Aseptic Chamber Seal Dynamics for Hydrogen Peroxide Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing sterilization systems for aseptic container production machines fail to completely prevent hydrogen peroxide from escaping the aseptic chamber, leading to component damage and safety hazards, and require additional stations that increase machine dimensions and cause seal wear.
Innovation Solution
A sterilization system with a selectively activatable seal that contacts the web during sterilization to prevent escape and retracts to allow airflow after sterilization, combined with air conveying means upstream of the aseptic chamber to remove residual sterilizing agent, ensuring complete containment without additional machine dimensions or seal wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a seal is continuously activated to prevent sterilizing agent escape, then sterilizing agent containment is improved, but seal wear and web stability are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The seal is designed to be dynamically controllable, switching between activated and inactivated states based on operational requirements. During sterilization, the seal is activated to contain the sterilizing agent; during web feeding, it is inactivated to prevent wear and maintain web stability. This dynamic control resolves the contradiction between continuous containment and seal durability.
Solution Approach 2:
The seal operates periodically rather than continuously - activated during sterilization cycles and inactivated during web feeding cycles. This periodic operation reduces cumulative wear on the seal while maintaining effective containment when needed, directly addressing the contradiction between reliability and duration of action.
2Object-generated harmful factors
If a suction station is arranged below the aseptic chamber to remove escaped sterilizing agent, then sterilizing agent removal is improved, but machine dimensions and structural complexity are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of reacting to sterilizing agent escape with a downstream suction station, the invention prevents escape in the first place by using a controllably activated seal at the chamber outlet. This preliminary prevention action eliminates the need for additional removal equipment, maintaining compact machine dimensions while effectively managing sterilizing agent containment.
Solution Approach 2:
The function of removing escaped sterilizing agent is extracted from the system by preventing escape at the source through the controllable seal. This eliminates the need for the suction station entirely, reducing machine volume and structural complexity while achieving the same harmful factor management goal.
3Ease of manufacture
If rough materials are used for web and seal contact surfaces, then manufacturing ease is improved, but air flow depression and seal wear are worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The seal and web contact surfaces have differentiated local qualities - smooth contact surfaces to prevent air flow depression and reduce wear, while the rest of the structure can use rougher, easier-to-manufacture materials. This local quality differentiation resolves the contradiction between ease of manufacture and harmful factor prevention.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively prevents hydrogen peroxide from escaping, maintains seal integrity, and avoids air flow depressions, ensuring safe operation and reduced machine size.
Implementation Method 1
a seal (4), which is designed so that it can be selectively activated in an operative configuration, in which it contacts the web (N), for hermetically closing the outlet section (21) of the aseptic chamber (2)
Implementation Method 2
air conveying means (5), for conveying away air containing the sterilizing substance
Implementation Method 3
The seal (4) is also designed to be activated in an inoperative configuration, in which it is spaced from the web (N), after the sterilizing agent is supplied in the aseptic chamber (2), further allowing the passage of air
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
The invention concerns a sterilization system (1) for a machine producing containers for pourable products starting from a web (N) of packaging material. The system (1) comprises: an aseptic chamber (2) comprising a web inlet section (20) and a web outlet section (21); supplying means (3) that can be activated to supply a sterilizing agent; a seal (4) disposed at the outlet section (21); air conveying means (5) to convey away air containing the sterilizing agent. In particular: the seal (4) is designed so that it can be activated in an operative configuration, in which it contacts the web (N) when the supplying means (3) supply the sterilizing agent in the aseptic chamber (2), for hermetically closing the outlet section (21); and in an inoperative configuration, in which it is spaced from the web (N), following the sterilizing agent supply in the aseptic chamber (2); moreover, the air conveying means (5) are disposed upstream of the outlet section (21) of the aseptic chamber (2).