KR20090087957A - Method of packing liquid filling into spouted pouch and sealing the pouch and apparatus therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To obtain a spouted-pouch package having a high degree of deoxidation by a method in which even a liquid filling which readily lathers can be packed while being inhibited from lathering. [MEANS FOR SOLVING PROBLEMS] A before-packing deoxidation step (1) is performed before a liquid filling is packed into a pouch. The step (1) comprises: a vacuum step (1-1) in which the pouch is evacuated under vacuum; an inert-gas blow step (1-2) in which an inert gas is blown into the pouch after the vacuum step; and a gas-diminishing vacuum step (1-3) in which the gas in the pouch after the inert-gas blow step is discharged under vacuum to diminish the gas in the pouch to a given amount. Thereafter, the pouch is evacuated in a second before-packing evacuation step (2-1) and then packed with the filling. After the packing, gas replacement is conducted. ® KIPO & WIPO 2009

Description

METHOD OF PACKING LIQUID FILLING INTO SPOUTED POUCH AND SEALING THE POUCH AND APPARATUS THEREFOR}

The present invention relates to a liquid content filling sealing method into a spouted pouch and a device thereof, in particular a liquid content filling sealing method into a spouted pouch suitable for filling sealing of liquid contents that are easily bubbled and require high deoxygenation packaging. And to the apparatus.

In recent years, filling and sealing of liquid foods such as soft drinks, jelly foods, high calorie or high nutrition porridge in spouted pouches has been proposed. In the case where the contents are low acid contents which tend to decay, for example, pH 4.6 or higher, sterilization is required at 100 ° C or higher, and retort sterilization is performed after the liquid contents are filled and sealed. In addition, the spout opening end after the filling is fused and sealed with an inner lid sealing material such as an aluminum foil composite film material. Conventionally, the filling of the contents into the pouch is injecting and filling the contents through the spout when the pouch is relatively small. In the case of these contents, in particular, a filling and sealing method capable of reliably preventing changes in the flavor of the contents due to oxidation and decay and deterioration of contents due to decay bacteria, and maintaining cleanliness, is required. Important requirements are cleaning, replacement of nitrogen gas in the head space for removal of oxygen from the head space, and reliable sealing by the inner cover seal material at the spout opening end for reliable sealing. However, since the spout has a small diameter, the contents overflow during or after filling, so that the inlet end portion and the outer circumferential portion of the spout are easily contaminated, gas replacement is difficult, fast filling is difficult, and high-speed production is not possible. The occurrence of such a problem is more prominent in the contents where bubbles are likely to occur, and the low acid content among the contents is particularly susceptible to foaming, and the above problems in filling and sealing the pouch with spouts of these contents are required to be solved. have.

The main cause of the spout inlet is likely to be contaminated, in addition to the sagging from the filling nozzle during filling or after filling, the filling of the contents into the pouch starts from a state where the front and back of the pouches overlap in a flat shape, and the spout is filled by the filling nozzle during filling. Because the opening is closed, air does not enter the inside, and the spout does not swell sufficiently due to the rigidity of the contents due to the rigidity of the bag, and the liquid level is in a high state. It is in thing that contents liquid is easy to flow from spout by. If the contents are attached to the inlet end of the spout, not only the heat seal failure of the inner cover sealing material to the inlet part in the post-processing but also the hygiene is undesirable. Therefore, conventionally, the filling of the body wall of the bag during filling is carried out from the outside and inflated, or after filling, the filling station blows air into the pouch from the filling nozzle to inflate the pouch, thereby releasing the remaining liquid of the nozzle. It is proposed to prevent the overflow during conveyance by lowering a liquid level and conveying it to the next process in that state (refer patent document 1). Furthermore, the spout outer periphery is cleaned after the liquid content is filled. As a method of cleaning the spout outer periphery, a ring-shaped scrubber having a plurality of injection holes in the inner circumference at the cleaning and filling deoxygenation station provided next to the filling station is dropped to a height approaching the inlet of the container so that the entire inlet portion of the container is discharged from the injection port. In the method of cleaning by spraying water on the outer periphery (see Patent Document 2), or in the cleaning process, the spout inlet cleaning apparatus sprays the cleaning liquid on the outer periphery of the spout to clean the outer periphery of the spout, and blows up the pouch by blowing compressed air into the pouch. A method of lowering the liquid level or the like has been proposed (see Patent Document 3).

On the other hand, as a gas replacement method, following the drying process of a spout, an inert gas is blown out in a pouch through a spout to provide a gas replacement process, a gas replacement is performed by blowing an inert gas into the pouch, and then the inner cover seal is partially It is proposed to temporarily attach and degas by pressing the side of the spout in this state (see Patent Document 2).

Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-328601

Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-227724

Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-341708

The above-mentioned method for filling and filling liquid contents into spouted pouches contributes to improving the cleanliness and deoxygenation of spouts. However, if the contents are susceptible to foaming, compressed air is discharged from the filling nozzle immediately after filling. When blown out, bubbles are likely to be generated, and bubbles overflow from the spout inlet to contaminate the spout inlet and a large amount of foam remains in the spout. This bubble has a problem in that the bubble (air) is infiltrated into the contents and becomes a small bubble by ejecting not only the head space but also the remaining liquid into the pouch with compressed air. In addition, the gas substitution package in the pouch with the conventional spout is made to inflate the gas by injecting an inert gas into the puffed air once after filling, and then degassing thereafter, but since the spout inlet is small, it is inert from the spout. Even if the gas is blown out, it is difficult to effectively discharge the air in the spout, and for example, even if the air in the head space can be satisfactorily replaced by an inert gas before sealing, as described above, the air was present as a small bubble in the contents solution. Since it deteriorates the deoxygenation rate by coming out of the head space after sealing, there is still a problem to be solved to improve the deoxygenation.

