EP0242566B1 - Integrated connecting device for the supply to and evacuation from working areas in laboratories, workshops and the like - Google Patents

Abstract

A combined connecting device which comprises pipelines 20, 20b, 20c and 20d for gaseous and/or liquid media is used with at least one distributor component 21 as a central connecting component between the respective pipelines 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d and the connecting component 15 for a respective work place or a group of work places and/or additional equipment such as gas filters 18a, 18c and/or state regulating devices such as pressure reducers 16, 16a, 16c. The distributor component 21 has a distributor body having a feed-through channel for the particular gaseous or liquid medium and two or more connecting holes 25, 28 communicating with the feed-through channel for fitting branch lines 29, 32a, 32c leading to the particular connecting component 15 or to the particular additional device such as filters 18a, 18c or pressure reducers 16, 16a, 16c. If a framework of a plurality of pipelines 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d is provided in the connecting device the distributor component should have a single block-type distributor body 22 to which all the pipelines are fed. <IMAGE>

Description

The invention relates to a combined connection device for the supply and possibly disposal of work areas in laboratories, production facilities and the like, which contains parts of one of the various supply systems provided in it, supply devices for removing gaseous and / or liquid media and in the form of a rail, pendulum-shaped , columnar and / or the like. Hollow bodies are provided as carriers for connection elements attached to them in a predetermined, possibly grouped arrangement, pipelines being laid in these hollow bodies as parts of the supply devices for gaseous and / or liquid media and by means of connecting elements and branch lines with the corresponding connection elements are connected.

Such a combined connection device for different types of supply systems is known from DE-A 1 690 188, in which the lines for gaseous or liquid media are laid in the form of a profiled strip formed with corresponding longitudinal channels in the interior of a rail-shaped hollow body. A connection device in the form of a connection block is provided at one end of the profile strip for connecting these line ducts to the building-side installation. To connect the connection elements to the individual line channels, a separate connection element is required for each connection element, which is to be placed tightly at a point on the profile strip at which a line channel is drilled. This causes the lack of a large number of connecting elements to be attached in the course of the line profile strip and thus a high risk of leaks. In this way, the connections to the connection elements can also be arranged only relatively widely scattered along the line profile strip. A mass arrangement of connections cannot be achieved with this known device. In particular, it is not possible with this known connection device to insert additional devices for pretreatment and / or status control of the gaseous or liquid media carried in the different line channels in such a way that one and the same medium with different pretreatment or different status control is available.

From DE-A 2 728 113 a module connection unit is known in which supply lines for liquid and gaseous media, a vacuum line and a drain line are guided through a module-like section and are individually equipped with branches within this section. This known module connection unit also requires considerable space for the different branches. There is no possibility of making the media in the various lines available in different pretreatments or in different condition controls.

From GB-A 2 074 627 a supply arrangement for the laboratory is known, in which, among other things, a connection box is provided which is arranged in the manner of a central connection head at a distance above a work surface and is connected below the connection surface itself to the building-side installation. With this known connection device, a separate connection to the building installation is required for each work area.

A combined connection device for various types of supply systems is known from DE-C 1 790 154, in which, however, each of the gaseous or liquid media carried in the various lines is guided within the entire containment device under the same conditions with regard to pressure, degree of purity etc. and by means of these conditions Connection elements must be removed. It is not possible to change the conditions for the entire connection device for a particular medium for one or the other tapping point in accordance with the respective requirements.

In contrast, it is an object of the invention to improve a combined connection device of the type mentioned at the outset in such a way that each of the gaseous and / or liquid media which are available in each of the work areas to be formed in the vicinity of the combined connection device also under various desired or required ratios with regard to pressure, degree of purity, etc. can be made available, these different ratios being independent of other work areas formed in the vicinity of the combined connection device and should also be changeable in each of the work areas or workplaces as desired or as required.

This object is inventively achieved in that in and / or on the hollow bodies of the arrival schlußeinrichtun ^g formed along the hollow body extending pipes a skeleton of a plurality of and means are provided for the pretreatment and / or condition regulation of the particular medium and that at least one between the pipes and the connection elements provided for a work station or a group of work stations in each case is used as a central connecting element in the course of the pipes so that the distributor element covers all the pipes of the scaffold, the distributor element having a block-like distributor body, on or in which a plurality of mutually independent passage channels corresponding to the respective number of pipes of the scaffold and two or more connection bores connected to a respective passage channel to the A Bring branch lines leading to the respective connection element or an additional device for the desired pretreatment and / or state control of the respective medium.

