JP2017197254A - Beverage filling device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a filling device for filling beverage to a container such as a bottle, capable of preventing deterioration of a quality of a kind during filling time.SOLUTION: A beverage filling device comprises: a temporary storage tank for temporarily storing beverage; a nozzle which is communicated to the temporary storage tank by a communication path and pours beverage in the temporary storage tank to a container; and a valve device provided between the temporary storage tank and the nozzle on the communication path, and opens or closes the communication path. When the valve device is opened, beverage in the temporary storage tank is filled to the container through the nozzle, the beverage filling device further comprises: a pressure reduction pump for reducing pressure in the temporary storage tank. When the beverage is supplied to the temporary storage tank, the pressure in the temporary storage tank is reduced by the pressure reduction pump, for sucking the beverage to the temporary storage tank, for storing the beverage.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling device that fills a container such as a bottle with a beverage.

  When a beverage is filled in a container such as a bottle, the beverage may be temporarily moved to a tank at the top of the filling device and temporarily stored. In some cases, there was a concern about quality deterioration due to contamination. In particular, when the beverage is a delicate product such as sake, there is a great demand for a technique for preventing the quality from being lowered due to the movement of the beverage. For example, freshly squeezed fresh sake contains abundant carbonic acid and the like, and it is important for maintaining a unique flavor that it is stored in a tank and then bottled and shipped immediately. Therefore, it is particularly important to prevent a change in quality such as carbon dioxide from escaping when moving to the tank.

  As a filling device for filling a container such as a bottle, before supplying the effervescent liquid to the container by the liquid supply means, the gas is supplied to the container by the gas supply means, and the pressure in the container is changed to the pressure of the effervescent liquid. A counter-pressure type foaming liquid filling device that is equivalent to the pressure in the gas phase part in the production tank, and once the filling of the foaming liquid is completed, the liquid overflowing from the container is temporarily stored in the storage part. What is stored and returned to the container at the next filling is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  This technology is effective as a technology for filling sparkling beverages into bottles, etc., but particularly discloses the prevention of quality deterioration when a beverage to be filled into bottles or the like is moved to a tank at the top of the apparatus and temporarily stored. I do not mean.

JP 2012-56616 A

  The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described problems, and provides a technology capable of suppressing deterioration in quality associated with movement of a beverage to be filled in a filling device for filling a beverage or the like into a container such as a bottle. The purpose is to do.

The present invention for solving the above-described problems is a temporary storage tank for temporarily storing a beverage;
A nozzle that communicates with the temporary storage tank by a communication path and injects the beverage in the temporary storage tank into a container;
A valve device provided between the temporary storage tank and the nozzle in the communication path, and opening or blocking the communication path;
By opening the valve device, a filling device that can fill the container with the beverage in the temporary storage tank through the nozzle,
A pressure reducing pump for reducing the pressure in the temporary storage tank,
When the beverage is supplied to the temporary storage tank, the beverage is filled by sucking and storing the beverage in the temporary storage tank by reducing the pressure in the temporary storage tank by the decompression pump. Device.

  According to this, compared with the case where a drink is mechanically supplied to a temporary storage tank with a pump, the movement of a drink is smooth and quiet, and it can suppress that it is stirred mechanically or air is mixed. As a result, it is possible to suppress a deterioration in the quality of the beverage when the beverage is supplied to the temporary storage tank.

  In the present invention, when the beverage is supplied to the temporary storage tank, the beverage may be supplied via a pipe that guides the beverage to the bottom of the temporary storage tank. According to this, it is possible to suppress foaming or the like when the beverage is stored in the temporary storage tank, and it is possible to suppress a decrease in the quality of the beverage in this step.

  In the present invention, the beverage in the temporary storage tank may be guided to the nozzle by its own weight and injected into the container by its own weight. In this case, since the temporary storage tank is disposed above the nozzle or the like, when a beverage is supplied to the temporary storage tank, it is stirred more vigorously by a mechanical pump and a large amount of air is mixed. There is also a high risk of Therefore, a more remarkable effect can be achieved by applying the present invention to such an object.

