JPH0272017A - Method and apparatus for automatically sealing contents contained in airtight vessel under reduced pressure - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent contents from leaking out of a vessel due to boiling and expansion in volume of the contents by a method wherein temperature of contents contained in an airtight vessel immediately before capping is measured, and a specified amount of air in the vessel is forcedly exhausted automatically according to the measured temperature so that the vessel is sealed under reduced pressure. CONSTITUTION:A glass bottle serving as an airtight vessel 1 containing contents 2 of laver boiled in soy mounted on an entrance of a conveyer serving as a carrier device 6 is measured of temperature of the laver boiled in soy by a non-contact infrared layer temperature measurement device serving as a temperature detector 7 just above the bottle during the transfer process, and the measured value is immediately sent to n controller 8. Here, on the basis of an automatic sequence control from experimental data obtained per products by preacquisition of experimental data, one of various kinds of set vacuum pressure-reducing valves 9 which have been set is interlocked so that an electromagnetic valve 10 corresponding said valve is opened so that vacuum pressure required for capping is selectively controlled by a communicated tube. Then, air is automatically removed by a vacuum pump 10 from the airtight vessel 1 of the glass bottle, and after capping by sealing reduced vacuum pressure by a vacuum capping device 4, the bottle is carried to an exit 5 by the conveyer.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to an automatic vacuum sealing method and apparatus for food products etc. stored in airtight containers.

(Prior art) Conventionally, when the contents of food or non-food liquids, viscous substances, or mixtures of solids and viscous liquids are hermetically sealed in an airtight container, a vacuum is forcibly created using a vacuum pump or the like. There is a phenomenon in which the boiling point is lower in an atmosphere than in normal atmospheric pressure.

In such a state, depending on the temperature of the contents and the setting of the vacuum value, boiling and volumetric expansion may occur during continuous automatic vacuum sealing into the airtight container.
Contents may protrude from the container or the lid material may push up, resulting in soiling of the airtight container or insufficient amount of contents.
Problems such as poor sealing occur due to adhesion of these substances to the sealing surface.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) As a countermeasure to the above, in the conventional method, in order to avoid the effects of the above-mentioned boiling and volumetric expansion phenomena, the temperature of the contents stored in the airtight container is forced in a heat exchange device. It is manufactured by controlling the temperature to an arbitrary constant temperature and applying reduced pressure and vacuum pressure.

Another method is to supply heated steam to the space between the contents stored in the airtight container and the container to eliminate the air inside the container and seal it, allowing the contents to cool to the final target temperature after sealing. in a container hermetically sealed by
This phenomenon occurs due to the reduced pressure caused by the change in volume due to the temperature drop of the supplied heated steam, and the temperature and volume of the contents at the time of supply and sealing. Manufacturing is carried out using a reduced-pressure vacuum arrival method using volumetric contraction, in which the pressure is combined to reach a reduced-pressure vacuum atmosphere.

However, the former requires heat exchange equipment and heat exchange media, and depending on the scale of production, the equipment and equipment may become larger and equipment costs may increase.
As the heat exchange equipment itself becomes more complex, the number of man-hours required for maintenance and maintenance increases accordingly, and in general, the heat exchange equipment itself is susceptible to changes in product types due to changes in the shape or viscosity of the mixed structure of the contents being heat exchanged. Due to differences in heat transfer coefficients between different materials, changing the heat transfer area and adjusting the flow rate of liquids and viscous materials is complicated.
Depending on its properties, it may not be possible to use it for both purposes, and it has the drawback of being inflexible, similar to a dedicated device.

On the other hand, the latter requires temperature control of the supplied steam and stored contents, and also requires control of the volume of the supplied steam and contents, so there are many control elements, so management of these control elements is necessary. However, the vacuum pressure value tends to remain at an approximate value, which causes variations in the desired vacuum pressure value of the contents in the sealed container of wrapping paper, resulting in a lack of uniformity.

In addition, depending on the properties of the contents, the properties may change under the influence of high-temperature heated steam, so when using this method, there is the disadvantage that it is limited to substances that do not cause changes in the properties of the contents. are doing.

