JP2012136257A - Filling and sealing method for paper container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To fill and seal a paper container while maintaining a high disinfection level, in a paper container filling and sealing method which folds a tubular carton 8 to form a bottom, supplies liquid, and then seals it after folding its top.SOLUTION: The carton 8 folded to be flat is unfolded to form a square tube, and is disinfected by spraying a disinfectant to the bottom thereof, and then it is bent to form the bottom. The carton 8 is turned upside down with the bottom up, and is disinfected by spraying the disinfectant to an inner surface of the carton from the top side located at the bottom. The carton 8 is turned to be upright. After the carton is filled with content, it is sealed after the top is folded.

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling and sealing method for a paper container, and more particularly to a filling and sealing method for a paper container in which the contents are filled and sealed after the paper container is sterilized in an aseptic atmosphere.

  A method for filling and sealing a paper container is known in which a paper container is taken out, expanded into a cylindrical shape, the bottom is assembled, the contents are filled, and then the top side is sealed. In particular, in an apparatus for filling and sealing in an aseptic atmosphere, it is necessary to sterilize the container before filling the contents, but the conventional apparatus is one of the above steps before filling. The container is sterilized in stages (see, for example, Patent Document 1 to Patent Document 3).

  In the method for manufacturing a paper container described in Patent Document 1, a flatly folded paper container is taken out and expanded into a rectangular shape, and the supplied spout is welded to a predetermined position. Then, the adhesive adhering to the inner and outer surfaces of the bottom of the paper container is melted, the folding surface of the bottom is folded inward, and the bottom is assembled. This paper container is sent directly under the hydrogen peroxide spraying device to spray hydrogen peroxide on the entire inner surface of the paper container. Thereafter, hot air is blown and dried, and then a predetermined content is filled with a filling nozzle, and then the head of the paper container is sealed with a head folding pressurizing device, thereby completing the manufacture of the paper container.

  In addition, the packaging machine described in Patent Document 2 takes out a container folded in a flat shape in a clean booth, opens it into a rectangular tube, attaches a stopper to this container, and sterilizes with a container sterilizer, The bottom is molded in an aseptic chamber, and then sent to a filling device to fill the contents, and the top of the container is sealed with a container top sealing device.

  Furthermore, the sterilization method of the paper container in the aseptic filling apparatus described in Patent Document 3 is carried out by bringing the carton with both the bottom and head open into the sterilization apparatus and spraying the surface and bottom with the sterilizing agent mist. Then, the bottom is folded and pressure-sealed to form the bottom. Next, the sterilizing agent is sprayed on the inner surface of the paper container by a sterilizing agent spray device to sterilize, and then the sterilized paper container is filled with the contents, and then the head is folded and sealed and sealed and sealed.

JP-A 61-244702 JP 2003-81220 A JP-A-9-240629

  In the configuration of the invention described in Patent Document 1, since the container is sterilized after folding and sealing the bottom of the container, the sterilizing agent is not attached to the folded part of the bottom surface. There was a problem that the sterilization level was low. Further, since hydrogen peroxide is sprayed from the upper opening of the upward container after the bottom portion is sealed, there is a risk that hydrogen peroxide remains inside the container.

  In the configuration of the invention described in Patent Document 2, since the bottom portion is sealed after the container is sterilized, and the sterilization process is not just before filling, there is a possibility that the sterilization level may decrease with the passage of time. there were.

  Furthermore, in the configuration of the invention described in Patent Document 3, the bottom of the container is sealed after sterilization, and then filling is performed after sterilizing the inner surface of the container, and the sterilization level of the bottom is not low, In addition, since sterilization is performed immediately before filling, there is no possibility that the sterilization level is lowered. However, in this invention, since the sterilization is performed with the container upright, there is a risk that the sterilizer may remain inside the container. There was a problem that there was.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a method for filling and sealing a paper container having a high sterilization level and no sterilizing agent remaining in the container. And a box opening process that opens in a cylindrical shape with the bottom open, a bottom sterilization process that sprays a sterilizing agent on the bottom of the opened cylindrical paper container, and a bottom forming process that folds and seals the bottom of the paper container The inner surface sterilization step of spraying the sterilizing agent from the lower top side in the inverted state with the bottom portion up to the inner surface of the paper container formed with the bottom portion, and the upright state with the top portion of the paper container upward A posture changing process to be changed, a filling process for filling a product from the top of the paper container, and a top forming process for folding and sealing the top of the paper container.

