JPS6331190B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a retort oven device for automatically loading and unloading products to be sterilized into a retort oven.

When carrying so-called retort pouches, which are food items sealed in containers that do not allow light or air to pass through, into a retort kiln to be sterilized by heating and pressurizing, it is recommended to install a conveyor inside the kiln that circulates only within the kiln. In the past, rails were provided inside the kiln, and the trays with the retort pouches arranged on them were mounted on a trolley outside the kiln, and the trolley was manually pushed onto the rails inside the kiln, and the lid of the kiln was then opened. Put it on, heat it with boiling water or heat it,
Sterilization was carried out by injecting pressurized steam into the kiln.

Therefore, not only does it require manual labor, which does not improve efficiency, but the entire truck is exposed to heat and pressurized steam, which can lead to rusting of various parts such as the frame of the truck, severe deterioration of the lubricated parts of the wheels, etc. There were flaws.

The first purpose of the present invention is to save labor by automatically carrying retort pouches into and out of a kiln, and the second purpose is to prevent the loading and unloading carts from being exposed to heating, pressurized steam, or boiling water. To this end, the retort oven device of the present invention is provided with a retort pouch tray pusher device outside the oven, and the trays are moved up and down between rails installed independently and facing each other inside and outside the oven. By reciprocating a cart equipped with the device, a group of saucers is automatically lowered from the cart onto the floor provided in the kiln, and the cart is automatically moved out of the kiln, thereby achieving the objective.

Configuration The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to drawings of embodiments. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a retort pouch tray pusher 3 installed on the front surface of the lid 2 of the oven body 1 of the retort oven apparatus of the present invention. 4 is the base frame of the pushing device 3, 5 is the chevron-shaped rail laid on the base frame 4, 6 is the same flat rail, 7 is the tray truck, 8, 9, and 10 in FIG. 1 are the grooved wheels of the truck 7, and 11 4 is also a flat wheel, and FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 1. 1
2 is a roller shaft support plate, 13 is a conveyor roller for a tray, 14 is a sprocket wheel fixed integrally with the roller, 15 is a idler supported on the base frame 4 so as to be freely rotatable, 16 is a sprocket wheel, 17
18 is a sprocket wheel fixed to the drive shaft 17; 19 is a sprocket wheel 14, 1;
6, an endless chain connecting the idler wheels 15; 20, a roller conveyor drive motor; 2 shown in FIGS. 2 and 4;
1 is a drive electric motor 20 and a sprocket wheel 18
5 is a schematic diagram of the C-C cross section in Figure 1, Figure 6 is an enlarged diagram of the D-D cross section in Figure 1, and Figure 7 is a schematic diagram of the E-E cross section in Figure 5. Figure 8 is the 5th
Figure, F-F cross section diagram in Figure 1, 2 in Figure 5
2 is a trolley drive fitting fixed to the rear end of the trolley 7;
The figure is an enlarged side view of the drive fitting 22, and FIG.
11 is a plan view of arrow H in FIG.
Attach the left end of item 4. 25 and 26 are chain guides having a U-shaped cross section and extending and fixed over the entire length of the base frame 4 of the pushing device 3 as shown in FIG. 5; FIG. - Enlarged diagram of J cross section,
27 shown in FIGS. 1 and 12 is a trolley drive electric motor, 28 is a gear box fixed to the base frame 4, and 2
9 is a reduction gear mechanism, 30 is a sprocket wheel directly connected to the gear mechanism 29, 31 is a storage box for the chain 24, 32 is a chain guide, and 33 shown in FIGS. 1 and 5.
34 is an electric motor for lifting and lowering the saucer supported by the trolley 7;
1, 6, 7, a gear mechanism connecting the drive shaft 35 and the drive motor 33, 36 a bearing supported on the trolley 7, 38 a gearbox, 39 a worm gear, 40 a wormhole, FIGS. 1, 6, and 7. 4 shown in the figure
1 is a worm wheel shaft, 42 is a roller support arm fixed integrally with the worm wheel shaft 41, 43
is a roller rotatably supported by a roller support arm 42; 44 is a saucer elevating plate; 45 is an elevating plate guide fixed to the trolley 7; A stopper 47, which prevents movement toward the left end side, is pivotably supported 49 integrally with the operating arm 48 shown in FIG. 1 in a V-shape. Reference numeral 50 shown in FIG. 3 is a bearing, 51 shown in FIG. 1 is a rod nut that engages with the operating arm 48, 52 is a piston rod, and 53 is a pressure cylinder whose one end is supported by the base frame 4.

