JPS6011827Y2 - Continuous sterilizer - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention can be used to sterilize objects such as flexible packaging bodies (retort pouches) in which food etc. are filled in flexible packaging containers.
This invention relates to a continuous sterilizer that continuously sterilizes at a sterilization temperature of ℃ or higher and a pressure of atmospheric pressure or higher.

Such a continuous sterilizer has a device main body that has a sterilization chamber filled with a heating medium and a cooling chamber filled with cooling water, and a large number of objects to be sterilized. A conveyor chain conveyor that sequentially guides the objects to be sterilized into the cooling chamber, a rotary valve type pressure cut-off mechanism that partitions the inside and outside of the device body, and a pressure cut-off mechanism of the rotary valve type that separates the inside and outside of the device body, and the objects to be sterilized are sent from outside the device body to the object receiver through the pressure cut-off mechanism. A device is known that is equipped with a feeding mechanism in which the objects to be sterilized, which have been heat sterilized and cooled, are sent out from the object receiver to the outside of the apparatus main body via a pressure cutoff mechanism.

However, the conventional continuous sterilization apparatus of this type has a problem in that it is difficult to maintain and inspect the parts inside the apparatus body, such as the conveyor chain conveyor, and to clean the scales.

This idea was made in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, and makes use of the fact that the chain of the conveyor chain conveyor does not pass through the pressure cutoff mechanism, allowing the conveyor chain conveyor to be moved in and out of the equipment body. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a continuous sterilization device in which maintenance, inspection, and cleaning of the members within the device main body can be easily and sufficiently performed.

In order to achieve this objective, this invention provides a continuous sterilizer as described above, in which an opening with a cover that can be opened and closed or is attached and removed is provided in a part of the main body of the device, and the transfer to the main body of the device is carried out through this opening. The frame of this conveyor is removably supported and fixed within the main body of the apparatus so that the chain conveyor can be taken in and taken out.

An embodiment of this invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In Fig. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a device main body, and a sterilization chamber 2 is formed in the upper part of the device main body 1, in which steam, a mixture of steam and air, or hot water can be selectively used. A box-shaped chamber wall 3 with an open upper surface is made of a heat insulating material, and a cooling chamber 4 filled with cooling water is formed outside the chamber wall 3.

Reference numeral 5 designates a conveyor chain conveyor, on which an endless chain 8 is hung around a large number of guide wheels 7 that are pivotally supported on a frame 6, and a large number of object receptacles 9 are attached to the endless chain 8.
are attached at predetermined intervals, the endless chain 8 is disposed within the sterilization chamber 2, the gas phase section 10 above it, and the cooling chamber 4, and the article receptacle 9 has an approximately semicircular cross section and an opening. The parts are always facing outward and are driven in the direction of the arrow in FIG.

11 is a rotary valve type pressure cutoff mechanism,
A rotor 13 is rotatably fitted into a casing 12 fixed to one end wall, and a plurality of fitting recesses 13a for objects to be sterilized are formed in the rotor 13 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction. 13 is provided with a discharge mechanism (not shown) for forcibly discharging the carrier for the object to be sterilized from the fitting recess 13a.

Inside the apparatus main body 1, an internal feeding mechanism 14 is disposed in the upper part between the conveying chain conveyor 5 and the pressure cutoff mechanism 11, and an internal feeding mechanism 15 is disposed in the lower part. are respectively composed of support guides 14av and 15a and rotating levers 14b and 15b.

A water tank 16 is installed outside the pressure cutoff mechanism 11, and an end portion of a supply/discharge conveyor 17 is provided in the water tank 16 so that the pressure cutoff mechanism 11 side is located downward.

The supply/discharge conveyor 17 extends outside the water tank 16, and a large number of object receptacles 17b are attached to an endless chain 17a at predetermined intervals.

An external feeding mechanism 18 is provided in the upper part between the pressure cutoff mechanism 11 and the supply/discharge conveyor 17, and an external feeding mechanism 19 is provided in the lower part.
a, a rotating body 18b, and a rotating arm 18c,
The external delivery mechanism 19 includes a support guide 19a and a rotating body 19b.

