JPH0595772A - Method for measuring amount of dissolved gas in carbonated beverage, apparatus for measurement and method for controlling - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To readily and surely measure the amount of gaseous carbon dioxide dissolved in a beverage and smoothly control the feed rate of the gaseous carbon dioxide to a tank for dissolving the gaseous carbon dioxide. CONSTITUTION:A prescribed amount of a beverage (A) containing gaseous carbon dioxide (B) dissolved therein is taken out and rapidly decompressed to separate the gaseous carbon dioxide (B) from the beverage (A). Thereby, the amount of dissolved gaseous carbon dioxide (B) is measured and the amount of the gaseous carbon dioxide (B) dissolved in the beverage (A) is then controlled based on the measured value.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas dissolution amount control method for controlling the amount of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in a carbonated beverage.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a carbonated beverage filling line, the amount of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in a certain amount of beverage (gas volume) is an important quality factor. The gas pressure needs to be properly controlled. A conventional method for measuring the gas content of carbonated water is, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, the filling container 1 (corresponding to a can container for beverages), which is a sealed product containing carbonated water at the time of production in a factory, is pierced with the detection needle 4 of the pressure gauge 3 from the portion of the lid 2 to fill the container. By measuring the pressure of carbon dioxide in the space 1B in the container 1, the carbon dioxide content of the carbonated water 1A in the filling container 1 is measured. This is because the carbon dioxide gas content of the carbonated water 1A is indirectly known from the relationship between the volume of the space 1B and its pressure. For example, 3.5 Kg / cm at 20 ° C
If ^2, it is considered good.

[0003]

However, in such a conventional method for measuring the gas content rate of carbonated water, the filling container 1 containing carbonated water is manually extracted by a person in a certain quantity, and the pressure gauge is manually operated. Since the process of piercing the detection needle 4 of No. 3 into the lid 2 to measure the pressure of carbon dioxide gas in the space 1B in the filling container 1, the measurement of the gas content rate is complicated and the production efficiency is poor. was there. Further, if it is determined that the product is defective as a result of the measurement, the filling container as the product must be discarded, and the carbonated beverage and the container itself are wastefully consumed. As a solution to the above problem, a system has been developed which controls the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide by constantly monitoring the amount of dissolved carbon dioxide based on the amount of infrared absorption, but it is very expensive. .. The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, the measurement of the gas content is easy, and the production efficiency can be increased, and the gas of carbonated drinks that can eliminate the waste of carbonated drinks and filling containers can be obtained. It is an object of the present invention to provide a dissolution amount measuring method, a measuring device and a control method.

[0004]

In order to solve the above problems, according to the structure of claim 1, carbonated water to be filled in a carbonated beverage filling container is extracted in a small amount before filling, and then, The gas content rate of the extracted carbonated water is measured using a predetermined gas content rate measuring device, and then the extracted carbonated water is filled in a carbonated beverage filling container. Moreover, in the structure of Claim 2, the carbonated water with which the filling container of a carbonated drink is filled is withdrawn by a small amount before holding, and is held, and a carbonated water in the measuring container. A gas content measuring instrument for measuring the gas content,
Moving means for sequentially moving the measuring container, and the gas content measuring instrument is brought close to the measuring container moving by the moving means so that the gas content of the carbonated water can be measured, and after the measurement, the gas is measured. And a control means for separating the content measuring device. Further, in the configuration according to claim 3, prior to filling the container with the beverage in which carbon dioxide gas is dissolved, a predetermined amount of the beverage in which carbon dioxide gas is dissolved is extracted and the pressure is rapidly reduced. By doing so, the carbon dioxide gas and the beverage are separated, the dissolved amount of carbon dioxide gas is measured, and the amount of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the beverage is controlled based on the measured value. Also,
In the structure according to claim 4, a beverage extraction means for extracting a predetermined amount of the beverage in which the carbon dioxide gas is dissolved, before the beverage is filled in the container by the filling device, and the beverage. By rapidly depressurizing the beverage extracted by the extraction means, a separation means for separating carbon dioxide gas and a beverage, and a dissolved amount of carbon dioxide gas based on the carbon dioxide gas and the beverage separated by the separation means are measured. It is characterized by comprising a measuring means and a control means for controlling the amount of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the beverage based on the measurement value of the measuring means.

