JP2001163311A - Sterilizing and cleaning system for pet bottle - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sterilizing and cleaning system for PET bottles wherein the bottles can be completely aseptic without need of using a bactericide, running costs can be reduced, an odor and residual can be completely eliminated, and corrosion of piping machines can be prevented, and also wherein the inside of a large-sized container such as a 2-liter PET bottle can be completely and highly efficiently cleaned throughout the body. SOLUTION: The system comprises a sterilization process A of spraying electrolytic water with pH 5 to 8 as sterilization water inside the PET bottle 1 and a cleaning process B of spraying aseptic water obtained by aseptically filtering surface-active functional water inside the PET bottle after the sterilization.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for sterilizing and cleaning PET bottles which is applied to a bottling plant for mineral water packed at room temperature without heating.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the demand for mineral water has been increasing in the field of drinking water from the viewpoint of taste and health. Mineral water is generally supplied in the form of bottles of transparent resin containers of various sizes.On the supply side, large-scale automatic filling equipment by flow work, that is, a bottling plant, is introduced, which enables mass production. Is being done. Under such circumstances, the demand for mineral water packed in a large transparent resin container, that is, a PET bottle of 2 liters or the like has been greatly increased.

[0003] In a bottling plant that packs mineral water into such a PET bottle, the PET bottle is sterilized and washed before the bottle filling.
Conventionally, various agents for sterilization, for example, caustic soda,
Sodium dizincate, aqueous hydrogen peroxide and the like are used.
Also, ordinary tap water or hot water is used as the washing water.

[0004]

In a mineral water, particularly in a sealed bottling plant packed at a non-heated room temperature, the most attention is required to the generation of mold due to contamination of the PET bottle. For this reason, bottle sterilization is conventionally performed using various chemicals with strong sterilizing power. However, running costs are high, odor remains, residual germicide due to insufficient rinsing, corrosion of piping equipment due to germicide, etc. There is a problem.

Conventionally, regardless of the size of the bolt, the tip of a spray nozzle for injecting a germicide or washing water into the bottle is disposed near the tip of the opening of the bottle, and from there the inside of the bottle. Liquid is being sprayed toward.
However, in the case of a large and rectangular bottle such as a 2 liter PET bottle, sterilization and cleaning at the corners around the inner bottom cannot always be performed sufficiently, and the injection liquid and the discharge liquid are not completely separated in the opening of the bottle. There were problems such as interference and inefficiency.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its object is to completely sterilize a PET bottle without using a disinfectant, reduce running costs, completely eliminate odors and residues, and provide piping equipment. It is an object of the present invention to provide a system for sterilizing and cleaning PET bottles that can prevent corrosion of PET bottles.

Another object of the present invention is to completely prevent a large container such as a 2 liter PET bottle from leaking into every corner,
Moreover, it is an object of the present invention to provide a PET bottle sterilization and cleaning system that can be efficiently cleaned.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a sterilizing step of injecting electrolyzed water having a pH of 5 to 8 as sterilizing water into a plastic bottle is provided. A washing step of injecting aseptic water obtained by aseptically filtering functional water as washing water into the interior of the PET bottle after sterilization, to provide a sterilizing and washing system for PET bottles.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, in at least one of the sterilization step and the washing step, the plastic bottle is arranged in a substantially vertical inverted position with its opening downward.
The sterilization of the PET bottle according to claim 1, wherein sterilizing water or washing water is jetted from a spray nozzle inserted substantially vertically with a drainage gap therearound to a certain height position in the opening of the PET bottle. Provide a cleaning system.

[0010] According to the third aspect of the present invention, the spraying of the sterilizing water or the washing water from the spray nozzle is performed upward at an opening angle of about 30 degrees and the inner peripheral surface located below the inner bottom surface of the inverted plastic bottle. 3. The sterilization and cleaning system for PET bottles according to claim 2, wherein the PET bottle is brought into contact with the inside of the bottle for 30 seconds or more at a strength reaching the inner bottom surface by collision with the PET bottle.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the sterilizing water used in the sterilizing step has a chlorine concentration of 50 to 60 ppm and a normal temperature. Provide a bottle sterilization and cleaning system.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a two-liter bottle is applied as the plastic bottle.
4. A system for sterilizing and cleaning PET bottles according to any one of the above items.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a PET bottle sterilization and cleaning system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The following embodiment relates to a cleaning system in a mineral water bottling plant packed with non-heated room temperature.

