JPH0210011B2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

The present invention relates to an apparatus for aseptically filling containers with the contents of alcoholic beverages such as sake and highly acidic foods. Conventionally, foods (contents) such as highly acidic foods and sake are mostly filled into containers by hot filling. Here, highly acidic foods generally refer to juices, fruits, vegetables, and processed foods with a pH lower than 4.6. Such foods include fruit juice, fruit juice drinks, fruit flavored drinks, nectar,
Low PH dairy products such as lease, liquid and semi-liquid beer, fermented dairy products, yogurt, jam,
Includes jelly, fruit syrup, vinegar, ketchup, tomato sauce and gelatin desserts. In recent years, there has been a trend toward diversification of food products, and paper containers and plastic containers have become widely used and prominent as containers to be filled. When these containers are filled with hot water as in the past, there are problems such as it takes a long time to cool down, the quality deteriorates due to heating, and the generation of heated odors occurs, so aseptic filling at room temperature is strongly desired. ing. On the other hand, as an aseptic filling method for highly acidic foods, etc.
There is a method that uses H ₂ O ₂ sterilization, but with this method, H ₂ O ₂ remains in the food, and the residual H ₂ O ₂ promotes the destruction of vitamins in the food, especially juices, and causes the food to turn brown. , also the H ₂ O ₂ leaking from the filling machine
This caused environmental health problems, such as turning workers' hair red. In addition, in order to prevent oxidation of the food, containers filled with highly acidic foods, sake, and other foods are desired to have high oxygen and breakage properties, as has been the case in the past, but caution must be taken. Another issue is the head space of the container. If the head space is large, even if the quality of the contents is maintained by cold filling the food (contents) after high temperature sterilization, the contents will deteriorate due to the air in the head space. This head space can be eliminated by filling the container to its full capacity, but since the container is driven intermittently, the liquid level of the contents may ripple, causing problems such as overflow and spillage. Conventional aseptic filling equipment fills sterilized contents into a paper or plastic composite container and seals it with a lid, sterilizes the container in advance, fills it with the contents, and then fills the container with a sterilized cover film in a separate process. It is designed to have a lid. However, in order to sterilize the cover film and form the lid body, it is necessary to additionally provide a punching process, a molding process, and a sterilization process for forming the lid, which increases the size of the aseptic filling device, which is disadvantageous in terms of economics. It was hot. The present invention takes the above-mentioned points into consideration and provides a small and compact aseptic filling device for contents that is easy to handle and can reliably fill contents and attach a lid in an aseptic environment. The main purpose is Another object of this invention is to eliminate or reduce the head space of the container by using a drop-lid structure to cover the container filled with contents, and to aseptically fill the container with contents suitable for handling food such as highly acidic foods and sake. We are in the process of providing equipment. An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 indicates a housing of an apparatus for aseptically filling contents such as highly acidic foods and sake, and an endless conveyor 11 is provided within the housing 10. The endless conveyor 11 has conveyor chains 12, 12 on both sides in the running direction, and the conveyor chains 12, 12 are mounted on sprockets or wheels 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 to guide the running. Each sprocket 13-1
Among the sprockets 7, for example, the sprocket 16 is connected to a drive device (not shown) such as a drive motor via an intermittent rotation mechanism (not shown), and is configured as a drive sprocket for intermittent rotation. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the endless conveyor 11 has a pallet 18 stretched between conveyor chains 12 and 12 on both sides. The pallet 18 has a container holder 20 that holds the containers 19 in a detachable manner.
There are two types: one with a holder and one with a lid holder 22 that removably holds the lid 21 of the container 19, and both are arranged alternately in the running direction. The lid holder 22 has a flange 2 corresponding to the periphery of the lid 21.
It has 2a. The endless conveyor 11 is divided into an upper running path and a lower return running path, and a tension sprocket 24 is supported on the lower running path so as to be swingable around a fulcrum 25, and adjusts the tension of the endless conveyor 11. . The upper running path of the endless conveyor 11 includes a container-lid supply area 25 for supplying containers and lids to the container holder 20 and lid holder 22;
a sterilization zone 26 for sterilizing the container 19 and the lid 21 supplied in step 5; an air blowing zone 27 for removing the sterilization liquid used in the sterilization zone 26 and drying it;
A content filling and sealing area 28 where contents such as highly acidic foods are filled into the sterilized container 19 and sealed, and a product removal area 29 where the container (product) 19 filled with the contents and sealed is taken out. have A container-lid supply area 25 is formed horizontally between the sprocket 13 and the conveyor guide 30, and a container hopper 31 and a lid hopper 32 are arranged side by side. Thus, the cup-shaped containers 19 deposited in the container hopper 31 are dropped one by one and held in the container holder 20. Further, the lid bodies 21 deposited in the lid hopper 32 are taken out one by one by a lid take-out device 33 having a suction cup, and are fitted into the flange 22a of the lid holder 22. In this way, the endless conveyor 11, in which the cup-shaped containers 19 and the lids 21 are held in two rows as shown in FIG. The patient is then guided to the sterilization area 26. Sterilization area 26
A sterilizing agent bath 35 storing a sterilizing solution is provided. The disinfectant bath 35 is installed within the housing 10, and a disinfectant solution is stored inside. The sterilizing solution is generally effective because microorganisms can be sterilized even with water in the range of 55°C to 96°C, but it preferably contains a natural organic acid. The sterilizing solution containing natural organic acids has a pH of 2~
4, and can be sterilized in an even shorter time. In the case of highly acidic foods such as youth, the control microorganisms are molds, yeasts, and general pathogens;
Even if highly heat-resistant bacterial spores survive, they will not be able to proliferate under highly acidic conditions and will not pose a problem. In addition, in the case of sake, only a type of lactic acid bacteria called Hiotchi bacteria is used as a control. The relationship between sterilization temperature and time for control microorganisms in each case is shown in the table below for the D value required for 90% sterilization.

