EP3095913B1 - Contaminant removal and archive disinfection device and method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention describes a method and a device for removing contaminants, including inorganic contaminants, such as dust and sand, and organic contaminants, such as mold components, mold spores and bacteria, and for disinfection, ie to reduce the number of germs capable of reproduction, such as for example fungi, spores or bacteria, archival materials, in particular archival materials in bound form, such as books.

Paper and the chemicals contained in paper and in the cover materials, such as adhesives, are an almost ideal carrier and breeding ground for many molds. The main causes of the growth and multiplication processes of mold in archives are dust-laden or soiled archived material, excessive relative humidity, increased object moisture in the archived material or accidents.

On the one hand, archive employees, especially allergy sufferers and people with a weakened immune system, are endangered by mold that is not combated in good time. In addition, the mold infestation represents a danger for the archival material itself, since the cellulose contained in paper is broken down by the mold infestation and thus the strength and mechanical stability of the paper is greatly reduced.

In most cases nowadays, an intensive dry cleaning with sponges and brushes is carried out to remove mold. During this cleaning, the mold spores and other mold components are removed mechanically in a safety workbench. This method of decontamination is considered an effective measure for superficial removal of mold structures. However, the dry cleaning has to be carried out sheet by sheet, so that this process is very time-consuming and therefore costly. Another disadvantage is that this dry cleaning only leads to a superficial cleaning of the paper. A cleaning or disinfection within the paper structure is not achieved.

Another possibility for combating mold is sterilization by irradiation with gamma rays, for example cobalt 60, or fumigation with ethylene oxide. Mold spores are killed with a sufficiently high dose of gamma rays. When irradiated, however, the written material loses a considerable part of its strength. A precise assessment of the risk is therefore required as to whether infected papers are at all suitable for irradiation. Fumigation with ethylene oxide has the disadvantage that residues of ethylene oxide are harmful and carcinogenic.

Furthermore, mechanical dry cleaning of the treated paper must always be carried out after sterilization by irradiation with gamma rays or fumigation with ethylene oxide in order to remove deposits of mold, mold spores and other soiling. Thus, sterilization by gamma irradiation or gassing with ethylene oxide does not represent a quick and cost-effective process for removing mold from archived goods.

The WO 97/26409 A1 describes a method and a device for deacidifying, for example, books, with goods carriers for holding the books and a treatment liquid being moved relative to one another and parallel to the spine of the book.

A method and apparatus for deacidifying cellulosic materials are also disclosed in US Pat EP 1 245 733 A1 disclosed. In this case, the treatment liquid is removed from the deacidification autoclave after the deacidification process has ended, in order to process the liquid again.

The U.S. 5,120,500 A describes a process for deacidifying books in which the books are treated with high-frequency radiation in a vacuum before the actual deacidification.

The US 2008/0017336 A1 describes a method for preserving cellulose materials, in which the cellulose material is treated with a stabilizing agent, the cellulose material and / or the stabilizing agent being cooled before and / or during the treatment.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a simple, inexpensive and yet effective method for cleaning and disinfecting archival items such as books, with which impurities and germs are removed not only on the surface but also within the paper structure. In addition, the process should be environmentally friendly and the burden on the persons involved in the procedure be low.

These objects are achieved by the method according to claim 1. Further advantageous embodiments are described in the dependent claims 2 to 11. The invention further relates to a device according to claims 12 to 15 for carrying out the method according to the invention.

In a first aspect, the invention relates to a method for removing contaminants and / or for disinfecting archival material according to claim 1. The term "archival material" describes archive material, such as books, files or individual sheets. In particular, the term "archival material" includes archival material in bound form, such as books, i.e. archival material each comprising a plurality of paper pages stacked one on top of the other, the paper pages being joined together along one edge. In particular, the invention provides a method for removing contamination and / or for disinfecting books.

The term "removal of contaminants" includes the removal of inorganic contaminants, such as sand and / or dust, and the removal of organic contaminants, such as mold components, mold spores, bacteria and / or insects and their remains. In the following, the removal of impurities is also referred to as cleaning. The term "disinfection" refers to the reduction in the number of germs capable of reproduction, such as fungi, spores or bacteria, in particular by killing the germs and includes sterilization.

In the method according to the invention, in step (a) at least one archive is arranged in a container on at least one flat surface of a goods carrier.

In a preferred embodiment, the container can be closed in a gas-tight manner, so that evaporated treatment liquid cannot escape from the container either during the treatment for cleaning and / or disinfection or during subsequent optional process steps, such as a deacidification and / or drying of the archival material as described below. This is particularly advantageous, since in this way the costs for the provision of the treatment liquid can be reduced and pollution of the environment and of the persons involved in cleaning can be kept low.

In the container there is at least one goods carrier with at least one flat goods surface for receiving the archival items, in particular archival items set up in a fanned out manner. In a preferred embodiment, a mandrel is also arranged in the container, which mandrel preferably extends perpendicularly away from the bottom of the container. In this embodiment, the goods carrier is held by the mandrel and the goods carrier has at least one flat goods surface which runs perpendicular to the mandrel and which serves to hold the archival items, in particular a plurality of archival items set up in a fanned out manner. It is also conceivable that the goods carrier has two or three goods surfaces for receiving a plurality of archival documents arranged in a fanned out manner. The goods surfaces are preferably flat surfaces which have a sieve-like structure so that a treatment liquid can flow through the goods carriers. In a preferred embodiment, the goods carriers also have a plurality of subdivision surfaces which run perpendicular to the goods surfaces and which divide the goods surfaces into several sections, an archive being arranged in each section.

