JPH11208603A - Press deaeration apparatus for packaging bag - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a press deaeration apparatus that deaerates the inside of a packaging bag filled with contents by pressing the bag from both sides capable of executing high-level deaeration in the case where the packaging bag is filled with contents including solid matters and a small quantity of liquid or the packaging bag is filled with contents including solid matters and a relatively large quantity of liquid. SOLUTION: A pressing body 18 is constructed of pressing plates 16 each having a bag body 17 stuck to its front side and moving forward to and retreating from the side of a packaging bag 11, and the bag body 17 deforms freely at its external shape at pressing with liquid inside the bag body moved, and thereby pressure is applied entirely to solid matters in the manner of uniformly rubbing the solid matters in the direction from the lower part to the upper side. Therefore, on deaerating the packaging bag 11 filled with contents (such as overnight-salted Chinese cabbage, Nozawa greens, or the like) including solid matters and a relatively large quantity of liquid, air bubbles sticking to the inside of the solid matters 13 (bubbles sticking to overlapping leaves of the Chinese cabbage or the Nozawa greens) are removed and raised upward.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a press deaerator for discharging excess air existing inside a packaging bag filled with contents.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A pair of gripping claws grip both side edges of a supplied bag, and intermittently rotate while rotating the table.
In an intermittent rotary table type automatic packaging machine that fills and packs food etc. in the bag, after filling the food etc., the bag mouth is heat-sealed, but at that time it remains in the bag for antiseptic, oxidation prevention, appearance etc. A deaeration operation is performed to remove air.

For such a deaeration operation, for example, a press deaerator for depressurizing both sides of the bag with a pair of pressing members to deaerate the internal air is used.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a structure in which deformable pressing members 4 and 5 made of sponge or the like are attached to the front surfaces of pressing plates 2 and 3 that advance and retreat toward the packaging bag 1 is often used. When the pressing body presses both sides of the packaging bag 1 filled with only solid matter or a solid matter containing a small amount of liquid (for example, takuan), the pressing members 4 and 5 cause the solid matter 6 in the bag to be pressed. Since the packaging bag 1 is deformed along the shape, the packaging bag 1 is crushed into a shape along the shape of the solid material 6, and the air in the bag is discharged.

However, as shown in FIG. 7 (b), the deformation of a sponge or the like is limited. In particular, the peripheral portion of the solid does not deform sufficiently along the solid, and a gap 7 is formed there. Air remains. That is, as shown in FIG. 7C, air remains around the solid 6 and the commercial value is reduced. This problem becomes more remarkable as the capacity (mechanical speed) of the packaging machine increases (the degassing time decreases). Further, the load applied to the solid is large at a portion where the deformation of the pressing member is large, and the load may be crushed when the solid is a soft solid.

For this reason, a depression is formed on the back surface of the pressing member (sponge) to enhance the deformability (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-Open No. 56-175301), or the shape of the pressing member is changed to a solid material. By molding together (see, for example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 1-333450), it is possible to deform well along the shape of the solid, to reduce the gap formed around the solid, and to reduce the load applied to the solid. In order to prevent the solid matter from being damaged. But,
In general, since the shape and orientation of the product are not always constant, it is actually difficult to achieve the expected level of deaeration, and the pressing member must be changed every time the type or size of the product changes, which is a task. Has reduced sex.

On the other hand, when the content contains a solid and a relatively large amount of liquid, even if a gap is formed around the solid at the time of pressing, the liquid enters into the gap as the liquid level rises, and deaeration is completely completed. It is easy to become something. However, if the solid material itself has a gap inside and air bubbles adhere to it (such as Chinese cabbage pickled overnight or Nozawana), simply pressing with a pressing body will generate this foam. Even if it seems that degassing was possible immediately after sealing the bag mouth without falling out, the bubbles inside are gradually discharged in the distribution process, so after all, a poor looking product containing a lot of air Will be lined up in stores.

[0007] In the case of cabbage overnight or Nozawana, when air is pressed from both sides as if rubbed from the bottom by hand, air bubbles attached to the inside come out. Following this, a pressing plate is fixed inside a pair of arms that swing from a state of opening in an inverted C shape to a substantially parallel state, a pressing member (sponge) is attached inside the pair of arms, and the packaging bag is placed from the bottom up. It is also conceivable to enable pressing in this order (for example, see Japanese Patent Publication No. 56-48371). However, the shape of the Chinese cabbage is not constant, and the thickness decreases as it goes up, so it is actually necessary to press the entire body with a uniform load, and to actually press it from the bottom up. It is difficult to perform sufficient degassing.

Another problem common to sponge-shaped pressing members is that they quickly decay and need to be replaced frequently. In particular, if the packaging machine absorbs water when it is washed with water, it tends to decay, and if left unabsorbed, the elasticity of the pressing member changes, and the state of deaeration changes even when pressed in the same way. There are also problems.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a problem of a press deaerator, and has been developed in which contents of various forms can be deformed without gaps along the shape of a solid. An object of the present invention is to provide a press deaerator capable of easily performing a press such as rubbing up from the bottom and capable of performing a high level of deaeration in any case.

