JP2001322613A - Method of pasteurization of liquid packaged object - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a hygienic problem from occurring, which is caused by a solvent sticking to and remaining on a packaging bag in pasteurization of a liquid packaged object. SOLUTION: The packaging bag 1 filled with an object is allowed to pass through a heating region 4 and a heat insulation region 6 in an atmosphere, and the object which is heated to a predetermined temperature is kept at the temperature for a predetermined time. Then the packaging bag 1 is allowed to pass through an air cooling region 8 to cool the object close to an initial temperature.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for heating a liquid package packed and packed in a packaging bag by an automatic filling device to sterilize or sterilize the package and improve the quality of the liquid package. The present invention relates to a heat sterilization method for a liquid packaged object, which is cooled to near an initial temperature within a short period of time without impairment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art After a liquid package including viscous substances such as various seasonings, soups, dressings and mustards is filled and packaged in a packaging bag at room temperature, the package is sequentially heated and sterilized and cooled. Conventionally, it has been widely and generally performed to fill a packaging bag with a liquid packaging object that has been heat-sterilized in advance at a high temperature and then cool the packaging package together with the packaging bag.

[0003]

However, most of the heating and cooling of the liquid bag after filling the liquid bag into the packing bag is performed by passing the packing bag through a liquid heat medium or a refrigerant or immersing the bag in the liquid. In addition to this, there is a hygiene problem that the liquid medium remaining on the packaging bag after the cooling is completed causes dust to adhere to the packaging bag, generation of mold, etc. The low heating and cooling efficiencies of the above-mentioned methods have led to the problem that the efficiency of filling and packaging in the continuous packing of articles to be packaged in a single line with the automatic filling device is reduced, and the size of the heating and cooling devices must be increased. In addition, the irregularities in the heating time of the liquid packaged item to a predetermined temperature, the heat retention time required for sterilization, and the cooling time of the packaged item to the initial temperature or a temperature close to the initial temperature are single. There is a problem that to further reduce the efficiency of the series of operations within the line.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such problems of the prior art, and a main object of the present invention is to perform each of heating, warming, and cooling of a liquid package in the atmosphere. The purpose of the present invention is to sufficiently prevent the occurrence of a hygiene problem caused by the residual liquid medium adhering to the packaging bag, and the other purpose is to increase the heating efficiency of the packaged material, particularly by increasing the heating efficiency of the device. A further object is to absorb irregularities in heating time, warming time, and cooling time by the number of packaging bags carried into each area without increasing the packing efficiency. By that
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for heat sterilization of a liquid packaged object which sufficiently prevents a decrease in work efficiency.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, there is provided a method for heat sterilization of a liquid packaged object, wherein a packaging bag filled with the liquid packaged object is passed through a heating zone in the atmosphere, preferably by high frequency heating. While heating by microwave heating or far-infrared heating, the liquid to-be-packaged, which has been transported to a heat retaining area and heated to a predetermined temperature, is kept at that temperature for a certain period of time required for sterilization, and then the packaging bag is air-heated. The liquid to be packaged is cooled down to near the initial temperature by passing through the medium cooling zone. According to this method, the liquid packaged object can be heated to a required temperature, kept warm, and cooled without allowing the packaging bag to pass through or dipped in the liquid medium. It is possible to completely eliminate the occurrence of the problem caused by the adhesion of the metal.

[0006] When the package is heated by high-frequency heating, microwave heating or far-infrared heating, the heating time required to reach the required temperature can be advantageously shortened. Without increasing the size of the equipment,
The efficiency of filling and packaging the article to be packaged can be greatly increased.
And this is based on heating the packaged object while applying vibration to the liquid packaged object, and stirring the packaged object in the bag,
This is more effective when the temperature of the article to be packaged is made uniform. In addition, here, it is possible to perform each of the heat retention and cooling of the liquid packaged object by controlling the temperature of each atmosphere heated and cooled to a predetermined temperature using a thermostat, in order to increase the heat retention and cooling efficiency. preferable.

