JPH09238626A - Apparatus for producing boiled rice formed body - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for producing boiled rice formed bodies, capable of taking out plural boiled rice formed bodies at once by adjusting a device to the position of forming holes on each turn table, changing the directions of the boiled rice formed bodies according to the difference of the directions, narrowing the space between boiled rice formed bodies and loading the boiled rice formed bodies with narrowed space on the belt conveyor in an automatic manufacturing process of formed bodies of boiled rice. SOLUTION: Plural forming holes 3 fed with boiled rice are intermittently moved on the circumference of a circle, and boiled rice formed bodies 6 are formed in the holes while the holes 3 travel on the at least one circumference of a circle. The first and the second boiled rice formed bodies 6, adjacent to each other, are moved to a taking out position. The direction of each boiled rice formed body 6 taken up from the taking out position of the first and the second boiled rice formed bodies 6 is changed so that the longitudinal direction of each formed body comes to the inside of the row of the boiled rice formed bodies 6, at the same time the space between the formed bodies is narrowed, and the boiled rice formed bodies 6 are placed in parallel at the boiled rice formed body-loading position on the belt conveyor apparatus 12 for transferring boiled rice formed bodies 6. Thus, the objective boiled rice formed body 6 is produced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for producing cooked rice products such as sushi rice balls, sushi rice balls and rice balls, and more particularly,
Manufacture of cooked rice compacts equipped with a cooked rice compact unloading device that takes out two cooked rice compacts that are facing each other in the radial direction from the turntable and arranges the two cooked rice compacts in parallel on the conveyor for transporting the cooked rice compacts. Regarding the device. Further, the present invention is capable of turning two cooked rice bodies, which are respectively arranged in the radial direction on a rotary table, in parallel, and placing them in parallel on a conveyer for conveying cooked rice moldings, especially for cooked rice. The present invention relates to a device for picking up a molded body and placing a cooked rice molded body thereon.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in an automatic hand-cooked cooked rice producing apparatus, cooked rice is fed into a cooked rice forming hole of a rotary table and pressed from above to produce a cooked rice formed body. Is pushed up onto the hole and sent to the take-out position, and the cooked rice compact sent to the take-out position of the rotary table is gripped by using the rotary type opening / closing hand, and the gripped cooked rice compact is connected to the rotary table. It is placed on a conveyor belt, and the cooked rice molding placed on the conveyor belt is sent to a customer supply process by driving the conveyor belt.

[0003]

The removal of the cooked rice products produced by the automatic cooked rice product producing apparatus to the cooked rice product conveying conveyor is carried out by the opening / closing hand in one removal operation. There is. In the automatic cooked rice forming apparatus, since the manufactured cooked rice is oriented in the radial direction, the two picked cooked rice have different directions. They are placed on the conveyor after changing their orientations so that they are parallel. Therefore, the distance between the cooked rice moldings on the conveyor is the distance between the cooked rice moldings in the cooked rice manufacturing apparatus. Unless the conveying speed of the cooked rice conveying conveyor is changed, the cooked rice molding per unit time is reduced. This is a problem because the amount of body feeding cannot be increased. However, it is costly and problematic to install multiple systems of cooked rice product manufacturing equipment.
This is a problem for labor saving. It is an object of the present invention to solve the problems associated with taking out a plurality of cooked rice compacts at the same time and placing them on a conveyor belt in the automatic hand-cooked cooked rice compact manufacturing process.

[0004]

