JPH1137624A - Continuous carrying food processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform circulatory cleaning and sterilization without requiring any dedicated tank by supplying and storing water or chemical into a liquid storing section formed at the lower part of a thermally insulated tank and circulation supplying the stored water or chemical to a cleaning liquid ejection pipe located at a specified position of the thermally insulated tank through piping and a circulation pump. SOLUTION: When sterilization is performed using a chemical, an automatic control valve SV3 is opened to inject hot water by a supply pump 21 or 22 into a liquid storing section 1a formed at the lower part of a thermally insulated tank 1 and then a specified quantity of concentrated liquid of acid or alkaline sterilization chemical is inject into the liquid storing section 1a. Subsequently, a circulation pump 23 15 started to perform showering of hot water containing the sterilization liquid for a predetermined time repeatedly from a cleaning liquid ejection pipe 11 located at the ceiling part. Since the lower part of the thermally insulated tank 1 is utilized as the liquid storing section 1a and cleaning is performed by circulating water or chemical stored therein, CIP cleaning can be realized by simply fixing a controller incorporating the circulation pump 23 and chemical supply pumps 20, 21, 22.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement of a mechanism for cleaning and sterilizing the inside of an apparatus for performing processing such as cooling, freezing, and heating while continuously transporting food in a heat insulating tank by a belt conveyor. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, a continuous-conveying-type food processing apparatus as shown in FIG. 6 has a heat exchanger and a blower, which are installed in a heat insulating tank through a belt conveyor and flow cold or hot air onto the belt conveyor. While the food placed on the belt conveyor flows from one end to the other, processing such as cooling, freezing, and heating is performed.

In such a continuous-conveying food processing apparatus, when the food to be processed is changed or when the processing operation is completed, the foreign substances are prevented from being mixed in or adhered to the food, the microorganisms are adhered or multiplied, or the like. In addition, it is becoming common to equip a CIP (clean-in-place) cleaning device that automatically performs cleaning with water and a chemical solution.

[0004] This CIP cleaning apparatus is roughly classified into a non-circulation type and a circulation type.

[0005] The non-circulation type (one-way type) uses water, hot water, and chemicals supplied from a tank provided outside the apparatus as described in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-308546.
The water is sprayed in order from a supply pipe provided at a predetermined position in the apparatus, and is discharged from a drain cock provided at a lower portion of the apparatus without collecting the water or the like.

In the circulation type, a circulation pipe is provided between a plurality of tanks for fresh water, hot water, and a chemical solution provided outside the apparatus and an adiabatic tank, and a plurality of control valves are provided in a predetermined order by a control valve in accordance with a washing process. The tank is switched, and the fresh water or the like is sprayed from a supply pipe provided at a predetermined location in the heat insulating tank for a specified time. In this case, fresh water and the like circulate and flow between the tank and the heat insulating tank.

In the case of performing sterilization by steam in a CIP cleaning device, steam supplied from a steam generator provided outside the device is blown out from a steam supply pipe arranged in the device, and the entire inside is required. The sterilization is performed by raising the temperature to a predetermined level and maintaining the temperature for a predetermined time.

[0008]

The non-circulating type (one-way type) has a drawback that the amount of water and chemicals used is large and the running cost is high.

Further, the above-mentioned circulation type has a problem that the installation space becomes large and the equipment cost becomes high because a dedicated tank is installed.

[0010] Further, in order to sterilize by steam in the CIP cleaning device, when steam is jetted from a steam jet pipe provided in the heat insulating tank, the upper temperature of the heat insulating tank first rises, and the inside of the heat exchanger and the like are increased. However, there is a problem that it takes a long time to raise the temperature of the closed place to the temperature required for sterilization (for example, 80 to 90 ° C.). This is a phenomenon that can be seen even when the steam ejection pipe is provided at the bottom of the heat insulating tank.This is because the steam easily climbs up and the structure of the heat exchanger is complicated, so that the steam does not easily enter the inside and the heat capacity is low. Because it is big. For this reason, even after the upper part of the heat insulating tank becomes extremely hot, it is necessary to continue the jetting of steam, which not only increases the steam consumption, but also increases the heat distortion of the heat insulating tank and the distortion of the heat insulating structure. Or partial cracking.