Therefore, the present invention is to solve the above problems when filling the liquid content that is liable to bubble to the pouch attached to the spout, and even if the content is easy to bubble, it is possible to effectively suppress and fill the occurrence of foaming, It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for filling and filling liquid contents into pouches with spouts that can dramatically increase deoxidation efficiency.

MEANS TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM As a result of various research in order to solve the said subject, the effect of the outside air which foamed at the time of filling is large, and the pouch body rather than filling in the state which expanded the body part of a pouch compared with the past at the time of filling When filling from the state where the negative front and back walls overlap in a flat shape, it is possible to reduce the foaming, but when compressed air is blown out to discharge the remaining liquid of the nozzle and to inflate the pouch after filling, It was found that the remaining liquid was caused by foaming by compressed air and being sprayed into the pouch. In addition to being present in the headspace, these bubbles also enter small bubbles in the liquid contents. In addition, by inflating the pouch, a large amount of air is present in the pouch and it is difficult to completely replace it with an inert gas, and further studies have shown that it is possible to suppress the generation of bubbles and to seal well with a high gas substitution rate. The method was found and filed first (Japanese Patent Application No. 2006-18205). The invention of this application is a further improvement of the source invention, and in particular, it provides a deoxygenation process before charging to further improve the deoxygenation rate, and can efficiently perform the degassing process before charging, and to increase the speed of the line. will be.

That is, the liquid contents filling and sealing method of the spouted pouch of the invention according to claim 1, which solves the above-mentioned problem, is a liquid phase into a pouch with a spout that deoxidizes and fills and seals the liquid contents into the pouch with the spout. A method of filling filling contents, comprising: a pre-deoxidation degassing process for removing air from a pouch with a spout before filling the contents, a degassing process before charging with a degassing from the pouch with a spout before filling the contents; And a filling step of filling the contents, and a filling and gas replacing step of exchanging gas by injecting an inert gas into the pouch filled with the contents.

The invention according to claim 2 is the invention according to claim 1, wherein the deoxygenation step before charging is performed by vacuum evacuation of air from the inside of the pouch, an inert gas blow step of blowing out an inert gas into the pouch after the vacuum step, and the inertness. And a weight loss vacuum step of evacuating the gas in the pouch after the gas blow step to reduce the gas in the pouch by a predetermined amount. Invention of Claim 3 is invention of Claim 2 WHEREIN: The said vacuum process is performed in inert gas atmosphere by injecting inert gas in the vicinity of the said spout. The invention described in claim 4 is a liquid content filling and sealing method of the spouted pouch according to claim 1, wherein the pouch filled with contents is pressed before the gas replacement step after the filling, and the gas and foam in the pouch are extruded and degassed after filling. It is characterized by having a process. The invention according to claim 5 is a method for filling and filling liquid contents into a pouch with a spout according to claim 1, wherein the filling step is carried out by extruding the residue attached to the nozzle after filling the liquid contents with a rod and dropping the residue into the pouch. It characterized in that it comprises a discharge process. In addition, the invention described in claim 6 is a liquid content filling and sealing method of the spouted pouch according to claim 1, wherein the degassing step before filling is performed by pressing the pouch from the outside and degassing it from the inside of the pouch. . In addition, the invention described in claim 7 has a cleaning step of cleaning the outer periphery of the spout after the filling step in the liquid content filling sealing method with the pouch with the spout according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning step and the gas after filling The replacement is performed simultaneously at the same station.

In addition, the liquid contents filling and sealing apparatus to the pouch of the present invention according to claim 8 used for carrying out the method is a pouch conveying means for holding and conveying the spout portion of the pouch, and air from inside the pouch with the spout before filling the contents. Degassing means before charging, degassing means before charging, degassing means before charging, which exhausts gas in the pouch just before filling contents, filling means for filling contents through the spouts, and And a gas replacement means after filling, injecting an inert gas into the pouch.

The invention according to claim 9 is a liquid content filling and sealing apparatus to a pouch according to claim 8, wherein the deoxygenation means before charging is a vacuum means for evacuating air in the pouch, and an inert gas to discharge an inert gas into the pouch after the vacuum. A gas blow means, a vacuum means for evacuating the gas in the pouch after the inert gas blow to reduce the gas in the pouch by a predetermined amount, and an inert gas is supplied near the engagement portion of the weight reduction vacuum means and the pouch to close the spout. It is characterized by consisting of the inert gas injection means to an inert gas atmosphere. In addition, the invention described in claim 10 is a liquid content filling and sealing apparatus to a pouch according to claim 8, wherein the degassing means after filling is extruded gas and foam in the pouch by pressing a pouch filled with the contents downstream of the filling means. It is characterized by having.

The invention according to claim 11 is a liquid content filling and sealing apparatus with a spout with a spout according to claim 8, wherein the cleaning and filling of the gas replacement means, the inert gas or the air after the cleaning and filling of the spout is flushed with the spout. Then it has a spout drying means for drying the spout. The invention according to claim 12 is a liquid content filling and sealing device with a spout with a spout according to claim 8, wherein the filling means is sealed by filling the valve seat with the outside passing through the filling nozzle and the lower end being a valve body. And an inner rod which slides into the outer rod and which is slidably fitted into the outer rod and which has an outer diameter that can be fitted to the filling nozzle. The invention according to claim 13 is a liquid content filling and sealing device with a spout with a spout according to claim 8, wherein the filling means is sealed by filling the valve seat with an outer passage having a filling nozzle and a lower end being a valve body. And a mesh nozzle provided at the lower end of the filling nozzle and having a mesh screen in the discharge passage. In addition, the invention described in claim 14 is a liquid content filling and sealing apparatus with a spout with a spout according to claim 11, wherein the gas replacement means after cleaning and filling is a washing water jet port for spraying the washing water toward the spout outer periphery of the pouch. And a gas displacement nozzle positioned at an axial center portion of the nozzle body and covering the spout opening end of the pouch and injecting an inert gas into the spout. In addition, the invention described in claim 15 is a liquid content filling and sealing apparatus with a spout with a spout according to claim 11, wherein the degassing means after filling and the gas replacement means after washing and filling are arranged in the same station, and the cleaning And a deoxygenation step before charging to remove air from the inside of the pouch before the step in which the degassing means is provided below the gas replacement means after the filling.

