Disposable pharmaceutical filter assembly

Abstract

A disposable unitary filter assembly is provided for filtering pharmaceutical and other fluid materials without danger of contaminating downstream effluent in the event of leakage of unfiltered fluid material past a filter seal, comprising, in combination, a filter housing of plastic material comprising first and second housing parts; the first housing part having a first fluid chamber open at one side, a fluid port opening into the fluid chamber, and a peripheral sealing surface extending in at least two planes at an angle to each other of from 30.degree. to 150.degree.; the second housing part having a second fluid chamber open at one side, a fluid port opening into the fluid chamber and a peripheral sealing surface extending in at least two planes at an angle to each other of from 30.degree. to 150.degree.; a filter element disposed in the second fluid chamber in the second housing part and comprising a tubular filter confined between and sealed in a fluid-tight seal to end caps at each end thereof, of which a first end cap is closed, and a second end cap is of plastic material and has an opening therethrough communicating the interior of the tubular filter with the first fluid chamber, and a peripheral lip extending into sealing engagement with and between the peripheral sealing surface of each housing part in each plane thereof and permanently bonded thereto; the peripheral lip extending across and sealingly closing off the open sides of the first and second fluid chambers, so that fluid communication therebetween is restricted to the opening in the second end cap via the filter, and the leakage path at the end cap peripheral lip does not bypass the filter, but runs to the exterior of the housing between the lip and one housing part.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.