JPH04364853A - Sterilizer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

[Industrial Application Field] The present invention can be used to aseptically fill unused containers with arbitrary contents, and can also be used in combination with pressurization and depressurization when heat sterilizing in a suitable short time. This relates to a sterilizer.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art When the contents of soft drinks, cold drinks, and the like are filled aseptically into containers such as cans and bottles, the containers and their lids are sterilized before they are used. In this case, sterilization methods include the so-called moist heat (steam) method and the dry heat method, but the wet heat method is generally used. That is, in this moist heat method, heat is efficiently transferred to the container and the lid (at a temperature of 125° C. or higher) in an atmosphere of high-temperature steam, thereby ensuring reliable sterilization. Also, some containers are not sterilized because they are simply washed with water, filled with contents, sealed, and then heated. It is also cleaned with a solution containing a disinfectant, and then rinsed with water as a rinse for the cleaning solution, and then filled.

However, in the conventional moist heat method, since a large amount of water vapor is exhausted from the sterilizer, water droplets adhere to the surroundings of the sterilizer and mold easily grows, which requires work to be removed. In order to prevent mold from entering the equipment, it is necessary to enclose the entire equipment. We also provide transport mechanisms for containers and lids (conveyors,
If an abnormality occurs in the device (shooter, etc.), it takes time to lower the temperature inside the device, inspect and repair the device, and then raise the temperature again, resulting in poor maintenance.

In addition, when containers and lids that are sensitive to heat, such as resin containers, are to be sterilized, a large amount of steam may be sprayed, or the temperature of hidden parts such as the inner cap or lid of the container may be adjusted to sterilize with heated steam. A certain amount of contact time was required, and some resin materials were easily softened. Further, dew condensation occurs around these chute portions, and work to remove the condensation is required, which impairs the workability of sterilization processing.

On the other hand, when sterilizing by dry heat method (hot air),
If containers and lids are not placed in a dry heat storage for sterilization for a long time, the temperature of the containers and lids will not rise sufficiently, causing problems in terms of workability and reliability. Also, in the case of resin, deformation is likely to occur due to the surrounding temperature.

[0006]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] The problems to be solved by the conventional moist heat type sterilizer are that maintenance is not easy, and since a large amount of steam is used as a heating source, the amount of steam and the electric furnace for heating are limited. It required a large amount of energy to be heated.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems] The present invention provides that an unused container 3 to be aseptically filled with arbitrary contents or a lid 3a of this container is placed on a predetermined transfer path at a position upstream of the filling line 1. It has a transfer means (belt conveyor 2) that is transferred along the transfer means, and on the transfer route of this transfer means, there is a means (for attaching any liquid 7 to the container or the lid of this container).
Spray nozzle 8) and means for short-term or instantaneous heating of this liquid and the container or the lid of this container (high-frequency coil, flame nozzle, infrared lamp or heater heating, microwave heating, ultraviolet laser, infrared laser, etc.) ) is provided.

[0008]

[Operation] According to this, by heating the liquid attached to the container or the lid of this container, the temperature of the container or lid can be sufficiently raised in a short time, and dry heat is easy to maintain. It is possible to combine this method with a moist heat method that ensures reliable sterilization using a sterilizer even in a short time. At this time, if the container or lid is metal, the attached liquid can be heated by heating the metal, and if the container is made of resin, microwaves can directly heat the water by vibration of water molecules, but some of the high frequencies When it is not possible to directly heat water molecules using wavelength, infrared, or ultraviolet lamp heating, laser heating, etc., it is possible to use a secondary guide on the line to make it easier to transmit this heat.

[0009]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of a content filling line 1 to which the present invention is applied. In this line 1, cans 3 (containers) are transferred by a belt conveyor 2 (transfer means). The can lid 3a is transferred along a transfer route passing through the installation position of the feeder 5 and the installation position of the seamer 6 where the can lid 3a is integrated with the can 3.

