CN103068683A - Method for disposing of sterile packaging material and corresponding device - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to a method for waste disposal of packaging material for aseptic packaging (2), wherein the aseptic packaging is opened in a cleanroom, and the method includes the steps of: removing the packaging material from the aseptic packaging, and compressing the packaging material into a waste compact in the cleanroom. The invention also relates to an apparatus for handling packaging waste.

Description

Method and device for waste treatment of sterile packaging material

technical field

The invention relates to a method for waste disposal of sterile packaging material in a clean room and to a device for handling sterile packaging material in a clean room.

Background technique

Especially in pharmaceutical/pharmaceutical applications where sterile objects are required, they are often packed in sterile packaging. For example sterile disposable syringes are arranged in a sterile transport container welded by a film, the transport container being surrounded on its side by an outer bag. In order to fill such disposable syringes, they must be removed from the transport container in a sterile manner. A device and a method for removing sterile objects from sterile packaging are known from DE 10 2007 027878 A1, wherein an incision is made in the sterile packaging in order to remove the transport container. Heretofore, the packaging material removed from the transport containers was collected individually in corresponding waste containers, which were arranged directly at the removal station. However, this results in a large amount of waste, which is also located at various points in the installation. These packages must therefore be disposed of manually from time to time individually, for example by means of a waste vehicle.

Contents of the invention

The method according to the invention for waste disposal of sterile packaging material having the features of claim 1 has the advantage over this that an automatic waste disposal of the packaging material is possible. Furthermore, the packaging material is compressed according to the invention, so that only a reduced space requirement for the packaging material needs to be reserved. For this purpose, according to the invention, the sterile packaging is opened in a clean room and the packaging material of the sterile packaging is removed and compacted in the clean room to form a waste compact. As a result, according to the invention, a central waste treatment can be achieved even with several clean rooms, which also requires only a small amount of space because the waste is compressed.

The dependent claims show preferred developments of the invention.

Preferably the aseptic package has an outer bag and a transport container heat-sealed by a heat-sealing film. The method then comprises the steps of first opening the outer bag surrounding the heat-sealed transport container in such a way that the heat-sealed transport container can be removed. Next the heat sealed transport container is removed from the outer bag and the outer bag is transported to the central waste press in the first clean room. The heat seal film is then removed from the shipping container. The removed heat-sealing film is also transported to the central waste press. The outer bag and the heat-sealing film are then compacted together in a central waste press to form a waste compact.

The opening of the heat-sealed transport container preferably takes place in a second clean room having a higher clean room class than the first clean room in which the outer bag is opened. In this way it can be ensured that no contamination of higher class clean rooms will result.

The opening of the outer bag is also preferably carried out in such a way that an end region of the outer bag is completely cut away from the main region and the transport container remains only in the main region of the outer bag. This complete cut-out ensures that a very large opening is produced in the outer bag, so that the transport container can be removed from the outer bag without problems.

According to another preferred design solution of the present invention, the aseptic packaging also includes a non-woven fabric, which is arranged in the heat-sealed transport container, wherein the non-woven fabric is taken out after removing the heat-sealed film of the transport container And is transported to the central waste press. There the nonwoven is compacted together with the outer bag and the removed heat-sealing film to form a single waste compact.

According to another preferred embodiment of the invention, the waste compacts are bound by an additional film after the compaction process. It can thereby be ensured that no single part can be detached from the waste compact.

The invention also relates to a device for handling aseptically packaged packaging material in a clean room. The device according to the invention comprises at least one first clean room and a waste press arranged in the first clean room. Here the packaging material for the aseptic packaging is compacted together in a waste press to form a waste compact.

The plant preferably comprises a first clean room and a second clean room, wherein the second clean room has a higher clean room class than the first clean room. The facility also includes a waste press disposed in the first clean room. A first removal station is provided in the first clean room, wherein the first removal station includes a first cutting device for opening the outer bag, a first cutting device for removing the heat-sealed transporter from the opened outer bag. A first removal device for the container and a first gripping device for gripping the empty outer bag and conveying it to the waste press. In the second clean room there is also a second removal station comprising a second cutting or peeling device for opening the heat-sealed transport container and a second gripping unit for gripping Hold the heat-sealed film removed from the shipping container and convey it to the waste press. A conveying device is also preferably provided for conveying the heat-sealed transport containers from the first unloading station to the second unloading station. As a result, a reliable and space-saving waste disposal of the sterile packaging material can be carried out at a central location in the clean room.

The dependent claims of the device show preferred developments of the invention.

