JP3020104B2 - Method for manufacturing PET bottle with contents - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a PET bottle (polyethylene terephthalate resin bottle) filled with contents, and in particular, manufacture of a PET bottle with contents which does not cause deterioration in the quality of the contents. It is about the method.

(Prior art and problems to be solved) Conventionally, PET bottles containing contents are filled with high-temperature heat-sterilized beverages, foods, and other contents in PET bottles at a high temperature, and then covered with a screw cap, and then the cap is placed. Is a metal tamper-proof type (pill fur proof cap), which is manufactured by further threading (the inner surface of the PET bottle and the inner surface of the cap are sterilized by the heat of the contents).

However, since the content to be filled is high in temperature, the mouth of the PET bottle is thermally deformed and the sealing property is impaired, or the body and bottom of the PET bottle are thermally deformed and the appearance is deteriorated, or the PET bottle is not placed properly. It is necessary to take measures to prevent it from becoming possible (heat treatment of the mouth in advance, thickening of the whole bottle, etc.)
In addition, there is a problem that the contents are deteriorated in taste due to being kept in a high temperature state for a long time, and the quality is reduced.

Further, as an aseptic filling method of food and drink, JP-A-58-7352
No. 5, JP-A-63-307025, JP-A-63-307026, etc., filled with sterilized low-temperature sterilized contents in a sterile synthetic resin container in a sterile room, aluminum foil It is known that the mouth of the container is sealed with a cap or the like, and a cap is attached outside the sterile room.However, after opening the cap, a sealing material such as aluminum foil remains in the mouth, and the contents are removed from the container. To take it out, it is necessary to further remove the sealing material.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art, and does not cause deterioration in the quality of the contents, and can be easily manufactured and can be easily taken out, and the PET bottle containing the contents can be easily taken out. It is an object of the present invention to provide a production method of

(Means for Solving the Problems) The present inventor has found that in the case of a conventional PET bottle containing contents, various problems arise because sterilization of the PET bottle is performed with the contents in a high-temperature state. In view of the problem of peeling off the seal at the bottle mouth when taking out the goods,
The present inventors have made intensive studies on a method that can sterilize a PET bottle by heating at a low temperature and can peel off the seal of the mouth simultaneously with opening.

That is, the method for producing a content-containing PET bottle according to the present invention fills a sterilized PET bottle having a threaded mouth with a low-temperature sterilized content rapidly cooled after a short-time high-temperature heat sterilization treatment in a sterile room. After that, the sterilized aluminum foil is punched out, placed on the bottle mouth, and then heat-sealed for inner sealing. Then, outside the aseptic room, the PET bottle is heated on the aluminum foil at the mouth of the bottle. After applying the melt and attaching the cap, the top surface of the cap and the aluminum foil are joined by hot melt so that the shearing force of the hot melt is larger than the shearing force of the heat sealing part It is characterized by the following.

 Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail.

(Example) The main body of the PET bottle may be of the same shape and material as the conventional one, and is manufactured by polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin alone or laminated with another resin, and the mouth is made of the same material or different materials. It may be. However, in the case of pasteurization treatment, there is no problem of thermal deformation, so that it is not necessary to take measures for preventing thermal deformation.

Further, the cap to be attached to the mouth of the bottle may be made of metal such as aluminum or synthetic resin as in the conventional case. It is desirable to provide packing on the inner surface of the cap (bottle mouth side), but it is not necessary to provide it.

In the present invention, an aluminum foil is provided between the bottle mouth and the cap. This is because the bottle is filled with low-temperature sterilized contents, and the bottle mouth is internally sealed to maintain this sterile state. The aluminum foil may have a thickness of about 10 to 50 μm, and may be in the form of a sheet or a flat plate, or may be formed like a cap so as to cover the upper edge of the bottle mouth.

For this purpose, a heat sealing agent is provided on at least the lower surface (the surface on the bottle side) of the aluminum foil.