It is further preferred that the goods carrier can be removed from the container, can be equipped with e.g. books outside the container, and can be introduced into the container when equipped. This is particularly advantageous since the goods carrier can be loaded with archival documents without a person having to reach into the container. In addition, a plurality of goods carriers can be provided for each container, so that while a goods carrier equipped with archival material is in the container and the archival material is being cleaned, the remaining goods carrier can be equipped with archival material or archive material that has already been cleaned can be removed from the goods carrier.

However, it is also conceivable that, in a further preferred embodiment, the goods carrier is equipped with e.g. books within the container. This is particularly advantageous with large devices, since the weight of the goods carrier equipped with books would be so great that it would be difficult to move.

If the archival items to be treated are bound archival items, the archival items are preferably set up in a fanned-out manner on the goods surface of the goods carrier. In the case of single sheets to be treated, the archival is fixed to the goods carrier at least at one edge of the single sheet.

The archival material is completely immersed in the treatment liquid for cleaning and / or disinfection. For this purpose, after the archival items have been introduced into the container, treatment liquid flows into the container from below via an opening in the container which is arranged in the lower container area, such as the bottom of the container. This filling is preferably carried out slowly in order to avoid damaging the archives, such as tearing out paper pages, by excessive shear forces.

In a preferred embodiment, a device is also arranged in the container by means of which the direction and / or speed of flow of the treatment liquid flowing into the container can be controlled. In a particularly preferred embodiment, in which the container has a vertically extending mandrel and a horizontal goods surface, the device is arranged below the goods carrier so that treatment liquid flowing into the container flows through the archives from below. This arrangement is particularly advantageous since the flow flowing past the archive from bottom to top can take place particularly uniformly and, if necessary, can already loosen dirt particles stuck on the surface of the paper pages.

In a further preferred embodiment, a sieve-like surface running parallel to the at least one goods surface is arranged in the container in such a way that treatment liquid flowing in through the device first flows through the sieve-like surface before it comes into contact with archival documents arranged on the goods carrier. A screen-like surface is to be understood as a surface which has a multiplicity of openings through which the treatment liquid can pass. The arrangement of a sieve-like surface between the archives and the device for controlling the direction and / or speed of flow is particularly advantageous if the device has only one or a few openings through which the treatment liquid flows centrally into the container. With an appropriate arrangement of the openings on the screen-like surface, the flow of the treatment liquid in the container can be controlled in such a way that a uniform, ascending flow is formed which rises along the mandrel and flows evenly through the archival material.

At least one fan nozzle and preferably a plurality of fan nozzles for injecting a treatment liquid are also arranged in the container. The goods carrier and the fan nozzle (s) can be moved relative to one another in such a way that, in step (b) of the method according to the invention, the treatment liquid is fed into each archive through at least one fan nozzle through the side of the archive facing away from the bound or fixed edge in the direction of the bound or fixed edge can be injected. In other words, either the goods carrier or the fan nozzle (s) or the goods carrier and the fan nozzle (s) can be moved in such a way that each archival item that is arranged on the goods carrier with its side facing away from the bound or fixed edge is at least can be guided past a fan nozzle so that the treatment liquid injected by the fan nozzle is injected essentially parallel to the individual pages of the archive into, for example, the book. This is particularly advantageous since not only the outer areas of the pages come into contact with the treatment liquid, but rather the paper pages are completely contacted up to the point of binding and are thus cleaned.

In a preferred embodiment, a plurality of fan nozzles are arranged on an inner wall of the container and inject the treatment liquid along planes which run parallel to the direction of extension of the mandrel. In other words, the compartments of treatment liquid that are injected into the container from the fan nozzles in the direction of the archival material run parallel to the bound or fixed edges of the archival material and the paper pages. This ensures that the pages are completely cleaned and decontaminated right through to the binding. In a preferred embodiment, the container is cylindrical, the at least one product surface is circular, and the product carrier is driven to rotate about an axis of rotation formed by the mandrel. In this preferred embodiment, the relative movement of the goods carrier and the fan nozzles to one another can be designed in a particularly simple manner. The fan nozzles can be fixedly arranged on the inner wall of the container, while the product carrier rotates around the mandrel arranged centrally in the container. In this embodiment, the archival documents arranged on the goods surface point with their bound edges to the axis of rotation formed by the mandrel. In this way, a large number of archival documents can be thoroughly cleaned in a particularly small space. It is preferred to rotate the goods carrier first by 270 ° in one direction and then by 180 ° in the other direction about the axis of rotation. The rotation of the goods carrier is particularly advantageous because a relative movement can be generated between the goods carrier and the fan nozzles in a simple manner, through which the treatment liquid can be injected into each book through at least one of the fan nozzles.

In a further embodiment, the mandrel has openings through which the treatment liquid can flow into the interior of the container. In this embodiment, the back of the bound edge of the archival material facing the mandrel, e.g. the spine of the book, is preferably exposed to treatment liquid. This enables particularly intensive contact and thus cleaning of the book spine.

