JPH10258813A - Method and apparatus for sterilizing container by ozone water - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable container sterilization without complex safety control required by inserting a nozzle into a container for filling ozone water in the container and by soaking the container in ozone water to sterilize internal and external faces of the container when the container is to be sterilized before filling contents into the container. SOLUTION: In sterilizing a container 1 for medicine, food or the like, a nozzle 2 is first inserted into a standing container 1, and also ozone water whose concentration is adjusted is injected from the nozzle 2. In addition, in parallel to injection of the ozone water 3, the container 1 is soaked in an ozone water reservoir 4. After 1 to 5 minutes passed, the container 1 is taken out of the ozone water reservoir 4, and then the container 1 is turned over with a nozzle 5 inserted into the container 1. Sterile air 6 at a normal temperature which has been filtered and sterilized is ejected from the nozzle 5 thereby discharging the ozone water 3 in the container 1. Further the sterile air 6 is successively ejected into the container 1 to dry it with air blow, and thereafter a posture of the container 1 is restored to an original position to complete sterilization of the container 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for sterilizing a container for containing contents such as medicines and foods.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Containers for storing medicines and foods are generally sterilized by a steam sterilization method, and are made of PET (polyethylene).
Containers made of heat-sensitive materials such as terephthalate) include EOG (ethylene oxide gas), VH
Sterilized using radiation such as P (hydrogen peroxide vapor) and γ-rays, and electron beams.

[0003]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION However, EOG
When sterilizing using VHP or VHP, even if a small amount of EOG or VHP remains in the container, it is harmful to the human body. Therefore, take several hours after sterilization and put the container in the chamber. There is a problem that a complicated and time-consuming post-processing step such as gas replacement is required, and further, there is a problem that EOG or VHP is adsorbed and remains in the container depending on the material of the container.

[0004] In the case of sterilization using radiation or electron beams, there is a problem that complicated management must be performed by setting up a radiation protection facility or placing a radiation manager.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, to leave a substance harmful to the human body in a container, not to require a complicated and time-consuming post-processing step after sterilization of the container, and to provide a particularly complicated safety control. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for sterilizing a container which do not require a container.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a container sterilization method for sterilizing a container before filling the container with contents such as medicines and foods. The container is inserted and filled with ozone water from the nozzle, and the container is immersed in ozone water to sterilize the inner and outer surfaces of the container.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the inside and outside surfaces of the container are sterilized, the nozzle is taken out of the container, and the container is inverted to discharge the ozone water in the container.

If it is necessary to completely dry the inside of the container, it is more preferable to discharge the ozone water and then perform air blowing from a nozzle to dry the inside of the container.

Further, in a container sterilizing apparatus for sterilizing a container before filling the container with contents such as medicines and foods, a nozzle provided to be freely inserted into a mouth of the container, and ozone water is supplied to the nozzle. It is preferable to include ozone water supply means and immersion means for immersing the container into which the nozzle is inserted into the ozone water tank.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1 (B), sterilization of a container 1 for medicines, foods, etc. is performed by first inserting the nozzle 2 into the upright container 1 and simultaneously inserting 20 to 70 mg / L from the nozzle 2.
The ozone water 3 adjusted to a concentration of (milligram / liter) is injected.

In parallel with the injection of the ozone water 3,
The container 1 is immersed in an ozone water tank 4 filled with ozone water 3 adjusted to 20 to 70 mg / L. At this time, FIG.
As shown in (C), the container 1 is moved to a deep position sufficiently distant from the water surface and immersed.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG.
Is inverted, and the nozzle 5 is inserted into the container 1.

Then, sterile air 6 filtered and sterilized at normal temperature is blown out from the nozzle 5 to drain the ozone water 3 in the container 1, and the sterile air 3 is left in the container 1 as shown in FIG. 6 is continuously blown off, air blow dried, and the container 1 is returned to its original position, as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation will be described.