FIG. 1 is a flowchart schematically showing the flow of the process of the whole plant, and FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a plan layout configuration of the system. 3 to 5 are explanatory views of the operation of the sterilization step and the cleaning step, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing the nozzle insertion state in both steps.

As shown in FIG. 1, the plant system according to the present embodiment includes a sterilization step A performed at the first stage after the PET bottle is carried in, a cleaning step B performed thereafter, and a method of adding a mineral to the cleaned PET bottle. The process is roughly divided into a filling process C for packing water and an inspection process D for performing a bol test thereafter. In the sterilization step A and the washing step B, after the bottle attitude control a1, b1, respectively, the nozzle insertion a2, b
2 and cleaning a3, b3 are performed.

Then, as shown in FIG.
Sequentially, a sterilizing rinser 10 for performing the sterilizing step A.
2. Lincer 103 for Japanese cedar for performing the cleaning step B;
A clean booth 104 for performing the filling step C and an inspection apparatus 105 for performing the inspection step D are arranged.

In the disinfection step A using the disinfecting rinser 102, the PET bottle 1 is used as disinfecting water with electrolyzed water of PH5-8.
Squirt into the interior. In the washing step B using the cedar rinser 103, aseptic water obtained by aseptically filtering functional water having surface activity is sprayed into the plastic bottle 1 as washing water.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the posture control a1 and b1 of the PET bottle 1 in the sterilization step A and the cleaning step B, respectively. That is, each rinser 102, 103
It has a chunking mechanism 2 for detachably holding an opening (neck) of the PET bottle 1 in an upright posture, and a rotating mechanism 4 for rotating the chunking mechanism 2 about a horizontal axis 3. 3 and 4 by the rotating mechanism 4.
As shown in Fig. 5, the PET bottle 1 can be rotated from an upright state to an almost vertical inverted state in which the opening is downward, and can be stopped.

At the inverted stop position of the PET bottle 1, an upward spray nozzle 5 is provided in a substantially vertical arrangement at a position facing the downward opening of the bottle from below. Sterilizing water or cleaning water can be supplied to the spray nozzle 5 through a pipe 6.

As shown in FIG. 5, a nozzle support base 7 for supporting the spray nozzle 5 can be moved up and down at a predetermined timing by a cam mechanism 8, so that when the plastic bottle 1 stops downward, the nozzle support 7 is supported. The spray nozzle 5 is raised together with the table 7, and the tip side of the spray nozzle 5 is inserted to a predetermined depth position in the plastic bottle 1, for example, a position about 1/3 of the height of the plastic bottle 1 as illustrated. It has become.

FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of the spray nozzle 5 inserted into the plastic bottle 1. As shown in FIG. 6, a gap having a sufficient sectional area for drainage is formed between the spray nozzle 5 and the inner peripheral surface of the opening of the plastic bottle 1.

The spraying of the sterilizing water or the washing water from the spray nozzle 5 is performed upward at an opening angle of about 30 degrees and is applied to the inner peripheral surface located below the inner bottom surface of the inverted PET bottle 1. It is 3 with the strength to hit the inner bottom
The contact is made for 0 second or more. Thereby, the sterilizing water and the washing water sufficiently spread to the corners around the inner bottom surface of the plastic bottle 1.

The sterilizing water used in the sterilizing step A has a chlorine concentration of 50 to 60 ppm and is at room temperature. The functional water as the washing water was produced by the following method.

That is, water flows into the magnetized water device and is magnetized.

Next, the magnetized water is allowed to flow into the water activating device,
The ceramic balls are activated by receiving far-infrared radiation, and are provided with an antibacterial function by, for example, a silver-based antibacterial ball. The water thus magnetized, activated and antibacterialized is further passed through a water purifier activated carbon filter for purification, and then flows into a sterilizer to be sterilized by ultraviolet rays. This causes the water to be magnetized, activated and antimicrobial,
It is further purified and sterilized into high-performance water. In the functional water used in the present embodiment, a molecular group (cluster) of water is subdivided by far-infrared rays, the amount of oxygen in the water is increased, and the water is further antibacterialized by a silver-based antibacterial material. The antibacterial activated water is used for removing organic substances and removing chlorine compounds, and can also kill bacteria and prevent algae from forming.