Effect of the Invention

According to the method and apparatus of the present invention, oxygen is removed from the pouch before the filling step, and the pouch is degassed again immediately before the filling step, so that there is little intake of air into the contents during filling or generation of bubbles, and the contents in the conventional direct pouch Compared to the case where gas replacement is performed after filling the gas, the deoxygenation rate is higher, and packaging that can maintain a high quality of the contents that are easily perishable by oxygen, in particular, becomes possible.

According to the invention of Claims 2 and 9, the deoxygenation process before the filling is made of a vacuum process, an inert gas blow process, and a reduced vacuum process, so that a sufficient amount of inert to the pouch without affecting the degassing process before the filling of the post process The gas can be blown, the deoxygenation rate before filling is high, and the part which becomes foam after filling can be efficiently replaced with an inert gas. In addition, since oxygen can be removed from the pouch before the filling step, there is little intake of air into the contents at the time of filling or generation of bubbles, and the deoxygenation rate is lower than that in the case of performing gas substitution after filling the contents into a conventional direct pouch. It is possible to package high and particularly maintain the high quality of the contents perishable by oxygen.

In addition, according to the inventions of Claims 3 and 9, intrusion of outside air into the pouch, especially after gas replacement before filling, can be prevented and can be moved to the filling solution of the contents while maintaining a high deoxygenation rate.

According to invention of Claim 4 and Claim 10, since foam and air after filling are discharged | emitted from a container, gas substitution performed after that can be performed effectively.

According to the inventions of claims 5, 12 and 13, the remaining liquid in the nozzle after the quantitative filling can be filled into the pouch without foaming, and it is effective for filling the contents which tend to cause foaming. According to the invention of claim 6, the degassing time can be shortened by depressing the pouch from the outside immediately before filling the contents, thereby reducing the speed of the line, and further reducing the amount of oxygen in the pouch. The contents can be filled, the oxygen does not dissolve in the contents during filling, the generation of bubbles into the head space as well as the amount of dissolved oxygen in the contents can be reduced, the deoxygenation effect in the pouch is increased, and the quality of the contents It can increase maintenance.

According to the invention of claim 7, the degassing process and the cleaning and gas replacement process can be efficiently performed at the same station, and the next station of the filling station, so that the conveyance is carried out without inflating the pouch to lower the contents of the contents at the filling station. The overflow of the contents due to the impact is small, and even if overflowed, there is no problem since the pouch is cleaned before.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS It is a block diagram which shows the principal process of the content filling sealing method to the pouch with a spout which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the deoxidation process before charge in the content filling sealing method with the spouted pouch which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the deoxidation process before charge in the content filling sealing method with the spouted pouch which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of a main portion of a filling valve disposed in a filling station in a contents filling sealing device with a spouted pouch according to an embodiment of the present invention, (a) is an open valve state, and (b) is a filling port Closed state (c) has shown the remaining liquid extrusion state.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing main parts of a filling valve in the contents filling sealing device with a spouted pouch according to another embodiment of the present invention, (a) shows an open valve state, and (b) shows a closed valve state. It is shown.

6 is a degassing process and cleaning gas replacement by a degassing apparatus disposed in a deoxygenation station and a cleaning and gas replacing means in the content filling and sealing apparatus with a spouted pouch according to an embodiment of the present invention. A process is shown, (a) is a pouch sectional drawing which shows the state after a content filling, (b) is a principal sectional drawing which shows the state after completion | finish of a degassing process, (c) is a state after completion | finish of a cleaning gas substitution process.

(Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawing)

1: Deoxygenation process before charging 1-1: First degassing process before charging

1-2: inert gas blow process before filling 2: filling process

2-1: Second degassing process before filling 2-2: Content quantitative filling process

2-3: balance discharge process 3: degassing process after filling

4: first gas replacement step after spout cleaning and filling

5: spout drying step 6: second gas replacement step after filling

7: Inner Cover Seal Process 7-1: Degassing Process Before Inner Cover Seal

7-2: Temporary seal and punching process 7-3: First seal process

7-4: Second Seal Step 8: Outer Cover Mounting Step

10, 13: vacuum and blow head

11: chamber 12: degassing plate

15: pouch 16: spout

18: Contents 19: face value

20, 32: filling valve 21, 33: outer cylinder

22: outer rod 23: intermediate rod

25: contents solution supply port 26: fluid chamber

27: valve seat 28: filling nozzle

29 valve body 34 valve rod

35 discharge port 36 mesh screen

37: installation jig 38: mesh nozzle

40: degassing apparatus 41: cleaning and replacement nozzle

42: degassing plate 43: cylinder device

45 nozzle body 46 washing water jet

47: gas displacement nozzle 48: spring

49: holding plate 50: rod part

51: flange 52: engagement protrusion

EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION Hereinafter, embodiment of this invention is described in detail based on drawing.