Ozone water 3 adjusted to a concentration of 20 to 70 mg / L is injected into a standing container 1 through a nozzle 2, and the container 1 is filled in an ozone water tank 4 adjusted to the same concentration. When the container 1 is moved to a deep position away from the water surface and immersed, the inside and the outside of the container 1 are completely immersed in the ozone water 3. At this time, since the ozone water 3 is also contained in the container 1, no buoyancy is generated in the container 1, and the container 1 easily sinks into the ozone water tank 4. Also, ozone is constantly degassed from the water surface of the ozone water tank 4, and the ozone concentration may be low near the water surface, but the container 1 is moved to a deep position in the ozone water tank 4 that is sufficiently far from the water surface. Since it is moved and immersed, the opening 7 formed at the upper end of the container 1 is also immersed in the ozone water 3 having a predetermined concentration.

After about 1 to 5 minutes have passed, the container 1 is sufficiently sterilized, the container 1 is taken out of the ozone water tank 4 and inverted, and the nozzle 5 is inserted into the container 1 to blow out the sterile air 6. In particular, even when the opening 7 of the container 1 is small, the ozone water 3 in the container 1 is quickly drained. Then, when the aseptic air 6 is continuously blown into the container 1 and air blow drying is performed, the ozone water remaining in the container 1 evaporates while separating gas and liquid into ozone gas and water.
Along with drying, the reaction of returning the ozone gas to oxygen by self-decomposition and the gas replacement by air blowing are performed simultaneously. Therefore, no harmful substance to the human body is generated or left in the container 1.

As described above, the nozzle 2 is inserted into the container 1, the ozone water 3 is filled into the container 1 from the nozzle 2, and the container 1 is immersed in the ozone water 3. In order to sterilize the container 1, the gas-liquid interface at the inlet of the container 1 is eliminated, and a reduction in the sterilization power due to a decrease in the concentration of the ozone water 3 due to deaeration of ozone can be prevented. can do.

After the inner and outer surfaces of the container 1 are sterilized, the container 1 is taken out of the nozzle 2 and the container 1 is immersed in the ozone water 3 in order to invert the container 1 and discharge the ozone water 3 in the container 1. The ozone water 3 can be easily discharged from the inside.

After the ozone water 3 is discharged, the inside of the container 1 is dried by air blowing from the nozzle 5, so that the ozone remaining in the container 1 can be quickly removed, and the container 1 can be quickly removed. The inside can be dried.

Further, since the container 1 is sterilized only with the ozone water 3, the container 1 can be easily sterilized at room temperature, and the container 1 can be simply air blow dried without passing through a special ozone removing step. 1 can be sterilized without leaving harmful substances.

Since the container 1 is filled with the ozone water 3 and discharged, the container 1 can be washed at the same time as sterilization without providing a washing step.

The air blow performed during the drying of the container 1 may be performed by using hot air that can withstand the container 1 to shorten the drying time.

Next, the sterilization effect when the container 1 is sterilized using ozone water will be described.

The experiment was carried out in a container 1 containing B. stearothermophilus or B. subtilis, which is known to be the most resistant to heat and ozone, at a concentration of 20 mg. / L (ppm) ozone water or ozone water having a concentration of 40 mg / L (ppm), respectively, and the container 1 is immersed in an ozone water tank having the same ozone concentration as the fully filled ozone water. The measurement was performed by counting the number of viable bacteria every time (however, the temperature of ozone water was 20 ° C., and sodium thiosulfate was used as an ozone treatment terminator).

As shown in FIG. 2, when the container 1 is immersed in 20 ppm ozone water, the initial bacterial count shown by a solid line is 10,000.
~ 100,000 Bacillus stearothermophilus has completely died in 3 minutes, and Bacillus subtilis with a bacterial count of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 indicated by a dotted line in 3 minutes. It has been reduced to about 10 to 100.

