METHOD FOR PRODUCING A STERILIZABLE STRAINER DISH HAVING A THREE-DIMENSIONALLY STRUCTURED BOTTOM

Abstract

A method for producing a strainer dish for receiving medical objects to be disinfected or sterilized. A base surface is produced from a sheet metal blank in a first machining step. In a second machining step, the sheet metal blank or base surface is provided with holes to obtain a perforated starting shape. In a third machining step which takes place after the first and second machining steps, a perforated plane is produced, which can be divided into a flat inner section and an edge section. In a fourth machining step which takes place after the third machining step, a strainer dish shape is produced. The raw bottom corresponds to the flat inner section of the perforated plane. A fifth machining step, which takes place after the third machining step, at least partially produces a three-dimensionally structured bottom from the flat inner section.

Claims

1. A method for producing a sieve basket for receiving medical items to be disinfected or sterilized, the method comprising the steps of: in a first processing step producing a base plate or sieve basket base surface comprising a bottom and side walls of the sieve basket in one piece. in a second processing step, taking place prior to or after the first processing step, providing the plate blank, or the sieve basket base surface with apertures or holes in order to obtain a perforated initial shape; in a third processing step taking place after the first and second processing steps, producing a perforated or punched plane that is divided into a flat inner portion; in a fourth processing step taking place after the third processing step, producing a sieve basket shape with a raw bottom and side walls extending vertically thereto, the raw bottom corresponding to the flat inner portion and the side walls corresponding to the flat edge portions of the perforated or punched plane; and in a fifth processing step which takes place directly or indirectly after the third processing step at least partially producing a three-dimensionally structured bottom at least from the flat inner portion.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fifth processing step takes place prior to the fourth processing step.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first, second, third, fourth and fifth processing steps are done in chronological order.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, after the fourth processing step, a sixth processing step takes place, which connects the edge portions together, which now constitute the side walls of the sieve basket.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the apertures obtained in the second processing step (II) cause perforations which are structured differently from each other in the flat inner portion and the edge portions.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in the fifth processing step, at least one punch is used, which is pressed by a press onto a part of the flat inner portion in such a way that the part of the flat inner portion plastically adapts to a negative shape of the at least one punch.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the at least one punch comprises a plurality of punches, and wherein the plurality of punches is used so that the flat inner portion comprises a three-dimensionally structured bottom.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the at least one punch is designed in such a way that the three-dimensionally structured bottom produced in the fifth processing step has corrugations or indentations which project towards a sieve basket interior and/or towards a sieve basket exterior, so that the three-dimensionally structured bottom has a surface comprising a meshwork.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the at least one punch is designed in such a way that the three-dimensionally structured bottom produced in the fifth processing step is composed of a plurality of longitudinal strut pairs and transverse strut pairs that run perpendicular to the longitudinal strut pairs in a top view of the three-dimensionally structured bottom.

10. The method according to claim 7, wherein the at least one punch is designed in such a way that the three-dimensionally structured bottom forms contact and fixing surfaces for items to be inserted into the sieve basket.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first processing step comprises a cutting step.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the second processing step comprises a punching step.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the third processing step comprises a rolling step or flattening step.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fourth processing step comprises a bending step.

15. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fifth processing step comprises an embossing step.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

[0044] The invention is explained in more detail in the following on the basis of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying figures. The figures are merely schematic in nature and serve exclusively to understand the invention. The same elements are marked with the same reference signs.

[0045] FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of the production method according to the invention;

[0046] FIG. 2 shows a further flow chart of the production method according to the invention;

[0047] FIG. 3 shows a sheet metal blank being the basis of the production method;

[0048] FIG. 4 shows a sieve basket-initial shape produced from the sheet metal blank of FIG. 3;

[0049] FIG. 5 shows a perforated initial shape (when rolling has not yet taken place) or a perforated plane (when rolling has already taken place);

[0050] FIG. 6 shows a sieve basket shape after bending;

[0051] FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of a sieve basket;

[0052] FIG. 8 shows the area in FIG. 7 indicated by viii schematically enlarged;

[0053] FIG. 9 shows the area in FIG. 7 indicated by ix schematically enlarged;

[0054] FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of a meshwork-imitated bottom;

[0055] FIG. 11 shows a perspective view of a further configuration of the meshwork-imitated bottom; and

[0056] FIG. 12 shows a section of the sieve basket with inserted items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] FIG. 1 chronologically shows a first possibility of a method sequence for producing a sieve basket 1 (see FIG. 7). Here, laser cutting I, punching II (also punch-nibbling, provided that the part to be punched is only partially punched and partially broken), rolling III, embossing V, bending IV, and welding VI are carried out chronologically one after the other.