In order to clean a larger number of archival documents, it is alternatively preferred that the at least one goods surface is rectangular and that the fan nozzles are driven to be horizontally displaceable. It is preferred that the surface of the goods is considerably longer than it is wide, the width being selected so that it corresponds approximately to the depth of an archive store set up fanned out. The bound or fixed edges of the archives each point to one of the two longer outer sides of the goods surface. It's special it is preferred to arrange the archival material in such a way that when the archival material is placed side by side, the bound edges point to opposite outer edges of the goods surface. In this preferred embodiment, the fan nozzles are guided past the goods carrier, which is itself at rest. This embodiment is particularly advantageous because it allows the size of the container and the goods surface to be chosen as large as desired, so that large numbers of archival documents can also be cleaned at the same time. At the same time, only a few fan nozzles are necessary, as these can be shifted along the longer side of the goods surface and in this way many archival documents can be handled with a few fan nozzles.

In step (c) of the method according to the invention, at least part of the treatment liquid is removed from the container after contacting the paper. For this purpose, the container preferably has an opening which is particularly preferably arranged in the area of the bottom of the container.

The removed treatment liquid is fed, for example with the aid of a circulation pump, to a device for separating solids, a filter, in which in step (d) the impurities and / or germs removed from the paper are removed from the treatment liquid in order to provide a regenerated treatment liquid . The apparatus for separating solids is suitable for removing solids with a particle size of less than 0.5 µm, such as 0.01 to 0.5 µm or 0.001 to 0.5 µm. The particle size is measured in particular by means of laser diffractometry.

A filter is used as a device for separating solids. The filter has a mesh size of less than 0.5 µm, such as 0.01 to 0.5 µm or 0.001 to 0.5 µm. The term "mesh size" refers to the size of the openings in the filter. Such a mesh size is special This is advantageous because even small impurities, such as grains of dust, and especially mold spores can be separated off, which would otherwise be entered back into the paper of the archival documents and become active again even after long breaks and thus lead to mold infestation again .

A particle filter, such as a membrane filter, is particularly preferably used as the filter in step (d). Preferably the membrane filter has a pore size of less than 0.5 µm, such as 0.01 to 0.5 µm or 0.001 to 0.5 µm. The term "pore size" denotes the nominal pore size of a membrane filter, i.e. the maximum in the pore size distribution curve determined by mercury porosimetry.

In step (e) of the method according to the invention, the regenerated treatment liquid is returned to the container. The regenerated treatment liquid is preferably returned to the container via the fan nozzle (s) and / or possibly the hollow mandrel.

In the method according to the invention, the archival materials are preferably contacted with treatment liquid in step (b), treatment liquid is removed in step (c), solids are separated off in step (d) and the regenerated treatment liquid is returned to the container in step (e). continuously. In other words, steps (b) to (e) are carried out in parallel, i.e. simultaneously. As a result, the process according to the invention can be operated in a cycle process particularly economically without long setup times.

The treatment liquid used in the process contains a carrier substance and possibly a disinfectant.

The carrier substance comprises a solvent which (i) has a surface tension of less than 0.072 N / m, preferably less than 0.020 N / m, particularly preferably less than 0.015 N / m, such as 0.010 to 0.020 N / m, (ii) a Polarity of less than 150 kJ / mol, such as 20 to 150 kJ / mol or 30 to 40 kJ / mol, on the E _T (30) scale and / or (iii) a boiling point of less than 100 ° C, preferably less than 70 ° C, particularly preferably less than 60 ° C, such as 50 to 60 ° C.

The surface tension is measured at room temperature and ambient pressure, in particular with the help of the capillary effect. A cathetometer, for example, is suitable for measuring the height of rise in the capillary. The boiling point is determined at a standard pressure of 1.01325 bar.

The carrier substance preferably comprises a solvent which has properties (i) to (iii).

The solvent is particularly preferably an alkane or fluorinated alkane with a molar mass of more than 72 g / mol, such as 72 to 300 g / mol, and is preferably selected from the group consisting of pentane, hexane, heptane, decafluoropentane and mixtures thereof .

Furthermore, it is particularly preferred that the solvent is 1,1,1,2,2,3,4,5,5,5-decafluoropentane.

Such solvents have the advantage that they can penetrate the usual paper structures very well in order to remove contaminants such as dust, sand, fungal spores or bacteria, and can then be removed from the paper without leaving any residue.

If not only a cleaning of the archive material is desired, but an acute mold infestation is to be treated, the treatment liquid comprises a disinfectant in addition to the carrier substance in a preferred embodiment. It is preferred that the disinfectant is soluble in the carrier substance and is preferably selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, isopropanol and mixtures thereof.

All in all, the object on which the invention is based is thus achieved by a method in which a plurality of archival documents are preferably fanned out and contacted with a treatment liquid, the contaminated treatment liquid then being regenerated by filtration and returned for further cleaning purposes. As a result, a cost-effective method is made available in which a large number of archival documents, such as books, can be cleaned and freed from mold and other germs in a relatively short time and in a space-saving manner.