[0005]

In the structure of claims 1 and 2, the carbonated water to be filled in the filling container is extracted by a predetermined amount before the filling, and the extracted carbonated water is measured by using a predetermined gas content measuring instrument. The gas content of is measured. Then, the extracted carbonated water is filled into a carbonated beverage filling container. Therefore, the gas content can be easily measured, production efficiency can be improved, and waste of carbonated drinks and filling containers can be eliminated. Further, in the configuration according to claim 3, a predetermined amount of the carbonated beverage that has been extracted is rapidly decompressed, separated into carbon dioxide gas and a beverage, and the dissolved amount of carbon dioxide gas is measured. The amount of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the beverage is adjusted by comparing with the determined reference value. Further, in the configuration according to claim 4, the extraction means extracts a predetermined amount of the carbonate-dissolved beverage, the separation means separates the beverage into carbon dioxide gas and the beverage, and the measuring means measures the dissolved amount of carbon dioxide gas. To measure. And
The control means controls the amount of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the beverage based on the measurement value of the measurement means.

[0006]

EXAMPLES A. First Embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a partial configuration of a production line of an apparatus for carrying out the method for measuring the gas content of carbonated water according to the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a belt conveyor, on which a measuring container 12 in which a predetermined amount of carbonated water 12A is extracted and held is placed and moved. This carbonated water 12A is before being filled in a carbonated beverage filling container (not shown), and corresponds to the quantity of a large number of carbonated beverage filling containers. Further, the number of the measurement containers 12 is not limited to one as shown in the figure, but is a number extracted for each specific number at the stage of the production process, and sequentially moves on the belt conveyor 11. Further belt conveyors 13 and 14 are branched and connected to the belt conveyor 11, and the measuring container 12
The gas content of the carbonated water 12A in the inside is measured by a measuring machine described later. According to the result, when the result is good, the measuring container 12 advances toward the belt conveyor 13 and the carbon dioxide in the measuring container 12 is measured. The water 12A is filled in a carbonated beverage filling container. On the other hand, when the result is not good, the process is advanced to the belt conveyor 14 so that the gas content rate of the carbonated water can be adjusted by discarding it again. The mechanism for switching the moving direction in this case is not shown.

The belt conveyor 11 is driven by drive rollers 15 and 16 as shown in FIG. 2, and the same applies to the other belt conveyors 13 and 14. The belt conveyors 11, 13, 14 and the driving roller 1
Reference numerals 5 and 16 together constitute the moving means 17. Also,
A control mechanism (corresponding to control means) 21 is placed in the middle of the belt conveyor 11, and the control mechanism 21 is provided with a gas content rate measuring device 22. As shown in FIG. 3, the control mechanism 21 brings the gas content measuring device 22 close to the measuring container 12 moving on the belt conveyor 11 so that the gas content of the carbonated water 12A can be measured ( At this time, the belt conveyor 11 may be temporarily stopped), and control is performed such that the gas content measuring instrument 22 is released after the measurement is completed. As shown in FIG. 4, the gas content measuring instrument 22 is based on the principle of a so-called syringe, and has a needle 31, an outer cylinder 32, a shaft 33 and a cock 34. Carbonated water 12A in the measuring container 12
Is absorbed, and the gas content rate of the carbonated water 12A is measured by the stop position of the cock 34 at this time. That is, since the stop position of the cock 34 changes according to the content rate of the gas (carbon dioxide gas) in the carbonated water 12A, for example, when the carbon dioxide content rate is low, the stroke of the cock 34 is small, and when the carbon dioxide content rate is high, The stroke of the cock 34 increases. Therefore, if a predetermined scale is provided as schematically shown in correspondence with the stroke of the cock 34,
The content rate of carbon dioxide can be measured.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. In order to measure the content rate of carbon dioxide gas in the process of the production line, first, a predetermined amount of carbonated water 12A is extracted and held in the measurement container 12 in advance before filling the filling container of the carbonated drink (this is automatically This measurement container 12 moves on the belt conveyor 11. Then, the gas content measuring instrument 22 approaches the measuring container 12 by the control mechanism 21, and the carbon dioxide content is measured by the above-described principle as shown in FIG. The measurement result is taken out as an electric signal and used for controlling the switching mechanism of the conveyors 13 and 14 and other necessary control. After the measurement, the control mechanism 21
Thereby, the gas content measuring device 22 is separated from the measuring container 12, the measuring container 12 moves on the belt conveyor 11, and advances to the conveyor 13 or 14 depending on the measurement result. For example, if the measurement result is good, the belt conveyor 1
Proceeding to 3, the carbonated water 12A in the measurement container 12 is filled in a carbonated beverage filling container.