[Table] From this table, the sterilization time and temperature can be set, and the intermittent drive speed of the endless conveyor can be adjusted. Further, in the sterilization area 26, the endless conveyor 11 is guided to travel by a conveyor guide 36 curved in an arc, and is immersed in the sterilization liquid. The containers 19 and the lids 21 which have passed through the sterilization zone 26 are then guided to the air blowing zone 27 as the second stage of the sterilization drying treatment means. The air blowing area 27 is formed as a substantially vertical running path between the conveyor guide 36 and the sprocket 14, and along this running path, a plurality of air jets 37, hot air jets 3
An air jet mechanism 39 having 8 is provided. The residual sterilizing liquid in the container 19 and the lid 21 is completely removed and dried by the air and hot air blown from each air jet 37 and hot air jet 38. The air jet 37 and the hot air jet 38 are installed in a row on one side wall 41a of a tower 41 partitioned by a central vertical partition wall 40, and a sprocket 14 is provided in the upper part of the tower 41. The tower 41 is formed approximately at the center of the housing 10 and is integrally constructed with the housing 10. A duct 44 having a damper 43 is connected to the top of the tower 41, and water vapor generated by heating the sterilizing liquid is exhausted through the duct 44. Therefore, the rising portion from the conveyor guide 36 to the sprocket 14, the sprocket 1
In the descending part from 4 to the next sprocket 15,
A holding rail 46 is provided to guide the cup-shaped container 19 and the lid 21 so that they do not come off the pallet 1. In addition, the container 19 and the lid 21 are connected to the disinfectant bathtub 3.
The downstream part after passing through 5 is a sterile chamber 4.
7, this sterile chamber 47 is maintained at a positive pressure above atmospheric pressure by sterile air blown by an air duct 47a, and a filled sealed area 28 is formed within this sterile chamber 47. The fill-seal area 28 has horizontally extending fill-seal means 48 . The filling and sealing means 48 includes a nozzle 50 of a content filling device extending downward from the content storage tank 49, a preliminary heater 51 that heats the flange portion of the container 19, a lid mounting device 52, a sealing device 53, and a cooling device 54. Arranged sequentially. The operation timing of each device is shown in FIG. 5, and each device is operated at this operation timing. In the endless conveyor 11 that is driven intermittently, the containers 19 and the lids 21 are arranged alternately and are intermittently transferred, so that the containers 19 and the lids 21 are placed below the content filling nozzle 50, as shown in FIG. 2, A when the lid body 21 stops, and B when the lid body 21 stops.
There are several types, and at the stop position A, the content from the content filling nozzle 50 is filled from the storage tank 49 located outside the housing 10. After filling the contents, the container 1 is intermittently transferred to the stop position B, where the hot plate of the preliminary heater 51 is placed.
Preheat the flange part 9. At this time, the pallet 18 with the lid holder 22 is located at the position of the lid mounting device 52, and the suction cup 55 allows the pallet 18 with the lid holder 22 to be attached to the lid mounting device 52.
I'm lifting 1. In addition, the content filling nozzle 5
The next lid body 21 is brought under zero, but at this time, the supply from the filling nozzle 50 is stopped. Subsequently, the container 19 filled with contents and whose flange portion has been preheated is sent to a lid mounting device 52, where the lid body 21 is attached to a suction cup 55 on the contents filling container 19.
It is pushed down and attached using the drop-lid method. Container 19 with lid 21 attached is then (A
(from the stop position of B to the stop position of B) is sent to the sealing device 53, where it is sealed. After this sealing, the container 19 is sent to a cooling device 54, where the heated portion is cooled, and the cooled container 19 becomes a product for sale. The product manufactured in this way is then taken out of the sterile chamber 47, the date is printed on it by the date stamp device 56, and then the product is removed by lifting it from the pallet 18 by the product take-out device 57. It is guided onto the conveyor 58. The products guided onto the product conveyor 58 are conveyed by this conveyor 58 and transferred to the next work process, for example, a product boxing process. On the other hand, the endless conveyor 11 from which the products have been taken out from the pallet 18 is returned through the downward running path.
