FREEZE DRYER

摘要

A freeze dryer (10) comprises a chamber (12) housing a plate (22) from which a plurality of shelves (20) is suspended. The shelves (20) are suspended from the plate (22) by links (28) carrying stops (38) upon which the shelves (20) rest to form a stack of vertically spaced shelves. Shelf support surfaces (200) are movable relative to the chamber (12) between adjacent shelves (20) in the stack. As the shelf stack is lowered within the chamber, the movement of the uppermost of these adjacent shelves is checked by the shelf support surfaces (200) so that, with further lowering of the shelf stack, the spacing between the adjacent shelves (20) increases. This can enable a pusher bar to fit between these two shelves to remove containers from, or load containers on to, the lowermost of these two shelves.