Equipment for Forming Temporary Connections for the Transfer of Objects Between Discontinuous Confined Volumes

The invention relates to improved equipment for forming repeated connections between discontinuous confined volumes, particularly between an isolating chamber and one or more transfer machines, with formation of slots and in conditions of sterility or isolation or conditioning, using pieces which may be single-use pieces. These and other objects and advantages will be clear from the following text.

Basically, the equipment of the invention comprises on the isolating chamber an annular connector defining an access opening, with one dimension greater than that perpendicular thereto and with an internal wall of constant section to allow the hermetic sliding of successive closure pieces which each have a closure membrane and an annular cutting means for said membrane and for another membrane joined thereto. In the transfer machine, or in each transfer machine, there are provided a frame defining a passageway slot and a closure membrane fastened to said frame. Said two membranes are designed to adhere to each other during the joining up of the two confined volumes and said membranes, immediately after being joined, are cut by said annular cutting means to define a discoid with two at least peripherally joined thicknesses, which can be removed into one of the confined volumes to provide the passage between the two said confined volumes; a subsequent uncut closure piece, contained in one of said two confined volumes, can be installed in said connector from the interior of said isolating chamber, to replace the previous closure piece which thus can be removed.

Other characteristics are illustrated in the text and drawings, and are claimed.

In particular each subsequent closure piece may be advantageously fitted with a cap, which covers the membrane on the surface facing out away from the isolating chamber, in whose connector said subsequent closure piece may be installed; said cap is designed to be detached from said subsequent closure piece and joined to the closure piece, which is removed with the transfer machine; the internal volume of the transfer machine is thus once again isolated from the external environment.

The equipment may comprise heating means which cooperate with said annular cutting means to form along the cutting line a seal between the two cut thicknesses of the membranes along the periphery of the discoid of two peripherally joined thicknesses, and along the internal periphery of the annular remnant.

Means may be provided for forming the external mechanical connection, when required, between said connector of the isolating chamber and the frame of the transfer machine, which are to be placed temporarily in communication with each other.

Removable covers, such as films, may be provided to protect the adhesive annular rings of the external surfaces of the two membranes that are to be joined, and will be removed at the moment of the joining up of the two confined volumes.

The embodiment of the equipment is such as to allow the production of single-use components or more generally components that are very simple and cheap and that provide high performance.

The invention will be understood more clearly from an examination of the description and of the attached drawing, which latter shows a practical and nonrestrictive embodiment of said invention. In the drawing:

FIG. 1 shows a partial perspective view of two confined volumes presented for joining up;

FIG. 2 shows the two confined volumes in longitudinal section and ready to be joined together;

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged detail of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is similar to FIG. 2 but shows the two confined volumes joined;

FIG. 5 shows the two confined volumes joined up and in communication with each other;

FIG. 6 is similar to FIG. 5 but shows the situation before the removal of the confined volume referred to as the transfer machine;

FIG. 7 is similar to FIG. 6, but shows the confined volume, referred to as the transfer machine, removed from the other confined volume, both confined volumes being isolated from the external environment.

As the attached drawing shows, 1 indicates one of the two confined volumes and in particular what is referred to as an isolating chamber which is that in which a process or operation is carried out and to which certain accessories must be supplied through one or more successive confined volumes, referred to as transfer machines, one of which is indicated by 3. They may be of the throw-away sort or only partly recyclable. Between the two confined volumes, a communication must be established that is totally isolated from the external environment and that will allow the transfer or objects or components between one of the confined volumes and the other and hence the formation of a passage, that is of a comparatively large opening, the whole with operations that must be as fast as possible and with equipment that is very low-cost and simple.

In the confined volume 1 forming the isolating chamber is a connector 5 with an internal wall 5A which defines the passage to be established between the two confined volumes. This wall 5A has two central perpendicular dimensions which are different from each other so that a support having a slot corresponding to the opening defined by the wall 5A can be inserted through the opening defined by said wall 5A and hence by said connector by arranging it at an angle so that it moves with its minor dimension in line with the major dimension of the opening defined by said wall 5A. The wall 5A is a prismatic or cylindrical wall having the abovementioned shape and externally the connector 5 has flange means 5B with elements to enable it to be joined to another confined volume such as 3.

