Patent ID: 9669119
Date: 2017-06-06
CPC Classifications: A61B,A61L

Claim:
1. A sterilizer for sterilizing medical instruments, said sterilizer comprised of: a pressure vessel having an opening at an open end, a closed end opposite the open end, a body defining a cavity between the open end and the closed end, a connector extending into said cavity through said closed end of said pressure vessel, and a sterilant outlet formed in said cavity, said connector being connected to a sterilant source from which pressurized sterilant is provided to said connector; a container configured to receive the pressurized sterilant from said connector, the container being dimensioned to fit within said pressure vessel through said open end, said container comprising a tray and a lid dimensioned to removably join to said tray to define an interior area configured to hold the medical instruments to be sterilized, said tray having an opening formed in an end wall thereof that is adjacent to said closed end of said pressure vessel and aligned with said connector when said container is placed within said pressure vessel, said opening being configured to receive said connector therein to enable said pressurized sterilant provided to said connector to be introduced into said interior area, said lid being configured to disjoin from said tray to form a gap between said lid and said tray as a result of said pressurized sterilant in said interior area acting on an underside of said lid such that said pressurized sterilant escapes from said interior area through said gap into said cavity of said pressure vessel and out of said cavity through said sterilant outlet of said pressure vessel; and a door assembly configured to close said opening to seal said cavity to perform said sterilizing of said medical instruments.