Fluent material handling – with receiver or receiver coacting mea – Processes
Reexamination Certificate
2000-06-26
2002-03-19
Jacyna, J. Casimer (Department: 3751)
Fluent material handling, with receiver or receiver coacting mea
Processes
C141S097000, C141S098000, C141S231000, C141S325000, C141S327000, C141S383000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06357488
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The invention relates to a process for the transfer of aseptic products between two enclosures such as a production enclosure and a use enclosure for said products.
The term “aseptic products” in the present context means any type of sterile product or product having a microbiological quality not to be deteriorated by an external contamination and no matter what the state thereof (liquid, gaseous, solid, powder, etc.) and no matter what the nature thereof (food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products, packaging components, etc.).
The invention also relates to an aseptic product transportation container designed for performing such a transfer process.
PRIOR ART
In a certain number of industries, such as the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and similar industries, the product production and consumption locations are located at separate sites which are often far removed from one another.
Thus and solely as an example, the production and consumption locations of fruit juices are frequently on different continents. The procedure normally used for such products consists of pasteurizing them at their production locations, packaging them in large transportation containers, then bringing them to their consumption locations for repackaging in small size receptacles suitable for sale. Bearing in mind the precarious conditions under which product transfers take place both at the production location and at the consumption location, it is generally necessary to carry out a second pasteurization of these products before repackaging them. This leads to a loss of flavour and consequently quality for the product which is finally sold.
For carrying out the transportation of products between the production location and the consumption location, use is usually made of containers having a single interface used both for filling and emptying. However, certain containers have two separate accesses allocated respectively to filling and emptying.
Usually the transportation containers have flexible walls and they are placed in rigid cases during their filling and transportation. There are also some containers having semi-rigid walls with a adequate mechanical strength to ensure that they do not have to be placed in cases.
In the case of transportation containers equipped with a single interface used both for filling and emptying, certain solutions have been proposed in order to maintain the microbiological quality of the transported products, during transfers performed at the production and use locations of these products.
A first solution proposed by TETRA PAK (registered trademark) under the name “Tetra StarAsept” (registered trademark) consists of equipping a container in the form of a flexible bag with a rigid jacket defining an access opening. The rigid jacket is connected to one wall of the container and is normally sealed by a plug carried by the facing wall of said same container. In order to carry out filling, the plug is docked with an opening made in a production enclosure and initially sealed by a plug. The intermediate volume between the two plugs is sterilized by a vapour flow. The two plugs are then opened for filling the container. A new vapour sterilization of the upper part of the container then takes place prior to its closure.
Following the transportation of the container to the product use location, identical operations make it possible to empty the product into an adapted use enclosure.
In such a means, the seal between the container plug and the jacket is obtained by an O-ring. The decontamination of said O-ring during sterilization is of an arbitrary nature. This phenomenon is accentuated by a risk of soiling the O-ring by the transferred product (e.g. fruit juice pulp), which can even lead to a loss of sealing. In view of the fact that the product to be transferred passes twice through said zone in which decontamination is dubious, it is not possible to guarantee an absence of product deterioration between the product location and the use location.
The ASTEPO company proposes an aseptic filling installation using a principle similar to that proposed by TETRA PAK. This installation suffers the same disadvantages.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
The present invention proposes a process for the transfer of aseptic products between two enclosures, whose original design makes it possible to avoid substantially any deterioration of the microbiological quality of the products, using a particularly simple, inexpensive and disposable transportation container.
According to the invention, this result is obtained by means of a process for the transfer of aseptic products between a first enclosure and a second enclosure, both equipped with a normally closed door, according to which a first transfer of products takes place from the first enclosure into a sterile container by a filling interface thereof and equipped with a seal, the container is transported to the second enclosure and a second transfer of products takes place from the container into the second enclosure by a container emptying interface equipped with a seal, characterized in that, prior to carrying out each of the first and second transfers:
a tight connection takes place of the corresponding interface and enclosure,
a closed volume defined between the corresponding door and seal is sterilized,
the corresponding door and seal are opened,
to the corresponding enclosure is connected an initially closed flexible hose, which is within the container and connected tightly thereto about the corresponding seal and
said flexible hose is opened, and characterized in that after carrying out the first transfer the flexible hose associated with the filling interface is closed again.
Here and throughout the text the term “flexible hose” is to be understood in its broadest sense as designating any pipe, duct, sleeve, tube, etc., which can be flexible or articulated and which can be folded within the container during its transportation and opened out into the enclosure to permit the passage of the products to be transferred, without them coming into contact with the tight connection zone of the container and the enclosure.
As a result of the presence of two access interfaces on the transportation container, its emptying takes place by a different interface from that used on its filling. Moreover, since each of the interfaces has a flexible hose by which the products are transferred, said products are never in contact with the walls decontaminated during the sterilization of the closed volume. As a result of these combined characteristics, any deterioration by an external contamination of the microbiological quality of the transferred products becomes virtually impossible. In the case of food products, there is consequently no longer a need for a repeated pasteurization at the use location, which leads to a significant improvement in the flavour of these products. Moreover, in the case of the transfer of aseptic components, a new contamination, which is generally difficult and costly, is avoided.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, each of the enclosures is externally equipped with a lock having sterilization means and normally separated from the interior of the enclosure by the corresponding door and the corresponding container interface is connected to said lock in order to define the closed volume within the same.
In this case the closed volume is advantageously sterilized by using intermittent light sterilization means placed around a transparent tube defining said closed volume.
In order to improve the efficiency of the sterilization, use is then preferably made of seals, whose face turned towards the outside of the container is reflecting.
In the preferred embodiment of the invention, advantageously each lock is connected to the corresponding enclosure by means of a tight transfer device equipped with a double door materializing the corresponding door.
Preferably use is made of tearable seals, which undergo cutting from the inside of the corresponding enclosure after opening the door of said enclosure.
The invention also
Brossard Jean-Pierre
Fontcuberta Philippe
Jacyna J. Casimer
La Calhene
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