JPH07102841B2 - Liquid filling device and method for cleaning / sterilizing flow body in liquid filling device - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a liquid filling device used in the liquid filling and packaging industry and the like, and a cleaning / cleaning of a flow body in the liquid filling device.
It relates to the sterilization method, and more specifically, it is possible to easily wash and sterilize the entire device after completion of liquid filling, and it is possible to prevent moisture and humidity from remaining in the precision instrument section after washing and sterilization. The present invention relates to a device that can be filled with a liquid in an aseptic state, and a cleaning / sterilizing method for the device.

(Prior Art) Conventionally, a device for filling a container with a liquid such as soft drink has a mounting part for supporting the container, a liquid supply part mounted corresponding to above the mounting part, It is composed of a weighing unit that measures the filling amount of the container provided at the bottom of the storage unit, in the food industry, etc., due to the rapid orientation of factory automation and its development, continuous unmanned, and, A variety of devices have attempted automatic liquid filling and packaging.

On the other hand, after filling and packaging liquid, the product must maintain the quality of a certain standard until it reaches the consumer after the storage / distribution period. In order to maintain the aseptic condition, the filling device needs to perform a predetermined cleaning periodically, for example, at the start and end of every day.

As a typical example, a method in which a chemical solution such as hydrogen peroxide is circulated in a place where the liquid is circulated in the device to wash and sterilize the portion, and then the chemical solution is washed away with washing water, or 135 ° C The inside of the liquid is sterilized by circulating the place where the liquid flows using the above heated steam.

Further, in the case of using a weighing means such as a load cell 40 in the weighing section, a non-contact state in which a gap 44 is formed between the supporting rod 42 supporting the weighing platform 41 and the supporting frame 43 as shown in FIG. The container cannot be measured unless measured in, and the measuring solution 40 is damaged by the chemical liquid or the cleaning liquid or the moisture filling from the gap 44, or particularly the recent intrusion of mold or the like due to the invading water, and the beverage. Since it is not preferable as a device for filling water in terms of hygiene, pressurized air is constantly pumped into the support frame 43 by the air feeding member 45 and jetted out from the gap 44 to prevent ingress of water and the like. There is a need.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) In the conventional liquid filling device or the cleaning method of the device described above, in the supply part of the liquid to be filled, cleaning / sterilization using a chemical liquid is performed after cleaning / sterilization. A large amount of aseptic wash water is required to wash away the water, and the waste water treatment facility requires space and cost, and depending on the type of bacteria, it may not be effective for sterilization with the drug solution, so use the drug solution sufficiently. Cannot be washed.

Further, the cleaning with the pressurized steam in the supply unit 46 has a great sterilizing effect because ordinary bacteria and the like are sterilized due to the high temperature and high pressure of the pressurized steam, but the valve body 47 is advanced and retracted. In order to prevent the pressurized steam from entering the operating means 48, the portion is covered with a bellows type or diaphragm type shield 49 made of Teflon, metal or the like. When Teflon is used, the Teflon is softened, and the high pressure and high temperature of the vapor causes an ultrafiltration phenomenon on the low pressure side 50 on the outside of the shield 49, that is, an osmotic action is carried out, and moisture is absorbed. Is a distributor
It passes through the shield 49 from the inside of 51 and is discharged to the outside of it, and remains in this portion, and due to the corrosion of water or the generation of mold, bacteria propagate and become unsanitary as in the above.

Moreover, the cleaning and sterilization with the pressurized steam causes the shield to be deformed due to the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the shield caused by the pressurized steam, which greatly shortens the durable life of the shield and frequently becomes frequent. It is necessary to disassemble the supply part to replace various parts.

There were various problems such as.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to easily wash and sterilize the entire device after the liquid is filled, and to prevent moisture and humidity from remaining in the precision instrument section after washing and sterilization. It is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of filling a liquid in an aseptic state and a method of cleaning / sterilizing the apparatus.

