JP2747266B2 - Bag sealing member and gas filling device using the sealing member - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a sealing member for hermetically sealing the mouth of a bag when packing food such as bonito, bread crumbs and confectionery, and the bag using the sealing member. The present invention relates to a gas filling device for filling an inert gas (hereinafter, simply referred to as a gas) such as a nitrogen gas into the inside of the device and sealing it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when bagging the above-mentioned foods and the like, it is generally practiced to fill the inside of the bag with gas for the purpose of maintaining its freshness over a long period of time and to seal the bag. As an example of this type of bag filling device, there is a device called a chamber-type gas filling device, for example.

[0003] This chamber-type gas filling apparatus is provided with an airtight chamber (chamber) whose inside is hermetically closed by a lid, so that the air in the chamber can be extracted and the chamber can be filled with gas. After the bag containing the food and the like is set in the chamber, the lid is closed and the inside of the chamber is airtightly closed. In this state, the inside of the chamber is evacuated and then gas is injected.

When the gas is filled in the chamber, a part of the gas is also filled in the bag. When the gas is sufficiently filled in the bag, the mouth of the bag is directly covered with, for example, an impulse heater. The bag was heated and welded, and the bag was hermetically closed in a gas-filled state. Thereafter, the lid was opened and the bag was taken out of the chamber.

[0005]

In such a conventional chamber-type gas filling apparatus, since the gas in the entire chamber is filled, gas consumption increases and the chamber after filling is filled. When the bag is opened, there is a problem that unnecessary residual gas not filled in the bag is diffused to the outside, which deteriorates the working environment.

[0006] Conventionally, when welding is performed, wrinkles may be welded to the mouth at the time of sealing. In this case, not only the appearance as a product is poor, but also the gas replacement rate must be maintained at a high level. Was difficult.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve these conventional problems, and provides a seal member capable of more completely sealing the mouth of a bag and a gas filling apparatus using the seal member. It is another object of the present invention to provide a gas filling apparatus which does not need to unnecessarily fill the chamber with a gas and therefore does not dissipate excess gas to the outside.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a seal member for hermetically sealing a bag by sandwiching the mouth of the bag in pairs from both sides.
It is characterized by having the requirements of (1) to (6). (1) Made of an elastically deformable material. (2) The bag has a length capable of contacting at least over the entire length of the mouth of the bag. (3) A plurality of through holes are provided at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction. (4) The plurality of through holes are formed so as to penetrate between two adjacent surfaces along the longitudinal direction of the contact surface that contacts the mouth of the bag. (5) The plurality of through holes are formed long along a direction inclined with respect to the pressing direction. (6) The direction of inclination of the plurality of through-holes is opposite to the left and right with respect to the substantially center in the longitudinal direction, and is the opening direction toward the contact surface side.

According to the above construction, when the mouth portion of the bag is sandwiched and pressed by the sealing members from both sides, the sealing members are elastically deformed by the pressing force. The seal member has a plurality of through-holes penetrating between two adjacent surfaces along the longitudinal direction of the contact surface, and inclining to the left and right opposite sides with respect to the pressing direction, with the longitudinal center substantially as a boundary. It is formed long along the direction. Therefore, when the seal member is pressed, the seal member is elastically deformed so that the contact surface side with respect to the bag is pulled on the opposite side with respect to the substantially center in the longitudinal direction. According to this, a force equivalent to pinching both ends in the longitudinal direction and pulling right and left acts on the mouth portion of the bag against which the sealing member is pressed, so that the mouth portion of the bag is stretched while wrinkles are stretched. Is securely sealed.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided the seal member according to the first aspect, wherein a through hole having a circular cross section is formed substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction.

According to the above construction, when the sealing member is pressed against the mouth of the bag, the through-hole having a circular cross section is uniformly deformed to both ends without being deformed to one side. The portion where the approximate center is in contact is also sealed while the wrinkles are extended.

The invention described in claim 3 is the first or second invention.
A plurality of the seal members described above are provided continuously in the longitudinal direction.

