JP2012103079A - Nondestructive inspection method of mixture of air bubble in high viscosity liquid food - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform a nondestructive inspection of various kinds of high viscosity liquid food filled in a container or in a production plant.SOLUTION: For an article filled in a container, capacitance of a container housing electrode adjusted to the container shape and a plate electrode loaded on the container is measured by an LCR meter. Since the capacitance increases when there are product breaks, mixture of air bubbles, etc., an increase variation is used as an index to grasp a situation of high viscosity food in the container. Presence/absence of bubble mixture of the high viscosity liquid food in a filling pipe is also measured by arranging a pair of parallel flat plate electrodes in the filling pipe of the production plant to similarly measure the increase variation in capaciance by the LCR meter. Yogurt and the high viscosity liquid food are applied to various food such as yogurt, pudding, jelly, Tofu, savoury egg custard, jam, ketchup, honey.

Description

  The present invention is a non-destructive inspection of high-viscosity liquid food air bubbles in non-destructive inspection of in-line or container-filled high-viscosity liquid foods such as yogurt, tofu, tea-steamed, jam, ketchup, honey, etc. It relates to a destructive inspection method.

  As an inspection method for non-destructively inspecting the presence or absence of bubbles in food processing, the following Non-Patent Document 1 measures the capacitance of food, particularly olive oil, and when the bubbles are mixed in olive oil, the capacitance On the basis of the fact that the air bubble decreases, an experimental result has been reported that it is possible to determine bubble contamination using the decrease in capacitance as an index instead of the γ-ray transmission method and the detection method using the probe.

"Development of bubble detection method using capacitance change" (Hiroshima Institute of Technology Vol. 7, No. 2, 107-111 (1973)

  Non-Patent Document 1 describes that it is possible to determine the presence or absence of bubbles in olive oil by measuring electrostatic capacity, and high-viscosity liquid foods such as yogurt, tofu, chawanmushi, jam, ketchup, and honey are Because of its high viscosity, there is a possibility that it will behave differently from olive oil when mixed with bubbles, and therefore, Non-Patent Document 1 cannot be applied to high-viscosity liquid foods.

  That is, high-viscosity liquid foods such as yogurt are generally accompanied by a series of manufacturing processes such as mixing of raw materials, starter inoculation culture, container filling and the like. In the case of soft yogurt filled with containers, such as hard yogurt or saccharides, pulp, etc., filled in a container, there is a possibility that the yogurt may be bubble-engaged and mixed with bubbles when transporting the pipe or filling the container. For products that are stored in a crate after filling and subjected to post-fermentation, product collapse may occur due to vibration during transportation, etc. The collapse of the product causes a complaint about the product and causes a decline in the value of the product. Therefore, when these bubbles are bitten, mixed with bubbles, or collapsed, they are removed. In short, the sorting and exclusion cannot be performed by visual inspection of the sealed container. Therefore, food such as yogurt needs to be able to perform non-destructive inspection suitable for these. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and the problem to be solved is foam chewing by in-line before container filling in a factory for producing high-viscosity liquid foods or products in filling containers filled with the high-viscosity liquid foods An object of the present invention is to provide a non-destructive inspection method for high-viscosity liquid food air bubbles that can be inspected in a nondestructive manner.

  When research was conducted along the above-mentioned issues, it was found that in high-viscosity liquid foods such as yogurt, tofu, chawanmushi, jam, ketchup, honey, etc. Measurement of the change led to the finding that the capacitance increased. Therefore, by inspecting the presence or absence of an increase in the capacitance, the in-line foam biting of the high-viscosity liquid food is non-destructively inspected and monitored, and the filling container filled with the high-viscosity liquid food We obtained knowledge that it would be possible to take measures such as non-destructively inspecting product collapse and bubble contamination and sorting and shipping.

  The present invention has been made on the basis of such knowledge. That is, the invention according to claim 1 is an inspection method for non-destructively inspecting a high-viscosity liquid food, wherein the capacitance increase in the high-viscosity liquid food is achieved. Measuring the change, and using the increase in capacitance as an index, it is possible to nondestructively determine whether the high-viscosity liquid food is chewing foam in the plant pipe, collapsing damage or mixing of bubbles in the filling container This is a non-destructive inspection method for liquid foods.