(Means for Solving the Problem) Means of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object are as follows: (1) A mounting portion that supports a container, and a liquid supply that is attached above the mounting portion in a corresponding manner. Part, and a liquid filling device consisting of a measuring part which is provided in the lower part of the placing part to measure the filling amount of the container, and a liquid feeding part connected to the upper part and the lower part of the flow body in the supply part, and A discharge part, a valve body provided inside the flow body to close or open movement of the liquid from the supply part by an operating means, and a valve body provided inside the flow body to prevent leakage of the liquid to the operating means. And a flexible sealing member that surrounds a sliding portion of the support rod of the weighing platform in the weighing unit. Device configuration and (2) On the flow body in the liquid filling device And a lower part of the liquid, which is connected to the lower part and the lower part, a valve body which is provided in the flow body to close or open the movement of the liquid from the flow part, and an opening at the lower end of the flow body. A supply hole for filling the container with the liquid thus opened, an operating rod which is linked to one side of the valve body and is moved forward and backward by an operating means, and a liquid supply to the operating means provided in the flow body. In a flow body of a liquid filling device comprising a shield for preventing leakage and a pressurizing portion for applying pressure to the shield from the outside of the flow body, after the valve is opened by covering the supply hole, Pressurized steam is injected into the flow body from the inlet to sterilize the steam, and the steam is recovered from the discharge part, and the pressure steam at the same pressure as that of the pressurized steam is applied to the shield from the pressurization unit outside the flow body. Etc.
A method for cleaning and sterilizing a flow body in a liquid filling device, in which pressures applied to both inner and outer sides of the shield plate are equalized; A frame, a supporting rod projecting from the supporting frame and having its upper end linked to the weighing platform; a detector provided in the supporting frame and attached to a lower end of the supporting rod; and a projecting portion of the supporting bar. And a flexible sealing member which is provided on the lower portion of the weighing platform and the upper portion of the support frame and surrounds the sliding portion of the support rod.

(Operation) The present invention configured as described above has the following operations.

First, in the filling of the liquid, the container is supplied to the weighing table in the mounting part, the desired liquid is sent to the inlet part of the flow body in the supply part, and the valve body is operated and opened by the operating means. Liquid is discharged from a supply hole provided in the lower portion of the flow body and is filled in the container standing by at the lower portion thereof. When the weight of the container increases due to this filling, the measuring means linked to the lower portion of the weighing platform. Is activated, and when a predetermined set value in the measuring means is reached, the operation means is operated to close the valve body, so that the fixed quantity filling of one container is completed, and an empty container is placed in the mounting portion. If the liquid is supplied and this operation is sequentially repeated, continuous and automatic liquid filling is performed.

Before or after completion of the filling operation, the device is washed and sterilized. After closing the supply hole at the lower part of the flow body with the lid, the valve body operated by the operating means is opened to perform the flow. When pressurizing steam is injected from the body inlet, the pressurizing steam fills the inside of the flow body and evenly cleans and sterilizes the inner wall to remove the liquid, and at the same time, the shield prevents the pressurizing steam from entering the operating means. Leakage is prevented, and the bacteria remaining in the filling liquid are not attached to the inside of the flow body and its pipeline, and the steam after cleaning and sterilization is discharged to the outside from the lower discharge part. It

Further, at the same time as the pressurization of the pressurized steam from the feeding part, the pressurizing means under the same conditions as the pressured steam is press-fitted to the pressurizing part of the flow body, whereby the inner and outer surfaces of the shield are Since the pressure is narrowed from the inside and the outside, the ultrafiltration phenomenon caused by the pressure and temperature difference between the inside and the outside is prevented, so that the growth of bacteria due to the residual water content is suppressed and the distributor and its conduit are hygienic. Can be kept.

Further, in the measuring section, since the flexible sealing member is provided between the light weight body which the supporting rod moves up and down and the supporting frame, the filling liquid and the washing water at the time of washing and sterilizing are provided in the measuring section. Even if it hangs on, the sliding portion of the support rod is covered by the flexible sealing member to prevent moisture from entering the inside,
Gas leakage from the metering unit into the sterile room is prevented.

(Embodiment) Next, one embodiment of a liquid filling device and a method for cleaning and sterilizing a flow body in the liquid filling device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, A is a liquid filling device, a mounting portion 2 for supporting a container 1 provided in a sterile room b which is always kept in a sterile state, and a liquid supply portion 3 provided above the mounting portion 2. And a measuring unit 4 provided below the aseptic chamber b, that is, below the placing unit 2 for measuring the filling amount of the container 1, and is basically filled by the device A. As the liquid, for example, soft drinks, drinks such as alcoholic beverages are used.

The above-mentioned aseptic chamber b has a sterile atmosphere in which aseptic air that has passed through a filter (not shown) is blown into it by a blower or the like.

Further, a drive system (not shown) of a device communicating with the outside air is provided in the lower part of the aseptic chamber b, and a liquid seal portion c with water or a chemical liquid prevents contamination of various bacteria from the outside air.

The above-mentioned mounting unit 2 is connected to a transfer conveyor (not shown) to continuously supply the container 1 intermittently, and it is transferred to a horizontal weighing table 5 and erected from the weighing table 5. It is stably held by the holding member 6.

