JP2000327089A - Pressure type filling method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable pre-evacuation of a resin container to prevent the deterioration of quality due to the oxidation of liquid by a method wherein a space is provided so as to surround a liquid charge container, and the container and the space are tightly closed, maintaining the pressure in the space at a pressure lower than that of the container and liquid is then filled into the container. SOLUTION: When a container 4 is raised by a bottle base, the lower end of a vent tube 24 is inserted into the container 4, and a mouth part 4a of the container 4 is pressed against a seal member 38 to tightly seal the interior of the container 4. When the bottle base further rises, the lower end surface of a cylindrical member 40 fitted on the outer periphery of a valve housing 30 is pushed up to tightly close an inner space 46 of the member 40. Whereupon vacuum valves 52, 54 are opened to draw the air in the container 4 and the space to discharge it from a vacuum chamber 56. Carbon dioxide in a charge liquid tank 14 is blown into the container 4 from a gas passage 26, thereby performing flushing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a pressurized filling method and apparatus, and more particularly to a pressurized filling method and apparatus suitable for filling a carbonated beverage or the like in a low pressure-resistant container such as a resin container. It is.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, when filling beer into a container, it is necessary to reduce the oxygen in the container as much as possible so that the beer is not oxidized after filling. Therefore, pre-evacuation (vacuum suction to discharge the air in the container) is applied to a container with high strength such as a glass bottle, and then pressurized carbon dioxide gas is supplied into the container. After that, filling of beer or the like is performed. By performing pre-evacuation in this manner, the air in the container can be almost completely replaced with carbon dioxide gas, and the amount of residual oxygen can be extremely reduced. Can be prevented from being oxidized.

In recent years, resin containers have been widely used as filling containers for various beverages and the like. However, when pre-evacuation is performed on such a resin container, the rigidity of the container is insufficient, and the container is crushed by a pressure difference between the inside and outside of the container, so that it is impossible to perform pre-evacuation.

[0004]

Therefore, conventionally, when a carbonated beverage is filled in a resin container, the air in the container is removed by performing flushing (blowing a pressurized gas into the container and discharging it together with air). Filling was performed by replacing the gas with a pressurized gas such as carbon dioxide. However, in flushing, the replacement ratio is only about 90%, and a considerable amount of oxygen remains in the container. Therefore, during the filling, the residual oxygen dissolves in the liquid and oxidizes the filling liquid. There is a problem that the quality is deteriorated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to perform pre-evacuation on a resin container so that even if a carbonated beverage such as beer is filled, the quality is deteriorated due to oxidation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a pressurized filling method and a filling device which can prevent the occurrence of the pressure.

[0006]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a pressurized filling method comprising the steps of: providing a space surrounding a container to be filled with a liquid; sealing the inside of the container and this space; After the pressure is reduced to the pressure within the container, the container is filled.

[0007] Further, a pressurized filling device according to another invention comprises:
Sealing means for sealing the mouth of the container, suction means for sucking gas in the container, gas supply means for supplying gas into the container, filling means for filling liquid into the container, and gas at the top of the container Equipped with a snift means for discharging, after sucking the air in the container, replacing by blowing a pressurized gas into this container,
Thereafter, a liquid is filled, and further, a cylindrical member arranged around the container to form a space surrounding the container, sealing means for sealing the space in the cylindrical member, A suction means for sucking air is provided, and the inside of the container and the inside of the closed space are respectively sucked by both the suction means, and the pressure in the closed space is set to be equal to or less than the pressure in the container, and the container is filled. It was made.

[0008]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below with reference to an embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view schematically showing a pressurized filling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of the pressurized filling apparatus, which is continuously conveyed by a conveyor 2. The resin container 4 is separated at predetermined intervals by a timing screw 6 and is introduced into a rotating body 10 of a filling device via an inlet starwheel 8. The resin container 4 is filled with a liquid while being rotated and conveyed by the rotating body 10, and the outlet star wheel 1
The paper is then discharged onto the conveyor 2 via the conveyor 2 and sent to the next step.