According to the above configuration, a plurality of bags can be arranged side by side and sealed at a time.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a gas filling nozzle is inserted into a bag set in a vacuum-evacuated chamber, and the inserted state is maintained in this state.
The mouth of the bag is hermetically sealed by the described sealing member,
In the sealed state, gas is injected from the gas filling nozzle simultaneously with the introduction of air into the chamber to fill the bag.

According to the above structure, the gas is filled only inside the bag sealed by the seal member in the chamber, so that the excess gas is discharged as in the case where the gas is completely filled in the conventional chamber. Since no gas is charged, the gas is more efficiently charged than before, and the external gas of the residual gas is also eliminated, so that the working environment can be prevented from deteriorating.

Further, when the gas filling nozzle is pulled out after gas filling, wrinkles corresponding to the thickness of the nozzle are generated at the mouth of the bag. The wrinkles are pulled to both sides by the pressing of the sealing member. After the nozzle is pulled out, the mouth of the bag is securely sealed without wrinkles, and the mouth is heated and welded using an impulse heater or the like in the sealed state. If
The mouth of the bag is sealed in a clean finish without wrinkles, and therefore, the reject rate as a product can be reduced.

As described above, by using the sealing member according to the first or second aspect, it is possible to stretch the wrinkles after extracting the gas filling nozzle. Only gas can be filled.

Moreover, since the filling of the gas into the bag and the introduction of the air into the chamber (opening to the atmosphere) are performed simultaneously, the contents are not damaged and the bag is not ruptured. An appropriate amount of gas can be smoothly filled. If the gas is preceded, the bag may be ruptured if an appropriate amount of gas is filled under atmospheric pressure because the chamber is under vacuum (or low pressure). Conversely, if the air is preceded in the chamber, Since the bag is sealed by the sealing member while being evacuated, the bag may be crushed by the pressure of the introduced air to damage its contents. Here, the term "simultaneous" is a concept that includes literally simultaneous filling of gas and introduction of air, as well as alternately and intermittently. The introduction of gas into the bag and the introduction of air into the chamber without leading the introduction of air into the chamber so much as to damage the object, and without leading the filling of the gas enough to burst the bag. It means that they are done in parallel with the timing.

[0019]

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described with reference to FIG. 1 to 3 show an embodiment of the seal members 1 and 1, and FIGS. 4 to 9 show a gas filling device 10 using the seal members 1 and 1. FIG. First, the gas filling device 10 will be described.

The gas filling device 10 is for filling a gas such as nitrogen gas into a bag 5 filled with foods, confectionery and the like (not shown) and sealing the bag 5 as shown in FIG. Two chambers (airtight chamber) 1 in front of the body frame 10
It is a chamber-type filling device provided with 1,11. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 12 denotes a lid. When the lid 12 is closed, the inside of the chamber 11 is airtightly closed. The lid 12
A link arm (not shown) is supported by the main body frame 10a and is movable in the horizontal direction in the figure. A single lid 12 is alternately used for the two chambers 11 and used.

The configuration inside both chambers 11 is the same,
Each has a clamp device 13 for holding the bag 5 in a suspended state. As shown in FIG. 6, the clamp device 13 has a pair of left and right hook members 13a, 13a which move in conjunction with each other in a direction approaching or moving away from each other. The movement of the hook members 13a, 13a is performed by a cylinder not shown. The operator holds the bag 5 so that the two hooking members 13a, 13a in a state of approaching each other are inserted into the mouth 5a.
The bag 5 is held in a suspended state by moving the a and 13a in a direction away from each other so that the mouth 5a of the bag 5 projects from the inside to both sides.

