Radioactive waste is loaded from a cell 10 into a drum 16 by sealing the drum about a port 12 in the cell, attaching the drum lid to the port door by clamp jaws 30 engaging a boss 76, withdrawing the port door and drum lid 69 into the cell in back-to-back fashion, loading the drum and replacing the lid. The lid has an annular lip 72, and the lid is deformable from a first state in which the lip engages the underside of the drum rim 65 and the lid engages the outer surface of the rim, and a second state in which the lip is free from engagement with the rim, thereby allowing removal of the lid. The jaws are moved into clamping engagement by initial movement of the jaws relative to the door.
An apparatus 1 for securing a closure 2 in an aperture 3 of a container 4 comprises a securing cap 5 adapted to engage the closure 2 and the container 4 to secure the closure 2, and fittings to provide for generation and release of a vacuum or partial vacuum between the securing cap 5 and the closure 2 to move the securing cap 5 into a securing position.
The invention relates to apparatus for filling a container such as a plastic bag with product. The apparatus comprises a fill valve and a chamber formed as an integral unit, in which during a filling operation a container with a cap is in place is offered up to and placed in the bag by gripping devices or jaws, the cap is removed by a capper mechanism the bag is filled with product, and the cap is replaced, all the flow paths and surfaces being sterilised by steam during the filling operation.
A method of aseptically filling an internally sterilized sealed container having a transfer port which comprises a tubular body which is sealed to the wall of the container and defines a flow passage therethrough, and a sealing plug engaged into the passage, the tubular body having an annular outer sealing face thereon which surrounds the flow passage, including the steps of: supporting the tubular body of the container in a selected orientation and position; providing a sterilization and filling head having at least an outer sealing ring thereon which is adapted to engage and seal with the annular sealing face, and a sterilization chamber located inwards of and at least partially defined by the outer sealing ring; bringing the sterilization and filling head and the tubular body into engagement with each other so that the outer sealing face; introducing a sterilization fluid into the sterilization chamber to sterilize at least the radially outer part of the plug and that part of the tubular body within the outer sealing ring; withdrawing the plug out of the tubular body in a direction away from the container whilst maintaining the sealing ring in sealed contact with the sealing face; introducing a flowable material into the container through the tubular body; reinserting the plug into the tubular body to thereby close the tubular body; and disengaging the sterilization and filling head and the tubular body from each other.
