JP5769470B2 - Barrel container sterilization method and barrel container sterilization apparatus - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a sterilization method for sterilizing a barrel container, such as a beer barrel or a highball barrel, and a barrel container sterilization apparatus for carrying out such a method.

  Generally, beer is sold in a state of being filled in a bottle container or a can container. In addition to such a sales form, beer is filled in a beer barrel or a dedicated tank in a factory, and then sold in a state of being poured into a cup or a mug through a dedicated dispenser attached to the beer barrel in a store. In some cases.

  Such a beer barrel is returned from the store to the factory after use, and is sterilized using a bactericide and a cleaning liquid in the factory and reused (Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). Patent Document 3 discloses sterilizing and cleaning a container using a bactericide and a cleaning liquid in order to reuse the container such as a beverage bowl.

JP 2000-190923 A JP 2002-284121 A JP 2003-252313 A

  However, in general, beer barrels are considerably larger than beverage bottles and have a capacity of 9 to 30 liters. For this reason, when cleaning and sterilizing a beer barrel, in addition to supplying a disinfectant and hot water, steam is also injected into the beer barrel.

  In order to sterilize a beer barrel with steam, it is necessary to manage the sterilization temperature and sterilization time using steam. Among these, since the sterilization time corresponds to the supply time of steam into the beer barrel, the management of the sterilization time is relatively easy.

  On the other hand, about the sterilization temperature, the temperature of the outer surface of the beer barrel to which steam is supplied is measured by a non-contact thermometer, and this is used as the sterilization temperature. For this reason, it is difficult to measure the temperature of the outer surface of each barrel container without the non-contact type thermometer corresponding to the passing speed of the barrel container, and depending on the size and / or layout of the sterilization device of each factory The installation location of the non-contact type thermometer cannot be secured, and therefore the temperature measurement location on the outer surface of the barrel container may be different.

  For the same reason, when the temperature of the outer surface of the beer barrel cannot be measured in the beer barrel passage for performing steam sterilization, the beer barrel outer surface of the beer barrel in another beer barrel passage after the steam sterilization treatment is completed. The temperature is being measured.

  The temperature measured in such a case is likely to be inaccurate because it is susceptible to the surrounding environment. In other words, even if the temperature measured by, for example, a non-contact thermometer is lower than the minimum temperature required for sterilization, the beer barrel may actually be properly sterilized.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and provides a barrel container sterilization method capable of reliably guaranteeing the minimum temperature required for sterilization and a barrel container sterilization apparatus for performing such a method. For the purpose.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, according to the first invention, in the barrel container sterilization method for sterilizing the barrel container, the barrel container is turned upside down while the barrel container is turned upside down, Alternatively, hot water is supplied to the inside of the barrel container from the mouth portion of the barrel container through the supply passage, and by a thermometer installed in the discharge passage for discharging steam or hot water flowing out from the mouth portion of the barrel container A barrel container sterilization method for measuring the temperature of steam or hot water in the discharge passage is provided.

According to the second invention, in the first invention, the barrel container is excluded when the temperature measured by the thermometer is not more than a predetermined value.
According to a third aspect, in the first or second aspect, the thermometer is a contact-type thermometer.
According to the fourth invention, in the first or second invention, the temperature of the steam or hot water in the discharge passage is measured while the gripped barrel container moves along the annular rotation passage. Done.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, in the barrel container sterilization apparatus for sterilizing the barrel container, the gripping section for gripping the mouth portion of the barrel container downward while the barrel container is inverted, and the mouth portion of the barrel container A supply passage for supplying steam or hot water to the inside of the barrel container, a discharge passage for discharging steam or hot water flowing out from the mouth of the barrel container, and an outlet passage installed in the discharge passage. And a thermometer for measuring the temperature of the steam or hot water.

