JP3574887B2 - Rotary joint - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention particularly relates to a rotary joint for feeding liquid in a system in which various drinks such as drinking water, juice, oolong tea and milk coffee are filled in aseptic, that is, in a sterile filling system, and more particularly, This eliminates the need for oil such as grease or oil that has been conventionally used for the sliding part between the rotating body and the fixed part, thereby eliminating the need for maintenance of the device, thereby improving work efficiency and preventing unexpected oil content during maintenance. The present invention relates to a rotary joint that prevents contamination of a device due to leakage.
[0002]
[Prior art and its problems]
Conventionally, it is known that a series of steps in an aseptic filling system are performed in accordance with steps of washing and sterilizing a container, finishing rinser, filling contents, and closing a lid. These steps are usually performed in a booth sectioned in a clean room kept at class 10,000, which is kept in class 100.
[0003]
Among these processes, the system for feeding the liquid while supplying the sterile water in the sterilizing and washing process and the filling liquid in the content filling process employs a system in which the liquid is fed while the apparatus rotates. A rotary joint that can supply liquid while correspondingly is used.
[0004]
For example, a rotary joint disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-46290 proposed by the present applicant increases the degree of sealing of a connecting portion between a fixed portion and a rotating portion, and prevents bacteria from entering from outside. A rotary joint having a joint casing for forming a bacteria barrier layer by flowing a sterile medium around the connection portion is shown. In this rotary joint, the sliding surfaces of the fixed-side seal member and the rotary-side seal member are made of materials having different hardnesses to improve the sealability of the sliding contact portion, and the spacers provided at both ends of the bearing are made of oil. It is characterized by acting as a seal and sealing so that the lubricating oil of the bearing does not leak outside.
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, in this rotary joint, since the lubricating oil of the bearing portion is used, the maintenance is required to stop the apparatus after a certain period of operation and to replenish or replace the lubricating oil of the bearing portion, Performing such an apparatus in an aseptic filling system operating in a booth in a clean room maintained in class 100 as described above requires shutting down the apparatus due to maintenance and unexpectedly contaminating the apparatus due to the maintenance. Is done.
[0006]
Furthermore, in this rotary joint, since a lubricating oil is used for a bearing portion, a sterile medium chamber for forming a germ barrier layer cannot be said to be excellent in chemical resistance such as acid resistance and alkali resistance. Prior to the operation of the rotary joint, a sterilizing liquid such as peracetic acid for sterilizing the inside of the apparatus cannot be circulated, but only steam or sterile water can be circulated. Therefore, in this rotary joint, sterilization in the apparatus before operation cannot be performed using peracetic acid, which is a suitable sterilizing liquid.
[0007]
Therefore, the present inventor conducted research on a structure for making the rotary joint suitable for use in an aseptic filling system. As a result, the seal portion of the rotary joint was made a mechanical seal that does not use any oil, and was further slid. By forming the moving part with a sliding material using an oilless metal, the present inventors have conceived of a rotary joint suitable for the aseptic filling system described above, and have completed the present invention.
[0008]
That is, the object of the present invention is to eliminate the need for intermediate maintenance and to prevent contamination of the apparatus, and furthermore, to completely sterilize the inside of the apparatus before operating the apparatus in the sterile medium chamber, and to continue It is an object of the present invention to provide a rotary joint capable of continuously continuing an aseptic filling operation while supplying steam or sterile water.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention has been proposed to achieve the above object, and has an important feature in that no oil such as grease or oil is used for a seal portion or a sliding portion in the device.
That is, according to the present invention, a rotary joint having a rotating tubular body through which a fluid flows down, and a tubular fixing portion which pivotally supports the rotating tubular body and which is in contact with the outer periphery of the rotating tubular body via a sea portion and a sliding portion. , A joint casing provided with a sterile medium supply port and the sterile medium discharge port is formed on an outer periphery of a connecting portion between the rotary cylindrical body and the cylindrical fixing portion, and the seal portion is formed of an oil component. The present invention provides a rotary joint , which is a mechanical seal made of a ceramic that does not use a metal, and wherein the sliding portion is made of an oilless metal.
[0010]
Further, according to the present invention, the joint casing is formed at least in a portion including an outer periphery of a connection portion between the rotary tubular body and the tubular fixed portion, and the inside thereof is supplied from a supply port at a lower end portion. The rotary joint is further provided with a space for discharging the sterile medium from a discharge port at an upper end on a side facing the supply port .
[0011]
Further, according to the present invention, there is provided the above rotary joint, wherein the sliding portion is formed in at least two places in each of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction, and an oilless metal is used as a sliding member.
[0013]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an example of a preferred structure of the rotary joint of the present invention.
[0014]
The rotary joint of the present invention includes a rotary tubular body 1 arranged roughly inside the center of the apparatus, and a tubular fixed portion 2 configured to surround the rotary tubular body. The rotary tubular body 1 and the tubular fixed portion 2 are slidably contacted with the seal portion 14 via the sliding portions 11a and 11b, and the connecting portions 25a and 25b between the rotary tubular body 1 and the tubular fixed portion 2 are connected. A joint casing 26 having an aseptic medium supply port 21 and an aseptic medium flowing portion 23 having an outlet 22 for discharging the aseptic medium is formed on the outer periphery of the portion including the aseptic medium.
[0015]
The rotating cylindrical body 1 in the joint casing 26 and the mechanical seal 14 made of ceramic formed on the cylindrical fixing part 2 have connection (sliding contact) parts 25a and 25b, both of which are finished to a smooth mirror surface. , 14a and 14f are fixed to the cylindrical fixing portion, and the units 14b, 14c, 14d and 14e are fixed to the rotating cylindrical body.