  In the filling and sealing method for a paper container according to the present invention, a step of forming a bottom portion after performing a step of spraying a sterilizing agent on the bottom portion of the paper container is performed, and then the sterilizing agent is placed inside the container from below in an inverted state. Since the spraying is performed, the sterilization level is high even in the folded part of the bottom, and since the sterilizing agent is sprayed into the container from below in an inverted state, there is no possibility of the sterilizing agent remaining inside the container, and Since the inside of the container is sterilized immediately before the filling step, there is an advantage that the sterilization level may not be lowered over time.

FIG. 1 is a side view showing the overall configuration of a paper container filling apparatus for carrying out a paper container filling and sealing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Example 1 FIG. 2 is an enlarged side view showing a main part (range indicated by reference sign P) of FIG.

  A process of sequentially taking out a plurality of paper containers that are folded flat and stored in a magazine, and opened in a cylindrical shape with the bottom and top open, and on the bottom side of the opened paper container A bottom sterilization step for spraying a sterilizing agent to sterilize the inner and outer surfaces of the portion that will later become the bottom, a bottom forming step for forming the bottom by folding and sealing the sterilized bottom, and a paper made with the bottom An inner surface sterilization step of sterilizing the inner surface of the paper container by spraying a sterilizing agent upward from the open portion on the top side facing the lower side with the bottom portion turned upside down, and the inner surface in the inverted state Invert the paper container sterilized and change the attitude to the upright state with the top side facing upward, and fill the paper container with products such as liquid from the top side facing upward Filling process and paper container open By sealing by bending the top, by performing a top portion forming step of sealing the top, while maintaining a high degree of sterilization levels, to achieve the purpose of performing the filling and sealing of the paper container.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. The filling and sealing apparatus for carrying out the paper container filling and sealing method according to the present invention comprises, in order from the upstream side (the right side in FIG. 1), the carton supply part A, the plug attachment part B, the sterilization part C at the bottom of the carton, It has a part D, an inverted inverted part E, an inner surface sterilizing part F, an inverted standing part G, a filling part H, and a top seal part I. The upstream carton supply part A and the plug attachment part B are installed in a chamber 2 (hereinafter referred to as a first chamber) sealed from the outside, and the bottom seal part D on the downstream side is reversed. The inverted part E, the inner surface sterilizing part F, the inverted standing part G, the filling part H, and the top seal part I are installed in another aseptic chamber 4 (hereinafter referred to as a second chamber). The first chamber 2 on the upstream side and the second chamber 4 on the downstream side are connected by a connection passage 6, and in the connection passage 6, a carton conveying means described later is disposed, and the bottom sterilization unit C is provided.

  In the carton supply section A on the most upstream side, a carton magazine 10 that accommodates a plurality of rectangular tube-like cartons 8 that are folded flat and stored in a stacked state is disposed at an inclination, and the carton magazine 10 is provided below. The carton 8 is taken out from the lowermost end of the carton magazine 10 by the carton take-out means 12 that moves forward and backward toward the bottom side of the carton, and is opened into a rectangular tube shape with the bottom and top open. The carton 8 of this embodiment corresponds to the paper container of claim 1.

  Adjacent to the carton magazine 10, there is provided a rotary type carton transport mechanism 14 (hereinafter referred to as a first carton transport mechanism) that receives a carton 8 raised in a rectangular tube shape and rotates and transports it intermittently. Yes. The first carton transport mechanism 14 has an octagonal rotating body 14b that rotates about a horizontal rotating shaft 14a, and two cartons are provided on each of the eight flat surfaces around the rotating body 14b. A holding member 14c is attached. The first carton transport mechanism 14 rotates in the counterclockwise direction of FIG. 1 by 1/8 of a round (rotates by 45 degrees) and stops at each processing position. A first position 14A (a position facing diagonally downward to the right in FIG. 1) is a carton receiving position, which is opposed to the carton taking-out position of the carton supply section A and taken out by the carton taking-out means 12 and opened. The carton 8 is transferred to the carton holding member 14c with the top side to which the plug 8a (see FIG. 2) is attached facing the outer side of the rotating body 14b. In this embodiment, two cartons 8 are processed two by two, and two cartons 8 are taken out from the carton magazine 10 and the first carton transport mechanism 14 is driven by two carton holding members 14c. Are transported intermittently two by two.

