Patent ID: 8470240

Claim:
A method for sterilizing a line of preforms made of plastics material that are intended to be moulded, especially by blow moulding, including at least the following steps: spraying a flow of sterilizing vapor, including a vaporized sterilizing product, towards the preforms to be sterilized, so as to cover at least an inner wall of the preforms to be sterilized with the product, and heating, by radiation, the preforms covered with sterilizing product to bring them to a temperature at or above an activation temperature for the product, wherein: the spraying of the flow of sterilizing vapor is carried out in a protective chamber, heating is carried out outside the protective chamber, and the flow of sterilizing vapor is in the form of a jet of vapor vaporized onto the preforms, in such a way as to bring about the deposition, by condensation, of a substantially uniform film of condensate of sterilizing product on at least the inner wall of the preforms to be sterilized, wherein the method includes a step of extraction of the atmosphere from the protective chamber, in order substantially to avoid any emergence of the vaporized sterilizing product through entry/exit openings for the preforms, provided in the protective chamber, and wherein the spraying step is carried out while the preforms are being maintained at a temperature between 7 and 35° C.