Further, as shown in FIG.
When immersed in pm ozone water, the number of initial bacteria is 10,
000-100,000 Bacillus stearothermophilus decreased from 0 to 1 in 4 minutes, and Bacillus subtilis having a bacterial count of 1,000,000 to 10,000,000 indicated by a dotted line was 4%. It is reduced to about 10 to 100 in a minute.

The number of bacteria present in the actual container is several to one.
Since these are about 00 pieces, 2
Ozone water adjusted to a concentration of 0 to 70 mg / L was placed in container 1
It is confirmed that the container 1 is sufficiently sterilized by immersing the container 1 in an ozone water tank having the same ozone concentration as the ozone water which has been fully filled and filled for about 1 to 5 minutes.

Next, the non-residuality of ozone when the container 1 is sterilized using ozone water will be described.

The experiment was performed on three different types of containers.

The procedure of the experiment is as follows. First, as shown in FIG. 4A, a plurality of containers 10 are fully filled with ozone water 11 adjusted to a concentration of 60 mg / L, and
The container 10 is immersed in an ozone water tank 12 having the same ozone concentration for 10 minutes.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4 (B), each container 10 is taken out of the ozone water tank 12 to be inverted, and the ozone water 11 is discharged from the container 10 by pushing.

Then, for the container 10 to be dried,
As shown in FIG. 4 (C), hot air at 50 ° C. with a blowing air volume of 30 L / min is blown into the container 10 through the nozzle 13 for 1 minute, and the container 10 is dried with hot air.

Then, as shown in FIG.
The purified water 14 is filled in the container 0, and after a certain leaving time, the purified water 14 in the container 10 is taken out into a beaker 15 in a sterile state. At this time, as shown in FIG.
Is shaken upside down so that the purified water 14 in the container 10 is shaken out.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4 (F), iodine titration is performed, and residual ozone is analyzed based on the presence or absence of coloration of purified water (however, iodine titration is performed using a potassium iodide solution (water containing vibration)). 20 ml, potassium iodide; 2 g, sulfuric acid; (1+
9) 5 ml, starch; 2 ml, titrant; performed with sodium thiosulfate N / 1000).

The experimental results are as shown in Table 1.

[0037]

[Table 1]

"X" in Table 1 is a mark indicating that there was no coloration, indicating that the residual ozone was less than 0.1 μg O ₃ .

As described above, there is no coloration regardless of the presence or absence of drying and standing, and the length of the standing time, and it is confirmed that the residual ozone is less than 0.1 μg O _{3 in} each case.

The detection limits of iodine titration are as follows.

(1) The coloration limits of the iodine concentration and the ozone concentration in the potassium iodide KI solution are as follows: 10-7 mol I ₂ / L = 10-7 mol O ₃ / L = 5 μg
O ₃ coloration limit in /L=0.1μgO ₃ / 20ml KI solution 20ml is 0.1μgO _3.

(2) Titrant N / 1000 0.02 ml (one drop) of sodium thiosulfate corresponds to 0.5 μg O ₃ .

(3) 6 μg O ₃ theoretically remains in 0.1 ml of ozone water having a concentration of 60 mg / L (however, since the water droplet has a large surface area / volume ratio, gas-liquid separation is intense and the concentration is low). Easy to fall).

Next, another embodiment will be described.

The method of sterilizing the container shown in FIG.
The container 1 is sterilized by the sterilization method shown in FIGS.
After the ozone water 3 in the container 1 has been discharged by the drainage method shown in (D), as shown in FIG.
In addition to inserting 0, cleaning water 41 composed of low-concentration ozone water is jetted from the cleaning nozzle 40 into the container 1 under high pressure to clean the inside of the container 1. When cleaning is completed,
As shown in FIGS. 7 (F) and 7 (G), the sterile air 6 is continuously blown into the container 1 by air blow drying in the same procedure as the sterilization method shown in FIG. 1, and the container 1 is returned to the original position. This ends the sterilization of the container 1.

