JPH0818807B2 - Dry ice snow filling device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a filling device for filling dry ice snow into a heat insulating container containing a cold-stored product when delivering the cold-stored product such as frozen food.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, low-temperature storage products delivered from retailers to general consumers have been stored in a heat insulating container such as styrofoam, and the heat insulating container has been packed with dry ice snow. And as a device for filling dry ice snow into this heat insulation container, conventionally,
Dry ice snow formed by arranging snow horn and heat insulating container transportation means vertically inside the casing and expanding liquefied carbon dioxide to a pressure lower than the triple point pressure inside the snow horn is transferred to the casing. Insulated containers are provided for filling.

[0003]

However, in the conventional dry ice snow filling device, since the lower end portion of the snow horn is thrust into the casing, the upper portion of the snow horn is exposed to the inside of the room, and this indoor exposed portion Dry ice easily sublimes due to heat input from frost and convection of water in the air, which not only reduces the efficiency of dry ice snow generation, but also contaminates the inside of the device due to water droplets falling when the filling device is stopped and the device drive part. There was a problem that the reliability of.

Further, in the conventional dry ice snow filling device, a transparent monitoring window is arranged on the side wall of the casing located along the transport direction of the heat insulating container so as to correspond to the transport region of the heat insulating container, and outside of this transparent monitoring window. A photoelectric sensor is arranged in the vehicle, and liquid carbon dioxide is ejected into the snow horn based on the detection operation of the heat insulation container by the photoelectric sensor. However, in this case, dry ice snow rising in the casing adheres to the transparent monitoring window, or moisture in the outside air that contacts the cooled outer surface of the transparent monitoring window condenses on the transparent monitoring window and solidifies. , The transparent monitoring window becomes cloudy. For this reason, the operation of detecting the heat insulating container by the photoelectric sensor becomes inaccurate, and dry ice snow is generated even though there is no heat insulating container, which causes a problem of wasteful generation of dry ice snow. The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object thereof is to provide a filling device for dry ice snow capable of reliably forming and filling dry ice snow at a required position with high generation efficiency. .

[0005]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention has a gas-liquid separator and a snow horn which are arranged one above the other in a casing. The vaporized gas discharge part is located on the side, the flow rate control valve is arranged in this vaporized gas discharge part, and the transparent monitoring window is made to correspond to the transport area of the heat insulating container on the side wall of the casing located along the transport direction of the heat insulating container. The photoelectric sensor is laid out from the transparent monitoring window to a predetermined size in correspondence with the position of the snow horn on the outside of the transparent monitoring window, and a window hole is provided in the transparent monitoring window at the portion corresponding to the optical axis of the photoelectric sensor. It is characterized in that a slanted baffle plate facing diagonally downward is arranged above the window hole on the inner surface of the transparent monitoring window so as not to cover the window hole opening region.

[0006]

In the present invention, the gas-liquid separator and the snow horn are vertically arranged in the casing, and the vaporized gas discharge portion is arranged below the conveying means arranged below the snow horn. Since the liquid separator and the snow horn are not exposed to indoor air and heat from the outside can be suppressed from entering the snow horn, dry ice snow can be efficiently generated.

Further, a flow rate adjusting valve is arranged at the vaporized gas discharge portion, and a transparent monitoring window is arranged on the side wall of the casing located along the conveying direction of the heat insulating container so as to correspond to the conveying region of the heat insulating container. A photoelectric sensor is arranged corresponding to the position of the snow horn on the outside of the monitoring window, and a slanted baffle plate that is slanting downward is arranged on the inner surface of this transparent monitoring window, so that dry ice snow rising in the casing Prevents adhesion to the transparent monitoring window and cold carbon dioxide gas from contacting and cooling the transparent monitoring window to prevent adhesion at the transparent monitoring window.
Since a window hole is opened in the transparent monitoring window in the part corresponding to the optical axis of the photoelectric sensor, there is no opaque part due to solidified matter in the beam path of the photoelectric sensor, and the detection operation of the heat insulation container can be performed accurately. You can

Moreover, since the photoelectric sensor is arranged at a predetermined distance from the transparent monitoring window, it is possible to prevent the harmful effect of cooling the photoelectric sensor.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drawings are schematic views of a dry ice snow filling device showing an embodiment of the present invention. In this dry ice snow filling device, a gas-liquid separator (2) and a snow horn (3) are vertically arranged inside a box-shaped casing (1) made of a heat insulating panel, and below the snow horn (3). The transfer means (5) of the heat insulating container (4) is arranged on the side.

