The processing of fluid products in the food, dairy, and pharmaceutical industries often employ a system of tanks, vessels, pumps, pipe runs, and fluid conduits for the storage, transfer, and mixing of various ingredients used in production. Such processing systems are typically outfitted with various fittings for monitoring a variety of processing parameters such as temperature, pressure, flow rate, conductivity, pH, etc., of the system as the ingredients are stored, moved and/or mixed. Accordingly, such tanks, vessels, and piping runs often include a plurality of ferrules, flanges, or tee fittings which form dead legs or dead ends when caps or instruments are attached. A dead leg is defined as an area of entrapment in a vessel or pipe run where system design and operating conditions result in insufficient process fluid flow, presenting a risk for particulate, chemical, or biological contamination (ASME BPE 2019 GR-8). Similarly, a dead end may be defined as an area or space wherein a product, ingredient, cleaning or sanitizing agent, or other extraneous matter may be trapped, retained, or not completely displaced during operational or cleaning procedures (3-A Sanitary Standard for General Requirements 00-01).
Inasmuch as such food, dairy, and pharmaceutical products must be free of harmful bacteria, it will be appreciated that the processing equipment must be periodically cleaned, sanitized, and/or sterilized, i.e., flushed with a cleaning solution or steam, to remove residue and bacteria from the internal cavities, chambers, and conduits of the equipment. The ASME Bioprocessing Equipment (BPE) Standards is the industry guide for the design, manufacture, and maintenance of processing equipment used in the production of biopharmaceuticals where a defined standard of purity and bioburden control is required. The 3-A Sanitary Standards define the general requirements for sanitary (hygienic) equipment intended for processing milk, milk products, foods, food ingredients, beverages, or other edible materials. Of particular concern in each of these hygienic standards are internal areas where cleaning fluids either, cannot access, or flow with sufficiently high velocity, to properly clean the subject area.
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A cleaning fluid, depicted by arrows 30, flows at high velocity through the fluid conduit 18 to evacuate the conduit 18 and dead-end 10 of residual product and bacteria remaining after a production cycle. Inasmuch as the dead-end 10 is perpendicular to the direction of fluid flow, the fluid velocity within the dead-end 10 is significantly diminished by comparison to the flow within the conduit 18. A further examination of the internal geometry reveals that the flow rate stagnates, or approaches zero, at the intersection or corner between the cap 14 and the compliant gasket 20. It will be appreciated, that the geometry of prior art dead-end fittings 10 inhibits the rate of fluid velocity which increases the difficulty to adequately clean the interior of the fittings 10.
To address the flow deficiencies, the BPE and the 3-A Sanitary Standards requires all internal angles less than one hundred and thirty-five degrees (135°) must maximize the radius in corner areas for ease of cleanability. When certain threshold radii cannot be achieved, such as when sealing flat surfaces and flow control apertures, e.g., dead-end fittings having planar or flat-end cap attachments, an exception is made. That is, for fittings having hygenic unions or joints consisting of: (i) two neutered ferrules having flat faces with a concentric groove, and (ii) a mating gasket 20 secured by a hygienic clamp having non-protruding, recess-less contact surfaces, the only suggested requirement pertains to the ease of joint disassembly to facilitate cleanability of the ferrule 16 and associated cap 14. The 3-A Standards make a similar exception for flat-end cap attachments.
In view of the foregoing, the BPE and 3-A relax the requirements for dead-end fittings having planar or flat-end cap attachments inasmuch as the geometry appears to present an unsolvable problem. Consequently, prior art dead-end fittings must be held to minimum extension, while cleaning times, temperatures and/or fluid velocity increased, in an effort to clean the problem areas where residue collects and bacteria has an opportunity to grow.
A need, therefore, exists for a new and useful sealing interface between a dead-end fitting and a sealing cap which facilitates high-velocity fluid flow to adequately clean the internal surfaces of residue and harmful bacteria.
A hygienic cap is provided for sealing a fitting comprising a rim portion having a mating surface configured to receive a compliant gasket along the mating surface, and a central cover portion integrally formed with the rim portion. The hygienic cap, furthermore, has a cavity defining a cylindrical bore and an arcuate internal surface enclosing the cylindrical bore. The arcuate internal surface defines a threshold radius configured to prevent stagnation of a fluid induced to flow through the fitting and along the arcuate internal surface during cleaning operations.
In another embodiment, a hygienic cap is provided for sealing a fitting having a cylindrical bore defining a fitting diameter. The hygienic cap comprises a rim portion having a mating surface configured to receive a compliant gasket along the mating surface, and a central cover portion integrally formed with the rim portion. The cover portion defines a cavity having: (i) a cap diameter corresponding to the gasket diameter, (ii) a threshold length; and a (iii) a threshold radius defined by an arcuate internal surface enclosing the cavity. The threshold length of the cavity permits cleaning fluid to flow across the compliant gasket while minimizing head loss in the cleaning fluid. The threshold radius prevents stagnation, i.e., prevents the flow velocity from dropping below a threshold velocity, of the fluid flow along the arcuate internal surface during cleaning operations. A minimum flow velocity ensures that residual product will not serve as a source of bacterial growth.