According to the present invention, a plurality of cooked rice moldings can be simultaneously taken out in accordance with the positions of the molding holes of each rotary table in the automatic grip cooked rice molding manufacturing process. An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for producing cooked rice products, which can change the direction of cooked rice products according to the difference and narrow the intervals between the cooked rice products so that the cooked rice products can be placed on the conveyor belt with the intervals. That is, according to the present invention, a plurality of molding holes to which cooked rice is supplied are intermittently moved on the circumference, and while the holes make at least one round on the circumference, In the manufacturing method of the cooked rice molded product,
The cooked rice moldings lifted from the take-out positions of the first and second cooked rice moldings adjacent to each other are changed inward in the longitudinal direction, and at the same time, the gap between the cooked rice moldings is narrowed to form the cooked rice molding. In a method for manufacturing a cooked rice molded article, which is characterized in that the cooked rice molded article is placed in parallel on a conveyor device for body transport,
Further, the present invention provides a rotary table having a plurality of holes for manufacturing a cooked rice product formed on the circumference and capable of being intermittently driven, and a cooked rice supply device and a vertically movable swivel shaft around the rotary table. In a cooked rice product manufacturing apparatus provided with a cooked rice product transfer device and a cooked rice product conveying belt conveyor device, the first and second cooked rice product take-out positions are set adjacent to each other on the rotary table. In the conveyer device for conveying cooked rice molded bodies, the gap between the cooked rice molded bodies at the rice cooked product mounting position is smaller than the gap between the cooked rice molded products at the first and second cooked rice molded product take-out positions. The first and second cooked rice product placement positions are set corresponding to the first and second cooked rice product removal positions, and the first cooked rice product removal position and the first cooked rice product placement position are set. The position is the swivel support arm member of the cooked rice product transfer device. It is located on one turning path of the opening / closing hand for picking up and delivering the first cooked rice molded body, and the second cooked rice molded article take-out position and the second cooked rice molded article placing position are The second and second cooked rice molded article unloading / transporting section is located on one swivel movement path of the second transporting opening / closing hand for unloading and transporting the second cooked rice molded article provided on the swivel support arm member of the body transfer device. The support shafts of the rotary type opening / closing hands are attached to the rotary shafts of separate bevel gears,
The two bevel gears are respectively engaged with fixed bevel gears and are rotatably attached to separate support blocks, and the two support blocks are provided with spur gears above the bevel gears, respectively. , The spur gears are located in mesh with each other, at least one support block is connected to a power unit, the spur gears provided on the support block are movable by the power unit, The swivel support arm member rotatably supports the support block and the spur gear, fixedly supports the fixed bevel gear member, and further rotatably attached to a swivel shaft that can reciprocate in the vertical direction. It is in a cooked rice forming device.

In the present invention, the term "rice cooked product" is used for the term "nigiri for sushi", "nigiri sushi with sushi seeds and rectangular parallelepiped shape",
It means a cooked rice product such as a rice ball having an ellipsoidal shape or a cubic shape. In the present invention, the cooked rice is supplied into the plurality of holes for molding, and the plurality of holes for molding to which the cooked rice is supplied are intermittently moved on the circumference, and the holes are at least one circumference on the circumference. In the meantime, the cooked rice molded body is manufactured by a molding device for a cooked rice molded body of a type that is pressed and molded in the molding hole.

In the present invention, a turntable type cooked rice forming device is used, and the cooked rice molded product is taken out from the adjacent take-out positions of the first and second cooked rice molded products on the turntable, and the cooked rice molded product is conveyed. In order to place it on the conveyor for use, two sets of opening and closing hands are used as a set to grasp the cooked rice molded body located at the cooked rice molded body take-out position of the cooked rice molded body manufacturing apparatus, and to make the same angle in opposite directions. By rotating the cooked rice compacts so that they are parallel to each other by changing the direction of the cooked rice compacts, and moving them closer to each other, the gap is narrower than the gap when the cooked rice compacts were initially gripped. It operates so as to be placed in parallel on a conveyor device for transportation.

In order to operate the opening / closing hands in this manner, each of the opening / closing hands is supported by a separate support block so as to be rotatable in the axial direction. Each support block is
Each of them is rotatably supported on a separate shaft that is juxtaposed with each other. By moving the upper ends of the respective support blocks in the direction of separation, the respective opening / closing hands can be brought closer to each other, and the upper ends of the respective support blocks can be moved. The open / close hands can be separated by moving in a direction in which the hands approach each other. In the present invention, the rotation of the cooked rice product is rotated in the opposite directions by the same angle. This rotation is performed by engaging spur gears attached to the respective opening and closing hands with each other and rotating at least one of them.