The invention is based on a basic concept, according to which for each of the gaseous or liquid media a flow path through the hollow body of the Connection device is formed by means of conduit. By means of the invention it is achieved that for each work place or each group of work places or each work area each of these flow paths for the different media is tapped by means of a central connecting element, whereby two or more accesses to each pipeline for gaseous and / or liquid media are available be put. As a result, the extraction conditions for the media can be adapted to the respective requirements and needs without having any effect on the other workplaces or work areas. In this way, a pipeline can in principle be provided in the combined connection device for each gaseous or liquid medium to be made available. By means of the multiple tapping of each of these pipelines made possible by the central connecting element at one and the same location, the same medium can be made available at one and the same work station in different status settings and with different pretreatment measures, for example in different degrees of purity. This variation option available at every work place or in each work area is limited to the respective work place or work area and has no influence on other work places and other work areas. Since the supply with several different gaseous and / or liquid media is normally required at workplaces and work areas, the invention offers the advantage that all required variations for all required media are available at each workstation or in each work area. The taps on the pipelines required for a work station or work area are combined on a common distributor element with a block-like distributor body, the distributor element simultaneously ensuring the practically unimpeded passage of the media from one work area to the next work area or work place. The block-like distributor body can be designed with a maximum number or even more connection bores, of which the connection bores that are not required in each case are to be closed with removable closure elements, for example screw plugs.

In order to prevent the weight of a combined connecting device from being too great and to make assembly difficult in such a case, which is provided with a plurality of through-channels and a plurality of connection bores, and it is difficult to assemble, it is advisable to provide the distributor body with recesses which reduce its weight and its heat capacity to provide. It is also conceivable to assemble the distributor body from two or more identical partial bodies.

In order to achieve favorable mounting options for the central distributor element in the respective hollow body of the connection device, in particular also when inserting into a framework of several pipelines, various options can be used for the formation of the through-channel or the through-channels. One such possibility is to design the through-channel or the through-channels for pushing through and sealingly, firmly attaching, for example soldering or welding, a continuous pipeline. In such a case, continuous pipelines are to be provided in the entire hollow body, and the spacers corresponding to the workplaces or work areas to be formed have such plugged-on and soldered or welded distributor elements to the pipelines. Another possibility is to form the pipes by extending pipe elements from distributor element to distributor element, the passage channel or the passage channels of the distributor elements then being designed for insertion and sealing, fixed attachment of pipe ends on both sides. Even in such a case, the pipes will be soldered or welded to the distributor bodies, but will then end in the area of the respective pipe. Finally, there is also a connection possibility in that the distributor body carries connection sockets for the tight attachment of the pipe ends at the outputs of its through channel or its passage channels, for example sockets for soldering or welding pipe ends. Such connecting pieces of the distributor body can also be designed for releasable attachment of the pipe ends.

If the combined connection device is to contain vacuum lines or suction lines for gaseous and / or liquid media, such vacuum lines and / or suction lines will preferably also be laid as pipelines in the respective hollow body of the connection device and central connection elements will also be used as collector elements in the course of such pipelines, whereby use these central connecting elements as collector elements, these central connecting elements being designed in the same way as the distributor elements in the pipelines for supply with gaseous or liquid media.

When arranging a plurality of pipelines in such a hollow body of the combined connecting device, it is also recommended to incorporate the vacuum lines and / or suction lines into the frame of the pipelines and together with the pipelines for supply with gaseous and / or liquid media to or through common, lead block-like distributor body.

• Fig. 1 eine Ausführung der Anschlußeinrichtung in perspektivischer Darstellung,
• Fig. 2 einen Abschnitt der Anschlußrichtung gemäß Figur 1 in vergrößerter Teilschnittdarstellung etwas schematisch,
• Fig. 3 ein Schema der Rohrleitungen und Verteilerelemente in einer Anschlußeinrichtung gemäß Figur 2,
• Fig. 4 einen Schnitt gemäß 4-4 der Figur 2 mit Seitenansicht eines Verteilerelements, und
• Fig. 5 ein Schema entsprechend Figur 3 in abgewandelter Ausführungsform der Erfindung.

An embodiment of the invention is explained below with reference to the drawing. Show it:

• 1 shows an embodiment of the connection device in a perspective view,
• 2 shows a section of the connection direction according to FIG. 1 in an enlarged partial sectional illustration, somewhat schematically,
• Fig. 3 is a diagram of the piping and distribution learning elements in a connection device according to FIG. 2,
• 4 shows a section according to 4-4 of FIG. 2 with a side view of a distributor element, and
• Fig. 5 is a diagram corresponding to Figure 3 in a modified embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show two overviews for a better understanding of the invention shown in FIGS. 3-5.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment in which three rail-shaped hollow bodies 11 are arranged in a U-shape and on the upper rail 11 a the electrical connections 13 and the lower rail 11 b have the connections 15 for gaseous and liquid media as well as a vacuum and suction line. Furthermore, devices for pressure adjustment, for example pressure reducers 16, and the pressure display devices, for example pressure gauges 17, are attached in the lower rail 11b. Working tables, for example laboratory tables 33, can be set up along this U-shaped arrangement in order to create a plurality of workplaces or work areas in this way which not only have electrical connection options but also a supply of gaseous and liquid media which can be adapted to the respective requirements and Vacuum and suction lines are equipped.

