JP5083340B2 - Bucket used in sterilizer for pouch with spout - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a bucket used in a sterilizer for a pouch with a stopper filled with contents.

  A sterilization apparatus is known in which a pouch having an elongated mouth filled with liquid food is supported upside down by a bucket and only the vicinity of the mouth is immersed in hot water (see Patent Document 1). In addition, there is Patent Document 2 as a prior art document related to the present invention.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-1118 JP 2002-193219 A

  In the conventional apparatus, there is a possibility that the contents solidify in a gel state while entering the elongated mouth (outlet) during cooling after heat sterilization. If the spout has transparency, the color of the contents remaining in the spout can be seen through the spout, which may be undesirable in terms of the appearance of the product.

Then, an object of this invention is to provide the bucket used for the disinfection apparatus of the pouch with a stopper which can prevent the gelatinization of the content in a spout part.

  The present invention will be described below. In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, reference numerals in the accompanying drawings are appended in parentheses, but the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment.

The bucket of the present invention heats the pouch with a stopper (30) filled with the contents by a heating unit (3) arranged in a predetermined transport path, and then cools it with a cooling unit (4). Used for the sterilization apparatus (1) of the present invention, and is attached to the transfer means (8) capable of traveling along the predetermined transport path so as to be rotatable about the support shaft (17), as viewed from the axial direction of the support shaft. A bucket (10) capable of supporting the pouch such that the main body (31) and the plug (33) of the pouch are sometimes aligned in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction, and the support shaft is either up or down A water receiver (16) that is provided on one side and introduces water into the bucket projects sideways, and the water receiver is orthogonal to the axial direction when the bucket is viewed from the axial direction. And the main body of the pouch and the plug are lined up Reversing means (18) for reversing the bucket around the support shaft between the heating unit and the cooling unit. Is provided , the above-described problems are solved.

According to the bucket of the present invention, since the support shaft is provided so as to be biased to either one of the upper and lower sides, the center of gravity of the bucket is present to be biased to either the upper or lower side. Therefore, the bucket maintains a state where the center of gravity is brought down by the action of gravity. By supporting the pouch with the plug in the bucket in such a state upward or downward, the plug of the pouch can be directed upward or downward by gravity. Therefore, for example, by supporting the pouch so that the cap faces upward when passing through the cooling part, the contents in the spout are pushed out into the pouch bag part by the air in the pouch, and the contents are gelled in the spout part. Can be prevented from solidifying. In addition, by supporting the pouch so that the plug faces downward when passing through the heating unit, the heated contents and the inside of the spout can be brought into contact with each other to produce a heat sterilization effect. When the cooling water is dropped to cool the pouch, the area where the cooling water and the pouch come into contact with each other is narrow and the pouch is less likely to be splashed with water when the plug is facing upward. According to the bucket of the present invention, since the water receiver is provided on the side of the bucket, the water received by the water receiver is guided into the bucket, so that the pouch can be easily splashed with water and the cooling efficiency of the pouch is improved. be able to.

  In the bucket of the present invention, at least a part of the bucket may be formed of a perforated plate. Thus, the inside of a bucket and the exterior can be connected by making at least one part of a bucket into a perforated plate. Therefore, for example, when cooling with cooling water while the pouch with a stopper is supported on the bucket, the cooling water can be guided from the perforated plate to the inside of the bucket, so that the cooling efficiency of the pouch can be improved.

In the bucket of the present invention, the side of the pouch with a plug that supports the plug may be formed of a perforated plate. Since the side on which the plug is supported is formed by the perforated plate, when cooling the pouch with the spout facing upward, the cooling water is smoothly discharged from the perforated plate on the side of the spout. Into the bucket.

  In the bucket of the present invention, the bucket is provided with an outlet (11a), the lid (13) capable of closing the outlet, and the state of the lid so that the outlet is closed by the lid. A state maintaining means (14) for maintaining, and an opening / closing mechanism (20, 22) capable of switching the position of the lid to a position for opening the extraction port and a position for closing the extraction port may be provided. . In this case, the joint at the bottom of the pouch can be bent in one direction by opening or closing the lid or pressing it against the body. Therefore, the shape of the pouch can be adjusted with the lid.