The rotating body 10 of the filling device has a circular filling liquid tank 14 which rotates on a rotating shaft (not shown).
Is provided. Filling liquid 16 (carbonated beverage, for example, beer) is stored in filling liquid tank 14, and space 18 above filling liquid 16 is filled with pressurized carbon dioxide gas. . In the vicinity of the outer periphery of the bottom surface 14a of the filling liquid tank 14, vertical through holes 14b are formed at equal intervals in the circumferential direction, and a filling valve (generally denoted by reference numeral 20) is provided in each through hole 14b. I have. Below each filling valve 20, a bottle stand (not shown) for placing and lifting a container is provided, and rotates integrally with the filling liquid tank 14.

Each of these filling valves 20 has a pipe 22 fixed upright on the bottom surface 14a of the filling liquid tank 14,
And a vent tube 24 disposed in the fixed pipe 22 with a gap therebetween.
The gas passage 26 formed in the inside is cut off by a gas valve 28. The gas passage 26 is formed in a valve housing 30 fixed between the inner surface of the pipe 22 and the outer surface of the vent tube 24 and the lower surface of the filling liquid tank 14. The filling liquid passage 32 formed by the formed vertical through hole 30 a is cut off by the liquid valve 34. The gas valve 28 is opened and closed by rotation of a shifter lever 36, and the liquid valve 34 has the same pressure as the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas blown into the resin container 4 when the gas valve 28 is opened, and the pressure of the carbon dioxide gas in the filling liquid tank 14. Open when it becomes. In addition,
A long hole (not shown) in the vertical direction is formed in the fixed pipe 22, and the filling liquid 16 in the filling liquid tank 14 flows into the filling liquid passage 32 from this long hole.

A seal member 3 is provided around an opening on the lower surface side of the through hole 30a formed in the valve housing 30.
8 is fitted, and when the mouth 4a of the container 4 on the bottle base is pressed against the sealing member 38 by the rise of the bottle base, the inside of the container 4 is sealed.

An upper end of a cylindrical member (cylindrical member) 40 is fitted to the outer periphery of the valve housing 30 fixed to the lower surface of the filling liquid tank 14 so as to be able to move up and down. An O-ring 42 is mounted on the inner surface of the upper end of the cylindrical member 40,
The inner space of the cylindrical member 40 is kept airtight. The cylindrical member 40 is constantly urged downward by a spring 44 interposed between the lower surface of the filling liquid tank 14 and the upper surface of the cylindrical member 40, and the valve housing 3
A stop 30b formed on the outer periphery of the lower end of the "0" stops. A seal member (not shown) is attached to the lower end surface of the cylindrical member 40. When the pedestal on which the resin container 4 is placed rises, the seal member on the lower end surface comes into close contact with the upper surface of the bottle base and the cylindrical member is closed. Forming a closed space 46 inside 40

A first vacuum passage 48 communicating with a through hole 30a of the valve housing 30 which forms a part of the filling liquid passage 32, is formed in the bottom portion 14a of the filling liquid tank 14 and the inside of the valve housing 30. A second vacuum passage 50 communicating with the space 46 inside the member 40 is formed. These two vacuum passages 48, 50
Are connected to the vacuum chamber 5 via a first vacuum valve 52 and a second vacuum valve 54, respectively.
6 is connected. Further, a space 46 in the cylindrical member 40 is provided.
The second vacuum passage 50 communicates with the airtight chamber 60 through a valve (sealed space opening valve) 58 for opening the sealed space 46 to the atmosphere.
It is connected to the. Further, inside the filling liquid tank 14 and the valve housing 30, there is formed a snift passage 64 for releasing the pressurized gas remaining in the upper space 62 of the container 4 after filling the liquid to atmospheric pressure. The snift passage 64 is connected to a snift chamber 68 via a snift valve 66.

