JP2007223649A - Sterilizing apparatus and beverage manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sterilizing apparatus capable of preventing a cap from thermally deforming and suppressing increase in ambient temperature of a sterilizing lamp by a simple constitution, and to provide a beverage manufacturing apparatus. <P>SOLUTION: In this sterilizing apparatus 11, a conveying path 9 for the cap B to be mounted on a container A is provided and the cap B is sterilized by irradiating it with sterilizing rays from the sterilizing lamp 37. The sterilizing lamp 37 is equipped with a light emission controlling part 53 for controlling the light emitting time for the sterilizing rays, and the light emission controlling part 53 makes the light emitting time for the sterilizing lamp 37 less as the conveying speed of the container A to which the cap B is mounted is slow. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sterilization apparatus and a beverage production apparatus for sterilizing a cap of a beverage container with a container.

  In beverage production, before a cap is attached to a bottle container filled with a beverage, the cap is sterilized by irradiating the cap with a sterilization line from a sterilization lamp.

  Patent Documents 1 and 2 disclose that a sterilizing device in which a sterilizing lamp is housed is provided in the conveyance path of the cap, sterilizing lines are irradiated from the sterilizing lamp, and cooling air is allowed to flow in the sterilizing device.

JP 2001-171623 A JP 2001-171624 A

  However, in the conventional techniques described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above, the cap can be prevented from overheating when the cap is continuously transported at a constant speed, but when the transport speed of the cap is reduced, the cap is removed. There was a disadvantage that thermal deformation occurred due to overheating. In particular, since the cap supply speed changes when the transport speed of the bottle container to which the cap is to be attached changes, the cap is transferred to the sterilizer when the transport of the bottle container stops or the transport speed decreases. The residence time may be longer. Thus, when the residence time of the cap in the sterilization apparatus becomes long, there is a disadvantage that the liner material (resin material) is deformed by being overheated by the sterilization line of the sterilization lamp.

  In order to prevent such overheating deformation of the cap, a shutter is provided between the cap conveyance path and the sterilization lamp, and irradiation of the sterilization line by the sterilization lamp is stopped when the cap conveyance is stagnant. It was.

  However, if the shutter and its opening / closing mechanism are provided in the sterilization device, the structure of the sterilization device becomes complicated, and when the shutter is closed, the sterilization lamp irradiation is stopped, but the sterilization lamp continues to irradiate. There is a problem that the ambient temperature rises and the cap is overheated or the life of the sterilizing lamp is reduced.

  Furthermore, there is a problem that it is difficult to control the irradiation amount of the sterilization lamp according to the conveyance speed of the cap when the shutter is opened and closed.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a sterilization apparatus and a beverage production apparatus that can prevent thermal deformation of the cap with a simple configuration and can suppress an increase in the ambient temperature of the sterilization lamp.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the invention described in claim 1 is a cap sterilization device which is provided in a transport path of a cap attached to a container and sterilizes the cap by irradiating a sterilization line from a sterilization lamp. The lamp includes a light emission control unit that controls the light emission time of the sterilization line, and the light emission control unit decreases the light emission time of the sterilization lamp as the transport speed of the container to which the cap is to be attached is slower.

  The invention described in claim 2 is a cap sterilization device provided with a sterilization lamp which is provided in a conveyance path of a cap to be attached to a container and which continuously emits an electromagnetic wave having a wavelength of 800 nm or more as a pulse wave to sterilize the cap. The germicidal lamp includes a light emission control unit that controls the light emission time of the pulse wave, and the light emission control unit reduces the light emission time of the germicidal lamp as the transport speed of the container to which the cap is to be attached is slow.

  The invention described in claim 3 is the invention described in claim 2, wherein the sterilizing lamp is a xenon lamp.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first or second aspect of the present invention, the light emission control unit reduces the light emission time when the container conveyance speed exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

  The invention described in claim 5 is the invention described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the sterilizer is connected to a cooling air supply pipe for blowing cooling air into the housing, and the housing is a cap conveyance path. A sterilization lamp storage chamber disposed on one side and a ventilation chamber provided across the cap conveyance path with respect to the sterilization lamp storage chamber, and a pair of guide plates that define the cap conveyance path are formed with ventilation holes The cooling air is sent to the sterilization lamp storage chamber and the ventilation chamber, and a part of the cooling air supplied to the ventilation chamber moves across the conveyance path to the sterilization lamp storage chamber.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect of the invention, the pair of guide plates are formed with a plurality of stages of ventilation portions in the vertical direction, and a cap is conveyed to the ventilation section of each stage. Long holes in the direction are arranged at intervals, and round holes are provided between the long holes. In the adjacent upper and lower stages, each end of the long hole and the round hole are formed at positions shifted in the transport direction. It is characterized by being.

