JPH0444926A - Method for replacing air in container with inert gas and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make it possible to replace air in a container with gas sufficiently in a short period of time by a method wherein a lid on a container filled with a content is lifted, and air in the container is drawn from a gap between the lid and the container, and an inert gas is blown and filled in the container, and the lid is placed on the container again. CONSTITUTION:A major drawing port 54 and an auxiliary drawing port 55 start drawing and stop at the same time. When drawing of both drawing ports 54, 55 is started, a lid L is drawn by the major drawing port 54 and lifted, and kept under a condition in which the lid L is held by a suction holding plate 52. The drawing is continued, and the inside of a chamber 43 is deaerated and gives a negative pressure. The drawing is stopped. From a blowing port 56, an inert gas is blown in. The inert gas is blown in, and the substituting chamber 43 is filled with the inert gas. The inert gas is also filled in the container C. The negative pressure in the chamber 43 is gradually reduced, and the attracting force of the major drawing port 54 is weakened. The lid L drops by its own weight, and is placed on the container C again.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Field of the Invention This invention relates to a method and apparatus for replacing air in a container filled with food or the like with an inert gas.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This type of device is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 1-61012, in which a lid placed on a container is suctioned and lifted, and the lid is inserted into the container from between the lifted lid and the container. It is known that an inert gas is blown into the container to replace the air in the container with the inert gas, and then the lid is placed on the container again.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention In the above device, the inert gas blown into the container pushes out the air inside the container and at the same time remains within the container, so that the air inside the container and the inert gas are There are problems in that the replacement takes time and the replacement is insufficient.

An object of the present invention is to provide an inert gas replacement method and apparatus that solve the above problems.

Means for Solving the Problems The method of replacing air in a container with inert gas according to the present invention is as follows:
The lid placed on the filled container is lifted from the container, the air inside the container is sucked out from between the lifted lid and the container, and inert gas is blown into the container to fill the container with inert gas. , the lifted lid is placed on the container again.

The device for replacing air in a container with inert gas according to the present invention has the following features:
An outside air isolation chamber surrounding a filled container with a lid placed thereon, a means for sucking out the air in the chamber to lift the lid and evacuating the inside of the chamber, and a means for blowing an inert gas into the chamber. It is something that

Function: In the inert gas replacement method according to the present invention, the lid placed on the container filled with contents is lifted from the container, and the air inside the container is sucked out from between the lifted lid and the container, and the inert gas is replaced in the container. is blown into the container to fill it with inert gas, and the lifted lid is placed on the container again, so that the air inside the container is sucked out and pushed out by the blown inert gas.

The inert gas replacement device according to the present invention includes an outside air blocking chamber that surrounds a filled container with a lid placed on it, a means for sucking out the air inside the chamber to lift the lid, and evacuating the inside of the chamber. Since the chamber is equipped with a means for blowing inert gas, the air inside the container is sucked out and pushed out by the inert gas blown in, and this replacement operation is performed within the chamber.

Example Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

In the following explanation, "front and rear" refers to the side on which the container moves forward (the right side in Figure 4), and the opposite side is the rear, and "left and right" refers to the side toward the front, based on the conveyance direction of the container. Let left and right be left and right.

FIG. 4 shows a part of a packaging machine including an inert gas purging device according to the invention.

The packaging machine includes a container conveyor 11, a lid supply device 12, an inert gas displacement device 13, and a lid-and-roll device 14, which are arranged in sequence along the container conveyor 11. Further, an inert gas tunnel 15 is arranged so as to straddle the transport route between the inert gas replacement device 13 and the lid seal device 14.

The container conveyor 11 is a chain conveyor,
Numerous holder plates 22 attached to chain 2
The holder plate 22 is arranged so as to sequentially stop at the lid supply station F1, the inert gas replacement station D, and the lid sealing station S, and is driven intermittently. Among the lid supply device 12, the inert gas replacement device 13, and the lid seal device 14, the components other than the inert gas replacement device 13 are well known, so their explanation will be kept brief below. The lid supply device 12 includes a stacker 23 arranged and fixed above the container transport path, and a vacuum head 24 that is disposed between the container transport path and the stacker 23 and is movable up and down and reversible. are taken out one by one by the vacuum head 24 and placed on the content filling container C. The lid sealing device 14 includes a seal head 25 that can be raised and lowered, and heat-seals the peripheral edge of the lid to the mouth edge of the container C by pressing the seal head 25 against the container C on which the lid is placed. It is.

As shown in detail in FIG. 1, the holder plate 22 includes:
A container holding recess 31 is provided, and an upwardly projecting annular seat 32 is provided at the edge of the recess 31, in which a mouth flange of the container C is received.

