JP4480381B2 - Steam barrier structure - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is, for example, a drive unit such as a drive shaft for linking an operation unit installed in a tank in which a filling material is stored in a filling device for food or the like and a drive unit installed outside the tank. A chamber serving as a space part sealed by a seal part so as to cover the periphery of the shaft part in the middle of the shaft part with respect to the shaft part for transmitting the generated driving force to the operation part and reciprocating the operation part. The present invention relates to a steam barrier structure that is formed and heated to sterilize the surface of the shaft portion by supplying hot steam into the chamber.

In a filling device for filling a container with food or the like, in order to stir the filling material stored in the tank with a stirring plate, or to open and close the filling nozzle installed at the bottom of the tank, The drive shafts extending downward from the drive units installed in the tank are inserted into the tank from the outside of the tank and connected to the operation units such as the stirring plate and the filling nozzle, respectively. In the filling device having a structure different from that of such a filling device, the measuring portion and the shaft portion of the piston of the filling portion (in the axial direction) are conventionally known. As a steam barrier mechanism for disinfecting the sliding contact portion with the shaft support portion, the shaft portion reciprocally moves in the middle of the shaft portion (sliding portion) Of the superheated steam that forms a space part to be supplied (the chamber) has a conventionally known from Patent Document 2 below.
JP 2002-29502 A Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-80508

  By the way, in the conventionally well-known filling apparatus as described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, each drive shaft extending downward from the drive part installed above the storage tank is supported by a support part fixed to the ceiling plate of the tank. In such a filling device, in order to sterilize the sliding contact portion (sliding portion) with the shaft support portion of the drive shaft, the above Patent Document 2 discloses. When the steam barrier mechanism as described is adopted, both sides in the axial direction of the steam barrier mechanism are sealed by seal parts such as O-rings. Drain generated when the steam remaining inside the barrier mechanism cools and becomes water droplets passes through the seal part in a state where it is drawn into the subsequent sliding of the drive shaft. Will intrude into, various bacteria, etc. there is a fear that entering the tank with it.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems. Specifically, with respect to a steam barrier structure for sterilizing a sliding portion of a shaft portion with steam, the steam is cooled to form water droplets. It is an object of the present invention to prevent the drain from leaking to the working portion side through the shaft portion.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention relates to a shaft portion for reciprocating the operating portion by transmitting the driving force generated by the driving portion to the operating portion. By forming a chamber that becomes a space part sealed by the seal part so as to surround the circumference, and connecting the steam-in pipe and the steam-out pipe to this chamber and supplying hot steam into the chamber, the shaft part In a steam barrier structure that sterilizes the surface of the surface, steam passes through a cylindrical sleeve having a large number of through-holes formed in the peripheral wall portion between the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion and the surface of the shaft portion. Installed in a chamber that surrounds the shaft portion with a small space between them, and the openings into the chamber of the steam-out pipe connected to the chamber are formed in a number of through-holes formed in a cylindrical sleeve. And it is characterized in that is positioned lower than the lowermost one of the small holes.

According to the steam barrier structure of the present invention as described above, the absolute amount of drain adhering to the surface of the shaft portion is reduced due to the presence of the sleeve in the chamber to which steam is supplied, and the shaft portion slides against the seal portion. As the fluid moves, the drain adhering to the surface of the shaft is scraped off from the numerous small holes formed in the sleeve into the space in the chamber so that the drain is scraped off from the surface of the shaft. Because it is completely discharged from the out-pipe , even if the sealing condition at the seal part on the working part side is somewhat deteriorated, drain hardly leaks to the working part side through the shaft part. It is possible to prevent bacteria and the like from entering with the drain.

In addition, in the steam barrier structure of the present invention as described above, for the seal part sealing both sides in the axial direction of the chamber, the seal part installed on the drive part side is replaced with the seal part installed on the operation part side. If the durability is lower than that, the sealing state on the drive unit side deteriorates first and the steam leakage occurs before the sealing state on the working unit side deteriorates. Since leaks can be easily detected from the outside, it is possible to prevent deterioration of the sealing state at the seal part on the working part side in advance by replacing and repairing all the seal part members with new parts after seeing this steam leak can Ru.

The purpose of providing a steam barrier structure in which the drain generated by the cooling of the steam does not leak to the side of the working part through the shaft part, as specifically shown in the following examples as the best mode, A space portion sealed by a seal portion so as to surround the shaft portion in the middle of the shaft portion with respect to the shaft portion for reciprocating the operation portion by transmitting the driving force generated by the drive portion to the operation portion. In a steam barrier structure that heats and sterilizes the surface of the shaft part by connecting a steam-in pipe and a steam-out pipe to the chamber and supplying hot steam into the chamber, the peripheral wall part A cylindrical sleeve having a large number of through-holes is surrounded by a small interval through which steam passes between the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion and the surface of the shaft portion. Chan In addition to installing in the chamber, the opening to the chamber of the steam-out pipe connected to the chamber is positioned below the lowermost one of the many through holes formed in the cylindrical sleeve. , it was realized at that.

