Inflatable food package leak detection device

Abstract

The invention relates to an inflatable food package leak detection device, which comprises a base frame, and a sample placement table, a lifting mechanism, a leak detection cavity and a control cabinet which are arranged on the base frame, the leakage detection cavity comprises a cavity body, the bottom of the cavity body is an open end, the open end is in sealing connection with a flexible corrugated rubber ring, and the flexible corrugated rubber ring is used for being in sealing fit with the sealing ring of the storage groove, so that the cavity body forms a sealed cavity body; a shell of the cavity is of a double-layer structure and comprises a hard outer shell and a porous inner shell, and an air exhaust channel is formed between the hard outer shell and the porous inner shell; a sealing adapter and a one-way gulp valve are arranged at the top of the cavity, and the sealing adapter communicates with the air exhaust channel and is used for being connected with a vacuum pump; the one-way gulp valve is communicated with the exhaust channel and is used for supplementing air; a pressure sensor and a gas sensor are arranged on the inner side wall of the hard shell, the pressure sensor is used for detecting the pressure in the cavity, and the gas sensor is used for detecting whether gas in the inflatable food package to be detected exists in the cavity or not. According to the invention, nondestructive food package leak detection is realized.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of package leakage detection, and in particular relates to a device for detecting leakage of gas-filled food packages. Background Art

[0002] In order to prevent food from mildew and spoilage, extend the shelf life, and ensure that food can withstand the turnover of each link of transportation, storage, distribution and retail, food is usually inflated and sealed for storage. However, during the packaging process, food is very likely to leak, be pressed through, have seal wrinkles, or have cracks and micropores in the packaging material itself, causing the inflated packaging to leak. Leakage of food inflatable packaging will not only cause packaging deformation, but also affect the taste and safety of the food. Therefore, the sealing test of food packaging should not be underestimated.

[0003] At present, the traditional water bath test is mainly used for the sealing test of inflatable food packaging: the sample to be tested is submerged in a water tank and pumped to a certain vacuum, and the presence of a leak is judged by observing whether continuous bubbles appear in the water. In actual operation, there are many problems with water bath testing: if there is a small leak in the package and it is not detected, but during the water bath test, the water is very likely to have seeped back into the package, accelerating the corrosion and deterioration of the food; water bath testing not only requires the preparation of sufficient and clean water before the test and the pumping of water to a vacuum, but also the test water must be replaced regularly, which is very time-consuming and energy-consuming, and has become a pain point in the food leak detection industry. Therefore, there is an urgent need for a device that can quickly and non-destructively test the sealing of food packaging. Summary of the invention

[0004] Based on the above-mentioned shortcomings and deficiencies in the prior art, one of the objects of the present invention is to at least solve one or more of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art. In other words, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide an inflatable food packaging leak detection device that meets one or more of the above-mentioned needs.

[0005] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object of the invention, the present invention adopts the following technical solutions:

[0006] A gas-filled food package leak detection device comprises a base frame and a sample placement table, a lifting mechanism, a leak detection chamber, and a control cabinet installed on the base frame; the sample placement table is used to place the gas-filled food package to be tested, and the lifting mechanism is used to drive the leak detection chamber to descend to a sealing fit with the sample placement table, so as to detect whether the gas-filled food package to be tested is leaking through the leak detection chamber; the lifting mechanism, the leak detection chamber, and the control cabinet are connected by signal;

[0007] The sample placement table has a storage slot, and the storage slot is provided with a sealing ring; the leak detection cavity includes a cavity, the bottom of the cavity is an open end, and the open end is sealed with a flexible corrugated rubber ring, and the flexible corrugated rubber ring is used to seal with the sealing ring of the storage slot, so that the cavity constitutes a sealed cavity; the shell of the cavity is a double-layer structure, including a hard outer shell and a porous inner shell, and an exhaust channel is formed between the hard outer shell and the porous inner shell;

[0008] A sealing adapter and a one-way air supply valve are provided on the top of the cavity. The sealing adapter is connected to the air extraction channel and is used to connect to the vacuum pump; the one-way air supply valve is connected to the air extraction channel for replenishing air;

[0009] The inner wall of the hard shell is provided with a pressure sensor and a gas sensor. The pressure sensor is used to detect the pressure in the cavity, and the gas sensor is used to detect whether there is gas in the inflatable food package to be tested in the cavity.

[0010] As a preferred solution, the base frame includes a base and a support column installed, the sample placement table and the lifting mechanism are installed on the support column, and the lifting mechanism is located above the sample placement table.

[0011] As a preferred solution, the support column is a lifting column.

[0012] As a preferred solution, a roller is provided at the bottom of the base, and the roller is provided with a brake pad;

[0013] The base is also provided with an armrest.

