JP2978703B2 - Continuous test method for the content of fluid containing small specific gravity in sealed flexible packaging - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sealed flexible package containing fluids having different specific gravities, such as liquid and gas, and water and oil, which can be separated by standing. The present invention relates to a continuous test method for the content of a small specific gravity contained fluid in a hermetically sealed flexible package that continuously and highly accurately tests the content of a liquid.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A gas-tight sealed package containing a retort pouch and a liquid food such as curry and stew and a gas such as air and an inert gas is sealed together. A retort sterilization process is performed. The present inventor has found from the results of many experiments that in this rotary retort sterilization treatment, the ratio of the contained gas, that is, the air content greatly affects the efficiency of the sterilization treatment, that is, the sterilization speed and the sterilization effect. did. That is, when the air content of the air-containing sealed package is 2 to 50%, the sterilizing effect is increased. In addition, when the variation of the air content among the plurality of air-containing sealed packages becomes -3 to 10%, the non-uniformity of the sterilizing effect when a certain sterilizing treatment is performed and the deterioration of the contents due to overheating are small. Become. On the other hand, when the liquid and the gas are housed together in a container, if the viscosity of the liquid is low, the liquid in the conveyed container is subjected to an inertial force, and the measurement to be performed in a stationary state cannot be performed immediately. There's a problem. According to the experiment of the present inventor, the problem is particularly remarkable when the viscosity of the liquid is 5000 CP or less.

[0003]

Since the retort pouch container formed of a flexible film is flexible, it is accommodated in the retort pouch container as compared with a rigid or semi-rigid container such as a cup or tray. It is very difficult to adjust or measure the ratio of the volume of the liquid to the gas, that is, the air content. Further, there is no device capable of measuring the air content of a retort pouch container quickly and with high accuracy, particularly continuously so as to be industrially usable.

[0004]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a conventional technical situation, and has a specific gravity different between liquid and gas or water and oil contained in a sealed flexible package. It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for continuously and accurately measuring the volume of a fluid having a smaller specific gravity among fluids which are separated by standing.

[0005]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for testing the volume of a fluid having a smaller specific gravity in a sealed flexible package in which fluids having different specific gravities and which are separated by standing are accommodated in the sealed flexible package. And pressing the surface of the sealed flexible package with a holding plate having a hole, and intermittently transporting the sealed flexible package at a maximum transport speed of 0.1 m / sec.
Detecting the information on the surface projection image of the small specific gravity contained fluid of the sealed flexible package to detect the content of the small specific gravity contained fluid, wherein the content of the small specific gravity contained fluid of the sealed flexible package is detected. It is a continuous test method of quantity.

An embodiment of the present invention is as follows.
The transport direction of the flexible package is horizontal, vertical or oblique. The transport of the flexible package is performed on a horizontal circumference. The detection of the information on the surface projection image is performed by image processing of the temperature distribution of the surface projection image using infrared rays. The test of the content of the small specific gravity containing fluid is performed by measuring the area of the small specific gravity containing fluid from the surface projection image.

[0007]

