JP2011230832A - Article sterilizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an article sterilizing device capable of efficiently sterilizing articles.SOLUTION: The article sterilizing device 2 includes first and second conveying means 4, 8 for conveying containers 1 as articles, an optical sterilizing means 6 as a heating means for executing the heat-sterilization of the containers, and a cooling means 9 for cooling the containers heated by the optical sterilizing means. The heating means and the cooling means are disposed along the conveying passage of the first conveying means, and along the conveying passage of the second conveying means, respectively. In addition, the cooling means has a plurality of jet nozzles 32 for jetting cooling gas to the articles. The jet nozzles are arranged so that cooling gas may be jetted to the containers held by a gripper of the second conveying means from a plurality of directions.

Description

  The present invention relates to an article sterilization apparatus, and more particularly, to an article sterilization apparatus including a conveyance unit that conveys an article, a heating unit that heat sterilizes the article, and a cooling unit that cools the article heated by the heating unit.

Conventionally, an article sterilization apparatus for sterilizing an article such as a vial containing a drug is known. As such an article sterilization apparatus, a conveying means for conveying an article, a heating means for heat sterilizing the article, and the heating What is provided with the cooling means which cools the article heated by the means is known (patent documents 1 and 2).
Among these, in Patent Document 1, the heating means and the cooling means each include a space that can accommodate a plurality of empty containers as articles, and the container is heated and sterilized by blowing hot air and cold air into the container, respectively. Cooling is performed, and a conveyor as a conveying means conveys the containers to these heating means and cooling means in a state where a plurality of rows of containers are aligned.
On the other hand, in Patent Document 2, the heating means heats the lower part of the ampule filled with chemicals as an article with sterilizing light and heats the upper part with hot air, and the cooling means first cools the ampoule with cold air; It is comprised from the water-cooling apparatus cooled with cold water.

Japanese Patent No. 3797275 JP-A-7-205939

However, in the case of Patent Document 1, since the articles are conveyed in multiple rows, the heat capacity of each space in the heating means and the cooling means is large, and a long processing time is required for heating and cooling the articles.
Moreover, since the cooling means of patent document 1 blows cooling gas from the upper direction and cools it, if the temperature of cooling gas is extremely low, a temperature difference will arise between the upper direction and the downward direction of a container, and it will cause a bottle breakage. Therefore, the temperature of the container has to be gradually lowered, and there is a problem that it takes time for cooling.
In the case of Patent Document 2, the article is cooled by cooling gas and cold water, and the wet article needs to be dried by a drying means, which makes the configuration complicated and inefficient.
In view of such a problem, the present invention provides an article sterilization apparatus capable of efficiently sterilizing an article.

That is, the article sterilization apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 is provided with an article sterilization device comprising a conveying means for conveying an article, a heating means for heating and sterilizing the article, and a cooling means for cooling the article heated by the heating means. In the device
The conveying means includes a first conveying means and a second conveying means for circulating and conveying a gripper that grips an article, and the heating means is arranged along the conveying path of the first conveying means. Each of the cooling means is arranged along the conveyance path,
Further, the cooling means includes a plurality of injection nozzles for injecting a cooling gas to the article, and the cooling gas is injected from a plurality of directions onto the article held by the grippers of the second conveying means. An article sterilization apparatus characterized by being arranged.
It is said.

According to the above invention, since the article cooled by the cooling means is gripped by the gripper of the second conveying means, the cooling means does not need to cool the gripper heated by the heating means, and energy efficiency at the time of cooling. Becomes better.
Furthermore, since the cooling means cools the article by injecting cooling gas from a plurality of directions by the jet nozzle, the article can be cooled quickly while preventing damage to the article due to temperature difference, and the article can be sterilized efficiently. Can do.