According to a sixth aspect, in the fifth aspect, when the temperature measured by the thermometer is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, the apparatus further includes an exclusion unit that excludes the barrel container.
According to a seventh invention, in the fifth or sixth invention, the thermometer is a contact thermometer.
According to the eighth invention, in the fifth or sixth invention, the temperature of the steam or hot water in the discharge passage is measured while the grasped barrel container moves along the annular rotation passage. Done.
According to a ninth invention, in the fifth or sixth invention, the discharge passage includes a horizontal part and a branch part branched from the middle of the horizontal part, and the thermometer comprises the horizontal part. Located at the closed tip.
According to a tenth aspect, in the first aspect, the barrel container is a beer barrel or a highball barrel.
According to an eleventh aspect, in the fifth aspect, the barrel container is a beer barrel or a highball barrel.

  In the 1st and 5th invention, the temperature of the vapor | steam which flowed out from the barrel container, ie, the vapor | steam after sterilizing a barrel container, is measured. Therefore, by comparing this temperature with the minimum temperature required for sterilization, it is possible to ensure the minimum temperature required for sterilization. In addition, since the thermometer is installed in the discharge passage that discharges steam, for example, even if the thermometer is damaged by the steam flow, it is possible to avoid mixing a part of the thermometer into the barrel container. it can. Furthermore, since a thermometer is installed in the steam discharge passage, there is no need to change the size and / or layout of the sterilizer.

In the 2nd and 6th invention, the barrel container which did not satisfy the minimum temperature required for sterilization can be excluded, and this barrel container can be prevented from being reused.
In the third and seventh inventions, the temperature of the steam can be directly measured, so that a more accurate temperature can be grasped.
In the fourth and eighth inventions, the barrel container can be sterilized in a relatively space-saving place.
In the ninth aspect, even if the thermometer is damaged, it is possible to avoid mixing a part of the thermometer into the barrel container and the branch passage.

It is a conceptual diagram of the sterilizer for beer barrels based on this invention. It is the longitudinal cross-sectional view of the sterilization part seen along line II of FIG. (A) It is an enlarged view which expands and shows a part of discharge path. (B) It is an enlarged view which expands and shows a part of other discharge passage. It is a figure which shows operation | movement of a sterilizer by the angular position of a rotation channel | path. It is a figure which shows the relationship between time and the temperature of a vapor | steam in one Example.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following drawings, the same members are denoted by the same reference numerals. In order to facilitate understanding, the scales of these drawings are appropriately changed.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a sterilizer for beer barrels according to the present invention. The sterilizer 10 shown in FIG. 1 is disposed adjacent to a transport path 11 such as a conveyor that sequentially transports a plurality of empty barrel containers, such as a beer barrel 40 or a highball barrel, in the direction of arrow A, and the transport path 11. And an annular rotary passage 20 that sequentially conveys the beer barrel 40 in the direction of arrow B.

  In the rotating passage 20, a plurality of, for example, twenty sterilization sections 21 are provided at equal intervals in the circumferential direction in order to fill the beer barrel 40 with beer. In FIG. 1, it is assumed that the sterilization unit 21 is provided at each of the positions corresponding to the beer barrel 40 located on the rotary passage 20.

  FIG. 2 is a vertical cross-sectional view of the sterilization section taken along line II in FIG. In FIG. 2, the beer barrel 40 is arranged on the rotary passage 20 in an inverted state with the mouth portion directed downward. Above the sterilizer 10, an air cylinder 51 having a telescopic rod 52 is provided. A clamp hand 53 having a substantially “+” shape is attached to the tip of the rod 52. By operating the air cylinder 51 and extending the rod 52, the beer barrel 40 is gripped between the clamp hand 53 and the rotary passage 20.

  The sterilizing unit 21 includes a supply passage 22 that supplies steam from a steam source (not shown) and a discharge passage 23 that discharges steam used to sterilize the beer barrel 40. The supply passage 22 and the discharge passage 23 are integrated with a head 29, and the head 29 is configured to be engageable with the mouth portion of the beer barrel 40. Steam supplied through the supply passage 22 is supplied from the mouth of the beer barrel 40 through the head 29 into the beer barrel 40. Note that a pressure sensor 27 is provided in the supply passage 22 to measure the pressure of steam passing through the supply passage 22.

