DEVICE FOR VENTILATION AND INTEGRITY TESTING

Abstract

A device (1) is provided for ventilation and integrity testing of a filter unit (2) that can be supplied with pressure. The filter unit (2) has a filter element (9) arranged in a housing (6) between an inlet (7) and an outlet (8). The housing (6) can be ventilated by an air filter (3) connected to the housing interior (12). A filter valve (4) is arranged upstream of the air filter (3) facing the housing interior (12) and connects the air filter (3) to the housing interior (12). The air filter (3) can be connected on its side facing away from the housing interior (12) to a test line (14) for supplying pressure. An inlet valve (5) is arranged upstream of the inlet (7) and connects an inlet line (10) to the housing interior (12).

Claims

1. A device (1) for ventilation and integrity testing of a filter unit (2) that can be supplied with pressure, the filter unit (2) having a housing (6) with an inlet (7) and an outlet (8) and having a filter element (9) arranged in the housing (6) between the inlet (7) and the outlet (8), the device (1) comprising: an air filter (3) connected to the housing interior (12) and via which the housing (6) can be ventilated, the air filter (3) further being connected or connectable to a test line (14) for a supply of pressure, a filter valve (4) arranged upstream of the air filter (3) at a position between the housing interior (12) and the air filter (3) and by means of which the air filter (3) is connected to the housing interior (12), and an inlet valve (5) arranged upstream of the inlet (7) of the housing (6) and by means of which the housing interior (12) is connected to an inlet line (10).

2. The device of claim 1, wherein the air filter (3) is a hydrophobic filter.

3. The device of claim 1, wherein the filter valve (4) is connected by means of the inlet (7) to the housing interior (12).

4. The device of claim 3, wherein the inlet valve (5) has a connector piece (16) facing the housing (6), the connector piece (16) is connected by means of a branch (11) to the filter valve (4) and the air filter (3), the inlet valve (5), the filter valve (4) and the air filter (3) form a ventilation unit (17) that can be connected by the connector piece (16) to an inlet connection (18) of the housing (6).

5. The device of claim 4, wherein the connector piece (16) and the branch (11) are configured as a T-piece (20), and wherein the branch (11) branches off at a right angle from the connector piece (16).

6. The device of claim 4, wherein the ventilation unit (17) has an inlet connection (21) and the filter unit (2) has an inlet connection (18) that can be connected to the inlet connection (21) of the ventilation unit (17) by means of a tri-clamp connection (19), a flange piece, or a connector.

7. The device of claim 4, wherein the ventilation unit (17) is a one-piece component that comprises the inlet line (10) for the inlet (7) of the housing (6) of the filter unit (2), the inlet valve (5), the connector piece (16), the T-piece (20), the filter valve (4), the branch line (15), the air filter (3), the connection for the air filter (13) and the inlet connection (21) for the ventilation unit (17) as components fixedly installed in the ventilation unit.

8. The device of claim 4, wherein the inlet line (10) for the inlet (7) of the housing (6) of the filter unit (2) and the inlet valve (5) form a separate component that can be connected by means of a T-piece (20) a separate component, to a further separate component that comprises the branch line (15), the filter valve (4) and the air filter (3), wherein all components can be assembled by tri-clamp connections to form the ventilation unit (17).

9. The device of claim 1, wherein the filter unit (2) is configured as a disposable filter capsule.

10. The device of claim 4, wherein the ventilation unit (17) is configured to be disposable.

11. The device of claim 1, wherein the air filter (3) is configured as a gas-permeable sterile filter.

12. The device of claim 1, wherein the device (1) is a disposable device that can be supplied and stored in a sterilized condition in a sterile packaging.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] FIG. 1 shows a schematic representation of a device for ventilation and integrity testing.

[0027] FIG. 2 shows a schematic representation of a device for ventilation and integrity testing, in which the inlet valve, the filter valve and the air filter form a ventilation unit which is connected by its connector piece to an inlet connection of the housing.

[0028] FIG. 3 shows a schematic representation of the ventilation unit of FIG. 2.

[0029] FIG. 4 shows a schematic representation of the filter unit of FIG. 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] A device 1 for ventilation and integrity testing consists substantially of a filter unit 2, an air filter 3, a filter valve 4 and an inlet valve 5.

