JP2010063602A - Gas sterilizing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas sterilizing apparatus capable of saving electricity and water. <P>SOLUTION: The gas sterilizing apparatus is equipped with a ventilation means 25 for ventilating the air in a sterilizing chamber 3 and a controller 8 for operating the ventilation means 25 after a gas sterilizing step to perform a ventilation step. The controller 8 performs the ventilation step until a stop switch 27 is operated, and makes a door 2 openable after the stop switch 27 is operated. Further, the controller 8 makes the door 2 openable by the opening operation by a door switch 28 after the operation of the stop switch 27. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas sterilization apparatus such as an EOG sterilization apparatus.

  In this type of gas sterilization apparatus, a step of removing gas remaining on the article to be sterilized after the sterilization step is performed. However, since there is a low level of residue, when the object to be sterilized is left as it is in the sterilization chamber and then the sterilization object is taken out from the sterilization chamber, the high concentration released by the operator into the sterilization chamber May be exposed to ethylene oxide gas from A means for solving this problem is proposed in Patent Document 1.

  This Patent Document 1 discloses that a sterilization chamber in which an object to be sterilized is stored, a can body provided with a door for sealing the sterilization chamber, door opening / closing detection means for detecting opening / closing of the door, By the ventilation means for ventilating the air in the sterilization chamber, the time measuring means for measuring the elapsed time from any time, the door opening / closing detection means and the time measuring means, the door can be opened even after a predetermined time has elapsed since the end of the sterilization operation And a control means for controlling the ventilation means to operate and ventilate the interior of the sterilization chamber when it is detected that the opening is not open. The control means, after the ventilation means has been operated for a predetermined time and then stopped, is measured again by the timing means when the predetermined time has elapsed since the ventilation means was stopped. It is repeatedly controlled to operate and to ventilate the sterilization chamber.

JP 2002-85530 A

According to Patent Document 1, after the operation is completed, the ethylene oxide gas concentration in the sterilization chamber can be extremely low even if the object to be sterilized is left unattended for a while without taking out the object to be sterilized. Can be secured.
However, after the sterilization operation is completed, the ventilation operation is continued until the user opens the door, which is contrary to power saving.

  The main problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a gas sterilization apparatus capable of saving power.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems. The invention according to claim 1 has a door that can be opened and closed, and contains a sterilization chamber for storing an object to be sterilized, and sterilization gas to the sterilization chamber. Gas supply means for supplying and gas sterilizing an object to be sterilized, ventilation means for ventilating the air in the sterilization chamber, and control means for performing the ventilation process by operating the ventilation means after the gas sterilization process by the gas supply means A gas sterilization apparatus comprising a stop switch, wherein the control means performs the ventilation process until the stop switch is operated, and allows the door to be opened after the stop switch is operated. It is a feature.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, the ventilation operation after the sterilization process can be controlled by the stop switch at the user's discretion, so that the excessive ventilation operation as in the conventional device can be suppressed and power saving can be realized. .

  The invention according to claim 2 is characterized in that, in claim 1, a door switch is provided, and the control means can open the door by an opening operation of the door switch after the operation of the stop switch. .

  According to invention of Claim 2, in addition to the effect by the invention of Claim 1, there exists the following effect. That is, since the control of the ventilation process is performed by the stop switch, and the door opening control is performed by the door switch, the ventilation control and the door opening control are divided and corresponded to the functions of the respective switches. If the inside of the sterilization room is sufficiently ventilated and you want to keep the item to be sterilized strictly, only the stop switch can be operated to stop the ventilation process, and the door can be opened. There is an effect.

  According to this invention, it is possible to arbitrarily control the time of the ventilation process by operating the stop switch, and it is possible to provide a gas sterilization apparatus capable of saving power.

  Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described. The embodiment of the present invention is applied to a gas sterilization apparatus for gas sterilizing an object to be sterilized.