  FIG. 3A is an enlarged view showing a part of the discharge passage in an enlarged manner. As shown in the figure, the discharge passage 23 includes a horizontal portion 23a and a branch portion 23b that is bent downward from the middle of the horizontal portion 23a. The tip of the horizontal portion 23a is closed by a contact-type thermometer 25 that detects the temperature of the steam flowing through the horizontal portion 23a. A resistance temperature detector (or thermocouple thermometer) 25a of the thermometer 25 partially extends in the axial direction from the distal end of the horizontal portion 23a toward the proximal end.

  As can be seen from FIG. 3A, since the resistance temperature detector 25a extends to a position corresponding to the branch portion 23b, the steam flowing through the horizontal portion 23a surely contacts the resistance temperature detector 25a. Therefore, in the present invention, the temperature of the steam flowing through the discharge passage 23 can be accurately measured. Further, since the steam speed is reduced when the horizontal portion 23a is reached, the possibility that the resistance temperature detector 25a is damaged is small.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, a tuning fork sensor 24 for detecting the presence or absence of moisture in the horizontal portion 23a is provided at the base end of the horizontal portion 23a. Further, a drain valve 26 for controlling the flow rate of the steam is provided downstream of the branch portion 23b with respect to the flow of the steam. The tuning fork sensor 24, the thermometer 25, and the drain valve 26 are connected to a control device 30 described later. As shown in FIG. 3B, a thermometer 25 may be disposed between the discharge passage 23 extending in the vertical direction and the horizontal portion 23a.

  Referring again to FIG. 1, the beer barrel 40 transported on the transport path 11 is transported to the rotary passage 20 by the star wheel 13 and the guide 14 on the upstream side in the transport direction A. The beer barrel 40 conveyed to the rotary passage 20 is sterilized by the single sterilization unit 21 while rotating in the direction of arrow B by the rotary passage 20.

  In other words, one beer barrel 40 is sterilized while the rotation passage 20 rotates from the beer barrel loading position in the upstream star wheel 13 to the beer barrel discharge position in the downstream star wheel 15. The sterilized beer barrel 40 returns to the transport path 11 again by the downstream star wheel 15 and the guide 16. Since it is such a structure, the beer barrel 40 is not arrange | positioned in the sterilization part 21a located between the star wheels 13 and 15 in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the branch conveyance path 18 branches from the conveyance path 11 downstream of the rotation path 20. The branch conveyance path 18 is not normally operated, and operates only when the activation unit 19 is activated. When the temperature of the steam detected by the thermometer 25 falls below a predetermined value, the activation unit 19 is activated, and the beer barrel 40 is discharged from the conveyance path 11 to the branch conveyance path 18. That is, the branch conveyance path 18 serves as an exclusion unit that eliminates such a beer barrel 40.

  The activation unit 19 is also connected to the control device 30. Here, the control device 30 is a digital computer and controls the entire sterilization device 10. As shown in FIG. 1, the control device 30 includes a comparison unit 33 and a storage unit 34.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the operation of the sterilizer at the angular position of the rotary passage. Hereinafter, the operation of the sterilization apparatus of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The beer barrel 40 transported to the transport path 11 is transferred to the rotary passage 20 by the star wheel 13 and the guide 14 at an angular position of 20 °.

  Next, the air cylinder 51 of the sterilizing unit 21 is operated and the rod 52 is lowered at an angular position of 20 ° to 35 ° of the rotary passage 20. Therefore, the beer barrel 40 is gripped in an inverted state between the clamp hand 53 and the rotary passage 20. The head 29 integral with the supply passage 22 and the discharge passage 23 engages with the mouth of the beer barrel 40. Thereafter, at an angle position of 35 ° to 55 °, the rod 28 of the head 29 rises to the vicinity of the bottom inner surface 41 of the beer barrel 40, pressurization in the head 29, and between the head 29 and the mouth of the beer barrel 40. Pressure related processing such as sealing check is performed.