The liquid supply unit 3 is provided correspondingly above the placing unit 2 so that the lower end of the flow body 7, that is, the supply hole 8 is brought close to the mouth of the container 1, and the mounting member 9 is attached. It is fixed vertically to the frame 10 by.

The liquid inlet 11 and the outlet 12 are connected to the upper and lower parts of the flow body 7, and the liquid from a liquid storage tank (not shown) is pressure-fed to the inlet 11. , The inside of the flow body 7 is filled.

In addition, an operating rod 13 is inserted and supported at the center thereof in the flow body 7 so as to be able to move back and forth, and a valve seat 14 formed on the inner wall of the flow body 7 is abutted at the lower end of the operation rod 13. The body 15 is attached, and the spring 17 provided between the spring seat 16 provided on the upper portion of the operating rod 13 and the upper surface of the flow body 7 is configured to always maintain the closed state of the valve body 15. In addition, an operating means 18 such as a fluid cylinder for opening the valve body 15 is provided opposite to the upper end of the operating rod 13.

Further, a shield 19 is provided on the outer periphery of the operating rod 13 in the flow body 7, and the liquid sent from the inlet 11 enters through the gap of the sliding surface of the operating rod 13. In order to prevent leakage to the outside of the flow body 7, a bellows type wall-thickness product made of Teflon having a thickness of about 1.0 mm is used. The upper flange 21 is attached to the upper inner wall of the flow body 7, and the inner peripheral portion of the shield 19 serves as a pressing portion 22 by a pressing means described later.

The same effect can be obtained by using a diaphragm type shield 19 other than the bellows type.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 23 denotes a lid which is attached to the supply hole 8 of the flow body 7, and is covered to prevent the liquid from being supplied to the lower portion when the cleaning and sterilization of the supply unit 3 is performed. Pressurized steam is filled from the inlet 11 into the flow body 7 to clean the inside and the inside of the pipeline, and the steam is discharged from the lower discharge part 12. The pressurized steam used for cleaning and sterilization. Is preferably at a temperature of 135 ° C or higher and a pressure of about 2.5 kg / cm ² or higher,
The cleaning and sterilization time is about 20 minutes or more.

At the time of this cleaning / sterilization, the same conditions as the above-mentioned pressurized steam are applied to the pressurizing unit 22 of the shield 19 provided in the flow body 7 from the blowing unit 24 attached to the upper part of the flow body 7 ( A pressure means having the same pressure and temperature is inserted, and the shield 19
By narrowing the pressure from both the inner and outer surfaces with pressurized steam, the occurrence of an ultrafiltration phenomenon in the shielding body 19 formed of a polymer system is prevented, and the water permeated into the shielding body 19 accumulates,
Proliferation of bacteria due to this is eliminated, and the purpose of aseptic filling in the supply unit 3 is achieved.

The cleaning and sterilization can be performed by sending water and pressurized steam from the discharge part and collecting the water and steam from the input part. In some cases, sterilization may be more effective in cleaning and sterilization.

The above-mentioned measuring unit 4 measures the liquid filling amount of the container 1 supplied by the supplying unit 3, and a sealing type support frame 25 is provided below the measuring table 5, and the support frame 25 The supporting rod 26 is projected from the upper portion, the upper end of the supporting rod 26 is linked to the lower portion of the weighing table 5, and the supporting rod 26 is lowered by the weight increase of the container 1 placed on the upper portion thereof. A detector 27 is attached to the lower end of the support rod 26 in the support rod 25.

This detector 27 uses a displacement detector using a strain gauge such as a well-known load cell. When a mechanical displacement, that is, a so-called electric conductor (for example, a resistance wire) is strained, an electric signal due to the resistance displacement is detected. Weighed by

That is, when the load of the container 1 is applied to the strain gauge, the strain gauge bends downward to generate a mechanical strain, generate a change in resistance value, and convert the change into an electric signal, whereby the valve body is changed. The operation means 18 of 15 is operated to close the passage of the flow body 7.

In FIG. 3, reference numeral 28 denotes a flexible sealing member provided on the lower portion of the weighing platform 5 and the upper portion of the support frame 25 at the projecting portion of the support rod 26, which is made of a chemical resistant metal such as metal or synthetic resin. Then, using a bellows type whose spring constant does not change with time, the upper end of the bellows is connected to the lower surface of the weighing platform 5 and the lower end thereof is hermetically connected to the upper surface of the support frame 25 by welding or the like to support. The rod 26 can be raised and lowered freely, and the gap between its sliding parts
29 is covered with this flexible sealing member 28 to prevent mutual circulation of gas and liquid inside and outside.

Further, since the load of the weighing table 5 is supported by the flexible sealing member 28, it is not necessary to form the clearance 28 of the sliding portion which has a clearance so as not to contact each other as in the conventional case. Therefore, the invasion of water into the support frame 25 is further prevented.