[0011] Further, between the contact portion between the circulating pipe of the heat medium of the heat exchanger and the fin plate and between the plates arranged at intervals of several mm, food debris and refuse tend to accumulate and serve as a hotbed of various bacteria.
Even when the cleaning liquid was sprayed from both end faces (wife side) of the fin plate with a high-pressure pressure pump, the cooling pipes arranged in Chikara hindered the cleaning of the inner part.

Therefore, the present invention enables circulation type cleaning and sterilization without using a dedicated tank.
An object of the present invention is to provide a structure that can reliably perform heating and cleaning for sterilization in a heat exchanger.

[0013]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(1) A continuous-conveying food processing apparatus provided by the present invention comprises: a heat-insulating tank housing therein a belt conveyor for conveying food and means for cooling, freezing or heating the food on the belt conveyor, and a lower part in the heat-insulating tank. A liquid storage part formed in the liquid storage part, a pipe and a supply pump for supplying water or chemical liquid for cleaning to the liquid storage part, a cleaning liquid ejection pipe provided at a predetermined position of the heat insulating tank, and a water or chemical liquid stored in the liquid storage part. It is characterized by comprising a piping and a circulation pump for circulating supply to the cleaning liquid ejection pipe.

(2) The continuous-conveyance-type food processing apparatus comprises: a spouting tube for spouting steam or a chemical liquid; a heat exchanger provided in an adiabatic tank as a means for cooling, freezing or heating food;
The fins can be provided so as to penetrate in a direction intersecting the fins.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a food freezing treatment apparatus. Reference numeral 1 denotes a heat insulation tank of a continuous conveyance type food freezing treatment apparatus. The outlet 3 is formed, and as shown in FIG. 2, a double tube is formed with a heat insulating material 1b sandwiched between metal plates 1a. This heat insulation tank 1
Has a vertical plane on both side walls and a semi-elliptical bottom and ceiling when viewed in the transport direction. Returning to FIG. 1, reference numeral 4 denotes a transport net conveyor (belt conveyor) disposed in the heat insulating tank 1 along the longitudinal direction. It is projected outside. The transfer net conveyor 4 can be provided in a plurality of stages.

Reference numerals 5 and 5 denote a pair of heat exchangers comprising a heat exchanger 6 and a blower 7, which are arranged symmetrically with the air blowing direction toward the center of the heat insulating tank 1. In the heat exchanger 6, as shown in FIG. 3, a defrosting water sprinkling pipe 6a and a steam or chemical liquid spouting pipe 6b are arranged in a direction intersecting a large number of fins 6c. The defrosting sprinkler 6a is provided with a fin 6c.
The defrosting water is blown out from the hole formed on the pipe wall at the upper part of the pipe to melt and remove the frost attached to the fins and the heat medium circulation pipe. A plurality of ejection pipes 6b are arranged vertically in order to uniformly heat the inside of the heat exchanger with steam, and eject the steam supplied from the header pipe 6d from many holes formed in the pipe wall. This jet pipe 6b
Is also used as a chemical ejection pipe for ejecting a chemical at the time of cleaning. Therefore, the shape and arrangement of the ejection holes formed on the pipe wall surface are set at the corners where the fins 6c where dirt easily accumulates and the circulation pipe 6e of the heat medium intersect. Until the drug solution reaches. In the heat exchanger shown in FIG. 3, the fins 6c are separated to the left and right, and a plurality of ejection pipes 6b are vertically arranged between the fins 6c. If the fins 6c are not separated, as shown in FIG. The tube 6b is provided to penetrate the fin 6c.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, 8a, 8b, 8c
Is a partition wall having a rectangular window 9 through which the transport net conveyor 2 passes, and is arranged at predetermined intervals in the heat insulating tank 1 along the longitudinal direction. The partition walls 8a at both ends are provided with the transport inlet 2 and the transport outlet 3
In order to minimize the amount of cold air leaking to the outside from the outside, the central partition wall 8b is divided into two parts so that the pair of heat exchange devices 5 and 5 form two independent flows of cold air. doing. The plurality of partition walls 8c in between extend the cooling air sent from the heat exchange device 5 by the rectangular windows 9 to increase the speed of the cooling air along the transport net conveyor 4, thereby improving the cooling efficiency.