As shown in FIG. 2, the retort oven body 1 is installed with a distance K from the front end of the cart pushing device 3.
This is a retort pouch tray group 4 inside the kiln body 1.
When transporting the kiln 6 using the trolley 7, the lid 2 of the kiln main body 1 is removed to the position shown by the dashed-dotted line using a lid attaching/detaching device (not shown), and then removed by the lid lifting device (not shown) as shown by the dashed-dotted line. This is the space required to lift it to the position shown.

Figure 13 is a schematic front view of the kiln with the lid 2 removed, as seen from the L arrow in Figure 2. 54 is a chevron-shaped rail laid inside the kiln body 1, 55 is the same flat rail, and 56 is the floor of the tray group 46, and the floor surface is a distance Q from the top surface of the cart 7.
That is, the roller 1 shown in FIG.
Provided on the same horizontal plane as 3. Figure 14 is the first
3, 57 is a supply port for hot water or heated and pressurized vapor deposition, 58 is a discharge port, and 59 is a base for the main body 1 of the kiln.

Function Next, the function of the retort kiln device of the present invention will be described. When the drive motor 20 is operated, the endless chain 21 rotates the sprocket wheel 18, and the rotation of the sprocket wheels 16 at both ends on the same shaft 17 drives the endless chain 19, causing the roller 13 to rotate. If the tray stacking group 46 in which retort pouches are arranged is placed on the roller 13 at the right end of the tray truck pushing device 3 shown in FIG. and moves to the left, hits the stopper 47, and stops at the position shown by the dashed line in Fig. 1.
The arrival of the tray group 46 is separately detected, and the drive motor 2
Stop 0.

Next, after moving the lid 2 of the retort oven body 1 to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG.
When the pressure cylinder 53 shown in the figure is actuated to drive the piston rod 52 to the right, the stopper 47 rotates around the shaft 49 and opens, causing the tray group 4 to open.
Cancel the movement stop of 6. After that, when the electric motor 33 for raising and lowering the saucer starts operating, the drive shaft 35 rotates via the gear mechanism 34, and the worm gear 39,
Since the worm wheel shaft 41 is rotated via the worm wheel 40, the roller support arm 42 shown in FIG. is guided by the elevating plate guides 45, 45, and is a distance N from the top surface of the truck 7, which is indicated by a dashed line.
The drive motor 33 is raised to the position shown in FIG. Therefore, the tray group 46 is supported by the elevating plate 44 and rises to a position a distance p from the surface of the roller 13 shown in FIG.

In this state, when the trolley drive motor 27 shown in FIG. 1 is operated, the sprocket wheel 30 shown in FIG. Push the inside to the left and move it. Therefore, via the chain fixing fitting 23 and the cart driving fitting 22, the cart 7 carries the tray group 46 and moves to the left on the rails 5 and 6, so that the cart 7 reaches the position shown by the dashed line in FIG. When the cart moves up to this point, the wheels 8 come off the chevron rails 5, but the grooved wheels 9 and 10 keep the bogie on the chevron rails 5.
It moves further along the kiln while maintaining its directionality, moves to the chevron-shaped rail 54 in the kiln, and finally moves to the position shown in FIG. 14. At this position, a separate truck arrival detection device is activated and the drive motor 27 is stopped. Next, when the electric motor 33 for raising and lowering the tray is operated in the opposite direction, the worm wheel shaft 41 rotates in the opposite direction (counterclockwise), and the roller support arm 42 and the tray lifting plate 44 return to their original positions shown in FIG. At this position, a position detection device is separately activated, and the operation of the lifting electric motor 33 is stopped.

