System and method for air sampling in controlled environments

Inventors

Calio, Rosario Sam • Churchvara, Jeffrey

Assignees

Veltek Associates Inc

Abstract

A system and method for sampling air in a controlled environment that includes two or more air sampling devices at different locations within the controlled environment. A controller is provided at a location outside of the controlled environment and in separate air flow communication with each of the two or more air sampling devices via separate first vacuum tubes, the controller having a manifold configured to separately control a rate of air flow from the two or more air sampling devices to the controller via each of the separate first vacuum tubes and to selectively direct the air flow from each of the separate first vacuum tubes to one or more second vacuum tubes. A vacuum source is provided at a location outside the controlled environment and in air flow communication with the controller via the one or more second vacuum tubes, the vacuum source providing suction and being controlled by the controller to generate the air flow through each of the first vacuum tubes. And, a flow switch for each of the two or more air sampling devices is provided at a location between a corresponding air sampling device and the vacuum source, each of the flow switches being configured to separately measure and control the rate of air flow through a corresponding first vacuum tube. An alarm is automatically activated at a location inside the controlled environment by one or more of the flow switches when the rate of air flow measured at one or more of the flow switches deviates from a desired value by a predetermined amount.

Core Innovation

The invention relates to an air sampling system for a clean room or other controlled environment in which a plurality of air sampling devices are used to collect volumes of air. The air sampling devices are located within the controlled environment, while a controller is located outside the controlled environment and provides suction for the plurality of air sampling devices to collect the volumes of air. Multiple air sampling devices are connected to the controller with separate air tubes in separate flow communication.

Each air sampling device is connected to a modular port on the controller, and each modular port includes a dedicated air flow switch and a tube interface. The air flow switch separately monitors a flow rate through the corresponding air sampling device by monitoring the flow rate through the corresponding air tube that connects the air sampling device to the modular port. The invention supports monitoring for multiple air sampling devices independently via the modular ports.

One or more touchpads within the controlled environment provide a user interface and output signals to the controller to initiate air sampling cycles. Air is drawn from one of the air sampling devices at a predetermined flow rate for a predetermined time period in response to the touchpad signals. The invention further provides flow-rate deviation detection against a pre-programmed set-point flow rate within a predetermined tolerance and triggers audible and/or visual alarms based on the deviation.

The invention is modular and expandable, including removable modular ports and features that mitigate single-point failures. In embodiments, redundant monitoring at two locations is provided, and the modular-port architecture includes dedicated power and dedicated hardware and software per modular port. The system supports remote monitoring/control and integration, including SCADA interface, and includes operational cycles such as purge and sterilization cycles with centralized measurement and redundancy.

Claims Coverage

The partial content includes two independent claims (clm-00001 and clm-00011). Both independent claims cover a multi-device air sampling system in a controlled environment with an outside controller having modular ports, dedicated air flow switching/tube interfaces per device, and touchpad-based initiation and separate flow-rate monitoring per sampling device.

Across both independent claims, the core coverage is an air sampling system and method using multiple air sampling devices in a controlled environment, an outside controller with modular ports that include dedicated air flow switches and tube interfaces, touchpads to initiate air sampling cycles at a predetermined flow rate for a predetermined time period, and separate monitoring of each device’s flow rate by measuring flow through its corresponding air tube.

Stated Advantages

Documented Applications