JP2006052873A - In-line forming and aseptic filling plant facility - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce probability that degree of cleanness in a clean room is hindered when carrying a forming material into an in-line forming and aseptic filling plant facility. <P>SOLUTION: The plant facility 1 has an entrance room 3 provided with an inlet 10 with a shutter, a storage room 4 and a product manufacturing room 5 formed into a clean room. The entrance room 3 and the storage room 4 are communicated with each other through a first air shower room 13, and the storage room 4 and the product manufacturing room 5 are communicated with each other through a second air shower room 20. The storage room 4 has a capacity capable of storing containers for one week, and constant temperature, constant humidity and constant degree of cleanness are maintained by an air conditioner 15. The containers carried into the entrance room 3 are carried into the storage room 4 by a first roller conveyor 14 passing through the first air shower room 13. The containers inside the storage room 4 are carried into the product manufacturing room 5 by a second roller conveyor 22 passing through the second air shower room 20. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an aseptic filling factory facility for filling a plastic container with contents, and more specifically, in-line molding and aseptic filling factory facility for forming a container and then filling the contents in the factory facility to produce a product. About.

  Beverage manufacturers who supply consumers with mineral water, soft drinks, green tea, tea, coffee, etc. filled in plastic bottles (typically PET bottles) have continuously molded plastic bottles and filled their contents. There is a movement to introduce in-line molding and aseptic filling lines to be performed in the process (Patent Documents 1 and 2). In order to cope with such in-line molding / filling, packaging material manufacturers are considering supplying a large number of preforms in containers and supplying them to beverage manufacturers (Patent Document 3).

  Although beverage manufacturers that have actually introduced in-line molding / filling lines have the desire to make containers from plastic raw materials, they are currently receiving preform supplies from packaging manufacturers, Since it is realistic to make containers, in order to store preformed containers delivered from packaging manufacturers, prepare a warehouse in a separate building from the factory facility where in-line molding and aseptic filling lines are installed, In this warehouse, containers with preforms are stored.

Needless to say, since manufacturers of beverages and the like are required to mold containers and fill contents in aseptic conditions, the factory facilities with in-line molding and aseptic filling lines are generally It is made into a clean room and is kept at a positive pressure and kept in a state of being cut off from the outside.
JP 2000-85001 A JP 2001-212874 A JP 2000-326935 A

  As described above, the in-line molding / aseptic filling factory facility is entirely made into a clean room. Therefore, it is necessary to pay close attention when bringing the raw material into the factory facility.

  By the way, when a bottle is molded from a preform, for example, at an in-line molding / aseptic filling factory facility, it is known that the moisture content of the preform affects the bottle molding, and in particular, the thickness of the plastic bottle is designed to be thin. Sometimes, keeping the moisture content of the preform constant is effective in suppressing the defective product generation rate.

  The object of the present invention is to provide in-line molding / aseptic filling factory facilities that can reduce the possibility that the cleanliness of the clean room will be hindered due to warehousing management when carrying the molding material into the facility, that is, the molding material. To provide aseptic filling plant facilities.

  It is a further object of the present invention to provide an in-line molding / aseptic filling plant facility that can facilitate the maintenance management of cleanliness in a clean room and facilitate the supply management of molding materials to the clean room.

  A further object of the present invention is to facilitate the maintenance and management of the cleanliness of the clean room and reduce the labor and the number of workers without increasing the installation cost and maintenance cost of the in-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility. It is to provide an in-line molding and aseptic filling factory facility.

  A further object of the present invention relates to an in-line molding / aseptic filling factory facility for receiving a preform supplied from a packaging material manufacturer, manufacturing a container from the preform, and filling the container with the contents, The purpose is to provide an in-line molding and aseptic filling facility that can reduce the incidence of molding defects by thoroughly managing the rate.

