JPH08282789A - Aseptic container mold-filling method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a method and an apparatus for filling liquid in a thermoplastic resin bottle while contamination by microorganisms and entry of oxygen is prevented. CONSTITUTION: After a molding parison 5 is cleaned, sterilized and dried, it is inserted into a metal mold 71 with a body softened by heat to have the body extended by a push rod, while at the same time liquefied inert gas is dripped into a container during carrying of the container blow-molded by clean inert gas. Then after liquid is filled by a filling machine 92, a capping machine 96 is used to seal the container with a cap, wherein a path from an exit of a blow-molding machine to the capping machine is surrounded by an aseptic chamber 101.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention is for cleaning molding parison,
The present invention relates to an aseptic container forming / filling method and device for filling a liquid such as a beverage into a container that has been blow-molded in an atmosphere without oxygen after sterilization.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional example will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 9 is a plan view showing a blow molding and filling method of a conventional aseptic container, FIG. 10 is a parison diagram of the conventional example, and FIG. 11 is a view showing a blow molding state of the conventional parison by the conventional method. When a beverage is filled in a thermosoftening resin container, for example, a blow molding container such as PET, PE, PP, etc., after sterilizing the molded container, the sterilizing liquid is removed, and the container is washed with clean water, and then the beverage. Although the conventional method is to fill and seal the container, a large and expensive cleaning facility is required for sterilizing the container after molding, removing the sterilizing liquid, and cleaning with clean water.

In a heat-resistant container such as a PET bottle, after rinsing the inside of the container using simple equipment, the beverage is hot-filled, immediately sealed, and maintained at a high temperature for sterilization. However, in this case, heat treatment is required after blow molding in order to make the container heat resistant, and in some cases it is necessary to increase the wall thickness to suppress deformation due to heat. . In addition, depending on the type of beverage, the flavor may be separated and dispersed or deteriorated due to the high temperature, resulting in deterioration of taste.

As a method for molding and filling an aseptic container for coping with such problems, a molding and filling facility using PET as shown in FIG. 9 is adopted, and in the sterilization step 1,
The preform 5 (parison) 5 shown in FIG.
The sterilizing liquid adhered to the parison 5 is removed by sterilizing with the sterilizing liquid while sending the parison 5 to the heater zone 16
In the drawing blow / filling step 2, as shown in FIG. 11, the parison 5 is heated to an appropriate drawing temperature by the mold 21,
After mounting on the valve 22, the valves V ₂ and V ₃ are closed, and the valve V
₁ is opened and aseptic pressurized gas 37 is blown into it for blow molding, then valve V ₁ is closed and valves V ₂ and V ₃ are opened.

Next, the blow-molded container 23 is filled with the filling liquid 27 in the liquid tank 40, the mold is opened, and the filled container 23 is sent to the next capping step 3 for capping. A method of continuously performing these steps has been introduced (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-44902). Also, a method of filling the liquid after removing the container from the mold is disclosed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-290226). These facilities are placed in a sterile room where the entire process from the sterilization process of the parison to the capping process is positively pressurized with sterile air. Since this apparatus keeps the aseptic condition at room temperature filling to prevent the taste of the beverage from being deteriorated and sterilizes between small parisons, the sterilization and cleaning equipment becomes small. Further, since the filling is performed at the same time as the blow molding, the facility is small and the installation area is small.

[0006]

In the conventional equipment, the blow molding unit and the filling valve are integrated, and the mold for blow molding also serves as the container holder of the filling device, which complicates the structure. In addition, since this device continuously performs the blow molding process and the filling process while the operating portion rotates about 2/3,
Since the process time becomes long, the production capacity must be reduced, or in order to increase the capacity, it is necessary to prepare a large number of blow molding dies with high accuracy and high manufacturing cost. In addition, the equipment cost is high.
Further, since the entire equipment is a sterile room, it is difficult to inspect and maintain the mechanical equipment.