Therefore, the tray group 46 shown in FIG.
At the same time, the elevating plate 44 is lowered to the upper surface of the truck 7, so that the lower surface of the tray 46 and the truck 7
A gap Q is created between the upper surface of the In this state, if the trolley drive motor 27 is operated in the opposite direction,
The sprocket wheel 30 shown in FIG. 5 rotates clockwise, and the cart 7 passes below the tray 46 lowered into the kiln, across the gap Q, and moves out of the kiln, as shown in FIG. Since it returns to the original position shown, a separate trolley position detection device is activated and the drive motor 27 is stopped.

After the retort pouch tray group 46 has been carried into the kiln main body and the cart 7 has been returned to the outside of the kiln, the kiln lid 2 is completely attached to the kiln main body in the state shown by the solid line in FIG. Close the discharge port 58 and close the supply port 5.
Supply hot water or heated, pressurized steam into the kiln from 7,
The retort pouch is heated and sterilized for a predetermined period of time, and then the supply port is closed, and the discharge port 58 is opened to discharge the hot water or heated, pressurized steam to the outside of the kiln.After waiting for the retort pouch to cool, the lid 2 is removed as shown in FIG. The cart 7 is moved to the position indicated by the two-dot chain line shown in FIG. 14, and the cart drive motor 27 is operated again to move the cart 7 to the position shown in FIG. Thereafter, the electric motor 33 for raising and lowering the tray is operated to raise the tray 46 in the kiln from the floor 56 to the position indicated by the dashed line in FIG. 13, and the trolley drive electric motor 27 is driven in the unloading direction. For example, the tray group is carried out of the kiln together with the trolley, and the sterilization work is completed.

All of the above continuous operations are automatically performed by an electric circuit that makes full use of a position detection device, a timer, and the like.

Effects Since the retort kiln device of the present invention is configured and operates as described above, the retort pouch receiving tray can be carried into and out of the kiln without the need for human intervention.
It can be done efficiently. In particular, when carrying saucers into and out of the kiln, the saucers are moved by floating them higher than the floor within the kiln, so it is necessary to install a roller conveyor or the like to move the saucers on the tray placement surface inside the kiln. There is no. Furthermore, since the tray cart is not exposed to hot water, heating, or pressurized vapor deposition, there are effects such as easy maintenance of the equipment, and this is a useful invention that can contribute to labor saving for the entire apparatus.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the tray pusher of the retort kiln device of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a side view of FIG. 1, and FIG.
The figure is a view from arrow A in Figure 2, and Figure 4 is from B-B in Figure 1.
A schematic cross-sectional view, FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the C-C cross section in FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is an enlarged schematic diagram of the D-D cross section in FIG. 1, FIG. Figure 8 is a schematic view of the F-F cross section of Figure 5 and Figure 1, Figure 9 is a partially enlarged side view, Figure 10 is a side view of arrow G in Figure 9, and Figure 11 is a view of H in Figure 9. The arrow plan view, Figure 12 is J- in Figures 1 and 5.
An enlarged view of J cross section, Fig. 13 is a view of the interior of the L arrow kiln in Fig. 2, Fig. 14 is a view of the M-M cross section in Fig. 13, 1 is a retort kiln, 3 is a trolley pushing device, 5 is a chevron Rail, 6 is a flat rail, 7 is a trolley, 13 is a roller, 20 is a roller conveyor drive motor, 22
is a trolley drive fitting, 24 is a chain with a roller, 25,2
6 is a chain guide, 27 is a trolley drive motor, 33 is a saucer lifting motor, 35 is a drive shaft, 41 is a worm wheel shaft, 44 is a tray lifting plate, 46 is a tray group, 47 is a stopper, 54 is an angle rail, 55
is a flat rail, and 56 is a floor.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A retort kiln is provided with a first rail for running a cart and a floor for a tray for retort pouches, etc., and a second rail facing the first rail is provided outside the kiln with a space for attaching and removing the lid of the kiln. A rail and a roller conveyor are installed, and a truck equipped with a tray lifting device placed on a second rail is moved to the first rail, and the tray on the roller conveyor is lifted and lowered by a drive device provided outside the kiln. A retort kiln device characterized in that the device lifts the kiln above the floor level and carries it into and out of the retort kiln.