Such a technical problem, according to the first aspect of the present invention,
In-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility equipped with a clean room equipped with an in-line molding and filling line that molds the container using a molding machine and fills the container with the contents to manufacture the product. Because
A storage room that is arranged adjacent to the clean room, receives the molding material in the container from outside, stores the molding material, and supplies the molding material to the clean room as necessary;
A partition wall separating the storage room from the clean room;
A first air shower room for communicating the storage room with the outside;
A second air shower room for communicating the storage room and the clean room;
This is achieved by providing an in-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility characterized in that the storage room is maintained at a constant temperature and humidity and a constant cleanliness by an air conditioner with a filter.

Moreover, according to the second aspect of the present invention, the technical problem described above is
In-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility equipped with a clean room equipped with an in-line molding and filling line that molds the container using a molding machine and fills the container with the contents to produce the product. Because
A warehousing room for receiving the molding material from the container from the outside;
A storage room that is arranged adjacent to the clean room, receives the molding material from the storage room, stores the molding material, and supplies the molding material to the clean room as necessary;
A partition wall that separates the storage room from the storage room and the clean room, and
A first air shower room for communicating the storage room and the storage room;
A second air shower room for communicating the storage room and the clean room;
This is achieved by providing an in-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility characterized in that the storage room is maintained at a constant temperature and humidity and a constant cleanliness by an air conditioner with a filter.

  That is, the present invention has a first feature in that a storage room that can be substantially called a warehouse is installed adjacent to a clean room in an in-line molding / aseptic filling factory facility. This storage room, which can be called a warehouse, is not a clean room and can be installed relatively inexpensively. In other words, if an area with the function of a raw material warehouse is installed in a part of the clean room of an inline molding / aseptic filling factory facility, the volume of the high-cost clean room will be greatly increased, and the inline molding / aseptic filling factory Costs for building facilities and maintenance costs will increase significantly. From this, in order to suppress this cost increase, the raw material storage area in the clean room has to be limited, therefore the amount of molding material stored in the clean room is also limited, The frequency of work for replenishing this must be increased.

  On the other hand, according to the first feature of the present invention, even if an area that can be called a warehouse is installed adjacent to the clean room inside the in-line molding and aseptic filling factory facility, this is not a clean room. It is possible to suppress a significant increase in costs and maintenance costs for forming and aseptic filling plant facilities. Therefore, the volume of the storage chamber can be set relatively freely, and there is a degree of freedom that the frequency of work for replenishing the storage material with the molding material can be reduced by sufficiently increasing the volume of the storage room. .

  The second feature of the present invention is that the storage room and the clean room adjacent to each other are separated by a partition wall, and the storage room is not only maintained at a constant temperature and humidity by using an air conditioner, but also the storage room is cleaned by a filter of the air conditioner. There are things to keep in. As a result, a buffer zone that is so clean as to be incomparable compared to a contaminated zone such as an open area is interposed between the outside and the clean room.

  In the process of being stored in a constant-temperature, constant-humidity storage, the moisture content of the molding material becomes constant, so the rate at which defective products are generated when molding a container in a clean room can be reduced. This can prevent a decrease in production capacity of the factory facility.

  The third feature of the present invention is that the storage room and the outside are communicated via the first air shower room. As a modified example, the storage room and the storage room for receiving the molding material from the outside may be separated by a partition, and the storage room and the storage room may be communicated with each other via the first air shower room. According to the third feature, contaminants are transferred to the storage room using the molding material as a medium by the first air shower chamber that passes in the process of carrying the molding material from the storage room, which can be called the outside of the open area or the contamination zone, to the storage room. It can prevent entry.

  The fourth feature of the present invention is that the storage room and the clean room are communicated with each other via the second air shower room. According to the fourth feature, although the cleanliness is lower than that of the clean room, the storage room is maintained at a certain level of cleanliness, so that the second passing through the process of carrying the molding material from the storage room into the clean room. This air shower chamber can reliably prevent contaminants from entering the storage chamber using the molding material as a medium. More specifically, in this molding material, the contaminants are already removed by the first air shower chamber in the process of being carried into the storage chamber, and further, the second air shower chamber is entered when entering the clean room. Thus, double purification is performed. In other words, against the possibility of contaminants entering the clean room using the molding material as a medium, the factory facility of the present invention is provided with double barriers by the first and second air shower rooms.

