JP6156639B2 - Defoaming device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention occurs when the contents on the surface of the contents are erased, particularly when various contents such as metal cans, plastic cups, tray-like containers, PET bottles, bottle cans or glass bottles are filled with contents such as beverages. The present invention relates to a defoaming apparatus suitable for defoaming bubbles.

The filling process for beverages in various containers (canned beverages, PET bottled beverages, bottled beverages, etc.) generally fills upright containers in the filling machine from the top, and then seals (winding machines, cappers, etc.) Seal with a lid or cap. As an important factor for maintaining the quality of the beverage and improving the flavor, there is a reduction in the amount of residual oxygen in the sealed container, and in particular, it is important to remove oxygen from the head space in the container.
In order to realize this, a deoxygenation technique by gas replacement such as undercover gassing immediately before sealing has been developed and used. On the other hand, since beverages in containers are products that are consumed in large quantities, speeding up of the filling process has been pursued, and in the case of canned beverages, a high-speed line for producing 1000 cans to 2000 cans per minute has been put into practical use. Bubbles are generated in the container when filling a beverage in such a high-speed line.

The foam generation behavior and the foam disappearance behavior vary depending on the properties and filling conditions of individual beverages. Generally, the higher the production speed, the more foam is generated and the foam disappears. Therefore, sufficient time cannot be taken, and sealing is performed with bubbles remaining.
Further, since oxygen in the bubbles cannot be removed by headspace gas replacement, reduction of the amount of oxygen in the headspace is hindered.
In particular, at the present time when the deoxygenation technology by gas replacement is improved, it is the main cause of the residual oxygen amount.
Currently, in order to suppress foam, a method of mixing an antifoaming agent is used in the beverage formulation, but it may affect the taste of the contents such as beverages. There is a need for an effective defoaming technique that eliminates odor.

Therefore, the present applicant has found that the pulsed sound wave generated by the impact of the laser-induced breakdown of the pulsed laser beam exhibits an excellent effect on defoaming and destroys the foam using the pulsed sound wave. A defoaming method for defoaming was proposed (Patent Document 1).
In addition, the applicant of the present invention uses an acoustic waveguide that includes a pulsed sound wave generated by a laser-induced breakdown impact of a pulsed laser beam, including a reflected wave of the pulsed sound wave on the inner peripheral surface of the acoustic waveguide. By turning it toward the surface of the contents, the use efficiency of the pulsed sound wave at the time of defoaming is increased, the degree of freedom of arrangement of the condensing optical system etc. is increased to prevent contamination, and an effective defoaming effect is obtained. An antifoaming method and an antifoaming device embodying these methods have been proposed (Patent Document 2).

FIG. 4 schematically shows the operation principle in the basic form of the defoaming device known in Patent Document 2 described above.
In the figure, reference numeral 500 denotes a defoaming device, which is a pulsed laser beam oscillation device 510 that generates pulsed light L, and the pulsed laser beam L oscillated from the pulsed laser beam oscillation device 510 is focused on a focal point S. The light collecting optical system 520 and the acoustic waveguide 530.
The defoaming device 500 is located above the conveyor that transports the container A filled with the contents C to the sealing device in the sealed filling line of the content C into the container A, or the container passage position before sealing in the sealing device. The pulsed laser beam oscillation device 510 and the condensing optics are arranged so that the acoustic waveguide 530 is vertically disposed above the laser beam irradiating the pulsed laser beam L from the axial center direction of the acoustic waveguide 530. A system 520 is arranged.

The acoustic waveguide 530 includes a taper portion 532 on the laser beam incident hole 534 side and a straight portion 533 on the opening portion 531 side, and the taper portion 532 has the opening portion 531 from at least the focal point S of pulsed laser light or the vicinity thereof. It is formed so that the inner diameter of the inner peripheral surface increases toward.
The pulsed laser light L condensed by the condensing optical system 520 is irradiated from the laser light incident hole 534 so that the focal point S is located in the internal space of the tapered portion 532 of the acoustic waveguide 530. Is done.
By providing the tapered portion 532 of the acoustic waveguide 530 on the focal point S side of the laser light, the pulsed sound wave P toward the inner peripheral surface of the acoustic waveguide 530 is angled with the axial direction of the acoustic waveguide 530. Is reflected so as to be small and travels toward the opening 531, and the reflected wave in each direction in which the pulsed sound wave P travels travels toward the opening 531 with almost no time difference.

