JPH0114089B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method for producing canned solid storage products by canning all solid storage products such as grains such as brown rice, polished rice, and beans, processed products thereof, or seeds.

Such solid storage products are generally stored in bags. However, when the bagging method is used, external forces are directly applied to the contents during transportation and handling by the distribution mechanism, which often causes problems such as crushing. For this reason, canned products made of metal cans, such as aluminum alloys, are being put into practical use. Many of these conventional products are intended to prevent external forces from directly acting on the contents by simply increasing the strength of the outer shell member. As a result, the contents could be protected to some extent from crushing, etc., and the airtightness could be maintained completely.

However, metal cans are becoming thinner year by year, and it is no longer sufficient to protect the contents from external forces simply by relying on the strength of the can body.

To this end, methods for manufacturing canned solid storage products have been developed that can accommodate thinner canned foods, such as those disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 57-204825 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 58-146797.

Such solid storage cans are internally filled with pressurized gas to counteract external pressure. In particular, as pressurized gas, inert gas is used to enable long-term preservation of the contents, but nitrogen gas and carbon dioxide gas are used because of their low cost. In this case, it is desirable to use nitrogen gas to prevent the contents from deteriorating due to breathing.

However, the production of conventional solid storage cans of this type suffers from the drawbacks of being laborious and expensive.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing canned solid storage products as described above simply and inexpensively.

The method for manufacturing a canned solid storage product according to the present invention includes: a can body having a seam-joined edge; a can lid having a seam-jointed edge and an opening score that are both seamed and seamed together with the seam-joined edge; After preparing a can body and filling a predetermined amount of solid storage material into the can body, the can lid is placed on the can body, the can lid is set in a vacuum chamber in this state, the vacuum chamber is evacuated, and then the vacuum chamber is evacuated. In the method for producing a canned solid storage product, the method includes steps of supplying a pressurized inert gas to a can body, at least before the step of seam joining a seam joint edge of at least one of the can body and the can lid. It is characterized by having a step of forming a curve deviating from the plane in at least a portion thereof.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an example of a can manufactured by the method of the present invention. In the drawing, can body 1
The can lid 3 is seam-jointed to the can body 1 in a state in which a predetermined amount of solid storage material 2 is put into the interior and inert gas is pressurized and filled. The can body 1 is a cylindrical container with an open top and a bottom, and is made of aluminum metal material. The opening 1A at the upper end is made slightly smaller than the diameter of the can body 1, so as to be able to withstand when the can lid 3 is pressed and seam-joined as will be described later. For seam joining of the can body 1 and the can lid 3, joint parts 4 and 5 are each suitably curled in advance.
is formed. These joint portions 4 and 5 are wound and seamed by appropriate means as will be described later. In order to improve the sealing performance of this joint, a sealing member 6 made of a suitable resin or the like as shown in FIG. 2 can be interposed between the joint parts 4 and 5. The inert gas filled under pressure is selected to have a pressure that can prevent the can body from deforming against external forces. As the inert gas, it is preferable to use nitrogen gas or carbon dioxide gas because they are inexpensive. However, in order to prevent the contents from deteriorating due to breathing, it is desirable to use nitrogen gas. As an example of pressure selection, in the case of a 350 c.c. aluminum can with a wall thickness of about 0.15 mm and a height of about 130 mm, it is preferable to select a filling pressure of 0.2-1.5 Kg/cm in gauge pressure.

As shown in FIG. 2, the can lid 3 has, for example, a score 3A formed over almost the entire circumference, and by pulling the opening ring member 7 fixed to one end, the center of the can lid 3 is formed along the score 3A. The contents can be removed by separating the parts and opening the can in a well-known manner.

FIG. 3 shows a body 1 in which a portion of the seam joint edge or joint portion 4 has been curved 4A out of its plane in a characteristic step of the method of the invention. Such processing can be easily performed using a well-known method. At this time, it is desirable that the curve 4A be formed into a relatively small and smooth shape sufficient to serve as a flow path for pressurized gas, in order to be able to completely perform the winding and tightening process for seam joining, which will be described later.

