JPH08322528A - Apparatus for treating food container - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide an apparatus for treating a food container, capable of heating or cooling a container (bottle, can, paper container, resin container, etc.) packed with a beverage such as beer, juice, etc., to adjust the temperature of the beverage in the container to a desired temperature or cleaning and/or drying a vessel, container, etc., made of a resin, etc. CONSTITUTION: In an apparatus for treating a food container by spraying a fluid such as warm water, warm air, cold water or cold air to a food container while sending it by a transporting means, small beam parts on which pillar parts, top and bottom beam parts and small beam parts hung between the top beams as the frame of an apparatus box are constituted by using hollow cylindrical members, the interior of each member is used as a flow channel of the fluid and the fluid is jetted from nozzles attached to the small beam parts.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a food container processing apparatus, and more particularly, to a container and / or a container filled with food such as beer and juice (bottle, can, paper container and resin container) by heating or cooling. Alternatively, a device for adjusting the temperature of the food in the container to a desired temperature, or cleaning and / or a resin container or container
Or, it relates to a device for drying.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As a food container processing apparatus (hereinafter, also simply referred to as a processing apparatus), Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 60-19617.
No. 7, No. 62-260635, No. 62-287890.
And Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 4-327119 and the like are known, and these techniques are used as food processing machines that perform processing such as heating, cooling, drying and sterilization of food filled in a container as a food plant. Or used as a container processing machine for performing processing such as cleaning and drying of the container.

As shown in FIG. 5, a conventional processing apparatus includes an apparatus box 1 ', a conveyer conveyor 2 passing through the box 1',
A plurality of nozzles 4 for spraying a fluid onto the container transported by the transport conveyor 2, pipes 5 ′ communicating with the nozzle 4, a reservoir 6 for receiving the liquid sprayed when the fluid is a liquid, a reservoir 6 It is mainly configured by a pump 7 for sending the fluid inside to the nozzle 4 again, a temperature adjusting means (not shown), and the like.

A supporting member and a driving member for the transport conveyor 2,
Since the pipes 5 ', the reservoir 6 and the like are attached to the device box 1' which is the main structure of the food container processing device, the device box 1'is transported in addition to the weight of each of these constituent members. A material and structure having strength that can withstand the weight of the container group and the weight of the fluid, generally a frame structure in which a plurality of thick stainless steel plates are welded (in FIG. 5, the ceiling portion is omitted by being indicated by a dashed line) Have been created).

[0005]

The size of a commonly used food container processing apparatus has a width of 2 m to 5 m (or more), a length of 5 m to 10 m (or more), and a height of 1 m to. Since the length is about 3 m, the conventional technique using the above-mentioned thick stainless steel plate as the material of the device box 1'is not only high in material cost, but also due to its size and weight, carrying-in / manufacturing / installing work to the installation site is difficult. Since it is extremely difficult, it has a drawback that the manufacturing cost is extremely high although the structure of the apparatus box body 1'is simple.

Further, the above-mentioned various pipes 5'are arranged in a complicated manner around the inside and outside of the apparatus box 1 '(this is simplified in FIG. 5, but is actually extremely complicated). ), It has the drawback of poor maintainability.

Further, the apparatus box 1 has a large number of holes for mounting the supporting members of the conveyor belt and holes for passing the pipes, which has the drawback of lowering the strength.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a food container processing apparatus which can reduce the weight and cost of the apparatus box body which is the main structure, simplify various pipes and improve maintainability. To do.

