JP2740861B2 - Gas replacement method for package - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention relates to a gas replacement method for a package to be filled with food or the like.

[Conventional technology]

In general, when sealing easily oxidized foods or pharmaceuticals that require ingredient stability in a package, the air in the package is replaced with an inert gas or the like so that the air is not sealed at the same time, and the package is sealed. Has been done.

Conventionally, as a gas replacement method, a method of sucking a package filled with contents in a chamber into a vacuum and then feeding a gas to be replaced to seal the package is used. However, this method has problems such as the necessity of sucking the package into a vacuum and the fact that the contents boil due to the vacuum suction, making it difficult to seal the package.

Accordingly, various methods have been proposed for performing gas replacement at normal pressure without depending on vacuum suction. For example, using a double pipe, after filling the edible liquid with a thick tube, filling (flashing) nitrogen gas with a thin tube to form a bubble containing nitrogen gas containing the edible liquid as a medium, and performing gas replacement. A method of sealing a container (Japanese Patent Publication No. 51-9814), in which a gas is injected inside a gas replacement chamber by injecting a gas toward an upstream direction of a container filled with contents to replace a gas in the container, and a cover film is removed. A cover method (Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-28729), a method in which liquid nitrogen is dropped into a container to perform gas replacement, and the container is sealed.

However, in the method described above, if low-viscosity foods and medicines such as juices and soups are placed in thermoformed containers or bags and the gas is flushed, the contents are blown away, and the blown contents are sealed with heat seal etc. In the method of sometimes being sandwiched between the heat-welded parts and resulting in poor sealing, the gas such as air is replaced with the same gas such as an inert gas,
In the method, which requires more gas than is necessary and is uneconomical, the liquid nitrogen may expand at the same time as the liquid drops and deform the container at the time of sealing, and the inner pressure is applied to the container after sealing, so the container strength is large. Is necessary.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The present invention provides a gas replacement method for a package that can be performed at normal pressure, has a high replacement ratio with a small amount of gas used, and can avoid the scattering of contents and the poor sealing of the package due to the scattering. What you want to do.

[Means for solving the problem]

The present inventors have conducted intensive studies to solve the above-mentioned problems, and as a result, the object is achieved by performing gas replacement of a package using a foam composed of gas, water, and a foam generation aid. And completed the present invention.

That is, the present invention, after filling the contents inside the package, filling the space formed by the contents and the package inside the package, gas, water and foam comprising a foam generation auxiliary,
Then, the present invention provides a method for gas replacement of a package characterized by sealing a package filled with contents and foam.

In the present invention, first, a foam formed of gas, water, and a foam generation auxiliary is filled in a space formed by the contents of the package filled with the contents and the package.

The package used in the present invention is a package that has an opening through which contents can be taken in and out, and a space that can be connected to the opening and can be filled with contents, and can be sealed after filling the contents. If there is, any shape and material can be used. Specifically, for example, (a) a convex thermoformed container having a flange at the periphery of the opening to seal the lid material, and a lid capable of covering the opening and being sealed with the flange to seal the container Packaging material,
(B) A bag-like package that is sealed on three sides and open on the other side and that can be sealed by sealing the opening.

The above-mentioned package is filled with contents such as easily oxidizable foods and those requiring ingredient stability. Foods that are easily oxidized include, for example, juice, soup, fish meat, animal meat, vegetables, and the like. Those requiring component stability include, for example, pharmaceuticals, insect repellents, cosmetics, and the like.

The gas replacement method of the present invention can be used for a package of any content, but is particularly effectively used for a package of a liquid or fine-grained content.

The above-mentioned contents are not fully filled in the package, and a space formed by the contents and the package is left. This space is filled with a foam consisting of gas, water and a foaming aid. By the filling of the foam, the air existing in the space is replaced with the foam.

 The foam consists of gas, water and a foaming aid.

Here, the gas is a gas that is replaced with air existing in the space. For example, an inert gas such as nitrogen, helium, argon, or carbon dioxide is preferably used. If the purpose is not to prevent oxidation of the contents, oxygen or the like can be used.

Examples of the foam-forming auxiliary include esters such as monoglycerin fatty acid ester, sucrose fatty acid ester, and sorbitan fatty acid ester, egg albumin, gelatin, milk, soy protein, carrageenin, sodium alginate, locust bingham, and cellulose glycol. And water-soluble polymers such as sodium citrate (CMC). Any other substance having a surface active function can be used.

The above-mentioned gas, water and the foaming aid, the foaming aid of 0.1 to 5 volumes added to 100 volumes of water, and the gas in a volume ratio
It is preferable to mix them in a ratio of 1: 1.5 to 20.

Examples of the foam production method include a method in which the above gas, water, and a foam generation auxiliary are stirred and mixed with a propeller mixer, a turbine mixer, a colloid mill, a pressure nozzle emulsifier, an ultrasonic emulsifier, and the like to foam the foam. Can be

For filling the foam into the space formed by the contents and the package, a usual filling device can be used. The filling of the foam is performed after the filling of the contents, but since the filling is the foam, even if the contents are liquid or fine particles, the contents can be filled without scattering. . Therefore, it is possible to prevent the contents from being caught in the seal portion when the package is sealed, resulting in poor sealing.