  A gas sterilization apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention has a door that can be opened and closed, a sterilization chamber that houses an object to be sterilized, and a gas supply unit that supplies the sterilization gas to the sterilization chamber and sterilizes the object to be sterilized And a ventilation means for ventilating the air in the sterilization chamber, and a control means for performing the ventilation process by operating the ventilation means after the gas sterilization process by the gas supply means. The embodiment includes a stop switch for controlling the time of the ventilation process, and the control means performs the ventilation process until the stop switch is operated, and after the operation of the stop switch, The door is configured to be openable.

  In this embodiment, the gas sterilization step is performed, and the ventilation step is performed immediately thereafter. Thereby, the residual gas adhering to the article to be sterilized is removed. When it is determined that the removal of residual gas is almost finished and the user operates the stop switch, the ventilation process is stopped. For this reason, compared with the conventional apparatus which continues ventilation operation | movement until the said door is opened, since the excessive ventilation operation | movement is not performed, the electric power for operating the said ventilation means can be saved. Further, when ventilation is performed using a water-sealed vacuum pump, the amount of water used can be reduced.

  Next, components of this embodiment will be described. The sterilization chamber has an opening with a door for taking in and out the article to be sterilized, a gas supply means for supplying a sterilization gas into the sterilization chamber to sterilize the article to be sterilized (referred to as gas supply means), and humidification. Means, an intake means (which can be referred to as a return pressure means), and an exhaust means.

  The gas supply means is preferably a gas supply line having one end connected to the sterilization chamber, and a valve (hereinafter referred to as a gas supply valve) for controlling gas supply provided in the middle of the gas supply line. The gas generator is preferably connected to the other end of the gas supply line. The sterilization by the gas supply means is carried out by a well-known method using ethylene oxide gas (EOG), but can be carried out by a sterilizing gas (for example, formalin) having a sterilizing function similar to that of EOG. The gas supply means includes one that inserts an EOG cartridge into a predetermined position, punches the tip of the cartridge in a gas sterilization step, and discharges the sterilization gas into the sterilization chamber.

The humidifying means preferably supplies steam to the sterilization chamber for humidification, but can be configured to supply water or the like for humidification. In the case of the humidifying means by steam supply, this humidifying means can be referred to as a steam supply means. The humidifying means includes a humidification line, one end of which is connected to the sterilization chamber, and a valve for controlling humidification provided in the middle of the humidification line (hereinafter referred to as a humidification valve, but may also be referred to as a steam supply valve). And a steam generator connected to the other end of the humidification line.

  The exhaust unit preferably prevents an exhaust line connected to the sterilization chamber, a suction exhaust unit (also referred to as a vacuum unit) provided in the middle of the exhaust line, and a back flow toward the sterilization chamber. It includes a check valve and a valve (hereinafter referred to as a vacuum valve) for maintaining the sealed state of the sterilization chamber. The suction exhaust means may be a combination of one or more of a steam ejector, a vacuum pump, a water ejector, and an air ejector. The vacuum valve may be a valve whose opening degree can be adjusted.

  The exhaust means may be provided with a second exhaust line for exhausting the high-pressure gas in the sterilization chamber using a differential pressure from the atmosphere in parallel with the exhaust line. The second exhaust line is provided with a check valve for preventing a back flow toward the sterilization chamber and a valve for controlling exhaust (hereinafter referred to as an exhaust valve). In addition, when performing the gas sterilization by making the inside of the sterilization chamber into a negative pressure, it is configured to exhaust the gas by the suction and exhaust means.

  The intake means includes an intake line having one end connected to the sterilization chamber, an air purification filter provided in the middle of the intake line, a valve for controlling intake air (hereinafter referred to as an intake valve), and the sterilization chamber. And a check valve that prevents backflow from the air to the atmosphere. The intake valve is an electromagnetic valve that can only be opened and closed, but can be an adjustment valve whose opening degree can be adjusted as necessary.

