JPH03180146A - Method for sterilizing japanese confectionery and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To sterilize mold, bacteria of Japanese confectionery in a short time without drying Japanese paper by which Japanese confectionery is excessively packed by heating Japanese confectionery by heating air capable of circulating while controlling temperature and humidity. CONSTITUTION:A tray 4 on which Japanese confectionery 1 packed with Japanese paper is put is inserted into a shelf casing B and a door 2 is closed. Then a fan 17 is rotated by operating heater 16 and heating air is sucked and passed through outer air path 8 into inner air path 9 and circulated. Then when heating air attains about 50 deg.C, saturated steam set to proper pressure and temperature is fed into a casing A. At this time, hot air is controlled by properly turning an automatic valve 23 on or off by timer T in order to give proper humidity to hot air already circulating inner and outer air paths 9 and 8. Then heating temperature is further raised and simultaneously circulated to Japanese confectionery 1 e.g. at sterilization temperature of 100 deg.C while giving proper humidity to heating air and mold and bacteria, etc., attached to the Japanese confectionery are sterilized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for heat-sterilizing mold, germs, etc. from packaged Japanese sweets such as Hanawayaki, Ayu, and Hoshoori.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, as a technique for heating and sterilizing mold, germs, etc. in packaged Japanese sweets, the technique described in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 56-38964 is known.

This technology consists of placing shelves on which pallets containing a large number of packaged foods (packaged Japanese sweets) are placed inside a casing filled with heat insulating material, and a large number of finned heat dissipation tubes. Dry air heated by steam flowing through the finned heat dissipation tube heats the packaged Japanese sweets on the pallet and sterilizes mold and germs.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, this technology has the following problems.

(b) Because it is heated by dry heated air, the Japanese paper becomes too dry and becomes loose.

(b) Also, because the temperature of the dry heated air is as high as about 1,000 ℃, the Japanese paper wrapping the Japanese sweets is likely to discolor.

(c) Furthermore, since it is dry heated air, heat transfer is slow;
Moreover, since the heating is done by radiant heat, the thermal efficiency is low.
The sterilization process takes a long time of about 30 minutes, which hinders productivity.

The present invention was developed with the aim of solving the above-mentioned problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

Structure As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5, the present invention provides an apparatus for sterilizing packaged Japanese confectionery 1 such as Hanawa-yaki, Ayu, Hosho-ori, etc. The main body casing includes a casing 3 and a sealable door 2. A, and a casing 6 which has a rectangular cylindrical shape that is open on the entire surface and has multiple shelves 5 into which the tray 4 for placing the Japanese sweets 1 can be inserted, are placed inside the main casing B with appropriate spacing between them. a shelf casing B supported by the casing 3 and the casing 6 to form a double wind tunnel 10 of an external air passage 8 and an internal air passage 9; a heater 16 provided at one end within the shelf casing B; Heated air circulation means C includes a circulation fan 17 disposed adjacent to the shelf casing, and circulates air heated by the heater 16 from the inner air passage 9 to the outer air passage 8 by the fan 17.

From the external position of the main body casing A to the main body casing A
The humidifying means is equipped with piping to supply humid air into the humidifier, and is equipped with a control mechanism E for controlling the humid air to an appropriate degree of humidity.

By configuring it in this way, you can
In sterilizing Japanese sweets 1 packaged in Hosho-ori, etc., the tray 4 carrying the Japanese sweets 1 is inserted into the shelf 5 and the inside of the shelf casing B is sealed, and then hot air is generated and passed through the shelf casing B. The Japanese confectionery 1 is heated by circulating the moist air heated to the predetermined temperature by circulating it through the outside air passage 8 and applying moist air at an appropriate temperature to raise the temperature to a predetermined temperature while controlling the humidity. It has the effect of killing mold, germs, etc.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the device for carrying out the present invention includes a main body casing A including a casing 3 and a sealable door 2, and a multi-tiered casing A into which a tray 4 for placing Japanese sweets 1 can be inserted. A casing 6 provided with a shelf 5 is supported inside the main casing A with an appropriate interval.

Shelf casing B in which a double wind tunnel 10 of an external air passage 8 and an internal air passage 9 is formed by the casing 3 and the casing 6.
A heater 16 is provided at one end of the shelf casing B, and a circulation fan 17 is provided adjacent to the shelf casing, and the air heated by the heater 16 is circulated from the inner air passage 9 to the outside. Heated air circulation means C that circulates the air into the air passage 8, piping so that moist air can be supplied from an external position of the main body casing A into the main body casing A, and a control mechanism that controls the moist air to an appropriate humidity level. E
The humidifier is equipped with a humidifying means.

