JP2008030784A - Sterilizing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a sterilizing apparatus capable of reducing the cost, the weight, and the size of the apparatus by providing a shielding wall having a structure as simple as possible while reliably shielding electron beams or X-rays. <P>SOLUTION: By providing rotary drums 50A on an inlet and an outlet of a sterilizing apparatus 10A, leakage of electron beams or X-rays from the inlet and outlet of a shielding wall 40 can be prevented. In this condition, a hood part 41 is formed at a part of the rotary drum 50A so as not to generate any gap for allowing electron beams or X-rays to leak therefrom between the rotating rotary drum and the shielding wall 40, and leakage of electron beams or X-rays can be reliably prevented. The hood part 41 has a shape along an outer peripheral shape of the rotary drum 50A to prevent any wasteful increase in size of the shielding wall 40. The rotary drum may have a structure of upper and lower two stages, or may be rotated in a horizontal direction. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a sterilization apparatus for containers filled with food, beverages, medicines and the like.

  In the filling step of filling a container with a filling such as food, beverage, or pharmaceutical, the container is sterilized prior to filling the container with the filling.

For the sterilization of containers, peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, and ultraviolet irradiation are often used, but in recent years, sterilization technology by electron beam irradiation which has superior sterilizing power than ultraviolet rays has attracted attention and has been intensively developed.
When using electron beam irradiation, it is necessary to reliably prevent leakage of the electron beam and X-rays generated by electron beam irradiation outside the device. Therefore, a shield wall made of iron or lead is used around the electron beam irradiation unit. A surrounding structure is employed (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In the shielding wall, it is necessary to supply a container to the electron beam irradiation part in the shielding wall and to form an entrance for discharging the sterilized container from the shielding wall. In order to suppress leakage, a complicated labyrinth structure is adopted at the doorway (see, for example, Patent Document 1), or a structure in which a rotating drum is provided (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 11-1114030 A JP-A-8-184700

However, when the labyrinth structure is adopted, a space for forming the labyrinth structure is required, so that the shielding wall becomes large and has a complicated structure. Therefore, the cost increases, the weight of the apparatus increases, and the entire apparatus increases. It also leads to an increase in size. The labyrinth structure also affects workability during maintenance.
On the other hand, when a rotating drum is provided, if there is a gap at the entrance when the rotating drum rotates, an electron beam or X-ray leaks, so it is actually necessary to combine it with a labyrinth structure. The problem will be accompanied.
The present invention has been made on the basis of such technical problems. The shielding wall is made as simple as possible while reliably shielding electron beams and X-rays, thereby reducing costs, reducing the weight of the apparatus, and reducing the size of the apparatus. It aims at providing the sterilizer which can implement | achieve etc.

The sterilization apparatus of the present invention made for this purpose is a sterilization apparatus that sterilizes a container by irradiating an electron beam, and includes an electron beam irradiation unit that irradiates the electron beam to the container, and an electron beam irradiation unit. The container transport unit for transporting the container and the electron beam irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit and X-ray leakage caused by the electron beam irradiation are blocked so that the container passes through the electron beam irradiation range. Therefore, while being provided so as to surround the electron beam irradiation unit and the container conveyance unit, the supply port for supplying the container to the internal container conveyance unit, and the container sterilized by the electron beam from the electron beam irradiation unit from the container conveyance unit to the outside A shielding wall formed with a discharge port for discharging to the surface, and a material that shields the electron beam and X-rays irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, provided at the supply port and the discharge port of the shielding wall, respectively, in the circumferential direction Divided into multiple A rotating drum that has a container accommodating space and is rotatable about a substantially vertical axis, and a material that shields the electron beam and X-ray irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, and follows the outer peripheral shape of the rotating drum. And a shielding hood formed integrally with the shielding wall so as to cover at least one container housing space.
In such a sterilization apparatus, containers such as PET bottles are successively fed sequentially to the container transport section in the shielding wall by the rotating drums respectively provided at the supply port and the discharge port of the shielding wall, and the electron beam irradiation unit After performing sterilization with an electron beam at, the container that has been sterilized can be sent out of the shielding wall. At this time, by forming the rotating drum itself with a thickness capable of exhibiting sufficient shielding performance from a material having shielding performance, leakage of electron beams and X-rays from the rotating drum portion can be prevented.
Furthermore, by providing a shielding hood capable of covering at least one container housing space of the rotating drum, it is possible to prevent leakage of electron beams and X-rays from between the shielding wall and the rotating drum and between the shielding hood and the rotating drum. At this time, an increase in the size of the shielding hood can be prevented by setting the shielding hood along the outer peripheral shape of the rotating drum.
As described above, the shielding hood may be provided so as to cover at least one container storage space of the rotating drum as described above. However, in order to further secure the shielding performance, the rotating drum is shielded. It is preferable to cover as much as possible with a hood. Most preferably, the shielding hood delivers the container between the first opening for delivering the container between the container transport unit and the container receiving space of the rotating drum, and between the rotating drum and the outside of the shielding wall. For this purpose, only the second opening is formed.

