Sterilizer

Abstract

To reduce usage of a fungicide.SOLUTION: The present invention relates to a sterilizer 2 comprising supply means 14 supplying a liquid fungicide and a spray nozzle 13 spraying the fungicide in mist form towards a container 1 (sterilization-target). The spray nozzle 13 comprises: a housing 21 inside which an internal space S is formed; a mesh plate 22 which is provided at the bottom 21c of the housing 21 and has numerous fine holes; and an ultrasonic transducer 23 which ultrasonically vibrates the mesh plate 22. The supply means 14 supplies the liquid fungicide to the internal space S of the housing 21, and when the ultrasonic transducer 23 vibrates the mesh plate 22 ultrasonically while the liquid fungicide is accumulated above the mesh plate 22, the fungicide is sprayed in mist form towards the container 1 from below the mesh plate 22.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a sterilizer, and more particularly to a sterilizer equipped with a supply means for supplying a liquid sterilant and a spray nozzle for spraying a mist of the sterilant toward an object to be sterilized. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a sterilization device for sterilizing objects such as PET bottles is known that is equipped with a supply means for supplying a liquid sterilant and a spray nozzle for spraying a mist of the sterilant toward the object (Patent Documents 1 and 2). In the sterilization device of Patent Document 1, a mist of sterilant formed by vaporizing a liquid sterilant is transported to a spray nozzle using heated air, and the mist of sterilant is sprayed from the spray nozzle. In addition, in the sterilization device of Patent Document 2, a liquid sterilant is supplied in a vaporized state to a chamber, and when an injection nozzle that injects compressed air is moved to a position where the chamber is provided, the atomized sterilant is sucked into the injection nozzle and injected onto the object to be sterilized. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2006-36343 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2011-162220 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the sterilization devices in Patent Documents 1 and 2 require the vaporized sterilant to be transported to the joining point with the heated air or to the chamber through piping, and the vaporized sterilant condenses in the piping, resulting in a problem of a large amount of sterilant being used.In addition, the use of heated air results in a problem of an increase in the size of the equipment. In view of these problems, the present invention provides a sterilization device that can reduce the amount of sterilizing agent used and also enables the equipment to be made compact. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] That is, the sterilization apparatus according to the invention of claim 1 is a sterilization apparatus equipped with a supply means for supplying a liquid sterilant and a spray nozzle for spraying a mist of the sterilant toward an object to be sterilized, The injection nozzle includes a housing having an internal space, a mesh plate having a large number of minute holes provided at a bottom of the housing, and an ultrasonic vibrator for ultrasonically vibrating the mesh plate; The supply means supplies a liquid germicide to the interior space of the housing; The liquid disinfectant is stored on the upper part of the mesh plate, and the ultrasonic vibrator ultrasonically vibrates the mesh plate, causing the disinfectant to become mist-like and be sprayed from below the mesh plate onto the object to be disinfected. Effect of the Invention

[0006] According to the above-mentioned invention, a liquid disinfectant is supplied to a spray nozzle provided adjacent to the object to be sterilized, and a mesh plate at the spray nozzle is ultrasonically vibrated so that the disinfectant is sprayed in a mist form from the mesh plate. This minimizes loss of disinfectant from the supply means to the spray nozzle, and reduces the amount of disinfectant used. In addition, since heated air is not used to supply the sterilizing agent, the sterilizing device can be made smaller. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] 1 is a plan view of a sterilization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] Cross-section of the sterilization device [Diagram 3] Enlarged cross-sectional view of the injection nozzle [Figure 4] Enlarged view of the main part of Figure 3 [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a spray nozzle of a sterilizer according to a second embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a spray nozzle of the sterilization device according to the third embodiment. [Figure 7] A diagram explaining a sterilization device for sterilizing caps. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] The illustrated embodiment will be described below. Fig. 1 shows a plan view of a sterilizer 2 for sterilizing a container 1 (see Fig. 2) as an object to be sterilized. The sterilizer 2 constitutes a part of a filling system for filling a beverage into the container 1, and in this embodiment, the container 1 is a PET bottle. The sterilization device 2 is provided with a conveying means 3 for conveying the container 1, and has a supply conveyor 3a and first to fourth star wheels 3b to 3e. Among these, the second star wheel 3c has a sterilization area A for sterilizing the inside of the container 1 along the conveying path of the container 1. The configuration of the conveying means 3 is well known and will not be described in detail, but each star wheel has grippers at predetermined intervals to grip the neck of the container 1, and the container 1 is handed over between adjacent star wheels while gripping its neck.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main portion of the second star wheel 3c. The second star wheel 3c is equipped with a rotating table 11 that rotates around an axis of rotation (not shown), and grippers 12 that are arranged at equal intervals on the outer periphery of the rotating table 11, and each gripper 12 is adapted to transport the container 1 while gripping the neck of the container 1. The sterilization device 2 includes a spray nozzle 13 that sprays the sterilant in mist form toward the container 1, a supply means 14 that supplies liquid sterilant to the spray nozzle 13, and a discharge means 15 that discharges air from the spray nozzle 13. The spray nozzles 13 are held by a holding member 16 fixed to the rotary table 11, and each spray nozzle 13 is positioned above the container 1 held by the gripper 12. That is, in this embodiment, the gripper 12 and the spray nozzle 13 move together by the rotating table 11, and in the section where the gripper 12 moves through the sterilization area A shown in Figure 1, the sterilizing agent is sprayed from the spray nozzle 13 to sterilize the inside of the container 1.

