JP2010149864A - Packaging and filling method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a packaging and filling method which is free from any additional device cost, economical, capable of avoiding any risk in the sanitary aspect, and safe for food. <P>SOLUTION: In the packaging and filling method, liquid food is filled in a paper container 33 by a filling means from an upper opening 36d of the container 33 in a filling station 34a, and the upper opening 36d is closed and heat-sealed to manufacture a product of the container filled with the liquid food. The filling means comprises a tank, a filling nozzle 34c, and a fixed delivery pump. In a step in which the liquid food is not fully filled in the filling nozzle 34c and the filling pump and any cavity is present when starting the manufacture of the product, or when the type of the liquid food to be filled is changed to different one, a leading empty paper container 33x stands still immediately below the filling nozzle 34c, and drips of the liquid food are collected in the container 33x. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

The present invention relates to a packaging and filling method in which a paper container is conveyed and liquid food is filled and sealed from an upper opening of the container.

There are various types of packaging containers for storing liquid foods such as milk, mineral water, tea, juice, soup, and alcohols. For example, pouch containers and roof-type paper containers are containers that are filled with liquid food and the upper openings are sequentially closed and sealed.

The roof type container 36 shown in FIG. 3 (b) is composed of a roof type upper part 36a and a rectangular parallelepiped main body 36b, and an opening 36d is formed in the upper part before sealing, from which liquid food is supplied. Filled.
In the container 33 before sealing shown in FIG. 3A, the upper end portion is fastened with the upper opening 36d folded inward along the crease line 36e, and the fastening face is topped by means such as heat sealing. A container is made by forming the seal 36c.

In the roof-type paper container packaging and filling machine shown in FIG. 4, the printed laminated packaging material with crease lines is cut into a predetermined shape to obtain container blanks 31 that are vertically sealed in the container vertical direction. The bottom of the blanks is sealed by the bottom sealing means 32, and at the filling station 34a, the unsealed container 33 is lifted up to the nozzle 34c by the lifter 34b, and the liquid temporarily stored in the tank 34d of the filling means from the opening 36d of the container 33 The food is filled with the nozzle 34c of the filling means 34 leaving a head space, and after completion of filling, returns to the rail of the conveying means, and then the upper opening 36d is folded inward along the crease line and sequentially closed, and the preheating station The upper end of the container 33 is heat-sealed by the top sealing means 35 at 35a and the top sealing station 35b to obtain a filled container 36 as shown in FIG.

The roof type container has a head space in the upper part of the container. Oxygen gas exists in the closed space, and the liquid food filled in the container comes into contact with oxygen in the closed space, so that product deterioration due to oxidation proceeds. For hygiene management, a packaging and filling apparatus that replaces the inside of the head space with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas has been proposed. (See Patent Document 1)
Moreover, even when manufacturing a packaging container for storing liquid food such as milk, lactic acid bacteria beverages, etc., it is stored in a product tank and filled in a casing with a lid. (See Patent Document 2)
JP 2002-37215 A JP 10-278903 A

When filling the container with liquid food with the cleaned packaging filling device, the tank, filling nozzle and metering pump of the filling means are not filled with liquid food and there are cavities, and in order to prepare for filling packaging in product manufacture, Fill the tank of filling means, filling nozzle and metering pump with liquid food. In the process of filling, a drop of liquid food drips from the discharge port of the filling nozzle, and in order to collect this drop, a cleaning device for collection is arranged immediately below the filling nozzle in this preparation step. To collect drops.

However, it is necessary to clean the cleaning device after collection, and a cleaning liquid is required for cleaning, and it is desired that such a cleaning liquid is not required. By using the cleaning liquid, there is a risk of leakage due to chemicals, and a safe device without such a risk is desired.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a packaging and filling method that is economical without extra equipment costs, is economical, avoids hygiene risks, and is food safe.

According to the packaging and filling method of the present invention, a liquid container is rapidly filled into a container from a top opening of a container at a filling station by a filling means, and the top opening is closed. A packaging and filling method for heat sealing and manufacturing a liquid food filling container product,
Filling means supplies liquid food at the time of product manufacture and temporarily stores the tank; from a discharge port having an opening / closing function to a container opening; a filling nozzle that fills the container with liquid food at high speed; and from the tank to the filling nozzle It consists of a metering pump that is placed in the middle of the pump to deliver a certain amount of liquid food,
At the start of product manufacture or when changing the liquid food to be filled to a different type, where all liquid food is not filled in the filling nozzle and filling pump and there is a cavity,
The upper opening of the empty paper container conveyed in tandem by the conveying means is stopped just below the filling nozzle, and drops of liquid food from the discharge port are collected inside the container.
It is characterized by that.

The packaging and filling method according to the present invention has the following effects.
In this packing and filling method, liquid food is quickly filled into the container from the upper opening of the container at the filling station by the filling means into the container conveyed at high speed in tandem by the conveying means, and the upper opening is closed and heat sealed. Manufacture liquid food filling container products.
By this filling method, a large number of paper containers are continuously arranged in a column and conveyed at high speed, and liquid food is quickly and rapidly filled from the upper opening of the container. The top is then heat sealed to produce the product.
In order to be filled at high speed, the tank of the filling means is required to have a sufficient buffer function for a safe and reliable production operation, and rapid production preparation and conversion are necessary.