In a further preferred embodiment, following the method according to the invention for cleaning and / or disinfection, a method for deacidifying the archival material is carried out. For this purpose, the archival documents according to the method according to the invention preferably remain in the container and step (b) of the method according to the invention is carried out with a treatment liquid which contains at least one deacidifying agent.

The method according to the invention can therefore not only achieve cleaning and / or disinfection of archival material, but also deacidification of the archival material.

The deacidifying agent is preferably selected from the group consisting of alkali and alkaline earth metal compounds and in particular from the group consisting of magnesium oxide, magnesium carbonate, magnesium hydrogen carbonate, magnesium hydroxide, calcium oxide, calcium carbonate, calcium hydrogen carbonate, calcium hydroxide, barium oxide, barium carbonate, barium hydrogen carbonate, barium hydroxide, sodium hydrogen hydroxide, sodium hydroxide , Potassium hydroxide, potassium hydrogen carbonate, potassium carbonate and mixtures thereof.

Furthermore, it is advantageous for deacidification of the archive material if the archive material is contacted with a gas while it is in contact with the treatment liquid. For this purpose, in a preferred embodiment, gas vents are arranged below the goods carrier in such a way that gas flowing out of the gas vents flows through the books that have been fanned out. Providing gas outlets is particularly advantageous since the outflowing gas can interact with the treatment liquid, and in this way the books can be deacidified even more thoroughly. With a suitable arrangement of the gas outlets, the flow flowing through the books is also increased so that particles in the treatment liquid are also prevented from being deposited on the surface of the book pages to be deacidified.

In a further preferred embodiment, following the method according to the invention for cleaning and / or removing germs or optionally following the deacidification, the archival material is dried. Prefers this drying is carried out in the container itself. In one embodiment, the mandrel arranged in the container is hollow and has a plurality of openings through which gas for drying the archival material can flow into the container. It is conceivable that these openings can be closed when the container is filled with a treatment liquid. It is also conceivable that the mandrel is connected directly to a hot air blower that can blow warm or hot air through the mandrel to dry the archival material into the container. For drying, warm gas, such as warm air, is particularly preferably supplied through the fan nozzle (s), the hollow mandrel and the opening in the lower region of the container, through which the treatment liquid has flowed into the container.

• einen Behälter mit mindestens einer Öffnung zum Einbringen einer Behandlungsflüssigkeit und mindestens einer Öffnung zum Abführen der Behandlungsflüssigkeit, wobei in dem Behälter ein Warenträger mit mindestens einer ebenen Warenfläche zur Aufnahme von wenigstens einer Archivale angeordnet ist,
• wenigstens eine Fächerdüse zum Einspritzen einer Behandlungsflüssigkeit zur Reinigung und/oder Desinfektion der Archivale, wobei die Behandlungsflüssigkeit eine wie oben beschriebene Trägersubstanz enthält,
• wobei der Warenträger und die wenigstens eine Fächerdüse derart relativ zueinander bewegt werden können, dass in jede Archivale durch wenigstens eine Fächerdüse die Behandlungsflüssigkeit durch die von einer gebundenen oder fixierten Kante der Archivale wegweisende, aufgefächerte Seite der Archivale in Richtung der gebundenen oder fixierten Kante eingespritzt wird, um das Papier der Archivalien zu kontaktieren,
• eine Pumpe, dessen Saugseite mit der mindestens einen Öffnung des Behälters zum Abführen von Behandlungsflüssigkeit verbunden ist und dessen Druckseite mit der mindestens einen Öffnung des Behälters zum Einbringen von Behandlungsflüssigkeit verbunden ist, um aus dem Behälter abgeführte Behandlungsflüssigkeit zu dem Behälter zurückzuführen, und
• eine Vorrichtung zum Abtrennen von aus Archivalien herausgelösten Feststoff-Verunreinigungen, die zwischen der mindestens einen Öffnung des Behälters zum Abführen von Behandlungsflüssigkeit und der Saugseite der Pumpe und/oder zwischen der Druckseite der Pumpe und der mindestens einen Öffnung des Behälters zum Einbringen von Behandlungsflüssigkeit angeordnet ist, um aus Archivalien herausgelöste Feststoff-Verunreinigungen aus der zurückgeführten Behandlungsflüssigkeit zu entfernen, wobei die Vorrichtung ein Filter mit einer Maschenweite von weniger als 0,5 µm ist.

According to a second aspect, the invention relates to a device for performing the method according to the invention. The device comprises

• a container with at least one opening for introducing a treatment liquid and at least one opening for discharging the treatment liquid, wherein a goods carrier with at least one flat goods surface for receiving at least one archive is arranged in the container,
• at least one fan nozzle for injecting a treatment liquid for cleaning and / or disinfecting the archival items, the treatment liquid containing a carrier substance as described above,
• wherein the goods carrier and the at least one fan nozzle can be moved relative to each other in such a way that the treatment liquid is injected into each archive through at least one fan nozzle through the fanned out side of the archive facing away from a bound or fixed edge of the archive in the direction of the bound or fixed edge to contact the paper of the archival records,
• a pump whose suction side is connected to the at least one opening of the container for discharging treatment liquid and whose pressure side is connected to the at least one opening of the container for introducing treatment liquid in order to return treatment liquid discharged from the container to the container, and
• a device for separating solid contaminants released from archival material, which is arranged between the at least one opening of the container for discharging treatment liquid and the suction side of the pump and / or between the pressure side of the pump and the at least one opening of the container for introducing treatment liquid in order to remove solid contaminants dissolved out of archival material from the returned treatment liquid, the device being a filter with a mesh size of less than 0.5 μm.

