JP2834649B2 - Bottle sterilization method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a new sterilization method for PET bottles and the like, which enables aseptic filling of various beverages into plastic containers such as polyethylene terephthalate bottles (hereinafter referred to as PET bottles). Yes, more specifically, by combining the washing treatment under specific conditions and the specific sterilization treatment means, the bottle can be easily and reliably sterilized without excessive load on the bottle, and aseptic of various beverages. The present invention relates to a novel sterilization method for a plastic container such as a PET bottle that enables filling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a food container is sterilized by a heat sterilization method of heating a food container with hot water or steam, a drug sterilization method of bringing a food container into contact with a medicine, and a method of sterilizing a food container. Ultraviolet disinfection method of sterilizing by irradiating ultraviolet rays is widely used, but both methods,
Due to the inherent characteristics of each of the above sterilization techniques, the range of applications that can be suitably used is limited, for example, the above-mentioned heat sterilization method is applied only to materials having high heat resistance such as glass bottles and cans. It cannot be carried out, and the UV sterilization method is also limited to a specific form capable of UV irradiation.

[0003] In view of the above, the sterilization of plastic containers such as PET bottles has conventionally been mainly performed by a method using chemical sterilization. Generally, however, in the case of the chemical sterilization method, it is used. Depending on the type of drug or food, there is a problem of deterioration of the flavor of the food due to the drug, and there is a problem such as the effect of the remaining drug on health. It is necessary to set up a rinsing step, which requires a considerable amount of time for the treatment, and has the disadvantage that the production line becomes complicated.

[0004] On the other hand, in recent years, the needs for natural food and drink and health food and drink have increased due to changes in living environment, increase in health consciousness, technological innovation, etc., and natural mineral water, oolong tea, green tea, barley tea, sports drinks,
Products such as juices and other beverages filled in large bottles are being manufactured and consumed in large quantities. With the expansion and the development of new manufacturing technologies for various beverages, it is expected that the quality of container-filled beverage products, as well as the enhancement of health and safety of these beverage products, as well as the enhancement of these beverage products, Competition in product development for cost reductions is becoming more intense.

[0005] By the way, what is important in the production of various beverage products is, in particular, the problem of safety and health, and the products are sufficiently sterilized and can withstand long-term storage throughout the whole process of distribution of the products. In the course of product development so far, along with the development of new containers,
A variety of new sterilization techniques have been developed that can be suitably applied to the container. In particular, in the case of beverage products, particularly in the case of beverage products, the specialty of products that use the flavor of the beverage itself as it is to serve the food as it is. From the technical point of view, it is technically important to develop not only a bactericidal effect, safety and health but also a suitable bactericidal technique capable of withstanding the flavor of beverages with due consideration. Various sterilization techniques have been developed from the necessity of individually developing a suitable sterilization technique according to the unique characteristics such as the contents of each product and the type of container.

[0006] Among them, the representative one is exemplified. For example, as the earliest method developed as a sterilization method for PET bottles and the like, a disinfectant such as hydrogen peroxide solution is applied to the inner and outer surfaces of a plastic bottle. And a method of sterilizing by spraying. However, although this method is excellent in terms of the bactericidal effect, the bactericide may remain in the bottle and impair the flavor of the contents, and the residual bactericide may affect health. There is a problem that the user is worried.

[0007] In order to avoid such a problem, a method of washing and removing a chemical has been developed. For example, a sterilizing treatment is performed by spraying a sterilizing agent, and then a sterilizing agent is dried by spraying hot air on a container. And a cleaning process for cleaning and removing the germicide attached to the container (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No.
No. 138931), and a method of spraying a germicidal solution, followed by spraying a cleaning liquid to wash and remove (JP-A-60-99828), and the like. However, these methods have a problem that the cleaning process is troublesome and that the germicide cannot be completely removed unless a large amount of the cleaning liquid is used.

[0008] In order to avoid such a problem, a so-called disinfectant-free method of disinfecting without using a disinfectant has been developed. For example, each of a plastic bottle and a cap has a 70-inch inner wall. A method of performing wet heat heat sterilization at a temperature not lower than the heat-resistant temperature of the bottle or the cap at a temperature higher than or equal to the condition maintained at 10 ° C. for 10 seconds (JP-A-3-232582); A method of intermittently cleaning water using water so that at least the entire inner wall of the PET bottle is wetted
-132041), and the like.