The user is again guided to the container-lid supply area 25, and the work begins. In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, an example was described in which two containers and two lids were arranged alternately in a row on a pallet of an endless conveyor.
This column is not limited to 2 columns, but can be 1 column or 3 columns.
There may be more than one column. Furthermore, an example has been described in which container holders and lid holders held on an endless conveyor are alternately arranged one by one as shown in the figure, but two, three, or more containers may also be arranged alternately. Good too. When two or three units are arranged alternately, the content filling speed can be improved by providing two or three levels of content filling and sealing areas. As described above, the aseptic filling device for contents according to the present invention includes an endless conveyor that is driven intermittently, and container holders and lid holders that are attached to the endless conveyor and arranged alternately in the running direction of the endless conveyor. , a sterile drying processing means for sterilizing and drying the container and lid held by the container holder and the lid holder, respectively; a sterile chamber formed downstream of the processing means and passing through an endless conveyor; The content filling and sealing means is used to fill the container with the contents, and the filled container is sealed with the lid, so that the contents can be sealed in a sterile environment. Filling and lid attachment can be performed reliably, the lid and container can be sterilized together, and a separate sterilizer is not required to sterilize the lid, so the device can be made smaller and smaller. It is possible to achieve compactness. In addition, if the lid covering the container filled with contents is made into a drop-lid structure, the head space formed at the top of the container can be eliminated or reduced, and the contents can be removed by the air in the head space. Oxidation can be effectively prevented. Therefore, it is suitable for filling foods such as highly acidic foods and sake.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall view showing an embodiment of the aseptic filling device for contents according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view showing a container holder attached to the endless conveyor of the aseptic filling device, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the endless conveyor. FIG. 4 is a plan view of the endless conveyor, FIG. 5 is a timing chart showing the operation timing of the contents filling and sealing means of the aseptic filling device, and FIG. It is a figure which shows each stop position of a filling sealing means. 10...Housing, 11...Endless conveyor,
12... Conveyor chain, 13-17... Sprocket, 18... Pallet, 19... Container, 2
0... Container holder, 21... Lid, 22... Lid holder, 25... Container-lid supply area, 26... Sterilization area, 27... Air blowing area, 28... Content filling and sealing area, 35... Disinfectant bathtub, 36...
Conveyor guide, 39...Air jet mechanism,
46... Holding rail, 47... Sterile chamber, 4
7a... Air duct, 48... Content sealing and filling means, 49... Storage tank, 50... Content filling nozzle, 51... Preheating heater, 52... Lid mounting device, 53... Sealing device, 54 ... Cooling device, 56 ... Date printing device, 57 ... Product take-out device, 58 ... Product conveyor.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. An endless conveyor that is driven intermittently, container holders and lid holders attached to the endless conveyor and arranged alternately in the running direction thereof, and containers held by the container holders and lid holders, respectively. a sterilizing and drying processing means for sterilizing and drying containers and lids; a sterile chamber formed on the downstream side of the processing means and passing through an endless conveyor; and a content filling and sealing means provided in the sterile chamber. 1. An aseptic filling device for contents, characterized in that the container is filled with the contents using the contents filling and sealing means, and the filled container is sealed with a lid. 2. The sterilization/drying means has a sterilizing agent bath for sterilizing the container and the lid, and an air jet mechanism for removing the sterilizing liquid from the sterilized container and the lid and drying the container and the lid. Aseptic filling equipment for contents. 3 The sterilizing solution stored in the sterilizing bath is water containing natural organic acids with a pH of 2 to 4, and its temperature is 55°C to 55°C.
The aseptic filling device for contents according to claim 2, wherein the temperature is 96°C. 4. The content filling and sealing means is provided in the sterile chamber, and includes a content filling device that fills the content into the container, a lid attachment device that attaches the lid to the container filled with the content, and a lid attachment device that attaches the lid to the container filled with the contents. 2. The aseptic filling device for contents according to claim 1, further comprising a sealing device for sealing the lid to the container. 5. The aseptic filling device for contents according to claim 4, wherein the contents filling and sealing means includes a preheating heater that preheats the flange portion of the container filled with the contents. 6. The aseptic filling device for contents according to claim 5, wherein the contents filling and sealing means includes a cooling device that cools the sealed portion of the container and the lid. 7. The aseptic filling device for contents according to claim 1, wherein the inside of the sterile chamber is maintained at a pressure higher than atmospheric pressure by sterile air supplied from an air duct. 8. The content set forth in claim 1, which includes a product take-out device downstream of the sterile chamber, and the product take-out device guides the product held in the container holder of the endless conveyor to the product conveyor. Aseptic filling equipment for things.