JP3851516B2 - Vacuum packaging method and apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus developed for vacuum packaging a package containing a relatively hot liquid.
[0002]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
For example, when viscous foodstuffs such as stew and curry are vacuum packed in containers, vacuum packaging at the high temperature state immediately after cooking and heating these foodstuffs takes advantage of the sterilization effect due to the heat retained by the foodstuffs. There is no need to re-sterilize the container later, and even if heat treatment is performed, the high-temperature foods inside the container immediately reach the sterilization temperature, which is extremely economical in terms of energy consumption. High-temperature foods have a low boiling point and boil even at a slight vacuum value, so that there is a problem that the packaged items often overflow from the mouth of the container during vacuum.
[0003]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-273318 discloses a computer circuit for measuring the surface temperature of an object to be packaged filled in a container in a vacuum chamber and calculating a vacuum value applied to the object to be packaged. By the control device, overflow of the packaged material from the container can be prevented in advance.
[0004]
However, a sudden drop in pressure will lower the container surface temperature in the vacuum chamber, so it must be safe to set a lower value to prevent overflowing. There is a problem that the inside becomes a shortage of vacuum.
[0005]
[Solution]
In order to accurately grasp the temperature of the package filled in the container and to control near the limit line where the package is boiled, the present invention sets the temperature of the package inside the bag moving along the endless track. Measure with a thermometer, determine the boiling value of the packaged object based on the measured value input to the controller from the main thermometer, and set the working vacuum value in the pressure-resistant chamber carrying the bag as the boiling value. 2 or more vacuum lines each having a throttle valve having a different opening degree, and a throttle valve having an opening degree corresponding to a measured value inputted from the main thermometer to the controller. Is first selected to start the vacuum action, and means for switching to a throttle valve with a small opening while reading the changing vacuum value.
[0006]
When the temperature of the object to be wrapped inside the bag moving along the endless track is measured with a main thermometer, a throttle valve with an opening corresponding to the measured value input to the controller from the main thermometer is first selected to perform the vacuum action. Start and prevent initial sudden boiling. The vacuum line is composed of two or more throttle valves with different opening degrees, and gradually switches to a throttle valve with a small opening degree while reading a changing vacuum value, and packages an object to be packaged in a state immediately before boiling. When the main thermometer is configured with a radiation structure that directly detects the temperature of the object to be packaged, the vacuum value control is more effective than the one that measures the object temperature from the outside of the bag. .
[0007]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As shown in FIG. 1, the plastic transparent bag 10 moves in the direction of the arrow 11 while stopping at each position for a fixed time. The stop time at each position is determined by the time required for filling the package with respect to the bag, but is usually about 1 second to 2 seconds.
[0008]
More specifically, the back is moved by being supported by a board 12 shown in FIG. 2, and the board is provided with two arms 15 supported by pins 13 and 14, and a clamp 16 provided at the upper end thereof is provided with a clothespin. In the same manner as described above, the both side edges of the back 10 are clamped using the elasticity of the spring. When the board 12 supports the back 10 and moves in the direction of the arrow 11, the roller 18 at the tip of the lever 17 protruding from the pin 13 moves along the cam rail 19, but the roller 18 increases the slope of the cam rail 19. As a result, the left and right clamps 16 approach each other and push the upper end opening 20 of the back 10 apart. The links 21 and 22 fixed to the two pins 13 and 14 are for relatively interlocking the left and right arms 15.
[0009]
The rotary valve 25 shown in FIG. 1 is formed by a circular fixed plate 27 that is firmly fixed to a base 26 and a movable plate 29 that supports an upper end of a shaft 28. Are supported by the movable plate 29. Therefore, when the movable plate 29 is intermittently rotated at a constant angle by the input from the shaft 28, the board 12 moves along a circular track, and the back 10 supported by this board eventually moves along the endless track. The lid member 31 that is in close contact with the board 12 and forms an airtight space 30 therein is close to the board 12 only in a part of the circular orbit, and is usually separated from the board.
[0010]
In FIG. 1, when the bag 10 that moves 11 along the endless track stops at an intermediate position, the filling machine fills the bag with the article to be packaged. Some of the items to be packaged are a mixture of seasoning liquid and ingredients in advance, but most of them are ingredients weighed in order to keep the distribution ratio between ingredients and liquid constant. And liquid are filled using separate filling machines. That is, in the first position, a certain amount of material 35 is put into the bag 10 from the weighing device 34 connected to the hopper 33, and then, in the rear position, the metering pump 37 returns the liquid in the tank 36 through the nozzle 38. Fill inside.