At the lower center of each partition 8a, 8b, 8c,
An inverted U-shaped hole 10 is formed to secure a flow path for water and a chemical solution during washing. The positional relationship between the hole 10 of the partition 8 and the heat insulating tank is as shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 11 denotes a cleaning liquid jetting pipe arranged along the lower surface of the ceiling of the heat insulating tank, and jets water or a chemical from its jetting port 12. Reference numeral 13 denotes a plurality of steam ejection pipes provided on the bottom surface of the heat insulating tank 1, and ejects steam supplied from an externally provided steam generator from a large number of ejection ports 14 formed on the pipe wall during sterilization after washing. I do. 15 is the heat insulation tank 1
A drain groove provided at a position corresponding to the inverted U-shaped hole 10 of the partition wall at the bottom of the partition wall, and is inclined downward along a longitudinal direction of the heat insulating tank 1 toward a discharge pipe 16 provided at one end of the bottom. .

Reference numeral 17 denotes a stock solution tank for a drug, reference numeral 18 denotes a stock solution tank for an acid solution, and reference numeral 19 denotes a stock solution tank for an alkaline solution. A commercially available container (for example, a 20-liter can) containing the stock solution is used as it is. Reference numerals 20, 21, 22 denote supply pumps for supplying each liquid at a constant rate, reference numeral 23 denotes a circulation pump, reference numerals 24, 24,.
.. Are pipes through which a chemical solution or water passes, 26 is a pipe through which steam passes, and SV1, SV2,... SV6 are automatic control valves.

In the above configuration, the food is cooled or frozen by placing the food on the transport net conveyor 4 and sending the cold air from the transport inlet 2 to the transport outlet 3 at a predetermined speed while cooling the air with the heat exchange devices 5 and 5. This is performed by flowing along the conveyor 4. At this time, since the heat exchange devices 5 and 5 are arranged symmetrically in the heat insulating tank 1, the pressure balance between the left and right of the cool air is obtained, and the transfer inlet 2 and the transfer outlet are controlled by the narrowing action of the partition walls 8a at both ends. Almost no cold air flows out of 3.

If the cooling efficiency is lowered due to frost in the heat exchangers 6 during operation, the blower 7 is stopped and the automatic control valve SV5 is opened to discharge the defrosted fresh water into the heat exchanger 6. , 6 are removed by flowing through a defrosting water sprinkling pipe 6a provided at the upper part of. The fresh water that has flowed downward is discharged from the discharge groove 15, the discharge pipe 16, and the opened automatic control valve SV1 provided on the bottom of the heat insulating tank.

The cleaning and sterilization performed when the food processing operation is completed is performed by using the bottom of the heat insulating tank 1 as a liquid storage unit (tank) 1a using a CIP cleaning device, and the procedure shown in the cleaning flowchart of FIG. The washing, sterilization operation or steam sterilization is automatically performed.

