JPS61234858A - Gas pasturizer - 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 The present invention relates to a gas sterilizer that sterilizes objects to be sterilized, such as medical instruments, patient clothes, and futons, using a sterilizing gas such as ethylene oxide that is heated and vaporized. This invention aims to provide a gas sterilizer that can effectively remove ethylene oxide and the like that remain attached to objects to be sterilized.

First, prior to explaining the present invention, a conventional gas sterilizer using ethylene oxide will be explained using the example shown in FIG. An inner cylinder 1 containing objects to be sterilized is surrounded by an outer cylinder 2, and a jacket 3 is placed between them.
2 is filled with water, steam is blown into this water through the steam pipe 3 through the solenoid valve 4 and the check valve 5 to warm it, and the pump 6 connects the pipe 7 and the steam pipe. This hot water is circulated through a part of the inner cylinder 1 to heat the inside of the inner cylinder 1. Some models heat steam by passing steam directly through the jacket 32 instead of hot water. The temperature of the jacket 32 is controlled by the temperature controller 8.
When this temperature becomes high enough, the solenoid valve 4 is closed, and when the temperature drops, the solenoid valve 4 is opened and new steam is blown into the hot water to raise the temperature of the hot water, increasing the amount of hot water by condensing the steam. The excess steam is disposed of through an overflow device 9 into a discharge pipe 10.

The liquid ethylene oxide pressurized into the cylinder 11 is supplied with steam from a branch steam pipe 12 via a solenoid valve 13, and a filter 16, a filter 16,
The gas is vaporized by flowing through the electromagnetic valve 17, and a pipe 18 through which ethylene oxide passes is connected to the inner cylinder 1 to feed this gas into the inner cylinder 1. A temperature regulator 19 is attached to the vaporizer 14, and the solenoid valve 13 is opened and closed in accordance with the temperature of the vaporizer to adjust the amount of steam flowing, so that ethylene oxide is vaporized at an appropriate temperature. Water and excess steam condensed in the vaporizer enter the discharge pipe 10 from the pipe 20 through the check valve 21 and are disposed of.

An air pipe 25 equipped with an air filter 22, a solenoid valve 23, and a check valve 24 is connected to the pipe 18 leading to the inner cylinder 1.
The interior is equipped with a solenoid valve 26, a vacuum pump 27, and a check valve 28, and can be evacuated through a pipe 29 connected to the exhaust pipe 10.

To use this sterilizer, open the solenoid valve 4 and steam pipe 3.
Steam is supplied to the jacket 32 between the inner and outer cylinders 1 and 2 to heat the water inside the jacket and warm the inner cylinder 1.
3 is opened and steam is passed through the vaporizer 14 to heat the water therein. Next, with solenoid valve 17 and 23 closed, solenoid valve 2
6 is opened, the vacuum pump 27 is operated to create a vacuum inside the inner cylinder 1, the solenoid valve 26 is closed, the vacuum pump 27 is stopped, and the solenoid valve 17 is opened. As a result, the heated and vaporized ethylene oxide gas passes through the flexible pipe 15 and enters the inner cylinder 1.
When the internal pressure reaches a predetermined value, the solenoid valve 17 is closed, and the object to be sterilized housed in the inner cylinder is sterilized by permeating ethylene oxide gas. During sterilization, operate pump 6 to remove jacket 3.
Hot water is circulated through the inner cylinder 1, and new steam is blown in from the temperature controller 8 at appropriate times to prevent the temperature of the hot water from decreasing and maintain the inside of the inner cylinder 1 at an appropriate temperature. After the sterilization for the predetermined time has been completed, the solenoid valve 17.23
While keeping it closed, open the solenoid valve 26 and operate the vacuum pump 27 to discharge the ethylene oxide in the inner bay 1 and create a vacuum inside the inner cylinder 1. Open the solenoid valve 23 to supply clean air that has passed through the filter 22 to the inner cylinder. 1 and then vented to remove residual gas.

If the item to be sterilized is a fibrous item such as clothing or futons, the ethylene oxide gas will penetrate deep and remain.
In order to efficiently remove this, the above operation of evacuating the inside of the inner cylinder 1 again after sucking in air and sucking in air is repeated several times for short periods of time.

