JP4265357B2 - Filling system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a filling system that fills a container with a filling liquid, and more particularly to a filling system that is effective for hot pack filling that fills a high-temperature filling liquid, filling a filling liquid containing solids, and the like.

  Production lines for drinking water and the like require high quality control, and liquids to be filled and containers and caps must be completely sterilized. Therefore, hot pack filling in which a heated high-temperature liquid is filled in a container is widely performed. In hot pack filling, the temperature of the liquid filled in the container is controlled so as to maintain a high temperature within a certain range, and the high temperature liquid is filled into the container via a filling nozzle and capped. After that, the container is laid down so that the high temperature filling liquid is brought into contact with the inner surface of the cap or the upper inner surface of the container for a predetermined time to sterilize these parts.

  Even if heating is performed so that the temperature of the liquid to be filled becomes a high temperature within a predetermined range as described above, the flow of the filling liquid is also stopped due to the stoppage of the line, etc. May end up. When the temperature of the filling liquid becomes lower than the standard in this way, the sterilizing effect is lowered. Therefore, the filling liquid whose temperature has been lowered cannot be filled and must be blown when filling is resumed.

  If the temperature of the filling liquid in the line drops when the operation is stopped for a certain time or more, the filling liquid must be blown, causing a problem that the loss is large. In such a case, a filling system has been proposed that can reduce the amount of liquid lost by returning the liquid in the pipe (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  The invention described in Patent Document 1 is provided with a cushion tank for storing a product liquid, a heat sterilization apparatus for heat sterilizing the product liquid, a product liquid sent from the heat sterilization apparatus, and a level sensor. Connects a fine pressure tank, a pressure tank that pressurizes and feeds the filler, a first switching valve provided between the heat sterilizer and the fine pressure tank, a first switching valve, and a cushion tank. In the beverage production line having the first return passage, a second switching valve is provided between the pressurized tank and the filler, and the second switching valve is connected to the cushion tank. A return passage is provided.

  In the present invention, when the filler is stopped for a predetermined time or more, the second switching valve is switched to the second return passage side to recover the liquid.

  In addition, in a filling apparatus that fills a filling liquid containing solid matter, if the filling liquid supplied in the filler bowl is not constantly stirred by a stirring blade or the like, the solid matter is precipitated or floated and cannot be filled. The problem occurs. In view of this, there has already been proposed a filling device in which circulation is performed in a closed circuit while a circulation pump is arranged to perform filling (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

The invention described in Patent Document 2 is provided with a liquid supply branch pipe and a return branch pipe connected to the filler bowl, the return branch pipe is connected to the return pipe, and the return pipe is connected to the product liquid from the storage tank. The liquid supply pipe connected to the discharge side of the liquid supply pump for feeding liquid is connected via a circulation pump, and the liquid supply branch pipe is connected to the liquid supply pipe.
JP 2001-72189 A (page 3-4, FIG. 1) Utility Model Registration No. 2513276 (page 2-3, FIG. 3)

  In the configuration of the invention described in Patent Document 1, when the operation of the filling apparatus is stopped for a certain time or longer, the filling liquid in the pipe is collected, so that the loss of the filling liquid can be reduced. However, since the filler liquid on the filler side after the second switching valve cannot be recovered and must be discharged, there is a problem that the loss of the filler liquid is large.

  Moreover, in the structure of the invention described in patent document 2, there existed a problem that the solid substance in a filling liquid will precipitate, if a driving | operation is stopped.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to prevent the solid matter of the filling liquid containing solids from being precipitated by circulating the filling liquid even during operation stop, and in hot pack filling. An object of the present invention is to provide a filling system capable of extremely reducing the loss of the filling liquid.

  A filling system according to the first aspect of the present invention includes a filling liquid tank that stores a filling liquid, a filling unit that fills the container with the filling liquid, a liquid supply pipe that supplies the filling liquid to the filling liquid tank, Liquid supply means for supplying a filling liquid to the liquid supply pipe, and at least two liquid supply pipes, a bypass passage communicating these liquid supply pipes, and a switching valve for switching a circuit of the bypass passage During normal operation, the filling liquid is supplied to the filling liquid tank via the plurality of liquid supply pipes, and when the filling is stopped, the switching valve is switched to supply the filling liquid through one of the liquid supply pipes. However, the filling liquid is returned from the filling liquid tank by another liquid supply pipe.

  In the filling system according to the second aspect of the present invention, the liquid feeding means includes a heating means for heating the filling liquid, and the filling liquid returned from the filling liquid tank is heated and sent to the liquid supply pipe. It is characterized by liquid.

