KR101846251B1

KR101846251B1 - Method Using Low Temperature Sterilizer Having Chamber of Which Volume Is Variable

Info

Publication number: KR101846251B1
Application number: KR1020160104202A
Authority: KR
Inventors: 이원오
Original assignee: 주식회사 큐브인스트루먼트
Priority date: 2016-08-17
Filing date: 2016-08-17
Publication date: 2018-04-09
Also published as: WO2018034516A1; KR20180019905A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a low-temperature sterilization method, and more particularly, to a sterilization method capable of continuously varying the volume of a chamber providing a sterilization space and adjusting the pressure therein to improve the sterilization effect through effective infiltration and supply of the sterilization material The present invention relates to a low-temperature sterilization method.

Description

Method of Low Temperature Sterilizer Having Chamber of Which Volume Is Variable [

The present invention relates to a low-temperature sterilization method, and more particularly, to a sterilization method capable of continuously changing the volume of a chamber providing a sterilization space and adjusting the pressure therein to improve the sterilization effect through effective infiltration and supply of the sterilization material The present invention relates to a low-temperature sterilization method.

Sterilization means completely eliminating all living microorganisms that are different from Cleaning or Disinfection. Sterilization is accomplished through a variety of physical and chemical actions, and is indispensable, especially in the field of medical devices.

When sterilizing various items, use heat provided by dry heat or steam, or use a sterile material made of a chemical substance such as ethylene oxide gas or hydrogen peroxide in a vapor state. However, there are many cases where high heat or steam can not be used depending on the type of goods. This case is also limited in the sterilization method.

On the other hand, various medical instruments such as tweezers, knives or scissors are sterilized while sterilized in a pouch. At this time, the medical pouch is made of a transparent polymer material on the one side, and the other side is made of a material such as a tie-back which can permeate the gas, so that the sterilizing material can pass through. The material of the permeable surface for the sterilizing material such as the tie bag is composed of minute pores so as to prevent the penetration of the bacteria, so that there is a part where the temperature rise of the object to be sterilized by transmission or blowing of the sterilizing material due to diffusion is difficult to exhibit sufficient performance.

In this case, when the inlet of the pouch is sealed to sterilize, it is advantageous to prevent secondary contamination, but it is disadvantageous in that it is difficult to penetrate the sterilization material.

In addition, when the inlet of the pouch is opened and sterilized, it is advantageous to infiltrate the sterilization material, but there is a disadvantage that secondary contamination may occur after sterilization.

Since it is put in the pouch, it is very difficult to sterilize the sterilized material thoroughly penetrating the fine parts of the medical instrument.

Korean Patent Application No. 10-2007-0065359 discloses a sterilization method in which hydrogen peroxide in a vacuum state is put into a sterilizing material and a pressure rise occurs at one end and then hydrogen peroxide gas is diffused. And the method of supplying ozone by using plasma is used up to several times.

This is because the step of adjusting each pressure is to form a low vacuum using a vacuum pump, then to increase the pressure through the diffusion of the sterilizing material and to introduce sterilization to the inside of the elongated tube by injecting outside air to increase the penetration power. However, a considerable amount of the sterilization material, except for the sterilization material used for sterilization, is discharged to the outside through the vacuum pump, sterilization reintroduction, and pressure increase step, resulting in waste of the sterilization material.

Korean Patent Application No. 10-2010-0023705, on the other hand, proposes a method of generating a flow of fluid in a vacuum-generated chamber to increase the temperature of a target of diffusion and sterilization of the sterilizing material. This has the advantage of rapidly raising the temperature of the internal sterilization to remove the remaining sterilization material after drying and sterilization, thus reducing the total sterilization time. In addition, in the case of a thin and long tube, it is possible to improve the difficulty in reaching the sterilizing material by diffusion of gas only.

However, there is also a loss in sterilization re-enrichment process, and there is a problem that it is difficult to fully expect the above advantages when packaged in a medical pouch, which seems to be a common problem in the above two prior arts.

As a result, it is very difficult to completely sterilize the medical instrument which is sealed in the pouch according to the above-described conventional art.