Inside the connector 5, that is inside the wall 5A, there may slidingly and sealingly be received a closure piece indicated as a whole by 7, which comprises in particular a rigid annular structure 9 with a part 9A which slides along the wall 5 being adjacent to the latter and being capable of being engaged with it so as not to slide towards the interior of the container 1, that is in the direction of the arrow fl in FIG. 2. The annular structure 9 has a cylindrical wall 9B shaped with a terminal cutting edge facing out from the confined volume 1, this part 9B forming an annular cutting means. This annular cutting means 9B is flanked on the inside by a comparatively soft bushing 10 and on the outside by another, likewise soft bushing 12 that is able to adhere to the wall 5A, so providing a hermetic seal between the inside and the outside, and that can also allow the sliding of the piece 7 along the wall 5A of the connector 5, especially from the inside toward the outside. In the position shown in FIG. 2, the piece 7 is engaged with the means which prevent it from moving in the direction of the arrow fl and which can be represented by serrations on the wall 9A which engage in suitable saw-tooth indentations formed in the wall 5A; said piece 7 projects slightly with its elastic bushings 10 and 12 beyond the terminal flange 5B of the connector 5. A first membrane 14 for closing the isolating chamber 1 is laid against the outward frontal surfaces of the bushings 10 and 12; said membrane 14 is bonded by a cement around its perimeter as indicated at 16 to the outward frontal surface of the outer bushing 12. The membrane 14 can be cut by the cutting edge of the annular cutting means represented by the part 9B of the abovementioned annular structure 9, when the bushings 10 and 12 are frontally compressed sufficiently to cause the cutting edge of the cylindrical wall 9B to project.

The confined volume 3--which represents what is referred to as a transfer machine intended to be joined up temporarily with the confined volume 1 to permit communication between these two confined volumes--comprises a frame 18 which defines a passageway slot 20 closed by a membrane 22 which closes off the transfer machine and is similar in shape to the membrane 14. This membrane 22 is supported against the outward frontal surface 18A of the frame 18; the surface 18A is interrupted by an annular groove 18B which corresponds to the annular cutting means 9B so as to cooperate with the latter in the manner indicated below. The frame 18 has a projecting flange part 18C equipped with mechanical joining means (not shown) designed to cooperate with the corresponding means which are provided on the flange 5B of the connector 5. The frame 18 has projecting parts 18E for guiding said frame and hence the transfer machine 3 onto the outside of the connector 5 of the confined volume 1, in such a way as to form a guide for the mechanical joining up of the two confined volumes. By means of an adhesive 24, the membrane 22 adheres around its perimeter to the surface 18A on the outside of the annular groove 18B, and hence opposite the outer bushing 12 of the closure piece 7 which is received in the connector 5, when the two confined volumes are joined up.

In the confined volume 3 referred to as the transfer machine, materials will be held such as that shown by the sketch M for transfer into the container 1 forming the isolating chamber or vice versa, and there will also be contained in said transfer machine 3 at least one further closure piece 7X intended to be used for closing the confined volume 1, after completion of communication between the two confined volumes 1 and 3 and completion of the transfer of materials from one to the other of these volumes. This auxiliary closure piece 7X which may be contained in the confined volume 3 (but which could also be received in the stationary confined volume 1 where it would wait with other closure pieces) is also advantageously fitted with a cap 28 (see FIGS. 6 and 7), the perimeter of which is caused to adhere to the face of the membrane 14X of said auxiliary closure piece 7X which is opposite to the face joined to the bushings 10X and 12X. This cap 28 is shaped in such a way that it can also join up with the terminal edge of the part 9A of the rigid annular structure of said closure piece 7. Any gap Vx defined between the cap 28 and the membrane 14X of the auxiliary piece 7X to which the cap 28 is joined, is completely isolated from the external environment and hence cannot be contaminated by the environment of the confined volumes such as 1 and 3, in any of the operations to be described for the use of said auxiliary closure piece 7X.

