JPS6344358B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a continuous high-temperature sterilization device that sterilizes food or other processed materials by continuously passing them through a processing chamber that has a high-temperature section, and particularly relates to a continuous high-temperature sterilization device that sterilizes objects to be processed, such as foods, through a processing chamber that has a high-temperature section. The present invention relates to a continuous high-temperature sterilization device with an atmosphere-open structure that can obtain temperature.

Conventionally, when sterilizing objects such as food, high-temperature sterilization methods using steam or heated water have been widely used. In order to
It was necessary to use a closed sterilizer such as a high-pressure retort or a vertical sterilizer with a hydrostatic head. However, in the sterilization process using the high-pressure retort described above, a certain amount of the material to be processed is stored in a closed processing chamber, kept at high temperature for a certain period of time, sterilized, and then taken out, so the structure of the device is simple. On the other hand, it is almost impossible to sterilize a large amount of objects to be treated continuously, and there is also the drawback that the work of supplying and taking out the objects to be treated from the processing chamber becomes complicated. On the other hand, although a vertical sterilizer using a hydrostatic head can continuously sterilize a large amount of objects, there is a problem in that the structure of the device itself is complicated and large-scale.

That is, the vertical sterilizer a using a hydrostatic head has the first
As shown in the figure, a preheating water tower e filled with hot water and a cooling water tower f filled with cooling water are connected to the lower end of each inverted U-shaped sterilization chamber b via U-shaped connecting paths c and d. High temperature steam is supplied to the sterilization chamber b from the steam supply port g to maintain a predetermined temperature and pressure. In addition, h is a cooling water supply port, and i is a hot water discharge port. Therefore, when sterilizing the object to be processed, the object to be processed is loaded onto a transfer device (not shown) such as a chain conveyor, and moved into the preheating water tower e, the sterilization chamber b, and the cooling water tower as shown by the arrows in the figure. After passing through F sequentially to perform preheating with hot water, heat sterilization with high-temperature steam, and cooling with cooling water, the material is carried out of the apparatus and a large amount of material to be processed is continuously sterilized. By the way, in order to raise the temperature in the sterilization chamber b to a high temperature of 100°C or higher, the pressure in the sterilization chamber b needs to be super atmospheric pressure, and the hydrostatic head H that balances this super atmospheric pressure
In order ^to obtain (The static water head H is as high as 50 m, and the heights of the water towers e and f are naturally more than 50 m.) As the equipment becomes larger, the equipment for transporting the material to be treated also has a longer and more complicated structure. become.

The present invention was devised to solve the above-mentioned problems of the conventional sterilizer, and the structure is improved by making the device capable of achieving a processing temperature of 100°C or higher without having to make it a closed type. To provide a continuous high-temperature sterilization device that is simple and compact and can continuously sterilize a large amount of objects to be treated.

In order to achieve the above object, the configuration of the present invention is as follows:
In a processing chamber equipped with a supply port and a take-out port for the workpiece that are open to the atmosphere, a conveyor for transporting the workpiece is disposed so as to be freely movable from the supply port to the take-out port, and A sparge pipe is provided along the conveyor, and a heater is provided which is divided into a plurality of parts in the running direction of the conveyor and is linked to a temperature controller installed in the processing chamber to control the temperature inside the processing chamber. The gist of the present invention is a continuous high temperature sterilization treatment apparatus, and one embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of continuous high temperature sterilization according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged cross sectional view of FIG. The apparatus has a structure in which a conveyor 3 for transferring objects to be processed, a heater 4, a temperature regulator 5, a sparge pipe 6, etc. are arranged in a processing chamber 2.

The processing chamber 2 is formed into a generally inverted U-shaped hollow shape by an outer wall 7 equipped with a heat-retaining cover, and both lower ends thereof are open to the atmosphere, and have a supply port 8 and a take-out port for the processed material, respectively. Furthermore, the upper part of the processing chamber 2 is a sterilizing section 2a, the part from the supply port 8 of the processed material to the sterilizing section 2a is a preheating section 2b, and a sterilizing section 2.
The part from a to the outlet 9 for the material to be processed is the cooling section 2.
It is configured as c. In addition, the processing chamber 2
Approximately at the center of the conveyor chain 3, a chain bar 3b for loading the workpiece is connected to a conveyor chain 3a, extending from the supply port 8 of the workpiece to the takeout port 9. The conveyor 3, which is supported by the conveyor 3 and is disposed so as to be freely movable, and exits from the outlet 9 for the processed material to the outside,
It passes below the processing chamber 2 and returns to the supply port 8 for the material to be processed. Furthermore, a plurality of pipe-shaped heaters 4 are arranged around the chain conveyor 3.
surrounds the chain conveyor 3 so as to surround the workpieces mounted on the chain conveyor 3,
A temperature sensor that extends along the traveling direction of the chain conveyor 3, is divided into a plurality of parts in the extending direction, and is placed at an appropriate location in the processing chamber 2 to control the temperature of the processing chamber 2. It is linked with the regulator 5. Further, a sparge pipe 6 that supplies steam into the processing chamber 2 has a plurality of steam outlets formed in its side wall, and is disposed along the chain conveyor 3. Incidentally, as described above, the heater 4 is arranged surrounding the chain conveyor 3,
Since it also serves as a transfer guide to prevent the objects to be processed from falling off the conveyor 3, only one chain bar is required for placing the objects to be processed, and there is no need to install a special transfer guide in the processing chamber 2. Nor.