  The steam barrier structure of the present embodiment is applied to a filling device for filling a liquid food into a container and is not shown, but the filling device according to the present embodiment is stored in a tank. The filled material is discharged in a fixed amount from a filling nozzle installed at the bottom of the tank and filled into a lower container. The charged material stored in the tank is stirred by a stirring plate, In order to open and close the filling nozzles installed at the bottom, each drive shaft extending downward from the drive unit installed above the tank is inserted into the tank from outside the tank. The lower end is connected to the stirring plate and the filling nozzle, respectively, and thereby the driving force generated by the drive unit is transmitted to the stirring plate and the filling nozzle via the respective drive shafts, thereby becoming the operation unit. Stir It has a plate or filling nozzle so as to reciprocate in the vertical direction.

  The steam barrier structure of this embodiment with respect to the drive shaft of such a filling device (for example, the drive shaft of the stirring plate) will be described below. As shown in FIG. It is formed at a portion of the shaft support portion that is integrally fixed to the ceiling plate 2 a of the storage tank 2 with respect to the drive shaft 1), and has an annular lid plate 3, an upper cylindrical tube 4, and a lower cylindrical tube 5. And the lower cylindrical tube 5 is hermetically fixed to the ceiling plate 2a of the tank 2 with a bolt through a packing, and the upper cylindrical tube 5 is In the state where the cylindrical tube 4 is overlapped and the annular cover plate 3 is overlapped on the upper cylindrical tube 4, the annular cover plate 3 and the upper cylindrical tube 4 are tightened together by bolts, and the lower cylindrical tube 5. It is fixed integrally with.

  A shaft portion serving as a drive shaft for moving the stirring plate so as to penetrate the annular lid plate 3, the upper cylindrical tube 4, and the lower cylindrical tube 5 integrally coupled to the ceiling plate 2 a of the tank 2. 1 is inserted from the outside to the inside of the tank 2, and although not shown, the upper end of the shaft portion 1 is connected to a drive device (drive portion) disposed above the tank 2, and the shaft portion The lower end of 1 is connected to a stirring plate (operating part) arranged inside the tank 2.

  With respect to the shaft portion 1 that penetrates the annular lid plate 3, the upper cylindrical tube 4, and the lower cylindrical tube 5 and extends inward from the outside of the tank 2, the inner circumferential surface of the annular lid plate 3 is connected to the inner circumferential surface. An upper (drive unit side) seal portion 6 is installed so as to come into contact with the surface of the shaft portion 1 in a state of being fitted in the formed ring-shaped groove. The upper cylindrical tube 4 has an inner peripheral surface on the upper side so as to be in contact with the surface of the shaft portion 1 in a state where the upper cylindrical tube 4 is fitted in a ring-shaped groove formed on the inner peripheral surface. The drive unit side) seal portion 6 is installed, and a thrust bearing 8 that comes into contact with the surface of the shaft portion 1 is installed above the seal portion 6 while being pressed and fixed by the annular lid plate 3 from above. .

  Further, the lower cylindrical tube 5 is formed with a chamber 9 serving as a vertically long space portion between the inner peripheral surface side and the shaft portion 1, and the lower cylindrical tube 5 communicates with the inside of the chamber 9. A steam-in pipe 10 is connected to the upper side of the side cylindrical pipe 5, and a steam-out pipe 11 is connected to the lower side of the cylindrical pipe 5. A thrust bearing 8 that is in contact with the surface is installed, and is in contact with the surface of the shaft portion 1 in a state where the thrust bearing 8 is fitted in a ring-shaped groove formed on the inner peripheral surface near the lower end below the thrust bearing 8. The lower (acting part side) seal part 7 is installed.

  Further, in the chamber 9 formed on the inner side of the lower cylindrical tube 5, a cylindrical shape is provided so as to surround the shaft portion 1 with a small space between the surface (outer peripheral surface) of the shaft portion 1. The sleeve 12 is installed so that a space portion is formed between the upper cylindrical tube 4 and the lower cylindrical tube 5 between the inner peripheral surface of the lower cylindrical tube 5 while being fixed between the upper cylindrical tube 4 and the lower cylindrical tube 5 from above and below. In the inner peripheral surface near the lower end of the sleeve 12, the lower side (so as to come into contact with the surface of the shaft portion 1 while being fitted in a ring-shaped groove formed in the inner peripheral surface) Acting part side) A seal part 7 is provided. The thrust bearing 8 installed on the inner peripheral surface of the lower portion of the lower cylindrical tube 5 is fixed in a state of being pressed by the lower end portion of the sleeve 12.

  In the steam barrier structure of the present embodiment having the above-described structure, the sleeve 12 installed in the chamber 9 has a large number of through-holes 12a over the entire peripheral wall portion as shown in FIG. Is formed. Of the numerous through small holes 12a formed in the sleeve 12, the lowermost one is positioned slightly above the opening of the steam-out pipe 11, and the through small holes All drains scraped from 12a to the space in the chamber 9 are completely discharged from the steam-out pipe 11.

  On the other hand, the upper seal part 6 and the lower seal part 7 installed on both sides in the axial direction (vertical direction) of the chamber 9 are compared with the lower seal part 7 installed on the side of the operating part. The upper seal portion 6 installed on the side of the side has lower durability.

  Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, as the upper seal portion 6 installed on the drive portion side, a resin inner ring member 6a and a resin outer ring member 6b are used. An outer ring member 6b made of synthetic rubber such as nitrile rubber is arranged at the back (outside) of the ring-shaped groove, and an inner ring member 6a made of tetrafluoroethylene resin is arranged at the inlet (inside) of the groove The inner ring member 6a is in pressure contact with the shaft portion 1 by the elasticity of the resin of the outer ring member 6b. The structure of the upper seal portion 6 itself is well known in the art. It is.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the lower seal portion 7 installed on the operating portion side has a substantially U-shaped cross section and a ring-shaped resin-made jacket member 7a as a whole, and a generally U-shaped cross section. The plate spring member 7b is made of a ring-shaped metal that is elastically deformed as a whole, and the plate spring member 7b made of steel is fitted inside the jacket member 7a made of ethylene tetrafluoride resin. A material in which the jacket member 7a is strongly pressed against the shaft portion 1 by elasticity to expand from the substantially U shape of the member 7b is used, and the structure of the lower seal portion 7 itself has been generally used in the past. In particular, it is commercially available (commercially available from Huron Corporation in the United States under the trade name Omniseal) and used in a wide range of fields.

  As described above, the sleeve 12 in which a large number of through holes 12a are formed is installed in the chamber 9, and the durability of the upper seal portion 6 on the drive unit side is made lower than that of the lower seal portion 7 on the operation unit side. According to the steam barrier structure of the present embodiment, the steam supplied into the chamber 9 passes through the small through-hole 12a of the sleeve 12 and the shaft portion 1 during the heat sterilization by the superheated steam. The surface of the shaft portion 1 can be sufficiently sterilized by heating with steam.

  Even if the steam remaining in the chamber 9 is cooled and becomes water droplets after the heat sterilization is finished, the sleeve 12 exists with a minute gap between the surface of the shaft portion 1 even if drainage is generated. Therefore, the absolute amount of drain adhering to the surface of the shaft portion 1 is reduced, and the drain adhering to the surface of the shaft portion 1 is scraped along with the subsequent vertical sliding of the shaft portion 1. Since it is discharged from the small through-hole 51 of the sleeve 12 to the space in the chamber 9 so as to be dropped, even if the sealing state at the lower seal portion 7 is somewhat deteriorated, the storage tank 2 is transmitted along the shaft portion 1. There is almost no drainage inside.

  Further, in this embodiment, the upper seal portion 6 is lower in durability than the lower seal portion 7 for each of the upper and lower seal portions 6 and 7 of the chamber 9. Before the sealing state deteriorates, first, the sealing state in the upper seal portion 6 deteriorates, and steam leakage occurs above the chamber 9 during heat sterilization, and this steam leakage can be easily found from the outside. The deterioration of the sealing state at the lower seal portion 7 can be prevented in advance by replacing and repairing all the members of the seal portions 6 and 7 with new members in view of this steam leakage.

As mentioned above, although one Example of the steam barrier structure of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the above Examples, For example, about the use, it is filling as shown in the Example. It can be applied not only to the shaft part of the device but also to the shaft portion of other different devices. Also, the specific structure for defining the chamber and the both sides in the axial direction of the chamber are sealed. for such specific structures and materials of the seal portion it is not necessarily limited to the specific example shown in the examples, furthermore, for each sealing portion, in the above embodiment, the driving unit side (upper side ) Is lower in durability than the seal part on the working part side (lower side), but it is not necessarily limited to such a part, and the design can be appropriately changed. It goes without saying There.

The longitudinal cross-sectional view shown about one Example of the steam barrier structure of this invention. The side view which shows the sleeve installed in a chamber in the steam barrier structure shown in FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of an upper seal member installed on the upper side (drive unit side) of the chamber in the steam barrier structure shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a lower seal member installed on the lower side (actuation unit side) of the chamber in the steam barrier structure shown in FIG. 1.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Shaft part 6 Upper side (drive part side) Seal part 7 Lower side (acting part side) Seal part 9 Chamber 12 Sleeve 12a Through hole of (sleeve)

Claims (2)

A space portion sealed by a seal portion so as to surround the shaft portion in the middle of the shaft portion with respect to the shaft portion for reciprocating the operation portion by transmitting the driving force generated by the drive portion to the operation portion. In a steam barrier structure that heats and sterilizes the surface of the shaft part by connecting a steam-in pipe and a steam-out pipe to the chamber and supplying hot steam into the chamber, the peripheral wall part A cylindrical sleeve in which a large number of through holes are formed is surrounded by a small space through which steam passes between the inner peripheral surface of the peripheral wall portion and the surface of the shaft portion. The opening to the chamber of the steam-out pipe connected to the chamber is located below the lowermost one of the many through holes formed in the cylindrical sleeve. Steam barrier structure which is characterized in that in location. Of the seal parts sealing both sides in the axial direction of the chamber surrounding the shaft part, the seal part installed on the drive part side is less durable than the seal part installed on the working part side The steam barrier structure according to claim 1, wherein the steam barrier structure is formed.

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