In the conditions shows in FIG. 2, the closure piece 7, received inside the connector 5 and with its own uncut membrane 14, isolates said confined volume 1 from the external environment, the membrane 14 projecting slightly beyond the outward extremity of the connector 5, that is beyond the flange structure 5B. The confined volume 3 (which may be a transfer machine) is brought forward in the direction of the arrow f3, guided in some suitable mechanical manner between the parts 18E and 5 until the two membranes 14 and 22 are joined up with each other; the two membranes are caused to adhere on their perimeter along their respective peripheral annular rings which correspond to the position of the bushings 10 and 12, and at least one of these bushings is fitted with an adhesive indicated by 30 for the membrane 14 and by 32 for the membrane 22 (see FIG. 3); before the joining operation, this adhesive 30 or 32 or each of these adhesives 30 and 32 will be protected by a suitable cover, such as a film or the like which is uncovered in order to activate the adhesive zone for the joining operation. When the confined volume 3 is brought against the connector 5 and the two membranes 22 and 14 join up, these membranes become sealed together around the two peripheral joining rings carrying the adhesive 30 and/or 32 and hence around two annular zones which correspond respectively to the bushing 10 and to the bushing 12. Completion of the approach causes joining by means of adhesion along the two peripheral rings of the membranes 14 and 22 under the action of the elastic pressure of the two bushings 10 and 12 which, as joining is completed as shown in FIG. 4, are compressed and hence react with pressure between the annular structure 9 and the wall 18A of the frame 18. The axial compression of the two bushings 10 and 12 results not only in the peripheral joining of the two membranes 14 and 22 but also in the activation of the annular cutting means 9B which now projects out of the compressed bushings and acts on the joined membranes, cutting them and entering the annular groove 18B lined up with said annular cutting means 9B. Thus, as a result of being cut, the two joined membranes 14 and 22 give rise to the formation of a discoid D (see FIGS. 4 and 5) formed from the portions of the two membranes 14 and 22 lying within the annular cutting means 9B and sealed together by the action of at least the adhesive 30 and/or 32 in the annular zone corresponding to the bushing 10; the two membranes thus form in the discoid D a new confined volume Vd which encloses the two originally external faces of the membranes 14 and 22. The remaining portion around the perimeter corresponding to the bushing 12 remains bonded owing to at least the cement 16 and cement 24 to the bushing 12 and to the frame 18. With the discoid D cut out in the manner described above, and the temporary mechanical join established between the two confined volumes 1 and 3 by mechanical connecting means cooperating between the flange 5B and the frame 18, the transfers of materials such as M are carried out between the two confined volumes in total isolation from the external environment. Along with the various materials, an auxiliary closure piece 7X is transferred from the confined volume 3 to the confined volume 1 (unless such an auxiliary closure piece 7X is already present in the confined volume 1); the transfer of an auxiliary closure piece such as 7X through the opening defined by the structure 9 of the closure piece 7 received inside the connector 3 and through the opening of the frame 18, occurs by virtue of the different dimensions of said opening in two mutually perpendicular axes. After the transfer between the two confined volumes has been completed, the auxiliary closure piece 7X is "stood in line" after the closure piece 7 inside the wall 5A, that is behind said piece 7 which leaves uncovered part of the wall 5A lying toward the interior of the container 1. Thus the perimeter of the cap 28 joins the wall 9A of the closure piece 7 whose membrane has been removed. The result is the conditions shown in FIG. 6. In this way the periphery of the cap 28 adheres to the membrane 14X of the auxiliary closure piece 7X and is also joined to the part 9A of the annular structure 9 of the piece 7, the center of whose membrane has been removed. The perimeter portion of the two joined and bonded membranes, resulting from the cutting out of the discoid D, establishes a bond between the frame 18 and the bushing 12 of the closure piece 7. Thus, by unmaking the mechanical connection between the frame 18 and the means connected to the flange 5B of the connector 5 and removing the transfer machine 3 away from the connector 5, the result is the retraction of the piece 7 and also of the cap 28 from the connector 5 after the retraction of the auxiliary closure piece 7X as far as the position indicated in FIG. 7 and corresponding to the position previously assumed by the piece 7 as shown in FIG. 2. The result is the renewal of the closure of the connector 5 to isolate the confined volume 1 from the external environment, and the removal of the transfer machine 3 which is still closed off from the external environment owing to the presence of the cap 28 which remains stuck to the part 9A of the closure piece 7 removed from the confined volume 1 along with the transfer machine 3. The discoid D too is removed along with the transfer machine 3 inside which it lies. The operation of inserting the auxiliary closure piece 7X from the interior of the confined volume 1 into the connector 5 is performed by the operator who can work in conditions of isolation inside the confined volume 1 or the confined volume 3. In either case the replacement is performed by pushing the auxiliary closure piece from the volume 1 or pulling it by the traction of the cap 28 from the volume 3. The cap 28 may be detached from the piece 7X by a mechanical loosening or snatching release action, with simultaneous attachment of said cap to the departing piece 7.

It should be observed that the isolation of the volume Vx of the gap between the membrane 14X and the cap 28, and the isolation of the environment from the volume Vd defined inside the discoid D between the two peripherally joined membranes, prevents any possibility of reciprocated contamination between these spaces Vx and Vd and the confined volumes of 1 and 3.

In a possible alternative embodiment, a suitable means for heating along the cutting line of the membranes may be provided. This heating means may be represented by a resistor extending along the groove 18B or combined with the annular part 9B of the cutting means and in either case in an arrangement allowing a heating and welding by fusion or plastification between the two membranes around the peripheral annular cutting zone, in order to seal the periphery of the discoid in addition to the sealing effect brought about by the adhesive coats 30 and/or 32 in the zones corresponding to the bushinges 10. A similar sealing action may be provided on the internal periphery of the annular remnant of the two joined membranes between the wall 18A and the bushing 12. Briefly, in FIG. 3, 40 indicates a possible position for these heating means, which may be positioned also on the outside of the groove 18B, or be combined with the cutting element 9B.

It will be understood that the drawing shows only an embodiment given purely as a practical demonstration of the invention, it being possible for said invention to vary as regards shapes and arrangements without thereby departing from the scope of the concept underlying said invention.