As described above, after the ozone water 3 is drained from the container 1, the sterilized cleaning water 41 is ejected into the container 1 by high-pressure jetting for cleaning. Can be washed, and the effect of washing the inside of the container 1 can be further enhanced. According to this method, it is possible to reliably remove PET scum and the like particularly generated during bottle formation.

The washing water 41 may be sterilized water such as completely sterilized injection purified water.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a container sterilizer 20 for sterilizing the container 1 using the sterilization method shown in FIG.

The container sterilizing apparatus 20 is an apparatus for sterilizing the container 1 by line processing. The container sterilizing apparatus 20 aligns the container 1 and sends it to the downstream side. And a sterilization section 39 for performing processing.

After aligning the containers 1 put into the bottle supply port 27 in the aligner 21, the aligning section 38 temporarily transfers the containers 1 to the first container holder 28 which holds the plurality of containers 1 in a line, and To the second container holder 4 of the sterilization section 39.
The transfer device 22 transfers only the containers 1 to the second container 2 and transfers the containers 1 aligned by the aligner 21 to the first container holder 28, and the container 1 is circulated through the first container holder 28. Holder circulating device 29 for transferring to the downstream side, and holder circulating device 2
And a first bottle transfer unit 32 for transferring each container 1 held by the first container holder 28 on the second container 9 to the second container holder 42 of the sterilization processing unit 39.

The holder circulating device 29 includes a feed conveyor 30 disposed on one side of the transfer machine 22 for transferring the first container holder 28 to the downstream side, and an empty first container holder 28 disposed in parallel with the feed conveyor 30. Conveyor 31 for returning the water to the upstream side
And the first container holder 28 at the end in the transfer direction of the return conveyor 31 and the feed conveyor 30 and the other conveyors 30, 31
, And circulates two or two or more first container holders 28 at the same time.

The sterilization section 39 includes the first bottle transfer machine 32
The container holder 42 on which the container 1 is placed by using the ozone water filling machine 23, the ozone water immersion machine 24, and the ozone water discharging machine 2
5. The container 1 is sterilized by transferring the sterilized water washer 44 and the dryer 26 in this order, and the second container holder 42 includes a transfer device (not shown) and a holder relay conveyor 3.
4 and is transferred to the holder return conveyor 45 and circulates in the sterilization section 39.

The empty second container holder 42 on which the container 1 is placed by the first bottle transfer machine 32 is placed at a predetermined standby position 46 on the holder return conveyor 45 until the container 1 is placed.
It is designed to stand by. Then, the second container holder 42 on which the container 1 is placed is transported downstream by a transport device (not shown).

The ozone water filling machine 23 includes the second container holder 4
20-70 mg in each container 1 held in 2
/ L is an ozone water supply means for filling the ozone water 3 adjusted to a concentration of / L and sterilizing the inner surface of the container 1. The ozone water filling machine 23 includes the container 1 held in the second container holder 42.
Nozzles 2 are provided in a line so that they can be inserted into the ports 7 of all the containers 1 held by the second container holder 42 at one time.

The ozone water immersion machine 24 is an ozone water filling machine 2
The second container holder 42 continuously sent from
This is an immersion means for sterilizing the outer surface of the container 1 and the port 7 by immersing the second container holder 42 in the ozone water tank 33 while being immersed in the ozone water tank 33 adjusted to a concentration of ~ 70 mg / L. The container 1 can be immersed in the ozone water 3 for about 1 to 5 minutes.

Further, on the downstream side of the ozone water immersion machine 24, a holder relay conveyor 34 for sending the second container holder 42 further downstream is provided. Holder relay conveyor 3
4 is arranged so as to feed the second container holder 42 in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the ozone water immersion machine 24, and the second container holder 42 sent from the upstream near the holder relay conveyor 34. Is transferred to the holder relay conveyor 34.