Preferred embodiments of the device are described above in connection with the presentation of the method according to the invention.

For example, the device according to the invention is preferably characterized in that the container has a mandrel and the majority of the fanned out archival documents are arranged on at least one flat goods surface of the goods carrier running perpendicular to the mandrel, the goods carrier being held by the mandrel.

It is also preferred that the treatment liquid in this embodiment is primarily injected along planes which run parallel to the direction of extension of the mandrel.

As described above, the container can be cylindrical and the at least one product surface circular and the product carrier can be driven to rotate about an axis of rotation formed by the mandrel in order to configure the relative movement of the product carrier and the fan nozzles to one another in a particularly simple manner. Alternatively, the at least one product surface can be rectangular and the fan nozzles horizontal be displaceably driven in order to clean a larger number of archive materials.

The invention thus also relates to the use of a device according to the invention for cleaning and / or disinfecting, in particular for removing mold and mold spores, from archival materials in bound form, such as books.

Fig. 1

einen schematischen Querschnitt durch den Behälter eines ersten Ausführungsbeispiels einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung zeigt,

Fig. 2

eine schematische Ansicht des ersten Ausführungsbeispiels zeigt,

Fig. 3

einen weiteren schematischen Querschnitt durch den Behälter des ersten Ausführungsbeispiels zeigt und

Fig. 4

eine schematische Ansicht des Behälters eines zweiten Ausführungsbeispiels einer erfindungsgemäßen Vorrichtung zeigt.

The present invention is explained below with reference to drawings showing only preferred exemplary embodiments, wherein

Fig. 1

shows a schematic cross section through the container of a first embodiment of a device according to the invention,

Fig. 2

shows a schematic view of the first embodiment,

Fig. 3

shows a further schematic cross section through the container of the first embodiment and

Fig. 4

shows a schematic view of the container of a second embodiment of a device according to the invention.

Figure 1 shows a schematic cross-section through a container 3 used in a device 1 according to the invention for removing contaminants and for disinfecting archival materials. The device 1 comprises in the in Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, a cylindrical container 3 with a lid 5 for gas-tight closure of the container 3. The interior of the container 3 comprises a goods carrier 7 with a plurality of slot-shaped openings 8, which are simply introduced into the container 3 after removing the lid 5 can be. The goods carrier 7 also has two goods surfaces 9, on each of which a plurality of archive documents can be arranged. Furthermore, a mandrel 11 is arranged in the container 3, which mandrel 11 extends perpendicularly away from the bottom of the container 3 and coincides with the axis of the cylindrical container 3. The vertically extending mandrel 11 is designed as a hollow mandrel and has a plurality of openings, not shown. Furthermore, the mandrel 11 has a plurality of holders 13 with which the goods carrier 7 is held in the container 3. The goods surfaces 9 are designed as flat surfaces which have a sieve-like structure 15 so that treatment liquid can flow through the goods surfaces 9 and thus the goods carrier 7. A plurality of fan nozzles 17 for injecting treatment liquid into the container 3 are also arranged on the inner wall of the container 3. The container 3 further comprises a first container opening 19 in the area of the bottom of the container 3, via which the treatment liquid can be introduced into the container 3 and removed. Furthermore, the container 3 has a second container opening 20 and a third container opening 21, which are connected in a gas-tight manner to the interior of the hollow mandrel 11 in order to conduct liquids and / or gases into the hollow mandrel. For example, opening 20 serves to direct treatment liquid into hollow mandrel 11, while opening 21 serves to direct inert gas into hollow mandrel 11, which can be advantageous, for example, in an optional deacidification step. Arranged directly above the opening 19 is a device 22 by means of which the direction of flow of the treatment liquid flowing into the container 3 can be controlled.

In addition, three UV light sources 23 are arranged on the inner wall of the container 3, of which in FIG Figure 1 only one is shown for a better overview. The UV light source 23 is used to irradiate the archival material arranged in the container 3 with UV light to reduce the number of germs capable of reproduction, especially bacteria. The UV light source 23 extends essentially over the entire vertical length of the cylindrical container 3. Furthermore, an ultrasound source 25 is arranged in the interior of the mandrel 11, with the aid of which the removal of impurities from the paper structure and thus the cleaning effect is further enhanced.

The application of UV light source (s) 23 and ultrasound source (s) 25 is not, according to the invention, limited to the specific, in Figure 1 Shown embodiment limited. Furthermore, neither the shape nor the arrangement of the UV light source (s) 23 and ultrasonic source (s) 25 are dependent on the in Figure 1 Shown shapes and arrangements limited.

In the Figure 1 The device 1 shown further comprises a fourth container opening 26, which can be used, for example, to discharge gases such as inert gas or exhaust air during a drying step, and a drive unit 27 to set the mandrel 11 and the associated goods carrier 7 in a rotational movement.