As a heat sealant, it is basically sufficient if the aluminum foil is adhered to the bottle mouth to the extent that the sterile state can be maintained even if it vibrates when moving the bottle filled with the contents to the subsequent process, Suitable is a thermoplastic coat that slightly adheres to the mouth of the bottle (synthetic resin), for example, paraffin wax. Paraffin has a molecular weight of 300-450 and carbon number of 20-
It contains about 35 normal paraffins as a main component. The thickness of the heat sealant may be about 2 to 5 μm. If the content is a substance containing an acid, it may pass through the heat sealant and attack the aluminum foil. Therefore, it is preferable to provide an appropriate rust preventive coat.

On the other hand, a cap is attached to the mouth of the bottle to which the aluminum foil is adhered. In this case, if the cap is simply attached, the cap is removed when the PET bottle is opened (when used). The aluminum foil remains on the bottle mouth, and the user needs to remove the aluminum foil.

In order to eliminate such trouble and allow the aluminum foil to be peeled off from the mouth of the bottle simultaneously with the removal of the cap, in the present invention, the aluminum foil and the cap on the mouth of the bottle are applied by hot melt. . Of course, when packing is provided on the cap, the aluminum foil and the packing (and cap) are bonded.

It is preferable to provide a coat (overcoat) compatible with hot melt on the upper surface of the aluminum foil. As the overcoat, for example, vinyl chloride, vinyl acetate, a copolymer thereof, or the like is used, and the thickness may be about 2 to 5 μm. The overcoat also has the function of preventing the aluminum foils from sticking to each other in the manufacturing process and not becoming separated.

As the hot melt used for attaching the cap, a suitable material can be used. For example, a hot melt having a melting point of 130 to 140 ° C. and containing paraffin can be mentioned. (Copolymer). For example, EVA or the like is used as a base resin, and a viscosity modifier (rosin, xylene resin, etc.) is blended with a viscosity reducing agent, a paraffin wax, a microcrystalline wax as a plasticizer, and the like.
The point is that you only need to use a hot melt that has a shearing force greater than the shearing force of the part where the bottle mouth and the aluminum foil are bonded by heat sealing. It is removed from the mouth of the bottle with it adhered to the side.

In this connection, the shearing force in the case of bonding the packing provided on the aluminum foil and the cap inner hot melt (one having a melting point of 135 ° C. obtained by blending a paraffin wax and microcrystalline wax and Nojin the EVA) in 10-20 kg / cm ² On the other hand, when the bottle mouth (PET resin) and the aluminum foil are bonded by heat sealing using paraffin wax (having a melting point of 55 ° C.), the shearing force is ² to 5 kg / cm ² . Making the shearing force due to the hot melt larger than the above value does not matter at all.

After the cap is attached, it is threaded if the cap is a tamper evident type made of metal.

The content-containing PET bottle having such a configuration is manufactured by the steps described below.

FIG. 1 is a view showing an example of a manufacturing process of a PET bottle with contents according to the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a sterile room, 2 is PE
T bottle, 3 bottle opening, 4 aluminum foil, 5 heat sealer, 6 hot melt, 7 screw cap,
8 is a screw part.

First, although not shown, 3% in another sterile room
After spraying a mixture of peracetic acid water and a surfactant on the inner and outer surfaces of the PET bottle 2, heat treatment is performed by passing the PET bottle 2 through a tunnel maintaining an ambient temperature of 40 to 60 ° C. And sterilize, then PE with sterile water
The inner and outer surfaces of the T bottle 2 are washed and transported into the sterile room 1 while maintaining the aseptic condition.

On the other hand, the aluminum foil material 11 is sterilized in the aseptic chamber 1 by ultraviolet irradiation from the ultraviolet irradiation device 12.

Further, the contents to be filled are separately subjected to high-temperature heat sterilization for a short time and then rapidly cooled.

