JP2742850B2 - Transfer device to sterile room - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for transferring a product to a sterile room.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 62-146702, a sterile room is used for filling soft drinks, fruit juices and the like. On the other hand, as a container transfer means, an air transfer device using transfer air sent by a blower is known. Although this air carrier has the advantage that a flexible line can be formed, the air carrier directly
When the container is carried into the aseptic room, there is a problem that the aseptic room is contaminated by the contaminated air brought in by the conveying air. For this reason, in a factory for filling fruit juice or the like, a conveyor provided with an endless member (for example, a belt) is used as a means for carrying the container into the aseptic chamber, and an air carrier is disposed upstream of the conveyor. It is customary.

[0003]

However, since a lubricant is used for lubricating the sliding part of the conveyor, the conveyor surrounds the conveyor belt to prevent scattering of the lubricant or for safety measures of the operator. It is desirable to provide a “cover”. However, when such a “cover” is provided, there is a problem that the space surrounded by the “cover” becomes a duct for guiding the transport air from the air transport device to the sterile room.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the problem when a "cover" is provided on a conveyor, that is, a "cover".
It is an object of the present invention to provide a transfer device to a sterile room in which transfer air from an air transfer device is not guided to a sterile room.

[0005]

According to the present invention, in order to achieve the above technical object, there is provided a blower, an air transfer device for transferring an empty container by air blown by the blower, and an endless member. A conveyor that transports the container transferred from the air conveying means into a sterile room where the container is filled with merchandise.The conveyor extends over substantially the entire length thereof and includes the endless member. A configuration in which a cover member disposed so as to surround the cover member is provided, and a partition member that partitions an internal space of the cover member into an upstream side and a downstream side is disposed on the upstream side of the sterile chamber. There is.

[0006]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. 1 and 2 show the overall layout of each step of filling a mineral water into a lightweight bottle made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate). The mineral water filling factory is a two-story house, and an empty bottle carry-in area 1 is arranged on the first floor shown in FIG. On the other hand, a sterile area 2 is provided on the second floor portion shown in FIG. 2, and the sterile area 2 and the empty bottle carry-in area 1 are connected by a pneumatic conveying device 4.

[0007] A conveyor 6 is laid from the upstream side to the downstream side in the aseptic chamber 2, and a bottle washing machine, a filling machine, a capper and the like are arranged in the aseptic chamber 2 as in the conventional case. I have. Hereinafter, each of the above elements will be described according to the movement of the bottle. The arrows shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 indicate the direction of movement of the bottle. First, the empty bottle carry-in area 1 will be described.
Is provided, and a loading pallet on which empty bottles are placed is supplied to the pallet loading area 20. By the way, the loading pallet is supplied to the pallet loading area 20 in a state where 13 empty bottles of 1 row are arranged in 13 rows and these are stacked in 6 tiers. The loading pallet moves from the pallet loading area 20 to the bottle feeding area 22. Is done.

[0008] In the bottle feeding area 22, the loading pallet is intermittently moved upward and moves from the upper stage to the lower stage.
In order, empty bottles of each stage are sent to the standby area 24. The empty pallets after the lowermost empty bottles have been sent to the waiting area 24 are carried from the bottle feeding area 22 to the pallet stock area 26 and are stocked in the pallet stock area 26.

On the other hand, the empty bottles fed into the waiting area 24 are supplied side by side with twelve bottles side by side.
And immediately upstream of the supply port 24a, the twelve bottles in the front row are separated from the empty bottle group in the rear row and transferred to the pneumatic transport device 4. As shown in FIG. 3, the pneumatic transport device 4 is a bottleneck-type transport device that transports the bottle 30 by transport air while sliding the neck 30a while holding the neck 30a of the bottle 30 therebetween. As is known, this bottleneck type transport device 4
It has a plenum (air passage) 32 having a closed cross section, and a blower 34 for feeding the carrier air to the plenum 32.
The plenum 32 is formed with a concave portion 32a that opens downward, and the concave portion 32a has a number of slots 32b.
The air in the plenum 32 is provided with a slot 32b.
Is discharged toward the transport direction into the recess 32a through the recess 32a.
Sliders 32c are provided at the lower ends of both side walls of the recess 32a, respectively.
Are arranged. The bottle 30 sequentially transferred to the pneumatic transfer device 4 has the neck portion 30a in sliding contact with the slider 32c, and is continuously transferred by the air in this state.

The bottle 30 is moved by the pneumatic conveying device 4
It is transported from the floor to the second floor and transferred to the conveyor 6. still,
In FIG. 2, the junction of the pneumatic transfer device 4 and the conveyor 6, that is, the downstream end of the pneumatic transfer device 4 and the upstream end of the conveyor 6 are shown offset from each other in the left and right directions. In order to clarify the parts on the drawing, they are actually offset vertically.

The conveyor 6 is formed so as to once bend into an L-shape and then enter the sterile chamber 2 on its way from the upstream portion to the downstream portion. In the aseptic chamber 2, after the bottle 30 is washed and sterilized, the bottle is filled with mineral water, and then a cap (not shown) is loaded. The conveyor 6 extends to the vicinity of the outlet of the aseptic chamber 2 and merges with the carry-out conveyor 40 near the outlet.