As described above, according to the present invention, since the pouch can be cooled while maintaining the plug facing upward, the contents can be prevented from solidifying at the spout during cooling. Therefore, it can be a product that is preferable in appearance. Moreover, since it is possible to maintain the pouch with the mouthpiece facing downward during heat sterilization, the heated contents can be brought into contact with the inside of the spout to produce a heat sterilization effect.

The figure which shows an example of the sterilizer of this invention. The side view of a pouch with a spout. The figure which shows an example of the bucket attached to the sterilizer of FIG. The figure which expands and shows a part of bucket inversion part. The figure which expands and shows a lid | cover opening / closing part. The figure which shows the modification of a bucket. The figure which shows the other modification of a bucket. The figure which shows the further another modified example of a bucket, and the other Example of a lid | cover opening / closing part. The figure which shows an example of the supply apparatus provided in a container insertion part. The figure which shows the other example of a supply apparatus.

  In FIG. 1, an example of the disinfection apparatus of the pouch with a stopper of this invention is shown. The sterilizer 1 of FIG. 1 is for sterilizing and cooling the pouch 30 filled with the contents. The container charging unit 2, the sterilizing tank 3 as a heating unit, the cooling tank 4 as a cooling unit, An accumulator 5, a container discharge unit 6, and a transfer device 7 that transfers the pouch 30 from the container input unit 2 to the container discharge unit 6 are provided. FIG. 2 shows a side view of the pouch. The pouch 30 includes a pouch main body (bag portion) 31, a spout 32 attached to the pouch main body 31, and a cap 33 that closes the spout 32.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the transport device 7 includes a bucket transport chain 8 as a transfer unit that is wound around a predetermined transport path from the container loading unit 2 to the container discharge unit 6, and the bucket transport chain 8 is wound around A number of sprockets 9 to be hung and a chain drive motor (not shown) for driving some of the sprockets 9 are provided. A plurality of buckets 10 are attached to the bucket transport chain 8 as support means for transporting the pouch 30.

  FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of the bucket 10. 3A shows a perspective view of the bucket 10, and FIG. 3B shows a view when the bucket 10 is viewed from the lower side of FIG. 3A. The bucket 10 is formed in a box shape so that a plurality of pouches 30 can be accommodated, and the main body 11 partially provided with an outlet 11a, the partition 12 provided in the main body 11, and the outlet 11a are closed. , A spring 14 (see FIG. 4) as a state maintaining means that urges the lid 13 in a direction to close the outlet 11a and prevents the lid 13 from opening, and the bucket 10 is turned upside down. And a water receiver 16, 16 that is attached to the side of the bucket 10 and guides water into the bucket 10. As shown in FIG. 3, the bottom part 11b of the main body 11 and a part of the side wall 11c are formed of a perforated plate. The pouch 30 is inserted into the bucket 10 so that the cap 33 is accommodated on the bottom 11b side. The bucket 10 is supported by the bucket transport chain 8 so as to be rotatable around the support shaft 17 by having the support shafts 17, 17 at both ends thereof rotatably attached to the bucket transport chain 8. The position of the support shaft 17 is such that the center of gravity of the bucket 10 exists on the side where the take-out port 11a is provided so that the bucket 10 is stationary with the cap 33 of the pouch 30 accommodated in the bucket 10 facing upward. It is determined as follows. In the following, the bucket 10 with the take-out port 11a facing upward is in a state where the bucket 10 is inverted (state in FIG. 4A), and the bucket 10 with the bottom 11b facing upward is shown. It is described that the bucket 10 is in an upright state (the state shown in FIG. 4C).