The gas sterilizer of the present invention has the following features in order to more efficiently eliminate residual gas in conventional gas sterilizers:
It is configured to heat intake air.

Next, the present invention will be explained with reference to the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, using the same reference numerals for parts equivalent to those of the conventional structure shown in FIG. 2 and omitting the explanation.

This invention provides a vaporizer 14 in series with the jacket 32 in the steam pipe 3 that supplies steam to the jacket 32 between the inner and outer cylinders 1.2, an air filter 22, a solenoid valve 23,
An air pipe 25 provided with a check valve 24 is connected to a pipe 18 through which ethylene oxide passes between the vaporizer 14 and the solenoid valve 17, and is further connected to the pipe 18 between the connection part of the pipe 25 and the solenoid valve 17. Throttle valve 3
1.

With this configuration, when the solenoid valve 26 is opened and the vacuum pump 27 is operated to create a vacuum inside the inner cylinder 1, the solenoid valve 26 is closed and the solenoid valve 17 is opened, and an appropriate amount of water is pumped through the throttle valve 31. Ethylene oxide passes through the flexible pipe 15 of the vaporizer 14, is heated, vaporized, and sucked into the inner cylinder 1. When the pressure of ethylene oxide in the inner cylinder 1 reaches a predetermined value, the solenoid valve 17 is closed and the object to be sterilized in the inner cylinder 1 is sterilized.

After completing the sterilization for a predetermined period of time, open the solenoid valve 26 while keeping the solenoid valves 17 and 23 closed, and operate the vacuum pump 27 to exhaust the ethylene oxide gas in the inner cylinder 1 and evacuate the inside of the inner cylinder 1. Then, the solenoid valve 26 is closed and the solenoid valve 23 is opened to allow clean air that has passed through the filter 22 to enter the inner cylinder 1.
Next, the solenoid valve 26 is opened to exhaust the residual gas together with the air. The volume of air that is introduced into the inner cylinder 1 to eliminate residual ethylene oxide is large, so if the flexible pipe 15 is made thick to allow this air to pass through, it will become too thick as a passage for ethylene oxide, which requires heat of vaporization. If ethylene oxide is passed through as it is, it will be difficult to vaporize the ethylene oxide sufficiently. Therefore, in this invention, the flexible pipe 15 etc. are made thicker and the throttle valve 31 is made thicker.
By restricting the flow rate of ethylene oxide, both air and ethylene oxide can be circulated well.

