JP2601721Y2 - Under pressure processing equipment for food materials - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for treating a food material under pressure, in particular, a food material having fluidity under high pressure for the purpose of controlling the reaction and sterilizing the food material.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, foods have been processed mainly by utilizing heat. In recent years, there has been a movement to actively utilize a thermodynamic variable called pressure. One example of using pressure in food processing is a twin-screw extruder. However, this is intended to modify and organize the food by mechanical action such as temperature, kneading, and shearing, and the pressure is not intentionally controlled, but changes depending on the physical properties of the food. Or for example 1000
It was not possible to apply a high pressure such as kgf / cm ² .

[0003] Therefore, there is a technique of applying a pressure medium to a pressurizing chamber of a high-pressure container and pressurizing the same using a cold isostatic pressurizing apparatus to apply pressure to an object to be processed in the processing chamber and perform processing. Proposed. In this case, it is necessary to isolate the object to be treated and the pressurized medium. As the isolation means, most commonly, a method using a bag such as a vacuum pack, a method using a flexible wall (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-69969), a method of performing pressure treatment through a free piston provided in a pressure vessel
No. 7534) has been proposed. In addition, as means for ensuring safety when the pressure medium is mixed into the object to be processed, a means for sterilizing the pressure medium has been proposed.

[0004]

[0005] However, the above-mentioned technique, especially concerning safety, is effective only for ensuring safety during pressurization, and cleanliness before starting the whole system or after completion of operation. Not enough attention was paid to ensuring The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances and aims to improve the cleaning function of a food material under pressure treatment.

[0005]

The technical solution of the present invention for solving this technical problem is to provide a pressure medium chamber 6 and a processing object storage chamber so as to separate the pressure medium from the processing object. 20, a pressure medium supply / discharge device 7 connected to the pressure medium chamber 6, an object supply device 21 connected to the object storage chamber 20, Storage room 20
A food material pressurizing / treating device, comprising a processing material recovery device 32 for recovering a processed material connected to the food material, wherein the pressure medium of the pressure medium supply / discharge device 7 is water, and the pressure medium is Is branched from a connection piping system to the pressurized medium chamber 6 and can be supplied to the processing object storage chamber 20 and the processing object recovery device 32 through the processing object supply device 21. is there.

[0006]

The cleaning operation of the object system can be easily performed by adopting a structure in which the pressure medium is water and the water is branched and supplied to the object system. Further, by configuring the water to be able to be supplied in a sterile state, contamination by mixing of the pressurized medium into the object to be processed is avoided when the pressure treatment is performed.

[0007]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention, in which 1 is a pressure vessel, both ends of which are opened in the axial direction, and these openings are fitted with detachable closing members 2 and 3 respectively, and It is sealed via seal members 2 'and 3'.

Since an axial force acts on these closing members 2 and 3 at the time of pressurizing processing, in order to support these axial forces, a screw-fitting structure with respect to the pressure vessel opening as shown in FIG.
Alternatively, in consideration of the ease of removal, for example, a stepped-type screw fitting structure or a structure in which the both closing members 2 and 3 are sandwiched and supported by a press frame can be adopted. A free piston 4 having a seal member 5 is slidably loaded in the pressure vessel 1. The interior of the pressure vessel 1 is partitioned into two chambers, a pressure medium chamber 6 and a processing object accommodation chamber 20, by the free piston 4. Pressure medium chamber 6 in pressure vessel 1
Is connected to a pressure medium supply / discharge device 7.

A pressure medium supply / discharge device 7 sucks a pressure medium from a pressure medium tank 8 by a pressure pump 9 and passes through a membrane filter 10 for sterilizing the pressure medium. 12a, pressure intensifier 13 for pressurizing the pressure medium, check valve 12
Through b, it is connected to a through hole 15 provided in the closing member 3 by a piping line 14, so that the pressurized medium can be supplied to the pressurized medium chamber 6 under pressure.

A piping line 14 between the check valve 12b and the pressure medium chamber 6 is connected to a bypass line 16 for discharging the pressure medium. The line 16 is provided with an on-off valve 17 and a throttle valve 18. Thus, the pressure in the pressure medium chamber 6 can be reduced and the pressure medium can be collected in the tank 8. Further, the pressure vessel 1
A vacuum pump 22 for defoaming (air bleeding) is provided as an on-off valve
A line 27 having an opening / closing valve 26 for supplying an object to be processed by a supply pump 25 is provided from an object supply tank 24 provided through the container, and is connected to a through hole 28 provided in the closing member 2, An object to be processed is supplied to the object storage chamber 20.

A recovery bypass line 29 is connected to a line 27 between the on-off valve 26 and the processing object accommodating chamber 20 as a path for taking out the object to be processed after the pressure treatment. 30 and 31 are provided, and are connected to the processing object recovery device 32. The to-be-processed object recovery device 32 is provided with a recovery tank 32a and an opening / closing valve 33, so that the recovered to-be-processed object can be taken out, and furthermore, the waste liquid at the time of washing described later can be taken out.

Further, the on-off valve 30 of the bypass line 29,
31 and a line 35 having an on-off valve 34
Is provided during the pressurization process.
This is a bypass circuit for preventing the processing object leaked from the processing object from being mixed into the processing object recovery device 32, and is configured to return to the processing object supply tank 24. In addition, as a component material of these devices, from the viewpoint of handling food materials, pressure vessels, valves, piping lines, etc.
Generally, stainless steel is recommended as preferred. Further, as a means for sterilizing the pressure medium, instead of installing the membrane filter 10, a means such as making the pressure medium tank 8 a sealed structure and irradiating ultraviolet rays in the tank 8 may be employed.