  In addition to the above, the invention described in claim 2 is a filling container filled with high-viscosity liquid food, in which the object of non-destructive inspection for the presence or absence of product collapse and air bubble mixing is used. In order to effectively and reliably inspect for air bubbles, the above increase in the capacitance is measured by placing a high-viscosity liquid food filling container in place, and containing the filling container or both sides of the filling container. Non-destructive damage to the high-viscosity liquid food in the food container or mixing of air bubbles with the container-side electrode sandwiching the filling container facing the surface and the plate electrode disposed on the upper surface of the container as both electrodes The non-destructive inspection method for high-viscosity liquid food according to claim 1, wherein the determination is made.

  In addition to the above, the invention described in claim 3 is also a taste food such as yogurt, pudding, jelly, etc., in which the object of nondestructive inspection is also subjected to fermentation in the container or gelation in the container after filling the container. For example, after the container is filled, for example, the product collapse or bubble mixing that may occur due to vibrations or shocks such as crate conveyance can be directly and effectively grasped from the outside of the container, and the product is sorted and shipped. The high-viscosity liquid food is used as a favorite food that undergoes in-container fermentation or in-container gelation after heating and filling with yogurt, pudding, jelly, etc., and is determined non-destructively before the food is shipped. The non-destructive inspection method for high-viscosity liquid food according to claim 2, wherein

  In addition to the above, the invention described in claim 4 can be effectively and reliably grasped from outside the line directly in the filling line for filling the container after the completion of the production process of the various high-viscosity liquid foods. When there is a bubble chewing, the filling is stopped before filling, and the measure of the increase in capacitance is measured so that the measure of the increase in capacitance can be taken. The non-destructive in-line determination of foam biting of the high-viscosity liquid food in the filling pipe is performed by using a pair of parallel plate electrodes arranged in the filling pipe of the manufacturing plant of claim 1. This is a non-destructive inspection method for high viscosity liquid foods.

  Since the viscosity of the high-viscosity liquid food and the capacitance of the high-viscosity liquid food product are in a correlation, the measurement of the viscosity makes it possible to replace the static increase with the static by measuring the viscosity. In order to be able to determine the capacitance increase change, instead of determining the capacitance increase change, instead of measuring the capacitance increase change, the viscosity and capacitance of the high viscosity liquid food The non-destructive inspection method for high-viscosity liquid food according to claim 1, 2, 3, or 4, wherein the viscosity is measured by measuring the viscosity of the high-viscosity liquid food based on the correlation with Is.

  The present invention uses each of these as the gist of the invention as means for solving the above problems.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, the invention according to claim 1 is the method for checking the presence or absence of an increase in the capacitance of the high-viscosity liquid food before filling the container in the factory for manufacturing the high-viscosity liquid food. It is possible to provide a non-destructive inspection method for high-viscosity liquid food bubbles that can non-destructively inspect in-line bubble chewing, product collapse in a filling container filled with the high-viscosity liquid food, and bubble contamination.

  In addition to the above, the invention described in claim 2 is a filling container filled with high-viscosity liquid food, in which the object of non-destructive inspection for the presence or absence of product collapse and air bubble mixing is used. It is possible to effectively and reliably check for air bubbles.

  In addition to the above, the invention described in claim 3 is also a taste food such as yogurt, pudding, jelly, etc., in which the object of nondestructive inspection is also subjected to fermentation in the container or gelation in the container after filling the container. For example, after the container is filled, for example, the product collapse or bubble mixing that may occur due to vibrations or shocks such as crate conveyance can be directly and effectively grasped from the outside of the container, and the product is sorted and shipped. Can be adopted.

  In addition to the above, the invention described in claim 4 can be effectively and reliably grasped from outside the line directly in the filling line for filling the container after the completion of the production process of the various high-viscosity liquid foods. When there is a bubble biting, it is possible to stop the filling before filling and take measures to avoid the bubble biting and filling.