International Publication No. 2007-086339 JP2012-183521A

The defoaming technique using an acoustic waveguide known in Patent Document 2 and the like increases the degree of freedom of arrangement of the condensing optical system and the like while preventing the contamination while increasing the efficiency of use of the pulsed sound wave when defoaming. It is possible, but because the foam droplets of broken bubbles adhere to the acoustic waveguide, the adhered droplets become droplets and flow down the surface of the acoustic waveguide and drop from the lower edge, There was a problem that the dropped droplets were mixed again in the container.
In order to prevent such a situation, it is conceivable to reduce the amount of droplets adhering to the acoustic waveguide, or to remove the droplets adhering before dropping as droplets.

However, in order to reduce the splash of foam that has broken bubbles adhering to the acoustic waveguide, the lower end of the acoustic waveguide is moved away from the surface of the contents, or the output of pulsed sound waves is lowered to reduce the amount of splashed splash. Although necessary, defoaming efficiency decreases with either measure.
Moreover, when the lower end of the acoustic waveguide is moved away from the contents surface, scattering of the broken bubbles to the surroundings increases.
In addition, in order to remove splashes of broken bubbles adhering before droplets drop from the lower edge of the acoustic waveguide, the filling line is temporarily stopped at regular intervals, and the acoustic waveguide is washed or replaced. It becomes a hindrance to speeding up the filling line.

  The present invention solves the problems in the defoaming technique described above, and has a defoaming device having an acoustic waveguide that emits a pulsed sound wave that breaks the foam from above the surface of the contents filled in the container. In this case, the dropped droplets are mixed in the container without reducing the defoaming efficiency, increasing the scattering of the foam that has broken bubbles, and preventing the speed of the filling line from being increased. An object of the present invention is to provide an anti-foaming device that prevents the above-described problem.

  The invention according to claim 1 is a defoaming device having an acoustic waveguide that emits a pulsed sound wave that breaks foam from above the surface of the contents filled in the container, wherein the acoustic waveguide is The lower end edge of the opening on the surface side of the contents is provided to be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, and the lower end of the lower end edge of the opening side has a guide piece extending to the outer peripheral side, and the lower end of the guide piece The edge is inclined in the same direction as the lower end edge on the opening side toward the outer peripheral side, thereby solving the problem.

In the invention according to claim 2, in addition to the configuration of the defoaming device according to claim 1, the acoustic waveguide is provided so as to have a cylindrical shape and a central axis extending in a vertical direction. Is a solution.
In addition to the configuration of the defoaming device according to claim 2, the invention according to claim 3 is formed such that the lower end edge on the opening side is inclined toward both sides around a predetermined plane including the central axis. The above-mentioned problems are solved by having the guide pieces at the lowermost positions on the inclined sides on both sides of the lower edge on the opening side.
In addition to the configuration of the defoaming device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, the invention according to claim 4 has a direction in which the lower edge on the opening side has a predetermined angle with the direction in which the container is conveyed. And the guide piece extends to the outside of a region through which the opening of the container passes.
In addition to the configuration of the defoaming device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, the invention according to claim 5 has an inclination angle of the lower end edge of the opening side with respect to the horizontal plane of 15 ° or more and 30 ° or less. Thus, the problem is solved.
In addition to the configuration of the defoaming device according to claim 5, the invention according to claim 6 solves the above-mentioned problem by the inclination angle of the lower edge of the opening side with respect to the horizontal plane being 15 ° or more and 30 ° or less. Is.

  The invention according to claim 7 is an acoustic waveguide that emits a pulsed sound wave that destroys foam from above the contents surface filled in the container, and the acoustic waveguide is on the contents surface side. The lower end edge of the opening side is provided inclined with respect to a horizontal plane, and has a guide piece extending to the outer peripheral side at the lowermost part on the inclined side of the lower end edge of the opening side. The above-mentioned problem is solved by inclining in the same direction as the lower edge of the opening side.