  The invention described in claim 7 is the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the container is a beverage bottle, and the cap is a pressure-resistant cap having a resin material layer inside. Features.

  The invention described in claim 8 is a filling unit for filling a beverage in an empty bottle container that has been transported, a cap mounting unit for mounting a cap on a bottle container transported from the filling unit, and a cap on the cap mounting unit. The sterilizer according to any one of claims 1 to 7 is provided in the cap conveyance path.

  According to the invention described in claim 1, the sterilization lamp can ensure irradiation for a predetermined time required for sterilization by controlling the light emission time of the sterilization lamp according to the transport speed of the container to which the cap is to be attached. When the container conveyance speed is slow, the deformation due to overheating of the cap can be prevented by reducing the light emission time of the sterilization line.

  Only the light emission time of the sterilizing lamp is controlled, and since no mechanical configuration such as a shutter is required in the apparatus, the configuration is simple and the rise in the ambient temperature of the sterilizing lamp can be suppressed.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the sterilization lamp sterilizes the cap by irradiating the electromagnetic wave with a pulse wave (flashing in a short time on the order of microseconds), it can be sterilized with strong light energy.

  In addition, by controlling the light emission time of the sterilization lamp according to the conveyance speed of the container to which the cap is to be attached, the sterilization lamp can ensure irradiation for a predetermined time necessary for sterilization and the container conveyance speed is slow. Since the light emission time is short, deformation due to overheating of the cap can be prevented.

  Only the light emission time of the sterilizing lamp is controlled, and since no mechanical configuration such as a shutter is required in the apparatus, the configuration is simple and the rise in the ambient temperature of the sterilizing lamp can be suppressed.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 2 can be obtained, and the electromagnetic wave according to claim 2 can be easily generated by applying a high voltage to the xenon lamp. It can be obtained and consumes less power.

  According to the invention described in claim 4, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 1 or 2 can be obtained, and control can be simplified by providing a threshold and controlling.

  According to the invention described in claim 5, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 1 or 2 can be obtained, and cooling air is provided in the sterilization lamp chamber and the ventilation chamber, and a part of the cooling chamber is provided. The sterilization lamp and the cap can be effectively cooled because the sterilization lamp chamber flows through the conveying path of the cap.

  Since the inside of the housing of the sterilization apparatus is partitioned into a lamp storage chamber and a ventilation chamber and only a hole is formed in the guide plate, the configuration is simple.

  According to the invention described in claim 6, the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 5 can be obtained, and the air can be efficiently ventilated by a combination of a simple shape of the long hole and the round hole. The strength required for the plate can be maintained.

  According to the invention described in claim 7, the same effect as that of the invention described in any one of claims 1 to 6 can be obtained, and the pressure resistant cap generally has a heat resistant temperature of about 60 ° C. or less. Therefore, a sterilization treatment at a lower temperature than the heat-resistant cap is required. According to the present invention, an increase in temperature during sterilization can be suppressed, which is particularly effective for sterilizing such a pressure-resistant cap.

  The invention described in claim 8 can provide a beverage manufacturing apparatus that exhibits the effects described in any one of claims 1 to 7.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view illustrating a schematic configuration of a beverage production apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an appearance of the sterilization apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of the sterilization apparatus. 4 is a front view of the guide plate, FIG. 5 is a view of the cap, (a) is a perspective view of the inside, and (b) is a longitudinal sectional view.

  As shown in FIG. 1, a beverage production apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a conveyance path 3 that conveys an empty bottle (container) A, and a filling unit (filler) 5 that fills an empty bottle A with a beverage. , A cap mounting unit 7 for mounting the cap B on the bottle A after filling the beverage, and a cap transporting path 9 for transporting the cap B to the cap mounting unit 7. The sterilizer 11 is provided.

  In the present embodiment, the beverage is a carbonated beverage, and the empty bottle A and the cap B are pressure resistant. The empty bottle A is made of metal, and as shown in FIG. 5, a liner material 15 is affixed to the cap B inside the metal cap main body 13 to improve the sealing performance when the cap is attached. The liner material 15 is an ethylene vinyl alcohol resin.

  In the beverage production apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1, the sterilized empty bottle A is conveyed to the filling unit 5 in the conveyance path 3, and the filling unit 5 holds the empty bottle A around the rotating wheel and holds the empty bottle. The beverage (contents) is filled while rotating. The rotation wheel of the filling unit 5 is provided with a rotation speed sensor that detects the rotation speed, and is controlled so as to detect the conveyance speed of the bottle A and to drive at a predetermined rotation speed.

  The bottle A after the beverage is filled in the filling unit 5 is sent to the cap mounting unit 7. In the cap mounting unit 7, the cap B is supplied to the bottle A transported via the transport wheel 17, and the cap B is mounted on the bottle A by the capper 19.

