JPH0784212B2 - Method and apparatus for sterilizing containers with ozone - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a container sterilization method and apparatus performed using ozone gas, which enables sterilization in a gas state in an extremely short time, and particularly ultraviolet sterilization and It is suitable for sterilizing PET bottles that cannot be heat sterilized.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, food containers and the like have been sterilized before use, and in many cases, liquid sterilizers are used for sterilization.

For example, for the sterilization of bottles made of polyethylene terephthalate (hereinafter referred to as PET bottles) that can contain soft drinks, etc., ultraviolet sterilization or heat sterilization should be carried out because ultraviolet rays emitted from the outside do not penetrate and the heat resistant temperature is low. However, I try to sterilize it with hydrogen peroxide solution.

However, when hydrogen peroxide water is used, there is a problem that even a slight amount remains in the PET bottle, which is harmful to the human body.

Therefore, it is considered that sterilization is performed using ozone (ozone gas) that does not pose a danger to the human body such that even if it remains, it becomes a gas and diffuses.

Usually, in the sterilization method using gas, a sterilization gas is filled in the sterilization chamber to create a sterilization gas atmosphere having a predetermined concentration, and a sterilized container such as a PET bottle is placed in the sterilization gas atmosphere, so-called fumigation is performed. ing.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, for sterilization by ozone, it is conceivable to create a high-concentration ozone gas atmosphere and put a PET bottle or the like in it. However, even if ozone is used in a gas state, the sterilization power is high. It is weak and cannot be sterilized even when the container to be sterilized is placed in an ozone gas atmosphere.

Therefore, it is necessary to prepare ozone water in which ozone is absorbed in water and to sterilize the ozone water.

Therefore, it is possible to avoid the danger to the human body, but a large-scale facility is required, and there is also a problem that post-treatment such as drying is required after sterilization with ozone water.

In the light of such a current situation, research on a sterilization method using ozone gas has revealed that it is important to blow ozone gas so that it is in a flowing state instead of a stationary state in order to enhance the sterilizing effect.

Further, in the sterilizer using ozone gas, it is necessary to supply the sterilizing gas in a fluid state and collect the sterilized gas so as not to leak to the outside.

However, in the conventional fumigation type gas sterilizer, the container is simply placed in the sterilizing gas atmosphere, and if the sterilizing effect is not a problem, there is no major problem in the device itself, but a large sterilizing effect is obtained using ozone gas. To this end, it is necessary to develop a device that can supply gas into the container even if it is a container with a small opening, such as a PET bottle, and can collect the gas while it is flowing without leaking to the outside.

The present invention has been made in view of the problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a container sterilization method and device using ozone that can sterilize in a short period of time by using ozone in a gas state and having a large sterilizing power. To do.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the problems of the above-described conventional technology, in the container sterilization method using ozone of the present invention, an exhaust box having a seal member attached to a mounting hole at the bottom is used to open the container to be sterilized. After it is pressed against the periphery of the part to make it a sealed state, a sterilizing gas containing ozone is sprayed directly from multiple outlets to the inner surface of the container with a nozzle that penetrates this exhaust box and is inserted into the container to be sterilized. The sterilizing gas is sterilized in a fluidized state while the latter gas is guided to the exhaust box from between the nozzle and the opening and is exhausted to the outside through the exhaust recovery means.

Further, the container sterilization apparatus using ozone of the present invention comprises a sterilizing gas supply means for supplying a sterilizing gas containing ozone, and a seal member for pressing the periphery of the opening of the container to be sterilized into a mounting hole at the bottom to form a sealed state. An exhaust box that covers the opening of the container to be sterilized to form a closed chamber, and a nozzle that penetrates the exhaust box and is inserted into the container to be sterilized to form a plurality of outlets and blows sterilizing gas directly onto the inner surface of the container. After sterilizing the container to be sterilized, the sterilizing gas flowing into the exhaust box is exhausted and collected to the outside, and the collecting means secures a flow state of the sterilizing gas.

