CA1161806A - Deaerator for food-inserted one-end-bond tubes - Google Patents

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
In order to remove the air, which remains in a ham-wrapping tube, from an open end portion thereof thoroughly, a double deaeration nozzle, in which the inner nozzle can be projected out of and retracted into the outer nozzle, is provided.
When the tube-end is bound, the inner nozzle is retracted into the outer nozzle to allow the tube to be continuously deaerated via the outer nozzle even after the inner nozzle has been retracted thereinto.

Description

This invention `ralate~ to a deaerator ~or U80 in vacuum packaging a one-end-bond tubular film consist~
ing of a thermally contractible synthetic resin und filled with food, for example9 ham or a sausage9 by rc-moving the air9 which remains in the tube 9 from an open end portion thereof thoroughly, and thereafter binding the open end portion o~ the same tube.
Removing the re~idual air thoroughly from a tube containing9 especially9 food is ~ssential to the main-tenance of the quality thereof. A 10~/o removal of theresidual air from such a tube can be effectively carried out only when a deaerating operation for the tube has been shifted smoothly to a binding operation for a~ open end portion thereof.
In a conventional food-inserted tube binding opera-tion~ an opon end portion of a tube is gnthered or drawn to the eenter Or a cross 8ection thereof before the open end portion of th~ tube ha~ been bound. A deaeration nozzle i3 then inserted into the gathered end portion Or the tube to remove the re~idual air ther~from. In ord~r to bind the end portion of the tube after the re~idual air haa been remo~ed therefromq it is n~cessary that the deaeration nozzl~ be removed to the outside ~f the tube so as to allow a ~athered end-bindin~ operation to be conducted simultaneously. ~uring an ex-tremely short period of time between the completion of removal of the deaeration nozzle and that of the binding of the gathered end portion of the tube, the outside nir would enter the tube to reside therein after the gathered end por-tion of the tube has been bound~
A gathered end-bindin~ means which permits elimi-nating the above-mentioned inconveniences has also been o~
proposed7 This binding means includes a greatly extended end portion of a food-inserted t~be, which end portion i~ gathered ~t two axin~ly spaced regions thereof. In order to bind the end portion of such a tubeg a deaera-tion nozzle is inserted into the tube to remove the re-sidual air therefrom9 and the deaeration nozzle is there-after removed from the inner gathered portion alone of the tube with the deaeration nozzle left inserted through the outer gath~red portion thereof. The inner gathered portion of the tube i~ then bound as the deaeration of the tube is kept being carried out.
This improvement permit~ deaerating a food-ins~rted tube perfectly. However~ when an excess end portion of the tube iB cut off after the inner gathered portion thereof ha3 been boundg a film tube of as long as not less than lOcm i~ left over as a chip. Accordin~ly~
when the above improvement i9 applied to the mass pro-duction of ~uch a Yacuum-packaged food, tube chips are accumulated in the workshop. The wasting of material as mentioned above causes the co~t o~ manufacturin6 tube-wrapped food to be lncreased.
An ob~ect of the presont invention i~ to eliminate ; the above-mentioned drawbnck~ encountered in a conven-tional device of this kind.
Another ob~ect of the present invention i~ to pro~
vide a novel device which permits deaerating a food-inserted one~end-bound tube perfectly with a film tube of as short as only 1-2cm left over as a chip when an exces~ section of a ~athered end portion9 which has been bound9 of the tube is cut of~
The gi~t of the idea of the prese~t invention re-side~ in the following. A double deaera~ion nozzle con-_ 2 ~isting of concentrically arranged inner and outer mem-bers i8 provided in ~uch a manner that the inner nozzle member can be projected out of and retracted into the outer nozzle member. When an open end portion of a food-inserted tubo i~ boundg the inner nozzl~ member i8 retracted into th~ outer nozzle member to allow the tube to be continuously deaerated via the outer nozzle member even after the inner nozzle member has been re-tracted thereinto. In addition to the above~ an auxi-liar~ deaerating means for u~e in thermally contractinga bottom ~ortion of a food-inserting tube to remove the residual air from the tube perfectly and thereby further improve the tube-end binding effect.
To these ends~ the present invention provides a deaerator for food-inserted one-end-bound tubes, com-prising a double deaeration nozzle which i~ provided in a position opposed to a Kathered open end portion of food-inserted one-end bound tube and which consists of concentrically arranged inner and outer nozzle members;
an actuator means for u~e in di~placing the inner nozzle member between a position in which the inner nozzle member is pro~ected from the front end of the outer nozzle member and a position in which the inner nozzle membar i8 retracted in the outer nozzle member; a means for connectin~ the open end po~tion o~ the tube to the nozzle9 which me~nfi i~ adapted to extend the open end portion of the tube onto the outer circumferential ~ur-face of the outer nozzle membor and cov~r the latter with the former when the nner nozzle member is pro~ected from the rront end o~ the outer no&zle member; a tube-end gathe~in~ mechnni~m di3po~d co a~ to work on th~t section of the open end portion o~ the tube which i8 extended ar-ound t~e projected porkion of the inner noz,zle member; and a tube-end binding mechanism disposed ~o a~ to worX on the gathered end portion of the tube after the ir~er no~zle mem-ber ha3 been retracted into the outer nozzle member~ the dea-eration of the tube continuing to be carried out via the outer nozzle member even after the inner nozzle member has been re-tracted thereinto.
The above and other objects as well as advantageous fea-tures of the invention will become apparent from the following de~cription of the preferred embodiment taken in con~unction with the accompanyin~ drawings.
The accompanying drawings show a mode of embodiment of the present invention~ wherein:
Fig. 1 i8 a pl~n view;
Fig9 2 is a right side elevational view in section taken along the line 2-2 in Fig. l;
' ' Figs. 3 and 4 are front elevational view in section taken along the line ~-3 in Fig. 1~ which illu~trate the operation of the present invention in order;
FiK. 5 i~ ~ ri~ht ~ide elevational view in section taken along the line 5-5 in Fi~. 3; and Fig~ 6 i~ an enlarged front elevational view of a prin-cipal part of what is shown in Fig. 3.
', The construction and operation of the prs~ent ~n-vention will now be described in detail with reference to a mode of embodiment thereof shown in the accompany-ing drawing~.
Fig. 1 is a plan view o~ tha device as a whole ac-cordin~ to the pres~nt invention. A single- or ~ulti-layer tube 7 which consists of a thermally contractibl~
synthetic resin~ ~uch as saran film and which contains ham 89 has been transferred onto a ~orking table 10 by o~