  Next, when the 55 ° angular position is reached, the sterilizing liquid is supplied into the beer barrel 40 through the supply passage 22. When the inside of the beer barrel 40 is cleaned, the drain valve 26 (see FIG. 3A) is opened, and the sterilizing liquid is discharged through the discharge passage 23. This operation is performed until the angular position reaches 140 °.

  Next, at an angle position of 140 °, the drain valve 26 is closed and hot water is supplied into the beer barrel 40 to rinse the beer barrel 40. The drain valve 26 is opened and the hot water is discharged through the discharge passage 23 until the angle position reaches 250 °. Since the supply of such a sterilizing solution and hot water is generally the same as the supply of steam described later and is well known, detailed description thereof is omitted.

  Then, when it is confirmed by the tuning fork sensor 24 that there is no liquid droplet in the horizontal portion 23a of the discharge passage 23, the drain valve 26 is closed at an angular position of 250 ° and steam is supplied into the beer barrel 40. And pressurize. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, the steam is jetted from the tip of the rod 28 through the supply passage 22 through the rod 28. Thus, the steam collides with the bottom inner surface 41 of the beer barrel 40 and spreads over the entire inner surface of the beer barrel 40, so that the beer barrel 40 is sterilized. Thereafter, the vapor is liquefied and stored on the top surface 42 of the beer barrel 40.

  Then, the drain valve 26 is opened and the steam is discharged through the discharge passage 23 until the angle position reaches 300 °. At this time, the thermometer 25 measures the temperature in the horizontal portion 23 a of the discharge passage 23. The temperature measured by the thermometer 25 is supplied to the control device 30.

  When all the steam is discharged, the beer barrel 40 is filled with carbon dioxide gas and the rod 28 is lowered at an angular position of 300 ° to 320 °. Next, the pressure inside the head 29 is reduced, and the head 29 is removed from the mouth of the beer barrel 40.

  When the angular position is 320 °, the air cylinder 51 of the sterilizing unit 21 is actuated to raise the rod 52, thereby releasing the beer barrel 40 from being gripped. At the 340 ° angular position, the beer barrel 40 is transferred from the rotary path 20 to the transport path 11 by the star wheel 15 and the guide 16. In this way, the sterilization process of the beer barrel 40 by the sterilization unit 21 is completed.

  In the present invention, the temperature of the steam in the discharge passage 23 measured by the thermometer 25 is compared with a predetermined value by the comparison unit 33 of the control device 30. The predetermined value is a lower limit value of the steam temperature required to sterilize the beer barrel 40 and is stored in the storage unit 34. In some embodiments, the predetermined value is, for example, 115 degrees.

  The steam temperature when the beer barrel 40 is actually sterilized is higher than the temperature measured in the discharge passage 23. Therefore, when the temperature of the steam is higher than a predetermined value, it is determined that the beer barrel 40 has been sufficiently sterilized. In this invention, since it determines based on the temperature of the steam after passing the beer barrel 40, the minimum temperature required for sterilization of a beer barrel can be ensured reliably. Moreover, since the thermometer 25 is provided in each of the sterilization parts 21, it will be understood that the sterilization treatment for all the beer barrels 40 can be guaranteed.

  On the other hand, when the temperature of the steam is not greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that the sterilization process of the beer barrel 40 is insufficient. In such a case, the branch conveyance path 18 is activated by transmitting a signal from the control device 30 to the activation unit 19. As a result, the beer barrel 40 is transferred from the transport path 11 to the branch transport path 18 and discharged from the sterilizer 10. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the beer barrel 40 insufficiently sterilized from being reused directly.