  At a position where the container should be discharged from the rotating drum, a discharge opening may be formed in the shielding wall below the rotating drum, and the container may be discharged from the rotating opening to the outside of the rotating drum. Thereby, a labyrinth structural effect can be exhibited by the shielding wall and the rotating drum.

The present invention is a sterilization apparatus for sterilizing a container by irradiating an electron beam, the electron beam irradiating unit for irradiating the electron beam to the container, and the container passing through the electron beam irradiation range from the electron beam irradiating unit In order to block leakage of the electron beam emitted from the electron beam irradiation unit and the electron beam emitted from the electron beam irradiation unit and the X-rays to the outside from the electron beam irradiation unit and the container conveyance unit, A shielding wall which is provided so as to enclose and is provided with a supply port for supplying the container to the internal container transport unit and a discharge port for discharging the container sterilized by the electron beam from the electron beam irradiation unit to the outside from the container transport unit And a container housing space that is formed from a material that shields the electron beam and X-rays irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, is provided at each of the supply port and the discharge port of the shielding wall, and is divided into a plurality of portions in the circumferential direction. Almost vertical axis The rotating drum is made rotatable, and is formed of a material that shields the electron beam and X-ray irradiated from the electron beam irradiating unit, and follows the outer peripheral shape of the rotating drum and covers at least one container housing space. And the shielding hood formed integrally with the shielding wall, and the rotating drum is configured in two upper and lower stages, and receives the container from the outside of the rotating drum to the container housing space on the upper stage side of the rotating drum, The container accommodated in the container housing space on the lower stage side of the rotating drum is discharged out of the rotating drum, and the container housed in the upper container housing space falls into the container housing space on the lower stage while the rotating drum is rotating. It can also be set as the sterilizer characterized by being said.
As described above, by configuring the rotating drum in two upper and lower stages, the labyrinth structure effect can be exhibited by the shielding wall and the rotating drum.

  In the rotating drum as described above, the bottom surface in contact with the lower surface of the container is inclined from the side receiving the container into the container receiving space from the outside of the rotating drum toward the direction of discharging the container stored in the container receiving space to the outside of the rotating drum. It may be provided. As a result, the container can be moved by its own weight or air-type conveying means using the inclination of the bottom surface, so that the container can be delivered without using a complicated drive mechanism or the like. Become. Therefore, the cost and size of the apparatus can be reduced.

The present invention is a sterilization apparatus for sterilizing a container by irradiating an electron beam, the electron beam irradiating unit for irradiating the electron beam to the container, and the container passing through the electron beam irradiation range from the electron beam irradiating unit In order to block leakage of the electron beam emitted from the electron beam irradiation unit and the electron beam emitted from the electron beam irradiation unit and the X-rays to the outside from the electron beam irradiation unit and the container conveyance unit, A shielding wall which is provided so as to enclose and is provided with a supply port for supplying the container to the internal container transport unit and a discharge port for discharging the container sterilized by the electron beam from the electron beam irradiation unit to the outside from the container transport unit And a container housing space that is formed from a material that shields the electron beam and X-rays irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, is provided at each of the supply port and the discharge port of the shielding wall, and is divided into a plurality of portions in the circumferential direction. Almost horizontal axis The rotating drum is made rotatable, and is formed of a material that shields the electron beam and X-ray irradiated from the electron beam irradiating unit, and follows the outer peripheral shape of the rotating drum and covers at least one container housing space. Thus, a sterilization apparatus including a shielding hood integrally formed with the shielding wall can be provided.
By the way, in the sterilization apparatus, it is necessary to transport the container from the entrance to the exit of the shielding wall, but for this, a mechanism such as a motor or a conveyor is necessary, and of course, the structure of the apparatus is complicated. Space is required for the motor and conveyor drive parts, which also leads to an increase in the size of the shielding wall.
On the other hand, in the sterilizer provided with the rotating drum that rotates around the substantially horizontal axis as described above, the container is handled while being laid down. Then, in the container transport unit, if the container is inclined from the upper side to the lower side from the supply port to the discharge port, the container can be transported while being rotated or slid in a laid state. As a result, the container can be transported without using a drive mechanism or the like. Therefore, it is possible to simplify the device structure, reduce the cost of the device, reduce the size, and the like.

  The present invention is for sterilization of containers filled with food, beverages, pharmaceuticals, etc., and such containers are PET (polyethylene terephthalate), PP (polypropylene), PE (polyethylene), PLA. This is particularly effective when it is made of a resin material such as (polylactic acid). The shape and form of the container are not questioned at all, and are not limited to the bottle shape, and may be a cup shape, a tray shape, or the like.