The bottle 30 after the product is filled is transferred from the conveyor 6 to the unloading conveyor 40, and the unloading conveyor 40
Is carried out of the sterile room 2. The bottle 30 carried out of the aseptic chamber 2 is carried by the carry-out conveyor 40 to a packing area (not shown), and is packed in the packing area. The conveyor 6 and the unloading conveyor 40 are configured such that a sterilizing liquid is sprayed toward the conveyor belt immediately before a conveyor belt (not shown), which is an endless member, enters the aseptic chamber 2. Thus, it is possible to prevent various bacteria from entering the sterile room 2.

The conveyor 6 will be described in detail. As shown in FIG. 4, the conveyor 6 has a conveyor belt 60 as an endless member. Conveyor belt 6
In the case of 0, the transport portion 60a is in sliding contact with the slide rail 61, and the return portion 60b is supported by the receiving roller 62. The slide rail 61 and the receiving roller 62 are mounted on a stand 63, and the stand 63 is provided with a guide rail 65 that comes into contact with the side surface of the bottle 30 via a guide bracket 64. Also, the stand 63
Is provided with a cover member 66 surrounding the conveyor belt 60.

The cover member 66 is formed to cover the side and under the conveyor belt 60. That is, the cover member 66 is formed in a U-shaped cross section that opens upward by a side plate portion 66a located on both left and right sides of the conveyor belt 60 and a bottom plate portion 66b located below. The transporting portion 60a of the conveyor belt 60 is disposed at the first position. The covering member 66 is disposed over the entire length of the conveyor 6, and the covering member 66 ensures the safety of the worker and prevents the lubricant and the like lubricated to the conveyor 6 from scattering to the outside (around). I have to do it.

The conveyer 6 is located on the downstream side of the confluence with the pneumatic conveying device 4 and on the upstream side of the L-shaped bent portion 6c, that is, at the point P shown in FIG. Is provided with a partition plate 68. Partition plate 68
Has a shape extending in a direction crossing the cover member 66 and partitioning a space surrounded by the cover member 66 as much as possible. That is, as shown in FIG.
a comes into contact with the cover member 66 (side plate portion 66 a),
b is in contact with the cover member 66 (bottom plate portion 66b), and a through hole 68c is formed at the center in the up-down direction and has a size substantially conforming to the cross-sectional shape of the conveyor belt 60. To the conveyor belt 60 (return part 6)
0b) can pass through.

At the upper end of the partition plate 68, a protruding portion 68d protruding toward the lower surface of the conveyor belt 60 (transport portion 60a) is formed. As shown in FIG. The shape is curved toward the moving direction of the (transport portion 60a). Thereby, when the conveyor belt 60 hits the protruding portion 68d, it is possible to reduce the contact. For the same reason, the portion 68 defining the upper edge and the lower edge of the through hole 68c is cut and raised to form the conveyor belt 60 (the return portion 60).
The shape is curved toward the moving direction of a).

As described above, the partition plate 68 is attached to the conveyor 6.
Is provided, it is possible to prevent the transport air from the pneumatic transport device 4 from entering the aseptic chamber 2 through the conveyor 6. That is, the covering member 66 of the conveyor 6
May function as a duct due to its shape, and there is a risk that the air of the pneumatic transfer device 4 may be guided to the sterile room 2. However, as described above, the conveyor 6 (covering member 66) is located at a position before entering the sterile room 2. In P, since the upstream and downstream portions are partitioned by the partition plate 68, the passage of air from the pneumatic transfer device 4 can be prevented by the partition plate 68.

In particular, in the embodiment, since the partition plate 68 is disposed far upstream from the aseptic chamber 2, the air that could not be completely blocked by the partition plate 68 is transferred to the conveyor 6 ( It calms down while passing through the covering member 66), thereby making it possible to minimize intrusion into the sterile room 2. In addition, despite the arrangement of the partition plate 68 at a location P distant from the aseptic chamber 2, the conveyor 6 is bent in an L-shape on the downstream side thereof, so that the installation space for the conveyor 6 can be made compact. can do. In other words, when the conveyor 6 is laid in a straight line, the length of the house must be increased.

[0019]

As is clear from the above description, according to the present invention, the internal space of the covering member surrounding the conveyor is divided into the upstream side and the downstream side by the partition member disposed upstream of the aseptic chamber. Therefore, the transfer of the transfer air from the air transfer device to the aseptic chamber can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a first floor portion of a mineral water filling factory.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a second floor portion of a mineral water filling factory.

FIG. 3 is a partial perspective view showing a part of the bottleneck type air transfer device.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of an upstream portion of the conveyor.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a partition plate.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the partition plate cut along the line VI-VI shown in FIG. 5;

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 Sterile area 4 Pneumatic conveying device 6 Conveyor 14 Mineral water filling machine 30 Bottle 30a Bottle neck 34 Blower of pneumatic conveying device 60 Conveyor belt 66 Covering member 68 Partition plate

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI B65G 51/04 B65G 51/04 D B67C 7/00 B67C 7/00

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. An air transporter for transporting an empty container by air blown by an air blower, and an endless member, wherein the container transferred from the air transport means is loaded with goods into the container. And a conveyor that is carried into the aseptic chamber to be filled, wherein the conveyor is provided with a covering member extending substantially over the entire length thereof and disposed so as to surround the endless member. The covering member includes the aseptic chamber. A transfer device to a sterile room, wherein a partition member for partitioning an internal space of the cover member into an upstream side and a downstream side is disposed further upstream. 2. The transfer to the aseptic chamber according to claim 1, wherein the container is a lightweight bottle, and the air transfer device is a bottleneck transfer device that transfers the light bottle while holding a neck of the lightweight bottle. apparatus.