Plan view of the article sterilization apparatus according to the present embodiment Sectional view of first conveying means and light sterilizing means Sectional view of second conveying means and cooling means

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an article sterilization apparatus 2 for sterilizing a container 1 as an article, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a photosterilization means 6 for heat sterilizing the container 1, and FIG. 3 is a container. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the cooling means 8 for cooling 1, a cleaning device (not shown) for cleaning the container 1 is provided upstream of the article sterilization device 2, and a filling device (not shown) for filling the container 1 with chemicals downstream. Is provided.
The article sterilization apparatus 2 includes a supply means 3 for supplying the container 1 from the cleaning apparatus, a first transport means 4 for transporting the container 1 received from the supply means 3, and the container 1 cleaned by the cleaning apparatus. Preheating means 5 for drying and preheating, photosterilization means 6 as a heating means for heat sterilizing the container 1, a delivery wheel 7 for receiving the container 1 from the first transport means 4, and a container received from the delivery wheel 7 A second conveying means 8 for conveying 1; a cooling means 9 for cooling the container 1; and a discharging means 10 for receiving the container 1 from the second conveying means 8 and discharging it to the filling device.
As shown in FIG. 2, the container 1 is an empty vial made of light-transmitting glass that contains a medicine and the like, and a neck portion 1a having a reduced diameter is formed on the upper portion of the trunk portion. A flange 1b is formed on the neck 1a.

The supply means 3 includes a supply conveyor 3a that conveys the containers 1 from the cleaning apparatus in a row, a screw 3b that spreads the containers 1 conveyed by the supply conveyor 3a at a predetermined interval, and the first conveyance means 4 It is comprised from the supply wheel 3c adjacent to.
Although not shown, the supply wheel 3c is a rotary table provided with a plurality of grippers that can be opened and closed at regular intervals, and the gripper grips the body of the container 1 that is spread at a predetermined interval by the screws 3b. ing.
The delivery wheel 7 is a rotary table provided with a plurality of openable and closable grippers, like the supply wheel 3c. The gripper grips the body of the container 1.
Further, the discharge means 10 includes a discharge wheel 10a that receives the container 1 from the second transport means 8, and a discharge conveyor 10b provided downstream of the discharge wheel 10a.
Similar to the supply wheel 3c and the delivery wheel 7, the discharge wheel 10a includes an openable / closable gripper for gripping the body of the container 1, and the container 1 received from the second conveying means 8 is placed on the discharge conveyor 10b. The discharge conveyor 10b conveys the containers 1 to the filling device in a state of being aligned in a row.

The first transport means 4 is a transport conveyor provided with a belt 12 stretched between two pulleys 11 and a plurality of grippers 13 provided on the belt 12 at equal intervals. The gripper 13 is circulated and conveyed clockwise in the figure.
As shown in FIG. 2, the gripper 13 includes a stay 13a protruding from the belt toward the outside in the horizontal direction, two gripping members 13b connected to the stay 13a so as to be swingable, and closing the gripping member 13b. And a spring 13c biased in the direction.
When the gripper 13 receives the container 1 at the delivery position A adjacent to the supply wheel 3c, the container 1 gripped by the supply wheel 3c moves from the outside to the inside of the transport path of the first transport means 4, and the container 1 When the neck 1b pushes the gripping member 13b against the biasing force of the spring 13c and then the container 1 is pushed to a predetermined position, the gripping member 13b is closed by the spring 13c and the container 1 is gripped. It is like that.
On the other hand, when the container 1 is delivered from the gripper 13 at the delivery position B adjacent to the delivery wheel 7, the gripper of the delivery wheel 7 grips the body of the container 1 at the delivery position B, and the container 1 is the first When moving outside the transport path of the transport means 4, the neck 1 b of the container 1 pushes the gripping member 13 b against the urging force of the spring 13 c, and the container 1 is separated from the first transport means 4. .

The second transport means 8 is a rotary table provided with grippers 14 at equal intervals, and the container 1 held by the grippers 14 is circulated and transported.
As shown in FIG. 3, the gripper 14 is similar to the gripper 13 of the first transport means 4, the stay 14a fixed to the rotary table, the two gripping members 14b swingably connected to the stay 14a, and the above And a spring 14c that urges the gripping member 14b in the closing direction.
The gripper 14 of the second conveying means 8 receives the container 1 at the delivery position C adjacent to the delivery wheel 7, and the operation at that time is from the gripper of the supply wheel 3c to the gripper of the first conveying means. 13 is the same as the operation when the container 1 is received.
The gripper 14 of the second conveying means 8 delivers the container 1 at a delivery position D adjacent to the discharge wheel 10a, and the operation at that time is performed from the gripper 13 of the first conveying means to the delivery wheel 7. The operation is the same as when the container 1 is delivered to the gripper.
Thus, according to the article sterilization apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the containers 1 are aligned in a row by the supply means 3, the first transport means 4, the delivery wheel 7, the second transport means 8, and the discharge means 10. It is designed to be transported in a state.
In particular, since the container 1 is conveyed from the supply wheel 3c to the discharge wheel 10a while being gripped by the gripper, the container 1 can be reliably conveyed without fear of being overturned.

