RU2694248C1 - Beverage dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

FIELD: satisfaction of vital human requirements.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to devices for filling and closing bottles in sterilized medium. Technical result is achieved by the fact that the beverage dispensing apparatus comprises an insulator, the inner space of which consists of a sterilizing mixture comprising hot air and atomised fine hydrogen peroxide, peroxide - H₂O₂, wherein the plant is made on double-loop unsealed bodies under different internal pressures of space, respectively, internal non-leaky insulator - at pressure above atmospheric pressure, and external unsealed housing - under pressure below atmospheric, wherein fan extracting external unsealed housing transfers during throttling of process openings spent gaseous peroxide from unsealed housing outside, in addition, annular nozzles of hot sterile air are introduced in outer non-tight housing for bottles heating and sterilant mixture nozzle for treatment from outside and inside of bottles and for disinfection of transmitting stars, and sterilizing mixture nozzles are installed in inner non-tight insulator for space deactivation, sealing caps, as well as annular (slot) nozzles for blowing hot bottles and closures with hot sterile air. Technical-and-economic advantage of the proposed technical solution is increased reliability, simplification and cheapening of the dispensing process at the required high biological purity of the poured beverage, wherein when performing in continuous aseptic conditions, and reducing operating costs while improving environmental burden.

EFFECT: technical result of proposed solution is high reliability, simplification and cheapening of dispensing process due to creation of sterilizer of hydrogen peroxide of reasonable structure providing required high biological purity of poured beverage occurring in sterilizing medium.

1 cl, 1 dwg

Description

The invention relates to devices for filling and closing bottles occurring in a sterilized medium.

In the first installations, the containers were filled and capped in non-aseptic devices, and then the molded containers were transferred to a “clean room”, at least a filling machine and a capping machine.

Moreover, the "usual" aseptic filling line provides:

- forming a container starting with a preform of a thermoplastic material or preform;

- chemical sterilization of a molded container or preform;

- filling and capping the filled container, which should be carried out in a clean room.

A “clean room” is a controlled pollution room that contains all filling devices, including both technological zones in which containers are effectively filled / closed, and auxiliary zones in which the means for moving the filling / closing machine are in place.

Therefore, the main drawback of the “clean room” is represented by its considerable volume, where long and expensive sterilization procedures are required. There is also a significant loss of working fluids, for example, sanitation liquids and sterile air, as well as wear phenomena, for example, filters needed to clean the air, designed to create excess pressure in a clean room in order to prevent the ingress of pollutants from the external environment. Another disadvantage of using a “clean room” is associated with difficulties in performing format change operations, maintenance or tuning of machine components due to the risk of contamination that implies such operations. Therefore, access to the "clean room" by the operator is also particularly important.

The evolution of aseptic technology has gone in the direction of reducing the volume, which must be sterile.

Therefore, the modern concept of the aseptic filling line includes:

- sterilization of the container blank using chemical agents or radiation sterilization;

- "aseptic" molding of the container, starting with the sterilized blank; filling and capping the filled container to be performed in a sterile environment.

The active sterilization zone for filling containers is known (see US Patent No. 9296600 B2 IPC В67С 3/00, 3/22, publication of March 29, 2016), which contains the first module, which washes and sterilizes empty containers and delivers sterilized containers to the second a module that fills and closes containers in the active sterilization zone using an electron beam sterilization unit.

This system provides a breakdown of the installation of bottling, ie sterilization of the container occurs in one unit, sterilization of the lid in the other, filling and capping in the third. Disinfection is performed by irradiation, but does not exclude treatment with a sterilizing mixture. This in itself leads to the complexity of the design, maintenance, sealing installation.

Known installation for bottling for aseptic liquid filling bottles (see US patent No. 7404276 B2 IPC F16J 15/40, 15/42, publication dated 07.29.2008), containing a sterile "clean room" with a given concentration of hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ), which is separated from the non-sterile room or space with a siphon seal.

The essence of this device is to separate and seal two different rooms. A complex liquid barrier and bellows are used, which leads to manufacturing complexity and high prices, as well as to complex maintenance.