However, the former method is a method of treating with hot water or steam at a temperature of 70 ° C. or higher and lower than the heat resistance temperature of the bottle. Specifically, hot water of 75 to 90 ° C. Or a method of passing through a steam tunnel maintained at 95 to 100 ° C., and by employing such a method, a considerable disinfecting effect can be obtained without using a disinfectant. However, of course, its application is limited to bottles with high heat resistance that can withstand the temperature conditions, and it is not possible to apply the method directly to bottles with low heat resistance. Have difficulty. In addition, as described above, since the sterilization temperature of the bottle is relatively high, as long as such a sterilization method is used as it is, the material of the bottle must be made to have a relatively high cost and a high heat resistance.
Therefore, there is a problem that the cost of the bottle cannot be reduced due to the bottleneck of the sterilization method.

On the other hand, the latter method is, specifically, 65 ° C.
In this method, washing is performed four times with hot water jetting for 6 seconds at a time and 3 seconds at 85 ° C. each time, and mold and yeast are removed by washing with such hot water. However, the method is intended only for filling acidic beverages having a pH of 4.0 or less, and is intended to fill acidic beverages having a pH of 4.0 or less. Since the sterile state can be achieved only by using the inhibitory effect of general bacteria having and the inhibitory effect of mold and yeast by the hot water washing, the method cannot be applied to beverages other than acidic beverages. Obviously.

In recent years, various methods for sterilization utilizing the sterilizing action of ozone have been studied for such a method.
In the food manufacturing field, various attempts have been made to sterilize foods using ozone, and as an initial one, for example, clean water containing ozone-containing clean air or oxygen is mixed, and the water is used for the food. For producing and cleaning food-filling containers and containers for washing and sterilizing filled packaging containers and the like (JP-A-60-17)
No. 2625). However,
Although the gazette describes disinfecting plastic containers and the like using ozone water, it does not disclose any specific conditions such as sterilization time, ozone concentration, and water temperature. It merely suggests treating with water.

On the other hand, various methods for sterilizing bottles using ozone water having a specific concentration have been developed. For example, food containers have been sterilized with ozone water having an ozone concentration of 5 ppm or more. Food container sterilization method characterized by the following (JP-A-4-174670)
A method for sterilizing a container for aseptic filling, which comprises using ozone water having an ozone concentration of at least pm or more and bringing the ozone water into contact with at least the inner surface of the container for aseptic filling or a preform thereof (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 239435), 10p
a method for sterilizing a container for aseptic filling, which comprises using ozone water having an ozone concentration of at least pm and contacting the ozone water with at least the inner surface of the container for aseptic filling (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-339938); Etc. have been proposed.

However, all of these methods sterilize using only ozone water, and even if a relatively high concentration of ozone water is used, the sterilization time is considerably longer than other sterilization methods. If the ozone concentration is increased in order to shorten the sterilization time, the ozone generator in the sterilization zone of the production line,
In addition, it is necessary to make the ozone treatment system such as ozone absorption treatment and hermetic equipment considerably large, and the running cost becomes high, and it is difficult to actually use the method in terms of production cost. There was a problem. Further, there is a problem that the bottle and the sterilizer are oxidized and corroded by the ozone, or that the flavor of the contents is affected.

As described above, although various sterilization methods have been developed for various types of beverage-filled containers, most of them are actually developed individually as sterilization techniques specific to each product. Yes, therefore, it is difficult to divert the above sterilization method to other products uniformly, especially in the case of beverage products such as natural water that need to be commercialized by utilizing the natural delicate flavor as it is, Not only the bactericidal effect, but also the product flavor, container characteristics, processing time,
To develop a sterilization method that is suitable for the product from a comprehensive and diversified viewpoint in a manner that reliably meets various requirements including issues such as production costs as well as technical aspects such as manufacturing equipment. Therefore, there has been an urgent need in the art to develop a new sterilization method capable of meeting all of these requirements.

[0015]

In such a situation, the present inventors have made an object to reduce the cost of a bottle, and to avoid an excessive load on the bottle and in a short time. As a result of repeated research with the goal of developing a new method of sterilizing bottles that can be sterilized easily and reliably, not only using ozone water but also cleaning methods under specific temperature conditions and specific sterilization By combining the means and washing the inner wall surface and the like of the bottle with hot water of a specific temperature in advance, the sterilization conditions of the bottle after washing can be remarkably relaxed, and the sterilization time of the bottle can be significantly reduced. As well as finding that the desired object can be achieved by such a method, the present invention has been completed.