[0010]

According to the present invention, there is provided a press deaerator for depressurizing a bag filled with contents by pressing the bag from both sides with a pair of pressing members, wherein the pressing member is formed of a packaging bag. A bag containing liquid is provided on one or both of the front surfaces of the bag, and the inside of the bag can be deformed by the movement of the internal liquid during pressing. And The pair of pressing members include, for example, pressing plates each having a flat surface, and the back surface of the bag body is fixed to the front surface.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a press deaerator and a deaeration operation according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. First, a degassing operation of a packaging bag filled with contents containing a solid substance and a relatively large amount of liquid (for example, pickled Chinese cabbage overnight or Nozawana) will be described. FIG. 1 shows a first example of a press deaerator, in which a packaging bag 11 is gripped on both sides by, for example, a gripper 12 of an intermittent rotary table type automatic packaging machine. The contents are filled and stopped at the position shown in FIG. 1, and the bag mouth is heat-sealed by a pair of sealing devices 15.

Below the sealing device 15, a press deaerator for removing air from the bag is provided. The press deaerator comprises a pair of flat pressing plates 16 and a pressing member 18 comprising a flexible (eg, polyethylene) bag 17 of substantially the same size as that attached to the front surface thereof.
The pressing body 18 can be moved forward and backward toward the side surface of the packaging bag 11 by driving means such as a cylinder 19. The bag body 17 has a back surface attached to the front surface of the pressing plate 16 and a liquid (eg, water) sealed therein, and the liquid freely moves in the bag body 17 by the pressure at the time of pressing. The outer shape of 17 can be freely deformed. Therefore, the liquid is not completely filled in the bag body 17 but is sealed, for example, about half of the volume (this amount can be appropriately determined depending on the contents). Needless to say, when the pressing is not performed, as shown in FIG. 1A, the liquid is lowered by gravity. Note that FIG.
As shown in (a), the bag body 17 is a flat one so that it has substantially the same thickness at any position in the left-right direction (horizontal direction).

When the packaging bag 11 enters the sealing position and stops, the cylinder 19 is driven to move the pressing body 18 toward the side surface of the packaging bag 11. As shown in FIG. 1B, the lower part of the bag 17 first contacts the lower part of the packaging bag 11, and the contact part gradually expands to the upper part. During this time, the bag body 17 applies pressure so as to rub the packaging bag 11 sequentially from the lower part to the upper part, and at the same time, the liquid inside moves to the upper part by the action of the reaction force, and the entire bag body 17 is deformed.
As shown in FIG. 1C (the BB section is shown in FIG.
), The liquid level in the packaging bag 11 rises and the pressing body 18 advances to the position where the air is completely discharged, and stops when the pressing body 18 advances, and the bag mouth is sealed by the sealing device 15.

In this press deaerator, the bag 17 containing the liquid deforms well along the outer shape of the packaging bag 11 (particularly the solid 13), and applies a uniform pressure to the side surface of the packaging bag 11.
When the liquid level in the packaging bag 11 rises, not only the air at the upper portion of the bag is discharged, but also a pressure is applied by the bag body 17 to rub the solid material 13 upward from the lower portion. Therefore, air bubbles (bubbles attached to the overlapping leaves of Chinese cabbage and Nozawana) that have adhered to the inside of the solid material 13 also escape and rise, enabling a high level of deaeration. Further, even if the shape and the direction of the solid material 13 are slightly changed for each packaging bag, the bag 17 is well deformed along its outer shape, and
Is applied equally to the side surface of the packaging bag 11, so that there is no possibility that the solid material is partially damaged by excessively high pressure.

In order to promote deaeration of the inside of the packaging bag 11, deaeration by a known vacuum suction nozzle may be used together. In this case, for example, when the packaging bag 11 stops at the position shown in FIG. 1A, both grippers 12 gripping the packaging bag 11 are moved toward each other to open the bag opening,
A nozzle for vacuum suction is inserted from above to the vicinity of the sealing position in the packaging bag 11, then the gripper 12 is opened outward, the bag mouth is closed, press deaeration is started, and vacuum suction is started at the same time. A procedure can be used in which the nozzle is raised when the nozzle is drawn up and the liquid is drawn out, and the bag mouth is sealed.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 3 is the second of the press deaerators.
This is the same as the first example in that the pair of pressing bodies 21 can move forward and backward toward the side surface of the packaging bag 11, but the form of advance and retreat is different. In other words, the pressing body 21 is attached to the pair of arms 22 that simultaneously swing inward or outward, and swings from the state of opening in an inverted C shape to the substantially parallel state by the action of the cylinder 23 and the like. The operation and effect of this press deaerator are basically the same as those of the first example.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 4 is a third type of press deaerator.
The difference from the first example is that the amount of liquid in the bag 31 is variable. The amount of liquid in the bag body 31 can be adjusted via the pump 32, the valve 33, and the like so that the air (including air attached to the solid matter) in the packaging bag 1 can be exhausted best. There is an advantage that it can easily respond to changes in size and the like.

