JPH1019435A - Article cooler - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce using amount of cooling water of potable water or ground water by circulating the cooling water for directly cooling an article in a cooling chamber to reuse it many times, and cooling the water with another factory water via a heat exchanger when the cooling water is raised at its temperature by cooling the article. SOLUTION: An apparatus for water-cooling a bottle 1 charged by liquor at a high temperature by passing the bottle 1 between a tank 6 of a lower part in a cooling chamber 5 and a shower 7 of an upper part in the chamber and circulating cooling water 2 controlled at its temperature of the tank 6 to the shower 7 via a circulating passage 9 to cool the water 2 flowing via a tube of the passage 9 by a heat exchanger 10 using factory water 3 used for cleaning the bottle in the factory separately from the water 2 as refrigerant to save the water by circulating to reuse the water 2, and the water 3 passed through the exchanger 10 is used for an original purpose as warm water.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an article cooling apparatus for water-cooling articles such as bottles, paper containers, plastic containers and the like containing alcoholic beverages such as sake and various seasoning liquids such as noodle soup while saving water.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Sake immediately after being bottled in a factory is about 35 bottles.
There is residual heat of ~ 65 ° C, and in the case of noodle soup, about 40 ~
There is even higher residual heat of 90 ° C. If the temperature is kept high, there is a possibility that quality deterioration due to residual heat may progress while the product is stored in a warehouse and slowly cooled naturally.

Therefore, in some factories, sake bottles and the like are cooled with water in order to minimize such deterioration in quality due to residual heat. So-called fresh water such as the above groundwater is used.

[0004] The deterioration of quality due to residual heat is not limited to sake and seasoning liquids, but can be said to occur in processed foods that are hot immediately after production.

[0005]

Conventional cooling of sake bottles and the like requires a large amount of fresh water since fresh water is used in a disposable manner, and some sake factories cool sake bottles at around 60 ° C. to a set temperature. using cooling water of about 22m ³ / H to a necessary cooling water of approximately 176m ³ per day as 8 hours per day operation, the cooling water is disposed of only a single use .

[0006] When tap water is used for cooling bottles, high water charges must be borne, and groundwater above a certain level cannot be obtained in large quantities everywhere in relation to the factory location.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a water-saving type article cooling apparatus.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention focuses on the fact that water of another system is used for a purpose other than cooling in a process other than a high temperature product cooling process in a factory. While circulating and recycling cooling water for product cooling,
In order to cool the circulating cooling water, the water of the other system is effectively used as a low-temperature cooling medium before being provided for its intended purpose.

That is, an article cooling apparatus according to the present invention is provided below an article conveying path for conveying articles in a substantially horizontal direction, a shower section for jetting cooling water toward the article conveying path, and the article conveying path. A cooling chamber having a tank section for storing the cooling water, a circulation passage for circulating the cooling water of the tank section to a shower section by a pump, and a pipe through which factory water forming a separate system from the cooling water of the cooling chamber flows. A cooling unit coupled to the piping of the circulation passage and configured by a heat exchanger configured to cool the cooling water of the circulation passage with factory water.

The factory water is, for example, wash water such as tap water or groundwater used for bottle cleaning in a bottling factory, or supply water to a boiler. The factory water is used to supply circulating cooling water for cooling products. By cooling, it is possible to save a large amount of cooling water that has been conventionally disposable.

Further, according to the present invention, a plurality of the cooling units can be connected in series in a plurality of stages before and after, and the plurality of cooling units can sequentially cool the articles in a stepwise manner. Here, the article transport paths of each of the plurality of cooling units are connected in series, and articles are continuously transported from the preceding stage to the cooling chamber of the subsequent cooling unit. The cooling water is connected to the tank so as to overflow and flows, and the heat exchangers of the respective cooling units are piped from the latter stage to the former stage heat exchanger so that the factory water flows in series.

In the article cooling apparatus having such a plurality of cooling units, the temperature difference between the article and the cooling water for cooling the article is limited in order to prevent breakage of bottles and the like. For example, it is suitable for cooling articles such as bottles.