  In this embodiment, a closed space can be formed in the sterilization chamber by closing the opening and closing the valve provided in each line.

  The ventilation means is configured by combining the exhaust means and the intake means, and is not limited to a specific means as long as it ventilates the air in the sterilization chamber. The ventilation step by the ventilation means is preferably performed by alternately performing intake and exhaust from the sterilization chamber, or simultaneously performing intake and exhaust. The intake is preferably performed by setting the sterilization chamber to a negative pressure and introducing air into the sterilization chamber, but it is also possible to supply air or an inert gas under pressure into the sterilization chamber. . The evacuation is preferably performed by sucking and exhausting the sterilization chamber, but can also be performed by supplying an inert gas into the sterilization chamber.

  More specifically, as a method of alternately performing intake and exhaust by the ventilation means, a vacuum holding step for holding a state in which the sterilization chamber is reduced to a set negative pressure or less through the exhaust line for a set time, and this vacuum It is possible to adopt a method of alternately performing a return pressure step performed after the holding step and returning to atmospheric pressure through the intake line. In addition, as a method of simultaneously performing intake and exhaust by the ventilation means, a method of circulating air through the sterilization chamber by sucking and exhausting the sterilization chamber through the exhaust line with the intake line open. Can be adopted. In this case, it is desirable to make the inside of the sterilization chamber have a negative pressure by selecting the capability of the suction / exhaust means, but it can be configured to suck and exhaust without making the negative pressure.

  The control means controls the gas supply means, the exhaust means and the intake means according to a control procedure (program) stored in advance, and performs sterilization control, ventilation control and door opening / closing control. The control procedure is configured to sequentially execute a preparation step, a gas sterilization step after the preparation step, a first ventilation step and a second ventilation step after the gas sterilization step, and the second ventilation. It includes process stop control and door opening / closing control.

  The preparation step preferably includes a vacuum drawing step for evacuating the air in the sterilization chamber, a vacuum leak check step in the sterilization chamber performed after the vacuum suction step, and a steam to the sterilization chamber performed after the vacuum leak check step. And a humidifying step of humidifying the object to be sterilized.

  The gas sterilization step is a step of supplying a sterilization gas to the sterilization chamber to sterilize an object to be sterilized.

  The ventilation control is configured to perform the ventilation process until the stop switch is operated, and to allow the door to be opened after the stop switch is operated.

  The door opening / closing control is configured to automatically open or manually open the door in a state where the door can be opened by the stop switch. In this embodiment, preferably, a switch for opening the door (hereinafter referred to as a door switch) is provided, and the control means opens the door by opening the door switch after operating the stop switch. Is configured to be openable. By adopting this configuration, when the inside of the sterilization chamber is sufficiently ventilated and the user of the sterilizer wants to store the article to be sterilized strictly, the user can only ventilate by operating only the stop switch. Only the process can be stopped, and the door cannot be opened.

  The stop switch is not limited to a specific type of switch as long as it performs stop control of the ventilation process. The stop switch can have a function of stopping the sterilization work in addition to the stop control of the ventilation process. The stop switch and the door switch are preferably switches displayed on a liquid crystal panel, but are not limited thereto, and may be mechanical switches.

  As described above, various ventilation methods can be employed for the ventilation step. Preferably, a first ventilation step for alternately performing intake into the sterilization chamber and exhaust from the sterilization chamber, A second ventilation step which is performed after the end of one ventilation step and repeats ventilation and stop, and the control means performs the second ventilation step until the stop switch is operated, and the stop switch The door is configured to be openable after the operation (hereinafter referred to as “preferred aspect of the ventilation process”).

  The repetition of intake and exhaust in the first ventilation step is preferably realized by repeating the vacuum holding step and the return pressure holding step. The first ventilation step is preferably configured such that the execution time can be set, or the number of repetitions of the vacuum holding step and the return pressure holding step can be set so that the stop switch can be operated. Regardless, it is configured to execute only for the set time.