[0011]
As described above, when the bag 10 filled with the article to be packaged moves and stops on the striking device 40, the shelf plate 42 that vibrates up and down by the power of the vibrator 41 strikes the bottom surface of the bag 10 violently. Stir the package. By this stirring, the temperature difference between the surface and the center of the package is reduced, and when the temperature is measured by the radiation main thermometer 43, the controller 44 calculates the allowable vacuum value by calculation based on the measured value. calculate. That is, it corresponds to the steps S1 to S3 in FIG.
[0012]
When the bag 10 whose temperature has been measured as described above moves to the next position and stops, the bowl-shaped lid member 31 comes into close contact with the front surface of the panel 12, and the bag 10 is confined in the airtight space 30 in the pressure-resistant chamber 45. As shown in FIG. 3, a lever 50 is provided outside the lid member 31 at the end of the operation shaft 49 that is rotatably supported on both walls of the lid member 31, and is further supported by the support shaft 51 on the lid member 31. The rod 53 of the cylinder 52 and the lever 50 are connected. Since the normal rod is pulled in the direction of the arrow 54 and the operation shaft 49 is rotated in the clockwise direction, the seal table 56 and the holding table 57 installed on the front operation shaft 49 via the support plate 55 are positioned at the virtual line 58. Yes, when the lid member 31 is displaced toward the direction 59 of the board 12, contact between the support plate 55 and the back 10 can be avoided.
[0013]
Thereafter, when the pressure chamber 45 starts to rotate integrally with the movable plate 29, the space 30 inside the pressure chamber and the vacuum pump 46 communicate with each other through the internal passage of the arm 32 and the rotary valve 25.
[0014]
The five throttle valves (1 to 5) provided in parallel with the vacuum line are gradually reduced in opening degree from one to the other. That is, 2 is smaller than 1 and 3 is smaller than 2. Each parallel circuit provided with these throttle valves is provided with a normally closed on-off valve (1a to 5a), and the controller 44 stores the measured temperature value input from the main thermometer 43. Then, after waiting for the temperature-measured bag 10 to be carried into the pressure-resistant chamber 45, as shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum value immediately before the liquid boils, that is, the allowable vacuum value is calculated S3, and at the same time, the valve opening selection S4 To do. That is, when a sudden vacuum shock is applied to a high-temperature package, the package causes an explosive boiling phenomenon. Therefore, the controller 44 is a throttle valve corresponding to the temperature of the package, for example, a throttle of 3. A valve is selected and the series open / close valve 3a is opened.
[0015]
By opening the on-off valve 3a as described above, a vacuum is brought into the pressure-resistant chamber 45, and at the same time, the pressure gauge 60 provided in a part of the arm 32 inputs a changing vacuum value to the controller 44 (FIG. 4). In step S5). In this case, the holding bar 62 facing the holding table 57 in FIG. 3 restricts the opening of the back 10, so that the back 10 expands due to the pressure difference and expands the head space in the back, so that the liquid is blown out. It can be suppressed.
[0016]
On the other hand, while reading the vacuum value in step S5 in FIG. 4, the controller switches from the on-off valve 3a to 4a during the suction transition period (step S6 in FIG. 4) to avoid a sudden vacuum increase just before boiling. The boiling value determination means S7 in the controller closes the opening / closing valve 4a by the vacuum cutting means S8 when the vacuum value S5 in the pressure resistant chamber reaches the allowable vacuum value S3 calculated in advance, and the actuator 63 in FIG. Then, the seal bar 64 is pushed out toward the seal base 56 to seal the opening of the back.
[0017]
A large number of throttle valves (1 to 5) shown in parallel in FIG. 1 are an example of a variable adjustment valve corresponding to the measured temperature, but the opening degree adjustment is multistage control. When the vacuum value is calculated in step S3 in FIG. 4, a pulse signal corresponding to this vacuum value is output, the valve opening is selected (S4), and the number of pulses is changed in proportion to the vacuum change in S5. continuously variable control to adjust the valve opening degree (S6) is easy.
[0018]
The preliminary striking device 65 in FIG. 1 preliminarily stirs the package before setting the temperature by the main thermometer 43, and the pre-stirring device 65 is used for pre-stirring before the bag 10 reaches the position of the main thermometer. Since the temperature unevenness is reduced, the measurement with the main thermometer is quick and the transport efficiency of the bag is improved.
[0019]
Although the temperature control of the liquid in the tank 36 is easy, the temperature control of the ingredients in the hopper 33 is difficult, and there is a temperature difference in the bag when the liquid and ingredients are filled in the bag. Even if the control is performed only with the transmitted information, the liquid may overflow from the bag. For such a case, the liquid temperature is measured by the sub thermometer 66 provided in the nozzle 38 and inputted to the controller 44, and the controller calculates the average value of the main thermometer 43 and the sub thermometer 66. At the same time, an allowable vacuum value can be calculated based on the detected value (see steps S11 to S16 in FIG. 5).
