JP2018165168A - Method and apparatus for producing beverages contained in container - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and apparatus for producing beverages contained in a container, each of which can be enhanced a product yield.SOLUTION: A method for producing beverages contained in a container comprises a filling step for filling the container 9 with beverages, a mixing step for mixing inert gas and steam to produce inert gas mixed steam, a mixed steam jet step for jetting the air of an air residual portion in the container in which the beverages have been filled in the filling step and replacing the air of the residual air portion in the container with the inert gas mixed steam obtained in the mixing step, and a sealing step for sealing the container after the mixed steam jet step, and in the mixing step the temperature of the inert gas mixed steam is controlled according to the beverages temperature to be filled at the filling step.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to a manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus for a containerized beverage.

  In Patent Document 1, in a method for producing a non-carbonated beverage in a container, after the heated beverage is filled in the container, an inert gas mixed steam obtained by mixing an inert gas and steam is injected into the empty portion of the container. It is disclosed.

JP-A-2005-47536

However, in the filling process in which the heated beverage is filled in the container, the filling process may be stopped due to troubles of the apparatus. When the filling process is stopped, the temperature of the beverage to be filled decreases with time, and the internal pressure (degree of vacuum) of the product (contained beverage) filled with the beverage may not be ensured to a predetermined value.
In this way, products for which a predetermined internal pressure cannot be ensured are discarded as defective products in the subsequent inspection process. For this reason, there has been a problem that the product yield decreases.

  Then, an object of this invention is to provide the manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus of a packaged drink which can aim at the improvement of a product yield.

  The invention described in claim 1 is a filling step for filling a container with a beverage, a mixing step for mixing an inert gas and steam to generate an inert gas mixed vapor, and an inert gas mixing obtained in the mixing step. A container comprising: a mixed steam injection process for injecting steam into an empty part of a container filled with a beverage in the filling process to replace the air in the empty part; and a sealing process for sealing the container after the mixed steam injection process It is a manufacturing method of a packaged beverage, wherein the mixing step controls the temperature of the inert gas mixed vapor according to the beverage temperature filled in the filling step.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the mixing step obtains a relationship among a beverage temperature to be filled in the filling step, an inert gas mixed vapor temperature, and a pressure in the container after sealing. Based on these experiments, the temperature of the inert gas mixed vapor is controlled.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the invention according to claim 2, wherein the mixing step controls the temperature of the inert gas mixed steam by controlling the mixing amount of the steam. .

  The invention according to claim 4 is the invention according to claim 3, wherein the mixing temperature and the inert gas mixed steam temperature are obtained as a proportional function with respect to the pressure in the container within a predetermined range, and the mixing step Is characterized by controlling the mixing amount of the steam based on this proportional function.

  The invention according to claim 5 is characterized in that, in the invention according to claim 4, in the mixing step, the control of the mixing amount of steam with respect to the beverage temperature to be filled is PID control.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the beverage is a non-carbonated beverage.

  The invention according to claim 7 is the invention according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the container is a can, and the sealing step is a step of tightening a lid of the can. To do.

  The invention according to claim 8 is a filler for filling a container with a beverage, a mixer for mixing an inert gas and steam to generate an inert gas mixed steam, and an inert gas mixed steam obtained by the mixer. An apparatus for producing a beverage containing a container, comprising: a mixed vapor injection unit that injects the empty portion of a container filled with a beverage; a sealing unit that seals the container after the inert gas mixed vapor injection; and a control unit And the said control part is a manufacturing apparatus of the drink containing a container characterized by controlling the temperature of an inert gas mixed vapor | steam according to the drink temperature filled with a filling part.

  According to a ninth aspect of the invention, in the eighth aspect of the invention, the control unit controls the amount of steam mixed in the mixer with respect to the temperature of the beverage filled in the filling unit. The temperature of the mixed steam is controlled.

