JP2019149967A - Germinating device and sterilizing device - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a germinating device that guides the germination of sporulation bacteria, in sterilizing the sporulation bacteria attached to a treatment object, such as food, and a sterilizing device including the germinating device, wherein the germinating device and the sterilizing device can guide the germination without using chemical substance and in a short time.SOLUTION: A germinating device has a rotatable cabinet in which a treatment object is stored, a light source that is provided inside the cabinet to extend in rotation axis direction and radiates near infrared light, and a rotation mechanism that rotates the cabinet around the rotation axis.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention particularly relates to a germination apparatus and a sterilization apparatus for spore-forming bacteria having spores attached to food or the like.

Conventionally, a method for inactivating bacteria attached to a solid such as food is known.
For example, a powder sterilization method using ozone is known. According to this sterilization method, since sterilization can be performed in a non-heated state, deterioration of the sterilization target can be suppressed.
However, in such a sterilization method, reproducibility of sterilization may not be obtained. That is, even if the object to be sterilized is exposed to ozone to the same extent, there arises a situation in which the degree of sterilization varies from process to process.
When the inventor diligently investigated the phenomenon that the reproducibility of sterilization cannot be obtained,
(1) Bacteria possessed by the sterilization target form spores.
(2) The spore formation state varies depending on the timing of treatment.
I found out that it was caused by that.

In order to solve the above problems, it is conceivable to sterilize the spores after germination (= germination induction). For example, JP 2002-153247 A (Patent Document 1) describes spraying an aqueous solution of a germination inducer (L-alanine) onto an object to be sterilized and then sterilizing with ozone or ultraviolet light.
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2015-199723 (Patent Document 2) describes a method in which spores are germinated once by contacting spore-forming bacteria with dipicolinic acid or a salt thereof under a pH of 6 or less. .
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-038857 (Patent Document 3) discloses a method of holding for several hours at a temperature (20 ° C. to 40 ° C.) suitable for growth of the number of bacteria in a moisture-rich state. .
By the way, such a known germination inducing method uses a chemical substance (nutrient) or requires a long-time treatment. For example, it is not suitable as a method for inducing germination of food and is practically used. This is not preferable.

JP 2002-153247 A JP-A-2015-199723 JP-A-3-0388857

  In view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, the present invention provides a germination treatment apparatus for inducing germination of spore-forming bacteria on a spore-forming bacteria attached to an object such as food without using a chemical substance. The present invention also provides a germination apparatus and a sterilizer that can induce germination in a short time.

In order to solve the above-described problems, a germination induction apparatus according to the present invention includes a rotatable housing that accommodates an object to be processed, and a near red provided inside the housing so as to extend in the rotation axis direction. A light source that emits external light and a rotation mechanism that rotates the casing about the rotation axis are provided.
Moreover, the inside of the said housing | casing was provided with the protective tube which permeate | transmits the circumference | surroundings of the said light source, and permeate | transmits the light from the said light source.
In addition, a temperature measuring unit that measures the temperature of the object to be processed is provided inside the housing,
A light source control unit for controlling the power supplied to the light source;
The light source control unit controls electric power supplied to the light source based on a measurement value in the temperature measurement unit.
Further, a moisture supply unit for supplying moisture to the object to be processed is provided in the casing.

Moreover, the sterilizer provided with any one of the germination apparatuses described above is characterized in that an ozone supply unit for supplying ozone is provided in the casing.
In addition, the housing includes a moisture supply unit that supplies moisture to the object to be processed, and a control unit that controls the moisture supply unit and the ozone supply unit. The moisture supply unit and the ozone supply unit are controlled to supply the ozone after supplying the moisture and irradiating near infrared light from the light source to germinate the spore-forming bacteria. And
The ozone supply unit may be an ultraviolet light source that emits ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 200 nm or less provided in the housing.

According to the germination inducing apparatus according to the present invention, germination can be induced in a short time without using chemical substances (nutrients) in sterilizing spore-forming bacteria adhering to an object such as food. The chemical substance does not remain after the sterilization treatment, and the risk that the bacteria that could not be inactivated can proliferate during storage can be reduced.
And since the bacteria which foodstuffs have germinated and germinated, the variation in the inactivation degree of the bacteria after a germicidal process reduces.

