TWI840368B - Crusher - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a pulverizer capable of pulverizing a material to be pulverized more efficiently than in the past. The pulverizer (1) comprises a spiral grinding section (32) for pre-pulverizing the material to be pulverized and rotationally driven by a driving motor (41); a mortar section (65) for finely pulverizing the pre-pulverized material to be pulverized and rotationally driven by a driving motor (71); an input amount adjustment section (5) disposed between the spiral grinding section and the mortar section; and a heater (11) for adjusting the temperature of the input amount adjustment section.

Description

Crusher

The present invention relates to a grinder for grinding solids such as cocoa beans.

The pulverization of solids such as cereals and beans has been used in various foods because the uses of solids have expanded dramatically. However, it is not easy to grind uniform materials efficiently and prevent the deterioration of flavor. If the grinding efficiency is emphasized, the particles of the pulverized materials become coarser and uneven. When such pulverized materials are used, not only the quality of the final product is reduced, but also the excessive heat applied when pulverizing the pulverized materials easily causes the deterioration of flavor due to oxidation.

To suppress the generation of frictional heat and prevent the deterioration of flavor during processing, it is better to slowly rotate the crushed material like a mortar to crush it. The crushing method that adjusts the particle size of the crushed material by the gap between the grinding stone (mortar) rotating like a mortar and the fixed grinding stone (mortar) is called the mortar method, which is used in various fields. However, whether it is a dry method or a wet method, the above gap is adjusted in a way that the particle size of the target is achieved in one step. In addition, in a rotary crusher made of metal such as stainless steel as a screw mill, the gap between the rotating blade and the fixed blade is adjusted in a way that the crushed material of the target size is achieved in one step.

For example, in the case of chocolate, the raw material used is coarsely ground roasted cocoa beans called cacao nibs. In chocolate workshops, when the cacao nibs are ground in the shop, a mortar method is used for grinding. In order to obtain the desired smooth chocolate, the gap between the mortars needs to be gradually reduced and the grinding needs to be repeated many times.

The size of the raw cocoa beans (cooked cocoa nibs) is relatively large compared to the gap between the mortars, which is not conducive to the mortar method. Since the raw cocoa beans are slowly and finely ground, it takes time to become the desired particles.

The melting point of the crystals of the fat (cocoa butter) contained in cocoa beans is 33°C. The grinding of cooked cocoa nibs is a wet grinding that utilizes the friction heat between the cooked cocoa nibs and the mortar to make the cooked cocoa nibs into a paste (liquid) state. In the past, the temperature of the cooked cocoa nibs and the mortar during grinding depended on the process and was not controlled. If the above temperature is low, the cooked cocoa nibs cannot flow in the mortar and solidify in the groove. If they cannot be ground, the load on the motor will increase. On the other hand, if the above temperature is too high, the cooked cocoa nibs may be burned, which reduces the quality of the ground material.

In addition, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a grinder having high processing capacity and capable of grinding solid raw materials without reducing the flavor of the raw materials, which has a pre-grinding device for pre-grinding the solid raw materials; and a fine grinding device for finely grinding the pre-grinded solid raw materials and directly connected to the pre-grinding device; and a grinder using a roller mill (screw mill) in the pre-grinding device and a mortar-type grinding device in the fine grinding device.

Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses a pulverizer having a coarse crushing section (pre-crushing section) and a fine crushing section (fine crushing section) driven on the same power transmission shaft, and a storage space is provided in the moving path of the crushed material from the coarse crushing section to the fine crushing section, and the storage space temporarily stores the crushed material after the crushing process in the coarse crushing section and before it is sent to the fine crushing section.

Patent document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-289225 (published on October 26, 2006).

Patent document 2: Japanese Patent No. 6061613 (published on December 22, 2016).

However, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, as described above, the pre-crushing device is directly connected to the fine grinding device. Since the time spent on pre-crushing is shorter than the time spent on fine grinding, the grinder of Patent Document 1 may be stopped and saturated while waiting for the finely ground solid raw material to reach the pre-crushing device. While waiting for the finely ground solid raw material to reach the pre-crushing device, there is a possibility that excess heat will be generated, and an excess load will be imposed on the power source.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned patent document 2, although a storage space is provided between the coarse crushing section and the fine crushing section, since the coarse crushing section and the fine crushing section are driven by the power of the same common power transmission shaft, the rotation speed cannot be changed during the coarse crushing and the fine crushing. Therefore, when the storage space is saturated with the crushed material waiting for fine crushing, the processing of the coarse crushing section cannot be temporarily stopped. Moreover, when the crushed material in the storage space is supplied to the fine crushing section, when the temperature of the crushed material decreases and the fluidity decreases, the crushed material cannot be stably supplied to the fine crushing section, and efficient crushing cannot be performed.

One solution of the present invention is in view of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a crusher that can crush the material more efficiently than before.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a pulverizer of one embodiment of the present invention has a first rotating part, a pre-crushing part for pre-crushing the pulverized material; a second rotating part, a fine-crushing part for finely crushing the pulverized material pre-crushed by the pre-crushing part; a discharge port for discharging the finely crushed pulverized material from the fine-crushing part; a first power source for rotationally driving the first rotating part; a second power source for rotationally driving the second rotating part; an input amount adjusting part arranged between the pre-crushing part and the fine-crushing part for adjusting the input amount of the pulverized material pre-crushed by the pre-crushing part into the fine-crushing part; and a first temperature adjusting part for adjusting the temperature of the input amount adjusting part.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, a crusher can be provided that can crush materials more efficiently than before.

1: Crusher

3: Pre-crushing unit

4, 7: Driving motor part

5: Input quantity adjustment department

6: Micro-grinding unit

8: Storage container

9, 10: Fixed part

11: Heater (first temperature adjustment unit)

12: Heater (fourth temperature adjustment unit)

13: Cooling device (cooling unit)

31: Investment Department

311a: Opening on the upper side

311b: Opening on the lower side

32: Spiral grinding section (pre-crushing section)

41: Driving motor (first power source)

51: Through hole

51a: Opening on the upper side

51b: Opening on the lower side

61: Upper cover

62: Pressure generating part

66: Scrape spoon

66a: Through hole

67: Rotary transmission parts

68: Cabinet

611: Through hole

621: Spring

631: Through hole

65: Mortar (fine grinding part)

63: Upper mortar (second non-rotating component)

64: Lower mortar (second rotating part)

70, 322g: discharge outlet

71: Driving motor (second power source)

321: Spiral grinding part (first rotating part)

322: Crushing container (first non-rotating component)

324: Heater (second temperature adjustment unit)

325: Temperature sensor (first temperature detection unit)

632: Heater (third temperature adjustment unit)

633: Temperature sensor (second temperature detection unit)

FIG1 is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of a pulverizer according to the first embodiment.

FIG2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the pulverizer of the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 (a) is a top view showing the appearance of the first embodiment of the grinder, and (b) is a three-dimensional view showing the general structure of the grinder when the input portion and the upper cover of the box shown in (a) are removed and the grinder is observed from above.

FIG4 is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of the pre-crushing unit of the first embodiment.

Figure 5 (a) is a three-dimensional diagram showing the schematic structure of the spiral grinding machine of the first embodiment, (b) is a three-dimensional diagram showing the schematic structure of the grinding container of the first embodiment, and (c) is another three-dimensional diagram showing the schematic structure of the grinding container of the first embodiment.

Figure 6 (a) is a front view showing the state where the pre-crushing unit and the driving motor part of the first embodiment are installed in the fixed part, (b) is a cross-sectional view showing the state where the pre-crushing unit and the driving motor part of the first embodiment are installed in the fixed part, and (c) is a cross-sectional view showing the fixed part where the driving motor part of the first embodiment is installed and the state where the pre-crushing unit is disassembled.

Figure 7 (a) is a three-dimensional diagram showing the appearance of the input amount adjustment part of the first embodiment, and (b) is a cross-sectional diagram showing the schematic structure of the input amount adjustment part of the first embodiment.

Figure 8 is an exploded perspective view showing the schematic structure of the fine grinding unit of the first embodiment and the input amount adjustment unit.

Figure 9 (a) and (b) are three-dimensional views of the state where the fine grinding unit and the driving motor part of the input amount adjustment part of the first embodiment are installed on the fixed part, observed from different directions.

FIG10 is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of the fine grinding unit and the driving motor part with the input amount adjustment part installed in the first embodiment.

FIG11 is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing the path of the pulverized part after preliminary pulverization in the pulverization unit of the first embodiment.

Figure 12 is an exploded perspective view of the lower mortar, scraper, and rotary transmission component in the fine grinding unit of the first embodiment when viewed from the upper surface side.

Figure 13 is an exploded perspective view of the lower mortar, scraper, and rotary transmission component in the fine grinding unit of the first embodiment when viewed from the lower surface side.

FIG14 is a diagram showing the loading and unloading of the fine grinding unit and the driving motor of the first embodiment.

FIG15 is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of the fine grinding unit with the input amount adjustment section installed in the first embodiment.

Figure 16 (a) is a top view showing the shapes of the receiving part and the discharge port in the fine pulverizing unit of the first embodiment, and (b) is a cross-sectional view showing the shapes of the receiving part and the discharge port in the fine pulverizing unit of the first embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram showing the main structure of the crusher of the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a graph showing the relationship between the diameter of the mortar (upper mortar and lower mortar), the processing capacity of the mortar at a rotation speed of 60 rpm, and the torque required to drive the mortar.

FIG. 19 is a graph showing the relationship between the rotation speed of the mortar (upper mortar and lower mortar) and the processing capacity of the mortar.

The following is a detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention. In addition, the same symbols are given to the components that have been previously described in the following embodiments and have the same functions, and their descriptions are not repeated.