That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of sterilizing a bottle which can sterilize the bottle in a short time without imposing an excessive load on the bottle.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for sterilizing bottles which can be suitably applied to low heat resistant bottles having not so high heat resistance.

[0018]

The present invention for attaining the above object comprises the following technical means (1) to (4). (1) Warm water is discharged at a rate of 10 to 20 l / min from the mouth of the bottle with the mouth directed downward, and the hot water flows down from the bottom wall to the side wall of the bottle, and the inner wall surface of the bottle After washing at 40 to 70 ° C. for 2 to 20 seconds,
A sterilization method for a bottle, comprising sterilizing an inner wall surface of the bottle, or an outer wall surface and an inner wall surface of the bottle.

(2) The method for sterilizing bottles according to the above (1), wherein the sterilization treatment is a heat and heat treatment or an ozone water treatment.

(3) The condition of the wet heat treatment is a temperature of 65 to 65.
The method for sterilizing a bottle according to the above (2), wherein the conditions are 75 ° C. for 5 to 20 seconds.

(4) The conditions for the ozone water treatment are as follows:
The method for sterilizing bottles according to (2), wherein the ozone concentration is 5 to 15 ppm at 5 ° C. for 5 to 20 seconds.

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail. As described above, the present invention combines a cleaning method with specific conditions and a specific sterilizing means, and by cleaning the bottles under specific temperature conditions, can reduce the sterilizing conditions of the bottles after cleaning, and This is characterized in that the sterilization time of the bottle can be reduced.

In the present invention, examples of the material of the bottle to be sterilized include polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate and the like. However, the material is not limited to this and can be applied to those having the same effect. For example, the sterilization method of the present invention is applied to a plastic bottle such as a PET bottle obtained by blow molding a conventional method using these materials.

Next, the liquid to be filled in these bottles is not particularly limited, and for example, highly acidic drinks such as fruit juice drinks and yogurt drinks, and water, flavored water, oolong tea and green tea And the like. However, the sterilization method of the present invention can be suitably applied not only to low-pH highly acidic beverages but also to low-nutrition beverages.

In the cleaning treatment of the present invention, the inner wall surface of the bottle or the outer wall surface and the inner wall surface of the bottle are heated at 40 to 70 ° C. for 2 hours.
It is necessary to carry out the treatment under conditions of 〜20 seconds, preferably 50-60 ° C., and 5-10 seconds. These processing conditions are set as a limit value of the load on the bottle and a limit value of the cleaning effect. If the conditions are not satisfied, the intended purpose cannot be achieved. In performing the washing treatment of the bottle, the method of implementation is not particularly limited as long as the above conditions are satisfied.For example, a hot water injection nozzle may be inserted from the mouth of the plastic bottle with the mouth facing downward. Into the inside of the bottle, and discharge the hot water upward so that the hot water discharged from the nozzle is transmitted from the bottom wall of the bottle to the side wall and flows away from the mouth, thereby reducing the temperature of the inner wall of the bottle to 40 to 70. It is preferable to carry out a cleaning treatment by raising the temperature to a temperature of ° C.

For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the mouth 2 of the bottle 1 is directed downward, preferably directly below, and the hot water injection nozzle 3 is inserted through the mouth 2 of the plastic bottle in this state. Is inserted into the bottle 1. Next, hot water 4 is supplied from the bottom wall 5 to the side wall 6 of the bottle 1,
The hot water is discharged upward so as to flow down through the mouth 6 'and leak from the mouth 2 to the outside, and the temperature of the inner wall of the bottle 1 is reduced to 40-70.
Raise the temperature to ° C. At this time, the hot water injection nozzle 3 is inserted into the bottle 1 so that the tip of the hot water injection nozzle 3 does not contact the hot water W, W 'flowing down from the bottom wall 5 of the bottle 1 along the side walls 6, 6'. Good to do. According to this method, the hot water discharged from the nozzle 3 does not come into contact with the hot water W and W 'that comes back in contact with the inner wall of the bottle, so that the tip of the hot water injection nozzle 3 is not contaminated, and Hot water having a predetermined amount of heat can flow efficiently from the bottom wall 5 of the bottle 1 along the sides 6, 6 '. Therefore, according to this method, the inner wall of the bottle can be stably heated to a predetermined temperature. Further, in this case, when the cylindrical nozzle as shown in FIG. 1 is used as the hot water injection nozzle 3, the hot water is supplied from the bottom wall 5 to the side wall 6 of the bottle 1.
This is preferable because it can flow efficiently along 6 '.