Further, in the equipment of the conventional example, there is no consideration for reducing the oxygen content in the beverage at the time of filling, and there is a risk that some beverages may deteriorate during the product storage period to deteriorate the taste. Furthermore, after blow molding, if the product liquid is filled with the container in a hot state, the product liquid will be deteriorated by heat, and if the time for cooling is reduced, the operating rate will decrease, and if a cooling device is used, the cost will be high. there were.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and a device for filling and sealing a liquid by preventing contamination of microorganisms and infiltration of oxygen in a thermoplastic resin bottle.

[0009]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an aseptic container molding and filling method, in which the molding parison 5 is washed, sterilized and dried, and then the body of the parison is heated to a softening temperature, and then the parison is heated. The container 75 is inserted into the mold 71, the body is extended by the push rod 82, and at the same time, a clean inert gas is blown into the container 75 to mold the container 75 by the blow molding machine 70. Has a container washing, sterilizing, molding, and filling step of filling the liquid into the container, then filling the liquid with the filling machine 92, and sealing the container with a clean cap with the capping machine 96. From the outlet of the blow molding machine. Surround the capping machine with a sterile room 101,
The inside of the container is sterilized, and at the same time, the infiltration of oxygen into the filling liquid is prevented at the time of filling.

The aseptic container molding and filling device according to the second invention is
In the container molding and filling line, the conveying conveyor 52 that continuously sends the molding parison 5 at equal intervals and the parison that moves on the conveying conveyor are washed with washing water, and the washed container is sterilized by sterilizing means, and sterilized. A sterilization chamber 57 for drying the subsequent container with warm air, a heating means 62 for heating the body part of the molding parison sent by the transport conveyor to a softening temperature, and receiving the parison from the heating means and receiving it. It is inserted into a mold 71 that can be opened and closed, blows clean inert gas to form a container by blow molding, and then opens the mold and releases the container. A blow molding machine 70 and a container for receiving the container from the blow molding machine. , A liquefied inert gas dropping device 77 for dropping a liquefied inert gas into each container being transported to the next step, and a liquid filling machine 92 for filling the liquid into the container after the liquefied inert gas is dropped,
A container carrying means 99 for receiving and carrying a filled container from the filling machine, a capping machine 96 for covering the mouth of the filled container from the means with a clean cap and sealing the cap, and an actual container capped by the capping machine. By the carry-out conveyor 99 that receives the container and sends it to the next step, the driving means that drives the above conveyors and the respective functional means devices in synchronization, and the aseptic chamber 101 that surrounds from the outlet of the blow molding machine to the capping machine. It is characterized in that aseptic containers can be molded and filled by being configured.

[0011]

The molding parisons that have been molded and sent from another factory are arranged in a line and supplied to the parison conveyor. The molding parison passes through the steps of washing, sterilization, and drying while being conveyed, and the sterilized parison is heated in the heating means of the next step to the softening temperature of the body during movement of the parison,
While maintaining that temperature, insert into the mold of the blow molding machine.
During the transportation of the parison after the sterilization and before the insertion into the mold, the outside of the parison is held and nothing is touched inside the parison.

In a blow molding machine, a clean inert gas is blown into the container to mold the container by the blow molding method.

After this step, the liquefied inert gas was dropped into the container on the hanging conveyor for conveying the molded container, and oxygen in the air slightly invaded was delivered to the filling machine in the next step, and the same filling machine was used. Fill with liquid and seal the container with a clean cap in a capping machine.

Further, the equipment from the blow molding machine outlet to the capping machine is surrounded by a sterile room to prevent the equipment and the container from being contaminated. All the above conveyors and functional equipment are operated in synchronization. As described above, this aseptic container molding and filling method and equipment can be filled with a liquid while keeping the inside of the container in an aseptic and oxygen-free state, so that a beverage or the like that does not contain carbon dioxide gas is filled at room temperature under atmospheric pressure. However, there is no risk of the flavor changing or the taste changing.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A first embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a layout view of an aseptic container molding and filling apparatus for PET bottles for filling cold-filled beverages according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a view taken along arrow A of the washing, sterilizing and drying step in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a heating parison in FIG. View of the turn conveyor of B,
FIG. 4 is a view of the container suspending conveyor in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a view showing the attachment part and the parison of the parison conveyor 52 in FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is a side view corresponding to FIG. 5, and FIGS. 7 and 8 are views showing the molding action in the mold of the blow molding machine. .