In the present invention, at the take-out position of the cooked rice molded product of the turntable type cooked rice molded product manufacturing apparatus, the two cooked rice molded products are oriented in the radial direction, and two are to be placed on the conveyor. Since the cooked rice moldings are positioned in parallel, the two cooked rice moldings are opened by the angle of the difference between the radial direction of the cooked rice moldings and the orientation of the cooked rice moldings when the cooked rice moldings are positioned in parallel. The two sides of the cooked rice product are positioned in parallel by rotating the two sides so that they move inward. In the present invention, the rotation of this cooked rice shaped product is such that the bevel gears attached to the shafts of the respective opening / closing hands mesh with the fixed bevel gears, and the bevel gears of each opening / closing hand are directed equidistantly in the opposite direction on the fixed gears. It is carried out by moving.

In the present invention, spur gears are provided so as to mesh with each other on the side portions of the support blocks rotatably provided on the two shafts arranged side by side, and the spur gears are rotatably provided on the lower portion of the support block. Since the bevel gear of 1 is provided in mesh with the flat bevel gear, and the opening / closing hand is attached to the shaft of the bevel gear, the cooked rice molded product located at the take-out position of the cooked rice molded product forming device is grasped by the open / close hand. , When one of the open / close hands is moved toward the other open / close hand, the spur gear rotates and the other open / close hand approaches the same distance, and at the same time, both bevel gears meshing with the spur bevel gear move in opposite directions. Rotate and rotate the open side of the cooked rice gripped by the open / close hand to the inside by an equal angle so that the two cooked rice compacts are oriented parallel to each other and perpendicular to the traveling direction of the cooked rice conveyor. In the right direction It is possible to location.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited by the following description and examples. FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an embodiment of the cooked rice product manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the cooked rice product transferring apparatus of the embodiment shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the cooked rice molded body transfer device of the embodiment shown in FIG.
In, the corresponding common portions are given the same reference numerals.

[0011]

EXAMPLE In the example shown in FIG. 1, a cooked rice forming apparatus 1 is provided with a turntable 2 which is driven intermittently. In this example, the turntable 2 has 8
The individual molding holes 3 are provided on the rotation circumference 4 of the turntable 2. On the rotation circumference 4, the cooked rice supply position 5 for supplying cooked rice into the molding hole 3 and the molding hole 3 are formed. Cooked rice pressing position 7 for pressing cooked rice to form cooked rice molded body 6, and cooked rice molded body 6 formed by being pressed in cooked rice pressing molding position 7
There are set up two positions 8 and 9 for picking up cooked rice compacts, and two positions 10 and 11 for picking up two cooked rice compacts 6 taken out.

In this example, a cooked rice molded article conveying conveyor device 12 is provided adjacent to the cooked rice molded article forming apparatus 1. The cooked rice product conveying conveyor device 12 includes a conveyor belt 13 for intermittently moving cooked rice product transfer.
However, it is stretched over between the rollers. Conveyor belt 13
The two locations 14 and 15 at the end of the cooked rice molding forming device side are the cooked rice placing positions. The cooked rice molded body 6 is conveyed by the cooked rice molded body unloading and conveying device 16. The cooked rice product take-out / conveying device 16 is provided with a turning shaft member 17 which is capable of turning and reciprocating vertically, and an arm member 18 is provided on the turning shaft member 17.

Since the cooked rice forming apparatus 1 of the present embodiment is constructed as described above, the turntable 2 is driven intermittently so that a fixed amount of cooked rice is fed into the molding hole 3 located at the cooked rice supply position 5. Supply. The molding hole 3 to which the cooked rice is supplied is sent to the cooked rice pressing molding position 7 by intermittent driving of the turntable 2 and pressed by a piston (not shown) from above and below. A rice cooked body 6 is formed in the molding hole 3. The molding hole 3 in which the cooked rice molding 6 is formed is the turntable 2
It is sent to the cooked rice molded product lifting positions 8 and 9 by intermittent driving, and the cooked rice molded product 6 in the molding hole 3 is turned into the turntable 2
Pushed up. The cooked rice compact 6 thus pushed up is taken out from the cooked rice compact extract positions 10 and 11 by two intermittent driving operations.
Then, it is taken out by the cooked rice product removing and conveying device 16 and placed on the cooked rice product placing positions 14 and 15 on the conveyor belt 13 of the cooked rice product conveying conveyor device 12.