A device for sterile filling with liquids in bottles is known (see US application No. 20090071104 A1 IPC A61L 2/22, B65B 55/10, B67C 7/00, publication of March 19, 2009) containing a sterilizer for sterilizing a bottle of hydrogen peroxide H ₂ O ₂ and removing it from the container with sterile air, in addition, devices are provided for filling and for closing the bottles, and the temperature above the dew point is used to ensure very fast sterilization due to thermally increased reaction rates.

The device assumes the gas-tightness of the entire system, including the sterilization tunnel. This is achieved through complex sealing. In addition, the chambers, where the container is processed and filled, are also hermetically separated. All this causes difficulty in the manufacture and use of the installation.

Known aseptic machine for filling and sealing (see. JP application No. 2018047944A IPC A61L 2/18, 2/20, B65B 55/04, 55/10, B67C 7/00, publication 03/29/2018), including a hermetically sealed container , a heating device for heating sterile air and injection through an air outlet nozzle, as well as a sterilization gas generator for entering through a spray nozzle into a hermetically sealed container.

The invention relates to the classical asepsis, with the separation of sterilization zones and bottling. Requires the maintenance of tightness with all the attendant difficulties in the work and maintenance.

A system of aseptic filling of packages with liquid products is known (see US application No. 200310222224 A1 IPC W67C 7/00, publication 11/11/2004), excluding specialized machines and requirements for sterile air spaces of existing aseptic filling systems, which involves the use of membranes above the filling opening of the package , which allows to capture and maintain sterile contents even when transported in non-sterile air spaces.

The system is built on special flexible membranes that are inserted into the bottle and hold the sterilizing and sterile environment inside the container. The undoubted advantage of this installation is that it is possible to use ordinary, non-aseptic equipment, but additional consumables appear that will increase the cost of a unit of production, and in addition will cause inconvenience to the consumer when opening the drink and as practice shows, products with inserts are not in demand.

A known system for sterilizing bottles with gaseous sterilizer (see US Patent No. 9802726 B2 IPC A61L 2/208, B65 B55 / 02, 55/10, 55/18, publication October 10, 2017), containing a source of gaseous sterilizer hydraulically connected to injectors moving together with bottles, for the deactivation of which evaporated hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) is used.

Patented installation is a complex rotary device, because filling with a sterilizing mixture and blowing is carried out simultaneously with the passage of the bottles on the carousel. This undoubtedly causes the high cost and complexity of manufacturing. During sterilization, the injection device falls deep inside the bottle, which requires precise positioning of the bottle under the injection device. Sterilization, blowing the mixture located in different chambers, and the closed channels between the chambers, as well as a solid body require high-quality sealing installation. For the preparation of sterile air using expensive filters.

A device for sterilization is known (see US Patent No. 4,797,225A IPC A61L 2/20, B65B 55/10, publication dated January 10, 1989), which includes the creation of hydrogen peroxide transported by air heated to a temperature that is equal to or higher than the evaporation surface temperature of the object to be sterilized.

This solution focuses on the preparation of a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and air, and the goal is to reduce its consumption. Despite this, there is an installation option, where also more emphasis is placed on the decontamination of the container. The injection zone is separated into a separate chamber, and the blowing zone is not fenced off from the filling zone with the product. In addition, no attention is paid to how a sterile or sterilizing atmosphere is maintained during bottling. Additionally, ultraviolet is used to disinfect containers. Judging by the drawing and despite the absence of information in the patent description, it can be concluded that such an installation will require high-quality sealing with ventilation.

The closest in technical essence and the achieved result is a device for sterilizing and filling packaging containers (see US Patent No. 6351924 B1 IPC A61L 2/186, B65B 55/10, B67C 7/00, publication 05.03.2002), which is subjected exposure to a sterilizing agent during transportation with controlled synchronization in the process line through various processing stations, which is then removed with sterile hot air without expensive “clean room” and technically simple method.

However, the invention has a number of significant technical disadvantages:

1. The conveyor through which the bottles are moving has an intermittent drive, the positioning of the bottle under the disinfection station must be very accurate for this installation.

2. The lack of sterilization of the lid, however, the patent owner specifies: providing a sterile closure (applying a sterile closure on the packaging container), in this installation a sealing plate is used. This is an additional consumable, in addition, which is not popular among consumers.