  The second position 14 </ b> B of the first carton transport mechanism 14 is a plug temporary mounting portion for temporarily mounting the plug 8 a by stopping the carton 8 in a horizontal state, and is a port installed above the first chamber 2. The plug 8 a supplied from the plug supply parts feeder 16 through the chute 18 is temporarily attached to the plug mounting portion of the carton 8. A plug welding means 20 is provided at the fourth position 14D where the first carton transport mechanism 14 further rotates and stops with the top side of the carton 8 facing upward. At the fourth position 14D, the plug 8a Is welded to the stopper mounting portion of the rectangular carton 8. Thereafter, at the sixth position 14 </ b> F in the horizontal position, the rectangular tubular carton 8 to which the stopper 8 a is welded is delivered to the carton conveying means disposed in the connection passage 6.

  The rectangular carton 8 taken out at the sixth position 14F of the first carton transport mechanism 14 is transferred to the carton transport means 22 (see FIG. 2) in the connection passage 6. The carton conveying means 22 includes both side guides 22a arranged at a distance slightly larger than the width of the square cylindrical carton 8, and the rear end surface (end surface on the bottom side) of the square cylindrical carton 8 fed between the both side guides 22a. ) And a finger 22b that engages and presses. The finger 22b moves forward and backward in the transport direction (left and right direction in FIG. 1), and can move laterally between a position where it moves in the horizontal direction and engages with the carton 8 and a position where it does not engage. (It can move to the near side and the far side of the page of FIGS. 1 and 2). The carton conveying means 22 in the connection passage 6 also conveys the carton 8 intermittently, and engages with the rear end surface of the rectangular tubular carton 8 and moves forward (moves from right to left in FIG. 1). As shown in FIG. 1, after sequentially stopping at three positions, the sheet is moved in the lateral direction (the back side of the paper surface in each figure) and retracted to a position where it does not engage with the carton 8, and retracted upstream at the retracted position. (Move from left to right in FIG. 1). At this upstream end, it moves again to a position where it engages with the carton 8 (moves to the front side of the paper in each figure), engages with the rear end of the next carton 8 and moves forward intermittently.

  The connection passage 6 in which the carton transport means 22 is provided is partitioned by two partition plates 24 and 26. The first (upstream side) partition plate 24 is installed at a position having a space for one carton 8 in the upstream portion in the connection passage 6, and the second partition plate 26 is downstream from the outlet of the connection passage 6. The second chamber 4 is protruded toward the second chamber 4 side, and a space for two cartons 8 is provided between the first partition plate 24 and the second partition plate 26. The downstream side of the space between both the partition plates 24 and 26 (the range indicated by the symbol P in FIG. 1) is the bottom sterilization part C. The hydrogen peroxide gas is sprayed from the diagonally rear side of the carton 8 to the position near the second chamber 4 in the connection passage 6 (bottom sterilization part C), and the inside of the bottom part of the carton 8 that is opened in a rectangular tube shape. A hydrogen peroxide gas injection nozzle 28 for sterilizing the outer surface is provided (not shown in FIG. 1).

  When the rectangular tubular carton 8 in a state where both the bottom side and the top side are open is sterilized at the bottom side by the bottom sterilization part C in the connection passage 6 and then carried into the second chamber 4, A rotary carton transport mechanism 30 (hereinafter referred to as a second carton transport mechanism) for folding the bottom surface on the side is disposed. The second carton transport mechanism 30 has the same configuration as that of the first carton transport mechanism 14, and two carton holding members 30c are provided at eight positions on the outer periphery of the rotating body 30b rotated by the horizontal shaft 30a. It rotates intermittently and stops at 8 positions. The rectangular carton 8 delivered from the connection passage 6 is transferred to the carton holding member 30c of the second carton transport mechanism 30 at the horizontal position (first position 30A) on the right side of FIG. In the first carton transport mechanism 14, the rectangular tubular carton 8 with both the bottom side and the top side opened is held by the carton holding member 30c with the bottom side facing the center of the rotating body 30b. However, in this second carton transport mechanism 30, the top side of the rectangular tubular carton 8 is held by the carton holding member 30c with the center side of the rotary body 30b facing the bottom and the bottom side facing the outside of the rotary body 30b. Is done.