In this example, the cooked rice compact 6 is located at the cooked rice compact take-out positions 10 and 11 of the turntable 2.
Are arranged with their long axes oriented toward the center of rotation,
The gap between the cooked rice compacts is set to 80 mm.
On the other hand, the cooked rice molded bodies 6 arranged at the cooked rice molded body mounting positions 14 and 15 on the conveyor belt 13 are mounted parallel to each other in a direction perpendicular to the traveling direction 19 of the conveyor belt 13. The gap between the cooked rice compacts is set to 40 mm. Therefore, in this example, the cooked rice molded body 6 has the cooked rice molded body taking-out position 10 of the turntable 2.
While moving from No. 11 and No. 11 to the cooked rice product placing positions 14 and 15 of the conveyor belt 13, the direction is changed and the two are moved toward each other by 20 mm in the directions toward each other. In this example, the operation of changing the direction and position of the cooked rice molded body is performed by the cooked rice molded body unloading and conveying device 16.

FIG. 2 and FIG. 3 show an example of the cooked rice product unloading and conveying device 16 used in the cooked rice product manufacturing apparatus of FIG. In this example, the flange portion 20 of the turning shaft member 17 is provided with the connecting portion 23 of the operating shaft 22 of the air cylinder 21 and the fixing portion 25 of the guide rod 24. In this example,
The structure is covered by the bellows 26 between the arm member 18 and the turning shaft member 17. The arm member 18 is provided so as to extend to one side of the swivel shaft member 17, and a support frame member 27 is provided upright at the end portion thereof. Two fixed shaft members 28 extending in the horizontal direction
And 29 are juxtaposed.

At the ends of the fixed shaft members 28 and 29, a flat fixed bevel gear 30 in which a bevel gear groove is formed on the outwardly inclined surface of the lower end is provided with a fixed frame member 31 so as not to rotate. Is provided. The fixed shaft members 28 and 29 include
A rotary drum member 32 (a rotary drum member provided on the fixed shaft member 29 is not shown) is provided rotatably around the corresponding fixed shaft members. The rotary body member 32 is fixed to the support block member 33, and is fixed to the fixed shaft member 29.
A support block member 34 is fixed to the side.

A vertical shaft 35 is fixed to the lower end of the support block member 33, and a vertical shaft 36 is fixed to the support block member 34 on the fixed shaft member 29 side. The vertical shaft 35 is provided with a bevel gear 37 rotatably with respect to the vertical shaft 35, and the vertical shaft 36 is provided with a bevel gear 38 rotatably with respect to the vertical shaft 36. An air cylinder 40 of an opening / closing hand 39 is attached to the lower end of the bevel gear 37,
An air cylinder 42 of an opening / closing hand 41 is attached to the lower end of the bevel gear 38. Hands 44 are attached to the pair of operating ends 43 of the air cylinder 40 of the opening / closing hand 39, respectively.
Hands 46 are attached to the pair of operating ends 45, respectively.

In this example, an air cylinder 47 is provided at the upper end of the support block member 34, and the end of the operating shaft 48 of the air cylinder 47 is provided at the support block member 3.
3 is fixed to an operating shaft mounting portion 49 provided at the upper end portion of 3. In this example, spur gears 50 and 51 are provided on the side surfaces of the support block members 33 and 34 on the support frame member 27 side so as to mesh with each other.

Air cylinder 4 of opening / closing hands 39 and 41
The air inlets / outlets 52 and 5 are provided on one side of 0 and 42.
3 are provided. Air inlet / outlet 5 of opening / closing hand 39
A mountain-shaped mounting frame member 54 is mounted on the side surface opposite to the side on which the mounting frame member 54 is mounted.
An air cylinder 56 is provided in the horizontal portion 55 of the. A mounting block 58 is fixed to the lower portion of the operating rod 57 of the air cylinder 56. This mounting block 5
On the lower surface of 8, the cooked rice molding 6 is attached to the opening / closing hands and does not remain in the opening / closing hands 39 and 41 when the cooked rice molding 6 is unloaded onto the conveyor belt 13. A pressing tool 59 for pushing downward is provided. Further, a support plate member 61 for mounting the guide rod member 60 is provided on the upper surface of the mounting block 58 so that the reciprocating motion of the operating shaft 57 of the air cylinder 56 in the vertical direction can be smoothly performed.
Is provided. The guide rod member 60 is the mounting frame member 5
4 is inserted in the guide hole 62 for guiding the guide rod member 60 formed in the horizontal portion 55 of the air cylinder 56, so that the operating shaft 57 of the air cylinder 56 can smoothly reciprocate. 57 operation is restricted (opening / closing hand 41
Is omitted and not shown).

