JP2005065882A - Vaporizer of sterilizing liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a vaporizer of a sterilizing liquid capable of efficiently and stably vaporizing the sterilizing liquid. <P>SOLUTION: The vaporizer 10 of a vaporizer 1 of sterilizing liquid drops down a hydrogen peroxide solution from a drop nozzle 15 onto the heating surface 21 of the heating plate 20 of a heating unit 12 arranged under a chamber 11 to vaporize the same. The heating surface 21 is formed in a conical shape having the predetermined inclination, a liquid reservoir 22 is formed at the top central portion of the same, and guide grooves 23 is radially formed from the liquid reservoir 22 at the center, the hydrogen peroxide solution dropped onto from the drop nozzle 15 to the liquid reservoir 22 is formed so as to disperse radially and outwardly along the guide grooves 23 to vaporize while diffusing and flowing down over the heating surface 21 from the outer ends of the guide grooves 23. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus for vaporizing a sterilizing liquid used when sterilizing by condensing a vaporized gas of a sterilizing liquid on the surface of an object to be sterilized such as a food container.

  As a method of sterilizing food objects such as food containers using a sterilizing solution such as a peracetic acid solution or a hydrogen peroxide solution, the vaporized gas of the sterilizing solution is adhered to the surface of the sterilized material and then dried with hot air or the like. What is done by doing is known. Compared with the method of immersing the sterilization object in the sterilization liquid or spraying the sterilization liquid on the sterilization liquid and drying it, the sterilization liquid is uniformly applied even if the sterilization target has a complicated shape. In addition, it has excellent characteristics that it can be dried quickly and the amount of sterilizing solution used is small.

  As a vaporizer for vaporizing a sterilizing liquid in such a method, there is one disclosed in Patent Document 1.

As shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. 4, a carrier air supply pipe 42 and a guide pipe 43 are provided in a chamber 41 having a heat transfer body 41 </ b> A heated by a heat source 41 </ b> C on the lower side and a dropping nozzle 41 </ b> B on the upper side. The sterilizing liquid in the chemical tank 44 is supplied to the dropping nozzle 41B by the pump 45, and the sterilizing liquid is dropped from the dropping nozzle 41B onto the surface (evaporation surface) of the heat transfer body 41A to be evaporated. The vaporized gas is conveyed to the object to be sterilized via the induction pipe 43 by the carrier air supplied from the carrier air supply pipe 42.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-66142

  However, in the vaporizer having the above-described conventional configuration, the sterilizing liquid drops are supplied by dropping from the fixed dropping nozzle onto the upper surface of the flat and horizontal heat transfer body, so that the sterilization is always performed at the same position of the heat transfer body. A liquid will be dripped, the temperature of the dripping site | part of the disinfection liquid will fall locally by heat of vaporization, and vaporization efficiency will deteriorate.

  In addition, the heat transfer body is feedback-controlled based on temperature information from a temperature detection means such as a temperature sensor, and is configured to maintain a predetermined temperature. Since the amplitude of the change becomes large and the vaporization amount also changes in response to this temperature change, the vaporization amount is not stable.

  That is, there is a problem that the vaporization efficiency is poor and the vaporization amount is unstable. As a result, the concentration of the vaporized gas in the sterilizing liquid changes, and a stable sterilizing ability cannot be obtained.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the said problem, Comprising: It aims at providing the vaporizer of the sterilization liquid which can vaporize a sterilization liquid efficiently and stably.

  The sterilizing liquid vaporizing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, which achieves the above object, is a vaporizing apparatus that drops the sterilizing liquid from a dropping nozzle onto the heating surface to evaporate the sterilizing liquid. The sterilizing liquid dropped from the dropping nozzle is vaporized while flowing down the heating surface.

  According to this configuration, the sterilizing liquid spreads down the heating surface and is heated and vaporized in a wide range. Therefore, the amount of vaporization per unit area is smaller than when the heating surface is flat with a constant amount of dripping, the local temperature drop on the heating surface is small, and the temperature change is also small.

  Further, in the sterilizing liquid vaporizing apparatus according to claim 2, the heating surface is substantially conical, and the dropping nozzle is disposed so as to drop the sterilizing liquid at the apex portion. To do.

  With this configuration, the sterilizing liquid diffuses and flows down around a substantially conical shape, and is heated and vaporized in a wide range.

  Further, the sterilizing liquid vaporizing device of the invention according to claim 3 is characterized in that a liquid reservoir is formed at a site where the sterilizing liquid is dropped from the dropping nozzle of the heating surface.