According to the above construction, by pressing the sealed flexible package with the holding plate having holes, the form of the small specific gravity contained fluid in the sealed flexible package can be formed into a fixed shape, In addition, by conveying the sealed flexible package at a maximum conveying speed of 0.1 m / sec, the shape of the small specific gravity containing fluid being conveyed can be maintained constant.
Therefore, the information on the surface projection image of the small specific gravity storage fluid in the sealed flexible package can be accurately grasped. As a result, the content of the small specific gravity storage fluid can be quickly and accurately determined from the information on the surface projection image. It is possible to measure continuously.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A defective product detection device including a measuring device for an air-tightly sealed package according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a defective product detection device 1 for an air-sealed sealed package, for example, fills a retort pouch with a material such as curry or stew having a high specific gravity together with a gas such as air or an inert gas having a low specific gravity. Conveyor (transport path) 1 for transporting the air-sealed package obtained in this manner in a lying state
01. As shown in FIG. 2, the first conveyor 1
01 and a gas-tight sealed package A by a detector 211 described later.
In detecting the projected area of the gas portion, the pressurized sealing package A is pressed by the pressing plate 105 having the hole H at the center. As a result, the shape of the gas in the air-containing sealed package A can be kept constant as described above. In this case, it is preferable that the pressing plate 105 has a shape similar to the shape of the air-tightly sealed package A and the shape of the central hole H as well. As shown in FIG. 3, when the maximum diameter of the hole H of the holding plate 105 is a and the maximum diameter in the direction perpendicular to the hole is b, the hole size is a: b = 1: 1 to 2 It is desirable that when the maximum diameter of the upper surface of the hole H of the holding plate 105 is c and the maximum diameter of the lower surface is d, c: d = 1: 1 to 3. Further, as shown in FIG.
As for the hole H of No. 5, it is preferable that t = 0.05 to 1T, where T is the height of the air-containing sealed package A and t is the thickness of the holding plate 105.

At the downstream end of the first conveyor 101, as shown in FIG. 1, a second conveyor 201 for transporting a good air-containing sealed package A to a next step such as a sterilization step is provided. A third conveyor 301 for transporting defective air-tight sealed packages A is connected. Furthermore, the first
In the vicinity of a portion connected to the conveyor 101, the second conveyor 201, and the third conveyor 301, a swing member 2 for selecting an air-containing sealed package according to whether or not it has a predetermined air content is provided. It is arranged. The swinging member 2 changes the swinging position so that the first conveyor 101
The air-tight package A is selectively communicated with the second conveyor 201 or the third conveyor 301 to determine whether or not the air-tightly sealed package A has a predetermined air content, that is, a good product and a defective product. First
A cool air supply device 103 for cooling the air-containing hermetically sealed package A is provided in the middle of the conveying path of the conveyor 101 and upstream of the detector 211. A portion of the surface of the air-sealed package A that comes into contact with the gas in the air-sealed package (hereinafter referred to as a portion that comes into contact with the gas on the surface of the air-sealed package), and a portion of the surface of the air-sealed package that is air-sealed. There is a difference in heat capacity between the contents in the body, that is, the portion in contact with the filling (hereinafter referred to as the portion in contact with the filling on the surface of the air-tightly sealed package). Therefore,
Due to the cool air supply by the cool air supply device 103, a temperature difference is generated between a portion of the surface of the air-sealed sealed package that contacts the gas and a portion of the surface of the air-sealed sealed package that contacts the filling material, and comes into contact with the gas on the surface of the air-sealed sealed package. The projected image of the portion can be clearly detected.

[0010] The cold air supply device 103 is particularly effective when the filling is a high-temperature one such as curry or stew immediately after cooking. Note that, instead of the cold air supply device 103, a cold water supply device in which cold water is sprinkled into a gas-containing sealed package in a shower or spray form, a cold water tank device in which the gas-containing sealed package A is immersed in cold water, or the like is employed. Is also good. Further, a heating means may be employed in place of the cooling means as described above. The use of a heating means is particularly effective when the filling is of a low temperature. As the heating means, a hot air supply device for blowing hot air onto the air-sealed sealed package A, a hot water supply device for spraying hot water into the air-sealed sealed package in the form of a shower or a spray, or an air-sealed sealed package A Immersion in hot water. The first conveyor 101
Above the vicinity of the downstream side of the cold air supply device 103 in the middle of the conveyance path, as shown in FIG. 1, the air-containing sealed package A is radiated from the air-containing sealed package A on the first conveyor 101. A detector 211 for detecting the surface temperature is arranged. The detector 211 includes a circuit 20 that converts the obtained temperature information into thermal image data, a storage unit 30 that stores thermal image data, and a detecting unit that detects an area of a predetermined temperature range based on the thermal image data. 40, a determination circuit 50 for determining whether the area obtained by the detection means 40 is within a predetermined range,
It is sequentially connected to a control unit 60 that controls the swinging member 2 based on the determination result obtained by the determination circuit 50.