As shown in detail in FIGS. 1 and 2, the inert gas replacement device 13 is a horizontal plate that is disposed above the holder plate 22 that is stopped at the inert gas replacement station D. An elevating body 41 and an annular seal member 42 made of an elastic material that is provided in a downwardly protruding manner on the lower surface of the elevating body 41 and that is brought into close contact with the outside of the seat 32 on the upper surface of the holder plate 22 when the elevating body 41 is located at the lower limit. An outside air blocking chamber 43 is constructed by adding the elevating body 41 and the sealing member 42 and the holder plate 22 thereto.

A through hole 44 is provided in the center of the elevating body 4I, into which a cylindrical decompression chamber 45 with a top wall is fitted. A flange 46 is provided at the lower end of the outer peripheral surface of the decompression chamber 45, and a nut 48 is screwed into a screw 47 provided on the upper outer surface of the decompression chamber 45 while the flange 46 is engaged with the lower end opening edge of the through hole 44. The decompression chamber 45 is attached to the elevating body 41 by being tightened. A main suction pipe 51 is connected to the top wall of the decompression chamber 45 by penetrating it. Decompression chamber 45
A flat adsorption plate 52 is fixed to the lower end surface of the holder with screws 53. A main suction port 54 is provided on the suction plate 52 on the axis of the decompression chamber 45 . A sub-generation port 55 and a blowing port 56 are provided so as to be located on both sides of the decompression chamber 45 and to face the suction plate 52 .

A sub suction pipe 57 is provided at the sub production port 55, and a sub suction pipe 57 is provided at the sub production port 55.
An inert gas pipe 58 is connected to each.

[When the holder plate 22 holding the container C loaded with L is carried into the replacement station D, the elevating body 41, which was waiting at the upper limit, is lowered and the sealing member 42 is brought into close contact with the upper surface of the holder plate 22. Then, the container C will be sealed in the replacement chamber 43, and the replacement operation will be performed in this state using the two methods described below.

Referring to FIG. 5, the main suction port 54 and the auxiliary suction port 55 start and stop suctioning at the same time. Suction time TI, T2
are both 1.0 seconds. When the two suction ports 54 and 55 start suctioning, the lid is soon attracted to the main suction port 54 and lifted up, and becomes suctioned to the suction plate 52.
By continuing the suction from this state, the inside of the chamber 43 is evacuated and becomes a negative pressure. At the same time as the suction is stopped, inert gas is blown in from the blowing port 56. The blowing time T3 is 2 seconds. As the inert gas is blown into the displacement chamber 43, the container C is also filled with the inert gas, and at the same time, the negative pressure inside the chamber 43 gradually decreases. As a result, the suction force of the main suction port 54 weakens, and eventually only the lid falls due to its own weight and is placed on the container C again.

Referring to FIG. 6, the main suction port 54 and the sub-generation port 55 start suctioning at the same time, and at the same time, the blowing port 56
Also starts blowing. The suction time T1 of the main suction port 54 is 2.5
seconds, the suction time T2 of the sub-generation port 55 is 0.3 seconds, the blowing port 5
The blowing time T3 of No. 6 was 3°0 seconds. Therefore, after the main suction port 54 stops suctioning, the air inlet 5
6 is maintained.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the displacement chamber 61.

In this modification, a stepped container holding hole 63 is provided in the holder plate 62, and the lower end opening of the container holding hole 63 is closed by an elevating lid 64 that can move forward and backward with respect to the stepped portion below this holding hole 63. It looks like this.

Further, a skirt 66 is provided at the edge of the elevating body 65,
A seal member 67 is attached to the lower end of this.

Effects of the Invention According to the method of this invention, the air inside the container is sucked out and pushed out by the blown inert gas, so the air inside the container is quickly replaced with the inert gas, and the replacement can be completed in a short time. You can do what you want.

Further, according to the device of the present invention, the air in the container is quickly replaced with inert gas, and the replacement can be performed in a short time. It can be done satisfactorily.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The drawings show an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the displacement device, FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along the line T in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is FIG. 1 showing another embodiment. 4 is a schematic side view showing a part of the packaging machine including the replacement device, and FIGS. 5 and 6 are respectively illustrations of the replacement operation. 43, 61... Substitution chamber, 54... Suction port, 56
...Inlet, C...Container, L...Lid. that's all

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Lift the lid placed on the container filled with contents from the container, suck out the air inside the container from between the lifted lid and the container, and blow inert gas into the container. A method of replacing the air inside a container with inert gas by filling the inside with inert gas and placing the lifted lid back on the container. 2. An outside air isolation chamber that surrounds the filled container with a lid placed on it, a means for sucking out the air in the chamber to lift the lid and evacuating the inside of the chamber, and a means for blowing an inert gas into the chamber. A device for replacing air inside the container with inert gas.