Another method is to manually measure the temperature of the contents inside the container in advance, and then set a fixed vacuum value based on the measured temperature at a temperature that will prevent the contents from overflowing. One method is to automatically tighten the vacuum lid at a fixed reduced pressure value corresponding to the fixed set temperature.

However, according to this method, when the temperature of the contents varied, the lid was not tightened with a corresponding vacuum pressure, so it was not possible to prevent the contents from overflowing due to individual differences.

In other words, in the conventional method, the reduced vacuum pressure value that is desired for airtight sealing is first set, the air inside the container is forcibly removed using a vacuum pump, etc. The temperature of the contents is forcibly controlled to a constant value using a heat exchange device in order to prevent negative effects such as contamination of the container due to leakage of contents outside the container, insufficient capacity, and defects in hermetically sealed coal. Therefore, the vacuum sealing method involves large variations in the vacuum value obtained in a sealed container, such as vacuum packaging under reduced pressure or vapor supply, which only needs to be sealed at an approximate vacuum pressure value.

In view of this, the present invention aims to simplify equipment equipment, reduce costs, and simplify maintenance and management, and provides reduced-pressure vacuum without heating even for substances whose contents change in quality when heated with steam etc. In addition, it is a versatile stand-alone and continuous system that can flexibly respond to changes in product types due to changes in the shape and viscosity of the mixed composition of the contents, etc., with only a short changeover work. The purpose of this invention is to provide an operable automatic vacuum sealing method and apparatus for the same.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, claim 1 of the present invention is to measure the temperature of the contents contained in the airtight container immediately before closing the lid, and based on the temperature measurement value, Claim 2 is characterized in that a predetermined amount of air is automatically forcibly evacuated and sealed in a reduced pressure vacuum state. Claim 2 is characterized in that the airtight container containing contents such as food and the like before being capped is vacuum capped from the entrance side. a conveying means for conveying the contents to the outlet side after the lid is tightened, a temperature detecting means for measuring the temperature of the contents, a controller for receiving the temperature measured by the detecting means, and a selection signal of the controller. a solenoid valve that operates one of a plurality of set vacuum pressure reducing valves; and a vacuum lid that connects a vacuum pump with the set vacuum pressure reducing valve by operating the solenoid valve to bring the inside of the airtight container into a vacuum state and close the lid. It is characterized by comprising a tightening means.

(Function) According to the above configuration, claim 1 uses the device of claim 2 to continuously measure the temperature of the contents stored in the airtight container immediately before the lid is tightened, and to detect the measured temperature value. The temperature of the contents and the final vacuum degree of the contents after the container is sealed and packaged are determined in advance by experimental data for each type of container, and the temperature of the contents is determined in advance by a forced method such as a vacuum pump. The remaining amount of air is automatically controlled in sequence using various pre-set vacuum pressure reducing valves, taking into consideration that it will not be affected by boiling or volumetric expansion. When selected, it can be instantly linked to a stand-alone or continuous vacuum packaging machine. By selectively controlling the reduced vacuum pressure required for sealing, air is automatically removed from the container, and the reduced pressure caused by changes in the volume density of the contents due to temperature changes, which is supported by experimental data. A target reduced vacuum pressure is obtained by a combined reduced pressure of forced reduction using a vacuum pump or the like, and the contents are sealed in an airtight container singly or continuously using an arbitrary automatic reduced pressure vacuum tube.

(Embodiments) The present invention will now be described with reference to embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

A method and apparatus for automatically sealing contents stored in an airtight container under reduced pressure according to the present invention is a method according to claim 1 using the apparatus according to claim 2.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, an airtight container 1 containing contents 2 such as food and before being capped is transported from an entrance side 3 to a vacuum capping means 4,
After the lid has been tightened, a conveying means 6 for conveying the contents to the outlet side 5, a temperature detecting means 7 for measuring the temperature of the contents 2, a controller 8 for receiving the temperature measured by the detecting means 7, and a selection of the controller 8. A solenoid valve 10 operates one of the plurality of set vacuum pressure reducing valves 9 in response to a signal, and the operation of the solenoid valve 10 causes a vacuum pump 11 to communicate with the set vacuum pressure reducing valve 9, thereby creating a vacuum state in the airtight container 1. and the vacuum lid tightening means 4 for tightening the lid.