By the way, each of heating, warming and cooling of the liquid packaged object is performed in units of a tray in a state where a plurality of packaging bags are arranged on the tray, preferably in an aligned manner. For example, it is preferable to absorb irregularities in the heating time, the warming time, and the cooling time based on the capacity of the automatic filling device. For example, when continuously feeding a continuous band-shaped packaging bag continuously filled and packed by an automatic filling device to a heating area provided with a heating capacity corresponding to the filling and packaging speed, a plurality of heating times is required. In order to secure heat retention time and cooling time that is many times longer than the heat retention time, it is necessary to make each of the heat retention area and the cooling area considerably long, and also to use energy gas for heat retention and cooling. On the other hand, if the tray is used as a unit as described above, the irregularity of each time is adjusted by the number of trays to be fed into each area, so that the apparatus is not enlarged. In addition, absorption can be performed efficiently and efficiently with little energy loss. In order to further improve the thermal efficiency, it is preferable to heat, heat and cool the packaged object from both the upper and lower sides of the tray.

[0008] By the way, as for the tray, the same tray in which a plurality of packaging bags are arranged is passed from the heating area to the cooling area, and the tray is replaced when the packaging bag is carried from the heat retaining area to the cooling area. You can also. The former has an advantage that it can be used for a tray having a relatively small heat capacity, and the effect on heating, cooling, etc. can be sufficiently reduced without requiring a tray replacement step. In addition to being able to advantageously remove the influence of the heated tray on cooling, for example, by replacing a packaging bag on a pre-cooled tray, the tray itself can be effectively used for cooling the articles to be packaged. There are benefits that can be contributed.

When the tray is replaced, it is necessary to reverse the tray and the other tray pressed on the upper surface side of the packaging bag on the tray and the tray so that the packaging bag is placed on the tray. In this case, as described above, it is preferable to perform heat exchange between the packaging bag and the tray in the cooling area. Then, for such heat exchange, it is preferable to store the refrigerant in the tray before the tray enters the cooling area.

On the other hand, before the tray enters the heat retaining area, it is preferable to store the heat medium in the tray in order to enhance the heat retaining efficiency. It can be water or another liquid medium that is heated together with the object. Here, for example, before the tray enters the cooling area, the cooling medium cooled to a predetermined temperature is forcibly fed into the tray to discharge the heating medium in the tray. It can be easily replaced with a refrigerant.

[0011] In this method, more preferably, the time required for heating the liquid packaged object is set to an integral multiple of one time or more required for disposing a plurality of packaging bags on the tray, and the heat retention time is set to the heating time. The time is, for example, an integral multiple of two or more times, and the cooling time is an integral multiple of the warming time. According to this, it is possible to easily and easily absorb the physically inevitable irregularities of the heating time, the warming time, and the cooling time by the number of trays to be fed into each area. For example, the time required for arranging ten continuous packaging bags made by an automatic filling device in ten rows on a tray is 30 seconds, and a total of one hundred packaging bags on the tray is used. Assuming that the time required to heat the liquid packaged object from 20 ° C. to 70 ° C. is 30 seconds, there is no time difference between these two steps, so that the packaged object on one tray is heated in the heating zone. At the same time, the tray in which the predetermined number of packaging bags have been arranged can be immediately carried into the heating area. On the other hand, assuming that the time required for keeping the heated packaged goods warm is 60 seconds, the difference between the heating time and the warming time can be obtained by always having two trays that have passed the heating area in the warming area. Can be absorbed and at 70 ° C
Assuming that the time required to cool the packaged material heated to a temperature of, for example, 38 ° C. is 10 minutes, the cooling area is set to a size and capacity capable of accommodating 20 trays at all times, so that heating and heat retention can be performed. The waiting time for the finished packaged object can be made unnecessary.

In order to arrange and arrange a predetermined number of packaging bags on one tray, the packaging bags filled with the liquid to be packaged are defined as a predetermined number of continuous packaging bags. It is an excellent task to sequentially transport the continuous packaging bags on the tray and drop and place them in a predetermined position on the tray under the intermittent relative displacement of the tray in the direction orthogonal to the transport direction. It is preferable in terms of securing efficiency and excellent alignment.

Further, it is preferable that the tray in which the packaging bags are arranged is passed from the heating zone to the cooling zone by independent or common conveyors for each processing zone. By setting an appropriate conveyor speed for each processing area, the installation space of each processing area can be reduced, and according to the latter, it is not necessary to transfer trays such as conveyors.