  The repetition of ventilation and stop in the second ventilation step is preferably performed by operating the suction / exhaust means with the intake valve open to depressurize the sterilization chamber to a predetermined negative pressure in the sterilization chamber. This is achieved by repeatedly performing the holding ventilation process for a predetermined time, and then repeatedly closing the intake valve and stopping the operation of the suction and exhaust means. And this 2nd ventilation process is comprised so that a ventilation process may be stopped by operation of the said stop switch.

  By adopting a configuration in which the first ventilation process and the second ventilation process are performed, in addition to the effects of power saving and water saving, the ventilation method is different between the first ventilation process and the second ventilation process. Thus, the residual gas removal effect can be further enhanced.

Moreover, it can be comprised so that it can select whether the said 1st ventilation process is performed. In addition, the time for the vacuum holding process and the return pressure holding process of the first ventilation process can be set. Further, in the “preferred aspect of the ventilation process”, the second ventilation process is configured to stop the ventilation process by operating the stop switch. However, the operation of the stop switch is also performed in the first ventilation process. Can be configured to stop the ventilation process. In this case, a process such as an aeration process is provided before the first ventilation process.

  In this embodiment, “openable” means that the door is automatically opened when the door is automatically opened by a door switch opening operation, and the door is manually opened. In this case, it means that the door is unlocked and manually opened.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and the ventilating operation of the venting process according to the present invention is performed by performing a vapor permeation process as disclosed in JP-A-2007-185275 and then performing a vacuum exhausting process. Can be configured.

  Hereinafter, a specific example 1 of the gas sterilization apparatus of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a cylinder-type gas sterilization apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a main part of a control procedure according to the first embodiment, and FIG. FIG. 3 is a time-sterilization chamber pressure characteristic diagram for explaining the operation of the first embodiment.

  This gas sterilization apparatus 1 includes an openable / closable door 2, a sterilization chamber 3 for storing a material to be sterilized and a material to be sterilized, a cylinder-type sterilization gas (in this embodiment 1) EOG is used) Gas supply means 4 for supplying sterilization gas to the sterilization chamber 3 from a supply source (not shown), humidification means 5 for supplying saturated steam (hereinafter simply referred to as steam), and sterilization chamber 3 As a control means for controlling the exhaust means 6 for exhausting the gas inside, the intake means 7 for intake (introducing air) into the sterilization chamber 3, the humidification means 5, the exhaust means 6 and the intake means 7. The controller 8 is provided as a main part. The door 2 is configured to automatically open and close by the operation of a door switch 28 described later.

  The gas supply means 4 includes a gas supply line 9 having one end connected to the EOG supply source and the other end connected to the sterilization chamber 3, and a gas supply valve 10 provided in the middle of the gas supply line 9. It is configured to include.

  The humidification means 5 includes a humidification line 11 having one end connected to a steam generator (not shown) and the other end connected to the sterilization chamber 3, and a humidification valve 12 provided in the middle of the humidification line 11. The

  The exhaust means 6 includes a first exhaust line 13 connected to the sterilization chamber 3, a water-sealed vacuum pump 14 as a suction exhaust means provided in the middle of the exhaust line 13, and a reverse flow toward the sterilization chamber 3. A first check valve 15 for preventing the sterilization chamber 3 and a vacuum valve 16 comprising a motor valve provided to keep the sterilization chamber 3 sealed.

  The exhaust means 6 is provided with a second exhaust line 17 in parallel with the first exhaust line 13 for exhausting the high-pressure gas in the sterilization chamber 3 using a pressure difference from the atmosphere. The second exhaust line 17 is provided with a second check valve 18 for preventing a back flow in the direction of the sterilization chamber 3 and an exhaust valve 19 composed of an electromagnetic valve. The first exhaust line 13 and the second exhaust line 17 are connected to an EOG processing device 20 that renders EOG discharged from these lines harmless. The EOG processing device 20 can be omitted as necessary.