Figure 2 shows a schematic view of the in Figure 1 shown container 3 with further components of the device according to the invention 1. The container opening 19 is connected via a line 29 to a pump 31, wherein between the opening 19 and the pump 31 also a branch point 33, a UV filter 35, a valve 37 and a Branch point 39 are arranged. The pump 31 is connected to a filter 45 via a line 41 in which a valve 43 is arranged. The filter 45 is connected to a valve 49 via line 47, a branch point 51 being arranged in the line 47. The branch points 39 and 51 are via a line 52, a valve 53, a branch point 55 and a Valve 57 interconnected. A storage container 59 for treatment liquid is connected to the branch point 55. Furthermore, the branch point 51 is connected to a branch point 61 via the valve 49. The branch point 61 is connected to a branch point 65 via line 63, a valve 67 being arranged in the line 63. A plurality of lines 69 extend from the branch point 65 to the individual fan nozzles 17 of the container 3. On the other hand, the branch point 61 is connected to branch point 75 via a line 71 and a valve 73. The branch point 75 is connected to the second container opening 20 via a line 77 and a valve 79. Furthermore, branch point 75 is connected via a line 81 to branch point 83, which in turn is connected via a line 85 and a valve 87 to branch point 33. A compressor 89 is connected to branch point 83 via a line 91 in which a valve 93 is arranged.

To fill the container 3 with treatment liquid, valve 53 is opened so that treatment liquid can flow from the storage container 59 via the branch points 55 and 39 to the pump 31. Furthermore, the valves 43, 49, 73 and 87 are open for filling, so that the treatment liquid flows through the filter 45 with the aid of the pump 31 and then flows into the interior of the container 3 via the container opening 19. The device 22 ensures that the inflowing treatment liquid hits the archival documents arranged in the goods carrier 7 evenly and with a flow rate that is not too high, so that damage, such as tearing out the books to be treated, is avoided. Furthermore, the sieve-like structure 15 of the goods surfaces 9 through which the inflowing treatment liquid initially flows ensures that the flow of the treatment liquid is controlled in this way by a corresponding arrangement of the openings in the sieve-like structure can that a uniform ascending flow is formed, which rises along the mandrel 11 and flows evenly through the archival documents. During the filling process, only the valves 53, 43, 49, 73 and 87 are open. The other valves are closed.

As soon as the container 3 is filled with treatment liquid so that the archival material to be treated is completely immersed in the treatment liquid, the treatment liquid is circulated. To this end, valves 37, 43, 49, 61, 73 and 79 are opened. All other valves remain closed during circulation. With the aid of the drive unit 27, the mandrel 11 and thus the goods carrier 7 are set in a rotational movement. Treatment liquid is introduced into the interior of the container 3 via the plurality of lines 69 and the fan nozzles 17 which are fixedly arranged on the inner wall of the container 3. The treatment liquid is injected through the fan nozzles 17 into each archive through the fanned-out side of the archive facing away from the bound edge in the direction of the bound edge, as will be described further below in connection with FIG Figure 3 is described. Due to the relative movement of the goods carrier 7 and the fan nozzles 17 to one another as well as the fanned-out arrangement of the archives, not only the outer areas of the paper pages, but also the paper pages come into contact with the treatment liquid up to the point of binding.

Furthermore, treatment liquid flows via the line 77 and the second container opening 20 into the interior of the hollow mandrel 11. Due to the openings in the hollow mandrel 11, the treatment liquid can flow into the interior of the container 3, so that the back of the archival material to be treated, pointing towards the mandrel 11, is included Treatment liquid is flowed against. This enables particularly intensive contact to be made with the back of the bound edge of the archive material, such as the spine of the book.

The intensive contacting of all sides of the archival material to be treated and the bound edges ensures that both inorganic contaminants, such as dust and sand, and organic contaminants, such as mold components, mold spores and bacteria, are effectively removed. This mechanical cleaning is further intensified by the ultrasonic source 25. Furthermore, disinfectants present in the treatment liquid can achieve disinfection, ie a reduction in germs capable of reproducing, such as fungi, spores or bacteria. This disinfecting effect can be intensified by irradiation with UV light by means of UV light source 23. The treatment liquid therefore contains a certain amount of inorganic and organic impurities after contacting the archival material. In order to regenerate the treatment liquid and increase the cleaning effect, the released impurities are continuously removed from the treatment liquid. For this purpose, part of the treatment liquid is continuously discharged from the container 3 via the first container opening 19 and passed via the lines 29 and 41 with the aid of the pump 31 into a filter 45, which is advantageously designed as a multi-stage filter and, for example, a sieve and a coarse filter for Removal of larger solids, such as separated paper particles, and a membrane filter for the separation of the smallest inorganic and organic impurities, such as dust, sand or mold spores. The filtered treatment liquid is then via the lines 47 and 63 both to the lines 69 and thus for the subsequent injection of the treatment liquid via the fan nozzles 17 and via lines 47, 71 and 77 for introducing regenerated treatment liquid into the second container opening 20 and thus into the Hollow mandrel 11 of the container 3 returned.

The UV filter 35 arranged in line 29 increases the disinfecting effect of the method according to the invention, since spores, bacteria and other germs in the treatment liquid can be killed by UV radiation. According to the invention, the use of UV filter 35 is not limited to the specific, in Figure 2 Shown embodiment limited. Furthermore, the arrangement of the UV filter 35 is not based on the in Figure 2 shown arrangement limited.

