JPH05170227A - Vacuum packaging method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain a vacuum packaging which prevents the packed contents from boiling and securely wraps in a vacuum even if the substance is a liquid or a fluid and also the temperature is high. CONSTITUTION:The temperature of packed materials, food for instance, is detected by a thermosensor 6 and the operating time of a vacuum pump is determined in accordance with the detected temperature. And the opening of a bag 3 is sealed by the actuation of a sealing unit 5 heat-sealing the opening of the bag 3 in accordance with the operating time.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a vacuum packaging method and apparatus, and more particularly to a vacuum packaging method and apparatus suitable for use in storing foods and the like in general households.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, vacuum packaging has been known as a means for improving the preservability when storing food products. When performing this vacuum packaging in a general household, as a package,
This is done by storing a packaged object such as food in a bag made of a synthetic resin having a gas barrier property, for example, polyethylene, discharging the air in the bag and then hermetically sealing the opening of the bag. As a device for performing the above, a device has recently been used in which a bag is placed in a sealable container, the container itself is evacuated, and then the opening of the bag is heat-sealed.

As described above, in the case where the bag is put in the container and the whole container is evacuated, it is necessary to operate the sealing means to seal the opening of the bag after the inside of the container reaches a predetermined vacuum degree. However, as a means for determining whether or not a predetermined vacuum degree has been reached, a method of measuring the degree of vacuum in the container using a pressure sensor, and the vacuum pump's exhaust capacity and container volume There is a method of determining the driving time.

[0004]

However, in the case of using the pressure sensor, there is a disadvantage that the vacuum packaging apparatus itself becomes expensive because the pressure sensor is expensive. Also, when the operating time of the vacuum pump is set, when the packaged object is a liquid or liquid and the temperature is high, the vacuum pump operates and the pressure in the container is the vapor pressure of the packaged object. When the temperature reaches, the liquid boils and continues to boil until the end of the vacuum pump's operating time, so the liquid volume of the packaged product decreases, and liquid drops accumulate in the container, vacuum pump, piping to the vacuum pump, etc. However, there are inconveniences such as smell remaining, unsanitary condition, and failure.

Therefore, the present invention is a vacuum packaging method which is inexpensive and can prevent the boiling of the object to be packaged and reliably perform vacuum packaging even when the object to be packaged is a liquid or a liquid material and the temperature is high. And to provide a device.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the vacuum packaging method of the present invention uses a vacuum pump to evacuate the inside of a package containing an object to be packaged, and then seals the package with a sealing means. In the vacuum packaging method, the temperature of the object to be packaged is detected, the operating time of the vacuum pump is set according to the detected temperature, and the sealing means is operated according to the operating time to seal the package. It is characterized by doing.

Further, the vacuum packaging apparatus of the present invention comprises a vacuum container for accommodating a package containing the articles to be packaged, a vacuum pump for evacuating the inside of the vacuum container, and a sealing means for sealing the package. In a provided vacuum packaging device, means for detecting the temperature of the article to be packaged, means for obtaining the vapor pressure of the article to be packaged corresponding to the detected temperature, and a vacuum pump according to the vapor pressure and the exhaust capacity of the vacuum pump. And a means for activating the sealing means according to the operating time.

[0008]

[Operation] According to the above configuration, the package can be sealed and the vacuum pump can be stopped immediately before the packaged object boils, and the packaged object boils and the volume of the packaged object decreases. It is possible to eliminate factors that may cause accidents, such as the accumulation of liquid droplets in the container, the vacuum pump, the piping to the vacuum pump, etc., leaving a smell, unsanitary conditions, and causing malfunctions.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in more detail based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a vacuum packaging apparatus. This vacuum packaging apparatus comprises a base 1 and a vacuum container 2 provided on the base 1, and the base 1 A control unit including a vacuum pump, an electric circuit, and the like (not shown) is provided inside, and an operation switch and the like are provided on the front surface thereof.

Further, the vacuum container 2 is provided with a door 2a on the front surface thereof, and inside thereof, an opening of a bag 3 which is a package containing an object to be vacuum-packaged, for example, food, is held. A pin 4 which is a bag holding means, a sealing unit 5 which is a sealing means for heat-sealing the opening of the bag 3, and a temperature sensor 6 which detects the temperature of the food in the bag 3 are provided. ing. In addition, this vacuum container 2
The inside and the vacuum pump are connected by a pipe (not shown), and the temperature sensor 6 and the control unit are connected by appropriate wiring.

In such a vacuum packaging device, the vicinity of the opening of the bag 3 in which food is stored is locked to the pin 4 to close the door 2a, and the vacuum pump is operated to move the bag 3 together with the inside of the vacuum container 2.
After discharging the air inside, the seal unit 5 is operated to heat seal the opening of the bag 3.