Five snow horns (3) are arranged along the conveying direction of the conveying means (5), and each snow horn (3) has a cylindrical body (6) whose upper end is formed in a downward hemispherical shell and a nozzle. It is composed of (7) and. Each nozzle (7) communicates with the bottom of the gas-liquid separator (2) through a liquefied carbon dioxide introduction passage (8), and each liquefied carbon dioxide introduction passage (8) has a gas-driven flow path. An on-off valve (9) is arranged.

The conveying means (5) is composed of a roller conveyor, and the processing section conveying means (5) arranged in the casing (1).
a), a carry-in conveyor (5b) for feeding the heat insulating container (4) to the casing (1), and a carry-out conveyor (5c) for discharging the heat insulating container (4) from the casing (1). Then, the processing section transfer means (5a), the carry-in conveyor (5b), and the carry-out conveyor (5c) have the transfer surfaces formed on the upper surfaces thereof located on the same plane so that the transferred objects can be continuously transferred. It is located at.

A heat insulating container (4) is attached to the processing section transfer means (5a).
A gas-driven stopper (10) for stopping at a position immediately below the snow horn (3) is arranged to be switchable between a state in which it projects above the transport surface and a posture in which it retracts below the transport surface. Further, a gas-driven stopper (11) for restricting the carry-in of the heat insulating container (4) is also arranged between the carry-in conveyor (5b) and the processing section conveying means (5a), and the heat insulating container (4) The delivery is controlled. Further, a carry-in port (12) and a carry-out port (13) are opened to the minimum on the opposing side walls of the casing (1) so that the heat insulating container (4) can pass therethrough. Further, the gas-driven stopper (11) for restricting the carry-in of the heat insulating container (4) is located in the casing rather than the carry-in inlet (12).
It is provided at a position slightly inside the inner part of (1).

A gas-driven passage opening / closing valve (9) and a conveying passage arranged in a liquefied carbon dioxide introduction passage (8) connecting the gas-liquid separator (2) and the nozzle (7) of the snow horn (3) The two gas-driven stoppers (10) and (11) arranged corresponding to (5) are
The switching operation can be performed with dry air or dry nitrogen supplied from the outside of the casing (1). In addition,
The operating dry air or dry nitrogen after being used for the switching operation may be discharged into the casing (1) or may be discharged into the switching operation panel (not shown).

The bottom wall (14) of the casing (1) is formed in a hopper shape, and a discharge duct (15) for discharging vaporized gas is opened at its lowest position. This exhaust duct (15)
Is equipped with a flow control valve (16) formed of a butterfly valve.
The exhaust fan (17) communicates with the exhaust duct (15).

A gas-liquid separator is provided at the top of the casing (1).
The vaporized gas discharge pipe (18) derived from (2) is opened, and the vaporized gas discharge pipe (20) derived from the liquefied carbon dioxide supply passage (19) to the gas-liquid separator (2) is opened. . Then, the discharge on-off valve (21) is discharged to the vaporized gas discharge pipe (18) led out from the gas-liquid separator (2), and the vaporized gas discharged from the liquefied carbon dioxide supply path (19) is discharged to the discharge pipe (20). An on-off valve (22) for each is interposed. Further, the liquefied carbon dioxide supply path (19) and the gas-liquid separator (2) are connected by an expansion pipe (23), and the liquefied carbon dioxide supply path (19), the gas-liquid separator (2) and the expansion and contraction Tube (2
3) is heat-insulated.

Further, a transparent monitoring window (25) formed of a transparent plate at a position corresponding to the moving area of the heat insulating container (4) on the side wall (24) of the casing (1) along the carrying direction of the carrying means (5). Is provided. Then, a transmission type photoelectric sensor is provided outside the transparent monitoring window (25) so as to correspond to the position of the snow horn (3).
(26) is arranged, and the transparent plate forming the transparent monitoring window (25) has a projector (26a) of the photoelectric sensor (26) and a light receiver (26).
A window hole (27) is provided so as to correspond to the beam axis connecting with (b).