[0031] The filter unit 2, which can be supplied with pressure, consists of a housing 6 and a filter element 9 that is arranged between an inlet 7 and an outlet 8 and that is configured as a filter for filtering liquids.

[0032] According to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 1, the inlet 7 has an inlet line 10 in which the inlet valve 5 is upstream of the inlet 7 and thus upstream of the housing 6. In the inlet line 10, between the housing 6 and the inlet valve 5, a branch 11 is arranged, which, by means of the filter valve 4, connects the air filter 3, which is configured as a hydrophobic filter, to the housing interior 12 of the housing 6. On the side facing away from the filter valve 4, the air filter 3 has a test line 14 with a connection 13, by means of which the hydrophobic air filter 3 is connected to the test line 14 and to an integrity testing device (not shown). The air filter 3 is connected to the housing interior 12 by means of a branch line 15, by means of the filter valve 4 arranged in the branch line 15 and by means of the inlet line 10.

[0033] According to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 2, the inlet valve 5 has, facing the housing 6, a connector piece 16 that is connected by means of the branch 11 to the filter valve 4 and to the air filter 3. In this case, the inlet valve 5, the filter valve 4 and the air filter 3 form a ventilation unit 17. The ventilation unit 17 can be connected by means of its connector piece 16 and by means of the inlet connection 21 to an inlet connection 18 of the housing 6 by means of a so-called tri-clamp connection (see DIN 32676) 19, a flange piece, a sterile connector with a male and female part or another quick-acting closure. According to FIG. 2, the connector piece 16 and the branch 11 are configured as a T-piece 20 in which the branch 11 branches off at a right angle from the connector piece 16. In other embodiments, the branch 11 branches off at different angles from the connector piece 16, for example, at a 45° angle.

[0034] According to the exemplary embodiment of FIG. 3, the ventilation unit (17) can be designed as a component in one piece, which comprises the inlet line (10) for the inlet (7) of the housing (6) of the filter unit (2), the inlet valve (5), the connector piece (16), the T-piece (20), the filter valve (4), the branch line (15), the air filter (3), the connection for the air filter (13) and the inlet connection (21) for the ventilation unit (17) as components fixedly installed in the ventilation unit.

[0035] According to a further embodiment of the invention, the inlet valve (5) and/or the filter valve (4) can be controlled by a manual or automatic valve switching (not shown).

[0036] The aforementioned automatic valve switching offers the advantage that the inlet valve (5) and/or the filter valve (4) can be connected to electric or pneumatic drives (not shown), thus enabling fully or partially automatic valve switching coupled to a software system.

[0037] In a further development of the invention, the one-piece component which forms the ventilation unit (17) is firmly integrated into the filter unit (2).

[0038] In an alternative embodiment of FIG. 3, the inlet line (10) for the inlet (7) of the housing (6) of the filter unit (2) and the inlet valve (5) form a separate component, which can be connected by means of the T-piece (20), designed as a separate component, to a further separate component which comprises the branch line (15), the filter valve (4) and the air filter (3), wherein all components can be assembled by means of “tri-clamp” connections to form a ventilation unit (17).

[0039] The filter unit 2 and the ventilation unit 17 are configured and provided to be disposable.

[0040] The device 1 can be supplied and stored in a sterilized condition in a sterile packaging.

[0041] Naturally, the embodiments discussed in the specific description and shown in the drawings only constitute illustrative exemplary embodiments of the present invention. In the light of the present disclosure the person skilled in the art is offered a wide range of possible variations.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0042] 1 device for ventilation and integrity testing [0043] 2 filter unit [0044] 3 air filter [0045] 4 filter valve [0046] 5 inlet valve [0047] 6 housing of 2 [0048] 7 inlet of 6 [0049] 8 outlet of 6 [0050] 9 filter element of 2 [0051] 10 inlet line of 7 [0052] 11 branch of 10 [0053] 12 housing interior of 6 [0054] 13 connection of 3 [0055] 14 test line [0056] 15 branch line [0057] 16 connecting piece [0058] 17 ventilation unit [0059] 18 inlet connection of 2 [0060] 19 tri-clamp connection [0061] 20 T-piece [0062] 21 inlet connection of 17