Next, the operation of the pressurized filling device having the above-described structure will be described. The resin container 4 continuously conveyed by the conveyor 2 is separated at predetermined intervals by a timing screw 6 and delivered to each pocket of the inlet starwheel 8, and each bottle provided at the lower part of the rotating body 10 It is supplied on a table (position A in FIG. 1). At this time, the liquid valve 34 and the gas valve 28 of the filling valve 20 located above the bottle base to which the resin container 4 is supplied are closed, and the first and second vacuum valves 52, 54, closed space opening valve 58
The snift valve 66 is closed.

The gantry receiving the container 4 rises from the position A to the position B. When the container 4 is raised by raising the bottle base, the lower end of the vent tube 24 is inserted into the container 4, and the mouth 4a of the container 4 is pressed against the sealing member 38 attached to the lower surface of the valve housing 30 to press the resin. The inside of the container 4 is sealed. When the bottle base rises to a position where the mouth 4a of the container 4 is pressed against the sealing member 38, the lower end surface of the cylindrical member 40 which is fitted and supported on the outer periphery of the valve housing 30 so as to be able to move up and down is fixed to the upper surface of the bottle base. , And is slightly pushed up (the state shown in FIG. 2), whereby the space 46 inside the cylindrical member 40 is sealed. At this point, both the inside of the resin container 4 and the inside of the closed space 46 are at atmospheric pressure. Further, the liquid valve 34,
The gas valve 28 and the valves 52, 54, 58, 66 of each passage 48, 50, 64 are all closed.

After the space 46 in the resin container 4 and the cylindrical member 40 is sealed as described above, the first vacuum valve 52 and the second vacuum valve 52 are moved between the positions B and C in FIG.
By opening the vacuum valve 54, the air in the container 4 and the closed space 46 is sucked and discharged from the vacuum chamber 56 (this step is called primary pre-evacuation). Both the inside of the resin container 4 and the inside of the closed space 46 are in a negative pressure state (see the section B to C in FIG. 3 showing the pressure (a) in the closed container 4 and the pressure (b) in the closed space 46). Also, valves 58 and 66 other than the vacuum valves 52 and 54 are closed. In this way, during pre-evacuation in which the air in the resin container 4 is sucked and discharged by vacuum, the inside of the sealed space 46 formed on the outer periphery of the container 4 is also sucked by vacuum at the same time so that the pressure is almost the same. There is no possibility that the container 4 is crushed by external pressure. In this embodiment, the inside of the resin container 4 and the inside of the closed space 46 are set to substantially the same negative pressure. However, the same pressure is not necessarily required. If the relationship of (1) is established, the container 4 can be prevented from being crushed.

After the majority (for example, 90%) of the air in the resin container 4 and the closed space 46 is exhausted by the primary pre-evacuation, the shifter lever 36 is rotated between the position C and the position D in FIG. The gas valve 28 is opened, and the pressurized carbon dioxide gas in the filling liquid tank 14 is blown into the resin container 4 from the gas passage 26 (this step is called flushing). At this time, the first
The vacuum valve 52 is kept open, and a part of the mixed gas of the carbon dioxide gas and the air remaining during the primary pre-evacuation is transferred to the vacuum chamber 5.
Discharge from 6. The pressure in the resin container 4 is in a negative pressure state higher than the time of the first pre-evacuation and lower than the atmospheric pressure, and the pressure in the sealed space 46 is in the same negative pressure state as in the first pre-evacuation. (Figure 3
Section C to D). The liquid valve 34 remains closed, and the second vacuum valve 54 on the closed space 46 side,
The closed space opening valve 58 and the snift valve 66 are kept closed.

