JPS6058670B2 - Microwave heating sterilizer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a microwave heat sterilizer for sterilizing paste-like materials such as jam by microwave heat.

Recently, a microwave heating sterilizer has been proposed that sterilizes the heated paste by heating the paste by passing through the pipe with a small dielectric loss through the heating chamber to which microwaves are supplied. has been done.

Figures 1 and 2 show such an apparatus, in which 1 is a heating chamber, 2 is a heating chamber;
1 is a magnetron that supplies microwaves to the heating chamber via a waveguide 3; 4 is a main pipe made of Teflon with low dielectric loss and is installed through the heating chamber 1; 5 is a paste-like heated material such as jam. A hopper into which the object 6 is thrown, 7 a pressure pump that pumps the object 6 to be heated thrown into the hopper to the main pipe 4, and 8 a main pipe 4 on the side of the main pipe 4 that presses out the object 6 to be heated. This is a pressure regulating device that regulates the internal pressure.

In this device, reference numeral 9 denotes a storage section provided at the outlet end of the heated object 6 of the main pipe 4, and 10 is disposed within the storage section, and is always attached with a spring 11 to close an opening 12 at the end of the main pipe 4. The valve 13 is unscrewed and is a shaft to which the valve 10 is attached via a spring 11, and when the handle 14 is rotated, the shaft moves to the left or right (Fig. 2). However, this changes the pressure on the opening 12 of the valve 10. Reference numeral 15 denotes a delivery pipe arranged perpendicularly to the main pipe 4 on the bottom wall of the storage section 9.

Then, the material to be heated 6 is transferred to the main pipe 4 by the pressure pump 7.
When the object 6 is fed under pressure, the object 6 is heated and sterilized using microwaves.

If the pressure inside the main pipe 4 due to the object to be heated 6 is low and the valve 10 is not sufficiently pushed to the right (FIG. 2),
The amount of the heated material 6 moving from the main pipe 4 through the storage section 9 to the delivery pipe 15 is small compared to the amount pumped by the pressure pump 7, and therefore the heated material 6 in the main pipe 4 is Thing 6
, the pressure inside the main pipe 4 increases. on the other hand,
When the pressure inside the main pipe 4 is high and the valve 10 is sufficiently pushed to the right (Fig. 2), the amount of heated object 6 moving to the delivery vibrator 15 increases, and therefore the amount of heated object 6 inside the main vibrator 4 increases. The amount of the heated object 6 decreases, and the pressure inside the main vibrator 4 decreases. Therefore, the pressure inside the main vibrator 4 is kept approximately constant at S. Here, the opening 12 of the valve 10 is opened by rotating the handle 14 in advance.
For example, if the pressure inside the main vibrator 4 is maintained at 2.7 atmospheres, the heated object 6 will rise to 130°C, and the heated object 6 will rise to 130°C. Thoroughly heat sterilized. However, in the above-mentioned apparatus, when heating sterilization is started by starting microwave supply at the same time as the start of pressure feeding of the object to be heated 6 with the main vibrator 4 etc. being empty, There is a drawback in that the heated object 6 is pumped out of the heating chamber 1 before the internal pressure of the main vibrator 4 reaches 2.7 atmospheres, that is, before it is in an unsterilized state. The present invention has been made in view of these points, and an embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

Note that the same parts as in FIGS. 1 and 2 are designated by the same numbers and their explanations will be omitted. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 16 denotes a heated object detection switch that is installed near the heating chamber 1 at a part where the heated object is pressed out from the heating chamber 1, and the switch is used to detect when the heated object 6 is forced into this part. At times, it is turned on by the object to be heated 6.

17 is a pressure switch that is turned on when the internal pressure of the main vibrator 4 reaches a predetermined level, that is, 2.7 atmospheres.

FIG. 4 shows the circuit of such a device, 18 is a commercial power supply, 19
20 is a high voltage supply circuit that supplies high voltage to the magnetron 2, and 23a and 23b are the high voltage transformer 2.
The first relay switch A and BL24a, 24b are connected to both ends of the primary winding of the pump 7, the second relay switch A and BL23C are connected to both ends of the pump 7, and the first relay switch Cl25 is connected in series to the first relay switch C. A first relay coil is connected, and when the coil is energized, the first relay switch A. sBlC23a, 23b, and 23c are all turned on.