The side sectional view (A) and the BB sectional view (B) of the 1st example of the germination guidance device of the present invention. Side sectional view (A) and BB sectional view (B) of the second embodiment. Side sectional view (A) and BB sectional view (B) of the third embodiment. Side sectional view of the fourth embodiment. Side sectional drawing of 5th Example. Side sectional view of the sixth embodiment. Side sectional view (A) and BB sectional view (B) of the seventh embodiment. Side sectional drawing of 8th Example. The side sectional view of the 1st example of the sterilizer of the present invention. Side sectional view (A), BB sectional view (B), CC sectional view (C) of the second embodiment. An example of the processing process of the germination processing apparatus of this invention. The 2nd example of the processing process of the germination processing apparatus of this invention. An example of the processing process of the sterilizer of this invention.

1st Example of the germination induction apparatus of this invention is shown by FIG. 1 (A) (B). In this embodiment, the object to be sterilized is a food, for example, a solid material such as black pepper.
Spore-forming bacteria adhere to the surface of the object to be treated, and the spore-forming bacteria are germinated so that the subsequent sterilization by ozone is effective.
In FIG. 1, a germination induction device (processing device) 1 has a rotatable cylindrical casing 2, and an object to be processed M such as black pepper is accommodated therein.
The housing 2 can be rotated about a rotation axis X by a rotation mechanism 4 including a support base 41 placed on the gantry 3 and a rotation roller 42 rotatably supported on the support base 41. It is supported.

A light source 5 is inserted and supported in the housing 2, and the light source 5 includes a substrate 51 extending in the direction of the rotation axis X of the housing 2 and a near-red color arranged on the substrate 51. The LED 52 emits external light (light having a wavelength in the range of 650 nm to 1400 nm).
The substrate 51 of the light source 5 extends to the outside through the openings 21 at both ends of the housing 2, and is supported on the gantry 3 by the support legs 6.
The power supply line 53 is electrically connected at both ends of the substrate 51, and power is supplied to the LED 52. The LED 52 emits light, and near infrared light is emitted. Here, the near infrared light emitted from the LED 52 is preferably light having a peak wavelength in a wavelength region of a wavelength of 650 nm to 1400 nm.

In the above configuration, as shown in FIG. 1B, the workpiece M is accommodated in the housing 2 and the rotating roller 42 of the rotating mechanism 4 is rotated. When the housing 2 begins to rotate, the internal processing object M is repeatedly lifted up the inner wall of the housing 2 in the rotational direction and then slips down to the opposite side of the rotational direction. The rotation of the housing 2 is not limited to rotation in one direction, and may be repeated in both directions by a certain amount.
During this time, the LED 52 of the light source 5 is turned on, and the object M is irradiated with near-infrared light. By this near infrared light irradiation, spore-forming bacteria attached to the surface of the workpiece M germinate.
Since the workpiece M is lifted by the inner wall in the housing 2 in the rotational direction and then stirred by repeatedly sliding down in the opposite direction due to gravity, the workpiece M is uniformly distributed in the near infrared. Since it is exposed to light, the germination process is performed evenly.
Further, since the light source 5 is supported in a stationary state independently of the housing 2, the power supply line 53 is not twisted and cut.
In addition, it goes without saying that the processing object M is accommodated and taken out from the housing 2 through an opening / closing door (not shown) provided in the housing 2.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment. In addition to the configuration of the first embodiment of FIG. 1, a protective tube 10 is provided around the light source 5 so as to surround it. The protective tube 10 is made of a material such as quartz glass that transmits near-infrared light from the light source 5, is provided so as to penetrate the housing 2, and penetrates the openings 21 at both ends of the housing 2. It protrudes to the outside and extends, and is supported by support legs 7 at both ends thereof.
The protective tube 10 prevents dust or the like generated by stirring the workpiece M in the housing 2 from adhering to the light source 5, and does not degrade performance.