[0010] A supply pipe 14a is provided between the supply means 14 and each spray nozzle 13, and a rotary joint (not shown) or the like is provided between the supply means 14 and each spray nozzle 13. The supply means 14 in this embodiment is constituted by a tank containing a liquid disinfectant, and does not include a liquid delivery means such as a pump. On the other hand, an exhaust pipe 15a is provided between the exhaust means 15 and each injection nozzle 13, and the exhaust means 15 exhausts air from an internal space S formed inside the injection nozzle 13, which will be described later. As the exhaust means 15, a conventionally known negative pressure source can be used.

[0011] FIG. 3 shows a detailed cross-sectional view of the injection nozzle 13, and the injection nozzle 13 is provided at a position spaced above the mouth of the container 1 held by the gripper 12 by about several mm. The spray nozzle 13 includes a housing 21 having an internal space S formed therein, a mesh plate 22 having a large number of minute holes provided at the bottom of the housing 21, and an ultrasonic vibrator 23 that ultrasonically vibrates the liquid disinfectant. The housing 21 is composed of a cylindrical side portion 21a, a lid portion 21b attached to the upper portion of the side portion 21a, a bottom portion 21c attached to the lower portion of the side portion 21a, and a ring-shaped portion 21d provided on the inside of the side portion 21a, and by connecting these in an airtight manner, an internal space S is formed inside. The supply pipe 14a and the discharge pipe 15a are connected to the lid portion 21b so as to penetrate from above to below, and in particular, a through hole 24 formed in the bottom portion 21c and the ring-shaped portion 21d is located directly below the tip of the supply pipe 14a. With this configuration, when the exhaust means 15 exhausts air from the internal space S of the housing 21, the internal space S becomes negative pressure, and the liquid germicide is drawn out from the tip of the exhaust pipe 15a. The drawn liquid germicide falls toward the through hole 24.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 4, the mesh plate 22 is a metal member formed to have a larger diameter than the through-holes 24, and is provided with a large number of minute holes having a diameter of about 2.5 to 5 μm. A resin sealing member 25 is provided on the upper and lower surfaces of the mesh plate 22 so as to surround the through hole 24, and the mesh plate 22 is sandwiched between the bottom portion 21c and the ring-shaped portion 21d via the sealing member 25. The ultrasonic transducer 23 is a ring-shaped element fixed along the outer periphery of the mesh plate 22, and is adapted to ultrasonically vibrate when powered by a cable (not shown), thereby ultrasonically vibrating the mesh plate 22 to which it is fixed.

[0013] As described above, the through hole 24 of the ring-shaped portion 21d is located in the upper portion of the mesh plate 22, and the upper portion of the through hole 24 is formed with a tapered shape 24a so that the diameter increases upward. As described above, when liquid disinfectant is drawn out from supply pipe 14a located above through hole 24 and falls onto the top of mesh plate 22, the micropores in mesh plate 22 have a small diameter, so the liquid disinfectant cannot pass through the micropores due to surface tension and is instead accumulated above mesh plate 22. That is, the through-hole 24 of the ring-shaped portion 21d is formed to store the sterilant above the mesh plate 22, for example, to store about 3 to 5 mm of the sterilant above the mesh plate 22. The diameter and tapered shape 24a of the through-hole 24 can be appropriately changed according to the amount of the sterilant to be sprayed.

[0014] The operation of the sterilization device 2 having the above configuration will be described below. First, in the filling line, an empty container 1 is supplied to the conveying means 3 constituting the sterilization device 2, and the container 1 is conveyed by the supply conveyor 3a and the first to fourth star wheels 3b to 3e. When the container 1 is transferred from the first star wheel 3b to the second star wheel 3c, the container 1 held by the grippers 12 is positioned below the injection nozzles 13 provided above each gripper 12, as shown in FIG. 2. On the other hand, in the sterilization device 2, the supply means 14 circulates liquid sterilant through the supply pipe 14a, and the sterilant reaches the tip of the supply pipe 14a, i.e., the position facing the internal space S of the spray nozzle 13 in Figure 3. The discharge means 15 discharges air from the internal space S of the injection nozzle 13 through the discharge pipe 15a, and draws out the liquid sterilant from the supply pipe 14a by making the internal space S negative pressure. The drawn out germicide falls onto the upper part of the mesh plate 22, but due to surface tension the germicide does not pass through the minute holes and is instead pooled in the through holes 24 of the ring-shaped portion 21d formed above the mesh plate 22.