According to the present invention, the shielding wall can be made as simple as possible while reliably shielding electron beams and X-rays, thereby realizing cost reduction, apparatus weight reduction, apparatus miniaturization, and the like.
Further, by adopting a configuration in which the rotating drum rotates around a substantially horizontal axis, the sterilization apparatus can be transported by rotating or sliding with the container lying on its side. As a result, the container can be transported without using a drive mechanism or the like, and the structure of the apparatus can be further simplified, the cost of the apparatus can be reduced, and the size can be reduced.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on embodiments shown in the accompanying drawings.
[First embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of a bottle sterilizer 10A according to the present embodiment.
The sterilizer 10A shown in FIG. 1 is provided on the front side of a filling device that fills a bottle (container) 100 with a beverage. This sterilization apparatus 10A includes an electron beam irradiation unit 20 that performs sterilization by irradiating an electron beam, a bottle conveyance unit (container conveyance unit) 30 that conveys the bottle 100, and the electron beam irradiation unit 20 and the bottle conveyance unit 30. And a shielding wall 40 to be covered.

The electron beam irradiation unit 20 of this embodiment includes an electron beam generation source 21, a horn 22, and a controller (not shown).
A so-called electron gun can be used as the electron beam generation source 21. The electron beam generation source 21 generates a beam-shaped electron beam and irradiates the bottle 100 transported by the bottle transport unit 30. At this time, the electron beam irradiation unit 20 is provided with a scanning magnet (not shown). Each of the scanning magnets changes the magnetic field generated according to the applied current, and changes the magnetic field generated by the control of the controller, thereby changing the electron beam generated by the electron beam generation source 21 to a predetermined level. Scan in the direction. Here, it is preferable to scan the electron beam in the direction in which the bottle 100 is transported or in a direction intersecting the transport direction of the bottle 100 at a predetermined angle.

  The horn 22 has a cylindrical shape whose cross-sectional dimension increases as the distance from the electron beam generation source 21 increases. The horn 22 is provided so as to surround the irradiation range of the electron beam when scanning the electron beam with a scanning magnet.

The bottle transport unit 30 is provided so as to cross the lower part of the electron beam irradiation unit 20 so that the bottle 100 is irradiated with the electron beam from the electron beam irradiation unit 20 while transporting the bottle 100 in a predetermined direction. To do.
The bottle transport unit 30 includes a bottom guide 31 and side guides 32 provided on both upper sides of the bottom guide 31 so that the bottle 100 is transported in a predetermined direction while being guided downward and on both sides. It is like that.
The configuration of the bottle transport unit 30 for transporting the bottle 100 in this way is not intended to be limited in any way in the present invention. For example, while the endless transport belt is driven to circulate in the bottom guide 31, The bottle 100 is indexed at regular intervals so that the bottle 100 is transported in a state where the bottles 100 are arranged at predetermined intervals on the conveyor belt, and a screw having a spiral guide pipe is provided. The bottle 100 can be transported while being slid on the bottom guide 31 by being rotationally driven by a motor or the like (not shown). In addition, the bottle transport unit 30 may have any other configuration, for example, the bottle 100 may be transported by blowing air onto the bottle 100, or the bottom guide 31 may be By tilting, the bottle 100 may be moved on the bottom guide 31 by its own weight.

As shown in FIG. 2, rotary drums 50 </ b> A are respectively provided at both ends of the bottle transport unit 30. When the bottle transport unit 30 is inclined, the rotating drums 50 </ b> A at both ends are provided according to the height of the bottle transport unit 30.
The rotary drum 50 </ b> A includes a bottom plate 52 and a top plate 53 provided on the rotary shaft 51 at intervals in the vertical direction, and a partition provided to extend radially from the rotary shaft 51 between the bottom plate 52 and the top plate 53. Plate 54. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of, for example, eight partition plates 54 are provided, and the bottle 100 can be accommodated in a space S between two partition plates 54 adjacent to each other. Yes.
In such a rotating drum 50 </ b> A, at least the partition plate 54 is formed of a material having an electron beam and X-ray shielding effect, as with the shielding wall 40.

  The rotating drum 50A is configured to rotate by driving a rotating shaft 51 by a driving mechanism such as a motor (not shown). The rotating drum 50A rotates at a predetermined speed, and the space S between two adjacent partition plates 54 is rotated. However, the bottle 100 is delivered from the space S to the opposing bottle transport unit 30 or received from the bottle transport unit 30 and accommodated in the space S.

  When the bottle 100 is received by the rotating drum 50A, the inertia when the bottle 100 has been transported until then is used, or the bottle 100 in the rear row is pushed from the transport conveyor 200I or the bottle transport unit 30, or other auxiliary By using a simple mechanism, the bottle 100 is pushed out and put into the space S. On the other hand, when discharging the bottle 100 from the rotating drum 50A, the rotating drum 50A is provided with a pusher 55 for pushing out the bottle 100 accommodated in the space S between the two adjacent partition plates 54. Also good. The pusher 55 is driven by a telescopic cylinder, a cam, or the like (not shown), and operates at a timing when the bottle 100 is pushed out from the rotary drum 50A.