  Further, as described above, the thermometer 25 is installed in the discharge passage 23 located downstream from the beer barrel 40. For this reason, even if the thermometer 25 is damaged by the steam flow, a part of the thermometer 25 is not mixed into the beer barrel 40. Moreover, it arrange | positions at the front-end | tip of the horizontal part 23a located downstream from the location where the branch part 23b branches. Therefore, it will be understood that even if the thermometer 25 is damaged, it is difficult for a part of the thermometer 25 to flow into the branch portion 23b.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, since the contact-type thermometer 25 is provided in the discharge passage 23, it is not necessary to consider the space necessary for installing the non-contact-type thermometer. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the sterilization process has been sufficiently performed without depending on the size and / or layout of the sterilizer 10.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the relationship between time and steam temperature in one embodiment, where the horizontal axis shows time and the vertical axis shows the temperature detected by the thermometer 25. When the sterilizer 10 of the present invention is operated based on the angular position shown in FIG. 4, the temperature of the steam passing through the discharge passage 23 due to the supply of steam in the steam pressurization process between 250 ° and 300 °. It rises and exceeds a predetermined value (for example, 115 degrees). When the angle position of 300 ° is exceeded, the supply of steam is stopped, so that the temperature rapidly decreases.

  In FIG. 5, the steam temperature is higher than a predetermined value in the steam pressurizing step, and the period C during which the steam temperature exceeds the predetermined value, for example, 5 seconds is sufficiently long. For this reason, it will be understood that the beer barrel 40 can be reliably sterilized by the sterilization apparatus 10 of the present invention.

  In the embodiment described with reference to the drawings, the beer barrel 40 is sterilized with steam while the beer barrel 40 is moved along the circular passage 20, and the sterilization temperature is measured. However, the case where the beer barrel 40 is sterilized with steam using the same mechanism when the beer barrel 40 is transported through the straight path and the sterilization temperature is similarly measured is also included in the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, even when warm water or hot water is poured into the beer barrel 40 for sterilization, the sterilization temperature may be measured using a similar mechanism.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Sterilizer 11 Conveyance path 13, 15 Star wheel 14, 16 Guide 18 Branch conveyance path (exclusion part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 19 Starting part 20 Circular passage 21 Sterilization part 22 Supply passage 23 Discharge passage 24 Tuning fork sensor 23a Horizontal part 23b Branch part 24 Tuning fork sensor 25 Thermometer 26 Drain valve 27 Pressure sensor 28 Rod 29 Head 30 Controller 33 Comparison part 34 Storage part 40 Beer barrel (barrel container)
51 Air cylinder 52 Rod 53 Clamp hand (gripping part)

Claims (11)

In a barrel container sterilization method for sterilizing a barrel container,
Holding the barrel container in an inverted state, gripping the mouth of the barrel container downward,
Supplying steam or hot water from the mouth of the barrel container to the interior of the barrel container through a supply passage;
The barrel container sterilization method which measures the temperature of the vapor | steam or hot water in the said discharge passage with the thermometer installed in the discharge passage which discharges | emits the steam or hot water which flowed out from the opening | mouth part of the said barrel container.   The barrel container sterilization method according to claim 1, wherein the barrel container is excluded when the temperature measured by the thermometer is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.   The barrel container sterilization method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the thermometer is a contact thermometer.   The method for sterilizing a barrel container according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the temperature of the steam or hot water in the discharge passage is measured while the gripped barrel vessel moves along an annular rotating passage. In the barrel container sterilizer for sterilizing the barrel container,
A gripping part for gripping the mouth part of the barrel container downward while the barrel container is inverted,
A supply passage for supplying steam or hot water from the mouth of the barrel container to the interior of the barrel container;
A discharge passage for discharging steam or hot water flowing out from the mouth of the barrel container;
A barrel sterilizer comprising a thermometer installed in the discharge passage and measuring the temperature of steam or hot water in the discharge passage.   The barrel container sterilizer according to claim 5, further comprising an exclusion unit that excludes the barrel container when the temperature measured by the thermometer is equal to or lower than a predetermined value.   The barrel sterilizer according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the thermometer is a contact thermometer.   The barrel container sterilizer according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the temperature of the steam or hot water in the discharge passage is measured while the gripped barrel vessel moves along an annular rotation passage.   The discharge passage includes a horizontal portion and a branch portion branched from the middle of the horizontal portion, and the thermometer is disposed at a closed tip of the horizontal portion. The barrel container sterilizer as described. The barrel container sterilization method according to claim 1, wherein the barrel container is a beer barrel or a highball barrel. The barrel container sterilizer according to claim 5, wherein the barrel container is a beer barrel or a highball barrel.

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