  A bucket reversing unit 18 that contacts the operation unit 15 and inverts the bucket 10 is provided in the transport path (section A to B in FIG. 1) from the container charging unit 2 to the sterilization tank 3 of the sterilizer 1. FIG. 4 shows a part of the bucket inverting unit 18. As shown in FIG. 4, the bucket reversing unit 18 comes into contact with the operation unit 15 and rotates the bucket 10 by about 90 ° to the left in FIG. 4 (from the state shown in FIG. 4C to the state shown in FIG. 4B). A first guide 19a to be turned up and a second guide 19b to invert the bucket 10 whose take-out port and bottom are horizontal by the first guide 19a. The second guide 19b is provided from the container charging unit 2 to the vicinity of the exit of the sterilization tank 3 (B in FIG. 1) so as to maintain the bucket 10 in an inverted state during sterilization. By reversing the bucket 10 in this way, the bucket reversing unit 18 functions as a reversing unit.

  In addition, the container loading unit 2 is provided with a lid opening / closing unit 20 for opening and closing the lid 13 of the bucket 10. FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view of the lid opening / closing part 20. The lid opening / closing section 20 contacts the first cover guide 21 a for opening the lid 13 by contacting the projection 13 a provided on the lid 13, and closes the lid 13 by contacting the projection 13 b provided on the lid 13. A second cover guide 21b and a third cover guide 21c are provided. The container discharge unit 6 is also provided with a lid opening / closing unit 22 for discharging the sterilized pouch from the bucket 10. Since the bucket 10 is transported in the state where the bucket 10 is upright in the lid opening / closing section 22, each cover guide is provided upside down from the lid opening / closing section 20 of the container loading section 2 with the bucket transport chain 8 interposed therebetween. By opening and closing the lid 13 in this manner, the lid opening / closing sections 20 and 22 function as an opening / closing mechanism.

Next, the operation of the sterilizer 1 will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 4, the bucket 10 is in an upright state in which the operation unit 15 contacts the first guide 19 a and the second guide 19 b in the bucket reversing unit 18 provided in the container supply unit 2. It is reversed to the inverted state. Since the bucket 10 is conveyed from right to left in FIG. 4, the posture of the bucket 10 changes in the order of FIG. 4C, FIG. 4B, and FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, the inverted bucket 10 has the projection 13a in contact with the first cover guide 21a, and the lid 13 is opened. Next, a plurality of pouches 30 are put into the bucket 10 with the lid 13 opened by the supply device 23. After the pouch 30 is inserted, the protrusion 13b comes into contact with the second cover guide 21b and the third cover guide 21c, and the lid 13 is closed. Since the conveying direction of the bucket 10 in FIG. 5 is also from the right to the left in FIG. 5, the lid 13 of the bucket 10 is opened and closed in the order of FIG. 5 (c), FIG. 5 (b), and FIG. As shown in FIG. 5 (b), the pouch 30 is inserted into the bucket 10 so that the cap 33 is accommodated on the bottom 11 b side in the container loading portion 2, and the joint portion 31 a of the pouch body 31 is connected to the lid 13. It accommodates in the bucket 10 so that it may contact. Therefore, when the lid 13 is closed, the joint portion 31a is bent in a certain direction, and the pouch 30 is adjusted to the shape shown in FIG. Moreover, since the pouch main body 31 is accommodated on the main body 11 side, the slit after the perforated plate does not remain in the pouch main body 31.

  The bucket 10 is transferred to the sterilization tank 3 while maintaining the inverted state by the second guide 19b. Therefore, the pouch 30 is sterilized by heating with the cap 33 facing downward. Since the bucket 10 transferred to the vicinity of the exit of the sterilization tank 3 (B in FIG. 1) is released from the contact between the operation unit 15 and the second guide 19b, a moment is generated around the support shaft 17 to erect. It becomes a state. Thereafter, the bucket 10 is transferred to the cooling bath 4. In the cooling tank 4, cooling water is dropped to cool the pouch. After the cooling water is received by the water receivers 16, 16, the cooling water is guided to the inside of the bucket 10 from the bottom portion 11 b of the bucket 10 formed by the perforated plate, and the pouch 30 is cooled. Thus, the pouch 30 is cooled with the cap 33 facing upward.