  According to the first and eighth aspects of the invention, since the temperature of the inert gas mixed vapor is controlled based on the temperature of the beverage to be filled in the container, Even when the temperature is lowered, the degree of vacuum (internal pressure) in the manufactured product can be maintained in an appropriate range, and the yield can be prevented from being lowered due to inadequate vacuum of the product.

  According to the second aspect of the invention, the same effect as the first aspect of the invention can be obtained, and the temperature of the inert gas mixed steam is controlled from the correlation obtained from the experiment. In addition, the temperature of the inert gas mixed vapor can be controlled.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, since the same effect as that of the invention described in claim 2 is achieved and only the mixing amount of the steam is controlled, it is possible to easily control the temperature of the inert gas mixed steam.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those of the third aspect of the present invention are obtained, and the beverage temperature to be filled and the inert gas mixed vapor temperature are obtained as a proportional function, and based on the proportional function. Since it controls, control is easy with a simple function.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the same effect as that of the fourth aspect of the invention can be achieved, and the temperature management of the inert gas mixed vapor can be controlled quickly and with a small fluctuation range.

  According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those of the first to fifth aspects of the present invention can be achieved, and deformation of the container due to heating at the time of vending machine or product sales can be prevented.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the same effects as those of the first to sixth aspects of the present invention can be achieved, and in particular, the yield of can products for tightening the lid can be increased.

  According to the ninth aspect of the invention, the same effect as that of the first aspect of the invention can be obtained, and only the mixing amount of the steam is controlled, so that the temperature control of the inert gas mixed steam can be easily performed.

It is sectional drawing which shows notionally the manufacturing method of the drink containing a container concerning embodiment of this invention, (a) is a mixed vapor injection process, (b) is a sealing process. It is a front view which shows the state of the container and lid | cover before the mixed steam injection process in embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the inert gas mixed vapor injection process in embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the state before the sealing process in embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows the state after the sealing process in embodiment of this invention. It is a top view which shows the flow of the container after filling a drink with a filler. It is a circuit diagram of a mixing process. It is a graph which shows the relationship between a filler filling liquid temperature and an inert gas mixed steam temperature (mixed gas temperature). It is a graph which shows the relationship between the filler filling liquid temperature at the time of carrying out temperature control of the inert gas mixed vapor | steam, and a vacuum degree.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, the container-containing beverage production apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a steam introduction pipe 3, an inert gas introduction pipe 5, a mixer 7, a mixed gas injection unit 12, and a container 9. The filler 11 (refer FIG. 6) with which a drink is filled, the temperature detection part 13 of the drink (filler liquid) in the filler 11, the control part 15, and the sealing part 17 which seals a container are provided.
The beverage is a type of beverage that is heated and filled into a container, and is a so-called negative pressure filling product beverage. For example, a milky coffee drink.

The container 9 is a can container, and a lid 9b is wound around the can body 9a.
The steam introduction pipe 3 is provided with a flow rate control valve 21 to control the inflow amount of steam introduced into the mixer 7.
Nitrogen gas (N ₂ ) is used as the inert gas, and the inert gas introduction pipe 5 is also provided with a flow rate control valve 23.
The mixer 7 is connected to the steam introduction pipe 3 and the inert gas introduction pipe 5. The introduced nitrogen gas (inert gas) and steam are mixed and supplied to the mixed gas injection unit 12. The mixer 7 is an ejector in the present embodiment.

The mixed gas injection unit 12 is a mixed gas of nitrogen gas (inert gas) and steam (hereinafter simply referred to as “empty space portion S” of the can body 9a filled with a beverage before the can lid 9b is tightened). "Mixed gas"). In FIG. 1, the mixed gas injection unit 12 injects the mixed gas from the upper side to the lower side of the can body 9a for the sake of explanation, but in actuality, between the can body 9a and the can lid 9b. A mixed gas is injected from the side (see FIGS. 2 to 4).
The control unit 15 is provided in a filler chamber (not shown) and connected to a temperature detection unit 13 that detects the filling liquid temperature of the filler 11 and a steam flow rate control valve 21, and is detected by the temperature detection unit 13. The flow control valve 21 is controlled based on the temperature.
In the sealing part 17, the lid 9b is wound around the can body 9a.