[0009]

The above objects of the present invention are as follows. In a food container processing apparatus for heating or cooling the food container by spraying fluid such as hot water, hot air, cold water, cold air while conveying the food container by a conveying means such as a conveyor belt, a device box body using a hollow rod-shaped member A structure that constructs a beam part bridged between a pillar part, an upper beam part, and an upper beam part, which is the skeleton of the above, and uses the inside of each member as the flow path of the fluid, and blows out the fluid from a nozzle provided in the beam part A food container processing device, characterized in that

[0010] 2. In a food container processing apparatus for cleaning or drying the food container by spraying a fluid such as cleaning water or warm air while conveying the food container by a conveying means such as a conveyor belt, a skeleton of a device box using a hollow rod-shaped member A beam portion that is bridged between a certain pillar portion, an upper beam portion, and an upper beam portion is constructed, the inside of each member is used as the flow path of the fluid, and the fluid is blown out from a nozzle provided in the beam portion. A food container processing device,

3. An intermediate beam portion for supporting a conveyor belt is formed by using a hollow rod-shaped member, the inside beam portion is used as a fluid flow path, and the nozzle which is an outlet of the fluid is directed toward the inside surface of the conveyor belt. 1. The food container processing device according to 1 or 2 above,

4. The fluid is a liquid, a reservoir for recovering the sprayed liquid is disposed below the conveyor belt, the reservoir communicates with a lower portion of a pillar member or a lower beam member, and the liquid recovered in the reservoir The food container processing apparatus according to any one of the above 1 to 3, wherein a pump for sending the liquid to the nozzle of the beam portion is disposed in the middle of the liquid flow path.

5. This is achieved by each of the food container processing devices described in any one of 1 to 4 above, wherein the hollow rod-shaped member is a square pipe.

[0014]

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

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view showing the outline of one embodiment of the food container processing apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a similar longitudinal sectional view, and FIG. 3 is a similar transverse sectional view.

As shown in the figure, the processing device is a device box 1,
A conveyor 2 that passes through the box body 1, a plurality of nozzles 4 that sprays fluid onto a container 3 that is transported by the conveyor 2, pipes 5 that communicate with the nozzle 4, and sprays when the fluid is a liquid. A reservoir 6 for receiving the obtained liquid,
It is mainly configured by a pump 7 for sending the fluid in the reservoir 6 to the nozzle 4 again, a temperature adjusting means (not shown), and the like. In FIG. 2, 8 is a carry-in conveyor for transferring the container 3 conveyed from the pretreatment step such as the food filling step to the conveyer conveyor 2 of the processing apparatus of the present invention, and 9 is temperature-controlled by the processing apparatus of the present invention. It is a carry-out conveyor that transfers the container 3 to the next process such as boxing.

The device box 1 includes a beam portion 1 which is bridged between a column portion 10, an upper beam portion 11, a lower beam portion 12, and an upper beam portion 11/11.
3 has a skeleton, and each member is a hollow rod-shaped member. The hollow rod-shaped member has various shapes such as a polygonal shape, a circular shape, an elliptical shape, and a semi-cylindrical cross section, and examples of the material thereof include stainless steel, resin, carbon steel, non-ferrous steel and the like, but the most preferable. Is a stainless steel square pipe. In the present invention, since the device box body 1 is constructed by the skeleton structure composed of these hollow rod-shaped members and the strength is secured, compared with the conventional technique in which a plurality of thick stainless steel plates are configured in a frame shape, The weight can be significantly reduced, and the materials can be arranged, obtained, transported, and processed very easily, so that the cost can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, for convenience of explanation, the upper beam portion 1
1 and the lower beam portion 12 are each simplified to have a double structure, but as described above, the size of a generally used processing apparatus of this type is 2 m to 5 m (or more) in width and long. Since the height is about 5 m to 10 m (or more) and the height is about 1 m to 3 m, the upper beam portion 11 and the lower beam portion 12 may be appropriately added to the intermediate portion according to their size and required strength. Needless to say. Also, the beam portion 1
The same applies to other skeletal members such as 3 and intermediate beam portions 14 and 16 described later.

