JPH04339739A - Estimating device for temperature inside container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an estimating device for temperature inside a container which can estimate the temperature of a lot of containers in the course of passing througha pasturizer. CONSTITUTION:A temperature sensors 8-0 which measures temperature at the entrance of a pasturizer 1, temperature sensors 8-1 to 8-n which measure shower temperature inside the pasturizer 1, a speed sensor 9 which measures speed of a conveyor 4, and a processor 7 which is inputted signals from these esensors and claculates estimated temperatures inside containers are provided for estimating the temperatures inside the containers pasturized at a high temperature in the pasturizer 1.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a device for estimating the temperature inside a container in a pasteurizer of a beverage filling plant, and can also be applied to a device for heating and cooling containers in a filling plant other than beverages.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art In a beverage filling plant shown in FIG. 3, a container 5 filled with a beverage liquid is sent to a pasteurizer 1 and sterilized by heating. As shown in the figure, the pasteurizer 1 is composed of n consecutive chambers 2-1 to 2-n, and the containers 5 are placed on a conveyor 4 and are moved from chamber 2-1 to chamber 2-n in the traveling direction 6. It is sent to n sequentially. Each room 2
-1 to 2-n have showers 3-1 to 3 that spout hot water.
-n is attached. Those showers 3-1~
3-n spouts hot water at a predetermined temperature set for each of the rooms 2-1 to 2-n, heats the container 5 passing through the room, and sterilizes the beverage liquid inside the container.

[0003] Temperature changes inside the container 5 are one of the factors that greatly affect the quality of the beverage. That is, if the temperature of the beverage inside the container 5 does not rise sufficiently (if the temperature does not remain above a certain level for a certain period of time), the sterilization of the beverage is insufficient and it cannot be shipped as a product. On the other hand, if the temperature of the beverage inside the container 5 rises more than necessary (if the temperature remains above a certain level for longer than the required time), the beverage will be sufficiently sterilized, but the taste will deteriorate and the product value will decrease. Put it away. Therefore, it is necessary to appropriately control the temperature inside the container 5 in order to improve product quality, and for this purpose, it is essential to understand the temperature change inside the container 5.

As a means for estimating the temperature inside the container 5,
A temperature recorder 13 has been used conventionally. This temperature recorder 13 is placed on the conveyor 4 together with a specific container 5,
The temperature of the hot water spouted from the showers 3-1 to 3-n is recorded moment by moment. After leaving the pasteurizer 1, it is connected to a computer 14, etc., and provides the computer 14 with the recorded temperature data. The computer 14 estimates the temperature transition inside the specific container 5 placed on the conveyor 4 together with the temperature recorder 13 from the temperature data, and estimates the quality of the beverage liquid in the container 5.

[0005]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the conventional method described above, since the temperature recorder 13 directly measures the temperature,
Although it has the advantage of being able to estimate the temperature transition within with high accuracy, it has the following problems. (1) Since the temperature recorder 13 and the computer 14 are not connected online, the temperature inside the container 5 passing through the pasteurizer 1 cannot be estimated. (You have to wait until the temperature recorder 13 comes out of the pasteurizer 1.) (2) If you try to record the temperature transition of each of a large number of containers, a large number of temperature recorders 13 will be required, and in practice It is difficult to put the objects on the conveyor 4 and take them down because it takes time and effort. (It usually takes 60 minutes for the container 5 to pass through the pasteurizer 1.
In order to measure the temperature of the container 5 that enters every minute, 60 or more temperature recorders 13 are required. (3) In order to retrieve data from the temperature recorder 13, it is necessary to connect and disconnect the computer 14 each time, which is time-consuming.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the problems in the prior art described above and to provide a container internal temperature estimating device having the following functions. (1) The temperature inside the container 5 passing through the pasteurizer 1 can be estimated. (2) It has the ability to estimate the temperature transition of a large number of containers (maximum, all containers). (3) By connecting all devices online, it is possible to eliminate the need for manual connection and disconnection of the temperature recorder 13.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] As shown in FIG. 1, a temperature sensor 8-0 for measuring the inlet air temperature of the pasteurizer 1, a shower 3 for each room 2-1 to 2-n inside the pasteurizer 1,
-1 to 3-n temperature sensors 8-1 to 8-
n, and a speed sensor 9 that measures the speed of the conveyor 4 is connected online to the processing unit 7. The arithmetic processing unit 7 is also provided with interfaces such as a CPT 10 for outputting results, a printer 11, and a communication 12 with a computer.