The light emitter (26a) and the light receiver (26b) of the photoelectric sensor (26) are arranged at a predetermined size (for example, 50 to 100 mm) from the outer surface of the transparent monitoring window (25).
The photoelectric sensor (26) is not affected by cold heat. Further, two baffle plates (28) and (29) are arranged inside the casing (1) at the portion where the transparent monitoring window (25) is formed. The upper baffle plate (28) is arranged so as to open downward from the lower end portion of the snow horn (3), and the lower baffle plate (28) is arranged.
(29) is formed in a slanted shape downward from the inner surface of the transparent monitoring window (25) while receiving the lower end of the upper baffle plate (28). The upper baffle plate (28) is arranged in a non-contact manner with the snow horn (3) at the upper end and the lower baffle plate (29) at the lower end, and the lower end of the lower baffle plate (29) is The opening area of the window hole (27) is not covered. The baffle plates (28) and (29) prevent cold carbon dioxide gas from cooling the transparent monitoring window (25).

In the dry ice snow filling device having such a structure, the stopper (10) arranged in the processing section transfer means (5a) is protruded above the transfer surface to be the heat insulating container.
Bring (4) into the casing (1) and position it just below the snow horn (3). After a certain period of time, the carry-in conveyor
The stopper (11) arranged between the processing means (5a) and the processing section transfer means (5a) is projected to stop the loading of the heat insulating container (4).

For this reason, the number of heat insulating containers (4) fed into the filling device fluctuates in time depending on the working condition on the upstream side of the dry ice snow filling device, so that it is directly below the snow horn (3). The presence or absence of the heat insulating container (4) is detected by the photoelectric sensor (26), and the heat insulating container (4) is arranged in the liquid carbon dioxide introduction path (8) to the nozzle (7) of the snow horn (3) where it exists. The flow path opening / closing valve (9) is opened for a certain period of time, liquid carbon dioxide is ejected into the snow horn (3) to generate dry ice snow, and the dry ice snow is lowered into the heat insulating container (4). By accumulating,
Fill the insulated container (4) with dry ice snow.

When the jetting of the liquid carbon dioxide at the snow horn (3) is stopped, the stopper (10) arranged in the processing means transfer means (5a) is retracted from the transfer surface, and the heat insulating container filled with dry ice snow ( 4) is carried out, and the stopper (11) arranged between the carry-in conveyor (5b) and the processing section carrying means (5a) is withdrawn from the carrying surface to carry in the next heat insulating container (4) to a predetermined position. To do.

During this work, the exhaust fan (17) is continuously operated, and the carbon dioxide gas which has not become snow is sucked out from the exhaust duct (15), and the carbon dioxide gas leaks to the outside of the casing (1). To prevent the work environment from being deteriorated. This discharge duct (15) has a flow control valve (1
Since 6) is installed, the amount of exhaust gas is adjusted according to the required amount of snow supply that varies depending on the season, and the introduction of waste air into the casing is regulated. Also the casing
The gas vaporized in the gas-liquid separator (2) arranged in (1) is stored in the vaporized gas discharge pipe (18) when the amount of storage in the gas-liquid separator (2) reaches a certain amount. The arranged on-off valve (21) for discharge is opened to discharge the vaporized gas in the gas-liquid separator (2) into the casing (1).

Further, since the baffle plates (28) and (29) are vertically arranged on the inner surface of the transparent monitoring window (25) formed in the casing (1), the cold carbon dioxide gas in the casing (1) is Cooling of the transparent monitoring window (25) by contact with the transparent monitoring window (25) is suppressed to prevent dew condensation or icing on the outer surface of the transparent monitoring window (25). Further, since the transparent monitoring window (25) has a window hole (27) penetrating therethrough corresponding to the beam axis of the photoelectric sensor (26), it is possible that the transparent monitoring window (25) is temporarily iced. Even if there is, there is no condensate in the path of the beam axis of the photoelectric sensor (26).
There is no false detection of (4).

