GB2136384A - Apparatus for Opening a Sealed Container - Google Patents

Abstract

A sealed container (10) containing e.g. frozen blood plasma is opened by locating it, using holding means (16, 22), in a predetermined position inside a protective screen (42), inserting into it a hollow needle (32), and then injecting through the needle a quantity of high pressure fluid, e.g. nitrogen, into the container (10) which is thereby split open to allow the frozen contents to fall into a collecting receptacle. The protective screen (42) cannot be opened during the splitting operation. The object of this is to contain any particles of the frozen contents which might otherwise spread infection, and conversely to prevent infection reaching the contents from outside. The air inside the screen (42) is continuously extracted and any solid or liquid matter carried over is held by a filter (80) or incinerated before the extracted air is discharged to atmosphere. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or Relating to Apparatus to Open a Sealed Container This invention relates to apparatus to open a sealed container, more especially, but not exclusively, to apparatus to open a plastics container containing frozen material which is at least partly liquid at usual ambient temperatures.

One particular class of such containers comprises containers for blood plasma destined for blood product processing laboratories. The containers and the plasma in them are frozen shortly after separation from the cell content of whole blood, and are generally stored, before processing, at a temperature of the order of -400C. It is desirable to maintain a low temperature for as long as possible before processing begins; hence the plasma should still be completely frozen even after it has been removed from its container. Even with plastics containers made of polyethylene or the like, which have relatively low ability to adhere to other substances, considerable effort must be exerted to separate the container from its contents while the latter are completely frozen.Hence opening by a wholly mechanical method, e.g. by hand, cannot be considered other than for an occasional individual container. Apparatus has been devised which aids separation of container and contents by partially thawing the latter; after which the top, ie the filling end, of the container is sliced off and the contents expressed by external mechanical pressure. Inevitably, some of the liquefied contents remains in the container, some is transferred to the walls of any vessel receiving the contents, and some may be converted to droplets.

The last may be a health hazard to operatives, since no untreated plasma can be regarded as completely innocuous.

The present invention permits plasma to be removed from a container while remaining completely frozen. Opening is rapid, no plasma is left in the container and formation of droplets, which might reach operatives is eliminated. There is virtually no opportunity for contamination to reach the plasma during the process of opening.

According to the invention apparatus to open a sealed container has locating means to locate the container in a predetermined position in the apparatus; piercing means to pierce said container, said piercing means being provided with duct means whereby high pressure fluid can be admitted, in use, into said container; driving means to drive said piercing means into the container and subsequently withdraw it therefrom; a protective screen to enclose said locating means and the container when located in the apparatus for opening; and control means arranged to control the sequence of operation at least of the locating means, the driving means and the admission of high pressure fluid, and to provide that the container is enclosed by said protective screen at least while high pressure fluid is being admitted, in use, into said container to open same by rupturing its walls.

Preferably the piercing means is a hollow needle having an aperture near to the point thereof to conduct fluid from duct means inside to the outside of said needle.

The driving means may include a reversible thrustor operable by fluid pressure; likewise the locating means may include such a reversible thrustor.

The apparatus may have a plurality of locating means and of piercing means whereby a plurality of containers may be openable simultaneously.

Alternatively a plurality of locating means may be arranged in groups, whereby, in use, containers can be loaded into one group of locating means while containers in another group are being opened by the piercing means.

The apparatus may include container extracing means whereby opened containers are automatically extracted from the apparatus.

Groups of locating means may be arranged in a movable carriage whereby a group is positioned at a station at which empty containers are extracted; at a station at which full containers are in-loaded; and then at a station at which full containers are opened.

Desirably an air extraction means is provided for removing air from the region inside the protective screen.

It is also highly desirable that the parts of the apparatus which can come in contact with the contents of the container to be opened, eg the locating means and piercing means and the protective screen, be made so as to be dismantled into parts of manageable dimensions, and to be made of substantially non-corrodible and heat and moisture resistant materials, so as to be able to withstand sterilisation in an autoclave.