On the other hand, if the result is not good, the process is proceeded to the belt conveyor 14 and discarded or disposed again to adjust the gas content of carbonated water. As described above, in this embodiment, the carbonated water 12A is automatically extracted in advance by a predetermined amount and held in the measuring container 12, and the carbon dioxide gas is not contained when the measuring container 12 is moving on the belt conveyor 11. Rate measurements are made. Therefore, unlike the conventional method in which a human (operator) manually extracts each quantity from the filling container and measures it, the gas content rate can be easily measured and the production efficiency can be improved. Further, if the result of the measurement indicates that the carbonated water is defective, it is sufficient to simply discard the carbonated water, and there is no need to discard the filling container as in the conventional case. Furthermore, instead of discarding the carbonated water,
It is also possible to take measures to adjust the gas content of carbonated water again. As a result, it is possible to prevent wasteful consumption of carbonated water and the filling container.

B. Second Embodiment Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 101 is a carbon dioxide gas dissolution tank, and carbon dioxide gas B is supplied into the carbon dioxide gas dissolution tank 101 via a beverage A and a diaphragm valve 102. A pipe 10 is provided below the carbon dioxide gas dissolving tank 101.
3, a filling device 104 is connected to the product can 105, and the product can 105 is filled with the carbonated beverage. A sampling cylinder 107 is connected to the pipe 103 via a sampling cock 106, and a driving cylinder 109 is connected to the sampling cylinder 107 via a piston rod 108. Pressurized air C is supplied to the drive cylinder 109 via an opening / closing valve 110.

The sampling cylinder 107 is provided with a sensor 112 for detecting the volume ratio of the beverage A and the carbon dioxide gas B, and the opening degree of the diaphragm valve 102 is determined based on the value detected by the sensor 112. The amount of the carbon dioxide gas B that is adjusted and supplied into the carbon dioxide gas dissolution tank 101 is controlled.

When the method for controlling the amount of dissolved gas of carbonated beverages of the present invention is carried out using the apparatus configured as described above, first, data is collected prior to actual operation. That is, as in the actual operation, the beverage A is supplied into the carbon dioxide gas dissolving tank 101, and the opening amount of the diaphragm valve 102 is appropriately adjusted to supply a predetermined amount of carbon dioxide gas B into the carbon dioxide dissolving tank 101. Then, the carbonated beverage discharged from the carbon dioxide gas dissolving tank 101 is filled into the product can 105 by the filling device 104 through the pipe 103 and then sealed.

At this time, the sampling cock 106 is opened and the opening / closing valve 110 is opened to supply the pressurized air C into the driving cylinder 109, whereby the piston rod 1
08 is moved, the carbonated beverage in the pipe 103 is taken out into the sampling cylinder 107 through the sampling cock 106, the sampling cock 106 is closed, and the pressure is rapidly reduced to separate the carbon dioxide gas B and the beverage A. Then
The on-off valve 111 is opened to return the inside of the sampling cylinder 107 to a predetermined pressure (for example, 1 atm), and the sampling cylinder 107 is opened.
The sensor 112 attached to detects the volume ratio of the carbon dioxide gas B and the beverage A. On the other hand, the sealed product can 105 is subjected to a sampling inspection, and the product can 105
Of the gas is measured and compared with the value detected by the sensor 112. Then, the sampling inspection of the product can 115 and the value detected by the sensor 112 are sampled under different conditions, and the correlation between them is determined.