Here, with reference to FIG. 6, a schematic flow from filling of the can body 9 a with the beverage with the filler 11 to the product will be described.
After filling the can main body 9 a with the filler 11, the can main body 9 a is conveyed to the mixed gas injection unit 12.
On the other hand, the can lid 9 b is supplied from the can lid stack 29 to the can feed turret 31. In the mixed gas injection unit 12, after the mixed gas is injected into the empty portion S of the main body 9a (see FIG. 1A), the can lid 9b is wound around the can main body 9a by the sealing unit 17 (see FIG. 1). 1 (b)), it is conveyed to the downstream downstream process through the center turret 33 and the discharge turret 35. In FIG. 6, the can lid 9b is hatched.

Next, the process of the mixed gas injection part 12 and the sealing part 17 is demonstrated.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 6, the can body 9 a and the can lid 9 b filled with beverage are conveyed to the mixed gas injection unit 12.
Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the gas turret 30 positioned below the can feed turret 31 in the space between the can body 9a and the can lid 9b during the conveyance of the can body 9a and the can lid 9b. The mixed gas is injected from the mixed gas injection unit 12 to replace the air in the empty portion S of the can body 9a with the mixed gas. The mixed gas is injected from the side into the space between the can body 9a and the can lid 9b.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, after the can lid 9b pushes down the can lid 9b from a position above the can body 9a, the can lid 9b is wound around the can body 9a by the sealing portion 17 as shown in FIG. Tighten (see FIG. 1B).

Next, the mixed gas injected by the mixed gas injection unit 12 will be described.
FIG. 7 shows a circuit diagram of the mixed gas in the mixing step. As shown in FIG. 7, the steam introduction pipe 3 includes an on-off valve 43, a pressure gauge 45, a flow rate control valve 21, and a pressure gauge 45 in order from the steam supply section 41 between the steam supply section 41 and the mixer 7. The solenoid valve 49, the needle valve 51, and the pressure gauge 45 are provided in this order. A steam trap 46 is provided at the position of the pressure gauge 45 between the on-off valve 43 and the flow control valve 21. A control unit 15 is connected to the flow rate control valve 21, and the flow rate of the steam is controlled by the control unit 15 based on the temperature detected by the temperature detection unit 13 that detects the temperature of the filler filling liquid.

In the nitrogen gas introduction pipe 5, an opening / closing valve 43, a pressure gauge 45, an opening / closing valve 43, a flow rate control valve 23, and a pressure gauge 45 are arranged between the nitrogen gas supply section 53 and the mixer 7 in this order from the nitrogen gas supply section 53 side. The flow meter 48, the electromagnetic valve 49, and the needle valve 51 are provided in this order. A cover gassing path 54 is branched on the upstream side of the flow control valve 23, but the description of the cover gassing path 54 is omitted.
A separator 55 and a needle valve 51 are provided between the mixer 7 and the mixed gas injection unit 12 from the mixer 7 side, and a steam trap 46 and a pressure gauge 45 are provided in the separator 55.

Next, the relationship between the filler filling liquid temperature and the mixed gas temperature will be described with reference to FIG.
In the graph of FIG. 8, the black square is the case where the temperature of the mixed gas is made constant regardless of the change in the filler filling liquid temperature (no follow-up control).
The black circle is the temperature of the mixed gas when the control unit 15 controls the pressure in the product (vacuum degree) to be in the range of 36 to 40 kPa (kilopascal) with respect to the change in the filler filling liquid temperature (follow-up). With control). The temperature of the controlled mixed gas was adjusted by changing the mixing amount of the steam.
As for the temperature of the mixed gas, the average of the measured values of three specimens with respect to each filler filling liquid temperature was plotted in a graph.

