JPS60222061A - Steam sterilizing and drying method and apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Technical Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a steam sterilization drying method and apparatus for sterilizing and drying cleaned medical instruments after use under high temperature and high pressure steam.

Technical Background and Problems of the Invention In general, used syringes, bandages, other medical instruments, and medical textiles are cleaned of blood stains and chemicals, and then sterilized with high temperature and high pressure steam in a chamber and stored. . For this reason, moisture remains in objects to be sterilized using high-temperature, high-pressure steam, and this moisture must be dried. As this drying method, a hot air drying method and a vacuum drying method are conventionally used.

The hot air drying method is a method of drying objects to be sterilized by circulating heated air introduced into a chamber from the outside. In devices using this method, air is introduced through a sterilization filter to avoid recontamination when air is introduced from the outside. However, since there is a limit to the amount of air that can be introduced in this way, there is a drawback that drying takes a long time. Further, since the object to be sterilized after drying is at a high temperature, there is a problem that there is a risk of burns when taking out the object to be sterilized immediately after drying.

On the other hand, the vacuum drying method is a method in which the chamber is evacuated and the object to be sterilized is vacuum-dried. Therefore, a vacuum pump is required to evacuate the inside of the chamber, which makes the device large and complicated. Further, as the drying progresses, the water content of the object to be sterilized evaporates, so the object to be sterilized loses the heat of vaporization and becomes lower in temperature, so that evaporation does not continue. For this reason, it is necessary to apply radiant vaporization heat to the items to be sterilized from the outside, but this is less effective for glass and fibers, and in reality, hot air is pumped in and vacuum drying is repeated alternately. There are many things. Therefore, not only the apparatus becomes large and complicated, but also the drying process becomes complicated, resulting in poor efficiency.

Purpose of the Invention The present invention was made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to provide a steam sterilization drying method and apparatus that can efficiently dry objects to be sterilized in a short time using a simple device. purpose.

Summary of the Invention This invention sterilizes objects to be sterilized by filling a chamber with steam. After sterilization, the steam is discharged to return the chamber to atmospheric pressure, and residual moisture in the chamber is evaporated by heat of vaporization. The steam that rose at the same time was cooled, condensed and recovered, and in order to maintain the decreasing pressure inside the chamber at atmospheric pressure, clean air was introduced from the outside to balance the pressure and circulate the inside of the chamber. , it is possible to dry objects to be sterilized efficiently in a short time using a simple device.

Embodiment of the Invention An embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. A storage space 1 is provided to hold cleaned used medical instruments and textiles (not shown).

It is housed in a cylindrical housing-shaped chamber 2 so as to be freely accessible. This chamber 2 has a removable lid 3 that seals the channel 2, and an ingrowth 4 is formed on the side of the interior so as to surround the cast 1 from both sides, and holds the cast 1 below. A casting stand 5 is formed. and,
A tubular heater 6 is disposed in a U-shape below the cast table 5, and a zigzag cooling pipe 7 is provided above the chamber 2 so as to cover the cast 1.
It is curved along the inner wall. In addition.

This cooling pipe 7 is configured so that cold water can be freely supplied and discharged from the outside of the chamber 2, and the cast 1
The scraps 1 and 5 are formed in a porous shape and in a net shape.

A water supply hole 9 having a water supply valve 8 is provided on the back surface of the chamber 2 and is connected to a water supply or a water tank (not shown), and a drain hole 11 having a drain valve 10 is provided on the bottom surface of the chamber 2. It is being Further, an air supply hole 14 having a sterilizing filter 12 and an air supply valve 13 and an exhaust hole 16 having an exhaust valve 15 are provided on the upper surface of the chamber 2, and an upper heater 17 is further attached. Note that a pressure gauge 19 equipped with a safety valve 18 is connected between the exhaust hole 16 and the exhaust valve 15.

In such a configuration, the objects to be sterilized such as medical instruments in the cast 1 are sterilized in the chamber 2 and then dried and
cooled down. That is, the exhaust valve 15 and the water supply valve 8
When the water supply valve 8 is opened and a certain amount of water is supplied into the chamber 2 from the water supply hole 9, the water supply valve 8 is also closed. here,
When the tubular heater 6 is turned on, the supplied water is heated, boiled, and turned into steam. However, as water increases in volume when it evaporates, the steam flows through the chamber 2 while discharging the air inside the chamber 2 through the exhaust hole 16. It fills up inside. and,
When all the air is exhausted and there is only steam under the chamber 2, the air valve 15 is also closed. At this time, the inside of chamber 2 is sealed and is in a high temperature and high pressure state.
Heating control of the tubular heater 6 is performed for a certain period of time so that a predetermined pressure and temperature are maintained, thereby sterilizing the object to be sterilized.

The sterilization step is followed by a drying step. When the sterilization process is finished, the tubular heater 6 is turned off and the drain valve 1 is turned off.
0 is opened and the heated water and steam in the chamber 2 are discharged to the outside through the drainage hole 11 after a suitable depressurization process.
After discharge, the drain valve 10 is opened. therefore,
The pressure within chamber 2 has decreased and is now approximately equal to atmospheric pressure.

After this, the air supply valve 13 is opened, and the cooling pipe 7
When cold water is supplied to the pipe, the tubular heater 6 is turned on again.
and the upper heater 17 is also turned on.

