Tofu press

A tofu press includes: an open container, a foldable plate, a pressing plate, a spring assembly, and an end cover, where the foldable plate is configured to be placed at a bottom of the open container, the foldable plate includes a bottom plate and lateral plates disposed at two sides of the bottom plate, the lateral plates are perpendicular to and connected to the bottom plate, the pressing plate is configured to cover and press a top of the bottom plate, a bottom end of the spring assembly is configured to press the pressing plate, and the spring assembly is fixedly connected to the end cover; and the pressing plate, the lateral plates, the bottom plate, and two faces of the open container form a compression operating area. The tofu press ensures uniform pressing at the time of pressing a food material to dehydrate.

CROSS REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims priority to Chinese Patent Application No. 202021248456.7, filed on Jun. 30, 2020, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to the field of food material dehydration, and in particular, to a tofu press.

BACKGROUND

In a tofu production process, a very important step is to place tofu pudding in a mold, press the tofu pudding, dehydrate the tofu pudding, and shape the tofu pudding into lumpy tofu. Even, superfluous moisture usually needs to be removed from finished tofu, so that the tofu is not easy to deform or crack, but is easier to fry and easier to be tasty. A conventional dehydration manner is to place tofu wrapped with gauze in a container, and press the tofu by placing a heavy object on the tofu. As a result, the force applied to the tofu is not uniform and the magnitude of the applied force is not controllable. Finally, the tofu is consequently not uniform in density or even cracks. Moreover, the process of taking tofu out and placing it into a container is not sufficiently convenient or speedy, increasing a risk of damaging the tofu in a taking or placing process.

SUMMARY

In view of the foregoing problem, the present invention provides a tofu press, which is not only convenient to take or place tofu, but also presses the tofu uniformly and can adjust an applied pressure according to the tofu size.

To achieve the foregoing objective, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

A tofu press is provided, including: an open container, a foldable plate, a pressing plate, a spring assembly, and an end cover, where the foldable plate is configured to be placed at the bottom of the open container, the foldable plate includes a bottom plate and lateral plates disposed at two sides of the bottom plate, the lateral plates are perpendicular to and connected to the bottom plate, the pressing plate is configured to cover and press the top of the bottom plate, a bottom end of the spring assembly is configured to press the pressing plate, and the spring assembly is fixedly connected to the end cover; and the pressing plate, the lateral plates, the bottom plate, and two faces of the open container form a compression operating area.

Preferably, the spring assembly includes a compression spring, a spring sleeve, a male-threaded nut, and a rotary knob, the spring sleeve is connected to the male-threaded nut through a lock cover, the compression spring disposed inside the spring sleeve and the male-threaded nut, a top end of the compression spring is fixedly connected to a top end of the male-threaded nut, and a bottom end of the compression spring is fixedly connected to a bottom end of the spring sleeve; and the end cover is provided with a through-hole matching the male-threaded nut, the male-threaded nut is fixedly connected to the end cover through the through-hole, the rotary knob includes a holding end and a rotation end, the holding end and the rotation end are “T”-shaped, the rotation end is configured to be inserted into the male-threaded nut and the compression spring, and the rotation end is configured to drive the male-threaded nut to rotate.

An optimization effect brought by this optimization solution is as follows: The pressure applied by the spring assembly to the pressing plate can be adjusted through the rotary knob, the distance between the pressing plate and the bottom plate can be changed, the applied pressure can be adjusted according to the tofu size, and the pressing is uniform.

More preferably, a silica gel ring is sleeved on the holding end.

Preferably, the end cover is connected to the open container through a snap joint.

Preferably, the end cover is provided with a water pouring hole.

An optimization effect brought by this optimization solution is as follows: Storage liquid can be poured out without opening the end cover, to make it convenient to operate, and pouring water without opening the end cover in the water pouring process prevents a food material being pressed from losing the pressure and rebounding.

Preferably, the bottom plate is connected to the lateral plates through shafts, the lateral plates are rotatable around positions of connection to the bottom plate, the positions of connection are provided with limiting plates, and the limiting plates are configured to fix the lateral plates to cause the lateral plates to be perpendicular to the bottom plate.

An optimization effect brought by this optimization solution is as follows: The foldable plate can be flattened to make it convenient to take a food material from or place a food material onto the bottom plate, and can act as a temporary chopping board.

Preferably, the bottom plate is provided with a water passage hole, and the outside of the foldable plate and an inner wall of the open container form a storage liquid space.

Preferably, a bottom end outside the open container is provided with a foot mat.

An optimization effect brought by this optimization solution is as follows: The foot mat can increase the friction, to play an anti-skidding role.

Preferably, four sides of the open container are made of a transparent material, and are marked with scales.

More preferably, the lateral plates are provided with handholds.

1. The tofu press according to the present invention has a simple and efficient structure, can ensure uniform pressing at the time of pressing a food material to dehydrate, and can adjust the pressing intensity according to food materials.

2. The tofu press according to the present invention can store moisture obtained by pressing a food material, to make it convenient to perform subsequent treatment and processing, and avoid a conventional case that tofu water is wasted and moisture is difficult to clean when tofu is pressed.