Further, the present invention provides an article cooling apparatus in which a plurality of cooling units are connected in series, wherein the cooling chamber of the last cooling unit is provided with the article immediately before exiting the article transport path of the cooling chamber. In addition to injecting the cooling water for replenishment outside the tank, a water refill pipe for replenishing the cooling water for replenishment via a water refilling valve can be installed in the tank of the cooling chamber.

The water supply pipe in this apparatus has a function of injecting replenishing cooling water, which is fresh water outside the tank of the cooling chamber, to the article immediately before exiting from the cooling chamber of the last cooling unit, and a function of washing the article. A function is provided for lowering the temperature of the cooling water in the tank by supplying replenishing cooling water, which is cold water outside the tank, to the cooling water whose temperature has risen by cooling the articles in the room.

Further, according to the present invention, in the article cooling apparatus in which the plurality of cooling units are connected in series, a temperature sensor for detecting the temperature of the cooling water contained in the tank in a desired cooling chamber is provided. A heating means for heating the cooling water in the tank portion is provided, and when the detected water temperature of the temperature sensor becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined upper limit temperature, replenishing cooling water for replenishment is supplied to the tank portion of the forefront cooling chamber via a water supply pipe, When the temperature of the water detected by the temperature sensor falls below the predetermined lower limit temperature, the cooling means heats the cooling water in the tank by the heating means, and controls the temperature of the cooling water in the tank in each cooling chamber within a predetermined allowable range. It is characterized by having done. Here, the heating means is, for example, steam or the like which is jetted into the cooling water in the tank section, and the temperature of the cooling water in each cooling chamber is controlled stepwise by the heating means and the replenishing cooling water. An apparatus suitable for cooling articles, such as bottles, for which cooling is desired.

Further, according to the present invention, in the article cooling apparatus in which a plurality of the cooling units are connected in series, the article is introduced into the cooling chamber of the foremost cooling unit to the article carried in the foremost stage of the article conveying path of the cooling chamber. Drainage means for directly discharging only the cooled water to the outside of the tank of the cooling chamber can be provided. That is, the article carried into the cooling chamber of the first cooling unit is at the highest temperature, and the cooling water injected into this article is heated to the highest temperature by the article, and is transferred to the tank section of the cooling chamber. When it is returned, the temperature of the cooling water in the tank becomes higher, and the heat efficiency when cooling it with the heat exchanger may be deteriorated.In such a case, the high-temperature article carried into the cooling chamber is cooled. By actively discharging the cooling water out of the cooling chamber, it is possible to increase the overall thermal efficiency of the cooling unit. In addition, since the cooling water used in the first stage contains a lot of debris on the surface of the article, the cooling water used in the first stage is drained as it is to maintain the cleanliness of the entire cooling water, which is supposed to be recycled. It is desirable.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS.

The article cooling apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 continuously cools a large number of bottles 1 filled with liquid such as sake at a high temperature to a set temperature with cooling water 2. This article cooling device includes a plurality of, for example, three cooling units 4 (4a, 4b,
4c). Each cooling unit 4a, 4b, 4c
A cooling chamber 5, a circulation passage 9 with a pump 12, and a plate heat exchanger 10 are provided. At the lower part of each cooling chamber 5, a tank part 6 for storing the cooling water 2 is provided, and at the upper part, a shower part 7 for jetting the cooling water 2 downward is provided. An article conveying path 8 that passes is provided.

The article conveying path 8 of each cooling chamber 5 is, for example, a net conveyor 1 as a conveying body that passes through each cooling chamber 5 in series.
1 and moves in a substantially horizontal direction from left to right in FIG. 1 with the bottle 1 standing on the net conveyor 11.
While the bottle 1 is moving, the shower unit 7 of each cooling chamber 5 is added to the bottle 1.
The cooling water 2 is sprayed from the bottle to cool the bottle. Cooling water 2 jetted downward from the shower section 7 of each cooling chamber 5
Drops through the net conveyor 11 from between the bottles 1 to the tank portion 6 of the same cooling chamber 5 and is used again for bottle cooling.

The circulation passages 9 provided one by one in each cooling chamber 5 are provided with the cooling water 2 stored in the tank 6 of the same cooling chamber 5.
Is pumped up to the shower section 7 by the pump 12 and circulated. The shower unit 7 is composed of, for example, a header pipe 13 and a plurality of injection nozzles 14, and the cooling water 2 supplied to the header pipe 13 in the circulation passage 9 is diverted to the plurality of injection nozzles 14 and passes through a bottle below. It is jetted toward 1.