  In the filling system according to the invention, when filling is stopped, the liquid is supplied to the filling liquid tank through one of the plurality of liquid supply pipes, and the filling liquid in the filling liquid tank is returned through the other liquid supply pipes. Thus, the filling liquid can be circulated. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the temperature of the filling liquid in the filling system from decreasing and to reduce the amount of liquid to be blown after refilling. In addition, since the liquid is constantly circulated even when the filling is stopped, it is possible to prevent the solid matter from being precipitated even in the case of the filling liquid containing the solid matter.

  The liquid temperature is prevented from lowering even when the filling device is stopped, the amount of liquid blown in the temperature rising process at the time of restarting operation is reduced, and solids are precipitated even in beverages mixed with solids such as pulp. The object of prevention can be achieved with a simple configuration in which at least two liquid supply pipes, a bypass passage communicating these liquid supply pipes, and a switching valve for switching a circuit of the bypass passage are provided.

  The present invention will be described below with reference to embodiments shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall structure of a filling system according to an embodiment of the present invention in a simplified manner. A liquid filled in the filling system (for example, a beverage mixed with solids such as pulp) , It is blended in a blending tank (not shown), sent to the cushion tank 2 and stored. In this embodiment, hot pack filling is performed, but the liquid is at room temperature when supplied to the cushion tank 2.

  The liquid stored in the cushion tank 2 is sent to a heater (heat exchanger) 6 as a heating means by a pump 4, sterilized by being heated to a predetermined temperature, and then passed through a pipe 8 to a deaeration tank 10. Sent to. The deaeration tank 10 is open to the atmosphere, and discharges air contained therein by storing the liquid for a predetermined time (for example, 2 minutes). Note that the degassing tank 10 may be omitted depending on the properties of the filling liquid and the filling form, or the slightly pressurized tank described in Patent Document 1 may be employed.

  The liquid stored in the deaeration tank 10 and discharged from the air is sent to the liquid supply pipe 14 via the liquid supply pump 12. A bypass passage 16 is connected to the liquid supply pipe 14 (hereinafter referred to as a first liquid supply pipe), and a second liquid supply pipe 20 and a return pipe 22 are connected to the bypass passage 16 via a switching valve 18. It is connected. The switching valve 18 is switched between a normal production operation and a case where it stops due to some trouble or the like, and the control device 26 is in response to a detection signal from the stop detection sensor 24. Is switched by the command signal output. As the stop detection sensor 24, for example, a stop signal of a drive motor that rotates the filling device 28, a sensor that detects a container on a supply conveyor, or the like can be used.

  The first liquid supply pipe 14 and the second liquid supply pipe 20 are connected to a filling liquid tank 32 of the filling device 28 via a rotary joint 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the filling liquid tank 32 of the filling device 28 has an annular shape, and there are a plurality of first and second liquid supply pipes 14 and 20 (three in this embodiment). Are connected to the filling liquid tank 32 via the branch pipes 14a and 20a. The branch pipes 14a and 20a of the liquid supply pipes 14 and 20 are arranged at equal intervals, respectively, and the branch pipe 14a of the first liquid supply pipe 14 and the branch pipe 20a of the second liquid supply pipe 20 are circumferential. Alternatingly arranged in the direction. The filling liquid tank 32 of the filling device 28 is provided with a plurality of filling means (filling valves) 34 at equal intervals in the circumferential direction on the outer peripheral side thereof. The filling liquid supplied into the filling liquid tank 28 is filled into a container (not shown) through these filling valves 34.

  The return pipe 22 connected to the switching valve 18 is connected to the cushion tank 2 via a pump 36 and a cooler (heat exchanger) 38. As will be described later, the switching valve 18 is switched to a second state. When the liquid supply pipe 20 and the return pipe 22 are connected, the liquid in the filling liquid tank 32 can be cooled by the cooler 38 and returned to the cushion tank 2.

  The operation of the filling system according to the above configuration will be described. During normal operation, the bypass valve 16 and the second liquid supply pipe 20 are connected by switching the switching valve 18, and the return path 22 is shut off from the first and second liquid supply pipes 14 and 20, The liquid in the deaeration tank 10 can be supplied to both the first liquid supply pipe 14 and the second liquid supply pipe 20.

  The liquid filled in the container is prepared in a preparation tank (not shown), sent to the cushion tank 2 and stored. At this point, the liquid is at room temperature. The liquid in the cushion tank 2 is discharged by the pump 4, sent to the heater 6, heated to a predetermined temperature and sterilized, and then sent to the deaeration tank 10. The liquid from which air is discharged in the deaeration tank 10 is supplied to the filling liquid tank 32 by the liquid supply pump 12.