The apparatus also preferably comprises a conveying device for conveying the heat-sealable film removed from the transport container from the second clean room to the waste press in the first clean room. The transport device is preferably a conveyor belt here. The conveyor belt is particularly preferably arranged near the bottom in order to enable an optimal arrangement of the other devices in the clean room.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the waste press also includes a film applicator in order to additionally bundle the compressed packaging material of the aseptic packaging with a film. Undesirable release of the compacted packaging material from the waste compact is thereby prevented.

It is also preferred that the first and/or second gripping means comprise a suction gripper. A fast and safe gripping process can thereby be achieved.

Description of drawings

Describe preferred embodiment of the present invention in detail below with reference to accompanying drawing: In accompanying drawing:

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an apparatus and method according to one embodiment of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of an apparatus for handling packaging material; and

FIG. 3 is a side view of the apparatus of FIG. 2 .

Detailed ways

An apparatus 1 for handling aseptically packaged packaging materials and a method for waste disposal of aseptically packaged materials according to an embodiment of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3 .

FIG. 1 schematically shows an overview of the different method steps and FIGS. 2 and 3 show the device 1 according to the invention from different perspectives.

It follows from FIG. 1 that the sterile packaging 2 to be opened comprises an outer bag 3 in which a heat-sealed transport container 4 is arranged. The transport container 4 is closed on its upper side by a heat-sealing film 5 . The transport container 4 thus has the shape of a trough in which sterile objects, for example syringes, are arranged. In order to protect the sterile objects, the non-woven fabric 6 is still placed on the trough. In a subsequent step not shown, the sterile object is filled, for example, with medicament.

The plant 1 here comprises a first clean room 7 of a first clean room class and a second clean room 8 of a second clean room class, which is higher than the clean room class of the first clean room 7 . The two clean rooms 7 , 8 are separated from one another by a partition wall 9 , wherein a sealable through opening 19 is provided in the partition wall.

The plant 1 also includes a waste press 10 which is arranged in the first clean room 7 . A first removal station 11 is also arranged in the first clean room 7 . The first removal station 11 comprises a first cutting device 12 , a first removal device 13 and a first gripping device 14 . The first cutting device 12 is used to open the outer bag 3 . The first removal device 13 serves to remove the transport container 4 still closed by the heat-sealing film 5 from the opened outer bag 3 . The first gripping means 14 are used to grip the opened outer bag 3, which is part of the packaging material to be disposed of by waste.

The device 1 also includes a second removal station 16 which is arranged in the second clean room 8 . The second removal station 16 includes a second cutting device 17 and a second gripping device 18 . The second cutting device 17 serves to open the heat-sealed transport container 4 , wherein the heat-sealing film 5 is completely separated from the transport container 4 by cutting and peeling. The incisions are preferably made in the heat-sealing film 5 here along the edge of the transport container 4 . The second gripping device 18 grips the cut heat-sealable film 5 and the fleece 6 placed on the sterile object from the opened transport container 4 .

A first transport device 15 is provided for transporting the transport containers 4 from the first clean room 7 into the second clean room 8 , this first transport device 15 not being shown in FIG. 2 for reasons of clarity.

There is also a second conveying device 20 near the bottom, which returns from the second clean room 8 to the first clean room 7, so that the heat-sealable film 5 and non-woven fabric 6 of the aseptic package 2 are returned to the waste press 10. The waste press 10 also includes a film applicator 21 which provides a film to bind the compacted packaging material whereby the packaging material remains in the compacted shape.

The method according to the invention and the process sequence by means of the device 1 according to the invention are explained below with reference to FIG. 1 . As indicated by the arrow A in FIG. 1 , the closed sterile packaging 2 is first fed to the first removal station 11 . There, the outer bag 3 of the aseptic packaging is cut open in such a way that an end region 30 of the outer bag 3 is completely cut off from the remaining main region 31 of the outer bag 3 . This creates a very large opening in the outer bag 3 , so that the still heat-sealed transport container 4 can be removed from the outer bag 3 without problems. The end regions 30 are discharged via a conveyor belt 23 and the main regions 31 are transported from the first removal station 11 to the central waste press 10 by means of a first gripping device 14, which preferably includes a vacuum head. This is shown in FIG. 1 by dashed lines with arrows, which indicate the conveying direction of the individual elements.

The still heat-sealed transport container 4 is then transported through the partition wall 9 into the second clean room 8 to the second removal station 16 (arrow B). In the second removal station 16 the heat-sealing film 5 is completely separated from the transport container 4 by cutting and peeling, so that the transport container is opened on its upper side. The fleece 6 still laid is then removed from the transport container 4 . This is done by means of the second gripping device 18 . The removed heat-sealing film 5 and the fleece 6 are then fed back into the first clean room 7 to the waste press 10 by means of the second conveying device 20 (arrow C). The now opened transport container 4 can be conveyed to another use in the second clean room 8 and the sterile objects contained therein can be removed from above without any problems.

