TREATMENT CHAMBER MADE IN LIGHT-WEIGHT CONSTRUCTION

Abstract

A treatment chamber, preferably a medical treatment chamber for treating articles, preferably medical articles, devices and equipment, more particularly within the scope of sterilizing processes, including a treatment compartment which is surrounded by a lower wall element, a plurality of lateral wall elements and an upper wall element, wherein the treatment compartment is hermetically sealed or sealable for generating a desired internal pressure therein and can be temperature-controlled for generating a desired internal temperature therein, wherein at least one of the wall elements is formed of at least one hollow chamber section is disclosed.

Claims

1.-10. (canceled)

11. A treatment chamber for treating articles, the treatment chamber comprising: a treatment compartment surrounded by a lower wall element, a plurality of lateral wall elements and an upper wall element, wherein the treatment compartment is hermetically sealed or sealable for generating a desired internal pressure therein and is temperature-controlled for generating a desired internal temperature, wherein at least one of the wall elements is formed of at least one hollow chamber section.

12. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein each of the at least one hollow chamber section is an extruded section.

13. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein each of the at least one hollow chamber section is an extruded aluminum section.

14. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein each of the at least one hollow chamber section has an internal structure made of at least one of cross braces or sectional braces.

15. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein the at least one hollow chamber section comprises a plurality of hollow chamber sections and wherein in each of the plurality of hollow chamber section at least one associated continuous cavity or passage is formed, wherein the at least one associated continuous cavity or passage of at least two of the plurality of hollow chamber sections fluid-communicate to form a line system for a temperature-controlling fluid, a treatment fluid or an air-conditioning fluid.

16. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein the at least one hollow chamber section comprises two adjacent hollow chamber sections and wherein in each of the two adjacent hollow chamber section at least one associated continuous cavity or passage is formed, wherein the at least one associated continuous cavity or passage of the two adjacent hollow chamber sections fluid-communicate to form a line system for a temperature-controlling fluid, a treatment fluid or an air-conditioning fluid.

17. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein each of the at least one hollow chamber section includes a connecting structure.

18. The treatment chamber according to claim 17, wherein the connecting structure is a groove-and-tongue type connection.

19. The treatment chamber according to claim 18, wherein the at least one hollow chamber section comprises two adjacent hollow chamber sections, and the adjacent hollow chamber sections are interconnected by the groove-and-tongue type connection in a fluid-tight manner.

20. The treatment chamber according to claim 19, wherein the connecting structure forms a sliding seat for compensating for tolerances between the two adjacent hollow chamber sections for weld mounting.

21. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein the at least one hollow chamber section comprises a plural of interconnected hollow chamber sections forming a pre-fabricated component.

22. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein the treatment chamber is a medical treatment chamber.

23. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein the articles are medical articles, devices and equipment.

24. The treatment chamber according to claim 11, wherein the treatment chamber is used in a sterilization processes.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] The invention is best understood from the following detailed description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings. Included in the drawings are the following figures:

[0024] FIG. 1 shows a perspective representation of a processing chamber according to aspects of the invention without an end-side wall element;

[0025] FIG. 2 shows a sectional view of the processing chamber of FIG. 1 along the line II-II;

[0026] FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view of a corner area of the sectional view of FIG. 2;

[0027] FIG. 4 shows an enlarged view of the connecting area of three neighboring hollow chamber sections; and

[0028] FIG. 5 shows a perspective representation of pre-fabricated interconnected components.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0029] FIG. 1 shows a processing chamber 1 according to aspects of the invention in a perspective schematic view. The chamber 1 shows, as illustrated and visible in FIG. 1, a bottom wall 2, two side walls 3, 4 and a ceiling wall 5. A rear end wall 6 in FIG. 1 is not evident due to the perspective representation in FIG. 1, but it is indicated in FIG. 2. A front end wall or door which closes the end opening 7 located between the wall elements 2, 3, 4, 5 is not shown for reasons of clarity. Each of the afore-mentioned six walls forms a wall element in accordance with the invention.