After the desired cleaning effect has been achieved, the cycle operation can be ended by draining the treatment liquid from the container 3. To this end, valves 37, 43 and 57 are opened. The other valves remain closed for draining. The treatment liquid is fed into the filter 45 via the lines 29 and 41 in order to return the treatment liquid, which is essentially free of impurities with an average particle size of more than 0.5 μm, to the storage container 59 via line 52.

After the treatment liquid has been drained off, the archival documents arranged on the goods carrier can simply be dried by using the compressor 89 to flow warm air through the first container opening 19, the second container opening 20 and the fan nozzles 17 into the interior of the container 3. For this purpose, valves 93, 87, 79, 73 and 76 are open and the other valves are closed. The exhaust air can leave the container 3 via the opening 26.

Figure 3 shows a cross section through the in the Figures 1 and 2 container 3 shown along a plane which extends perpendicular to the vertically extending mandrel 11. On the inside of the container 3, three fan nozzles 17 firmly connected to the inner wall are arranged in a uniformly distributed manner. In the immediate vicinity of the fan nozzles 17 is a UV light source 23 attached to the inner wall of the container 3. The goods carrier 7 comprises a plurality of dividing surfaces 95, which run essentially parallel to the mandrel. A plurality of compartments 97 is formed in the goods carrier 7 by the dividing surfaces 95. In one of these compartments 97 in the in Figure 3 The embodiment shown is a book 99 with a plurality of pages 101 and a bound edge 103. To clean the book 99, the goods carrier 7 is first rotated through 270 ° in one direction of rotation and then through 180 ° in the other direction about the axis of rotation formed by the mandrel 11. By rotating the product carrier 7, a relative movement between the product carrier 7 and the fan nozzles 17 is generated in a simple manner. Treatment liquid can thus be injected into each of the compartments 97 and thus into each book 99 through at least one of the fan nozzles 17 and UV radiation from the UV sources 23 can reach. The fan nozzles 17 are arranged on the inner wall of the container 3 in such a way that the treatment liquid is injected along planes which run parallel to the direction of extension of the mandrel. Thus, the compartments of treatment liquid that are injected from the fan nozzles 17 in the direction of the books 99 run parallel to the bound edges 103 and the paper pages 101, which enables particularly intensive contact and thus particularly effective cleaning of the paper.

Figure 4 shows a cross section through the container 3 'of an alternative embodiment of a device according to the invention. In this embodiment, the container 3 'is essentially cuboid, so that a rectangular cross section results. In this embodiment too, the cuboid-shaped goods carrier 7 comprises a plurality of dividing surfaces 95 so that a plurality of books 99 can be accommodated. The device further comprises nozzle holders 105, on each of which a plurality of fan nozzles 17 and UV light sources 23 are attached. The nozzle assemblies 105 are horizontally displaceable so that the goods carrier 7 and the fan nozzles 17 can be moved relative to one another. The treatment liquid is injected through the fan nozzles 17 in the direction of the fanned-out side of the books 99 in order to contact the paper intensively. The device further comprises second nozzle assemblies 107, to each of which fan nozzles 109 are attached. With the aid of the fan nozzles 109, treatment liquid can flow onto the bound edge 103 of the books 99 in order to clean the back of the bound edges 103, ie the book spine, even more effectively.

The container 3 'with the internals is at points A, B, C, D and E corresponding to the in Figure 2 The device 1 shown is connected to the other components, such as the pump 31 and the filter 45, and can therefore be operated accordingly in the cycle method already described above.

Claims (15)

1. Process for removing contaminants and/or disinfecting archival objects, comprising

   (a) arranging at least one archival object (99) on a flat product surface (9) of a product carrier (7) in a container (3, 3'), wherein the archival object (99) comprises a plurality of paper pages (101) stacked one on top of each other, which are joined together along one edge to form a bound edge (103), and/or fixing the archival object (99) at one edge to the product carrier (7), and wherein the archival object (99) is completely immersed in a treatment liquid,

   (b) moving the product carrier (7) and at least one fan nozzle (17) relative to each other such that treatment liquid is injected into each archival object (99) through the at least one fan nozzle (17) from the side of the archival object (99) facing away from the bound or fixed edge (103) of the archival object (99) in the direction of the bound or fixed edge (103) to contact the paper of the archival object (99),

   (c) discharging at least part of the treatment liquid from the container (3, 3') after the paper has been contacted,

   (d) regenerating the discharged treatment liquid in order to remove the contaminants dissolved from the paper and to obtain a regenerated treatment liquid, wherein the treatment liquid is regenerated by passing it through a filter (45) with a mesh size of less than 0.5 µm; and