[0058] FIG. 2 shows a second possibility of a chronological method sequence. Here, laser cutting I, punching II (also punch-nibbling, provided that the part to be punched is only partially punched and partially broken), rolling III, bending IV, embossing V, and welding VI are carried out chronologically one after the other.

[0059] The components resulting after each step, which are already stated in the boxes of FIGS. 1 and 2, are now explained in more detail in connection with FIGS. 3 to 7.

[0060] In FIG. 3, a rectangular sheet-metal blank 2 is shown. This can have any shape. Its material thickness is around 0.5 mm to 2 mm, preferably around 1.5 mm. FIG. 3 already indicates a cutting contour 12 along which the laser cutting I is performed.

[0061] FIG. 4 shows a sieve basket base surface 3, which was cut out of the sheet-metal blank 2 along the cutting contour 12. The sieve basket-base surface 3 already has areas 7 and 8, which are modified to form a flat inner portion 7 or edge portions 8 after further processing (see FIG. 5).

[0062] After a punching or punch-nibbling step, a perforated initial shape 5 is present, cf. FIG. 5. This has punched apertures 4, as shown schematically in FIG. 5. After cutting I and punching II, the sheet metal shows in practice certain internal stress which leads to deformation of the initial shape 5. Consequently, rolling III has to be carried out, which rolls/smoothes the sheet metal to obtain a perforated plane 6. In top view, the initial shape 5 cannot be distinguished from the perforated plane 6, which is why both reference signs were used in FIG. 5.

[0063] Furthermore, FIG. 5 shows the inner portion 7 and the edge portions 8. These are preferably punched with different tools so that they have different perforations.

[0064] The subject matter of the embossing V according to the invention, which produces the desired three-dimensional structure in the manner of a meshwork imitation, is exclusively the inner portion 7 or the inner portion 7 and the edge portions 8.

[0065] After bending IV, a sieve basket shape 9 is obtained (cf. FIG. 6). A raw bottom 10 corresponds to the inner portion 7. As soon as embossing V has been carried out, the (flat) raw bottom 10 shows the corrugations according to the invention (cf. FIGS. 9, 10).

[0066] FIG. 7 shows a sieve basket 1 for holding items to be cleaned, having a plurality of apertures 4 as also shown in the detailed view in FIG. 8. The sieve basket 1 has in the present case a rectangular base surface/base plane with a three-dimensionally structured bottom 11 from which side walls 4 extend from each side edge, i.e. four side walls 4 in the present case.

[0067] The bottom 11, as can be seen in the detailed view in FIG. 9, has periodic corrugations or indentations 14. These corrugations 14 project from the base plane towards the sieve basket interior 15 and in the present case also towards the sieve basket exterior 16, so that the sheet metal part/the bottom 11 adopts the meshwork structure surface.

[0068] According to the detailed view in FIG. 8, which shows a top view of a section of the bottom 11, the bottom 11 has a grid structure in the projection. This is composed of a plurality of longitudinal strut pairs 17 (also called longitudinal web pairs) and transverse strut pairs 18 (also called transverse web pairs) running parallel in the base plane, i.e. in the present top view.

[0069] A single longitudinal strut pair 17 is composed of two longitudinal struts 19, 20. These longitudinal struts 19, 20 run parallel to each other in the base plane, i.e. in the present top view. A spatial view (cf. FIGS. 9 and 10) shows that each strut 19, 20 has a different, approximately complementary geometry in the third spatial direction, i.e. towards the sieve basket interior 15 and/or towards the sieve basket exterior 16.

[0070] A single transverse strut pair 18 is composed of two transverse struts 21, 22. These transverse struts 21, 22 run parallel to each other in the base plane, i.e. in the present top view. A spatial view (cf. FIGS. 9 and 10) shows that each strut 21, 22 has a different, approximately complementary geometry in the third spatial direction, i.e. towards the sieve basket interior 15 and/or towards the sieve basket exterior 16.

[0071] The surface spanned by the apertures 4 fulfils two different functions. Firstly, it provides a contact and fixation surface 23 on the edge surface of each strut 19 to 22 facing the aperture 4. This surface 23 increases with the size of the apertures 4. The larger the items to be inserted are, the larger the apertures 4 have to be designed in order to ensure that there is enough contact and fixation surface 23. Secondly, the surface spanned by the apertures 4 allows the cleaning liquid to drip out of the sieve basket 1. The drip-off function also increases with the size of the apertures 4. Accordingly, this second function also encourages the surface ratio between the strut pairs 17, 18 and the surface of the apertures 4 to be kept smaller than 1. A maximum is set for the surface area spanned by the apertures 4 in that it has to be small enough to prevent devices to be cleaned from falling out.

