JPH08267296A - Treatment of dry process high pressure treatment and device for treatment therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To lessen axial force and to improve productivity at the time of subjecting a work to a pressurization treatment with an isotropic pressure in the treatment chamber of a high-pressure cylinder. CONSTITUTION: The work 12 is housed into the cavity 11 of a housing device 9 which has the cavity 11 for housing the work 12 and is capable of carrying the reaction in an axial direction at the time of a pressurization treatment, on the outside of the high-pressure cylinder 1. The housing body 9 is pressed into the high-pressure cylinder 1 by the movement of the high-pressure cylinder 1 to the axial direction in such a manner that the work 12 comes into surface- to-surface contact with a flexible partition body 2 or 2' in the diametral direction of the high-pressure cylinder 1. The housing body 9 carries the axial direction reaction by itself and is held immobile to the axial direction at the time of subjecting the work 12 to the pressurization treatment by the isotropic pressure via the flexible partition body 2 or 2'.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a dry high-pressure processing method and processing apparatus for foods, medicines, etc., and is used for sterilization, sterilization, enzyme elimination, protein denaturation, etc. of foods.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Most of the sterilization treatments of foods and the like have been carried out by heating. However, in this heating method, heat denaturation and thermal decomposition of the contents occur, which may impair the natural flavor and color tone of the foods. Recently, a technique using pressure treatment instead of heating has been attracting attention, and among them, there are techniques disclosed in JP-A-5-23118 and JP-A-3-43983.

[0003]

Although the techniques disclosed in the above publications are useful, each of the axial forces generated during the pressure treatment is carried by the window frame-shaped press frame. There was such a problem. : Equipment weight increases.

All of them are large structures, and it is indispensable to move the press frame or the high-pressure cylinder, which require high assembly precision with each other, and the large weight makes the workability and productivity poor. Was there. : When the object to be processed is charged into the high-pressure cylinder, the object to be processed is handled directly, so if the object to be processed is an irregular shape (most foods such as foods and retort foods have this form), the processing chamber The workability was poor, such as taking in and transferring to the next process.

In view of the above, the present invention makes it possible to carry an axial force at the time of pressurizing processing by a storage body for a processing object to be inserted into and taken out from a high-pressure cylinder, thereby eliminating the need for a pressing frame and, if necessary, a small and lightweight pressing frame. It is an object of the present invention to provide a high-pressure processing method and apparatus which have high workability and high productivity.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a method of pressurizing an object 12 to be processed with isotropic pressure in a high pressure cylinder 1 through a flexible partition wall 2 or 2 ', which is described above. The following technical measures are taken to achieve the purpose. That is, the method of the present invention according to claim 1 is characterized in that the high pressure is applied to the cavity 11 of the container 9 having the cavity 11 for accommodating the object 12 to be processed and capable of carrying an axial reaction force at the time of pressure treatment. The object 12 to be processed is housed outside the cylinder 1, and the object 12 to be processed is moved in the axial direction of the high-pressure cylinder 1 so as to come into contact with the flexible partition wall 2 or 2 ′ in the radial direction of the high-pressure cylinder 1. When the container 9 is pushed into the high-pressure cylinder 1 and then the object 12 to be processed is subjected to isotropic pressure through the flexible partition wall 2 or 2 ′, the container 9 is self-aligned. It is characterized in that it carries a directional reaction force and is immobile in the axial direction.

The apparatus of the present invention according to claim 2 has a cavity 11 for accommodating the object 12 to be treated, and an accommodating body 9 capable of carrying an axial reaction force at the time of pressure treatment, and the accommodating body. And a handling means 10 for inserting / removing 9 into / from the high-pressure cylinder 1 through relative movement in the axial direction.
The object to be treated 12 housed in the cavity 11 is in radial contact with the flexible partition wall 2 or 2'when the housing 9 is inserted into the high-pressure cylinder 1. Is.

It should be noted that a plurality of cavities 11 can be independently provided in one container 9, and the cavities 11 can be arranged in parallel in the axial direction of one high-pressure cylinder 1 so as to accompany them. it can. Further, spacers (4) and (5) forming the storage body (9) or the processing chamber (8).
(6) and (7) may be provided with heating / cooling means.