In addition, if air at room temperature is allowed to enter the inner cylinder as in the conventional sterilizer shown in Figure 2, the temperature of the residual gas will drop, reducing the efficiency of removing residual gas. In the sterilizer of the invention, the intake air is heated by passing it through the vaporizer 14, so the temperature of the residual gas does not drop, and the residual gas can be effectively eliminated. It has great practical effects in gas sterilizers that use heated sterilizing gas.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a piping diagram of a gas sterilizer schematically showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a similar piping diagram showing a conventional gas sterilizer. 1: Inner cylinder, 2: Outer cylinder, 3: Steam pipe, 4: Solenoid valve, 5: Check valve, 6: Pump, 7: Pipe, 8: Temperature controller, 9: Overflow device, 10: Discharge pipe , 11: cylinder, 12: branch steam pipe,
13: Solenoid valve, 14: Vaporizer, 15: Serpentine pipe, 16 filters, 17: Solenoid valve, 18: Pipe, 19: Temperature controller, 2
0: Pipe, 21: Check valve, 22: Air filter, 23: Solenoid valve, 24: Check valve, 25: Air pipe, 26: Solenoid valve, 2
7: Vacuum pump, 28: Check valve, 29.30; Pipe, 31
: Throttle valve, 32: Jacket. Patent Applicant Chiyoda Seisakusho Co., Ltd. Managing Director Kinzo Koyama (one idiot) Figure 1 Figure 2 Procedural amendments (dogs) and Commissioner of the Patent Office Michibe Uga 1, Indication of the case 1985 Patent Application No. 046379 No. 2, Name of the invention Gas sterilizer 3, Relationship with the case of the person making the amendment Patent applicant Chiyo Co., Ltd. 1) Manufacturing company 4, Agent Address: 105 Description 17 Name of the invention Gas sterilizer Apparatus 2, a gas sterilizer according to the claims. 3. Detailed Description of the Invention a6 Purpose of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The gas sterilizer according to the present invention is installed and used in hospitals and various research institutes, and is a gas sterilizer that is used to heat sterilizers such as ethylene oxide. Objects to be sterilized, such as medical instruments, patient's clothes, and futons, are sterilized using the sterilizing gas vaporized by the sterilizer, and after the sterilization work is completed, the sterilizing gas remaining on the objects to be sterilized is removed. An object of the present invention is to obtain a gas sterilizer capable of effectively removing sterilizing gas such as ethylene oxide in such a gas sterilizer. (Prior Art) A gas sterilizer as shown in FIG. 2 has conventionally been used to sterilize objects to be sterilized that may be contaminated with bacteria, which occur in hospitals and the like. In this gas sterilizer, an inner cylinder 1 containing objects to be sterilized is surrounded by an outer cylinder 2, and a jacket 32 is formed between the two cylinders 1.2. The jacket 32 is filled with water, steam is blown into the water through the steam pipe 3 through the solenoid valve 4 and the check valve 5 to warm the water, and the pump 6 is used to connect the pipe 7 and the steam pipe. This hot water is circulated through a part of the inner cylinder 1 to heat the inside of the inner cylinder 1. Some models heat steam by passing steam directly through the jacket 32 instead of hot water. The temperature of the jacket 32 is detected by a temperature controller 8, and when this temperature becomes high enough, the solenoid valve 4 is closed, and when the temperature drops, the solenoid valve 4 is opened to blow new steam into the hot water to raise the temperature of the hot water. , the increased amount of hot water due to steam condensation and excess steam are removed by the overflow device 9.
The waste is then disposed of into the discharge pipe 10. The liquid ethylene oxide filled in the cylinder 11 is supplied with steam from a branch steam pipe 12 via a solenoid valve 13 to a flexible pipe 15 in a vaporizer 14 that heats the water inside, and is passed through a filter 16.
, through a solenoid valve 17. The sterilizing gas such as ethylene oxide vaporized in this vaporizer 14 is
Furthermore, it is fed into the inner cylinder 1 through the pipe 18. vaporizer 14
is equipped with a temperature regulator 19, and the amount of flowing steam is adjusted by opening and closing the solenoid valve 13 in accordance with the temperature of the vaporizer 14.
Make sure to vaporize ethylene oxide, etc. at an appropriate temperature. Water and excess steam condensed in the vaporizer enter the discharge pipe 10 from the pipe 20 through the check valve 21 and are disposed of. In the middle of the pipe 18 leading to the inner cylinder 1, an air filter 22,
An air pipe 25 provided with a solenoid valve 23 and a check valve 24 is connected,
Inside the inner cylinder 1 are a solenoid valve 26, a vacuum pump 27, and a check valve 28.
The air can be exhausted through a pipe 29 connected to the exhaust pipe 10. To use this sterilizer, open the solenoid valve 4 and steam pipe 3.
to the jacket 32 between the inner and outer cylinders 1.2,