When the dry ice snow filling work is stopped for a certain period of time and then restarted, liquid carbon dioxide is vaporized in the liquefied carbon dioxide supply passage (19), and the vaporized gas is liquefied carbon dioxide supply passage (19). ), But before the operation is restarted, the opening / closing valve (22) for discharge, which is arranged in the vaporized gas discharge pipe (20) derived from the liquefied carbon dioxide supply path (19), is opened to open the liquefied carbon dioxide. Since the vaporized gas accumulated in the supply path (19) is discharged into the casing (1) and the air in the casing (1) is purged with the vaporized gas, the casing
When liquefied carbon dioxide is injected into the inside of (1), it is possible to prevent water contained in the air from freezing and to prevent dew condensation on the flow path opening / closing valve (9).

In addition, the carry-in port (12) and the carry-out port (13) of the heat insulating container (4) opened in the casing (1) are set to have a minimum opening area, and the carry-in port is not loaded during operation. Mouth (12)
Since the next adiabatic container (4) is in a rushed state, the inflow of air from the carry-in port (12) side is suppressed.

In the above embodiment, the transmission type photoelectric sensor (26) is used, but the photoelectric sensor may be a reflection type.

[0026]

According to the present invention, the gas-liquid separator and the snow horn are vertically arranged in the casing, and the vaporized gas discharge portion is arranged below the conveying means arranged below the snow horn. Since the gas-liquid separator and the snow horn are not exposed to indoor air and heat from the outside can be suppressed from entering the snow horn, dry ice snow can be efficiently generated.

Further, since the flow rate adjusting valve is arranged at the vaporized gas discharge portion, the vaporized gas discharge amount can be controlled to easily cope with the required supply amount of dry ice snow which varies depending on the season, and the casing. A dry carbon dioxide gas atmosphere can be created by the vaporized carbon dioxide gas, and it is possible to prevent icing on the inner wall surface of the casing and various devices.

Further, a transparent monitoring window is arranged on the side wall of the casing located along the transport direction of the heat insulating container so as to correspond to the transport region of the heat insulating container, and corresponds to the position where the snow horn is arranged outside the transparent monitoring window. By arranging the photoelectric sensor and the slanted baffle plate facing diagonally downward on the inner surface of this transparent monitoring window, dry ice snow rising in the casing adheres to the transparent monitoring window and cold carbon dioxide gas is generated. It prevents the transparent monitoring window from contacting and cooling, preventing adhesion in the transparent monitoring window, and opening a window hole in the transparent monitoring window at the optical axis corresponding part of the photoelectric sensor. The opaque portion of the solidified matter does not occur in the beam path of the photoelectric sensor, and the detection operation of the heat insulating container can be accurately performed.

Moreover, since the photoelectric sensor is arranged at a predetermined distance from the transparent monitoring window, it is possible to prevent the harmful effect of cooling the photoelectric sensor.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a dry ice snow filling device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical sectional view of a dry ice snow filling device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Casing, 2 ... Gas-liquid separator, 3 ... Snow horn,
4 ... Insulating container, 5 ... Conveying means, 15 ... Vaporized gas discharge part, 16 ... Flow control valve, 24 ... Casing side wall, 25 ... Transparent monitoring window, 26 ... Photoelectric sensor, 27 ... Window hole, 29 ... Inclined baffle plate.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A snow horn (3) and a transfer means (5) for an adiabatic container (4) are vertically arranged in a casing (1), and liquefied carbon dioxide is supplied in the snow horn (3) more than a triple point pressure. In a dry ice snow filling device for filling dry ice snow formed by expanding to a low pressure into a heat insulating container (4) transferred into a casing (1) by a transfer means (5), Gas-liquid separator (2) and snow horn (3) in casing (1)
Are arranged above and below, and the vaporized gas discharge part (15) is arranged below the conveying means (5) arranged below the snow horn (3), and a flow rate adjusting valve is provided at this vaporized gas discharge part (15). (16) is arranged, and a transparent monitoring window (25) is provided on the side wall (24) of the casing (1) located along the transport direction of the heat insulating container (4) so as to correspond to the transport area of the heat insulating container (4). Place this transparent watch window
The photoelectric sensor (26) is laid out from the transparent monitoring window (25) to a predetermined size in correspondence with the position of the snow horn outside (25), and the photoelectric sensor (26) of the transparent monitoring window (25) A window hole (27) is opened in the portion corresponding to the optical axis, and an oblique downward baffle plate (2
A device for filling dry ice snow, characterized in that 9) is arranged so as not to cover the window opening area.