  In the present invention, the valve device and the nozzle may be unitized, and the temporary storage tank and the unit may be connected by a connecting pipe that forms part of the communication path. According to this, it is possible to further increase the degree of freedom of the arrangement and shape of the temporary storage tank. In the present invention, the unit may be provided with a plurality of the valve devices and the nozzles. According to this, it becomes possible to proceed with the beverage filling operation more efficiently.

  In the present invention, the connecting pipe may connect the temporary storage tank and the plurality of units. If it does so, while being able to advance the filling operation | work of a drink more efficiently, the number of units etc. can be set freely and it can further raise the design freedom as a system.

  In the present invention, the beverage may be sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank. Here, as described above, sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank has good flavor and high commercial value, but dislikes stirring and mixing of air, and this causes a significant deterioration in quality. Therefore, it becomes possible to produce a more remarkable effect by applying the present invention to sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank. In addition, for example, a tank in which sake extracted from a koji press in a sake production process is connected to the temporary storage tank, and a tank in which sake extracted from a koji press is stored into the temporary storage tank by the upper tank. If the sake immediately after being made is supplied, the entire manufacturing process can be made more efficient.

  The means for solving the above-described problems of the present invention can be used in combination as much as possible.

  In the present invention, in a filling device that fills a container such as a bottle with a beverage, it is possible to suppress deterioration in quality associated with movement of the beverage to be filled.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the conventional drink filling apparatus. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the filling apparatus in the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the filling unit which comprises a part of filling apparatus in the Example of this invention.

  Hereinafter, a filling apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following description, an example in which sake is handled as a beverage will be described, but the object to which the present invention is applied is not particularly limited to sake.

[Example 1]
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional sake filling device 101. 1A is a front view of the apparatus, and FIG. 1B is a side view of the apparatus. In FIG. 1, the front side of the paper surface in the front view of FIG. 1A is the front side, and the back side of the paper surface is the rear side. Further, the left-right direction in the front view of FIG. 1A is the left-right direction of the apparatus, and similarly, the up-down direction in the figure is the up-down direction of the apparatus. The definition of the direction in the figure is the same in FIGS. 2 and 3 to be described later.

  In FIG. 1, a filling device 101 includes a control box 101 b for a user to operate on an upper portion of a filling device main body 101 a that is a housing of the device. Also, an intermediate tank 101c is provided on the upper part of the filling apparatus main body 101a and on the left side of the control box 101b to move the sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank and supply it to each nozzle 101i described later. .

  The intermediate tank 101c is provided with an injection pipe 101d, and a hose is connected to the injection pipe 101d to supply sake. More specifically, the hose connected to the injection pipe 101d is communicated with a tank (hereinafter also referred to as so-called dripping (not shown)) in which sake from the squeezing press is accumulated, and is squeezed by the upper tank. Immediately after, the sake is allowed to flow into the hose. The injection pipe 101d is provided with an electric valve 101e. The electric valve 101e controls whether or not the sake can flow into the intermediate tank 101c from the injection pipe 101d by releasing or closing the injection pipe 101d. The intermediate tank 101c is provided with a thermometer 101f that displays the temperature of sake in the intermediate tank and a liquor meter 101g that displays the amount of sake in the intermediate tank 101c. The filling device main body 101a is provided with four electric pinch valves 101h and four nozzles 101i each for injecting sake into a sake bottle at the time of filling.

  Here, in the conventional filling apparatus 101 shown in FIG. 1, sake is pumped up to the intermediate tank 101c with a pump. Then, by opening the electric pinch valve 101h, the sake in the intermediate tank 101c is dropped by its own weight into the liquor bottle through the nozzle 101i, so that the sake is filled into the liquor bottle.

  However, in the above-described filling device 101, when the sake is pumped into the intermediate tank 101c with a pump, the sake is mechanically agitated and air is mixed therein, resulting in a decrease in quality.