  Since the viscosity of the high-viscosity liquid food and the capacitance of the high-viscosity liquid food product are in a correlation, the measurement of the viscosity makes it possible to replace the static increase with the static by measuring the viscosity. It is possible to determine a change in capacitance.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows an electrostatic capacitance measuring apparatus. It is a perspective view of a parallel plate electrode. It is a graph which shows the electrostatic capacitance measurement result of 10% of yogurt preparation density. It is a graph which shows the electrostatic capacitance measurement result of a yogurt preparation density of 20%. It is explanatory drawing which shows the electrostatic capacitance measuring apparatus of yogurt with a container filling. It is a conceptual diagram which shows a viscosity measuring device. It is a graph which shows an electrostatic capacitance measurement result. It is a graph which shows a viscosity measurement result. It is a graph which shows the correlation of an electrostatic capacitance and a viscosity. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the electrostatic capacitance measuring apparatus of the filling pipe of yogurt. It is a graph which shows the electrostatic capacitance measurement result with a bubble of measurement frequency 10Hz. It is a graph which shows the electrostatic capacitance measurement result without a bubble of measurement frequency 10Hz. It is a graph which shows the electrostatic capacitance measurement result of a yogurt flow state of measurement frequency 10Hz. It is a graph which shows an electrostatic capacitance measurement result when changing a measurement frequency. It is a graph which shows the electrostatic capacitance measurement result without a bubble of the measurement frequency of 1 kHz. It is a graph which shows the electrostatic capacitance measurement result with a bubble of the measurement frequency of 1 kHz. It is a graph which shows the electrostatic capacitance measurement result of a yogurt flow state of a measurement frequency of 1 kHz. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the capacitance measuring apparatus of the other example of yogurt with a container filling.

  The present invention will be described in more detail below. The non-destructive inspection of the present invention is a non-destructive inspection of a high-viscosity liquid food. The high-viscosity liquid food is used as an indicator to determine non-destructively whether the high-viscosity liquid food is biting in the plant pipe, collapsing damage in the filling container, or mixing of air bubbles. Inspect the bite non-destructively and monitor this, and take measures such as non-destructively inspecting product collapse and air bubbles in filling containers filled with high-viscosity liquid food, and sorting and shipping the product. There is something to get.

  The non-destructive inspection can be an optical method, a radiation method, a mechanical method, an electromagnetic method, etc., but the present invention is a non-destructive and continuous evaluation method for quality change inside a high-viscosity liquid food. In this method, dielectric properties which are one of electromagnetic methods are utilized. This is because the dielectric properties directly reflect the state of motion of specific atomic groups and molecules in the measurement sample, which is an effective means for detecting the state and changes of the component molecules in the measurement sample. Because it is a non-contact measurement, there is no risk of contamination of the food, and since it is a continuous measurement, it can be measured while the food is being manufactured. This is because there is a merit that there is no chemical contamination and the measurement method is simple, and specially skilled techniques are not required. At this time, high-viscosity liquid food is mainly composed of carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, etc. Therefore, it is an electrically dielectric material, and therefore, by measuring the dielectric properties of food, the physicochemical state of the food can be grasped as numerical information, and the quality and processing level of high-viscosity liquid food The quantitative Evaluation is because it becomes possible to be.

  In order to confirm this, as described below, the dielectric capacity during the coagulation process of high-viscosity liquid food, especially the electrostatic capacity measurement, the dielectric capacity of the product collapse in the container, especially the electrostatic capacity and viscosity, and the measurement of the product in the tube Regarding the measurement of dielectric capacitance, particularly electrostatic capacitance, each experiment using yogurt as a sample was performed as follows.

  That is, as an experiment for measuring the capacitance of the coagulation process using yogurt as a sample, parallel samples were prepared using commercially available yogurt stirred with no lump and commercially available milk at a feed concentration of 10% and 20%. A flat plate electrode is inserted between samples, and the distance between the electrodes is set to 10 mm and 20 mm. Dielectric characteristics in the process of solidification of yogurt, especially capacitance (C = ε (S / d) where C: capacitance ε: dielectric The ratio S: the area of the electrode plates d: the distance between the electrode plates) was measured (see FIGS. 1 and 2). FIG. 3 shows the result when the preparation concentration is 10%, and FIG. 4 shows the result when the preparation concentration is 20%. As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the capacitance gradually increased with the solidification of the sample, and thereafter showed a constant value.

