JP3532635B2 - Carbonated beverage filling device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a carbonated beverage filling and capping device, and more particularly to vacuum suction of air in a bottle to replace it with carbon dioxide gas,
The present invention relates to a carbonated drink filling and capping device that caps a crown after filling a predetermined amount of carbonated drink in a pressurized state.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional beer bottle filling machine sucks air in a bottle and replaces it with carbon dioxide gas, and then fills a predetermined amount of beer under pressure. Thereafter, the bottle leaves the filling valve of the bottle filling machine in order to plug the crown into the bottle mouth, but at that moment, outside air flows into the head space formed between the liquid surface and the bottle mouth portion.

Beer is oxidized by this inflowing air,
Since beer quality is degraded, in order to prevent air from remaining in the headspace, high-pressure clear water is injected into the bottle to foam the beer inside, and the bubbles rise in the headspace to cause air to flow. Is removed from the head pace and then capped with a capping machine (see, for example, JP-A-48-15688).

As another method for removing the air in the head space, after the beer is filled, carbon dioxide gas is blown to the head space from a blowing nozzle and, similarly, carbon dioxide gas is blown to the inside of the crown from a blowing nozzle. Capping is performed (for example, JP-A-61-111).
(See Japanese Patent No. 5879).

[0005]

However, in the above-mentioned method of injecting high-pressure clear water into the bottle, there is a problem that the beer spills out of the bottle because beer is foamed by the high-pressure clear water injection. there were. The spillage of beer increases the risk of microbial contamination of the bottle filling machine and its surroundings, and the amount of spillage is not constant, so that the amount of flavor varies. Further, even if the amount is small, the amount of beer spillage will be a loss, and there is a problem that the accumulated loss amount due to mass production cannot be ignored.

Further, in the method of blowing carbon dioxide gas to the inside of the head space and the crown, the air in the head space and the air inside the crown are exposed because the bottle mouth and the crown are in an open atmosphere exposed to the outside air. There is a problem that it cannot be completely replaced with carbon dioxide. Moreover, the fact that the ambient air is accompanied by the carbon dioxide gas blown out from the blowout nozzle is also a factor that makes it impossible to completely replace the carbon dioxide gas with the air.

On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-98894 proposes a beverage filling device in which a PET container is filled with a liquid under a preload, a label is attached, and a screw cap is screwed into a bottle mouth. In this beverage filling device, after filling the liquid by opening the liquid valve in the pressurized closed space and displacing the air in the container with the liquid by letting the air in the container escape from the gas pipe, I am trying to attach a screw cap. The purpose of this device is to make it possible to label even a PET container that is deformed and unstable by performing liquid filling, labeling and capping under preload, and to ensure refilling under aseptic conditions. To do.

However, when the above-mentioned apparatus is applied to the filling of beer, since the liquid in the container is filled with the liquid while replacing the air in the container with the liquid under pressure, the liquid surface and the bottle mouth are filled with the liquid. There is a problem that air remains in the head space between the parts and the beer is oxidized, which may lead to deterioration of beer quality. In this case, since the amount of air remaining in the head space is under pressure, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 48-15688 and 61/61 are used.
Compared to the method described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 115879/1990, the number of the methods is large, and this point also hinders the application to beer filling.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and it is possible to minimize the residual air in the headspace in a bottle without bubbling a carbonated beverage, such as beer, and spilling it outside the bottle. An object is to provide a beverage filling stopper device.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention provides a replacement chamber which is provided in a filling valve and can communicate with a vacuum source and a carbon dioxide gas source, and a crown which supplies a crown into the replacement chamber. A supply unit and a stoppering unit for stoppering the crown supplied to the replacement chamber into the bottle mouth are provided, and the replacement chamber and the bottle are evacuated in a state where the crown is supplied to the replacement chamber and then carbon dioxide gas is used. It is characterized in that the cap is purged and filled with a carbonated drink, and the crown is capped in a carbon dioxide gas atmosphere after filling the carbonated drink.

[0011]

According to the present invention having the above-mentioned structure, after the crown is supplied into the replacement chamber by the crown supply unit, the inside of the replacement chamber and the bottle is communicated with the vacuum source, and the air in the bottle and the inside of the crown are sufficiently supplied. Exhaust. Then, carbon dioxide gas is supplied from the carbon dioxide gas source into the substitution chamber and the bottle for purging, and the bottle is filled with a carbonated beverage such as beer. When the filling of the carbonated drink is completed, the crown is capped in a carbon dioxide gas atmosphere.

