Portable and collapsible chem./bio. isolators

Abstract

A portable and collapsible isolator is taught for containing radioactive, chemical or biological agents. The isolator is comprised of a collapsible frame, movable between a collapsed transport position and an open operational position, and a flexible and collapsible envelope in the form of an airtight bag attached to the frame to define a cavity. The envelope remains airtight in both the collapsed and open positions. One or more sealable openings are formed in the envelope for insertion and removal of the radioactive, chemical and biological agents into and out of the cavity. The isolator may optionally include at least one glove extending from one or more of said sealable openings into the cavity, for handling said radioactive, chemical and biological agents inside the cavity.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION[0001]This application claims the priority right of prior U.S. patent application 60 / 983,717 filed Oct. 30, 2007, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0002]The present invention relates to isolators for use in containing, handling and transporting potentially hazardous radioactive, chemical or biological agents.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0003]On-site handling and containment of suspicious packages or known hazardous materials poses an enormous risk to both the initial responders who must contain and transport the materials and subsequent investigators who must handle the materials to determine their origin, composition, risk and eventual disposal. In particular, hazardous radioactive, chemical and biological agents pose an increased threat. These agents may include, but are not limited to, chemical warfare agents, toxins, Risk Group 3 and Risk Group 4 biological pathogens and can also include radioa...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0009]The present invention provides a collapsible and portable chemical and biological isolator that can be deployed in a short amount of time.

Problems solved by technology

On-site handling and containment of suspicious packages or known hazardous materials poses an enormous risk to both the initial responders who must contain and transport the materials and subsequent investigators who must handle the materials to determine their origin, composition, risk and eventual disposal.

In particular, hazardous radioactive, chemical and biological agents pose an increased threat.

However, such isolators are often heavy and cumbersome.

Transportation of such isolators can be very difficult and they cannot generally be used in any portable capacity.

Furthermore, conventional isolators require elaborate on-site assembly and decontamination before disassembly which detrimentally adds to response time and can increase public exposure to the potentially harmful substances.

However these must be assembled from numerous pieces and then later decontaminated fully before being dismantled for storage and transport.

It is a challenge to conveniently transport these isolators in a fully assembled condition.

However, the device is not airtight, and in fact is taught to have an open base and therefore can not isolate radioactive, biological or chemical agents from the surrounding environment.

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