The contents filling and sealing device with the spouted pouch according to the embodiment of the present invention holds the spout of the pouch on the outer periphery of the rotating table which is intermittently rotating, similarly to the known filling sealing device with this type of spouted pouch. Clamps, which are pouch conveying means for conveying, are arranged at a predetermined pitch, and each station from the supply of the pouch to the discharge after filling sealing is formed according to the rotary table, and an apparatus for processing to be performed at the station is disposed at each station. When the rotary table rotates intermittently, each step is performed from the supply of the spout to the discharge of the pouch package product with the spout with the completed filling sealing from the rotary table via filling and sealing. 1 is a block diagram of the main steps of the method for sealing the contents of a spouted pouch according to an embodiment of the present invention. Explain.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the deoxygenation step (1) before charging is first performed in a flat shape at the deoxygenation station before charging and to remove air (oxygen) from the inside of the pouch. In this state, the pouch exhibits a flat shape where the front wall and the back wall are almost stuck to each other and the amount of air inside is small. However, according to the experiments of the present inventors, the deoxygenation rate after the filling and sealing is determined by the present inventors. Providing this process is particularly effective if it has a very large impact and especially if the contents are susceptible to decay. As the deoxygenation method before the charge, the first degassing step (1-1) before degassing from the pouch, followed by the inert gas blow step (1-2) before charging by injecting an inert gas into the pouch to perform gas replacement, It is preferable, but not necessarily limited thereto, to provide a weight reduction vacuum step (1-3) in which the inert gas is blown out to reduce the amount of inert gas from the inflated state until the inert gas in the pouch becomes a predetermined amount. Only the degassing step or the inert gas blow step before filling may be performed.

As the first degassing step before filling, a method of extruding the gas inside the pouch by inserting the body portion of the pouch into a pair of degassing plates, or by fitting a vacuum suction nozzle to the spout and evacuating the inside of the pouch in the same manner as the degassing step described later. Although any method may be employed, as shown in FIG. 2, the vacuum and blow head 10 is brought into a vacuum while being in contact with the top end of the spout 16 to suck the air inside the pouch more completely. It is preferable because it can degas inside. Further, the vacuum and blow head 10 is connected to a conduit having a switching valve connected switchably to a vacuum pump and an inert gas supply source (nitrogen gas cylinder in this embodiment), and before charging, which constitutes a deoxygenation process before charging. The first degassing step (1-1), the inert gas blow step before charging (1-2), and the reducing vacuum step (1-3) can be performed continuously in the same head.

The inert gas blow process before charging (1-2), which is performed after the first degassing process before filling (1-2), automatically switches the connection of the vacuum and blow head 10 to an inert gas supply source, thereby degassing the pouch in all processes. The inside of the bag is filled with a predetermined amount of inert gas to make the inside of the bag completely inert gas, and the spout before filling can be completely deoxygenated in combination with the degassing process in the previous step. The filling amount of the inert gas into the pouch in the inert gas blow step before filling is preferably blown out at the maximum pouch capacity in order to prevent intrusion of outside air into the pouch during conveyance up to the filling step. Although nitrogen gas is preferable as an inert gas, other inert gas may be sufficient. Moreover, even if it is not necessarily gas, it may be liquid nitrogen or dry ice granule which vaporizes and becomes an inert gas. Therefore, the concept of the inert gas in the gas replacement process in the present invention includes it.

The weight loss vacuum step (1-3) performed after the deoxidation station before charging is a step for reducing the internal gas of the pouch inflated with the inert gas to a predetermined amount at the maximum capacity in the inert gas blow step, and the vacuum and blow head ( The connection of 10) is switched back to the vacuum side to exhaust a predetermined amount of inert gas from the inside of the pouch, and as shown schematically in Fig. 2C, the inert gas in the pouch is reduced to a predetermined amount. The technical significance is as follows. That is, as described above, in the deoxygenation step before charging, it is preferable to return to the next filling station while filling as much inert gas into the pouch as possible in order to improve the deoxygenation rate. The degassing time of the second degassing process before charging is long, which hinders the high speed of the line. In the second degassing process chart before charging, as described later, it is preferable to insert the pouch into the degassing plate to degas at once, but in this case, if a large amount of inert gas is filled in the pouch, the amount of gas discharged at once is increased and ejected. The inert gas comes into contact with the tip of the filling nozzle, causing problems such as scattering of the liquid of the contents attached to the tip of the filling nozzle. In order to prevent this, in the present embodiment, once the inert gas is blown out at once in the pouch, the amount of oxygen in the pouch is reduced as much as possible, so that problems such as high-speed inhibition of the line at the deoxygenation station before charging or adverse effect of the surroundings are not generated. The amount of gas in the pouch was reduced by the amount. In that case, it is preferable that the exhaust of the inert gas from the pouch is by vacuum rather than by the pressure plate, and in this embodiment, the vacuum is blown out by the vacuum and blow head 10.

By the way, as shown in the experimental example described later, when the inert gas in the pouch is reduced, outside air easily enters the pouch while the pouch is conveyed from the deoxygenation station to the filling station before charging, thereby increasing the oxygen concentration in the pouch. It turned out. In order to prevent this, it is considered to make the conveyance path from the deoxygenation station to the filling station into a tunnel shape before charging to make an inert gas atmosphere. However, there are problems such as complicated equipment and consumption of a large amount of inert gas. As a result of various studies to solve the problem, it was found that the largest amount of outside air infiltrated into the vessel after the weight loss was the moment when the vacuum and blow head 10 moved away from the spout tip after the inert gas blow. As a result, if the atmosphere surrounding at least the spout at the moment when the vacuum and blow head 10 moves away from the spout is an inert gas atmosphere, the conveying path from the deoxygenation station to the filling station before charging to the filling station is not required. It has been found that the invasion of outside air can be effectively prevented and that high oxygen can be obtained. Therefore, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG.2 (c), the chamber 11 which blows out an appropriate inert gas is arrange | positioned so that the vicinity of the contact part of the spout 16 and the vacuum and blow head 10 may be set to an inert gas atmosphere. Therefore, the vicinity was always made into an inert gas atmosphere.