An ozone water discharger 25 for discharging the ozone water 3 filled in the container 1 is disposed downstream of the holder relay conveyor 34, and a second container holder 42 on the holder relay conveyor 34. A second holder transfer machine 46 for transferring the data to a transfer device (not shown) is provided.

The ozone water discharger 25 is for discharging the ozone water 3 filled in the container 1. The ozone water discharger 25 inverts the container 1 together with the second container holder 42 so that the mouth 7 is directed downward. The nozzle 5 is inserted into each container 1 and the sterile air 6 is ejected from the nozzle 5 to discharge the ozone water 3 in the container 1. The number of the nozzles 5 is equal to the number of the containers 1 held in the container holder 28, and each of the nozzles 5 can be inserted into the ports 7 of all the containers 1 held in the container holder 28 at one time.
5 are arranged in a line.

The sterilizing water washing machine 44 is for washing the inside of the container 1 by jetting high-pressure washing water 41 made of low-concentration ozone water into the container 1. The cleaning nozzle 40 is inserted into each container 1 sent as it is, and the cleaning water 41 is jetted from the cleaning nozzle 40 to wash the inside of each container 1.

The dryer 26 is for drying the inside and outside of the container 1. In particular, the inside of the container 1 has an air nozzle (not shown) inserted into the container 1 and the sterile air 6 is supplied from the air nozzle. The inside of the container 1 is dried by continuing the ejection.

At the downstream side of the dryer 26, a sterilizing section 39 is provided.
A holder return conveyor 45 for returning the second container holder 42 to the most upstream position of the second container holder 42 is provided.
A second bottle transfer machine 37 is provided for picking up the container 1 sterilized from the container and transferring the picked-up container 1 onto a conveyor 48 on the downstream side.

The sterilization section 39 includes an isolator 36 for preventing bacteria from being attached to the sterilized container 1.
Is provided. The isolator 36 is an ozone water tank 3
3, the line after the pull-up position of the second container holder 42 is airtightly covered, and the cleanliness is maintained at class 100 (the number of particles of 0.5 micron or more per cubic foot is 100). In addition, the interior of the isolator 36 is sterilized by exposing the interior to an ozone gas atmosphere in advance, so that the interior ceiling, wall surfaces, floor surfaces, and the like are kept sterile. The isolator 36 is provided with an air lock 49 for preventing external bacteria from entering the isolator 36 when returning the second container holder 42 to the upstream side.

The air lock 49 forms an airtight space around the holder return conveyor 45 and is independent of the isolator 36. The air lock 49 has a holder return conveyor 4 at one end adjacent to the isolator 36.
5 has an openable and closable inner door (not shown) for passing the second container holder 42 from the inside of the isolator 36 into the air lock 49, and the second container holder 42 on the holder return conveyor 45 at the other end. Has an openable and closable outer door (not shown) for enabling the outside to be sent out. The inside of the isolator 36 is pressure-controlled so that the internal pressure is always about several mmAg higher than the outside, and air flows in one direction from the inside to the outside when the outer door is opened and closed. For this reason, when transferring the second container holder 42 to the outside of the isolator 36, by transferring the second container holder 42 with one of the outer door and the inner door always closed, bacteria are prevented from entering from the outside. It has become. After the transfer is completed, the atmosphere inside the air lock 49 may be sterilized with ozone gas or the like so that no external bacteria enter the isolator 36.

The container sterilizer 20 has an ozone water 3
Water filling machine 23 and ozone water immersion machine 24
An ozone producing unit (not shown) for supplying the ozone water 3 is always supplied with a predetermined concentration of ozone water 3.

Next, the operation will be described.

When the container 1 is put into the bottle supply port 27,
The containers 1 are aligned in a line in the aligning machine 21,
Sent to Thereafter, the containers 1 are placed in a line with the opening 7 facing upward on the first container holder 28 waiting at a predetermined standby position 50 on the feed conveyor 30 by the transfer machine 22, and the first container holder 28.

