PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rice ball producing apparatus, capable of producing rice balls which has puffy, superior texture like that of a rice ball which has been rolled by hands, without hardening boiled rice.SOLUTION: This rice ball producing apparatus is constituted of a fixed-amount boiled rice mass-supply apparatus 1, which sequentially supplies boiled rice mass (a) for one rice ball onto a supply conveyor 7a loosening spreading apparatus 2 which has rollers 8 and 9 which loose and spread the boiled rice mass (a) on the supply conveyor 7an ingredient supplying station 3 which is set on a rotary table 11 for placing a prescribed ingredient c on spread flat boiled rice ba boiled rice-inserting apparatus 4 which inserts boiled rice d of a part around the ingredient c onto the ingredient c so as to wrap the ingredient c on the boiled rice d for placing the ingredient, a molding apparatus 5 which is composed of a plurality of separatable molds 12 so as to mold ingredient-containing boiled rice e in a prescribed shape and a send-out apparatus which sends out a rice ball made by molding the ingredient-containing boiled rice e.COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT【課題】 このおにぎり製造装置は,米飯を押し硬めることなく,あたかも人が手で握ったようなふっくらとした食感の良いおにぎりを製造する。【解決手段】 このおにぎり製造装置は,おにぎり1個分の米飯塊aを供給コンベヤ7上に順次供給する定量米飯塊供給装置1,供給コンベア7上の米飯塊aを解し広げるローラ8,9を備えた解し広げ装置2,広げられた平らな米飯bに所定の具cを載せるロータリテーブル11上に設けられた具供給ステーション3,具載置米飯d上の具cを包み込むため具cの周辺の部分の米飯dを具cの上に折り込む米飯折込み装置4,具入り米飯eを所定の形状に成形するため接離可能な複数の成形型12から成る成形装置5,及び具入り米飯eを成形して構成されたおにぎりfを送り出す送出装置から構成されている。【選択図】 図2