[Brief description of the drawings]
1 is an explanatory diagram of an entire endless track developed. FIG. 2 is a front view of a back transfer means. FIG. 3 is a partial cross-sectional view of a pressure chamber. FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a flowchart. [Explanation of symbols]
1a to 5a ... throttle valve 10 ... back 12 ... board 25 ... rotary valve 30 ... space 33 ... hopper 34 ... metering device 35 ... material 36 ... tank 37 ... metering pump 38 ... nozzle 40 ... hammering device 43 ... main thermometer 44 ... Controller 45 ... Pressure resistant chamber 46 ... Vacuum line 56 ... Seal stand 65 ... Preliminary strike device 66 ... Sub thermometer

Claims (4)

The temperature of the package inside the bag moving along the endless track is measured with a main thermometer, and the boiling value of the package is determined based on the measured value input from the main thermometer to the controller. The rotary valve rotates in unison with the movable plate, which is a component on one side of the rotary valve, and is sequentially carried into each pressure chamber that communicates with a plurality of ports formed on the movable plate, and the working vacuum value in each pressure chamber is A vacuum packaging method for controlling based on a relationship with a value,
While the movable plate is connected to the vacuum pump 1 group through a single vacuum line into the hole of the fixing plate of the rotary valve other side rotating slide, the middle of the vacuum line, 2 or more in the fixed plate side While separating in parallel, the other end of the parallel vacuum line is concentrated on the vacuum pump side, and each of the parallel vacuum lines has a normally closed on-off valve and each of the parallel vacuum lines. A throttle valve is arranged in the opening to decrease in parallel steps,
Corresponding to the communication between the pressure-resistant chamber that rotates integrally with the movable plate and the vacuum pump connected to the fixed plate, a parallel provided with a throttle valve having an opening degree corresponding to the measured value that has already been measured and input to the controller Select and open the open / close valve of the circuit, and open each open valve step by step so that the vacuum suction is gradually switched to the throttle valve with a small opening while reading the vacuum value changing in the same pressure-resistant chamber. Vacuum packaging method. The temperature of the package inside the bag moving along the endless track is measured with a main thermometer, and the boiling value of the package is determined based on the measured value input from the main thermometer to the controller. A vacuum packaging method for carrying in a pressure-resistant chamber that rotates integrally with a movable plate that is a component material on one side of a rotary valve and controlling the working vacuum value in the pressure-resistant chamber based on the relationship with the boiling value. ,
While connecting a single vacuum pump to a fixed plate, which is a component on the other side of the rotary valve, via a vacuum line, a variable adjustment valve is disposed in the vacuum line,
Corresponding to the communication between the pressure-resistant chamber that rotates integrally with the movable plate and the vacuum pump that is connected to the fixed plate, the variable adjustment valve is opened to meet the measured value that has already been measured and input to the controller. After vacuum adjustment, a vacuum packaging method in which vacuum suction is performed by changing the opening of the variable adjustment valve while reading the vacuum value that changes in the pressure-resistant chamber. The temperature of the package inside the bag moving along the endless track is measured with a main thermometer, and the boiling value of the package is determined based on the measured value input from the main thermometer to the controller. The rotary valve rotates in unison with the movable plate, which is a component on one side of the rotary valve, and is sequentially carried into each pressure chamber that communicates with a plurality of ports formed on the movable plate, and the working vacuum value in each pressure chamber is A vacuum packaging device that controls based on a relationship with a value,
One vacuum pump connected via a vacuum line to a hole in the stationary plate on the other side of the rotary valve on which the movable plate slides;
A parallel vacuum line in which the middle of the vacuum line is branched into two or more parallel shapes on the fixed plate side, and the other ends of the branch branches are gathered together on the vacuum pump side;
A normally closed on-off valve disposed in each of the parallel vacuum lines;
Each throttle valve arranged in parallel with the parallel vacuum line so that the opening degree is in series with the on-off valve and the opening is reduced in parallel steps ,
Corresponding to the communication between the pressure-resistant chamber that rotates integrally with the movable plate and the vacuum pump connected to the fixed plate, a parallel provided with a throttle valve having an opening degree corresponding to the measured value that has already been measured and input to the controller select opens the closing valve of the circuit, to switch to a small throttle valve of stepwise opening of the vacuum suction while reading the vacuum value which varies in the same pressure-resistant chamber, vacuum packaging to open the respective opening valve stepwise apparatus. The vacuum packaging apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the main thermometer has a radiation structure that directly detects the temperature of the object to be packaged.

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