PURPOSE:To dry uniformly tea leaves even if there is variability in particle size and form of tea leaves, by placing tea leaves of raw material on a drying stand, irradiating them with radiation energy from above while vibrating them vertically. CONSTITUTION:The heating element 1 to irradiate radiation energy such as microwave, far infrared rays, etc. towards the tray 2 are set above the tray 2 vibrating vertically, tea leaves of raw material in a proper thickness are placed on the tray 2, and they are vibrated vertically and irradiated with radiation energy. The tray consists of a trough conveyor, and intermittently vibrated by the use of a timer, etc. The bottom face 3 of the tray or trough conveyor is made of the air-permeable plate 5, and from it air flow at a proper temperature is blown up. Consequently, the tea leaves can be almost uniformly dried even if there is variability in particle size and form of tea leaves, and, especially when the trough conveyor is used,a continuous operation is made possible by stopping the conveyor intermittently.
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