[First implementation form]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of the pulverizer 1 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the appearance of the pulverizer 1 of the present embodiment. FIG. 3(a) is a top view showing the appearance of the pulverizer 1 of the present embodiment. FIG. 3(b) is a perspective view showing the schematic structure of the pulverizer 1 when the pulverizer 1 is viewed from above with the input portion 31 shown in FIG. 3(a) and the upper cover portion 2a of the housing 2 removed.

The grinder 1 is a device for grinding solid raw materials (hereinafter, simply referred to as "raw materials"). In the following, in this embodiment, a cocoa bean grinder (chocolate making machine) is used as an example to explain the grinder 1 for grinding cocoa beans and making chocolate.

As shown in FIG1 , the pulverizer 1 includes a housing 2, a pre-crushing unit 3, an input amount adjustment unit 5, a fine crushing unit 6, a driving motor unit 4, 7, a storage container 8, and fixing units 9, 10.

The pre-crushing unit 3, the input amount adjustment unit 5, the fine crushing unit 6, the drive motor units 4, 7, the storage container 8, the fixing units 9, 10, etc. are housed in the housing 2. However, a portion of the pre-crushing unit 3 is arranged to protrude from the housing 2 to the outside. In addition, a portion of the storage container 8 is exposed to the outside.

The pre-crushing unit 3 includes an input part 31 and a spiral grinding part 32. The input part 31 is a raw material input part for feeding the raw material (supply) to the spiral grinding part 32. The spiral grinding part 32 is a pre-crushing part for pre-crushing (coarsely crushing) the raw material. The spiral grinding part 32 has a spiral grinder 321 as a rotating part (first rotating part), and the raw material is pre-crushed by rotating the spiral grinder. The input part 31 is arranged above the spiral grinding part 32.

Below the spiral grinding part 32, the driving motor part 4 is provided as a driving part for driving the spiral grinding part 32. The driving motor part 4 is provided as a power source with a driving motor 41 (first power source) for rotationally driving the spiral grinder 321. The driving motor part 4 is fixed to the fixing part 9. The pre-crushing unit 3 is provided to be freely loaded and unloaded on the fixing part 9.

The spiral grinding section 32 has a nozzle-shaped discharge port 322g for discharging the raw material that has been pre-crushed by the spiral grinding section 32 (hereinafter referred to as "pre-crushed raw material") from the spiral grinding section 32. In this embodiment, the processed material, i.e., cocoa beans (cooked cocoa nibs), is pre-crushed by the spiral grinding section 32 to obtain a paste (liquid) pre-crushed raw material called cocoa liquor or cocoa paste.

The input amount adjusting section 5 is provided between the pre-crushing unit 3 and the fine grinding unit 6, and adjusts the input amount of the pre-crushed raw material that has been pre-crushed by the spiral grinding section 32 and is input into the fine grinding unit 6. The pre-crushed raw material is discharged in the horizontal direction through the discharge port 322g. The input amount adjusting section 5 is provided to be separated from the pre-crushing unit 3 at a position in the horizontal direction of the spiral grinding section 32 at which the pre-crushed raw material discharged from the discharge port 322g is received. In other words, the input amount adjusting section 5 is provided to be not connected to the pre-crushing unit 3, and is separated from the pre-crushing unit 3 at a position separated from the axial direction of the spiral grinding section 32.

The fine grinding unit 6 is arranged below the input amount adjustment unit 5. The fine grinding unit 6 sets the pre-crushed raw material as the crushed object, and as a fine grinding unit for further fine grinding (fine grinding) the pre-crushed raw material, it has a mortar 65 having an upper mortar 63 and a lower mortar 64. In the present embodiment, the pre-crushed raw material, i.e., cocoa paste, is finely ground by the mortar 65 in such a way that the particle diameter (particle size) of the particles (cocoa particles) of the cocoa paste becomes smaller.

The driving motor unit 7 is a driving unit for driving the mortar unit 65. The driving motor unit 7 is provided with a driving motor 71 (second power source) for rotating and driving the lower mortar 64 as a power source. The lower mortar 64 is a rotating component (second rotating component), and the pre-crushed raw material can be finely crushed by rotating the lower mortar 64. The driving motor unit 7 is arranged beside the mortar unit 65 (for example, on the back side as shown in FIG. 3 (b)). The driving motor unit 7 is fixed to the fixing unit 10. The fine grinding unit 6 is arranged to be freely loaded and unloaded on the fixing unit 10.

The storage section 8 is located below the mortar section 65 and receives and stores the raw materials discharged after the mortar section 65 has been finely pulverized.

The arrows in FIG1 illustrate the path of the material to be crushed (raw material) being crushed. The raw material fed into the crusher 1 is pre-crushed by the pre-crushing unit 3 as shown by the arrow, and then fed into the fine grinding unit 6 through the input amount adjustment unit 5. After being finely crushed by the fine grinding unit 6, the raw material is stored in the storage container 8.

In addition, the cocoa beans used as raw materials are processed in a state of fermentation, drying, roasting, peeling, or being called cooked cocoa nibs. The cocoa beans are sold in a state before roasting or in a state after roasting but not peeled. The cocoa beans before roasting are roasted and peeled before being put into the grinder 1. In addition, the cocoa beans after roasting but not peeled are roasted and peeled before being put into the grinder 1.

Next, each component of the pulverizer 1 is described in more detail.

As shown in Figures 1 to 3 (a) and (b), the box body 2 has an upper cover 2a, left and right side covers 2b and 2c, a front cover 2d, a back cover 2e, and a lower cover 2f. An opening 21 is provided on the upper cover 2a. In addition, a pull-out port 22 for pulling out the storage container 8 is provided on the front cover 2d.

FIG4 is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of the pre-crushing unit 3 of the present embodiment. FIG5(a) is a three-dimensional view showing the schematic structure of the spiral grinder 321 of the present embodiment. FIG5(b) is a three-dimensional view showing the schematic structure of the crushing container 322 of the present embodiment. FIG5(c) is another three-dimensional view showing the schematic structure of the crushing container 322 of the present embodiment. FIG6(a) is a front view showing the state in which the pre-crushing unit 3 and the drive motor part 4 of the present embodiment are installed in the fixed part 9. FIG6(b) is a cross-sectional view showing the state in which the pre-crushing unit 3 and the drive motor part 4 of the present embodiment are installed in the fixed part 9. FIG6(c) is a cross-sectional view showing the state in which the pre-crushing unit 3 is decomposed, together with the fixed part 9 to which the motor drive part 4 of the present embodiment is installed.

As shown in FIG. 4 and other figures, the input part 31 has a through-port 311 having an upper end side opening 311a (input port) for inputting (supplying) raw materials into the input part 31 and a lower end side opening 311b for discharging (supplying) raw materials from the input part 31 to the spiral grinding part 32. The through-port 311 is used as an input port for inputting (supplying) raw materials into the spiral grinding part 32. The input part 31 is, for example, a funnel, and has a funnel shape in which the opening diameter of the upper end side opening 311a is larger than the opening diameter of the lower end side opening 311b, and the opening diameter of the lower end side opening 311b becomes smaller and compacted.

As shown in Fig. 1, Fig. 4 to Fig. 6 (a) to (c), the spiral grinding section 32 has the spiral grinder 321, the grinding container 322 that rotatably fixes the spiral grinder 321, and the upper cover 323 that covers the upper part of the grinding container 322. In the pre-grinding, a rotational grinding method consisting of a rotating part (first rotating part) connected to a power source and a non-rotating part (first non-rotating part) arranged opposite to the rotating part (first rotating part) via a predetermined gap (gap) is used. In this embodiment, as the above-mentioned rotational grinding method, a spiral grinding method using the spiral grinder 321 is used. As mentioned above, in this embodiment, the rotating part (first rotating part) is the spiral grinder 321. In addition, the non-rotating part (first non-rotating part) is the grinding container 322, and the power source is the driving motor 41 as mentioned above.

The upper cover 323 is provided with an opening portion 323a connected to the aforementioned lower end side opening 311b. The upper cover 323 functions as a fixing member for fixing the input portion 31. The input portion 31 and the upper cover 323 are provided to protrude from the opening portion 21 provided on the upper cover portion 2a to the outside of the box body 2.

A rotating shaft 321a is provided at the center of the spiral grinder 321. A through hole 322d through which the rotating shaft 321 passes is formed at the center of the bottom wall 322c of the grinding container 322, and the spiral grinder 321 is fixed to the grinding container 322 in such a way that the rotating shaft 321a is located at the center of the grinding container 322. The aforementioned lower end side opening 311b opens at a position offset from the aforementioned rotating shaft 321a. Thus, the raw material (cooked cocoa nibs) is smoothly supplied from the input part 31 to the spiral grinding part 32.

In addition, by providing a container (not shown) on the upper part of the input part 31 and providing an automatic input device such as a screw feeder (not shown), the raw material can be continuously input from the input part 31 to the spiral grinding part 32.

On the inner side surface 322a of the grinding container 322, a spiral grinder 321, a predetermined gap g1 (see FIG. 4), and a plurality of grinding ribs 322b (protrusions) are provided. Thus, when the spiral grinder 321 rotates, the raw material, i.e., the cooked cocoa nibs, moves in the grinding container 322, and the cooked cocoa nibs are ground by the shearing action of the gap between the spiral grinder 321 and the grinding ribs 322b. A predetermined gap g2 (see FIG. 4) is provided between the spiral grinder 321 and the surface of the bottom wall 322c of the grinding container 322 (in other words, the inner bottom surface of the grinding container 322). The pre-crushed raw material, i.e., the cooked cocoa nibs, which have been finely crushed to a predetermined particle size (in other words, a particle size smaller than the above-mentioned gaps g1 and g2), is sent out from the above-mentioned gap g1 through the above-mentioned gap g2 to the discharge port 322g. The pre-crushed raw material, which has been finely crushed to a predetermined particle size (in other words, a particle size smaller than the above-mentioned gaps g1 and g2), can pass through the above-mentioned gaps g1 and g2. Since the pre-crushed raw material is crushed to a predetermined particle size, it can pass through the above-mentioned gaps g1 and g2.