[0014] As a preferred solution, the lifting mechanism includes a mounting frame and a cylinder, one end of the mounting frame is fixedly connected to the top of the support column, and the other end is provided with a vertically downward telescopic cylinder, which is driven and connected to the top of the leak detection chamber.

[0015] As a preferred solution, the control cabinet is provided with an alarm, which is used to sound an alarm when air leakage is detected in the inflatable food package to be tested.

[0016] As a preferred solution, the gas sensor is a carbon dioxide sensor, a nitrogen sensor or an oxygen sensor, which is selected according to the inflation in the gas-filled food package.

[0017] As a preferred solution, the control cabinet is provided with a display screen.

[0018] As a preferred solution, the cavity is hemispherical.

[0019] As a preferred solution, detachable inclined plates are respectively provided on both sides of the sample placement table, and the detachable inclined plates are respectively used to dock with the conveyor belt;

[0020] The base frame is provided with a driving motor and a robotic arm, wherein the driving motor is used to drive the robotic arm to drive the inflated food package to be tested on the conveyor belt to move to the storage slot of the sample placement table through the detachable inclined plate, and after the test is completed, drive the inflated food package in the storage slot to move to the conveyor belt through the detachable inclined plate on the other side.

[0021] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0022] (1) The hard shell of the leak detection chamber of the present invention is made of hard material, which is conducive to the inflatable food package to be tested to maintain its original shape during the test, avoiding the deformation of the package caused by vacuum squeezing the package and damaging the quality of the package contents; the bottom of the leak detection chamber is made of a flexible corrugated rubber ring, which is deformed when the chamber is vacuumed, which is conducive to the leak detection chamber and the sample placement table to fit tightly together to form a self-sealed vacuum chamber;

[0023] (2) The present invention realizes non-destructive food packaging leak detection, which can be performed both offline and online, greatly improving the leak detection efficiency;

[0024] (3) The leak detection chamber and the sample placement table of the present invention are both replaceable, and the leak detection chamber of appropriate size can be selected according to the size of the inflated food package, thereby reducing the detection time and improving the detection efficiency;

[0025] (4) The heights of the leak detection chamber and the sample placement table in the present invention are adjustable, and the base is in the form of a trolley, which can adapt to more detection environments, especially different online detection environments. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Figure 1 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a half-section structure of a leak detection chamber according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention;

[0028] Figure 3 It is a schematic structural diagram of an inflatable food packaging leak detection device according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention, the specific implementation methods of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the accompanying drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For those of ordinary skill in the art, other accompanying drawings and other implementation methods can be obtained based on these accompanying drawings without creative work.

[0030] Embodiment 1:

[0031] like Figure 1As shown, the inflatable food packaging leak detection device of this embodiment includes a base frame 1 and a sample placement platform 2 installed on the base frame 1, a lifting mechanism 3 and a control cabinet 4. The control cabinet 4 is responsible for controlling the control system of the entire inflatable food packaging leak detection device. The control system includes a central controller, a vacuum system, an alarm system, a sensor system and a liquid crystal display 5. The central controller is the core and coordinates the control of various system modules. The central controller is connected to the vacuum system, the alarm system, the sensor system and the liquid crystal display 5. The central controller is installed in the control cabinet 4, the liquid crystal display 5 is installed in the center of the front panel of the control cabinet 4, the vacuum system is installed at the end of the lifting mechanism 3, and the sensor system is installed at the end of the vacuum system.

[0032] Specifically, the base frame 1 of this embodiment includes a base 6 and a support column 7. The bottom of the support column 7 is fixedly connected to the base 6 and is provided with a reinforcing rib; the support column 7 is telescopically adjustable, i.e., a lifting column. Four rollers 8 are provided at the bottom of the base 6, and the rollers 8 have brake pads 9. A handrail 10 is provided at the rear side of the base 6 to facilitate pushing the entire device.

[0033] The sample placement platform 2 of this embodiment is fixedly mounted on the support column 7. A circular placement groove 11 is provided at the center of the sample placement platform 2. A sealing ring is provided inside the groove 11. The circular placement groove 11 is used to place carbon dioxide-filled packaged food.

[0034] The lifting mechanism 3 of this embodiment includes a cylinder 14 and a cylinder mounting frame 15. One end of the cylinder mounting frame 15 is fixedly connected to the top of the support column 7, and the other end is provided with a vertically downward cylinder 14. A piston rod is provided in the cylinder 14, and the piston rod passes through the side wall of the cylinder mounting frame 15. A leak detection chamber 16 is provided at the end of the piston rod.