Further, the first embodiment is N as an inert gas because it is inexpensive, has a liquefaction temperature, and does not adversely affect the product.
_Two gases are used, but when filling a carbonated beverage, carbon dioxide may be used or other inert gas that does not adversely affect the product may be used.

PET molded and sent at another factory
The parison 5 for bottle molding is lined up in a line by a not-shown parison feeder and fed to the parison transport conveyor 52 in an upright state with the opening side 5a of the parison facing upward. As shown in FIG. 5, the parison 5 has attachment parts 53 and 53b of the conveyor 52.
The collar portion 5d of the parison is sandwiched between and, and the body portion 5b of the parison is supported by the attachment concave portion 53a.

A guide 54 is provided in a necessary area so that the parison 5 does not come out. Transport conveyor 52
Receives the parison 5 in an upright state, makes a half turn in the longitudinal direction in an inverted state with the opening side 5a facing downward, passes through the sterilizer 57, and continuously sends it at equal intervals, In the sterilizer 57, the parison 5 sequentially moves in the washing chamber 58 to the left and right as shown by the arrow so as to synchronize with the speed and position of the conveyor 52 when moving leftward. Nozzle 58b and upper fixed nozzle 58
Wash with a.

When the parison 5 after cleaning is moved to the left in the sterilization chamber 59, the lower H ₂ O ₂ vapor nozzle 59b which reciprocates left and right so as to be synchronized with the speed and position of the conveyor 52, and the upper part. H ₂ O ₂ with the fixed nozzle 59a
The parison 5 that has been sterilized with steam and sterilized with H ₂ O ₂ is dried in the drying chamber 6
At 0, hot air is dried by the upper and lower hot air nozzles 60a and 60b. The parison 5 that has passed through the sterilizer 57 is transferred to the heating means 62 from the conveyor 52 while being inverted.
Here, H ₂ O ₂ is used as the sterilizing liquid in the embodiment, but ozone, ultraviolet rays or a combination thereof may be used if it does not affect the container, but if it remains, a problematic one is not used. It is necessary.

In the heating means 62, the parison 5 is rotated on its circumference while horizontally rotating while being inverted. Heaters 63 and 64 are fixedly provided on both sides of the circumferential path of the parison 5, and heat the body portion 5b of the parison to the softening temperature. The parison 5 heated by the heating means 62 is delivered to the transport turn conveyor 66, and the parison 5 is turned during transport to turn the opening side 5a upward. The parison 5 holding attachment of the turning conveyor 66 has exactly the same structure and size as the attachment 53 of the conveyor 52 described above.

Further, the turn conveyor 66 is surrounded by a heat insulating wall 67 so that the parison 5 that has been heated at an angle is not cooled, and a heat insulation heater 68 is installed in the enclosure.
The parison 5 whose opening side 5a faces upward is separated from the turning conveyor 66 by a parison guide (not shown), and the mold 71 is divided into two halves of a blow molding machine 70 having a plurality of dies that rotate.
Guided by the central axis of one of the molds, the mold 71 is held tightly closed as shown in FIG. The blow molding machine 70 is driven so that the rotation pitch and position of each mold are synchronized with the position of the parison 5 when the turning conveyor 66 carries and moves.

In the blow molding machine 70, the parison 5 is supported by the mold 71 on its collar 5d, and the packing 8 is inserted from above.
It is pressed airtightly by the pressing member 81 via 3.
First, the push rod 82 guided by the bush 85 of the pressing member 81 projects downward due to the action of the cam 87 fixed to the external member, and the body portion 5b of the parison 5 is indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Then, the parison 5 softened by blowing clean N ₂ gas through a N ₂ gas supply pipe 88 connected to a liquefied N ₂ cylinder (not shown) is expanded to form a container 75.

The bottom mold 72 is closed at the same time when the mold halves 71 are closed. The above-mentioned blow molding is performed while the mold 71 rotates, the molded container 75 is cooled and solidified, and then the mold 71 is opened to release the container 75. The container 75 is a guide and a star wheel (not shown). It is transferred to the hanging conveyor 74 by 73.