The packaging material of the aseptic packaging 2, namely the outer bag 3, which is now divided into an end area 30 and a main area 31, the removed heat-sealing film 5 and the removed non-woven fabric 6 are thus all fed into the central waste pressure Machine 10. There the packaging materials are collectively packed into a waste compact and additionally also bundled by a film delivered by the film applicator 21 .

FIGS. 2 and 3 also show a slide 22 via which the removed heat-sealing film 5 and the removed fleece 6 are conveyed to the second conveying device 20 . The second conveying device 20 is arranged here in the lower region of the device 1 , so that it does not interfere with other units of the device 1 , thus enabling a particularly compact construction of the device.

The device 1 according to the invention can thus provide automatic waste disposal, wherein the opening of the sterile packaging 2 can also take place in different clean rooms with different clean room classes. In particular, the space required for waste disposal in the clean room can thus be significantly reduced and the waste disposal intervals for waste can be extended.

Claims (11)

1. be used for the packing of aseptic packaging (2) are carried out the method that refuse is processed, wherein, open this aseptic packaging in a decontamination chamber (7), the method may further comprise the steps:

-remove the packing of aseptic packaging (2), and

-in decontamination chamber (7), packing are compressed into a refuse pressed compact.

2. according to claim 1 method, wherein, this aseptic packaging has an outer bag and the transfer cask by the heat sealing film heat-sealing, and the method may further comprise the steps:

-open in this wise outer bag (3), make it possible to take out the transfer cask (4) that is heat-sealed,

-take out the transfer cask (4) be heat-sealed and outer bag (3) is transported to a central refuse compression machine (10),

-open the transfer cask that is heat-sealed and heat sealing film (5) is transported to central refuse compression machine (10) by remove heat sealing film (5) from transfer cask (4), and

Outer bag (3) and heat sealing film (5) jointly are compacted into a refuse pressed compact.

3. according to claim 2 method is characterized in that, has opening of transfer cask (4) that are heat-sealed in the decontamination chamber (8) of decontamination chamber's grade higher than opening of outer bag (3) at one.

4. according to claim 2 or 3 method, it is characterized in that, opening of outer bag (3) carried out in this wise so that an end regions (30) of outer bag (3) fully cut and transfer cask be retained in the main areas (31) of outer bag and can be removed from this main areas (31) simply.

5. according to claim 2 to one of 4 method, it is characterized in that, aseptic packaging (2) comprises a nonwoven fabrics (6), this nonwoven fabrics is arranged in the transfer cask (4) that is heat-sealed, wherein, remove heat sealing film (5) afterwards nonwoven fabrics (6) be removed and be transported to central refuse compression machine (10) and be pressed into a refuse pressed compact with heat sealing film (5) and outer bag (3).

6. according to the method for one of above claim, it is characterized in that the refuse pressed compact is tied up by an additional film after compaction process.

7. be used for the equipment of the packing of carrying aseptic packaging (2), comprise at least one first decontamination chamber (7) and a refuse compression machine (10), this refuse compression machine is arranged in the first decontamination chamber (7) and with packing and compresses into a refuse pressed compact.

8. according to claim 7 equipment, wherein, this aseptic packaging (2) has an outer bag (3) and the transfer cask (4) by heat sealing film (5) heat-sealing, and this equipment comprises:

-have second decontamination chamber (8) of the decontamination chamber grade higher than the first decontamination chamber (7),

In the-the first decontamination chamber (7) first takes out station (11), and this first taking-up station comprises: first cutter sweep (12) that is used for opening outer bag (3); First withdrawing device (13) is in order to take out the transfer cask (4) that is heat-sealed from the outer bag (3) that is opened; With first gripping device (14), in order to grasp empty outer bag (3) and it flowed to refuse compression machine (10), and

-in the second decontamination chamber (8), second taking out station (16), this second takes out station and comprises: second an incision device (17) that is used for opening the transfer cask (4) that is heat-sealed; With second gripping device (18), in order to grasp the heat sealing film (5) that removes from transfer cask (4) and heat sealing film is flowed to refuse compression machine (10).

9. according to claim 8 equipment also comprises second feedway (20) that is used for the heat sealing film (5) that is removed is flowed to from the second decontamination chamber (8) the refuse compression machine (10) of the first decontamination chamber (7).

10. according to claim 7 to one of 9 equipment, it is characterized in that refuse compression machine (10) comprises a film charity device (21), in order to additionally tie up the refuse pressed compact by film.

11. to one of 10 equipment, it is characterized in that the first gripping device (14) and/or the second gripping device (18) are the suction grasping devices according to claim 8.

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