Next, the preheating means 5 and the photosterilization means 6 will be described. Since these have the same configuration except the configuration described in detail below, the photosterilization means 6 will be described below.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the photo sterilization means 6 is provided along the conveyance path of the first conveyance means 4, and the first and second irradiation means 21 that irradiate the container 1 with the sterilization light L, 22, a reflection means 23 that reflects the sterilization light L, and a sensor 24 that measures the temperature of the heated container 1.
As shown in FIG. 2, the first irradiation means 21 is provided on the side of the container 1 conveyed by the first conveyance means 4, and the second irradiation means 22 is provided above the container 1.
The first irradiating means 21 and the second irradiating means 22 of the light sterilizing means 6 are respectively a halogen lamp 25 as a light emitting means for irradiating the sterilizing light L, and a collection for condensing the sterilizing light L irradiated by the halogen lamp 25. The light means 26 is comprised.
The halogen lamp 25 has an elongated cylindrical shape along the transfer path of the first transfer means 4 and irradiates the sterilization light L for sterilizing the glass container 1 by heating. Is irradiated with light having a wavelength with low energy absorption into the glass.
For this reason, when the sterilizing light L is irradiated onto the glass, most of the light is transmitted without being absorbed, but the glass is heated and sterilized by a part of the absorbed energy.

A reflection surface 26 a that reflects the sterilization light L irradiated by the halogen lamp 25 is formed inside the light collecting means 26, and the reflection surface 26 a has a cross section of the same shape along the conveyance path of the first conveyance means 4. Are formed to be continuous.
The cross section of the reflecting surface 26a is formed so as to form an elliptical arc, and one focal position in the elliptical arc coincides with the center of the halogen lamp 25, and the other focal position is It is located in the internal space of the container 1 located outside the light collecting means 26.
By making the cross-section of the reflection surface 26 a into such a shape, when the halogen lamp 25 irradiates the sterilization light L, the sterilization light L reflected by the reflection surface 26 a is the other side located in the internal space of the container 1. It will be condensed at the focal point.

The reflecting means 23 is a substantially U-shaped reflecting mirror provided at a position opposite to the first irradiating means 21 and the second irradiating means 22 across the container 1. The same section as the first and second irradiation means 21 and 22 is provided along the transport path.
According to the reflecting means 23, the sterilizing light L irradiated from the halogen lamp 25 provided in the first and second irradiating means 21 and 22 and transmitted through the container 1 is conveyed by the first conveying means 4. It can be reflected by the container 1.
The sensor 24 is provided at a position adjacent to the downstream side of the first and second irradiating means 21 and 22, and is conveyed to the first conveying means 4 in a non-contact state to be subjected to the first and second irradiations. The temperature of the container 1 that has passed through the means 21 and 22 is measured.
The temperature measured by the sensor 24 is transmitted to a determination unit (not shown). If the temperature of the container 1 does not reach a predetermined temperature, the determination unit determines that the sterilization of the container 1 is insufficient and is not shown. The container 1 is rejected in a later process.
The preheating means 5 does not include the second irradiation means 22 and the sensor 24 provided above the container 1 with respect to the photosterilization means 6, and is on the side of the container 1 that is conveyed by the first conveying means 4. By irradiating the sterilizing light L from the direction, water droplets adhering to the container 1 are evaporated by the cleaning device, and the container 1 is preheated.