  The liquid discharged from the liquid supply pump 12 is sent to a first liquid supply pipe 14 and a bypass passage 16 connected to the first liquid supply pipe 14. Further, as shown in FIG. 3A, the bypass passage 16 is connected to the second liquid supply pipe 20 and is cut off from the return pipe 22, so that the liquid discharged from the liquid supply pump 12 is the first. The liquid is supplied from both the first liquid supply pipe 14 and the second liquid supply pipe 20 to the filling liquid tank 32 of the filling device 28 through the respective branch pipes 14a and 20a.

  On the other hand, when the filling device 28 stops, the stop detection sensor 24 detects this, and the control device 26 switches the switching valve 18 by this detection signal. In this case, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the bypass passage 16 connected to the first liquid supply pipe 14 is disconnected from the second liquid supply pipe 20 and the return passage 22, and the second liquid supply pipe 20 and the return passage 22 are connected.

  In this state, the liquid sent out from the cushion tank 2 by the pump 4 is heated through the heater 6 and supplied to the deaeration tank 10, and further, the liquid discharged by the operation of the liquid supply pump 12 is changed over to the switching valve. 18 is not sent to the second liquid supply pipe 20, but is supplied only to the first liquid supply pipe 14 and supplied to the filling liquid tank 32. Since the filling device 28 is stopped, the liquid supplied into the filling liquid tank 32 is not filled into the container by the filling valve 34, and the cooler 38 is connected from the second liquid supply pipe 20 and the return pipe 22. After cooling through, it is returned to the cushion tank 2. In the case of hot filling, when the liquid refluxed from the filling liquid tank 32 is returned to the cushion tank 2 as it is, the temperature in the cushion tank 2 rises, and then is supplied through the heater 6. Further, the liquid temperature rises and exceeds the set temperature. Therefore, the liquid recirculated from the cushion tank 2 is cooled by the cooler 38 so as to be lowered to substantially the same temperature as the liquid stored in the cushion tank 2.

  As described above, when the filling device 28 is stopped, the cushion tank 2, the heater 6, the deaeration tank 10, the first liquid supply pipe 14, the filling liquid tank 32, the second liquid supply pipe 20, the return pipe 22 and the cooler 38 are connected. Since the closed circuit which returns to the cushion tank 2 is circulated, almost all the liquid in the filling system is maintained at the set temperature. Therefore, the amount of liquid that must be blown when the operation is resumed is extremely small (very small amount in the passage from the filling liquid tank 32 to the filling valve 34), and the loss of the filling liquid can be minimized. Further, since the filling liquid is constantly circulated even when the operation is stopped, the solid does not precipitate even in the case of a liquid containing solid.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case of hot-pack filling a solid-containing liquid has been described.However, the present invention is not limited to such a case. Needless to say, the present invention can also be applied to hot-pack filling of a normal beverage other than a beverage containing a solid. In the above embodiment, the heater 6 and the cooler 38 are arranged for hot pack filling. However, when filling at normal temperature, the heater 6 and the cooler 38 are not necessary and may be omitted. it can. In this case, the liquid supplied from the cushion tank 2 is directly sent to the deaeration tank 10, and the liquid recirculated when the filling device 28 is stopped is returned to the cushion tank 2 without passing through the cooler 38. .

It is a schematic block diagram which simplifies and shows the whole structure of a filling system. Example 1 It is a top view which shows the connection state of the filling liquid tank and liquid supply pipe | tube of the said filling system. (A) is a figure which shows the flow of the liquid at the time of the normal operation of the said filling system, (b) is a figure which shows the flow of the liquid at the time of the stop of a filling apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

4 Liquid feeding means (pump)
6 Liquid feeding means (heater)
10 Liquid feeding means (deaeration tank)
12 Liquid feed means (Liquid feed pump)
14 Supply pipe (first supply pipe)
16 Bypass passage 18 Switching valve 20 Supply pipe (second supply pipe)
32 Filling liquid tank 34 Filling means (filling valve)

Claims (2)

A filling liquid tank for storing the filling liquid, a filling means for filling the filling liquid into the container, a liquid supply pipe for supplying the filling liquid to the filling liquid tank, and a liquid feeding means for supplying the filling liquid to the liquid supply pipe In a filling system comprising
At least two liquid supply pipes, a bypass passage communicating these liquid supply pipes, and a switching valve for switching a circuit of the bypass passage;
During normal operation, the filling liquid is supplied to the filling liquid tank through the plurality of liquid supply pipes, and when the filling is stopped, the switching valve is switched to supply the filling liquid through one of the liquid supply pipes. A filling system for returning a filling liquid from a filling liquid tank by a supply pipe. 2. The filling system according to claim 1, wherein the liquid feeding means includes a heating means for heating the filling liquid, and the filling liquid returned from the filling liquid tank is heated and fed to the liquid supply pipe. .

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