The spiral grinder 321 is driven to rotate by the drive motor 41 disposed below. The rotating shaft 41a (drive shaft) of the drive motor 41 and the rotating shaft 321a of the spiral grinder 321 are connected by clamping the grinding container 322. The input part 31, the spiral grinder 321, and the grinding container 322 are arranged to be freely loaded and unloaded on the grinder 1, and they can be taken out and cleaned when maintenance is performed.

In addition, a heater 324 is provided in the non-rotating part, i.e., the grinding container 322, as a temperature adjustment part (second temperature adjustment part, second heating part) for adjusting the temperature of the spiral grinding part 32 and setting it to a predetermined temperature. In the present embodiment, the heater 324 is provided on the outer side surface 322e of the grinding container 322, and the temperature of the spiral grinder 321 is adjusted to 40°C. In the present embodiment, as an example, stainless steel is used as the material of the spiral grinder 321, and a resin made of polycarbonate (heat-resistant to 150°C) is used as the material of the grinding container 322. In the present embodiment, the temperature of the spiral grinder 321 is adjusted by transferring heat from the heater 324 to the spiral grinder 321 via the grinding container 322.

In addition, the material of the spiral grinder 321 and the material of the grinding container 322 are appropriately selected according to the load during pre-grinding, the temperature of friction heat, and the set temperature of the heater 324. As these materials, for example, metals such as aluminum or copper, or resins with a heat-resistant temperature of more than 100°C can be used without problems. In addition, the heater 324 is set to be freely loadable and removable, and can be removed during maintenance.

Generally, when the object to be crushed is put into the crushing device, the temperature of the object to be crushed and the crushing device rises due to frictional heat. Even in the present embodiment, in the spiral grinding section 32, in other words, in the crushing container 322, when the raw material is put in, the temperature of the raw material and the spiral grinder 321 rises due to the frictional heat between the raw material and the crushing container 322 or the spiral grinder 321. However, it takes a certain time for the temperature of these raw materials and the spiral grinding section 32 to rise due to frictional heat. However, by forming the spiral grinding section 32 as described above with metal, etc., providing a temperature adjustment section in the spiral grinding section 32 and applying heat from the outside, the temperature rise time of the raw material and the spiral grinding section 32 can be shortened.

Furthermore, if the pre-crushing is stopped during the pre-crushing, the temperature of the spiral grinding section 32 returns to room temperature, and the cocoa paste in the pre-crushing solidifies. The solidified cocoa paste (i.e., cocoa liquid (Cocoa mass)) is fixed to the spiral grinder 321, and the spiral grinder 321 may not be able to move. However, by providing a temperature adjustment section in the spiral grinding section 32 as described above, the spiral grinding section 32 can be heated again without any problem. At this time, as described above, by directly configuring the temperature adjustment section on the fixed (stationary) side, in other words, the non-rotating part, i.e., the grinding container 322 side, the spiral grinding section 32 can be efficiently heated.

In addition, a temperature sensor 325 is provided as a temperature detection unit (first temperature detection unit) on the outer side surface 322e of the grinding container 322. The heater 324 controls (adjusts the temperature) the spiral grinder 321 to a desired temperature based on the detection result of the temperature sensor 325. By providing the temperature sensor 325 for detecting the temperature of the spiral grinding unit 32, the temperature of the spiral grinding unit 32 can be appropriately set, and the temperature of the spiral grinding unit 32 can be prevented from becoming too high, thereby preventing the pre-crushed object from being deteriorated.

As shown in Table 1, the processing capacity (processing speed) of the spiral grinder 321 adjusted to 40°C at a rotation speed of 57 rpm is 24 g/min, and the particle size of the crushed cooked cocoa nibs (pre-crushed raw material) is 70 to 100 μm. At this time, the oil (cocoa butter called cocoa paste) contained in the cooked cocoa nibs is precipitated by the temperature rise simultaneously with the crushing, and the cooked cocoa nibs are discharged in a paste state (liquid state). In addition, when the cooked cocoa nibs are first fed into the spiral grinding part 32 (in other words, the initial feeding time), it takes time from the start of feeding the cooked cocoa nibs to the time when the cooked cocoa nibs are filled in the gap g1 between the grinding container 322 and the spiral grinder 321, and the time is spent on the discharge of the pre-crushed raw material. In addition, when the pre-crushed raw material starts to be discharged from the discharge port 322g, the crushed material can be continuously processed in the form of the raw material that has been fed after the first time being squeezed out. In the case of this embodiment, the first discharge time from the initial discharge of the pre-crushed raw material (in other words, the first filling time until the raw material is refilled) is 8 minutes, and the first filling amount is 25g.

In addition, the processing speed can be adjusted by changing the rotation speed of the spiral grinder 321. When the rotation speed of the spiral grinder 321 decreases, the processing speed can be reduced, but the time until the raw material is filled also increases. In addition, since the friction heat is also reduced at the same time, the set temperature of the heater 324 is reset.

The cooked cocoa nibs that have been pre-crushed by the spiral grinding section 32 are discharged from the discharge port 322g in a paste state and supplied to the input amount adjustment section provided in the path between the pre-crushing unit 3 and the fine grinding unit 6.

The material to be crushed, i.e., the raw material, is pre-crushed by the spiral grinding section 32. When the pre-crushed material to be crushed, i.e., the pre-crushed raw material, is sent to the mortar 65 in the fine grinding unit 6, the crushing processing speed is different in the pre-crushing and the fine grinding. Generally speaking, the processing speed of coarse grinding, i.e., pre-crushing, is faster than the processing speed of fine grinding. Therefore, when the pre-crushed raw material is directly fed from the spiral grinding section 32 to the mortar 65, there is a situation where too much pre-crushed raw material is fed to the mortar 65. Therefore, in order not to feed too much pre-crushed raw material to the mortar 65, it is necessary to increase, decrease, and adjust the amount of pre-crushed raw material fed to the mortar 65. However, when the feeding of the pre-crushed raw material to the mortar 65 is interrupted, the pre-crushed raw material cannot be efficiently finely ground. Therefore, in order to perform efficient crushing, it is effective to set the feeding amount adjustment section 5 in a manner that the pre-crushed raw material is fed to the mortar 65 without interruption.

Furthermore, in the pre-crushing, the raw material, i.e., the cooked cocoa nibs, is heated from the input to the crushing. At this time, depending on the size of the cooked cocoa nibs, there is a time difference in the crushing and heating, and the processing time of the pre-crushing becomes inconsistent. Even when the amount of cooked cocoa nibs input is unstable, the processing time of the pre-crushing also becomes inconsistent. Therefore, when the pre-crushed raw material is directly input from the spiral grinding section 32 to the mortar 65, the input amount of the pre-crushed raw material to the mortar 65 becomes inconsistent. Specifically, by providing the input amount adjustment section 5 between the spiral grinding section 32 and the mortar 65 as described above, the pre-crushed raw material can be quantitatively supplied to the mortar 6, and the mortar processing can be efficiently performed.

FIG. 7(a) is a perspective view showing the appearance of the input amount adjustment unit 5 of this embodiment. FIG. 7(b) is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of the input amount adjustment unit 5 of this embodiment.

As shown in Fig. 7 (a), (b) and the like, the input amount adjusting section 5 has a through-port 51 having an upper side opening 51a (input port) for inputting (supplying) the pre-crushed raw material discharged from the spiral grinding section 32, and a lower side opening 51b (discharge port) for discharging (supplying) the raw material from the input amount adjusting section 5 to the fine grinding unit 6. The through-port 51 is used as an input port for inputting (supplying) the raw material into the fine grinding unit 6. The input amount adjusting section 5 has, for example, a funnel, a receiving section 52 having an upper side opening 51a and a funnel shape having a cylindrical section 53 having a lower side opening 51b at the lower part. The opening diameter of the upper side opening 51a is larger than the opening diameter of the lower side opening 51b, and the opening diameter of the lower side opening 51b becomes smaller and more compact.

The input amount adjustment section 5 can adjust the input amount of cocoa paste input into the fine grinding unit 6 (in other words, the output amount of cocoa paste discharged from the lower end side opening 51b) by adjusting the opening diameter (discharge port diameter) of the lower end side opening 51 according to the viscosity and gravity of the pre-crushed raw material, i.e., the paste-like cooked cocoa nibs (cocoa paste).

When the opening diameter (diameter φ) of the lower end side opening 51b is set to the opening diameter D, although the smaller the opening diameter D is, the smaller the above-mentioned input amount (discharge volume) can be, the opening diameter D needs to be appropriately set according to the fluidity (viscosity) of the cocoa paste. When the opening diameter D is tightened, the cocoa paste may be clogged in the through port 51. On the other hand, when the opening diameter D is excessively expanded, there is a situation where too much cocoa paste is supplied to the fine grinding unit 6, and the cocoa paste overflows from the fine grinding unit 6.

Table 2 shows the results of evaluating the relationship between the opening diameter (diameter φ) and the above-mentioned input amount. In Table 2, "○" indicates that the above-mentioned input amount is within the range of 5 to 10 g/min, "△" indicates that the above-mentioned input amount is within the range of 0.5 to 5 g/min, and "×" indicates 0 g/min (in other words, the cocoa paste is blocked in the through hole 51 and the cocoa paste cannot be input).

As shown in Table 2, for example, in the case of 40°C and 70 microns of cocoa paste, the opening diameter D is preferably set to, for example, 12 mm. However, as shown in Table 2, when the temperature of the cocoa paste becomes lower, the viscosity of the cocoa paste increases and the fluidity becomes worse.