The invention will be further described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 illustrates diagrammatically and partly in perspective a first embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 illustrates a detail of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 illustrates diagrammatically and in perspective an alternative embodiment of the invention.

Referring to Fig. 1 a sealed container 10 to be opened is supported in the apparatus by its neck 12, on a base 14 through a removable support plate 16 (see also Fig. 2), the support plate being located by coacting pin 18 and slot 20. In this particular embodiment of the invention the apparatus is adapted to open standard polyolefine containers of frozen blood plasma. The support plate is one part of the locating means for the container; another part is the clamping plate 22.

The clamping plate cooperates with the support plate 1 6 by lying above the neck 12 of the container 10, so positively locating the container vertically. The slot 24 in plate 16, and the slot 26 in plate 22 are at right angles one to the other, thereby also locating the container positively in the horizontal plane. The clamping plate 22 is moved to and from its clamping position over the neck 12 by a reversible thrustor 28, which in this instance is a double acting pneumatic piston and cylinder.

The piercing means 30 comprises a hollow needle 32 having near the point thereof an aperture 34 connecting the outside to the hollow inside. The piercing means is driven by driving means 36 comprising a second reversible thrustor 38 which also is a double acting pneumatic piston and cylinder. High pressure gas can be supplied to the inside of the needle 32 through a duct or pipe 40.

The locating means and piercing means are covered in by a protective screen, indicated generally by 42. In the embodiment being described the purpose of the screen is to shield an operator from contamination by portions of the contents of a container of blood plasma once opened by rupturing of its walls through internal fluid pressure. Below the base 14 the screen includes a chute 44 and a spring-closed flap 46 which enclose the bag portion of a container 10 when in position to be opened. The screen further includes a door 48 pivoted on a shaft at 50 and arranged to open by rotating in its own plane about said pivot, rotation being indicated by the curved arrow 52. Opening of the door 48 is effected automatically through rotation of the shaft 50 by a spring device 54, operating on the shaft through, eg a short shank, not separately shown.The door 48 can be shut by hand and can then be locked shut by a bolt 56 which passes through a coacting hole in the door. The bolt 56, is operated by a double acting pneumatic piston and cylinder 58. When the door is in the fully shut position it actuates a switch 60; which, through control means indicated generally by 62, locks shut the door 48 and only then enables operation of clamping plate 22 and piercing means 30.

An operating cycle of the apparatus commences with the door 48 open. A container 10 is inserted in the slot in a support plate 1 6 (of which a suitable number is provided) and both are placed in position in the apparatus, as indicated in Fig. 1. The door 48 is then closed (rotated in the opposite sense to the arrow 52). As already mentioned, closing the door actuates switch 60 and through control means 62 actuates cylinder and piston 58 through pneumatic pressure lines 64 to lock the door shut by bolt 56.The control means next actuates cylinder and piston 28, through lines 66, to move clamping plate 22 forward to clamp the neck 12 of the container 10 above the support plate 1 6. A limit switch, not shown, may be arranged to be operated only when the clamping plate is in the fully forward position to initiate the next operation of the control means. In the next operation the control means 62 actuates the piston and cylinder 38 through lines 68 to force the hollow needle 32 through the top of the container 10. The stroke of the piston must be sufficiently long to bring the hole 34 in the side of the needle inside the container and also allow headroom for in loading the container. The control means then actuates the supply of high pressure fluid, in this instance nitrogen, from cylinder 70, through the duct means 72 to the inside of the needle 32.The high pressure nitrogen splits the walls of the container 10 and the forzen plasma contents fall, displacing the flap 46, to be received by any suitable collecting vessel below. The splitting of the walls of the container causes a sudden drop of pressure in the duct means 72 which operates a switch 74.

The switch 74 transmits a signal through line 76 to the control means 62 which then actuates withdrawal of the needle 32 from the top of the container; retraction of the clamping plate 22 to release the neck 12 of the container; and finally withdrawal of the bolt 56, so that the door 48 opens automatically, for removal of the support plate 1 6 and the split open container.