Korean Patent Application No. 0782040 ("Sterilization method using hydrogen peroxide and ozone and device according to the method ", Registered on December 4, 2007) Korean Patent Application No. 0985801 ("hydrogen peroxide-containing sterilization apparatus and sterilization method ", registered on September 30, 2010)

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been conceived to solve the problems described above, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a sterilization apparatus which can increase the sterilization effect by smoothly supplying sterilization material to a medical instrument sealed in a sealing member, The present invention is to provide a sterilization apparatus that allows the sterilization material to penetrate even a small gap by controlling the degree of vacuum of the sterilization chamber as needed. More specifically, in sterilizing a medical article packaged with a sterilizing seal member to prevent secondary contamination, the volume of the chamber is continuously and variably controlled in a vacuum of from several torr to tens of torr, The present invention provides a sterilization apparatus that can increase the temperature of sterilization target and induce sterilization re-infiltration, thereby increasing the sterilization performance and shortening the sterilization time.

The present invention relates to a low-temperature sterilization method, and more particularly to a low-temperature sterilization method in which a sterilizing object sealed in a sealing member is placed in a sterilizing space (11) in a chamber (10) 1 vacuum step S100; A plasma processing step (S200) of injecting the plasma-treated outside air into the sterilizing space (11); A pre-treatment step (S300) of varying the pressure in the sterilizing space (11) through a volume change of the variable sterilizing space (12) to circulate air in the space inside the sealing member and air in the sterilizing space (11); A second vacuum step (S400) of reducing the pressure in the sterilization space (11) to a lower pressure than the pre-processing step (S300); A sterilization re-injection step (S500) of injecting sterilization material into the sterilization space (11); Sterilizing step (S600) of changing the pressure of the sterilizing space (11) by changing the volume of the variable sterilization space (12) and injecting the sterilizing material into the sealing member; (S700) for injecting outside air into the sterilizing space (11); .

The low-temperature sterilization method may further include a step of changing the pressure in the sterilizing space (11) by changing the volume of the variable sterilization space (12) after the outside air injection step (S700) to sterilize the sterilization material A first residual sterilizing material removing step (S800) for discharging the sterilizing material to the space (11); And sterilizing the residual sterilization material in the sterilization space 11 in a vacuum state and discharging the sterilization material in the sterilization space 11 to the outside of the sterilization space 11, (S900) of removing the residual sterilizing material (S900).

The low temperature sterilization method may be repeatedly performed after the outside air infusion step S700, the second vacuum step S400, the sterilization material infusion step S500, the sterilization step S600, and the outside air infusion step S700 are repeated .

The low temperature sterilization method may control the temperature of the vaporization heater module 20 to change the volume of the sterilization space 11 by varying the volume of the variable sterilization space 12, Thereby controlling the temperature of the fluid flowing into the inside.

The pretreatment step S300 may vary the volume of the sterilizing space 12 to vary the pressure of the sterilizing space 11 so that the air in the sterilizing space 11 and the space Air is circulated and thermal energy is transferred to the space inside the sealing member.

The sterilizing step S700 may vary the pressure of the sterilizing space 11 by varying the volume of the variable sterilizing space 12 within the range of 100 to 600 torr, The sterilizing material is infiltrated into the interior of the container.

The sterilization material injection step S500 is characterized in that the sterilization material is vaporized by using the vaporization chamber 23 to circulate the vaporized sterilization material to the variable sterilization space 12 and the sterilization space 11 .

In addition, the sterilizing material injecting step (S500) is characterized in that external air is further injected after the sterilizing material is injected.

In addition, the first residual sterilizing material removal step S800 may be performed by varying the volume of the variable sterilization space 12 within the range of 100 to 600 torr, The fluid in the sealing member 13 and the sterilizing space 11 is circulated so that the thermal energy is transferred into the sealing member 13 and remains in the sealing member 13 and the sterilizing object Thereby removing the sterilizing material.

In addition, the sealing member may be made of a transparent polymer material, and the other surface may include a plurality of pores.

As described above, the present invention provides a sterilizing apparatus capable of adjusting the pressure and temperature and increasing the fluidity of the sterilizing material by varying the volume of the chamber interior space providing the sterilizing space. When the pressure of the sterilization space is controlled, the sterilization material is smoothly supplied to the inside of the sealing member, and recovery and exchange are facilitated when the sterilization reaction is completed. By such an action, a sterilization function satisfactorily applied to the medical instrument put in the sterilization space while being sealed in the sealing member can be performed.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a low-temperature sterilization apparatus having a volumetric chamber according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a flowchart of a sterilization method using a low temperature sterilizing apparatus having a volumetric chamber according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 3 is a graph showing a pressure change of a sterilization apparatus performed in a sterilization method using a low-temperature sterilization apparatus having a volumetric chamber according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention
FIG. 4 is a graph showing the pressure change of the sterilization apparatus performed in the sterilization method using the low temperature sterilization apparatus having the volumetric chamber according to another preferred embodiment of the present invention

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention.