In this way, the temperature of the pre-crushed raw material, i.e., cocoa paste, is lowered, which affects the fine grinding. For example, the grinding of cocoa paste at a temperature lower than the melting point of cocoa butter crystals (in other words, the grinding of cocoa paste particles) and the grinding of cocoa paste at a temperature higher than the above melting point are different in the state of cocoa paste, which has a great impact on the grinding.

When the temperature of the cocoa paste is lower than the above melting point, the oil component, i.e., cocoa butter, oozes out and is compressed when the cocoa paste is crushed, for example, it is fixed on the surface where the grooves 63b and 64b of the mortar 65 rub against each other, and the desired particle size cannot be obtained. By keeping the temperature of the cocoa paste above the above melting point, the oil component can become liquid, avoiding the above-mentioned problems such as fixation. Therefore, the temperature of the input amount adjustment unit 5 is preferably kept within a fixed range.

Therefore, by providing a temperature adjustment section (first temperature adjustment section) for adjusting the temperature of the input amount adjustment section 5 and adjusting the temperature of the cocoa paste input into the fine grinding unit 6, stable cocoa paste and efficient fine grinding can be supplied. For example, by maintaining the temperature of the input amount adjustment section 5 at, for example, about 40°C, the cocoa paste can be stably supplied to the fine grinding unit 6. Furthermore, by maintaining the temperature of the input amount adjustment section 5 within a fixed range, the fluidity of the cocoa paste decreases as the temperature of the cocoa paste decreases, and the amount of cocoa paste input into the fine grinding unit 6 can be prevented from decreasing. Furthermore, even if the temperature of the cocoa paste decreases when the grinding process is stopped once by the grinder 1 and the cocoa paste is solidified in the through-hole 51, the cocoa butter can be melted and the cocoa paste can be made to flow again. In addition, the above-mentioned temperature adjustment unit (first temperature adjustment unit) will be described later.

The input amount adjustment part 5 is made of, for example, resin or metal (for example, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, etc.), or both, and is installed on the fine grinding unit 6 so that it can be loaded and unloaded.

Fig. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing the schematic structure of the fine pulverizing unit 6 of the present embodiment and the input amount adjusting section 5. Fig. 9 (a) and (b) are perspective views showing the state in which the fine pulverizing unit 6 and the driving motor section 7 of the present embodiment with the input amount adjusting section 5 installed are mounted on the fixing section 10, respectively, from different directions. Fig. 10 is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of the fine pulverizing unit 6 and the driving motor section 7 of the present embodiment with the input amount adjusting section 5 installed. Fig. 11 is a cross-sectional view of the main part showing the path of the pulverized object after being pre-pulverized in the fine pulverizing unit 6 of the present embodiment. The arrows shown in Fig. 11 illustrate the path of the pulverized object. FIG. 12 is an exploded perspective view of the lower mortar 64, the scraper 66, and the rotary transmission member 67 in the fine pulverizing unit 6 of the present embodiment when viewed from the upper surface side thereof. FIG. 13 is an exploded perspective view of the lower mortar 64, the scraper 66, and the rotary transmission member 67 in the fine pulverizing unit 6 of the present embodiment when viewed from the lower surface side thereof. FIG. 14 is a view showing the loading and unloading of the fine pulverizing unit 6 of the present embodiment and the driving motor 71. FIG. 15 is a cross-sectional view showing the schematic structure of the fine pulverizing unit 6 of the present embodiment to which the input amount adjusting section 5 is mounted. FIG. 16(a) is a top view showing the shapes of the receiving portion 69 and the discharge port 70 in the fine pulverizing unit 6 of this embodiment, and FIG. 16(b) is a cross-sectional view showing the shapes of the receiving portion 69 and the discharge port 70 in the fine pulverizing unit 6 of this embodiment.

As shown in Fig. 8 and Fig. 10, etc., the fine pulverizing unit 6 includes an upper cover 61, a pressure generating part 62, a mortar 65 having an upper mortar 63 and a lower mortar 64, a scraper 66, a rotation transmission member 67, and a housing 68. The pressure generating part, the mortar 65, the scraper 66, and the rotation transmission member 67 are arranged inside the housing 68. The rotation transmission member 67, the scraper 66, and the lower mortar 64 are rotatably arranged in a stacked manner from the lower side of the housing 68 in this order. The upper mortar 63 is fixed to the pressure generating part 62 by the anti-rotation shape of the pressure generating part 62. The pressure generating part 62 is fixed to the housing 68 by the anti-rotation shape of the pressure generating part 62. Thus, the upper mortar 63 is fixed in a manner that does not rotate in the rotation direction of the lower mortar 64.

As shown in FIG10 , a spring 621 for pressing the upper mortar downward is provided in the pressure generating portion 62. The spring 621 is pressed by the upper cover 61, and a prescribed pressure is generated between the upper mortar 63 and the lower mortar 64 (in other words, a prescribed load is applied). The upper cover 61 is fixed in the rotation axis direction of the housing 68. The upper cover 61 has a through-port 611 in the center portion as an inlet for feeding pre-crushed raw materials. The through-port 611 is connected to a through-port 631 provided in the center portion of the upper mortar 63. The through-port 611 has a funnel shape that matches the shape from the lower portion of the receiving portion 52 in the input amount adjusting portion 5 to the cylindrical portion 53. The input amount adjustment unit 5 can supply a predetermined amount of pre-crushed raw material to the mortar 65 by inserting the cylindrical unit 53 from the through-port 611 to the through-port 631.

In fine grinding, a rotational crushing method is used, which is composed of a rotating part (second rotating part) connected to a power source and a non-rotating part (second non-rotating part) arranged opposite to the rotating part (second rotating part) via a predetermined gap (gap). In this embodiment, as the above-mentioned rotational crushing method, a mortar crushing method using the mortar 321 is used. As mentioned above, in this embodiment, the rotating part (second rotating part) is the lower mortar 64. In addition, the non-rotating part (second non-rotating part) is the upper mortar 63, and the power source is the driving motor 71 as mentioned above.

In the center of the lower mortar 64, the pull-in portion 641 is fixed. The pull-in portion 641 extends upward along the rotation axis 642 of the lower mortar 64, and is arranged in a manner to be located in the through-portion 51 of the input amount adjustment portion 5 through the through-portion 631 provided in the upper mortar 63. The pull-in portion 641, as shown in Figures 8 and 12, has a spiral blade 641a whose rotation direction is opposite to the thread direction relative to the pull-in portion 641. The crushed material that hits the spiral blade 641a is sent downward as shown in Figure 11, and is pulled into the mortar 65 (in other words, between the upper mortar 63 and the lower mortar 64) from the through-portion 631. By providing the pull-in portion 641 in such a lower mortar 64, the pre-crushed raw material can be efficiently transported to the mortar 65.

As shown in FIG8 and FIG12, the friction surface 64a of the lower mortar 64 and the upper mortar 63 forms a plurality of grooves 64b extending from the central side (in other words, the pull-in portion 641 side) toward the outside, for example, in a spiral shape. On the other hand, as shown in FIG10, the friction surface 63a of the upper mortar 63 and the lower mortar 64 forms a plurality of grooves 63b. Although not shown, the groove 63b is formed from the central side of the upper mortar 63 (in other words, the through-port 631 side) toward the outside. The mortar portion 65 is finely pulverized by the rotation of the lower mortar 64, and by the mutual friction between the grooves 63b and 64b of the friction surfaces 63a and 64a of the upper mortar 63 and the lower mortar 64.

As shown in Figures 9(a), (b) and 10, the fixed part 10 is provided with a driving motor part 7. As shown in Figure 14, the fine grinding unit installed in the input amount adjustment part 5 is set to be freely loaded and unloaded on the driving motor part 7 and is set to be freely loaded and unloaded on the fixed part 10. The rotation of the driving motor 71 is transmitted to the rotation transmission component 67 through the gear, and then transmitted to the lower mortar 64 through the rotation transmission component 67.

As shown in FIG13 , a plurality of recesses 64c are provided on the back of the lower mortar 64. A plurality of through-holes 66a are provided on the scraper 66. A plurality of protrusions 67a corresponding to the plurality of through-holes 66a are provided on the rotation transmission component 67. As shown in FIG15 , the protrusion 67a is embedded in the recess 64c through the through-hole 66a, and the rotation transmission component 67 transmits the power to the mortar 65 in the form of clamping the scraper 66. Thus, the lower mortar 64 receives the rotational force of the drive motor 71 through the protrusion 67a and the rotation transmission component 67. The scraper 66 is embedded in the recess 64c through the through-hole 66a through the protrusion 67a, and rotates simultaneously with the lower mortar 64.

As shown by the arrow in FIG11 , the cocoa paste (finely ground raw material) finely ground in the mortar 65 is discharged to the outer peripheral side of the lower mortar 64 through the grooves 63b and 64b. As shown in FIG10 and FIG11 , in the housing 68, below the outer peripheral side of the mortar 65, in the portion between the mortar 65 and the rotation transmission member 67, a receiving portion 69 is provided to block the cocoa paste (finely ground raw material) discharged from the gap between the upper mortar 63 and the lower mortar 64. As shown in FIG16 (a) and (b), the receiving portion 69 is formed in a groove shape along the peripheral wall of the housing 68. In the receiving portion 69, a nozzle-shaped discharge port 70 (strictly speaking, an upper end side opening that serves as the inlet of the discharge port 70) is provided in the rotation direction of the spatula 66. By rotating the scraper 66 and the lower mortar 64 simultaneously, the scraper 66 scrapes the cocoa paste accumulated in the receiver 69 and transports the cocoa paste to the discharge port 70. In addition, below the discharge port 70, as shown in FIG1 , a storage container with an additional temperature adjustment function is provided as a storage container 8. In this way, the finely ground cocoa paste (chocolate paste) can be stored without cooling or solidification.