After the cooling of the liquid package is completed,
Inspection of the packaged object, for example, inspection and measurement of the presence or absence of foreign matter is preferable from the viewpoint of quality control and the like, and after such a process, continuous packaging bags are added one by one. It is preferable to carry out single-bag packing, box packing, and the like by cutting and separating into single pieces, in order to facilitate subsequent handling.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a process chart conceptually illustrating a method according to the present invention, in which 1 indicates a continuous packaging bag. In this continuous packaging, for example, the liquid packaging material is packaged by an automatic filling device and cut in units of ten packaging bags, and the continuous packaging bag 1 thus manufactured is placed on the tray 2. They are conveyed sequentially and arranged, for example, in ten rows there. in this case,
Assuming that the time required for manufacturing one continuous packaging bag 1 is, for example, 3 seconds, and the time required for arranging the continuous packaging bags 1 in ten rows on the tray 2 is, for example, 30 seconds, The time difference between its alignment process can be advantageously eliminated.

Thereafter, the tray 2 on which the continuous packaging bag 1 is placed is carried into the heater 4 in the atmosphere by the conveyor 3 running at a required speed, where the high frequency heating means, the microwave heating means, the far infrared heating By means of a heating means 4a, which can be a means or the like, preferably heating is performed from both the upper and lower sides of the tray 2, for example, the liquid packaged material which has been at room temperature (around 20 ° C.) can be heated to a predetermined temperature (70 ° C.) (Around ℃). Here, in such heating of the packaged object, vibration is applied to the packaged item, directly to the packaging bag,
It is preferable to stir and flow the article to be packaged in order to make the temperature uniform and improve the heating efficiency. By the way, if the time required for such heating is, for example, 30 seconds,
The time difference between the heating step and the step of arranging and arranging the packaging bags 1 on the tray 2 can be eliminated.

Next, the tray 2 is transferred to another conveyor 5 and is carried into the heat retaining area 6 in the atmosphere, where the predetermined temperature (7
The liquid package heated to around 0 ° C.) is kept at the heating temperature for a time necessary for sufficient sterilization under the control of the ambient temperature. Here, this heat retention is performed by packing the bag 1
Exposure to the heat retaining temperature from both the upper and lower surfaces of the tray is preferable from the viewpoint of increasing the efficiency. For this purpose, for example, the tray 2 is formed in a lattice structure, and the upper and lower surfaces of the packaging bag 1 are brought into direct contact with the atmosphere of the heat retaining region, or It is possible to heat the liquid medium stored in the tray 2 in the heating area 4 in the same manner as the packaged object, and to use the liquid medium as a heat medium in the heat retaining area 6 to contribute to the heat retention of the packaged article. The heat retention time here is, for example, 6
When 0 second is set, two trays 2
Makes it possible to sufficiently absorb irregularities in the respective times of the warming step and the heating step.

Further, the tray 2 after the completion of the heat retention is carried into the aerial cooling zone 8 by another conveyor 7, where
The object to be packaged in the heated state is cooled quickly from both the upper and lower surfaces of the tray 2 under the control of the ambient temperature, preferably at room temperature or a temperature close to room temperature, for example, 38 ° C.
° C. Here, the cooling from the lower surface side of the tray 2 is performed by directly contacting the upper and lower surfaces of the continuous packaging bag 1 with the cooling region atmosphere, as described above, when the tray 2 has a lattice structure. Can be used for packaging bags 1
When the tray is replaced prior to being loaded into the cooling area 8, the tray heated through the heating area and the heat retaining area is
By replacing the tray with a pre-cooled tray and exchanging heat between the packaging bag 1 and the tray, and replacing the liquid medium stored in the tray and functioning as a heat medium with a refrigerant, By exchanging heat between the refrigerant and the packaging bag 1, each can be realized.

The replacement of the tray here is performed in the tray 2
Pressing another tray on the upper surface side of the upper packaging bag 1, flipping the packaging bag 1 upside down with both trays sandwiching the packaging bag 1, and easily placing the packaging bag 1 on another tray In addition, the exchange of the liquid medium, the liquid medium stored in the tray and functioning as a heat medium, from the liquid medium supply port of the tray opened to a level slightly higher than the packaging bag mounting level, Based on the supply of the refrigerant cooled to a predetermined temperature, the refrigerant can be discharged from the liquid medium discharge port opened to a level substantially equal to the liquid medium supply port, and only the refrigerant remains in the tray.

