CA2265602A1

CA2265602A1 - Method and device for filling and closing a container, and container obtained with this method

Info

Publication number: CA2265602A1
Application number: CA002265602A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Fred Willem Savrij Droste; Maria Cornelia Hendrika Kamp-Stroeken
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Trivium Packaging Netherlands BV
Priority date: 1996-09-11
Filing date: 1997-09-11
Publication date: 1998-03-19
Also published as: DE69717684T2; BR9711756A; NL1004001C2; AU4224397A; EP1021337B1; AU720563B2; EP1021337A1; JP2001505513A; DE69717684D1; WO1998010988A1

Abstract

A method for filling and closing a container comprises the steps of: (a) providing an open container and placing thereof such that the mouth opening of the container is situated at the top; (b) filling the open container with product for packaging, for instance food or a drink, such that a space remains between the surface of the product and the mouth; (c) introducing into said space a chosen quantity of sterile liquid nitrogen; (d) placing a cover loosely on the mouth rim and maintaining the loose placing of the cover on the mouth rim for a chosen time interval; and (e) sealingly coupling the peripheral zone of the cover to the mouth rim zone of the container.

Description

ï»¿l015202530CA 02265602 1999-03-101 PCT/NL97/00518x Sch/MV/151 Em) __ W: 4New preamble to the description USMETHOD AND DEVICE FOR FILLING AND CLOSINGA CONTAINER, AND CONTAINER OBTAINED WITHTHE METHODThe invention relates to a method for fillingand closing a container comprising the steps of:(a) providing an open container andplacing thereof such that the mouth opening of thecontainer is situated at the top;(b) filling the open container withproduct for packaging, for instance food or a drink, suchthat a space remains between the surface of the productand the mouth;(c) introducing into said space a chosenquantity of sterile liquid nitrogen;(d) placing a cover on the mouth rim; and(e) sealingly coupling the peripheral zoneof the cover to the mouth rim zone of the container. Thismethod is known from EP-A-0 421 597.It is an object of the invention to cause thefilling and closing of a container, in particular forfood or a drink, to take place such that the danger ofbacterial contamination of the content of the can islimited to a minimum during filling and closing.It is a further object of the invention tocause the filling and closing of a can to take place suchthat the oxygen content of gas present in the can isconsiderably reduced.These objectives are reached by placing a coverloosely on the mouth rim and maintaining the looseplacing of the cover on the mouth rim for a chosen timeinterval.Continue on page 1 of the original description.line 29 "Otherwise . . . . . .."AMENDED SHEETï»¿101520253035W0 98/ 10988CA 02265602 l999-03- 10PCT/NL97/005182by this gas flow between the mouth rim of the can and thecover laid loosely thereon. This effectively preventsbacterial contamination by germs in the environment.These are blown away from the access to the can by saidgas flow. By making use of a sufficient quantity ofliquid nitrogen the air initially present in thecontainer can be effectively expelled by the evaporationof the nitrogen. The oxygen content in the can is herebyeffectively reduced. Particularly in respect of the wishto prevent oxidation of foodstuffs by oxygen, this is avery desirable effect of the invention.The method can have the particular feature thatthe can according to (a) is a metal container.This latter method is preferably embodied suchthat the coupling according to step (e) takes place byseamâfolding.In the most usual cans the method can beembodied such that the chosen quantity according to step(c) lies in the order of 1-10 droplets.A very practical embodiment of the methodaccording to the invention, which lends itselfparticularly well to implementation in an automaticallyoperating device, has the special feature that the chosentime interval corresponds with the time in which thecontainer is transported from a station in which step (d)is performed to a station in which step (e) is performed.The method according to the invention asspecified above can be performed with a for instanceautomatically operating device for filling and closing acontainer, which device comprises:means for providing an open container andplacing thereof such that the mouth opening is situatedat the top;means for filling the open container withproduct for packaging, for instance food or a drink, suchthat a space remains between the surface of the productand the mouth:ï»¿101520253035W0 98/10988CA 02265602 l999-03- 10PCT/NL97/005183means for introducing into said space a chosenquantity of sterile liquid nitrogen;means for placing a cover loosely on the mouthrim and maintaining the loose placing of the cover on themouth rim for a chosen time interval: andmeans for sealingly coupling the peripheral _zone of the cover to the mouth rim zone of the container.The invention further relates to a containerfilled with product,certain quantity of nitrogen gas, obtained by applyingfor instance food or a drink, and athe method in accordance with any of the methods asspecified above.The invention will now be elucidated withreference to the annexed drawings. Herein:figure 1 shows a schematic representation of aknown method for filling and closing a container; andfigure 2 shows a representation correspondingwith figure 1 of a method according to the invention.Figure 1 shows in a first stage a metalcontainer 1 consisting of a bottom (not shown) and astanding body. This has at its top a mouth opening 2 witha mouth rim 3. After transport as according to an arrow4, filling of the can 1 with food product 6 takes placeas according to arrow 5. As will be apparent, a certainspace 7 remains free between the surface of the productand the mouth 3. After further transport a quantity (forinstance several drops) of liquid nitrogen 8 are appliedto surface 6 via a dispensing device 7. This nitrogen hasa temperature of almost -200Â°C and in these freeconditions is in a state in which the liquid boils andthereby evaporates rapidly while releasing gaseousnitrogen.From a stack 9 of covers 10 a cover is thenplaced onto mouth rim 3 and sealingly connected to mouthrim 3 by rotation 11 through a schematically designatedseamâfolding device 12. It will be apparent that while inthis manner a certain pressure is created in the filledcontainer which can contribute for instance to the totalï»¿101520253035W0 98/ 10988CA 02265602 l999-03- 10PCT/NL97/005184rigidity of the filled container, penetration into thecontainer of germs from outside is in no way preventedand oxygen is not expelled. It is noted that thetransport between dispensing device 7 and seamâfoldingdevice 12 will take some time and that the dangersreferred to occur during this period.In contrast to figure 1, figure 2 shows that acover 10 is temporarily placed loosely on mouth rim 3,whereby gaseous nitrogen can escape as according toarrows 13 via the gap 14 which is created partly by thenitrogen pressure in space 7 after cover 10 has beenloosely placed. Bacterial contamination is effectivelyprevented hereby and air, and therewith oxygen, presentin space 7 is expelled. only after expiry of a chosentime interval does a seam-folding operation in accordanceIt isnoted that the invention is of course not limited to awith the last illustration of figure 2 take place.metal embodiment of the container and/or the can. Glasscontainers for instance with screw covers or the likealso fall within the scope of the invention.It is also noted generally that the quantity ofliquid nitrogen used according to the prior art of figure1 will in general be smaller than in the configuration offigure 2 in which the teaching of the invention isapplied. According to the invention a part of thenitrogen must in any case evaporate and serve to generatean effective gas flow which prevents bacterialcontamination and expels oxygen.It is finally noted that,the method of figure 2 isin a device in whichimplemented, the distancebetween the station where the covers are laid on looselyand the station where the covers are seam~folded intoplace in combination with the transporting speedaccording to arrow 4 corresponds with a desired chosentime for which the liquid nitrogen is able to perform itsdescribed action, for instance such that after the seam-folding a certain amount of liquid nitrogen still remainsï»¿CA 02265602 l999-03- 10W0 98/10988 PCT/NL97/005185which can subsequently evaporate in order to effect acertain overpressure in the filled container.'k'k'k*'k

