AU620049B2

AU620049B2 - Autoclave container

Info

Publication number: AU620049B2
Application number: AU24539/88A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Douglas Colin Bean
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1987-10-30
Filing date: 1988-10-31
Publication date: 1992-02-13
Anticipated expiration: 2008-10-31
Also published as: AU2453988A

Description

MICHAEL J. GRANT To: The Commissioner of Patents

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I. 4 AUS T R A L I A PATENTS ACT COMPLETE SPECIFICATION 620049

ORIGINAL

(FOR OFFICE USE) Class Int Class Application Number: Lodged: Complete Specification Lodged: Accepted: Published: Priority: Related Art: d e 0 a s a n00 o Go o0 0 0 0 0 00 0 s eeo 0 G o 00000 o 6 0 6sII Name of Applicant(s): .P.OUGLAS COLIN BEAN I I. Address of Applicant(s): 8 4 Lewis Road, Wantirna South, Victoria 3152 Actual Inventor(s) as o n oo Address for Service: PATENT ATTORNEY SERVICES 26 Ellingworth Parade, Box Hill, Victoria 3128 MCO -?399?7 I 10 Complete specification for the invention entitled: AUTOCLAVE CONTAINER The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to Signature To: The Commissioner of Patents PATENT ATTORNEY SERVICES 1025 Whitehorse Road, Box Hill, Victoria, 3128, Australia.

A

r AUTOCLAVE CONTAINER This invention relates to containers for carrying articles which are to be placed in autoclaves for sterilisation.

Containers such as trays for carrying articles to be placed in autoclaves need to allow unrestricted flow of steam, gas or vapour through the trays to effect sterilisation of articles in the trays. At the points where such a tray rests upon supports or wrapping in the autoclave or rests against another tray, there can be condensate which can remain after the sterilisation operation. Such moisture is undesirable as a possible vehicle of contamination, either because the moisture hosts the organisms or because the moisture can transfer organisms.

o 0o 0 It is an object of the present invention to provide an autoclave container for effectively allowing sterilisation of articles held by the container and which can inhibit 0a0 m contamination as a result of condensate retention.

00 0o According to the present invention there is provided an autoclave container for carrying articles to be placed in an autoclave for sterilisation, the container including a base by which the articles to be sterilised can be supported at or above 0.0 a top of the base, the base having perforations so as to allow steam to pass through the base to contact the articles, the base 0 being made of a low heat conductivity plastics material capable o °of withstanding autoclave temperatures and of retaining heat at the termination of a sterilising operation, adjacent perforations in the base being defined by perforation walls, perforation walls increasing in thickness from the top of the base to a bottom of the base so as to thereby provide a heat storage body holding heat after a sterilisation operation, the r': i j i 1; L i thickened bottom of the perforation walls yielding up a substantial amount of the heat stored in the body so as to promote evaporation of any moisture at the bottom of the base at the sterilisation operation.

Possible and preferred features of the present invention will now be described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings. However it is to be understood that the features illustrated in and described with reference to the drawings are not to be construed as limiting on the scope of the invention. In the drawings: Fig. 1 is a cross sectional view through an autoclave tray according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a detailed sectional view of a side wall and the 0 00 base of the Fig. 1 tray, 00 Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view through an alternative tray 000oo0 -o R with implement supports, and 0 oo Fig. 4 is a view along the line IV IV in Fig. 3.

of The autoclave container illustrated is in the general form o°o of a tray including a base 10 on which articles 11 to be sterilised can be placed, the base 10 having perforations 12 so 0000 0:o0 as to allow steam to pass through the base 10 to contact the 0o articles 11. The base 10 is made of a low heat conductivity 0 00"S00 plastics material capable of withstanding autoclave temperatures 0 0 and of retaining heat at the termination of the sterilising operation.

A preferred material for .the tray is polypropylene. The heat conductivity of the material may be for example about 0.2 x -6 -1 -1 I metric units (ohmr cm i i.