When the required cooling time in the air cooling zone 8 is, for example, 20 minutes, 40 trays 2
Is always present in the cooling zone 8, it is possible to absorb irregularities in the time between the warming step and the cooling step.

When the conveyors 3, 5 and 7 are provided independently in the respective steps of heating, heat retention and cooling as described above, each of the conveyors is run at a required speed, and There is an advantage that the length of the processing area can be advantageously suppressed. On the other hand, if the conveyors that run in each processing area are a common conveyor, there is an advantage that the number of steps for changing trays for each processing area becomes unnecessary.

When a common tray is used from the heating process to the cooling process, the tray may be made of a synthetic resin lattice structure reinforced with glass fiber, for example. As shown in the longitudinal section in FIG.
A hollow structure made of synthetic resin having a glass plate 2a disposed on the upper surface may be used. In the latter case, the liquid medium supply port 26 and the liquid medium discharge port 2 opening above the glass surface are provided.
By providing each of c, the hollow portion 2d is filled with the liquid medium so as to fill the entire hollow portion, and the heat exchange between the liquid medium and the packaging bag 1 on the glass plate 2a, and eventually the packaged object is performed. Can be made. Therefore, in the latter tray 2, by filling the hollow portion 2d with the heat medium before carrying it into the heating area 4, the tray 2 also contributes to the heating of the packaged object in addition to the heating means 4a. While being able to
It can also contribute to the heat retention in the heat retention region 6. Here, when the liquid medium to be filled in the hollow portion 2d is a room temperature liquid medium before being carried into the heating area 4, the liquid medium is heated in the heating area 4 in the same manner as the packaged object. The heat capacity of the liquid medium can contribute to keeping the packaged product warm.

On the other hand, when the tray 2 is carried into the cooling zone 8 while keeping the heat medium or the liquid medium which has contributed to the heat retention, the cooling efficiency cannot be reduced. 2 before being carried into cooling area 8 through
In contrast, by supplying a coolant from the liquid medium supply port 2b, the heat medium or the like in the hollow portion 2d is pressed, and it is preferably caused to flow through a flow path in the hollow portion 2d to thereby discharge the liquid medium 2c. And finally, the heat medium or the like is replaced with a refrigerant. According to this, the refrigerant newly filled in the hollow portion 2d is in the cooling zone 8
Thus, the packaging bag 1 functions to cool the packaging bag 1 from the lower surface side and increase the cooling efficiency.

Tray 2 which can be configured as described above
The arrangement of the packaging bags on the upper side is, for example, in a conveyor in which one or a plurality of ring-shaped belt members are stretched over a pair of drive rods and driven rods which are located opposite to each other in a horizontal plane. At every predetermined travel distance of the conveyor that transports the continuous packaging bags 1 from the transport start end to the end, all the rods are swung downward by 90 °, and the transported continuous packaging bags 1 are dropped onto the tray waiting downward. At the same time, each time the continuous packaging bag 1 is dropped, the tray 2 is relatively displaced in a direction perpendicular to the conveying direction of the conveyor 2 by a distance corresponding to the width of the continuous packaging bag 1, and these are all It can be performed by repeating until the placement of the bag 1 is completed.

After the liquid package has been sufficiently cooled within a short period of time as described above, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (1), each continuous packaging bag 1 is sequentially taken out from the tray 2 by using the load suction means and the like, and each of them is sequentially passed through the inspection / weighing means 10 so as to remove foreign matter from the packaged object. For example, the presence / absence of metal contamination is detected, the weight is measured, and then each continuous packaging bag 1 is cut into a single package 1a one by one from the perforated portion formed in advance by the cutting means 11. The single package 1a that has been cut and separated, and preferably separated, is stored in a predetermined number of pieces in a packaging bag, a packaging box, or the like.

In this case, the time required to take out the continuous packaging bags 1 from the tray 2 and the inspection / weighing time of each continuous packaging bag 1 are both set to 3 seconds, for example, and the time required to separate the single package 1a is set to 0. .3 seconds, a series of these operations can be performed smoothly without stagnation of the continuous packaging bag 1, and the stagnation of the continuous packaging bag 1 can be sufficiently performed while continuing the cooling step. Can be prevented.

