The present invention relates to an improved steam sterilizer machine of the type specified in the preamble of the first claim.

In particular, the present invention relates to a steam sterilizer machine including a particular radiator suitable for improving the efficiency of the sterilizer machine especially the latter is embedded.

As known, steam sterilizer machines are conventionally equipped with a sterilization chamber, which is mostly empty and equipped with adequate equipment, such as baskets, trays or storage compartments, to house the devices to be sterilized, or rather the load of work. The chamber is equipped with an opening to introduce the load and can be hermetically sealed to carry out the desired sterilization cycle.

The sterilization process takes place according to typical cycles, often compliant with a standard, with the aid of equipment and devices for operating the sterilization chamber.

Generally, the sterilizer machines further comprise a pair of tanks including respectively clean water, collected to produce the steam, and water, deriving from the condensation of the steam; a pump to put the water into circulation; a steam generator, into which clean water is injected to produce steam which acts as the working fluid; a condenser, or radiator, to carry out the condensation of the steam and its discharge towards the process water discharge tank; a vacuum pump, designed to empty the sterilization chamber.

The vacuum pump, in particular, can be of the mechanical type or it can be thermodynamic and suitable for determining the discharging of the sterilization chamber thanks to the injection of stream to the radiator wherein, due to the cooling of the steam in the gaseous state, it is possible to determine a reduction in the volume of the fluid and therefore a lowering of pressure.

Therefore, in the case of the thermodynamic pump, it is sufficient to put the sterilization chamber in communication with the radiator so that the latter, is located downstream of the chamber, can act as a low pressure point for discharging and drying the sterilization chamber.

The known technique described includes some important drawbacks.

In particular, it is very often required that sterilizer machines are embeddable and that, therefore, have a limited volume. The radiators of the known art, however, are often voluminous and include ducts or coils that climb over several floors, passing inside the finned portion, as is usually also the case in the radiators of ice machines and refrigerators.

More complex radiators can include micro-channels that reduce the overall dimensions, but the latter are notoriously more expensive and can, therefore, hinder the realization of competitive sterilizer machines on the market.

In order to overcome the aforementioned drawbacks, some sterilizer machines include radiators developed ad hoc to reduce the overall dimensions. Such radiators, an example of which is shown in Fig.3, include a coil arranged on a horizontal plane parallel to the ground in such a way as to reduce the overall dimensions of the radiator.

Also the known technique just mentioned has some important drawbacks.

In particular, with the flow inside the coil, the water-stream mixture tends to reduce the temperature and the water fraction tends to increase significantly precisely due to the condensation effects related to the temperature reduction. Unfortunately, condensation in this particular type of radiator is very difficult to control and the condensate tends to accumulate in the lower part of the pipes and therefore the heat exchange surface was greatly limited since the liquid is an obstacle to thermal transmission. To obviate these drawbacks, it is therefore necessary to increase the irradiation surface with the consequence that the radiator is no longer compact.

In this situation, the technical task underlying the present invention is to project an improved steam sterilizer machine capable of substantially obviating at least part of the aforementioned drawbacks.

Within the scope of said technical task, an important aim of the invention is to obtain an improved steam sterilizer machine which can be embeddable and which is substantially reduced in size.

Another important object of the invention is to provide an improved steam sterilizer which allows, in the face of reduced dimensions, to maintain a high efficiency.

The technical task and the specified aims are achieved by an improved steam sterilizer machine as claimed in the attached claim 1 .

Preferred technical solutions are highlighted in the dependent claims.

The features and advantages of the invention are clarified below by the detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: the Fig. 1 shows a side view of the radiator of an improved steam sterilizer machine according to the invention; the Fig. 2 illustrates a simplified example of an improved steam sterilizer machine according to the invention; and the Fig. 3 is a side view of a radiator of the prior art. In the present document, the measurements, values, shapes and geometric references (such as perpendicularity and parallelism), when associated with words like “about” or other similar terms such as “approximately” or “substantially”, are to be considered as except for measurement errors or inaccuracies due to production and/or manufacturing errors, and, above all, except for a slight divergence from the value, measurements, shape, or geometric reference with which it is associated. For instance, these terms, if associated with a value, preferably indicate a divergence of not more than 10% of the value.

Moreover, when used, terms such as “first”, “second”, “higher”, “lower”, “main” and “secondary" do not necessarily identify an order, a priority of relationship or a relative position, but can simply be used to clearly distinguish between their different components.

Unless otherwise specified, as results in the following discussions, terms such as “treatment”, “computing”, “determination", “calculation”, or similar, refer to the action and/or processes of a computer or similar electronic calculation device that manipulates and/or transforms data represented as physical, such as electronic quantities of registers of a computer system and/or memories in, other data similarly represented as physical quantities within computer systems, registers or other storage, transmission or Information displaying devices.

The measurements and data reported in this text are to be considered, unless otherwise indicated, as performed in the International Standard Atmosphere ICAO (ISO 2533:1975).

With reference to the drawings, improved steam sterilizer machine according to the invention is globally indicated with the number 1.

The machine 1 is mostly similar to most sterilizer machines. Therefore, it essentially comprises at ieast one casing 2.

The casing 2 is preferably able to contain most of the components of the machine 1 . Furthermore, preferably the casing 2 is suitable to be embedded in such a way as to reduce the dimensions of the machine 1 when in use.

The casing 2 therefore includes at least one chamber 20.

The chamber 20 is an element defining its own volume, preferably closed and accessible on command, inside which objects for sterilization can be placed. Furthermore, the casing 2 defines a bottom plane 2a.