A liquefied N ₂ dropping device 77 for dropping liquefied N ₂ into the container 75 is installed in the middle of the conveyor 74. This liquefied N ₂ dropping device 77 is a sensor 8 that detects the container 75 when the container 75 passes a predetermined position.
The 0 signal is composed of a small amount of liquefied N ₂ automatic valve 78 is opened briefly provided in the supply pipe 79 of the liquefied N ₂ to dropping into the container, liquefied N ₂ entering the vessel immediately It functions to vaporize and cool the container 75, and blow out the gas on the upper side of the container 75 from the mouth so that air containing oxygen does not enter the container 75.

The container 75 moves from the suspending conveyor 74, through the star wheel 91, to the filling machine 92, and the filling machine 92.
At the beverage liquid is filled. As the filling machine 92, a commercially available beverage filling machine can be applied. The filled container 75 is delivered from the filling machine 92 to the container conveyor 99 through the star wheel 93. A normal top plate conveyor is used as the container conveyor 99. The filled container 75 moves from the container conveyor 99 to the capping machine 96 via the star wheel 95.

As the capping machine 96, a commercially available product is used, and the mouth of the filled container 75 is covered with a clean cap and sealed. The real container capped by the capping machine 96 is carried out by the star wheel 98 and carried out by the conveyor 99.
It moves to (common to the above-mentioned container conveyor 99) and is sent to the next process. The above-mentioned conveyors and functional means devices other than the carry-out conveyor 99 are all driven by the same common power source (not shown), and are driven in perfect synchronization. The aseptic chamber 101 is enclosed from the outlet of the blow molding machine 70 to the capping machine 96. Aseptic clean air is constantly fed into the aseptic chamber 101 through the air supply pipe 102 to keep the inside of the chamber at a positive pressure to prevent outside air from entering.

The operation of this device will be described. Parisons (preforms) 5 for PET bottle molding, which are molded by an injection molding machine or the like in another factory, are arranged in one row and supplied to the parison carry-out conveyor 52. The parison 5 passes through the sterilizing device 57 while being conveyed upside down on the conveyor 52, and becomes aseptic through the steps of washing, sterilizing and drying, and the aseptic parison 5 moves to the heating means 62 in the next step.

In the heating means 62, the body 5b is heated to the softening temperature while the parison 5 is horizontally rotated while being inverted, and the opening 5a of the parison is turned upward while the temperature is maintained in the turning conveyor 66. Blow molding machine 7
The parison collar 5d is inserted into and inserted into the open mold 71 of 0, and the mold 71 is tightly closed. Mold 7 at this time
1, the bottom mold 72 is closed at the same time. During the transportation of the parison 5 after the sterilization by the sterilizer 57 and before the insertion into the mold 71, the outside of the parison 5 is held and the inside of the parison 5 is held as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. Is not touching anything.

In the blow molding machine 70, the molding machine 70
The body 5b of the parison is extended by the push rod 82 provided in the container, and then clean N ₂ gas is blown into the container to form the container 75 by blow molding. After this step, the liquefied N ₂ dropping device 7 is placed on the transfer suspension conveyor 74 of the molding container 75.
The liquefied N ₂ was dropped into the container by 7 and handed over to the next filling machine 92 while expelling the slightly invading oxygen in the air,
Filling the beverage liquid in the filling machine 92, and capping machine 9
In 6, the container is covered with a clean cap, which is hermetically sealed and sent to the box packing process by the container transport conveyor 99.

Further, the space from the outlet of the blow molding machine 70 to the capping machine 96 is surrounded by the clean room 101 to prevent the empty container, the filled container 75 and the equipment from being contaminated. As described above, this aseptic container molding and filling method and equipment can fill the liquid in the container while keeping the inside of the container in an aseptic and anoxic state, so that the flavor may deteriorate after the beverage is filled, or the taste may change. It is suitable for filling carbonated gas-free beverages at room temperature and atmospheric pressure.