The spouted pouch is conveyed from the deoxygenation station before charging to the filling station with a predetermined amount of inert gas charged as described above, and the second degassing process before charging degassing the inside of the pouch immediately before filling at the filling station. (2-1) is performed, and the content quantitative filling step (2-2) in which the pouch is filled with the contents and the remaining liquid discharge step (2-3) in the filling nozzle are performed. The second degassing step (2-1) before filling is performed to reduce the generation of bubbles during filling, and vacuums the inside of the pouch by excluding the gas charged therein from the pouch filled with the inert gas in the previous step. By setting it as a state, as shown typically in FIG. 3, the pouch 15 was pressed and exhausted by the pair of degassing board 12. FIG. As a result, it is possible to exhaust the gas in an instant, which is preferable for the high speed of the line. However, as with the previous process, it is also possible to exhaust by vacuum.

In the content quantitative filling step (2-2), the content liquid is quantitatively charged while the filling nozzle is in close contact with the spout opening of the pouch in which the inside is exhausted. In this case, since the inside of the pouch is completely sealed and almost in a vacuum state, there is no inflow of air from the outside, and since air does not enter the contents solution during filling, even bubbles that are easily bubbled can be filled without foaming. However, if the inside of the bag is completely negative pressure, the pouch becomes hard to swell and becomes difficult to fill. Therefore, after filling nozzle is in close contact with the pouch, the body of the pouch is aspirated from the outside with a pair of suction mechanisms, and the pouch is easy to be filled. Improved high-speed charging is possible even if the contents are susceptible to foaming. After the fixed-quantity filling, a remaining liquid discharge step (2-3) is performed in which the filling nozzle is brought into close contact with the pouch inlet, and the remaining liquid in the nozzle is discharged into the pouch.

In this way, the pouch subjected to deoxygenation in all the steps can be filled with less air before the contents are filled, and then the contents are degassed and the contents are filled, and bubbles can be more effectively suppressed.

In addition, conventionally, the compressed air is blown out in the pouch after filling in order to prevent the sagging due to the remaining liquid in the nozzle and to inflate the pouch to lower the liquid level. The compressed air is blown into the pouch and found to be a cause of foaming in the pouch. In the present invention, the compressed liquid is not blown out after filling, but is paused after filling to load the remaining liquid at the nozzle inlet. By providing the remaining liquid discharge step (2-3) to be extruded, the formation of bubbles due to the remaining liquid can be prevented, the generation of bubbles can be suppressed, and the deoxygenation efficiency can be improved. In addition, when a nozzle with a mesh screen is added to the filling nozzle, it is possible to prevent the buildup, so that the remaining liquid does not need to be forcibly discharged, and it is not necessary to provide the remaining liquid discharge step (2-3) after the liquid filling.

Subsequently, in this embodiment, a deoxidation station is provided after cleaning and filling, and intrudes into the head space between the foam generated in the head space at the station and moving from the filling station to the deoxygenation station after cleaning and filling. After the filling to discharge the air, a degassing step (3) is carried out, and a spout cleaning and filling gas replacement step (4) which performs gas replacement by flushing the spout outer peripheral surface and inert gas such as nitrogen gas in the pouch. As shown in FIG. 6, the pouch reaching the deoxygenation station after cleaning and filling first presses the body portion with the pair of degassing plates 42 to discharge the bubbles in the head space from the spout to the outside and degassing in the head space. Subsequently, the cleaning and replacement nozzle 41 descends to inject the washing water toward the front and outer periphery of the spout, and blow out an inert gas into the inside of the pouch. At that time, the cleaning and replacement nozzle 41 completely covers the spout inlet, and only the inert gas is blown out of the spout so that the washing water does not enter the spout. Accordingly, the spout outer circumferential surface can be cleaned to remove the adhesion of the contents, to enable good heat sealing of the inner cover sealing material in the inner cover sealing step of the post-process, and to clean the spout outer circumferential surface after the sealing. have. In addition, unlike in the case of exhaling air or nitrogen gas in the filling process by blowing inert gas in the cleaning process, there is no foaming due to the remaining liquid, so that the pouch can be inflated without generating bubbles in the pouch, and the liquid level in the pouch is lowered. Overflow by the conveyance shock of the contents liquid in a subsequent conveyance process can be prevented. In addition, since the pouch was inflated with an inert gas instead of air, the deoxygenation effect was remarkably increased. As described above, the present embodiment does not provide a step of inflating the pouch with air or an inert gas in the filling step, so that foaming can be suppressed even if the contents are easily bubbled. In addition, the pouch body is sucked from the outside during filling to inflate, so that the pouch is inflated to some extent even without supplying compressed air into the pouch, and, for example, the cleaning and filling deoxygenation station is at least adjacent to the filling station. Since it is the conveyance of one step to the time, overflow of the liquid content by a conveyance shock is few, and even if it overflows, for example, it is before pouch washing, and there is no problem.

The spout, which is completely inflated by blowing inert gas inside and whose liquid level is lowered, is then conveyed to the spout drying station, and the spout after washing with washing water is dried by blowing inert gas on the inner and outer surfaces of the spout. Since it is dried by an inert gas, the inert gas acts as a purge of air and prevents the inflow of air into the pouch from the outside. However, in the spout drying station, when the inert gas, which is a drying medium, is spouted into the spout, the spout opening is completely blown out so that the drying medium does not enter the pouch. You may employ | adopt. It can dry in a short time by blowing moisture adhering to the spout outer peripheral part with compressed air.

However, in this embodiment, the oxygen amount in the pouch can be drastically reduced by performing deoxidation in the deoxygenation step (1) and the charging step (2) before charging as described above. In the process diagram shown in FIG. 1, the first gas replacement step (4) after the spout cleaning and filling is omitted in the process diagram shown in FIG. 1, and is directly charged from the filling step (2), as shown by broken lines. You may transfer to the 2nd gas substitution process 6.