In the filling means of the packaging and filling method according to the present invention, liquid food is supplied to the tank at the time of product manufacture and temporarily stored, and liquid food is filled into the container at high speed from the container opening by the filling nozzle, and from the tank to the filling nozzle. A certain amount of liquid food is sent out by a metering pump in the middle of the process.
The function and operation of this process will be described with reference to FIGS. In the filling means 34, liquid food is supplied to the tank 34d and temporarily stored at the time of product manufacture, and a fixed amount of liquid food is sent out from the tank 34d to the filling nozzle 34c by a metering pump 34e. Then, the liquid food is filled into the container at high speed by inserting the filling nozzle 34c.
During the manufacturing operation, liquid food flows through the tank 34d, the metering pump 34e, the filling nozzle 34c, and the flow path 34f of the pipe connecting them.

In the packaging and filling method according to the present invention, at the start of product manufacture or when the liquid food to be filled is changed to a different type, the filling nozzle and filling pump are not filled with all the liquid food and a cavity exists. There is.
A description will be given with reference to FIG. 2 showing a cross-sectional view of each step of the filling means 34 at the start or change time.
Before starting or changing, the tank 34d, metering pump 34e, filling nozzle 34c and pipe flow path 34f are cleaned and there is no liquid food. First, the liquid food is supplied to the tank 34d. (See Fig. 2 (A))
Next, the upper valve is opened and the liquid food is supplied to the metering pump 34e, and the upper valve is closed. (See Fig. 2 (B))
The lower valve is opened and liquid food is supplied to the filling nozzle 34c, and the lower valve is closed. The filling nozzle 34c is filled with about half of the liquid food. (See Fig. 2 (C))
The upper valve is opened and the liquid food is supplied again to the metering pump 34e, and the upper valve is closed. (Refer to FIG. 2 (D))
By repeating the above steps, the metering pump 34e, the filling nozzle 34c and the pipe flow path 34f are filled with the liquid food. (See Fig. 2 (J))

Since the discharge nozzle has a discharge port at the tip of the filling nozzle, and the discharge port has an opening / closing function, the liquid food does not flow out even when the liquid food reaches the tip of the filling nozzle 34c. The opening and closing function of the discharge port is closed by the surface tension in the slit or mesh, and is opened by the pressure of the pump. In step C and step D shown in FIG. 2, the filling nozzle 34c and the filling pump 34e are not filled with liquid food and a cavity exists, so that the closing function due to surface tension is not fully exhibited, and liquid food is dripped. There are things to do.

In the packaging and filling method according to the present invention, the upper opening of the empty paper container that is conveyed in tandem by the conveying means is stopped immediately below the filling nozzle, and the droplets of the liquid food from the discharge port are collected inside the container.
As described above, in Step C and Step D shown in FIG. 2, the filling nozzle 34c and the filling pump 34e are not filled with all liquid food and have cavities, so that the closing function due to the surface tension is not fully exhibited. Liquid food may be dripped. In such a step, the upper opening of the empty paper container is stopped just below the filling nozzle. In FIG. 1 schematically showing an example of collecting liquid food droplets, the top two empty paper containers 33x are stopped immediately below the discharge port of the filling nozzle 34c at the start of production. (See FIG. 1 (A)) If a drop of liquid food drops, it is collected.

After the metering pump 34e, the filling nozzle 34c and the flow path 34f of the pipe are filled with liquid food, the container 33 before sealing is lifted up to the nozzle 34c by the lifter 34b, and from the opening 36d of the container 33 to the tank 34d of the filling means. The temporarily stored liquid food is filled with the nozzle 34c of the filling means 34 leaving the head space, returns to the rail of the conveying means after the filling is completed, and then the upper opening 36d is folded inward along the crease line. The container is closed and the upper end of the container 33 is heat-sealed by the top sealing means 35 at the preheating station 35a and the top sealing station 35b to obtain a filling container 36 as shown in FIG.
In the packaging and filling method according to the present invention, the first two paper containers 36x are removed from the production line.
In the above example, the production start time is described, but the same applies to the change of the type of liquid food product to be filled.
According to the packaging and filling method of the present invention, it is possible to carry out filling that is economical, avoids hygiene risks, and is food-safe without extra equipment costs.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic side view schematically showing a state in which an empty paper container is stopped just below a filling nozzle and droplets of liquid food are collected in the packaging and filling method according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating each step of the filling means at the start of manufacture according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a paper container that can be used in the packaging and filling method according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is an overall perspective view of the roof-type paper container packaging and filling apparatus.
FIG. 5 is a sectional side view for explaining the functional action of the filling means.

In the packaging and filling apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the printed laminated packaging material with crease lines is cut to obtain container blanks 31 that are vertically sealed in the container vertical direction. The bottom of the blank is sealed by the bottom sealing means 32, and the empty container 33 (shown in FIG. 3A) is conveyed on the rail by the conveying means.
Liquid food is filled from the upper opening of the container 33 by the filling means 34 at the filling station 34 a, and the upper opening is sequentially closed and sealed by the upper sealing means 35 at the top sealing station 35 b, and the liquid food is filled and packaged in the container 36.