One plate heat exchanger 10 is provided in each cooling chamber 5.
It is installed one by one. Each heat exchanger 10 cools the cooling water 2 of the corresponding cooling chamber 5 by the factory water 3 collected from another route, and includes a first heat transfer passage 17 communicating with the pipe 15 of the circulation passage 9. And a second heat transfer passage 18 communicating with a pipe 16 through which the factory water 3 flows. 3 heat exchangers 1
The second heat transfer passage 18 of 0 is connected in series by one pipe 16, and the factory water 3 flows from right to left in FIG. The factory water 3 is cold water such as bottle washing water or boiler makeup water used in a bottling plant or the like.

The three cooling units 4 are divided into three stages, a front stage, a middle stage, and a rear stage, in order from the upstream side in the article moving direction.
Only in the case of distinguishing the former stage, the middle stage, and the latter stage, the attached symbols are referred to as the former stage cooling unit 4a, the middle stage cooling unit 4b, and the latter stage cooling unit 4c.

A bottle supply unit 20 is provided in the cooling chamber 5 of the first cooling unit 4a. For example, the bottle supply unit 20 arranges the bottles 1 in a row in the cooling chamber 5 as shown in FIG. 2 and randomly supplies the bottles 1 to the net conveyor 11 via a transfer plate (not shown). The bottle 1 supplied to the net conveyor 11 is a sealed glass container filled with high-temperature sake or the like. The cooling chamber 5 of the middle cooling unit 4b includes front and rear cooling units 4a,
4c is integrated with the cooling chamber 5. Rear cooling unit 4c
In the cooling chamber 5, a bottle discharging section 21 is installed. Drainage unit 21
Receives the bottle 1 that has been forcibly cooled and transported to the end of the net conveyor 11 and transports it outside.

The highest water level of the cooling water 2 stored in the tank 6 of each cooling unit 4 is set so as to gradually decrease in the order of the rear stage-middle stage-front stage, and the rear stage cooling unit 4c
Is set so that the cooling water 2 in the tank 6 of the middle cooling unit 4b overflows to the tank 6 of the middle cooling unit 4b, and the cooling water 2 in the tank 6 of the middle cooling unit 4b overflows to the tank 6 of the preceding cooling unit 4a. . The cooling water 2 in the tank 6 of the pre-stage cooling unit 4a is supplied to the cooling chamber 5
It overflows outside and is discharged.

In the cooling chamber 5 of the rear cooling unit 4c, a water supply pipe 22 for supplying cooling water is installed. The water supply pipe 22 is piped to the rearmost injection nozzle 14 ″ of the shower unit 7 of the post-stage cooling unit 4 c and the tank unit 6.
The cooling water 2 ′ for supplying fresh water such as tap water or well water is jetted from the 4 ″. The cooling water 2 ′ supplied from the water supplement pipe 22 to the last jet nozzle 14 ″ is sent from the net conveyor 11 to the bottle discharging section 21. The moving bottle 1 is finally cooled and finish-washed. In addition, surplus replenishing cooling water 2 'is used for header pipe 1
3 to another injection nozzle 14.

The water supply pipe 22 is connected to the tank 6 by the valve 2.
The supply cooling water 2 ′ is supplied through 3. The temperature of the replenishing cooling water 2 ′ flowing through the water refill pipe 22 is determined by the post-stage cooling unit 4.
(c) is set lower than the water temperature of the cooling water 2 in the tank section 6, and the low-temperature replenishing cooling water 2 ′ is replenished to the tank section 6 through the water supplement pipe 22 as necessary, so that the cooling water in the tank section 6 2
Temperature control is performed to lower the temperature of the water. When the cooling water 2 of the rear cooling unit 4c whose water temperature is controlled overflows into the tank 6 of the middle cooling unit 4b, control is performed to lower the water temperature of the cooling water 2 of the middle cooling unit 4b. Control is performed to lower the temperature of the cooling water 2 of the pre-stage cooling unit 4a due to the overflow of the cooling water from the unit 4b to the pre-stage cooling unit 4a.