[0016]
Therefore, the connection (sliding contact) portion 25a of 14a-14b and the connection (sliding contact) portion 25b of 14e-14f are in sliding contact with each other, and the units 14b and 14e are provided adjacent thereto. 14b, 14e are always urged in the sliding direction by the springs 12 provided inside the units 14c, 14d, respectively, so that the sealing properties of the portions 25a, 25b are further improved, and the filling liquid during operation is improved. Leakage of the filling liquid from the connecting portion that slides due to pressure is effectively prevented. Since the mechanical seal is made of ceramic, it is excellent in acid resistance, alkali resistance, heat resistance, and the like. In this sterile medium flowing section 23, the inside of the system is sterilized prior to the operation of the apparatus. A bactericide such as an aqueous solution of peracetic acid can be supplied.
[0017]
It is preferable to provide an O-ring 13 using a material such as EPDM rubber or Kalrez (trade name) in the mechanical seal. Since the O-ring is excellent in acid resistance and heat resistance, it is not affected by a sterilizing solution or the like.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 1, the sterile medium supply port 21 formed in the joint casing 26 opens at the lower end of the short casing, and the discharge port opens at the upper end on the side opposite to the supply port. Have been . By setting the positional relationship between the supply port and the discharge port in this way, the aseptic medium supplied from the supply port flows through the inside of the aseptic medium flowing section 23 and is discharged from the discharge port.
[0019]
A sterile medium for keeping the inside of the apparatus in a sterile state is supplied from the supply port. As the sterile medium, sterile water or steam is used, and it is preferable to supply a sterilizing agent such as an aqueous solution of peracetic acid in order to make the inside of the system aseptic prior to the operation of the apparatus.
In the present invention, during operation of the apparatus, a sterile medium such as sterile water is continuously supplied to the sterile medium flowing section, whereby a fluid flows through the rotating cylindrical body, and the system has a negative pressure. In this case, no external bacteria can enter the fluid.
[0020]
When the inside of the system is sterilized with a bactericide prior to operation, then the system is started after purging the inside of the system with sterile water or steam to completely discharge the germicidal solution. In order to perform such an operation efficiently, it is preferable that the positional relationship between the supply port 21 and the discharge port 22 formed in the joint casing is formed as described above .
[0021]
In the rotary joint of the present invention, the sliding contact between the rotating tubular body 1 and the tubular fixing portion 2 is not only radial (horizontal direction) but also partially thrust (longitudinal direction) in order to achieve stable operation. It is preferable that the sliding contact portion is also formed. This sliding portion is formed by forming at least two sliding members on the horizontal sliding contact portion 11a and the vertical sliding contact portion 11b of the rotating tubular body 1 and the tubular fixed portion, respectively. Even if one of the sliding members loses its function due to abrasion or the like, the other sliding member complements the function and can function as a normal rotary joint as a whole.
[0022]
In the present invention, a plastic non-oil sliding material known by a trade name such as Lulon is used as the sliding material. This sliding material is sometimes called an oilless metal.
The members forming the rotating cylindrical body or the members forming the cylindrical fixing portion may be joined by screws 15 and 24, respectively.
[0023]
As described above, the rotary joint of the present invention is an important feature that oil is not used for a sliding portion or a seal portion, and thereby, maintenance such as replenishment or replacement of oil becomes unnecessary. It is suitable for aseptic filling system performed in a clean room because it can improve the efficiency of operation and does not require humans to enter the device, and it is suitable for use in the aseptic filling system for washing and filling contents. However, it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to other than the aseptic filling system.
[0024]
On the other hand, if oil is used in the device as in a conventional rotary joint, periodic maintenance is required. In this case, maintenance of the rotary joint located above the device requires additional work. In addition to the inefficiency due to the stoppage, there is a fear that the difficulty of the work may cause the oil to leak unexpectedly and contaminate the device.
[0025]
【The invention's effect】
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the rotary joint which does not require periodic maintenance is provided, not only the efficiency of work but also the problem of contamination of the apparatus accompanying maintenance, and the aseptic filling system which operates in a clean room is performed. It is a device very suitable for
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an example of a rotary joint according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Rotating cylindrical body 2 Cylindrical fixing part 11a Radial-direction oilless metal 11b Thrust-direction oilless metal 12 Spring 13 O-ring 14 Mechanical seal 14a to mechanical seal unit 14f Mechanical seal unit 15 Screw 21 Sterile medium supply port 22 Sterile medium discharge Outlet 23 Sterile medium flowing portion 24 Screw 25a Connection (sliding contact) portion 25b between rotating tubular body and tubular fixed portion Connection (sliding contact) portion 26 between rotating tubular body and tubular fixed portion 26 Joint casing

Claims (3)

A rotary tubular body that allows a fluid to flow down, and a rotary joint that has a tubular fixed portion that pivotally supports the rotary tubular body and is provided on the outer periphery of the rotary tubular body with a seal portion and a sliding portion therebetween. A joint casing having a sterile medium supply port and the sterile medium discharge port is formed on the outer periphery of the connection portion with the cylindrical fixing portion, and the seal portion is a mechanical seal made of a ceramic that does not use oil. Wherein the sliding portion is made of an oilless metal. The joint casing is formed at least in a portion including an outer periphery of a connecting portion between the rotating tubular body and the tubular fixing portion, and inside thereof, a sterile medium supplied from a supply port at a lower end portion is provided with the supply port. 2. The rotary joint according to claim 1, wherein a space is formed for discharging from a discharge port at an upper end portion on an opposite side . The rotary joint according to claim 1, wherein the sliding portion is formed in at least two places in each of a vertical direction and a horizontal direction.

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