The respective members constituting the skeleton of the apparatus box body 1 are welded and connected in a communicating state so that the inside of each member serves as a fluid passage. The fluid that has passed through the inside of each member is blown out from the nozzle 4 provided in the beam portion 13 and is blown to the container 3, so that the container 3 and the food filled in the container 3 can be adjusted to a desired temperature. it can. Since the flow path of the fluid is inside each member constituting the skeleton, maintenance is extremely easy as compared with the conventional technique in which various kinds of piping 5'complexes around and inside the apparatus box 1 '. is there.

The fluid to be sprayed is hot water or steam when returning beer or the like that has been cold-filled to room temperature or heat sterilization, or cold water when juice or coffee or the like that has been hot-filled is returned to room temperature. When cleaning the inside of the processing apparatus, it is cleaning water. The nozzle 4 can be replaced according to the type of fluid and the state of ejection (fog, shower, etc.).

In the present embodiment, as the fluid temperature adjusting means, various well-known temperature adjusting means used in this type of processing apparatus can be adopted, and the description thereof will be omitted. It can also be used when chemical treatment is performed by spraying an arbitrary chemical. Furthermore, by dividing or branching the flow path into two or more systems, it is possible to perform spraying with two or more types of fluid.

The device box 1 having the above-mentioned skeletal structure is
In order to form a closed structure, a panel member serving as a side plate is mounted between the pillar portions 10, and a panel member serving as a top plate is mounted between the upper beam portion 11 and the beam portion 13. As the side plate and the top plate,
A panel panel made of stainless steel with a heat insulating material inserted is used. In addition, unlike the conventional processing apparatus, the side plate and the top plate do not need to bear the load of each component such as the water pipe 5 and the conveyor 2, so that the thickness can be reduced. It can also be formed of a lightweight resin or the like. By forming it with a lightweight material, not only the weight of the processing device can be reduced, but also the top plate and side plates can be removed very easily, which makes cleaning of the inside and repair / inspection work of the conveyor 2 extremely easy. , Maintainability becomes good. Further, it is possible to maintain the internal temperature by using a composite panel in which a heat insulating material is inserted as described above, or by using a material having a heat insulating effect as the material itself of the panel member, instead of a mere resin panel member. Therefore, the heating or cooling effect by the fluid is enhanced and the temperature control is facilitated.

As the method of the conveyer conveyor 2, a known method used in this type of processing apparatus such as a slat conveyer or a belt conveyer can be used according to the condition of the container to be conveyed (shape and size, whether it is a single piece conveyance or a cased conveyance. Etc.) is adopted as appropriate. In FIG. 2, 20 is a conveyor belt, 21
Is a floating roller, 22 is a drive roller driven by a drive source (not shown), and 23 is a support roller group. Floating roller 2
1. The drive roller 22 has the pillar portion 10 at both ends thereof.
-Supported by 10 and an intermediate beam portion (not shown) spanning the column portion 10. The support roller group 23 is supported below the conveyor belt 20 by the intermediate beam portion 14 bridged between the pillar portions 10.

The reservoir 6 is for recovering the sprayed liquid when the fluid is a liquid.
The fluid received in 1 is sent to the beam portion 13 through the inside of each member from the lower portion of the column portion 10 communicating with the reservoir 6 or the lower beam portion 12 by the operation of the pump 7 disposed in the middle of the flow path. ,
It is sprayed again onto the container 3 from the nozzle 4 of the beam portion 13. The storage tank 6 is formed of a general material used in this type of storage tank, such as stainless steel, and is attached to the lower beam portion 12 by a fixing means such as welding at the bottom surface or the lower side surface thereof. The fluid accumulated in the reservoir 6 is discharged to the outside through a discharge pipe 15 which is formed on the bottom surface or the lower side surface and communicates with the lower beam portion 12. On the bottom surface of the reservoir 6, a downward slope is formed in the direction of the discharge pipe 15, that is, in the left direction in FIG. 3, in order to discharge the entire amount of fluid quickly and reliably.