In order to control the temperature of the cooling water 2 of each cooling unit 4, the following temperature sensor 24 and heating means 25 are installed together with the water supply pipe 22. For example, the pre-stage cooling unit 4
The temperature of the cooling water 2 in the tank section 6 is detected by the temperature sensor 24. If the detected water temperature is equal to or higher than the upper limit set temperature of an allowable range as described later, the valve 23 of the water supply pipe 22 is opened by the motor 26 and When the water temperature detected by the temperature sensor 24 is equal to or lower than the lower limit set temperature of the allowable range, the heating means 25 heats the cooling water 2 to increase the water temperature. Note that the valve 23 may be replaced with another type of automatic valve. The heating means 25 is, for example, a steam pipe. When the valve 27 of the steam pipe is opened by the motor 28, the steam is jetted into the cooling water 2 of the tank section 6 to heat the cooling water 2. Such a temperature sensor 24 and a heating means 25 are also installed in the middle cooling unit 4b as required.

In the cooling chamber 5 of the pre-cooling unit 4a, only the cooling water 2 that has been ejected from the foremost spray nozzle 14 'of the shower section 7 and passed through the bottle 1 is returned to the tank section 6 without returning to the tank section 6. Drainage means 30 for discharging the water is installed as needed. The drainage means 30 is, for example, the net conveyor 11
A pan fixed at the forefront of the lower part, for discharging cooling water having a relatively high temperature and containing a large amount of debris for initial cleaning to the outside of the system. The temperature of the whole water is prevented from rising and the cleanliness is maintained.

The bottle cooling operation of the above embodiment will be described with reference to a temperature graph of the bottle temperature T and the cooling water temperature K in FIG.
The graph in FIG. 3 shows that the bottle 1 supplied from the bottle supply unit 20 to the pre-cooling unit 4a is a bottle of 60 ° C. filled with alcohol at a high temperature. 2
Based on experimental data when discharged to 1.

The temperature T of the bottle 1 and the temperature K of the cooling water 2 (K <K <
If the difference in T) becomes larger than the allowable range, the bottle may be broken. The upper limit of the temperature difference for preventing bottle breakage is about 30 ° C. although there are some variations in the size, shape, and glass thickness of the bottle 1. Therefore, the bottle 1 at 60 ° C.
Cooling water temperature K of the pre-stage cooling unit 4a supplied from 0
a is set to, for example, about 40 ° C., the cooling water temperature Kb of the middle cooling unit 4 is set to about 30 ° C., and the cooling water temperature Kc of the rear cooling unit 4 is set to about 15 ° C. This one
The water temperature of about 5 ° C. is the same as the temperature of the tap water or well water for factory use 3.

When the bottle 1 at 60 ° C. is supplied from the bottle supply section 20 to the cooling chamber 5 of the pre-cooling unit 4 a, the bottle 1 is cooled to about 40 ° C. while passing the bottle 1 directly below the shower section 7 of the cooling chamber 5. The bottle is cooled by spraying the water 2. The cooling water 2 at a temperature of about 40 ° C., which is set in consideration of the breaking of the bottle, is heated by the bottle 1 and falls into the tank 6 by an amount corresponding to the cooling of the bottle 1, and the cooling water temperature Ka of the tank 6 rises. . This rise in water temperature is suppressed by the operation of the heat exchanger 10 of the pre-stage cooling unit 4a,
The cooling water temperature Ka is maintained at around 40 ° C.

Further, when the cooling water temperature Ka of the pre-stage cooling unit 4a cannot be suppressed only by the heat exchanger 10 and rises above a predetermined allowable temperature, the temperature sensor 24 detects this and activates the valve 23 of the water refilling pipe 22. Open and rear cooling unit 4
The cooling water 2 is supplied to the cooling unit 4, and the cooling water temperature Ka is reduced to an allowable range by the cooling water overflow between the cooling units 4.