The detector 211 may detect a temperature distribution image on the entire surface of the air-sealed package A, or may detect the temperature at one or more points on the surface of the air-sealed package A. May be detected. Next, an operation of the defective product detection device 1 for the air-tightly sealed package will be described. Defective device 1 for air-tightly sealed package having the above configuration
First, the air-contained sealed package A is continuously conveyed by the first conveyor 101. When the air-containing sealed package A reaches the position of the cold air supply device 103, the air-containing sealed package A is cooled by the cold air supply device 103. As a result, FIG.
As shown in (1), the temperature difference between the portion B of the surface of the gas-sealed sealed package that contacts the gas a and the portion C of the surface of the gas-sealed sealed package that contacts the filler b can be clarified. Examples of the condition of the cold air include −30 to 30 ° C. Simultaneously with or immediately after the cooling process, the detector 211 detects the temperature of the surface of the air-tightly sealed package A by infrared rays emitted from the gas-tightly sealed package A on the first conveyor 101. The obtained temperature information is converted to thermal image data by the thermal image data conversion circuit 20 and stored in the storage unit 30. Subsequently, based on the thermal image data, the detection area 40 calculates the projected area of a portion of the surface of the air-containing sealed package within a predetermined temperature range, that is, a portion B of the surface of the air-containing sealed package that is in contact with gas. . In addition, the said predetermined temperature range is 30-50 degreeC specifically, when the temperature of a filling is 70 degreeC.
Next, the determination circuit 50 determines whether the area is within a predetermined range.

In the gas-tight sealed package, the area of the surface of the gas-sealed package that is in contact with the gas has a correlation with the volume of the gas in the gas-sealed package, that is, the gas content. Therefore, by determining whether or not the area of the portion of the surface of the gas-containing sealed package that comes into contact with the gas is within a predetermined range, whether the volume of the gas in the gas-containing sealed package is within an appropriate range is determined. Can be easily determined. In addition, what is the specific correlation between the area of the portion of the surface of the air-containing sealed package that comes into contact with the gas and the area of the gas in the air-containing sealed package,
It can be easily known by previously varying only the volume of the gas in the air-containing sealed package and examining how the area of the portion of the surface of the air-containing sealed package that contacts the gas changes. In the above determination, when the area is in the predetermined range, the air-tightly sealed package A is determined to be a non-defective product having the gas content of the predetermined range, while the area is not in the predetermined range. In such a case, the air-impregnated sealed package is judged to be a defective product having an excessively high or low air content. Based on the determination result of the determination circuit 50, the control unit 60
After the temperature of the surface of the air-sealed package A is detected by the detector 211, the air-sealed package A is moved to the first conveyor 1.
The swinging member 2 is controlled before reaching the end of 01. The swinging member 2 selectively communicates the first conveyor 101 with the second conveyor 201 or the third conveyor 301 based on the control signal. As a result, a good product of the air-sealed package A is sent to the second conveyor 201, and a defective product of the air-sealed package A is sent to the third conveyor 301.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a measuring device for an air-tightly sealed package according to a second embodiment of the present invention is located near the end of the first linear conveyor 300 and the starting end of the second linear conveyor 302. And a measuring section main body 304. The measuring section main body 304 has an annular transport path 306 for intermittently transporting the air-containing sealed package A, and a pair for blowing cooling air from above onto the air-containing sealed package A along the annular transport path 306. Are arranged in plural pairs. The annular transport path 306 is composed of a plurality of continuous transport bodies 310, and a pressing plate 105 having a hole H at the center is fixed above each transport body 310, and the receiving floor plate 3 of the transport body 310 is fixed.
12 is configured to be vertically movable by a cylinder 316. A detector 3 having the same configuration as the detector 211 of the first embodiment is provided above the transport end portion of the annular transport path 306.
20 are arranged. On the second linear conveyor 302, a weighing machine 330 for measuring the total weight of the air-sealed package A and a separator (not shown) for sorting the air-sealed package A into non-defective / defective products are provided. Are located. The operation of the measuring device for the air-impregnated sealed package of the second embodiment is as follows. The air-impregnated sealed package A transported by the first linear conveyor 300
Are individually placed on the transport body 310 of the annular transport path 306. While being transported by the annular transport path 306, the air-containing hermetically sealed package A placed on the transport body 310 is continuously cooled from above by the cooling fan 308. On the other hand, in the air-sealed package A placed on the carrier 310, the receiving floor plate 312 is raised by the extension of the cylinder 316, and the air-sealed package A is pressed against the holding plate 105. In this state, the annular conveyance path 3
The detector 320 detects the projected image of the air portion of the air-containing sealed package A transported to the transport end of 06. Thereafter, the air-sealed sealed package A is carried out of the annular transport path 306 and sent to the second linear conveyor 302. In the second linear conveyor 302, the total weight of the air-sealed sealed package A is measured by the weighing scale 330, and the calculation of the air content is performed based on the measured values from the detector 320 and the weighing scale 330,
A sorter (not shown) sorts the air-tightly sealed package A into non-defective products and defective products according to a control signal based on the calculated value.

