JPH0321415B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (a) Field of Industrial Application The present invention relates to a film sterilization device, and more particularly to a device for sterilizing a strip-shaped film used for sterile packaging using steam.

(b) Prior Art When sterilizing packaging is performed in so-called form-fill packaging, in which a container is formed on a packaging film and an item is filled into the container for packaging, conventionally, as shown in FIG. Sterilizing liquid tanks a and b are provided in the middle of the feeding lines of _{f 1} and f ₂ , and a hydrogen peroxide solution l is placed in the sterilizing liquid tanks, while the packaging film f ₁
After passing it through the hydrogen peroxide solution and sterilizing it,
The packaging film f for the cover, which is also sterilized with hydrogen peroxide solution 1, is sent to a heating device C, a forming device d, and a filling device e to heat the packaging film, form a container, and fill the container with the product. I try to seal it with ₂ . The problem with such conventional sterilization methods is how to remove hydrogen peroxide adhering to the packaging film after sterilization. For this reason, in the past, various measures have been taken to prevent residual disinfectant from adhering to the film and to prevent disinfectant mist from entering the container, and it is necessary to provide equipment for this purpose, making the equipment complex and large. There was a problem.

(C) Problems to be Solved by the Invention The problems to be solved by the present invention are to simplify and downsize the structure of a sterilizer by sterilizing the film with steam, thereby improving the structure of an aseptic packaging device. The goal is to simplify and downsize the system.

(d) Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the sterilizer of the present invention rotatably disposes a pair of cooling drums in a sterilization chamber isolated from the outside, and a A pair of nozzle devices that spray steam toward a cooling drum are provided, and each surface of the film to be sterilized is in contact with one of the cooling drums, and the steam is sprayed onto both surfaces of the film. configured to sterilize.

(e) Action In the sterilizer with the above configuration, the film to be sterilized is passed through the sterilization chamber, wrapped around a pair of cooling drums, and sent by the rotation of the cooling drums, and is blown by steam from a nozzle device toward the cooling drums. Sterilized.

(f) Examples Examples of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, a sterilizer 1 of this embodiment is schematically shown. This sterilizer includes a housing 2 that defines a sterilization chamber 21, a pair of cooling drum devices 3, 3a, 3b provided in the sterilization chamber 21, and a pair of nozzle devices 4 provided adjacent to the cooling drum device. , 4a, 4b, and a stepped roller device 5 provided in a chamber 23 separated from a sterilization chamber 21 by a partition wall 22 in the housing 2.
Openings 25 and 26 are formed in the front wall 24 and partition wall 22 of the housing, respectively, through which the film f passes.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cooling drum device 3 includes a hollow shaft 31 rotatably supported by a bearing 27 provided in a housing, and a hollow drum 3 attached to the tip of the hollow shaft within the housing.
2, a hollow shaft 31 and a supply pipe 33 inserted into the roll, and a rotary joint 34 for supplying and discharging cooling water attached to the end of the supply pipe. Gears 35 that mesh with each other are attached to the hollow shaft 31 so that the gears 35 are rotated simultaneously in opposite directions at the same speed.

Each nozzle device 4, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, a number of nozzle holes 42 are formed on the side facing the roll of a nozzle pipe 41 extending substantially parallel to the roll. Each nozzle pipe is connected to a steam source 45 via a valve 43 and a pipe 44.
It is connected to the.

The step roller device 5 includes an upper fixed position roller 51
, a lower movable roller 52, and sensors 53, 5 that detect the upper and lower limit positions of the movable roller 52.
Since this is a well-known structure having 4, a detailed explanation will be omitted.

The sterilization chamber 21 is provided with a clean air supply port 28 connected to a clean air supply source (not shown) of known construction. The inside of the sterilization chamber 21 is under positive pressure (higher pressure than the outside air) due to clean air.
is maintained.

Note that 6 is a heater for heating the film f, and 7 is a forming device for forming a container or the like on the film f.

In the above configuration, the film f to be sterilized enters the sterilization chamber 21 through the opening 25, is wound around the drums 32 of the pair of cooling drum devices 3, and is pressed with a predetermined tension. Then, it is sent by the rotation of the drum 32 and sent to the step roller device 5, and further sent to the heater 6 and the forming device 7 in that order.

On the other hand, cooling water at about 10° C. is supplied to the supply pipe 33 to cool the drum 32 from the inside. Then, while the film f is wound around the drum 32, steam at 135 DEG to 140 DEG C. is blown onto the film from the nozzle holes of the nozzle pipes 41 of the nozzle devices 4a and 4b, thereby sterilizing both sides of the film f. The steam is sprayed by operating the valve 43 only when the drum 32 is rotating and the film is being fed.

Generally, when sterilizing substances, for example milk, it is
It is known that bacteria can be killed by heating for seconds. It is also known that even spore-form bacteria can be sterilized by heating below 135°C. Therefore, it can be seen that packaging films can be sterilized at 135°C to 140°C for several seconds.

On the other hand, synthetic resin films used as container films begin to soften thermally at temperatures above 70°C.
During heat sterilization, if the neutral surface of the film is set at approximately 65℃, the surface temperature is 135℃ to 140℃, and the cooling surface of the drum is 10℃, the film will not be deformed or deteriorated even after sterilization for about 3 seconds. I realized that there was nothing to do. Therefore, the film is 3
Adjust the rotation speed of the drum so that it is exposed to steam for around 2 seconds.

After the sterilization chamber is completed, it is sent into the sterilization chambers 21 to 23, passes through the stepped roller device 5, and is then sent to the heater 6 and the molding device 7 in that order by intermittent feeding.

(G) Effects According to the present invention, since the film is sterilized using harmless steam, it is extremely safe and the apparatus can be simplified.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the sterilizer according to the present invention;
Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the cooling drum device, Figure 3 is a perspective view showing the cooling drum and nozzle pipe, Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view of the cooling drum and nozzle pipe, and Figure 5 is a conventional packaging film sterilizer. FIG. 1: Sterilizer, 2: Housing, 21: Sterilization chamber, 25: Opening, 3: Cooling drum device, 32: Drum, 4: Nozzle device, 41: Nozzle pipe, 42:
nozzle hole.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A pair of cooling drums are rotatably arranged in a sterilization chamber isolated from the outside, and a pair of nozzle devices are installed in the sterilization chamber to blow steam toward the cooling drums, and each surface of the film to be sterilized is 1. A sterilizing device characterized by a structure that sterilizes both surfaces of the film by spraying steam onto the film while the film is in contact with either one of the cooling drums.