  According to the experiment, the change appeared remarkably when the distance between the parallel plate electrodes was set to 10 mm. At both 10% and 20% yogurt concentration, the capacitance decreased until about 30 minutes after the start of measurement, and gradually increased until about 3 to 4 hours after the start of measurement. Took a certain value. In addition, the capacitance increased more slowly when the concentration of yogurt was 20% than when the concentration was 10%. Immediately after the start of measurement, the reason why the capacitance decreased was that the experiment was conducted in an open system, and it was thought that the evaporation of moisture affected the air, so the ratio of air to the electrode plate increased and the capacitance decreased. However, since a thin film composed of surface protein, fat, sugar, etc. appears in the coagulation process of yogurt, this film prevented evaporation of water after about 30 minutes from the start of measurement. It seems that water evaporation was prevented.

  The reason why the capacitance increased more slowly when the yogurt feed concentration was 20% was higher than the sample with a yogurt feed concentration of 10% in the ratio of yogurt to milk. Since the measurement was started from the state where the coagulation had already proceeded as compared with 10%, it is considered that the increase in capacitance was moderated.

  Coagulation of yogurt was observed visually about 4 hours after the start of measurement. Since the increase in capacitance is considered to reflect the coagulation process of yogurt, it is recognized that the coagulation of yogurt was completed at the time point of 4 hours when the measured value became constant.

  3 and FIG. 4 show the factors that increase the capacitance during the coagulation process. From the experiment, the casein, which is the main component of the yogurt protein, aggregates due to isoelectric point precipitation during the coagulation process of the yogurt. In the solidification process, the dipole moment (the moment defined by μ = qR when the positive charge + q and the negative charge −q are separated by a distance R) increases, and the orientation polarization (the dipole of the polar molecule) (Polarization based on the orientation of the child moment) is likely to be induced, and it is recognized that this orientation polarization is the cause of the increase in capacitance.

  Therefore, since the coagulation process of yogurt appears as a value of capacitance, it is possible to monitor the production process of yogurt and consequently the production process of various high-viscosity liquid foods by grasping the situation of the increase in capacitance. it can.

  In addition, as an experiment for measuring the capacitance and viscosity of a product collapse in a container using yogurt as a sample, assuming that a commercially available cup-type yogurt collapses during transportation, the purchased cup-type yogurt is mixed with the stirring time. Samples stirred for 2 minutes, 5 minutes and 10 minutes with a vortex mixer, vigorously shaken up and down 30 times, and yogurt without stirring were used as samples. The sample used was stored at 4 ° C., but stirring was performed at room temperature. Therefore, after stirring, the sample was left in a constant temperature bath at 4 ° C. for about 20 minutes to prepare a sample.

  The capacitance was measured using a cup-type electrode prepared by attaching an aluminum foil inside an empty container of a commercially available cup-type yogurt and a plate electrode disposed on the upper surface of the container. The cup-type electrode was connected to an LCR meter (manufactured by Hioki Electric Co., Ltd., 3532), and the measured value was recorded with a recording computer (see FIG. 5). The measurement frequency was 1 kHz, and each sample was measured 15 times at 1 minute intervals.

  The viscosity is measured by using a rheometer (CR-500DX, manufactured by San Kagaku Co., Ltd.) and a plunger (diameter: 27.35 mm, manufactured by San Kagaku Co., Ltd.). The inner cylinder (plunger or bob) enters the sample in the outer cylinder (cylinder or cup) of the heavy cylinder at a constant speed, and the viscous force and elastic force included in the total stress that the plunger receives from the sample are clarified. And a measurement method for analyzing viscoelasticity of the sample) (see FIG. 6).

That is, after the cup yogurt was installed in the rheometer, the plunger was advanced to a predetermined depth. The depth at this time was called the approach line. Thereafter, the plunger was allowed to enter 0.2 mm at a predetermined measurement speed, and the load was measured. Based on the obtained load-time curve and measurement theory, the shear rate and the viscosity were obtained from the analysis software NRCC Visco-Pro. Measurement conditions are: plunger diameter 27.35 mm, container inner diameter 60.00 mm, Lo: 24.15 mm, Lb: 11.95 mm, measurement speed: 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 mm / min, The moving distance was 0.2 mm, the measurement temperature was 4 ° C., and the sample density was 1000 kg / m ³ . Lo is the distance from the bottom surface of the plunger to the approach line, and Lb is the distance from the bottom surface of the plunger to the bottom surface of the measuring container, and Lo + Lb is the sample height. The measurement speed was increased by 10 mm / min from 10 mm / min to 80 mm / min, and the viscosity was measured three times for each measurement speed, and the average value was taken as the viscosity at each measurement speed.