~ transfer means (not shown) with a tube bottom 9 hav-ing already been gathered and bound in another place.
A vertically movable piston rod ll is joined to the lo-wer surface of the working table 10 as shown in Fig.2.
A~ soon as the removal of air from and the bindin~ of an open end of a food-inserted tube have been completed, an air cylinder (not shown) i8 actuated, and the rod 11 is moved upwardly along a guide 12 to lift the working table 10 up to the upper end of a wall 139 so that a product i~ rolled along an inclined wall 14 to be carried out of the app aratus.
In the me~ntime 9 a piston rod 15 for use in for-wardly and backwardly mo~ing the working table 10 is ~o~ned to the guide 12 for the rod 11~ which plston rod : 15 is extended in the direction o~ the length ~f the working table 10 and mo~ed forwardly ~nd backwardly by an operation of a~ air cylinder 16 shown in ~ig. 1 with the assistance of a guide roller 17.
When the workin~ table 10 i8 moYed to an advanced position~ an open end portion 7a of the h~m-inserted tube 7 set on the working table 10 enters in a circularly opened ~tate the central opening of a gatherin~g bind-ing and cutting mechanism 18.
An example o~ a mechanism for gathering an open end portion of a ham-inserted tube and binding the gathered end portion of the tube with a clip is shown in Fig. 5.
This mechanism is p~o~id~d with machine frames 19, 20 disposed in an opposed relationship~ and a pair of re~
gulating elem~nts 21, 22~ which are extended parallel to each other and at right angles to the machine frames 19~ 20 in such a manner that the regulatin~ elements 219 22 can be displaced along the machine f~ames 199 20.