According to the defoaming device according to the first aspect and the acoustic waveguide according to the seventh aspect, the opening-side lower end edge on the content surface side of the acoustic waveguide is provided to be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane. As a result, when the broken foam droplets adhering to the acoustic waveguide flow as droplets, they reach the opening side lower edge and then tilt along the opening side lower edge without dropping in the middle. Guided to the lowest side.
And since the guide piece which has the lower end edge inclined in the same direction as the lower end edge of the opening side toward the outer peripheral side is provided at the lowermost part on the inclined side of the lower end edge of the opening side, the liquid droplet After being guided to the outer peripheral side along the lower edge of the guide piece without dripping, it is dropped from the tip of the guide piece.
As a result, even if the bubble of broken foam attached to the acoustic waveguide becomes a liquid droplet, it can be guided and dropped to a position other than the upper part of the opening of the container. It can prevent mixing in.

In addition, there is no need to move the lower end of the acoustic waveguide away from the contents surface or reduce the output of pulsed sound waves, so the defoaming efficiency will not decrease, and the scattering of bubbles that have broken bubbles will increase. I don't have to.
In addition, since it is not necessary to remove the splashes of broken bubbles adhering to the acoustic waveguide, there is no need to temporarily stop the filling line in order to clean or replace the acoustic waveguide. There is no hindrance.
Furthermore, since the position where the droplet drops is fixed at the tip position of the guide piece, it becomes easy to process the dropped droplet, and the filling line can be prevented from being damaged.

According to the configuration of the second aspect of the invention, the acoustic waveguide is provided in a cylindrical shape so that the central axis extends in the vertical direction, so that the pulsed sound wave is filled in the container. It can radiate | emit uniformly toward the surface from upper direction, and also the fall of defoaming efficiency can be prevented.
According to the configuration of the third aspect of the present invention, the opening-side lower end edge and the container are formed such that the opening-side lower end edge is inclined toward both sides about a predetermined plane including the central axis. It is possible to reduce the portion where the distance from the surface of the contents filled in is increased, and to prevent the defoaming efficiency from being lowered.
According to the configuration of the present invention, since the guide piece extends to the outside of the region through which the opening of the container passes, a droplet is dropped from the outer peripheral side tip of the guide piece, so that the guide piece is surely placed in the container. Mixing can be prevented.

According to the configuration of the fifth aspect of the invention, the inclination angle of the lower edge of the opening side with respect to the horizontal plane is 15 ° or more and 30 ° or less, which is caused by splashes of broken bubbles attached to the acoustic waveguide. Without causing the liquid droplet to drop in the middle, it is reliably guided to the lowermost side on the inclined side along the lower edge of the opening side, and further guided to the outer peripheral side along the lower edge of the guide piece from the tip of the guide piece Can be dripped.
Moreover, the part where the distance of the opening side lower end edge and the content surface with which the container was filled increases can be reduced, and the fall of defoaming efficiency can be prevented reliably.
That is, if the tilt angle is less than 15 °, depending on conditions such as the viscosity and temperature of the contents, there is a possibility that the droplet may drop in the middle of the opening side lower edge, and if the tilt angle is greater than 30 °, Depending on conditions such as the diameter of the container and the level of the liquid level in the container, the pulsed sound wave may be generated laterally at the highest position of the lower edge on the opening side. There is a possibility that the defoaming efficiency will decrease due to radiation.
Therefore, with the configuration according to the fifth aspect, it is possible to more reliably prevent the dropped liquid droplet from being mixed into the container and prevent the defoaming efficiency from being lowered.

According to the configuration of the sixth aspect of the invention, when the inclination angle of the lower end edge of the opening side and the lower end edge of the guide piece with respect to the horizontal plane is 15 ° or more and 30 ° or less, bubbles adhering to the acoustic waveguide are broken. Without causing droplets due to foam splashing to the middle, it is surely guided along the lower end edge on the opening side to the lowermost side on the inclined side, and further smoothly along the lower end edge of the guide piece to the outer peripheral side It can be reliably guided and dropped from the tip of the guide piece.
Therefore, with the configuration according to the sixth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the dropped liquid droplets from being mixed into the container, and to prevent the defoaming efficiency from being lowered.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional side view of a defoaming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The schematic diagram which looked at the defoaming device concerning one embodiment of the present invention from the upper part. Side view sectional schematic of the defoaming apparatus which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. Side view sectional schematic of the conventional defoaming apparatus.