In the example in FIG. 2, the combined connection device has a rail-shaped hollow body 11 as a carrier for the various connections, which is attached to vertical pendulum arms 12b, 12c suspended from the ceiling. The hollow body 11 is formed from two rails 11 a and 11 b arranged one above the other, of which the upper rail 11 a essentially accommodates the electrical systems and the lower rail 11 b the systems with gaseous media.

The connection elements 15 are provided in the connection device shown in Figure 2 for helium (He), nitrogen (N _z ) and compressed air. The supply lines for these gases come from installation lines laid in the ceiling and are guided into the hollow body 11 by a pendulum arm.

In order to keep the gases helium, nitrogen and hydrogen available in a high degree of purity, the combined connection device shown in FIG. 2 is equipped on its top with gas filter elements 18a for helium, gas filter elements 18b for nitrogen and gas filter elements 18c for hydrogen.

In this example, the supply line 19d for compressed air guided through the pendulum arm or pendulum support 12c is connected directly to a pipeline 20d guided in the innermost of the lower rail. Since the gases helium, nitrogen and hydrogen are only to be used in the present case to an increased degree of purity, the feed line 13a initially leads through the gas filters 18a. The outlet of the gas filters 18a is then connected to the pipeline 20a laid inside the lower rail 11b. Correspondingly, the feed line 19b for nitrogen leads to the pipeline 20b laid in the lower rail 11b and the feed line 19c for hydrogen via the gas filters 18c to the pipeline 20c laid in the lower rail 11b. In the lower rail 11 b, a central distributor piece 21 is attached for each of the three groups of connection elements 15, as will be explained below with reference to FIG. 3.

In the example in FIG. 2, the hollow body forming the carrier for the connections is designed such that it is occupied with connection elements in practically the same grouping both on the front side visible in FIG. 2 and on the rear side opposite to FIG. In this example, four rails can be provided, namely two upper rails 11 a for electrical installation and two lower rails 11 b for installation for gaseous and / or liquid media. There can be an additional space between the rear walls of these rails, which can be incorporated into the interior of the hollow body 11. In such a case, the pipes 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d can be mounted in this space between the two lower rails 11b, as can the distributor elements 21, which are shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.

In the example shown, each of these distributor elements 21 is equipped with a block-like distributor body 22, to which all four pipelines 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d provided in this example are connected.

As can be seen from the diagram in FIG. 3, the pipelines 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d are fixed in the manner of a pipeline scaffold. Each of the central distributor elements 21 has a block-like distributor body 22, through which all the pipelines 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d are passed. For this purpose - as Figure 4 shows - 22 passages 24 are formed in the distributor body. These passage channels 24 can have a cross section such that the distributor body 21 can be plugged with these passage channels 24 over the continuous pipes 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d. The annular gap formed between the outer surface of the pipelines 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d and the inner surface of the respective passage 24 is soldered or welded at 23 (FIG. 3). As a result, the distributor body 22 is firmly seated in the framework of pipelines and is securely sealed off from each of the pipelines

In the block-shaped distributor body 22, transverse connection bores 25 are made in such a way that each transversely extending connection bore 25 passes through a passage channel 24 and thus one of the pipes 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d (see FIG. 4). At their outer ends, these connection bores are equipped with an enlarged, internally threaded bore part 26, in which connection nipples 27 are to be fitted in a gas-tight or liquid-tight manner. In this way, two connections are created on each central distributor element 21 for each through-channel 24 or each pipeline 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d. As shown in Figure 5, can also run parallel to the passages 24 second connection bores 28 are provided which meet the respective connection bores 25. In this way, six connection options for each of the pipelines 20a, 20b, 20c and 20d are created on each central distributor element.

As shown in FIG. 4, a branch line 29 is attached to each of the connecting nipples 27. In the example in FIG. 3 and in the example in FIG. 4, these branch lines 29 each lead to pressure reducers 16 built into the lower rail 11 b. Pressure display instruments, for example pressure gauges 17, are connected to these pressure reducers 16. Furthermore, each of the pressure reducers 16 is provided with a shut-off valve which can be actuated by actuating button 30, from which the actual connection element 15, to which the respective consumer is to be connected, is charged with the respective gaseous medium under the set pressure.