Occasionally, a container has become punctured or partially split before high pressure nitrogen is admitted to the inside of it. In such circumstances there is not sudden drop in pressure in the duct 72 and the switch 74, which responds only to sudden pressure drop, does not operate. A delay system in the control means 62 then comes into operation, and after a delay (typically 1.5 second) actuates withdrawal of the needle 32 and the rest of the sequence.

The opening of a fully sealed container is a low energy explosion, and it may happen that some fine particles of the frozen plasma contents are dispersed inside the protective screen 42. If such particles were to escape into the environment, outside the protective screen, they could constitute a health hazard. This hazard is virtually eliminated by the provision of an air extraction means, indicated generally by 78. The housing 80 contains an extractor fan with draws air, through the trunking 82, from inside the protective screen 42. The housing 80 may also contain a suitable filter means, which retains any plasma substance removed from inside the protective screen.

Alternatively the housing may contain heating means whereby any such plasma substance may be rendered innocuous by incineration.

Desirably the control means 62 includes emergency stop means (eg a push button) 84 which, when pressed by hand, reverses the sequence of operation of the apparatus and cuts off the supply of air to the apparatus until the button is released. Emergency stop is necessary if, for example, a container is found to have been incorrectly inserted and must be repositioned.

The control means in this embodiment is of conventional kind and works on a fluidic basis.

However, the control means could equally well be electro-pneumatic or electro-hydraulic; or it could be wholly electrical, with piston and cylinder devices substituted by electro-magnetic devices.

The locating means, the piercing means and the protective screen are all constructed in such a manner as to be easily dismantleable into parts of readily manageable size. They are also made of materials which are substantially non-corrodible, unaffected by moisture, and by reasonable temperatures (say up to 1 500C). Such construction enables parts which might be accidentally contaminated with plasma to withstand sterilisation in an autoclave. Suitable materials are, for metal parts, stainless steel, and for non-metallic parts, for example, the protective screen, Makralon (RTM), a high strength, translucent plastics material. Another nonmetallic substance which may be usefully employed in polytetrafluoroethylene.

Fig. 3 illustrates another embodiment of the invention in which the apparatus is modified so as to comprise a plurality of locating means and corresponding piercing means; and, further, the locating means are arranged in two groups so that containers can be loaded into one group while containers in the other group are being opened.

The apparatus in this embodiment comprises an extended abutment 86, arranged to have a horizontal flat top 88 and a vertical flat face 90. A carriage 92 runs on rails 94 on the face 90, and the carriage can be traversed from end to end of the abutment by a piston and cylinder device 96.

The mid region of the path of the carriage is enclosed by a tunnel 98. The top of the carriage 92 is formed with two groups, 100, 102, of slots, three slots (for example) in each group. Each slot is adapted, with a groove 104, to locate a container 10 (Fig. 2) by gripping the neck 12 thereof, which positively locates the container vertically. The carriage is open below. Over the tunnel, supported, by means not illustrated, from the abutment 86, is driving means 38 (a piston and cylinder device) for a group of three hollow needles 32. The needles are arranged in a common vertical plane, and have the same separation horizontally as the axes of symmetry of the slots 100, 102, within a group. The needles are over a longitudinal slot 106 in the top of the tunnel 98.

Suppose the carriage 92 to have been moved fully to the right (looking at Fig. 3). The slots 100 are then all exposed, and an operator can load in containers, one to each slot. The piston and cylinder device 96 is then actuated to move the carriage fully to the left. This brings the containers in the slots 100 all into the tunnel, each container directly under a needle 32. The sides of the slot 106 positively locate the containers horizontally.

