JPS6025252Y2 - steam sterilizer - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] This invention is a steam sterilizer for sterilizing medical equipment, materials, etc., and eliminates the air contained in the objects to be sterilized in the sterilization chamber to improve the effectiveness of steam sterilization. The purpose of this invention is to provide a steam sterilizer that can effectively blow steam at the beginning of the sterilization process to preheat the objects to be sterilized.

When sterilizing objects to be sterilized using a steam sterilizer, the following points must be taken into consideration.

(a) If the object to be sterilized is at a low temperature, the steam that comes into contact with it will condense and wet the object, making it difficult to dry, hindering subsequent steam sterilization, and prolonging the sterilization process time. I'll let it happen.

(b) Also, if the object to be sterilized contains air,
Air must be excluded before the steam sterilization process, as it reduces the effectiveness of steam sterilization.

In order to eliminate air, it is effective to alternately perform a vacuum process to lower the pressure in the sterilization chamber and a steam blowing process several times.

For the reasons mentioned above, during steam sterilization, vacuum steps and steam blowing steps are carried out alternately, but if the properties of the blown steam are poor, the intended effect may not be achieved.

That is, if the humidity of the steam is high, as described above, it will come into contact with the object to be sterilized and condense, thereby wetting the object.

If heated air is used instead of steam, there is no need to worry about moisture condensation, but this is not preferable because the object to be sterilized will react with oxygen in the air, causing material deterioration.

For example, if the object to be sterilized is fibrous, the material may become weak or
Metals are unsuitable because their surfaces may oxidize, making it difficult to cut with a scalpel.

The present invention provides a steam sterilizer that uses steam in a superheated state to perform steam sterilization without the above-mentioned disadvantages.

The drawings illustrate the steam sterilizer of the present invention. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing only the main parts, and Figure 2 is a detailed diagram of the dehumidifier.

The sterilization chamber 1 is surrounded by an inner cylinder 2 and an outer cylinder 3 as usual, and has a sealed door (not shown) on the side so that objects to be sterilized can be taken in and taken out.

A dehumidifier 5 is installed inside the jacket 4 between the inner cylinder 2 and the outer cylinder 3.

The dehumidifier 5 is a long box 6 with only the bottom open, as shown in Figure 2.
A plurality of downwardly inclined plates 7, 7 are fixed facing each other alternately inside the casing, and a steam pipe 8 passing through the outer cylinder 3 is installed at the bottom.
A steam pipe 11 communicating with the heater 10 via a valve 9 is connected to the upper part of the waist.

The steam pipe 8 communicates with the boiler via a pressure reducing valve 12.

The sterilization chamber 1 is connected to a heater 10 by a pipe 13 and is connected to a heater 10 by a pipe 14.
This communicates with a vacuum pump 16 via an exhaust valve 15.

17 is a trap for discharging condensed water in the jacket 4;
Reference numeral 8 denotes an electric or steam heater provided within the heater 10.

The sterilization chamber 1 communicates with the atmosphere through a pipe 19 via an air valve 20 and a filter 21 .

The operation for sterilizing objects to be sterilized using the above sterilizer according to the present invention is as follows.

(1) Preparation process After putting the items to be sterilized into the sterilization chamber 1 and sealing the lid, the sterilization valve 9
, close the air valve 20, open the exhaust valve 15, and turn off the vacuum pump 1.
6 to bring the pressure inside the sterilization chamber 1 to low.

Saturated steam entering the dehumidifier 5 from the steam pipe 8 enters the jacket 4 from the bottom of the box 6 and warms the inside of the sterilization chamber 1 via the inner cylinder 2.

(2) Air removal stroke Close the exhaust valve 15, stop the operation of the vacuum pump 16, and open the sterilization valve 9.

Part of the steam that enters the dehumidifier 5 from the steam pipe 8 flows out to the jacket 4 as described above, and the rest passes through the steam pipe 11 and enters the heater 10, where it is heated to increase the degree of superheat. , enters the sterilization chamber 1 through the tube 13.

After blowing a small amount of steam into the sterilization chamber in this manner, the sterilization valve 9 is closed, the exhaust valve 15 is opened, and the vacuum pump 16 is operated to bring the inside of the sterilization chamber 1 to a low pressure again.

By repeating this vacuum and steam supply operation several times, even the air deep within the object to be sterilized is removed.

(3) Sterilization process The exhaust valve 15 is closed, the sterilization valve 9 is opened, and a sufficiently large amount of steam heated by the heater 10 is sent into the sterilization chamber 1 to sterilize the objects to be sterilized.

(4) Exhaust drying process The sterilization valve 9 is closed, the exhaust valve 15 and the air valve 20 are opened, and the vacuum pump 16 is operated to draw outside air that has passed through the filter 21 into the sterilization chamber. After exhausting the steam inside and drying the items to be sterilized, remove them from the sterilization chamber.

Normally, saturated steam is used in a steam sterilizer, but in the steam sterilizer of the present invention operated as described above, the steam sent to the sterilization chamber 1 via the heater 10 through the steam pipe 8 is as follows: ) When the pressure is reduced by the pressure reducing valve 12, the dryness is 2%.
The degree of improvement is improved.

(2) Water droplets contained in the steam while rising in a zigzag manner between the inclined plates 7 of the dehumidifier 5 adhere to the inclined plates 7 and are removed.

These water droplets drip into the jacket and are discharged from the trap 17.

(3) In the heater 10, the steam is heated by the heater 18, becomes superheated steam, and is blown into the sterilization chamber 1.

(4) Since it is blown into the low-pressure sterilization chamber 1 and expands adiabatically, the degree of superheating further increases.

(5) Since the sterilization chamber 1 is also heated from the jacket 4, the degree of superheating of the steam increases further.

As a result, the degree of superheating of the steam can be set to about 10 to 30°C.

In this way, the steam sterilizer of the present invention is equipped with the heater 10 and uses steam that has been superheated to a high degree, so it is possible to avoid the inconvenience of getting the objects to be sterilized wet during each step of air removal and sterilization. By adding a simple heater, efficient and good steam sterilization can be performed.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating the main parts of the steam sterilizer of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged detailed diagram of the dehumidifier portion. 1: Sterilization chamber, 2: Inner cylinder, 3: Outer cylinder, 4: Jacket, 5
: Dehumidifier, 6: Box, 7: Inclined plate, 8: Steam pipe, 9: Valve,
10: Heater, 11: Steam pipe, 12: Pressure reducing valve, 13,1
4: Pipe, 15: Exhaust valve, 16: Vacuum pump, 17: Trap, 18: Heater, 19: Pipe, 20: Air valve, 21:
filter.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a steam sterilizer, the inside of the sterilization chamber 1 is brought to a low pressure by a vacuum pump 16, steam is sucked into the sterilization chamber 1 through a pressure reducing valve 12, and outside air is allowed to pass through the sterilization chamber 1 through an air valve 20 and a filter 21. A long box 6 with only the bottom open inside the jacket 4 between the inner cylinder 2 and outer cylinder 3 surrounding the sterilization chamber 1.
A dehumidifier 5 in which a plurality of downwardly inclined plates 7, 7 are fixed facing each other alternately is provided inside the dehumidifier 5, and a steam pipe 8 passing through the outer cylinder 3 is communicated with the lower part of the dehumidifier 5. A steam sterilizer characterized in that a steam pipe 11 communicates with a sterilization chamber 1 via a sterilization valve 9 and a heater 10.