  Next, the bucket 10 is transferred to the container discharge unit 6 via the accumulator 5. In the container discharge unit 6, the lid 13 of the bucket 10 is opened by the lid opening / closing unit 22 on the carry-out conveyor 24. Since the bucket 10 is transferred in an upright state, the pouch 30 is transferred from the bucket 10 to the carry-out conveyor 24 when the lid 13 is opened. The pouch 30 is carried out from the sterilizer 1 by the carry-out conveyor 24. The bucket 10 after the pouch 30 is discharged is returned from the container discharge unit 6 to the container input unit 2.

  According to the sterilization apparatus 1 described above, the pouch 30 is transferred through the sterilization tank 3 with the cap 33 facing down, so that the heated contents and the inside of the spout are brought into contact with each other to achieve the heat sterilization effect. Can be generated. In the cooling tank 4, the pouch 30 is transferred with the cap 33 facing upward, so that the contents in the spout 32 can be pushed out to the main body 31 by the air in the pouch 30. The contents can be excluded from.

  The present invention may be implemented in various forms without being limited to the above-described embodiments. For example, the direction in which the cap 33 of the pouch 30 faces during sterilization is not limited to the vertically downward direction. It is only necessary that the cap 33 faces the lower side than the pouch body 31 so that the heated contents come into contact with the inside of the spout 32. Further, the direction in which the cap 33 of the pouch 30 faces during cooling is not limited to the vertically upward direction. It suffices if the cap 33 faces upward from the pouch body 31 so that the contents are returned from the spout 32 to the pouch body 31.

  The position where the bucket reversing unit 18 is provided is not limited to the conveyance section from the container charging unit 2 to the sterilization tank 3. A section in which the pouch 30 is transported with the cap 33 up (a section in which the bucket 10 is transported with the bucket 10 upright) and a section in which the pouch 30 is transported with the cap 33 down (the section in which the bucket 10 is inverted) The bucket reversing unit 18 may be provided so that the bucket 10 is reversed with respect to the posture in which the bucket 10 is stationary by gravity in the shorter transport distance. Thus, by providing the bucket inversion part 18 in the shorter conveyance distance, the contact distance between the operation unit 15 and the second guide 19b can be shortened, and the conveyance resistance can be reduced. For example, when the distance for transporting the pouch 30 with the cap 33 down is long in the sterilizer 1, the position of the support shaft 17 is determined so that the bucket 10 is stationary in an inverted state, and the cap 33 of the accommodated pouch 30 is placed. A bucket reversing unit 18 is provided in a conveyance section to be transferred in a state where the bucket 10 is erected so that the bucket 10 faces upward.

  The means for maintaining the lid 13 of the bucket 10 in the closed state and the attachment position of this means are not limited to the method of providing the spring 14 at the hinge portion between the lid 13 and the main body 11. For example, as shown in FIG. 6A, the lid 13 and the wall surface of the bucket 10 may be connected by a spring 40 to bias the lid 13 in the closing direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 7B, a leaf spring 41 may be provided on the inner surface of the bucket 10, and the lid 13 may be urged by the leaf spring 41 in the closing direction. The leaf spring 41 may be provided on the outer surface of the bucket 10. Further, without providing a biasing means such as a spring, the end 13c of the lid 13 and the end 11d of the main body 11 may be fitted together to maintain the state of the lid 13 as shown in FIG.