In this line 1, for example, a spray nozzle 8 for depositing the liquid 7 on the inner surface of the can 3 is provided upstream of the filling machine 4, and a halogen lamp, for example, is disposed in a condensing mirror to condense the light. An infrared heating nozzle 9 (first sterilization means) in which cooling water flows is provided on the outside of the mirror. Therefore, in this case, the liquid 7 is attached to the inner surface of the can 3,
The can 3 is rapidly heated (105 to 125°C) by infrared heating irradiated from the nozzle 9 to this liquid 7.
and sterilization is performed.

Further, a nozzle 10 (second sterilization means) is provided at the installation position of the filling machine 4, which emits a laser toward the plate-shaped nozzle of the filling machine 4. In addition, as the filling machine 4,
In addition to the plate nozzle type, there are general rotary type (tubular nozzle) types. Furthermore, nozzles 11 and 12 (third sterilization means and fourth sterilization means, respectively) to which infrared laser is irradiated are also provided at the installation position of the feeder 5 and the installation position of the seamer 6. In addition, as seamer 6,
Examples include a type in which the can 3 rotates, and a general rotary type (the can 3 is fixed). In this embodiment, the path through which the can 3 is transferred from the installation position of the nozzle 9 to the installation position of the nozzle 12 is surrounded by the casing 13, and is set so that the heating temperature can be well adjusted due to the high temperature inside. ing.

[0012] The nozzles 9 to 12 shown in the above-mentioned apparatus are each irradiated with infrared rays from the outside, and if the can 3 stops mid-transfer for some reason, the irradiation can be stopped or adjusted. Controls such as cutting off light with a shutter or stopping lamp irradiation are automatically performed to protect the can 3 (automatic irradiation method, etc.).

Further, in the nozzle 9, as can be understood from FIG. There is. The infrared rays from this lamp 91 are irradiated onto the can 3 through a light-transmissive window 94 made of heat-resistant glass 94 made of quartz or Teflon, for example. Further, a copper pipe 14 is provided along the transfer path of the can 3, and cooling water is supplied into the pipe 14. This cooling water is used to adjust the heating temperature of the can 3, and the pipe 14 is also used as a guide for the can 3. Note that a heat insulating material 15 such as ceramics is disposed on the inner surface of the casing 13, and sensors 16 such as a temperature sensor necessary for adjusting the heating temperature are provided.

Furthermore, the installation position of the feeder 5 is as shown in FIG.
As can be understood from the above, the irradiation nozzle 11 is installed so that the surface of the can lid 3a on the can 3 side and the upper part of the can 3 (the part that contacts the can lid 3a) are heated, and A spray nozzle 17 for depositing the liquid 7 on the surface of the can 3 side of the can lid 3a is provided. In this case, the can lid 3a can be heated more effectively by using a high-temperature type of sealant, a so-called compound, disposed on the inner peripheral side of the can 3 and the outer peripheral edge of the can lid 3a. is also suitable. Note that the configuration of the feeder 5 is conventionally known, so a description thereof will be omitted. Of course, the spray nozzle No. 17 and the container containing the contents No. 3 may not be placed directly above, but may be transferred from the side using a conventionally known filler and placed on top of the nozzle.

[0015] Thus, according to the above-mentioned device, the container (can 3
) or by heating (infrared ray irradiation nozzle 9) the liquid 7 attached (spray nozzle 8) to the lid (can lid 3a) of this container, the temperature of the container and lid can be sufficiently raised in a short time. However, it is possible to sufficiently heat not only metal but also resin materials, and reliable sterilization can be performed using a moist heat sterilizer that is easy to maintain.