In order to achieve the above washing conditions, a cylindrical nozzle having a nozzle inner diameter of 8 to 10 mm, preferably 9 to 10 mm is used as the hot water injection nozzle 3 and hot water is injected at 70 ° C. or lower. . In this case, 40-70 ° C
Of hot water of 0.4-1.
It is preferable to use 1 time, preferably 0.6 to 0.8 times, and discharge the hot water from the nozzle 3 at a rate of 10 to 20 l / min. By doing so, the inner wall of the bottle can be uniformly and efficiently cleaned. In addition, such a method can be similarly applied to the case of the following sterilization treatment.

Next, the sterilization treatment in the present invention is performed by a wet heat treatment or an ozone water treatment. Among them, in the case of the wet heat treatment, 65 to 75% by hot water or steam.
° C, 5 to 20 seconds, preferably 70 to 75 ° C, 10 to 10 seconds.
It is necessary to carry out the process under a processing condition of 15 seconds.
The processing conditions are set as a limit value of the load on the bottle and a limit value of the sterilizing effect. If the conditions are not satisfied, the intended purpose cannot be achieved.

On the other hand, in the case of ozone water treatment, the ozone concentration is 5 to 15 ppm, preferably 5 to 10 ppm, and 5 to 2 ppm.
0 ° C, 5 to 25 seconds, preferably 10 to 20 ° C, 5 to 5 seconds
It is necessary to carry out the process under a processing condition of 10 seconds.
The processing conditions are set as a limit value of the load on the bottle and a limit value of the sterilizing effect. If the conditions are not satisfied, the intended purpose cannot be achieved.

In the above-described treatment by wet heat, for example, the mouth of the bottle is directed downward, a hot water injection nozzle is inserted into the bottle from the mouth, and the hot water is brought into contact with the entire inner wall surface of the bottle. , A method of filling the inside of the bottle with hot water, a method of passing through hot water or contacting with steam, and the like. In the case of sterilization by contacting with steam, for example, it can be suitably carried out by passing through a steam tunnel maintained at 70 to 100 ° C. for about 3 to 10 seconds.

By performing the sterilization treatment of the bottle by the above method, it is possible to prevent the bottle from being overloaded.
Although sufficient sterilization can be performed, in order to further increase the sterilization efficiency, the temperature of the inner wall surface of the bottle is raised to the sterilization temperature with hot water, and the outer wall surface of the bottle is similarly treated for a predetermined time. It is preferable to maintain the sterilization temperature within the range described above. Specifically, when heating the outer wall surface of the bottle by bringing hot water or steam into contact with the outer wall surface of the bottle, it is efficient to shower hot water on the bottle from above and / or from the left and right. It is. According to this method,
The temperature control is easy and the bottle can be reliably prevented from being deformed without applying an excessive load to the bottle, which is more preferable than the case where steam is used. Also,
The method of showering hot water downward from above the bottle is preferable because the hot water can be uniformly transferred to the outer wall surface of the bottle.

When the sterilization treatment of the outer wall surface of the bottle was performed while the temperature of the inner wall surface of the bottle was maintained by the sterilization treatment of the inner wall surface, the temperature was raised to the sterilization temperature by the sterilization treatment of the inner wall surface. For example, this means that the bottle heated to 65 to 75 ° C. is kept at the sterilization temperature for a certain period of time.

In the above method, 65 to 7 per bottle
5 ° C, preferably 10 to 1000 l of hot water at 70 to 75 ° C
Is preferably showered for 5 to 20 seconds, more preferably 8 to 15 seconds. When steam is used instead of hot water, steam of 0.2 to 0.5 kg / cm ³ (gauge pressure) is preferably sprayed on the outer wall of the bottle for 5 to 15 seconds.

According to the above method, the sterilization of the inner wall surface and the sterilization of the outer wall surface are used in combination, so that extremely efficient and complete sterilization can be achieved. The sterilization treatment of the bottle can be continuously performed industrially, for example, by using the continuous treatment device 10 shown in FIG. here,
In FIG. 2, reference numeral 11 denotes a conveying device, and a bottle 1 is shown while hot water is injected into the inside of the bottle by a hot water injection nozzle 3 'and hot water is showered into the bottle from above from outside by a hot water shower unit 12. It is transported in the direction.