3. In the tofu press according to the present invention, the foldable plate is designed to make it extremely convenient to take or place a food material, the bottom plate and the lateral plates are in two states, namely, a flattened state and a perpendicular state, and the tofu press is flexibly applicable to taking or placing of various food materials, so that the tofu press is not only applicable to dehydration of tofu, but also applicable to pressing dehydration of other food materials.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

To better understand the present invention, content of the present invention is further clarified below with reference to accompanying drawings and embodiments, but the present invention is not merely limited to the following embodiments.

Embodiments

In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that orientation or position relationships indicated by “on”, “below”, “top”, “bottom”, “inside”, and “outside” are all based on orientation or position relationships shown in the accompanying drawings, and are used only for ease and brevity of illustration and description, rather than indicating or implying that the mentioned component needs to have a particular orientation or needs to be constructed and operated in a particular orientation. Therefore, such orientation or position relationships should not be construed as limiting of the present invention.

As shown inFIG.1toFIG.3, a tofu press is provided, including: an open container1, a foldable plate2, a pressing plate3, a spring assembly, and an end cover4. The foldable plate2is configured to be placed at the bottom of the open container1, the foldable plate2includes a bottom plate21and lateral plates22disposed at two sides of the bottom plate21, the lateral plates22are perpendicular to and connected to the bottom plate21, the pressing plate3is configured to cover and press the top of the bottom plate21, a bottom end of the spring assembly is configured to press the pressing plate3, and the spring assembly is fixedly connected to the end cover4. The pressing plate3, the lateral plates22, the bottom plate21, and two faces of the open container1form a compression operating area.

The spring assembly includes a compression spring5, a spring sleeve6, a male-threaded nut7, and a rotary knob8. The spring sleeve6is connected to the male-threaded nut7through a lock cover10, the compression spring5is disposed inside the spring sleeve6and the male-threaded nut7, a top end of the compression spring5is fixedly connected to a top end of the male-threaded nut7, and a bottom end of the compression spring5is fixedly connected to a bottom end of the spring sleeve6. The end cover4is provided with a through-hole9matching the male-threaded nut7, and the male-threaded nut7is fixedly connected to the end cover4through the through-hole9. The rotary knob8includes a holding end81and a rotation end82, the holding end81and the rotation end82are “T”-shaped, the rotation end82is configured to be inserted into the male-threaded nut7and the compression spring5, and the rotation end82is configured to drive the male-threaded nut7to rotate. The male-threaded nut7and the compression spring5can have a dual role by rotating the rotary knob8, to change the intensity of pressing the pressing plate3and the distance between the pressing plate3and the bottom plate21. For the purpose of smooth pressing, the cross-sectional area of the pressing plate3is actually less than the cross-sectional area of the bottom plate21that is less than the cross-sectional area of the open container1at the bottom. To make it convenient to clean the spring assembly, the spring sleeve6may be provided with a water hole18.

To make it convenient to rotate the rotary knob8, a silica gel ring11is sleeved on the holding end81, which can increase friction and comfort of holding. The end cover4is connected to the open container1through a snap joint13.

The end cover4is provided with a water pouring hole12, so that storage liquid can be poured out without opening the end cover4, to make it convenient to operate, and pouring water without opening the end cover in the water pouring process prevents a food material being pressed from losing the pressure and rebounding.

As shown inFIG.4, the bottom plate21and the lateral plates22of the foldable plate2are connected through rotation shafts, the lateral plates22can perform damping rotation around positions of connection to the bottom plate21, the positions of connection are provided with limiting plates, and the limiting plates are configured to cause the lateral plates22to be perpendicular to the bottom plate21, so that when pressing needs to be performed, the bottom plate21stays perpendicular to the lateral plates22. When a food material is taken or placed, the foldable plate2can be taken out, and the lateral plates22are rotated, so that the lateral plates22are flattened, and the lateral plates and the bottom plate21are located on the same plane, to make it convenient to take or place the food material, or act as a chopping board. The lateral plates22are provided with handholds16, to make it convenient to take or place the foldable plate.

The bottom plate21is provided with a water passage hole14, make it convenient to export moisture through the water passage hole14in a process of pressing a food material, a bottom end inside the open container1is provided with a supporting foot15, and the supporting foot is configured to support raising of the bottom plate21, so that some space is reserved between the bottom plate21and the bottom end inside the open container1, and the outside of the foldable plate2and an inner wall of the open container1form a storage liquid space used for temporarily storing the exported moisture.

Four sides of the open container1are made of a transparent material, and are marked with scales, to make it convenient to view the height of the pressed food material. A bottom end outside the open container1can be provided with a foot mat17, to play an anti-skidding role.

A method for using the tofu press according to the present invention is as follows:

A food material is placed onto the bottom plate21: The foldable plate2is first taken out, a food material such as tofu pudding is placed onto the bottom plate21, the lateral plates22can be selectively flattened in a placement process, to make the placement more convenient, then the lateral plates22and the bottom plate21are fixed perpendicular to each other, and the foldable plate2is placed into the open container. Alternatively, the foldable plate2in which the lateral plates22and the bottom plate21are fixed perpendicular to each other is first placed into the open container1, and then a food material is placed.

The pressing plate3performs pressing: The pressing plate3is laid flat on the food material, the end cover4is closed, and the rotary knob8is rotated to adjust the magnitude of the pressure of the pressing plate3, so that the pressing plate3applies a specific pressure to press the food material. After the food material is shaped, the end cover4is opened, to take out the food material.

Although the embodiments of the present invention are already shown and described, a person of ordinary skill in the art may understand that various changes, modifications, replacements and variations may be made to the embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.