3. The lack of treatment with hydrogen peroxide (H ₂ O ₂ ) transmitting stars, and the bottle does not hold by the throat, but uses a special design with special non-standard grippers equipped with plates and rods for individual placement and support of each container, which complicates the design of the installation and increases the cost Bottling, in addition to which disinfection is not performed.

4. The process of outflow of "spent peroxide", is performed by partial suction from the bottle. To this end, a special annular gap is provided in each disinfection station, through which the waste mixture is removed from the bottle into a special discharge channel. This greatly complicates the design of each station disinfection.

5. The description says that the sterilization / filling chamber is a “tube” with open ends in front and behind. The pressure inside the pipe is increased, therefore, ventilation should be implemented, from higher pressure to lower pressure, and the chamber itself should be completely tight to prevent the sterilizing mixture from escaping. This solution requires a certain cost to create tightness.

6. Since the pipeline is linear, and an increase in the productivity of the plant is achieved by increasing the number of processing stations located in a row (there are eight of them in the technical solution, that is, eight containers can be processed at the same time), this increases the cost of installation.

7. The graphic image shows that the bottle enters throat up, and for processing, i.e. on the holder comes down his throat. Consequently, an additional turning device is required, but nothing is said about it in the patent materials.

8. The patent creators also stipulate that the general ventilation system is carried out by standard, previously known methods, the blocks of which are located on top of the bottling installation. A safe entry and exit of the bottles from the disinfection / dispensing chamber should also be made, excluding the exit of the sterilizing mixture beyond the bottling installation, since The installation has no bypass.

9. In addition, the creators of the technical solution stipulate that to achieve this method of disinfection, and. it is precisely the supply of the sterilizing mixture under increased pressure and its simultaneous removal through the ventilation duct (the same with air blowing), the container should preferably be in the form of a bottle, since the distribution of the inlet / outlet flows of the mixture is effective only in this case due to geometric features.

The technical result of the proposed solution is to increase the reliability, simplify and reduce the cost of the bottling process by creating a hydrogen peroxide sterilizer of reasonable structure that provides the required high biological purity of the bottled beverage that occurs in the sterilizing medium.

Another advantage of the solution is the creation of an installation for bottling beverages, in which the volumes to be sterilized and the time required to perform sterilization operations are significantly reduced in relation to known solutions.

The technical result is achieved by the installation for the bottling of beverages containing an insulator, the inner space of which consists of a sterilizing mixture, including hot air and sprayed fine hydrogen peroxide, peroxide - H ₂ O ₂ , and the installation is performed on double-pressure unpressurized bodies under various internal pressures space, respectively, the internal leaky insulator - at a pressure above atmospheric, and the external unpressurized case - under pressure below atmospheric, and the veins When an external unpressurized enclosure is pulled, the throttling process windows transfer the spent gaseous peroxide from the unpressurized enclosure to the outside, and annular nozzles of hot sterile air are introduced in the external unpressurized enclosure to heat the bottles and the nozzle of the sterilizing mixture to process the outside and inside the bottles, and to disinfect the transfer stars, and in the internal non-hermetic insulator the sterilizing mixture nozzles are installed for decontamination of the space, the sealing caps, and the ring (slotted) nozzle for blowing hot sterile air bottle caps and closures.

The essence of the solution is that the installation for bottling beverages is implemented on double-circuit non-hermetic buildings: an external non-hermetic case and an internal non-hermetic insulator, having two contours of fencing with two internal zones-spaces that are under different internal pressures of the filling medium.

Moreover, the space of the internal leaking insulator created by the positive pressure of the constant presence of the sterilizing mixture, including hot air and sprayed fine hydrogen peroxide ,. peroxide - H ₂ O ₂ , injected by annular (slotted) nozzle and nozzles.

To remove the sterilizing mixture from the bottles, as well as from the surface of the caps, a directional intensive stream of hot air is used, the sterility of which is achieved by heating it to a temperature of 300 ° C, and then cooling to 70-80 ° C, the emission of which is directed through the annular (slotted) nozzles.