According to the configuration of the above embodiment, the bypass line 36 branches off from the outlet side of the membrane filter 10 of the pressure medium supply line of the pressure medium supply / discharge device 7, and the sterilized pressure medium flows through the on-off valve 37. Through the supply tank 24 for the object to be treated.
The use of water as the pressure medium not only ensures safety when the pressure medium is mixed into the workpiece during pressurization, but also before starting the apparatus or The cleaning of the processing object supply / discharge system after the processing can be performed by diverting the hydraulic fluid (using the supply pump 25 of the processing object supply device 21, the processing object storage chamber 20, and the processing object). Pressurized water can be sent to the recovery device 32. When the purpose of the treatment is not the sterilization purpose such as the reaction control,
Rinsing cleaning can be performed after cleaning the workpiece supply device 21 using an acid, an alkali or the like (not shown),
In that case, sterilization of the pressure medium is no longer an essential matter. The purpose of the treatment is sterilization.
If it is desired to further aseptize the entire pressure processing apparatus including the apparatus 1, the same purpose can be achieved by sterilizing the pressure medium to be fed. ).

That is, the processing method according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 5 as follows (in the figures, white valves are open and black valves are closed). In FIG. 2, the object to be processed is supplied to the storage chamber 20 by the supply pump 25, and in this case, the pressure medium in the pressure medium chamber 6 returns to the pressure medium tank 8 from the line 16. When the supply is completed, FIG.
As shown in (1), the pressure medium is supplied under pressure to the pressure medium chamber 6 by the pressure intensifier 13, and the free piston 4 is moved upward to perform the pressure processing. When the pressurization is completed, as shown in FIG. 4, the free piston 4 is further moved upward by the supply of the pressure medium, so that the object to be processed is collected in the object collection device 32. After the repetitive operation of the above processing is completed, as shown in FIG. 5, the open / close valve 37 is opened, and the pressure medium is sent to the workpiece supply tank 24,
Using the supply pump 25, instead of the object to be treated,
Further, by sending the workpiece to the workpiece recovery device 32 after removing the workpiece and repeating the free piston movement of FIGS. 2 and 4, the rinsing after the operation of the entire apparatus is completed can be performed. In addition, for a more strict cleaning operation, a separate supply line for acid, alkali, etc. may be provided for cleaning separately.
The supply pressure medium may be sterilized by the membrane filter 10 or the like, and the replacement operation may be performed with sterile water.

FIG. 6 shows another embodiment, in which the pressure vessel 1 has an upper lid 42 and a lower lid 43, and the upper lid 42 is provided with a flexible partition 44 via a sealing member 46 and a fixing member 45. A pressure medium chamber 6 is formed in the pressure vessel 1 by the partition wall 44.
And a processing object storage chamber 20. The pressure medium chamber 6 of the pressure vessel 1 passes through the through hole 47 of the lower lid 43,
The pressure medium supply / discharge device 7 is connected by a line 14.
Further, a supply line 49 for the object to be processed is connected to the object storage chamber 20 through a through hole 48 in the upper lid, and a recovery line 5 for the object to be processed through a through hole 50 provided separately.
1 is connected. The other points are the same as those of the above-mentioned embodiment, and the branch of the pressure medium after passing through the membrane filter 10 is performed by the line 36 as in FIG. 1, and the apparatus shown in FIG. Needless to say, operations such as pressure treatment and washing before and after the operation can be performed in a similar manner.

[0016]

[Effect of the Invention] The present invention is as described above. By adopting a configuration in which the pressure medium is water and the supply of the water is branched and supplied to the processing target system, the cleaning operation of the processing target system can be easily performed. Furthermore, by configuring the water to be able to be supplied under aseptic conditions, in particular, when performing pressure treatment for the purpose of sterilization, it is possible to not only prevent contamination due to mixing of the pressure medium into the material to be treated, Thus, the entire apparatus can be cleaned by a simple method by the replacement operation with sterile water, and the practical application of the pressure treatment to a food having fluidity can be further promoted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a processing operation.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a processing operation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a processing operation.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a processing operation.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 pressure vessel 6 pressure medium chamber 7 pressure medium supply / discharge device 20 workpiece storage chamber 21 workpiece supply device 32 workpiece recovery device

Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Kazuo Kitagawa 1-5-5 Takatsukadai, Nishi-ku, Kobe-shi, Hyogo Kobe Steel, Ltd. Seishin General Research Area Ward (56) References JP-A-6-98695 (JP, A) JP-A-5-76328 (JP, A) JP-A-3-7534 (JP, A) JP-A-62-69969 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name ) A23L 3/015 A23L 1/01

Claims (2)

(57) [Scope of request for utility model registration] 1. A pressure vessel (1) having an interior partitioned into a pressure medium chamber (6) and an object storage chamber (20) so as to isolate the pressure medium from the object to be processed, A pressure medium supply / discharge device (7) connected to the medium chamber (6);
0) a food material provided with a processing object supply device (21) connected to the processing object storage chamber (20) and a processing object recovery device (32) connected to the processing object storage chamber (20); The pressure medium of the pressure medium supply / discharge device (7) is water, and the pressure medium branches from a connection piping system to the pressure medium chamber (6), and An apparatus for processing under pressure of a food material, characterized in that it can be supplied to the processing object storage chamber (20) and the processing object recovery apparatus (32) via a supply apparatus (21). 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure medium is configured to be sterilized before the branching.