The machine frames 199 20 and regulating element~ 219 22 define a rectangular ~pace~ When the re~ulating elements 219 22 are in their opened position~ the cir-cularly opened end portion 7a i9 in~erted into the re-ctangularly op~ned space mentioned above.
An inner nozzle member 24 of a double deaeration nozzle9 a part of the deaerator according to the present invention9 consisting Or two concsntrically ~rranged nozzle member~ 23~ 24 i~ pro~ected into the central por-tion of the above-mentioned rectangularly opened space9 and ~n opposition to the open end portion 7a of the ham-inserted tube 7. When the circularly opened end portion 7a lB forwardly moved9 the nozzle 24 i9 enclused there-with.
The forward mo~ement of the open end portion 7a of the tube 7 i~ detected by a sen~or (not shown). In accordance with ~ detection signal from the sensor, the regulating elements 219 22 are actuated at once b~ ope-rations of air cylinders (not shown). The regulating elements 219 22 are moved toward each other from positions of two-dot chain line in Fig. 5 and stopped in po~itions of solid line in the same drawin~9 i~ which the regulat-ing elements 219 22 are close to each other with a gap 25 left therebetween. The gap 25 has a width equal to that of each of folds to be formed on the open end por-tion 7a when it is gathered. While the regulating ele-ments 21, 22 are moved toward each other9 the end por-tion 7a of the tube 7 is changed from a circularly opened atate to an elongated half-opened state ~refer to what i9 design~ted b~ "7a" nnd ~hown in so~id line in Fig~ 5)~
At this time 9 the inn~r ~oææle m~mber 2l~ i8 kept in~ert~
in the ee~tral portion of the elo~gated half-opened end O~