In the present invention, the operation time of the vacuum pump and the operation start time of the seal unit 5 at the time of vacuum packaging are controlled by the control unit having the configuration shown in FIG.
This control unit has a central processing unit (CPU) 10 as a center, and the temperature sensor 6, which is a means for detecting the temperature of the packaged object, and the vapor pressure of the liquid of the packaged object, that is, normally water. The first memory 11 storing the vapor pressure curve (see FIG. 3) and the exhaust capacity of the vacuum pump, that is, the degree of vacuum in the vacuum container 2 with respect to the operating time of the vacuum pump (see FIG. 4) are stored. The second memory 12 and the vacuum pump timer (T) that opens and closes the operation switch 13 of the vacuum pump.
14 and a seal unit timer (T) 16 for opening and closing the operation switch 15 of the seal unit 5,
The temperature sensor 6 detects the temperature of the food to be packaged,
The operation time of the vacuum pump is set based on the detected temperature and the data read from the first memory 11 and the second memory 12, and the seal unit 5 is operated according to the operation time. There is.

For example, when evacuating to about 10 Torr for vacuum packaging, as is apparent from FIG. 4, the apparatus of this embodiment is set to operate the vacuum pump for about 3 minutes. In the case of vacuum packaging food at room temperature or food containing almost no water, after 3 minutes from the start of operation, the seal unit 5 is operated to seal the opening of the bag 3 and stop the vacuum pump.
Then, the operating procedure is incorporated so that the atmosphere is introduced into the vacuum container 2.

The food in the bag 3 contains a large amount of water,
When the temperature is high, for example, when the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 6 is 80 ° C., the CPU 10 first changes the data stored in the first memory 11, that is, the vapor pressure of water at each temperature to 80 ° C. Corresponding pressure, about 325T
Orr is obtained, and further, from the data stored in the second memory 12, that is, the relationship between the operating time of the vacuum pump and the degree of vacuum in the vacuum container 2, the operating time corresponding to 325 Torr, 15 seconds, is obtained.

The operation time of the vacuum pump thus obtained is output to both the timers 14 and 16 to set the operation time of the vacuum pump and the operation start time of the seal unit 5, respectively. The set times output to both timers 14 and 16 may be the same, but the operation start time of the seal unit 5 is slightly advanced in consideration of the time difference from the operation start of the seal unit 5 to the completion of heat sealing. It is preferable to set the value to, or to set the operating time of the vacuum pump to be longer.

As described above, the vacuum pump is operated to operate the bag 3
By adjusting the time from the start of evacuation of the inside until the opening of the bag 3 is sealed according to the temperature of the food to be vacuum-packaged, before or before the water content of the food boils Since the bag 3 can be sealed and the vacuum pump can be stopped, moisture is lost due to boiling, and odors are left by the accumulation of liquid droplets in the vacuum container, the vacuum pump, the piping to the vacuum pump, etc. It is possible to eliminate the inconvenience of being a cause of failure.

Also, when vacuum packaging high temperature foods, it can be processed in a short time, so that the time required for vacuum packaging high temperature foods after cooking, such as soup and stew, can be shortened. Can be achieved.

In the above description, the food is used as the article to be packaged, the bag is used as the package, and the seal unit for heat-sealing the opening of the bag is used as the sealing means. The same applies to the case of vacuum packaging in a body such as a container having a sealable lid or a stopper.

In addition, a heating and drying process is performed by incorporating an on / off circuit of a temperature sensor in the control unit,
For example, sufficient vacuuming can be performed even when vacuum-packing dried shiitake mushrooms or tea leaves.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Since the timing of sealing the package and the operating time of the vacuum pump are controlled according to the temperature of the packaged object to be vacuum-packaged, for example, even when vacuum-packing a high-moisture food at a high temperature, the package immediately before the water boils It becomes possible to seal the vacuum pump and stop the vacuum pump, preventing the amount of food from decreasing due to boiling evaporation of water and changing the taste, and further, the steam enters the vacuum pump and piping etc. to condense and smell. There is no longer any residue, unsanitary conditions or malfunction.

Further, by using a temperature sensor which is much cheaper than the pressure sensor, the entire apparatus can be provided at a low cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an embodiment of a vacuum packaging device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a control unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a vapor pressure of water.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an exhaust capacity of a vacuum pump.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Base 2 ... Vacuum container 3 ... Bag 4 ... Pin
5 ... Seal unit 6 ... Temperature sensor 10 ... CPU 11 ... First memory 12 ... Second memory 14 ... Vacuum pump timer 16 ... Seal unit timer

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A vacuum packaging method for vacuuming the inside of a package containing an article to be packaged with a vacuum pump, and then sealing the package by a sealing means, wherein the temperature of the article to be packaged is detected, and the temperature is detected. According to the vacuum packaging method, the operating time of the vacuum pump is set accordingly, and the sealing means is operated to seal the package according to the operating time. 2. A vacuum container for accommodating a package containing an object to be packaged, and a vacuum pump for evacuating the inside of the vacuum container,
In a vacuum packaging device comprising a sealing means for sealing the package, means for detecting the temperature of the packaged object, means for determining the vapor pressure of the packaged object corresponding to the detected temperature, the vapor pressure and A vacuum packaging device comprising: a means for determining an operating time of the vacuum pump according to the exhausting capacity of the vacuum pump; and a means for operating the sealing means according to the operating time.