Articulated arm apparatus and system

Abstract

A hermetically sealed multi-axis articulated arm apparatus for use within a sealable isolator chamber comprises a rotational shaft that passes through an opening in the chamber, a sealing member disposed within the chamber for sealing the shaft to an inner surface of the chamber, a plurality of interconnected hermetically sealed arm segments, operably attached to the linear motion shaft; an end effector operably attached to a terminal arm segment among the plurality of arm segments, and at least one fully enclosed drive system for driving and controlling the shaft and the plurality of arm segments. The linear motion shaft may have a sealing member in the form of a bellows. The materials for the parts of the apparatus exposed to the atmosphere of the chamber are compatible with an aseptic and cleanable environment and the surfaces of the arm segments are shaped to avoid pooling of contaminants.

1 - 23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . A pharmaceutical handling apparatus for aseptic handling of pharmaceutical materials, the apparatus comprising:
 a sealable isolator chamber having a sterilizable interior and capable of maintaining an aseptic environment within the chamber; and   a decontaminatable hermetically sealed articulated manipulating arm mounted within the isolator chamber to an interior surface of the isolator chamber, wherein:
 the articulated manipulating arm seals the pharmaceutical handling apparatus to a leak rate of less than 1×10 −2  per hour; and 
 the manipulating arm is configured and disposed for aseptic handling of the pharmaceutical materials within the sealed isolator chamber when the manipulating arm is decontaminated and the interior of the chamber is sterilized. 
   
     
     
         25 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the articulated arm seals the pharmaceutical handling apparatus to a leak rate equal to or less than 5×10 −3  per hour. 
     
     
         26 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the articulated arm seals the pharmaceutical handling apparatus to a leak rate less than 2.5×10 −3  per hour. 
     
     
         27 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the articulated arm seals the pharmaceutical handling apparatus to a leak rate less than or equal to 5×10 −4  per hour. 
     
     
         28 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the articulated arm is multi-axis and comprises a plurality of interconnected hermetically sealed arm segments and an end effector. 
     
     
         29 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein the end effector is configured to dispense a pharmaceutical product. 
     
     
         30 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein the end effector is configured to support a tray. 
     
     
         31 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein at least one of the plurality of arm segments is joined to another of the plurality of arm segments by a hermetically sealed rotary elbow joint, the rotary elbow joint comprising a rotatable hub, an elbow housing, and a radial seal member for hermetically sealing the hub to the elbow housing. 
     
     
         32 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein at least one of the plurality of arm segments has a seamless single shell design. 
     
     
         33 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein all of the plurality of arm segments have a seamless single shell design. 
     
     
         34 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein:
 the articulated arm further comprises a shaft having a rotational axis;   the shaft passes through an opening in the sealable isolator chamber; and   the shaft is configured to rotate around the axis and to move linearly along the axis.   
     
     
         35 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 34 , wherein outer surfaces of the shaft and arm segments are stainless steel. 
     
     
         36 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the stainless steel is electro-polished. 
     
     
         37 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 35 , wherein the stainless steel is one of 304, 316 and 316L stainless steel. 
     
     
         38 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 34 , further comprising at least one drive system disposed at least in part within the articulated arm apparatus and sealed from the sterilizable interior of the isolator chamber, wherein the drive system is arranged and configured for driving and controlling the shaft and the articulated arm. 
     
     
         39 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 38 , wherein the at least one drive system is further configured and disposed for driving and controlling the end effector. 
     
     
         40 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 34 , wherein the articulated arm comprises a plurality of arm segments, and one of the plurality of arm segments is a terminal arm segment and another one of the plurality of arm segments is a first arm segment operably attached to the shaft and wherein the end effector is attached to the terminal arm segment. 
     
     
         41 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 40 , wherein the arm segment operably attached to the shaft is shorter than at least one other of the plurality of arm segments. 
     
     
         42 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 40 , wherein at least one of the arm segments comprises a stainless steel outer shell that provides the at least one arm segment with a strength to mass ratio closer to a strength to mass ratio of an aluminum arm of equivalent dimensions that is machined from a solid piece than to a strength to mass ratio of a stainless steel arm of equivalent dimensions that is machined from a solid piece. 
     
     
         43 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 40 , wherein the terminal arm segment is the one of the at least one arm segments that comprises a stainless steel outer shell. 
     
     
         44 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein an upper surface of at least one of the plurality of arm segments is configured to inhibit pooling of a liquid on the articulated arm apparatus and to facilitate runoff of the liquid from the articulated arm apparatus. 
     
     
         45 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 44 , wherein the upper surface has a profile to direct contaminants off the upper surface. 
     
     
         46 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 45 , wherein the profile comprises at least one section with a slope of at least one degree with respect to the horizontal. 
     
     
         47 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 28 , wherein a plurality of edges of at least one arm segment are radiused to facilitate removal of liquids. 
     
     
         48 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the articulated manipulating arm is sealingly mounted to the isolator chamber via a hermetically sealing bellows disposed within the isolator chamber. 
     
     
         49 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 48 , wherein the bellows comprises stainless steel. 
     
     
         50 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 49 , wherein the stainless steel is one of 304, 316 and 316L stainless steel. 
     
     
         51 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 49 , wherein the bellows is electropolished. 
     
     
         52 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 48 , wherein the bellows is a PTFE bellows. 
     
     
         53 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the sealed multi-axis articulated arm is an automatically controlled and reprogrammable articulated arm. 
     
     
         54 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 24 , wherein the sealed multi-axis articulated manipulating arm is decontaminatable by a gaseous agent. 
     
     
         55 . The pharmaceutical handling apparatus of  claim 54 , wherein the gaseous agent is one of hydrogen peroxide, formaldehyde, and chlorine dioxide.