The amount of foam to be filled may be determined according to the amount of air to be replaced. When replacing all air in the above space with gas,
It is preferable to fill the foam with an amount that fills the space or more. If the foam is filled more than the amount filling the space, the gas replacement rate can be further increased.

 Next, the package is sealed.

When the package comprises a container and a lid, the package can be sealed by covering the lid with the container opening and sealing the flange around the opening with the lid. When the package is in the shape of a bag, it can be performed by sealing the mouth of the bag.

As a sealing method, a method such as heat sealing, impulse sealing, high-frequency sealing, or ultrasonic sealing can be used.

According to the method of the present invention, the contents are not scattered, so that the contents are not sandwiched in the seal portion at the time of sealing and become a contaminant seal, thereby causing poor sealing and good sealing performance can be obtained.

The foam sealed in the package usually disappears due to the passage of time or heat such as heat sterilization of the package, and the space where the foam was present is filled with the gas present in the foam.

Next, an example of the gas replacement method of the package of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

Here, a concave thermoformed container 1 having a flange portion 2 which can seal a lid material around the opening portion by heat sealing or the like as a package, and sealing the container by covering the opening portion and being sealed with the flange portion 2 And a lid member 8 that can be used for the package. The container 1 is filled with contents 4 by a contents filling nozzle 3 (FIG. 1 (a)). Space 5 formed by contents 4 and container 1
Then, the foam 7 is filled with the foam filling nozzle 6 to replace the air in the space 5 with the foam (FIG. 1 (b)). At this time, the foam 7 is filled so that it rises higher than the horizontal height of the flange portion 2 of the container. Next, the opening is covered with a lid member 8, and the lid member 8 and the flange portion 2 of the container are sealed and sealed (FIG. 1 (c)). Thereafter, the filled foam 7 disappears with the passage of time, and the space 5 is filled with the gas 9 present in the foam 7 (FIG. 1 (d)).

As described above, according to the gas replacement method of the present invention, gas replacement can be performed at a high replacement rate, and it is possible to avoid scattering of contents and defective sealing of the package accompanying the replacement.

〔Example〕

Example 1 A 0.5% by weight gelatin aqueous solution was heated to about 50 ° C. while blowing nitrogen with a high-speed rotating strong shearing type stirring and dispersing machine.
The mixture was foamed by stirring at 000 rpm for 5 minutes. The resulting foam was cooled to 5 ° C. to give a stable foam.

Next, a thermoformed container having a diameter of 70 mmφ, a depth of 70 mm, and a flange at the periphery of the opening made of PP (polypropylene) / EVOH (ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer) / PP sheet filled with pumpkin soup, The foam was filled on the pumpkin soup so as to rise above the horizontal height of the periphery of the container. Thereafter, the pumpkin soup and the foam were covered with a lid material, and the container was heat-sealed with a flange portion of the container to seal it. The heat seal resulted in a foam contamination seal, but did not affect the sealability at all.

Next, as a result of pressurizing and heating the container at 120 ° C. for 30 minutes, the foam disappeared due to heat, and a high gas exchange rate of 99.9% was obtained.

Further, the pumpkin soup gas-replaced by the method of the present invention maintained its yellow color even after storage at 28 ° C. for three months, and hardly caused browning, as compared with the pumpkin soup which was fully filled.

Example 2 A mixture obtained by adding 0.2% by weight of a sugar ester (HSB15) to water was blown with a high-speed rotating strong shearing type stirring and dispersing machine at 10,000 rpm for 1 minute to foam.

Next, after filling the above foam fully into an aluminum pouch made of a laminated film of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) / A1 foil / CPP (unstretched polypropylene) filled with curry, the mouth of the pouch was sealed by heat sealing. .

Further, the packaged product was subjected to a sterilization treatment at 120 ° C. for 20 minutes.

Next, the obtained packaged product was opened by tearing from a notch portion, which is a means for opening a normal aluminum pouch. At the opening of a normal aluminum pouch, the force of compressing the bag at the time of opening works and the contents often jump out at the same time as the opening.However, the contents do not jump out at all in the package replaced by the gas of the present invention. Was. The amount of oxygen in the head space, that is, the space formed by the pouch and the contents was 0.1% in a space volume of 30 ml.

〔The invention's effect〕

According to the method for gas replacement of a package of the present invention, gas replacement can be performed at normal pressure, a high replacement rate can be obtained with a small amount of gas used, and scattering of the contents and poor sealing of the package due to the scattering are caused. Can be avoided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1 (a), 1 (b), 1 (c) and 1 (d) are explanatory views showing an example of a gas replacement method for a package of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Container 2... Flange portion 3... Contents filling nozzle 4... Contents 5... Space formed by contents and container 6... Foam filling nozzle 7. 8 ... lid material, 9 ... gas

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] After filling the inside of the package, the space formed by the inside of the package and the package is filled with a foam comprising gas, water and a foam-forming auxiliary. Next, the method of gas replacement of a package comprises sealing the package filled with the contents and the foam. 2. Foam is foamed by stirring and mixing a mixture of 100 volumes of water and 0.1 to 5 volumes of a foam forming aid and a gas in a volume ratio of 1: 1.5 to 20. The gas replacement method for a package according to claim 1, which is obtained by the above method.