  The take-out port 11a may be provided on the side (the bottom 11b side of the bucket 10 in FIG. 3) where the cap 33 of the pouch 30 is accommodated as shown in FIG. When the outlet 11a is provided in this way, the first cover guide 21a and the third cover guide 21c of the lid opening / closing part 20 are provided as shown in FIGS. 8B and 8A, respectively. . Further, the protrusions 13a and 13b are provided as shown in FIG. The lid 13 is opened when the projection 13a comes into contact with the first cover guide 21a as shown in FIG. 8 (b), and the projection 13b is formed as a third cover as shown in FIG. 8 (a). Closed by contact with the guide 21c. Since the conveying direction of the bucket 10 in FIG. 8 is also from right to left in FIG. 8, the lid 13 of the bucket 10 is opened and closed in the order of FIG. 8C, FIG. 8B, and FIG. . By providing the take-out port 11a in this way, the distance over which the bucket 10 is inverted can be shortened and the conveyance resistance can be reduced. The pouch 30 may be accommodated in the bucket 10 so that the cap 33 and the lid 13 come into contact with each other when the lid 13 is closed. By accommodating the pouch 30 in the bucket 10 in this manner, the lid 13 can be closed and the joint portion 31a can be pressed against the bucket 10, so that the pouch 30 can be adjusted to the shape shown in FIG. it can.

  Various devices can be provided as the supply device of the container charging unit 2 according to the state in which the pouch 30 is conveyed to the sterilizer 1. For example, when pouches are conveyed in a row to the sterilizer 1, the pouches 30 conveyed from the lower side of FIG. 9A by the servo loop 50 as shown in the top view of FIG. The pouches may be rearranged in multiple rows (the number of buckets 10 received) and thrown into the bucket 10, or as shown in a side view in FIG. The number of receipts) may be sorted into the bucket 10. When the pouches are conveyed to the sterilization apparatus 1 in multiple rows, as shown in FIG. 9C, for example, the buckets 10 are sorted by the number of buckets 10 received by a sorter such as the channelizers 52 and 52. It may be thrown into. When putting the pouch 30 into the bucket 10, for example, the pouch 30 may be pushed out by the servo conveyor 61 as shown in FIG. 10 (a), or the cylinder 62 as shown in FIG. 10 (b). Then, the shutter 63 may be opened and inserted. Further, as shown in FIG. 10 (c), the pouch 30 before being thrown in is in a state as shown in FIG. 2 (b) by shaping means such as a piston 66 and a shutter 67 attached to the cylinders 64 and 65. Alternatively, the shape of the pouch 30 may be adjusted.

Put that transfer feed means in the present invention is not limited to the bucket conveyor chain 8 and sprocket 9 can be applied belt means drivable various predetermined transport path such carriage.

1 Sterilizer 3 Sterilization tank (heating unit)
4 Cooling tank (cooling part)
8 Bucket transport chain (transfer means)
10 Bucket (support means)
11a Extraction port 13 Lid 14 Spring (state maintenance means)
16 Water receiver 17 Support shaft 18 Bucket reversing part (reversing means)
20 Lid Open / Close 22 Lid Open / Close 30 Pouch 31 Pouch Body 33 Cap

Claims (4)

A pouch with a stopper filled with contents is heated by a heating unit arranged in a predetermined conveyance path, and is then used in a sterilization apparatus for a pouch with a plug that is cooled by a cooling unit, along the predetermined conveyance path. It is attached to a transporting means capable of rotation so as to be rotatable about a support shaft, and when viewed from the axial direction of the support shaft, the main body of the pouch and the plug are aligned in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction. A bucket capable of supporting a pouch,
The support shaft is provided so as to be biased to either the top or bottom ;
A water receiver for introducing water into the bucket overhangs to the side,
The water receiver is arranged so that the bucket is aligned with the support shaft in a direction orthogonal to the axial direction when the bucket is viewed from the axial direction and orthogonal to a direction in which the main body of the pouch and the plug are aligned. Provided on both sides of the
The sterilizer is provided with a reversing means for reversing the bucket around the support shaft between the heating unit and the cooling unit .   The bucket according to claim 1, wherein at least a part of the bucket is formed of a perforated plate.   The bucket according to claim 2, wherein a side of the pouch with a plug that supports the plug is formed of a perforated plate. The bucket is provided with an outlet,
A lid capable of closing the outlet, state maintaining means for maintaining the state of the lid so that the outlet is closed by the lid, a position for opening the outlet, and a position for closing the outlet The bucket according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , further comprising an opening / closing mechanism capable of switching a position of the lid.

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