As shown in Fig. 10 and Fig. 11, the upper mortar 63, which is a non-rotating part, is provided with a heater 632 as a temperature adjustment section (third temperature adjustment section, third heating section) for adjusting the temperature of the mortar 65 and setting it to a predetermined temperature. By providing the temperature adjustment section in the mortar 65, the temperature drop of the pre-crushed raw material can be suppressed, and the pre-crushed raw material can be efficiently finely crushed. In addition, similarly to the pre-crushing, when the fine crushing is stopped during the fine crushing, the temperature of the mortar 65 returns to room temperature, and the cocoa paste in the fine crushing is solidified, and the solidified cocoa paste is fixed to the mortar 65, and the lower mortar 64 may not be able to move. However, by providing the temperature adjustment section in the mortar 65 as described above, the mortar 65 can be heated again, and the crushing process can be performed again without any problem. At this time, as described above, by directly configuring the temperature adjustment part on the fixed (stationary) side, in other words, the non-rotating part, that is, the upper mortar 63 side, the mortar 65 can be heated efficiently.

The upper mortar 63 is further provided with a temperature sensor 633 as a temperature detection unit (second temperature detection unit). The amount of frictional heat generated in pre-crushing and fine grinding is different. Moreover, the amount of frictional heat generated is also different depending on the grinding device. Therefore, the temperatures of the spiral grinding unit 32 and the mortar 65 are different. Therefore, by adjusting the temperatures of the spiral grinding unit 32 and the mortar 65, a more efficient crushing process can be performed. In such a mortar 65, by providing a temperature sensor 633 for detecting the temperature of the mortar 65, the temperature of the mortar 65 can be appropriately set, and the temperature of the mortar 65 can be prevented from becoming too high, thereby preventing the deterioration of the finely crushed object. Therefore, cocoa paste of the quality of finely crushed raw material paste can be obtained, and as a result, high-quality chocolate can be produced.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 9 (a), (b) and FIG. 10, in the fixing part 10, at a position opposite to the input amount adjusting part 5, a heater 11 is provided as a temperature adjusting part (first temperature adjusting part, first heating part) for adjusting the temperature of the input amount adjusting part 5 and setting it to a specified temperature. Thus, the aforementioned effect can be obtained.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1 , FIG. 9 (b) and FIG. 10 , in the fixed part 10 , at a position opposite to the fine grinding unit 6 , a temperature adjustment part (fourth temperature adjustment part, fourth heating part) is provided to adjust the temperature of the grinding path from the input amount adjustment part 5 to the grinding path of the input grinding object and the discharge port 70 of the grinding object crushed by the mortar part 65 and set it to a specified temperature, and a heater 12 is provided. Thus, the grinding object can be stably supplied and discharged. Moreover, in the case of a short grinding time, for example, although the cocoa paste may solidify and the discharge port 70 may be blocked, these can be prevented according to the above-mentioned structure.

In addition, although not shown, in order to control the heater 11, a temperature detection unit (third temperature detection unit) for detecting the temperature of the input amount adjustment unit 5 can be provided corresponding to the heater 11. Similarly, although not shown, in order to control the heater 12, a temperature detection unit (fourth temperature detection unit) for detecting the temperature of the above-mentioned pulverization path and discharge path can be provided corresponding to the heater 12.

Heaters 11 and 12 are provided, for example, on the surface of the fixing part 10 opposite to the mounting surface of the input amount adjusting part 5 and the fine grinding unit 6. However, the present embodiment is not limited thereto, and the heaters 11 and 12 may be provided in the fixing part 10 so as to be connected to the input amount adjusting part 5 and the fine grinding unit 6 on the mounting surface side of the input amount adjusting part 5 and the fine grinding unit 6, respectively.

Heaters 11 and 12 adjust the temperature of the input amount adjusting part 5 and the fine grinding unit 6 by heat transfer between the contacting parts when the fixed part 10, the input amount adjusting part 5 and the fine grinding unit 6 are fixed. In the present embodiment, the fixed part 10 is formed of polypropylene (PP), and resins other than PP can also be used. In addition, due to the high thermal conductivity, metals such as stainless steel, aluminum, and copper can be selected as the material of the fixed part 10.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, in consideration of the quality of the crushing and the strength of the grooves 63b and 64b, ceramics are used for the upper mortar 63 and the lower mortar 64, for example. However, in consideration of the increase in the temperature of the mortar portion 65 by the heater 632 or the heater 11, it is preferable to use a mortar made of, for example, stainless steel for the upper mortar 63 and the lower mortar 64. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, in the upper cover 61, the pressure generating portion 62, the pulling portion 641, the scraper 66, the rotary transmission member 67, and the housing 68, a resin such as polypropylene (PP) or polycarbonate (PC) is selected with appropriate heat resistance. However, in consideration of the thermal conductivity as described above, it is effective to select a metal such as stainless steel, aluminum, or copper. In this embodiment, the temperature of the mortar 65 is adjusted to 40°C.

In addition, the fixing part 10 is provided with a cooling device 13 (cooling part) for cooling the mortar 65, as shown in Fig. 9(b) and Fig. 10. Thus, for example, when fine pulverization is performed at a high rotation speed, the mortar 65 whose temperature rises excessively due to frictional heat can be cooled (heat dissipated). Thus, the temperature rise due to the frictional heat of the mortar 65 can prevent thermal deformation of the parts around the mortar 65, and excessive temperature rise of the pulverized material, thereby maintaining stable pulverization and the quality of the pulverized material. As the cooling device 13, for example, a fan such as a Sirocco fan for air cooling is provided. In this case, it is preferable to use a material with good thermal conductivity as the material of the housing 68 of the fine pulverization unit 6. In addition, a water pipe may be provided to water-cool the fine grinding unit 6.

In the present embodiment, for example, the fine grinding unit 6 is heated to 40°C, a mortar with a mortar diameter (diameter φ) of 50 mm is used in the upper mortar 63 and the lower mortar 64, the rotation speed of the descending 64 is set to 60 rpm, and a load of 4 kgf is applied to the mortar portion 65. In the case where the cooked cocoa nibs are put into the fine grinding unit 6 under the above conditions without pre-grinding, as shown in Table 3, the processing capacity (processing speed) is 0.45 g/min, the particle diameter of the cooked cocoa nibs (fine grinding raw material) after grinding is 40 μm, the first filling amount is 10 g, and the first discharge time is 15 minutes. On the other hand, when the above-mentioned fine grinding unit 6 under the above-mentioned conditions is fed with the cooked cocoa nibs (cocoa paste) that have been pre-crushed by the spiral grinding section 32, as shown in Table 3, the processing capacity (processing speed) is 4.8 g/min, and the particle size of the crushed cooked cocoa nibs (fine grinding raw materials) is 30 microns. In addition, the first discharge time can be greatly shortened to 2 minutes.

Furthermore, as shown in Table 3, by increasing the load on the mortar 65 from 4kgf to 7kgf, the particle size can be further reduced. However, the particle size and processing capacity (processing speed) are in a trade-off relationship and need to be appropriately selected.

As mentioned above, when the feeding of the pre-crushed raw material into the mortar 65 is interrupted, the pre-crushed raw material cannot be efficiently finely ground. Also, when the amount of pre-crushed raw material fed into the mortar 65 is inconsistent, the fine grinding process cannot be performed efficiently. Also, when the pre-crushed raw material is retained in the pre-crushing section, excess power is generated, which is also related to the heat generation of the pre-crushed material.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, as described above, the input amount adjusting section 5 is provided between the spiral grinding section 32 and the mortar section 65 (specifically, between the pre-crushing unit 3 and the fine-crushing unit 6), and the pre-crushed raw material is quantitatively supplied to the fine-crushing unit 6. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the spiral grinder 321 and the lower mortar 64 are driven by separate power sources (driving motors 41, 71) that are independent of each other. Therefore, the rotation speed of the spiral grinder 321 and the rotation speed of the lower mortar 64 can be set independently, and the rotation speed of the spiral grinder 321 and the lower mortar 64 can be changed. Furthermore, even if the input amount adjusting section 5 is saturated due to the pre-crushed raw material waiting for fine grinding, the pre-crushing process in the spiral grinding section 32 can be only temporarily stopped. Furthermore, according to the present embodiment, by providing the input amount adjusting section 5 separately from the pre-crushing unit 3 as described above, even if the input amount adjusting section 5 is saturated by the pre-crushed raw material waiting for fine grinding, the saturated pre-crushed raw material will not reach the pre-crushing unit 3, and there will be no problem of applying an excess load to the pre-crushing unit 3 and the drive motor 41 due to the heat generated by the saturated pre-crushed raw material. Furthermore, by providing the input amount adjusting section 5 separately from the pre-crushing unit 3 at a position separated from the axial direction of the spiral grinding section 32 (specifically, the axial direction of the rotation axis 321a of the spiral grinder 321), the input amount adjusting section 5 can be easily maintained when the input amount adjusting section 5 is saturated by the pre-crushed raw material waiting for fine grinding. Therefore, it is possible to crush the material more efficiently than before.

However, when the processing speed of the pre-crushing is greatly different from the processing speed of the fine grinding, it may be necessary to interrupt the feeding of the pre-crushed raw material into the mortar 65, and temporarily stop the pre-crushing process in the spiral grinding part 32 until the feeding amount adjustment part 5 is saturated. When the spiral grinding part 32 and the mortar 65 are driven to rotate at arbitrary speeds, the processing time of the spiral grinding part 32 for pre-crushing, i.e., coarse grinding, is usually longer than that of the mortar 65 for fine grinding. Therefore, the fine grinding process of the mortar 65 cannot catch up with the pre-crushing process, and when the pre-crushed cocoa paste is left idle before fine grinding, the cocoa paste cools and solidifies, and it is necessary to interrupt the grinding process of the spiral grinding part 3 as described above. In addition, the inconsistency in the amount of heat (grinder temperature) conducted to the cocoa paste becomes a cause of reduced processing efficiency. Therefore, in order to improve the efficiency of the overall pulverizing process, it is better that the processing capacity of the spiral grinding part 32 is close to the processing capacity of the mortar part 65.