Thus, in this embodiment, the sterilization of the plastic bottle 1 using the electrolytic water as the sterilizing water is performed by applying the sterilizing rinser 102 having the nozzle configuration shown in FIGS. Next, a cedar rinser 10 having a similar configuration
3 is applied to perform washing using functional water as washing water to wash off sterilized water.

The following Table 1 shows that the system of this embodiment was sterilized and cleaned (Sample Nos. 1 to 5: Examples 1 to 5).
5), tap water (Sample No. 6: Comparative Example 1), sodium dizincnate (Sample No. 7: Comparative Example 2) and various disinfectants (Sample No. 8: Comparative Examples 3 to 6) It shows the results of testing the corrosion resistance of equipment and the bactericidal activity of various bacteria.

As shown in Table 1, it can be seen that Examples 1 to 5 have excellent corrosion resistance and can completely kill yeast, lactic acid bacteria and Escherichia coli.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, PH
5 to 8 of electrolyzed water as sterilizing water is injected into the plastic bottle 1 to sterilize it, and sterile water obtained by aseptically filtering functional water having surface activity is used as washing water to clean the sterilized plastic bottle 1. By performing the cleaning by spraying, complete sterilization and cleaning can be performed. In particular, it is effective for preventing generation of mold in a bottling plant for mineral water packed at room temperature without heating.

Further, the PET bottle 1 is arranged in a substantially vertical inverted position with its opening downward, and the PET bottle 1 is inserted from the spray nozzle 5 which is inserted almost vertically with a drainage gap around the opening to a certain height position. By injecting the sterilizing water or the washing water, the discharge of the treated water is smoothly performed without interference with the injected water, and a highly efficient treatment can be performed.

Further, the spray of sterilizing water or washing water from the spray nozzle 5 collides with an inner peripheral surface located upward and below the inner bottom surface of the inverted plastic bottle 1 at an opening angle of about 30 degrees. By ensuring that the contact reaches the inner bottom surface for 30 seconds or more, it is possible to completely sterilize and clean the entire 2 liter PET bottle.

In particular, a desirable result can be obtained by setting the chlorine concentration of the sterilizing water used in the sterilizing step to 50 to 60 ppm and using it at ordinary temperature.

[0033]

[Table 1]

[0034]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to completely sterilize PET bottles without using a disinfectant, reduce running costs, completely eliminate odors and residues, and prevent corrosion of piping equipment. It is possible to achieve the effect that the inside of a large container such as a 2-liter plastic bottle can be completely and completely cleaned without leaking.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an arrangement configuration of the system of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an operation explanatory view in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an operation explanatory view in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an operation explanatory view in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view showing a part of FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 PET bottle 2 Chunking mechanism 3 Axis 4 Rotation mechanism 5 Spray nozzle 6 Piping 7 Nozzle support stand 8 Cam mechanism 101 Line 102 Rinser for sterilization 103 Lincer for cedar 104 Clean booth 105 Inspection device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A sterilizing step of injecting electrolyzed water having a pH of 5 to 8 as sterilizing water into a plastic bottle, and sterilizing the sterilized water obtained by aseptically filtering functional water having surface activity as washing water. A sterilization and cleaning system for a PET bottle, comprising: a cleaning step of spraying the inside of the plastic bottle. 2. In at least one of the sterilization step and the washing step, the PET bottle is arranged in a substantially vertical inverted position with its opening downward, and the PET bottle is placed around the PET bottle at a certain height within the opening. The sterilization and cleaning system for PET bottles according to claim 1, wherein sterilization water or cleaning water is injected from a spray nozzle inserted substantially vertically with a drainage gap. 3. The injection of sterilizing water or washing water from the spray nozzle is performed upward at an opening angle of about 30 degrees and collides with the inner peripheral surface located below the inner bottom surface of the inverted plastic bottle. 3 in the bottle with the strength to reach the inner bottom
3. The PET bottle sterilization and cleaning system according to claim 2, wherein the contact is performed for 0 second or more. 4. The sterilization and cleaning of a PET bottle according to claim 1, wherein the sterilization water used in the sterilization step has a chlorine concentration of 50 to 60 ppm and a normal temperature. system. 5. The PET bottle sterilization and cleaning system according to claim 1, wherein a 2 liter bottle is used as the PET bottle.