The perforations 12 in the base 10 are defined by perforation walls 13 and the perforation walls 13 increase in thickness from the 1b top 14 of the base to the bottom4AS of the base so as to provide a heat storage body for holding heat after sterilisation in an autoclave, the thickened bottom of the perforation walls 12 yielding up a substantial amount of the heat stored in the body so as to promote evaporation of any moisture at the bottom of the base The tray has side walls 17 extending upwardly from the edges of the perforated base 10. The side walls 17 are inclined outwardly, e.g. at about 10° to the vertical, to allow stacking of similar trays. The side walls 17 for example may be about 00 o 0 2mm in thickness.

o.o The top edges of the side walls 17 are turned outwardly and o thickened so as to provide a generally horizontal rim 19. The rim 19 can provide structural strengtn at the perimeter of the top edges of the side walls 17 and can also enable ready oo carrying of the tray. The rim 19 may be for example about 4mm 9 9 in thickness.

The preferred construction of the autoclave container includes a perforated base 10 which has a flat bottom surface 16 so as to provide a relatively large bottom surface area for o yielding up heat stored by the body formed by the perforation walls 13. In this way, any condensate retained or forming on the bottom 16 of the container, e.g. where the container rests on support surfaces or on a wrapping of a porous nature in an autoclave and which are thereby not subject to complete evaporation during a sterilisation operation in an autoclave, is 11A 4 C) J '4

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i exposed to a relatively large bottom surface area through which heat can be yielded up by the material of the perforated base so as to thereby promote evaporation of such moisture.

Preferably the surface area of the flat bottom surface 16 of the base 10 is in the range of 50 to 80% of the total bottom area as defined by the peripheral edges of the base 10. That is, there would be 20 to 50% of that total area made up of the area of the perforations 12. In the preferred embodiment the surface area is in the range 60 to 70% of the total bottom area.

Preferably the perforated base 10 is relatively thick. For example the base 10 may be between two and ten times the side wall thickress, and preferably about four to six times the side #o4r 9 0 4 #4 a wall thickness.

about 2mm thick, t. t these proportions, structural stabili the major volume store the maximum t of the container operation. The contained in t h e I material in the proportion. Also 4 separation between For example in the case where the walls 17 are the base thickness may be about 10mm. With the base can provide the major part of the ty of the container and at the same time be of the material in the container and thereby heat for evaporation of moisture upon removal from an autoclave at the end of a sterilising volume of the material of the container base may exceed 60% of the total volume of the container. E.g. 65% may be 1 suitable the base thickness provides a s(ibstantial the sterile tray contents on the base 10 and a wrapping around the tray.

13 Preferably the perforation wallsW= taper continuously from the top 14 of the base 10 to the bottom surface 16 of the base 13 The width of the perforation walls^AT at the bottom surface 16 may be for example about 4mm and at the top 14 of the 1 i! S* I i perforation walls the thickness may be 3mm. The tops of the perforation walls may be rounded as shown in the drawings or tapered to a point to provide a minimum contact area with articles 11 placed in the container in contact with the perforated base 10. In this way steam can reach substantially completely all surfaces of the articles 11 resting on the perforated base The top 14 of the base 10 may be substantially level, i.e.

the tops of the perforation walls 13 are all substantially coplanar. In another possible embodiment (Figs. 3 and there may be implement supports 20 extending upwardly from the base and for supporting above the general plane of the base surgical, 0 dental or other such implements 11 for sterilisation. The 0 implement supports 20 enable complete sterilisation of the o o' implements 11 and hold the implements 11 elevated and oreQ 0 0 substantially separated from a wrapping around the trays. Also a 0 0 the provision of implement supports 20 enables the tray to be used as an implement holding tray from which a nurse or o a l o assistant takes the implements 11 to hand to a surgeon, dentist, etc. The implement holding supports 20 may be supports 21 integral with the base (Figs. 3 and 4) or may be removable polypropylene or silicone rubber inserts 22 fitted to the base 10 as shown in Fig. 3.