The piston and cylinder device 38 is then actuated to drive the needles into the containers and nitrogen is then admitted under pressure to split open each container. The frozen plasma contents fall through a spring-closed flap 46 in the bottom of the tunnel 98 and into a suitable collecting vessel. The device 38 is then actuated to withdraw the needles 32. Meanwhile, the slots 1 02 are all exposed to the left of the tunnel and an operator can load containers into them. The carriage is then moved again fully to the right. A container extracting means 108 is then actuated.

The extracting means comprises a double acting piston and cylinder device 110 which can advance or withdraw pusher 11 2 located by guides 114, 11 6 on the top of the abutment 86.

When the carriage, having opened containers in the slots 100 is fully to the right, the pusher 112 is advanced to bear against the container tops, above the neck 12, and push the containers out of the slots to fall into a waste bin. The slots 100 can then be reloaded with unopened containers.

An identical extracting means 11 8 is provided at the left hand end of the apparatus.

To avoid complicating Fig. 3, and to simplify the description, air lines and control means have been omitted from the drawing. They are of the same general nature as has been described in relation to the embodiment of Fig. 1. The control means can be arranged to work in a fixed sequence of events, with provision for delaying the progress of the sequence so that the carriage is not moved and the container extracting means are not actuated when the hands of an operator are less than a predetermined distance from the carriage. Inhibiting of continuation of the sequence by the control means can be provided through photo-electric cells and light beams, the beams being interrupted by the too near approach of any object to the carriage. The whole apparatus may be arranged inside a protective screen, except for access ports at the right and left hand sides for loading containers.Air extraction is provided, as for the embodiment of Fig. 1, especially from the interior of the tunnel 98, which is the part of the apparatus most liable to contamination by plasma. As with the embodiment of Fig. 1, the apparatus is made to be readily dismantleable and of such materials as to be easily sterilised in an autoclave.

The invention has been exemplified in relation to the opening of containers of frozen blood plasma, but it can be applied to other uses. In the frozen food industry, vegetables are frozen in local freezing installations, in packs which may each have a mass of several Kilogram. The frozen packs are then transported to a factory where the packs must be opened for processing of the contents.

The apparatus according to the invention can be increased in size, and the locating means can be adapted, to open such packs of frozen vegetables, with reduction in the chance of spoilage before processing, and with a saving in labour.

Claims (11)

1. Apparatus to open a sealed container, having locating means to locate the container in a predetermined position in the apparatus; piercing means to pierce said container, said piercing means being provided with duct means whereby high pressure fluid can be admitted, in use, into said container; driving means to drive said piercing means into the container and subsequently withdraw it therefrom; a protective screen to enclose said locating means and the container when located in the apparatus for opening; and control means arranged to control the sequence of operation at least of the locating means, the driving means and the admission of high pressure fluid, and to provide that the container is enclosed by said protective screen at least while high pressure fluid is being admitted, in use, into said container to open same by rupturing its walls.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which the piercing means is a hollow needle having an aperture near to the point thereof to conduct fluid from duct means inside to the outside of said needle.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the driving means includes a reversible thrustor operable by fluid pressure.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims in which the locating means includes a reversible thrustor operable by fluid pressure.

5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims having a plurality of locating means and of piercing means whereby a plurality of containers may be opened simultaneously.

6. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims including container extracting means whereby opened containers are automatically extracted from the apparatus.

7. Apparatus according to claim 5 or claim 6 in which a plurality of locating means is arranged in groups, whereby, in use, containers can be loaded into one group of locating means while containers in another group are being opened by the piercing means.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 in which groups of locating means are arranged in a movable carriage whereby a group is positioned at a station at which empty containers are extracted; at a station at which full containers are in-loaded; and then at a station at which full containers are opened.

9. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims in which an air extraction means is provided for removing air from the region inside the protective screen.

10. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims in which the parts of the apparatus which can come in contact with the contents of the container to be opened are made so as to be dismantled into parts of manageable dimensions, and made of substantially noncorrodible and heat - and moisture -- resistant materials, so as to be able to withstand sterilisation in an autoclave.

11. Apparatus to open a sealed container substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of the accompanying drawings.