In contrast to the diagram in FIG. 3, FIG. 4 shows that the pipeline framework can also contain more than four lines, depending on the number of gaseous media to be made available. Pipelines for liquid media can also be routed through the same distributor element 21 or the same distributor body 22. It is also possible to include pipelines for vacuum or suction lines in the pipeline framework and also to lead them through the same distributor element 21.

As further shown in FIG. 4, the distributor body 22 can be formed with recesses 31 which extend parallel to the passage channels 24. In this way, the weight and the heat capacity of the distributor body 22 are reduced. The latter is of particular importance if the pipelines 20a, 20b, 20c, 20d are to be drawn through the passage channels 24 of the distributor body 22 and to be soldered therein.

Compared to the diagram in FIG. 3, the diagram in FIG. 5 shows the possibility of using the second connections 28 on the distributor body 22 to create expanded removal options for the gaseous and liquid media. If, for example, one or the other gaseous or liquid medium is to be available both in a medium degree of purity and in a high degree of purity, in contrast to the embodiment according to FIG be connected. The respective second branch line, for example the second branch line 32a and second branch line 32c, is then led via a gas filter 18a or a gas filter 18c to a further pressure reducer 16a or 16c, so that a connection element 15 for medium is provided for the respective gaseous or liquid medium medium purity and a connection 15a or a connection 15c is available for the respective medium with a high degree of purity.

In a corresponding manner, the use of the second connections 28 of the distributor element 21 could also be considered if one and the same gaseous or liquid medium with different pressure is required. In such a case, only a second pressure reducer is connected to the respective second connection 28, so that the user can remove the respective medium from one pressure and from the second pressure reducer with the other pressure.

Claims (9)

1. Combined connecting device for the supply to and, if neccessary, the removal from working areas in laboratories, production places and the like, which, as parts of one of the different supply systems being provided in them, comprises supply devices for the removal of gaseous and/or fluid media and which is provided with hollow pieces being developed in the form of a rail, pendulum, pillar or the like as a girder for connecting elements (13, 14, 15) attached to in a previously settled and, if neccessary, grouped arrangement, conduits (20) being laid in said hollow pieces (11) as parts of the supply devices for gaseous and/or fluid media and being connected by means of connecting elements and branch pipings (19) with the corresponding connecting elements (15), characterised in that in and/or at the hollow pieces (11) a carcass of a plurality of conduits (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) is formed extending along the hollow pieces (11) and devices (16, 18) are provided for the pretreatment and/or condition regulation of the particular medium and that at least one distributor element (21) being provided between the conduits (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) and the connecting elements (15), which is provided in each case for a workplace or a group of workplaces, is inserted as central connecting element into the course of the conduits (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) in such a way that the distributor element (21) includes all conduits (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) of the carcass, the distributor element (21) having a block-like distributor body (22) at or rather in which a plurality of transit conduits (24), being independent from each other and corresponding to the respective number of conduits (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) of the carcass, and two or more connecting bores (25) each being in touch with a respective transit conduit (24) are formed in order to attach branch pipings (19) running to a particular connecting device (15) and/or to an additional device (16, 18) for the desired pretreatment and/or condition regulation of the respective medium.

2. Connecting device according to claim 1, characterised in that the distributor body (22) comprises recesses (31) which reduce its weight and its heat capacity.

3. Connecting device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the distributor body (22) is composed of two or more sectional bodies of the same kind.

4. Connecting device according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the transit conduits (24) are developed for the insertion and dense, firm fixation of a conduit (20) passing through, for instance by soldering and welding.

5. Connecting device according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the transit conduits (24) are developed for the bilateral introduction and dense, firm fixation of the ends of the conduits.

6. Connecting device according to one of the claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the distributor body (22) comprises connection pieces at the exits of its transit conduits (24) for the dense fixation of the ends of the conduits.

7. Connecting device according to claim 6, characterised in that the connection pieces of the distributor body are developed for the seperable fixation of the ends of the conduits.

8. Connecting device according to one of the claims 1 to 7, characterised in that vacuum ducts being laid in or at the hollow pieces (11) and/or suction ducts for gaseous and/or fluid media are developed as conduits (20) in the course of which central connecting elements (21) are employed as collector elements, said central connector being developed according to the same manner as the distributor elements (21) in the conduits (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) for gaseous or fluid media respectivly.

9. Connecting device according to claim 8, characterised in that the vacuum ducts and/or suction ducts are integrated in the carcass of conduits (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) and are led together with the conduits (20a, 20b, 20c, 20d) for gaseous and/or fluid media to or through the same block-like distributor body (22).

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