[0030] According to aspects of the invention, each of the wall elements 2, 3, 4, 5 is composed, as a light-weight component, of a plurality of hollow chamber sections 8, 9. Each of the hollow chamber sections 8, 9 has an inner wall 10 and an outer wall 11 opposite thereto. Between the inner wall 10 and the outer wall 11 cross braces or sectional braces 12 are arranged. Since, in the present embodiment, the hollow chamber section 8, 9 is an extruded aluminum section, each of the sectional braces 12 is formed to be adhesively connected both to the inner wall 10 and to the outer wall 11. The sectional braces 12 extend continuously in the longitudinal direction L of the hollow chamber section 8, 9 and are arranged in the manner of a zigzag pattern (viewed in cross-section).

[0031] Especially from FIG. 3 it is clearly evident that the hollow chamber sections 8, 9, on the one hand, are wall hollow chamber sections 8 and, on the other hand, corner hollow chamber sections 9.

[0032] The wall hollow chamber sections 8 include connecting structures 13, 14, 15, 16 at the end face between the end portions of the inner wall 19 and the outer wall 11. On the one hand, (see FIG. 4) an inner groove element 13 and an outer groove element 14 are formed. On the other hand, i.e. on the opposite side, an inner tongue element 15 and an outer tongue element 16 are formed. All of said connecting structures at the inlet side have an inlet bevel 17 intended to facilitate joining of adjacent hollow chamber elements 8, 9. Each of the inner groove element 13 and the outer groove element 14 has at the end side an inwardly facing groove engaging head 18 as well as a connected groove engaging recess 19. Each of the inner tongue element 15 and the outer tongue element 16 at the end side includes an outwardly facing tongue engaging head 20 as well as a connected tongue engaging recess 21. As is shown in FIG. 4, the groove engaging head 18 engages in the tongue engaging recess 21 by form closure, while the tongue engaging head 20 engages in the groove engaging recess 19 by form closure. The corner hollow chamber sections 9 have a similar structure, with the difference that the groove elements 13, 14 are not arranged at the end side but on the inner wall 10. As a matter of course, instead of the groove elements 13, 14 the tongue elements 15, 16 can be arranged on the inner wall 10.

[0033] Each of the side faces of the groove engaging recess 19 as well as of the tongue engaging recess 21 (and thus also the side faces of the groove engaging head 18 and the tongue engaging head 20) is inclined, in the present example about an angle of 45°. All connecting structures 13, 14, 15, 16 are resilient arms which, due to their elasticity, are resilient either inwardly (tongue engaging elements) or outwardly (groove engaging elements). Due to their elasticity and the inclined side faces, in joined hollow chamber sections 8, 9 a kind of sliding seat is formed by the connecting structures 13, 14, 15, 16 for compensating for tolerances during weld mounting.

[0034] Between the cross braces 12 of the inner wall 10 and the outer wall 11 cavities 22 (or honeycombs or passages) are formed. They may be formed in total or partly as passages for a temperature-controlling fluid, a treating fluid or an air-conditioning fluid and may constitute a line system for the former by which the respective fluid is guided through the wall elements 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. The latter can be temperature-controlled in a simple and efficient manner, especially heated and/or cooled, so that the interior of the processing chamber 1 can be temperature-controlled or air-conditioned or—in the case of several passages being fluid-communicated with the interior—a particular protective gas can be applied to the same.

[0035] As is especially clearly evident from FIG. 1, the length L of the chamber 1 can be defined by appropriately cutting the hollow chamber sections to length. As is evident from FIG. 2, the height H and the width B of the chamber 1 can be varied by varying the number of the hollow chamber sections 8, 9 used.

[0036] For the purpose of simplified assembly, plural hollow chamber sections 8, 9 can be connected ex works already to form pre-fabricated wall elements 23 so as to reduce the number of elements provided for local assembly. FIG. 5 illustrates a perspective view of such interconnected pre-fabricated components.

[0037] In the illustrated example, plural hollow chamber sections 8, 9 have been connected to form a rectangular hollow section. Plural pre-fabricated wall elements 23 designed as rectangular hollow sections then may be arranged one behind the other and may be connected to form the chamber 1. Instead of rectangular hollow sections, also flat pre-fabricated wall elements 23 or any imaginable combination of flat wall elements including corner hollow chamber sections 9 (e.g. U-sections or L-sections) are imaginable as pre-fabricated wall elements 23. For connecting the pre-fabricated wall elements 23 or for arranging a front end wall or door, flanges 24 may be provided at the end faces of the pre-fabricated wall elements.