FIG. 3 shows a third embodiment. In the second embodiment of FIG. 2, the protective tube 10 is supported independently of the housing 2 whereas the protective tube 10 is supported by the housing 2. It is what is installed in. That is, both ends of the protective tube 10 are attached to both ends of the housing 2.
In this embodiment, the protective tube 10 rotates together with the housing 2. However, the light source 5 is independent of the housing 2 as in the first embodiment of FIG. It will not be cut.

FIG. 4 shows a fourth embodiment, in which only one end of the protective tube 10 is open, and the open end 10 a is inserted so as to protrude from the housing 2. A support member 8 is attached so as to close the open end 10 a, and a light source 5 is attached to the support member 8 and is inserted into the protective tube 10. That is, the protective tube 10 and the light source 5 are supported by the support member 8 and inserted into the housing 2 in a cantilever manner.
According to this embodiment, since the protective tube 10 is hermetically sealed by the support member 8, the internal light source 5 is more effectively prevented from being contaminated.

FIG. 5 shows a fifth embodiment. In this embodiment, means for controlling the input power to the light source 5 according to the temperature of the workpiece M is provided.
In FIG. 5, a temperature measuring unit 11 that measures the temperature of the workpiece M is provided on the substrate 51 of the light source 5 inserted into the protective tube 10. The temperature measuring unit 11 is preferably provided at a substantially central portion in the axial direction of the housing 2. The temperature measuring unit 11 is not limited to the substrate 51 of the light source 5, and can be provided on the inner surface or the outer surface of the protective tube 10.
And the temperature measurement part 11 is connected to the light source control part 12, and according to the measured temperature measurement value of the to-be-processed object M, the input power to the light source 5 is controlled by the light source control part 12, and the near is emitted. The intensity of the infrared light can be maintained so that the germination efficiency is high.
In addition, the object to be processed M is not excessively heated, and the near-infrared light from the light source 5 is irradiated while being kept at an appropriate temperature, so that the object to be processed M is not altered. .
Moreover, as the temperature measurement part 11, what measures the temperature of a to-be-processed object by a non-contact system is preferable. By using such a non-contact type temperature measuring unit, the object to be processed which is food and the temperature measuring unit do not contact each other, which is preferable from the viewpoint of hygiene. As such a temperature measuring unit, a radiation thermometer is preferably used.

FIG. 6 shows a sixth embodiment. In this embodiment, the workpiece M is provided with a moisture supply unit 13 for activating moisture, and moisture is supplied from a moisture supply pipe 14 opened in the housing 2. Is ejected into the housing 2 and supplied to the workpiece M.
As the water supply means, appropriate means such as humidified air, air containing water droplets (mist) (mist aerosol), or water droplet spraying can be used.
It is known that spore-forming bacteria are efficiently germinated when containing a certain amount of water, and by providing the water supply unit 13, it is possible to activate appropriate water in the workpiece M.
In FIG. 6, the moisture supply pipe 14 is shown as being located at an end in the housing 2, but may extend over the entire length of the housing 2 in the axial direction.
Further, in the structure in which the moisture supply unit 13 is provided as in this embodiment, the protective tube 10 is provided so that the moisture supplied into the housing 2 does not adhere to the light source 5. Is desirable.

  FIG. 7 shows a seventh embodiment. In this embodiment, the rotation of the housing 2 is not driven by the lower rotating roller 42, but a rotating cylindrical shaft 22 provided on the side surface of the housing 2, You may be based on the rotation mechanism which consists of drive means (not shown), such as a gear for rotating this. In this case, the rotating roller 42 that supports the housing 2 is driven to rotate by the rotation of the housing 2.