The shielding wall 40 is formed so as to surround the electron beam irradiation unit 20, the bottle transport unit 30, and the rotating drum 50A. The shielding wall 40 is made of concrete, iron, lead, or a combination of these materials, and has a thickness determined according to acceleration energy in an electron gun used for generating an electron beam. It exhibits the required shielding performance against X-rays generated by irradiation.
The shielding wall 40 is formed with a hood portion (shielding hood) 41 projecting outward in accordance with the shape of the rotating drum 50A at a position facing the rotating drums 50A and 50A at both ends of the bottle conveying unit 30. In the part 41, an opening (supply port, second opening) 42 and an opening (discharge port, second opening) 43 are formed. As described above, the openings 42 and 43 are formed on the outer side of the sterilizing apparatus 10A in the rotary drum 50A in a state where the rotary drum 50A is stopped to transfer and receive the bottle 100 to and from the bottle transport unit 30. It is formed at a position facing the space S facing the.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 3, the hood portion 41 may be provided so as to surround substantially the entire circumference of the rotary drum 50A. In this case, it is necessary to provide openings (first openings) 44 and 45 at positions where the bottle transport unit 30 and the bottle 100 are transferred and received.
The hood 41 is for preventing leakage of electron beams and X-rays from the gap between the rotating drum 50A and the shielding wall 40, and does not leak electron beams and X-rays even when the rotating drum 50A rotates. As shown in FIG. 4, it is necessary to form at least one space S between the two partition plates 54 adjacent to each other.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, conveying conveyors 200 </ b> I and 200 </ b> O are provided outside the shielding wall 40 at positions facing the openings 42 and 43. The transport conveyor 200I sequentially transports the bottles 100 to be sterilized and delivers them to the rotary drum 50A through the opening 42, and the transport conveyor 200O receives the sterilized bottles 100 from the rotary drum 50A through the opening 43, Transport toward the filling device.

In such a sterilization apparatus 10A, as shown in FIG. 5, the bottle 100 to be sterilized is conveyed by the conveyer 200I while standing toward the opening 42 on the inlet side of the sterilization apparatus 10A. As this conveyance conveyor 200I, for example, while holding the neck part etc. of the bottle 100 along a guide rail so that sliding is possible, air is blown off from the vicinity of this guide rail to the conveyance direction diagonally forward, and this bottle is used as a drive source. Some carry 100. Further, as the conveyer 200I, there is a conveyer 200I that circulates and drives an endless belt and conveys the bottle 100 on the belt. In any case, at the time of mass production, since a large number of bottles 100 are transported in a line in the front and rear direction by the transport conveyor 200I, the bottle 100 is connected to the other bottle 100 at the rear at the end of the transport conveyor 200I. And pass through the opening 42 as it is. At this time, in the case of the air blowing type transport conveyor 200I, the air to be blown out can also be used to push out the bottle 100 from the end of the transport conveyor 200I. In the case of the transport conveyor 200I using an endless belt, a mechanism for indexing the bottles 100 one by one from the end of the transport conveyor 200I may be provided.
In this way, the bottle 100 pushed out of the conveyor 200I and passed through the opening 42 is formed on the rotating drum 50A in the hood 41 by the two partition plates 54 adjacent to each other at a position corresponding to the opening 42. It is thrown into the space S. Therefore, as a matter of course, the extrusion timing of the bottle 100 from the transport conveyor 200I is synchronized with the rotational speed of the rotary drum 50A. Thereby, the bottles 100 are sequentially put into the space S in which a plurality are arranged in the circumferential direction in the rotating drum 50A one by one through the opening 42 from the transport conveyor 200I in the same manner as described above.

  The bottle 100 is pushed out by the pusher 55 from the space S that sequentially reaches the position facing the one end side of the bottle conveyance unit 30 by the rotation of the rotary drum 50 </ b> A and is delivered to the bottle conveyance unit 30.

The bottle 100 delivered to the bottle transport unit 30 is transported toward the other end side of the bottle transport unit 30, and the electron beam irradiation unit 20 irradiates the electron beam and sterilizes it.
As shown in FIG. 3, after sterilization, the bottle 100 that has reached the other end of the bottle conveyance unit 30 is accommodated in the space S of the rotary drum 50 </ b> A at a position facing the bottle conveyance unit 30.
In this manner, the sterilized bottles 100 are sequentially supplied from the bottle transport unit 30 one by one to the space S of the rotary drum 50A.

The bottle 100 that has reached the position facing the opening 43 by the rotation of the rotary drum 50A is pushed out by the pusher 55 and delivered to the transport conveyor 200O.
The sterilized bottle 100 delivered to the transport conveyor 200O is transported toward the subsequent filling device by the transport conveyor 200O.