[0016] In the above-described apparatus, the amount of liquid deposited on the container is controlled to be an appropriate amount to be evaporated by heating from the heating source. If the lid is a cap or the like, liquid can be prevented from remaining by making the inner surface face downward or the opening of the container diagonally facing downward. In addition to spraying using vapor pressure or the like, the liquid may be applied to the container by atomizing the liquid using ultrasonic waves or the like. Further, as the liquid, water or hot water (if hot water is used, the loss of heating energy will be reduced), or a liquid with a sterilizing effect such as chlorine water, hydrogen peroxide, alcohol, etc. may be used. The water or hot water may be sterilized.

Furthermore, the heating means is not limited to the above-mentioned infrared heating, but also includes high frequency heating, microwave heating, heating by (semiconductor) laser irradiation, flame plasma heating, infrared lamp heating, far infrared rays/visible light, etc. Possible methods include heating with concentrated irradiation, hot air heating, etc. It is also possible to adopt a heating method in which these are used as a secondary heating source to use tunnel walls, rails, etc. as a heating source.

The above-described apparatus can also be used to sterilize plastic cans and lids, lids for bottles and resin containers, and metal and resin caps. In other words, resin is generally considered to be sensitive to heat, but in the above-mentioned device, water droplets from the spray are attached to the resin to some extent, so that extreme heating by the heat source is suppressed by boiling of the water droplets. , abnormal heating of resin and metal is prevented. This makes it possible to sterilize plastic cans and lids, lids for bottles and resin containers, and metal and resin caps. Of course, in the case of high frequency, if it is desired to heat metal or resin by wavelength, these heating sources can be used as a secondary source. Of course, this part can be pressurized or depressurized to speed up the high temperature speed, or it can be combined to make it easier to sterilize bacteria at a lower temperature while inactivating the bacteria under pressure, or aerobic bacteria under reduced pressure. If so, sterilization can be done in a short period of time under poor conditions.

Furthermore, in the above-mentioned apparatus, the workability of the sterilization process can be further improved by selecting and using the sterilization means as appropriate depending on the object to be sterilized, such as omitting the sterilization process performed at the installation position of the seamer 6 in some cases. can be done.

Furthermore, FIG. 4 shows a case where the present invention is applied to a cap sterilizing device. In this example, as shown in Figure B, the liquid is sprayed from the upper side of the cap shooter, and water droplets and heated steam exhaust ports are provided at the top and bottom of the shooter, and furthermore, on the side A or C of the The side is heat-resistant and transparent, and infrared rays are radiated from there. Alternatively, as shown in C, the side surfaces and the like can be made of a material through which high frequency waves can pass, and heating can be performed using a high frequency coil 95.

[0021]

Effects of the Invention According to the present invention, by heating the liquid attached to the container or the lid of the container, the temperature of the container or the lid can be sufficiently raised in a short time, and maintenance is easy. It has now become possible to perform reliable sterilization by using a dry heat method that provides reliable sterilization and a moist heat method that provides reliable sterilization.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an example of a sterilization device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a first sterilization means.

FIG. 3 is a configuration diagram of a third sterilization means.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of an example in which the present invention is applied to a cap sterilizer.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Contents filling line 2 Belt conveyor 3 Cans 3a Can lid 4 Filling machine 5 Lid supply machine 6 Seamer 7. Liquid 8 Spray nozzle 9 Infrared irradiation nozzle 10-12 Flame nozzle 13 Casing

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An unused container to be aseptically filled with arbitrary contents or a lid of this container is provided with a transfer means for transferring along a predetermined transfer path at a position upstream of the filling line. , means for attaching any liquid to the container or the lid of the container on the transfer path of the transfer means;
Means for heating this liquid and the above-mentioned container or the lid of this container in a short time so as to prevent the unused container and lid from being abnormally heated due to the liquid adhering to the container and the lid of this container. Examples include infrared lamps, flame plasma, high-frequency heating, microwaves, visible light lamp condensation, ultraviolet condensation, laser irradiation, semiconductor lasers, high-temperature air, condensed heating using optical wavelengths using fibers, infrared heaters, and infrared lamps. A sterilization device characterized by being provided with.