  The antifoaming device of the present invention is an antifoaming device having an acoustic waveguide that emits a pulsed sound wave that breaks foam from above the surface of the contents filled in the container, and the acoustic waveguide has the contents The opening lower end edge on the object surface side is provided to be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, the lowermost edge on the inclined side of the opening lower end edge has a guide piece extending to the outer peripheral side, and the lower end edge of the guide piece is the outer periphery It inclines in the same direction as the said opening side lower end edge toward the side.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, the defoaming apparatus 100 of the present embodiment has the same configuration as the defoaming apparatus 500 described in the known patent document 2 except for the vicinity of the opening 131 of the acoustic waveguide 130. (In FIG. 1, the same members are denoted by reference numerals in the 100s instead of the 500s).
The acoustic waveguide 130 is cylindrical and is provided so that the central axis extends in the vertical direction. The opening-side lower end edge 135 on the surface side of the contents C of the container A is on both sides of a predetermined plane including the central axis. It is formed so that it inclines toward.
At the lowermost side of the inclined side on both sides of the opening-side lower edge 135, there is a guide piece 140 extending to the outer peripheral side, and the lower end edge 141 of the guide piece 140 is connected to the opening-side lower end edge 135 toward the outer peripheral side. Inclined in the same direction.
The inclination angle θ of the opening side lower edge 135 with respect to the horizontal plane is set to about 20 ° in a side view, and particularly preferably, the inclination angle θ of the opening side lower edge 135 and the lower edge 141 of the guide piece 140 with respect to the horizontal plane is It is set to about 20 ° in side view.

As a result, when the broken foam droplets adhering to the acoustic waveguide 130 flow as droplets, after reaching the opening-side lower edge 135, the opening-side lower edge 135 is not dropped on the way. Along the lower end edge 141 of the guide piece 140 to the outer peripheral side, and then dripped from the tip of the guide piece 140.
As shown in FIG. 2, the defoaming apparatus 100 according to this embodiment is installed so that the guide piece 140 extends in a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the container A in the filling line, and the tip of the guide piece 140. However, since it is formed so as to extend to the outside of the region R through which the opening D of the container A passes, it does not re-mix into the container A regardless of the timing at which the droplets drip.
In addition, since the dropping position is fixed, it becomes easy to process the dropped droplet, and it is possible to prevent the filling line from being damaged.
In the example shown in FIG. 2, the direction in which the guide piece 140 extends is a direction perpendicular to the moving direction of the container A, but the tip of the guide piece 140 extends to the outside of the region R through which the opening D of the container A passes. It may be in a direction other than a right angle as long as it is installed.
Even if the moving path of the container A is not a straight line such as an arc, the guide piece 140 may be installed so that the tip of the guide piece 140 extends to the outside of the region R through which the opening D of the container A passes.

In the present embodiment, the inclination angle θ with respect to the horizontal plane of the opening-side lower edge 135 or the opening-side lower edge 135 and the lower edge 141 of the guide piece 140 is set to about 20 °, but may be appropriately determined depending on the viscosity of the contents and the defoaming efficiency. It can be set and is preferably 15 ° or more and 30 ° or less.
As shown in FIG. 3, the opening-side lower edge 135 of the acoustic waveguide 130a may be formed so as to be inclined only to one side, and only one guide piece 140 may be provided.
Further, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the inclination of the lower end edge 135 on the opening side of the acoustic waveguides 130 and 130a is linear when viewed from the side, but becomes a constant angle when viewed from the normal direction. It may be formed as described above, and the inclination angle may change midway when viewed from either the side or normal direction.

In this embodiment, the inclination angle of the opening-side lower edge 135 of the acoustic waveguides 130 and 130a and the inclination angle of the lower edge 141 of the guide piece 140 are the same as viewed from the side, but they are different. It is good.
When the inclination angles of the opening-side lower edge 135 of the acoustic waveguides 130 and 130a and the lower edge 141 of the guide piece 140 are changed in the middle including the connecting portion, so that the droplet does not drip at the changing portion, It is desirable to form it so that it changes smoothly and continuously.
Further, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the acoustic waveguides 130 and 130a are provided so as to be cylindrical and have the central axis extending in the vertical direction, but are provided so that the central axis is inclined. May be.
For example, by tilting a known acoustic waveguide 530 as shown in FIG. 4 with respect to the vertical axis, the lower end edge on the opening 531 side is tilted with respect to the horizontal, and the lowermost part on the tilt side An induction piece may be provided on the.