The perforations 12 in the base 10 may be provided in any desired pattern or configuration. For example the perforation walls 13 may define a lattice work so that the perforations 12 are generally square, rectangular or diamond shaped in plan view. However other configurations are possible such as a hexagonal array of perforations resembling a honeycomb.

ii 6 All corners and edges of the tray according to the preferred embodiment are preferably smoothly radiused, with the exception of the corners 25 at the bottom of the perforation walls 13 at the bottom surface 16, so as to thereby enable ready cleaning of the tray and avoiding any crevices where contaminants may be retained. That is, each of the perforation walls 13 meets the bottom 16 of the base 10 at a respective sharp non-radiused edge It will be seen that the preferred embodiment of the tray "-KG as described and illustrated can carry articles 11 to be o 0 o.o sterilised in an autoclave allowing steam, gas or vapuur to freely pass through the base 10 for sterilising articles in the tray. Any moisture that is not evaporated during the sterilising operation or any condensate is most likely to occur at the bottom surface 16 of the tray or where that surface rests 8000a0 upon supports or upon a porous wrapping in the autoclave. This surface 16 is flat and of relatively large surface area so that stored heat in the tray base 10 can be yielded up through the flat base surface 16 to evaporate such moisture after removal of ,n6 the tray from the autoclave. The balance between maximising the surface area for yielding up heat to evaporate moisture and allowing steam to freely pass through the base is believed to have been optimised in the present invention.

It is to be understood that various alterations, modifications and/or additions may be made to the features of the possible and preferred embodiment(s) of the invention as herein described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

LU:

Claims

1. An autoclave container for carrying articles to be placed in an autoclave for sterilisation, the container including a base by which the articles to be sterilised can be supported at or above a top of the base, the base having perforations so as to allow steam to pass through the base to contact the articles, the base being made of a low heat conductivity plastics material capable of withstandiny autoclave temperatures and of retaininy heat at the termination of a sterilising operation, adjacent perforations in the hase being separated by peroration vwalls, perforation walls increasing in thickness from the top of the +hc+ e w ls base to a bottom of the base soy-a- -o thierby provide a beat Sstorage body holding heat after a sterilisation operation, the 00 9* 0 1 thickened bottom of the perforation walls yielding up a substantial amount of the heat stored in the body so as to oo promote evaporation of any moisture at the bottom of the base at 0 o° +he0d of /the sterilisation operation. S

2. An autoclave container as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the base has a flat bottom surface so as to provide a relatively large bottom surface area for yielding up heat stored hy the heat storage body. oo 0 0 0

3. An autoclave container as claimed in Claim 2 wherein the "9000o surface area of the flat bottom surface of the base is in the 0o 0 range of 50 to 80 per cent of the total hottom area as defined by the peripheral edges of the base. RA4/_ ~i~B/LS .0 7h Q

4. An autoclave container as claimed in Claim 3 wherein the surface area of the flat bottom surface of the base is in the range of 60 to 70 per cent of the total bottom area.

An autoclave container as claimed in Claim 2, 3 or 4 wherein the perforation walls taper continuously from the top of the base to the bottom surface of the base, the tops of the perforation walls being rounded or tapered to points to provide a minimum contact area with articles placed in the container in contact with the perforated base whereby the steam can reach substantially completely all surfaces of the articles resting on the perforated base.

6. An autoclave container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the container is in the general form of S" a tray having side walls extending upwardly from the peripheral 00 edges of the base, the thickness of the base being between two and ten times the thickness of the side walls whereby the base .a o provides the major part of the structural stability of the container and at the same time constitutes the major volume of the material forming the container whereby the base stores the maximum heat for evaporation of moisture upon the removal of the *(tic container from an autoclave at the end of a sterilising operation.

7. An autoclave container as claimed in claim 6 wherein the volume of the material of the container contained in the base exceeds 60% of the total volume of the material the container. 9 fT 9 il. .3 i

8. An autoclave container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each of the perforation walls meets the bottom of the base at a respective sharp non-radiused edge.

9. An autoclave container substantially as herein before described with particular reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 25th day of October, 1988 PATENT ATTORNEY SERVICES Attorneys for DOUGLAS COLIN BEAN 00 Q0 booo 6 0 0 So aS 0 04 T( i 0