Claims
- 1. An apparatus for rendering infectious medical material harmless, comprising:
- a radio-frequency treatment unit for accepting medical material to be treated:
- means for transporting infectious medical material in closed bulk containers through the radio-frequency treatment unit;
- means for energizing the radio-frequency treatment unit with the time-varying electric field having a frequency below the frequency of microwave; and
- means for injecting inert gas into the radio-frequency unit thereby to sweep oxygen therefrom to avoid oxidizing heated medical material and to cause a flow of gas from a relatively cool portion of the radio-frequency treatment unit to a relatively warm portion and thereby to prevent any vapor which might have escaped from the medical material from condensing on cooler medical material entering the radio-frequency treatment unit.
Parent Case Info
This is a division of application Ser. No. 08/290,002, filed Aug. 12, 1994, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,543,111 which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/193,724, filed Feb. 9, 1994, now abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 08/077,046, filed Jun. 15, 1993, now abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/549,576, filed Jul. 6, 1990, now abandoned.
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4978501 |
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Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
290002 |
Aug 1994 |
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Continuations (3)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
193724 |
Feb 1994 |
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Parent |
77046 |
Jun 1993 |
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Parent |
549576 |
Jul 1990 |
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