JPS6193023A - Filling packaging method for inert gas - 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] Hey Ll! BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an inert gas filling and packaging method for filling and sealing a container such as a plastic cup containing food or the like with an inert gas.

11 In recent years, as shown in Figure 8, the packaging for foods, etc. ) When heat-sealing the periphery of the opening of the container a and the sealing sheet C, fill the head space e in the container a with an inert gas such as nitrogen gas to replace the air with an inert gas. Replacement is being carried out.

In this case, if the residual rate of air in the head space e is high, the contents are likely to oxidize when subjected to retort sterilization treatment, so it is preferable to increase the direct exchange rate of the inert gas as much as possible.

Conventionally, as a method of filling the container with an inert gas and sealing the container with a sealing sheet, packaging the container is carried out by putting the contents inside a chitonba. l or W! After arranging several containers and creating a vacuum inside the chamber, inert gas is introduced into the chamber, and with the chamber filled with inert gas, a sealing sheet is heat-sealed to the opening of the container inside the chamber. The method is adopted.

In addition, if the packaging is in the form of a tube, a simple method is used to fill the packaging with inert gas by continuously injecting inert gas into the tube, sealing it, and cutting it. has been done.

However, the former method described above requires large-scale mechanical equipment and is therefore expensive. In addition, since heat sealing is performed by impulse sealing, there are restrictions on the shape of containers that can be used. For example, containers with square openings can be used successfully, but containers with oval openings are sealed with a sealing sheet. There is a problem that the (lid) cannot be heat-sealed well, and there is a limit to the sealing pressure during heat-sealing, and a pressure higher than the -chamber cannot be applied. Furthermore, this method requires a large amount of inert gas, which also has the disadvantage of increasing costs.

Further, the proposed method has a problem in terms of economy due to a large loss of inert gas, and also has the disadvantage that the replacement rate is lower than the above-mentioned method.

In view of the above circumstances, the inventor of the present invention has discovered that it is possible to successfully fill and package containers with inert gas even in complex shapes such as ellipses at low cost using simple equipment. As a result of intensive research into an inert gas filling packaging method that can reduce the amount of inert gas used as much as possible, we have found that a sealing sheet is placed over the opening of the container containing the contents. Temporarily heat-seal the sealing sheet so as to form a nozzle insertion gap and an air leak gap at the periphery of the part, respectively.
Insert the nozzle tip into the container to which the sealing sheet has been temporarily heat-sealed through the nozzle insertion gap, and blow out inert gas into the container from the nozzle tip side to draw the air inside the container out of the container from the air leak gap. The container is filled with inert gas to create a positive pressure state, and then the nozzle is pulled out of the container, and a sealing sheet is heat-sealed to the entire periphery of the opening of the container to seal the nozzle insertion gap and The inventors have discovered that the above object can be effectively achieved by closing the air leakage gap and sealing the container, leading to the present invention.

That is, in the present invention, a sealing sheet is temporarily heat-sealed around the opening of the container containing the contents so that a nozzle insertion gap and an air leak gap are formed, and an inert gas is introduced into the sealing sheet. In this way, the amount of inert gas used is minimized, and an inert gas jetting nozzle is inserted through the nozzle insertion gap and inert gas is jetted from there.
By smoothly pushing out the air in the air from the air leak gap, the inert gas replacement rate and WIMk speed are increased.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5.

文 iL Figures 1 and 2 show an example of an inert gas filling and packaging apparatus used to carry out the method of the present invention. A plurality of container receiving packets 2 automatically advance sequentially in the direction of the arrow in the figure.
The packet 2 also has a ring-shaped flange 3b protruding from the outer periphery of the upper opening of the square cup-shaped container main body 3a. A plastic container 3 containing contents 4 is arranged.

Further, 5 is a sealing sheet that is wound up from a film roll 6 to a winding roll 7 at a winding speed that is synchronized with the traveling speed of the packet 2, and this sealing sheet 5 covers the opening of the container 3 by a film guide roller 8. It is arranged so that

Furthermore, 9 is a first heat sealing plate (temporary heat sealing plate) disposed at a predetermined position above the sheet 5 covering the opening of the container 3, and 10 is a packet 2 of this first heat sealing plate 9.
A second heat sealing plate (main heat sealing plate) disposed on the side of the first heat sealing plate 9 in the forward direction of movement, 1
Reference numeral 1 denotes a trimming device disposed on the side of the second heat sealing plate in front of the second heat sealing plate 10 in the traveling direction of the packet 2 .