  The intake means 7 has an intake line 21 having one end connected to the sterilization chamber 3, an air purification filter 22 provided in the middle of the intake line 21, an intake valve 23, and a reverse flow from the sterilization chamber 3 toward the atmosphere. And a third check valve 24 for blocking.

  And the ventilation means 25 of this invention is comprised by combining the said exhaust means 6 and the said intake means 7. FIG.

  The controller 8 opens a pressure sensor 26 as pressure detecting means for detecting the pressure in the sterilization chamber 3, a stop switch 27 for controlling a second ventilation process described later, and the door 2. A signal from the door switch 28 as an operation switch is input, and the gas supply means 4, the exhaust means 6 and the intake means 7 are controlled by a control procedure (program) stored in advance, and sterilization work is performed. And perform ventilation control.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the control procedure includes a preparation step S1, a gas sterilization step S2 after the preparation step S2, and a first ventilation step S4 and a second ventilation step S5 after the gas sterilization step S3. While comprised so that it may perform, it is comprised including the stop control of said 2nd ventilation process S5, and the opening-and-closing control of the said door 2. FIG. The stop switch 27 and the door switch 28 are provided on an operation panel 29 provided on the door 2.

  Referring to FIG. 2, the preparation step S1 includes a vacuum drawing step for evacuating the air in the sterilization chamber 3, a vacuum leak check step in the sterilization chamber 3 performed after this vacuum drawing step, and this vacuum leak. A humidification process is performed in which steam is supplied to the sterilization chamber 3 after the check process to humidify the object to be sterilized. The gas sterilization step S2 performs a sterilization step of supplying a sterilization gas to the sterilization chamber 3 to gas sterilize an object to be sterilized.

  The first ventilation step S4 is a step of alternately performing intake into the sterilization chamber 3 and exhaust from the sterilization chamber 3. The repetition of intake and exhaust in the first ventilation step S4 is realized by alternately performing the vacuum holding step and the return pressure holding step. The first ventilation step S4 is configured to be able to set its execution time, and is configured to be executed only for the set time regardless of the operation of the stop switch 27. Further, the time for the vacuum holding process and the return pressure holding process can be set. This setting (including the following settings) is performed by displaying a setting screen (not shown) on the operation panel 29.

  The second ventilation step S5 is performed after the end of the first ventilation step S4, and is configured to repeat ventilation and stop. The controller 8 keeps the second ventilation until the stop switch 27 is operated. Step S5 is performed, and the door 2 can be opened by operating the door switch 28 after the stop switch 27 is operated.

  In the second ventilation step S5, the ventilation and the stop are repeated by operating the vacuum pump 14 with the intake valve 23 open to depressurize the sterilization chamber 3 so that the interior of the sterilization chamber 3 is predetermined. This is realized by repeatedly performing a ventilation step of maintaining a negative pressure for a predetermined time, and then repeatedly performing a stop step of closing the intake valve 23 and stopping the operation of the vacuum pump 14.

  The ventilation control is configured such that the second ventilation step S5 is performed until the stop switch 27 is operated, and the door 2 can be opened after the stop switch 27 is operated. The door opening / closing control detects an opening operation of the door switch 28 in a state where the door can be opened by the stop switch 27 (S6), and automatically opens the door 2 (S7). It is configured.

The operation of the first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. In the following description, it is assumed that valves that are not mentioned for opening and closing are closed in principle.

(Preparation step S1)
First, an object to be sterilized is accommodated in the sterilization chamber 3 and the sterilization chamber 3 is sealed. And a user displays the ventilation operation setting screen (illustration omitted) of the said operation panel 29, and sets the 1st setting time T1 which is the execution time of 1st ventilation process S4. Thereafter, when a sterilization start switch (not shown) of the operation panel 28 is operated, a preparation step of processing step S1 is performed.