[0072] The grid structure defined by the bottom 11 has bottom nodes 24 resulting from the embossing V. According to the invention, these bottom nodes 24 do not lie in the same plane, because the corrugations 14 are formed. A particular advantage of the invention is that the bottom nodes 24, which are each formed by intersecting a longitudinal strut 19, 20 with a transverse strut 21, 22, have approximately the same material thickness as the respective longitudinal or transverse strut 19 to 22.

[0073] The meshwork simulation according to the invention not only allows the imitation of a meshwork, but also has the advantage over a meshwork that there is no overlap in the area of the node 24, i.e. no doubling of the material thickness, but there is the same constant material thickness as in the rest of the bottom. Before this feature is dealt with further in connection with FIG. 9, two further parameters of the present invention are introduced.

[0074] In this way, a part of the bottom nodes 24 can be hypothetically connected to each other to identify the first hypothetical connection line 25. As can be seen in the following, the bottom nodes 24 connected by the first hypothetical connection line 25 represent bottom nodes 24 which, in accordance with an advantageous configuration of the invention, are each arranged at the same height and project into the sieve basket interior 15. They each constitute, so to speak, a wave crest 27 (see FIG. 9) of the periodic corrugations 14.

[0075] In the base plane rotated by 90, a second hypothetical connection line 26 can be seen next to line 25. This results from connecting the bottom nodes 24 left out by the first hypothetical connection line 25. As can be seen in the following, the bottom nodes 24 connected by the second hypothetical connection line 26 represent bottom nodes 24 which, in accordance with an advantageous configuration of the invention, are each arranged at the same height and project towards the sieve basket exterior 16. They each constitute, so to speak, a wave trough 28 (see FIG. 9) of the periodic corrugations 14.

[0076] These wave crests 27 and wave troughs 28 are shown in FIG. 9. FIG. 9 shows a sectional drawing through the bottom 11 (cf. section ix of FIG. 7). The strut shown here is a longitudinal strut 19, 20 which, however, does not differ structurally from a transverse strut 21, 22 in its basic form. From the visible edges it can be seen that a first transverse strut 21 starts from each wave crest 27 of the longitudinal strut 19, 20, while a second transverse strut 22 starts from each wave trough 28. The reciprocity of the wave crest 27 and wave troughs 28 described above can be clearly seen here.

[0077] The longitudinal strut 19, 20 has an angular course in the present case. However, this shape is only of exemplary character. In other configurations, in particular an approximately sinusoidal waveform is desired.

[0078] FIG. 9 furthermore shows that the material thickness of the bottom node 24 does not exceed that of the remaining longitudinal strut 19, 20, which means that despite the meshwork simulation there is no disadvantageous overlapping of the struts as described above.

[0079] In FIG. 10, the corrugations 14 are shown in perspective. The first hypothetical connection line 25 (cf. FIG. 8) connects the wave crests 27, the second hypothetical connection line 26 (cf. FIG. 8) connects the wave troughs 28. The three-dimensional roof shape formed between four adjacent bottom nodes 24 is made up of two triangles. The apex of these triangles can be placed, depending on the viewpoint, between the two wave crests 27 of the four adjacent bottom nodes 24 (then the roof is closed towards the sieve basket interior 15) or between the two wave troughs 28 of the four adjacent bottom nodes 24 (then the roof is open towards the sieve basket interior 15 and closed towards the sieve basket exterior 16).

[0080] FIG. 10 shows that the structure formed by the embossing V, which shows a rectangular grid structure in the projected plan view from FIG. 8, has a high degree of three-dimensionality in perspective, which reduces the moistening of this surface with droplets after removal from the CDD. In addition, the structure created by the corrugations 14 provides sufficiently large contact and fixation surfaces 23.

[0081] FIG. 11 shows the three-dimensional corrugations 14 as well as the fluting caused by them in a further section. There are so many corrugations 14 arranged over the entire surface of the bottom 11 that the total number of wave crests 27 and wave troughs 28 gives the user the impression of an approximately flat surface. According to the invention, the advantages of a flat surface (such as the unproblematic placement of the sieve basket) are thus realized while avoiding its disadvantages (see above).

[0082] FIG. 12 shows a section of a sieve basket 1. Several items 29, in the present case surgical scissors, are arranged in this basket, which remain in position due to the corrugations 14 and due to the contact and fixation surfaces 23 created by them. The sieve basket 1 has side walls 13 in addition to the bottom 11. These also have apertures 30, which differ geometrically from those in the bottom 11. In the present case, the apertures 30 are more finely meshed than the apertures 4, so that in such a case, in which the items 29 slide towards the side wall 13, there is no danger of pointed sections of the items 29 projecting sideways. Furthermore, the side walls 13 are designed to be smooth, i.e. explicitly not corrugated.