  The beverage-containing bottle A to which the cap B is attached is sent to the next process through the conveyance path 23 via the conveyance wheel 21.

  The cap conveyance path 9 is inclined in the direction of gravity (inclined at an angle R shown in FIG. 2), and the cap B moves to the cap mounting unit 7 while rolling by its own weight.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the sterilizer 11 is connected with a cold air supply pipe 25 and an exhaust pipe 27, and a cooler 29 and a blower 31 are connected to the cold air supply pipe 25. A dust collector 33 is connected to the pipe 27.

  The sterilization apparatus 11 is provided with a sterilization lamp 37 and a reflector 39 (see FIG. 2) in the housing 35, irradiates the sterilization line irradiated by the sterilization lamp 37 toward the cap conveyance path 9, and is sterilized. The lamp 37 is disposed in the longitudinal direction along the cap conveyance path 9. As shown in FIG. 3, a sterilization lamp storage chamber 41 and a ventilation chamber 43 are partitioned in the housing 35, and the cap conveyance path 9 is disposed between the sterilization lamp storage chamber 41 and the ventilation chamber 43. Yes.

  The cap conveyance path 9 has a pair of guide plates 45, 45 provided along the conveyance direction of the cap B, and the pair of guide plates 45, 45 are arranged with an interval between them, and between the guide plates 45, 45. The cap B moves. The sterilization line irradiated by the sterilization lamp 37 is irradiated to the inner surface of the cap B through the ventilation hole 47 provided in the guide plate 45.

  As shown in FIG. 4, ventilation holes 47 are formed in the guide plate 45 so that the cool air in the ventilation chamber 43 flows into the sterilization lamp storage chamber 41 through the cap conveyance path 9. The ventilation hole 47 is composed of a plurality of upper and lower stages. In each stage, a long hole 47a and a round hole 47b are alternately formed along the conveying direction, and in the adjacent upper and lower stages, the long hole 47a is formed. Each end and the round hole 47b are in a shifted position.

  In the housing 35, as shown in FIG. 3, the supply side branch passage 49 for passing the supplied cold air to the sterilization lamp storage chamber 41 and the ventilation chamber 43, and the ventilation chamber 43 and the sterilization lamp storage chamber 41 merge. Thus, a merging passage 51 that leads to the dust collector 33 is formed.

  The sterilizing lamp 37 is a xenon lamp, and continuously emits a pulse wave having a wavelength of 800 nm to 950 nm and is controlled by the light emission control device 53 so as to continuously emit light at intervals of 1 to 5 times per second. One light emission is about 0.2 seconds.

  The light emission control device 53 is connected to a filling speed sensor provided in the filling unit 5 and controls the number of light emission per second of the xenon lamp according to the filling speed (filler speed) of the filling unit 5.

Next, the effect by this Embodiment is demonstrated. In the present embodiment, as shown in the following table, the number of light emission per second of the xenon lamp is controlled according to the filling speed (filler speed) of filling the beverage into the container, and the cap inner surface temperature at that time is measured. The results are shown in Table 1 below. In the present embodiment, the supply amount of the cooling air is 14.8 m ³ / min.

  In this embodiment, a filler speed threshold (1, 51, 101, 201, 401) is provided, and when the bottle transport speed decreases and exceeds the threshold, the light emission speed is decreased once per second. Was controlled as follows.

  As is apparent from this embodiment, the sterilization lamp 37 is sterilized by controlling the light emission time (number of irradiations per second) of the sterilization lamp 37 in accordance with the filling speed of the container A to which the cap B is to be attached. When the bottle container A has a slow beverage filling rate, it is possible to prevent overheating of the inner surface of the cap by reducing the light emission time (number of times of irradiation) per second. That is, it was possible to maintain the pressure cap at 60 ° C. or lower, which is a general heat resistant temperature.

  It only controls the number of times of light emission (light emission time) of the sterilizing lamp 37 and does not require a mechanical configuration such as a shutter in the sterilizing apparatus 11, so that the configuration is simple and the rise in the ambient temperature of the sterilizing lamp 37 is suppressed. Can do.

  The sterilization lamp 37 sterilizes the cap by continuously emitting electromagnetic waves with pulse waves (flashed in a short time on the order of microseconds), so that it can be sterilized with strong light energy.

  By controlling the number of times the sterilization lamp 37 emits light in accordance with the filling speed of the container A to which the cap B is to be attached, the sterilization lamp 37 can ensure irradiation for a predetermined time required for sterilization and the conveyance speed of the container is slow. In some cases, light is emitted a small number of times, so that deformation of the cap B due to overheating can be prevented.

  By applying a high voltage to the xenon lamp which is the sterilizing lamp 37, an electromagnetic wave having a high sterilizing action can be easily obtained and the power consumption can be reduced.