(Gas sterilization step S2)
When the preparation step S1 is completed, a gas sterilization step S2 is performed. In the gas sterilization step S2, the gas supply valve 10 is opened to supply EOG from the gas supply line 9 into the sterilization chamber 3, and then sterilization is performed by holding for a predetermined time. After performing this gas sterilization process S2 for a predetermined time, the gas sterilization process S2 is finished (t1), and the process proceeds to the next exhaust process S3.

(Exhaust process S3)
In the exhaust process S3, as shown in FIG. 3, the exhaust valve 19 is opened, and the positive pressure gas in the sterilization chamber 3 is exhausted. When the gas discharge is completed (t2), the process proceeds to the next first ventilation step S4. In addition, this exhaust process S3 can be comprised as a part of gas sterilization process S2.

(First ventilation process S4)
In the first ventilation step S4, as shown in FIG. 3, at the time t2, first, the vacuum valve 16 is opened with the gas supply valve 10, the intake valve 23 and the exhaust valve 19 closed, and the A vacuum holding step S41 is performed in which the vacuum pump 14 is operated to reduce the pressure to the first set pressure P1 lower than the atmospheric pressure, and the first set pressure P1 or less is held for the second set time T2. Thereafter, the vacuum valve 16 is closed, the vacuum pump 14 is stopped, the intake valve 23 is opened, the pressure is restored to atmospheric pressure, and a pressure-recovery step S42 is performed in which this is maintained for a third set time T3. The vacuum holding step S41 and the return pressure holding step S42 are performed for the first set time T1, and the first ventilation step S4 is completed (t3). By this first ventilation step S4, the EOG remaining in the sterilized object is discharged out of the sterilization chamber 3.

(Second ventilation process S5)
In the second ventilation step S5, the ventilation step S51 for driving the vacuum pump 14 is performed for a fourth set time T4 (for example, several minutes) with the intake valve 23 open, and then the intake valve 23 is closed. Then, the stop step S52 for stopping the vacuum pump 14 is performed for a fifth set time T5 (for example, ten and several minutes). This ventilation process S51 and stop process S52 are repeated alternately.

  The second ventilation step S5 differs from the first ventilation step S4 in that the first ventilation step S4 repeats the vacuum holding step S41 and the return pressure holding step, whereas the second ventilation step S5. However, the ventilation process S51 and the stop process S52 are alternately repeated.

(Cancellation of second ventilation process S5)
When the user determines that the removal of the residual gas is almost finished and operates the stop switch 27, the process proceeds to S6, and the second ventilation step S5 is stopped. As a result, as in Patent Document 1, excessive ventilation operation is not performed as compared with the conventional device that continues the ventilation operation until the door 2 is opened, so that energy saving by power saving can be realized. Moreover, since the vacuum pump 14 of the exhaust means 6 is a water ring vacuum pump, the effect of water saving is great. When this second ventilation step T5 is completed (t4), the inside of the sterilization chamber 3 is in a standby state where atmospheric pressure is set, and an operation signal for the door switch 28 that has not been received is received.

  In the first embodiment, during the execution of the second ventilation step S5, a blinking lamp (not shown) is provided as a notification means during execution of the second ventilation step, and this is blinked to execute the second ventilation step S5. It is comprised so that it may alert | report to a user. By configuring in this way, the user can know that the first ventilation step S4 has been completed and the removal of residual gas is in progress, and the timing of operation of the stop switch 27 can be achieved.

(Open the door)
If the user opens the door switch 28 (ON operation) after the stop switch 27 is turned on to take out the article to be sterilized, YES is determined in S7 (t5). As a result, the process proceeds to S8, and the door 2 is automatically opened in S8.