At this time, moisture remains in the object to be sterilized in the cast 1. Further, the steam remaining in the chamber 2 adheres to the object to be sterilized and becomes water droplets as the temperature inside the chamber 2 decreases. However, such residual moisture is heated by the tubular heater 6, evaporates and rises, and when it touches the cooling pipe 7, the heat of vaporization is taken away and it condenses. Therefore, many water droplets adhere to the cooling pipe 7, but these water droplets flow from the cooling pipe 7 to the inplant 4, do not fall to the cast 1, and stay at the lower part of the chamber 2. The wall is heated by an upper heater 17 to prevent condensed steam from adhering to the ceiling wall, turning into water droplets, and falling onto objects to be sterilized inside the kite 1.

As the pressure within the chamber 2 decreases due to the condensation of the steam, clean air that has passed through the sterilization filter 12 flows from the air supply hole 14 in an effort to maintain the pressure in equilibrium. This clean air circulates within the chamber 2 by riding on the convection within the chamber 2 caused by heating.

In this way, residual moisture is evaporated in the chamber 2 by the heat of vaporization from the tubular heater 6, and the evaporated steam is cooled by the cooling pipe 7 and collected as water droplets.Thereby, clean air is introduced into the chamber 2 and circulated. However, due to these synergistic effects, the drying of the object to be sterilized progresses. Therefore, the inside of the chamber 2 after drying is filled with clean air, and the inside pressure is returned to atmospheric pressure. Note that the flow of the reflux is indicated by an arrow in FIG.

A cooling step is performed after the drying step. When the tubular heater 6 and the upper heater 17 are turned off after drying, the inside of the chamber 2 is cooled by the cooling pipe 7. Therefore, the clean air inside the chamber 2 is also cooled and contracts, so the pressure inside the chamber 2 decreases. At this time, clean air flows in from the air supply hole 14 again so that the pressures inside and outside of the chamber 2 are balanced.

Since this clean air has a lower temperature than the temperature inside the chamber 2, when introduced, it falls to the bottom of the chamber 2, and the warmed clean air inside is pushed up to the top and circulated. In this way, the inside of the rechamber 2 is cooled by the circulation of lean air. After the cooling process, the cold water in the cooling pipe 7 is drained, the drain valve 10 is opened, and the water droplets staying in the lower part of the chamber 2 are discharged, and all processes are completed. At this time, the pressure inside the chamber 2 has returned to atmospheric pressure, so the lid 3 can be easily removed, and the objects to be sterilized in the cast 1 have been sufficiently cooled, so there is no danger in handling them. .

As described above, according to this embodiment, the object to be sterilized can be efficiently sterilized and dried in a short time using a simple device, and the object to be sterilized can be rapidly cooled after drying.

Effects of the Invention As described above, the present invention evaporates the moisture remaining in the chamber by heat of vaporization, cools it and collects it, and uses the pressure change inside and outside the chamber at this time to supply clean air into the chamber. Since the clean air is introduced into the chamber and circulated inside the chamber, the drying process can be carried out efficiently in a short time using a simple device.Therefore, there is no risk of re-contamination due to the introduction of outside air, and the device is inexpensive. In addition, after the drying process is completed, the heating inside the chamber is stopped and the chamber is cooled down, so that the inside of the chamber is rapidly cooled and clean air flows in. As this clean air circulates, the cooling effect is further enhanced. Since the interior is at atmospheric pressure, it has the effect of improving safety in handling objects to be sterilized.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional side view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional front view. 1...Cast, 2...Chamber, 4...Inplantation,
6... Tubular heater (heater), 7... Cooling pipe (cooler), 12... Sterilization tool, 14.
...The air supply hole is also the applicant: Taga Electric Co., Ltd.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. The object to be sterilized is steam-sterilized by filling a chamber containing the object to be sterilized with high-temperature, high-pressure steam, and after sterilization, the steam is discharged from the chamber to return it to atmospheric pressure. Heat of vaporization is applied to the chamber to evaporate residual water, and the evaporated vapor is cooled to condense and recover. A method for steam sterilization and drying, characterized in that clean air is introduced under pressure equilibrium to generate a reflux within the chamber to dry the object to be sterilized. 2. Fill the chamber containing the objects to be sterilized with high-temperature, high-pressure steam to steam-sterilize the objects. After sterilization, the steam is discharged from the chamber to return it to atmospheric pressure, and the heat of vaporization is transferred into the chamber. The remaining moisture is evaporated by supplying water to the chamber, and the evaporated vapor is cooled to condense and recovered. In order to maintain the pressure inside the chamber at atmospheric pressure, which decreases due to the condensation of the vapor, clean air is supplied from the outside by pressure equilibrium. The object to be sterilized is dried by introducing air into the chamber to generate a reflux inside the chamber, and even after drying, the inside of the chamber is cooled and clean air is introduced from the outside with pressure equilibrium to generate a reflux inside the chamber. A steam sterilization drying method characterized by: 36 A sealed chamber is provided that allows the caster holding the objects to be sterilized to be freely accessed and removed, and has a mechanism for supplying and draining water.
This chamber includes a heater that heats the water supplied into the chamber to generate steam and heats the inside of the chamber to evaporate water, a cooler that condenses the steam into water droplets, and guides and collects the water droplets. 1. A steam sterilization drying device characterized by having an inner cylinder for sterilization and an air supply hole in a sterilization filter.