According to one aspect of the present invention, the replacement chamber is configured to be openable / closable by the lower portion of the filling valve and the lower cover which can be moved up and down, and the replacement chamber is replaced by the crown supply portion when the replacement chamber is opened. Since the crown is supplied to the inside of the chamber, the crown supplying section can be configured by a rotary type crowning disc.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a crown holder provided with a magnet is arranged in the replacement chamber, and the crown holder is provided with a crown advancing position for advancing the crown to a position at which it can be engaged with the bottle mouth. In order to take the crown standby position apart from the bottle mouth, the bottle is evacuated and the carbon dioxide gas is purged while the crown is in a standby state, and then a carbonated beverage such as beer is filled, and then the crown is advanced and stoppered. be able to.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, the lower cover is provided with a seal case that holds the bottle shoulder seal packing and moves up and down following the vertical movement of the bottle. Ation process, filling process,
The bottle moves up and down according to each process such as the stoppering process, but the bottle shoulder seal packing can always seal the bottle shoulder.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a carbonated beverage filling and capping apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the examples, beer will be described as an example of a carbonated beverage. FIG. 1 is a plan view showing the overall structure of a carbonated beverage filling and capping device of the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a filling stopper portion for stoppering a crown after filling a bottle 5 conveyed on a circular orbit with beer. Bottle supply star wheel 3 that supplies empty bottle 5
4 are installed.

A bottle discharge star wheel 35 for discharging the bottle 5 which has been filled with beer and capped with crown is discharged from the filling and tapping unit 1 is installed adjacent to the filling and tapping unit 1. And
A crown supply unit 21 for supplying the crown 23 to the filling stopper unit 1 is installed at an intermediate position between the bottle supply star wheel 34 and the bottle discharge star wheel 35.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing the details of the filling stopper 1 and the crown supply unit 21. The filling and capping unit 1 includes a plurality of bottle lifters 3 that are mounted on a rotary table 2 with bottles 5 installed at predetermined intervals and are moved up and down. The bottle lifter 3 can be moved up and down by a lifter cam 4 with a bottle 5 placed thereon. Reference numeral 32 is a cam follower that contacts the lifter cam 4. In addition, the filling stopper 1 is provided with a plurality of filling valves 6 above the bottle lifter 3 so as to correspond to the bottle lifter 3.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the details of the filling valve 6. The filling valve 6 has a liquid supply passage 7 that communicates with a beer tank (not shown). Inside the liquid supply passage 7,
A valve stem 9 provided with a liquid seal packing 8 is arranged in the lower part. In addition, a sensor 36 is provided in the valve stem 9.
The sensor 36 is provided with a cam (not shown).
The cam follower 37, which comes into contact with, can move up and down.

The filling valve 6 has a gas passage 10. The gas passage 10 is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) via an evacuation valve V ₁ and a counter pressure valve V ₂ . Is connected to a carbon dioxide gas source (not shown), and is connected to the atmosphere via a sniff valve V ₃ .

The lower portion of the filling valve 6 is adapted to form a replacement chamber 11 which constitutes a closed space. That is,
A lower portion of the filling valve 6 is opened downward, and a lower cover 12 is provided so as to close the opening. The replacement chamber 11 is provided by the lower portion of the filling valve 6 and the lower cover 12.
Are configured to form. The lower cover 12 is connected to the air cylinder 13, and the air cylinder 1
By the operation of 3, the lower cover 12 moves up and down along the guide rod 14 to open and close the replacement chamber 11. A bottle seal packing 16 is provided at the portion where the liquid supply passage 7 opens into the replacement chamber 11. Reference numeral 39 is a seal packing for forming the closed replacement chamber 11.

The lower cover 12 has a seal case 1
7, a bottle shoulder guide 18 and a bottle shoulder seal packing 19 are held at the lower end of the seal case 17. A compression coil spring 20 is interposed between the seal case 17 and the lower cover 12, and the seal case 17 is configured to move up and down along the guide rod 14 by the urging force of the compression coil spring 20. .

The crown supply section 21 is fixed to a rotary shaft 22 as shown in FIG.
And a crowning chute 25 for supplying the crown 23 to the crowning disk 24. A part of the crowning disk 24 holds the crown 23 and a replacement chamber Replacement chamber 1 when 11 is open
It is designed to be inserted into 1.

On the other hand, a crown holder 27 having a magnet 26 therein is arranged in the substitution chamber 11 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the crown holder 27 is attached to a cam follower 29 via a shaft 28. It is connected. While the cam follower 29 is in contact with the cam 30, the crown holder 27
Is slightly above the crown 23 on the crowning disc 24, and is in the crown advance position where the magnet 26 can attract the crown 23. When the cam follower 29 is separated from the cam 30, the crown holder 27 holds the crown 23 and holds the guide bar 31.
And is moved to the crown stand-by position in the replacement chamber 11 while being guided by.