The cooling water 2 jetted from the frontmost jet nozzle 14 ′ of the pre-cooling unit 4 into the bottle 1 at the highest temperature of 60 ° C. is the hot water heated to the highest temperature in the bottle 1 at 60 ° C. And fall. When such hot water is dropped into the tank 6, the temperature of the cooling water in the tank 6 rises quickly and the cooling efficiency of the bottle may be lowered early. To prevent the liquid from being discharged out of the cooling chamber and dropping into the tank portion 6. By doing so, the rate of increase in the temperature of the cooling water in the tank 6 is reduced, and a decrease in bottle cooling efficiency is suppressed.

The bottle 1 is cooled to about 50.degree. C. by the first cooling unit 4a and moves to the cooling chamber 5 of the middle cooling unit 4b. The bottle 1 at about 50 ° C. is cooled to about 40 ° C. by the cooling water 2 having a cooling water temperature Kb of about 30 ° C. while passing through the cooling chamber 5 of the middle cooling unit 4b. Middle cooling unit 4b
Also in the above, the temperature is controlled such that the cooling water temperature Kb is maintained within the allowable range in the same manner as described above.

The bottle 1 cooled to about 40 ° C. in the middle cooling unit 4 b is then cooled by the cooling water 2 at about 15 ° C. in the latter cooling unit 4 c, and finally the last injection nozzle 14 ″ through the water supply pipe 22. The bottle 1 is cooled down to about 30 ° C. by the post-stage cooling unit 4c and sent to the bottle discharging section 21. By cleaning the bottle 1 with the replenishing cooling water 2 ′ immediately before sending it to the bottle discharging section 21, the problem due to contamination of the cooling water 2 of each cooling unit 4 is cleared.
The circulation reuse of the cooling water 2 becomes practical.

During a series of bottle cooling in each cooling unit 4, factory water 3 at about 15 ° C. is supplied to the heat exchanger 1 of each cooling unit 4.
During the flow from 0 to the middle stage and then to the front stage, the temperature rises stepwise, and finally becomes warm water close to 40 ° C. Factory water 3 is, for example, washing water for cleaning bottles or boiler makeup water.
When used as washing water, it is sent from the last-stage heat exchanger 10 to a bottle washing machine 31 shown by a chain line in FIG. Such warm wash water cleans the bottle more effectively than room temperature wash water. When the factory water 3 is used as boiler makeup water, hot water that has already been heated is supplied to the boiler, so that the boiler can be operated in an energy-saving manner.

The flow rate of the factory water 3 flowing through the heat exchanger 10 of each cooling unit 4 per unit time is as follows.
May vary depending on the application. For example, when the factory water 3 is used for the washing water of the bottle washing machine 31, the amount flowing to the heat exchanger 10 increases or decreases according to the operation state of the bottle washing machine 31,
The heat efficiency of the heat exchanger 10 fluctuates. Such a variation in the thermal efficiency of the heat exchanger 10 is covered by the cooling water temperature control in each cooling unit 4 by the water refilling pipe 22 and the heating means 25, and the cooling water 2 of each cooling unit 4 is set to the respective allowable temperature. Will be maintained.

The factory water 3 is tap water or groundwater originally used in a factory as washing water for a bottle washing machine, and water used for directly cooling the bottle 1 is a cooling water circulating through each cooling unit 4. The water 2 and the cooling water 2 'supplied thereto. Therefore, it is possible to greatly reduce tap water and groundwater used directly for cooling bottles.

In the above embodiment, the apparatus for cooling the bottle 1 stepwise using all three cooling units 4 has been described. However, in the case of another type of bottle 1 having a different size, shape and glass thickness. In some cases, only one or two of the cooling units 4 need to be used. Therefore, for example, as shown in the embodiment of FIG. 4, the valves 32 provided in a part of the piping of the circulation passage 9 of each cooling unit 4 are selectively opened and closed manually to selectively cool each cooling unit 4. May be used.

In correspondence with the selective use of each of the cooling units 4 described above, the factory water 3 is supplied to each of the heat exchangers 10 of each of the cooling units 4 as shown in FIG.
You may make it transmit via 34,35. That is, when all the cooling units 4 are used, only the valve 33 is opened, and the factory water 3 flows in series to the three heat exchangers 10.
If only the first cooling unit 4a is used, the valve 35 is used.
When only the first cooling unit 4a and the middle cooling unit 4b are used, only the valve 34 needs to be opened.

