Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids – Apparatus – Vacuum
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-04
2004-06-08
Rinehart, K. B (Department: 3749)
Drying and gas or vapor contact with solids
Apparatus
Vacuum
C034S284000, C034S288000, C034S290000, C034S296000, C034S297000, C034S176000, C034S179000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06745490
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1) Field of the Invention
This invention is concerned with an improvement in the distributive ejection device for liquid material to be used in freeze-drying apparatus for foodstuffs, medicaments, and so on, the liquid material being prepared from those foodstuffs, medicaments and so on in their desiccated conditions; such liquid material being distributively ejected into the inner cavity of an upright cylindrical tube, followed by its freezing on the inner wall surface of the cylindrical tube; then sublimating the moisture (or water) content in the material by application of sublimation heat under the vacuum condition to obtain the freeze-dried product.
2) Description of Prior Arts
Conventional freeze-drying apparatus, in which the materials to be freeze-dried such as foodstuffs, medicaments, etc. are adjusted into a liquid form and kept frozen, after which it is desiccated by application of sublimation heat to the materials for desiccation, under the vacuum condition, to sublimate the moisture content in the material, has usually been done in such a manner that the materials to be desiccated are adjusted into a liquid form, then the liquid material is filled in a desiccating vessel such as trays, etc., each desiccating vessel being placed in a desiccating chamber of the freeze-drying apparatus provided with storing shelves, wherein these desiccating vessels are subjected to freezing to sublimate the water content in the liquid material by supplying the sublimation heat, within the drying chamber, to capture the water vapor from the liquid material as frozen by means of a vacuum exhaustion type cold-trap which is communicatively connected to the desiccating chamber.
As another expedient, there is one which has been developed by the applicants of the present invention. This expedient is of such a construction that, as shown in
FIG. 1
of the accompanying drawing, the desiccating chamber of the freeze-drying apparatus is formed of a multitude of upright cylindrical tubes
1
,
1
, . . . to cause the liquid material to freeze on the inner wall surface thereof, which are arranged side by side in bundle at a predetermined space interval; then, a jacket
2
for circulating heat medium in and through each of these upright tubes is shaped in a bucket- or vessel-form and mounted on and around each of these bundled tubes; thereafter, an inlet tube
20
and an outlet tube
21
of this bucket- or vessel-shaped jacket
2
are connected to the tube-passageway of a heat-exchanger (not shown in the drawing) for heat-exchanging of the heat medium, thereby causing the heat medium to circulate within the jacket
2
, while, at the upper end side of each of the multitude of thus arranged tubes
1
,
1
, . . . , there are communicatively connected a duct
3
of a vacuum exhaust system, equipped with a vacuum pump or a cold-trap
30
; and, at the lower end side of each of the tubes
1
,
1
, . . . , there are provided an opening-and-closing valve V to hermetically close the tubes, and a recovery chamber
4
below the valve V by connecting the same to the lower surface side of the jacket
2
. Within the duct
3
which communicates with the upper end side of each of the tubes
1
,
1
, . . . , there is disposed a distributive ejection head
7
connected to the downstream side of the abovementioned tube passageway
5
, to which distributive ejection nozzles
70
,
70
, . . . corresponding to each of the tubes
1
,
1
, . . . , are provided. With these distributive ejection nozzles
70
,
70
, . . . , the liquid material is distributively fed into the inner cavity of each of the tubes
1
,
1
, . . . , thereby freezing the liquid material onto the inner wall surface
1
a
of each of the tubes
1
,
1
, . . . , which has been kept cooled by the heat medium within the jacket
2
. As soon as the frozen layer reaches a predetermined thickness, the liquid material, which is flowing down in its unfrozen state, is drawn outside through a take-out tube
6
disposed on one part of the upper surface side of the valve V and at the lower end side of the tubes
1
,
1
, . . . , whereby the liquid material is frozen in the columnar shape having a predetermined thickness on the inner wall surface of each of the tubes
1
,
1
, . . . This frozen columnar material on the inner wall surface of the tubes is maintained under the vacuum condition by means of a vacuum exhaust system, which is communicated with the duct
3
, to cause the water content to be sublimated from this frozen liquid material for its freeze-drying. As soon as the frozen material is completely desiccated, the valve V is opened and the dried product of the liquid material, as desiccated in its columnar shape, is dropped into the recovery chamber
4
as the desiccated bulk, and is taken outside.
The conventional means for adjusting the abovementioned material for foodstuffs, medicaments, and so forth into liquid form, and then freeze-drying the thus adjusted liquid material necessitates installation of a facility for prevention of contamination, careful operations of the facility, and care-taking in its maintenance, in one means of a type, wherein the liquid material is distributively fed into vessels (or containers), then the liquid material together with the container is placed in a desiccating chamber of the freeze-drying apparatus, and subjecting the material to freeze-drying under the vacuum condition, in the course of distributively feeding the liquid material as adjusted into the vessels, and of placing these vessels filled therein with the liquid material into the desiccating chamber of the freeze-drying apparatus, the working and operations of which are complicated and troublesome, hence problems exist in many aspects such as guarantee of sterilization in the facility, prevention of the facility from risk of contamination, and others.
In the other means of a type, wherein the freeze-drying of the liquid material is carried out by use of the freeze-drying apparatus, in which the desiccating chamber is constructed with upright cylindrical tubes, the liquid material to be frozen onto the inner wall surface of the tubes by distributive feeding of the liquid material into the upright cylindrical tubes is subjected to desiccation at a uniform rate by vacuum sublimation, between the upper end side of the tube and its lower end side, on account of which the liquid material needs to be frozen onto the inner wall surface of the tube in the shape, wherein the axial part thereof takes a hollow cylindrical shape. On account of this, the liquid material should be distributively fed to the inner wall surface of the tube so as to attain substantially uniform thickness over its entire surface, which gives rise to difficult problems.
Also, if and when the liquid material is fed by ejection against the inner wall surface of the tube
1
, through the distributive ejection nozzles, and, if and when the outer peripheral surface thereof comes into contact with the inner wall surface
1
a
of the tube
1
which has been kept cooled by the heat medium within the jacket
2
, the liquid material is instantaneously frozen, and, since the liquid material which is ejected consecutively becomes frozen sequentially over the frozen layer of the liquid material which has been kept frozen, if and when there exists irregular distribution of the liquid material at the time of its ejection from the distributive ejection nozzle
50
, the irregularity in the liquid material as ejected is amplified with increase in the layer thickness of the frozen layer, which sequentially develops into a thick laminated layer to inevitably become an irregular frozen layer to cause serious problem.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made with a view to solving the problems inherent in the conventional means, and to providing improved means for carrying out freezing of the liquid material onto the inner wall surface of the tube, which material was adjusted from the starting materials for foodstuffs, medicaments, etc., using a freeze-drying apparatus o
Akimoto Hiromichi
Sunama Ryoji
Browdy and Neimark , P.L.L.C.
Kyowa Vacuum Engineering Co. Ltd.
Rinehart K. B
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