The first container holder 28 includes a feed conveyor 30
Is transferred to the downstream side of the ozone water filling machine 23, and is pushed by a pusher (not shown) and slid on the return conveyor 31.

Thereafter, each container 1 placed in the first container holder 28 is emptied by the first bottle transfer machine 32 at a predetermined standby position 46 on the holder return conveyor 45. 42. The empty first container holder 28 is returned to the upstream side by the return conveyor 31, pushed by the pusher 43, and returned to the predetermined standby position 50 on the feed conveyor 30 again.

The second container holder 42 is sent downstream by a transfer device (not shown) and enters the ozone water filling machine 23. The nozzle 2 is inserted into each of the containers 1 held in the second container holder 42 substantially simultaneously, and 20 to 70 mg
The ozone water 3 adjusted to a concentration of / L is injected, and each nozzle 2 is pulled out of the container 1 substantially simultaneously.

The second container holder 42 holds the ozone water immersion machine 2
4 and immersed in an ozone water tank 33 adjusted to a concentration of 20 to 70 mg / L. At this time, the second container holder 42 is sunk to near the bottom of the ozone water tank 33, and is sent downstream in the ozone water tank 33.

When about 1 to 5 minutes have passed, the second
The container holder 42 is lifted from the downstream end in the ozone water tank 33 onto the ozone water tank 33, and the first holder transfer machine 3
5 to the holder relay conveyor 34. Thereafter, the second container holder 42 is sent to the downstream side by the holder relay conveyor 34, transferred to a transfer device (not shown) via the second holder transfer device 46, and
Moved into.

The second container holder 42 holds the ozone water discharger 2
Each container 1 that is turned upside down within 5 and held by the second container holder 42 is inverted with the mouth 7 facing downward. Then, the nozzles 5 are inserted into each of the containers 1 substantially at the same time, and aseptic air 6 is ejected from the nozzles 5. As a result, the ozone water 3 in each container 1
, And is quickly discharged.

Then, each nozzle 5 is pulled out of the container 1 and
The second container holder 42 is sent to the downstream side in the inverted state and enters the sterilized water washer 44.

Each container 1 held in the second container holder 42
The cleaning nozzles 40 are inserted at substantially the same time, and cleaning water 41 composed of low-concentration ozone water is ejected from each cleaning nozzle 40 at high pressure. As a result, foreign matter such as shavings is removed from the container 1, and the inside of the container 1 is completely cleaned. When the cleaning is completed, the cleaning nozzle 40 is pulled out of the container 1, and the second container holder 42 is sent to the downstream side while being inverted and enters the dryer 26.

In the dryer 26, air nozzles are inserted into the containers 1 held by the second container holder 42 at substantially the same time, and the sterile air 6 is discharged from each air nozzle and the sterile air is also applied to the outside of the container 1. 6 is discharged. As a result, the inside and outside of the container 1 are air blown and dried. At this time, the ozone adhering to the container 1 is gas-replaced by being exposed to the sterile air 6 and is discharged out of the container, and at the same time, self-decomposes to return to oxygen and remains in the container 1 as ozone There is no.

When the container 1 is completely dried, the second container holder 42 is sent to the downstream side again, and is placed on the holder return conveyor 45. The containers 1 held in the second container holder 42 are respectively picked up by the second bottle transfer machine 37, transferred to a conveyor 48 arranged on the downstream side, and sent to a filling machine (not shown).

The empty second container holder 42 is returned by the holder return conveyor 45 toward a predetermined standby position 46 located at the uppermost stream of the sterilization section 39. At this time, the second container holder 42 passes through the inside of the air lock 49. Specifically, the inner door of the air lock 49 is opened at the same time when the second container holder 42 starts to move, and
When the container holder 42 has passed the inner door, the inner door is closed. After the inner door is completely closed, the outer door of the air lock 49 is opened, and when the second container holder 42 passes by the outer door, the outer door is closed. At this time, since the inside of the isolator 36 is maintained at a higher pressure than the outside, air flows from the inside of the isolator 36 to the outside when the outer door is opened. For this reason, the second container holder 42 is moved to the most upstream position of the sterilizing section 39 not covered by the isolator 36 without invading external bacteria into the isolator 36.

