Search

EP-4374976-B1 - CLEANING DEVICE FOR CONTAINER

EP4374976B1EP 4374976 B1EP4374976 B1EP 4374976B1EP-4374976-B1

Inventors

  • TAKEGUCHI SHIRO
  • ISHIHARA KENICHI
  • TAMURA KAZUHISA
  • MAEDA SACHI

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20220207

Claims (9)

  1. A cleaning device (100) for a container (200) that removes, from a bottomed tubular container having a bottom portion (210) and a circumferential wall portion (220), a foreign matter adhering to inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion (220), the cleaning device (100) comprising: a mounting table (10) that has formed therein an opening (10a) which is capable of facing the bottom portion (210) when the container (200) is mounted on the mounting table (10) and that has a mounting face (11) with which an opening edge (230) of the circumferential wall portion (220) comes into contact, the mounting table (10) being movable in a mounting direction of the container (200), wherein the mounting face (11) has a funnel shape from a circumferential edge toward the opening (10a) such that the opening (10a) is positioned at a bottom position; a housing (20) that supports the mounting table (10) for movement in the mounting direction; an elastic member (30) that is installed in the housing (20) and biases the mounting table (10) in the mounting direction; a cleaning mechanism (40) that is installed in the housing (20) and jets cleaning liquid to the inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion (220) by at least partly protruding in the opening (10a); and a control unit (50) that jets the cleaning liquid to the inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion (220) through the cleaning mechanism (40), according to the movement of the mounting table (10) by a predetermined distance in a state in which the opening edge (230) of the container (200) is mounted on the mounting face (11), wherein an installation opening (21) for allowing the mounting table (10) to be installed therethrough is formed at an upper portion of the housing (20), and a removable water-conveyance frame wall (22) that conveys the cleaning liquid to the mounting face (11) without allowing the cleaning liquid to scatter around the housing (20) is provided in the installation opening (21).
  2. The cleaning device (100) for a container (200) according to claim 1, further comprising: a liquid storage tank (60) that is installed on the housing (20) and is capable of storing the cleaning liquid therein, wherein the control unit (50) includes an air tank (51) capable of storing compressed air therein, a compressor (52) that generates the compressed air, and a water suction pump (55) that sucks the cleaning liquid with use of the compressed air, and the cleaning liquid is sucked from the liquid storage tank (60) with the water suction pump (55) using the compressed air and jetted to the inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion (220) through the cleaning mechanism (40).
  3. The cleaning device (100) for a container (200) according to claim 2, wherein mixture fluid in which the compressed air is mixed with the cleaning liquid is jetted as the cleaning liquid to the inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion (220) from the cleaning mechanism (40).
  4. The cleaning device (100) for a container (200) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the cleaning mechanism (40) includes a cleaning liquid discharging section (41) that discharges the cleaning liquid; and a compressed air discharging section (42) that discharges part of the compressed air, and the cleaning liquid adhering to at least one of the inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion (220) is removed by the compressed air discharged from the compressed air discharging section (42).
  5. The cleaning device (100) for a container (200) according to claim 4, wherein the control unit (50) further includes a first timer that stops supply of compressed air to be used to suck the cleaning liquid and a second timer that stops supply of compressed air to be discharged toward the inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion (220) through the compressed air discharging section (42), and supply of the compressed air to be discharged toward the inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion (220) is stopped in response to the second timer after supply of the cleaning liquid to the inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion (220) is stopped in response to the first timer.
  6. The cleaning device (100) for a container (200) according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the compressed air discharging section (42) includes an air nozzle that is disposed around the cleaning liquid discharging section (41) and has a discharge port for the compressed air that is directed to the inner face of the circumferential wall portion, and the cleaning liquid discharging section (41) includes a cleaning liquid nozzle that is disposed at a height from the mounting face (11) greater than that of the air nozzle and jets the cleaning liquid.
  7. The cleaning device (100) for a container (200) according to claim 6, wherein the discharge port of the air nozzle is directed diagonally upwardly with respect to an installation plane of the air nozzle such that the compressed air forms a spiral flow to the bottom portion (210) along the inner face of the circumferential wall portion.
  8. The cleaning device (100) for a container (200) according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the cleaning liquid nozzle is a rotating nozzle having a first discharge port that discharges the cleaning liquid toward the bottom portion (210) and a second discharge port that discharges the cleaning liquid along the inner face of the circumferential wall portion.
  9. The cleaning device (100) for a container (200) according to any one of claims 4 to 8, wherein the cleaning mechanism (40) further includes a cleaning liquid collecting section that collects the cleaning liquid containing a foreign matter that has been jetted to the inner faces (220a) of the bottom portion (210) and the circumferential wall portion, and the cleaning device (100) further includes a waste liquid tank that is installed in the housing (20) and that is capable of storing therein the cleaning liquid collected by the cleaning liquid collecting section and containing the foreign matter.