In another embodiment of the present invention, the detector may be located downstream of the cool air supply device. As still another embodiment, instead of the determination circuit for determining whether or not the area obtained by the detecting means is within a predetermined range, the volume of the gas in the gas-tight sealed package is obtained from the area obtained by the detecting means. And a determination circuit for determining whether or not the volume of gas in the gas-tight sealed package obtained by the calculation circuit is within a predetermined range. As yet another embodiment of the present invention, when there is a large temperature difference between the packing and the room temperature, the above-mentioned cooling means and heating means are not provided. In this case as well, after a certain period of time has elapsed after the filling of the contents, a temperature difference between the portion of the surface of the air-containing sealed package that comes into contact with the gas and the contents, that is, the portion that comes into contact with the filling, appears, and the detector detects the air content. The rate can be measured.

[0015]

According to the present invention, the specific gravities are different between liquid and gas, water and oil contained in a flexible package,
In addition, the volume of the fluid having a lower specific gravity among the fluids that can be separated by standing can be continuously measured with high accuracy in a non-contact manner. Based on the measurement result, the air content is calculated and the retort is calculated. This has the effect that sterilization can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a configuration of a measuring device for an air-containing sealed package according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a state of holding an air-containing sealed package by a holding plate.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a holding plate.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the air-tightly sealed package.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory plan view of a measuring device for an air-tightly sealed package according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory sectional view of a measuring apparatus for an air-tightly sealed package according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List A air-sealed sealed package H holding plate 1 defective air-sealed package defective product detection device 2 rocking member 20 circuit for converting temperature information into thermal image data 30 storage unit for storing thermal image data 40 detecting means 50 determination circuit Reference Signs List 60 Control unit 101 First conveyor 103 Cold air supply device 201 Second conveyor 211 Detector 301 Third conveyor

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] 1. A method for examining the volume of a stored fluid having a lower specific gravity in a sealed flexible package in which fluids having different specific gravities and separated by standing are contained in a sealed flexible package. The surface of the sealed flexible package is pressed by a holding plate having a hole, and the small flexible content of the sealed flexible package is intermittently transported at a maximum transport speed of 0.1 m / sec. A method for continuously testing the content of a small specific gravity storage fluid in a hermetically sealed flexible package, wherein information on the small specific gravity storage fluid is detected by detecting information relating to the surface projection image of the sample. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the conveying direction of the flexible package is horizontal, vertical or oblique. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the transfer of the flexible package is performed on a horizontal circumference. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein detecting the information related to the surface projection image includes:
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the temperature distribution of the surface projection image is image-processed by infrared rays. 5. The sealed flexible package according to claim 1, wherein the test of the content of the small specific gravity contained fluid is performed by measuring the area of the small specific gravity contained fluid from a surface projection image. A continuous method of detecting the content of fluid contained in a small specific gravity of the body.