It is to be understood that when an element is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another element, it may be directly connected or connected to the other element, .

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs.

Terms such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries are to be interpreted as having a meaning consistent with the contextual meaning of the related art and are to be interpreted as either ideal or overly formal in the sense of the present application Do not.

Hereinafter, the technical idea of the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the technical concept of the present invention, are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

1 is a conceptual diagram of a low-temperature sterilization apparatus having a volumetric chamber according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to Figure 1, a low temperature sterilization apparatus having a volumetric chamber of a preferred embodiment according to the present invention will be described.

The chamber 10 is composed of a sterilizing space 11 and a variable sterilizing space 12. The sterilizing space 11 and the variable sterilizing space 12 are connected and connected to each other.

The sterilization space 11 is provided with an opening / closing door (not shown) in the chamber 10 to facilitate access to the inside thereof. In addition, inside the chamber 10, a sealing member 13, which is an object to be sterilized, such as a medical device 14, is provided. At this time, the sealing member 13 may be made of a polymer material on one side and a plurality of pores on the other side. In addition, the sealing member 13 may be seated on a tray provided in the chamber 10.

The sterilization space 11 is connected to a vacuum exhaust valve 17, a vacuum pump 18 and an exhaust filter 19. The vacuum exhaust valve 17, the vacuum pump 18, and the exhaust filter 19 regulate the pressure inside the sterilizing space 11. More specifically, the vacuum pump 18 is for maintaining the sterilizing space 11 in a vacuum state, and is connected to the sterilizing space 11. The vacuum pump 18 discharges toxic substances in the sterilization space 11 to the outside and lowers the pressure to remove foreign substances such as water that may be present in the sterilization space 11 and ultimately vaporizes hydrogen peroxide As shown in FIG.

The pressure of the sterilizing space 11 can be measured and controlled by a pressure sensor (not shown) installed on the side wall of the chamber 10. The pressure sensor can generate an alarm if it warns of a dangerous pressure or if there is a pressure abnormality.

The variable sterilization space 12 is provided with a space variable mechanism 16. The space variable mechanism 16 varies the volume of the variable sterilization space 12, thereby varying the pressure of the sterilization space 11. When the pressure in the sterilizing space 11 is varied, the volume of the sealing member 13 varies and air in the sealing member internal space 15 flows out into the sterilizing space 11, The air in the sealing member 15 flows into the space 15.

The space variable mechanism 16 is used to vary the pressure inside the chamber 10 by varying the volume of the chamber 10, and various methods can be used.

Hereinafter, the cylinder type space variable mechanism 16 will be described.

The space variable mechanism 16 is of a cylinder type, and the cylinder is preferably formed in a cylindrical shape, and the inner surface is smooth. Further, the chamber 10 may be in the form of a hexahedron box, or may be cylindrical like a cylinder.

In the cylinder, a piston is operatively coupled to adjust the pressure of the internal space by changing the volume of the internal space of the chamber 10. [ The piston may be in the form of a disk, and a packing for maintaining airtightness may be interposed between the cylinder and the piston.

The driving unit applies force to the piston to cause it to start along the cylinder, that is, in the direction of the arrow. As a result, the volume of the sterilizing space 11 of the chamber 10 is variable and the pressure is variable. The volume and the pressure are changed in inverse proportion based on the basic formula of the ideal gas equation.

A working rod is connected between the driving part and the piston. The actuator (actuator) may be a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder. Also, the driving unit may be a system in which various motors are used.

The variable sterilization space 12 is provided with a vaporization heater module 20. That is, the vaporization heater module 20 is provided with the heater 21 and the vaporization chamber 23 in the variable sterilizing space 12. The vaporization heater module 20 has a heater controller 22 provided outside the variable sterilization space 12 and serves to control the heater 21 and the vaporization chamber 23. The variable sterilizing space 12 may further include a heat insulating material 30 between the vaporizing heater module 20 and the sterilizing space 11.