Below the clamp device 13, one heating plate 14a of the impulse heater device 14 is connected to the mouth 5 of the bag 5.
a. Impulse heater device 1
The other heating plate 14b of 4 is attached to the inner surface side of the lid 12 as well shown in FIG. Both the heating plates 14a and 14b have a length that can sandwich the mouth 5a of the bag 5 over the entire length. With the lid 12 closed, the mouth 5a of the bag 5 is sandwiched by the heating plates 14a and 14b over the entire length.
a and 14b are heated by energization to form the mouth 5a of the bag 5.
Is heated and welded, and the bag 5 is sealed. Both heating plates 14a,
The seal member 1 is attached to the lower surface of 14b via a bracket 14c. This seal member 1 will be further described later. Further, the heating plate 14 on the lid 12 side
b will also be described later.

A gas filling nozzle 15 is disposed above the clamp device 13. This gas filling nozzle 15
It can be moved up and down by a cylinder not shown. As shown in the figure, the gas filling nozzle 15 has a thin plate shape and is formed into a shape that can be inserted into the bag 5 through the mouth 5a without substantially affecting the closed state of the mouth 5a.

The gas filling nozzles 15 are connected to a gas tank 16 via a pipe 15b including a valve 15a, and the gas is injected at an appropriate timing by switching the valve 15a.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, on the inner surface of the lid 12, as described above, one heating plate 14b paired with the heating plate 14a in the chamber 11 is disposed. . The heating plate 14b is attached to the rod end of the cylinder 20, and by the operation of the cylinder 20,
It can be moved in parallel in a direction approaching or separating from the heating plate 14a on the chamber 11 side.

As the cylinder 20, an air cylinder of a type operated in two stages by two kinds of compressed air of low pressure and high pressure is used. Heating plate 1 when operated at low pressure
4b is about 5k with respect to the heating plate 14a on the chamber 11 side.
It is pressed with a force of about g to 10 kg, and when operated at high pressure, it is pressed with a force of about 20 kg to 40 kg.

The sealing member 1 is attached to the lower surface of the heating plate 14b along the longitudinal direction of the heating plate 14b via a bracket 14c, similarly to the chamber 11 side. Also, lid 1
A seal rubber 12a for ensuring airtightness in the chamber 11 when the lid 12 is closed is attached to the inner surface of the inner surface 2 along the peripheral edge of the inner surface.

As shown in FIG. 4, the lid 12 has
A vacuum pump 17 and an atmosphere release valve 18 are connected via a switching valve 19, and in a state where the lid 12 is closed to one of the chambers 11, the switching valve 19 is switched to the air extraction side to operate the vacuum pump 17. Then, the air in the chamber 11 is extracted. On the other hand, when the switching valve 19 is switched to the atmosphere opening side, the extraction of the air from the chamber 11 is stopped, and the inside of the chamber 11 is gradually opened to the atmosphere via the atmosphere opening valve 18.

Next, a description will be given of a total of three seal members 1 to 1 attached to the inside of both chambers 11 and 11 and to the lid 12. The sealing members 1 to 1 are used to hold the filled gas in the bag 5 until the bag 5 is sealed by the impulse heater device 14.
a for sandwiching a from both sides and sealing.
The seal member 1 on the second side and one of the seal members 1 on the chamber 11 side are used as a pair. The same seal members 1 to 1 are all used.

The sealing member 1 is made of silicone rubber, which is an elastically deformable material, as shown in FIG.
It is formed in a prismatic shape or a thin plate shape having a length capable of abutting over the entire length of a. This sealing member 1
A large number of substantially rectangular (parallelogram) cross sections are provided between two adjacent surfaces along the longitudinal direction of the contact surface 1d abutting on the mouth 5a of the bag 5, that is, between upper and lower surfaces in FIG. Are formed to penetrate through holes 1a-1a and 1b-1b. Further, one through hole 1c having a circular cross section is formed at the center in the longitudinal direction.