The present invention is not limited to a bottle cooling device, but is also applicable as a cooling device for paper packs, metal can containers and the like.

[0042]

According to the present invention, cooling water for directly cooling an article is circulated in a cooling chamber and reused many times. When the temperature of the cooling water rises due to article cooling, the cooling water passes through a heat exchanger. Since it is cooled by another factory water, the amount of tap water and groundwater cooling water used is reduced, enabling significant water savings.For example, in a bottling plant, the cooling water for bottle cooling can be significantly reduced. Thus, it is possible to provide an article cooling apparatus that is economically advantageous and that can be easily operated even during the summer drought season.

The factory water used to cool the cooling water of the cooling unit is tap water and groundwater, such as bottle washing water and boiler make-up water, originally used in the factory, and is used as a cooling medium. There is no economic problem caused by the above, especially when the factory water is used for washing water such as bottles, the hot water is passed through the heat exchanger of the cooling device to increase the washing effect of the bottles, and the factory water is supplied to the boiler. In the case of water, a secondary effect can be expected for use in a factory water plant because the boiler can be operated in an energy-saving manner.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view schematically showing an article cooling apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the apparatus shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a temperature graph showing a relationship between an article temperature and a cooling water temperature in the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a partially modified example of the apparatus in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a partially modified example of the device in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Article (bottle) 2 Cooling water 2 'Replenishing cooling water 3 Factory water 4 Cooling unit 5 Cooling room 6 Tank part 7 Shower part 8 Article transport path 9 Pumping circulation path 10 Split type heat exchanger 22 Water supply pipe 24 Temperature sensor 25 heating means 30 drainage means

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An article transport path for transporting articles in a substantially horizontal direction, a shower section for jetting cooling water toward the article transport path, and a tank section disposed below the article transport path for containing cooling water. A cooling chamber having: a circulating passage for circulating the cooling water of the tank section to a shower section by a pump; a pipe through which factory water forming a separate system from the cooling water of the cooling chamber flows; and a pipe of the circulating path. An article cooling apparatus, comprising: a cooling unit that is combined with a heat exchanger that cools the cooling water in the circulation passage with factory water. 2. An article cooling apparatus in which a plurality of the cooling units are connected in series in a plurality of stages before and after, and the articles are sequentially cooled by the plurality of cooling units in a stepwise manner. The article is conveyed continuously from the front stage to the cooling room of the subsequent cooling unit, and the tank portion of the cooling room of each cooling unit is connected so that the cooling water overflows from the rear stage to the preceding tank portion and flows. An article cooling apparatus, wherein the heat exchanger of each cooling unit is piped such that factory water flows in a series from the latter heat exchanger to the former heat exchanger. 3. The cooling chamber of the last cooling unit in the article cooling apparatus in which the plurality of cooling units are connected in series, supplies the articles immediately before leaving the article conveying path of the cooling chamber to the outside of the tank section of the cooling chamber. A water refill pipe for injecting cooling water for replenishment and for replenishing the replenishing cooling water via a water refill valve is installed in a tank portion of the cooling chamber.
Item cooling device according to the above. 4. A temperature sensor for detecting a temperature of cooling water stored in a tank of a desired cooling chamber in an article cooling apparatus in which the plurality of cooling units are connected in series, and a cooling water in the tank. When the detected water temperature of the temperature sensor becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined upper limit set temperature, the cooling unit tank of the forefront stage is replenished with replenishing cooling water via a water supply pipe when the detected water temperature of the temperature sensor is equal to or higher than the predetermined upper limit set temperature. When the detected water temperature becomes equal to or lower than a predetermined lower limit set temperature value, the cooling water in the tank is heated by the heating means to control the temperature of the cooling water in the tank in each cooling chamber within a predetermined allowable range. The article cooling device according to claim 3, wherein 5. The cooling chamber of the first cooling unit in the article cooling apparatus in which a plurality of cooling units are connected in series, only the cooling water sprayed on the article carried into the front of the article conveying path of the cooling chamber. 3. An article cooling apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a drainage means for discharging the water directly to the outside without flowing into the tank portion of the cooling chamber. 6. The article cooling apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the article conveyed in the article conveying path is a bottled product filled with a high-temperature liquid.