In addition, sterility is achieved by maintaining in the non-hermetic insulator the concentration of peroxide H ₂ O ₂ sufficient to ensure the sterility of the space of the circuit of the non-hermetic insulator,

The circulation of the spent sterilizing mixture is carried out through the technological windows of the entrance of the bottles and closing caps, the exit of the finished product, the entrance-exit of the open space in the insulator of transmitting stars.

In an external non-hermetic enclosure, low pressure is maintained by adjusting the speed of the ventilation hood operation by a signal from a pressure sensor installed inside the enclosure.

At the same time, the throttling operation is carried out during commissioning works, an area is selected at which a constant required pressure is maintained inside the leaking insulator circuit, conditions are created for the required sterilizing mixture, and the installation is formed on a conventional filling line with relatively small and inexpensive equipment modifications.

A comparison of the proposed solution with the well-known technical solutions shows that it has a new set of essential features that, together with the already known features, make it possible to successfully accomplish the goal.

The invention is illustrated with graphic materials, where in FIG. 1 shows the installation for bottling beverages.

The composition of the proposed facility:

1. Feed bottles;

2. Injection of the sterilizing mixture into the bottle;

3. Injection of the sterilizing mixture into the untight insulator;

4. Injection of sterilizing mixture for processing of transmitting stars;

5. Injection of the sterilizing mixture to handle the closure;

6. The area of blowing bottles with hot sterile air of 70-80 ° C from residual peroxide;

7. The area of the purge of sealing caps with hot sterile air of 70-80 ° C from residual peroxide;

8. Filling the bottle with hot sterile air;

9. Filling valves for sterilized product (not shown on the drawing);

10. Unsealed internal insulator;

11. Technological openings (windows), peroxide exit;

12. External leaky case;

13. Beverage bottling station; •

14. A bottle capping station;

15. Entry closure cap;

16. Sealing heads (not shown);

17. The output of finished products;

18. Ventilation hood;

19. Pipeline supplying sterilized product;

20. Transmitting stars.

The operation of the two-circuit filling device is as follows.

Unlike the "classical" equipment, the dual-circuit filling installation has no restrictions on the protection of the internal leaks of the insulator 10 and the external non-tight body 12 from ingress of ordinary air from the outside, and the principle of operation is based on the free movement of air through technological openings (windows) of these 11 circuits due to created pressure difference inside them. The contours of the internal unsealed insulator 10 and the external untight enclosure 12 are not barriers to the penetration of the medium from the outside, but, on the contrary, barriers from the exit of the sterilizing agent 3 out into the space around the unit. The most important distinguishing feature of the proposed technical solution from the classical method is the use of a double-circuit filling system: an external unpressurized circuit. the housing 12 is under pressure below atmospheric, which blocks the release of aggressive sterilizing agent 3 in the space around the installation.

A feature of the installation design is that the aseptic mode of bottling of beverages occurs in a sterile non-hermetic insulator 10, while sterility is achieved by maintaining the concentration of a mixture of hot air and hydrogen peroxide - H ₂ O ₂ 3 peroxide in a non-hermetic insulator 10, to ensure sterility.