  The second carton transport mechanism 30 is also rotated in the counterclockwise direction of FIG. 1, and receives and rotates the sterilized rectangular tubular carton 8 and stops at the next second position 30B. Hot air blowing devices 32 and 34 are disposed at the second position 30B and the third position 30C, respectively, and hot air is blown onto the carton 8 stopped at these positions 30B and 30C to melt the bottom surface. A bottom surface temporary folding means 36 is provided at the fourth position 30D and performs temporary folding to form the bottom surface. The following fifth position 30E is provided with bottom seal pressing means 38, and the bottom of the carton 8 melted at the second and third positions 30B and 30C and temporarily folded at the fourth position 30D is pressure-sealed. . Thereafter, the carton 8 whose bottom is formed by folding the bottom at the seventh position 30G (carton take-out position) in which the carton 8 faces in the vertical direction is taken out from the second carton transport mechanism 30. As described above, the carton 8 is held with the top side facing the center direction of the rotating body 30b, and when taken out downward, the carton 8 is in an upright state with the top side facing up and the bottom side facing down. An inverted inverted means (not shown) is provided in the inverted inverted portion E immediately after that, and the cartons 8 in the upright state are inverted into an inverted state in which the bottom portion faces upward and the top portion faces downward.

  On the downstream side of the inverted inverted portion E, there is provided conveying means (not shown) for conveying the carton 8 whose bottom portion is folded and sealed in an inverted state, and the formed bottom side is directed upward. In the inverted state, the carton 8 is intermittently conveyed. Below this inverted conveying means, a plurality of hydrogen peroxide gas injection nozzles 42 facing upward are provided, and further, a plurality of hot air injection nozzles 44 also facing upward are arranged on the downstream side. Then, hydrogen peroxide gas is blown upward from the top side that is open downward, and then blown into the carton 8, and then hot air is blown from below to sterilize the inner surface of the carton 8.

  While being transported in an inverted state, after the hydrogen peroxide gas is blown into the inner surface side from below, the carton 8 dried by hot air is turned upside down by means of a turn up stand ( It is inverted by the above (not shown) and returned to the state where the top side is directed upward.

  A filling portion H is provided on the downstream side of the inverted upright portion G. A plurality of filling nozzles 46 are arranged above the transport path of the carton transported by the transport means with the top side of the opened state facing upward, while the carton 8 is transported intermittently. Filling is performed a plurality of times from a plurality of filling nozzles 46.

  Following the filling portion H, a top seal portion I is provided. The top seal portion I is provided with two hot air blowing means 48 and 50 above the conveying path of the carton 8 being conveyed by the conveying means with the open top portion facing upward. The carton 8 being intermittently conveyed by the conveying means is blown with hot air twice by the two hot air blowing means 48 and 50, and the top side of the carton 8 is melted. The hot air blowing means 48 and 50 are followed by a seal pressure bonding means 52, and the melted top side of the carton 8 is folded and pressure bonded.

  The operation of the paper container filling and sealing apparatus according to the above configuration will be described. A large number of rectangular tubular cartons 8 are stacked and accommodated in a carton magazine 10 while being folded flat. A carton take-out means 12 is provided on the bottom side of the carton magazine 10 and moves forward and backward toward the bottom side of the carton magazine 10 to take out the carton 8 and open into a rectangular tube shape with the top side and the bottom side open. In this embodiment, the cartons 8 are intermittently conveyed and processed two by two, and the carton take-out means 12 takes out the two cartons 8 and opens them into a rectangular tube shape.

  The opened carton 8 is delivered to the carton holding member 14 c at the first position 14 </ b> A of the first carton transport mechanism 14. The first carton transport mechanism 14 rotates intermittently, and the stopper 8a supplied from the upper parts feeder 16 is temporarily attached to the stopper attachment portion of the carton 8 while stopping at the second position 14B. The The first carton transport mechanism 14 further rotates, and the plug 8a temporarily attached at the fourth position 14D is welded by the plug welding means 20. Thereafter, the carton 8 is transported to the sixth position 14F by the first carton transport mechanism 14 and delivered to the carton transport means 22 provided in the connection passage 6. At this time, the carton 8 has a rectangular tube shape with both the top side and the bottom side open, and is conveyed with the top side facing forward.