  As described above, according to the first to fourth features of the present invention, the storage room adjacent to the clean room can function as a buffer zone in the process of carrying the molding material into the clean room. It is possible to reduce the possibility that the cleanliness of the clean room is hindered by the warehousing management when the molding material is carried into the aseptic filling factory facility, that is, the molding material is carried in. Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to facilitate the supply management of the molding material to the clean room by storing a large amount of the molding material in the storage room adjacent to the clean room. In addition, the storage room adjacent to the clean room has a relatively low installation cost and maintenance management cost. Therefore, the volume of the storage room is made sufficiently large so that the amount of molding material stored in this storage room is, for example, 3 days. By storing a large amount of molding material such as for up to one week, the frequency of replenishment of the molding material into the storage room can be reduced. Therefore, the larger the storage room volume is, the easier it is to maintain the cleanliness of the cleanroom as described above, but also to facilitate the maintenance of the storage room's constant temperature, humidity and cleanliness. However, since it is not necessary to perform the replenishment work, the personnel cost associated with the refilling work can be reduced.

  It is preferable to provide an automatic control conveyance means in the storage chamber, and to fully unmanned by moving the molding material in the storage chamber fully automatically. This not only eliminates the need for work personnel in the storage room, but also eliminates the possibility of contaminants entering the storage room using the workers as a medium, facilitating maintenance and management of the cleanliness of the storage room. it can.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the communication between the outside and the storage room or the communication between the storage room and the storage room is performed by the first conveyor passing through the first air shower room, and The communication between the storage room and the clean room is made by the second conveyor passing through the second air shower room. According to this, the molding material carried in from the outside can be loaded on the first conveyor and carried into the storage chamber, and the molding material stored in the storage chamber can be transferred to the second conveyor by the automatic conveying means. Since it can be carried into the clean room by placing it, the number of workers and the labor required for these operations can be reduced.

  In the in-line molding / aseptic filling factory facility of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, a plastic container is molded using a preform supplied from a packaging material manufacturer. This preform is supplied from a packaging material manufacturer in a state of being accommodated in a container. Therefore, in the storage room, the preform is handled in a state of being put in a container. By performing the unpacking operation of the container in a clean room, contamination of the preform can be prevented. If this unpacking operation is performed in the area adjacent to the downstream end of the second conveyor described above, the container carried in by the second conveyor can be immediately unpacked. Can save the trouble of carrying containers. Of course, it is preferable to arrange a feeder for feeding the preform to the molding machine adjacent to the unpacking area.

  In the present invention, for example, the in-line molding / aseptic filling factory facility 1 is constituted by a building including a ground floor and the second floor above it, a clean room is provided on the second floor, and a storage room 4 is arranged on the second floor from the ground floor where the warehousing room 3 is provided. You may make it have a continuous internal space. As described above, since the internal space of the storage room 4 can be expanded by continuing the storage room 4 from the ground floor to the second floor, a large amount of containers can be accommodated even with a relatively small area occupied by the site. A large-capacity storage room 4 can be made. Moreover, since the floor on the second floor serves as a partition between the storage room 3 on the ground floor and the clean room (product manufacturing room 5) on the second floor, it is not necessary to provide a special partition between them.

  Moreover, when designing the in-line molding / aseptic filling factory facility 1, the warehousing room 3 may be substantially omitted. FIG. 4 exemplifies the design of the in-line molding / aseptic filling plant facility 100 without the warehousing room 3. In this facility 100, a first air shower chamber 13 is provided facing the entrance 10 with a shutter. The container mounted on the first roller conveyor 14 at the entrance 10 is carried into the storage chamber 4 through the first air shower chamber 13.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 indicates an in-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility. Inside the factory facility 1, a series of processes are performed in which a plastic container is made by a molding machine, the contents are filled in the container to make a product, and then the product is packed and shipped. Specifically, the factory facility 1 is a facility that performs in-line molding and aseptic filling for mineral water. Inside the factory facility 1, a plastic bottle is molded from a raw material preform, and the plastic bottle is mineralized. A series of steps from filling water to shipping it is performed.