(Effects of the Invention) According to the present invention configured as described above, since cleaning water and pressurized steam can be sent to the circulation portion of the liquid to be filled for cleaning and sterilization, the cleaning and sterilization is ensured. Moreover, the operation is simple, and the operation is completed by simply injecting pressurized steam, which has the most sterilizing and sterilizing effect, and further, the conventional washing and sterilization by disassembling the flow section is omitted. Therefore, it is expected that the workability will be greatly improved.

Since the pressurizing member under the same conditions as the above-mentioned pressurized steam is linked to the outside of the shield provided in the flow passage in the supply unit, the permeation of water due to the ultrafiltration phenomenon does not occur at all. As a result of germ growth due to storage, it is possible to prevent the phenomenon that the inside of the supply section becomes unsanitary and aseptic filling is achieved, and the deformation of the shield due to the pressure difference due to the pressurized steam can be prevented, so the durability of the shield The life is improved.

Furthermore, since the flexible sealing member is provided on the projecting portion of the supporting rod of the weighing platform and the supporting frame in the measuring unit to surround the projecting portion, during the aseptic filling of the liquid or the washing / sterilization of the device, Even if liquid or washing water is applied to the measuring unit, the invasion of water into the support frame is completely prevented, and the growth of mold and bacteria due to this is suppressed, resulting in hygiene.

Especially, in this measuring unit, not only the invasion of air and liquid from the outside is prevented but also the leakage of the microbial gas from the inside, that is, the measuring means is completely shielded by the flexible sealing member. As a result, the air in the sterile chamber is not contaminated, and the purpose of filling the liquid in a sterile state is achieved by the synergistic effect with the above.

It has special effects such as.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially longitudinal front view showing an embodiment of the apparatus according to the present invention. FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional front view showing the liquid supply section in the above. FIG. 3 is a vertical sectional front view of the weighing unit in the above. Fourth
The figure is a vertical cross-sectional front view of a supply unit in a conventional liquid filling device.
FIG. 5 is a vertical sectional front view showing the weighing unit of the above. In the figure, 1 is a container, 2 is a loading section, 3 is a supply section, and 4 is a weighing section.
Is a liquid filling device. 7 is a flow body. 11 is a feeding part. 12 is a discharging part. 18
Is an operating means. 15 is a valve body. 19 is a shield body. 22 is a pressurizing part. 26 is a support rod. 28 is a flexible sealing member.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A mounting part for supporting a container, a liquid supply part mounted corresponding to the upper part of the mounting part, and a meter provided in the lower part of the mounting part for measuring the filling amount of the container. In a liquid filling device consisting of a part, a liquid feed part and a discharge part connected to the upper part and the lower part of the flow body in the supply part, and a liquid supply unit installed inside the flow body, A valve body for closing or opening movement by operating means, a shield provided inside the flow body for preventing liquid from leaking to the operating means, and a pressurizing section for applying pressure to the shield from the outside of the flow body, A liquid filling device, comprising: a flexible sealing member surrounding a sliding portion of a support rod of a weighing table in the weighing unit. 2. A liquid inlet and outlet connected to an upper portion and a lower portion of a flow body in a liquid filling device, and a liquid supply unit internally provided in the flow body to block movement of the liquid from the supply unit. A valve body to be opened, a supply hole for filling the container with the opened liquid which is opened at the lower end of the flow body, and an operating rod which is linked to one side of the valve body and is moved forward and backward by an operating means, In a flow body of a liquid filling device, which comprises a shield provided inside the flow body to prevent liquid from leaking to the operating means, and a pressurizing unit for applying pressure to the shield from the outside of the flow body,
After covering the supply hole to open the valve body, the flow body is sterilized by pressurizing the flow body from the inlet with pressurized steam, and the vapor is collected from the discharge unit, and the flow body is supplied to the shield. A liquid filling device characterized in that a pressure means such as a pressure steam having the same pressure as the pressure steam is press-fitted from a pressure part on the outside to equalize pressures applied to both inner and outer sides of the shielding plate. Method for cleaning and sterilizing flowers in the market. 3. The weighing unit includes a support frame provided in a lower portion of the weighing platform and hermetically sealed therein, a support rod projecting from the support frame and having an upper end thereof linked to the weighing platform, and the support frame. A detector provided inside the support rod and attached to the lower end of the support rod, and a flexible seal surrounding the sliding portion of the support rod provided at the lower portion of the weighing platform and the upper portion of the support rod at the protruding portion of the support rod. The liquid filling device according to claim 1, comprising a member.