Controlled atmosphere chamber for treating products with ionizing radiation

Claim 2

Apparatus for treating products with ionizing radiation in a controlled atmosphere, said apparatus comprising a substantially enclosed chamber having A. spaced outer walls with spaced inlet and outlet openings establishing a path of travel for a workpiece; B. a radiation-permeable window in a surface of said chamber, said window being formed of a material which excludes the passage of gases and being positioned over at least a portion of said path of travel; C. at least one foraminous panel within said chamber defining a reservoir between the panel and an outer wall of the chamber; and D. means for introducing gas into said reservoir and through said foraminous panel into said path of travel.

Claim 3

The apparatus of claim 1 in which said inlet and outlet openings are located in outwardly extending sections of said outer walls.

Claim 4

The apparatus of claim 1 in which said foraminous panel has substantially uniform openings spaced over its entire surface.

Claim 5

The apparatus of claim 1 in which said means for introducing gas comprises a plurality of gas inlet openings into said reservoir.

Claim 6

The apparatus of claim 1 in which said radiation-permeable window is a thin metal section.

Claim 7

The apparatus of claim 5 in which said metal is aluminum.

Claim 8

Apparatus for treating products with ionizing radiation in a controlled atmosphere, said apparatus comprising a substantially enclosed chamber having A. oppositely spaced outer walls with spaced inlet and outlet openings establishing a path of travel for a workpiece; B. a radiation-permeable window in a surface of said chamber, said window being formed of a material which excludes the passage of gases and being positioned over at least a portion of said path of travel; C. oppositely spaced foraminous panels along each side of said path of travel, each of said panels defining a reservoir between the panel and an outer wall of the chamber; and D. means for introducing gas into said reservoirs and through said foraminous panels into said path of travel.

Claim 9

Apparatus for treating products with ionizing radiation in a controlled atmosphere, said apparatus comprising a substantially enclosed chamber having A. oppositely spaced outer walls with spaced inlet and outlet openings establishing a path of travel for a workpiece; B. a radiation-permeable window in a surface of said chamber, said window being formed of a material which excludes the passage of gases and being positioned over at least a portion of said path of travel; C. oppositely spaced foraminous panels along each side of said path of travel, each of said panels defining a reservoir between the panel and an outer wall of the chamber; and D. means for introducing gas into said reservoirs and through said foraminous panels into said path of travel.

Claim 10

The apparatus of claim 7 in which said inlet and outlet openings are located in outwardly extending sections of said outer walls.

Claim 11

The apparatus of claim 7 in which said foraminous panels have substantially uniform openings spaced over their entire surfaces.

Claim 12

The apparatus of claim 7 in which said means for introducing gas comprises a plurality of gas inlet openings into each of said reservoirs.

Claim 13

The apparatus of claim 7 in which said radiation-permeable window is a thin metal section.

Claim 14

Apparatus for treating products with ionizing radiation in a controlled atmosphere, said apparatus comprising a substantially enclosed chamber having A. spaced outer walls with spaced inlet and outlet openings establishing a path of travel for a workpiece; B. a radiation-permeable window in a surface of said chamber, said window being formed of a material which excludes the passage of gases and being positioned over at east a portion of said path of travel; C. at least one forAminous panel within said chamber defining a reservoir between the panel and an outer wall of said chamber; D. means for introducing gas into said reservoir and through said foraminous panel into said path of travel; and E. means for passing ionizing radiation through said radiation-permeable window into said path of travel.

Claim 15

Apparatus for treating products with ionizing radiation in a controlled atmosphere, said apparatus comprising a substantially enclosed chamber having A. spaced outer walls with spaced inlet and outlet openings establishing a path of travel for a workpiece; B. a radiation-permeable window in a surface of said chamber, said window being formed of a material which excludes the passage of gases and being positioned over at east a portion of said path of travel; C. at least one forAminous panel within said chamber defining a reservoir between the panel and an outer wall of said chamber; D. means for introducing gas into said reservoir and through said foraminous panel into said path of travel; and E. means for passing ionizing radiation through said radiation-permeable window into said path of travel.

Claim 16

The apparatus of claim 12 in which said means for passing ionizing radiation is an electron beam accelerator.

Claim 17

The apparatus of claim 13 in which said accelerator comprises a radiation-permeable window which is a common window with the radiation-permeable window in said chamber.

Claim 18

The apparatus of claim 13 in which said accelerator is an electron linear accelerator operating between about 3 million and about 10 million electron volts.

Claim 19

The apparatus of claim 13 in which said accelerator is a DC accelerator operating between about 100,000 and about 4 million electron volts.