JPH0242155Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] (Industrial Application Field) The present invention relates to a heat sterilization device for food packages such as pickled ham.

(Prior art and its problems) In the conventional method of heat sterilization of food packages, the package is placed on a conveyor and passed through a hot water heating tank whose temperature is controlled at around 80°C for 15 to 30 minutes. The hot water used for this purpose is almost always heated by steam. Heat-sterilized food packages are cooled by placing them in a cooling tank that is lined up with a hot water heating tank, but the water put into the cooling tank is mostly well water, and sometimes it is cooled using a refrigerator. Water may be used.

Another method is to place the hot water tank on the upper level and the cold water tank on the lower level.

In any of these cases, since there are water droplets on the surface of the package, the package is often dried with hot air using a dryer and then cooled in a refrigerator or left to cool naturally to room temperature before being packed in a box.

In addition, in the case of heating with hot water and cooling with cold water, a pressure net conveyor is required because air is mixed in the package and the package floats on the water surface due to gas generated from the contents. Become.

Such hot water heat sterilization requires a large amount of energy to heat a large amount of water with a high specific heat. In particular, warm-up requires several times as much heat as running, requiring large boiler equipment. Also, during running, the upper part of the hot water layer is completely or partially open, resulting in energy consumption and a very poor environment within the factory.

Another disadvantage is that the equipment becomes large and cannot be installed in a narrow space.

(Means for solving the problem) This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it uses direct steam for heat sterilization to control the inside of the refrigerator at a stable temperature so that the product can be kept at a stable temperature. This system aims to make the heating uniform and efficiently carry out the original purpose of sterilization, and also to save energy, and also to downsize the equipment so that narrow spaces can be used effectively.

The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the illustrated embodiment.The present invention is comprised of a conveyor 1 driven in vertical and horizontal directions, a heating chamber 2, a cooling chamber 3, and a cooling chamber 4 provided in a multi-stage manner from above. 1 is made up of mounting plates 5, 5, . At diagonal positions of the mounting plate 5, rotatable trochanters 10, 10 are provided via shaft rods 9, 9, respectively, and rotatable mounting bodies 11, 11 are provided at slightly outward positions from the trochanters 10, 10. The attachment bodies 11, 11 are attached to the pair of chains 6, 6 at predetermined intervals. The gear groups 7, 8 consist of upper and lower gears 12, 12'..., 13, 13'... and horizontal gears 14, 15, which correspond to the gears 12, 13, 12', 13', 14, respectively. ，
15... are supported by being shifted by the distance between the axes of the mounting bodies 11, 11 of the mounting plate 5, and one trochanter 10 of the other mounting plate 5 is at the horizontal gear 14 position and is supported on the other horizontal gear 15. The other trochanter 10 can be freely fitted into and removed from the fitting recesses 17, 17 of a guide wheel 16 that moves together with the horizontal gear 14, and the other trochanter 10 is fitted to the circumferential surface of a fixed guide ring 18 (which may rotate) located on the same axis as the horizontal gear 14. is made to be able to roll freely, and when the mounting plate 5 rotates around the horizontal gears 14 and 15, it touches four points (trochanters 10, 10, mounting bodies 11, 1
1) to prevent it from inadvertently tilting.

Between the upper and lower gears 12 and 12', parallel to the chain 6, an upper and lower chain 19 is connected to auxiliary gears 20, 20, 2.
0 and the receivers 21, 21...
are fixed outward, and these receivers 21, 2
1, one trochanter 10 is configured to be freely removable. As a means to prevent the mounting plate 5 from swinging, a guide band 22 is provided at a half-outer circumferential position of the guide ring 16 as shown in FIG. 4 to prevent the trochanter 10 and the fitting recess 17 from being accidentally separated. When taking this method, the fixed guide ring 18
does not require.

Also, when horizontally moving the mounting plate 5, the trochanters 10, 1
Guide rails 23 are provided at necessary locations to prevent the mounting bodies 11 and 11 from swinging up and down.

A sparge pipe 24 is installed at the inner bottom of the heating chamber 2, and a steam heater 25 may be placed at the top if necessary.The temperature inside the heating chamber is controlled by a proportional control method (not shown). ) to maintain a stable temperature inside the room, and the lower part near one side serves as the entrance and exit for the conveyor 1.

A cooling chamber 3 provided at the lower stage of the heating chamber 2 is provided with a fan 26 on the side to dry water droplets adhering to the packages on the mounting plate 5.

The cooling chamber 4 can be freely blown with cold air from a refrigeration device (not shown) or the like. Note that this cooling chamber may also be used as the cooling chamber 3 depending on the case.

In the figure, 27 is a product supply section, and 28 is a drive section.

(Function) The present invention is realized as described above, and in order to use it, first operate the drive unit 28 in advance to drive the conveyor 1 and heat the heating chamber 2, cooling chamber 4, etc. to a predetermined temperature. The packaged foods, such as pickled vegetables, are placed in order on the mounting plate 5 of the product supply section 27 after being cooled. The packages on the mounting plate 5 enter the heating chamber 2 and are heat sterilized. The heat sterilization time is determined relative to the type of contents inside the package, heating temperature, etc., but generally around 15 minutes is good. The packaged product coming out of the heating chamber 2 enters the cooling chamber 3, where the water droplets deposited by the wind from the fan 26 are dried on the surface, and at the same time the contents are cooled. The surface-dried items enter the cooling room 4, where they are cooled by cold air and packed into boxes.

(Effects) As mentioned above, this project consists of a conveyor driven vertically and horizontally, and heating chambers and cooling chambers provided in multiple stages.The mounting plate attached to the conveyor chain moves horizontally within the heating chamber and cooling chamber. The lower part of the heating chamber is equipped with a sparge pipe to enable heating, and the cooling chamber can be freely blown with cold air, making it one-third to one-fifth smaller than conventional models. This enables uniform heat sterilization and immediate packaging work, which reduces work costs. In addition, the biggest feature is that it does not use hot or cold water, so it is inexpensive and does not require a holding conveyor, and it can significantly reduce water charges and wastewater treatment costs.It also improves the working environment because no more steam than is necessary is produced in the factory. good.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 is a front sectional explanatory diagram of a conventional heat sterilizer;
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional explanatory view of the device of the present invention, FIGS. 3A, 3B, and C are explanatory views showing the moving state of the mounting plate at the horizontal gear position, and FIG. It is an explanatory diagram showing a moving state. 1...Conveyor, 2...Heating chamber, 3...Cooling room, 4...Cooling room, 5...Place plate, 6...Chain.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] It consists of a conveyor that is driven vertically and horizontally, and a heating chamber and a cooling chamber that are arranged in multi-stage in order. A heating sterilization device for food packages that is equipped with a sparge pipe, steam heater, etc. to allow heating, and a cooling room that allows for free blowing of cold air.