In FIG. 1, reference numerals 20 and 21 are guides for the transport chain conveyor 5 and the supply/discharge conveyor 17.

Further, an opening 1a is formed at the end of the apparatus main body 1 opposite to the pressure cutoff mechanism 11, and a lid 22 covering the opening 1a is attached to the apparatus main body 1 so as to be openable/closed or detachable.

L pairs of rails 23 are fixed in the apparatus main body 1 along the left and right direction in FIG. A movable stopper 25 that can be raised or lowered is provided at each portion, and the movable stopper 25 is locked in the upright state.

Wheels 26 provided at the lower part of the frame 6 of the conveying chain conveyor 5 are supported on the rails 23 so as to be freely movable.
Normally, the frame 6 is fixed by a fixed stopper 24 and a movable stopper 25 that stands up.

Although not shown, some guide wheels 7 of the conveyor chain conveyor 5 also serve as drive sprockets for the endless chain 8, and a transmission shaft connected to these drive shafts extends outside the device main body 1, and the drive shaft and a transmission shaft are removably connected.

Furthermore, a box-shaped chamber wall 3 of the sterilization chamber 2 is fixed to the frame 6.

Then, a conveying chain conveyor 5, a pressure cutoff mechanism 11
The movable parts of the rotor 13, the supply/discharge conveyor 17, the internal feeding mechanism 14, the internal feeding mechanism 15, the external feeding mechanism 18, and the external feeding mechanism 19 are synchronously driven by an appropriate transmission mechanism (not shown). There is.

Furthermore, the sterilization chamber 2 is filled with hot water of 100°C or higher, and the cooling chamber 4
Water is introduced into and discharged from the water tank 16, respectively.

Next, the operation of the continuous sterilizer configured as above will be explained.

The object to be sterilized, which is a flat flexible package, is stored in a dish-shaped inner container of a transport device, and these inner containers are stacked in multiple stages in a removable outer container with a storage section between wheels at both ends. They are stacked, fitted and held.

The conveyance tool containing the object to be sterilized in this manner is supplied to the object receiver 17b of the supply/discharge conveyor 17, and by driving the supply/discharge conveyor 17, the conveyor is transferred to the object receiver 17b of the supply/discharge conveyor 17.
7b, it is transferred onto the support guide 18a by rotation of the rotating body 18b of the external feeding mechanism 18, and forcibly fed into the fitting recess 13a provided in the rotor 13 of the pressure cutoff mechanism 11 by the rotation of the rotating arm 18c.

When the conveyance tool fitted in the fitting recess 13a reaches the support guide 14a of the internal feeding mechanism 14 due to the rotation of the rotor 13 in the counterclockwise direction in FIG. operates to remove the support guide 14 from the fitting recess 13a.
Push out the carrier onto a.

By rotating the rotary lever 14b of the internal feeding mechanism 14, the conveyance tool is moved from the support guide 14a to the conveyance chain conveyor 5.
The material to be sterilized is sent to the container 9 of the material to be sterilized.

The conveyance tool sent into the object receptacle 9 is led from the cooling water to the sterilization chamber 2 by the drive of the conveyance chain conveyor 5, and is heated by the heating medium made of hot water that fills the sterilization chamber 2. The stored objects to be sterilized are heated and sterilized, and then the conveying tool is guided to the cooling chamber 4 filled with cooling water, where the objects to be sterilized are cooled.

The transport tool with the cooled object to be sterilized is transferred from the guide 20 to the internal delivery mechanism 15 with the opening of the object receiver 9 facing downward.
is delivered onto the support guide 15a of the rotor 13 of the pressure cutoff mechanism 11 by rotation of the rotary lever 15b.

Incidentally, this fitting recess 13a is emptied by pushing out a conveyance tool containing objects to be sterilized before sterilization.

After the object to be sterilized and cooled has been sterilized and cooled, the conveying tool sent into the fitting recess 13a is discharged from the external delivery mechanism 19 by the operation of the discharge mechanism of the pressure cutoff mechanism 11 by the rotation of the rotor 13. It is pushed out onto the support guide 19a.