Further, in the container sterilizing apparatus using ozone of the present invention, in addition to the configuration according to claim 2, a plurality of mounting holes formed in the bottom portion of the exhaust box are provided so that a plurality of containers can be sterilized at the same time. A plurality of nozzles corresponding to the holes are arranged so as to penetrate the exhaust box.

[Operation] According to this container sterilization method using ozone, sterilizing gas containing ozone is vigorously blown directly from the plurality of outlets of the nozzle onto the surface of the container to be sterilized, and the gas after sterilization is collected. The sterilization is carried out in the state where a sterilizing gas is supplied, and ozone in a gas state is used to obtain a large sterilizing power and sterilize in an extremely short time.

Further, according to the container sterilizer using ozone, the opening of the container to be sterilized is covered with an exhaust box to be in a closed state,
Put a nozzle with multiple outlets in this container,
The sterilizing gas supplied from the sterilizing gas supply unit is vigorously sprayed from the plurality of outlets onto the surface of the container to be sterilized, and the sterilized gas is exhausted and recovered from the exhaust box by the recovery unit, and ozone gas is removed. It can be sterilized while flowing, and has a large sterilizing power so that it can be sterilized in an extremely short time.

Furthermore, by forming a plurality of mounting holes in the exhaust box, attaching containers to be sterilized to each, and inserting a nozzle into each container, it is possible to sterilize many containers at the same time. It is possible to improve the.

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

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of a container sterilization apparatus using ozone of the present invention.

The container sterilizer 10 using ozone is applied to a PET bottle B sterilizer.

The ozone sterilizer 10 for containers is equipped with a sterilizing gas supply means 11 for supplying a sterilizing gas G containing ozone (O ₃ ), and is composed of, for example, an ozonizer 12 and a pump 13.

In this ozonizer 12, for example, high-purity oxygen gas or a mixed gas of oxygen gas and an inert gas such as nitrogen is used as a raw material gas, and ozone gas is discharged to 6000 by silent discharge or the like.
A sterilizing gas containing about ppm is produced.

The sterilizing gas G thus created is pressurized by the pump 13.

The ozone sterilizer 10 for containers is equipped with an exhaust box 15 that covers the opening b of the PET bottle B as a container to be sterilized and forms a closed chamber 14 around the opening b.

As shown in FIG. 2A, for example, the exhaust box 15 has a mounting hole 16 formed at the bottom through which the opening b of the PET bottle B can be inserted, and an O-ring 17 around the mounting hole 16. By mounting the opening b of the PET bottle B into the mounting hole 16 of the exhaust box 15 and pressing the O-ring 17 against the neck portion of the PET bottle B, the inside of the exhaust box 15 can be sealed. it can.

As shown in FIG. 2 (b), the exhaust box 15 has a bottom plate itself made of an elastic material such as a silicone rubber bottom plate 18, and a mounting hole 16 is formed at the center thereof. The inside of the exhaust box 15 may be hermetically closed by pressing the silicone rubber bottom plate 18 against the neck portion of the.

An exhaust hole 19 is formed on the side wall of the exhaust box 15 for exhausting and recovering the sterilized gas G after sterilization so that the sterilized gas G is kept flowing.

A nozzle 20 is attached to the upper plate of the exhaust box 15 for penetrating the upper plate in a sealed state and spraying the sterilizing gas G onto the inner surface of the PET bottle B.

As shown in FIG. 1, this nozzle 20 is provided with a main pipe having a length that allows it to be inserted near the bottom of the PET bottle B, and a plurality of outlets 21 are formed in the middle thereof.

Further, in the ozone sterilizer 10 for the container, an exhaust box 15 is provided as a collecting means 22 for exhausting and collecting the sterilizing gas G.
An exhaust pipe 23 is attached to the exhaust hole 19 of the device, and an ozone killer 24 is provided at the tip of the exhaust pipe 23 to prevent ozone gas from being released into the atmosphere or to collect ozone for reuse. ing.

Next, the sterilization method will be described together with the operation of the container sterilization apparatus 10 using ozone configured as described above.

First, the PET bottle B to be sterilized is put into the attachment hole 16 of the exhaust box 15 and pressed, and the O-ring 17 and the silicone rubber bottom plate 18 are pressed against the neck portion of the PET bottle B to form a sealed chamber 14 in a sealed state. , The opening b of the PET bottle B is located inside thereof. At the same time, the nozzle 20 is placed in the PET bottle B.