First, a rough rinsing is performed. This is achieved by opening the automatic control valve SV3 and detecting the water level with a sensor (not shown) from the pipe 25 connected to the discharge pipe 16 to the liquid storage section 1a at the lower part of the heat insulating tank, thereby setting the specified position indicated by the dotted line in FIG. (For example, the position where the bearing of the blower 7 is not immersed in water)
After the hot water is injected into the liquid storage section 1a at the lower part of the heat insulating tank, the circulating pump 23 sends the hot water to the cleaning liquid ejection pipe 11 provided on the ceiling or the like to perform showering for a certain period of time. The control valve SV1 is opened to drain hot water from the liquid storage section 1a.

Next, the operation proceeds to the cleaning step. In the cleaning process, the automatic control valve SV3 is opened, and the liquid storage 1a at the lower part of the heat insulating tank is opened.
Is injected into the liquid reservoir 1a by a supply pump 20 from a stock solution tank 17 for the medicine, and a circulation pump 23 is started to activate the washing liquid jet pipe 11 provided on the ceiling. After that, the showering of the hot water containing the medicine is repeatedly performed for a certain period of time. After the completion of the cleaning operation, the automatic control valve SV1 is opened to drain the liquid from the liquid storage section 1a, thereby completing the cleaning step.

Next, a rinsing process is performed to wash away the detergent. This is because the automatic control valve SV3 is opened, hot water is injected into the liquid storage section 1a below the heat insulating tank, the circulation pump 23 is started, and the shower ring of the hot water is fixed from the cleaning liquid jet pipe 11 provided on the ceiling. After this processing is completed, the automatic control valve SV1 is opened, the liquid is drained from the liquid storage section 1a, and the rinsing processing is completed.

Next, steam sterilization or chemical sterilization is selected,
Perform sterilization treatment. In the steam sterilization, by opening the automatic control valve SV4, steam is jetted from a steam jet pipe 13 provided at a lower portion of the heat insulating tank 1, the inside of the heat insulating tank 1 is raised to a specified temperature, and this state is maintained for a predetermined time. Sterilization. At this time, since the steam supplied from the automatic control valve SV4 is also supplied to the inside of the heat exchanger through the ejection pipe 6b in the heat exchanger, the temperature of this portion also increases rapidly,
It is possible to quickly raise the temperature to a predetermined temperature while making the temperature rise of the entire heat insulating tank uniform. In addition, the time of the temperature required for steam sterilization is generally set to 90 ° C. for 10 minutes, and to 80 ° C. for 20 to 30 minutes.

When performing the steam sterilization, if the blower 7 is operated intermittently or at a low speed at a low current, the steam can be spread evenly in the heat insulating tank, so that the temperature rise in the heat insulating tank becomes even more uniform. become. The reason why the blower is rotated intermittently or at a low speed with a low current is to prevent the motor of the blower 7 from being overheated.

Next, the case of performing chemical sterilization will be described. The chemical sterilization is performed by opening the automatic control valve SV3 and injecting hot water into the liquid storage 1a at the lower part of the heat insulating tank.
Thus, a predetermined amount of a stock solution of a sterilizing agent of an acid solution or an alkali solution is injected into the liquid storage section 1a, and the circulation pump 23
Is activated, and from the cleaning liquid ejection pipe 11 provided on the ceiling portion,
The showering of hot water containing a sterilizing solution is repeatedly performed for a certain period of time. After the completion of this work, the automatic control valve SV1
Is opened to discharge the sterilizing liquid from the liquid storage section 1a.

Finally, a rinsing process is performed, and the cleaning / sterilizing operation is completed. This is because the automatic control valve SV3 is opened, hot water is injected into the liquid storage section 1a below the heat insulating tank, the circulation pump 23 is started, and the shower ring of the hot water is fixed from the cleaning liquid jet pipe 11 provided on the ceiling. When the automatic control valve SV1 is opened and the liquid is drained from the liquid storage section 1a after completion of this operation, all the steps are completed.

