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:
Aug. 03, 1999
Filed:
Aug. 13, 1997
Paul S Malchesky, Painesville Twp., OH (US);
Steris Corporation, Mentor, OH (US);
Abstract
An apparatus (A) for sterilizing medical instruments and other articles includes a tray (12) with an article receiving area (14). An article to be microbially decontaminated is positioned in the receiving area (14) and a microbe blocking lid (10) is closed. A water electrolysis apparatus (30) receives water, splits the water into two separate streams that pass respectively through an anode chamber (34) and a cathode chamber (36), and exposes the streams to an electric field that results in the production of a catholyte solution for cleaning and an anolyte solution for sterilization. The anolyte and catholyte are selectively circulated through the article receiving area (14) by a pump (66) to clean and microbially decontaminate the external surfaces and internal passages of an article located therein. The anolyte or deactivated anolyte provides a sterile rinse solution. A reagent dispensing well (60) receives an ampule (80) or the like. The ampule (80) contains internal compartments which are selectively accessed or opened to dispense detergent concentrate and/or sterilant concentrate reagents into the circulating anolyte and catholyte solutions. A water treatment apparatus (28) dispenses either a salt or a cleaning agent into the water received from the source (24) to vary the electrolysis reaction or to form a cleaning solution to clean and flush the electrolysis apparatus (30), respectively.