[0009]

According to the present invention, the cavity 11 of the container 9 is
In addition, the object to be treated 12 sealed in the flexible container 12A is housed outside the high-pressure cylinder 1, and the container 9 is inserted into the processing chamber 8 of the high-pressure cylinder 1 via the handling means 10 by relative movement. To do. In this inserted state, the object to be treated 12 is in surface contact with the flexible partition wall body 2 or 2'inside and outside in the radial direction, and a pressure medium such as water is applied from the radially outer position of the flexible partition wall body 2 or 2 '. By supplying under pressure, the object to be processed 12 is pressure-processed by isotropic pressure according to the principle of Pascal via the flexible partition wall 2 or 2 '.

At the time of this pressure treatment, the axial force is stored in the storage body 9.
However, the storage body 9 is axially immovable and the press frame 13 and the like are not required.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In FIGS. 1 and 2 showing a first embodiment, a high pressure cylinder 1 having a processing chamber having an inner diameter D is a cylindrical shape. In this embodiment, the shaft center is horizontal and is installed laterally via a mount or the like (not shown).

Inside the processing chamber of the high-pressure cylinder 1, a cylindrical flexible partition wall 2 having an inner diameter d and having seal flanges 2A at both ends is fitted and inserted into the high-pressure cylinder 1. It is axially positioned by an annular lid 3 provided by bolting, screwing or the like. Inside the flexible partition wall 2, the flexible partition wall 2 ′, the lower spacer 5 and the left and right spacers 6, 7 which are each divided into segments are fitted and shaped to form a substantially rectangular shape. Processing chamber 8 is formed so as to penetrate the high-pressure cylinder 1 in the axial direction.

A storage body 9 can be inserted into and taken out from the processing chamber 8 by a handling means 10, which is exemplified by a roller table in this embodiment, through the axial movement of the high-pressure cylinder 1. In this embodiment, two cavities 11 each having a rectangular cross section of a and b are formed in the axial direction, and the opening edges of the cavities 11 are face-to-face (face-to-face or face-to-face) with the flexible partition 2'in the radial direction. Facing each other).

An object to be processed 12 is housed outside the high-pressure cylinder 1 in the cavity 11 of the container 9, and the object to be processed 12 is brought into surface contact with the flexible partition wall 2'inside and outside in the radial direction by the handling means 10. The container 9 is inserted into the processing chamber 8 and then a pressure medium such as water is pressurized and supplied from the port 1A formed in the high-pressure cylinder 1, so that the flexible partition walls 2 and 2'are provided in this embodiment. Through this, the object to be processed 12 is pressure-processed by isotropic pressure.

Here, the axial force generated during the pressurizing process, assuming that the pressure is P, is the axial force (a) generated on the object 12 to be processed.
Xb × P) is supported by the storage body 9 itself, and the storage body 9 becomes immovable in the axial direction due to the action and reaction.
On the other hand, the axial force (π / 4 (D ² −
As for d ² ) × P), the high pressure cylinder 1 may carry it through the annular lid 3, and the axial force acting on the flexible partition wall body 2 ′ may be carried by the window frame-shaped press frame 13. Since the axial force is small, the press frame 13 can be made lightweight and small.

Needless to say, the press frame 13 is vertically movable relative to the high-pressure cylinder 1 and can be engaged and disengaged. 3 to 8 show a second embodiment of the present invention. In the first embodiment described above, the pressure applied through the flexible partition wall 2 is indirect via the flexible partition wall 2 '. On the other hand, in the second embodiment, the flat partition wall 2 is attached to the inner surface of the upper spacer 4, and the pressure medium is supplied under pressure from the port 4A formed in the upper spacer 4. Is.

Regarding the object to be processed 12, the first
In 2 examples and other examples described below, in the case of a liquid food or a drug solution, it is sealed in a flexible container 12A, or a solid 12B is surrounded by a liquid 12C and sealed in a flexible container 12A. Cavity 1 with things and viscoelastic body
Items stored in 1 can be used. In the second embodiment, since the axial force does not act during the pressure treatment, the press frame 13 can be omitted.

The pressure medium supply / discharge means 14 is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the check valve 14B is provided in the discharge passage of the pressurizing pump 14A, and the throttle valve 14B is provided upstream of the valve 14B.
It is possible to employ a circuit having a return path having C and the opening / closing valve 14D. 9 and 10 show a third embodiment of the present invention.
4 shows a fourth embodiment, which is an improvement of the shape of the cylindrical flexible partition wall body 2 in the above-mentioned first embodiment,
In either case, the axial force acting on the press frame 13 can be significantly reduced so that the frame 13 can be omitted. Since other configurations are common to the first embodiment, common parts are designated by common reference numerals. There is.