  When the carton 8 is intermittently transported by the carton transport means 22 in the connection passage 6 and stops at the sterilization section C (range shown in FIG. 2) for sterilizing the bottom of the carton 8, the excessively disposed on the rear side of this position. Hydrogen peroxide gas is sprayed from the hydrogen oxide gas injection nozzle 28 onto the inner and outer surfaces of the bottom side of the carton 8 that is open. Thereafter, the carton 8 is delivered to the carton holding member 30c at the first position 30A of the second carton transport mechanism 30. The carton 8 is transported with the top side facing forward, and is held by the carton holding member 30 c with the top side directed toward the center of the second carton transport mechanism 30 as it is. While the second carton transport mechanism 30 is intermittently rotated and stopped at the second position 30B and the third position 30C, the hot air blowing means 32 and 34 installed at these positions 30B and 30C are used twice. Hot air is blown to the bottom surface that is open over and the bottom surface is melted. Subsequently, the bottom surface of the carton 8 is temporarily folded at the fourth position 30D, and the bottom surface is seal-pressed at the fifth position 30E. In this way, after the sterilization is performed by spraying hydrogen peroxide gas on the bottom surface of the carton 8, the bottom surface is immediately folded and sealed, so that a very high sterilization level can be secured on the bottom surface.

  The carton 8 taken out from the second carton transport mechanism 30 at the sixth position 30F of the second carton transport mechanism 30 is formed as a bottom surface with the bottom side folded, and the top side is open. When the carton 8 is taken out from the second carton transport mechanism 30, the carton 8 is in an upright state with the bottom part facing down, but the carton 8 is opened with the bottom part facing up by the inverted inverted means of the inverted inverted part E. Inverted to a state in which the top side is directed downward, and in this state is conveyed by a conveying means (not shown). Next, hydrogen peroxide gas is injected into the inside of the carton 8 from the hydrogen peroxide gas injection nozzle 42 disposed upward in the inner surface sterilization part F. Subsequently, hot air is sprayed into the carton 8 from the downward opening by the upward hot air spray nozzle 44 and dried. If the disinfectant is sprayed from above with the top of the carton 8 open upward, the disinfectant may remain inside the carton 8, but in this embodiment, the bottom was opened upward. Since the hydrogen peroxide gas is blown into the carton 8 from below with the top side facing down, excess bactericides flow out downward, eliminating the possibility of the bactericides remaining on the inner surface of the carton 8. it can.

  The carton 8 that has been sterilized and dried is inverted again by the inverted upright means of the inverted upright portion G and returned to the upright state, and then the filling portion H is filled with contents such as liquid. After the filling, hot air is sprayed by the first hot air spraying means 48 and the second hot air spraying means 50 at the top seal portion I, and then the top side is sealed by the top seal pressing means 52. As described above, the bottom surface is sterilized and immediately sealed, and after the inner surface is sterilized, the contents are filled and the top side is also sealed, so that a very high level of sterilization performance can be obtained.

8 Paper container (carton)
28 Injection nozzle for bottom sterilization process 38 Bottom seal pressure bonding means for bottom formation process 42 Injection nozzle for inner surface sterilization process 46 Filling nozzle for filling process 52 Top seal pressure bonding means for top formation process

Claims (1)

  Opening process of flatly folded paper container into a cylindrical shape with the top and bottom open, bottom sterilization process of spraying bactericide on the bottom of the opened cylindrical paper container, and paper container A bottom forming step for folding and sealing the bottom, an inner surface sterilization step for spraying a disinfectant from the top of the bottom in an inverted state with the bottom up, on the inner surface of the paper container on which the bottom is formed, and the top of the paper container A paper container for performing a posture changing process for changing the attitude to an upright state with the top facing upward, a filling process for filling the product from the top of the paper container, and a top forming process for folding and sealing the top of the paper container Filling and sealing method.

Images