The water in this jacket 32 is heated to warm the inner cylinder 1, and the electromagnetic valve 13 is opened to pass steam to the vaporizer 14 to heat the water therein. Next, the solenoid valve 26 is opened while the solenoid valves 17 and 23 are closed, and the vacuum pump 27 is operated to evacuate the inside of the inner cylinder 1.
The solenoid valve 26 is closed to stop the vacuum pump 27, and the solenoid valve 17 is opened. As a result, the heated and vaporized ethylene oxide gas passes through the flexible pipe 15 and enters the inner cylinder 1 through the pipe 18. When the pressure inside the inner cylinder 1 reaches a predetermined value, the solenoid valve 17 is closed and the ethylene oxide gas is heated and vaporized into the inner cylinder. Sterilization is performed by permeating the stored items to be sterilized with ethylene oxide gas. During sterilization, the pump 6 is operated to circulate hot water into the jacket 32, and the temperature regulator 8 blows in new steam at appropriate times to prevent the temperature of the hot water inside the jacket 32 from decreasing and to maintain the inside of the inner cylinder 1 at an appropriate temperature. When sterilization for a predetermined period of time has been completed, the solenoid valve 26 is opened while the solenoid valves 17 and 23 are closed, and the vacuum pump 27 is operated to discharge the ethylene oxide in the inner cylinder 1 and make the inside of the inner cylinder 1 evacuated. , the electromagnetic valve 23, which had been closed until then, is opened to suck clean air that has passed through the filter 22 into the inner cylinder 1, and then exhaust it to remove residual gas. If the object to be sterilized is a fibrous material such as clothing or futons, the ethylene oxide gas will penetrate deep and remain, so in order to efficiently remove it, the inner cylinder 1 must be re-injected after the above air intake. The process of creating a vacuum and sucking in air is repeated several times for short periods of time. (Problem to be Solved by the Invention) However, in conventional gas sterilizers, so-called aeration, which removes sterilizing gas such as ethylene oxide adhering to the object to be sterilized after the sterilization operation, is carried out by simply passing through the air filter 22. Since the sterilization process was carried out using only low-temperature air, the sterilization gas adhering to the objects to be sterilized was not necessarily removed efficiently, and the objects to be sterilized with the sterilization gas still attached were reused, causing problems caused by the sterilization gas. There were cases where this occurred. In order to solve the problems that conventional gas sterilizers have, the gas sterilizer of the present invention is designed to reduce the amount of intake air sent into the sterilization container during the residual gas removal process so that residual gas can be removed more efficiently. It is configured to heat the device. b. Structure of the invention (means for solving the problem) The gas sterilizer of the present invention, as in the case of the conventional gas sterilizer described above, is fed from a cylinder filled with sterilizing gas such as ethylene oxide through a pipe. The sterilization gas is passed through a vaporizer to be vaporized and supplied into the sterilization container. Furthermore, in the gas sterilizer of the present invention, the air pipe is equipped with an air filter at one end and a solenoid valve in the middle,
It is connected in the middle of the pipe through which the sterilizing gas is passed. In this way, one end of the air pipe is connected midway through the pipe for sending sterilizing gas, between the solenoid valve provided in the portion of the pipe closer to the cylinder and the vaporizer provided in the portion closer to the sterilization container. (Operation) The operation itself when sterilizing objects to be sterilized using the gas sterilizer of the present invention configured as described above is similar to that of the conventional gas sterilizer described above. However, in the gas sterilizer of the present invention, when performing so-called aeration, which removes the sterilizing gas adhering to the object to be sterilized after sterilization work, clean air drawn through the air filter is passed through the vaporizer. Warm it up and then put it into a sterilized container. For this reason, the temperature of the clean air sent into the sterilization container for aeration is higher than in the case of conventional gas sterilizers, which promotes the vaporization of the sterilization gas adhering to the objects to be sterilized. Efficiently remove gas. (Example) Next, the present invention will be explained in more detail by explaining the illustrated embodiment. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the gas sterilizer of the present invention.
Portions equivalent to the conventional structure shown in FIG. 2 described above are given the same reference numerals and redundant explanations will be omitted. In a sterile container consisting of an inner and outer cylinder 1.2, the inner and outer cylinders 1.2
A steam pipe 3 that supplies steam to a jacket 32 provided between
A carburetor 14 is provided in series with the jacket 32. Air filter 22 used to send sterile air into the inner cylinder 1 that constitutes the steam sterilization container after sterilization work is completed.