Further, the tip 12 is arranged so that its tip reaches the container position B facing the first heat sealing plate 9 from the advancing direction of the packet 2, and is inserted and protruded from the rear into the upper end of the container 3 existing in the IFB at this point. An inert gas filled nozzle is installed. This nozzle 12 is formed into a flat shape as shown in FIG.
is drilled. Note that the ejection holes 13 are formed to have a smaller diameter toward the distal end, so that the ejected inert gas flows forward.

Furthermore, 14 is a balance guide that removes inert gas when it enters the container 3 in an excessive amount.

In this device, the first heat sealing plate (temporary heat sealing plate) 9 has a frame-shaped contact portion 9a corresponding to the ring-shaped flange 3b of the container 3, and a fourth As shown in the figure, a gap forming groove 15 for nozzle insertion is formed at the rear of the container 3 in the direction of movement, and a predetermined number (one in the figure) of air is formed at the front opposite to this groove 15. A leak gap forming groove 16 is formed.

In addition, the above-mentioned second heat sealing board (main heat sealing board) 1
0 is a flange 3b corresponding to the ring-shaped flange 3b of the container 3.
It has a frame-shaped contact portion 10a that contacts the entire surface.

When filling the container 3 containing the contents 4 with inert gas using the above-mentioned device and sealing it with the sealing sheet 5, the containers 3 are sequentially moved in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and first the container 3 is positioned mA where the sealing sheet is covered. At the position reached, the mouth of the container 3R is covered with the sheet 5. Next, when the container 3 reaches the lower position B of the first heat sealing plate 9, the first heat sealing plate 9 is lowered, and the contact portion 9a heated to a predetermined temperature is brought into contact with the flange portion 3b.
is pressed to temporarily heat and seal the sealing sheet 5 to the periphery of the opening of the container 3 (ring-shaped flange 3b) using the first heat-sealing plate 9. In this case, as described above, the first heat sealing plate 9 is formed with the nozzle insertion gap forming groove 15 and the air leak gap forming groove 16 opposite thereto, so that the ring-shaped flange 3b of the container 3 and the sealing sheet 5 are nozzle insertion holes 11i1 facing each other as shown in FIG.
7 and air leak gap 18 are left, respectively, and the tip of the nozzle 12 is inserted into the container 3 from the nozzle insertion gap 17 toward the air leak gap 18.

Then, at the same time as or immediately after the temporary heat sealing by the first heat seal fi9, inert gas is ejected into the container 3 from the ejection hole 13 at the tip of the nozzle 12, and the air in the container 3 is removed from the air leak gap 18. The gas is expelled from the container 3 and the inert gas is filled into the container 3 to create a somewhat positive pressure.

The container 3 is then sent to the cod distribution position C of the balance guide 14 (at this point the nozzle 12 is outside the container 3).

This balance guide 14 holds down the sealing sheet 5 while the container 3 is moving from Bmaif to the D position, and removes inert gas when it enters the container 3 too much. Next, the second heatshi, -ru! 810, the second heat sealing plate 10 is lowered, the contact portion 10a heated to a predetermined temperature presses the flange portion 3b, and the second heat seal W10 seals the sealing sheet 5 into the container. 3 The entire periphery of the opening (flange) is heat-sealed, and the nozzle insertion gap 17 and air leak gap 18 are closed! I3 is sealed.

Thereafter, the container s3 is advanced to the upper part ffE of the trimming device 11, the trimming device riii is lowered, and the sealing sheet 5 is cut and trimmed from the outer peripheral edge of the flange portion 3b of the container 3 by the trimming device @11. The container 3 filled with an inert gas and sealed by the above-mentioned apparatus is capable of excellent retort sterilization at a temperature of 'B'.

Here, the material of the container used in the present invention is particularly tII.
Although there is no wI, a multilayer barrier sheet consisting of polypropylene shoulder-barrier S-polypropylene layer is formed into an appropriate shape (e.g. circular or oval cup shape as shown in Figure 6.7);
Rigid containers molded to dimensions can be suitably used.