  In the factory facility 1, a storage room 3, a storage room 4, a product manufacturing room 5, a packing room 6, and a shipping room 7 are formed by a partition wall 2 for defining a room, and steam and pressurized air are supplied. A chamber 8 for generation is formed. The chamber 8 for generating steam and pressurized air may be separated from the factory facility 1 and installed in another factory facility.

  The inside of the factory facility 1 is maintained in a positive pressure state, that is, a pressure state higher than the outside air, and is kept isolated from the outside. The factory facility 1 has an inlet 10 with a shutter on one end side and an outlet 11 with a shutter on the other end side. The raw material is carried into the factory facility 1 through the inlet 10 and shipped through the outlet 11. The The inlet 10 and the outlet 11 open the shutter only when the raw material is carried in and the product is shipped, and are always closed by the shutter. Each of the rooms 3 to 7 described above is arranged in the order of the warehousing room 3, the storage room 4, the product manufacturing room 5, the packing room 6, and the shipping room 7 from the entrance 10 to the exit 11 corresponding to the flow of the product. ing.

  A preform for molding a PET bottle is delivered in a state of being accommodated in a container from a packaging material manufacturer that manufactures the preform. More specifically, a predetermined number of preforms packed in plastic bags are accommodated in the container.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a container with a preform that is carried from a packaging manufacturer as a raw material for a bottle is stored in a raw material storage warehouse 12 in a separate building on the site, and a necessary number of containers are stored from the storage warehouse 12. It is transported to the entrance 10 of the factory facility 1 using an on-site vehicle such as a forklift. Of course, as shown by the alternate long and short dash line in FIG. 2, the container carried from the packaging material maker may be directly carried to the entrance 10 without interposing the raw material storage warehouse 12. .

  The storage room 3 and the storage room 4 are separated from each other by a first air shower room 13, and the storage room 3 and the storage room 4 are connected to each other by a first roller conveyor 14 that passes through the first air shower room 13. . The container carried to the entrance 10 is mounted on the first roller conveyor 14. In other words, the upstream end of the first roller conveyor 14 extends to the vicinity of the inlet 10, and the container mounted on the first roller conveyor 14 is in the process of being carried into the storage chamber 4 by the first roller conveyor 14. It is purified in the first air shower chamber 13. This prevents contaminants from being carried into the storage chamber 4 using the container as a medium.

  The storage room 4 has an air conditioner 15 as its ancillary facilities. The air conditioner 15 takes in the air in the storage room 4 through the suction pipe 16, and stores the air after adjusting the temperature and humidity through the discharge pipe 17. By refluxing to 4, the temperature and humidity inside the storage chamber 4 are controlled to be constant. Filters 18 and 19 are interposed in at least one of the suction pipe 16 and the discharge pipe 17. The filters 18 and 19 can be provided with filters having an arbitrary filtration degree. The air purified by the filters 18 and 19 is always supplied to the storage chamber 4, so that the storage chamber 4 is not only maintained at a constant temperature and humidity, but also the cleanliness is maintained.

  The storage room 4 is set so that its volume can store containers with preforms for 3 days to 1 week. Therefore, the storage room 4 is replenished with containers from the storage room 3 at intervals of several days. The The container carried into the storage room 4 is stored in a fixed shelf using an automatic control conveyance means such as an automatic control crane. That is, the storage room 4 is unmanned.

  The product manufacturing room 5 is a so-called clean room maintained at a high level of cleanliness. The storage room 4 and the product manufacturing room 5 are isolated by a second air shower room 20, and the storage room 4 and the product manufacturing room 5 are connected by a second roller conveyor 22 that passes through the second air shower room 20. Has been. The container in the storage room 4 is carried out of the fixed shelf by an automatic control crane, transferred to the second roller conveyor 22, and carried into the product manufacturing room 5 by the second roller conveyor 22.