A solenoid valve 23 and a check valve 24 are provided in series with each other in the middle of the air pipe 25 which is provided at one end.
The other end of 5 is connected to a pipe 18 through which a sterilizing gas such as ethylene oxide passes between the vaporizer 14 and the solenoid valve 17. Furthermore, a throttle valve 31 is provided in the middle of this pipe 18 at a portion located between the connecting portion of the air pipe 25 and the electromagnetic valve 17. With this configuration, when the solenoid valve 26 is opened and the vacuum pump 27 is operated to create a vacuum inside the inner cylinder 1, and then the solenoid valve 26 is closed and the solenoid valve 17 is opened, an appropriate amount of oxidation is released through the throttle valve 31. Ethylene passes through the flexible pipe 15 of the vaporizer 14,
After being heated and vaporized in the inner cylinder 5, it is sucked into the inner cylinder 1. When the pressure of ethylene oxide in the inner cylinder 1 reaches a predetermined value, the solenoid valve 17 is closed and the object to be sterilized in the inner cylinder 1 is sterilized. After sterilization for a predetermined period of time, open the solenoid valve 26 while keeping the solenoid valves 17 and 23 closed, and operate the vacuum pump 27 to exhaust the ethylene oxide gas in the inner cylinder 1.
The interior is evacuated, then the solenoid valve 26 is closed and the solenoid valve 23 is opened to allow clean air that has passed through the filter 22 to enter the inner cylinder 1, and then the solenoid valve 26 is opened to discharge residual gas together with the air. At this time, the clean air sent into the inner cylinder 1 is transferred to the vaporizer 14.
The objects to be sterilized stored in the inner cylinder 1 are exposed to this relatively high temperature clean air, and the adhered sterilization is Gas removal is performed efficiently. Note that the volume of air that is introduced into the inner cylinder 1 to eliminate residual ethylene oxide is large, so if the flexible pipe 15 is made thick to allow this air to pass through, it will become thick as a passage for the ethylene oxide, which requires heat of vaporization. If the ethylene oxide is allowed to pass through the tank as it is, the flow rate will be excessive and it will be difficult to vaporize the ethylene oxide sufficiently. Therefore, in this embodiment, the flexible pipe 15 and the like are made thicker, and the flow rate of ethylene oxide is restricted by a throttle valve 31 provided in the middle of the pipe 18 on the upstream side of the connection part of the air pipe 25. and ethylene oxide to circulate well. C1 Effects of the Invention As mentioned above, when air at room temperature is allowed to enter the inner cylinder as in the conventional sterilizer shown in Fig. 2, the temperature of the residual gas is lowered and the residual gas is removed. Although this will reduce the efficiency of gas removal, the sterilizer of the present invention warms the intake air by passing it through the vaporizer, so the temperature of the residual sterilization gas does not drop and the residual gas removal can be effectively performed. In a gas sterilizer that uses a heated sterilizing gas such as ethylene oxide, the sterilizing gas can be completely removed and the occurrence of problems due to the presence of residual gas can be suppressed. This has a great effect on the safe use of gas sterilizers. 4. Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a piping diagram of a gas sterilizer schematically showing the configuration of an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a similar piping diagram showing a conventional gas sterilizer. 1: Inner cylinder, 2: Outer cylinder, 3: Steam pipe, 4: Solenoid valve, 5: Check valve, 6: Pump, 7: Pipe, 8: Temperature controller, 9: Overflow device, 10: Discharge pipe , 11: cylinder, 12: branch steam pipe,
13: Solenoid valve, 14: Vaporizer, 15: Serpentine pipe, 16: Filter, 17: Solenoid valve, 18: Pipe, 19: Temperature controller, 2
0: Pipe, 21: Check valve, 22: Air filter, 23: Solenoid valve, 24: Check valve, 25: Air pipe, 26: Solenoid valve, 2
7: Vacuum pump, 28: Check valve, 29.30: Pipe, 31
: Throttle valve, 32: Jacket.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A vaporizer (1) that heats sterilizing gas with a heating fluid.
4) to be vaporized and supplied into the inner cylinder (1) of the main body consisting of an inner cylinder (1) and an outer cylinder (2), and added to the jacket (32) formed between the inner and outer cylinders of the main body. In a gas sterilizer that heats the inner cylinder (1) by passing hot fluid, a vaporizer (
14) and the jacket (32) are connected in series with respect to a pipe through which heated fluid passes, and an air pipe (25) is provided with an air filter (22), a solenoid valve (23), and a check valve (24).
the solenoid valve (17) installed in the pipe (18) through which the sterilizing gas passes.
) and the vaporizer (14) to the pipe (18) for passing the sterilizing gas, and a throttle valve (31) is connected to the pipe (18) between the connection part and the solenoid valve (17). A gas sterilizer characterized by being provided with.