As a method for matching (approximating) the processing capacity of the spiral grinding section 32 with the processing capacity of the mortar 65, for example, a method of matching the spiral grinding section 32 with the mortar 65 with the processing capacity of the lower processing capacity is cited. As a method for matching such a lower processing capacity, for example, a method of adjusting the rotation speed is cited. In addition, the difference in the pulverization method can also be adjusted.

In this case, when the speed of the first rotating part, i.e., the spiral grinder 321, is set to N1 (rpm), the speed of the second rotating part, i.e., the lower mortar 64, is set to N2 (rpm), the processing speed of the spiral grinding part 32 when the spiral grinder 321 rotates once is set to M1 (g/min), and the processing speed of the mortar part 65 when the lower mortar 64 rotates once is set to M2 (g/min), it is preferably 0.5<(M2×N2)/(M1×N1)≦1.0.

As shown in Table 1, the pre-crushing processing speed of the spiral grinding part 32 is 24 g/min at 57 rpm, and as shown in Table 3, the fine crushing processing capacity of the mortar part 65 after pre-crushing is 4.8 g/min at 60 rpm. When converted to the processing capacity of each rotation of the spiral grinder 321 and the lower mortar 64, M1=0.42g, M2=0.08g, (M2×N2)/(M1×N1)=0.2.

In this case, when the pulverizer 1 continuously processes for 20 minutes, 480g can be processed by pre-crushing, 96g can be processed by fine grinding, and 384g can be stored in the input amount adjustment part 5. Here, when the processing speed is matched with 4.8g/min of the mortar 65, by setting the rotation speed (N1) of the spiral grinder 321 to 12rpm, (M2×N2)/(M1×N1)=0.95, and the processing capacity becomes 5g/min. In this case, when the pulverizer 1 continuously processes for 20 minutes, 100g can be processed by pre-crushing, 95g can be processed by fine grinding, and the storage capacity of the input amount adjustment part 5 is 4g, then (M2×N2)/(M1×N1)=0.95, which can be continuously crushed with good efficiency.

In this way, the processing time is prolonged by reducing the rotation speed of the coarse grinding spiral grinder 321, and shortening the processing time by increasing the rotation speed of the fine grinding lower mortar 64, so that the processing time can be close to each other.

On the other hand, the processing speed can be adjusted by reducing the input amount to the pre-crushing unit 3 without changing the rotation speed. For example, by setting the input amount to the pre-crushing unit 3 to 1/4, the processing capacity of the spiral grinding unit 32 can be set to 1/4 of the original 6 g/min. In this case, when the grinder 1 continuously processes for 20 minutes, the pre-crushing processing amount is 120g, and the storage capacity of the input amount adjustment unit 5 can be reduced to 24g. In this case, (M2×N2)/(M1×N1)=0.8.

In this case, although it usually takes a long time to grind the cooked cocoa nibs, cocoa paste (chocolate paste) can be made in a few minutes. As a result, the time to apply heat to the cocoa paste waiting to be finely ground can be greatly reduced, and the quality of the cocoa paste can be maintained without reducing the flavor.

In addition, when the non-operation time is long, although the cocoa paste is fixed in the grinder 1, according to this embodiment, it can be restored to re-grinding by the aforementioned temperature adjustment unit built into the grinder 1. As a result, the grinding process for each order of the store can be carried out, and high-quality chocolate can be provided.

At this time, the storage amount of the input amount adjustment unit 5 affects the time until recovery. Although the surface of the fixed cocoa paste begins to melt immediately, it takes time for the inner part to melt because it is difficult for heat to be transmitted. The storage amount during 20 minutes is preferably set to be less than 50g. The processing speed of the pre-crushing at this time is 9.8g/min, and (M2×N2)/(M1×N1)=0.489.

When (M2×N2)/(M1×N1)=1, the processing speed of pre-crushing and fine-crushing is the same, and the efficiency of crushing becomes an ideal state that can make the storage amount zero. However, in actual use, since the crushed material is continuously supplied to the fine-crushing unit 6, it is better to set some storage amount to the input amount adjustment part 5. Therefore, it is better to set the processing capacity of the spiral grinding part 32 to a slightly higher level, and absorb the difference in processing capacity through the input amount adjustment part 5. When (M2×N2)/(M1×N1) exceeds 1, since the fine-crushing process of the mortar 65 becomes faster than the pre-crushing process, the crushed material cannot be supplied in time, and the efficiency is reduced.

In addition, the rotation speed (N2) of the lower mortar 64 of the mortar portion 65 is preferably greater than 30 rpm and less than 500 rpm (in other words, within the range of 30≦N2≦500 (rpm)).

By setting the speed to 30≦N2≦500 (rpm), cocoa paste can be crushed in a short time, for example, chocolate or chocolate drinks can be manufactured and provided in a short time (several minutes).

For example, when N2=30rpm, a processing speed of 2.4g/min can be obtained, and when N2=500rpm, a processing speed of 40g/min can be obtained. By reducing the rotation speed, the temperature of the mortar 65 is prevented from rising, and continuous processing can be achieved. On the other hand, by increasing the rotation speed, the processing speed per unit time can be increased. The temperature rise is determined by the heat capacity of the mortar 65, and when it exceeds 150℃, it has a great impact on the temperature of the cocoa. In addition, depending on the materials of the mortar 65 and the box 68, there are these thermal deformations, which limit the time that can be used continuously.

For example, when the material of the mortar 65 is ceramic, the mortar diameter (diameter φ) is 50 mm, the thickness of the upper mortar 63 and the lower mortar 64 is 9 mm, and the rotation speed is 30≦N2≦100, and the temperature below 90°C can be continuously processed. Cocoa beans are generally roasted at 110~150°C. If it is within the range of not burning again (below 100°C), the cooked cocoa nibs can be crushed.

However, by cooling the mortar 65 (heat dissipation) with the cooling device as described above, it is possible to further perform continuous processing or fine grinding processing at a higher rotation speed. In this case, for example, by setting 100≦N2≦300 (rpm), fine grinding processing at a higher rotation speed can be performed, and the cocoa paste can be crushed in a shorter time.

Recently, there has been a trend to provide handmade chocolates that are made by crushing cocoa beans on the spot. In a shop that provides freshly made chocolates, it is required that the cocoa beans be crushed as soon as possible after receiving an order. For example, the amount of chocolate (crushed material) used in a cup of chocolate drink is about 30 to 40 g, and it is necessary to produce this in a short time. As described above, by providing the grinder 1 with a cooling device 13 for cooling the mortar 65, the temperature rise of the mortar 65 is suppressed, and a fine-crushing process at a higher rotation speed is possible, so that the cocoa paste can be crushed in a shorter time. In this case, even in the case where the fine-crushing process is performed at a higher rotation speed as described above, the temperature of the mortar 65 can be continuously processed below 90°C. For example, when the rotation speed of the lower mortar 64 is 100 rpm, a processing speed of 8 g/min is obtained, and it takes 3 minutes and 45 seconds to grind 30 g of the crushed material. When the rotation speed of the lower mortar 64 is 300 rpm, a processing speed of 24 g/min is obtained, and 30 g of the crushed material can be processed and crushed in 1 minute and 15 seconds. In addition, according to the grinder 1 of this embodiment, by providing a storage container with an additional temperature adjustment function as the storage container 8 below the discharge port 70 as described above, for example, when the store is busy and there is no time to process, the pre-crushed chocolate can be maintained in a paste (liquid) state.

Thus, the grinder 1 of the present embodiment 1 can be appropriately used as a cocoa bean grinder (chocolate making machine) for grinding cocoa beans. Generally, chocolate is often mass-produced, and basically, chocolate is cooled once and stored in a solid state, and it takes time from processing cocoa beans to giving them to consumers. In contrast, according to the present embodiment, a grinder capable of producing high-quality freshly ground chocolate can be provided.

In addition, when the above-mentioned grinder 1 is a cocoa bean grinder, it is preferable to set the temperatures of the spiral grinding section 32 and the mortar 65 to temperatures suitable for grinding cocoa beans (cooked cocoa nibs). By setting the temperatures of the spiral grinding section 32 and the mortar 65 to temperatures suitable for grinding cooked cocoa nibs, the cooked cocoa nibs in the spiral grinding section 32 and the mortar 65 can be efficiently ground.

As mentioned above, the roasting of cocoa beans is generally performed at 110~150℃. If it is within the range of not burning again (below 100℃), the cooked cocoa nibs can be crushed. The cooked cocoa nibs at room temperature begin to melt at about 26℃, and quickly become liquid (paste) at 26℃~35℃, and become a stable liquid at about 40℃. Therefore, when the crushing starts at room temperature (room temperature 20℃), it takes time to raise the temperature to 40℃ (+20℃) due to the friction heat of the crushing. By raising the temperature before crushing, the cooked cocoa nibs can be crushed efficiently. The temperature suitable for crushing cooked cocoa nibs is 26~60℃, and it is better to crush them in this temperature range.

Therefore, the heater 324 is preferably set to adjust the temperature of the spiral grinding part 32 within the range of 26 to 60°C, and the heater 632 is preferably set to adjust the temperature of the mortar 65 within the range of 26 to 60°C. In addition, the heater 324 is more preferably set to adjust the temperature of the spiral grinding part 32 within the range of 40 to 60°C, and the heater 632 is more preferably set to adjust the temperature of the mortar 65 within the range of 40 to 60°C. In this way, the fluidity of the paste of cooked cocoa nibs can be ensured, and deterioration due to temperature (oxidation of fat) can be prevented, so that higher quality cocoa paste can be produced.