The bottom plane 2a is substantially a flat surface arranged in correspondence with the bottom of the machine 1 . The bottom is meant as the portion of the machine 1 suitable for being arranged on a support plane or on a ground. Naturally, although not shown and numbered, the machine 1 can include other elements such as, for example, a pair of tanks including respectively clean water, collected to produce the steam, and waste water, deriving from the condensation of the stream, a pump for placing the water in circulation, a steam generator, into which clean water is injected to produce the steam that acts as the working fluid, and a vacuum pump, designed to empty the sterilization chamber.

Naturally, the machine 1 comprises also a radiator 3.

The radiator 3, or condenser, is as known suitable for carrying out the condensation of the steam, and its discharge towards the process water discharge tank.

The radiator 3 is, therefore, arranged between the chamber 20 and the bottom surface 2a. Furthermore, the radiator 3 is operationally connected to the chamber 20. Substantially, therefore, the radiator 3 is preferably downstream of the chamber 20 inside the casing 2 with respect to the gravitation gradient. In particular, the radiator 3 is operatively connected to the chamber 20 by means of an access 30.

The access 30 is essentially a component suitable for putting the chamber 20 and the radiator 3 in fluid passage connection. Therefore, access 30 can be made by a tubular element communicating between the chamber 20 and the radiator 3.

The radiator 3 therefore includes a coil 31.

The coil is a conduit which runs through the radiator 3 in a tortuous manner. Basically, as is known, the coil 31 is the portion of the radiator 3 inside which the condensed vapor flows.

The coil 31 , even more in detail, is adapted to receive the steam at least from the sterilization chamber 20. Therefore, the coil 31 extends between access 30 and a discharge 32.

The drain 32 is an element suitable for allowing the fluid to escape from the radiator 3. Furthermore, the drain 32 can be, like the access 30, a tubular element in connection of fluid passage with another component 1 or an element which makes the fluid flow outside.

The radiator 3 comprises, therefore, the fins 33.

The fins 33 are preferably arranged transversely to the coil 31 , but could also be arranged longitudinally thereto. They are, as is known, suitable for carrying out the heat exchange with the coil 31.

In any case, preferably, the coil 31 extends along a main plane 3a.

The main plane 3a is the floor on which the path of the coil 31 develops. Then, the latter runs through the radiator 3, between the fins 33, along the main plane 3a. The main plane 3a advantageously extends transversely with respect to the bottom plane 2a. Thus, the main piane 3a is not parallel to the bottom plane 2a and, preferably, it is not even perpendicular to the bottom plane 2a.

In detail, preferably, the main plane 3a defines, with respect to the bottom plane 2a, an angle of inclination a.

The angle of inclination a is preferably less than 30°.

Furthermore, more conveniently, the angle of inclination a is between 5° and 25°.

Even more in detail, preferably, the angle of inclination a is approximately equal to 15°.

Advantageously, moreover, the coil 31 is configured in such a way that the discharge 32 is closer to the bottom plane 2a than the access 30.

In other words, the coil 31 defines, on the main plane 3a, a descending trajectory that carries the fluid from access 30 to the discharge 32.

Therefore, with respect to the gravitational potential, the access 30 corresponds to a point with a higher potential than the discharge 32.

Preferably, the access 30 and the discharge 32 are placed at the end of the coil 31 in such a way as to exploit all the irradiation surface of the same.

The radiator 3, as a whole, defines a profile 34.

The profile 34 is substantially defined in a section perpendicular to the bottom plane 2a.

It is, even more in detail, almost rectangular in shape and the main plane 3a is preferably aligned with a diagonal of the profile 34 itself.

Even more in detail, preferably, the access 30 is arranged at a vertex of the profile 34 distant from the bottom plane 2a, substantially a high vertex with respect to a support plane.

The outlet 32, on the other hand, is preferably arranged in correspondence with a vertex of the profile 34 close to the bottom plane 2a, which is a low vertex with respect to a support plane.

The fins 33 can be made in one piece. Or, preferably, the fins 33 can include a first portion 330 and a second portion 331.

The portions 330, 331 are substantially divided by the main floor 3a.

In detail, the portions 330, 331 define complementary triangular shapes in the profile 34. In other words, the shapes of the portions 330, 331 define, as a whole, a rectangular shape given by the sum of the triangles.

Furthermore, even more in detail, the portions 330, 331 define a plurality of seats 332.

The seats 332 are substantially cavities or housings, for example circular in shape. In particular, the seats 332 are configured to house part of the coil 31 .

The portions 330, 331 , as already mentioned, can be integrated in a single piece. Or they can be made separately, in such a way as to be mutually mirrored. Furthermore, the portions 330, 331 can be mutually welded at the main plane 3a. The operation of the improved steam sterilizer according to the invention 1 previously described in structural terms is as follows.

Basically, when the steam enters the radiator 3 and condenses, the path defined by the coil 31 on the main inclined plane 3a allows to obtain a greater irradiating surface available and to guarantee the flow of the fluid to the discharge 32 since the fluid enters the radiator 3 at a point with a higher potential and is conveyed to a point with a lower potential.

The invention includes a new sterilization process carried out with machine 1 . The process is carried out more efficiently thanks to machine 1 .

The improved steam sterilizer machine 1 according too the invention achieves important advantages.

In fact, the machine 1 is extremely compact since the radiator 3 can be made with limited dimensions. Therefore, the machine 1 can be easily built in and does not require complicated or expensive modifications in order too maintain a high compactness.

In addition, the machine 1 allows, in the face of reduced dimensions, to maintain a high efficiency since the path determined by the coil 31 , by virtue of the inclined plane 3a, is longer and irradiation surface is greater than a common radiator.

The invention is susceptible of variants falling within the scope of the inventive concept defined by the claims.

In this context, all the details can be replaced by equivalent elements and the materials, shapes and dimensions can be any.