  In this experiment, the filler was stopped, filled with filler filling liquid, mixed gas injection and can at each filler filling liquid temperature at each restart after 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes and 50 minutes. The lid was tightened. Furthermore, the filler filling liquid temperature and mixed gas temperature when the whole line containing a filler was restarted after 50 minutes passed were measured.

From the graph shown in FIG. 8, when the correlation between the black circle plots was obtained, it was found that the relationship between the filler gas filling liquid temperature and the mixed gas temperature was proportional (linear) as indicated by the alternate long and short dash line. As shown in FIG. 8, the following (control formula 1) was obtained from the experimental results.
y = −0.2254x + 112.53 (control formula 1)
Here, x is the filler filling liquid temperature, and y is the mixed gas temperature.
Furthermore, since the confirmation experiment of the obtained control formula 1 was performed, the content will be described with reference to FIG. In contrast to (control equation 1) obtained in relation to the gas mixture temperature with respect to the filler filling liquid temperature, the control gas equation 1 remains unchanged (broken line), control equation 1 + 0.2 ° C. (solid line), control equation 1 + 0. The temperature of the mixed gas was controlled to 4 ° C. (one-dot chain line) and control formula 1 + 0.6 ° C. (two-dot chain line), and the mixed gas was injected, and the degree of vacuum of the obtained product was measured. The result is shown in FIG. In this experiment, three specimens were measured at each temperature for the filler filling liquid whose temperature decreased with the elapsed time after 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, and 50 minutes after stopping the filler. The average value of the degree of vacuum was plotted on a graph.

In FIG. 9, the management area P having a degree of vacuum of 36 to 40 KPa is shown as a dod area. The management area P having a degree of vacuum of 36 to 40 KPa is a range in which the product internal pressure is good, and the degree of vacuum deviating from this range is rejected as a defective product.
As is clear from FIG. 9, with the control equation 1 obtained in FIG. 8 (broken line), the degree of vacuum decreases as the filler filling liquid temperature decreases, and when the filler filling liquid temperature is 72 ° C. or less, the degree of vacuum is reduced. Decreased to around 32 KPa. In addition, in the control formula 1 + 0.4 and the control formula 1 + 0.6, the degree of vacuum exceeded 40 and the vicinity of 41 to 44 KPa, which was a defective product shifted upward from the management region P.
On the other hand, the control formula 1 + 0.2 (solid line) is a non-defective product that is within the management range P within the vacuum range of 36 to 40 KPa even when the filler filling liquid temperature falls from 78 ° C. to 68 ° C. It was.
Therefore, by controlling the mixing amount of the steam so that the temperature of the mixed gas becomes the control formula 1 + 0.2 ° C., it is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective products regarding the degree of vacuum even when the filer filling liquid temperature is lowered.

When the mixed gas temperature is controlled using the following formula 2 obtained as described above (Experiment 1), and when the mixed gas is injected at the same mixed gas temperature as before the stop without temperature control (Comparative experiment) Since an experiment was conducted on 1), the results will be described.
(Experiment 1)
In the control unit 15, the flow rate control valve 21 is PID-controlled so that the mixed gas temperature becomes the target temperature obtained by the following formula 2.
Mixed gas temperature = Control formula 1 + 0.2 ° C. (Formula 2)
y = −0.2254x + 112.53 (control formula 1)
In the experiment, the filler was stopped for 50 minutes and then restarted to perform filling, mixed gas injection, and tightening to produce a specimen. Thereafter, the degree of vacuum was measured for each specimen. The degree of vacuum was measured with a keystroke device to determine whether the product was good or defective.
The temperature of the filler filling liquid after stopping the filler is 76.2 ° C. for 10 minutes, 74.7 for 20 minutes, 73.0 ° C. for 30 minutes, 71.2 ° C. for 40 minutes, and 50 minutes for 50 minutes. It was 70.2 ° C.
In Experiment 1, the number of defects was 65 with respect to 18,706 samples, and the defect rate was 0.330%.