Since the present example is configured as described above,
When the air cylinder 21 of the turning shaft member 17 is actuated, the arm member 18 moves downward, and the opening / closing hands 44 and 46 cause the take-out position 10 of the cooked rice body 6 of the turntable 2 to be removed.
For the cooked rice molding 6 located at positions 11 and 11, the air cylinders 40 and 42 of the opening / closing hands 39 and 41 are operated to close the opening / closing hands 39 and 42, and the cooked rice molding 6 is moved to the hand 4
4 and the hand 46, and then the air cylinder 2
1 can be operated in the opposite direction, the arm member 18 can be raised, the swivel shaft member 17 can be swung, and the cooked rice molded body 6 can be taken out.

In this way, the cooked rice compact 6 taken out from the cooked rice compact take-out positions 10 and 11 of the turntable 2 by the opening and closing hands 44 and 46 is placed on the placing positions 14 and 15 of the conveyer belt 13 for transporting the cooked rice compact. Placed. In this example, in the process of turning the turning shaft member 17,
The air cylinder 47 is actuated to push out the actuating shaft 48 and move it to separate the support block members 33 and 34. Thus, the support block members 33 and 3
4 is moved, the spur gears 50 and 52 fixed to the support block members 33 and 34 rotate in mutually opposite directions, and the support block members 33 and 34 move by the same angle, respectively, and the fixed shaft member. It will open in a fan shape around 28 and 29. The support block members 33 and 34
Movement of the bevel gears 37 and 38 attached to the lower end portions of the support block members 33 and 34 moves on the spur bevel gear 30.
By rotating the same angle in opposite directions, the radial direction of the cooked rice molded body 6 is changed to be parallel.

When the opening / closing hands 39 and 41 arrive just above the placement positions 14 and 15 of the cooked rice molding 6 on the conveyor belt 13, the turning of the turning shaft member 17 is stopped and the air cylinder 21 is operated. Then, the arm member 18 is lowered, the air cylinders 40 and 42 of the opening / closing hands 39 and 41 are operated, the hands 44 and 46 are opened, and the cooked rice molded body 6 is placed on the conveyor belt 13. The cooked rice molding 6 is placed on the conveyor belt 13 and the hands 44 and 4 are placed.
6 is opened, in this example, the air cylinder 56 for a cooked rice molded body pressing tool is operated to lower the cooked rice molded body pressing tool 59 to press the cooked rice molded body 6 to hold the hand 44.
By opening 46 and 46, the cooked rice molding 6 is placed on the placing positions 14 and 15 of the conveyor belt 13 without difficulty.

The apparatus of this example is not limited to the arrangement shown in FIGS. In this example, the spur gear is arranged on the inner side and the spur bevel gear is arranged on the outer side, but the spur gear can be arranged in the opposite manner, and the air cylinder for holding the cooked rice body and the air inlet / outlet in the opening / closing hand can be arranged as shown in the figure. It can be arranged differently.

[0024]