  The number of times of irradiation of the sterilizing lamp 37 can be easily controlled by providing a threshold for the beverage filling speed.

  The sterilization apparatus 11 has a sterilization lamp storage chamber 41 and a ventilation chamber 43 in the housing, and sends cooling air to these chambers 41 and 43, and a part of the ventilation chamber 43 passes through the conveyance path 9 of the cap B. Thus, the sterilization lamp 37 and the cap B can be effectively cooled.

  Since the inside of the housing 35 of the sterilization apparatus 11 is divided into the sterilization lamp storage chamber 41 and the ventilation chamber 43 and the ventilation holes 47 are only formed in the guide plate 45, the configuration is simple.

  The guide plate vent hole 47 can efficiently ventilate by combining a simple shape of the long hole 47a and the round hole 47b, and can maintain the strength required for the guide plate 45.

  The pressure-resistant cap B generally has a heat-resistant temperature of about 60 ° C. or lower, and thus requires a sterilization treatment at a lower temperature than the heat-resistant cap. In the present embodiment, the inner surface temperature at the time of sterilization of the cap B can be suppressed to 55.5 ° C. or less, so that it is clear that it is particularly effective for sterilization of the pressure-resistant cap.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  For example, the beverage is not limited to a non-alcoholic carbonated beverage, and may be beer or a beverage containing shochu and carbonic acid (so-called oolong high or chu-hi).

  The light emission control unit 53 is not limited to the control based on the threshold value, and the light emission time may be continuously changed according to the conveyance speed of the bottle container A.

  The light emission control unit 53 may control the light emission time of the sterilization lamp 37 according to the conveyance speed of the empty bottle container A in the conveyance path 3 without being limited to the filling speed by the filling unit.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the drink manufacturing apparatus concerning embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the external appearance of a sterilizer. It is the schematic which shows the structure of a sterilizer. It is a front view of a guide plate. It is a figure of a cap, (a) is the perspective view which looked at the inner side, (b) is a longitudinal cross-sectional view.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Beverage production apparatus 5 Filling unit 7 Cap mounting unit 9 Cap conveyance path 11 Sterilization apparatus 15 Liner material 35 Housing | casing 37 Sterilization lamp 41 Sterilization lamp storage chamber 43 Ventilation chamber 45 Guide plate 47 Ventilation hole 53 Light emission control apparatus

Claims (8)

  A cap sterilization device that sterilizes the cap by irradiating the sterilization line from the sterilization lamp, provided in the transport path of the cap attached to the container, and the sterilization lamp includes a light emission control unit that controls the light emission time of the sterilization line, and controls light emission The sterilizing apparatus is characterized in that the light emitting time of the sterilizing lamp is reduced as the conveying speed of the container to which the cap is to be attached is slower.   A cap sterilization device provided in a conveyance path of a cap to be attached to a container and having a sterilization lamp for sterilizing the cap by continuously emitting electromagnetic waves having a wavelength of 800 nm or more as a pulse wave for a predetermined time, wherein the sterilization lamp is a pulse wave emission time A sterilization apparatus comprising: a light emission control unit for controlling the light emission time, wherein the light emission control unit reduces the light emission time of the sterilization lamp as the conveyance speed of the container to which the cap is to be attached is slower.   The sterilizing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the sterilizing lamp is a xenon lamp.   3. The sterilization apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light emission control unit reduces the light emission time when the transport speed of the container exceeds a predetermined threshold value.   The sterilizer is connected to a cooling air supply pipe that blows cooling air into the housing, and the housing carries the cap against the sterilizing lamp storage chamber disposed on one side of the cap conveyance path and the sterilization lamp storage chamber. A pair of guide plates that define a cap conveyance path, and a ventilation hole is formed in the pair of guide plates. The cooling air blows to the sterilization lamp storage chamber and the ventilation chamber, and the ventilation chamber The sterilizing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a part of the cooling air supplied to the pipe moves to the sterilizing lamp storage chamber across the conveyance path.   The pair of guide plates are formed with a plurality of stages of ventilation portions in the vertical direction. Long ventilation holes are arranged in the ventilation direction of each stage with a gap in the direction of transport of the cap, and a circle is formed between the elongated holes. 6. The sterilizer according to claim 5, wherein a hole is provided, and each end of the elongated hole and the round hole are formed at positions shifted in the transport direction in the upper and lower adjacent steps.   The container is a beverage bottle, and the cap is a pressure-resistant cap having a resin material layer on the inside thereof. A filling unit that fills an empty bottle container that has been transported, a cap mounting unit that mounts a cap on the bottle container transported from the filling unit, and a cap transport path that supplies the cap to the cap mounting unit. Item 8. A beverage production apparatus comprising the sterilizer according to any one of Items 1 to 7 in a cap conveyance path.

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