(Comparative Experiment 1)
In the same manner as in Experiment 1, the filler was stopped for 50 minutes and then restarted to perform filling, mixed gas injection, and tightening to produce a specimen. In Comparative Experiment 1, the mixed gas was injected at the same mixed gas temperature as before the stop without controlling the mixed gas temperature. The filler filling liquid temperature was 76.2 ° C for 10 minutes after the stop, 74.4 for 20 minutes, 72.9 ° C for 30 minutes, 71.5 ° C for 40 minutes, and 69.9 ° C for 50 minutes. It was.
The number of specimens was 230 with respect to 22350, and the defect rate was 1.029%.
As described above, the failure rate in Comparative Experiment 1 is 1.029%, whereas in Experiment 1 according to the present embodiment, the failure rate is 0.330%, and the temperature of the mixed gas is controlled. The defect rate was greatly reduced.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.
For example, the container of the beverage in a container is not limited to tightening the lid of the can but may be a bottle-shaped can container. In this case, in the sealing process, the cap is turned to the mouth of the bottle and closed. wear.
Beverages are not limited to coffee drinks, and may be milk tea, tea, fruit juice drinks, or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Manufacturing apparatus of a drink in a container 7 Mixer 9 Container 12 Mixed gas injection part 13 Filling liquid temperature detection part 15 Control part 17 Sealing part 21 Flow control valve S Empty part

Claims (9)

A filling process for filling a container with a beverage, a mixing process for mixing an inert gas and steam to generate an inert gas mixed steam, and a filling process for filling the inert gas mixed steam obtained in the mixing process with the beverage. A method for producing a beverage containing a container, comprising: a mixed vapor injection step of injecting into an empty portion of a container to replace air of the empty portion; and a sealing step of sealing the container after the mixed vapor injection step,
The said mixing process controls the temperature of an inert gas mixed vapor | steam according to the drink temperature filled at a filling process, The manufacturing method of the drink containing a container characterized by the above-mentioned.   The mixing step is characterized in that the inert gas mixed vapor temperature is controlled based on an experiment for determining the relationship between the beverage temperature to be filled in the filling step, the inert gas mixed vapor temperature, and the pressure in the container after sealing. The method for producing a containerized beverage according to claim 1.   The said mixing process is controlling the temperature of the inert gas mixed vapor | steam by controlling the mixing amount of vapor | steam, The manufacturing method of the packaged beverage of Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The beverage temperature to be filled and the inert gas mixed steam temperature are obtained as a proportional function with respect to the pressure in the container in a predetermined range, and the mixing step controls the mixing amount of the steam based on the proportional function. The manufacturing method of the drink containing a container of Claim 3 to do.   5. The method for producing a containerized beverage according to claim 4, wherein the control of the mixing amount of the steam with respect to the beverage temperature to be filled in the mixing step is PID control.   The said drink is a non-carbonated drink, The manufacturing method of the drink in a container as described in any one of Claims 1-5 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The said container is a can, The said sealing process is a process of tightening the lid | cover of a can, The manufacturing method of the drink containing a container as described in any one of Claims 1-6 characterized by the above-mentioned. A filler for filling a container with a beverage, a mixer for mixing an inert gas and steam to generate an inert gas mixed steam, and an inert gas mixed steam obtained by the mixer are used to empty the container filled with the beverage. A device for producing a beverage containing a container, comprising: a mixed vapor injection unit that injects into the size part; a sealing unit that seals the container after the inert gas mixed vapor injection; and a control unit,
The said control part controls the temperature of an inert gas mixed vapor | steam according to the beverage temperature with which a filling part is filled, The manufacturing apparatus of the drink with a container characterized by the above-mentioned.   The said control part is controlling the temperature of the inert gas mixed steam by controlling the mixing amount of the vapor | steam in a mixer with respect to the temperature of the drink with which a filling part is filled, The characterized by the above-mentioned. The manufacturing apparatus of the drink with a container of description.

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