  In contrast to the conventional filling device 101 described above, in this embodiment, when the sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank is moved to a tank at a position where the sake bottle can be filled by dropping due to its own weight, The tank was depressurized, and sake was sucked and moved by the pressure difference accompanying the depressurization. Hereinafter, the filling system 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 2, it shows about schematic structure of the filling apparatus 1 which concerns on the Example of this invention. The filling device 1 includes a temporary storage tank 2 for moving and temporarily storing sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank. In this embodiment, the temporary storage tank 2 is a stainless steel tank having a capacity of 200L. The temporary storage tank 2 is provided with a measuring port 3 for measuring the amount of liquor inside, and a water level sensor 4 for detecting the level of sake in the tank. The temporary storage tank 2 is provided with an air filter 5 and an air solenoid valve 6 for introducing air when discharging sake. By opening the air solenoid valve 6 while the sake is filled in the temporary storage tank 2, clean air that has passed through the air filter 5 is introduced into the temporary storage tank 2, and the sake in the temporary storage tank 2. Can be discharged under its own weight.

  The temporary storage tank 2 is provided with a liquid supply electromagnetic valve 7. By opening the liquid supply electromagnetic valve 7, the liquid supply port 7 a is opened, and sake can be supplied into the temporary storage tank 2. More specifically, the liquid supply port 7a may be communicated with a so-called droop (not shown) so that sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank may be supplied from the liquid supply port 7a. . At that time, the sake supplied from the liquid supply port 7a passes through the liquid supply pipe 7b, is led to the vicinity of the bottom surface of the temporary storage tank 2, and is supplied to the temporary storage tank 2 from the vicinity of the bottom surface. The temporary storage tank 2 is provided with a pressure reducing pipe 8 and a pressure reducing electromagnetic valve 9. The decompression tube 8 is connected to the vacuum pump 10. The pressure reducing solenoid valve 9 permits or prohibits communication between the temporary storage tank 2 and the vacuum pump 10 by the pressure reducing pipe 8 by opening and closing the pressure reducing pipe 8. That is, the pressure in the temporary storage tank 2 can be reduced by opening the pressure reducing electromagnetic valve 9 and operating the vacuum pump 10.

  Further, a discharge pipe 11 for discharging sake is connected to the bottom of the temporary storage tank 2. The discharge pipe 11 extends vertically downward from the temporary storage tank 2, branches in the middle, and further extends in two horizontal directions. A sample valve 12 is provided on one side of the discharge pipe 11 extending in two directions. By opening the sample valve 12, the quality of the sake discharged from the temporary storage tank 2 can be confirmed. The other end of the discharge pipe 11 extending in two directions is connected to the filling unit 13. The discharge pipe 11 in front of the filling unit 13 is provided with a filling unit supply valve 14. By opening the filling unit supply valve 14, the sake discharged from the temporary storage tank 2 by its own weight can be supplied to the filling unit 13.

  Next, the filling unit 13 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 13A is a front view of the filling unit 13, and FIG. 13B is a side view of the filling unit 13.

  As with the filling device 101 shown in FIG. 1, the filling unit 13 includes a control box 13 b for the user to operate the filling unit 13 on the upper part of the unit main body 13 a. The control box 13b is provided with a filling startable lamp 13c. This filling startable lamp 13c is interlocked with the water level sensor 4 of the temporary storage tank 4 and lights up when sake of a specified amount or more is stored in the temporary storage tank 2. Further, the control box 13b includes a selection switch 13d for determining which nozzle 13i to be used among the nozzles 13i to be described later, a power switch 13e for turning on / off the power supply of the entire apparatus, and a temporary storage tank 2. A liquid supply start switch 13k for starting the supply of sake is provided.