In the present invention, the food container 3 can be adjusted to a desired temperature by spraying a fluid such as hot water or cold water as described above, but the wash water is blown out from the nozzle 4 by using the wash water as the fluid. As a result, the inside of the processing device can be cleaned. The upper surface of the conveyor belt 20 of the conveyor 2 can be cleaned by blowing out the cleaning water from the normal nozzle 4 sprayed on the container 3. Further, the lower surface of the top plate of the apparatus box body 1 can be cleaned by arranging a part of the nozzle 4 upward or by disposing a nozzle directed upward in advance. Furthermore, FIG.
As shown in FIG.
A hollow rod-shaped member (which is connected to the column portion 10 at both ends) is used to make the inside of the intermediate beam portion 16 a fluid passage, and the nozzle 4 ′, which is an outlet of the fluid, on the inner surface of the conveyor belt 20. By providing the intermediate beam portion 16 toward the conveyor belt 20, it is difficult to perform cleaning and dirt easily accumulates.
The inner surface of the can be washed. Furthermore, the intermediate beam portion 1 that supports the support roller group 23 of the conveyor belt 20.
Similarly to the intermediate beam portion 16, 4 is also made of a hollow rod-shaped member, and the reservoir 4 can be washed by providing the nozzle 4 ″.

[0026]

According to the present invention, the apparatus box body, which is the main structure, is constructed by the skeleton structure composed of the hollow rod-shaped members, and the inside of the skeleton structure is the fluid flow path.
It is possible to achieve weight reduction and cost reduction, and by making the fluid flow path inside each member that constitutes the skeleton,
Since various pipes are simplified, it has an effect that maintenance is extremely easy.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory perspective view schematically showing an embodiment of a food container processing device according to the present invention.

[FIG. 2] Similarly, a vertical sectional view

[FIG. 3] Similarly, a transverse cross-sectional view

FIG. 4 is a partial explanatory view showing an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a conventional food container processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Equipment Box 2 Conveyor 3 Container 4 Nozzle 5 Piping 6 Reservoir 7 Pump 8 Carry-in Conveyor 9 Carry-out Conveyor 10 Pillar 11 Upper Beam 12 Lower Beam 13 Small Beam 14 Intermediate Beam 15 Discharge Pipe 16 Intermediate Beam 20 Conveyor Belt 21 Floating Roller 22 Drive Roller 23 Support Roller Group

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A food container processing apparatus for heating or cooling the food container by spraying fluid such as hot water, hot air, cold water, cold air while conveying the food container by a conveying means such as a conveyor belt. Using the column part, which is the skeleton of the device box, the upper and lower beam parts, and the beam part bridged between the upper beam parts, the inside of each member is used as the flow path of the fluid, and from the nozzle provided in the beam part A food container processing device characterized in that the fluid is blown out. 2. A food container treating apparatus for cleaning or drying the food container by spraying a fluid such as washing water or warm air while the food container is conveyed by a conveying means such as a conveyor belt. A column part, which is the skeleton of the box, a vertical beam part, and a beam part bridged between the upper beam parts are constructed, and the inside of each member is used as the flow path of the fluid, and the fluid is supplied from a nozzle provided in the beam part. A food container processing device characterized by being blown out. 3. A hollow rod-shaped member is used to form an intermediate beam portion for supporting a conveyor belt, and the inside of the intermediate beam portion serves as a flow path for a fluid, and a nozzle serving as an outlet for the fluid is directed to an inner surface of the conveyor belt. 3. The food container processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the food container processing apparatus is provided on the intermediate beam portion. 4. The liquid is a liquid, and a reservoir for collecting the sprayed liquid is disposed below the conveyor belt, and the reservoir communicates with a lower portion of a pillar member or a lower beam member. 4. The food container processing device according to claim 1, wherein a pump for sending the liquid recovered in step 1 to the nozzle of the beam portion is provided in the middle of the liquid flow path. 5. The food container processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hollow rod-shaped member is a square pipe.