Although it progresses to a sealing process through the above process, in order to improve the deoxidation effect more, in this embodiment, the 2nd gas substitution process 6 after a further filling is performed just before an inner lid seal. After the filling, the second gas replacement step 6 exerts an inert gas into the pouch at the second gas replacement station after filling to perform gas replacement of the head space. Subsequently, it conveys to an inner lid temporary sealing punching | degassing station, and performs an inner lid sealing process (7). In the inner cover sealing step, the inner cover is temporarily pressed and punched so that the pouch body is not overflowed with a pair of degassing plates in the degassing step (7-1) before the inner cover seal and the inner cover is temporarily sealed and punched in that state. Seal-punching process (7-2) is performed. The inner lid temporary sealing and punching step (7-2) is a process of punching an inner lid member having a heat sealability and a gas barrier property such as a composite seal member of an aluminum foil and a synthetic resin film after the temporary seal on the spout, and is conventionally the same method. May be employed. Subsequently, an inner lid is applied to the entire spout opening ceiling surface through the first seal process 7-3 and the second seal process 7-4, and the pouch is completely sealed with the inner lid. Thereafter, the outer lid is screwed in the outer lid mounting step (8).

As mentioned above, although embodiment of the liquid content filling-sealing method with the pouch with the spout of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, The order of each process is changed within the range which achieves the objective, Deletion or addition of the process is appropriately possible.

4 shows an embodiment of a filling valve as a filling means arranged in a filling station in order to achieve the above function, the filling valve 20 being the outer cylinder 21, the outer rod 22, the intermediate rod 23. Consists of. The outer cylinder 21 is formed in the shape of a hollow cylinder, and the contents liquid supply port 25, the fluid chamber 26, the valve seat 27, and the filling nozzle communicating with the contents liquid supply tank and the liquid supply pipe 24 ( 28) In the present embodiment, a pair of degassing plates (not shown) for performing the second degassing step before filling the filling station is arranged below the filling valve, and the body of the pouch is sucked after starting the filling of the contents into the pouch. A pair of opening suction ports is arranged. However, when the second degassing step before filling is performed by vacuum suction without using a degassing plate, the liquid feed pipe 24 is switchably connected to a vacuum pump, so that the air in the pouch can be evacuated prior to the liquid feed. The outer rod 22 is a suitable actuator such as a cylinder in the fluid chamber and is installed to be able to be driven up and down, and functions as a valve body 29 seated on the valve seat 27 to open and close the filling nozzle 28. The sieve 29 has a center portion through-hole hollow having the same diameter as that of the filling nozzle 28, and the intermediate rod 23 is fitted to the hollow portion so as to be driven up and down by a suitable actuator such as a cylinder. The intermediate rod 23 is formed of a solid rod and is driven while the valve body 29 is seated on the valve seat so that the tip of the intermediate rod enters the filling nozzle 28 and the remaining liquid remaining in the filling nozzle is introduced into the pouch. The action of extruding is performed.

In the filling station having the filling valve 20 configured as described above, when the pouch filled with the inert gas reaches the filling station in the previous step, the pouch body part is pressed with a pair of degassing plates before the second degassing step (2- 1), the filling valve is lowered, and as shown in the same figure (a), the top of the spout 16 of the pouch is fitted to the filling nozzle 28, and the valve body (in the content quantitative filling step 2-2). 29 rises integrally with the intermediate rod 23, the filling nozzle 28 is opened, and communicates with the contents supply tank through the liquid supply pipe to fill the contents. After starting filling the contents, the body is aspirated with a pair of suction ports to inflate the pouch according to the filling of the contents. After fixed-quantity filling, as shown in the same figure (b), the outer rod 22 and the intermediate rod 23 are lowered integrally, the valve body 29 is seated, the discharge of the contents liquid is stopped, and then the same figure ( As shown in c), the intermediate rod 23 descends, and the remaining liquid in the filling nozzle 28 is extruded. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, since the remaining liquid in the filling nozzle can be discharged into the pouch without using the compressed air, there is no flaky after filling and less generation of bubbles from inside the pouch.

5 shows a filling valve according to another embodiment as a filling means. Fig. 5 (a) shows a state where the valve is opened and the contents are discharged, and Fig. 5 (b) shows a state where the valve is closed. Unlike the case of the said embodiment, the filling valve 32 of this embodiment is made to prevent the liquid buildup by the remaining liquid by providing a mesh nozzle below the discharge port, without performing extrusion of the remaining liquid after filling. The filling valve 32 of this embodiment has the outer cylinder 33 which has the discharge opening 35, the valve rod 34 which seals a discharge opening by having a lower end part become a valve body, and seats on a valve seat, and the discharge opening 35 of a valve. It is comprised by the mesh nozzle 38 provided in the lower end part and having the mesh screen 36 in the middle of a discharge path. 37 is a mounting jig for fixing the mesh screen 36 to the mesh nozzle 38. In the present embodiment, as shown in the drawing, the mesh screen 36 is arranged with three screens at intervals in the discharge path, and the lowermost mesh screen is formed in the bottom convex dome shape, but the number and shape of the mesh screen 36 are different from the embodiment. It is not limited. By installing a mesh screen in the nozzle, bubbles are generated by the rectifying action of the liquid during filling of the liquid, and the remaining liquid in the filling nozzle after the metering discharge is enlarged by the surface tension between the meshes of the mesh screen. It remains until the next discharge without causing. Therefore, even in this case, it is not necessary to discharge the residual liquid by the compressed air, and it is possible to prevent the formation of bubbles and bubbles.