Claims

1. Method for filling and closing a container, comprising the steps of:
(a) providing an open container (1) and placing thereof such that the mouth opening (2) of the container (1) is situated at the top;
(b) filling the open container (1) with product (6) for packaging, for instance food or a drink, such that a space (7) remains between the surface (6) of the product and the mouth (3);
(c) introducing into said space (7) a chosen quantity of sterile liquid nitrogen (8);
(d) placing a cover (10) loosely on the mouth rim (3) and maintaining the loose placing of the cover (10) on the mouth rim (3) for a chosen time interval; and (e) sealingly coupling the peripheral zone of the cover (10) to the mouth rim zone (3) of the container.

2. Method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the can (1) according to (a) is a metal container.

3. Method as claimed in claim 2, wherein the coupling according to step (e) takes place by seam-folding.

4. Method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chosen quantity according to step (c) lies in the order of 1-10 droplets.

5. Method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the chosen time interval corresponds with the time in which the container (1) is transported from a station in which step (d) is performed to a station (12) in which step (e) is performed.

6. Device for filling and closing a container (1), which device comprises:

means for providing an open container (1) and placing thereof such that the mouth opening (2) is situated at the top;
means for filling the open container (1) with product (6) for packaging, for instance food or a drink, such that a space (7) remains between the surface (6) of the product and the mouth (3);
means for introducing into said space (7) a chosen quantity of sterile liquid nitrogen (8).
means for placing a cover (10) loosely on the mouth rim (3) and maintaining the loose placing of the cover (10) on the mouth rim (3) for a chosen time interval; and means for sealingly coupling the peripheral zone of the cover (10) to the mouth rim zone (3) of the container (1).

7. Container filled with product, for instance food or a drink, and a certain quantity of nitrogen gas obtained by applying the method as claimed in any of the claims 1-5.