The heater 21 and the heater controller regulate the temperature of the fluid passing through the vaporization chamber 23 and the vaporization heater module 20. That is, the heater 21 dissipates heat in the variable sterilization space 12, and the thermal energy of the variable sterilization space 12 is transferred to the sterilization space 11, and the sterilization object 11 Device) can be increased. At this time, the temperature of the sterilization space 11 and the variable sterilization space 12 can be measured by the temperature sensor (not shown) in the chamber 10. In addition, the chamber 10 can maintain the temperature of the sterilizing space 11 and the variable sterilizing space 12 at a predetermined temperature through a chamber temperature controller (not shown).

The vaporization chamber 23 is connected to a sterilization material supply valve 24 and a sterilization material supply unit 25.

The sterilization material supply unit 25 contains a sterilization material such as hydrogen peroxide and supplies the sterilization material to the vaporization chamber 23. The sterilization material supplied to the vaporization chamber 23 is vaporized, and the sterilization material is supplied to the variable sterilization space 12 and the sterilization space 11. At this time, the sterilizing material uses hydrogen peroxide, but is not limited thereto.

Also, the variable sterilization space 12 may include an external air supply valve 26, a plasma module 27, and an external air filter 28. That is, after the outside air is filtered by the outside air filter 28, the plasma is processed by the plasma module 27 and is introduced into the variable sterilization space 12. [

Next, the low temperature sterilization method will be described.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a sterilization method using a low-temperature sterilization apparatus having a volumetric chamber according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a sterilization method using a low temperature sterilization apparatus having a volumetric chamber according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a graph showing a pressure change of a sterilization apparatus in a sterilization method using a low temperature sterilization apparatus having a volumetric chamber according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Example 1]

As shown in FIG. 2, the low-temperature sterilization method using the low-temperature sterilization apparatus having the volumetric chamber includes a first vacuum step S100, a plasma processing step S200, a preprocessing step S300, a second vacuum step S400, A sterilization re-injection step S500, a sterilization step S600, and an outside air injection step S700. Also, the low temperature sterilization method of the present invention may include a first residual sterilizing material removing step (S800) and a second residual sterilizing material removing step (S900) after the outside air injection step (S700).

The first vacuum step S100 is a step of placing the sealing member sealed by the sterilizing object (medical instrument) in the sterilization space 11 in the chamber 10 and then lowering the pressure in the sterilization space 11 to maintain the vacuum to be. 3, the pressure of the sterilizing space 11 is reduced to a pressure of about 1 to 600 torr lower than the atmospheric pressure (760 torr) by using the vacuum pump 18, And exhausts all of the gas of the gas. In addition, the sealing member 13 sealing the sterilizing object is made of a transparent polymer material on the one side, and the sterilizing material in the gaseous state can pass through the other side using a material such as a tie-back which can permeate the gas. The material of the permeable surface for the sterilization material such as the tie bag is permeable to the gas, but is made of fine pores so as to prevent infiltration of the bacteria.

The plasma processing step S200 is a step of injecting the plasma-treated outside air through the plasma module 27 into the sterilization space 11 and the variable sterilization space 12. 3, the pressure of the sterilization space 11 is maintained in a range of 500 to 600 torr (see FIG. 3). In this case, Lt; / RTI >

The preprocessing step S300 changes the pressure in the sterilizing space 11 by changing the volume of the variable sterilization space 12 so that the air in the sealing member inner space 15 and the air in the sterilizing space 11 Circulate. More specifically, as shown in the section S300 of FIG. 3, the volume of the variable sterilization space 12 is changed by activating the space variable mechanism 16 in the sterilization space 11, The pressure of the fluid 11 is varied. At this time, the volume of the sealing member 13 sealed with the sterilizing object is changed according to the pressure change in the sterilizing space 11.

That is, in the pre-processing step S300, by changing the pressure of the sterilizing space 11 through the volume change of the variable sterilizing space 12, the gas is injected into the sealed sealing member 13, The gas inside the member 13 can be discharged into the sterilizing space 11.

In addition, the pre-processing step S300 may also transfer the air in the sealing member inner space 15 and the air in the sterilizing space 11 to each other to transfer thermal energy to the space inside the sealing member. That is, in the pre-processing step (S300), when the air heated by the vaporization heater module (20) flows into the space inside the sealing member, the heated air transfers heat energy to the sterilizing object. Accordingly, the preprocessing step (S300) has an advantage that the sterilizing object can be continuously heated to a temperature suitable for sterilization. It is also possible to prevent condensation generated inside the sealing member 13 sealed by the temperature difference.