FIGS. 5A to 5C show other forms of the bag. (A) shows a case in which a bag 42 is divided into a plurality of small bags 42a to 42d by a seal portion 41 (communications other than the seal portion are in communication), and the movement of the liquid is freely performed in each small bag. In addition, resistance is applied to the movement through the seal portion 41, and the movement (up or down) speed of the liquid is reduced. Therefore, although depending on the magnitude of the resistance of the seal portion 41, for example, the next press deaeration starts before the entire deformed state of the bag body 42 at the time of pressing is completely eliminated. At the time of pressing, the bag body 42 is
There is an effect that it quickly adapts to the shape (particularly, a solid material).

FIG. 2B shows a bag 45 formed by a seal 44.
Is completely divided into a plurality of small pouches at the top and bottom,
(C) is a case where the bag body 47 is further divided into left and right sides, and can be used when it is desired to change the pressing force for each small bag or to apply a particularly high pressing force to the lower part of the packaging bag 11. Further, the type (viscosity) of the liquid can be changed for each small bag. In the above, an example is shown in which the bag is arranged on the pressing body on both sides of the packaging bag. However, the bag is arranged only on the pressing body on one side, and another pressing body (for example, a conventional one) is provided on the other side. Almost the same effect can be obtained even when a sponge is provided. Also, if the viscosity of the liquid sealed in the bag is increased, the next pressing starts before the entire deformed state of the bag at the time of pressing is completely eliminated, so that the bag is wrapped at the next pressing. This has the effect of quickly adapting to the shape of the bag (especially solids).

Next, a degassing operation of a packaging bag filled with only solid matter or contents containing a solid matter and a small amount of liquid (for example, takuan) will be described. Also in this case, the press deaerator can be essentially the same as the ones described variously. However, in the examples so far, the main purpose is to separate and discharge air bubbles attached to the inside of the solid material, and the air outside the solid material or the air separated from the solid material is completely removed by the rise of the liquid level. In the final stage of press deaeration, it is not necessary for the bag to surround the solid without any gaps. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. It did not matter if it was not in contact (it may be surrounded without gaps)
However, in the case of a packaging bag filled with only solid matter or contents containing a solid matter and a small amount of liquid, in order to perform a high level of deaeration, the bag body surrounds the solid matter without gaps. It is slightly different in that it needs to be done.

In the case where such a bag is pressed from both sides of a packaging bag filled with only solid matter or contents containing the solid matter and a small amount of liquid, press deaeration is performed as shown in FIG. In the final stage of the above, it should be set so that the opposing bag bodies 51 are almost in close contact with a margin. When such a bag body 51 is attached to the front surface of the pressing plate 52 and both sides of the packaging bag 53 are pressed, the bag body 51 surrounds the solid material 54 in the packaging bag 53 with almost no gap, and FIG. As shown, a higher level of degassing can be performed than in the conventional example (see FIG. 7C). Also,
Since the pressure applied by the bag body 51 is equally applied to the side surface of the packaging bag 53, even if the solid material has an irregular shape, there is no possibility that the solid body is partially damaged by applying an excessively high pressure. .

In this case, if the viscosity of the liquid sealed in the bag is increased, the next press deaeration may start before the entire deformed state of the bag at the time of pressing is completely eliminated. At the time of the next press, there is an effect that the bag quickly adapts to the shape of the packaging bag (especially a solid material). Therefore, the deaeration time can be reduced, and the capacity of the packaging machine can be increased.

[0023]

According to the present invention, a solid can be easily deformed without a gap along the shape of the solid, or a press such as rubbing up from the bottom can be performed, and only the solid is contained or the solid and a small amount of liquid are contained. A high level of degassing can be achieved for a packaging bag filled with contents or a packaging bag filled with contents containing a solid and a relatively large amount of liquid. In addition, even if the solid body has an irregular shape or the orientation is slightly different for each packaging bag, the bag deforms well along the outer shape, and the pressing force is evenly applied to the contents. In addition to preventing damage to the object, it does not decay quickly like a sponge, and a long and stable degassing state can be obtained for solids of various shapes.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a press deaerator according to the present invention and its operation.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are a sectional view taken along line AA and a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating another press deaerator according to the present invention and its operation.

FIG. 4 is a view showing another press deaerator according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating various forms of a bag.

FIG. 6A is a view showing another press deaerator according to the present invention, and FIG. 6B is a view showing a state of a packaging bag after deaeration.

FIG. 7 is a diagram (c) showing the state of the packaging bag before (a), during pressing (b), and after deaeration of the conventional press deaerator.
It is.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Packaging bag 13 Solid matter 14 Liquid 16 Pressing plate 17 Bag body 18 Pressing body

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A press deaerator that presses a packaging bag filled with contents with a pair of pressing members from both sides to evacuate the inside of the bag, wherein the pressing member advances and retreats toward a side surface of the packaging bag,
A bag body containing a liquid is provided on one or both of the front surfaces thereof, and the bag body is configured such that the liquid inside moves and the outer shape can be deformed at the time of pressing. apparatus. 2. The packaging bag according to claim 1, wherein each of the pair of pressing members includes a pressing plate having a flat surface, and a back surface of the bag member is fixed to a front surface thereof. Press deaerator.