First, in the third embodiment shown in FIG. 9, the flexible partition wall 2 has a sectional shape of 3/4 circle, and in the fourth embodiment shown in FIG. It has a bag shape, and in the fourth embodiment, it is desirable to attach a cap 15 as a port. FIG. 11 shows a fifth embodiment of the present invention, in which two storage bodies 9 are connected to one high-pressure cylinder 1 by a rod 16 and one storage body 9 is used for processing. With respect to the storage body 9, it is possible to store the processing target body 12 for the next processing, transfer the processed processing body to the next process, or the like, and it is expected that the efficiency will be further improved. Can be shared with the above-described first to fourth embodiments.

12 to 14 show a sixth embodiment of the present invention, in which a press frame 13 which can be moved up and down by a telescopic cylinder 17 is provided with a wedge portion 13A which is taper-engaged with an end portion of a storage body 9. It is possible to perform higher pressure processing by integrating by so-called tag action at the time of pressurization. In each of the above embodiments, the high pressure cylinder 1 is of the horizontal type, but it may be of the vertical type.

[0021] However, in the case of the horizontal type, the workability is more remarkably improved, and it is particularly advantageous for food processing from the viewpoint of the building. In addition, a heating or cooling means (for example, a passage or a jacket is formed and a heat medium (steam or the like), a refrigerant is introduced therein or a heater is provided inside the housing 9 or the spacers 4, 5, 6, 7). Etc.) enables efficient and highly accurate heating / cooling or heat retention / cooling.

Further, by making the storage body 9 have a plurality of or a plurality of lengths, it is possible to carry out the storage / removal of the object to be processed and the pressurizing process in parallel at the same time. Loss time) can be eliminated to improve productivity. Further, although one cavity 11 may be formed in the storage body 9, by forming a plurality of cavities 11, the shapes thereof can be made different from each other, and it is possible to deal with objects having different shapes and different sizes. It will be easy.

[0023]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, even if the press frame is omitted or required, it can be made small and lightweight, so that workability and productivity can be improved, and the object to be processed can be stored in a container. It allows handling in the stored state, greatly improves workability, and does not depend on the form of the object to be processed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a transverse sectional view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention before pressure treatment.

4 is a sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional view of the same when the object to be processed is inserted.

6 is a sectional view taken along line 6-6 of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a vertical sectional view during the pressurizing process.

8 is a sectional view taken along line 8-8 of FIG.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view showing a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a vertical sectional view showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a vertical sectional view showing a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a plan view of the same.

14 is a sectional view taken along line 14-14 of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 High-pressure cylinder 2 Flexible partition wall body 9 Storage body 10 Handling means 11 Cavity 12 Object to be treated

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method of pressurizing an object to be processed (12) with isotropic pressure through a flexible partition wall (2) or (2 ′) in a high-pressure cylinder (1), comprising: Outside the high-pressure cylinder (1), the cavity (11) of the storage body (9) having the cavity (11) for accommodating the processed material (12) and capable of carrying the axial reaction force at the time of pressure treatment is provided. The article to be treated (12) is stored, and the article to be treated (12) is the flexible partition wall (2) or (2 ′).
The housing (9) is pushed into the high-pressure cylinder (1) by axially moving the high-pressure cylinder (1) so as to come into contact with the high-pressure cylinder (1) in the radial direction, and then the flexible partition wall ( 2) or (2 ') through (1)
The dry high-pressure processing method, wherein the container (9) carries an axial reaction force by itself to be immovable in the axial direction when the pressure treatment of (2) is carried out by isotropic pressure. 2. A device for pressurizing an object to be processed (12) with isotropic pressure through a flexible partition (2) or (2 ') in a high pressure cylinder (1), An accommodating body (9) having a cavity (11) for accommodating an object to be treated (12) and capable of carrying an axial reaction force at the time of pressure treatment, and the accommodating body (9) in the high pressure cylinder (1). And a handling means (10) for inserting / removing it through relative movement in the axial direction, the cavity (1) when the container (9) is inserted into the high pressure cylinder (1).
The dry high-pressure processing apparatus, wherein the object to be treated (12) housed in 1) is in radial contact with the flexible partition wall body (2) or (2 '). 3. A plurality of cavities (11) are independently provided in one container (9).
The described device. 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein a storage body (9) is provided in parallel with one high-pressure cylinder (1) in an axial direction so as to be able to accompany it. 5. The container (9) or the processing chamber (8)
3. The spacers (4), (5), (6), (7) forming the structure are provided with heating / cooling means.
The device according to any one of to 4.