The second vacuum step S400 reduces the pressure in the sterilizing space 11 to a lower pressure than the pre-processing step S300. 3, the gas inside the sealing member 13 is discharged to the sterilizing space 11 in the pre-treatment step S300. At this time, in the second vacuum step S400, The gas existing in the sterilizing space 11 (the gas existing in the sterilizing space 11 originally and the gas exhausted from the inside of the sealing member 13) is discharged to the outside to form a vacuum. At this time, it is preferable that the pressure in the sterilizing space 11 is kept at a vacuum pressure within a range of 0 to 50 torr for a predetermined time. In the second vacuum step S400, the gas in the sterilizing space 11 is discharged to the outside, thereby providing a condition for vaporizing the hydrogen peroxide as the sterilizing material.

The sterilization re-injection step (S500) is a step of injecting the sterilization material into the sterilization space (11). More specifically, as shown in step S500 of FIG. 3, the sterilization material injection step (S500) injects the sterilized material (hydrogen peroxide) vaporized in the vaporization chamber 23 into the sterilization space 11. At this time, the pressure of the sterilization space 11 is increased. In the vaporization chamber 23, hydrogen peroxide, which is a sterilizing material, is heated to about 110 DEG C and vaporized. That is, in the sterilization re-injection step S500, the sterilization material is vaporized by using the vaporization chamber 23, and the vaporized sterilization material can be distributed to the variable sterilization space 12 and the sterilization space 11, The pressures of the variable sterilization space 12 and the sterilizing space 11 can rise simultaneously.

In addition, in the sterilization re-injection step S500, sterilization material may be injected into the sterilization space 11, and then external air may be further injected. More specifically, the sterilizing material injecting step (S500) injects outside air into the sterilizing space 11 to increase the pressure of the sterilizing space 11 to 200 to 400 torr. At this time, the sterilizing material injecting step (S500) may be performed by plasma-treating the outside air injected into the sterilizing space (11). At this time, the sterilization material injecting step (S500) injects the outside air into the variable sterilization space 12 and the sterilization space 11 so that the inside of the sealing member 13 and the sterilized object Lt; / RTI > can penetrate into the interior of the container.

In addition, the pressure of the sterilization space 11 is adjusted to a pressure of about 200 to 500 torr at a pressure of 0 to 50 torr formed in the second vacuum step S400.

The sterilization step S600 is a step of repeatedly changing the volume of the sterilization space 12 by repeatedly changing the volume of the sterilization space 12 as in the preprocessing step S300. 3, the pressure in the sterilizing space 11 is increased by the activation of the space varying mechanism 16, so that the sterilizing space 11 is moved in accordance with the volume change of the variable sterilizing space 12. [ Can be repeatedly varied in the range of 100 to 600 torr. At this time, the volume of the sealing member 13 sealed with the sterilizing object is changed repeatedly according to the pressure change in the sterilizing space 11, so that the sterilizing material infiltrates into the space 15 inside the sealing member and the inside of the sterilizing object. As a result, the sterilizing material in the sterilizing space 11 is repeatedly injected and discharged into the sealing member 13.

In the sterilizing step S600, the heated air and the sterilizing material are passed through the vaporizing heater module 20 to the inner space of the sealing member to transfer the thermal energy to the sterilizing object, as in the preprocessing step S300 .

The outside air injection step (S700) is a step of injecting outside air into the sterilizing space (11). That is, as shown in the section S700 of FIG. 3, the outside air injection step (S700) increases the pressure by injecting outside air into the sterilizing space (11). At this time, the outside air injecting step (S700) injects the plasma-treated outside air into the sterilizing space (11).

Further, in the outside air injection step (S700), the pressure of the sterilizing space 11 may be increased to a pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure. For example, the pressure in the sterilization space 11 may be increased to a pressure in the range of 600 to 700 torr.

