JPS6099820A - Method of filling liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a method for preparing liquids such as coffee drinks and other soft drinks that are easily oxidized and deteriorated by oxygen in the air by laminating metal foils or not.
! I-layer synthetic resin 11! It relates to a method of filling an air-tight package made of iH material.

Conventionally, at least one layer of gold Ii! BACKGROUND ART A package is constructed from an air-proof laminated material consisting of an i-foil layer and a plurality of synthetic resin layers, and a liquid such as juice is filled and stored in the package. Especially this/7'1m1r)ノ'
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(1 and 11/7%l'14)+1 and 16mi4-1,
Either the edges in the width direction are thermally bonded, or one of the laminated materials is
If a sheet is folded in half and the open edges in the width direction are thermally bonded, a bottom part with a V-shaped cross section or an inverted V-shaped part can be expanded and contracted at the bottom of the main body. :This package is very convenient because it can be used in an upright position.

However, when this type of packaging is filled with liquid,
A head space inevitably occurs, and air remains at the top of the package. Therefore, there is no problem if the liquid to be filled is not easily oxidized and altered by oxygen in the air, but if the liquid is easily oxidized and altered, such as coffee drink 1'4, the air remaining in the head space may There is a problem that the liquid is oxidized by the oxygen in the liquid, impairing its quality.

Furthermore, there is the problem that when filling liquid into this type of packaging, bubbles are generated and the air trapped therein causes oxidation.

In this case, it is not practical to completely replace the inside of the package with nitrogen gas because it requires large-scale equipment and causes cost problems. Furthermore, in any case, it is impossible to avoid the inclusion of air due to the generation of bubbles during filling.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to fill a packaging bag made of a single-layer synthetic resin material with air-proof properties by filling a liquid filling bag with a liquid that is easily oxidized, such as a coffee drink. By blowing inert gas such as nitrogen gas into Di) and sealing it immediately after filling, the inside of the head space is made rich in inert gas, and the amount of air in the bubbles generated when filling m-x'r remains in the head space. Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to provide a liquid filling method that can reduce the amount of oxygen as much as possible, and can therefore store liquids that are easily oxidized, such as coffee drinks, for a long period of time without deteriorating their quality. and J.

According to the present invention, it is possible to extremely reduce the amount of air in the head space, as in the case of two continuous air bubbles, and the air is trapped in the bubbles, which is difficult to replace with the method of replacing gas after filling with liquid. It is possible to provide a liquid filling method that can easily replace the oxygen (air) that is present.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawings.

The method for filling a liquid according to the present invention is to fill a packaging bag made of an air-proof synthetic resin laminated material with an inert gas at the same time as filling the liquid. It is blown into a packaging bag and sealed immediately after filling.

Here, the synthetic resin laminated material forming the packaging bag used in the present invention may or may not have g+ layers of metal foil in addition to the synthetic resin, but especially at least one layer of metal (1!i An example of a packaging bag using one or more layers of this type of material is the packaging bag shown in FIG. 1.

That is, the packaging bag 1 shown in FIG. 1 has an inner layer 2.2' made of a heat adhesive synthetic resin such as polyethylene or polypropylene.
, an intermediate layer 3.3' made of metal foil such as aluminum,
By facing two sheets of air-proof laminated material 5.5' made of synthetic resin such as nylon, polyethylene terephthalate, polypropylene, etc., and thermally bonding both ends in the width direction, respectively. In addition to forming the packaging body 6, a laminated material 8 having a structure similar to that of the laminated material described above and having an inverted V-shaped cross section is bent so as to be extendable at the center of the flap to form a bent part 7. The bottom portion 9 is formed by thermally bonding both side edges and the lower edge to the inner layers 2, 2' of the packaging body 6, respectively. Note that the opening 10 of this packaging bag 1 is opened after filling with the liquid filler.
The inner layers 2 and 2' of the packaging body 6 are sealed by thermally bonding them together.

The above-described packaging bag 1 is convenient for storage after filling with liquid because the bottom part 9 can be expanded by aligning the bent parts 7 of the bottom part 9 and the packaging bag 1 can be maintained in an upright state.