Next, the operation of the carbonated drink filling and capping device having the above-mentioned structure will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 16. Note that the following steps A to M are performed at each position corresponding to A to M in FIG. (A) Crown Supply Process As shown in FIG. 4, the lower cover 12 is lowered by the operation of the air cylinder 13, and the replacement chamber 11 is opened. Further, the bottle lifter 3 is in a state of being lowered by the lifter cam 4 (see FIG. 2), and at this time, the bottle 5 has not been supplied yet. The crown holder 27 is in the crown advanced position by the action of the cam 30 and the cam follower 29. The crown 23 sent from the crown shoot 25 (see FIG. 2) is
The crowning disc 24 is supplied below the crown holder 27 by a circular motion about the rotation shaft 22 (see FIG. 2). At this time, the crown 23 is attracted and held by the magnet 26 of the crown holder 27. After that, the crown supply disk 24 escapes while rotating, and the crown supply unit 21 prepares for the next crown supply.

(B) Crown standby position moving process As shown in FIG. 5, the crown holder 2 to which the crown 23 is supplied is supplied.
7 is moved to the crown standby position by the cam mechanism (consisting of the cam 30 and the cam follower 29).

(C) Formation of Replacement Chamber and Bottle Supplying Process As shown in FIG. 6, the air cylinder 13 operates to raise the lower cover 12 to form the sealed replacement chamber 11. At this time, the bottle 5 is supplied to the bottle lifter 3 from the bottle supply star wheel 34 shown in FIG.

(D) Pre-evacuation process The lifter cam 4 (see FIG. 2) is activated, and the bottle lifter 3
7 rises with the bottle 5 as shown in FIG. 7, the bottle mouth 5a is sealed by the bottle mouth seal packing 16, and the bottle shoulder 5b
Is sealed by the bottle shoulder seal packing 19. In this state, the evacuation valve V ₁ is opened, and the substitution chamber 11 including the inside of the bottle, the outside of the bottle shoulder, and the crown 23 is evacuated by a vacuum pump. Oxygen inside the bottle 5 and inside the substitution chamber 11 is removed by this preevacuation process. This prevents deterioration of beer during beer filling.

(E) Counter Pressurization and Sensor Lowering Process As shown in FIG. 8, the counter pressure valve V ₂ is opened with the evacuation valve V ₁ closed and the sniff valve V ₃ closed. As a result, carbon dioxide gas (CO ₂ ) is supplied from the carbon dioxide gas source to the inside of the bottle 5 and the inside of the substitution chamber 11, and the inside of the bottle and the inside of the substitution chamber 11 are made to have a positive pressure.
Next, in preparation for beer filling, the sensor 36 is lowered to a predetermined position inside the bottle by the action of the cam (not shown) and the cam follower 37. In addition, the process of (D) and (E)
In some cases, the above process may be repeated twice.

(F) Filling Step When the counter pressure inside the bottle 5 and the inside of the substitution chamber 11 reaches a predetermined pressure, as shown in FIG. 9, the liquid seal packing 8 rises and the beer enters the bottle from the liquid supply passage 7. To be filled. For beer, the spiral blade 9a formed on the valve stem 9
It is filled while spirally tying the inner wall of the bottle. At the same time as the beer is filled, the purge gas (carbon dioxide gas) in the bottle is gradually exhausted.

(G) Filled Liquid Level Detection Step As shown in FIG. 10, when beer comes into contact with the lower end of the sensor 36 in the bottle, the sensor 36 outputs a detection signal, and this signal causes the valve stem 9 to descend. The liquid seal packing 8 closes the liquid supply passage 7 to complete the beer filling.

(H) Filling Completion Even after the liquid valve is closed, that is, after the liquid seal packing 8 closes the liquid supply passage 7, the beer partially inside the bottle shoulder falls into the bottle, as shown in FIG. Thus, the liquid level rises above the lower end of the sensor 36 by a certain amount.

(I) Sensor Raising Step When the beer filling is completed, the cam 36 (not shown) and the cam follower 37 raise the sensor 36 to the outside of the bottle as shown in FIG.

(J) Bottle lowering step As shown in FIG. 13, the bottle lifter 3 is lowered by the lifter cam 4 (see FIG. 2) so that the crown 23 can slide to the upper portion of the bottle mouth, and the bottle 5 is lowered. As the bottle descends, the seal case 17 also descends together with the bottle due to the urging force of the compression coil spring 20, and the bottle shoulder seal packing 1
No. 9 continues to seal the bottle shoulder 5b. Further, the sniff valve V ₃ is opened to such an extent that the displacement chamber 11 can maintain the positive pressure state as the bottle descends, and the sniff valve (releases pressure to the atmosphere).
To do.