In the above embodiment, the near infrared light source 5 irradiated to the workpiece M has been described as using the LED 52, but a halogen lamp may be employed in addition to the LED. The eighth embodiment of FIG. 8 is an example. A halogen lamp 55 is provided as a light source 5 in the housing 2 so as to extend over the entire length in the rotation axis direction. Both end sealing portions 58 of the halogen lamp 55 are supported by the support legs 6.
When the halogen lamp 55 is used as the light source 5, light in a wavelength band absorbed by the workpiece M, for example, light in a wavelength band absorbed by moisture in the workpiece M (light of 1400 nm or more) Absorption by the processed material M raises the temperature of the processed material M and adversely affects the germination treatment. Therefore, it is preferable to cut and irradiate light in this wavelength band.
For this purpose, it is preferable to provide a filter (not shown) for cutting light in this wavelength band between the halogen lamp 55 and the workpiece M.
Such a filter can be provided, for example, on the surface of the arc tube of the halogen lamp 55, or when the protective tube 10 is provided as shown in the drawing, can be provided on the surface of the protective tube 10.

Although the above has described a germination treatment apparatus that induces germination of spore-forming bacteria attached to an object such as food, an apparatus having the same structure can be used as a sterilization apparatus, and examples thereof are shown in FIGS. 9 and 10. Has been.
In the first embodiment of the sterilization apparatus (processing apparatus) 1 shown in FIG. 9, in addition to the structure of the germination apparatus shown in FIG. 2, in order to sterilize the workpiece M after germination, 2 is provided with an ozone supply unit 15 for supplying ozone. And the control part 16 for controlling the moisture supply part 13 and the ozone supply part 15 is provided.
In the above configuration, the germination treatment prior to sterilization is the same as in the sixth embodiment of FIG. 6, and the object M activated by the moisture supply unit 13 is irradiated with near infrared light from the light source 5. Germinate the spore-forming bacteria. Thereafter, ozone is supplied from the ozone supply unit 15 into the housing 2 to sterilize the spore-forming bacteria of the workpiece M.
This series of operations is performed by the control unit 16.

As the ozone supply source, an ultraviolet lamp can be used, and FIG. 10 shows a second embodiment of the sterilizing apparatus having the configuration. FIG. 10B is a cross-sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. FIG. 10C is a cross-sectional view taken along the line CC of FIG. As shown in FIGS. 10B and 10C, an ultraviolet lamp 17 is arranged in the housing 2 so as to be in parallel with the near-infrared light source 5. If necessary, the ultraviolet lamp 17 may be provided with a second protective tube 18 such as quartz glass so as to surround it.
The ultraviolet lamp 17 emits ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 200 nm or less. For example, a low-pressure mercury lamp that emits light having a wavelength of 185 nm and a wavelength of 253 nm, a xenon excimer lamp that emits light having a wavelength of 172 nm, or the like is used. be able to. However, when it is desired to avoid the object M to be irradiated with ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm or more, a xenon excimer lamp is preferable among the lamps. Light having a wavelength of 200 nm or less is absorbed by oxygen in the air in the housing 2 to generate ozone.

In the second embodiment, a water supply unit 13 is provided, and the water supply unit 13 and the ultraviolet lamp 17 are connected to the control unit 16.
In the above configuration, the control unit 16 operates the moisture supply unit 13 to supply moisture to the object to be processed M in the housing 2, and then turns on the near-infrared light source 5 to near red to the object to be processed M. Irradiate with external light to germinate spore-forming bacteria attached to the workpiece M. Thereafter, the ultraviolet lamp 17 is turned on to emit ultraviolet rays having a wavelength of 200 nm or less.
When this ultraviolet ray having a wavelength of 200 nm or less is radiated into the housing 2 from the second protective tube 18, ozone is generated by being absorbed by oxygen present in the surroundings, and this ozone sterilizes the spore-forming bacteria of the workpiece M. Is used.

A processing process using the processing apparatus 1 of the present invention is described in FIG.
11 and 12 are processing processes for explaining the germination process, and FIG. 13 is a processing process for explaining the germination process and the subsequent sterilization process.
In FIG. 11, an object to be processed is put into a casing (A), and the casing is rotated (B). Thereafter, the near-infrared light source is turned on (C), the object to be treated is irradiated with near-infrared light, germinating the spore-forming bacteria adhering to the treated part, and turning off after a certain period of time (D ). Then, the rotation of the housing is stopped (E), and the germinated material is taken out (F).

