The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 20, 1980
Filed:
Nov. 11, 1977
John R Gillis, Harborcreek, PA (US);
Frank E Halleck, Erie, PA (US);
American Sterilizer Company, Erie, PA (US);
Abstract
Conditioning of goods for subsequent sterilization with a biocidal agent in a sealable chamber includes removal of air, and moistening and heating the goods to the desired temperature levels. Controlled evacuation of the chamber and coordinated admission of conditioning vapor into the chamber provides cyclic variations in chamber pressure between preselected subatmospheric pressures to subject goods in the chamber to a plurality of cyclic subatmospheric pressure pulses. The time required for the cyclic pressure variations is responsive to load characteristics, including heat and moisture absorption characteristics of the goods being conditioned, and is independent of prescribed times or direct measurement of load temperature. The subatmospheric pressure levels are selected based on the temperature-pressure relationship of the conditioning vapor so that chamber temperature during cyclic pulsing does not exceed the desired sterilization temperature.