The large number of through holes 1a-1a, 1b-1b
Are formed so as to incline to the right and left sides opposite to each other with respect to the pressing direction indicated by the arrow in the figure with respect to the center through hole 1c. In other words, the right through-holes 1a to 1a in the drawing incline the contact surface 1d side to the right and the left through-holes 1b to 1b in the drawing incline the contact surface 1d to the left with respect to the center through hole 1c. The right and left sides of the seal member 1 face each other toward the abutment surface 1d with the boundary substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction.
It is formed to open in the shape of a letter. Each through hole 1a, 1
The inclination angle of b with respect to the pressing direction is set to a constant angle.

When the mouth 5a of the bag 5 is sandwiched between the pair of sealing members 1, 1 and pressed against each other, the two sealing members 1, 1 as shown in FIG.
The elastic members a to 1a and 1b to 1b are elastically deformed in directions in which they are further inclined in the respective inclination directions. As a result, both the sealing members 1 and 1 are deformed in the same state as the contact surfaces 1d are pulled to both sides. For this reason, the same force is applied to the mouth 5a of the bag 5 sandwiched between the sealing members 1 and 1 as if the both ends were pinched and pulled, thereby causing wrinkles in the mouth 5a at the beginning of the sandwiching. Even if it does, this wrinkle is stretched by the pressure of both seal members 1 and 1,
Therefore, the mouth 5a is finally sealed without wrinkles.

The amount of deformation of the sealing member 1 increases as the pressing force increases, and accordingly, the amount of extension of the mouth 5a of the bag 5 also increases.

The sealing member 1 thus constructed is connected to the heating plates 14a, 1 disposed in the two chambers 11, 11.
Along the lower surface longitudinal direction of the heating plate 14b disposed on the side of the lid 4a and the lid 12, they are attached via brackets 14c, respectively. Moreover, the contact surface 1d of the seal member 1 is mounted so as to protrude forward by a predetermined distance from the end surfaces of the heating plates 14a and 14b.

The gas filling apparatus 10 constructed as described above
According to the above, the bag 5 is filled with a predetermined amount of gas G as described below, and then sealed. First, the target bag 5 is set in the chamber 11. This is because the operator places the bag 5 in the mouth 5a of the bag 5 with the two hooking members 13a, 13a of the clamp device 13 moved in a direction approaching each other, as shown in FIG. , 3a in the inserted state, and in this state, the two hooking members 13
a, 13a are moved in a direction away from each other,
It is set to a hooked state at the end of a. As a result, the bag 5 is set in a suspended state via both hook members 13a, 13a.

After the bag 5 is set, the lid 12 is closed and the filling nozzle 15 is lowered to be inserted into the mouth 5a of the bag 5. Thereafter, the vacuum pump 17 is operated, and the switching valve 19 is switched to the air extraction side. Thus, the air in the chamber 11 is gradually extracted (evacuated), and the air in the set bag 5 is also extracted.

When the air in the chamber 11 is extracted until the pressure reaches a predetermined value, the cylinder 20 is moved to the position shown in FIG.
Is operated at a low pressure to sandwich the mouth 5a of the bag 5 and the gas filling nozzle 15 inserted into the mouth 5a by the two sealing members 1, 1 so that the inside of the bag 5 is
Airtightly shut out from inside. At this time, both seal members 1, 1
Is pressed with a force of about 5 kg to 10 kg, and as a result, the sealing members 1 and 1 are elastically deformed in the direction of pulling the mouth 5 a of the bag 5 to both sides as described above. Is made. 7 to 9, the clamp device 13 is omitted.

Next, by switching the switching valve 19 to the atmosphere opening side, the chamber 11 is opened via the atmosphere opening valve 18.
Air is gradually introduced into the inside. On the other hand, a predetermined amount of gas G is charged into the bag 5 from the gas charging nozzle 15 simultaneously with this. Since the filling of the gas G and the introduction of the air into the chamber 11 are simultaneously performed, the bag does not burst or damage the contents. In addition, simultaneous progress is as mentioned above. Therefore, the air release valve 1 is set so that air is introduced into the chamber 11 at a speed corresponding to the gas filling speed.
8 may be adjusted.