After the bottle sterilized by the method of the present invention is conveyed to the beverage filling step, the bottle has, for example, a pore size of 0.3.
A beverage such as mineral water filtered through a filtration membrane of 22 μm or less is filled under sterilization conditions of class 100 or less, and then a cap sterilized in the same manner as above is sealed and sealed.

On the other hand, the above-mentioned ozone water treatment is 5 to 15 pp.
This is performed by using ozone water having an ozone concentration of m and bringing the ozone water into contact with the inner wall surface of the bottle or the outer wall surface and the inner wall surface of the bottle. As a specific treatment means of contact with ozone water, a bottle is filled with ozone water, and the ozone water is held in the container.
A method of completing the sterilization process, after filling the bottle with ozone water, further continuing the injection of the ozone water into the container, overflowing the ozone water from the container, thereby completing the sterilization process, A method of spraying ozone water onto the bottle to complete the sterilization treatment, a method of dipping the bottle in ozone water to complete the sterilization treatment, and the like are employed. After spraying the bottle with ozone water, the bottle is further filled with ozone water, and the sterilization process is completed by holding the ozone water in the bottle. Further, in a method of filling ozone water in the bottle and then holding it in the bottle, the sterilization treatment can be completed within the storage and transportation time of the bottle. When spraying ozone water, the mouth of the bottle is directed downward, a nozzle is inserted into the bottle from the mouth, and the ozone water is sprayed from the nozzle so that the ozone water contacts the entire inner wall surface of the bottle. A jetting method is preferred. Furthermore, at that time, a method of showering ozone water on the outer wall surface of the bottle from above and / or in the left-right direction of the bottle can also be adopted.

According to the present invention, by using ozone water having an ozone concentration of 5 to 15 ppm, ozone can be brought into contact with the wall surface of the bottle without being volatilized to the outside in the state of being confined in water. At the same time, since the ozone water and the bottle wall surface are in direct contact, ozone can directly act on the wall surface without forming a film layer on the bottle wall surface as in the case of using gas. The probability and the number of times of contact between the ozone and the microorganism to be sterilized are increased, and the ozone concentration is prevented from being diluted. As a result, the sterilization can be performed in a short time and reliably. . In addition, when ozone is dissolved in water, if the concentration of ozone water is lower than 5 ppm, the sterilizing effect is not sufficient, and 15 ppm
At higher concentrations, the ozone treatment system becomes more complicated, the transfer timing of the beverage to the filling process is extended, and the washing and drying processes are added to completely eliminate the effect of ozone on the contents. Therefore, a reduction in production cost cannot be expected.

On the other hand, in the above concentration range, the bottle after the sterilization treatment is drained,
Since most of the ozone water is quickly removed from the surface of the bottle wall etc., even if it is immediately transferred to the beverage filling process, there is little effect on the contents due to residual ozone, and it is safe and sanitary. Therefore, the bottle after the sterilization process,
It is possible to immediately transfer to the content filling step without going through the washing step and the drying step.

[0039]

Next, the present invention will be specifically described based on examples, but the present invention is not limited to the examples. Example 1 (1) Cleaning treatment The PET bottle was set in a transport device with the mouth of the PET bottle facing downward, and the hot water injection nozzle was set in a portion to be transported in a circular direction on the near side of the sterilization device of FIG. The cleaning process was performed by inserting warm water discharged from the nozzle into the bottle through the mouth and discharging the warm water upward so that the warm water discharged from the nozzle flows down the bottom wall of the bottle and flows out of the mouth. At this time, the hot water release process is performed by dispensing 1000 ml of 60 ° C. hot water through the nozzle.
This was done by releasing at a rate of 2 l / min for 6 seconds. The injection nozzle used was a cylindrical nozzle having an inner diameter of 9 mm.

(2) Sterilization treatment Hot water is showered on the inner and outer wall surfaces of the PET bottle,
Bring the bottle temperature to 75 ° C and keep it for 10 seconds,
The PET bottle was sterilized.

(3) Treatment Result In order to test the sterilization effect of the above-mentioned washing and sterilization treatments and the effect of the treatment on the bottle and the contents, 10 ⁵ molds were adhered to the inner wall of the bottle, and the washing was carried out. As a result of performing the treatment and the sterilization treatment, it was found that the change in the number of bacteria was reduced by 10 ³ by the washing treatment, and was also decreased by 10 ² by the sterilization treatment. confirmed.