  As a result, the sterilizing liquid dropped from the dropping nozzle stays in the liquid reservoir and is then dispersed and vaporized while flowing down to a wide range.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for vaporizing a sterilizing liquid, wherein the heating surface is provided with diffusion guide means for diffusing and flowing the sterilizing liquid dropped from the dropping nozzle.

  As a result, the sterilizing liquid is guided by the diffusion guide means, diffuses to the heating surface, and vaporizes while flowing down.

  Further, in the sterilizing liquid vaporizing apparatus according to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the diffusion guide means includes a concave groove extending from the dropping portion of the sterilizing liquid from the dropping nozzle to the upstream portion of the heating surface, the center of the dropping portion. It is characterized by being formed in a plurality of radial shapes.

  Thereby, the sterilizing liquid dripped from the dripping nozzle is diffused radially along each concave groove and vaporizes while flowing down the heating surface.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the sterilizing liquid dropped from the dropping nozzle is heated and vaporized in a wide range while flowing down along the inclination of the heating surface. small. Accordingly, the temperature change is small, and the sterilizing liquid can be efficiently and stably vaporized. As a result, the vaporized gas of the sterilizing liquid having a constant concentration can be stably generated, and by using this, a sterilizing apparatus having a stable sterilizing ability can be configured.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the sterilizing liquid dropped from the dropping nozzle diffuses and flows down around the substantially conical hot surface and is evaporated and evaporated. For this reason, the local temperature drop and temperature change of the heating surface are extremely small, and the sterilizing liquid can be efficiently and stably vaporized.

  According to the invention of claim 3, since the sterilizing liquid dropped from the dropping nozzle stays in the liquid reservoir and then disperses and flows down to a wide range, it is heated in a wider range to be evaporated and evaporated. There is little local temperature drop and temperature change on the heating surface, and the sterilizing liquid can be efficiently and stably vaporized.

  Further, according to the invention according to claim 4, since the sterilizing liquid is guided by the diffusion guide means and diffuses to the heating surface and vaporizes while flowing down, there is no local temperature drop of the heating surface, and the sterilizing liquid is efficiently used. It can vaporize well and stably.

  Moreover, according to the invention which concerns on Claim 5, after disperse | distributing the sterilization liquid dripped from the dripping nozzle radially along each concave groove, it further diffuses and flows down a heating surface, spread | diffuses more widely and uniformly. Vaporize. Therefore, the sterilizing liquid can be efficiently and stably vaporized.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a configuration example of a sterilizing liquid vaporizer according to the present invention, and FIG.

  The illustrated sterilizing liquid vaporizer 1 constitutes a part of a sterilizing apparatus that uses a hydrogen peroxide solution (for example, a 35% hydrogen peroxide solution) as a sterilizing liquid and sterilizes the vaporized gas by adhering it to a food container. A vaporizer 10 and a supply device 30 for supplying a hydrogen peroxide solution to the vaporizer 10. The hydrogen peroxide solution supplied from the supply device 30 is evaporated and evaporated by the vaporizer 10. It produces gas.

  In the vaporizer 10, a substantially cubic sealed chamber 11 having a predetermined capacity is constructed with the hot plate 20 of the heating device 12 as a bottom plate and the upper side thereof surrounded by an outer plate, and a carrier air line is formed on the upper surface of the chamber 11 13, a guide line 14, and a dropping nozzle 15 are provided.

  The heating device 12 includes a plurality of electric heating elements 24 and a temperature sensor 25 in a hot plate 20 made of stainless steel having a disk shape with a predetermined thickness and an upper surface formed as a heating surface 21. The heating surface 12 is controlled to be heated to a predetermined constant temperature (for example, 200 ° C.) by feedback control of energization to the electric heating body 24 based on temperature detection information by the temperature sensor 25. .

  The other end of the carrier air conduit 13 is connected to a carrier air supply device (not shown), and the other end of the guide conduit 14 is connected to an adhesion device (not shown).

  The dripping nozzle 15 is disposed such that its tip is located at a predetermined distance above the center of the hot plate 20 (heating surface 21), and is connected to the supply device 30 via the chemical solution supply line 16.

  The supply device 30 is configured to include a metering pump 32 in the upper part of the storage tank 31, and the hydrogen peroxide solution stored in the storage tank 31 is passed through the chemical solution supply path 16 at a predetermined flow rate (for example, 3 to 5 cc / min) by the metering pump 32. Via the vaporizer 10 (dropping nozzle 15).