In the above-described embodiment, the acoustic waveguides 130 and 130a are manufactured by cutting to an appropriate length with, for example, a metal tube material such as stainless steel, and the opening-side lower end edge 135 has a shape in which an end surface is inclined when installed. It is formed by processing.
The induction piece 140 is formed by fixing a metal piece of a predetermined shape to the outer periphery of the acoustic waveguides 130 and 130a by welding or the like, but the material of the acoustic waveguides 130 and 130a and the induction piece 140 is used. Any manufacturing method may be used.
Further, the shape of the guide piece may be any shape such as a plate shape or a rod shape as long as the lower end edge is defined. If the tip position of the lower end edge is defined, the width of the middle portion of the lower end edge, etc. Can be designed as appropriate.
Further, the opening portion of the acoustic waveguide may be formed in a horn shape in order to suppress the propagation loss of the pulsed sound wave in the opening portion, and the length of the acoustic waveguide may be long or short. There is no particular limitation.

As mentioned above, although the embodiment and the modification of the defoaming device of the present invention have been shown, the foam can be instantaneously destroyed using the pulsed sound wave generated in the acoustic waveguide, and the acoustic waveguide A guide piece whose opening side lower edge on the surface side of the contents is provided to be inclined with respect to the horizontal plane, and whose lower edge is inclined in the same direction toward the outer peripheral side at the lowermost side of the opening side lower edge. If it has, the specific means will not be specifically limited, A various structure is employable.
The present invention can be applied to various containers such as metal cans, plastic cups, tray-like containers, PET bottles, bottle cans, and glass bottles.

  The defoaming device of the present invention is suitable for defoaming foam generated when filling various containers with contents such as beverages, but is not limited to filling the various containers with contents such as beverages, For example, it can be used for the defoaming of bubbles generated in various food production processes such as a tofu production process and the defoaming means in various industrial fields.

100, 500 ... Defoaming device 110, 510 ... Pulsed laser beam oscillation device 120, 520 ... Condensing optical system 121, 521 ... Lens 130, 530 ... Acoustic waveguide 131, 531 ... Opening part 132, 532 ... Taper part 133, 533 ... Straight part 134, 534 ... Laser beam incident hole 135, 535 ... Opening side lower edge 140 ... Guiding piece 141 ..Lower edge (of guide piece)
A ... Container B ... Bubble C ... Contents D ... Opening (container)
L ... Laser beam S ... Focus P ... Pulse sound wave

Claims (7)

A defoaming device having an acoustic waveguide that emits a pulsed sound wave that breaks foam from above the surface of the contents filled in the container,
The acoustic waveguide is provided such that the lower end edge on the opening side on the content surface side is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane,
At the lowermost part of the inclined side of the opening side lower end edge, there is a guide piece extending to the outer peripheral side,
The defoaming device, wherein the lower end edge of the guide piece is inclined in the same direction as the lower end edge of the opening side toward the outer peripheral side.   The defoaming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the acoustic waveguide is provided in a cylindrical shape so that a central axis extends in a vertical direction. The opening side lower end edge is formed so as to incline toward both sides around a predetermined plane including a central axis,
The defoaming device according to claim 2, wherein the guide pieces are respectively provided on the lowermost side of the inclined side on both sides of the lower end edge on the opening side. The opening-side lower end edge is provided to be inclined in a direction having a predetermined angle with a direction in which the container is conveyed,
The defoaming device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the guide piece extends to an outside of a region through which the opening of the container passes.   The defoaming device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein an inclination angle of the lower end edge of the opening side with respect to a horizontal plane is 15 ° or more and 30 ° or less.   The defoaming device according to claim 5, wherein an inclination angle of the lower end edge of the opening side and a lower end edge of the guide piece with respect to a horizontal plane is 15 ° or more and 30 ° or less. An acoustic waveguide that emits a pulsed sound wave that destroys foam from above the surface of the contents filled in the container,
The acoustic waveguide is provided such that the lower end edge on the opening side on the content surface side is inclined with respect to the horizontal plane,
At the lowermost part of the inclined side of the opening side lower end edge, there is a guide piece extending to the outer peripheral side,
The acoustic waveguide according to claim 1, wherein a lower end edge of the guide piece is inclined in the same direction as the lower end edge on the opening side toward an outer peripheral side.

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