Package making – Methods – Sterilizing cover only
Patent
1995-09-22
1997-08-05
Johnson, Linda
Package making
Methods
Sterilizing cover only
53432, 53484, 53510, 53167, 533756, B65B 5504, B65B 3102
Patent
active
056530919
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a process for sterilizing and filling packages for flowable media open on one side under the influence of pulsating light and the use of a filler pipe. The invention also relates to a device with a lamp emitting a pulsating light and with a filler pipe which is moveable relative to the package and is open at its bottom edge.
It is known to sterilize packages for liquids before filling, for example packages for milk, the tubular walls of which have paper as a support material and are surface coated with one or more layers. In the known process the insides of the package are treated with chemical sterilizing media. This sterilization is disadvantageously slow and additionally the treatment of the package must take place in closed spaces, that is to say the packages must be enclosed in aseptic chambers. A further disadvantage is that the chemical sterilizing medium must be removed after completion of the process, for example by drying, in order to remove the remains of the chemical medium from the surfaces of the packages. This has resulted in complicated and expensive machines and the implementation of the known process is costly.
The object of the invention is to provide a new process and a new device of the type described in the introduction to the effect that treatment with chemical media together with its associated disadvantages is avoided, wherein the device is more practically and more simply configured and shows a quicker effect.
With respect to the process, the object of the invention is solved in that the package, enclosing the filler pipe and the light source, is moved sufficiently far relatively to the filler pipe and to the light source for the bottom edge of the filler pipe and the light source to be near to the base of the package, sterile gas is blown into the package and the light is allowed to take effect, and after shutting off the light source, the light source is moved along in one direction and the package, being filled, is moved in the other direction then closed and transported onwards. With this process high capacity packages (large numbers per unit time) can be sterilized and filled in the narrowest of spaces and therefore with compact machines, wherein preferably the sterilizing is carried out directly before and during the filling and the interior of the package above the flowable medium is kept sterile until closure.
Flowable media as a rule move downwards with greater or lesser vertical components as a result of gravity, and therefore the filling takes place, according to the invention, in a preferred embodiment, from above to below, therefore the light source in the interior of the package is moved downwards relatively to the package and during filling, and after the sterilizing effect of the light has killed off the bacteria moves upwards relatively to the bottom edge of the filler pipe so that during filling no flowable medium splashes against the lamp housing.
It is in this case advantageous when according to the invention during the entire sterilizing, filling and closure process an atmosphere with sterile gas is maintained in the interior of the package. In order that after the initial sterilization bacteria from outside do not arrive on the walls of the package or on machine parts which are used for sterilizing, filling and closing, with the present measures according to the invention it is ensured that sterile gas, for example sterile air, is continuously supplied to the interior of the package. With appropriate throttling of the supply lines it can easily be ensured that in the interior of the package an excess pressure of sterile gas occurs and is maintained. In this way it is reliably ensured that the contents filled into the sterile package and also the space above the top level of the contents remains sterile for as long as the package is still open.
It is also particularly advantageous when during the whole operation sterile gas externally sweeps over the surface of the filler pipe. It is unavoidable, and sometimes is even desirable, for th
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patent: 3393491 (1968-07-01), Burton et al.
patent: 3531908 (1970-10-01), Rausing et al.
patent: 3837137 (1974-09-01), Yassushiro et al.
patent: 3970426 (1976-07-01), Stark et al.
patent: 4910942 (1990-03-01), Dunn et al.
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