The bottling unit is as closed as possible with openings for the entry of empty bottles 1 and closures 15 and finished product output 17. Inside the installation, the bottling has a sterile leak-proof insulator 10 where bottles are filled with a pre-pasteurized beverage that is fed through the sterilized product 19 supply pipe. To ensure normal operation, a negative pressure is maintained in relation to the environment (-50-100 Pa) due to forced exhaust ventilation 18. Leak-proof The insulator 10 is located inside the bottling plant and is the most closed area with openings for the bottle and cap 11 and the finished product 17. 17. The insulator 10 maintains excessive environmental pressure (+100 Pa) by blowing sterile air through the nozzles 6 , 7 and the sterilizing mixture - nozzles 3, 5, which allow maintaining the peroxide concentration in the insulator 10, which is necessary to maintain the sterility of the space inside the non-hermetic insulator 10. Inside the filling installation there are nozzles for processing incoming bottles 1, capping lids 15, stars feeding into a non-hermetic insulator 10 bottles and stars removing bottles from a non-hermetic insulator 10. All the nozzles serve the sterilizing mixture warmed to 70-80 ° under pressure of 3 bar. Sterilized mixture of bottle 1 and sealing caps 15 are processed from all sides from the outside and inside, due to this all microorganisms on their surface are killed. Bottles 1, closures 15, which fall into the unsealed insulator 10 and the drive mechanisms are pre-treated with a sterilizing mixture and due to this they are completely sterile. Inside the leaky insulator 10, incoming bottles 1 and sealing caps 15 (pretreated with a sterilizing mixture) are blown with sterile hot air (70-80 °) under a pressure of 3 bar through sterile air nozzles 6, 7, 8. Airflow through bottles with sterile air is performed through a cascade nozzles 6, from the moment the bottle 1 enters the unsealed insulator 10 until the bottle 1 is placed under the filling valve 9. Blowing the caps 15 with sterile air is performed by a cascade of nozzles 7 from the moment of entering the untight insulator 10 to ahvata closure cap 15. The closure head 16. As a result, blowing sterile air 6, 7, 8, the overwhelming part of the peroxide being on the inner walls of bottle 1 and closure caps 15 is removed flow of air residues peroxide decomposed under heat. This allows you to achieve the minimum concentration of peroxide in the finished product 17 in accordance with the requirements of product safety.

The work process can be represented by the sequence of operations:

1. The sterilizing mixture 3, 4, 5 fills the unpressurized insulator 10 and creates an overpressure inside it (higher than the air pressure around the unit).

2. From the untight insulator 10 the sterilizing mixture passes into the space in the external circuit 12. The contour 10 has technological holes 11 through which pressure will try to equalize with the pressure beyond it, thereby creating a flow of medium from the untight insulator 10 to the outside - into the external untight contour housing 12. Technological holes 11, by throttling, adjusted so that the overpressure is always maintained at a constant desired level.

3. With the help of a ventilation hood 18 mounted in installation 12, the air mixture from the space of the external circuit 12 is drawn out and fed into the ventilation system, which, in turn, is removed outside the room. The fan speed is adjustable, thereby allowing you to select the desired amount of exhaust flow and create a predetermined vacuum inside the external unpressurized housing 12 with an external circuit.

4. Due to the fact that the pressure in the external circuit of the unpressurized body 12 is lower than the air pressure surrounding the unit, external air enters the external contour 12, which in turn is removed by an extract 18 from the external contour of the unpressurized body 12.

5. At the expense of drawing 18 out of the external contour of the untight body 12, the flow structure of the sterilizing mixture from the untight insulator 10 and air entering the device from the outside is implemented in a way that prevents aggressive sterilizing mixture from entering the space around the bottling installation, thereby preventing operators working with the installation, from the harmful effects of sterilizing mixture.

Since the negative pressure inside the external circuit of the unpressurized body 12 completely excludes the escape of its atmosphere beyond its limits, this is. fully guarantees protection against ingress of the aggressive constituent, the sterilizing mixture, namely, H ₂ O ₂ peroxide into the external space of the unpressurized body 12 and into the work area of the operator.

Moreover, the results of tests for the disinfection and filling of bottles reflect the organoleptic quality indicators of the process, which provides a competitive finished product, the unit of measurement of which (residual level of peroxide) - ppm (parts per million) - one millionth, is equal to 0.3 ppm, which below common international standards.

Technical and economic advantage of the proposed technical solution is to increase the reliability, simplify and cheapen the bottling process with the required high biological purity of the bottled beverage, and when performed under continuous aseptic conditions, it is also economical to implement and reduce operating costs while improving the environmental burden.

Claims (1)

A beverage dispensing plant containing an insulator, the inner space of which consists of a sterilizing mixture including hot air and sprayed fine hydrogen peroxide, peroxide - H ₂ O ₂ , characterized in that the installation is performed on double-pressure unpressurized bodies under different internal pressure of the space, respectively the internal unpressurized insulator - at a pressure above atmospheric, and the external unpressurized casing - under pressure below atmospheric, and the exhaust fan of the external neger When a process window is throttled, the spent gaseous peroxide from the unpressurized case is transferred to the exterior; a non-hermetic insulator has sterilizing mixture nozzles for decontamination of the space, sealing caps, and also ring nozzles for blowing hot sterile air bottles and closures.

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