The cooling means 9 includes a housing 31 provided along the transfer path of the container 1 by the second transfer means 8, a plurality of sets of injection nozzles 32 provided at equal intervals along the housing 31, and these injection nozzles 32. A cooling gas supply means (not shown) for supplying a cooling gas to the inside, and an exhaust means 33 for discharging the gas inside the housing 31 to the outside.
The housing 31 is provided from a position downstream of the delivery position C adjacent to the delivery wheel 7 in the second transport means 8 to a position upstream of the delivery position D adjacent to the discharge wheel 10a. Thirty sets of injection nozzles 32 are provided along the housing 31 at equal intervals.
As shown in FIG. 3, the housing 31 is formed so as to accommodate the container 1 together with the tip of the gripping member 14b in the gripper 14, and the gripping member 14b does not interfere with the inner peripheral side surface of the housing 31. A slit 31a is formed in the slit.
Furthermore, the cross section of the housing 31 has a cross sectional area that does not become too large with respect to the container 1 to be transported, and the heat capacity inside the housing 31 is made as small as possible.

The jet nozzles 32 are provided at equal intervals in the housing 31 along the transport path of the second transport means 8, and each set of spray nozzles 32 includes an upper surface of the housing 31, an inner peripheral side, It is provided at a total of five locations on the outer peripheral side surface and diagonally upward on the inner peripheral side and outer peripheral side.
The cooling gas supply means supplies sterilized air cooled to −15 ° C. to the injection nozzle 32 so that the cooling gas is injected from the injection holes of the injection nozzle 32 toward the container 1 inside the housing 31. It has become.
The housing 31 is provided with a communication hole 31b for allowing the cooling gas to pass therethrough.
Among the injection nozzles 32, the injection nozzle 32 provided above the housing 31 injects cooling gas downward, thereby supplying the cooling gas into the container 1 through the opening of the container 1 held by the gripper. It comes to inject.
Also, the injection nozzles 32 provided on the inner peripheral side and outer peripheral side surfaces of the housing 31 inject cooling gas from the side to the lower part of the container 1 held by the gripper, and the inner and outer peripheral sides of the housing 31 are injected. The injection nozzle 32 provided obliquely above is configured to inject cooling gas into the body of the container 1 obliquely from above.
The injection hole of the injection nozzle 32 may be provided outside the housing 31 or may be provided so as to face the inside of the housing 31 through the communication hole.
The cooling gas supply means can supply not only the cooling gas of -15 ° C. but also cooling gas of other temperatures, and the cooling gas can be cooled to 0 ° C. or less depending on the container 1 to be cooled and other conditions. It is desirable to eject gas.

The exhaust means 33 discharges the gas inside the housing 31 through a duct 33a provided at a predetermined interval on the lower surface of the housing 31.
By providing the duct 33a on the lower surface of the housing 31 as described above, an air flow is generated in the housing 31 from the upper side to the lower side to remove dust adhering to the container 1 and the like. The air heated by the radiant heat of the container 1 is discharged.

Hereinafter, the operation of the article sterilization apparatus 2 having the above configuration will be described.
First, when the container 1 cleaned by the cleaning device is supplied to the supply conveyor 3a of the supply means 3, the screw 3b spreads the container 1 at a predetermined interval downstream of the supply conveyor 3a, and the gripper provided on the supply wheel 3c. Grips.
Thereafter, when the supply wheel 3c rotates and the container 1 reaches the delivery position A adjacent to the first conveying means 4, the container 1 is delivered from the gripper of the supply wheel 3c to each gripper 13 of the first conveying means 4. .
Subsequently, the first transport unit 4 transports the containers 1 held by the gripper 13 to the preheating unit 5, and each container 1 is irradiated with the sterilizing light L from the preheating unit 5, and the water droplets attached to the containers 1 And the container 1 is preheated to about 200 ° C.
By evaporating water droplets adhering to the container 1 by the preheating means 5, the water sterilization means 6 prevents the water droplets adhering to the container 1 from being heated to a required temperature, and preheating is performed. Thus, the light sterilization means 6 prevents the container 1 from being damaged due to a rapid temperature rise.
A water droplet removing means for removing water droplets adhering to the container 1 by vibration, air blowing or the like can be provided at a position upstream of the preheating means 5, and this water droplet removing means is supplied by the supply means 3. You may provide along the conveyor 3a.