FIG. 6 shows a cross-sectional view of the post-charge degassing apparatus 40 and the cleaning-and-gas replacement means 41 disposed in the de-oxygenation station after cleaning and filling. As for the degassing apparatus 40, the pair of degassing boards 42 and 42 which press the trunk | drum 17 of the pouch 15 are provided so that the space | interval adjustment drive is possible by the cylinder apparatus 43. As shown in FIG. The pouch 15 filled with the contents 18 at the filling station is in a state inflated to some extent by the weight of the contents as shown in Fig. 6 (a), and the liquid level 19 is lowered so that a large head space is placed on the liquid level. exist. When the pouch, which is held between the flanges formed on the outer circumference of the spout 16 by a gripper device not shown in the drawing, arrives at the deoxygenation station after cleaning and filling, the trunk portion 17 of the spout is a pair of degassing plates 42. ), And in this state, the degassing plate 42 is displaced by a predetermined stroke so as to approach each other so as to press the predetermined amount of the spout body 17 to raise the liquid level to discharge the bubbles and air in the pouch from the pouch. (See the same figure (b)). Thereafter, the cleaning and gas replacement means descends to blow out the inert gas, block the spout inlet with the nozzle, and at the same time, the degassing plates 42 and 42 of the degassing apparatus 40 return to their original positions, and after cleaning and filling First gas replacement is initiated.

The cleaning and gas replacement means 41 holds the nozzle body 45 having the cleaning water jet opening 46, the gas replacement nozzle 47, and a spring 48 for biasing the gas replacement nozzle 47 downward. And a gas replacement nozzle 47 fitted to the central portion of the nozzle body 45 in the axial direction. As shown in the figure, the gas displacement nozzle 47 is formed such that the flange 51 is formed in the middle of the rod portion 50 whose base is in communication with the inert gas supply source, and the lower end of the gas outlet nozzle is engaged with the spout opening end. have. The gas displacement nozzle 47 is engaged with the engagement protrusion 52 formed with the flange 51 on the nozzle body 45, and its lower limit position is supported by the nozzle body, and is supported by the top surface of the flange 51. It is biased downward by the spring 48 fitted between the boards 49. The nozzle body 45 communicates with the washing water supply source through the washing water supply hole 53, and at the lower end, a plurality of washing water jet ports 46 formed toward the spout inlet end direction are formed at a predetermined pitch on the circumference, and the spout The washing water is sprayed over the entire circumference of the outer circumference to clean the opening and the outer circumference of the spout.

The cleaning and gas replacement means 41 is configured as described above, and when the above-described degassing and degassing process is completed, the cleaning and gas replacement means 41 is lowered and the spring is cushioned when the gas replacement nozzle 47 is engaged with the opening end of the spout 16. By engaging the gas displacement nozzle 47 with the spout by the pressure, the inlet portion of the spout can be sealed to reliably prevent entry of the washing water into the spout, and it can also prevent the breakage by absorbing the error of the vibration or displacement amount. In this state, the washing water is jetted from the washing water jet port formed in the nozzle body 45 over the entire perimeter of the inlet end of the spout and its outer peripheral portion to wash the spout. At the same time, the inert gas is ejected from the gas displacement nozzle 47 to fill the pouch with the inert gas. In this case, unlike in the case of air blowing by the filling nozzle, no bubbles are generated from the inside of the pouch, and the inert gas can be filled satisfactorily, and as shown in the same figure (c), the pouch is inflated by a predetermined amount so that the liquid level is increased. You can get off. In this case, since the inert gas is filled in the head space after degassing, the gas substitution rate of the head space is high, the oxidation of the contents can be prevented well, and the contents are particularly effective when the contents are susceptible to oxidation.

Example

In order to confirm the effect of deoxygenation by providing a deoxygenation process before charging, the following experiment was conducted.

As shown in Table 1, the experiment had only the first degassing step and the inert gas blow step in the degassing step before charging, the inert gas blow step and the degassing step, and did not perform the degassing step ( No. 1, No. 2), the degassing step was carried out without nitrogen atmosphere (No. 3), and the degassing step was carried out under nitrogen atmosphere (No. 4). It measured and calculated | required substitution rate. Degassing was performed for all the samples for 0.5 second, and nitrogen blow was performed for No. 1 only for 0.03 seconds and for other 0.14 seconds. The results are shown in Table 1. In addition, the data of Table 1 are the measured values of what was sealed as it is in the pouch after a deoxygenation process before filling, without filling.

No. Time [sec] Nitrogen atmosphere Content [ml] Oxygen concentration [%] Oxygen amount [ml] Substitution rate [%] Degassing Nitrogen blow Degassing One 0.5 0.03 - 31 6.7 2.1 68 2 0.5 0.14 - 65 One 0.7 95 3 0.5 0.14 0.61 23 5.1 1.2 75 4 0.5 0.14 0.61 has exist 27 2.7 0.7 87

As can be seen from Table 1, No. 1 sealed after nitrogen degassing with a very small amount and having a high oxygen concentration and a low substitution rate does not obtain a satisfactory substitution rate. Among the other samples, the one sealed as it is without degassing after nitrogen blowing (No. 2) has the highest gas substitution rate, but in this case, when the degassing process before filling is pressed with a plate, the amount of liquid at the tip of the filling nozzle is large due to the amount of degassing. There is a drawback that is scattered, and there is a drawback that if the degassing process before charging is vacuum exhaust, it cannot be exhausted within a predetermined time. When degassing is carried out in a nitrogen atmosphere (No. 3), the oxygen concentration becomes high due to the penetration of outside air as much as degassing, and the substitution rate is lower than in the case of No. 2. However, when degassing was performed in nitrogen atmosphere (No. 4), compared with No. 3, the substitution rate considerably improved and the effect of the substitution rate improvement by performing a degassing process in inert gas atmosphere was confirmed.

Next, in order to confirm the deoxygenation effect by the method of this invention, as shown in Table 2, the charge in the case of performing deoxidation process before charging by the method shown in No. 4 in Table 1 as an Example as an example. When performing each process of the municipal degassing process, the degassing process after filling, and the 2nd gas replacing process after filling (Example 2), when only the 2nd gas replacing process after filling is not performed (Example 1), The amount of oxygen, the oxygen concentration, and the amount of oxygen were measured to determine the substitution rate. As a comparative example, when only the first gas replacement step is performed after the filling (Comparative Example 1), when the degassing step after the filling and the first gas replacement step after the filling (Comparative Example 2) are performed, the degassing step during the charging, About the case of performing the degassing process after filling and the 1st gas substitution process after filling (comparative example 3), content of oxygen, oxygen concentration, and oxygen amount were measured similarly, and substitution rate was calculated | required. The results are shown in Table 2.