  In the product manufacturing room 5, a first space 25 in which a bottle forming line is installed, a bottle cleaning line, and a second space 26 in which a PET bottle is filled with mineral water of contents are partitioned by a partition 27. The first space 25 is maintained at a cleanliness of class 100,000, and the second space 26 is maintained at a cleanliness of class 10,000.

  The PET bottle with mineral water sealed with a cap is carried into the packing room 6 through the window 28 provided in the partition wall 2 between the product manufacturing room 5 and the packing room 6, and packed in a cardboard box in this packing room 6. Later, they are stacked on a pallet and are carried out from the packing chamber 6 to the shipping chamber 7 and are shipped from the shipping chamber 7 through the outlet 11.

  The packing room 6 is a semi-clean room maintained at a medium level of cleanliness, and this packing room 6 is isolated from the next shipping room 7 via the third air curtain 29, thereby improving the cleanliness of the packing room 6. Maintained. The packing room 6 and the shipping room 7 are connected by a third roller conveyor 30 that passes through the third air curtain 29, and the cardboard boxes packed with PET bottles containing mineral water are stacked on a pallet to be shipped to the shipping room 7 It is carried in.

  FIG. 3 shows a product flow in the product manufacturing room 5. The container in the storage chamber 4 is carried into the product manufacturing chamber 5 through the second air shower chamber 20 by the second roller conveyor 22. The downstream end of the second roller conveyor 22 is set in the vicinity of the outlet of the second air shower chamber 20, that is, the first space 25 in which the bottle forming line is installed, and is carried into the first space 25 in which the bottle forming line is installed. The done container is an unpacking area adjacent to the second air shower chamber 20, and a preform accommodated in the container is taken out by an operator. A preform supply area is provided adjacent to the unpacking area, and the preform taken out from the container is supplied to a blow molding machine in the molding area via the preform supply device.

  The processes after the preform supply are connected by a series of conveyance lines as in the prior art. The blow molding machine forms a PET bottle from a preform by a blow molding method, and the PET bottle after molding is carried to a bottle washing area through an accumulation area that creates a state in which a predetermined number of PET bottles are accumulated. Washed. By interposing this accumulation area, the ability of the blow molding machine to mold and the processing capacity of the subsequent line can be adjusted, and the process after the bottle molding area, PET bottles are connected to each other. Move in state. That is, the PET bottles after molding move to the next second space 26 one after another, and after washing in this second space, the contents are filled with mineral water and then sealed with a cap. It moves to the packing room 6 through the same process as before, and the PET bottle containing mineral water is boxed in the packing room 6 as described above.

  According to the factory facility 1 of the above-described embodiment, that is, the in-line molding / aseptic filling facility, the storage room 4 functioning as a warehouse for storing the container containing the preform is installed inside the factory facility 1, so that the container is stored in the storage room. 4 can be directly carried into the product manufacturing room 5 without touching the outside air.

  As described above, the storage room 4 is not only maintained at a constant temperature and humidity by the air conditioner 15 but also separated from the warehousing room 3 by the first air shower room 13 and filtered by the air conditioner 15. Since the cleanliness is also maintained by the circulation of air, the possibility that contaminants enter the product manufacturing room 5 through the storage room 4 is extremely small, and therefore, the maintenance of the high level of cleanliness in the product manufacturing room 5 is easy. become.

  Further, since the storage chamber 4 is maintained at a constant temperature and humidity by the air conditioner 15, the moisture content of the preform in the container can be made constant in the course of storage in the storage chamber 4 for several days. And since this preform can be blow-molded using a constant moisture content, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of molding defects due to fluctuations in the moisture content, and to produce PET bottles with a constant quality. Accordingly, it is possible to reduce the probability of occurrence of problems such as confusion in the factory facility 1 due to the occurrence of molding defects, that is, the operation stop of the filling line, etc., thereby preventing a decrease in production efficiency inside the factory facility 1. Can do.

  In the above description with reference to FIG. 1, it does not matter whether the factory facility 1 has one floor, two floors, or a plurality of floors. For example, in the case of a two-story building, it is preferable that the storage room 3 is installed on the ground floor, the product manufacturing room 5 that is a clean room is installed on the second floor, and the internal space of the storage room 4 is continuous from the first floor to the second floor. In this case, it is preferable to provide a room 8 on the first floor in which a compressor, a boiler and the like that are likely to become a contamination source are installed.