In addition, even for the heater 11, since the cocoa paste is stably discharged and supplied to the fine grinding unit 6, and the mortar 65 is efficiently ground, it is preferably set to adjust the temperature of the input amount adjustment part 5 within the range of 26 to 60°C, and more preferably within the range of 40 to 60°C, for the same reason as above.

Moreover, even for the heater 12, for the same reason as above, it is preferable to set it so that the temperature of the aforementioned crushing path and the discharge path is adjusted within the range of 26 to 60°C, and more preferably within the range of 40 to 60°C.

[First variant]

In addition, in this embodiment, the rotary crushing method (spiral grinding method) using the spiral grinder 321 is used for pre-crushing, and the rotary crushing method (mortar method) using the mortar (upper mortar 63 and lower mortar 64) is used for fine crushing. However, this embodiment is not limited to this, and the mortar method can also be used for pre-crushing. In addition, the spiral grinding method can also be used for fine crushing. In other words, the first rotating member can also be a mortar. In addition, the second rotating member can also be a spiral grinder (grinding blade).

[Second variant]

In addition, in this embodiment, the case where the object to be crushed is cocoa beans (cooked cocoa nibs) is used as an example for explanation. However, the object to be crushed is not limited to this. The grinder 1 of this embodiment can be used to grind various solid raw materials such as cereals, beans, vegetables, fruits, etc.

[Second implementation form]

As a method for matching (approximating) the processing capacity of the spiral grinding part 32 with the processing capacity of the mortar 65, in addition to the method of matching the one with higher processing capacity with the one with lower processing capacity in the spiral grinding part 32 and the mortar 65, a method of matching the processing capacity of the one with lower processing capacity with the one with higher processing capacity by processing the one with lower processing capacity in parallel is provided. In other words, a method of improving the total processing capacity of the one with lower processing capacity by matching the one with higher processing capacity is provided.

In this case, when the speed of the first rotating part, i.e., the spiral grinder 321, is set to N1 (rpm), the speed of the second rotating part, i.e., the mortar 64, is set to N2 (rpm), the processing speed of the spiral grinding part 32 when the spiral grinder 321 rotates once is set to M1 (g/min), the processing speed of the mortar 65 when the lower mortar 64 rotates once is set to M2 (g/min), the number of spiral grinding parts 32 is set to m (pieces), and the number of mortars 65 is set to n (pieces), then it is preferably m≦n, and (n×M2×N2)/(m×M1×N1)≦1.0.

By providing multiple mortars 65 in this way, the total processing speed of the fine pulverization processing of each mortar 65 is ensured, and at the same time, the rotation speed of the mortar 65 can be reduced. In the case of the mortar method, although the temperature rise due to friction is prone to become a problem as mentioned above, by providing multiple mortars 65, the temperature of the mortar 65 is reduced, and continuous operation for a long time is possible.

For example, when the pre-crushing speed of the spiral grinding part 32 is M1×N1=24 g/min and the fine crushing processing speed of the mortar part 65 is M2×N2=4.8 g/min, by setting m=1 and n=4, the fine crushing processing can be n times (4 times in the above example), and the fine crushing processing speed can be 9.2 g/min. At this time, (n×M2×N2)/(m×M1×N1)=0.8. On the other hand, when the rotation speed of the lower mortar 64 is halved to M2×N2=2.4 g/min and n=8, the processing speed is 19.2 g/min, which can reduce the rotation speed and the amount of friction heat generated. Preferably, when (n×M2×N2)/(m×M1×N1)=1.0, efficient crushing can be achieved.

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of the main structure of the pulverizer 1 of the present embodiment. In this way, when the spiral grinding section 32 and the mortar section 65 with lower processing capacity are processed in parallel, when the processing speed of the spiral grinding section 32 is 24 g/min and the processing speed of the mortar section 65 is 4.8 g/min as described above, the processing capacity of the mortar section 65 is approximately 1/5 of the processing speed of the spiral grinding section 32. Therefore, in this case, as shown in FIG. 17, by setting five fine pulverization units 6 for one spiral grinding section 32, the input amount adjustment section 5 is divided into five, and (n×M2×N2)/(m×M1×N1)=1.0 can be achieved.

As described above, in this embodiment, the processing capacity of the spiral grinding part 32 and the processing capacity of the mortar part 65 can be close to each other. By making the processing time close to each other, the waiting time for applying heat to the finely pulverized object can be greatly reduced. Therefore, when the above-mentioned pulverized object is a food such as cocoa paste in the first embodiment, the flavor of the food (such as cocoa paste) can be maintained without reducing its quality.

[Third implementation form]

FIG. 18 is a graph showing the relationship between the mortar diameter (diameter φ) of the mortar (upper mortar 63 and lower mortar 64), the processing capacity of the mortar at a rotational speed of 60 rpm, and the torque required to drive the mortar. FIG. 19 is a graph showing the relationship between the rotational speed of the mortar (upper mortar 63 and lower mortar 64) and the processing capacity of the mortar.

As a method of improving the processing capacity in a pulverizing device using a rotary method, there are methods of increasing the size of the rotating part or increasing the rotation speed. In the case of fine pulverization using a mortar method as described above, the processing capacity can be improved by increasing the size of the mortar as shown in FIG18 and increasing the rotation speed of the mortar as shown in FIG19.

For example, as shown in Figures 18 and 19, by changing the diameter (diameter φ) of the mortar (upper mortar 63 and lower mortar 64) in the mortar portion 65 from 50 mm to 100 mm, the processing speed of 60 rpm can be increased to 7.5 g/min. However, due to the increase in the area of the mutual friction surfaces 63a and 64a, the load applied to the drive motor 71 and the friction heat generated increase, and it is necessary to appropriately select the materials of the mortar (upper mortar 63 and lower mortar 64) and the box 68.

For example, when using a mortar with a mortar diameter (diameter φ) of 100 mm, the rotation speed can also be set at 190 rpm. In this case, (M2×N2)/(M1×N1)=0.99.

In addition, when the rotation speed of the rotary grinder 321 and the rotation speed of the lower mortar 64 are set to the same speed, the drive motor can be made common by connecting them to each other. In this case, although the crushing capacity (particle size and processing speed) is adjusted by considering the size, groove width, groove depth, gap, etc. of each crushing device with different crushing methods, a high level of knowledge and technology is required. For example, when only the design of the mortar is changed to match the processing speed of the mortar part 65 with the spiral grinding part 32, the mortar diameter is greatly increased, and the device size of the crusher 1 is also increased.

[Summary]

The first embodiment of the present invention comprises a pulverizer (pulverizer 1) having a first rotating member (screw grinder 321 or mortar) for pre-grinding a material to be pulverized (raw material cooked cocoa nibs); a second rotating member (lower mortar 64 or screw grinder) for finely pulverizing the material to be pulverized (pre-pulverized raw material, paste (liquid) cooked cocoa nibs (in other words, cocoa paste)) pre-pulverized by the pre-pulverizing member; and a fine pulverizing member (mortar 65) for finely pulverizing the material to be pulverized (pre-pulverized raw material, paste (liquid) cooked cocoa nibs (in other words, cocoa paste)) pre-pulverized by the pre-pulverizing member. A discharge port 70 for discharging the finely pulverized material; a first power source (drive motor 41) for rotationally driving the first rotating member; a second power source (drive motor 71) for rotationally driving the second rotating member; an input amount adjustment section (input amount adjustment section 5) disposed between the pre-crushing section and the finely pulverizing section for adjusting the input amount of the material that has been pre-crushed by the pre-crushing section and is fed into the finely pulverizing section; and a first temperature adjustment section (heater 11) for adjusting the temperature of the input amount adjustment section.

According to the above-mentioned structure, by driving the above-mentioned first rotating member and the above-mentioned second rotating member with independent individual power sources, the rotational speed of the above-mentioned first rotating member and the rotational speed of the above-mentioned second rotating member can be set independently, and the rotational speed of the above-mentioned first rotating member and the above-mentioned second rotating member can be changed. Moreover, even if the above-mentioned input amount adjusting section is saturated, the pre-crushing process in the above-mentioned pre-crushing section can be only temporarily stopped. Moreover, by providing the above-mentioned input amount adjusting section between the above-mentioned pre-crushing section and the above-mentioned fine-crushing section, the crushed material pre-crushed by the above-mentioned pre-crushing section can be quantitatively supplied to the above-mentioned fine-crushing section, and the fine-crushing process can be efficiently performed. In addition, by providing the first temperature adjusting section for adjusting the temperature of the above-mentioned input amount adjusting section, stable supply of crushed material and efficient fine-crushing become possible. Therefore, according to the above-mentioned structure, it is possible to provide a crusher that can crush the material to be crushed more efficiently than before.

The second embodiment of the pulverizer of the present invention may also be that in the first embodiment, the pre-crushing part has a first non-rotating part (crushing container 322) arranged opposite to the first rotating part; and a second temperature adjustment part (heater 324) for adjusting the temperature of the pre-crushing part is provided on the first non-rotating part.

According to the above configuration, by providing a second temperature adjustment unit for adjusting the temperature of the pre-crushing unit, the temperature rise time of the pre-crushing unit and the crushed material crushed by the pre-crushing unit can be shortened. In addition, when the pre-crushing is stopped during the pre-crushing, even if the cocoa paste or the like in the pre-crushing is low in temperature and solidified, the crushing process can be restarted without any problem by heating the pre-crushing unit again. At this time, by configuring the second temperature adjustment unit on the fixed (stationary) side, in other words, on the side of the first non-rotating member, the pre-crushing unit can be efficiently heated.

The pulverizer of the third embodiment of the present invention may also be that in the above second embodiment, the second temperature adjustment section is set in such a way as to adjust the temperature of the pre-pulverization section within the range of 26°C to 60°C.

According to the above-mentioned structure, when the above-mentioned object to be ground is, for example, cocoa beans (cooked cocoa nibs), it is possible to grind the object in a temperature range suitable for grinding the cocoa beans (cooked cocoa nibs).