Next, details of each mechanism and each means will be explained.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the main body casing A has a cubic casing 3 loaded with heat insulating material, one side of which can be opened and closed with a door 2, and a flat thin plate on the inner surfaces of the casing 3 and the door 2. It is lined with sushi.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shelf casing B is a casing 6 that has a rectangular cylindrical shape with its entire surface open and has multiple shelves 5 into which trays 4 for placing Japanese sweets 1 can be inserted. is supported by a support member 7 with an appropriate interval inside the main casing A, and the casing 3 and casing 6 form a double wind tunnel 10 of an outside air passage 8 and a headwind passage 9. It is.

As shown in FIG. 3, the tray 4 is formed by covering a rectangular frame 11 with a wire mesh 12 or the like, or by punching holes of an appropriate size in a flat plate so that air can easily pass through. Then, the wrapped Japanese confectionery is appropriately arranged so that humidified heated air can pass over the Japanese confectionery. The material of this tray may be wood, plastic, metal such as light alloy, or a combination thereof, and its shape may be well-known, and is not limited to the embodiments of the present invention.

The heated air circulation means C, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2,
A pressure reducing valve 19 and an automatic valve 2 are installed at one end of the shelf casing B.
A heater 16 is fixedly installed and is piped through the heater 16, and the steam passing through the heater is discharged through a trap 21. Furthermore, a circulation fan 17 is attached adjacent to the shelf casing, with its blade portion 17a inside the main casing A, and a motor 18 protruding upward from the outside of the main casing A via its shaft.

In addition, a perforated plate 15 is provided at a position 6 in front of the heater to make the flow of air uniform. Then, the pressure, that is, the temperature is controlled by the pressure reducing valve 19 and set to a desired temperature,
The air heated by the heater 16 to the set temperature passes through the wire mesh 12 and holes of the tray 4 inserted into the airflow path 9, is sucked by the fan 17, and is blown into the outside air path 8 to the lower surface. It is configured so that it can be reversed at the point and circulated to the headwind path 9.

In the embodiment of the present invention, as a preferable example, the heater 16 is placed in the upper part of the shelf casing B (the upper part of the headwind path 9), and the circulation fan 17 is placed in the upper part of the shelf casing B (the header path 9). For example, as shown in FIG. 17 may be placed in the opposite position, or the heater (6) and the circulation fan (7) may be installed apart from each other as shown in FIG.
Any mechanism that can circulate the hot air from the head air passage 9 to the outside air passage 8 may be used, and is not limited to the embodiments of the present invention. Also,
Although a steam heater is used as the heater 16 in the embodiment of the present invention, the temperature of another heater such as an electric heater may be controlled by a controller, and the heater 16 is not limited to the embodiment of the present invention.

The humidifying means is attached to the main body casing A as shown in Figure 1.
An automatic valve 23 for steam is provided at an external position, one of the automatic valves is piped to the outside air passage 8 through the main casing A, and the other of the automatic valves 23 is a pressure reducing valve 24 for regulating pressure. The other side of the pressure reducing valve is connected to a high pressure steam source (such as a boiler) 25. Furthermore, the automatic valve 23
is connected to the timer circuit Ta and constitutes a control mechanism E. Then, the automatic valve 20 is controlled to supply steam into the main body casing A, so that the heated air circulating and flowing through the outside air passage 8 has an appropriate humidity. In addition, as another embodiment of this humidifying means, for example, as shown in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

Next, its effect will be explained.

As shown in FIG. 1, a tray 4 carrying packaged Japanese sweets 1 such as Hanawayaki, Ayu, Hoshoori, etc. is inserted into the shelf casing B, and the door 2 is closed to seal the tray.

Next, the heater 16 is activated and the fan 17 is rotated to suck the heated air through the fan ↓7 and pass it through the outside air passage 8.
The air is circulated through the internal air passage 9 (shelf casing A).

When the heated air reaches an appropriate temperature, for example, about 50°C, the automatic valve 23 is activated to supply saturated steam, which has been set at an appropriate pressure and temperature with the pressure reducing valve 24, to the main body casing A.
However, at this time, the internal air passage 9 and the external air passage 8 have already been
In order to give appropriate humidity to the hot air circulating through the air, a timer T is used to control the automatic valve 23 by turning it on and off as appropriate.