The first residual sterilizing material removing step S800 changes the pressure in the sterilizing space 11 by changing the volume of the variable sterilizing space 12 so that the sterilizing material inside the sealing member is moved to the sterilizing space 11 . That is, in the first residual sterilizing material removing step S800, the pressure of the sterilizing space 11 is varied by varying the volume of the variable sterilizing space 12 in the range of 100 to 600 torr The fluid in the sealing member 13 and the sterilizing space 11 flows and the thermal energy is transferred into the sealing member 13 to sterilize the sealing member 13 and the inside of the sterilizing object And removing the ashes. At this time, the first residual sterilizing material removing step (S800) may be continuously heated to a suitable temperature to remove the sterilization material remaining in the interior of the sealing member and the sterilizing object (medical instrument).

More specifically, the first residual sterilizing material removal step (S800) repeatedly changes the volume of the sterilizing space (11) in the same manner as the preprocessing step (S300) and the sterilizing step (S600) ) Of the pressure of the gas. 3, the first residual sterilizing material removing step S800 is performed in the sterilizing space 11 by using the space varying mechanism 16 in a vacuum state in which the pressure is maintained in the range of 100 to 600 torr, The hydrogen peroxide remaining in the sealing member 13 is discharged into the sterilizing space 11 by repeatedly changing the pressure in the sterilizing space 11. In addition, by transmitting the gas in the sterilizing space 11 to the inside of the sealing member 13, it can transfer the thermal energy possessed by the gas. As a result, condensation inside the sealing member 13, which is caused by a temperature difference, can be prevented.

The first residual sterilizing material removing step S800 may be performed such that the fluid heated while passing through the vaporizing heater module 20 at the time of pressure change of the sterilizing space 11, , It is also possible to transfer the thermal energy to the object to be sterilized.

The second residual sterilizing material removing step S900 is repeatedly performing the process of evacuating and discharging the residual sterilizing material in the sterilizing space 11 in a vacuum state and injecting outside air into the sterilizing space 11, The sterilizing material in the sterilizing space 11 is discharged to the outside and removed.

The process of discharging the air in the sterilization space 11 to the outside is a process of discharging the air in the sterilization space 11 to the outside using a vacuum pump 18.

In addition, the process of injecting outside air into the sterilizing space 11 is a process of injecting the plasma-treated outside air into the sterilizing space 11 by the plasma module 27.

More specifically, as shown in the section S900 of FIG. 3, the second residual sterilizing material removal step (S900) includes a process of discharging the sterilizing material in the sterilizing space 11 to the outside using a vacuum pump, And the external air is injected into the chamber 11 repeatedly. More specifically, the second residual sterilizing material removing step (S900) may lower the pressure of the sterilizing space (11) in the range of 600 to 700 torr to a pressure in the range of 5 to 200 torr, .

In addition, the second residual sterilizing material removing step (S900) dilutes the gaseous hydrogen peroxide by injecting outside air into the sterilizing space (11). At this time, the pressure of the sterilization space 11 increases the pressure lower than 760 torr at a pressure in the range of 5 to 200 torr.

In the step S900, the process of discharging the sterilizing material in the sterilizing space 11 to the outside and injecting the outside air into the sterilizing space 11 are repeatedly performed using the vacuum pump The sterilizing material remaining in the sterilizing space 11 can be discharged and removed to the outside. At this time, in the step S900, the sterilizing material in the sterilizing space 11 is removed from the outside And the process of injecting outside air into the sterilization space 11 is repeatedly performed, and then the pressure of the sterilization space 11 is increased to 760 torr to complete the low temperature sterilization method.

That is, the second residual sterilizing material removing step (S900) repeatedly performs the process of discharging the air in the sterilizing space (11) to the outside and injecting the outside air into the sterilizing space (11) The sterilizing material of the container 11 can be discharged to the outside.

[Example 2]

As shown in FIG. 4, the low temperature sterilization method of the second embodiment includes a first vacuum step S100, a plasma treatment step S200, a pre-treatment step S300, a second vacuum step S400, a sterilization material injection step S500 S600, sterilization step S600 and outdoor air injection step S700, the second vacuum step S400, the sterilization material injection step S500, the sterilization material infiltration step S600 Sterilization step S600, and outdoor air injection step S700 may be repeatedly performed.

Therefore, the low temperature sterilization method of the present invention can transmit the sterilization material and the thermal energy to the inside of the sealed sealing member 13 by changing the pressure in the sterilization space 11, so that the sterilized object inside the sealed sealing member 13 It is possible to sterilize and prevent condensation through heat transfer.

The above description is only an example based on the technical idea of the present invention. Those skilled in the art will recognize that various modifications may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. For example, all embodiments described above may be freely combined and practiced by those skilled in the art, and any combination thereof should be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention.