  Thus, by providing the rotary drum 50A at the entrance and exit of the sterilizer 10A, leakage of electron beams and X-rays from the entrance and exit of the shielding wall 40 can be prevented. At this time, a hood portion 41 is formed in the rotary drum 50A so that no gap is formed between the shielding wall 40 and the electron beam or X-rays even when the rotary drum 50A rotates. Therefore, it is possible to reliably prevent leakage of electron beams and X-rays. The hood part 41 can prevent the shield wall 40 from being unnecessarily large by making the shape along the outer peripheral shape of the rotary drum 50A. With such a structure, it is not necessary to form a labyrinth structure at the entrance / exit of the shielding wall 40, and the shielding wall 40 is made as simple as possible while reliably shielding electron beams and X-rays. It becomes possible to reduce the size of the apparatus.

In the first embodiment, the pusher 55 is provided. Instead, as shown in FIG. 6, a notch 52a is formed in the bottom plate 52 ′ of the rotary drum 50A ′. It is also possible. In this case, the bottom plate 52 ′ is provided in a fixed state with the edges of the rotating shaft 51 and the partition plate 54 cut.
In addition, openings (discharge openings) 43 ′ and 44 ′ are formed in the bottom of the hood 41 ′ at positions corresponding to the notches 52 a.
And the edge part of the bottle conveyance part 30 and the conveyance conveyor 200O which receives the bottle 100 from rotary drum 50A 'is located below the notch 52a.

In such a configuration, when the rotary drum 50A ′ rotates, the bottle 100 accommodated in the space S moves on the bottom plate 52 ′ while being pushed by the partition plate 54 and reaches the notch 52a. The cutout 52a passes through the openings 43 ′ and 44 ′ and falls onto the lower bottle transport unit 30 or the transport conveyor 200O.
The rotating drum 50A ′ having such a configuration has a labyrinth structure and has a very high shielding effect against electron beams and X-rays, so that the above-described effect becomes even more remarkable.

[Second Embodiment]
Hereinafter, it shows about 2nd embodiment of this invention. Note that, in the following description, the same reference numerals are given to configurations common to the first embodiment, and description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of the bottle sterilizer 10B according to the present embodiment.
In this figure, the main difference from the sterilizer 10 </ b> A shown in the first embodiment is rotating drums 50 </ b> B provided at both ends of the bottle transport unit 30.
The rotating drum 50B in the present embodiment is the rotating drum 50A shown in the first embodiment installed so as to rotate around a substantially horizontal axis. In this case, the shielding wall 40 also has a shape that matches the installation state of the rotating drum 50B with the hood portion 41. In such a configuration, since the bottle 100 is in a laid-down state, the openings 42, 43, 44, and 45 are preferably formed in a horizontally long shape so that the laid-down bottle 100 can pass through.

Accordingly, the bottle 100 can be transported in a state where the bottle 100 is laid down also in the bottle transport unit 30 and the transport conveyors 200I and 200O. If the bottle transport unit 30 and the transport conveyors 200I and 200O are bottles 100 having a substantially circular cross section, the bottle 100 drops and descends while rotating due to its own weight by being inclined according to the transport direction. In the bottle transport unit 30 and the transport conveyors 200I and 200O, a drive mechanism for transporting the bottle 100 can be eliminated.
In addition, even when the cross-sectional shape of the bottle 100 is a polygonal shape, depending on the number of corners, the cross-sectional shape, etc., the bottle 100 can also be rolled and conveyed in a state where it is laid down. If it cannot be transported by rolling, it may be transported while sliding along the bottle transport unit 30 and the transport conveyors 200I and 200O.

In this case, also in the rotating drum 50B, the bottle 100 can be received / delivered between the bottle transport unit 30 and the transport conveyors 200I and 200O by using the inclination. That is, when the bottle 100 is received from the transport conveyor 200I and the bottle transport unit 30, the bottle 100 that rolls down from the transport conveyor 200I and the bottle transport unit 30 provided in an inclined manner is caused by the momentum (inertia) of the rotating drum 50B. It can be accommodated in the space S. On the other hand, when the bottle 100 is delivered from the rotating drum 50B to the bottle transport unit 30 and the transport conveyor 200O, the partition plate 54 positioned below is transported in the space S at a position facing the bottle transport unit 30 and the transport conveyor 200O. By rotating so as to incline toward the section 30 and the transport conveyor 200O, the bottle 100 starts to roll and is delivered to the bottle transport section 30 and the transport conveyor 200O.
Note that the operation of the rotating drum 50B when receiving and transferring the bottle 100 is the same as the operation of the rotating drum 50A in the first embodiment.

Also in the sterilization apparatus 10B having such a configuration, the shielding wall 40 has a simple structure as much as possible while reliably preventing leakage of electron beams and X-rays from the entrance and exit of the shielding wall 40 as in the first embodiment. It is possible to realize cost reduction, apparatus weight reduction, apparatus miniaturization, and the like.
Moreover, in the sterilization apparatus 10B, the rotating drum 50B is provided so as to rotate around a substantially horizontal axis, so that the bottle 100 can be conveyed while being rotated and slid by lying down. Therefore, it is not necessary to provide a mechanical mechanism or the like for transporting the bottle 100 in the bottle transport unit 30. Therefore, further simplification of the structure of the sterilization apparatus 10B, thereby cost reduction, apparatus weight reduction, apparatus miniaturization, and the like can be realized.