  The sterilizing liquid vaporizer 1 drops the hydrogen peroxide solution supplied from the supply device 30 at a predetermined flow rate from the dropping nozzle 15 onto the heating surface 21 of the vaporizer 10 heated to a predetermined temperature to evaporate it. Generate hydrogen peroxide gas. This hydrogen peroxide gas is transported to the adhesion device via the induction conduit 14 by dry air supplied into the chamber 11 from the transport air conduit 13.

  Here, the heating plate 20 of the heating device 12 has a heating surface 21 having a predetermined gradient (for example, a peak) as shown in FIG. 3A which is a BB cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 and FIG. The liquid reservoir 22 is formed at the central top of the conical shape, and guide grooves 23 serving as diffusion guide means are provided radially around the liquid reservoir 22.

  The liquid reservoir 22 is an inverted conical recess having a predetermined diameter and a predetermined depth, the guide groove 23 is a slit having a predetermined width, and the bottom thereof is formed horizontally from the deepest portion of the liquid reservoir 22 and is equiangularly spaced in the circumferential direction. There are 8 strips (ie at 45 ° intervals). The liquid reservoir 22 is not limited to the concave shape and may be flat as long as it can once hold the sterilizing liquid.

  As described above, the dripping nozzle 15 has its tip disposed on the center upper side of the heating surface 21, so that the hydrogen peroxide solution is dripped into the liquid reservoir 22. By providing the liquid reservoir 22, the dripping nozzle 15 does not have to be positioned at the exact upper center of the conical heating surface 21.

  According to the heating device 12 having such a configuration, the hydrogen peroxide solution dripped from the dripping nozzle 15 into the liquid reservoir 22 of the hot plate 20 is dispersed and guided around the all sides along the guide groove 23 from the liquid reservoir 22. The heating surface 21 flows down from the outer end of the groove 23 while diffusing. As a result, the hydrogen peroxide solution spreads over the wide area of the heating surface 21 and is heated, so that the amount of vaporization per unit area is reduced compared to the case where the heating surface 21 is flat with a constant amount of dripping. It evaporates without incurring a local temperature drop. Thereby, the temperature change of the heating surface 21 can be suppressed small, and hydrogen peroxide gas can be generated efficiently and stably. Therefore, the vaporized gas of the sterilizing liquid having a constant concentration can be stably supplied to the adhesion apparatus, and by using this, a sterilizing apparatus having a stable sterilizing ability can be configured.

  The shape of the heating surface 21 is not limited to the above configuration example. For example, the heating surface 21 may be configured such that the sterilizing liquid is dropped on the top as a flat surface inclined to one side, and the gradient of the inclined surface is large. In addition, an optimum value can be selected according to conditions such as the dropping flow rate of the sterilizing liquid. Further, the number, shape, depth, and the like of the guide grooves 23 in the above configuration example can be changed as appropriate, and the guide means for guiding the flow of the sterilizing liquid is not limited to the grooves but may be convex. .

It is a top view of the example of 1 composition of the sterilization liquid vaporizer concerning the present invention. It is AA sectional drawing of FIG. It is BB sectional drawing of FIG. It is a conceptual diagram of the vaporization apparatus as a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Vaporizer 12 Heating device 15 Dripping nozzle 21 Heating surface 22 Liquid reservoir 23 Guide groove (diffusion guide means)

Claims (5)

In the vaporizer that evaporates the sterilizing liquid by dropping the sterilizing liquid from the dropping nozzle onto the heating surface,
The sterilizing liquid is characterized in that the heating surface is inclined at a predetermined angle from the horizontal, and the sterilizing liquid dropped from the dropping nozzle is vaporized while flowing down the heating surface. Vaporizer.   2. The sterilizing liquid vaporizer according to claim 1, wherein the heating surface has a substantially conical shape, and the dropping nozzle is disposed so as to drop the sterilizing liquid at the apex portion thereof.   The sterilizing liquid vaporizer according to claim 1, wherein a liquid reservoir is formed at a portion of the heating surface where the sterilizing liquid is dropped from the dropping nozzle.   The sterilizing liquid vaporizer according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the heating surface is provided with diffusion guide means for diffusing and flowing down the sterilizing liquid dropped from the dropping nozzle. The diffusion guide means is characterized in that a plurality of concave grooves extending from the dropping part of the sterilizing liquid from the dropping nozzle to the upstream part of the heating surface are formed radially around the dropping part. The sterilizing liquid vaporizer according to claim 4.

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