After the preparation is completed in this way, ozone is generated by the ozonizer 12 so that the concentration becomes 6000 ppm or more.

After that, the sterilizing gas G containing ozone gas of 6000 ppm or more is pressurized and supplied to the nozzle 20 by the pump 13.

Then, the sterilizing gas G containing ozone is blown out from the outlet 21 of the nozzle 20.
Is vigorously sprayed onto the inner surface of the PET bottle B, whereby the sterilizing gas G is brought into direct contact with the surface of the PET bottle B without forming a boundary layer for sterilization.

Then, the sterilizing gas G that sterilized the inside of the PET bottle B returns to the inside of the exhaust box 15 through the opening b, and is exhausted and recovered from the exhaust hole 19 through the exhaust pipe 23 to the ozone killer 24.

Therefore, by continuously supplying the sterilizing gas G with the pump 13, the sterilizing gas G in the PET bottle B does not become a stationary stagnant state but always flows, and a large sterilizing power is obtained. be able to.

Then, the exhaust box 15 is put on the opening b of the PET bottle B to be sterilized, and the O-ring 17 as a sealing member is provided.
Alternatively, since the silicon rubber bottom plate 18 is pressed and sealed, the ozone gas can be sterilized in a flowing state without leaking the sterilizing ozone gas G to the outside.

In addition, since the gas can be used as it is for sterilization instead of ozone water, the device is simple, and no post-treatment is required, and sterilization can be performed easily.

[Experimental Example] The following experiment was conducted to examine the effect of sterilization by spraying from a nozzle.

Experimental conditions Test bacterium Bacillus subtilis spore A: The test bacterium is exposed to an ozone gas atmosphere with a concentration of 1400 ppm.

B: A sterilizing gas containing ozone at a concentration of 2000 ppm or 6000 ppm is sprayed from the nozzle to the test bacteria.

For these experimental conditions A and B, the sterilization state was examined by changing the treatment time to 30 seconds, 5 minutes and 6 hours.

As a result, the results shown in the following table were obtained, and it was confirmed that sufficient sterilizing power can be obtained in an extremely short time by spraying the sterilizing gas G containing ozone from the nozzle.

In the above embodiment, the case where one PET bottle B is the sterilization target has been described, but an apparatus for simultaneously sterilizing a plurality of PET bottles B will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

The exhaust box 35 shown in FIG. 3 is formed by connecting a plurality (four in the illustrated example) of the exhaust boxes 15 described in FIG. 2 (a),
The partition plates 36 form four closed chambers 14, and each partition plate 36 has a communication hole 37 for exhaust. A mounting hole 16 is formed in the bottom of each closed chamber 14 as in the exhaust box 15 shown in FIG. 1, and an O-ring 17 is mounted around the mounting hole 16. A nozzle 20 is attached to the upper plate of each closed chamber 14 so as to penetrate the upper plate in a sealed state, like the exhaust box 15 shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 1, the exhaust box 35 configured as described above is connected to the sterilizing gas supply means 11 and the collecting means 22 to perform sterilization, whereby four PET bottles B can be sterilized at the same time. it can.

Further, if the exhaust box 35 is made larger, the number of sterilization lines can be increased.

Next, in the exhaust box 45 shown in FIG. 4, the exhaust box 15 described in FIG. 2 (b) is enlarged, and a plurality of (four in the illustrated example) mounting holes 16 are formed in the silicon rubber bottom plate 18. In this case, since it is not necessary to attach a sealing material such as an O-ring, it is configured with only one closed chamber 14.

By using such an exhaust box 45, four PET bottles B can be sterilized at the same time, and the exhaust box 45 does not require a partition plate or the like, and can easily handle a plurality of simultaneous sterilizations. be able to.

In the above embodiment, the nozzle for spraying the sterilizing gas containing ozone and the PET bottle are sterilized in a fixed state, but the sterilization may be performed while rotating either one of them.