Note that nitrogen gas or the like can be suitably used as the inert gas. In addition, in the present invention, inert gas is introduced at automatic timing at the same time as the temporary sealing, and the inert gas is injected for a preset time and meter based on the size of the nozzle insertion gap and air leak gap. It is preferable to proceed to the second heat sealing step when the inside of the container becomes slightly positive pressure.

The above apparatus automatically advances the packet 2 in which the containers 3 are placed in the direction of the arrow in the figure, and in the process, the first heat sealing plate 9 performs temporary heat sealing, the second heat sealing plate 10 performs the main heat sealing, Since trimming is performed sequentially by the trimming device ff11, packaging can be performed automatically and efficiently.

Further, in the above device, since a flat nozzle is used as the nozzle 12, the nozzle insertion gap 17 can be formed narrowly, and the tip of the nozzle 12 has a large number of ejection holes 1.
3 is formed to have a smaller diameter toward the tip end, so that the flow direction of the inert gas in the container 3 is controlled, and since the air leak gap 18 is provided in the flow direction, the inert gas replacement rate is high. Containers packaged using the above device can be retort sterilized and stored for a long period of time.

In the above device, a flat nozzle having a large number of ejection holes is used, but the nozzle is not limited to this, and other configurations may be changed without departing from the gist of the present invention.

As described in detail, the inert gas filling packaging method according to the present invention covers the opening of a container containing contents with a sealing sheet, and provides a nozzle insertion gap and an air gap around the opening of the container. Temporarily heat-seal the sealing sheets so as to form gaps for leakage, then insert the nozzle tip into the container to which the sealing sheet has been temporarily heat-sealed from the nozzle insertion gap, and inject inert gas into the container from the nozzle tip side. The inside of the container is filled with inert gas by blowing out the air inside the container to the outside of the container through the air leak gap, and then the nozzle is pulled out of the container, and then a sealing sheet is placed around the entire periphery of the opening of the container. By heat-sealing the nozzle insertion gap and the air leak gap to close the container and sealing the container, inert gas-filled packaging can be performed at low cost using simple equipment. In addition, by temporarily heat-sealing the sealing sheet to minimize the volume of the inside of the container where inert gas must be exchanged, and by providing a gap for air leakage, the amount of inert gas used can be minimized. Can be done. Furthermore, in the present invention, since it is not necessary to employ impulse sealing as a heat sealing method, oval,
It is possible to perform inert gas filling and packaging using containers of any shape. Therefore, the present invention provides a room-temperature distribution type food by placing a moisture-containing food rich in solids in a rigid container made of a multilayer barrier sheet molded into an appropriate shape, packaging the food with inert gas filling, and then sterilizing it by high-temperature retort. It is suitably adopted when making products such as

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an example of an inert gas filling packaging device used to carry out the method of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view of the device, and FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the nozzle tip of the device. , Figure 4 is a bottom view showing the first heat seal plate of the same device, Figure 5 is
The figure is a sectional view showing a state in which a sealing sheet is temporarily heat-sealed to the periphery of the container 4 using the same heat-sealing plate, FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a circular container, and FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing an elliptical container. FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a state in which the contents are put into a container and the container is filled with inert gas and packaged. 3... Container, 4... Contents, 5... Sealing sheet,
9...First heat sealing board. 10...Second heat sealing plate, 12-...Nozzle. 17...Gap for nozzle insertion. 18...Air leak gap. Applicant Nikka Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Takashi Kojima Figure 8

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Cover the opening of the container containing the contents with a sealing sheet, temporarily heat-seal the sealing sheet so as to form a nozzle insertion gap and an air leak gap around the periphery of the container opening, and Insert the nozzle tip into the container to which the sealing sheet has been temporarily heat-sealed through the nozzle insertion gap, and blow out inert gas into the container from the nozzle tip side to force the air inside the container out of the container through the air leak gap. The container is filled with inert gas by expelling it, and then the nozzle is pulled out of the container, and a sealing sheet is heat-sealed all over the periphery of the opening of the container to close the nozzle insertion gap and air leak gap. , an inert gas filling packaging method characterized in that the container is hermetically sealed.