Devices and processes for performing degassing operations
AssigneeJohnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc.
InventorsDonnie J. Duis, Stephen R. Beaton, David C. Byram, Gregory Scott Duncan
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A preferred process for degassing a mold piece includes inserting the mold piece into an internal volume within a canister, sealing the internal volume, drawing a vacuum in the internal volume, and introducing into the internal volume a gaseous fluid suitable for degassing the mold piece.
Claims25
1 A process for degassing a mold piece, comprising:
- inserting the mold piece into an internal volume within a canister;
- sealing the internal volume;
- drawing a vacuum in the internal volume;
- introducing a gaseous fluid into the internal volume;
- and
- maintaining the gaseous fluid in the internal volume for a time period sufficient to degas the mold piece.
The process of claim 1, further comprising evacuating the gaseous fluid from the internal volume, and subsequently introducing an additional amount of the gaseous fluid into the internal volume.
The process of claim 1, wherein introducing a gaseous fluid into the internal volume comprises introducing the gaseous fluid into the internal volume so that the gaseous fluid is pressurized.
The process of claim 1, further comprising inserting a needle injector through a needle valve on the canister and introducing the gaseous fluid into the internal volume by way of the needle injector.
The process of claim 1, further comprising storing the canister and the mold piece after introducing the gaseous fluid into the internal volume.
The process of claim 1, wherein the gaseous fluid is nitrogen.
The process of claim 1, wherein:
- inserting the mold piece into an internal volume within a canister comprises inserting the mold piece into the internal volume by way of an opening formed in an end portion of the canister;
- and
- sealing the internal volume comprises placing a lid of the canister over the opening and securing the lid to the end portion of the canister.
The process of claim 1, further comprising mating the canister with a container filled with a gaseous fluid of the same type as the gaseous fluid introduced into the internal volume, unsealing the internal volume, and removing the mold piece from the internal volume of the canister within the container.
The process of claim 1, further comprising soaking the mold piece in the gaseous fluid for a predetermined period.
The process of claim 1, wherein inserting the mold piece into an internal volume within a canister comprises inserting one lot of a predetermined quantity of the mold pieces into the internal volume.
The process of claim 1, further comprising stacking a plurality of pallets each holding a plurality of the mold pieces, and inserting the plurality of pallets and the plurality of mold pieces into the internal volume.
The process of claim 1, wherein inserting the plurality of pallets and the plurality of mold pieces into the internal volume comprises lifting the pallets and the mold pieces by exerting a force on a rod extending through and supporting the pallets.
A process, comprising:
- (i) placing an object in an internal volume within a canister;
- (ii) sealing the internal volume;
- (iii) drawing a vacuum in the internal volume for a first time period;
- (iv) introducing a gaseous fluid suitable for degassing the object into the internal volume and pressurizing the gaseous fluid for a second time period;
- (v) drawing a vacuum in the internal volume for a third time period;
- (vi) introducing an additional amount of the gaseous fluid into the internal volume and pressurizing the additional amount of the gaseous fluid for a fourth time period;
- (vii) repeating steps (iii) through (v);
- and
- (viii) subsequently introducing another additional amount of the gaseous fluid into the internal volume and pressurizing the another additional amount of the gaseous fluid for a fifth time period.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.