Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – With guard or screen for operator
Patent
1996-11-27
1998-09-22
Jacyna, J. Casimer
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
With guard or screen for operator
141 65, 141 93, 141287, 141313, B65B 3102
Patent
active
058100601
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally concerns a filling installation for hazardous substances, and more particularly relates to such an installation by which free-flowing materials are safely packaged.
2. Description of the Related Art
A filling installation of the subject type is known from European Patent 521,252 which is attributed to the same applicant. This known filling installation has a so-called dual-chamber system where a metering device opens into an upper glove box, which also has a lower orifice connected to a second chamber. In the area of this second chamber there is a bag that is to be filled and is pulled upward through the orifice from the lower chamber into the glove orifices of the glove box and then is attached to the filling head that opens into the upper chamber (glove box) and is sealed there.
This is a dual-chamber system intended for filling hazardous pourable or freeflowing substances without the operator coming in contact with the media. In addition, low pressure prevailing in the glove box and in the lower chamber assure that hazardous media cannot enter the environment outside the two boxes.
However, according to this known system, filling cannot be performed under clean room conditions. Clean room conditions here are understood to refer to the conditions stipulated by U.S. Federal Standard 209, namely, that a certain excess pressure should be maintained in the chamber and a certain maximum foreign particle count must not be exceeded in this chamber, so most of the air in this chamber is clean room air in which the foreign particle count is strictly limited.
European Patent 96,336 discloses a filling system with a closed chamber that is kept under clean room conditions, where this clean room has laminar air flow that assures the clean air conditions. A particular disadvantage of this known device is that the possibility of particles of the substance being packaged escaping during the filling operation cannot be ruled out due to the design of the filling system, and thus there is the risk of contamination of the operating personnel.
In the past it was known only that such filling systems could be set up in clean air rooms, which were small rooms where the operating person was also present to perform the operation of transferring such materials under these conditions. However, this has the disadvantage that the presence of the operating person in the clean room itself presents a high risk of contamination because foreign particles are usually introduced by the operating personnel.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A primary purpose of this invention is therefore to improve on a filling system of the type described initially so that pourable or free-flowing materials, that are or may be hazardous, can be packaged under clean room conditions.
An important feature of this invention is that the filling head is mounted inside the glove box and a laminar flow of clean air is provided in the glove box so that it flows at least around the filling head, and an excess pressure prevails in this glove box.
Thus, the present technical teaching yields the important advantage that clean air conditions are created in a very limited space, namely, only where clean air conditions are needed, because the operating person is now outside the glove box and reaches into the glove box only through appropriate hermetically sealed operating orifices. In any case, this prevents contamination of the interior of the glove box, and clean air conditions around the filling head are assured.
This makes it possible for the first time to transfer materials that are pourable or free-flowing (and are or may be hazardous) under relatively inexpensive conditions, where a sealable orifice is provided beneath the glove box so the material to be filled is transferred through this sealable orifice into a bag or a container under clean air conditions.
It is essential here for this orifice to remain sealed at all times as long as the bag or container to be filled is not yet attached and
REFERENCES:
patent: 2780247 (1957-02-01), Claassen, Jr.
patent: 4872493 (1989-10-01), Everman
patent: 4987933 (1991-01-01), Mack
patent: 4999978 (1991-03-01), Kohlbach et al.
patent: 5316056 (1994-05-01), Stott
patent: 5322095 (1994-06-01), Bolz
Bolz Jurgen
Bolz Volker
Helpman Verfahrenstechnik GmbH
Jacyna J. Casimer
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