   (e) feeding the regenerated treatment liquid back into the container (3, 3'),

   wherein the treatment liquid comprises a carrier substance which is a solvent having (i) a surface tension of less than 0.072 N/m, (ii) a polarity of less than 150 kJ/mol on the E_T(30) scale and/or (iii) a boiling point of less than 100°C.
2. Method according to claim 1, wherein the treatment liquid is regenerated by passing it through a device for separating solids (45) adapted to remove solids with a particle size of less than 0.5 µm from the treatment liquid.
3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the filter (45) is a membrane filter.
4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the treatment liquid comprises a carrier substance and a disinfectant.
5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the carrier substance is a solvent having (i) a surface tension of less than 0.020 N/m, more preferably less than 0.015 N/m, (ii) a polarity of 20 to 150 kJ/mol on the E_T(30) scale and/or (iii) a boiling point of less than 70°C, more preferably less than 60°C.
6. Method according to claim 5, wherein the solvent is an alkane or fluorinated alkane having a molar mass of more than 72 g/mol and preferably is selected from the group consisting of pentane, hexane, heptane, decafluoropentane and mixtures thereof, the solvent most preferably being 1,1,1,2,2,3,4,5,5,5-decafluoropentane.
7. Method according to any one of claims 4 to 6, wherein the disinfectant is selected from the group consisting of methanol, ethanol, isopropanol and mixtures thereof.
8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein in step (a) at least one archival object (99) in bound form comprising a plurality of paper pages (101) stacked one on top of each other, which are joined together along one edge (103), is arranged in a fanned-out arrangement on the product surface (9) and in step (b) the product carrier (7) and at least one fan nozzle (17) are moved relative to each other such that treatment liquid is injected into each archival object (99) through at least one fan nozzle (17) from the fanned-out side of the archival object (99) that faces away from the bound edge (103) of the archival object (99) in the direction of the bound edge (103).
9. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the container (3) has a mandrel (11) and the at least one archival object (99) is arranged on at least one flat product surface (9) of the product carrier (7) extending perpendicularly to the mandrel (11), the product carrier (7) being held by the mandrel (11), wherein the at least one fan nozzle (17) is preferably arranged on an inner wall of the container (3), wherein furthermore the treatment liquid is preferably injected primarily along planes running parallel to the direction in which the mandrel (11) extends.
10. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, following the cleaning and removal of germs, a method for deacidifying archival objects is performed by carrying out step (b) according to claim 1 with a treatment liquid comprising at least one deacidifying agent, wherein the deacidifying agent is preferably selected from the group consisting of alkali and alkaline earth metal compounds and is in particular selected from the group consisting of magnesium oxide, magnesium carbonate, magnesium hydrogen carbonate, magnesium hydroxide, calcium oxide, calcium carbonate, calcium hydrogen carbonate, calcium hydroxide, barium oxide, barium carbonate, barium hydrogen carbonate, barium hydroxide, sodium hydroxide, sodium hydrogen carbonate, sodium carbonate, potassium hydroxide, potassium hydrogen carbonate, potassium carbonate and mixtures thereof.
11. Method according to claim 10, wherein the archival objects (99) are contacted with a gas while they are in contact with the treatment liquid.
12. Apparatus (1) for removing contaminants and/or disinfecting archival objects (99), comprising

    a container (3, 3') having at least one opening (20) for introducing a treatment liquid and at least one opening (19) for discharging the treatment liquid, wherein a product carrier (7) having at least one flat product surface (9) for receiving at least one archival object (99) is arranged in the container (3, 3'),

    at least one fan nozzle (17) for injecting a treatment liquid for cleaning and/or disinfecting the archival object (99), the treatment liquid comprising a carrier substance which is a solvent having (i) a surface tension of less than 0.072 N/m, (ii) a polarity of less than 150 kJ/mol on the E_T(30) scale and/or (iii) a boiling point of less than 100°C,

    wherein the product carrier (7) and the at least one fan nozzle (17) can be moved relative to each other such that the treatment liquid is injected into each archival objects (99) through at least one fan nozzle (17) from the fanned-out side of the archival object (99) that faces away from a bound or fixed edge (103) of the archival object (99) in the direction of the bound or fixed edge (103) in order to contact the paper of the archival object (99),

    a pump (31) having its suction side connected to the at least one opening (19) of the container (3, 3') for discharging treatment liquid and its pressure side connected to the at least one opening (20) of the container (3, 3') for introducing treatment liquid, in order to return treatment liquid discharged from the container (3, 3') to the container (3, 3'), and

    a device (45) for separating solid contaminants dissolved from archival objects, which is arranged between the at least one opening (19) of the container (3, 3') for discharging treatment liquid and the suction side of the pump (31) and/or between the pressure side of the pump (31) and the at least one opening (20) of the container (3, 3') for introducing treatment liquid in order to remove solid contaminants dissolved from archival objects from the returned treatment liquid, wherein the device (45) is a filter with a mesh size of less than 0.5 µm.
13. Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the container (3) has a mandrel (11) and the archival object (99) is arranged on at least one flat product surface (9) of the product carrier (7) extending perpendicular to the mandrel (11), the product carrier (7) being held by the mandrel (11), wherein the at least one fan nozzle (17) is preferably arranged on an inner wall of the container (3), wherein furthermore the treatment liquid is preferably injected primarily along planes which are parallel to the direction in which the mandrel (11) extends.
14. Apparatus according to claim 13, in which the container (3) is cylindrical, at least one product surface (9) is circular, and the product carrier (7) is rotatably driven about an axis of rotation formed by the mandrel.
15. Apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the at least one product surface (9) is rectangular and the fan nozzles (17) are driven in a horizontally displaceable manner.

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