Note that the configuration of the packaging bag is not limited to the illustrated embodiment. For example, the bottom part may be made into a V-shape instead of a stretchable inverted V-shape, and in the case of forming the packaging body J8, one sheet of wrapping material is folded in half and the open end in the width direction is used. The parts may be thermally bonded, and the structure of the packaging material can also be modified in various ways.

The present invention is such that when filling a liquid filling into a packaging bag as described above, an inert gas is blown at the same time as the filling of the liquid filling, so that coffee drinks, etc. Even when filled with liquids that are easily oxidized, it would be possible to prevent oxidation and maintain quality for a long period of time.

That is, when the above-mentioned packaging bag is filled with liquid, a head space is created, and the oxygen in the air remaining in this space oxidizes the coffee drinker 8i, etc. However, according to the present invention, the liquid By injecting inert gas at the same time as filling the liquid, the head space can be enriched with inert gas and the amount of residual oxygen in the head space can be extremely reduced. This makes it possible to reduce the width of air (oxygen) taken into the bubbles as much as possible.

Here, the inert gas may be any gas as long as it does not oxidize or alter the liquid filling, but nitrogen gas is particularly preferably used. In addition, the flow rate when blowing this inert gas is the content M of the packaging bag (
Filling agent) can be changed in various ways, but filling ffi
In the case of 200 cc, 0.1 to 5 J/Sec, especially 0,
It is preferable to read 5-1, 5.1/sea.

Further, the position at which the inert gas such as nitrogen gas is blown into the packaging bag is not necessarily limited, but it is preferably approximately at the center of the flow of the liquid filling to be filled, and moreover, It is more preferable to write it in almost the same direction as
For example, in the case of the liquid filling device shown in FIG. 2, which will be described later, it is preferable that the inert gas blowing position be approximately at the center of the opening of the packaging bag as shown in the figure. If it is possible to make the air mountain as small as possible and to reliably replace the air in the bubbles, then,
The flow of inert gas inside the packaging bag can be equalized to ensure that the inside of the head space is rich in inert gas.

Figure 2 shows an outline of an example of a device that fills a packaging bag with liquid and blows inert gas into it.
is a nozzle pipe to which a liquid filling supply pipe 12 is connected on the side, and inside thereof there is an opening/closing member 1 formed in a substantially cylindrical shape.
Although the mechanism is omitted, No. 3 is arranged to be movable in the axial direction. The upper part of this first part 13 is formed to have an outer diameter that is approximately the same as the inner diameter of the nozzle pipe 11, and can slide with the nozzle pipe 11 above the position where the supply pipe 12 of the nozzle pipe 11 connects. , and opening/closing part vJ
The lower part of the opening/closing member 13 is formed to have a small diameter, and a liquid filling channel 14 is formed between the nozzle pipe 11 and the small diameter lower part of the opening/closing member 13 . Further, the lower end of the opening/closing member 13 projects outward from the nozzle pipe 11 and has an outer diameter that is approximately the same as the outer diameter of the nozzle pipe 11. At some point, the lower end of the opening/closing member 13 comes into close contact with the lower end of the nozzle pipe 11, and the outlet 15 of the liquid-filled channel 14 formed in the nozzle pipe 11 is closed and communicated with this channel 14. The liquid filling supplied from the liquid filling supply pipe 12 connected to the nozzle pipe 11 is transferred to the nozzle pipe 11.
In addition, the opening/closing member 13
When the nozzle is lowered to the lower limit position indicated by the two-point #1 line, the outlet 15 opens and the liquid filling flows out from the nozzle pipe 11. Further, an inert gas introduction pipe 16 is formed in the center of the opening/closing member 13 along its axial direction.

When filling a liquid with this device, insert the lower end of the nozzle pipe 11 into the opening 10 of the packaging bag 10, lower the opening/closing member 13, and lower the outlet 1 of the liquid filling channel 14.
5, and at the same time the liquid filling material is filled into the packaging bag 1, an inert gas such as nitrogen gas is introduced from the inert gas introduction path 16, and after the filling of the liquid filling material is completed, the opening/closing member 13
is raised to close the outlet 15 and further stop introducing the inert gas.

By using such a device, the inert gas is
As shown by the arrow in the figure, the flow reliably flows from the inside of the opening/closing member 13 through the lower end of its lower end face from the center of the packaging bag 1 toward both sides, and the bubbles generated when filling the liquid filler. In addition to properly grinding air, when the packaging bag 1 is filled with contents, the inside of the head space 17 is reliably in an inert gas-rich state, so that the object of the present invention is satisfactorily achieved. .