Here, the reason why the above-mentioned heated air reaches an appropriate temperature and gives humidity is because, for example, if the temperature of the heated air is too low, the humid air is cooled on the wall of the casing 3.6 and becomes a drain. Since the condensate adheres to the wrapping paper of the Japanese confectionery, saturated steam is supplied into the main casing A when the temperature reaches an appropriate temperature at which the condensate does not turn into condensate.

Then, the heating temperature is further increased and the heated air is circulated to the packaged Japanese confectionery 1 at a sterilization temperature, for example, 100° C., while maintaining an appropriate humidity. Sterilizes attached mold, germs, etc.

In this way, after inoculating two types of mold spores into each of the six leakage and congealing bodies, the temperature was raised to 110°C using the apparatus of the embodiment of the present invention.
The packaged Japanese confectionery l was heated for 15 minutes to sterilize it by circulating humid heated air through the heater 16 set at
Visually check the appearance of mold! As a result of the inspection, no occurrence of Hanawayaki or Ayu mold was observed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

Since the present invention is configured as described above, the wrapped Japanese confectionery is heated with moist heated air to sterilize mold, germs, etc., so that the washi paper wrapping the Japanese confectionery does not dry out excessively. Therefore, since the temperature of conventional dry heated air is as high as about 120° C., it is possible to solve the problem that Japanese paper becomes too dry and loosens, and that Japanese paper wrapping Japanese sweets is easily discolored.

In addition, a double wind tunnel is installed, and moist heated air is circulated within the wind tunnel to heat the Japanese sweets, so the heat capacity of the moist air is much larger than that of dry air.
Heat transfer to Japanese sweets becomes faster. Furthermore, since convection is generated within the wind tunnel, heat transfer is much better than conventional heating using radiant heat, and together with the heat transfer of moist air, heating time can be significantly shortened. It is expected to improve productivity.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 relates to the present invention! FIG. 2 is a schematic top sectional view taken along the line X--X in FIG. 3, and FIG. 3 is a partially cutaway schematic front view showing an embodiment of the tray used in the device of the present invention. 4 is a partially cutaway schematic front view showing another embodiment of the device according to the present invention; FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway schematic front view showing another embodiment of the device according to the present invention. figure. A: Main body casing, B: Shelf casing, C: Heated air circulation means, D: Humidification means, E: Control means, T: Timer, Ta: Timer circuit, l: Japanese sweets, 2: Door, 3: Casing, 4 : Casing, 5: Shelf, 6: Casing,
7: Support member, 8: External air passage, 9: Internal air passage, 10: Double wind tunnel, Work 1: Square frame, King 2: Wire mesh, 15: Perforated board, 16
: Heater, 17: Fan, 18: Motor 19: Pressure reducing valve, 20: Automatic valve, 21 Nidrap, 22: Automatic valve, 23: Automatic valve, 24: Pressure reducing valve, 25: High pressure steam source, Figure 3, Figure 4 Figure 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In sterilizing packaged Japanese sweets 1 such as Gongyaki, Ayu, Hoshoori, etc., an outside air passage 8 and an inside air passage 9 that circulate hot air containing moist air.
At the same time, a shelf casing A having a plurality of shelves 5 is arranged in the internal air passage 9, and after inserting the tray 4 carrying the Japanese sweets 1 on the shelf 5 and sealing the inside of the shelf casing B. , generate hot air, circulate it through the shelf casing B through the outside air passage 8, apply humid air at an appropriate temperature, raise the temperature to a predetermined temperature while controlling the humidity, and raise the temperature to a predetermined temperature. A method for sterilizing Japanese sweets, which is characterized in that the Japanese sweets 1 are heated to sterilize mold, germs, etc. by circulation of heated moist air. 2. A device for sterilizing packaged Japanese sweets 1 such as Gongyaki, Ayu, Hoshoori, etc., which includes a main body casing A having a casing 3 and a sealable door 2, and a rectangular cylindrical shape with the entire surface open and the inside thereof. A casing 6 provided with a plurality of shelves 5 into which trays 4 for placing Japanese sweets 1 can be inserted is supported inside the main casing B with appropriate spacing, and the casings 3 and 6 form an external air path. a shelf casing B forming a double wind tunnel 10 with an inner air passage 9 and an inner air passage 9; a heater 16 is provided at one end of the shelf casing B; and a circulation fan 17 is disposed adjacent to the shelf casing; Heated air circulation means C that circulates air heated by the heater 16 from the inner air passage 9 to the outer air passage 8 by the fan 17;
A sterilizing device for Japanese confectionery characterized by comprising: a humidifying means D equipped with piping so as to supply humid air into the interior thereof, and a control mechanism E for controlling the humid air to an appropriate humidity level.