10: chamber
11: Sterilization space
12: Variable sterilization space
13: Sealing member
14: Sterilization object
15: space inside the sealing member
16: Spatial variable mechanism
17: Vacuum exhaust valve
18: Vacuum pump
19: Exhaust filter
20: Evaporation, heater module
21: Heater
22: Heater controller
23: Fireplace
24: Sterile supply valve
25:
26: Outside air supply valve
27: Plasma module
28: Outside air filter
30: Insulation
S100: First vacuum stage
S200: Plasma processing step
S300: preprocessing step
S400: Second vacuum step
S500: sterilization re-injection step
S600: Sterilization step
S700: External air injection step
S800: First Residual Sterilization Removal Step
S900: second residual sterilizing material removal step

Claims

A first vacuum step S100 of placing the sterilizing object sealed in the sealing member 13 in the sterilization space 11 in the chamber 10 and reducing the pressure of the sterilization space 11 to a pressure lower than atmospheric pressure;
A plasma processing step (S200) of injecting the plasma-treated outside air into the sterilizing space (11);
A pre-treatment step (S300) of varying the pressure in the sterilizing space (11) by changing the volume of the sterilizing space (12) to circulate the air in the space inside the sealing member (13) and the air in the sterilizing space (11) ;
A second vacuum step (S400) of reducing the pressure in the sterilization space (11) to a lower pressure than the pre-processing step (S300);
A sterilization re-injection step (S500) of injecting sterilization material into the sterilization space (11);
Sterilizing step (S600) of changing the pressure of the sterilizing space (11) by changing the volume of the variable sterilization space (12) and injecting the sterilizing material into the sealing member; And
An outside air injection step (S700) for injecting outside air into the sterilization space (11);
Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > 1, < / RTI >

The method according to claim 1,
The low temperature sterilization method
After the outside air injection step S700,
The pressure in the sterilizing space 11 is changed by changing the volume of the variable sterilization space 12 to remove the first residual sterilizing material for discharging sterilizing material in the sealing member 13 to the sterilizing space 11 Step S800; And
The sterilization chamber 11 is continuously sterilized and discharged in a vacuum state and the external air is injected into the sterilization space 11 to repeatedly perform sterilization of the sterilization chamber 11, A second residual sterilizing material removing step (S900) for discharging and removing the second residual sterilizing material;
Further comprising the steps of:

The method according to claim 1,
The low temperature sterilization method
After the outside air injection step S700,
Wherein the second vacuum step (S400), the sterilizing agent injection step (S500), the sterilization step (S600), and the outside air injection step (S700) are repeatedly performed.

The method according to claim 1,
The low temperature sterilization method controls the temperature of the vaporization heater module 20 to vary the volume of the sterilizing space 11 by varying the volume of the variable sterilization space 12 to flow into the vaporization heater module 20 Wherein the temperature of the fluid to be sterilized is controlled.

The method according to claim 1,
The preprocessing step (S300)
The volume of the variable sterilization space 12 is varied to change the pressure of the sterilization space 11 so that the air in the sterilization space 11 and the air in the sealing member internal space 15 flow, And the heat energy is transferred to the space.

The method according to claim 1,
The sterilizing step S600 may vary the volume of the sterilizing space 12 by varying the volume of the sterilizing space 12 at a pressure in the sterilizing space 11 of 100 to 600 torr, To infiltrate the sterilizing material.

The method according to claim 1,
The sterilization material injection step (S500)
Wherein the sterilizing material is vaporized by using the vaporization chamber (23), and the vaporized sterilizing material is passed through the variable sterilization space (12) and the sterilizing space (11).

The method according to claim 1,
The sterilization material injection step (S500)
Wherein sterilization material is injected, and then external air is further injected.

3. The method of claim 2,
The first residual sterilizing material removing step (S800)
The pressure of the sterilizing space 11 is varied by varying the volume of the variable sterilizing space 12 within the range of 100 to 600 torr so that the sealing member 13 and the sterilizing space 11 , And the sterilizing material remaining in the sealing member (13) and the sterilizing object is removed. The sterilizing method according to claim 1, wherein the sealing member (13) and the sealing member (13)

3. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
Wherein the sealing member (13) is made of a transparent polymer material, and the other surface is a material containing a plurality of pores.