No. Deoxygenation before charging ※ 3 2nd degassing before charging Degassing after filling First nitrogen substitution after charging 2nd nitrogen substitution after charging Content [ml] Oxygen concentration [%] Oxygen amount [ml] Substitution rate [%] Comparative Example 1 - - - has exist - 43 8.6 3.7 59 Comparative Example 2 - - has exist has exist - 42 7 3 67 Comparative Example 3 - has exist has exist has exist - 38 4.3 1.6 79 Example 1 has exist has exist has exist has exist - 34 2.8 0.9 86 Example 2 has exist has exist has exist has exist has exist 32 2.6 0.8 88

* 3 No.4 in Table 1 for deoxygenation before charging

As apparent from Table 2, it was confirmed that the gas substitution rate was particularly improved in comparison with the comparative example in the case of the present example, that is, deoxidation before charging.

The method and apparatus for filling the pouch contents into the spouted furnace of the present invention can suppress the generation of bubbles and can achieve a high gas substitution rate, so that the bubbles tend to easily form contents and oxidative deterioration, and retort sterilization after filling sealing. Although it is especially preferable in the case of the pouch package of contents, it is not limited to this, It can use also for normal normal temperature filling, a hot pack, aseptic filling. Further, the contents are not limited to liquid foods, and can be used for filling and sealing with pouches with spouts of various liquid contents such as detergents and oils.

Claims (15)

A liquid content filling and sealing method with a spouted pouch that deoxidizes and fills and seals the liquid contents into a pouch with spouts: Deoxygenation process before charging to remove air from the spouted pouch before filling the contents, Degassing process before degassing from the pouch attached to the spout immediately before filling the contents, Filling the pouch with the liquid contents A filling process and a filling method for liquid contents filling and sealing into a pouch with a spout, characterized in that it has a filling and gas replacing step of exhaling an inert gas into a pouch filled with contents to perform gas replacement. The deoxygenation step before the charging is carried out by vacuum evacuation of air from the pouch, an inert gas blow step of injecting an inert gas into the pouch after the vacuum step, and a vacuum in the pouch after the inert gas blow process to evacuate the gas in the pouch. A liquid content filling and sealing method in a pouch with a spout, characterized by comprising a weight loss vacuum step of reducing a gas in a predetermined amount. The method of claim 2, The weight loss vacuum step is performed in an inert gas atmosphere by spraying an inert gas in the vicinity of the spout to fill the liquid contents with the spouted pouch. The method of claim 1, And a filling and degassing step of extruding the gas and the bubbles in the pouch by pressing the pouch filled with the contents before the gas replacement step after the filling. The method of claim 1, And said filling step comprises a step of discharging the remaining liquid attached to the nozzle after filling the liquid contents into a rod and dropping the liquid into the pouch. The method of claim 1, And the degassing step before filling is performed by depressing the pouch from the outside and degassing it from the inside of the pouch. The method of claim 1, And a cleaning step of cleaning the outer periphery of the spout after the filling step, wherein the cleaning step and the gas replacement after filling are performed simultaneously at the same station. Pouch conveying means for holding and conveying the spout portion of the pouch, pre-oxygenation means for evacuating air from inside the pouch with the spout before filling the contents, and disposed downstream of the deoxygenation means for charging and immediately before Sealing the liquid contents into the pouch having a degassing means before charging to exhaust the gas in the pouch, a filling means for filling the pouch into the contents through a spout, and a gas replacement means for filling the pouch with an inert gas. Device. The method of claim 8, The deoxygenation means before charging is vacuum means for evacuating air in the pouch, inert gas blow means for blowing inert gas into the pouch after the vacuum, and evacuating the gas in the pouch after the inert gas blow to obtain a predetermined amount of gas in the pouch. And a weight loss vacuum means for reducing weight, and an inert gas injection means for supplying an inert gas near the engagement portion of the weight loss vacuum means and the pouch to make the spout vicinity an inert gas atmosphere. . The method of claim 8, And a degassing means for filling the pouch filled with the contents downstream of the filling means to extrude the gas and bubbles in the pouch. The method of claim 8, Sealing and filling of the liquid contents with the spouted pouch having a spout-cleaning pouch having a spout-drying means for cleaning the spout and purging and filling the pouch with an inert gas, followed by a gas replacement means, and an inert gas or air to dry the spout. Device. The method of claim 8, The filling means includes an outer rod having a filling nozzle, an outer rod for closing the filling nozzle by being seated on the valve seat with a lower end portion being a valve body, and an outer diameter slidably fitted into the outer rod and fitted to the filling nozzle. An apparatus for filling and filling liquid contents into a pouch with a spout, comprising an inner rod for extruding a residual liquid. The method of claim 8, The filling means comprises an outer passage having a filling nozzle and a rod sealing the filling nozzle by lowering the valve seat to the valve seat, and a mesh nozzle provided at the lower end of the filling nozzle and having a mesh screen in the discharge passage. A liquid content filling and sealing device in a pouch with a spout. The method of claim 11, The cleaning and filling gas replacement means includes a nozzle body having a washing water jet port for spraying the washing water toward the spout outer periphery of the pouch, and an inert gas in the spout by covering the spout opening end of the pouch. An apparatus for filling and filling liquid contents into a pouch with a spout, comprising a gas displacement nozzle to be injected. The method of claim 11, The degassing means after filling and the gas replacing means after washing and filling are arranged in the same station, and the degassing means is provided below the gas replacing means after washing and filling. Liquid content filling sealing device.

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