The carrier pushed out onto the support guide 19a is rotated by the rotating body 19.
By the rotation of b, the sterilized material is transferred from the support guide 19a to the object receiver 17b of the supply/discharge conveyor 17, and is discharged to a predetermined location.

Then, the dish-shaped inner containers are taken out from the outer container of the carrier, and the objects to be sterilized are taken out from these inner containers.

Although the heating sterilization and cooling operations for the object to be sterilized have been described above with attention to one carrier, the above-described operations are sequentially performed for a large number of carriers to sterilize and cool them continuously.

In addition, when performing maintenance, inspection, or cleaning of the inside of the device body 1, such as the conveyor chain conveyor 5, all driving parts of the conveyor chain conveyor 5, etc. are stopped, and hot water is supplied from the sterilization chamber 2 and from the cooling chamber 4. The cooling water is discharged to the outside of the apparatus main body 1, respectively.

Thereafter, the lid 22 is opened or removed, the movable stopper 25 is unlocked and brought down, and the wheels 26 provided on the frame body 6 are rolled along the rails 23, so that the entire chain conveyor 5 is moved through the opening 1a. from the device body 1.

It goes without saying that prior to this, the drive shafts of some drive sprockets of the guide wheel 7 and the transmission shafts are previously disconnected.

The conveyor chain conveyor 5 is located outside the main body 1 of the apparatus.
Maintenance and inspection are performed, and cleaning of the inside of the apparatus main body 1 and maintenance and inspection of the internal feeding mechanism 14, internal sending mechanism 15, etc. are carried out without the transport chain conveyor 5 inside the apparatus main body 1.

Thereafter, in the reverse procedure to that described above, the wheels 26 are placed on the rails 23 of the device main body 1, and the conveyor chain conveyor 5 is pushed into the device main body 1 until the frame 6 abuts the fixed stopper 24, and the movable stopper 25 is raised and locked, and the lid 22 is closed or attached to airtightly close the opening 1a of the device body 1.

It should be noted that instead of filling the sterilization chamber 2 with hot water in the above-mentioned embodiment, this invention may be filled with a mixture of steam and pressurized air as the heating medium, in which case the sterilization chamber 2 and the space above it may be filled with a mixture of water vapor and pressurized air. Both the gas phase section 10 serves as a sterilization chamber.

Furthermore, this invention allows use of canned materials other than visible packaging as objects to be sterilized.

As explained above, according to this invention, maintenance, inspection, and cleaning can be carried out by taking the conveyance chain conveyor out of the apparatus body. The effect is that maintenance, inspection, and cleaning of internal members can be done easily and thoroughly.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic side sectional view showing one embodiment of this invention;
The figure is a cross-sectional view taken along the line ■-■ in FIG. 1. 1...Device body, 1a...Opening, 2.
... Sterilization room, 3 ... Cooling room, 5 ...
...Transportation chain conveyor, 6... Frame, 9
・・・・・・Receiver for objects to be sterilized, 11・・・Pressure cutoff mechanism, 14.18・・・Internal, external feeding mechanism, 15
．． 19... Internal, external delivery mechanism, 22...
... Lid, 23 ... Rail, 24 ... Fixed stopper, 25 ... Movable stopper, 26 ...
····Wheel.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] The apparatus has a main body that has a sterilization chamber filled with a heating medium and a cooling chamber filled with cooling water, and a large number of receivers for objects to be sterilized. A chain conveyor for guiding the equipment, a pressure cut-off mechanism with a low revalve that separates the inside and outside of the equipment body, a feeding mechanism that sends the objects to be sterilized from outside the equipment main body via the pressure cut-off mechanism to the object receptacle, and heat sterilization and cooling. In a continuous sterilizer equipped with a delivery mechanism that sends out the sterilized objects from the sterilized object receiver to the outside of the device main body via a pressure cutoff mechanism, an opening in a part of the device main body that has a lid that can be opened/closed or detached. A continuous sterilization device characterized in that a frame body of the conveyor is removably supported and fixed within the device main body so that the conveying chain conveyor can be taken in and out of the device main body through the opening.