The sterilized and cooled contents are fed from a sterile storage tank (not shown) to a nozzle 9 in a sterile room 1 by a pipe 10 and filled in a predetermined amount into the PET bottle 2 through the nozzle 9. ((A) in the figure).

Thereafter, the PET bottle 2 is put into the aluminum foil material 11 in the sterile room 1.
The aluminum foil 4 punched by flat plate punching, forming punching or the like is placed on the bottle mouth 3 ((B) in the figure), and the aluminum foil 4 is placed on the bottle mouth 3 by the heat sealer 5. Heat seal ((C) in the figure).

Then, the aluminum foil 4 is taken out of the aseptic chamber 1, hot melt 6 is applied to the aluminum foil 4 ((D) in the figure), and the screw cap 7 is immediately attached. When the screw cap 7 is a tamper-proof type made of metal such as aluminum ((E) in the figure)
Is further threaded ((F) in the figure). When the screw cap 7 is made of a synthetic resin ((G) in the figure), a screw portion is formed in advance, so there is no need to cut the screw.
The cap may be rotated and tightened ((H) in the figure).

In this case, the contents are filled into the bottle at room temperature,
There is no thermal deformation of the bottle mouth, body, and bottom,
Therefore, the aluminum foil that has been heat-sealed at the mouth does not peel off, the sealing between the mouth of the bottle and the cap is not damaged, the appearance of the bottle does not deteriorate, and the bottle cannot be placed correctly. Of course, after the contents are heat-sterilized for a short time, they are rapidly cooled, so that the taste does not deteriorate and the quality does not deteriorate. When the consumer who purchases the PET bottle with the contents rotates the cap 7 in the opening direction, the shearing force of the hot melt 6 joining the aluminum foil 4 and the inner surface of the cap 7 increases the aluminum foil 4 and the bottle mouth 3. The aluminum foil 4 is peeled off from the bottle mouth 3 while being adhered to the cap 7 because the shearing force is larger than the shearing force of the heat-sealed portion (see FIG. 2).

Therefore, the consumer does not have to peel off the aluminum foil from the mouth of the bottle.

(Effects of the Invention) As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the contents that have been subjected to high-temperature heat sterilization in a sterile room have been sterilized at a low temperature.
Since the PET bottle can be filled, there is no problem of thermal deformation of the PET bottle.Then, just heat-seal the sterilized aluminum foil at the mouth of the PET bottle in a sterile room, and the contents in the PET bottle are surely sterilized. The cap is adhered to the aluminum foil using a hot melt that has a greater shearing force than heat sealing, so when opening the PET bottle (when using), the aluminum foil and the cap are simultaneously opened. Can be peeled from the part. Furthermore, since the contents are rapidly cooled after a short heat treatment and filled in a PET bottle in a low temperature state, there is no problem that the quality is deteriorated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram for explaining the outline of the manufacturing process of a PET bottle containing contents. FIG. 2 is a view showing a state where a cap is removed from a bottle mouth. 1 ... Sterile room, 2 ... PTE bottle, 3 ... PET bottle mouth, 4 ... Aluminum foil, 5 ... Heat sealer, 6 ... Hot melt, 7 ... Screw cap, 8 ... Screw.

Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-63-307026 (JP, A) JP-A-58-73525 (JP, A) JP-A-59-193169 (JP, U) JP-A-49-26614 (JP) , Y2)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] In a sterile room, a sterilized PET bottle having a threaded mouth is filled with a low-temperature sterilized content rapidly cooled after a high-temperature heat sterilization treatment for a short time, and then a sterilized aluminum foil is punched out. Then, after being placed on the bottle mouth, the inner seal is performed by heat sealing, and then, outside the sterile room, hot melt is applied to the aluminum foil at the mouth of the PET bottle, and a cap is attached. The production of PET bottles with contents, in which the top surface of the cap and the aluminum foil are joined by hot melt when the hot melt is applied, so that the shearing force of the hot melt is greater than the shearing force of the heat-sealed part. Method.