When a predetermined amount of the gas G is filled and the inside of the chamber 11 is completely opened to the atmosphere,
As shown in FIG. 8, the gas filling nozzle 15 is lifted and extracted from the mouth 5a. When the nozzle 15 is extracted, wrinkles corresponding to the thickness of the nozzle 15 are generated. At the same time as the nozzle 15 is extracted, the seal members 1 and 1 are elastically deformed and the wrinkles are stretched. Therefore, a sealed state without wrinkles is maintained.

After the gas filling nozzle 15 is extracted in this manner, the cylinder 20 is operated at a high pressure, and the mouth 5a of the bag 5 is pressed by the sealing members 1, 1 with a stronger pressing force (force of about 20 to 40 kg). Pinch it. Then, especially the contact surface 1d of both the sealing members 1 and 1 is elastically deformed so as to be pulled further to both sides.
a is pulled more strongly on both sides, so that the wrinkles of the mouth 5a are more reliably stretched.

When the cylinder 20 is operated at a high pressure as described above, the contact surfaces 1d of the seal members 1, 1 are greatly elastically deformed in a state of being pulled to both sides. In this case, the width of the heating plates 14a, 1a is reduced as shown in FIG.
4b approach each other and sandwich the mouth 5a of the bag 5.

In a state where the wrinkles of the mouth 5a are completely removed and the sealing is firmly performed, the heating plates 14
The mouth 5a is sandwiched by the holes a and 14b. Thereafter, the heating plates 14a and 14b are energized, whereby the mouth 5a is heated and welded, and the bag 5 filled with the gas G is sealed.

After energizing the heating plates 14a and 14b for a predetermined time to completely seal the opening 5a, the cylinder 20
Is returned to the retracting direction. Thereafter, the lid 12 is opened, and the two hooking members 13a, 13a of the clamping device 13 are moved in a direction approaching each other to be unclamped, so that a bag 5 filled with a predetermined amount of gas G and sealed. Can be taken out.

While the gas filling and sealing operation is being performed in one chamber 11 in the above procedure, the next bag 5 can be set in the other chamber 11. After completion of the operation in, the lid 12 is moved and the gas filling and sealing process can be immediately continued in the other chamber 11 in the same procedure.

As described above, according to the gas filling device 10 according to the present embodiment, the gas G is injected only into the inside of the bag 5 and is not injected into the entire chamber as in the related art. For this reason, the injection amount of the gas G can be suppressed to the necessary minimum, and the gas remaining in the chamber is not released to the outside as in the related art, so that the working environment does not deteriorate.

Further, the gas filling device 10 is provided with sealing members 1 to 1, and the bag 5 is sealed with the mouth 5a sealed by the sealing members 1, 1. The seal member 1 has a large number of through holes 1a to 1a, 1b to 1b which are inclined to the opposite sides with respect to the center in the longitudinal direction, and the through holes 1a to 1a, 1b to 1b act by When the seal member 1 is pressed, the contact surface 1d is elastically deformed so that the contact surface 1d is pulled to both sides from the center in the longitudinal direction.

The mouth 5a of the bag 5 sandwiched between the sealing members 1, 1 deformed in this manner is connected to both sealing members 1, 1
As a result, the wrinkles are stretched, whereby the wrinkles are stretched and the bag 5 is sealed in a clean state without wrinkles, so that the defective rate of the bags 5 (product) can be greatly reduced.

From the above, the sealing members 1, 1
By sealing the mouth 5a with the use of 1, it becomes possible for the first time to fill only the bag 5 with gas. That is, in order to fill the gas only into the bag 5, it is necessary to insert the gas filling nozzle 15 directly into the mouth 5 a of the bag 5. The wrinkle that matches the shape is the mouth 5
a. This problem can be solved by adopting a configuration in which sealing is performed by the sealing members 1 and 1. This is because the sealing members 1 and 1 are pressed against the mouth 5a to be elastically deformed.
This is because the wrinkles generated after extracting the wrinkles are stretched. Thus, the through holes 1a, 1
By using the seal member 1 having a simple configuration (not having a complicated mechanical structure) in which the b is formed, the filling device 10 can be greatly improved.

