Claims
- 1. A method for tightness testing of at least one closed receptacle containing a liquid filling-content, comprising the steps of:
- snugly enclosing said receptacle by the wall-surface of a sealingly closable test chamber;
- providing said wall-surface of said chamber of electrically conducting and of electrically isolating surface areas; and
- evacuating said test chamber and measuring electric impedance between pairs of said electrically conducting surface areas as leakage indication.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein said measuring electric impedance comprises measuring DC resistance between said pairs.
- 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of grouping said electrically conducting surface areas to at least two respective measuring tabs and measuring electric impedance between said at least two tabs.
- 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of measuring pressure in the space between said wall-surface of said chamber and the outer wall of said receptacle as an additional leakage indication.
- 5. The method of claim 1, wherein said measuring electric impedance includes the step of measuring said electric impedance by an impedance measuring unit at a first point of time and at at least a second point of time, thereby exploiting electric impedance difference of said electric impedance measured at said at least two points in time as said leakage indication.
- 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising the step of automatically offsetting said measuring unit at said first point of time to result in a zero-output signal at this first point in time.
- 7. The method of claim 1, including providing said electrically conducting and electrically isolating surface areas of said wall by construing said chamber of a sandwiched material of electrically conductive and electrically isolating material layers.
- 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of testing more than one container in one and the same test chamber.
- 9. The method of claim 1, wherein said receptacle is formed by a composite receptacle consisting of a multitude of separately closed sub-receptacles.
- 10. The method of claim 1, wherein said at least one receptacle is a receptacle with plastic material wall.
- 11. The method of claim 1, wherein said receptacle is at least one ampoule or a set of inter-linked ampoules.
- 12. A test chamber for tightness testing of closed containers of predetermined shape and containing a filling with liquid content, said test chamber being sealingly closable and
- defining for an interior cavity with a surface shaped substantially as a negative form of said at least one receptacle,
- said surface being subdivided in electrically conductive areas and electrically isolating areas,
- electrical tabs at the outside of said test chamber connected to said electrically conductive areas.
- 13. The chamber of claim 12, wherein said test chamber is formed by sandwiched layers of electrically conductive and electrically isolating material.
- 14. The test chamber of claim 12, further comprising at least one pressure sensor for measuring a pressure within said interior cavity.
- 15. The chamber of claim 12, further comprising at least one gas inlet into said interior cavity connected to a cleaning gas supply.
- 16. The chamber of claim 12, being part of a testing system, wherein at least one pair of said electrically conductive surface areas is connected to an impedance measuring unit.
- 17. The chamber of claim 16, wherein said impedance measuring unit is a DC resistance measuring unit.
- 18. The chamber of claim 16, wherein said impedance measuring unit comprises a threshold value sensitive unit.
- 19. The chamber of claim 12, wherein said electrically conductive surface areas are interconnected in groups.
- 20. The chamber of claim 12, wherein said system further comprises a timing unit enabling said impedance measuring unit at a first point in time and at at least one further point in time.
- 21. The chamber of claim 20, wherein said impedance measuring unit generates an output signal at said at least one further point in time, which accords to an impedance difference with respect to an impedance measurement performed at said first point of time and at said at least one further point of time.
- 22. The chamber of claim 20, wherein said impedance measuring unit is automatically offset at said first point of time to generate a zero-impedance output signal.
- 23. The chamber of claim 12, wherein said interior cavity has the shape of at least one ampoule.
- 24. The chamber of claim 12, wherein said interior cavity has the shape of a set of interlinked medical ampoules.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
97107528 |
May 1997 |
EPX |
|
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
Reference is made to U.S. Application Ser. No. 08/944,471 of the same applicant filed at the same time as the present application and a copy of which has been filed herewith as Attachment A.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
9405991 |
Mar 1994 |
WOX |