  FIG. 7 shows the capacitance measurement result, FIG. 8 shows the viscosity measurement result, and FIG. 9 shows the relationship between the capacitance and the viscosity.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the experiment showed a tendency for the capacitance to increase as stirring progressed, except for the sample that was shaken up and down without using a vortex mixer. The reason why the capacitance was low in the sample that was shaken up and down was that the yogurt adhered to the inner wall surface of the cup, which may have affected the measured capacitance value. Therefore, it is considered that the possibility of the occurrence of dew condensation is relatively small compared to other samples using a vortex mixer.

  The result of FIG. 6 was different from the conclusion that the capacitance increases as the protein in the yogurt is polymerized. However, as shown in FIG. 8, it became clear that the viscosity of yogurt in the cup has a correlation with the capacitance. That is, it is considered that bubbles were mixed by stirring and the electrostatic capacity was affected, and the influence of the amount and size of bubbles existing in the continuous phase on the electrostatic capacity needs to be studied in the future. However, it has become clear from the above that the yogurt in the cup can be inspected without opening the container. If the degree of yogurt collapse can be expressed in terms of viscosity, it is recognized that the degree of yogurt damage in the cup can be measured nondestructively by this method.

  In addition, regarding the measurement of the capacitance of yogurt in the tube, two types of commercially available yogurt can be used since the bubble biting phenomenon of yogurt occurs during transportation of the pipe, and there is a possibility of adversely affecting the texture due to the mixing of bubbles. Each sample was transferred to a beaker and sufficiently agitated so that bubbles were not mixed, and a sample in which bubbles were sufficiently mixed using an air stone and an air pump (bubbles were mixed immediately before the experiment).

  The capacitance was measured using an LCR meter (Hioki Electric Co., Ltd. 3522-50) connected with a liquid measurement electrode (HP16452A), and the measured value was recorded with a recording computer (see FIG. 10). The measurement was performed using the liquid measurement electrode connected to the tube after the yogurt was filled in the tube and the liquid measurement electrode using a liquid feed pump, and then the yogurt was circulated at a constant speed. The measurement start time was the time when the liquid feed pump was turned on, and the capacitance in a state where the liquid feed pump was stopped after the end of flow was measured in the same manner.

  The measurement conditions are as follows: (1) The temperature inside the thermostatic chamber is 4 ° C., the measurement frequency is 10 Hz, the distance between the electrode plates is 2 mm, and the measurement is performed 120 times at intervals of 6 seconds. Further, (2) the temperature in the thermostatic chamber was 4 ° C., the measurement frequency was 1 kHz, the distance between the electrode plates was 2 mm, and the measurement was performed 240 times at intervals of 6 seconds. The yogurt was allowed to flow from the lower part to the upper part of the liquid measuring electrode.

  The measurement results of (1) at a measurement frequency of 10 Hz are shown in FIG. 11, FIG. 12, and FIG. Capacitance was higher when yogurt was flowed regardless of the presence or absence of bubbles, and the value tended to decrease with increasing measurement time. In addition, when yogurt was not flowed, there was no significant difference in capacitance due to the presence or absence of bubbles, but the sample with bubbles mixed in decreased the capacitance more rapidly than the sample without bubbles. (However, under the above conditions, the sample may flow only in the upper part of the electrode plate due to the flow of yogurt from the side surface of the liquid measurement electrode to the upper part).

  In addition, when a metal electrode comes into contact with a liquid containing an electrolyte, an electric double layer is formed there and an electrode polarization phenomenon occurs, so when the electrode polarization occurs, a large increase in capacitance occurs in the low frequency region, and the sample itself By covering up the dielectric relaxation phenomenon, there is a possibility that the electrode polarization phenomenon is captured at a measurement frequency of 10 Hz, and there is no denying the possibility that the behavior of a low molecular substance is captured for measurement in the low frequency region.

  Therefore, FIG. 14 shows the result of examining the influence of electrode polarization by changing the frequency when yogurt is not flowed. The capacitance decreased with increasing frequency, and the capacitance became constant from a frequency of about 150 Hz. It was suggested that the electrode polarization phenomenon was captured at the frequency up to the point where the capacitance became constant.