Further, the above-mentioned washing and sterilizing treatments are performed,
As a result of examining the effect on the bottle, it was confirmed that the bottle was not deformed at all, and that no excessive load was applied to the bottle. The effect of reducing the load on the bottle makes it possible to omit a processing step for imparting heat resistance required for a conventional ordinary PET bottle or the like, and to reduce the thickness of the bottle. It was confirmed that it was possible to do.

Example 2 (1) Cleaning Treatment A cleaning treatment was performed in the same manner as in Example 1.

(2) Sterilization treatment Ozone water of 15 ppm ozone concentration of 15 ppm was sprayed on the inner wall surface of the PET bottle for 5 seconds, and then the inner wall surface and outer wall surface of the bottle were sprayed with the above ozone water for 10 seconds. Then, the PET bottle was sterilized.

(3) Result of Treatment In order to test the sterilizing effect of the above-mentioned cleaning and sterilizing treatments and the effect of the treatment on the bottle and the contents, 10 ⁵ molds were adhered to the inner wall of the bottle, and the above-mentioned washing was carried out. As a result of the treatment and the sterilization treatment, it was found that the change in the number of bacteria was reduced by 10 ³ by the washing treatment and by 10 ² by the sterilization treatment, and it was confirmed that the sterilization could be surely achieved by using these together. Was.

Further, the above-mentioned washing and sterilizing treatments are carried out.
The bottle was filled with mineral water by a conventional method, and as a result of examining the effect, no effect on the contents was observed, and no deformation of the bottle was observed, and no excessive load was applied to the bottle. Was confirmed. And the effect of reducing the load on such a bottle makes it possible to omit a processing step for imparting heat resistance required for a conventional ordinary PET bottle or the like,
It was confirmed that the thickness of the bottle could be reduced.

[0047]

As described in detail above, the present invention combines the cleaning treatment under specific conditions and the specific sterilization means, thereby alleviating the sterilization conditions for bottles and improving sterilization efficiency, which were difficult to carry out conventionally. This makes it possible to achieve the trade-off effect of improvement, and the present invention has the following effects.

(1) The sterilization treatment can be performed in a short time without applying an excessive load to the bottle. (2) Since sterilization can be performed at a relatively low temperature,
Since the heat-resistant temperature of the bottle can be lowered, the processing step for imparting heat resistance of the bottle, which has been conventionally required, can be omitted, and the thickness of the bottle can be reduced. The amount of material used to produce one bottle can be reduced, and the bottle cost can be reduced. (3) Since the concentration of ozone water can be reduced, it is possible to solve the problem of prolonging the sterilization time, which has conventionally been a problem when a sterilization method using ozone water is employed, and to provide a simple ozone water treatment facility. , And the production cost can be further reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which the inside of a bottle is being washed in a washing process of a sterilization method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory view of an apparatus for continuously performing the sterilization method of the present invention.

[Description of sign]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bottle 2 Bottle mouth 3 Hot water injection nozzle 3 'Hot water injection nozzle 4, W, W' Hot water 5 Bottle bottom wall 6, 6 'Bottle side wall 10 Continuous treatment device 11 Transport device 12 Hot water shower unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of front page (56) References JP-A-52-90622 (JP, A) JP-A-5-132041 (JP, A) JP-A-4-189727 (JP, A) (58) Field (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) B65B 55/00-55/24

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. Hot water is discharged at a rate of 10 to 20 l / min from the mouth of the bottle with the mouth directed downward, and the hot water is allowed to flow down from the bottom wall to the side wall of the bottle, thereby causing the bottle to flow down. A method for sterilizing a bottle, comprising washing the inner wall surface at 40 to 70 ° C. for 2 to 20 seconds, and then sterilizing the inner wall surface of the bottle or the outer and inner wall surfaces of the bottle. 2. The method for sterilizing bottles according to claim 1, wherein the sterilization treatment is a heat and moisture treatment or an ozone water treatment. 3. The condition of the wet heat treatment is a temperature of 65 to 75.
3. The method for sterilizing bottles according to claim 2, wherein the conditions are 5 [deg.] C. for 5 to 20 seconds. 4. The ozone water treatment condition is a temperature of 5 to 25.
The method for sterilizing a bottle according to claim 2, wherein the ozone concentration is 5 to 15 ppm at a temperature of 5 ° C for 5 to 20 seconds.