Method and apparatus for sterilizing preform
AssigneeDai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd.
InventorsAtsushi Hayakawa, Yuiko Wada
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
To provide a method and an apparatus for sterilizing a preform that can reduce the amount of the remaining hydrogen peroxide in sterilization of a preform, a sterilizer at least containing 30% by mass or less of hydrogen peroxide and a solvent having a boiling point of 85° C. or lower is gasified, the sterilizer gas is blasted to the preform, and the preform to which the sterilizer has been blasted is heated to a temperature suitable for molding by blasting hot air or without blasting hot air. Alternatively, after the preform is irradiated with light containing ultraviolet rays, the sterilizer gas is blasted to the preform, and the preform is heated to a temperature suitable for molding.
Claims20
A method for sterilizing a preform, comprising:
- a light irradiation step of irradiating at least a mouth portion of the preform with light containing ultraviolet rays from a light irradiation apparatus, which is positioned above an opening in the mouth portion of the preform, with the light irradiation apparatus comprising a lamp for emitting the light containing ultraviolet rays and a dome-shaped reflector plate that comprises a plurality of surfaces that surround the lamp and an opening through which the light containing ultraviolet rays is emitted, such that both inner and outer surfaces of the opening in the mouth portion of the preform are irradiated with the light containing ultraviolet rays;
- and
- a sterilizer gas blasting step of gasifying a sterilizer containing at least hydrogen peroxide and blasting the sterilizer gas to the preform,
- wherein the light irradiation step is performed before the sterilizer gas blasting step.
An apparatus for sterilizing a preform, comprising:
- a transfer device that transfers the preform from a stage of supplying the preform to a stage of molding the preform into a bottle;
- a nozzle that blasts a sterilizer gas to the preform on the transfer device;
- and
- a light irradiation apparatus that irradiates at least a mouth portion of the preform with light containing ultraviolet rays, the light irradiation apparatus is positioned above an opening in the mouth portion of the preform, with the light irradiation apparatus comprising a lamp for emitting the light containing ultraviolet rays and a dome-shaped reflector plate that comprises a plurality of surfaces that surround the lamp and an opening through which the light containing ultraviolet rays is emitted, such that both inner and outer surfaces of the opening in the mouth portion of the preform are irradiated with the light containing ultraviolet rays,
- wherein the light irradiation apparatus is disposed upstream of the nozzle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.