[0015] With the liquid sterilant stored on top of the mesh plate 22 in this manner, when the container 1 held by the gripper 12 and the spray nozzle 13 reach the sterilization area A shown in Figure 1 as the turntable 11 rotates, the control means activates the ultrasonic vibrator 23. When the mesh plate 22 is ultrasonically vibrated by the ultrasonic vibrator 23, the liquid disinfectant on the upper part of the mesh plate 22 is also ultrasonically vibrated, and the liquid disinfectant passes through the microholes and turns into a mist, and is sprayed toward the container 1 located below. The sprayed mist of germicide is supplied to the inside of the container 1, and the inside of the container 1 is thereby sterilized by the germicide. The outside of the container 1 may be sterilized by spraying the germicide from a spray nozzle provided along the transport path of the container 1, or may be sterilized by irradiating light having a germicidal effect from a lighting means.

[0016] The sterilization area A is set to a section sufficient for the inside of the container 1 to be sterilized by the sterilant sprayed from the spray nozzle 13, and when the spray nozzle 13 passes through the sterilization area A, the control means stops the ultrasonic vibrator 23, thereby stopping the spraying of the sterilant below the mesh plate 22. Even after the spray nozzle 13 has passed through the sterilization area A, the discharge means 15 continues to discharge air from the internal space S, thereby maintaining a predetermined amount of the liquid sterilant supplied from the supply means 14 stored above the mesh plate 22. The container 1, which has been held by the gripper 12 and has its inside sterilized, is then transferred from the second star wheel 3c to the third and fourth star wheels 3d and 3e, and is transported to a subsequent process (not shown).

[0017] As described above, in the sterilization device 2 of this embodiment, a liquid sterilant is supplied to the spray nozzle 13 provided adjacent to the container 1, and the sterilant is atomized by the spray nozzle 13 and sprayed into the container 1. This makes it possible to minimize loss of the sterilizing agent sent from the supply means 14 to the injection nozzle 13, and therefore makes it possible to reduce the amount of sterilizing agent used by the sterilizing device 2. In contrast, in conventional sterilization devices, liquid sterilant was vaporized at a location away from the spray nozzle, which meant that there was a risk of the sterilant condensing in the piping leading to the spray nozzle. To prevent this condensation, measures were taken such as transporting the vaporized sterilant with heated air, but there was still the problem of a large amount of sterilant being used. In the sterilization apparatus of the present invention, there is no need to worry about condensation in the piping, and therefore transportation by heated air as described above is not necessary, and therefore a blower for blowing air and a heater for heating air are also not required. As a result of comparing the amount of disinfectant used between the sterilization device 2 of the present invention and a conventional sterilization device, it was found that the amount of disinfectant used by the sterilization device 2 of the present invention was reduced by approximately 85% compared to the conventional sterilization device.

[0018] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a sterilization device 2 according to the second embodiment. In the first embodiment, the injection nozzle 13 moves together with the container 1 gripped by the gripper 12, whereas in this embodiment, the injection nozzles 13 are fixed in multiple locations along the sterilization area A shown in Figure 1. To explain in more detail below, a stay 31 is fixed above the container 1 moved by the rotating table 11 along the transport path of the container 1, and the stay 31 is provided with the injection nozzles 13 shown in Figures 3 and 4 described in the first embodiment at equal intervals. According to the sterilization device 2 having the above-mentioned configuration, the container 1 held by the gripper 12 passes under the stays 31 and the spray nozzles 13, during which time a mist of sterilant is constantly sprayed from each spray nozzle 13, thereby sterilizing the outer surface and the inside of the container 1 passing through the sterilization area A.

