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:
Oct. 01, 2002
Filed:
Mar. 03, 2000
John Masefield, Far Hills, NJ (US);
Charles P. Truby, Wilmington, NC (US);
Jerome A. Dzwierzynski, LaGrange Park, IL (US);
Steris Inc., Temecula, CA (US);
Abstract
A particle accelerator ( ) is disposed between a first shielded processing chamber ( )and a second shielded processing chamber ( ). The accelerator selectively feeds a higher energy (e.g., 10 MeV) electron beam to the first processing chamber and selectively feeds a lower energy (e.g., 5 MeV) electron beam to the second processing chamber. A conveying system ( ) transports article carriers to and through the first processing chamber. At a processing table ( ), the articles are conveyed at a closely controlled speed through the electron beam for uniform dosing of an article to be irradiated. A loading station ( ) and an unloading station ( ) supply and remove articles from the first processing chamber. Beam bending magnets ( ) change the direction of an electron beam between the first processing chamber and the second processing chamber. A second conveying system, such as a reel-to-reel system ( ) for processing articles of indefinite length transported on reels and rolls, conveys articles through the second processing chamber.