As described above, the sensor 1 detected by the sampling operation of the sampling cylinder 107.
When the correlation between the 12 detection data and the actual gas volume in the product can 105 is obtained, the actual operation is started based on the correlation data. That is, as in the sampling operation, the beverage A is supplied into the carbon dioxide gas dissolving tank 101, and the opening degree of the diaphragm valve 102 is appropriately adjusted to cause a predetermined amount of carbon dioxide gas B into the carbon dioxide dissolving tank 101.
To supply. At the same time, the carbonated beverage is introduced into the sampling cylinder 107 through the sampling cock 106 at appropriate intervals, the sampling cock 106 is closed, and the pressure is rapidly reduced to separate the carbon dioxide gas B and the beverage A. 111 is opened and returned to a predetermined pressure (for example, 1 atm), and the sensor 112 detects the volume ratio of the carbon dioxide gas B and the beverage A. Then, based on this detected value, the opening degree of the diaphragm valve 102 is adjusted to adjust the carbon dioxide gas dissolution tank 10.
The amount of carbon dioxide gas B supplied in 1 is controlled. As a result, a carbonated beverage in which a predetermined proportion of carbon dioxide gas B is dissolved is sent to the filling device 104 and filled in the product can 105, so that the gas volume in the product can 105 can be adjusted to a desired value. It is possible to stably supply high quality products.

[0015]

As described above, the first and second aspects are provided.
According to the configuration described in, it is possible to easily measure the gas content rate, it is possible to increase the production efficiency,
Furthermore, it is possible to prevent the carbonated drink and the filling container from being wasted. Further, according to the configurations of claims 3 and 4, a predetermined amount of the carbonated gas-dissolved beverage is extracted and abruptly extracted before the container is filled with the carbonated gas-dissolved beverage. By reducing the pressure, it is separated into carbon dioxide and beverage, after measuring the dissolved amount of carbon dioxide, based on this measurement value, because it controls the amount of carbon dioxide dissolved in the beverage, in the beverage The amount of dissolved carbon dioxide can be measured easily and reliably, the amount of carbon dioxide supplied to the carbon dioxide dissolution tank can be controlled smoothly, and the control response is good and the system is simple. In addition, the gas volume in the product can can be stably maintained at a predetermined value, and a product of good quality can be manufactured.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a production line according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining how the measurement container of the first embodiment moves on a belt conveyor.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a control unit according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the gas content measuring instrument according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a conventional gas content measuring method.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 Belt Conveyor 12 Measuring Container 12A Carbonated Water 13 Belt Conveyor 14 Belt Conveyor 17 Moving Means 21 Control Mechanism (Control Means) 22 Gas Content Rate Measuring Machine 31 Needle 32 Outer Cylinder 33 Shaft 34 Cock 104 Filling Device 105 Product Can (Container) A drink B carbon dioxide

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. Carbonated water to be filled in a carbonated beverage filling container,
Before filling, extract a small amount of a predetermined amount, then measure the gas content of the extracted carbonated water using a specified gas content measuring instrument, and then fill the extracted carbonated water into a carbonated beverage filling container. A method for measuring the amount of dissolved gas in carbonated beverages, which comprises: 2. Carbonated water to be filled in a carbonated beverage filling container,
A measuring container for extracting and holding a small amount of a predetermined amount before filling, a gas content measuring instrument for measuring the gas content of carbonated water in the measuring container, a moving means for sequentially moving the measuring container, and a moving means. And a control means for bringing the gas content measuring instrument close to the measuring container that moves by so as to measure the gas content of the carbonated water, and releasing the gas content measuring instrument after the measurement is completed. A device for measuring the amount of dissolved gas in carbonated drinks, characterized by: 3. A carbon dioxide gas and a beverage are obtained by extracting a predetermined amount of the carbonate gas-dissolved beverage and rapidly depressurizing the same before filling the container with the carbonate gas-dissolved beverage. A method for controlling the amount of dissolved carbonic acid gas, wherein the amount of dissolved carbonic acid gas is measured, and then the amount of carbonic acid gas dissolved in the beverage is controlled based on the measured value. 4. A beverage extraction means for extracting a predetermined amount of the carbonate gas-dissolved beverage prior to filling the container with the carbonate gas-dissolved beverage by a filling device, and a beverage extracted by the beverage extraction means. By rapidly depressurizing, separating means for separating into carbon dioxide and beverage, measuring means for measuring the dissolved amount of carbon dioxide based on the carbon dioxide and beverage separated by the separating means, the measuring means And a control means for controlling the amount of carbon dioxide gas dissolved in the beverage, based on the measured value.