[0008]

[Operation] The temperature sensor 8-0 measures the air temperature near the entrance of the pasteurizer 1, and the temperature sensors 8-1 to 8-n
Accordingly, each room 2-1 to 2-n inside Pasteurizer 1
The temperature of the hot water spouted by the showers 3-1 to 3-n is measured. Also, the speed of the conveyor 4 is measured by the speed sensor 9. Here, the above measurement data is stored online in the arithmetic processing unit 7.
sent to.

In the arithmetic processing unit 7, the past riser 1
The internal temperature Tm of the container 5 while passing through is estimated by the following equation.

0010

[Equation 1] Here, Tm and Tm-1 are the estimated temperatures inside the container 5, respectively, and if the unit time is to, then Tm-1
is (m-1)・t after container 5 enters pasteurizer 1
is the estimated internal temperature after o hours, and Tm is m・to
This is the estimated internal temperature after hours. Further, Ts is the shower temperature that the container 5 is exposed to at that time, e is the base of the natural logarithm, k is the heat transfer coefficient specific to each room 2-1 to 2-n, S is the surface area of the container 5, and Gc is Heat capacity of container 5, tlog
is a heat transfer delay time specific to each room 2-1 to 2-n.

As mentioned above, e is a general constant, and S, G
c is a constant specific to the container 5. Also, k, tlog
is a constant specific to each room 2-1 to 2-n, and Ts
is also a measurement value measured for each room 2-1 to 2-n,
In either case, if it is known which room the container 5 is passing through, these values can be determined. That is, if To is the temperature near the entrance of pasteurizer 1, then T1, T2
,...Tm-1, Tm are calculated sequentially every time the unit time To passes. In other words, the internal temperature of the container 5 is always estimated.

A processing algorithm according to equation (1) in the arithmetic processing unit 7 is shown in FIG. The transition in the estimated internal temperature of the container 5 that entered the pasteurizer 1 at a certain time is determined as follows. (a) Assuming that a container is placed in the pasteurizer 1 at a certain time, calculation is started. Since a large number of containers normally flow continuously on the conveyor 4, the time at which the container entered the pasteurizer 1 is used to identify the container. (b) Measure the air temperature near the entrance of the pasteurizer 1, and assume that the temperature is the internal temperature T0 of the container 5. (c) Wait until the unit time to has elapsed. Once the time has elapsed, move on to the next process (d). (d) Measuring the speed of the conveyor 4. Thereby, it is possible to calculate how much distance lm the container has traveled during the unit time to. (e) If lm is found from (d), the container 5
The distance Lm from the entrance of past riser 1 is determined.

[0013]

[Math. 2] From Lm, in which room 2-1 to 2 is the container 5 currently located?
-n can be calculated, and the position of the container 5 becomes clear. (f) Check from Lm whether the container 5 is passing through the pasteurizer 1. If it is passing through the pasteurizer 1, go to (h), and if it has left the pasteurizer 1, go to (g).
). (g) End the calculation process. (h) Shower temperature Ts of room 2-k through which container 5 is passing
Measure. (i) The estimated temperature inside the container 5 is calculated by substituting the shower temperature Ts of the room 2-k, the heat transfer coefficient k specific to the room 2-k, the heat transfer delay time tlog, etc. into (Equation 1). (j) Output the estimated temperature inside the container 5 to the CRT 10, printer 11, communication 12, etc. and return to (c).