Therefore, in order to sterilize the object to be processed using this device, first, steam is supplied from a steam generation source (not shown) to the sparge pipe 6, and is ejected from the steam outlet into the processing chamber. The interior of the processing chamber 2 is filled with steam, and the heater 4 and temperature controller 5 are driven to bring the sterilization section 2a in the processing chamber 2 to a predetermined processing temperature.
The temperature inside the processing chamber 2 is such that the vicinity of the supply port 8 and the extraction port 9 of the processed material is at room temperature, and the temperature of the preheating section 2b and the cooling section 2c gradually decreases as they move from the upper part toward the supply port 8 and the extraction port 9, respectively. adjust the temperature distribution. In this state, the chain conveyor 3 is passed through the preheating section 2b, sterilization section 2a, and cooling section 2c in the processing chamber in order from the supply port 8 of the material to be processed, as shown by the arrow in the figure, and then the material to be processed passes through the outlet 9 of the processing chamber. The processing object A is placed on the chain bar 3b, and is supplied into the processing chamber 2 from the processing object supply port 8. The workpiece A supplied into the processing chamber 2 rises in the preheating section 2b as the chain conveyor 3 moves, and is preheated in stages by steam ejected from the sparge pipe 6 and heat from the heater 4. It reaches the sterilization section 2a, where it is heated to 100°C or higher (for example, about 120°C) to be sterilized. Sterilized object A
While being cooled step by step, it descends inside the cooling section 2c and reaches the take-out port 9, and is taken out onto a belt conveyor 10 outside the apparatus by reversing the chain conveyor 3. Note that the saturated steam supplied to the processing chamber 2, particularly the sterilization section 2a, becomes superheated steam due to heating by the heater 4, and heat conduction due to condensation is inhibited, resulting in a phenomenon in which the conduction efficiency is significantly reduced. This is done by forming the steam outlet of the sparge pipe 6 at a position facing the object to be processed A.
This can be solved by blowing steam directly onto the water to condense the water vapor. In addition, if the processed material A is bottled, etc.
If there is a large difference between the temperature of the object to be processed and the temperature of the superheated atmosphere, there is a risk of damage, etc. (In the case of bottling, there is a risk of damage if the temperature difference is 20°C or more.) Also, the temperature distribution in the processing chamber 2 is controlled by adjusting the temperature controller 5, and the chain conveyor 3 is controlled.
By adjusting the running speed of the vehicle, the temperature difference can be kept within acceptable limits.

As described in detail above, the continuous high-temperature sterilization processing apparatus of the present invention includes a conveyor for transferring the processed material that can freely run within the processing chamber, a sparge pipe along the running direction of the conveyor, and a sparge pipe that runs along the running direction of the conveyor. By installing a temperature controller and a heater that control the temperature by dividing the temperature into multiple parts in each direction, the objects to be processed can be preheated in stages from normal temperature at the front part of the conveyor, and sterilized at a predetermined temperature in the middle part. Processing, cooling in the rear section, and various other processes can be carried out efficiently in a short time. Furthermore, the temperature of the processing chamber is raised by the steam ejected from the sparge pipe and the superheating of the heater, making it possible to continuously transfer a large amount of material to be processed. No structure is required, and there are no restrictions imposed by the combination of a sealed structure and a conveyor for transferring the processed material, so the processing chamber is small and has a simple structure, and the bending, height, and length can be freely selected. The conveyor for transporting the objects to be processed also has excellent features such as a short and simple mechanism.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional sterilizer;
The figure is a schematic longitudinal cross-sectional view of a continuous high temperature sterilization treatment apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of FIG. 2. 1... Continuous high temperature sterilization processing equipment, 2... Processing chamber,
3...Conveyor for transferring the processed material, 4...Heater, 5...Temperature controller, 6...Sparge pipe,
8... Supply port for the material to be processed, 9... Output port for the material to be processed.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a processing chamber equipped with a supply port and a take-out port for the workpieces that are open to the atmosphere, a conveyor for transporting the workpieces is disposed in a freely movable manner from the supply port to the take-out port. , a sparge pipe is provided along the running direction of the conveyor, and the sparge pipe is divided into a plurality of parts in the running direction of the conveyor, and is linked with a temperature controller installed in the processing chamber to control the temperature inside the processing chamber. Continuous high-temperature sterilization equipment characterized by being equipped with a heater. 2. The heater according to claim 1 is:
A continuous high-temperature sterilization device comprising a plurality of parts, arranged so as to surround a conveyor for transferring objects to be processed, and extending in the running direction of the conveyor, and also serving as a guide for transferring objects to be processed. . 3. A continuous high temperature sterilization treatment apparatus, wherein the sparge pipe according to claim 1 or 2 has a steam outlet formed at a position facing the object to be treated.