At the filling station 34a, the container 33 is lifted up to the nozzle 34c by the lifter 34b, and the liquid food is filled from the opening 36d of the container 33 with the nozzle 34c of the filling means 34 leaving the head space, and returns to the rail of the conveying means after filling is completed. .
Next, the upper opening 36d is folded inward along the crease line and closed sequentially, and the upper end of the container 33 is heat-sealed by the top sealing means 35 at the preheating station 35a and the top sealing station 35b, and the product is filled with liquid food. In addition, the filling container 36 shown in FIG.

In the filling process during the manufacturing operation of the packaging filling method according to this embodiment, as shown in detail in FIG. 5, the filling means 34 supplies liquid food from a supply tank (not shown) to the tank 34d during product production. The fixed amount of liquid food is sent out by the metering pump 34e in the middle from the tank 34d to the filling nozzle 34c, and the filling nozzle 34c is inserted into the container through the opening of the container 33 at high speed. Fill.
In this way, liquid food flows through the tank 34d, the metering pump 34e, the filling nozzle 34c, and the flow path 34f of the pipe connecting them during the manufacturing operation.

At the start of manufacturing the product of this embodiment, liquid food is supplied to the tank 34d (see FIG. 2A), then the upper valve is opened and the liquid food is supplied to the metering pump 34e and the upper valve is closed ( 2B), the lower valve is opened to supply liquid food to the filling nozzle 34c and the lower valve is closed, and the filling nozzle 34c is almost half filled with liquid food (see FIG. 2C). The valve is opened and the liquid food is supplied again to the metering pump 34e and the upper valve is closed (see FIG. 2D). The above steps are repeated to fill the metering pump 34e, the filling nozzle 34c and the pipe flow path 34f with the liquid food. (See FIG. 2 (J)).

The discharge port at the tip of the filling nozzle has an opening / closing function, and even if the liquid food reaches the tip of the filling nozzle 34c, the liquid food does not flow out. Normally, the opening / closing function of the discharge port is closed by surface tension in a slit, mesh, or the like, and is opened by pressure from a pump. Since all of the liquid food is not filled in the filling nozzle 34c and the filling pump 34e (see Step C and Step D in FIG. 2), the closing function due to the surface tension is not sufficiently exhibited, and the liquid food drops.

In this embodiment, the upper opening of the empty paper container 33x conveyed in a tandem manner by the conveying means is stopped immediately below the filling nozzle 34c, and drops of liquid food from the discharge port are collected inside the container.
At the start of manufacture, the first two empty paper containers 33x are stopped immediately below the discharge port of the filling nozzle 34c (see FIG. 1A). When a drop of liquid food drops, it is collected.

After the metering pump 34e, the filling nozzle 34c and the flow path 34f of the pipe are filled with liquid food, the container 33x before sealing is lifted up to the nozzle 34c by the lifter 34b, and from the opening 36d of the container 33x to the tank 34d of the filling means. The temporarily stored liquid food is filled with the nozzle 34c of the filling means 34 leaving the head space, returns to the rail of the conveying means after the filling is completed, and then the upper opening 36d is folded inward along the crease line. The upper end of the container 33 is heat-sealed by the top sealing means 35 at the preheating station 35a and the top sealing station 35b to obtain a filled container 36x.
The first two paper containers 36x are removed from the production line.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made based on the spirit of the present invention, and they are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

The present invention can be applied to the manufacture of a packaging container for packaging and filling a fluid food.

In the packaging filling method by this invention, the schematic side view which shows a mode that an empty paper container is made still just under a filling nozzle, and the droplet of a liquid food is collected is shown. It is sectional drawing explaining each step of the filling means at the time of the manufacture start by this invention. It is a perspective view of the paper container which can be used for the packaging filling method by this invention. It is a partial side view of the packaging filling apparatus for roof pattern paper containers. It is a sectional side view explaining the functional operation of a filling means.

Explanation of symbols

37 ... Conveying means 33 ... Empty container 34a ... Filling station 34b ... Lifter 34c ... Filling nozzle 34d ... Metering pump 34e ... Tank

Claims (1)

A paper container conveyed at high speed in tandem by a conveying means is quickly filled with liquid food from the upper opening of the container at the filling station by the filling means, and the upper opening is closed and heat sealed. A packaging and filling method for producing a food filling container product,
The filling means supplies a liquid food during product manufacture and temporarily stores the tank, a filling nozzle for filling the liquid food into the container at high speed from the discharge port having an opening / closing function to the container opening, A metering pump that is arranged in the middle from the tank to the filling nozzle and sends out a certain amount of the liquid food;
At the start of the production of the product, or when changing the liquid food to be filled to a different type, wherein the liquid nozzle is not fully filled and the cavity is present in the filling nozzle and the filling pump;
The upper opening of the empty paper container conveyed in tandem by the conveying means is stopped immediately below the filling nozzle, and the droplets of the liquid food from the discharge port are collected inside the container.
A packaging and filling method characterized by the above.