Method of maintaining sterile environment of working chamber, and sterile environment maintaining apparatus

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11478562-B2
Application number	US-202015930283-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 12, 2020
Priority date	May 13, 2019
Publication date	Oct 25, 2022
Grant date	Oct 25, 2022

Abstract

A technique is provided whereby hydrogen peroxide introduced into a working chamber containing a resin component is reduced to a low concentration in a shorter time than before. The present invention resides in a method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber that contains a resin component, and includes a step (a) of introducing hydrogen peroxide into the working chamber, a step (b) of introducing air into the working chamber through a filter after completion of the step (a), a step (c) of generating ozone by irradiating the air with ultraviolet having a peak wavelength of from 160 nm to less than 200 nm upstream of the filter or inside the working chamber and introducing the ozone into the working chamber, and a step (d) of decomposing the ozone introduced into the working chamber into oxygen radicals.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber that contains a resin component, comprising:
a step (a) of introducing hydrogen peroxide into the working chamber;
a step (b) of introducing clean air for aeration into the working chamber through a filter to push out the hydrogen peroxide inside the working chamber to an exhaust system after completion of the step (a);
a step (c) of generating ozone by irradiating the clean air with ultraviolet having a peak wavelength of from 160 nm to less than 200 nm upstream of the filter or inside the working chamber and introducing the ozone into the working chamber;
a step (d) of decomposing the ozone introduced into the working chamber into oxygen radicals; and
a step (e) of decomposing the hydrogen peroxide remaining adhered to the resin component by the oxygen radicals,
wherein the step (d) includes a step (d 1 ) of emitting visible light of a wavelength of 450 nm to 800 nm into the working chamber ( 20 ).

2. A method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber that contains a resin component, comprising:
a step (a) of introducing hydrogen peroxide into the working chamber;
a step (b) of introducing clean air for aeration into the working chamber through a filter to push out the hydrogen peroxide inside the working chamber to an exhaust system after completion of the step (a);
a step (c) of generating ozone by irradiating the clean air with ultraviolet having a peak wavelength of from 160 nm to less than 200 nm upstream of the filter or inside the working chamber and introducing the ozone into the working chamber;
a step (d) of decomposing the ozone introduced into the working chamber into oxygen radicals; and
a step (e) of decomposing the hydrogen peroxide remaining adhered to the resin component by the oxygen radicals,
wherein the step (d) includes a step (d 2 ) of emitting infrared light of a wavelength of 1500 nm to 3000 nm into the working chamber ( 20 ).

3. A method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber that contains a resin component, comprising:
a step (a) of introducing hydrogen peroxide into the working chamber;
a step (b) of introducing clean air for aeration into the working chamber through a filter to push out the hydrogen peroxide inside the working chamber to an exhaust system after completion of the step (a);
a step (c) of generating ozone by irradiating the clean air with ultraviolet having a peak wavelength of from 160 nm to less than 200 nm upstream of the filter or inside the working chamber and introducing the ozone into the working chamber;
a step (d) of decomposing the ozone introduced into the working chamber into oxygen radicals; and
a step (e) of decomposing the hydrogen peroxide remaining adhered to the resin component by the oxygen radicals,
wherein the step (d) includes a step (d 3 ) of emitting ultraviolet of a wavelength of 190 nm to 320 nm from an ultraviolet light source disposed inside the working chamber ( 20 ).

4. The method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber according to claim 1 , wherein the step (c) is started later than the start of the step (b).

5. The method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber according to claim 2 , wherein the step (c) is started later than the start of the step (b).

6. The method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber according to claim 3 , wherein the step (c) is started later than the start of the step (b).

7. The method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber according to claim 4 , wherein the step (c) includes a time period in which introduction of the air into the working chamber is stopped.

8. The method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber according to claim 5 , wherein the step (c) includes a time period in which introduction of the air into the working chamber is stopped.

9. The method of maintaining a sterile environment of a working chamber according to claim 6 , wherein the step (c) includes a time period in which introduction of the air into the working chamber is stopped.

Assignees

• Ushio Electric Inc

Inventors

• Naito Keisuke

Classifications

• A61L2/084

  Visible light · CPC title

• A61L2/208

  Hydrogen peroxide · CPC title

• A61L2/04

  Heat (radiation A61L2/08) · CPC title

• A61L2/26 Primary

  Accessories · CPC title

• A61L2/10 Primary

  Ultraviolet [UV] radiation · CPC title