After blowing carbon dioxide gas into the container 4 by flushing, the gas valve 28 is closed by rotating the shifter lever 36 in the reverse direction from the position D to the position E in FIG. 1, and the first and second vacuum valves are again turned on. 52 and 54 are opened, the mixed gas of the air and carbon dioxide in the container 4 is discharged from the vacuum chamber 56 and the closed space 46 is opened.
The inside air is exhausted from the vacuum chamber 56 (this step is called secondary pre-evacuation). During the secondary pre-evacuation, both the vacuum valves 52 and 54 are opened and the other valves 58 and 66 are closed. Both the pressure in the container 4 and the pressure in the closed space 46 become the same negative pressure as in the primary pre-evacuation (see the section D to E in FIG. 3). During this secondary pre-evacuation, the closed space 4 formed around the outer periphery of the container 4 is also used.
Since the inside of the container 6 is sucked by the vacuum at the same time and is maintained at substantially the same pressure, there is no possibility that the resin container 4 is crushed.

Next, between position E and position F in FIG. 1, the shifter lever 36 is rotated to open the gas valve 28, and the pressurized carbon dioxide gas in the filling liquid tank 14 is again discharged through the vent tube 24 to the resin. It is blown into the container 4 (this step is called counter pressure). At this time, the valves 52 and 54 of both the vacuum passages 48 and 50 are closed, and the closed space opening valve 58 is opened. As a result, the resin container 4
The inside becomes a positive pressure and the inside of the closed space 4 is an open valve 5
8 to the atmosphere and become atmospheric pressure (E to E in FIG. 3).
See section F).

By performing the above counter pressure step, carbon dioxide gas is blown into the resin container 4, and the pressure in the container 4 rises and becomes equal to the carbon dioxide gas pressure in the filling liquid tank 14. Opens to start filling. Between the F position and the G position in FIG.
The liquid 16 flows into the container 4 from the filling liquid passage 32, and the carbon dioxide gas in the container 4 is discharged into the filling liquid tank 14 through the gas passage 26 in the vent tube 24. During this time, the gas valve 28 and the liquid valve 34 are open, the first and second vacuum valves 52 and 54 and the snift valve 66 are closed, and the closed space opening valve 58 is open. Therefore, the inside of the closed space 46 is at atmospheric pressure, and the inside of the container 4 is at positive pressure (see the section FG in FIG. 3).

When the liquid level of the beer filled in the resin container 4 reaches the lower end of the vent tube 24, the outlet for the carbon dioxide gas in the container 4 is closed, and the beer rises in the vent tube 26 and is filled. When the pressure is balanced with the pressure in the liquid tank 14, the operation is stopped and the filling is completed. Thereafter, the shifter lever 36 rotates and the gas valve 28 closes.

Finally, at positions G to H in FIG. 1, the snift valve 66 is opened to allow gas in the head space 62 of the container 4 to escape from the snift chamber 68 to bring the pressure in the container 4 to atmospheric pressure. 3 GH section). By discharging the gas in the container 4 to the atmospheric pressure in this way, the bottle base is lowered later, and the container 4 is sealed.
When the seal is released away from the seal, the filling liquid can be prevented from suddenly foaming. During this snifting, the sniff valve 66 is opened and the closed space opening valve 58 is kept open.
Both the inside and the closed space 46 become atmospheric pressure.

After the end of the snifting, the sniffing valve 66 and the valve 5 for opening the closed space are set at positions H to I in FIG.
8 is closed and the bottle is lowered with all valves 48, 50, 58, 66 closed. And I of FIG.
When the container 4 reaches the position, the container 4 on the bottle base is delivered to the outlet starwheel 12 and discharged onto the conveyor 2 to be sent to the next step. Thus, the closed space 46 is formed around the resin container 4, and the inside of the resin container 4 and the closed space 46 are formed.
The interior of the container 4 is suctioned by a vacuum, so that the pressure in the container 4 is always maintained at a level equal to or higher than the pressure in the closed space 46 (see the formula (1)). Even if it is 4, it will not be crushed by external pressure. Therefore, pre-evacuation can be performed on the resin container 4 and oxygen in the container 4 can be almost completely discharged, so that the resin container 4 can be filled with an easily oxidizable liquid such as beer or the like. Became.