portion 7a of the tube 7.
When the movement~ of the regulatin~ elements 21~ 22 toward each other have been completed9 a pair of gather-binding elements 269 27~ which are pro~ided in an oppo-sed relationship in bores in the central portions of the opposed machine frames 19~ 20, respectively, are moved9 by operations of air cylinders (not shown) 9 toward each other along the gap 25 between the regulating elements 219 22. As a result 9 the elongated half-opened end ~ortion 7a of the tube 7 is gathered in the central portion of the gap 259 and pressed against the outer circumferential surfnce of the inner nozzle member 24 as the inner nozzle member 24 is enclosed with the end portion 7a. Each of ; the ~ather-binding elements 26~ 27 has a recess in an end portion thereof. A clip (not shown) is bent by the pre-ssing effect of these recesses provided in the gather-blnding elements 269 279 so that the end portion 7a is finally bound. Since this tube-end binding operation is out of the ~ist of the pre~ent invention, a description thereof will be omitted~ A perfect deaeration of a ham-inserted tubeg which constitutes a step to be carried out immediately before a tube end-binding operation9 will be described in detail.
As ~hown in ~ig~. 39 4 and 69 each of the ~ather-bindlng elements 269 27 i~ pro~ided on lts right and left sides w~th elastic pads 28, 299 by which the end port~on 7~ of the tube 7 is pressed a~a1nst the outer circumfe-rential ~urfaccs of the inner and outer nozzle members 2 23. It iY necessary that each o~ the ~lastlc pnds 29~
out of the pads 289 299 be used to pre9s at the ~reater part of the lower ~ur~ace thereof the end portion 7a of the tube 7 a~ain~t the outer circumferential surface of o~
the outer nozzle member 23. Thu~, th~ connection of the outer end 7a of the tube 7 and the inner and outer nozzle members 24 9 23 is completed.
The outer nozzle member 2~, one of the concentricall~
arranged inner and outer nozzle members 249 23 is fixed to a machine frame ~0 at a rear end portion thereof~ and connected to a vacuum pump (not sh~wn) via an air dis-charge pipe 31. While a deaeratin~ operation for a ham-inserted tube 7 is conducted, the inner nozzle member 24 i~ extended at a front end portion thereof out of the outer nozzle member 23 (refer to Figs. 3 and 6) a~ the nozzle member 24 maintains a narrow gap between the outer circumferential surface thereor and the inner circumferen-tial surface of the outer nozzle member 23. While a tube-end bindin~ operation i8 conducted9 the inner nozzle mem-ber 24 ~s retracted into the outer nozzle member 23 (refer to Fig. 4). ~he inner nozzle member 24 i8 connected at a rear end portion thereof to a piston rod 34, which i~
adapted to be di3placed forwardly and backwardly by an operation of an air cylinder 33 provided on a bracXct 32 connected to the machine ~r~me 30. The ir~er nozzle member 2~ is communicated with a vacuum pump (not shown) via a discharga pipc 35.
Re~erring to Fig. 19 an electric heater 37 is pro-vided behind the working table 10~ the electric heater 37 being directed to the tube bottom 9 which has already been bound. A blower 36 is provided behind the electric heater ~7. An air current sent ~rom the blower 36 to the tube bottom 9 is heated when it passes through the heater 379 ~o that hot air is applied to the tube bottom 9. The tub~ bottom 9 exposed to the hot air is thermally contracted to c~use the residual air therein to be sent to the open end portion 7a of the tube 7. 'The residual air sent to the open end portion 7a is sucked by the in-ner and outer nozzle members 24, 23 to be discharged out-side.
When the circularly opened end portion 7a i~ moved into the gather-binding mechanism 1~ by a forward move ment of the working table 109 the inner nozzle member 24 of the double nozzle i~ pro~ected from the front end of the outer noz1e member 23 (refer to Fi~3. 3 and 6) by an operation of the air cylinder ~3. As a resultg the outer circumferential 6urface of the inner nozzle member 24 thus pro~ected from the outer nozzle member 23 and the outer circumferenti~l qurf~ce of the outor nozzle member 23 are covered with the end portioIl 7a9 BO that the end portion 7a and the double nozzle are connected to~ether.
When the covering of the iDner and outer no~zle members

2~9 23 with the end portion 7a has been completed~ an instruction by a si~nal representative of the completion of the above-mentioned covering of the noæzle members with the tube end i~ ~iven to allow a vacuum pump (not shown) to be actuated. Consequently, the air in the ham-inserted tube start~ bein~ dischar~ed through the inner and outer nozzle members 24, 23. The air in the tube is discharged substantially in an instant.
When the heater 37 and blower 36 are operated to ap-pl~ hot air to the tube bottom 9 to thermally contract tha same during or prior to the deaeration of the tube 7 the degree of vacuum in the tube 7 will be ~urther in-crea~ed~
3Q 'rhe inner nozzle member ~L~ pro~ected ~ro~ the outer nozzle member 23 ob~truct~ a tub~-end bindi~g o~eration9 which i~ conducted af`ter the deaeration of the tube 7 has g been completed. Accordin~ly9 the inner nozzle member 24 i5 retracted9 before a tube-end binding operation hAs been conductedg into the outer no~zle member 23 by an operation of the air cylinder 33 via the pi~ton rod 34. The gather-binding elements 26~ 27 are then applied at their respective free end ~urface~ to the end portion 7a as shown in Fig.
4~ to seal the tube 7 with a clip (not shown).
A very short period of time elapse~ between the starting of the retraction of the inner nozzle member 24 and the completion of a tube-end bindin~ operation. The deaeration of a ham~inserted tube during such a short period of time a~ mentioned above is not satisfactorily carried out by a conventional deaerator of this kind.
In other word~, the outside air enters the tube~ which has once been deaerated sufficiently~ durin~ a short pe-riod of time referred to above. In factg a tube-end binding operation with con~entiona~L deaerator and gather-binding elements is carried out under the above-mentioned condition.
~ccording to the present invention7 the outer nozzle member 23 is still in close contact with the end portion 7a of the tube 7 even af'ter the inner nozzle member 24 has been retracted (refer to Fig. 4)~ so that the tube 7 i9 still subjected to deaer~tion. A tube-end binding operation is conducted under such condition9 so that the outside air does not enter the tube durin~ a tube-end binding operation. In other words9 the tube is 6ealed in a perfectly deaerated ~tate. ~herefore~ a decrease in the quality of a ham product due to th~ residual air in the tube in which the product is sealed can be completely eliminated. ~he above e~fect of the pre6ent in~ention has been achie~ed by the concentrically arranged deaera-O~
tion nozzles 239 24. AccordinKly9 an elongated end por-tion 7a- i8 not required. In fact~ the length of a tubc left over as a chip after a ham-sealed tube with the end portions thereof bound has been subjected to a cutt-ing operation for an excess portion thereof is as short as 1-2cm. This contributes to the nursing of resorces, and results in a decrease in the cost of manu~acturing packaged ham products. Consequently~ low-priced, high-quality packaged ham products can be supplied to the consumer~.
The present invention is not9 of course9 limited to the abo~e embo~iment; lt may be modified in various ways within the scope of the appended claim~.