  In FIG. 12, the object to be processed is put into the case (A), and the case is rotated (B). Thereafter, water supply is started (G), predetermined water is activated in the object to be processed, and water supply is stopped (H). Next, the near-infrared light source is turned on (C), the object is irradiated with near-infrared light, germinating spore-forming bacteria adhering to the part to be treated, and turning off after a certain period of time (D ). Then, the rotation of the housing is stopped (E), and the germinated material is taken out (F).

FIG. 13 shows a process of sterilizing with ozone after germinating the object to be processed. From the process (A) to the germination process with near infrared light (D) from the introduction into the casing of the object to be processed. This is the same as the process of FIG. Thereafter, ozone is supplied into the casing (I) to sterilize. After sterilization, ozone supply is stopped (J), rotation of the housing is stopped (E), and the sterilized object to be processed is taken out from the housing (F).
Further, when an ultraviolet lamp is used as the ozone supply means as in the tenth embodiment of FIG. 10, the ultraviolet lamp is turned on (I) after the near infrared light source is turned off (D) to generate ozone. Then, after performing a predetermined sterilization treatment with ozone, the ultraviolet lamp is turned off (J). Thereafter, the rotation of the housing is stopped (E), and the workpiece is taken out (F).

  In the above processing process, each process does not need to pass the time strictly with the subsequent process. For example, in FIGS. 11 to 13, the rotation operation of the housing and the lighting of the near-infrared light source or the start of water supply May be a slight overlap in time, or conversely, a subsequent processing step may be performed after a predetermined time has elapsed. The same applies to each subsequent processing step.

As described above, according to the germination inducing apparatus according to the present invention, the object to be processed is put into the case and irradiated with near infrared light while rotating the case. Since it is agitated in the housing and irradiated with near-infrared light uniformly, it is possible to induce germination of all spore-forming bacteria adhering to the object to be treated.
In addition, since moisture can be supplied to the object to be processed from the moisture supply unit provided in the housing, the subsequent germination process using near infrared light can be effectively performed.
Furthermore, by supplying ozone in the same housing, germination-induced spore-forming bacteria can be effectively sterilized.

1: Germination induction device, sterilization device (treatment device)
2: Housing 3: Mount 4: Rotating mechanism 41: Supporting table 42: Rotating roller 5: Light source for germination
51: Substrate 52: LED
53: Feed line 55: Halogen lamp 58: Sealing part 6: Support leg 7: Support leg 8: Support member 10: Protection tube 10a: Open end 11: Temperature measurement part 12: Light source control part 13: Water supply part 14 : Moisture supply tube 15: Ozone supply unit 16: Control unit 17: UV lamp 18: Second protective tube M: Object to be treated

Claims (7)

A germination treatment apparatus for inducing germination of the spore-forming bacteria when sterilizing the spore-forming bacteria attached to the treatment object,
A rotatable housing in which the workpiece is accommodated;
A light source that emits near-infrared light provided to extend in the rotation axis direction inside the housing;
A rotation mechanism for rotating the housing around the rotation axis;
A germination apparatus characterized by comprising:   The germination apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a protective tube that is provided inside the housing so as to surround the light source and transmits light from the light source. A temperature measuring unit for measuring the temperature of the object to be processed is provided inside the housing,
A light source control unit for controlling the power supplied to the light source;
The germination apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the light source control unit controls electric power supplied to the light source based on a measurement value in the temperature measurement unit. The germination apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a water supply unit that supplies water to the object to be processed in the housing.
  Sterilization for sterilizing spore-forming bacteria attached to an object to be treated, comprising an ozone supply unit for supplying ozone in the housing in the germination apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. apparatus. In the casing, provided with a moisture supply unit for supplying moisture to the workpiece,
A control unit for controlling the moisture supply unit and the ozone supply unit;
The control unit supplies the moisture to the object to be processed, irradiates near-infrared light from the light source to germinate the spore-forming bacteria, and then supplies the ozone. The sterilizer according to claim 5, wherein the ozone supply unit is controlled. The sterilization apparatus according to claim 5 or 6, wherein the ozone supply unit is an ultraviolet light source that emits ultraviolet light having a wavelength of 200 nm or less provided in the housing.

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