Next, various modifications can be made to the embodiment described above. For example, as shown in FIG. 10, it is also possible to form a seal member 1 'in which two seal members 1 illustrated in a row are continuously integrated in the longitudinal direction, and this is one embodiment of the invention described in claim 3. Is equivalent to According to such an embodiment, the two bags 5 and 5 can be sealed side by side at the same time, and the productivity can be further enhanced. It is also possible to connect three or more of them, and in the case of such a continuous type, as shown in the figure, a concave portion 1e for allowing elastic deformation is cut from the contact surface 1d. It is desirable to provide it.

The shape or arrangement of the through holes 1a to 1a and 1b to 1b formed in the seal member 1 (1 ') is not limited to the illustrated form. Through hole 1
The planar shape of a and 1b is not limited to the illustrated parallelogram (rectangle), but may be an ellipse or an ellipse. In some cases, a notch having no width may be used. Also,
The interval and the angle of inclination of the through holes 1a and 1b are appropriately set in accordance with the material of the bag 5 or the required amount of deformation (stretching amount), and are necessarily limited to the same interval or the same angle of inclination. Not even a thing.

Further, the gas filling apparatus 10 has been exemplified by a configuration having two chambers 11, 11, but can be similarly applied to a filling apparatus having one or three or more chambers 11. Sealing members 1, 1
Is widely applicable not only to the illustrated gas filling apparatus 10 but also to seals such as plastic bags.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of the present invention and showing a state where a mouth of a bag is sandwiched by a sealing member.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a state in which a bag is sandwiched by a seal member.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a state where a seal member is pressed and elastically deformed. The upper and lower stages show the deformed state of the through hole.

FIG. 4 is a front view of a chamber-type gas filling device.

FIG. 5 is a view of the lid as viewed from the inside.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a setting state of a bag by the clamp device.

FIG. 7 is a side view of the inside of the chamber in a gas filling stage. The cylinder 20 is in a low pressure operation state.

FIG. 8 is a side view of the inside of the chamber in a state where the nozzle is drawn out after gas filling.

FIG. 9 is a side view of the inside of the chamber at the stage of sealing the bag. At this stage, the cylinder 20 is in the high pressure operation state.

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a continuous type sealing member.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Seal member, 1a, 1b ... Through-hole 5 ... Bag, 5a ... Mouth 10 ... Gas filling device 11 ... Chamber, 12 ... Lid 14a, 14b ... Heating plate 15 ... Gas filling nozzle 16 ... Gas tank 17 ... Vacuum pump, 18 ... Air release valve 20 ... Air cylinder

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sealing member for hermetically sealing a bag by sandwiching the mouth of the bag in pairs from both sides, wherein the sealing member has the following requirements (1) to (6). The sealing member of the bag. (1) Made of an elastically deformable material. (2) The bag has a length capable of contacting at least over the entire length of the mouth of the bag. (3) A plurality of through holes are provided at appropriate intervals in the longitudinal direction. (4) The plurality of through holes are formed so as to penetrate between two adjacent surfaces along the longitudinal direction of the contact surface that contacts the mouth of the bag. (5) The plurality of through holes are formed long along a direction inclined with respect to the pressing direction. (6) The direction of inclination of the plurality of through-holes is opposite to the left and right with respect to the substantially center in the longitudinal direction, and is the opening direction toward the contact surface side. 2. The bag sealing member according to claim 1, wherein a through-hole having a circular cross section is formed substantially at the center in the longitudinal direction. 3. A seal member comprising a plurality of the seal members according to claim 1 provided in the longitudinal direction. 4. A gas filling nozzle is inserted into a bag set in an evacuated chamber, and the mouth of the bag is hermetically sealed by the sealing member according to claim 1 or 2 in this inserted state. In the sealed state, a gas is injected from the gas filling nozzle simultaneously with the introduction of air into the chamber to fill the bag.