steaming, wherein a rear moisture meter for measuring the water content at the outlet side of the rotary mesh cylinder is used. Provided, while being connected to this rear moisture meter, a hot air generator for generating the hot air, provided with a control panel connected to a steamer or leaf cutter, from the moisture content measured in the rear moisture meter A fresh tea leaf pretreatment device characterized by controlling the amount of hot air into the rotary net cylinder and the steamer or leaf cutter in the subsequent tea making process. 6. A part or all of the mesh of the rotary mesh cylinder is
6. The fresh tea leaf pretreatment device according to claim 5, wherein the tree stem is permeable and the leaves are formed into a mesh of a size that is impermeable. 7. The fresh tea leaf pretreatment device according to claim 6, wherein hot air is blown only onto the rear half of the rotary net cylinder. 8. A front moisture measuring instrument for measuring the moisture content of fresh tea leaves is provided on the charging port side of the rotary net cylinder, and the moisture content measured by the front moisture measuring instrument and the rear moisture measuring instrument are measured. 8. The fresh tea leaf pretreatment device according to claim 5, 6 or 7, wherein the amount of hot air is changed so that the difference from the water content becomes a preset decrease value.