Further, the object to be sterilized is not limited to the PET bottle, and can be similarly applied to the case of sterilizing other food containers and the like, and an exhaust box corresponding to the container may be prepared.

Further, it goes without saying that each constituent element may be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention.

[Effects of the Invention] As specifically described above with reference to the embodiments, according to the container sterilization method using ozone of the present invention, the sterilizing gas containing ozone is directly supplied to the container to be sterilized from the plurality of outlets of the nozzle. It is sprayed vigorously on the surface, and it is sterilized while collecting the sterilized gas while flowing the sterilizing gas, so ozone in the gas state is used to obtain a large sterilizing power and sterilize the container in an extremely short time can do.

Further, according to the container sterilizer using ozone, the opening of the container to be sterilized is covered with an exhaust box to be in a closed state,
Put a nozzle with multiple outlets in this container,
The sterilizing gas supplied from the sterilizing gas supply means is vigorously sprayed from the plural outlets onto the surface of the container to be sterilized, and the sterilized gas is exhausted and collected from the exhaust box by the collecting means, so that the ozone gas is made to flow. While being able to sterilize, the container can be sterilized in a very short time with a large sterilizing power.

Furthermore, by forming a plurality of mounting holes in the exhaust box, attaching containers to be sterilized to each, and inserting a nozzle into each container, it is possible to sterilize many containers at the same time and improve work efficiency. be able to.

Further, by sterilizing with such a sterilizing gas containing ozone gas, even if the sterilizing gas remains, there is no problem and it is safe.

Furthermore, since it is possible to sterilize with ozone in a gas state, the structure of the sterilizer can be simplified as compared with the case of using a sterilizer in a liquid state.

In addition, containers such as PET bottles that cannot be sterilized by ultraviolet rays or heat can be easily sterilized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an embodiment of a container sterilization apparatus using ozone of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an exhaust box portion according to an embodiment of the container sterilizing apparatus using ozone of the present invention. 3 and 4 are cross-sectional views of an exhaust box portion according to another embodiment of the container sterilizing apparatus using ozone of the present invention. B: PET bottle (container to be sterilized), b: Opening part, G: Sterilization gas, 10: Container sterilization device using ozone, 11: Sterilization gas supply means, 12: Ozonizer, 13: Pump, 14: Closed chamber, 15 , 35,45:
Exhaust box, 16: Mounting hole, 17: O-ring, 18: Silicon rubber bottom plate, 19: Exhaust hole, 20: Nozzle, 21: Air outlet, 22: Recovery means,
23: Exhaust pipe, 24: Ozone killer.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-62-168837 (JP, A) Actual Kaihei 2-8441 (JP, U) Actual Kaihei 1-75432 (JP, U) Actual Public Sho-49- 8679 (JP, Y1)

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An exhaust box having a sealing member attached to a mounting hole at the bottom is pressed around the opening of a container to be sterilized to form a sealed state, and then the exhaust box is penetrated and inserted into the container to be sterilized. The nozzle sterilizes the sterilizing gas containing ozone directly from multiple outlets to the inner surface of the container for sterilization, and guides the sterilized gas from the nozzle to the exhaust box to the outside through the exhaust recovery means. While sterilizing the sterilizing gas in a fluidized state, a method of sterilizing a container with ozone is characterized. 2. A sterilizing gas supply means for supplying a sterilizing gas containing ozone, and a seal member for pressing a sterilizing gas into the mounting hole at the bottom around the opening of the sterilized container to establish a sealed state. An exhaust box that covers and forms a closed chamber, a nozzle that penetrates this exhaust box and is inserted into the container to be sterilized to form a plurality of outlets and sprays sterilizing gas directly onto the inner surface of the container, and after sterilizing the container to be sterilized. A device for sterilizing a container by ozone, comprising: a collection means for collecting the sterilizing gas flowing into the exhaust box to the outside and collecting the sterilizing gas in a flowing state. 3. A plurality of mounting holes formed at the bottom of the exhaust box are arranged so that a plurality of containers can be sterilized simultaneously, and a plurality of nozzles corresponding to these mounting holes are arranged through the exhaust box. The container sterilizer with ozone according to claim 2, wherein the container is sterilized.