[Third embodiment]
Hereinafter, it shows about 2nd embodiment of this invention. Note that, in the following description, the same reference numerals are given to configurations common to the first embodiment, and description thereof is omitted.
FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a schematic configuration of a bottle sterilizer 10C according to the present embodiment.
In this figure, the main difference from the sterilization apparatus 10 </ b> A shown in the first embodiment is a rotating drum 50 </ b> C provided at both ends of the bottle transport unit 30.
The rotating drum 50C is provided to rotate about a substantially vertical axis, like the rotating drum 50A in the first embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 9, the rotary drum 50 </ b> C includes a rotary shaft 61 provided with an axis line in a substantially vertical axis direction, and a bottom plate 62 and a top plate 63 provided on the rotary shaft 61 with a space therebetween in the vertical direction. In addition, an upper partition plate 64A and a lower partition plate 64B are provided between the bottom plate 62 and the top plate 63 so as to extend radially from the rotary shaft 61.
The upper partition plate 64A is provided at the upper part of the rotating shaft 61, the lower partition plate 64B is provided at the lower part of the rotating shaft 61, and the same number of the upper partition plate 64A and the lower partition plate 64B have the same angle. Is provided. Here, the upper partition plate 64A and the lower partition plate 64B are formed with a predetermined gap between the lower end portion of the upper partition plate 64A and the upper end portion of the lower partition plate 64B.

An intermediate partition plate 65 located in a plane parallel to the bottom plate 62 and the top plate 63 is provided in the gap portion. The intermediate partition plate 65 is fixed to a frame (not shown) of the sterilizer 10C or the hood portion 41 of the shielding wall 40, and is provided on the rotating shaft 61, the upper partition plate 64A, and the lower partition plate 64B of the rotary drum 50C. On the other hand, the edge is cut and provided with a predetermined clearance.
At a predetermined position of the intermediate partition plate 65, a notch portion 66 having a shape corresponding to the space S formed by the two upper partition plates 64A and the lower partition plate 64B adjacent to each other is formed above and below the intermediate partition plate 65. Has been.

In the rotary drum 50 </ b> C having such a configuration, the bottle 100 is received on the upper stage side and delivered from the lower stage side. Therefore, as in the first embodiment, the hood portion 41 of the shielding wall 40 is formed in the portion of the rotating drum 50C so as to cover it, but the opening portion 42 serving as an inlet to the rotating drum 50C. , 45 are formed at positions corresponding to the upper partition plate 64A on the upper stage side, and the openings 43 and 44 serving as outlets from the rotary drum 50C are formed at positions corresponding to the lower partition plate 64B on the lower stage side.
And the conveyor 200I is installed so that the edge part may become a position corresponding to the opening part 42. FIG. The bottle transport unit 30 is installed such that the end portions on both sides are at positions corresponding to the openings 44 and 45. Furthermore, the conveyor 200 </ b> O is installed such that its end is at a position corresponding to the opening 43.

In such a rotating drum 50C, the bottle 100 to be sterilized is conveyed toward the opening 42 on the inlet side of the sterilizer 10C by the conveyor 200I. At the end of the conveyor 200 </ b> I, the bottle 100 is driven by the momentum (inertia) of conveyance in the conveyor 200 </ b> I, pushed by the bottles 100 that are sequentially conveyed from the rear, an auxiliary force applied by air, or the like. It is pushed out and passes through the opening 42 as it is.
At this time, the bottle 100 that has passed through the opening 42 has a space S between the two upper partition plates 64A adjacent to each other at a position corresponding to the opening 42 on the upper side of the rotating drum 50C in the hood 41. It is to be thrown into. Thereby, the bottle 100 is supplied to the rotating drum 50C sequentially and sequentially from the conveyor 200I.
The rotating drum 50C is rotated by a driving mechanism such as a motor (not shown). At this time, since the intermediate partition plate 65 is in a fixed state, it does not rotate, so the bottle 100 moves while sliding on the intermediate partition plate 65. When the bottle 100 reaches the notch 66 of the intermediate partition plate 65 as the rotating drum 50C rotates, the bottle 100 passes through the notch 66 and falls to the lower side of the rotating drum 50C.
The bottle 100 that has fallen to the lower stage is conveyed by the rotating rotary drum 50C and, when reaching the position facing the opening 44, is pushed out by the pusher 55 similar to that shown in the first embodiment, and the bottle conveying unit 30.