Further, the first transport unit 4 transports the container 1 held by the gripper 13 to the photo sterilization unit 6, and the sterilization light L is transmitted from the first and second irradiation units 21 and 22 of the photo sterilization unit 6 to each container 1. Irradiated.
The sterilizing light L emitted from the first and second irradiating means 21 and 22 has an elliptical arc in the cross section of the reflecting surface 26a in the condensing means 26, and the halogen lamp 25 has the elliptical arc. Therefore, the light is condensed at the center of the internal space of the container 1.
Among these, since the sterilization light L irradiated from the first irradiation means 21 is irradiated on the wall surface on the halogen lamp 25 side and the wall surface on the first transport means 4 side of the container 1 in almost the same area, both wall surfaces are of the same extent. Will be heated.
On the other hand, the sterilizing light L emitted from the second irradiation means 22 is incident from above the container 1 by the reflecting surface 26a of the light collecting means 26, and the neck 1a of the container 1 and the bottom of the container 1 on the opposite side thereof. Will be heated to the same extent.
And when the sterilization light L irradiated from the said 1st, 2nd irradiation means 21 and 22 permeate | transmits the container 1, it will be reflected by the reflection means 23 which opposes on both sides of the container 1, and will heat the container 1 again. ing.

And the container 1 conveyed by the 1st conveyance means 4 passes the optical sterilization means 6 for about 5 to 10 seconds, and the container 1 is heated by about 400 to 500 degreeC required for sterilization in the meantime. In addition, although it changes with microbes, if about 400 degreeC is maintained for 1 second, it is known that the container 1 can be sterilized and depyrogenated.
Further, the portion that is not easily irradiated with the sterilizing light L is heat sterilized to the above temperature by heat transfer from the portion heated by the sterilizing light L.
When the heated container 1 passes through the first and second irradiation means 21 and 22, the temperature of the container 1 through which the sensor 24 passes is individually measured and this temperature is transmitted to a determination means (not shown).
The determination means determines that the sterilization of the container 1 is insufficient when the container 1 has not reached the predetermined temperature, and rejects the container 1 by a not-shown rejection means provided on the downstream side of the article sterilization apparatus 2. It is like that.
The determination means stores the measured temperature for each container 1 and is used for traceability after shipment of each container 1 together with other data stored in the filling means provided in the subsequent process of the container 1 sterilization apparatus 1.

When the container 1 is transported to the delivery position B adjacent to the delivery wheel 7, the container 1 is delivered from the first transport means 4 to the delivery wheel 7, and the delivery wheel 7 further transfers the container 1 at the delivery position C. Delivered to the second conveying means 8.
When the container 1 is delivered to the gripper 14 of the second transport unit 8, the container 1 is transported along the transport path of the second transport unit 8 and transported inside the housing 31 of the cooling unit 9.
The cooling means 9 supplies a cooling gas of −15 ° C. to each injection nozzle 32 by the cooling gas supply means, and the injection nozzle 32 injects the cooling gas into the container 1 held by the gripper 14 of the second conveying means 8. To do.
At this time, the injection nozzle 32 injects cooling gas from the upper direction of the container 1, the inner peripheral side and the outer peripheral side of the transport path, and the obliquely upward five directions on the inner peripheral side and outer peripheral side of the transport path, Is configured to inject a cooling gas into the container 1 through the mouth 1a.
As a result, the entire container 1 is uniformly cooled, and even when a low-temperature cooling gas of −50 ° C. is injected, a temperature difference is unlikely to occur, and the container 1 is prevented from being damaged by the temperature difference. ing.
On the other hand, the exhaust means 33 exhausts the air in the housing 31 to the outside through the duct 33a, forcibly exhausting dust and the like adhering to the container 1, and the container 1 heated by the photosterilization means 6. The air in the housing 31 heated by the radiant heat is discharged.