In this embodiment, the airtight container 1 is a glass bottle, the content 2 is seaweed tsukudani, and the conveying means 6 is a conveyor.

The temperature detection means 7 is a non-contact infrared temperature measuring device that continuously measures temperature, and the controller 8 controls the measured temperature versus vacuum pressure, and numeral 12 in the figure is a vacuum pressure gauge.

Although the number of set vacuum pressure reducing valves 9 is three in FIG. 1, the present invention is not limited to this.

Next, an automatic vacuum sealing method will be explained.

A glass bottle serving as an airtight container 1 containing the contents 2 of the seaweed tsukudani placed on the entrance side 3 of a conveyor serving as a conveying means 6 is detected by a non-contact infrared temperature measuring device serving as a temperature detecting means 7 directly above the glass bottle during conveyance. The temperature of the seaweed tsukudani is measured and the measured value is instantaneously transmitted to the controller 8. Then, based on the sequence automatic control, the experimental data is collected in advance and is known for each manufactured item, and the electromagnetic valve at that location is linked to one of the various vacuum pressure reducing valves 9 that have been set. The valve 10 is opened, the vacuum pressure necessary for capping and sealing is selectively controlled by the connected piping, and air is automatically removed from the airtight container 1 of the glass bottle by the vacuum pump 10, and the vacuum capping means is activated. After filling with reduced vacuum pressure and sealing the lid in step 4, the container is conveyed to outlet 5 by a conveyor.

The table below shows the experimental values for the temperature of the nori tsukudani, the corresponding vacuum setting gauge pressure, and the vacuum value obtained after cooling.

*In the experimental production line, the containers actually used are
The above data is experimentally determined and created as a control standard by filling the actual item contents and setting the vacuum assuming various line speed conditions during manufacturing. Of course, even if the line stops for some reason, we will collect experimental data on the time and temperature drop of the contents in advance, and have the n1 constant temperature vs. vacuum control core controller control this as well. This is where you input the program.

Although the above embodiments have been described with reference to the case where the content is seaweed boiled in soy sauce, it goes without saying that the same sealing can be performed even when the content is a liquid, a viscous substance, or a mixture of a solid and a viscous liquid.

(Effects of the Invention) Since the present invention is as described above, the entire device of claim 2 is very compact, and therefore the cost is reduced compared to the conventional device, and maintenance management is not required just by setting it once.

In addition, in contrast to claim 1, there is no need to change the model of the device for different manufactured items due to differences in content mixture composition or viscosity, etc. This invention has various effects over Claims 1 and 2, such as being able to flexibly, uniformly, and reliably perform automatic management with a short and light task of simply resetting the vacuum pressure reducing valve.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an overall layout diagram of an automatic decompression sealing device for contents stored in an airtight container according to the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the contents stored in an airtight container before the lid is tightened by the method according to the invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram systematically showing each device used until an object is closed. 1... Airtight container, 2... Contents, 3... Entrance side,
4... Vacuum lid tightening means, 5... Outlet side, 6... Conveying means, 7... Temperature detection means, 8... Controller, 9... Setting vacuum pressure reducing valve, 10... Solenoid valve, 11.
...Vacuum pump, 12...Vacuum pressure gauge.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Measure the temperature of the contents stored in the airtight container just before the lid is tightened, and automatically evacuate a specified amount of air in the container based on the measured temperature value to create a vacuum. An automatic vacuum sealing method for airtight containers, characterized by sealing them in a sealed state. 2. The airtight container containing the contents such as food before being capped is conveyed from the entrance side to the vacuum lid tightening means, and after the lid is tightened, the conveying means is conveyed to the outlet side and the temperature of the contents is measured. a temperature detecting means, a controller that receives the temperature measured by the detecting means, a solenoid valve that operates one of a plurality of set vacuum pressure reducing valves in response to a selection signal from the controller, and a vacuum pump that operates to set the vacuum pump by the operation of the solenoid valve. An automatic vacuum sealing device for airtight containers, characterized in that the vacuum lid tightening means communicates with a vacuum pressure reducing valve to evacuate the inside of the airtight container and tighten the lid.