Method for sterilizing heat-tolerating containers under clean-room conditions

US5064614A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Hans Gilovyy Maschinenfabrik Meteorwerk GmbH & Co. · DE

Inventors

• Roland Reiss · Berlin, DE
• Gerd Liskow · Berlin, DE
• Hinrich Gehrke · Berlin, DE
• Walter Luxner · Berlin, DE
• Gerd Schmidt · Koblenzer Straße, DE
• Dieter Winiarski · Berlin, DE
• Eckehart Lindner · Odenthal, DE
• Edgar Sirch · Leverkusen, DE
• Eckhard Kalbfleisch · Leverkusen, DE
• Hans Laubert · Leverkusen, DE
• Peter Kiefer · Odenthal, DE
• Johann Franz · Monheim, DE
• Anton Fasse · Pulheim, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: Oct 13, 1988
• Grant date: Nov 12, 1991
• Expiry date: Oct 13, 2008

Classification

• Technology area (CPC A): Human Necessities
• CPC primary: A61L2/08
• WIPO field: Medical technology
• WIPO sector: Instruments

Abstract

The containers which are to be sterilized (glass bottles) (1) are continuously moved into and out of a radiant oven via laminar-flow units and then cooled in a cooling zone by HOSCH-filtered air. A part of the HOSCH-filtered cooling air is here branched off and passed through the radiant oven in a low-turbulence counterflow. At the entry of the bottles into the radiant oven, this counterflow is extracted by means of a fumes/exit air fan (11). The required clean-room conditions are maintained in the radiant oven by a positive pressure P.sub.2 as compared with atmospheric pressure P.sub.AT and a thus resulting counterflow of a means flow velocity of <0.2 m/second is maintained. The positive pressure P.sub.2 is here measured in the radiant oven and compared with the set value, and the exit fan (11) air for the HOSCH-filtered cooling air on the exit side is reregulated in such a way that the deviation .DELTA.p from the set value is minimized. In addition, provision is made for the major part of the radiant heater elements (4) being operated at constant electric power and for eliminating the temperature fluctuations caused by unsteady operating states by controlling the remaining part o…