  Considering these facts, in the measurement of kHz of (2), the yogurt was flowed from the lower part to the upper part of the liquid measuring electrode. The measurement results are shown in FIG. 15, FIG. 16, and FIG. When yogurt was allowed to flow, the electrostatic capacity tended to increase. When air bubbles were mixed, the electrostatic capacity was higher, and the measured value was unstable from the start of measurement to about 300 seconds. Further, when not flowing, the electrostatic capacity gradually decreased. It is considered that the above behavior appeared due to the change in the structure of bubbles and yogurt caused by the flow of yogurt in the tube, for example, the particle diameter of the bubbles was reduced and homogenized, and the viscosity was lowered. Moreover, it was confirmed that the gel (coagulation) was reconstructed by stopping the flow, and the capacitance decreased.

  Therefore, it is considered that this method can be applied to quality control during pipe transportation during the yogurt manufacturing process.

As a result of each of the above experiments, non-destructive, non-contact and continuous measurement of the quality of the fermentation process monitoring, foam biting during pipe transportation of yogurt, and yogurt collapse in the cup by using dielectric properties And assessing the condition
In the coagulation process of yogurt, the capacitance increased, and the capacitance became constant when coagulation was considered to be complete. In cup-type yogurts, the lower the viscosity, that is, as the yogurt in the cup collapsed The capacitance showed a tendency to increase, and when the bubbles were mixed in the yogurt and flowed in the tube, the capacitance values were clearly different from the sample in which bubbles were not mixed.

  That is, the increase in capacitance during the solidification process of yogurt is considered to be due to an increase in the dipole moment, and it has become possible to capture the solidification process of yogurt using dielectric characteristics.

  Further, non-contact monitoring of the collapse of yogurt in the cup revealed that there was a correlation between the degree of stirring (viscosity) of the sample in the cup and the capacitance. That is, it became clear that the collapse of the yogurt in the cup can be inspected with the container unopened. Also, if the degree of yogurt collapse can be expressed in terms of viscosity, it has become clear that the degree of yogurt damage in the cup may be measured nondestructively by this method.

  Furthermore, in the measurement of the dielectric properties of the yogurt in the tube, the difference in the presence or absence of bubbles in the fluidized sample clearly appeared as a difference in capacitance value. That is, it became clear that this can be applied to quality control at the time of pipe transportation during the manufacturing process of yogurt.

  Based on these experimental results, in the above non-destructive inspection method of the present invention, the non-destructive inspection of the high-viscosity liquid food in the filling container is performed by using liquids such as tofu, chamomile, jam, ketchup, honey, etc. other than yogurt. This can be done for food, and in addition to yogurt, it should be a favorite food that undergoes in-container fermentation or in-container gelation after heating and filling with pudding, jelly, etc., and performs non-destructive judgment before shipment of the food You can also.

  The non-destructive inspection of the high-viscosity liquid food in the filling container is carried out by measuring the increase in capacitance by placing the high-viscosity liquid food filling container in a fitted manner to accommodate the filling container or on both sides of the filling container. A non-destructive determination of collapse damage or air bubble contamination of the high-viscosity liquid food in the food container using the container-side electrode sandwiched between the container and the plate electrode disposed on the upper surface of the container as both electrodes This can be done.

  That is, for example, as shown in FIG. 5 in the experiment in which the capacitance of the cup-type yogurt was measured, the container-side electrode was formed in each container shape corresponding to these high-viscosity liquid food filling containers, and the filling containers were As a metal or metal-lined one that can be accommodated, the container side electrode is fitted and disposed by individually accommodating the filling container, for example, and a plate electrode disposed on the upper surface of the container side electrode The flat plate placed on the filling container may be made of metal or metal lining.

  At this time, the capacitance measurement by the container side electrode and the plate electrode is performed by forming a measuring device by connecting both of these electrodes to, for example, an LCR meter and connecting the LCR meter to a personal computer. . The high-viscosity liquid food filling container accommodates a plate electrode on which the selective or all items are individually taken out from the crate and inserted into the container-side electrode, for example, at a determination position arranged on the crate conveying line. The filling container is taken out from the crate, the filling container is inserted into the container side electrode, the plate electrode is placed, the plate electrode is removed after the measurement, and the filling container is taken out from the container side electrode. The crate can be returned to a fixed position by placing a filling container gripping movement mechanism, a plate electrode raising / lowering mechanism, and the like at the measurement site of the transfer line.