In the above-described embodiment, the pressure is controlled such that the inside of the closed space 46 formed by the cylindrical member 40 around the resin container 4 is vacuum-sucked and then released to the atmosphere. As shown in (c), after vacuum suction during the period from the primary pre-evacuation to the secondary pre-evacuation (B to E), the pressure is increased in the same manner as in the resin container 4 and the positive pressure is substantially the same as that of the container 4. Pressure may be used (see EG). In this case, it is only necessary to pressurize the inside of the closed space 46, and it is not always necessary to use carbon dioxide gas.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of a pressurized filling apparatus according to a second embodiment, in which the same or corresponding parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. The description is omitted. Filling valves 20 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction near the outer periphery of the rotating disk 11.
The bottle bases 21 are respectively arranged below the reference numerals 0 so as to be able to move up and down. A cylindrical member 4 is provided on the outer periphery of the body 23 of the filling valve 20.
0 is fitted so as to be able to move up and down. An O-ring 42 is mounted on the inner peripheral surface of the upper end portion of the cylindrical member 40 to maintain airtightness with the valve body 23, and a seal member 41 is provided on the lower end surface.
Is mounted on the outer periphery of the resin container 4 to form a closed space 46 in close contact with the ascending pedestal 21.

In this embodiment, the filling liquid tank 14
Is fixed to the upper part of the rotating body 10 separately from the filling valve 20, and the filling liquid 16 in the filling liquid tank 14 is
Filling liquid passage 3 of filling valve 20 via liquid supply pipe 31
2 and the pressurized gas in the upper space 18 is supplied to the gas passage 26 of the filling valve 20 via the gas tube 25. The liquid valve 34 is located in the filling liquid passage 32.
The gas valves 28 are provided in the gas tubes 25, respectively.

A first vacuum passage 48 for sucking the inside of the resin container 4, a first vacuum valve 52 for opening and closing the vacuum passage 48, and a second vacuum passage 50 for sucking the inside of a closed space 46 formed by the cylindrical member 40.
A second vacuum valve 54 for opening and closing the vacuum passage 50 is provided. When the vacuum valves 52 and 54 are opened, the gas in the container 4 and the gas in the sealed space 46 are respectively sucked and discharged from the vacuum chamber 56. Is done. The second vacuum passage 50 for sucking the inside of the closed space 46 is provided with the closed space 4.
A valve 58 for opening a closed space that opens the chamber 6 to the atmosphere through an open chamber 60 is provided. Furthermore, container 4
A snift passage 64 and a snift valve 66 communicating with an upper space 62 in the inside are provided, and gas remaining in the upper space 68 of the container 4 after filling is discharged from the snift chamber 68.

This filling device is a flow-type filling device for performing filling while measuring a filling flow rate by a flow meter 70. As in the first embodiment, primary pre-evacuation is performed at a predetermined rotational position. After that, the gas valve 28 is opened to perform flushing, then, secondary pre-evacuation is performed, and further, a pressurized gas is blown into the container 4 to perform replacement. To start filling. The amount of liquid to be charged is measured by the flow meter 70, and when the flow rate reaches a predetermined value, the liquid valve 34 is closed to terminate the filling.

Also in this embodiment, when sucking the inside of the resin container 4 as in the first embodiment, the closed space 46 around the container 4 is sucked and the pressure in the space 46 is reduced. Is maintained at a pressure equal to or lower than the pressure in the container 4, so that pre-evacuation can be performed on the resin container 4 as well. Is now possible. Therefore, the resin container 4 can be filled with easily oxidizable beverage such as beer.

As described above, the present invention makes it possible to perform pre-evacuation on a resin container so that a carbonated beverage such as beer can be filled in the resin container. It is also possible to apply the present invention to a container such as a thin-walled can in which the container may be crushed due to the difference between the pressure and the external pressure.