[0014]

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The configurations of the pasteurizer 1 and conveyor 4 in the beverage filling plant are similar to those of the conventional ones. Here, new
Temperature sensor 8-0 that measures the inlet air temperature of pasteurizer 1
, temperature sensors 8-1 to 8-1 for measuring the temperature of the showers 3-1 to 3-n in each of the rooms 2-1 to 2-n inside the pasteurizer 1.
8-n using a thermocouple. Also, a speed sensor 9 is installed to measure the speed of the conveyor 4 using a tachometer. These sensors 8-1 to 8-n, 9 are connected to the processing unit 7 online. In the arithmetic processing unit 7,
It is possible to appropriately measure the inlet air temperature of the pasteurizer 1, the shower temperature of each room 2-1 to 2-n, and the speed of the conveyor 4. Here, the arithmetic processing device 7 is composed of a personal computer, and for outputting results, a CRT 10, a printer 11,
Equipped with communication to other computers.

The arithmetic processing unit 7 calculates the estimated internal temperature of the container 5 that enters the pasteurizer 1 and moves in the traveling direction 6 on the conveyor 4 at fixed time intervals (for example, every minute) according to the arithmetic algorithm shown in FIG. I will do it. That is, the estimated internal temperature of each of a plurality of containers is calculated, but this can be easily accomplished by using multitasking software and assigning a task to each container.

[0016] In multitasking software,
A task is assigned to a container that enters the pasteurizer 1 at regular intervals (for example, every minute). That is, a task is generated at a certain time (for example, 11:11) and records the transition of the estimated internal temperature of the container that is considered to have entered the pasteurizer 1 at that time. After that, for a certain period of time (for example, 1
minutes) later, another task is generated and records the transition of the estimated internal temperature of the container that is considered to have entered the pasteurizer 1 at that time. These tasks disappear when the container leaves the pasteurizer 1. Therefore, the same number of tasks as the number of containers whose estimated internal temperature transitions are being measured are executed simultaneously and in parallel on the arithmetic processing unit 7. For example, if it takes 60 minutes for a container to pass through the pasteurizer 1, 60 tasks are required to estimate the internal temperature of the container entering every minute.

The estimated internal temperature of each container passing through the pasteurizer 1 is displayed on the CRT 10,
The information is printed on the printer 11 or sent to another computer via the communication 12 for use.

[0018]

Effects of the Invention The device for estimating the temperature inside a container according to the present invention is used in a filling plant for beverages and the like that includes a pasteurizer that heat-sterilizes beverages and the like in the container and a conveyor that conveys the containers.
It consists of a temperature sensor that measures the shower temperature inside the Pasteurizer, a speed sensor that measures the speed of the conveyor, and a processing unit that inputs signals from these sensors and calculates the estimated temperature inside the container.High temperature sterilization is performed inside the Pasteurizer. By estimating the temperature inside the container,
It has the following effects. (1) The internal temperature of any container passing through the pasteurizer at any time can be estimated. This makes it possible to determine in real time whether there is a sterilization failure due to insufficient heating inside the pasteurizer or a decline in beverage quality due to overheating, which is useful for improving quality. (2) Since it has the ability to estimate temperature changes in a large number of containers (up to all containers), it is possible to precisely grasp the constantly changing internal temperature of containers, which is useful for improving quality. (3) Sensors and other devices are connected online and all measurements are automated, eliminating the need for manual measurements and contributing to labor savings.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of processing in the arithmetic processing device shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram of a conventional device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Pasteurizer 2-1 to 2-n Rooms inside Pasteurizer 3-1 to 3
-n Shower 4 Conveyor 5 Container 7 Arithmetic processing unit 8-0 to 8-n Temperature sensor 9 Conveyor speed sensor 10 CRT 11 Printer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A temperature sensor that measures the air temperature at the inlet of the pasteurizer and a temperature sensor that measures the shower temperature inside the pasteurizer in a filling plant for beverages, etc. that includes a pasteurizer that heat-sterilizes beverages, etc. in containers, and a conveyor that conveys the containers. , consists of a speed sensor that measures the speed of the conveyor and a processing unit that inputs signals from those sensors and calculates the estimated temperature inside the container, and estimates the temperature inside the container that is being sterilized at high temperature inside the pasteurizer. A device for estimating temperature inside a container.