FIG. 3 shows another example of the device used in the present invention, in which the cylindrical opening/closing member 13 is fitted into the nozzle pipe 11 so as to be slidable in the axial direction, and when the opening/closing member 13 is at the lower limit position. The communication between the nozzle pipe 11 and the liquid filling supply pipe 12 is cut off, and the nozzle pipe 1 is opened at the upper limit position of the opening/closing member 13.
1 and the supply pipe 12 are communicated, and the liquid filling is connected to the nozzle pipe 11.
In addition, an inert gas introduction pipe 16' is separately provided, and the inert gas outlet end of this introduction pipe 16' is located approximately at the center below the nozzle pipe 11. It is. This device can be used similarly to the device of FIG. 2, but is particularly suitable for filling relatively viscous liquid fills.

The opening of the packaging bag filled with the liquid is immediately hermetically sealed after filling. In this case, the sealing means may be any means as long as it can seal the frontage airtightly, but in the case of a packaging bag whose inner layer is a heat-adhesive synthetic resin layer as shown in Fig. 1, it may be sealed by heat-adhesion. means are preferably employed.

The liquid content filled and sealed in a packaging bag by the method described above has a head space inside the packaging bag that is rich in inert gas, has a low amount of oxygen, and even if bubbles are generated during filling, the air that is trapped in the bubbles is small. Since m is extremely small, oxidation is prevented even on a lifting platform filled with liquids that are easily oxidized, such as coffee drinks, and the quality of C is maintained well even when stored for a long time without deterioration. It is.

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to Examples.

[Example 1] Using a packaging material whose inner layer is polypropylene, the middle layer is aluminum foil, the outer layer is made of nylon, and the outside is polyethylene terephthalate, a container with a size of 100 ships x 145 m+n (inner capacity: 100 teeth) was prepared in Figure 1. A self-supporting packaging bag as shown is manufactured, and a device as shown in FIG.
0? filled with coffee drinks. At this time, nitrogen gas was introduced at a flow rate of M1J/sec at the same time as the filling. Immediately after filling, the J-shaped opening was then hot-bonded.

The head space generated in the packaging bag was 10 r, c, and the gas within the head space was analyzed using gas chromatography. The results are as follows.

Note that the results are shown as the average value when seven bags were filled as described above.

Oxygen concentration and oxygen amount in head space (average 10cc) Oxygen concentration: 3.0% Oxygen amount: 0.3cr.

From the above results, the oxygen m in the head space when nitrogen gas is not blown is 2 cc (10 cc x 115)
However, it has been found that the oxygen ω in the head space can be lowered to 0.13 cc by adopting the present method of blowing in nitrogen gas at the same time as filling the liquid contents.

In addition, the coffee beverage filled as described above is 12
Even after storage for months, there was virtually no oxidation and the quality was maintained well.

[Example 2] (Outside) A packaging bag with a content of 1 J was manufactured using packaging materials consisting of polyethylene/bleached rough 1-paper/polyethylene/aluminum foil/polyethylene (inner a11).
Using the apparatus shown in the figure, 1 J of milk was filled while blowing nitrogen gas. Approximately 7 seconds after filling, the opening was sealed.

The head space in the container was approximately 15 cc, and the gas within this head space was analyzed by gas chromatography.

The results are as follows.

Oxygen gas moisture content: 4% Oxygen gas amount: 0.6 cc The milk filled as described above showed no deterioration in quality even after being stored for 2 months, and its quality was maintained well.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing an example of a packaging bag used in carrying out the present invention, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are schematic sectional views showing an example of a device used in carrying out the present invention. 1. ... Packaging bag, 5,5' ... Kozue Fi starting material, 11 ... Nozzle pipe, 14 ... Liquid filling channel 16 ... ...Inert gas intake path 16'...Inert gas introduction pipe. Applicant: Takumi Fujimori Kuri Co., Ltd. Agent, Patent attorney: Takashi Kojima

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. When filling a packaging bag made of air-proof synthetic resin i-layer material, inert gas is blown into the packaging bag at the same time as the liquid filling is filled. A liquid filling method characterized by immediate sealing.