It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the in-line shaping | molding and aseptic filling factory facility of an Example. It is a figure for demonstrating conveying the raw material of a bottle with an in-house forklift within the site which installed the in-line shaping | molding and aseptic filling factory facility. It is a figure for demonstrating each area arranged in order according to the procedure of the shaping | molding and washing | cleaning process of a PET bottle performed in the clean room of the in-line shaping | molding and aseptic filling factory facility of FIG. 1, and the flow of a preform and a bottle. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the in-line shaping | molding and aseptic filling factory facility of a modification.

Explanation of symbols

1 In-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility 2 Bulkhead for defining room 3 Storage room 4 Storage room 5 Product manufacturing room 10 Entrance of storage room 12 Raw material storage warehouse in separate building 13 First between storage room and storage room 14 Air shower chamber 14 Roller conveyor passing through the first air shower chamber 15 Air conditioner 16 Air suction piping 17 Air discharge piping 18, 19 Filter 20 Second air shower chamber 22 between the storage chamber and the product manufacturing chamber 22 Second Roller conveyor through the air shower room

Claims (10)

In-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility equipped with a clean room equipped with an in-line molding and filling line that molds the container using a molding machine and fills the container with the contents to produce the product. Because
A storage room that is arranged adjacent to the clean room, receives the molding material in the container from outside, stores the molding material, and supplies the molding material to the clean room as necessary;
A partition wall separating the storage room from the clean room;
A first air shower room for communicating the storage room with the outside;
A second air shower room for communicating the storage room and the clean room;
An in-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility characterized in that the storage room is maintained at a constant temperature, a constant humidity and a constant cleanliness by an air conditioner with a filter. In-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility equipped with a clean room equipped with an in-line molding and filling line that molds the container using a molding machine and fills the container with the contents to manufacture the product. Because
A warehousing room for receiving the molding material from the container from the outside;
A storage room that is arranged adjacent to the clean room, receives the molding material from the storage room, stores the molding material, and supplies the molding material to the clean room as necessary;
A partition wall that separates the storage room from the storage room and the clean room, and
A first air shower room for communicating the storage room and the storage room;
A second air shower room for communicating the storage room and the clean room;
An in-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility characterized in that the storage room is maintained at a constant temperature, a constant humidity and a constant cleanliness by an air conditioner with a filter.   The in-line molding and aseptic method according to claim 2, further comprising a first conveyor passing through the first air shower chamber, wherein the molding material is carried into the storage chamber from the storage chamber by the first conveyor. Filling factory facility.   4. The in-line molding according to claim 2, further comprising a second conveyor that passes through the second air shower chamber, wherein the molding material is carried into the clean room from the storage chamber by the second conveyor. Aseptic filling plant facility.   The in-line molding / aseptic filling plant facility according to claim 4, wherein the storage chamber is unmanned and the molding material is moved by an automatically controlled conveying means.   The in-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility according to claim 5, wherein an entrance of the warehousing chamber can be opened and closed by a shutter, and the shutter is opened when the molding material is loaded.   The molding material is a preform for a plastic bottle, and the preform is carried into the storage room in a state of being accommodated in a container, and is stored in the storage room. The in-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility according to one item.   The in-line molding / aseptic filling plant facility according to claim 7, wherein an unpacking area for unpacking the container is provided in the clean room, and the unpacking area is disposed adjacent to the second conveyor.   The in-line molding / aseptic filling plant facility has at least a ground floor and a second floor above it, the clean room is provided on the second floor, and the storage room is a continuous interior from the ground floor to the second floor where the storage room is provided. The in-line molding and aseptic filling plant facility according to any one of claims 2 to 8, which has a space.   The in-line molding / aseptic filling plant facility according to claim 9, wherein in the clean room, the plastic bottle molded in the clean room is filled with liquid.

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