The container 1 transported by the second transport means 8 passes through the cooling means 9 for about 5 to 10 seconds, and during that time, the container 1 is cooled to about 30 ° C. where the chemical solution does not deteriorate in the filling device in the subsequent process. The
At this time, the portion where the cooling gas is not directly injected is also cooled to the temperature by heat transfer from the portion cooled by the cooling gas.
And if the said container 1 is conveyed to the delivery position D adjacent to the discharge wheel 10a by the 2nd conveyance means 8, the container 1 will be delivered from the gripper 14 of the 2nd conveyance means 8 to the gripper of the discharge wheel 10a, The containers 1 are further transferred from the discharge wheel 10a to the discharge conveyor 10b and conveyed to a filling device (not shown) in a line.
A sensor for measuring the temperature of the container 1 may be provided on the discharge conveyor so as to measure whether or not the container 1 cooled by the cooling means 9 has been cooled to a predetermined temperature or lower.

As in the present embodiment, the gripper 13 of the first transport unit 4 is provided with the first transport unit 4 provided along the photosterilization unit 6 and the second transport unit 8 provided along the cooling unit 9. Since the container 1 is transported only to the light sterilization means 6, the gripper 13 is not cooled by the cooling means 9.
In other words, the cooling means 9 only needs to cool the container 1 held by the gripper 14 of the second transport means 8, and the heated gripper 13 does not need to be cooled. Can be.
Further, since the cooling means 9 simultaneously injects the cooling gas from a plurality of directions to one container 1, the entire container 1 can be cooled at the same time. Can cool rapidly. Moreover, the heat capacity of the object to be cooled is small, and cooling can be performed quickly.
Further, since the cooling means 9 of the present embodiment transports the container 1 within the housing 31, the cooling gas can be concentrated in the container 1, and the exhausted air 33 discharges the heated air around the container 1. Therefore, the container 1 can be cooled more efficiently.

In the above embodiment, the delivery wheel 7 is provided between the first conveying means 4 and the second conveying means 8. Of the grippers 13 and 14 in the first and second conveying means 4 and 8, If any one of the grippers is an openable / closable gripper, the delivery wheel 7 can be omitted.
In this case, it is preferable that one of the grippers 13 and 14 grips the neck 1a of the container 1 and the other grips the trunk so that the grippers 13 and 14 are not in direct contact with each other. .
In addition to the above embodiments, vials and ampoules filled with chemicals can be sterilized. In this case, support rails for supporting the bottoms of the vials and ampoules may be provided as necessary along the conveyance path of the vials and ampoules.
Further, in the above embodiment, the first transport means 4 is a transport conveyor, and the second transport means 8 is a rotary table. However, to reverse this configuration, both transport means are unified with the transport conveyor and the rotary table. It is also possible to do.
Specifically, when the first transport means 4 is a rotary table, the photosterilization means 6 is arranged in an arc along the transport path of the container 1 in the above embodiment, and the second transport means 8 is a transport conveyor. In this case, the cooling means 9 may be arranged linearly.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Container 2 Article sterilization apparatus 4 1st conveyance means 6 Light sterilization means 8 2nd conveyance means 9 Cooling means 31 Housing 32 Injection nozzle 33 Exhaust means

Claims (5)

In an article sterilization apparatus comprising a conveying means for conveying an article, a heating means for heating and sterilizing the article, and a cooling means for cooling the article heated by the heating means,
The conveying means includes a first conveying means and a second conveying means for circulating and conveying a gripper that grips an article, and the heating means is arranged along the conveying path of the first conveying means. Each of the cooling means is arranged along the conveyance path,
Further, the cooling means includes a plurality of injection nozzles for injecting a cooling gas to the article, and the cooling gas is injected from a plurality of directions onto the article held by the grippers of the second conveying means. An article sterilization apparatus characterized by being arranged.   The article is an empty glass container, and at least one of the injection nozzles of the cooling means is arranged so that the cooling gas is injected into the container from the opening of the empty container. The article sterilization apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The cooling means includes a housing that surrounds the article conveyed by the second conveying means and is formed along the conveyance path of the article,
3. The article sterilization apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a communication hole through which the cooling gas injected from the injection nozzle is introduced into the housing.   The article sterilization apparatus according to claim 3, wherein an exhaust means for discharging the gas inside the housing to the outside is connected to the housing.   5. The article sterilization apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the spray nozzle sprays a cooling gas of 0 ° C. or less.

Images