The bottle 100 delivered to the bottle transport unit 30 is transported toward the other end side of the bottle transport unit 30, and the electron beam irradiation unit 20 irradiates the electron beam and sterilizes it.
After sterilization, the bottle 100 that has reached the other end of the bottle transport unit 30 is pushed out and is accommodated in the space S on the upper stage side of the rotary drum 50C through the opening 45 as it is.
After that, when the bottle 100 reaches the notch 66 of the intermediate partition plate 65 by the rotation of the rotary drum 50C, the bottle 100 falls to the lower stage as in the case of the above-described rotary drum 50C, and further the rotary drum It is conveyed to the opening 43 by rotation of 50C, pushed out by the pusher 55, and delivered to the conveyor 200O.

  Thus, by providing the rotary drum 50C at the entrance and exit of the sterilizer 10C, leakage of electron beams and X-rays from the entrance and exit of the shielding wall 40 can be prevented. At this time, since the rotary drum 50C has a two-stage configuration, it has a labyrinth structure and can reliably prevent leakage of electron beams and X-rays. With such a structure, it is possible to make the shielding wall 40 as simple as possible while reliably blocking electron beams and X-rays, thereby realizing cost reduction, apparatus weight reduction, apparatus miniaturization, and the like.

  The rotating drums 50A and 50C shown in the first and third embodiments may be provided with the rotating shaft 51 inclined as shown in FIG. 10 (FIG. 10 illustrates the rotating drum 50A as an example). However, the same applies to the rotating drum 50C.) In this case, the inclination direction of the rotating shaft 51 is determined by the transfer from the conveyor 200I or the bottle transport unit 30 to the rotary drums 50A and 50C, the transfer from the rotary drum 50A and 50C to the bottle transport unit 30 or the transport conveyor 200O, and the bottle 100. The bottom plate (bottom surface) 52 is preferably provided so as to be inclined downward from above along the flow direction of the bottle 100 so as to be able to be performed by gravity. As a result, the weight of the bottle 100 can be used for delivery, and there is no need to provide the pusher 55 or the like.

  Each partition plate 54, 64A, 64B of the rotating drums 50A-50C can be configured as shown in FIG. That is, each partition plate 54, 64A, 64B is configured by arranging a plurality of plate-like members 70, 71 formed in a strip shape in a staggered manner. At this time, the plate-like member 70 arranged in one row and the plate-like member 71 arranged in the other row are provided so that the end portions thereof overlap each other, and are provided with a predetermined clearance. . This is to allow air (atmosphere) to pass through the clearance portion between the plate-like member 70 in one row and the plate-like member 71 in the other row while shielding electron beams and X-rays. . Thereby, it becomes possible to reduce the air resistance in each of the partition plates 54, 64A, and 64B when the rotary drums 50A to 50C are rotated. The rotation of the rotary drums 50A to 50C provided on the inlet side and the outlet side of the sterilizers 10A to 10C causes a flow in which air is taken in and discharged from the outside of the shielding wall 40, and the inside of the shielding wall 40 is provided. Although the outside atmosphere passes, it is possible to suppress the amount of air passing by reducing the air resistance in each partition plate 54, 64A, 64B, and the inside of the shielding wall 40 is contaminated by dust or the like. It is possible to prevent the bottle 100 from falling due to wind.

In addition, instead of the rotating drums 50A to 50C, it is also possible to adopt the following configuration. That is, instead of the rotating drums 50 </ b> A to 50 </ b> C, as shown in FIG. 12, a spiral chute 80 is integrally provided along the outer peripheral surface of the shaft 81, and the bottle 100 is slid down along the chute 80. To. Here, the outer peripheral portion of the chute 80 is covered with a hood portion 41 made of the same material as that of the shielding wall 40 as in FIG. 1, and openings 42, 43, 44, 45 are formed in the hood portion 41. The chute 80 and the shaft 81 are also made of a material having an electron beam or X-ray shielding effect, as with the shielding wall 40.
In such a chute 80, electron beams and X-rays that have entered from the openings 42 and 45 opened inside the shielding wall 40 in the hood portion 41 are blocked by the chute 80 and the shaft 81, so Leakage can be reliably prevented.
In addition to this, as long as it does not deviate from the gist of the present invention, the configuration described in the above embodiment can be selected or changed to another configuration as appropriate.

It is a perspective view which shows schematic structure of the sterilizer in this embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the sterilizer in 1st embodiment. It is a plane sectional view which shows the detail of the part of a rotating drum. It is a figure which shows the other example of the shielding hood provided in the rotating drum. It is a perspective view which shows operation | movement of a rotating drum. It is a figure which shows the other example of a rotating drum. It is sectional drawing of the sterilizer in 2nd embodiment. It is sectional drawing of the sterilizer in 3rd embodiment. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of the rotating drum in 3rd embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example at the time of making a rotating drum incline. It is a perspective view which shows the other example of the partition plate of a rotating drum. It is a perspective view which shows the other example of a rotating drum.