  Thus, since the stop switch 27 for the stop control in the second ventilation step S5 and the door switch 28 for the opening operation of the door 2 are provided separately, the stop switch 27 causes an excessive ventilation operation. Thus, when the object to be sterilized needs to be taken out, the door switch 28 can be operated to take out the object to be sterilized.

  The present invention is not limited to the first embodiment, but includes the second embodiment shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. In the second embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, when the door switch 28 is operated, a door opening program (a program executed by the controller 8) that temporarily performs a ventilation operation is executed. It has a configuration. Hereinafter, in the second embodiment, only the configuration different from that of the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the main part of the control procedure of the second embodiment, and FIG. 5 is a time-sterilization chamber pressure characteristic diagram for explaining the operation of the first embodiment.

  The door opening program is a program for automatically opening the door 2 after operating the ventilation means 25 for a predetermined time when an opening operation of the door switch 28 is detected. The operation of the ventilation means 25 in the door opening program is performed by vacuuming the inside of the sterilization chamber 3 and then restoring the pressure in the sterilization chamber 3. The ventilation means 25 is configured to operate only for a predetermined time. This predetermined time can be configured such that the time can be arbitrarily set.

(Third ventilation process)
Next, the operation of the door opening program will be described. After the sterilization operation is completed, when the user opens the door switch 28 (ON operation) in order to take out the object to be sterilized, YES is determined in S6 (t5), and the third ventilation process in S8 is executed. . In the third ventilation step S8, the vacuum valve 16 is opened and the vacuum pump 14 is operated while the supply gas valve 10, the intake valve 23, and the exhaust valve 19 are closed. A vacuum holding step S81 is performed in which the pressure is reduced to one set pressure P1 or less and the first set pressure P1 or less is held for a fourth set time T4. Thereafter, the vacuum valve 16 is closed, the vacuum pump 14 is stopped, the intake valve 23 is opened, and the sterilization chamber 3 is decompressed.

  By performing such third ventilation step S8, the following operational effects are obtained. If the residual gas has not been sufficiently removed by the second ventilation step S5 and a long time has passed since the end of the second ventilation step S5, the residual gas that has not been removed from the sterilized material gradually increases. There is a risk that it will be released into the sterilization chamber to increase the concentration. In such a case, the user who opened the door is exposed to high-concentration EOG gas, and there is a danger of sucking it, but there is an effect that such danger can be prevented by performing the third ventilation step S8.

(Open the door)
When the third ventilation step S8 ends, the door 2 is automatically opened at t6. In this state, the user can take out the object to be sterilized in the sterilization chamber 3.

  The ventilation step in the third ventilation step S8 is not limited to the configuration of the second embodiment. For example, the third ventilation step S8 is configured to decompress the sterilization chamber after exhausting the pressure through the exhaust line while taking in air through the intake line. can do.

It is a figure explaining schematic structure of Example 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart figure which shows the principal part of the control procedure of the Example 1. FIG. It is a time-sterilization room pressure characteristic figure explaining operation of the Example 1. It is a flowchart figure which shows the principal part of the control procedure of Example 2 of this invention. It is a time-sterilization room pressure characteristic figure explaining operation of the Example 2.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Gas sterilizer 2 Door 3 Sterilization room 4 Gas supply means 6 Exhaust means 7 Intake means 8 Controller 25 Ventilation means 27 Stop switch 28 Door switch

Claims (2)

A sterilization chamber having an openable and closable door and containing an object to be sterilized;
A gas supply means for supplying a sterilization gas to the sterilization chamber to sterilize an object to be sterilized;
A ventilation means for ventilating the air in the sterilization chamber;
A gas sterilization apparatus comprising a control means for operating the ventilation means after the gas sterilization process by the gas supply means to perform the ventilation process,
With stop switch,
The control means performs the ventilation process until the stop switch is operated, and allows the door to be opened after the stop switch is operated. With door switch,
The gas sterilizer according to claim 1, wherein the control means enables the door to be opened by opening the door switch after operating the stop switch.

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