As described above, the container sterilizer 20 is connected to the container 1
The nozzle 2 is provided so as to be freely inserted into the opening 7, an ozone water filling machine 23 for supplying ozone water 3 to the nozzle 2, and an ozone water immersion machine 24 for immersing the container 1 in an ozone water tank 33. As a result, the container 1 can be reliably and easily filled with the ozone water 3, and the container 1 can be immersed in the ozone water 3 to sterilize the inner and outer surfaces of the container 1.

Further, since the containers 1 are connected in a line from the aligner 21 to the dryer 26 to perform line processing, a large number of containers 1 can be sterilized in a short time.
In addition, the container 1 can be directly flowed into another line such as a content filling line.

Then, the plurality of containers 1 are placed in the second container holder 4.
2 to simultaneously sterilize multiple containers 1
A large number of containers 1 can be sterilized in a short time.

The time during which the container 1 is immersed in the ozone water tank 33 by the ozone water immersion machine 24 varies depending on the concentration of the ozone water 3. When sterilizing with the ozone water 3 having a low concentration, a longer time is required. It is what you need.

[0082]

In summary, according to the present invention, the following excellent effects can be obtained.

(1) According to the first aspect of the present invention, the entire container can be surely sterilized while securing a stable sterilizing force.

(2) According to the second aspect of the invention, the ozone water can be easily discharged from the container immersed in the ozone water.

(3) According to the third aspect of the invention, ozone in the container can be quickly removed, and the container can be dried quickly.

(4) According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the container can be filled with the ozone water reliably and easily, and the container is immersed in the ozone water to sterilize the inner and outer surfaces of the container. can do.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view of a procedure of a container sterilization method using ozone water according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a graph showing the relationship between sterilization processing time and the number of surviving bacteria during container sterilization.

FIG. 3 is a graph showing the relationship between sterilization processing time and the number of surviving bacteria during container sterilization.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a test procedure of an ozone container remaining test.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the container sterilizing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a side view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a procedure of a container sterilization method according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 container 2 nozzle 3 ozone water 5 nozzle 7 port 20 container sterilizer 23 filling machine 24 immersion machine 33 ozone water tank

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] December 12, 1997

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0037

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0037]

[Table 1]

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hikaru Ueno 3-1-1-15 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.Higashiji Technical Center (72) Inventor Shuji Hoshino Toyosu 3-chome, Koto-ku, Tokyo No. 1-15 Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.Higashiji Technical Center (72) Inventor Seiko Kawana 3-2-1, Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.Toyosu General Office (72) Inventor Shige Shiomi 3-2-16 Toyosu, Koto-ku, Tokyo Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Ltd.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A container sterilization method for sterilizing a container before filling the container with contents such as medicines and foods, wherein a nozzle is inserted into the container, and the container is filled with ozone water from the nozzle. A container sterilization method comprising immersing the container in ozone water and sterilizing the inner and outer surfaces of the container. 2. A container sterilization method comprising sterilizing the inner and outer surfaces of a container by the method according to claim 1, removing a nozzle from the container, and inverting the container to discharge ozone water in the container. 3. The container sterilization method according to claim 2, wherein after the ozone water is discharged, air is blown from a nozzle to dry the inside of the container. 4. A container sterilization apparatus for sterilizing a container before filling the container with contents such as medicines and foods, and a nozzle provided to be freely inserted into a mouth of the container, and supplying ozone water to the nozzle. A container sterilizer comprising: ozone water supply means; and immersion means for immersing a container into which a nozzle is inserted into an ozone water tank.