[0019] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a sterilization device 2 according to a third embodiment. In the sterilization apparatus 2 of the second embodiment, a plurality of injection nozzles 13 are provided at equal intervals on the stay 31, whereas the injection nozzle 13 of the present embodiment is provided with a plurality of mesh plates 22 and ultrasonic vibrators 23 in one housing 21 provided along the transport path of the container 1. The housing 21 is provided along the sterilization area A, and the internal space S is also formed along the transport path of the container 1. A supply pipe 14a from the supply means 14 and a discharge pipe 15a from the discharge means 15 are connected to each of the lid portions 21b. On the other hand, a plurality of through holes 24 (not shown) are drilled at equal intervals in the bottom 21c of the housing, and each through hole 24 is provided with the above-mentioned ring-shaped portion 21d and mesh plate 22, and each mesh plate 22 is provided with an ultrasonic transducer 23. In this embodiment, a passage such as a ramp is formed (not shown) for distributing the liquid disinfectant dropping from the supply pipe 14a to the through holes 24 formed in the upper part of each mesh plate 22, thereby making it possible to store the liquid disinfectant in the upper part of each mesh plate 22. According to the sterilization device 2 having the above-mentioned configuration, the container 1 held by the gripper 12 passes under the housing 21 constituting the spray nozzle 13, and the multiple mesh plates 22 constituting the spray nozzle 13 ultrasonically vibrate to spray a mist of sterilant, thereby sterilizing the outer surface and the inside of the container 1 passing through the sterilization area A.

[0020] In each of the above embodiments, the air in the internal space S of the housing 21 is discharged by the discharge means 15, thereby drawing out the liquid disinfectant from the supply pipe 14a of the supply means 14. However, if a liquid delivery pump is provided in the supply means 14 and a predetermined amount of liquid disinfectant is supplied by the liquid delivery pump, the discharge means 15 can be omitted.

[0021] 7 shows a sterilizer 102 that sterilizes a cap 101 as a non-sterilized object. In the following explanation, the explanation of the configuration common to the sterilizer 2 according to the first to third embodiments that sterilize a container 1 will be omitted, and the reference numerals used in the above embodiments will be added by 100. The cap 101 is to be attached to, for example, a plastic bottle, and is made of resin and has a cylindrical shape with a bottom. The sterilizer 102 includes a star wheel 103 for supplying the caps 101, a cap guide 104 for transporting the caps 101 in a line, and a chamber 105 in which a plurality of injection nozzles 113 are provided. The cap guide 104 is provided so as to penetrate the chamber 105, and when the caps 101 are supplied from the star wheel 103 outside the chamber 105, the cap guide 104 transports the caps 101 in a line toward the inside of the chamber 105. Moreover, the cap guide 104 is inclined downward on the opposite side to the chamber 105, so that the caps 101 sterilized inside the chamber 105 are discharged by their own weight.

[0022] A plurality of spray nozzles 113 are provided on the upper portion of the chamber 105 so as to spray a mist of sterilant into the chamber 105, and the spray nozzles 113 are provided along the transport path of the caps 101 transported by the cap guide 104. The injection nozzle 113 of this embodiment has a housing 121 similar to that of the second embodiment described above, and although not shown, a mesh plate and an ultrasonic vibrator that ultrasonically vibrates the mesh plate are provided at the bottom of the housing 121, and a supply pipe 114 from the supply means and a discharge pipe 115 from the discharge means are connected to the top.

[0023] According to the sterilizer 102 having the above-mentioned configuration, by spraying a mist of sterilant from each of the spray nozzles 113, the inside of the chamber 105 can be filled with the sterilant. In this state, when the caps 101 supplied by the star wheel 103 pass through the inside of the chamber 105 by the cap guide 104, the caps 101 are sterilized during that time. In this embodiment as well, it is possible to minimize loss of the sterilizing agent delivered from the supply means to the injection nozzle 113, and it is possible to reduce the amount of sterilizing agent used by the sterilizing device 102. Instead of the above embodiment, it is also possible to use an injection nozzle 113 in which a plurality of sets of mesh plates and ultrasonic transducers are provided in one housing 121, as in the third embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0024] 1 Container (object to be sterilized) 2 Sterilizer 13 Injection nozzle 14 Supply means 14a Supply pipe 15 Discharge means 15a exhaust pipe 21 housing 22 Mesh plate 23 Ultrasonic transducer A Sterilization area S Inner space

Claims

1. A sterilization apparatus having a supply means for supplying a liquid sterilant and a spray nozzle for spraying a mist of the sterilant toward an object to be sterilized, The injection nozzle includes a housing having an internal space, a mesh plate having a large number of minute holes provided at a bottom of the housing, and an ultrasonic vibrator for ultrasonically vibrating the mesh plate; The supply means supplies a liquid germicide to the interior space of the housing; This sterilization device is characterized in that while the liquid sterilant is stored on the upper part of the mesh plate, the ultrasonic vibrator ultrasonically vibrates the mesh plate, causing the sterilant to become mist-like and be sprayed from below the mesh plate onto the object to be sterilized.

2. a tip end of a supply pipe disposed between the supply means and the injection nozzle is positioned in the internal space of the housing, and suction means is further provided for suctioning air in the internal space of the housing; 2. The sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein a suction means draws air from the internal space of the housing, thereby drawing the liquid sterilant from the supply pipe into the internal space.

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