Figure 4 shows solid storage material 2 per predetermined amount in can body 1.
2 schematically shows the step of seaming the can lid 3 after charging the can lid. This device has a vacuum chamber main body 11 equipped with a port 10A for evacuation and a port 10B for introducing an inert gas such as nitrogen gas. The vacuum chamber main body 11 is fixed to the upper casing 1
1A and a lower casing 11B that can be driven up and down by a cylinder device 12, and can be sealed via a seal member 13. A lid holding member 14 is fixed to a shaft 15 in the upper casing 11A and is rotatable and movable up and down by a drive device (not shown). The lower casing 11B is provided with a support member 16 that supports the can body 1 and is fixed to a shaft 17 and is rotatable by a drive device (not shown), and the support member 16 is driven in the vertical direction integrally with the lower casing 11B. It is becoming more and more like this. Lid holding member 14 and support member 1
It is preferable that the openings 6 are of a complementary type so as to be able to position the can lid 4 and the can body 1, respectively, as shown.

Further, these members 14 and 16 are configured to be rotationally driven in synchronization with each other.

The upper casing 11A has a joint portion 4 of the can body 1 and a can lid 3 combined therewith on its side.
At the position corresponding to the joint part 5 (pressed down) of
A winding and tightening device 20 for winding and tightening these joint portions 4 and 5 is provided. This device 20 has a plunger 22 that can freely rotatably hold the winding and tightening roller 21, and this plunger 22 can move the winding and tightening roller 21 toward and away from the joint portions 4 and 5 by a drive device (not shown). Although only one winding device 20 is shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of similar devices are arranged around the joining parts 4, 5 to perform the winding process in several stages.

According to such a device, the can body 1 loaded with solid storage material is first placed on the support member 16 of the lower casing 11B, which has been lowered sufficiently, and the can lid 3 is placed on top of the support member 16. placed. After that,
The lower casing 11B is raised together with the support member 16, and the vacuum chamber 11 is sealed as shown. At this time, as shown in the figure, the can lid holder 14 engages with the can lid 3, and the two joined parts 4 and 5 are brought into contact and held in position except for the curve 4A. That is, curve 4A
This forms a gap that communicates between the inside and outside of the can.

Thereafter, the inside of the vacuum chamber 11 is evacuated through the port 10A, and then, for example, nitrogen gas is supplied to a predetermined pressure through the port 10B.
The inside of the can body 1 is filled with the gas at a predetermined pressure. At this time, since the gap created by the curve 4A is maintained, ventilation inside and outside the can body 1 is ensured.

After the predetermined gas filling is completed, both shafts 15 and 17 are driven to rotate synchronously in this state. Then, the winding and tightening device 20 is operated, and the winding and tightening roller 21 is
is pressed against the joining portions 4 and 5 to perform the required winding and tightening process to complete the seam joining.

As described above, the solid storage can provided by the method of the present invention has the above-mentioned curve 4A, so that the contents can be maintained against external force by reliable filling of pressurized inert gas. It is protected and allows long-term storage. Moreover, it is easy to manufacture and can provide inexpensive products. In this way, many effects can be obtained.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiment; for example, a curve 5A can be formed in the joint portion 5 of the can lid 3 as shown in FIG. It will be understood, of course, that both could be curved and could be implemented in many variations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a canned solid storage product manufactured by the method of the present invention. Figure 2 is a front view of the can lid. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the can body. FIG. 4 is a schematic vertical sectional view showing an embodiment of an apparatus for carrying out the method of the present invention. Fifth
The figure is a perspective view of the can lid. 1... Can body, 2... Solid storage material, 3... Can lid, 3A
...Score, 4, 5...Joint part, 4A, 5A...Curve, 6...Seal member, 7...Ring member, 10A,
10B...Port, 11...Vacuum chamber, 11A, 11B
...Casing, 12...Cylinder device, 13...Sealing member, 14...Can lid holder, 15, 17...Shaft, 1
6... Support member, 20... Winding and tightening device, 21... Roller, 22... Plunger.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A can body having seam-joined edges that are seam-joined to each other and a can body having an opening at the top and a can lid formed with an opening score are provided, and a predetermined amount of solid storage is stored in the can body. After placing the can lid on the can body and setting the can body and can lid in a vacuum chamber, the vacuum chamber is evacuated to create a vacuum inside the can body, and then A pressurized inert gas is introduced into the vacuum chamber to fill the can body with the inert gas, and then, while pressing down the can lid, the seam joint edge of the upper opening of the can body and the can lid are pressed down. A method for manufacturing a solid storage can comprising the steps of seaming seam-joining edges to each other, at least before the step of seaming:
forming at least one curvature in the seam joint edge of at least one of the can body and the can lid that is curved out of the plane thereof to ensure passage of inert gas; A method for producing a solid storage can.