26a is a third relay switch A connected in parallel to the first relay switch C23c, 27 is a self-reset type sterilization start switch, and 24c is a second relay switch A connected in parallel to the first relay switch C23c.
Relay switch Cl26b is the third relay switch Bl2
8 is a fourth relay switch; 29 is a second relay coil connected in series with the sterilization start switch 27 and the third relay switch B26b; when the coil is energized, the second relay switches A, B, . ．． C24a, 24b
, 24c are both turned on.

Reference numeral 30 denotes a third relay coil connected in series to the heated object detection switch 16, and when the coil is excited, the third relay switches A and B 26a, 26b are turned on and off, respectively.

Reference numeral 31 denotes a fourth relay coil connected in series to the pressure switch 17, and the fourth relay switch 28 is turned on when the coil is energized.

When the power switch 19 is turned on and the sterilization start switch 27 is pressed and turned on, the second relay coil 29 is energized and the second relay switch AlB. ,C24a,24
b and 24c are both turned on.

By turning on the second relay switch C24c, the excitation of the second relay coil 29 is self-maintained, and the second relay switch A
、． By turning on B24a, 24b, the pressure pump 7 is driven and pressure feeding of the object to be heated 6 into the main vibrator 4 is started. When the heated object 6 is force-fed and reaches the heated object detection switch 16, the switch is turned on, and the third relay coil 30 is energized and the third relay switch A. ．． B26a and 26b are turned on and off, respectively.
When the third relay switch B26b is turned on, the self-holding of the excitation of the second relay coil 29 is released, and the pressure feeding of the object to be heated 6 by the pressure pump 7 is stopped. Further, when the third relay switch A26a is turned on, the first relay coil 25 is excited and the first relay switch A. ．． B. ．． C23a,2
3b and 23c are both turned on. Then, by turning on the first relay switch C23c, the excitation of the first relay coil 25 is self-maintained, and the first relay switch A. ．． B23c,
Microwaves are supplied into the heating chamber 1 by turning on 23b. When such microwaves are supplied, heating of the object to be heated 6 is started. As the heating progresses, the heated object 6
Steam is generated, and the internal pressure of the main vibe 4 gradually increases due to the steam pressure. Then, when the internal pressure of the main vibrator 4 reaches 2.7 atmospheres, that is, when the temperature of the object to be heated 6 reaches the sterilization temperature, the pressure switch 17 is turned on. Then, the fourth relay coil 31 is energized, the fourth relay switch 28 is turned on, and the second relay coil 29 is thereby energized, so that the pressure pump 7 restarts the pressure feeding of the object to be heated 6. Thereafter, the object to be heated 6 that is fed under pressure to the main vibrator 4 is sufficiently sterilized by heating under 2.7 atmospheres. As is clear from the above explanation,
According to the present invention, the object to be heated that is pumped into the main vibrator at the start of heat sterilization can be sufficiently heat sterilized, and it is therefore possible to prevent the object to be heated from being pumped in an unsterilized state as much as possible.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a microwave heat sterilizer that has already been proposed, Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the same essential parts, Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a microwave heat sterilizer according to an embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is the same circuit. It is a diagram. 1... Heating chamber, 2... Magnetron,
4...Main vibe, 7...Pressure pump,
8...Pressure adjustment device, 16...Heated object detection switch, 17...Pressure switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A heating chamber, a microwave supply means for supplying microwaves to the heating chamber, a pipe with low dielectric loss disposed through the heating chamber, a pressure feeding means for pumping the object to be heated to the pipe,
A pressure adjusting means is provided in the part for pushing out the object to be heated from the heating chamber and adjusts the internal pressure of the pipe; A heated object detecting means detects that the heated object is fed under pressure, and a pressure detecting means detects the internal pressure of the pipe, and when heat sterilization is started, the heated object detecting means detects the heated object. When the heated object is detected by the heated object detection means, the pressure feeding is stopped and microwaves are supplied to the heating chamber, and then the pressure feeding detection means detects a predetermined pressure. The microwave heating sterilizer is characterized in that the pressure feeding is then restarted.