Description

[Technical Field] The present invention relates to a cleaning device for a container exemplified by a paper cup or a resin cup. [Background Art] Conventionally, a beverage such as water or coffee, for example, is put in a container and provided in a vending machine, a shop, or the like. As the material for such a container as just described, for example, paper, synthetic resin such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), glass, or metal such as aluminum is used. Further, in recent years, a beverage poured into a container has also been diversified, and in addition to water and coffee mentioned above, beverages to which foam milk, caramel sauce, or mousse foam is added have also become popular. Accordingly, when a person drinking the beverage finishes the beverage, not only the beverage but also some of toppings such as foam milk or sauce mentioned above, for example, sometimes remains in and is disposed of together with the container. Meanwhile, a cleaning device for a beverage container additionally provided for a production line in a factory or a vending machine is known as disclosed in the pieces of PTL exemplified hereinbelow. For example, PTL 1 proposes a beverage vending machine including holding means for a container brought thereto by a user, cleaning means for cleaning the container, drying means for removing droplets and drying the container after the cleaning, sterilization means for sterilizing the container after the drying, and a controller for controlling operation of the abovementioned means. Meanwhile, for example, PTL 2 proposes a rotary cleaning device for a PET container installed on a large-scale filling line for a PET bottle or the like. Further, there is also available a cleaning device for a beverage container which immerses at least part of a cup into a cleaning tank into which a container is to be immersed, to perform cleaning of the cup as proposed, for example, in PTL 3. PTL 4 relates to a device for cleaning and sterilization of a drinking container. PTL 5 relates to an automatic sterilization and cleaning device for personal cups using tap water. PTL 6 relates to a portable fluid dispensing and rinsing system for use with fluid receptacles or holders, such as cups or glassware. PTL 7 relates to a cup cleaning device. [Citation List] [Patent Literature] [PTL 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2017-51904[PTL 2] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-75703[PTL 3] Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. Sho 57-194455[PTL 4] WO 2020/218777 A1 discloses a cleaning device for a container that removes, from a bottomed tubular container having a bottom portion and a circumferential wall portion, a foreign matter adhering to inner faces of the bottom portion and the circumferential wall portion, the cleaning device comprising: a mounting table that has formed therein an opening which is capable of facing the bottom portion when the container is mounted on the mounting table and that has a mounting face with which an opening edge of the circumferential wall portion comes into contact, the mounting table being movable in a mounting direction of the container; a housing that supports the mounting table for movement in the mounting direction; an elastic member that is installed in the housing and biases the mounting table in the mounting direction; a cleaning mechanism that is installed in the housing and jets cleaning liquid to the inner faces of the bottom portion and the circumferential wall portion by at least partly protruding in the opening; and a control unit that jets the cleaning liquid to the inner faces of the bottom portion and the circumferential wall portion through the cleaning mechanism, according to the movement of the mounting table by a predetermined distance in a state in which the opening edge of the container is mounted on the mounting face.[PTL 5] KR 2021 0069541 A[PTL 6] US 2018/092505 A1[PTL 7] KR 101 568 830 B1 [Summary] [Technical Problem] Cleaning devices of conventional structures including those of the pieces of PTL mentioned above still have such points to be improved as described below. In particular, these days, awareness of reduction of the environmental load, resource saving, and energy saving has risen, and importance has been and is being given also to the reuse of containers that have been used for drinking beverages. For example, although paper cups or resin cups mentioned above are collected and reused after being disposed of, if, at this time, the cups remain in a state in which such foreign matters as some of the beverage or toppings remain adhering thereto, an additional step for cleaning is required, and this increases the cost. Accordingly, for example, collecting containers after they are cleaned in advance by users or the like is effective in contributing to energy saving and resource saving in a later process for reuse. However, for example, in such a mode that a cleaning tank is used as proposed in PTL 3, not only the device scale for cleaning becomes lar