The jet pipe 6b can be used as a chemical jet pipe in processes other than steam sterilization. That is, in each of the above-described rough rinsing, washing, rinsing, and chemical sterilization steps, when the automatic control valve SV6 is opened, a chemical solution or the like sent from the circulation pump 23 is jetted into the heat exchanger 6, and the fins 6 of the heat exchanger are discharged.
It is possible to efficiently clean internal stains such as c.

The above-mentioned cleaning / sterilization work can be automatically performed by selecting and setting each work procedure and processing time by the operation box of the CIP control device.

It should be noted that, depending on the device, the cleaning liquid can be sprayed (no pressure spraying) from the defrosting water spray pipe 6a of the heat exchange device by slightly changing the pipe 25 in FIG.

In the above description, the cleaning liquid ejection pipe 11 is provided along the ceiling surface of the heat insulating tank 1, but this arrangement is provided at an appropriate position according to the cleaning method.

In the above description, the embodiment in which the present invention is applied to a refrigerating apparatus has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a heating apparatus.

[0036]

According to the present invention, since the lower part of the heat insulating tank is used as a liquid storage part and the water or the chemical contained therein is circulated for cleaning, a controller incorporating a circulation pump and a chemical liquid supply pump is provided. ClP cleaning becomes possible only by attaching
By reducing the amount of water and chemicals used, the running cost can be suppressed, and since no external tank is provided, space can be saved, and a washing / sterilizing apparatus can be manufactured at low cost.

In addition, since a jet pipe through which a chemical solution or a vapor passes is incorporated in the heat exchanger in a direction intersecting the fins, the inside of the heat exchanger having a complicated structure can be effectively cleaned. However, it is possible to eliminate the adverse effects caused by the slow rise in the temperature of this portion.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of a continuous transport type food processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial cross-sectional view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 showing the positions of a partition wall and a discharge groove with respect to the heat insulating tank.

FIG. 3 is a view of the heat exchanger incorporated in the apparatus of FIG. 1 as viewed from a direction orthogonal to the air flow direction.

FIG. 4 is a view showing another embodiment of the heat exchanger of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a work flow chart showing an example of a procedure for cleaning and sterilizing the apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the structure of a conventional continuous transport food processing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Thermal insulation tank 2 Transport inlet 3 Transport outlet 4 Transport net conveyor (belt conveyor) 5 Heat exchange device 6 Heat exchanger 6a Defrosting water sprinkling tube 6b Spouting tube for ejecting steam or chemicals 6c Fin 6d Header pipe of ejection tube 6e Heat Medium circulation pipe 7 Blower 8a, 8b, 8c Partition wall 9 Rectangular window 10 U-shaped hole for passing chemicals etc. 11 Cleaning liquid ejection pipe 12 Cleaning liquid ejection pipe ejection port 13 Steam ejection pipe 14 Steam ejection pipe ejection port 15 Longitudinal direction Inclined discharge groove 16 discharge pipe 17 stock solution tank of chemical solution 18 stock solution tank of acid solution 19 stock solution tank of alkaline solution 20, 21, 22 pump for supplying stock solution of drug 23 pump for circulation 24 check valve 25 Pipe for passing 26 Pipe for passing steam SV1, SV2, ... SV6 Automatic control valve

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A heat insulation tank containing therein a belt conveyor for transporting food and means for cooling, freezing or heating the food on the belt conveyor, a liquid storage section formed in a lower portion of the heat insulation tank, and a liquid storage section. A pipe and a supply pump for supplying water or chemical solution for cleaning to the cleaning pipe, a cleaning liquid jet pipe provided at a predetermined position in the heat insulating tank, and a pipe and circulation for supplying water or chemical liquid stored in the liquid storage section to the cleaning liquid jet pipe. A continuously transported food processing apparatus comprising a pump. 2. A spout tube for spouting steam or a chemical solution is provided in a heat exchanger provided in an insulated tank as a means for cooling, freezing, or heating food, in a direction intersecting a large number of the fins. The continuous-conveyance-type food processing apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that: