Electron Beam Sterilizer Spark Interruption Segmentation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electron beam sterilizers face challenges in ensuring complete sterilization of objects when a spark is generated in the vacuum chamber, leading to interruptions in electron beam irradiation, which can result in unsanitized objects being transferred downstream.
Innovation Solution
The electron beam sterilizer is designed with multiple irradiation windows arranged along the vessel conveying direction, ensuring their combined length exceeds the vessel's movement distance during irradiation interruptions, allowing all vessels to be irradiated even during spark-generated interruptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the electron beam irradiator uses a single irradiation window, then the device structure is simple, but vessels may pass through the irradiation zone during spark interruptions without being sterilized
Solution Approach 1:
The single irradiation window is divided into multiple irradiation windows (first irradiation window and second irradiation window) arranged along the vessel conveying direction. This segmentation ensures that if a spark occurs during irradiation at one window, vessels can still be sterilized by passing through the other window(s), thereby maintaining sterilization completeness while managing system complexity.
2Reliability
If the irradiation window length is increased to cover vessel movement during spark interruptions, then sterilization reliability improves, but the device size increases
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of extending a single irradiation window to cover the entire vessel movement distance during spark interruptions, the system segments the irradiation function across multiple windows. Each window has a manageable length, but their combined coverage along the conveying direction ensures complete sterilization even during interruptions.
Solution Approach 2:
The solution transitions from extending length in one dimension (making a single window very long) to distributing coverage across multiple dimensions by arranging multiple windows along the vessel conveying direction, thereby achieving the same protective effect without excessive single-window length.
3Reliability
If multiple irradiation windows are arranged along the vessel conveying direction, then all vessels can be sterilized during spark interruptions, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The irradiation system is segmented into multiple independent irradiation windows, each capable of performing the sterilization function. This segmentation allows the system to maintain high reliability through redundancy while keeping each individual window component relatively simple and manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the spatial parameter of irradiation window arrangement from a single location to multiple locations along the conveying direction. This parameter change enables continuous sterilization coverage during spark interruptions while maintaining reasonable complexity through systematic arrangement.
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
This configuration ensures that all vessels are effectively sterilized by maintaining electron beam irradiation coverage during spark events, preventing unsanitized objects from being transferred downstream.
Implementation Method 1
generates thermal electron by heating filament in vacuum state
Implementation Method 2
accelerates the electron beam by applying high voltage to thereby create high speed electron beam
Implementation Method 3
irradiates the object to be processed with the electron beam
Implementation Method 4
makes the electron beam generate into atmosphere through a metallic window foil such as Ti (Titanium) attached to an irradiation window
Implementation Method 5
irradiates the object to be processed with the electron beam, thus performing sterilization and the like processing
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
AI summary
Even in a case where a spark is generated in an electron beam irradiation device 28, all the vessels 2 now being conveyed are surely sterilized by the irradiation with the electron beam. The electron beam is emitted by heating filaments 42 arranged in a vacuum chamber 40, and the vessels 2 are irradiated with the electron beam taken out into atmosphere through a window foil 48 of an irradiation window 46 formed to an irradiation section 44. The vessels 2 are conveyed in a state of being held by vessel holding portions 36A and 36B of a vessel conveying device 24 and pass in front of the irradiation window 46. Although the electron beam irradiation is temporarily interrupted when a spark is generated, a length of the irradiation window 46 in a vessel conveying direction X is made larger than a vessel conveying distance in an interruption time.