Patent ID: 7690406

Claim:
A material transfer system comprising: a cell floor for separating a containment environment from an exterior environment and having a first side for the containment environment side and a second side for the exterior environment side, said cell floor having a waste transfer port; a port door located on the first side of the cell floor and movable between an open position clear of the port and a closed position in sealing relationship to the port, said port door having a closure face with a first connector set; a storage vessel located on the second side of the cell floor and having an open end for receipt of waste material transferred through the port; a storage vessel cover connectable to the open end of the storage vessel to close and seal the storage vessel; said storage vessel cover having a base with an outside face that faces outward of the storage vessel when the cover is connected to the storage vessel, and an inside face; the outside face of the cover having a second connector set that can interlock with the first connector set; a third connector set on the inside face of the cover; a fourth connector set on the storage vessel that can interlock with the third connector set; a docking station connected to the second side of the cell floor in surrounding relationship to the port for docking the storage vessel, wherein the docking station includes a docking ring assembly comprising a cylindrical segment with an inverted crown shape having crown peaks and valleys, and vertical slots defined in the valleys between the crown peaks; wherein: said first and second connector sets of the variety that engage and disengage upon rotation of the cover relative to the closure face of the port door; said third and fourth connector sets of the variety that engage and disengage upon rotation of the cover relative to the storage vessel; said first and second connector sets and said third and forth connector sets relatively arranged so that with the port door closed, rotation of the storage vessel in a first direction interlocks the first and second connector sets and releases the third and fourth connectors sets so that the port door can be opened with the vessel cover to open the storage vessel, and rotation of the storage vessel in a second direction with the port door closed releases the first and second connector sets and interlocks the third and fourth connector sets so that the storage vessel is closed and can be moved away from the port.