(K) Crown Advance Process As shown in FIG. 14, the cam follower 29 contacts the cam 30, the crown holder 27 advances, and the crown 23 advances to the upper part of the bottle mouth. (L) Capping step By raising the lifter cam 4 (see FIG. 2), the bottle cap 5a is pressed against the crown 23 as shown in FIG. 15, and the cap 23 is plugged into the bottle cap 5a. At this time, the stopper is a temporary stopper (pushing load: about 1) that can temporarily seal the inside of the bottle.
Even with 00 kgf, the final final stopper (pushing load: approx. 35)
0 kgf). In addition, when temporary plugging is performed, the main plugging is performed after the bottle is drained. (M) Bottle Discharging Process As shown in FIG. 16, the lifter cam 4 (see FIG. 2) lowers the bottle lifter 3 and the air cylinder 13 lowers the lower cover 12 to release the seal of the replacement chamber 11. After that, the bottle 5 is discharged from the bottle lifter 3 of the filling stopper 1 by the bottle discharging star wheel 35 (see FIG. 1).

As described above, in this embodiment, after the crown 23 is supplied into the replacement chamber 11 by the crown supply unit 21, the replacement chamber 11 and the bottle are connected to the vacuum pump so that the bottle and the crown 23 are connected to each other. Exhaust the air inside the.
Then, carbon dioxide gas is supplied into the substitution chamber 11 and the bottle by the carbon dioxide gas source to purge the bottle and the bottle is filled with beer. And with the completion of beer filling, crown 2 in a carbon dioxide atmosphere
Plug in 3.

According to the present embodiment, the replacement chamber 11 is constructed so that it can be opened and closed by the lower part of the beer filling valve 6 and the lower cover 12 which can be moved up and down, and the crown supply is performed when the replacement chamber 11 is opened. Since the crown 23 is supplied from the portion 21 into the replacement chamber 11, the crown supply portion 21 can be configured by the rotary crowning disc 24.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the crown holder 27 having the magnet 26 is arranged in the substitution chamber 11, and the crown holder 27 advances the crown 23 to a position where it can be engaged with the bottle mouth. In order to take the forward position and the crown waiting position apart from the bottle mouth, the bottle 23 is evacuated and the carbon dioxide gas is purged while the crown 23 is on standby, and then beer is filled, and then the crown 23 is advanced and capped. can do.

Further, according to this embodiment, the lower cover 1
2 is equipped with a seal case 17 that holds the bottle shoulder seal packing 19 and moves up and down following the up and down movement of the bottle 5, so that each process such as a preevacuation process, a filling process, and a stoppering process is performed. Although the bottle 5 moves up and down in accordance with the above, the bottle shoulder seal packing 19 can always seal the bottle shoulder 5b.

FIG. 17 is a view showing another embodiment of the carbonated beverage filling and capping apparatus of the present invention, and FIG. 17 is a sectional view showing details of the filling and tapping section 1 and the crown supply section 21. In the present embodiment, the air cylinder for moving the lower cover 12 up and down is configured as an elevating cylinder 13A slidably arranged with respect to the filling valve 6. Lifting cylinder 1
An air chamber 41 is formed between 3A and the filling valve 6, and this air chamber 41 is connected to a compressed air source (not shown) via an air supply valve V ₄ .

As shown in FIG. 18, the lifting cylinder 1
3A is connected to the lower cover 12 via the rods 42, 42. A compression coil spring 43 is interposed between the lower cover 12 and the filling valve 6.

In the above structure, the air supply valve V
By opening ₄ and introducing high-pressure air into the air chamber 41, the lifting cylinder 13A and the lower cover 12 rise. By opening the air chamber 41 to the atmosphere, the lower cover 12 is lowered by its own weight and the urging force of the spring 43. Other configurations are similar to those of the embodiment shown in FIGS.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention, the inside of the replacement chamber and the bottle is evacuated while the crown is being supplied to the replacement chamber and then purged with carbon dioxide gas, and then the bottle is filled with the carbonated beverage. In addition, the crown can be stoppered in a carbon dioxide gas atmosphere. Therefore, after the vacuum evacuation and the carbon dioxide purging process, the air in the bottle is almost completely replaced with carbon dioxide and the air inside the crown is also replaced with carbon dioxide, and then carbon dioxide is removed under a carbon dioxide atmosphere shielded from the outside air. Beverages can be filled and the crown can be capped, thus minimizing residual air in the headspace.

