Patent ID: 8029023

Claim:
A method for contamination-free and/or sterile sealing between at least two interconnectable connecting means with opposing openings to allow, after interconnection, transfer of a fluid between the openings, sealing elements being arranged on the connecting means around the openings and provided with protective films covering the sealing elements and the openings, and adapted to be removed in the final interconnection, the method comprising: providing at least one sealing elements with at least one recess which extends wholly or partly around the associated opening, wherein said at least one recesses receives a gas; moving the sealing elements, which are interleaved with the protective films, into engagement with each other, when interconnecting the connecting means, to change a volume of the recess or recesses and, thus, change a pressure of the gas therein; and removing the protective films, whereby the gas creates by its pressure a flow which prevents penetration of contamination into the openings in the final interconnection of the connecting means, wherein the sealing elements are provided with at least two groups of recesses having different volumes, which cooperate in pairs and are positioned one outside the other, and in which the sealing elements, when moved against each other, reduce the different volumes of the recesses and, thus, increase the pressure of the gas therein differently, so that the gas, in the removal of the protective films, flows from the group of recesses with a highest pressure to the group/groups of recesses with a lower pressure.