[0027]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the heating, keeping and cooling of the liquid to be packaged and packed in the packaging bag are performed in the atmosphere, whereby the packaging bag is formed. It is possible to sufficiently prevent dust from adhering to the packaging bag and generation of mold due to the liquid medium adhering to the bag. In addition, high-frequency heating,
In the case of heating by microwave heating or far-infrared heating, the packaged object can be heated to a required temperature in a very short time without deteriorating the material. It is possible to improve the efficiency of filling and packaging by a filling device or the like. And further, the physical irregularities of the heating time, the warming time, and the cooling time,
By adjusting the conveyor speed and the number of packaging bags carried into each processing area, for example, the number of trays that are always present in the same processing area, and absorbing them sufficiently, the efficiency of a series of operations without the risk of stagnation of the packaging bags etc. Can be greatly improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process chart conceptually illustrating a method according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a tray.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a process after completion of cooling.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Continuous packaging bag 1a Single packaging bag 2 Tray 3,5,7 Conveyor 4 Heating area 4a Heating means 6 Heat retaining area 8 Cooling area 10 Inspection / weighing means 11 Cutting means

Claims (17)

[Claims] Claims: 1. A packaging bag filled with a liquid material to be packaged,
After passing through the heating zone in the atmosphere and carrying into the heat retention zone, the liquid packaging object heated to the predetermined temperature is maintained at that temperature for a certain period of time, and then the packaging bag is passed through the air cooling zone, where the liquid packaging A heat sterilization method for a liquid package to cool the package to near the initial temperature. 2. The method for heating and sterilizing a liquid package according to claim 1, wherein the heating of the liquid package is performed by one of high-frequency heating, microwave heating and far-infrared heating. 3. The method for heating and sterilizing a liquid package according to claim 1, wherein the liquid package is heated while applying vibration to the package. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the temperature of the liquid package is kept and cooled by controlling the ambient temperature.
3. The method for heat sterilization of a liquid packaged product according to any one of the above items 3. 5. The heating of the liquid package according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of packaging bags are passed through a heating area, a heat retaining area and a cooling area in a state of being arranged on a tray. Sterilization method. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein heating, keeping and cooling of the liquid package are performed from both upper and lower sides of the tray.
5. The heat sterilization method for a liquid packaged product according to any one of the above items 5. 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein a plurality of packaging bags are passed from a heating zone to a cooling zone while being arranged on the same tray. 8. The heat sterilization method for a liquid package according to claim 5, wherein the tray is replaced when the packaging bag is carried into the cooling region from the heat retaining region. 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the exchange of the tray is performed by inverting the other tray pressed against the upper surface of the packaging bag on the tray and the tray. 10. The heat sterilization method for a liquid packaged object according to claim 8, wherein heat exchange is performed between the packaging bag and the tray in the cooling zone. 11. The method according to claim 10, wherein a refrigerant is stored in the tray before the tray enters the cooling area. 12. Before the tray enters the heat retaining area,
The heat sterilization method for a liquid packaged object according to any one of claims 5 to 11, wherein a heat medium is stored in the tray. 13. The time required for heating a liquid packaged object is as follows:
One of the time required to arrange multiple packaging bags on a tray
The heat sterilization method for a liquid package according to any one of claims 5 to 12, wherein the heat retention time is an integral multiple of the heating time, and the cooling time is an integral multiple of the heat retention time. 14. A packaging bag filled with a liquid article to be packaged is made into a continuous packaging bag of a predetermined number of bags, and a plurality of manufactured continuous packaging bags are sequentially transported onto a tray and are orthogonal to the transport direction. The tray is dropped and placed at a predetermined position on the tray under intermittent relative displacement of the tray in the direction.
The heat sterilization method for a liquid packaged product according to any one of the above. 15. The heat sterilization of a liquid article to be packaged according to claim 5, wherein the tray on which the packaging bags are arranged is passed from the heating area to the cooling area by an independent or common conveyor. Method. 16. The heat sterilization method for a liquid package according to claim 1, wherein after the liquid package has been cooled, the package is inspected and weighed. 17. A continuous packaging bag is separated into individual bags after inspection and weighing of a liquid packaged object.
The heat sterilization method for a liquid packaged product according to any one of the above.