Drying container
AssigneeBachem Holding AG
InventorsAndreas Mueller, Christoph Erdin
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention relates to containers for the drying, especially the freeze-drying, of material. In particular, the invention relates to a lid of a drying container, said lid enabling to close the container body of the drying container so as to avoid i) contamination of the material to be dried inside the container and ii) spills of airborne solid particles of said material from the container to the environment. The lid comprises a lower and an upper frame with a vapor permeable sheet positioned in between. The invention further provides methods for the drying, especially the freeze-drying, of material.
Claims16
A lid assembly for a drying container, comprising:
- a lower frame F1,
- an upper frame F2,
- a vapor permeable sheet positioned between the two frames, and
- fastening means, wherein
- the lower frame F1 and the upper frame F2 are each shaped as an open box having a base area and at least one side wall,
- the lower frame F1 and upper frame F2 being arranged such that a circumferential channel is formed, an outer side wall of the channel being formed by the at least one side wall of the upper frame F2, an inner side wall of the channel being formed by the at least one side wall of the lower frame F1 and a top wall of the channel being formed by a rim of the upper frame F2, wherein a width of the channel is chosen such that a mouth of a container body of a drying container can engage in the channel,
- the lower frame F1 and the upper frame F2 each comprise at least one opening in the respective base areas of F1 and F2, wherein the at least one opening in the lower frame F1 at least partially overlaps with the at least one opening in the upper frame F2,
- the sheet covers the at least one opening in the lower frame F1 and the sheet further covers at least a part of the top wall of the channel, and
- the lower frame F1, the sheet, and the upper frame F2 are aligned and held together by the fastening means, the fastening means providing a releasable connection between the lower frame F1 and the upper frame F2.
A method for drying of material, comprising the following steps:
- a) introducing the material to be dried into a container body,
- b) closing the container body by a lid assembly, and
- c) exposing the closed drying container to conditions suitable to effect drying,
- wherein steps a) and b) can be carried out in any order,
- wherein the lid assembly comprises:
- a lower frame F1,
- an upper frame F2,
- a vapor permeable sheet positioned between the two frames, and
- fastening means, wherein
- the lower frame F1 and the upper frame F2 are each shaped as an open box having a base area and at least one side wall,
- the lower frame F1 and upper frame F2 being arranged such that a circumferential channel is formed, an outer side wall of the channel being formed by the at least one side wall of the upper frame F2, an inner side wall of the channel being formed by the at least one side wall of the lower frame F1 and a top wall of the channel being formed by a rim of the upper frame F2, wherein a width of the channel is chosen such that a mouth of a container body of a drying container can engage in the channel,
- the lower frame F1 and the upper frame F2 each comprise at least one opening in the respective base areas of F1 and F2, wherein the at least one opening in the lower frame F1 at least partially overlaps with the at least one opening in the upper frame F2,
- the sheet covers the at least one opening in the lower frame F1 and the sheet further covers at least a part of the top wall of the channel, and
- the lower frame F1, the sheet, and the upper frame F2 are aligned and held together by the fastening means, the fastening means providing a releasable connection between the lower frame F1 and the upper frame F2.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.