[0031]

As described above, in the pressurized filling method and the filling apparatus of the present invention, the container is hermetically closed, the space formed around the container is sealed, and the pressure in the closed space around the container is reduced. By filling the inside of the container at a pressure lower than the internal pressure, pre-evacuation can be performed even on a rigid container such as a resin container, and the amount of oxygen remaining in the container can be reduced by ordinary glass. Since the volume can be reduced to about the same level as a container or the like, it is possible to fill such a container with a liquid that is easily oxidized such as beer.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a simplified plan view showing the overall configuration of a pressurized filling device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a main part of the pressurized filling device.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing a state of pressure control when a filling process is performed by the pressurized filling device.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of a pressurized filling device according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 4 Container 20 Filling means (filling valve) 38 Container sealing means (seal member) 40 Cylindrical member (cylindrical member) 41, 42 Space sealing means 46 Space around container 48, 52, 56 Suction means 50 in container , 54, 56 Suction means in space 64, 66, 68 Snift means

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A space surrounding a container filled with a liquid is provided, the inside of the container and this space are sealed, and the pressure in the closed space is reduced to the pressure in the container or less, and then the liquid is introduced into the container. Pressurized filling method, characterized in that filling is performed. 2. A cylindrical member is arranged around a container to be filled with a liquid to seal the inside of the container and the inside of the cylindrical member, respectively, and then a sealed space formed by the inside of the container and the cylindrical member. The air inside the container is suctioned, and then the gas inside the container is blown by pressurized gas to make the pressure in the container equal to or higher than the pressure in the closed space, and then the container is filled with liquid. Pressurized filling method. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein after the step of sucking air in the container and the closed space, a flushing step of blowing gas into the container and a step of sucking the inside of the container again are performed. Pressurized filling method. 4. A sealing means for closing the mouth of the container, a suction means for sucking gas in the container, a gas supply means for supplying gas into the container, a filling means for filling liquid in the container, And a snift means for discharging gas at the top of the container,
After sucking air in the container, pressurized gas is blown into the container to replace the container, and then, in a pressurized filling device that fills the liquid, a cylindrical shape that is arranged around the container to form a space surrounding the container A member, a sealing means for sealing the space in the cylindrical member, and a suction means for sucking air in the sealed space are provided, and both the suction means sucks the inside of the container and the inside of the sealed space, and the inside of the sealed space. A pressure-type filling apparatus characterized in that the pressure in the container is set to be equal to or lower than the pressure in the container and the container is filled. 5. A filling liquid passage communicating between the inside of the filling liquid tank and the container, a liquid valve for opening and closing the filling liquid passage, a space in the upper part of the filling liquid tank filled with a pressurized gas and a container. A gas passage communicating with the inside, a gas valve for opening and closing the gas passage, a sealing member for sealing the mouth of the container supplied on the bottle base, a vacuum passage for sucking the gas in the container, and the vacuum A vacuum valve for opening and closing the passage, a snift passage for releasing the pressure in the container to the outside, a snift valve for opening and closing the snift passage, and lifting means for relatively lifting and lowering the filling valve and the bottle base, In a pressurized filling apparatus for filling the container with the same atmosphere as the pressurized gas while sealing the container opening with a sealing member, the container is provided on the filling valve side, A cylindrical member that forms a sealed space around the container in close contact with the container, a second vacuum passage that sucks the inside of the sealed space, and a second vacuum valve that opens and closes the second vacuum passage; A pressure-type filling apparatus characterized in that the inside of the container and the inside of the closed space are sucked from the container to reduce the pressure in the closed space to the pressure in the container, and then the inside of the container is filled. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein a seal member is provided on one of the cylindrical member and the bottle base, and the contact surface between the cylindrical member and the bottle base is sealed by the seal member. A pressurized filling device as described. 7. The pressurized filling device according to claim 5, further comprising an open passage for opening an atmosphere in a closed space formed by the cylindrical member. 8. The pressurized filling according to claim 5, wherein a spring is provided for supporting the cylindrical member so as to be able to move up and down with respect to the filling valve, and for urging the cylindrical member downward. apparatus.