[0035] The vacuum system of this embodiment includes a leak detection chamber 16, a vacuum tube 17 and a vacuum pump, and the vacuum pump is arranged in the control cabinet 4. Figure 2 As shown, the main body of the leak detection chamber 16 is divided into an upper chamber layer 19 and a lower chamber layer 20 from top to bottom; the upper chamber layer 19 is a semicircular cavity made of a hard material, and the lower chamber layer 20 is a flexible corrugated rubber ring. The size of the chamber bottom matches the shape and size of the groove 11 of the sample placement platform, and the flexible corrugated rubber ring is sealed with the sealing ring inside the groove 11; when the leak detection chamber 16 is evacuated, the external atmospheric pressure is greater than the internal pressure of the chamber, the corrugated rubber shrinks longitudinally, and the cylinder 14 further drives the upper chamber layer 19 to fit tightly with the sealing ring of the sample placement platform 2 to form a self-sealing vacuum chamber.

[0036] The upper layer 19 of the leak detection chamber of this embodiment is a double-layer structure, the inner layer 21 is a porous mesh structure, the outer layer 22 is a chamber shell, and an air extraction channel 23 is formed between the outer layer 22 and the inner layer 21. A through hole 24 is opened in the center of the top of the outer layer 22 of the leak detection chamber, and the through hole 24 is connected to the vacuum tube 17 through a sealing adapter 25, and the other end of the vacuum tube 17 is connected to a vacuum pump; the leak detection chamber 16 moves up and down under the action of the lifting mechanism 3; a one-way air replenishing valve 26 is provided near the through hole 24 at the upper part of the outer layer 22 of the leak detection chamber. When the detection is completed, the one-way air replenishing valve 26 is opened to replenish air to the inside of the leak detection chamber 16 to normal pressure, and the lifting mechanism 3 lifts the leak detection chamber 16 to take out the inflated food packaging sample to be tested.

[0037] The alarm system of this embodiment includes an alarm light 27 installed on the top right side of the control cabinet 4. When unqualified packaging appears, the alarm light 27 will flash and emit an alarm sound.

[0038] The sensing system of this embodiment includes a pressure sensor 28 and a carbon dioxide sensor 18. The pressure sensor 28 and the carbon dioxide sensor 18 are both installed inside the top of the outer layer 22 of the chamber to detect changes in pressure and carbon dioxide concentration inside the sealed cavity and transmit signals to the central controller.

[0039] The working process of the inflatable food packaging leak detection device of this embodiment is as follows: put the carbon dioxide inflated packaged food into the circular placement groove 11 on the sample placement platform 2, select the manual detection on the LCD screen 5, the central controller controls the start of the lifting mechanism 3 to make the leak detection chamber 16 descend and fit the sample placement platform 2, then the central controller controls the start of the vacuum system to make the vacuum degree of the vacuum chamber reach the set value and maintain the vacuum degree for 5 to 20 seconds (the vacuum degree required by different packaging is slightly different), and at the same time starts the sensor system to perform carbon dioxide tracer gas detection, and the detection result is transmitted to the central controller, and the detection result is converted into a leak rate (i.e., the leakage concentration of carbon dioxide) and displayed on the LCD screen 5. If the detected leak rate is less than the set value, the packaging is qualified, and the central controller controls the alarm light 27 of the alarm system to flash green without sound; when the leak rate is greater than the set value, the alarm light 27 of the alarm system flashes red and sounds an alarm, which lasts until the measurement is completed. After the sensor system detection is completed, the central controller starts the one-way air replenishment valve 26 to replenish air to the vacuum chamber to normal pressure, starts the lifting mechanism 3 to lift the leak detection chamber 16, takes out the sample, and the measurement is completed, and the next sample is manually replaced.

[0040] Embodiment 2:

[0041] The difference between the inflatable food packaging leakage detection device of this embodiment and the embodiment 1 is that automatic detection is achieved.

[0042] like Figure 3As shown, the inflatable food packaging leak detection device of this embodiment has the same main structure as the device in Example 1, except that an automatic sample transfer structure is added to the sample placement platform on the original basis, and the automatic sample transfer structure includes an inclined plate 12, a drive motor 29 and a mechanical arm 30. The inclined plate 12 is detachably fixed on the conveyor belt 13. The sample is pushed from the production line conveyor belt 13 to the sample placement platform through the cooperation of the drive motor 29 and the mechanical arm 30. After the detection is completed, according to the detection results, the unqualified samples are removed from the production line conveyor belt 13 through the cooperation of the drive motor 29 and the mechanical arm 30 to avoid entering the next process.