  Further, four electric pinch valves 13h are provided inside the unit main body 13a, similarly to the filling device 101 described in FIG. 1, and four nozzles 13i are provided corresponding to each electric pinch valve 13h. Is provided. Further, a supply pipe 15 connected to the discharge pipe 11 via the filling unit supply valve 14 passes above the electric pinch valve 13h in the unit main body 13a, and the supply pipe 15 is further divided into four to each branch pipe. 15a is connected to the nozzle 13i through the electric pinch valve 13h. And by opening each electric pinch valve 13h, the sake in the supply pipe 15 is sent to the corresponding nozzle 13i by its own weight. In FIG. 3, the right end of the supply pipe 15 is closed.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the nozzle 13i of the filling unit 13 is provided so as to be rotatable with respect to the horizontal axis of the filling unit 13, and the tip is slanted in an unloaded state. It is urged by a spring (not shown) so as to be in a posture facing front and lower. On the other hand, when a load is applied to the nozzle 13i and the tip is directed vertically downward, a mechanical switch (not shown) is turned on and the electric pinch valve 13h is opened.

  Next, the operation and operation of the filling apparatus 1 including the filling unit 13 according to the present embodiment will be described. First, the user turns on the power switch 13 e of the control box 13 b of the filling unit 13. Then, the liquid supply start switch 13k is turned on. Then, the air electromagnetic valve 6 is closed, the liquid supply electromagnetic valve 7 and the pressure reducing electromagnetic valve 9 are opened, and the vacuum pump 10 is activated. As a result, so-called drooling (not shown) and the temporary storage tank 2 are communicated, and sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank can flow into the temporary storage tank 2, and the temporary storage tank 2 and the vacuum pump 10 are connected to each other. As a result, the pressure in the temporary storage tank 2 is reduced by the operation of the vacuum pump 10.

  As the pressure in the temporary storage tank 2 decreases, the sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank flows into the temporary storage tank 2 via the liquid supply port 7a and the liquid supply pipe 7b. At that time, the sake is not mechanically pumped by the pump, but the sake moves based on the pressure difference between the temporary storage tank 2 and the so-called drooping (not shown), so that the movement is smooth and quiet. Stirring and air are prevented from entering the sake. Furthermore, since the sake supplied to the temporary storage tank 2 is gradually stored from the bottom of the temporary storage tank 2, foaming and the like in the temporary storage tank 2 are suppressed even at this time, and deterioration in quality is suppressed. When the specified amount of sake is stored in the temporary storage tank 2 and the surface of the sake reaches the probe of the water level sensor 4, the vacuum pump 10 automatically stops and the air solenoid valve 6 opens, and the liquid supply solenoid valve 7 and The pressure reducing solenoid valve 9 is closed. At that time, the filling start ready lamp 13c is turned on. In this state, the user measures from the measuring port 3 and confirms the amount of sake in the temporary storage tank 2. In addition, the sample valve 12 is manually opened to collect alcohol and check the quality.

  Next, the user turns on the nozzle selection switch 13d. Thereby, among the four electric pinch valves 13h, the electric pinch valve 13h corresponding to the ON selection switch 13d can be opened.

  In this state, the user covers the liquor bottle on the nozzle 13i so that the selected nozzle 13i is inserted into the inside from the spout. Then, the nozzle 13i is tilted so as to be vertical from a posture inclined to the lower front side of the apparatus, and the liquor bottle is placed on the bottle receiving tray 13j. By this operation, a mechanical switch (not shown) is turned on, the corresponding electric pinch valve 13h is opened, and sake begins to fall into the liquor bottle by its own weight from the tip of the nozzle 13i and begins to be filled. Then, when the sake is filled up to the specified water level in the liquor bottle and reaches the liquor bottle water level sensor (not shown) provided in the nozzle 13i, the electric pinch valve 13h is closed, and the filling is completed. At that time, the user returns the posture of the nozzle 13i to the posture inclined to the front lower side of the apparatus, and pulls the liquor bottle obliquely forward and downward. The above operation is repeated according to the required filling amount.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the sake is not mechanically pumped into the temporary storage tank 2 by the pump, but the temporary storage tank 2 and the so-called drool are accompanied by the decompression in the temporary storage tank 2. Based on the pressure difference (not shown), the sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank moves. Therefore, the movement of the sake is smooth and quiet, and it is possible to prevent the sake from being stirred or air from being mixed into the sake. The sake supplied to the temporary storage tank 2 is gradually stored from the bottom of the temporary storage tank 2. As a result, foaming or the like when the sake is supplied to the temporary storage tank 2 can be suppressed, and deterioration of the quality of the sake can be suppressed.