According to the present invention, spur gears are provided so as to mesh with each other on the side portions of the support blocks that are rotatably provided on the two shafts that are arranged side by side, and at the bottom of the support blocks, Since a movable bevel gear is provided in mesh with a flat bevel gear and an opening / closing hand is attached to the shaft of the bevel gear, a turntable-type cooked rice forming machine is formed as compared with a conventional cooked rice forming machine. It is possible to align the cooked rice compacts made by the device on the conveyor for transportation and arrange them densely.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of an embodiment of a cooked rice product manufacturing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the cooked rice product transfer device of the embodiment shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of the cooked rice molded body transfer device of the embodiment shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cooked rice forming machine 2 Turntable 3 Forming hole 4 Turntable 2 rotation circumference 5 Cooked rice supply position 6 Cooked rice molding 7 Cooked rice press molding position 8, 9 Cooked rice lifting position 10, 11 Cooked rice taking out position 12 Conveyor device for conveying cooked rice product 13 Conveyor belts 14, 15 Position for placing cooked rice product 16 Transfer device for ejected cooked rice product 17 Swiveling shaft member 18 Arm member 19 Traveling direction of conveyor belt 13 20 Flange portion 21 of swiveling shaft member 17 40, 42, 47, 56 Air cylinder 22 Operating shaft 23 of air cylinder 21 Connecting part of operating shaft 22 Guide rod 25 Fixing portion of guide rod 24 26 Bellows 27 Support frame member 28, 29 Fixed shaft member 30 Fixed bevel gear 31 Fixed frame member 32 Rotating body member 33, 34 Support block member 35, 36 Vertical shaft 37, 38 Bevel tooth Vehicles 39, 41 Opening / closing hands 43, 45 A pair of operating ends of air cylinders 40, 42 44, 46 Hands 48 Operating shafts of air cylinders 47 Operating shaft mounting parts 50, 51 Spur gears 52 for mounting the ends of operating shafts 48, 53 air inlet / outlet 54 mounting frame member 55 horizontal part of mounting frame member 57 actuating rod 58 mounting block 59 presser for pushing the cooked rice body 6 downward 60 guide rod member 61 guide rod member 60 support plate member for mounting 62 Guide hole for guiding the guide rod member 60

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of molding holes to which cooked rice is supplied are intermittently moved circumferentially, and while the holes make at least one round of the circumference, a cooked rice molded body is formed in the molding holes. In the method for producing a cooked rice molded product to be molded, the cooked rice molded products lifted from the take-out positions of the first and second cooked rice molded products adjacent to each other are changed inward in the longitudinal direction and A method for producing a cooked rice molded product, characterized in that the interval of the molded product is narrowed and the molded product is placed in parallel on the conveyor device for conveying cooked rice molded product. 2. A rotary table having a plurality of holes for producing a cooked rice product formed on its circumference and capable of being driven intermittently, and a cooked rice supply device and a vertically movable swivel shaft around the rotary table. In a cooked rice product manufacturing apparatus provided with a cooked rice product transfer device and a cooked rice product conveying belt conveyor device, the first and second cooked rice product take-out positions are set adjacent to each other on the rotary table. In the conveyer device for conveying cooked rice molded bodies, the gap between the cooked rice molded bodies at the rice cooked product mounting position is smaller than the gap between the cooked rice molded products at the first and second cooked rice molded product take-out positions. The first and second cooked rice product placement positions are set corresponding to the first and second cooked rice product removal positions, and the first cooked rice product removal position and the first cooked rice product placement position are set. The position is on the swivel support arm member of the cooked rice product transfer device. It is located on one turning path of the opening / closing hand for picking up and delivering the first cooked rice molded body, and the second cooked rice molded article take-out position and the second cooked rice molded article placing position are The second and second cooked rice molded article unloading / transporting section is located on one swivel movement path of the second transporting opening / closing hand for unloading and transporting the second cooked rice molded article provided on the swivel support arm member of the body transfer device. The support shafts of the rotary type opening / closing hands are attached to the rotary shafts of separate bevel gears,
The two bevel gears are respectively engaged with fixed bevel gears and are rotatably attached to separate support blocks, and the two support blocks are provided with spur gears above the bevel gears, respectively. , The spur gears are located in mesh with each other, at least one support block is connected to a power unit, the spur gears provided on the support block are movable by the power unit, The swivel support arm member rotatably supports the support block and the spur gear, fixedly supports the fixed bevel gear member, and further rotatably attached to a swivel shaft that can reciprocate in the vertical direction. An apparatus for producing a cooked rice molded body, which is characterized in that 3. The cooked rice characterized in that the power unit is an air cylinder, the air cylinder is provided in one support block, and the operation shaft end of the air cylinder is connected to the other support block. Molded product manufacturing equipment.