  The non-destructive inspection of the high-viscosity liquid food in the filling container is also performed, for example, as shown in FIG. 18, with the container-side electrode placed opposite to both sides of the filling container so as to be in close contact with the container or with a small gap. A flat plate that is placed on the top of the filling container in the same manner as described above, which is made of metal or metal lining with a pair of flat plates sandwiching the container, and is placed on the top surface of the container side electrode. This can be done by having a lining. At this time, the capacitance measurement using the container-side electrode and the plate electrode is performed by connecting both electrodes to the LCR meter and connecting the LCR meter to a PC (not shown). There is something to do. At this time, the high-viscosity liquid food filling container, for example, selectively or all items from the crate are separately taken out from the crate at the determination position arranged on the crate conveying line, and passed through the surrounding space formed by the container-side electrode and the plate electrode. Similarly, at this time, taking out the filling container from the crate, passing between the electrodes of the filling container, returning to the fixed position of the crate of the filling container after passing measurement, filling the measurement site of the transport line This may be done by arranging a container gripping movement mechanism or the like.

  Further, the non-destructive inspection of high-viscosity liquid food in a filling container is performed by measuring the change in capacitance by using a pair of parallel plate electrodes arranged in a filling pipe of a high-viscosity liquid food production plant. This can be done by non-destructively determining in-line the bubble chewing of the high viscosity liquid food in the pipe.

  At this time, the plate electrode is a pair of parallel flat plates, and the plate electrode is inserted and arranged in the filling pipe with an interval of about 10 mm to 20 mm, the plate electrode is similarly connected to the LCR meter, and the LCR The measurement may be performed by connecting the meter to a PC. The plate electrode can be made to have an accurate capacitance measurement by enlarging its area to the size of the manufacturing plant.

  In addition, the above experiment revealed that the viscosity of the high-viscosity liquid food and the capacitance are correlated, so the determination of the increase in capacitance is replaced with the measurement of the increase in capacitance. This can be done by measuring the viscosity of the high viscosity liquid food based on the correlation between the viscosity of the high viscosity liquid food and the capacitance. The viscosity can be measured in a non-destructive manner, in particular, by checking the viscosity of a high-viscosity liquid food product in the production plant to determine whether the product has collapsed.

  The present invention, in its implementation, the high-viscosity liquid food, the measurement of the increase in capacitance, the state of the high-viscosity liquid food by the measurement, the filling container used as necessary, the production plant, the container-type electrode, the plate electrode, the viscosity Specific methods such as rate measurement, shape, structure, material, inspection instrument, addition to these, and the like can be in various forms as long as they do not contradict the gist of the invention.

Claims (5)

  An inspection method for non-destructively inspecting a high-viscosity liquid food, measuring an increase in capacitance in the high-viscosity liquid food, and using the increase in capacitance as an index in a plant pipe of the high-viscosity liquid food A non-destructive inspection method for high-viscosity liquid foods characterized by non-destructively determining foam biting, collapse damage in a filled container, or bubble mixing.   The measurement of the increase in capacitance is carried out by placing a high-viscosity liquid food filling container so as to accommodate the filling container, or opposed to both side surfaces of the filling container and sandwiching the filling container. 2. The high-viscosity liquid according to claim 1, wherein the plate electrode disposed on the upper surface of the container is used as both electrodes to determine non-destructively whether the high-viscosity liquid food in the food container is damaged or mixed with bubbles. Non-destructive inspection method for food.   The high-viscosity liquid food is a favorite food that undergoes in-container fermentation or in-container gelation after heating and filling yogurt, pudding, jelly, etc., and performs non-destructive determination before shipment of the food. 2. A nondestructive inspection method for high viscosity liquid food according to 2.   The measurement of the increase in capacitance is performed by using a pair of parallel plate electrodes arranged in a filling pipe of a high-viscosity liquid food production plant, thereby eliminating the non-destructive foam chewing of the high-viscosity liquid food in the filling pipe. The non-destructive inspection method for high-viscosity liquid food according to claim 1, wherein in-line determination is performed.   Instead of measuring the increase in capacitance, the determination of the increase in capacitance is based on the correlation between the viscosity and the capacitance of the high-viscosity liquid food. The non-destructive inspection method for high-viscosity liquid food according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, characterized by being measured.

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