[0043] The working process of the inflatable food packaging leak detection device of this embodiment is as follows: adjust the device position, match the inclined plate 12 with the production line conveyor belt 13, select the automatic detection on the LCD screen, the central controller controls the start of the mechanical arm to push the sample from the production line conveyor belt 13 to the sample placement platform, the central controller controls the start of the lifting mechanism to make the leak detection chamber drop and fit the sample placement platform, then start the vacuum system to make the vacuum degree of the vacuum chamber reach the set value and maintain the vacuum degree for 5 to 20 seconds (the vacuum degree required for different packaging is slightly different), and at the same time start the sensor system to perform carbon dioxide tracer gas detection, the detection result is transmitted to the central controller, and the detection result is converted into a leak rate and displayed on the LCD screen. If the detected leak rate is less than the set value, the packaging is qualified, the alarm light of the alarm system only flashes green without sounding, the central controller controls the start of the one-way air replenishment valve, replenishes air to the vacuum chamber to normal pressure, starts the lifting mechanism to lift the leak detection chamber, and the mechanical arm directly pushes the sample back to the production line conveyor belt, the sample enters the production line step process, and the detection device enters the next measurement cycle. When the leakage rate is greater than the set value, the packaging is unqualified, the alarm light of the alarm system flashes red and an alarm sounds, the central controller controls the start of the one-way air supply valve, replenishes air to the vacuum chamber to normal pressure, starts the lifting mechanism to lift the self-sealing leak detection chamber, and the robotic arm directly pushes the sample away from the production line conveyor belt 13 to prevent the sample from entering the next step of the production line, and the measuring device enters the next measurement cycle. The interval between two measurements can be set on the LCD screen to match the production line transmission speed.

[0044] Embodiment 3:

[0045] The difference between the inflatable food packaging leak detection device of this embodiment and the embodiment 1 is that:

[0046] The carbon dioxide sensor can be adjusted according to the different types of inflation in the food packaging. For example, it can be replaced with a nitrogen sensor or an oxygen sensor to meet the needs of different applications.

[0047] For other structures, please refer to Example 1 or 2.

[0048] The above description is only a detailed description of the preferred embodiments and principles of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, according to the ideas provided by the present invention, there will be changes in the specific implementation methods, and these changes should also be regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A leak detection device for inflatable food packaging, characterized in that: It includes a base frame and a sample placement table, a lifting mechanism, a leak detection chamber, and a control cabinet installed on the base frame; the sample placement table is used to place the inflatable food package to be tested, and the lifting mechanism is used to drive the leak detection chamber to descend to a sealing fit with the sample placement table, so as to detect whether the inflatable food package to be tested is leaking through the leak detection chamber; The lifting mechanism, leak detection chamber and control cabinet signal connection; The sample placement table has a storage slot, and the storage slot is provided with a sealing ring; the leak detection cavity includes a cavity, the bottom of the cavity is an open end, and the open end is sealed with a flexible corrugated rubber ring, and the flexible corrugated rubber ring is used to seal with the sealing ring of the storage slot, so that the cavity constitutes a sealed cavity; the shell of the cavity is a double-layer structure, including a hard outer shell and a porous inner shell, and an exhaust channel is formed between the hard outer shell and the porous inner shell; A sealing adapter and a one-way air supply valve are provided on the top of the cavity. The sealing adapter is connected to the air extraction channel and is used to connect to the vacuum pump; the one-way air supply valve is connected to the air extraction channel for replenishing air; The inner wall of the hard shell is provided with a pressure sensor and a gas sensor. The pressure sensor is used to detect the pressure in the cavity, and the gas sensor is used to detect whether there is gas in the inflatable food package to be tested in the cavity.

2. The gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The base frame comprises a base and a support column installed thereon; a sample placement table and a lifting mechanism are installed thereon; and the lifting mechanism is located above the sample placement table.

3. The gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The supporting column is a lifting column.

4. The gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to claim 2, characterized in that: A roller is provided at the bottom of the base, and a brake pad is provided on the roller; The base is also provided with an armrest.

5. The gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The lifting mechanism comprises a mounting frame and a cylinder. One end of the mounting frame is fixedly connected to the top of the support column, and the other end is provided with a telescopic cylinder extending vertically downward. The telescopic cylinder is drivingly connected to the top of the leak detection chamber.

6. The gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The control cabinet is provided with an alarm, which is used to give an alarm when air leakage is detected in the inflatable food package to be tested.

7. The gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The gas sensor is a carbon dioxide sensor, a nitrogen sensor or an oxygen sensor, which is selected according to the gas in the gas-filled food package.

8. The gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The control cabinet is provided with a display screen.

9. The gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: The cavity is hemispherical.

10. The gas-filled food packaging leak detection device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that: Both sides of the sample placement table are provided with detachable inclined plates, respectively, and the detachable inclined plates are used to dock with the conveyor belts; The base frame is provided with a driving motor and a robotic arm, wherein the driving motor is used to drive the robotic arm to drive the inflated food package to be tested on the conveyor belt to move to the storage slot of the sample placement table through the detachable inclined plate, and after the test is completed, drive the inflated food package in the storage slot to move to the conveyor belt through the detachable inclined plate on the other side.

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