Further, when the present invention is applied to the filling and stoppering of beer, it is not necessary to foam the beer to discharge the residual air in the head space, so that the problem of microbial contamination due to the spilling of beer and the amount of seasoning are included. It is possible to solve both the problem of dispersion of beer and the problem of beer loss.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view showing one embodiment of a carbonated beverage filling capping apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing one embodiment of a carbonated beverage filling tapping device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part of a carbonated beverage filling and capping device according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a crown supply step in a filling and capping step of the carbonated beverage filling and capping apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view for explaining a crown standby position moving step in the filling and capping step of the carbonated beverage filling and capping apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a replacement chamber forming and bottle feeding process in the filling and capping process of the carbonated beverage filling and capping device according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory view illustrating a pre-evacuation step in the filling and capping step of the carbonated beverage filling and capping apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory view for explaining a counter pressurization and sensor lowering process in the filling and capping process of the carbonated beverage filling and capping device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view illustrating a filling step in a filling and stoppering step of the carbonated beverage filling and stoppering apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view for explaining a filling liquid level detecting step in the filling and stoppering step of the carbonated beverage filling and stoppering apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory view illustrating the end of filling in the filling and stoppering step of the carbonated beverage filling and stoppering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a sensor raising step in a filling and capping step of the carbonated beverage filling and capping apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory view for explaining a bottle lowering step in the filling and stoppering step of the carbonated beverage filling and stoppering apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory view for explaining a crown advancing process in the filling and capping process of the carbonated beverage filling and capping device according to the present invention.

FIG. 15 is an explanatory view illustrating a capping process in a filling and capping process of the carbonated beverage filling and capping device according to the present invention.

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view illustrating a bottle discharging process in a filling and stoppering process of the carbonated beverage filling and stoppering device according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the carbonated beverage filling tapping device according to the present invention.

18 is a perspective view showing the relationship between the lifting cylinder and the lower cover in the embodiment shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Filling stopper part 2 Rotary table 3 Bottle lifter 4 Lifter cam 5 Bottle 6 Filling valve 7 Liquid supply passage 8 Liquid seal packing 9 Valve stem 10 Gas passage 11 Replacement chamber 12 Lower cover 13 Air cylinder 13A Lifting cylinder 16 Bottle mouth seal packing 17 Seal Case 19 Bottle shoulder seal packing 21 Crown supply part 23 Crown 24 Crowning disc 25 Crowning chute 26 Magnet 27 Crown holder 36 Sensor 41 Air chamber 43 Compression coil spring V ₁ Evacuation valve V ₂ Counter pressure valve V ₃ Snift valve V ₄ Air Supply valve

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Toshio Suzuki 6-26-1, Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Within Kirin Kiryu Co., Ltd. (72) Kenichi Tsukano Sogo Tamotocho, Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture Shibuya Industrial Co., Ltd. In-company (72) Takashi Miyazaki 58 Sou Tamoto-cho Kanazawa-shi, Ishikawa Prefecture Shibuya Kogyo Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Akihiro Nishimura 58 Soy-Tamoto-cho Ko Kanazawa, Ishikawa Shibuya Kogyo Co., Ltd. (56) References Special Kai 61-115880 (JP, A) Actual Kai 63-64697 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) B67B 3/02 B67C 3/06 B67C 3/10

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A replacement chamber provided in a filling valve and capable of communicating with a vacuum source and a carbon dioxide gas source, a crown supply section for supplying a crown into the replacement chamber, and a crown supplied with the crown chamber supplied to the replacement chamber. And a capping portion for capping, the inside of the replacement chamber and the bottle is evacuated in a state where a crown is supplied to the replacement chamber, and then a carbonated beverage is filled by purging with a carbon dioxide gas, and a carbon dioxide gas atmosphere is filled after filling the carbonated drink. A capping device for filling carbonated drinks, characterized in that the crown is capped therein. 2. The replacement chamber is configured to be openable and closable by a lower portion of the filling valve and a lower cover that can move up and down, and when the replacement chamber is in an open state, the crown supply unit inserts the crown into the replacement chamber. The carbonated beverage filling and capping device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. A crown holder provided with a magnet is arranged in the replacement chamber, and the crown holder has a crown advance position for advancing the crown to a position at which the bottle can be engaged with the crown holder and a crown standby position separated from the bottle mouth. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein
The carbonated beverage filling capping device described. 4. The carbonated beverage filling according to claim 1, wherein the lower cover is equipped with a seal case that holds a bottle shoulder seal packing and moves up and down following the up and down movement of the bottle. Stopper device.