In another embodiment, a hygienic cap for sealing a fitting includes a rim portion defining a mating surface configured to receive a compliant gasket along the mating surface and a central cover portion integrally formed with the rim portion. The cover portion defines a cavity having a threshold radius defined by an arcuate internal surface of the cavity. The threshold radius is configured to inhibit stagnation of a cleaning fluid along the arcuate internal surface during cleaning operations.
In an embodiment, the cavity of the cover portion further defines a threshold length structured to enable the cleaning fluid to flow across the compliant gasket while minimizing head loss in the cleaning fluid. In an embodiment, the cavity further defines a cap diameter that corresponds to a gasket diameter. In an embodiment, the threshold radius is greater than about at least one-quarter inches (¼ or 0.25 inches). In another embodiment, the threshold radius is greater than about at least one sixteenth inches ( 1/16 or 0.0625 inches). In an embodiment, the threshold length is greater than about at least one-sixteenth inches ( 1/16 or 0.0625 inches). In a further embodiment, the threshold length is greater than about at least one-thirty seconds of an inch ( 1/32 or 0.03 inches).
Another embodiment of a hygienic cap for sealing a fitting includes a rim portion defining a mating surface configured to receive a compliant gasket along the mating surface and a central cover portion integrally formed with the rim portion. The cover portion forms a cavity defining at least one obtuse angle along an internal surface of the cavity. The at least one obtuse angle is configured to inhibit stagnation of a cleaning fluid along the arcuate internal surface during cleaning operations. In an embodiment, the hygienic cap further comprises a second obtuse angle adjacent the first obtuse angle, formed by and between a first sloping surface along the underside of the central cover portion and a cylindrical bore along an internal face of the cavity. In an embodiment, the second obtuse angle is greater than the first obtuse angle. In an further embodiment, the first obtuse angle is greater than about one-hundred and thirty-five degrees (135°) and the second obtuse angle is greater than about two-hundred and twenty-five degrees (225°).
An embodiment of a method of manufacturing a hygienic cap for sealing a fitting includes the steps of: (1) structuring a rim portion to define a mating surface to receive a compliant gasket along the mating surface; structuring a central cover portion to be integrally formed with the rim portion; and structuring the central cover portion to define a cavity comprising a threshold radius defined by an arcuate internal surface of the cavity such that the threshold radius is configured to inhibit stagnation of a cleaning fluid along the arcuate internal surface during cleaning operations.
In another embodiment, a method is provided for cleaning a hygienic fitting comprising the steps of:
The above embodiments are exemplary only. Other embodiments as described herein are within the scope of the disclosed subject matter.
So that the manner in which the features of the disclosure can be understood, a detailed description may be had by reference to certain embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the drawings illustrate only certain embodiments and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the scope of the disclosed subject matter encompasses other embodiments as well. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis generally being placed upon illustrating the features of certain embodiments. In the drawings, like numerals are used to indicate like parts throughout the various views, in which:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout several views. The examples set out herein illustrate several embodiments, but should not be construed as limiting in scope in any manner.
The present disclosure relates to sanitary and hygienic equipment, and more particularly, fittings associated therewith, which provide cleanliness such that products produced by such equipment will not adversely affect human or animal health. While the disclosure describes a dead-end fitting used in combination with a tank, vessel or piping run, it will be appreciated that the teaching provided herein relate to any ferrule, fitting, nozzle, tap, T-, Y-, elbow fitting, etc. used to access the contents of any plumbing, conduit, or container system or equipment.
In
Similarly, the compliant gasket 600 may include a circular protrusion (not shown) on the underside of the gasket 600, i.e., on the side facing the flange 520 of the ferrule nozzle 500 (
Returning to
In the embodiment depicted in
While the embodiments of
In summary, the teachings of the present disclosure provide a new and useful sealing interface between a dead-end or other fitting and a sealing cap which facilitates high-velocity fluid flow to adequately clean the internal surfaces of residue and harmful bacteria. The disclosure describes a novel cap geometry which provides a rim portion having a mating surface configured to receive a compliant gasket along the mating surface and a central cover portion integrally formed with the rim portion. The cavity defines a cylindrical bore and an arcuate internal surface enclosing the cylindrical bore wherein the arcuate internal surface defines a threshold radius configured to prevent stagnation of a fluid induced to flow through the fitting and along the arcuate internal surface during cleaning operations.
Additional embodiments include any one of the embodiments described above, where one or more of its components, functionalities or structures is interchanged with, replaced by or augmented with one or more of the components, functionalities or structures of a different embodiment described above.
It should be understood that various changes and modifications to the embodiments described herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Such changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure and without diminishing its intended advantages. It is therefore intended that such changes and modifications be covered by the appended claims.
Although several embodiments of the disclosure have been disclosed in the foregoing specification, it is understood by those skilled in the art that many modifications and other embodiments of the disclosure will come to mind to which the disclosure pertains, having the benefit of the teaching presented in the foregoing description and associated drawings. It is thus understood that the disclosure is not limited to the specific embodiments disclosed herein above, and that many modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of the appended claims. Moreover, although specific terms are employed herein, as well as in the claims which follow, they are used only in a generic and descriptive sense, and not for the purposes of limiting the present disclosure, nor the claims which follow.
This application claims the benefit of the filing date and the priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/196,014, filed on Jun. 2, 2021.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/US22/31942 | 6/2/2022 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63196014 | Jun 2021 | US |