Method for the sterile packing of a sterile material

Claim 1

In a method for sterilizing the inside of a tube of packaging material while being filled with a sterile material in a packaging machine in which a longitudinal web of flexible packaging material is continuously formed into a longitudinal tube, is filled with a sterile material from a filler pipe extending into said tube and is finally formed into separate filled packages by sealing the filled tube transversely at spaced intervals, the improvement comprising heating the inside of the moving tube up to 300*C. by means of a radiant heating element in a zone adjacent the filler tube and above the outlet end thereof, simultaneously introducing a gaseous fluid generally in the direction of tube movement at a temperature of about 200*C. into the inside of the tube above the outlet end of and surrounding the filler pipe, and below the zone of heat radiation and deflecting and reversing the direction of flow of the heated gaseous fluid above the level of sterile filler material to flow upwardly over a greater distance than the zone of heat radiation and in a direction opposite to the movement of the tube past the zone of heat radiation by means of deflector means surrounding the filler tube so as to prevent direct impingement of the heated fluid on the sterile filler material beneath the deflector means while maintaining sterile conditions in the tube during filling of the tube.