[0031]

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, it has the following effects. Sterilization of preforms in a series of steps,
Blow molding with a clean inert gas and equipment accommodated in a sterile clean room can prevent microbial contamination of the thermoplastic resin bottle. By dropping the liquefied inert gas into the container immediately after molding, cooling of the thermoplastic resin bottle is accelerated. No special cooling device is required, cost is reduced, there is no need to wait for cooling, and there is no deterioration of the liquid due to heat.

By blow molding with a clean inert gas and dropping the liquefied inert gas into the container in the process until filling, the amount of oxygen in the bottle before filling can be reduced, and the deterioration of the product beverage due to oxidation can be prevented. Can be prevented. Since the blow molding device and the filling machine are separate devices, the shape of the container,
It is easy to change the mold for changing the size, it is easy to increase the production capacity, and standard equipment can be used, so the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a layout view of an aseptic container molding / filling apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view on arrow A of the washing, sterilizing and drying step in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view on arrow B of FIG. 1 showing a rotating conveyor of a heating parison.

FIG. 4 is a view of the container suspending conveyor as viewed in the direction of arrow C in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of the attachment part of the parison conveyor and the parison.

FIG. 6 is a side view corresponding to FIG.

FIG. 7 is a view showing an operation of blow molding in a mold of a blow molding machine.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an operation of blow molding in a mold of a blow molding machine.

FIG. 9 is a view showing a conventional aseptic container blow molding and filling method.

FIG. 10 is a diagram of a conventional parison.

FIG. 11 is a view showing a state in which a parison of a conventional example is molded.

[Explanation of symbols]

5 ... Parison, 52 ... Parison conveyor, 57 ... Sterilization chamber, 62 ... Heating means, 62,63 ... Heater, 66 ... Rolling conveyor, 70 ... Blow molding machine, 71 ... Mold, 74 ... Hanging conveyor, 75 ... Container , 77 ... Liquefied N ₂ dropping device,
92 ... Filling machine, 96 ... Capping machine, 99 ... Container conveyor, unloading conveyor, 101 ... Aseptic chamber, 82 ... Push rod,
A, B, C ... Arrows.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code Internal reference number FI Technical display location B65B 55/24 B65B 55/24 B65D 81/20 B65D 81/20 J // B29L 22:00

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A parison (5) for molding is washed, sterilized, and dried, and then the body of the parison is heated to a softening temperature, and then the parison is inserted into a mold (71) and a push rod (82). The body part is extended by means of the above method, and at the same time, a clean inert gas is blown into the container to form the container (75) by the blow molding machine (70), and the liquefied inert gas is dropped into the container during the transportation of the molding container after this step. Next, there is a container washing / sterilization / molding / filling process in which a filling machine (92) is used to fill the liquid, and a capping machine (96) is used to seal the container with a clean cap. A method for forming and filling a sterile container, characterized in that the above is surrounded by a sterile room (101) to sterilize the inside of the container and at the same time prevents the infiltration of oxygen into the filling liquid during filling. 2. In a container molding and filling line, a conveying conveyor (5) for continuously sending molding parisons (5) at equal intervals.
2), a sterilization chamber (57) for washing the parison moving on the same conveyer with washing water, sterilizing the washed container with a sterilizing means, and drying the sterilized container with warm air, and the conveyer. A heating means (62) for heating the body portion of the parison for molding sent to a softening temperature and a parison (71) for receiving the parison from the heating means and inserting the parison into a mold (71) which can be opened and closed to clean a parison. A blow molding machine (70) that blows an active gas to mold the container by blow molding, then opens the mold and releases the container, and each container that is receiving the container from the blow molding machine and is being transported to the next step. A liquefied inert gas dropping device (77) for dropping a liquefied inert gas onto a container, a liquid filling machine (92) for filling a liquid after dropping the liquefied inert gas, and a container already filled by the filling machine. The same as the container carrying means (99) for receiving and carrying Covered with a clean cap to the mouth of the filled container from the capping machine for sealing it (96)
And a carry-out conveyor (99) for receiving the capped full container from the capping machine and sending it to the next step, a drive means for synchronously driving each of the above conveyors and each functional means device, and an outlet of the blow molding machine. An aseptic container forming / filling apparatus, which is configured by an aseptic chamber (101) surrounding the capping machine to enable aseptic container forming / filling.