The pulverizer of the fourth embodiment of the present invention may be, in any one of the first to third embodiments, the fine pulverizing section has a second non-rotating section (upper mortar 63) arranged opposite to the second rotating section, and a third temperature adjusting section (heater 632) for adjusting the temperature of the fine pulverizing section is provided on the second non-rotating section.

According to the above-mentioned structure, the temperature drop of the pulverized object pulverized by the pulverizing section can be suppressed, and the pulverized object can be pulverized efficiently. At this time, by arranging the second temperature adjustment section on the fixed (stationary) side, in other words, on the side of the second non-rotating member, the temperature of the pulverizing section can be efficiently raised.

The pulverizer of the fifth embodiment of the present invention may also be such that, in the fourth embodiment, the third temperature adjustment section is set to adjust the temperature of the fine pulverization section within the range of 26 to 60°C.

According to the above-mentioned structure, when the above-mentioned object to be pulverized is, for example, cocoa paste, it can be pulverized in a temperature range suitable for pulverizing the cocoa paste (pulverization of cocoa paste particles).

The pulverizer of the sixth embodiment of the present invention may also be, in any one of the first to fifth embodiments described above, a first temperature detection unit (temperature sensor 325) for detecting the temperature of the pre-crushing unit is provided in the pre-crushing unit.

According to the above structure, the temperature of the pre-crushing section can be set to an appropriate temperature, which can prevent the temperature of the pre-crushing section from becoming too high and prevent the deterioration of the pre-crushed material.

The pulverizer of the seventh embodiment of the present invention may also be, in any one of the first to sixth embodiments, a second temperature detection unit (temperature sensor 633) for detecting the temperature of the fine pulverization unit is provided in the fine pulverization unit.

According to the above structure, the temperature of the above-mentioned fine grinding section can be set to an appropriate temperature, which can prevent the temperature of the above-mentioned fine grinding section from becoming too high and prevent the degradation of the finely ground object.

The pulverizer of the eighth embodiment of the present invention may also be, in any one of the first to seventh embodiments, when the rotation speed of the first rotating member is set to N1 (rpm), the rotation speed of the second rotating member is set to N2 (rpm), the processing speed of the pre-crushing section when the first rotating member is rotated once is set to M1 (g/min), and the processing speed of the fine crushing section when the second rotating member is rotated once is set to M2 (g/min), then 0.5<(M2×N2)/(M1×N1)≦1.0.

According to the above structure, the processing capacity of the above pre-crushing section and the processing capacity of the above fine-crushing section can be close, and the processing time can be close to each other. As a result, the time for applying heat to the crushed object waiting for fine-crushing can be greatly reduced. Therefore, in the case where the above crushed object is a food such as cocoa paste, the flavor of the food (such as cocoa paste) can be maintained without reducing its quality.

The pulverizer of the ninth embodiment of the present invention may also be, in any one of the first to eighth embodiments, the rotation speed of the second rotating component is greater than 30 rpm and less than 500 rpm.

According to the above-mentioned structure, the above-mentioned pulverized object can be pulverized in a short time. In particular, when the above-mentioned pulverized object is cocoa paste, for example, chocolate or chocolate drink can be manufactured and provided in a short time (several minutes).

The pulverizer of the tenth embodiment of the present invention may also be, in any one of the first to ninth embodiments, the rotation speed of the second rotating member is greater than 100 rpm and less than 300 rpm, and further has a cooling section (cooling device 13) for cooling the fine pulverizing section.

According to the above structure, the fine grinding process at a higher rotation speed of the fine grinding section becomes possible, and the object to be ground can be ground in a shorter time.

The pulverizer of the eleventh scheme of the present invention may also be, in any one of the above-mentioned first to tenth schemes, when the rotation speed of the first rotating member is set to N1 (rpm), the rotation speed of the second rotating member is set to N2 (rpm), the processing speed of the pre-crushing part when the first rotating member is rotated once is set to M1 (g/min), the processing speed of the fine pulverizing part when the second rotating member is rotated once is set to M2 (g/min), the number of the pre-crushing parts is set to m (pieces), and the number of the fine pulverizing parts is set to n (pieces), then m≦n, and (n×M2×N2)/(m×M1×N1)≦1.0.

According to the above-mentioned structure, the grinding part with the lower processing capacity in the pre-crushing part and the fine-crushing part can be processed in parallel. Therefore, the processing capacity of the pre-crushing part and the processing capacity of the fine-crushing part can be close to each other, and the processing time can be close to each other. As a result, the time for applying heat to the crushed object waiting for fine-crushing can be greatly reduced. Therefore, in the case where the crushed object is a food such as cocoa paste, the flavor of the food (such as cocoa paste) can be maintained without reducing its quality.

The pulverizer of the twelfth embodiment of the present invention may be any one of the first to eleventh embodiments, wherein the pulverizer further comprises a fourth temperature adjustment unit (heater 12), and the fourth temperature adjustment unit (heater 12) adjusts the temperature of the discharge path for discharging the finely pulverized material.

According to the above structure, the crushed material can be discharged stably.

The pulverizer of the thirteenth embodiment of the present invention may also be, in any one of the first to twelfth embodiments described above, a storage container (storage container 8) having an additional temperature regulating function is provided below the discharge port 70.

According to the above-mentioned structure, even if the crushed material that has been finely crushed solidifies at a low temperature, such as cocoa paste, the crushed material can be stored without cooling and solidifying.

The pulverizer of the fourteenth embodiment of the present invention may be such that, in any one of the first to thirteenth embodiments, the input amount adjustment section is provided separately from the pre-pulverization section at a position separated from the axial direction of the rotation axis of the first rotating member.

According to the above-mentioned structure, the input amount adjusting part is set away from the above-mentioned pre-crushing part. Even if the pre-crushed raw material waiting for fine grinding is saturated, the saturated crushed material will not reach the above-mentioned pre-crushing part, and there will be no problem of applying excess load to the above-mentioned pre-crushing part and the above-mentioned first power source due to the heat generated by the saturated crushed material. In addition, according to the above-mentioned structure, the input amount adjusting part is set separately from the above-mentioned pre-crushing part at a position separated from the axial direction of the rotating shaft (rotating shaft 321a) of the above-mentioned first rotating member. When the above-mentioned input amount adjusting part is saturated with the crushed material waiting for fine grinding, the above-mentioned input amount adjusting part can be easily maintained. Therefore, the crushing of the crushed material can be performed more efficiently than before.

The grinder of the fifteenth embodiment of the present invention may also be a grinder for grinding cocoa beans in any one of the first to fourteenth embodiments.

According to the above-mentioned structure, a pulverizer capable of producing freshly ground chocolate with high quality can be provided.

The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various changes can be made within the scope of the patent application. The embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the technical methods disclosed in each embodiment can form new technical features by combining them.

1: Crusher

2: Cabinet

2a: Upper cover

2b, 2c: Side cover

2d: Front cover

2e: Back cover

2f: bottom cover

3: Pre-crushing unit

4, 7: Driving motor part

5: Input quantity adjustment department

6: Micro-grinding unit

8: Storage container

9: Fixed part

11: Heater (first temperature adjustment unit)

12: Heater (fourth temperature adjustment unit)

21: Opening

31: Investment Department

311: Through hole

311a: Opening on the upper side

311b: Opening on the lower side

32: Spiral grinding section (pre-crushing section)

323: Upper cover

323a: Opening

41: Driving motor (first power source)

65: Mortar (fine grinding part)

322g: discharge port

321: Spiral grinding part (first rotating part)

322: Crushing container (first non-rotating component)

322a: medial side

322b: Crushed ribs

324: Heater (second temperature adjustment unit)

325: Temperature sensor (first temperature detection unit)

Claims (9)

A pulverizer, comprising: a pre-crushing section having a first rotating member for pre-crushing a material to be crushed; a fine-crushing section having a second rotating member for fine-crushing a material to be crushed that has been pre-crushed by the pre-crushing section; a discharge port for discharging the fine-crushed material from the fine-crushing section; a first power source for rotationally driving the first rotating member; a second power source for rotationally driving the second rotating member; an input amount adjusting section disposed between the pre-crushing section and the fine-crushing section for adjusting the input amount of the material to be crushed that has been pre-crushed by the pre-crushing section and is input into the fine-crushing section; and a first temperature adjusting section for adjusting the temperature of the input amount adjusting section. A pulverizer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pre-crushing part has a first non-rotating part arranged opposite to the first rotating part; and a second temperature adjusting part for adjusting the temperature of the pre-crushing part is provided on the first non-rotating part. A pulverizer as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the fine pulverizing section has a second non-rotating section disposed opposite to the second rotating section; and a third temperature adjusting section for adjusting the temperature of the fine pulverizing section is provided on the second non-rotating section. A pulverizer as claimed in claim 1, wherein a first temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature of the pre-crushing unit is provided in the pre-crushing unit. A pulverizer as claimed in claim 1, wherein a second temperature detection unit for detecting the temperature of the fine pulverization unit is provided in the fine pulverization unit. The pulverizer of claim 1, wherein, When the rotation speed of the first rotating member is set to N1 (rpm), the rotation speed of the second rotating member is set to N2 (rpm), the processing speed of the pre-crushing section when the first rotating member is rotated once is set to M1 (g/min), and the processing speed of the fine crushing section when the second rotating member is rotated once is set to M2 (g/min), then 0.5<(M2×N2)/(M1×N1)≦1.0. The pulverizer of claim 1 further comprises a fourth temperature adjustment unit, which adjusts the temperature of the discharge path for discharging the finely pulverized material. A pulverizer as claimed in claim 1, wherein the input amount adjustment unit is provided separately from the pre-pulverization unit at a position separated from the axial direction of the rotation axis of the first rotating member. A grinder as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grinder is a grinder for grinding cocoa beans.