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3o

Claims (4)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A deaerator for food-inserted one-end-bound tubes, comprising a double deaeration nozzle which is provided in a position opposed to a gathered open end portion of a food-inserted one-end-bound tube and which consists of concentrically arranged inner and outer nozzle members;
an actuator means for use in displacing said inner no-zzle member between a position in which said inner no-zzle member is projected from the front end of said outer nozzle member and a position in which said inner nozzle member is retracted in said outer nozzle member; a means for connecting said open end portion of the tube to said nozzle, which means is adapted to extend said open end portion of the tube onto the outer circumferential sur-face of said outer nozzle member and cover the latter with the former when said inner nozzle member is pro-jected from the front end of said outer nozzle member;
a tube-end gathering mechanism disposed so as to work on that section of said open end portion of the tube which is extended around the projected portion of said inner nozzle member; and a tube-end binding mechanism disposed so as to work on the gathered end portion of the tube after said inner nozzle member has been retracted into said outer nozzle member, the deaeration of the tube con-tinuing to be carried out via said outer nozzle member even after said inner nozzle member has been retracted thereinto.

2. A deaerator for food-inserted one-end-bound tubes, comprising a food-inserted one-end-bound tube consisting of thermally contractible film; a double deaeration no-zzle which is provided in a position opposed to a gathered open end portion of a food-inserted one-end bound tube and which consists of concentrically arranged inner and outer nozzle members; an actuator means for use in dis-placing said inner nozzle member between a position in which said inner nozzle member is projected from the front end of said outer nozzle member and a position in which said inner nozzle member is retracted in said outer no-zzle member; a means for connecting said open end portion of the tube to said nozzle,which means is adapted to ex-tend said open end portion of the tube onto the outer circumferential surface of said outer nozzle member and cover the latter with the former then said inner nozzle member is projected from the front end of said outer no-zzle member; a tube-end gathering mechanism disposed to as to work of that section of said open end portion of the tube which is extended around the projected portion of said inner nozzle member; a tube-end binding mechanism disposed so as to work on the gathered end portion of the tube after said inner nozzle member has been retracted into said outer nozzle member; and an auxiliary deaerating means for applying hot air to a bottom portion of the tube to thermally contract the same portion of the tube, the deaeration of the tube continuing to be carried out via said outer nozzle member even after said inner nozzle mem-ber has been retracted thereinto.

3. A deaerator according to Claim 2, wherein the thermal contraction of said bottom portion of the tube with hot air is carried out prior to the deaeration of the tube via said open end portion thereof.

4. A deaerator according to Claim 2, wherein the thermal con-traction of said bottom portion of the tube with hot air is carried out simultaneously with the deaeration of the tube via said open end portion thereof.