Einrichtung zum UEberfuehren von Gegenstaenden grosser Laenge

摘要

An air lock has a pair of shutters with variable apertures defining a chamber between a pair of independent spaces. The shutters are flexible and snugly sealingly engageable around an elongated object, and the chamber can be flushed out. The first shutter is closed around the object which is then axially advanced through the second shutter which closes snugly around it. Then the chamber is flushed and the object is axially advanced fully on through the chamber with the shutters closed behind it. The chamber is also flushed during at least one other stage of the operation when one of the shutters is engaged around the object and the other is fully closed, for a unidirectional seal. Three flushings can make a bidirectional seal. The shutters can be annular membranes which are distorted or inflated to engage around the object.