Explanation of symbols

  10A, 10B, 10C ... sterilizer, 20 ... electron beam irradiation part, 30 ... bottle transport part (container transport part), 40 ... shielding wall, 41 ... hood part (shielding hood), 42 ... opening part (supply port, no. Second opening), 43 ... opening (discharge port, second opening), 43 ', 44' ... opening (discharge opening), 44, 45 ... opening (first opening), 50A 50B, 50C ... Rotating drum, 52 ... Bottom plate (bottom surface), 54 ... Partition plate, 55 ... Pusher, 64A ... Upper partition plate, 64B ... Lower partition plate, 65 ... Intermediate partition plate, 66 ... Notch, 70 ... Plate member 71 ... Plate member 100 ... Bottle (container) S ... Space

Claims (7)

A sterilization device that sterilizes a container by irradiating an electron beam,
An electron beam irradiation unit for irradiating the container with an electron beam;
A container transport unit that transports the container so that the container passes through an electron beam irradiation range from the electron beam irradiation unit;
In order to block leakage of the electron beam irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit and X-rays generated by irradiation of the electron beam to the outside, the electron beam irradiation unit and the container transport unit are provided so as to surround, A supply port for supplying the container to the container transport unit, and a shielding wall formed with a discharge port for discharging the container sterilized by the electron beam from the electron beam irradiation unit to the outside from the container transport unit;
A container housing space that is formed from a material that shields the electron beam and X-rays irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, is provided at each of the supply port and the discharge port of the shielding wall, and is divided into a plurality of portions in the circumferential direction. A rotating drum that is rotatable about a substantially vertical axis;
It is formed of a material that shields the electron beam and X-ray irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, and is integrated with the shielding wall along the outer peripheral shape of the rotating drum and covering at least one container housing space. A shielded hood formed automatically,
A sterilizing apparatus comprising:   The shielding hood includes a first opening for delivering the container between the container transport unit and the container housing space of the rotating drum, and the rotating hood and the outside of the shielding wall. The sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein a second opening for delivering the container is formed.   In the position where the container is to be discharged from the rotating drum, a discharge opening is formed in the shielding wall below the rotating drum, and the container is discharged from the rotating opening to the outside of the rotating drum. The sterilizer according to claim 1 or 2. A sterilization device that sterilizes a container by irradiating an electron beam,
An electron beam irradiation unit for irradiating the container with an electron beam;
A container transport unit that transports the container so that the container passes through an electron beam irradiation range from the electron beam irradiation unit;
In order to block leakage of the electron beam irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit and X-rays generated by irradiation of the electron beam to the outside, the electron beam irradiation unit and the container transport unit are provided so as to surround, A supply port for supplying the container to the container transport unit, and a shielding wall formed with a discharge port for discharging the container sterilized by the electron beam from the electron beam irradiation unit to the outside from the container transport unit;
A container housing space that is formed from a material that shields the electron beam and X-rays irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, is provided at each of the supply port and the discharge port of the shielding wall, and is divided into a plurality of portions in the circumferential direction. A rotating drum that is rotatable about a substantially vertical axis;
It is formed of a material that shields the electron beam and X-ray irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, and is integrated with the shielding wall along the outer peripheral shape of the rotating drum and covering at least one container housing space. And a shielding hood that is formed automatically,
The rotating drum is configured in two upper and lower stages, and receives the container from the outside of the rotating drum on the upper side of the rotating drum into the container receiving space, and is received in the container receiving space on the lower side of the rotating drum. The container is discharged out of the rotating drum, and the container housed in the container housing space on the upper stage falls into the container housing space on the lower stage while the rotating drum is rotating. Characterized sterilizer.   The rotating drum is arranged on the lower surface of the container from the side receiving the container into the container receiving space from the outside of the rotating drum toward the direction of discharging the container stored in the container receiving space to the outside of the rotating drum. The sterilizer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a bottom surface that comes into contact with the bottom surface is inclined. A sterilization device that sterilizes a container by irradiating an electron beam,
An electron beam irradiation unit for irradiating the container with an electron beam;
A container transport unit that transports the container so that the container passes through an electron beam irradiation range from the electron beam irradiation unit;
In order to block leakage of the electron beam irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit and X-rays generated by irradiation of the electron beam to the outside, the electron beam irradiation unit and the container transport unit are provided so as to surround, A supply port for supplying the container to the container transport unit, and a shielding wall formed with a discharge port for discharging the container sterilized by the electron beam from the electron beam irradiation unit to the outside from the container transport unit;
A container housing space that is formed from a material that shields the electron beam and X-rays irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, is provided at each of the supply port and the discharge port of the shielding wall, and is divided into a plurality of portions in the circumferential direction. A rotating drum that is rotatable about a substantially horizontal axis;
It is formed of a material that shields the electron beam and X-ray irradiated from the electron beam irradiation unit, and is integrated with the shielding wall along the outer peripheral shape of the rotating drum and covering at least one container housing space. A shielded hood formed automatically,
A sterilizing apparatus comprising:   The said container conveyance part is inclined and provided in the downward direction from the said supply port toward the said discharge port, and rotates or slides in the state which laid down the said container, It conveys, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. The sterilizer described in 1.

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