In the above embodiment, the time from when the liquid supply start switch 13k is turned on until the filling of the liquor bottle may be within 30 minutes. Thereby, it is possible to fill sake bottles with higher quality. For that purpose, the 200 L temporary storage tank may be filled with sake within 15 minutes by the vacuum pump 10. The temporary storage tank 2 may be cooled by a cooler. This makes it possible to fill sake bottles with higher quality.

  In the above embodiment, the discharge pipe 11, the supply pipe 15, and the branch pipe 15a into which the supply pipe 15 is further branched form a communication path. The supply pipe 15 is also an example of a connection pipe in this embodiment. In the present embodiment, the sake bottle is an example of a container. The electric pinch valve 13h is an example of a valve device. The vacuum pump 10 corresponds to a decompression pump.

  In the above embodiment, the filling device 1 is provided with one filling unit 13, but a plurality of filling units 13 may be connected as shown by a broken line in FIG. Further, the number of electric pinch valves 13h and nozzles 13i provided in each filling unit 13 may be other than four (single or plural). Thereby, it is possible to increase the degree of freedom of the number of sake bottles that can be filled in a certain time. In the above embodiment, the case of filling sake is described, but the present invention may be applied to beverages other than sake, for example, water, tea, juice, coffee beverages, carbonated beverages, and the like.

  In the above embodiment, the temporary storage tank 2 is communicated with so-called drooling (not shown), and the sake immediately after being squeezed by the upper tank is described. However, the present invention is applied. It is not limited to this example. For example, the output of the paddy press may be directly connected to the temporary storage tank 2 so that the sake from the paddle press is supplied to the temporary storage tank 2 as it is. Further, the sake after burning may be supplied to the temporary storage tank 2. Furthermore, for example, sake from a barrel of barrel wine after sale may be supplied to the temporary storage tank 2.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Filling device 2 ... Temporary storage tank 3 ... Measuring port 4 ... Water level sensor 5 ... Air filter 6 ... Air solenoid valve 7 ... Liquid supply solenoid valve 7a ... -Liquid supply port 7b-Liquid supply pipe 8-Pressure reducing pipe 9-Pressure reducing solenoid valve 10-Vacuum pump 11-Discharge pipe 12-Sample valve 13-Filling unit 13b- ..Control box 13d ... Nozzle selection switch 13e ... Power switch 13h ... Electric pinch valve 13i ... Nozzle 13h ... Vessel cradle 13k ... Liquid supply start switch 14 ... Filling Unit supply valve 15 ... supply pipe 15a ... branch pipe

Claims (7)

A temporary storage tank for temporarily storing beverages;
A nozzle that communicates with the temporary storage tank by a communication path and injects the beverage in the temporary storage tank into a container;
A valve device provided between the temporary storage tank and the nozzle in the communication path, and opening or blocking the communication path;
By opening the valve device, a filling device that can fill the container with the beverage in the temporary storage tank through the nozzle,
A pressure reducing pump for reducing the pressure in the temporary storage tank,
When the beverage is supplied to the temporary storage tank, the beverage is filled by sucking and storing the beverage in the temporary storage tank by reducing the pressure in the temporary storage tank by the decompression pump. apparatus.   The beverage filling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the beverage is supplied to the temporary storage tank, the beverage is supplied through a pipe that guides the beverage to the bottom of the temporary storage tank.   The beverage filling apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the beverage in the temporary storage tank is guided to the nozzle by its own weight and injected into the container by its own weight. The valve device and the nozzle are unitized,
The beverage filling device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the temporary storage tank and the unit are connected by a connecting pipe that forms a part of the communication path.   The beverage filling device according to claim 4, wherein the unit includes a plurality of the valve devices and the nozzles.   The beverage filling device according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the connection pipe connects the temporary storage tank and the plurality of units.   The beverage filling apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the beverage is sake immediately after being squeezed by an upper tank.

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