1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to passive valve for multi-valve devices for sealing a container or a line as well as a multi-valve device for a contamination-free connection of two drums or two lines, in particular having partial valves rotatable about a single axis. More particularly, the present invention provides a passive valve designed to be free of bearing supports protruding positively out of the passive valve.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generic multi-valve devices are employed in the field of contamination-free docking systems for methods and systems for sensitive and/or toxic solids, primarily in the pharmaceutical industry. A double valve technology for use on rigid drums and a flexible half closure for another application to flexible drums have become established as technologies for docking a drum onto a process unit or docking a line onto a drum or docking line onto another line or undocking them therefrom. These drums are also subsumed under the term “container” in this patent application.
Known double-valve or half-valve systems consist of two half valves. Each half valve tightly closes a drum. After docking and the associated operation of connecting to a second half valve, both half valves can then be rotated about a common axis for the transfer of product from a first drum into a second drum. The known systems also typically consist of an active half valve, usually mounted permanently on installations, and a passive half valve, usually mounted on mobile drums. The active half valve can be controlled for rotation while the second half valve is entrained.
One disadvantage of the known double-valve systems is that direct docking of mobile drums with their respective passive half valves onto one another is impossible because in this case there is no control of the rotation. A complex docking mechanism consisting of two active valves mounted back-to-back is necessary in such known systems to be able to implement this, which is encountered frequently.
According to an alternative apparatus known in the art for docking two passive half valves, for example, according to EP 1 947 039 A1, passive half valves are docked by means of a drive ring arranged between the passive half valves and are then opened. Docking of drums onto one another while maintaining zone separation in the docked state of the drums is impossible with such an existing apparatus. The zone separation would be necessary in the case of discharge from an insulated container, for example, or in factories in which the material is conveyed by means of gravity through various floors, for example, where the floors are each assigned to different spatial zones. Zone separation in this sense means that a partition, for example, a ceiling passage, is completely closed between two different zones even when drums and/or process units are not docked there, and thus the zone separation is further ensured.
Further, the drive ring according to EP 1 947 039 A1, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, forms an interspace between the passive valves between the zones and is a weak point from the standpoint of freedom from contamination. The interspace may become contaminated and/or may itself contaminate the surroundings as soon as a passive valve is removed. Furthermore, because of the known force induction technology, a half valve made entirely of plastic cannot be implemented for such drive rings having a drive fin. The high required torque, which is input via the drive fin, would deform the half shafts of the passive valves. These half shafts are required as bearing supports after a very short period of time and would thus make them unusable.
However, the demand for half valves made entirely of plastic persists for applications in which the weight of the respective half valve plays a major role and/or in which plastic half valves on plastic containers are even being considered for disposable use. The problems of known multi-valve devices explained above form the basis of the present invention with the goal of overcoming their disadvantages.
These problems are at least partially solved by a passive valve for multi-valve devices for sealing a container or a line as well as a multi-valve device for a contamination-free connection of two drums or two lines, in particular having partial valves rotatable about a single axis, or a passive valve designed to be free of bearing supports protruding positively out of the passive valve.